October 9, 2013

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Finding the missing link

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Yet another inferno in RMG factory Time is running out At least nine killed amid fears death toll may rise; firefighters' frantic efforts still on

n Tribune Report A fire in a readymade garment factory of Paul Mall Group in Gazipur last night killed at least 9 people as fire-fighters feared that death toll might rise.

Until this report was being filed around 12:30am today, at least 9 bodies have been located.

Superintendent of Gazipur Police Abdul Baten told Dhaka Tribune that fire-fighters had managed to pull out three of them – Rashed Mandal, 40, assistant general manager, Nayan, a

member of the factory’s own fire-fighting unit, and Raju Ahmed, a worker of the knitting section.

Other workers, who were assisting the fire fighters to douse the flames, have claimed that they had identified four more dead bodies of their co-workers – knitting technician Khalil, 25, sample technician Nayeem, 26, and knitting operators Rubel, 24, and Raju, 25.

Fire-fighters could not say for certain how many more bodies were still trapped inside the factory. They said they would be able to give a definite

number after the fire was fully doused and searching the debris.

They said most of the bodies that were visible from the outside, were almost bully burnt to ashes.

Witnesses and some of the workers, who sustained injuries while managing to come out of the factory, said they had seen more bodies inside the building.

Nine units of the Fire Service had been trying to douse the flames that spread to four other buildings in the vicinity.

Humayun Kabir, one of the assistant

general managers, said the fire originated from the knitting section on the first floor of the two-storey factory building of the Aswad Composite Mills Limited, a sister concern of Paul Mall Group at Beraiderchala in Sreepur upazila of Gazipur, around 7pm yesterday.

Around 140-170 Workers were working when the fire broke out, he said, claiming that most of them managed to leave the factory safely soon after the flames started spreading.

Abu Zafar Ahmed, in-charge of  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

These plaques are not displayed at any marble shop; they were installed at a single programme in Jhenaidah where Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated as many as 15 development projects ranging from college academic building to chief judicial magistrate's office yesterday PMO

EXPLOSION IN CHITTAGONG MADRASA

Was Izhar allowed to flee? n Julfikar Ali Manik No efforts were seen to detain Mufti Izharul Islam Chowdhury even after several hours of the explosion of handmade grenades at his Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia madrasa on Monday. Izhar was on the madrasa premises for seven hours after the blast at 11am.

Law enforcers in Chittagong have been looking for him since late evening after the Monday blast.

The dual attitude has sparked a debate as to whether the law enforcers

allowed Izhar to go into hiding or they did not have the green signal from the government high-ups for the arrest of the 70-year-old radical Islamist leader until evening.

Some top police officials in Chittagong said it had taken them several hours to be confirmed that it was an explosion of hand grenades and other explosives.

Before the revelation, people in the madrasa had told them that the explosion was caused by a CPU and a UPS of a  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Verdict in case of ex-BNP minister Alim today n Udisa Islam The war crimes tribunal will deliver its verdict today in the case of former BNP minister and alleged Peace Committee chairman of Joypurhat, Abdul Alim, who is charged for his involvement in the killing of at least 585 people in 15 incidents during the 1971 Liberation War. The three-member International Crimes Tribunal 2, headed by Justice Obaidul Hassan, set the date yesterday, nearly two weeks after the trial process was completed on September 22. Two other members of the tribunal are Justice Mojibur Rahman Miah and Justice Shahinur Islam.

This will be the second war crimes verdict involving a BNP leader and eighth since the first verdict on January 15 this year. The government constituted the tribunal, its prosecution and investigation agency in 2010 under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973 to try the persons responsible for committing crimes against humanity during the liberation war.

Alim, now aged 83, was arrested on March 27, 2011 and was the first accused among those charged with war crimes to enjoy bail throughout the trial process that  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

INSIDE Business

B3 The export earnings rose to about US$2.6bn in September, over 36% higher compared to the same month last year, riding on readymade garments sector despite labor unrest over wage hike.

News

3 Several business leaders of the country at a programme yesterday said readymade garment exports should not be a victim of politics.

International

9 India’s army said on Tuesday that Pakistani troops had helped a group of 30 to 40 insurgents stage the biggest incursion in Kashmir in years, linking it to a plan to push fighters into the region as foreign forces withdraw from neighbouring Afghanistan.

Mufti Izhar and his son accused n Tushar Hayat, Chittagong

Police have accused Mufti Izharul Islam Chowdhury, principal of Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia Madrasa and nayebe-ameer of Islamist group Hefazat-e-Islam, and his son Mufti Harun Izhar in two cases filed in connection with an explosion at the madrasa on Monday.

They have also included 10 other identified and many unidentified people in the cases filed with Khulshi police station yesterday.

Meanwhile, Habib, 25, one of the  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

fast: Khaleda n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Urging the government to be “responsible” and take initiative to resolve the political crisis, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said the government would have to negotiate over a polltime government to save the country from “violence and uncertainty.”

“Time is running out fast. I hope they will come to the path of compromise to save the country from violence.

Do not push the country towards uncertainty. I urge them to be responsible and to try to understand the people’s pulse,” she said.

The leader of the opposition said the days of Sheikh Hasina’s government were numbered.

“Good days are coming in the future,” she added.

“We will not do business if we form government, rather we will be a real business-friendly government, removing the all obstacles to the advancement of flourishing businesses,” she told a gathering of business people most of whom are actively involved with BNP or Jamaat politics.

The views exchange and discussion programme was organised by Bangladesh Babsayi Parishad at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

The event was chaired by former FBCCI president and BNP leader Abdul Awal Mintoo.

More than 20 business leaders spoke at the discussion and said they would

extend their support to the leader of the opposition if she announced any programme. They also thanked her for “keeping the ready-made garments industry out of purview of hartal.”

The BNP chief called upon business leaders to get united and take to the streets to resist one-party election.

Khaleda said the opposition’s demand for holding the next general elections under a non-party caretaker government had turned into a national demand.

“Let us all be vocal and protect the people’s voting rights and democracy through a united movement. Today it is our main national duty,” she said.

She said all citizens must unite to save democracy and ensure the transfer of power in a peaceful manner.

Issuing a warning, the BNP chief said they would resist any one-sided election.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

JS body for amending RPO to allow MPs to trade with government n Kamran Reza Chowdhury A parliamentary watchdog is apparently in favour of amending two sections of the Representation of the People Order 1972 as those debars candidates from contesting in general elections if they have business contract with the government or defaulted utility bills.

In a meeting at the parliament building yesterday, the standing committee on law ministry discussed sections

12(1)K and 12(1)N of the RPO, that talked about business contracts and utility bill defaults respectively.

Fazle Rabbi Miah, chairman of the committee, told the Dhaka Tribune that the watchdog was yet to make final recommendations on the two sections and had assigned Law Minister Shafique Ahmed to talk to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in this regard.

The bill was discussed yesterday and also on Sunday, but the MPs could

not finalise their recommendations.

The committee held the discussion after receiving a letter from Awami League lawmaker Enamul Haque. The letter sought the committee’s intervention in dropping or amending section 12(1)K so that MPs could do business with the government.

Enamul Haque is the owner of the Ena Properties Limited which has inked a deal with the housing and  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

BNP starts process ‘Khaleda suggests to form ‘sangram Ashraf-Fakhrul dialogue’ committee’ “The development of a country n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla n Tribune Desk cannot be achieved without a stable

A fire rages in a factory of the Paul Mall Group in Gazipur yesterday. Story on page 1

Khaleda flies to Singapore tonight n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia is scheduled to leave for Singapore tonight for her regular medical check-up.

She will leave Dhaka at 11pm by a Singapore Airlines flight, Syrul Kabir Khan, an official of BNP chairperson’s press wing told the Dhaka Tribune.

The BNP chief is expected to return after completing the check-up, said Syrul Kabir, adding that the date of return would be informed later.

This will be Khaleda’s third visit to Singapore this year. During her last visit, there was a rumour that Khaleda held a meeting with Jatiya Party chief HM Ershad.

The party, however, rejected such rumour, saying the news was baseless and politically motivated. l

Adilur gets bail n Nazmus Sakib

The High Court on Tuesday granted bail for six months to Odhikar Secretary Adilur Rahman Khan in a case filed against him for his alleged distortion of facts regarding the police raid on Hefazat’s May 5 rally.

An HC bench comprising of Justice Borhanuddin and Justice KM Kamrul Kader passed the order in response to a petition filed by the detained right activist.

Defence lawyer Mohammad Asaduzzaman had filed for the bail petition on September 19, and said Adilur had been granted bail for six months.

Asaduzzaman added that Adilur is in Kashimpur jail at the moment and that the jail authorities will take measures after receiving the court order.

Earlier on September 25, Dhaka Cyber Crime Tribunal Judge KM Shamsul Alam denied in issuing him with bail in con-

Yet another inferno in RMG factory  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

Gazipur Fire Service and Civil Defence Station, said the blaze went out of control because of a boiler explosion.

When he last talked to the Dhaka tribune around 12:30am, he said the fire was slowly giving way to the fire fighters’ efforts. He, however, said a few more hours would be needed to fully tame the blaze.

Liton Miah, a witness, said: “One of the workers trapped inside called up his relatives and requested them to rescue him. His mobile phone, however, went out of reach a little later.”

The local administration has formed a seven-member probe committee, headed by Assistant Deputy Commis-

sioner of Gazipur Shahnewaj Dilruba Khan, to look into the incident.

The committee has been asked to submit its report within three days.

Emdad Khan, one of the directors of the factory, announced that the families of each of the deceased workers would be given Tk30,000 as immediate compensation.

A devastating factory fire in Tazreen Fashions in Ashulia in November last year killed at least 117 and left scores other injured.

In April this year, Rana Plaza, a nine-storied building in Savar near Dhaka that housed five garment factories, collapsed leaving more than 1,100 dead and thousands injured. l

Mufti Izhar and his son accused  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

injured in the explosion and later arrested, succumbed to his injuries at Chittagong Medical College Hospital early yesterday.

Banaj Kumar Majumder, additional commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, said they had recovered another hand grenade from the place of explosion at the madrasa – locally known as Lalkhana Bazar madrasa – yesterday morning.

“We are conducting drives to arrest the other accused in the cases,” he said.

Khulshi police station OC Mainul Islam said Sub-Inspector Golam Newaj had filed a case under the explosives act, accusing 12 people, including Izhar and his son Harun, and many unidentified others; and another under the acid control act, accusing Izhar and Harun in connection with the recovery of picric acid from Izhar’s residence.

According to Wikipedia, picric acid – formally called 2,4,6-trinitrophenol (TNP) – is explosive in nature like other highly nitrated compounds such as TNT, and Banaj Kumar Majumder said it was used to amplify the magnitude of explosion.

An official of Chittagong Metropolitan Police said they had raided Darul Uloom Madrasa in Chandanpura area in the afternoon, following a lead on Izhar’s presence, but the Hefazat leader had not been there. “We have arrested five persons for interrogation,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

On a visit to the Lalkhan madrasa yesterday afternoon, none but law enforcement agency personnel were

DHAKA TRIBUNE

found there as the madrasa had been closed for an indefinite period and students had been asked to leave the dormitories by 10am.

Police yesterday produced Habibur Rahman, Mohammed Ishaque, Monir Hossain, Abdul Mannan and Tafsir Ahmed – all arrested on Monday in connection with the explosion – before the court and placed a prayer for seven days’ remand.

Metropolitan Magistrate Nur-eAlam Bhuyan fixed Wednesday for hearing the remand prayer.

A massive explosion rocked Lalkhan Bazar Madrasa at about 11am on Monday, leaving at least five persons critically injured.

The police recovered three hand grenades and huge materials for making grenades from a room of a dormitory of the madrasa where the explosion had taken place.

Later, the police raided Mufti Izhar’s residence at night and seized 18 bottles of picric acid and arrested five persons, including four teachers of the madrasa.

The law enforcers had earlier arrested four injured – Nurun Nabi, Salman, Zubair Ahmed and Habib – when they had been receiving treatment at two private hospitals after the incident.

A security personnel on duty at the hospital said Habib had talked to them even an hour before he died.

Requesting anonymity, he said Habib had told him that the explosion took place soon after Nurun Nabi had kept his bag coming into the room.

Nabi, a diploma engineer who sustained 90% burn injury, was shifted to Dhaka for treatment late Monday. l

nection with the same case.

Meanwhile, Gulshan police failed to produce a report on the arrest of Odhikar Director AKM Nasiruddin Elan as directed.

On September 11, the tribunal took into cognisance the charges against the accused and ordered the issue of an arrest warrant against another accused, Nasiruddin Elan, who is absconding.

That day, the tribunal directed the officer-in-charge of the Gulshan police station to execute the arrest warrant and submit a report before the tribunal by September 19. The tribunal also asked the prison authority to produce Adilur before the tribunal for the September 19 hearing.

The case document was transferred from the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court to the Dhaka Cyber Crime Tribunal for trial on September 5 after the DB submitted specific charges to the Metropolitan Magistrate Court against Adilur and Elan. l

The main opposition BNP has started the process of forming poll-centrebased sangram (struggle) committees all across the country to resist the government’s move to hold a one-sided election.

The party started dispatching letters to the different district and thana units to form committee within the next 10 days.

“We have started sending letters as per the direction of the party chairperson, to different districts and thana units asking to form the Sangram Committee,” Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, joint secretary general of the party, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

After talking to a number of BNP leaders, it was learnt, the formation of the struggle committees had already started even before receiving the letters.

Opposition lawmaker, Shammi Akter formed the committee in his constituency on October 6, a day after BNP chairperson’s announcement.

“Welcoming the direction of our Netri (Khaleda) we formed the committee on October 6,” Shammi Akter, opposition lawmaker, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Shammi said the 51-member committee was formed at Daser Bazar High School polling centre of Baralekha Upazila in Moulavi Bazar on October 6.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia on Saturday warned if the government tries to hold election unilaterally, struggle committees, involving all the opposition parties, would be formed across the country to resist the polls.

Meanwhile, a senior leader of the party said the letter directs all districts and thana units to form voting centre-based sangram committee in their respective areas as per the direction of the party chairperson Khaleda Zia. The list of the committees comprising the leaders and activists of BNP-led 18-party alliance will be sent to the centres within the next 10 days, he said. l

JS body for amending RPO to allow  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

public works ministry for the construction of flats in Uttara.

“My opinion is [that] section 12(1) K has been incorporated in the RPO in 1972. The scenario of 1972 and that of 2013 are not the same. So, this section should be changed,” Fazle Rabbi Miah told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting. “[But] changing that particular section of the RPO is a problem because it was incorporated by the Bangabandhu government” he said.

However, the Election Commission officials, who attended yesterday’s meeting, presented a paper opposing changes to section 12(1)(K).

They said allowing MPs to sign business contracts with the government would definitely be a “conflict of interests.”

Yesterday though, the watchdog mainly sat to discuss the Representation of the People (amendment) Bill 2013, meant to strip the war criminals of their right to contest polls.

Meeting sources said member Fajil-

atun Nessa Bappy at the commit tee’s Sunday meeting suggested that section 12(1)N that disqualifies candidates for defaulting utility bills, should be dropped.

She said there had been many cases in the past where the candidates paid the utility bills but the departments or banks concerned did not register the payments.

“So, scrapping their nomination papers for the departments’ faults is not acceptable at all; this is injustice,” Bappy said.

Most of the members of the committee agreed with her and spoke in favour of dropping the section.

“We think cancellation of the nomination paper for defaulting utility bills is not justified,” said the committee chairman.

He said the scrapping of parliament membership of Jatiya Party lawmaker ABM Abul Kashem for defaulting telephone bill was an “injustice.”

Fazle Rabbi Miah said the committee would meet again soon to finalise its recommendations on the two sections of the RPO. l

Verdict in case of ex BNP minister  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

began on July 5 last year. He was granted bail on March 31 as he was confined to a wheelchair and required the assistance of two persons to move about.

When the case was kept for verdict, the tribunal denied him bail and ordered that he be sent to jail. He is now at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University Hospital.

Alim was indicted on June 11 last year on 17 counts of crimes against humanity, allegedly for killing several people, forcing deportation of a number of people, and for abduction, torture and arson during the War of Independence.

Specifically, the tribunal framed the charges on three counts of genocide and 14 counts of crimes against humanity.

The prosecution had originally pressed 28 counts of charges against him. It could not produce any witnesses in charges four and five.

According to the formal charges, Alim had been involved in the killing of 370 Hindus in Koroi Kadipur of Joypurhat on April 26, 1971. He was also involved in the killing of 10 Hindus at Uttarhat Shahor in Harunjahat under Khetlal police station in May and killing of 26 young men in an open field near Joypurhat Railway Station in late June.

After announcement of the date of verdict yesterday, prosecutor Zead-AlMalum told journalists that 15 charges out 17 in the formal charges had been

proved beyond doubt. “We expect the court will give him the maximum punishment,” he said.

On the other hand, defence counsel Tajul Islam claimed that the prosecution could not prove the case and that the accused was a “victim of political harassment and envy.”

At the time of war, accused Alim was 41-42 years old. He was a leader of razakar, an auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army, and also chairman of the Peace Committee in Joypurhat. He was an influential leader of the Convention Muslim League and vice-chairman of Bogra district council in 1971, according to the prosecution.

Born on November 1, 1930 in West Bengal of India, Alim had migrated to Joypurhat with his family in 1950. In 1958, he joined the Muslim League.

After the war, he was elected as the Joypurhat municipality chairman in 1975 and 1977. Later, Alim first became the textile minister and then communications minister during the regime of military strongman and BNP founder General Ziaur Rahman in 1978.

Meanwhile, the case against alleged al-Badr leaders Chowdhury Mueen Uddin and Ashrafuzzaman Khan has been kept for judgement while the cases against Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami and former Awami League leader Mobarak Ali alias Mobarak Hossain are nearing conclusion. l

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has suggested secretary-level talks between main opposition BNP and ruling Awami League to resolve the long-drawn political crisis in the country, says a UNB report that quoted a Chinese embassy media release.

“We’re ready to hold talks with the government on the election through a non-party neutral government. BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and Awami League general secretary Syed Ashraful Islam could represent the two sides,” Khaleda was quoted as saying in a meeting with Chinese ambassador in Dhaka at her Gulshan office Monday night.

Khaleda said BNP did not believe in violence, and they have always been carrying out programmes in peaceful ways.

In response, Chinese envoy Li Jun said he has noticed that recently BNP has been conducting mass contact programmes in peaceful ways. “I also see that BNP will have larger political movements after October 25. I believe these future programmes will also be peaceful.”

The Chinese envoy expressed concern on the current political stalemate in Bangladesh. “We have seen both BNP and Awami League agree that the coming election should be free, fair and inclusive, and leaders have showed their will to resolve the dispute through discussions.”

He said his country sincerely hoped that both parties could continue to show goodwill to each other, build trust and enlarge consensus, so as to create a sound environment for the next election.

When the Chinese envoy said terrorism is a major global threat and emphasized close international cooperation, Khaleda said if BNP assumed power in the next election, they would exercise zero tolerance to terrorism.

surrounding environment,” the Chinese envoy said.

Khaleda said BNP would like to develop peaceful, equal and cooperative relationship with India and Myanmar and stressed that economic development, infrastructure building, investment promotion and education would be the policy priorities of BNP, according to the Chinese Embassy release.

She said as a time-tested and sincere friend, China was an important development partner for Bangladesh.

“In the speech I made in Sylhet, I have publicly expressed my welcome to China’s involvement in Bangladesh economic development. We hope China could increase her investment in Bangladesh and establish an export processing zone.”

The envoy said, “The proposal of China-India-Myanmar-Bangladesh economic corridor, which include projects like Sonadia Deep Seaport, will help Bangladesh turn its geological advantage to economic and social competitiveness, and make Bangladesh a regional hub linking South Asia, Southeast Asia and China.”

The hour-long meeting that started around 8:40pm on Monday was held at the BNP chairperson’s Gulshan office.

Talking to reporters after the meeting, BNP vice chairman Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, who was present at the meeting, said matters of bilateral interests of the two countries were discussed at the meeting.

Terming China a genuine friend of Bangladesh, Khaleda, also the leader of the opposition in parliament, praised the significant role of the country in socioeconomic and infrastructural development of Bangladesh.

Both the BNP chief and the Chinese Ambassador hoped that the existing friendly ties between the two nations will be consolidated further in the days to come, Mobin said. l

Was Izhar allowed to flee?  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

computer or an IPS or a kerosene stove.

“Their claim could not convince me when I saw the devastation caused by the explosion,” Sontosh Chakma, who is in charge of the Bomb Squad of the Detective Branch of Chittagong Metropolitan Police, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone last evening.

Sontosh reached the spot of explosion on Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia Madrasa campus, which is widely known as Lalkhan Bazar madrasa, around 1pm. A team of fire fighters had already reached the place and extinguished the fire that had originated from the explosion.

Sontosh saw the colour of water was red and suspected that an unknown powder the reason.

He saw that the ceiling fan, iron grills of windows and walls of the room were damaged so badly that it was not possible from an explosion of a computer or electric equipment or kerosene stove.

He suspected it must have been some powerful explosives. However, he could not yet start working on his suspicion as it was unbearably hot there because of the fire. “We could get in the room around 3pm,” said Sontosh.

It took him more than one and a half hours to be confirmed that there were handmade grenades and some other explosives and flammable substances.

“We then informed our high officials about the matter,” he said. It was around 4:30pm.

Banaj Kumar Majumder, additional commissioner of the CMP, told the Dhaka Tribune that the confirmation about the blast caused by explosives and grenades came around 5:30pm. It

took some time to decide on the next course of action.

Banaj said Mufti Izhar had probably thought that the police would not able to find out the real reason behind the explosion, so he had stayed in the madrasa. But when he learnt about police had found out he left the madrasa and went into hiding.

However, a source who has close links with Mufti Izhar’s network, said the leader of the fundamentalist organisation Hefazat-e-Islam also had strong connections in the Chittagong police department.

Either, he was tipped off by someone in the police department about an impending arrest or police were waiting for directives from the top level.

The police started searching for Izhar after 7pm and raided his madrasa. They also raided some other places in the city to arrest Izhar and his son Harun Izhar – both prime accused in two cases filed in connection with Monday’s explosion.

Unknown substances

Sontosh Chakma told the Dhaka Tribune that he had seen a powder residue – left after water spilled over ground had dried off – burnt in sunlight.

He said he had never seen this type of powder and they would send the sample to the laboratories of the explosives directorate and the Criminal Investigation Department in Dhaka for tests.

Sontosh said there had been a few other flammable substances, explosives and materials used for making grenades. They would also send samples of those to the laboratories. l

Time is running out fast: Khaleda  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

“I have already said it in Sylhet and I am also saying it today. One-sided election will be thwarted by forming poll centre-based agitation committees across the country. The businessmen should also raise their voices,” she said.

“One-party election will create one party rule. Only individuals and a particular party get benefits from one party rule,” she said.

Portraying a gloomy picture of the country’s economy and business, she said though the government had been shouting about many imaginary development plans in the last five years, the country’s economy was in a crisis and everything was heading towards uncertainty.

She also alleged that the government was destroying the country’s RMG sector and was plotting to politi-

cise business organisations.

Khaleda once again mentioned that her party would introduce a new type of politics and form a new kind of government to meet the needs of the time.

However, she did not elaborate on this new kind of government.

“I will not elaborate our plans today.

Time will say what we want to do. We want to prove it by our work not by words,” she added.

Promising that her government would give priority to merits, the opposition leader said they would ensure representation of everyone and consider the opinions of all sections of the society.

“We will not patronise corruption, terrorism and narrow politicisation.

We will not follow dirty politics, rather we will improve the political culture,” she said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

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Wednesday, October 9, 2013

BGMEA urges Hasina, Khaleda not to make RMG victim of politics n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Several business leaders of the country at a programme yesterday said readymade garment exports should not be a victim of politics.

“Buyers wanted to know what will be the situation of the country after October 25,” said Atiqul Islam, president of BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufactures & Exporters Association).

“I am requesting the leader of the opposition to send a message to the foreigners, and also assure us, that the situation will be calm and quiet after October 25 for the interest of the garments industry,”Atiqul said at a view-exchange meeting to discuss Bangladesh’s current business and economic condition.

“RMG is our lifeline. I am asking the two leaders to reach a consensus on the polls,” he said, referring to Prime

Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Khaleda Zia. Atiqul also thanked Khaleda for keeping the garments industry out of the purview of general strikes.

Bangladesh Babsayi Parishad (business association) organised the programme in the capital’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

About 20 business leaders addressed the meeting, chaired by former FBCCI president Abdul Awal Mintu.

The businessmen also criticised the government for portraying a gloomy picture of the country’s economic sector, saying there was no alternative to ousting the Awami League-led alliance to save the economy.

Many of the speakers branded Khaleda as a future prime minister, and sought her support when she assumes office.

Moazzem Hossain, vice president of

Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira), claimed that the government had chalked out a “mega” plan to destroy overseas employment.

“Around 14 and a half lakh (1.45 million) people took part in the (official) registration process, but only 450 were sent abroad. The government has looted hundreds of crores of takas through this registration business,” Moazzem said.

Awlad Hossain, president of Faridpur Chamber of Commerce and Industries, said people were afraid of what would happen after October 25.

“I am urging the prime minister to accept the opposition party’s demand for the sake of fair elections. It is your (PM) duty to give comfort to the people of the country. If the government does not pay any heed, we will be with Begum Khaleda Zia after October 25,” he said. l

Dhaka University teachers form a human chain in front of the Aparajeyo Bangla yesterday demanding execution of the verdicts of all war crime trials shortly SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

‘Freedom fighters, Hindus were killed in presence of Yusuf’

Defence witnesses in Nizami case from Oct 20

n Muktasree Chakma Sathi

The war crimes tribunal yesterday ordered the defence to produce their witnesses in favour of Jamaat-e Islami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami from October 20.

In the morning, the International Crimes Tribunal 1 led by Justice ATM Fazle Kabir heard a total of eight petitions, of which seven were submitted by the defence and one by the prosecution.

After hearing both the sides, the tribunal allowed the prosecution’s petition seeking permission to produce additional documents. Of the seven defence petitions, five were rejected.

The tribunal in its order said the examination of defence witnesses would be held on every working day without any adjournment. Earlier the tribunal allowed the defence to produce four witnesses for Nizami.

The Jamaat ameer is facing 16 charges of murder and torture of unarmed people, and complicity in commission of genocide and crimes against humanity in Pabna and Dhaka in 1971.

At the end of his cross-examination yesterday, Investigation Officer Abdur Razzaque Khan placed a book as exhibit named ‘71-er Dosh Mash(Ten Months of 1971) written by Rabindranath Trivedi in which Nizami has been identified as the chief of para militia force al-Badr and Jamaat’s then student wing Islami Chhatra Sangha.

The IO was the 26th and last prosecution witness in the case.

Then the tribunal set the date for defence witnesses based on a petition that the defence could not place witnesses before Eid. IO deposition against Mobarak Investigation Officer Shyamol Chowdhury started giving deposition in the case against former Awami League leader of Brahmanbaria Mobarak Hossain alias Mobarak Ali.l

A prosecution witness yesterday told the war crimes tribunal that Jamaat-e-Islami leader AKM Yusuf, also the alleged founder of razakar force, had instructed to shoot some unarmed Hindus and two pro-liberation people in Morolganj of Bagerhat during the 1971 Liberation War. Second prosecution witness Nasir Uddin Ahmed claimed his two friends – freedom fighter Abu Bakar and social worker Abdul Majid were killed by razakars upon Yusuf’s order and in his presence.

Razakars, formed with the members of Jamaat, had collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces and committed crimes against humanity against the pro-liberation forces.

Freedom fighter Nasir said they had attacked the Morolganj razakar camp on May 13, 1971 but was failed to take over that camp. “One of our fellow freedom fighter Abu Bakar was shot in this operation and he took shelter in one Ramzan Kazi’s home. However, later, he was confined by the razakars from that home and later killed following the order of Yusuf and in his presence.”

Nasir also told in the International Crimes Tribunal 2 that on May 19, 1971

the accused delivered a public speech and called upon the people to eliminate the pro-liberation and Hindu people.

“After his speech, the same day local razakars started looting properties of the unarmed people particularly those belonged to the Hindus. Around 400-500 Hindu houses were looted

After his speech, the same day local razakars started looting properties of the unarmed people particularly those belonged to the Hindus.

Around 400-500 Hindu houses were looted and burnt down to ashes in Morolganj.

Three Hindus were also shot to death at that time and burnt down to ashes in Morolganj.

Three Hindus were also shot to death at that time,” Nasir, who hails from Morolganj, said.

He said the razakars had confined Radhe Shyam’s son Shanti Ranjan Dash, Satya Ranjan Dash and Keshab Dash along with Amar Das, Shankar Das and Pijush Kanti Ghorai. All of them were taken to Morolganj launch terminal.

The witness also submitted that he had eye-witnessed the shooting on

these Hindus in presence of Yusuf. “I hid myself in that launch terminal to see what happen to the confined persons. Around midnight, Yusuf came to the place and told razakars ‘Why have you kept these persons alive? We have to go to Bagerhat, kill them.’ Then the razakar started shooting which left Shanti, Keshab and Satya died there.

Later the razakars also shot Amar Das but he managed to jump into the river and escape. Seeing all these, Pijush manage to run away.”

There were two lights in the terminal and the confined persons were being identified by the razakars by torch lights, he added. “After the atrocities, Yusuf left for Khulna with a gunboat.”

Sixty-seven year old Nasir claimed that Yusuf had formed Peace Committee in Khulna and was chairman of that committee. “He picked up youths form different areas of Khulna and used to appoint them as razakars. He also was the man who provided training to these razakars. He used to deploy razakars in different areas of Khulna including Morolganj and Sharankhola.”

Later, defence lawyer Saifur Rahman cross examined the witness. The cross examination remained unfinished and the tribunal set October 31 for further procedure of the case. l

Cut in branches of SOBs: JS body n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

Election Working Group organises a discussion session on Eye on Election Report at the city’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

None but army can maintain law and order during polls: Study n Mohammad Zakaria About 65% people believe that none but the army can maintain the law and order during elections, said a study of Election Working Group (EWG) yesterday.

Director of EWG Abdul Alim presented the findings of the study at a city hotel.

The EWG carried out the study on 118 parliamentary constituencies out of the total 300 across the country from June to August.

The study shows that about 46.3% people think other than the army law enforcers are not capable of ensuring security and impartiality in the polls.

EWG in its presentation claimed that it had appointed permanent observer at each constituency and thousands of short-term observers to conduct the study.

The study said the army were deployed in the 1973 first general election to maintain law and order as per the arti-

cle 126 of the constitution.

In 2001 the army were included in the definition of the law enforcing agencies in the electoral laws. The provision was dropped from the electoral laws in 2009.

About representation of women’s participation in the committees of political parties the study report said the current level of female participation remains extremely low, even at 8.5%.

Although the RPO mandates that political parties must achieve 33% women’s participation in all committees by 2020.

Meanwhile, Election Commissioner Shah Newaz yesterday told reporters that the Election Commission would seek assistance from the army in the parliamentary election, if needed.

The commission will take initiatives after monitoring the situation in the runup to the next general election, he added.

He hoped that all political parties would take part in the next general elections. l

In line with the suggestions of donors, a parliamentary panel yesterday recommended that the government reduce the number of branches of the stateowned banks to cut loss.

The parliamentary standing committee on finance ministry justifying its recommendations said many of the branches of Sonali, Janata, Agrani, Rupali and Basic banks in the rural areas incurred losses bleeding the economy.

“In many cases, we see branches of more than one state-owned bank in a small area. But none of them are profitable,” AHM Mustafa Kamal, the committee chairman, told the Dhaka Tribune after a meeting at the parliament building.

He said the banks could work through “merger of the branches” or could leave it to the private sector.

The successive governments ignored global lenders’ prescription to trim state-owned banks which provide people with basic banking services like distribution of subsidy and agriloans, teachers’ salary, allowances for freedom fighters and elderly people through their countrywide network of branches.

Private banks operate mainly in the urban or semi-urban areas.

According to the working paper presented at the meeting, Sonali Bank’s capital deficit (up to June 30) stands at Tk45.44bn while the amount for Janata Bank is Tk16.23bn. Agrani Bank’s deficit is Tk24.9bn while Rupali Bank Tk4.25bn.

Mustafa Kamal said because of the increasing losses of the state-owned banks, “management turns to the government for capital to meet its day-today operation.” l

n Udisa Islam

GHULAM AZAM APPEALS

Court asks for concise statement n Nazmus Sakib The Appellate Division yesterday ordered the defence and the government to lodge concise statements of their appeals by November 5 in the war crimes case of former Jamaat-e-Islami chief Ghulam Azam, who was given 90 years’ jail by a war crimes tribunal.

The five-member bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain passed the order. The summary documents include facts and the arguments relied upon.

According to the Appellate Division Rules, 1988, the appellant party cannot

start their appeal hearing until submission of the concise statement.

The appeals hearing will begin after the conclusion of hearings in cases of death row convict Delawar Hossain Sayedee and Mohammad Kamaruzzaman. Sayedee’s case has been adjourned until November 12 while the appeals hearing in Kamaruzzaman case is yet to begin.

On August 5, the Jamaat supremo appealed against the verdict that sentenced him on July 15 to 90 years in prison seeking acquittal while the government filed an appeal on August 12 for giving him death penalty. l

Sayedee appeals hearing deferred n Nazmus Sakib The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court on Tuesday adjourned the appeal hearing in the cases of Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee till November 12.

The apex court has also set November 5 as the timeline for both the government and defence counsel to submit concise statement in the appeal cases of convicted war criminal Ghulam Azam.

A five-member SC bench, led by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain, passed the orders.

On February 28, the International Crimes Tribunal 1 handed down death penalty to Sayedee over two charges (murders of Ibrahim Kutti and Bisa Bali). However, he was not sentenced on six other charges which were also proved against him. The tribunal acquitted the Jamaat leader on 12 other charges. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

BRTC, BIWTC plan special services for Eid and Durga Puja n Tribune Report With Eid-ul-Azha and Durga Puja just a week away, Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation and Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation have arranged special bus and ferry services.

Advance tickets for BRTC’s special service will be on sale from October 10 for the period of October 12-19.

In total 500 buses will be running from depots in and around the capital on 45 different routes and another 500 buses will be operating from seven depots outside Dhaka.

Nikhil Ranjan Roy, director (Admin and Operation) BRTC told the Dhaka Tribune bus owners have been instructed to repair buses for the special Eid service. He said the special service will be running in all districts where BRTC operates.

Gopal Chandra Majumdar, assistant general manager BIWTC Barisal said daily at least one regular and one special vessel would ply the designated routes. l

Muhith seeks commission’s advice on GB associate bodies n Asif showkat Kallol Finance Minister AMA Muhith said he had asked the Grameen Bank Commission chairman to submit a report recommending measures about the bank’s 54 associated organisations.

“I will take action step-by-step for the betterment of the bank,” he told the Dhaka Tribune on Monday.

Earlier on the day, the commission submitted a précis of its final report on Grameen Bank to the finance minister at his secretariat office.

A representative of the commission handed over the précis to the minister on behalf of its chairman Mamun Ur Rashid, who is currently visiting Malaysia, said a senior official of the banking division.

“I got the précis which would be helpful in taking a decision about Grameen Bank as we table the draft of Grameen Bank Law 2013 as a bill in parliament soon,” the minister said.

The finance minister needed the précis to help him with when he goes to parliament with the GB bill, he added.

Contacted over phone, Chairman of Grameen Bank Commission Mamun Ur Rashid said he had sent a letter to the finance minister with answers to some of his queries about proposed GB law.

“However, as regards our final report and the recommendations about associated organisations as asked by the finance minister, we need more time,” he said. l

WEATHER

Slight rise in temperature likely n UNB Light to moderate rain or thundershowers accompanied by temporary gusty wind is likely to occur at many places over Chittagong, Khulna and Barisal divisions and at a few places over Rangpur, Rajshahi, Dhaka and Sylhet divisions until 6pm today.

Moderately heavy falls were also likely at places over the country, Met Office said. Day and night temperature may rise slightly over the country, while rainfall activities may decrease over the country.

The sun sets in the capital at 5:38pm today and rises at 5:54am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 33.5 degree Celsius was recorded at Bogra and lowest 22.4 degrees at Dinajpur and Sayedpur yesterday. Highest and lowest temperatures recorded in some major cities yesterday were: City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

32.3 31.5 31.8 31.0 31.5 31.8 30.4 32.8

25.3 25.2 24.4 23.0 25.5 25.4 24.2 25.0

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:38am 5:52am 11:46pm 3:29pm 5:38pm 6:53pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

News

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

JS passes Vested Property Tofail links Khaleda remark to madrasa blast Act Amendment Bill n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

Complaints relating to ownership of schedule B will be cancelled

n Kamran Reza Chowdhury Parliament yesterday amended the vested property law by dropping the second schedule, which will allow present occupants to own the properties.

After the country’s independence the government listed some properties of Hindus on the second schedule, saying those belonged to the government, not the occupants.

The House passed the Vested Property Return (second amendment) Bill 2013 by voice vote in the absence of the main opposition BNP as the law minister proposed the enactment of the law.

Hindu leaders demanded scrapping of schedule B attached with the original Vested Property Return Act 2001.

They said land officials and bureaucrats at the grassroots harass Hindu

families living on land listed on schedule B and extract money.

After the creation of India and Pakistan in 1947, many Hindu families left this part of Bengal, which later emerged as an independent country in 1971, and settled in the Hindu-majority India.

Again, the 1965 war between India and Pakistan caused further exodus of Hindus.

The then Pakistan government declared their land and houses as “enemy property” taking its control. After the birth of Bangladesh, properties vacated

by Hindus came on schedule A. The government listed some such properties on schedule B, claiming that the occupant Hindus may be living there unlawfully.

This schedule encourages many local people to harass Hindus in collusion with the local authorities.

According to the new law passed yesterday, all cases challenging the ownership of the property on schedule B will no longer exist. All previous judgements, decrees of the cases relating to the property of schedule B will be cancelled, said the new law.

Again, all complaints relating to the ownership of schedule B properties will cease to exist.

Another bill passed

The House enacted the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Bill-2013 by voice vote as the state minister for science and technology proposed its passage.

The new law will scrap the Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research Ordinance-1978 promulgated by the military ruler Ziaur Rahman. l

Senior Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed yesterday linked BNP chief Khaleda Zia’s “anti-election” statement at a Sylhet rally to the grenade explosion at a madrasa in Chittagong.

“The blast at the madrasa on one hand and the leader of the opposition’s provocative statement on the other – what do these incidents indicate?” he said during an unscheduled discussion in parliament yesterday.

He along with another ruling coalition MP asked the government to go tough on the forces that wanted to turn madrasas into centres of bomb-making ahead of the national elections.

“The government cannot sit idle if madrasas are turned into centres of bomb making,” Tofail told the House as Mayeen Uddin Khan Badal, an MP of the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, raised the issue of the explosion at Jamiatul Uloom Al-Islamia Madrasa run by 18-party opposition alliance leader

Mufti Izharul Islam Chowdhury in Lalkhan Bazar, Chittagong.

Tofail alleged that the opposition had been out to destabilise the electoral procedure by creating chaos in the country.

About the Chittagong madrasa blast, Badal said: “Such incidents cannot be tolerated in any civilised country.”

Tofail told parliament that an environment favourable for holding a free and fair election existed in the country.

He said it would not be possible for the ruling party to influence the next polls.

Referring to the death sentence of BNP lawmaker Salauddin Quader Choudhury, Badal said: “It is unfortunate that the BNP supports such a culprit.”

After Badal’s speech, independent lawmaker Fazlul Azim tried to make some comments on the war crimes tribunal, but the deputy speaker switched his microphone off for his “uncourteous” behaviour with the chair.

Azim walked out of the House around 9pm. l

TARIQUE-MAMUN MONEY LAUNDERING CASE

Lawyers lock horns n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday recorded depositions by the recall witness and Investigating Officer (IO) in a laundering money case filed against BNP’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman and his associate Gias Uddin Al-Mamun.

Dhaka Special Judge Md Motaher Hosain took the depositions of the Anti-Corruption Commission’s (ACC) Deputy Director Syed Tahsinul Haque and IO Mohammad Ibrahim, who were also cross-examined by the defence counsel Advocate Md Sanaullah Miah.

The defence filed a petition to adjourn the hearing on the grounds that senior defence lawyer Barrister Md Fakhrul Islam was not present and therefore sought more time. The ACC’s lawyer Mosharaff Hossain Kajol opposed granting an extension to the defence team. However petitions submitted by both the defence and the ACC’s counsel were rejected as they argued their case in court.

Law enforcers had to bring the situ-

Demo against Rampal power project today

n Tribune Report The National Committee to Protect Oil Gas Mineral Resources Power and Ports will stage demonstrations across the country today demanding the withdrawal of proposed 1,320MW Rampal coal-fired power plant.

In Dhaka, a rally has been called in front of National Press Club around 4pm, said a press release.

At a programme yesterday, leaders of the platform urged the government to “remove the blemish” of foundation stone of the power plant, laid by the prime minister on October 5, before its tenure ended, and also to scrap the project and all related actions.

They threatened to announce tougher programmes including hartals, blockades, mass sit-ins and laying a siege to the power, energy and mineral resources ministry.

Prof Anu Mohammad, member secretary of the platform, read out a written statement at the press conference held in the city when Engineer Sheikh Muhammad Shahidullah, the convener, also spoke. l

Mozena visits Moudud n Tribune Desk US Ambassador Dan Mozena yesterday visited ailing BNP Standing Committee Member Moudud Ahmed at a city hospital.

Mozena went to the coronary care unit (CCU) of United Hospital around 12 noon where the BNP leader is undergoing treatment and enquired about Moudud’s health condition from physicians.

The US Ambassador also talked to the BNP leader.

Former law minister Moudud was admitted to the hospital after he fell down at his Gulshan residence following chest pain on Sunday.

He is still under close observation of physicians at the CCU of the hospital and undergoing various tests, Moudud’s law chamber junior Ehsanur Rahman told UNB yesterday.

Ehsan said the condition of the 74-year-old BNP lawmaker is seemingly improving. l

ation under control when the lawyers’ arguments triggered an outburst by the pro-BNP lawyers, who shouted slogans against the AL government.

Till date the court has recorded the testimony of up to 13 prosecution witnesses in relation to the money laundering case.

In October, 2009 the ACC filed cases against Tarique and Mamun with Cantonment Police Station in the capital, accusing them of siphoning to Singapore Tk204.1m between 2003 and 2007.

The money was allegedly given as bribe by Khadiza Islam, director of Nirman Construction Ltd, to Mamun, for his help in procuring a contract to install an 80MW power plant in Tongi.

After conducting investigations in July, 2010 the ACC submitted the charge sheet to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court in Dhaka.

In August last year, the court indicted Tarique and Mamun under the Money Laundering Act-2002 and an arrest warrant was issued against Tarique. The next court date has been set for Thursday. l

Students of Dhaka Polytechnic Institute stage demo in front of the institution demanding upgradation of their degree in the capital yesterday RAJIB DHAR

Vote for AL to keep corrupt at bay: PM n Tribune Desk

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday sought another term to serve the nation to accomplish the unfinished tasks of her government and thus lead the country towards prosperity.

“The way you’ve achieved peace and development by voting Awami League to power in the previous election, I’ll urge you to give us another chance to serve the nation by casting your votes for ‘boat’ in the next election,” she said, reports UNB. Sheikh Hasina, also the president of the ruling Awami League, was addressing a mammoth public rally at Jhenidah Government High School ground organised by the party’s district unit.

Agriculture Minister Begum Matia Chowdhury, Post and Telecommunications Minister Shahara Khatun, AL joint general secretary Mahbub-ulAlam Hanif, AL organising secretary BM Mozammel Haque, among others, spoke at the rally held with State Minister for Fisheries and Livestock Adv Abdul Hai in the chair.

Alleging that the birth of BNP is through the politics of murder and kill-

ing, Hasina said they had resorted to unbridled plundering of public wealth and played game with the fate of the country’s people to make their own fortunes.

Hasina said taking power by BNP means plundering money, oppression, terrorism, corruption and misrule, nothing else. “They (BNP) don’t want the country’s people to have their fate changed…the BNP chairperson and her two sons had laundered money abroad …they were also found guilty of that, bringing shame on us and tainting the country’s image.”

She alleged that the BNP top leader has amassed black money through corruption, embezzled the fund of the orphanage and also case was filed against her to this end. “But, she (Khaleda) didn’t appear before the court despite knowing her offence.”

Holding responsible the BNP-Jamaat-Shibir-Hefajat cadres for maligning the religion of peace ‘Islam’ through burning the copies of holy Quran during the Hefajat’s mayhem on May 5 , the Awami League chief asked her arch rival why she had instigated the BNP-Jamaat-Shibir-Hefajat cadres for burning the copies of Quran.

She went on, “Those who burn the copies of holy Quran, set fire to mosques and resort to lies with the picture of Gilaf of Kaba Sharif, how they can protect Islam?”

In this regard, she mentioned that during the rule of BNP-Jamaat, a synchronised bomb attack was carried in 500 places across the country while a Krishak League leader was killed inside a mosque while reciting Quran.

“As people voted for AL, terrorism and militancy have also been removed from the country and they are now living in peace,” she said.

The premier said whenever her party assumed office, Bangladesh was rewarded internationally, but the country had turned champions in corruption five times during the rule of BNP-Jamaat. “They (BNP-Jamaat) have snatched food from people’s mouth and siphoned off money abroad.”

Hasina said the people of all faiths, including the Hindus, Muslims, Christians and Buddhists, would live in the country with equal rights and observe their religious festivals with due fervour and festivity. “Islam is a religion of peace and it gives us such lessons.” l

NGOs must stand against undemocratic government: Gowher Rizvi n Rabiul Islam The prime minister’s Advisor for International Affairs Gowher Rizvi yesterday called upon non-government organisations (NGOs) to oppose any unelected and undemocratic government for the sake of the country’s development.

“If anyone wants to grab power by illegal means, the NGOs must not assist them,” he said, while addressing a meeting on the development role of NGOs in the Dhaka division at Biam auditorium in the capital.

Rizvi said NGOs should work together with a government which would be democratically elected and would believe in the spirit of the Liberation War and the principles of secularism.

The meeting was organised by NGO Affairs Bureau, which is under the

Prime Minister’s Office. Similar meetings have also been held at the six divisional headquarters.

Gowher Rizvi observed that without a democratically elected government in power, the civil society would be unable to exist.

“It is the duty of the civil society to oppose whenever there is an attack on the rights of the women and secularism,” he said.

NGOs are now an integral part of the government and without NGOs, the government cannot implement its programmes and manifestos, Rizvi said.

“However, there are some regulations which create problems for NGOs,” he conceded, in response to NGO representatives’ complaints about bureaucratic problems.

Rizvi admitted that there were weaknesses in governance, which must

be addressed.

Rights organisation Ain o Salish Kendra Executive Director Sultana Kamal said, “We are facing increased attacks on rights of women and the minorities. We want to live with equal rights and dignity.”

“We have to resist those who attack the minorities and women,” she added.

Kamal observed that there was a gap between the government and the NGOs and the government intended controlling the NGOs. To some extent, the government machinery delayed paperwork which hampered the activities of NGOs. “Of course, NGOs must work in a transparent manner and under certain rules and regulations,” she added.

NGO Affairs Bureau Director General Md Nurun Nabi Talukder presided over the meeting. l

Three Ansarullah men detained n Our Correspondent, Chapainawabganj

Rab yesterday detained three local leaders of outlawed militant group Ansarullah Bangla Team at Rahanpur Bazar in Chapainawabganj.

The arrestees were identified as Mohammad Ibrahim, 35, Faruk Hossain, 32, Sadequl Islam, 33 - all from Rahanpur Poshu Hospital Colony.

The team also seized two CPUs and monitors, 26 CDs, and books containing fundamentalist literatures.

In a presser, Major Shafiq said the arrestees were earlier involved with JMB, another banned group.

Currently, they were followers of Mufti Jasim Uddin Rahmani, a leader of the Ansarullah Bangla Team. l

JU registrar freed after 8 days n JU Correspondent Jahangirnagar University Registrar Abu Bakr Siddique and Deputy Registrar (teaching) Md Abu Hasan were release d on the ninth day of confinement by the agitating teachers yesterday, a day after the education minister warned of legal actions.

At a meeting with Education Secretary Dr Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury yesterday, the agitating teachers said they would withdraw their programme from today, the secretary told reporters after the meeting last night.

Before the meeting, General Secretary Prof Kamrul Ahsan of the General Teachers’ Forum, platform of the agitating teachers had said at a press conference, “We are determined that we will not stop our movement until VC Prof Anwar Hossain reigns from the post.”

Earlier at another press conference, the forum expressed their reaction on Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid’s Monday’s statement asking agitating teachers to go back to classes or face legal actions.

Prof Kamrul said: “We are grateful to the education minister for taking an initiative to eliminate the crisis. But we are expressing our deep resentment over his statement that legal actions would be taken against the teachers.” l

Long Form

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

5

Finding the missing link

Make the most of human capital to maximise economic growth

RAJIB DHAR

D

n Daniel M Sabet and Afsana Tazreen

espite problems of poor infrastructure, political instability, corruption, and natural disasters, Bangladesh’s economy has continued to grow at a remarkable rate, and there are reasons to be optimistic about the future. For example, Bangladesh should reap the benefits of a “demographic dividend,” as the relative share of the working-age population increases.

Whether Bangladesh can benefit from this dividend, however, will depend on the quality of its human capital. Without a skilled labour force, Bangladesh’s demographics could turn into a liability rather than an asset. This analysis examines whether our educational system is preparing Bangladesh’s youth to contribute to the country’s continued economic growth.

It is now among the 60 largest economies of the world.

Goldman Sachs has included the country in their list of “Next Eleven” while JP Morgan added Bangladesh to its “Frontier Five.”

The demographic dividend: For the latter half of the 20th century, most working age Bangladeshis had to invest their time and income in taking care of a large number of children. These children have since grown up and are contributing to the economy, but they have had far fewer of their own children than their parents’ generation. As shown in Table 1, the result is more working age Bangladeshis with fewer dependent to care for. In 1961, approximately 48.8% of the population had to care for 51.2% of the population.

By 2012, however, an estimated 61.6% percent of the population had to care for only 38.4%, freeing up both time and income.

Reasons to be optimistic about the future

Human capital: The missing link

Past success is a good predictor of future success: Since Bangladesh transitioned to democracy in 1991, the country has averaged GDP growth rates of 4.9% in the 1990s, 6.0% in the 2000s, and 6.3% for the first three years of the 2010s.

While the country’s growth has been impressive, it has been overwhelmingly driven by remittances and the ready made garments (RMG) export. Remittances totalled Tk1,156bn (US$14.5 billion) in FY 2012-13, accounting for 11.1% of GDP. For the previous fiscal year, it is estimated that the RMG sector employed 4 million workers, accounted for 78.6% of total export earnings, and made up 16.2% of GDP. While these two sources of wealth have been a boon for the country, they are unsustainable. If Bangladesh is to become a middle income country, then wages will necessarily rise and Bangladesh will cease to be an attractive destination for the low-cost garments sector. As such, today’s income from remittances and the RMG sector have to be used to diversify, add value, and grow tomorrow’s economy in new ways. For this to happen, a larger percentage of the Bangladeshi working age population must acquire the skills and abilities to turn disposable time and income into new businesses and innovation.

Table 1: Demographic changes in Bangladesh 0-14 yrs.

15-59 yrs.

60+ yrs.

1961

46.0

48.8

5.2

1974

48.0

46.3

5.7

1981

46.7

47.8

5.5

1991

45.1

49.5

5.4

2001

39.4

54.9

5.7

2012

33.6

61.6

4.8*

* 2012 data represents the percentage of those 65 and older rather than 60 and older.

Table 2: Adult literacy rates (15 years and older) Year

Pakistan

Bangladesh

Nigeria

Egypt

Iran

Indonesia

Mexico

Vietnam

Philippines

1990

n/a

35.30%

55.40%

44.40%

65.50%

81.50%

87.60%

93.40%

96.90%

2000

42.70%

47.50%

54.80%

55.60%

77.00%

90.40%

91.00%

94.10%

95.70%

2010

54.90%

56.80%

61.30%

72.00%

85.00%

92.60%

93.10%

93.40%

95.40%

Table 3: Gross enrollment rates

1976

1980

1986

1990

2002

2009

2011

Primary

79.2%

71.4%

68.1%

81.3%

-

-

98.7%

Secondary

17.1%

18.3%

20.0%

20.7%

50.6%

49.3%

52.0%

Tertiary

2.7%

3.1%

4.8%

4.1%

6.2%

10.6%

14.0%

Table 4: Self-reported cheating and plagiarism

Table 5: Sometimes ok for students to…

Copy during a test

Copy and paste from the internet

Strongly agree

6.4%

6.4%

28.8%

Agree

27.5%

35.6%

36.0%

27.5%

Disagree

36.7%

40.7%

Never

35.6%

23.2%

Strongly disagree

29.3%

17.3%

Total number

1,045

1,033

Total number

792

793

Copied during a test

Copied and pasted from the internet

Often/Very often

12.1%

20.5%

Sometimes

16.4%

Rarely

Table 6: The primary reason why “some students”

Do not read assignments

Cheat on tests

Copy and paste from the internet

Poor English

30.8%

16.2%

28.6%

Because others do it

16.0%

12.5%

13.2%

Not willing to work hard/study/prepare

40.1%

53.4%

43.1%

Professors’ fault

7.2%

4.1%

4.1%

Pressure/too much work

5.9%

13.7%

10.9%

Total number

1,045

1,037

1,027

The education scenario: How are we doing?

In our interviews with entrepreneurs, we consistently hear complaints about the quality of workers, and many business leaders place the blame on the educational system. A glance at the educational sector shows substantial progress but also a very long way to go if Bangladesh is to capitalise on its current growth rates and its demographic dividend.

Literacy rates: While Bangladesh has managed to dramatically raise its literacy levels over the last two decades from 35.3% in 1990 to 56.8% in 2010, as shown in Table 2, the country still lags far below most other emerging economies included in Goldman Sach’s “Next 11.” For example, Asian competitors Vietnam and Indonesia both have literacy rates over 90%.

Enrolment rates: Enrolment rates also reflect good and bad news. As shown in Table 3, enrolment rates have improved considerably over the last 35 years for primary, secondary, and tertiary education. By 2011 the government claimed that primary school enrolment had reached 98.7%. Unfortunately, however, only 66% of these students are likely to complete primary education and only 5% of secondary school entrants are likely to get a higher secondary certificate.

Secondary and Higher Secondary Examinations (SSC and HSC) At first blush, increasing pass rates on SSC and HSC examinations appear to demonstrate progress in student learning. Over the last eight years, the percentage of students passing the SSC exam has increased from 62.2% to 89.7%; the percentage passing the HSC exam has grown from 65.7% to 74.3%; and the percentage of students earning the highest score of GPA 5.0 has almost doubled from 3.2% to 6.3% (See Figure 1). Education board officials have attributed this growth to new teaching methods, expanded teacher training and greater use of textbooks by students.

On further examination, however, there are reasons to believe that these gains are overstated. Several teachers interviewed for this study felt that the government had decreased the exams’ standards rather than improved student learning. For example, in the past year many HSC students who scored the highest score of GPA 5 failed to even pass the Dhaka University admission tests.

University level education: At the university level, it is very encouraging to see that enrolment has doubled in the last decade; however, our own research and non-random survey of 1,100 private university students in Dhaka shows there are still very clear challenges limiting the realisation of students’ potential.

Insufficient critical thinking and problem solving skills: This is the complaint that we hear most often from business leaders and university faculty. As the Bangladeshi education system continues to favour memorisation over understanding and critical thinking, graduates are not prepared to innovate or problem-solve.

Poor English language skills: While English is generally the medium of education at the university level, graduates of Bangla medium higher secondary programs are only

rarely able to perform at a university level. In our survey, we found that on average students rated their peers’ English writing, reading, comprehension, and speaking abilities as “advanced intermediate” or below, and faculty offered even lower evaluations.

Acceptance of cheating and plagiarism: Cheating has long been a problem in the Bangladeshi educational system. In 2001, the government launched a massive drive to combat cheating on SSC and HSC exams, resulting in the expulsion of 33,542 students. By 2013 this number had dropped to 690, but it is clear that we are still far from a culture of academic integrity.

Our survey of private university students found considerable evidence and acceptance of cheating and plagiarism.

As shown in Table 4, 64.4% of students surveyed admitted to having copied from their peers on a test and 76.8% admitted to having copied and pasted from the internet in writing assignments. Furthermore, 33.9% of surveyed students agreed that “given the way things are in Bangladesh, it is sometimes okay to cheat on a test” and 42.0% agreed that it was sometimes okay to plagiarise (See Table 5). Given that many students would be unwilling to admit to such actions or beliefs on a survey, it is likely that these percentages are actually much higher.

The wrong attitude? Many university faculty members consistently complain that students are unwilling to work hard, but we were surprised to see that many students share this view. As shown in Table 6, when asked for the primary reason why other students’ do not read their assignments or why they cheat on tests and copy and paste from the internet into their assignments, respondents tended to report that an unwillingness to work hard was the primary reason (followed by poor English skills). Perhaps of greater concern: Three-quarters of students (74.2%) agreed with the statement “Success in life is determined by forces outside our control.”

Conclusion Continued deficiencies: While we can see clear and commendable increases in literacy and enrolment rates, both still remain comparatively low. These rates will need to be increased further; however, the risk of inflated SSC and HSC exam scores suggests that we also need to be focused on the quality of education. A look at problems at the university level suggests that we are still falling short of providing our youth with the knowledge, attitudes, and skills that will allow them to continue and expand Bangladesh’s economic development. More attention needs to be paid at all levels of education to improving critical thinking and problem solving skills and to raising English abilities to university standards.

In this process, however, our research suggests that we also need to promote a culture of academic integrity and even build the self-esteem and sense of efficacy of our students. l Daniel Sabet and Afsana Tazreen are with the Centre for Eternprise Society at ULAB.

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Padma water treatment plant gets Ecnec nod n Tribune Desk

A mobile court evicting illegal furniture shops on the footpath in the Dewanhat area in Chittagong yesterday

Youth stabbed to death in city n Mohammad Jamil Khan A youth was allegedly stabbed to death yesterday by one of his neighbours in the Kutubkhali area of the city under Jatrabari police station.

The victim was identified as Mohammad Roman Sheikh, 20, son of Abdul Alek Sheikh from Fotehpur area of Fulpur in Maymensingh. The deceased was a resident at 2 No Kutubkhali area. He was the second among the three children of Abdul Alek.

Family of the deceased alleged, Roman was engaged in an altercation with one of his neighbour named Al-Amin, around 11:30pm on Monday late night.

Following the argument, Al-Amin along with his sister and mother, entered Roman’s house and started beating him up.

At one point, they stabbed him and left the spot.

Later, Roman was taken to Dhaka Medical college Hospital (DMCH) at around 12:50am where, after half an hour of his arrival, the duty doctors declared him dead.

Mohammad Hassan, another neighbour of Roman, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I came out of my house after hearing sounds of a loud argument and found that one of my neighbours, Faruk was trying to hold injured to take him to a hospital. We took him to the DMCH where he died of his injuries.”

According to Hassan, Roman used to do seasonal works, sometimes working as a day labourer, sometime as a bus helper or doing small businesses.

Mother of the deceased, Morzina Begum, told the Dhaka Tribune: I tried to stop Roman from mixing with Al-Amin, as he was not of good character. But he would not listen to me, and now Al-Amin has taken the life of my beloved son.”

About the attack, Morzina said AlAmin alongside his family members entered their house as Roman was having his dinner. Out of nowhere, they started beating him up and at one point, they stabbed Roman, leaving him critically injured.

Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge at Jatrabari police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that, they visited the spot and sent the body to DMCH morgue for autopsy.

“In primary interrogation, we are suspecting that the incident might have happened over personal conflict. We are investigating the incident,” he said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved a water treatment project aimed at supplying safe water to the capital city by treating water of Padma River.

Under the project, a water treatment plant will be set up at Jashaldia (Louhajang) of Munshiganj and the treated water of the Padma will be piped to Dhaka metropolis.

The plant would have the capacity to treat 450 million litre water per day and the project called “Padma (Jashaldia) Water Treatment Plant (phase-1)” would involve Tk35.09bn.

The approval came at an Ecnec meeting held at the NEC conference room in city’s Sher-e-Banglanagar with Prime Minister and Ecnec Chairperson Sheikh Hasina in the chair, reports BSS. Planning Division Secretary Bhuiyan Shafiqul Islam told reporters after the meeting that the Ecnec approved a total of 12 development projects in-

cluding the water supply project involving Tk95.81bn.

“Of the total project cost, Tk43.80bn will come from the national exchequer and the remaining Tk52.01bn will come as project assistance,” Islam added.

Planning commission officials said on completion of the water supply project, Dhaka Wasa will supply additional 450 million litre water per day. Wasa is currently supplying 2,000 MLD water against the demand of 2,200 MLD in the capital.

Exim Bank of China would provide Tk24.13bn for the project, while Wasa Tk220m. The project is expected to be completed by June 2016.

The Ecnec approved another project called “The Construction of National Complex for the disabled, Mirpur, Dhaka”.

Under the project, a national centre would be established at Mirpur to provide service for the disabled.

The centre will work as the central complex of district level service centers for the disabled. The complex will

provide the opportunity to conduct research on disability and run a special education centre and a school.

The proposal for establishing National Complex for the disabled was formulated keeping it in conformity with the declaration of the prime minister at a function arranged to commemorate the 13th National Day and the 3rd International Autism Day on 2 April 2010.

The other projects approved in the meeting are: “Jatka Conservation, alternate income generation for the Jakta fishers and research project (Tk460mGoB); “Production, stores and distribution of quality seeds of pulses, oil and onion at farmers’ level” (Tk450mGoB); “Maintenance, Rehabilitation of BADC’s existing Fertiliser Godowns and Strengthening of Fertilizer Management Activities project”.

Ministers, advisers to the prime minister, members of the Planning Commission, Secretaries and officials concerned were present in the meeting. l

Food insecurity highest in eastern hill region: Study

BCC mayor vows to make corruption-free city

n Mohammad Atiqur Rahman

The mayor of Barisal City Corporation Ahsan Habib Kamal, who took charge yesterday, has vowed to transform the city by making it a corruption-free, accountable and transparent service provider for sustainable development.

Panel mayor Altaf Mahmud Sikdar who was the acting mayor until Kamal took charge handed over responsibility to the new mayor at a ceremony held at the Nagar Bhaban attended by councilors and BCC officials.

After officially taking charge as mayor Kamal spoke at a press conference when he said he had taken responsibility for debts worth Tk1.43bn, which includes salaries due to city corporation employees equal to Tk60m, Tk170m of loans from reserve funds, Tk1.06bn bills due for development work, Tk90m electricity bill for street lamps, Tk10m for fuel and Tk30.98m of miscellaneous bills.

He asked that national budget allocations for the city corporations should be made according to the size and considering needs of each area, such as the population and region.

The new mayor said he would prioritise recovery and excavation of canals

A preliminary study result has found that people living in Bangladesh’s eastern hill region, northern char areas and the southern coastal belt suffer the most from food shortages.

Food insecurity was the highest in the eastern hills where half the population did not get enough to eat, followed by char and coastal areas.

The study under the Food Security Nutritional Surveillance Project was conducted from February to April along the country’s coastal belt, northern and northwest chars (shoals), eastern hills and haor areas. It was implemented in collaboration with the European Union and Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics.

The outcome of the study was presented yesterday at a discussion meeting, jointly organised by Helen Keller International (HKI) and Brac University’s School of Public Health at a city hotel.

The survey was carried out on 9,024 households that included 4,600 under-5 children and 9,158 women and adolescent girls, aged between 10-49 years.

The study also revealed that the prevalence of “inadequate dietary di-

versity” was 47% in the northern chars, 43% in the coastal areas and 42% in the northwest, which may affect the health of women and children in those regions.

Speakers at the roundtable discussion on “monitoring outcomes to scale up nutrition” said proper monitoring was a key to increasing nutrition.

“Lack of enough access to nutritious food is responsible for malnutrition,” Erica Khetran, country director of HKI Bangladesh, said while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.

Previous phases of the study found the highest rate of chronic energy deficiency among women. The study also observed that the percentage of people worrying about food security had decreased in the past one year. The figure was 34% in February-April this year, compared to 62% in February-April 2012.

Rukhsana Haider, chairperson of Civil Society Alliance for SUN (scaling up nutrition) Bangladesh, blamed people’s “lack of knowledge” for malnutrition, which can be either due to deficiency or excess of certain nutrients.

“It is not happening only among the illiterate people of the country, the problem is also prevalent among the

Robber gang held in city n Tribune Report Detectives arrested 12 members of a robber gang and recovered ornaments and lethal weapons from their possession in the capital’s Shewrapara area yesterday.

The arrestees were Liakot, 42, Abdul Matin, 50, Osman Ali, 49, Ekramul Haque, 28, Motahar Hossain, 28, Hakim Mollah, 33, Rokon Miah, 45, Fazlur Rahman, 28, Nayon Miah, 28, Sumon Mollah, 33, Abdul Shahid, 38 and Ebadullah, 40.

Detective branch of police said the gang had been committing robbery, particularly in Mirpur and Tejgaon residences since a long time.

Police recovered some nine tolas of looted gold from their possession.

Police said they have also traced the jewellery shops where the gang disposed off the robbed jewellery.

Police officials said they would con-

DU students feted with Edinburgh Award n DU Correspondent 50 meritorious students from different departments of Dhaka University were bestowed with “The Duke of Edinburgh Award” yesterday for their successes in cocurricular activities.

Among the awardees, five got gold, 15 got silver and rest of them bagged the bronze.

Dhaka University Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique handed over the awards as special guest during a function held at the Old Senate Building of the university.

Meanwhile at another programme on the campus yesterday, a trust fund titled “Abdul Huq Munshi-Gulnahar Begum Trust Fund” was set up at the nuclear engineering department of the university.v In order to set up the fund, former professor of political science department Dr Shahidul Huq Munshi handed over a cheque of Tk700,000 to DU Pro-Vice Chancellor (Administration) Prof Dr Shahid Akhtar Hossain.

Four underprivileged but meritorious students from the nuclear engineering department of the university will be awarded scholarships from the fund, every year.l

duct a drive to nab the jewellery store owners as well.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner of police, said they had found in the course of their investigation that the gang was responsible for at least two recent incidents of robbery, where the gang entered into victims’ houses by cutting through the balcony grills and holding family members hostage at gunpoint.

The commissioner added: “The gang has two groups. One observes the targeted house for days, ascertaining the movement of the dwellers. The other group executes the plan at a suitable time.”

During a preliminary interrogation the gang members confessed that they normally hide their weapons at a suitable place near the targeted house, a day before the robbery so that the gang members can move about without arousing suspicion. A case was filed. l

educated group,” Rukhsana said.

Nancy Haselow, HKI vice-president for Asia-Pacific, said the “invaluable data” gathered from the study will help all the stakeholders to work together.

“We need a platform to work together on food security and nutrition in Bangladesh, as combined efforts are stronger and more effective than an individual effort to combat issues like food insecurity and malnourishment,” said Mahbub-urRahman Ujjal of Dak Diye Jai, a non-government organisation.

The roundtable was followed by a presentation on “maternal and child malnutrition: prevalence and risk indicators in eastern hill zone of Bangladesh”.

A special calendar that can be used to estimate a child’s age without birth records was also shown.

Jillian Waid of HKI gave an overview of the presentations, while Syed Shabab Wahid of Brac’s health, nutrition and population programme, facilitated the proceedings.

The event was chaired by Sadia Chowdhury, executive director of Brac Institute of Global Health. Golam Mostafa Kamal, director general of the Bureau of Statistics, was also present. l

n Anisur Rahman Swapan, Barisal

and water bodies to stop water logging, balance the development of old and extended areas, repair and reconstruction of roads and introduction of public transport.

Barisal wore a festive look decorated with lights to welcome the new mayor to office.

Kamal served as Barisal’s mayor in 2002, prior to that he served as a ward commissioner, chairman of Barisal municipality and was acting BCC mayor for about 18 years.

He was defeated in the mayor elections of 2003 and 2008, until he finally won in the last elections held this June, when he defeated the city AL president Shawkat Hossain Hiron, by a margin of 17,000 votes to be elected as mayor of Barisal for a third time.

Barisal municipality was upgraded to a city corporation by gazette notification on April 4, 2001 extending it to include 30 wards and 45sq km from 20 wards and 25sq km.

In 2003, BNP’s Mojibor Rahman Sarwar was elected as the first BCC mayor and Shawkat Hossain Hiron became the second BCC mayor in August, 2008.

The city corporation has a population of nearly 60m with approximately 2, 10,482 voters registered. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Eight jailed in Sylhet for killing n Tribune Desk A Sylhet court on Monday sentenced two persons to life term imprisonment, three to 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment each and three others to six months’ jail each for killing a man five years ago.

The court also fined the two lifers – Maruf Rashid and Foyzur Rahman of South Sunamganj – Tk20,000 each, in default, to suffer one year more in jail.

The court also fined two convicts – Harunur Rashid and Mohammad Dobir – were awarded 10 years’ rigorous imprisonment, Tk5,000, in default, to face six months more rigorous imprisonment.

Khoyer Mia, who was sentenced to 10 years rigorous imprisonment, was fined Tk10, 000, in default, to suffer six months more in jail.

Other convicts, who were identified as Abdul Momin, Nurul Amin and Abdur Rahman, were sentenced to six months’ imprisonment.

According to the prosecution, the convicts killed a man named Tozzal Ali of South Sunamganj on August 8, 2008.

Police submitted a charge sheet against 13 people after investigating the incident.

Judge Dilip Kumar Debnath of Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal handed down the verdict and acquitted five other accused from the case. l

Nation

7

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Bakkhali River shrinking for lack of dredging WDB waits for approval from National Economic Council Sources from the Cox’s Bazar Water damaged crops on vast tracts of n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar and Development Board (WDB) however land.

Bakkhali River, an important waterway in the coastal district, is becoming shallow and less navigable due to irregular dredging.

Sandbanks or shoals have formed that obstructs boats and other vessels plying on the river. Fishermen from the area said around eight shoals have emerged on the Cox’s BazarMoheshkhali river channel.

Abu Morshed Chowdhury Khoka, president of an organisation called Cox’s Bazar Nagorik Samaj O Cox’s Bazar Bachao Andolon, said: “The River overflowed its banks this monsoon as it has become shallow, which cut off several houses, marooned residents

Over the last few years, the river has turned into a narrow canal due to increased encroachment. People with influential backing have built illegal structures on the banks that obstruct the river’s flow.

Abu Morshed said that these illegal structures need to be removed and a project to dredge the river is yet to be implemented, but added that concerned authorities should implement the project without further delays.

He said: “Proper dredging could reduce flooding in the district and it will also help spur growth in the tourism industry.”

said reduced navigability was due to waste being dumped in the river.

Sarwer Ahmed, assistant director of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) for Chittagong district, could not say how shallow the river had become. While WDB sources said they had taken initiatives to start dredging to allow better navigability on the river.

The WDB submitted a project proposal estimated at Tk2.25bn to the concerned ministry, normally it is the Ministry of Water Resources’ responsibility to maintain the water ways. The proposal mentions dredging 28km of the river, digging 40km

Robbers take away truck after killing driver n Our Correspondent, Magura

long canals on the banks and the construction of a 55km long floodcontrol-dyke to ensure improved navigability and protect the river from further encroachment.

WDB’s executive engineer in Cox’s Bazar Main Uddin said: “Prime minister has promised various development activities in the district, and a project proposal was sent to the concerned ministry in this regard.”

Earlier, the ministry decided that the project would be implemented by the BIWTC, but that was shifted to give the WDB responsibility for it.

Main Uddin said they would start dredging after approval was given by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council. l

NSTU admission test starts on December 20 n Our correspondent, Noakhali The admission tests for first year enrollment at Noakhali Science and Technology University (NSTU) for the 2013-14 session will take place on December 20 and 21.

The admission forms for the tests will be available from October 10 to November 20 at selected branches of Janata Bank, while students will also be able to apply through Teletalk mobile phones.

Mominul Haque, registrar of NSTU, informed that the university’s regent board fixed the dates on Sunday night.

He also told the Dhaka Tribune that the university will use Optical Mark Recognition (OMR) machines this year for fast and efficient grading of multiple-choice-question admission exam scripts.

More information on the admission process are available on the university’s www.nstu.edu.bd website. l

Melting steel injures three in Chittagong factory n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Three workers received burn injuries in Chittagong yesterday, when melting steel fell on them from a furnace in a steel mill in the Shitalpur area in Sitakunda upazila.

The injured, Md Nabiul, 26, Md Rubel, 27, and Md Towhid, 27, workers of Shitalpur Auto Steel Mill, were admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), said Naik Md Hamid of CMCH police outpost.

He said the melting rod fell on the victims at around 4am, when they were working in the factory. Other workers rushed the three men to the CMCH, Hamid added. l

A human chain was formed in Barguna town yesterday, demanding punishment for the killers of Anik, who was student of Barguna Technical School and College

No let-up in Padma erosion in C’nawabganj n

Tribune Desk

There is no abatement seen in the extent to which the river Padma is continuing to wreak havoc in Alatuli and Debinagar unions of Chapainawabganj sadar upazila.

In the last two weeks, more than 300 homesteads, vast tracks of cropland, five mosques and three educational institutions have been engulfed by the river.

Displaced by the river erosion, several hundred families are now living a subhuman life in distant places where they have taken shelter.

Erosion by the river started taking its toll in Alatuli union in 2009. Since then, erosion wreckage takes place here regularly in every rainy season.

Likewise, during the current monsoon too the river has started its eroding activities to the same high degrees after the recession of the flood water.

Local people are very much angry as there has been taken no initiative so far by the authorities to stop the river erosion.

Alatuli union parishad chairman Khoaz Ali said an eight kilometer area from the ward no 5 to ward no 8 in his

union is under severe threat of erosion.

In the last 15 days, homesteads of more than 200 families in Lutarupara, South Alatuli, Kodalkati, Shikhatola, Sarkarpara, Roadpara and Kaiapara villages have been devoured by the gluttonous river.

Local people formed human chain more than once to press the government for taking immediate steps to thwart the erosion, but of no avail.

Now the places of Debinagar union where the river erosion is a common phenomenon in a dangerous form are: Debinagar union sadar, Horma, Upar Horma, Namo Horma and Saifuddin Tola.

Chairman of the union AKM Sahedul Islam said in the last 15 days, more than 100 homesteads, primary schools and five mosques have been engulfed by the river.

Chapainawabganj Water Development Board deputy engineer Abdul Hamid said the Water Development Board has undertaken a project involving Tk165 crore to prevent river erosion in the areas.

Tender of the project has been invited and works will start in next December, he added. l

Two get death sentence in a murder case n Our Correspondent, Mymensingh A Mymensingh court yesterday awarded death sentence to two people in a murder case. The convicts were also fined Tk50,000 each.

The convicts were Abdul Gafur and Abdul Hekim of village Duttgram in Iswarganj upazila of Mymensingh.

According to court sources, nine other accused in the case were also given six month to one year jail term. They were Sadek, Saiful, Bacchu Miah, Abdus Sattar, Ruhul Amin, Abdur Rashid, Lal Miah, Chand Miah and Abul Kalam.

Motiur Rahman, the prime accused of the case died in the meantime.

Shahed Ali, a farmer of village Duttgram in Iswarganj was hacked by Motiur and his men over a land dispute on April 16, 2003. Critically injured Shahed was rushed to Mymensingh Medical College Hospital where he succumbed to his injuries. A case was lodged with Iswarganj police station. Later, police pressed a charge sheet against 11 people.

After examining witnesses and evidences, Human Kabir, the judge of Mymesnigh District and Special Judge Court delivered the verdict. l

FOCUS BANGLA

LGED in Bogra counting the cost of delayed fund release n Hasibur Rahman Bilu, Bogra Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) in Bogra would need to add around Tk15m on top of existing budgets to complete 15 rural roads, work on which could not be finished due to delays in fund disbursement, said sources.

Officials of the department said they would have to take into account the extra amount at 30% rate enhancement considered.

LGED Executive Engineer Md Naim Uddin Miah said the local office took the initiative for 16km of road work in several of the twelve upazilas of the district, including Dhanut, Shariakand and Sherpur, at a cost of Tk104.70m in 2012-2013 and 2013-2014 fiscal years.

Tenders sought bids and the responsibility for the projects were given to contractors who started work with their own funds, and the LGED only disbursed 40% of the total cost for construction over two years. Sources said the department also failed to provide

funds for running bills, and consequently the contractors stopped work when they had not been paid for nearly 10 months.

An official seeking anonymity said that the department lacked funds when the project was ongoing and therefore timely payments could not be made to the contractors.

However Naim Uddin said: “As the contractors failed to complete their work on time, the department has confiscated Tk7.2m from the running bills and deposits.” He added that new contractors would be recruited to finish the road works and confirmed that the department had started the process to finish the roads.

Meanwhile, several contractors who had been given the job by the department t said they had suffered huge financial loss due to indecision by higher authorities.

One contractor Md Feroze Akther Polash said he had borne losses worth Tk200,000 against such a small project. l

Polytechnic students stage demo in Chittagong, Satkhira n Our Correspondent, Satkhira The students of Chittagong and Satkhira Polytechnic Institutes on Tuesday while staging a fresh demonstration to press home their two-point demand.

Our CU Correspondent reports: The students of Chittagong Polytechnic Institute staged a fresh demonstration in the morning as the authorities concerned were yet to fulfill their demands.

Mohammed Rubel, joint secretary of Chittagong Polytechnic Institute Student Union, said: “We took to the street again as part of our country-wide protest programme.”

In Satkhira, the Polytechnic students also boycotted their examination and locked the classrooms to press home the same demands. They took to the street and staged demonstration as the authorities concerned were yet to meet their demands as per their previous assurance.

Earlier on September 30, Bangladesh Technical Student Council announced that they would call off their demonstrations for next 15 days after a meeting with the education and public works secretaries, following two days of violent protests by polytechnic students across the country. l

NEWS IN BRIEF

Demand for additional stoppage for train n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Locals of Gazipur town formed a human chain in front of Sripur Railway Station yesterday demanding that the Sripur station be designated as a stoppage for Jamuna intercity train.

Later, the residents of Gazipur brought out a procession from the platform. Businessman of Sripur upazila, leaders of Bonik Samity, teachers of different institutions, and commuters also took part in the demonstration.

Station Master Harun-ur-Rashid said commuters on the Jamuna intercity train plying on Dhaka-Jamalpur route had been demanding that the train stop at Sripur Railway Station for a long time. l

A truck driver was killed and his helper was left unconscious in Magura yesterday, when miscreants stole their soybean oil-laden truck.

The robbers killed Shirajul Islam, 57, who hailed from Katulia village in Kushtia, while his helper Jakir Hossain remains in a critical condition at the Magura sadar upazila health complex.

Jahangir Alam, officer-in-charge of Magura police station, said two criminals, in the guise of passengers, got on the Kushtia-bound truck at Paturia ferry terminal.

The culprits later stole the truck, after drugging Shirajul and Jakir and leaving them unconscious on the side of the road near Hazarpur in Magura sadar upazila. Police later recovered the body of Shirajul from the spot and sent Jakir to the Magura sadar upazila health complex. A case has been filed with Magura police station. l

Missing army man found dead in Bandarban

The body of a missing army man was recovered from the bank of Sangu River in the Betchora area under Roangchori upazila in Bandarban yesterday morning.

Police said Tanvir Mahmood, 24, in-charge Lieutenant of Bandarban camp, went missing when he was swimming in the river. The body was sent to deceased’s native village in Comilla.

– Our Correspondent

Drug ringleader held in Chittagong

Locals of Gazipur town formed a human chain in front of Sripur Railway Station yesterday demanding that the Sripur station be made a stop for Jamuna intercity train DHAKA TRIBUNE

Police arrested a key drug ring leader from the city’s Bayazid area early yesterday.

The arrestee, Mohammad Liton, 32, is wanted in several criminal cases filed with the city’s Double Mooring police station.

Acting on a tip-off, a team of Sadarghat

police station nabbed Liton around 5am from his residence, said officer-in-charge of the station Pranab Chowdhury. Liton had long been active in drug trading and smuggling and is one of the key players in the city’s drug hotspot in Barisal Colony.

He is also the accused in seven other cases, he added.

– Our Correspondent

Minor girl drowns in C’nawabganj A minor girl drowned in a pond in Shibganj upazila bus stand area on Monday afternoon. The deceased was identified as Mahbuba, 7, daughter of Abu Hanif of the area. Locals said Mahbuba slipped into water and drowned while playing on the bank of the pond near their house at about 5pm. Later, locals spotted her floating body in the pond and recovered it. – UNB

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

US remains hopeful of Asia trade deal n Reuters, Indonesia

was forced to cancel his visit because of the fiscal standoff and partial government shutdown in Washington.

“We didn’t expect any real breakthrough on TPP in the meeting, especially with Obama not here.

There is some progress though,” said a delegate from an East Asian country, who wished not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The TPP, by seeking unprecedented access to domestic markets, is proving highly sensitive in developing countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam, whose political systems could be shaken by intrusions in areas such as government procurement and stateowned enterprises.

Proponents call the TPP, the most ambitious trade pact since the demise of the Doha round of global talks, a “high-standard” agreement to eliminate tariffs and tackle an unprecedented range of non-tariff barriers that restrict growth. l

The United States maintained it hopes to seal an ambitious trade pact on schedule by year-end despite resistance in some countries and the absence of President Barack Obama from a regional summit that was to iron out differences on the pact.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman said on Tuesday that world trade ministers may discuss the US-proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on the sidelines of a World Trade Organization meeting that starts on Dec. 3, with a goal of reaching a deal by year-end.

But several outstanding issues remain, he told reporters at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, citing issues ranging from intellectual property to state-owned enterprises, labour and the environment.

The World Trade meeting will also be held on Bali.

Although many APEC leaders have already left Bali, trade ministers are still in talks over TPP and a joint statement is expected to be issued later on Tuesday.

“I think there is a consensus that there has been substantial progress on outstanding issues and there are still remaining issues that must be addressed,” Froman told reporters.

The three-year-old TPP talks, now involving 12 nations, are aimed at establishing a free-trade bloc that would stretch from Vietnam to Chile to Japan, encompassing 800 million people, about a third of world trade and nearly 40 percent of the global economy.

A major goal of the Obama administration, the TPP would tear down trade barriers in areas such as government procurement and set standards for workers’ rights, environmental protection and intellectual property rights.

Obama had hoped to settle the outstanding issues in discussions with other leaders at the APEC meeting but

Islamists blow up bridge in north Mali n AFP, Bamako

Palestinians lose billions to Israeli bans

Armed Islamic extremists on Tuesday blew up a small bridge near Mali’s largest northern town of Gao, wounding two civilians, police and local government sources said.

“Early this Tuesday, Islamists dynamited one of two small bridges near ...

Bentia, about 50 kilometres from the frontier with Niger, leaving two civilians wounded,” said Ibrahim Cisse, a local councillor for the Gao region. A police source confirmed the report.

Cisse said that the assailants, “wearing turbans,” arrived by motorbike at the bridge that crosses the Niger river at Bentia, then destroyed it.

“In this place... there are two small bridges. The aim of the Islamists was to blow up both bridges, but fortunately only the old one was badly damaged,” said a police source in Gao. “The new bridge, which is the most frequently used, sustained only very slight damage,” the source added. l

n AP, Jericho The Palestinians could expand their struggling economy by a third and slash their budget deficit in half if Israel allowed them to use 61 percent of West Bank territory that is now largely off-limits, the World Bank said Tuesday.

The bank and donor countries supporting the Palestinians have repeatedly urged Israel to open up the restricted territory, known as Area C. However, the report released Tuesday marked the first detailed attempt to quantify Palestinian losses.

“Access to Area C will not cure all Palestinian economic problems but the alternative is bleak,” the report said.

“Without the ability to conduct purposeful economic activity in Area C, the economic space of the West Bank

will remain crowded and stunted, inhabited by people whose daily interactions with the state of Israel are characterised by inconvenience, expense and frustration.”

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor said most of the issues raised by the World Bank are to be settled in ongoing Israeli-Palestinian negotiations. Developing the Palestinian economy is in Israel’s strategic interest, but political realities have to be taken into account, he said.

“The question of access in the Palestinian territories is closely related to the question of security,” he said.

The partition of the West Bank into spheres of control was part of interim deals that were to have concluded with a final Israeli-Palestinian agreement on the borders of a Palestinian state by 1999. l

Saudi renews support to Egypt against ‘terrorism’ n AFP, Jeddah Egypt’s interim president Adly Mansour won fresh support from King Abdullah for his country’s fight against “terrorism” as he Tuesday wound up a trip to Saudi Arabia, official news agency SPA said.

Mansour arrived Monday in the Red Sea city of Jeddah on his first official trip abroad since he replaced Morsi after the army deposed him on July 3.

Abdullah, who was the first leader to welcome Morsi’s ouster, affirmed the kingdom’s support to Egypt against “terrorism, deviance, and sedition, and against whoever tries to interfere in Egypt’s internal affairs,” SPA quoted him as saying.

Saudi Arabia had long seen Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood as a threat and along with other Gulf monarchies – excluding Qatar which supports the movement – quickly pledged financial aid to Egypt’s new military-installed authorities.

Mansour said he had come to Saudi Arabia to “thank” the monarch. l

Egypt considers security cameras at tourist sites n Reuters, Cairo Egypt may install security cameras at tourist sites to deter militants from targeting visitors, the Interior Ministry spokesman said on Tuesday, just hours after suspected Islamists mounted another fatal attack on police.

“There’s a security plan in place in tourist areas that will maintain stability in these areas and there is complete coordination,” said the spokesman, Hany Abdel Latif.

“We expected all these problems because we are in a war against terrorism,” he said without elaborating.

Al Qaeda-inspired militants have targeted police and soldiers almost daily in the Sinai Peninsula since the army toppled Islamist President Mohammed Morsi in early July. The attacks are the most sustained since an Islamist insurgency that was crushed by then-President Hosni Mubarak in the 1990s. l

A Palestinian woman argues with an Israeli soldier blocking the road during an army operation in the West Bank city of Ramallah, Monday AP

A woman walks past a gallery’s wall bearing the paintings by Song Changqing during the 2013 Beijing 798 Art Festival at the 798 Art Zone in Beijing October 8, 2013. The art zone, originally an unused factory, was transformed into a landmark of contemporary art in Beijing in the 1990s REUTERS

North Korea warns Turkey lifts ban on Islamic US of ‘disaster’ over joint naval drill headscarves in civil service counterparts can sport beards, both n AFP, Ankara n AFP, Seoul symbols of Muslim piety which were

North Korea on Tuesday warned the United States of a “horrible disaster” and put its troops on alert over a major naval drill involving a US aircraft carrier alongside South Korean and Japanese vessels.

The warning came after Seoul and Washington last week signed a new joint strategy to counter what they called the growing threat of a North Korean nuclear attack after the communist country restarted an ageing plutonium reactor.

That accord also drew a sharp rebuke, with analysts attributing the isolated regime’s recent bellicose rhetoric to its desire to attract the United States’ attention and draw it back into dialogue.

The planned drill in waters around the Korean peninsula involves South Korea, Japan and the United States, which has deployed the nuclear-powered carrier USS George Washington.

North Korean troops had been ordered to “keep themselves fully ready to promptly launch operations any time”, a spokesman for the General Staff of the Korean People’s Army said in a statement on the state news agency.

The North said the situation on the peninsula was “getting strained again” and warned the US that the closer its forces came “the more unpredictable disasters their actions will cause”.

“The US will be wholly accountable for the unexpected horrible disaster to be met by its imperialist aggression forces,” the statement said.

“The US should bear in mind that the Korean people and army are highly alert to promptly and confidently cope with and foil blatant provocations of any hostile forces in the world with its own powerful military muscle.” l

Canada threatens to pull Commonwealth funding n AFP, Nusa Dua, Indonesia Canada’s Prime Minister Stephen Harper has threatened to withdraw funding for the Commonwealth in an escalating row over rights abuses by Sri Lanka ahead of a summit next month.

Harper confirmed late Monday that he was boycotting the November 15-17 summit in Colombo, citing “the absence of accountability for the serious violations of human rights” during and after Sri Lanka’s long civil war against Tamil separatists.

“I do this with somewhat of a heavy heart. This is a great disappointment,” he told reporters at an Asia-Pacific summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, while stressing that Canadians were “absolutely overwhelming” in their view that he should stay away.

Sri Lanka’s government had shown a “considerable worsening” over the past couple of years in terms of democratic governance, post-war reconciliation and respect for human rights, Harper said.

He added that “obviously we will examine our engagement and our financing of the Commonwealth, which is quite considerable, to make sure that we are wisely using taxpayers’ dollars and reflecting Canadian values”.

After Britain, Canada is the second-largest contributor to the Commonwealth budget, providing about $20m last year.

“It is unfortunate that these remarks have been made,” Sri Lankan foreign ministry spokesman Rodney Perera told AFP. “These are matters that should be taken up at the CHOGM (Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting) in Colombo.”

You do not make new friends by rubbishing your old friends or abandoning your old friends Perera said Canada had confirmed participation at the Colombo meeting at a lower level, “but that is good enough for us.”

In August, UN human rights chief Navi Pillay raised fresh concerns for the safety of journalists and activists she met during a week-long fact-finding mission to Sri Lanka.

She left the island arguing that democracy had been undermined and rule of law eroded in Sri Lanka four years after the end of its bloody ethnic war, which by UN estimates claimed up to 100,000 lives between 1972 and 2009.

The UN has reported “credible allegations” that up to 40,000 civilians were killed in the final months of fighting against the Tamil Tigers which ended in May 2009. Sri Lanka has rejected the charges and maintains that its troops did not kill a single civilian.

Harper’s remarks further clouded

the buildup to the Colombo summit after Gambia announced last week that it was pulling out of the Commonwealth, whose roots lie in the former British Empire, saying it would “never be a member of any neo-colonial institution”.

However, Australia’s new Prime Minister Tony Abbott, who met Harper in Bali on Monday, said he intended to travel to the summit despite calls for a boycott from human rights groups.

“You do not make new friends by rubbishing your old friends or abandoning your old friends,” the pro-monarchy Abbott said, vowing that his government would “take the Commonwealth seriously”.

He also underlined that Sri Lanka was an important partner in the country’s fight against people smuggling – a key issue in national elections that Abbot won last month.

Neither he nor Harper tried to persuade each other to change their stand over the Colombo meeting, Abbot added, saying there was an acceptance “that at different times you’ll take a difference approach.”

Others including British Prime Minister David Cameron are also expected to attend the gathering of the Commonwealth, which is headed by Queen Elizabeth II. Prince Charles is expected to deputise for his mother in Colombo. l

Turkey on Tuesday lifted a decades-old ban on Islamic headscarves in the civil service as part of wide-ranging reforms driven by the Islamic-rooted government.

The measure hailed by Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, whose wife wears a headscarf, as a “step toward normalisation” came into effect after it was published in the Official Gazette.

“We have now abolished an archaic provision which was against the spirit of the republic. It’s a step toward normalisation,” Erdogan said in a parliamentary speech to his ruling party lawmakers.

“A dark time eventually comes to an end,” he said. “Headscarf-wearing women are full members of the republic, as well as those who do not wear it.”

Female civil servants are now allowed to wear the veil while their male

banned by Turkey’s first president Mustafa Kemal Ataturk. However, the ban remains in place for judges, prosecutors, police and military personnel.

Last week, Erdogan, who has been under fire for what critics say are creeping efforts to Islamicise the nation, unveiled a package of democratic reforms, using the opportunity to take on the highly controversial headscarf ban in the majority Muslim but staunchly secular nation.

Erdogan’s Justice and Development Party (AKP) has pledged to remove the ban on the wearing of headscarves in all areas since it came to power in 2002. It has already relaxed the ban at universities.

Turkey’s main opposition party however denounced the measure as a breach of the secular regime. l

Syria air strikes target rebel assault on key bases n AFP, Beirut Syrian regime war planes on Tuesday launched strikes against rebels in northwestern Idlib province after they began an assault against two key military bases there, a monitoring group said.

“War planes carried out two air strikes on areas in the town of Maaret al-Numan as clashes continued around the Wadi Deif military base between rebels and regime troops,” the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The group said regime forces also bombed the areas of Maarshamsha and Deir al-Sharqi in the Maaret al-Numan region, causing casualties.

The strikes came a day after rebel fighters launched a major assault

against the two bases in Syria’s Idlib province, which is largely controlled by the opposition.

The offensive – dubbed “The Earthquake” – aims to seize the Wadi Deif and Hamidiyeh bases, which rebels have laid siege to for almost a year.

Wadi Deif, a garrison housing a large quantity of weapons, lies to the east of Maaret al-Numan, and Hamidiyeh, the last military stronghold in the region still in regime hands, lies to the south of the town. Clashes continued overnight, and the Observatory said at least 10 regime troops and five rebels had been killed since the assault began.

On Monday, the Observatory said rebels had captured an officer and three soldiers in a raid in Hamidiyeh. l

WORLD WATCH French torture trial over crucifixion-style exorcism

Four former members of the Seventh Day Adventist Church went on trial for torture Monday over a violent, crucifixion-style exorcism carried out on a 19-year-old woman. Three men and a woman are accused of tying up the Cameroonian teenager in the position of Christ on the cross and keeping her bound to a mattress for seven days in the belief that her body had been possessed by the devil. The four, including the victim’s former boyfriend, were charged with kidnapping, acts of torture and barbarism. The victim testified that her captors had kept her alive by feeding her small amounts of oil and water.

Diver attacked by shark off Australia

A commercial diver suffered “substantial” injuries after being attacked by a shark off remote Western Australia, officials said Tuesday, with reports describing it as his second mauling in a decade. The man, named in media reports as Greg Pickering, 55, was with a diving crew from the Southern Wild Abalone Company when the shark struck off Poison Creek beach, east of the town of Esperance. Another diver was in the area and came to assist Pickering’s crew with first aid before transporting him to shore for treatment. The ruggedness and remoteness of the area, in a wilderness park and accessible only by four-wheel drive, complicated his retrieval

and transport by ambulance to Esperance, 160 kilometres from the dive site.

Nepal police arrest 14 for rhino poaching

Police in Nepal have arrested 14 rhinoceros poachers including the alleged mastermind of a cross-border smuggling ring, a national parks official said Monday. Tikaram Paudel, an official at the Chitwan National Park which is home to most of the country’s rhinos, said police arrested Buddhi Bahadur Praja, the alleged kingpin of a network extending from Nepal to China’s Tibet, in mid-September.His arrest in the popular tourist city of Pokhara helped authorities uncover a network of poachers, said Paudel. Police have accused the 55-year-old smuggler of killing 12 rhinos over the past six years.

Japan man busted for arranging senior citizen sex

Police in Japan have arrested a 70-yearold man over claims he arranged sexual encounters among senior citizens through newspaper adverts soliciting “tea-drinking companions”, police and press reports said Tuesday. Kiyohide Kuroda had allegedly been posting classified ads in a Tokyo newspaper for around a decade before he was taken into custody last week. Press reports said Kuroda had helped arrange sex among about 1,000 men and 350 women, mostly in their mid sixties, earning some 30 million yen ($310,000) as commission in breach of Japanese prostitution laws.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

9

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Pakistan pushing fighters into Kashmir before 2014: India n Reuters, New Delhi/Srinagar India’s army said on Tuesday that Pakistani troops had helped a group of 30 to 40 insurgents stage the biggest incursion in Kashmir in years, linking it to a plan to push fighters into the region as foreign forces withdraw from neighbouring Afghanistan.

Army chief General Bikram Singh’s remarks were the first direct allegation against Pakistan since the heavily-armed fighters crossed the Line of Control in Kashmir last month in a setback for a government already seen as soft and indecisive.

The men were holed up in an abandoned village in the Keran sector for nearly a fortnight, an Indian army source earlier told Reuters. That prompted comparisons with the Kargil conflict further north in 1999, when hundreds of Pakistan-backed irregular troops occupied bunkers along a vast swath of the frontier.

“With the eyeball-to-eyeball deployment along the Line of Control, it is well-nigh impossible for the terrorists to do any activity without the knowledge of the Pakistani army,” Singh told

the Times Now television.

India and Pakistan have fought three wars since independence from Britain in 1947, two of them over Kashmir. The two armies frequently exchanged artillery fire across the Himalayan region for years until a 2003 ceasefire that has been fraying in recent months.

Pakistan was trying to push more fighters into Kashmir before winter sets in, Singh separately told NDTV, ahead of the withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan.

Indian intelligence officials have warned that militant groups that have been fighting in Afghanistan for several years have been turning their sights to Kashmir as foreign forces leave to reinvigorate the nearly 24-year insurgency there.

“Will have to see what happens in Afghanistan in 2014. Pakistan want to push in many terrorists before winter,” Singh was quoted as saying in an interview to be broadcast later by NDTV. His comments were posted on NDTV’s Twitter account.

Pakistan denies it is helping militants cross the largely fenced border with India in Kashmir and has urged

Religious tension in Pakistan as Muslims dig up Hindu grave n Reuters, Islamabad A crowd of Islamic fundamentalists dug up the grave of a Hindu man in Pakistan, police said on Tuesday, in the latest sign of growing religious tension in the increasingly unstable province of Sindh.

Shouting “Allahu Akbar”, or “God is greatest”, the crowd dug out the body and dragged it through the streets of the southern town of Pangrio in a dispute over the location of the grave.

“Tensions are still running high, but we are in control of the situation,” district police chief Shaukat Ali Khatian said.

“The incident was caused by some clerics of the extremist outfit of Ahle Sunaat Wal Jamaat, but later other Muslims joined in and dug up the body and threw it away.”

Hindus and Muslims have lived side

by side and shared graveyards in Sindh for centuries, but tension has been on the rise recently as extremists make increasingly aggressive inroads into the rural parts of the province.

Sindh is home to most of Pakistan’s small Hindu community, which numbers about 2 million among a population of roughly 180 million.

Pakistan’s rocky relationship with neighboring India, a predominantly Hindu country, has fed tension between the two communities in smaller towns, such as Pangrio.

The Hindu man, Bhoro Bheel, 30, had died in a road accident and was buried on Saturday, in line with caste tradition. The subsequent desecration sparked demonstrations and forced police to step up street patrols.

“Even our dead are not safe anymore in their graves,” Narayan Das Bheel, a member of the Hindu community, told Reuters. l

India to hold talks to tackle the decades-old dispute over the region.

Pakistan’s envoy to India Salman Bashir was quoted as saying this week that Pakistan also had concerns and that the civilised way to deal with bilateral problems was to hold talks.

Talks have been slow to recover since the November 2008 attacks in Mumbai by Pakistan-based gunmen in which 166 people were killed. New Delhi has demanded that Pakistan act against the men who plotted the attack and take down what it calls the infrastructure of terrorism on Pakistan soil.

For the latest Kashmir intrusion, the Indian army cited as proof of Pakistani involvement radio intercepts, weapons with Pakistani markings seized from the area of operation and covering fire provided by Pakistani troops while the insurgents breached the de facto border.

“A large group of terrorists infiltrating ... you mean to say that this is happening without the complicity of Pakistan Army? This is ridiculous,” Lieutenant General Sanjiv Chachra, northern army commander told reporters in Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir. l

Vietnam lets churches thrive, but keeps control n AP, Vietnam A year ago in a poor hill-tribe village, police rounded up members of a small Catholic sect who were accused of trying to create an independent state. The leaders are in jail, followers who escaped have fled into the jungle and officers patrolling the muddy streets warn people to shun that offshoot of the faith.

But the crackdown didn’t affect activities at the village’s church — actually an old lady’s house with a white cross fixed to a corrugated iron wall — or a larger church a short hike away, where priests teach young boys math and Vietnamese language in neat classrooms.

A rare unescorted trip to villages in Vietnam’s tightly controlled Central Highlands revealed the Communist government’s twin approaches to religion: It allows state-sanctioned faiths to grow and even thrive, but continues to keep a close watch on all religious institutions. All perceived challenges to its rule, religiously inspired or not, are harshly repressed.

The country’s record on religious

freedom is closely tracked by Washington. The US seeks closer ties with Vietnam, a former enemy turned important counterbalance to China in Asia, but it also wants Hanoi to show greater respect for human rights. Concerns

by Congress over human rights could torpedo a free-trade deal Washington is negotiating with Vietnam and other Asia-Pacific nations, US officials say.

Religious tension runs particularly deep in the Central Highlands, home to most of Vietnam’s ethnic minorities, who are known collectively as Montagnard. Many have embraced Christianity, in part to distinguish themselves from Vietnam’s majority Kinh population, which is largely Buddhist. The Kinh have migrated to the highlands in large numbers since the Vietnam War, igniting tensions over land and fears among minority groups that their culture and language are being diluted.

Human rights groups are not allowed in the Central Highlands’ Gia Lai province, and trips by journalists and diplomats are normally strictly controlled, making independent information difficult to come by. l

AP

Chinese police allegedly fire at Tibetan protesters China police target n AP, Beijing A US-backed broadcaster is reporting that Chinese security forces fired into a crowd of Tibetan residents who were demanding the release of a fellow villager detained for protesting orders to display the national flag.

Chinese police also fired tear gas at those protesting Sunday in Biru county in the Tibet Autonomous Region and dozens were injured, Radio Free Asia said in its report Tuesday.

The report, which cited unnamed local and exiled Tibetan sources, could not be independently confirmed. Local Communist Party and government officials either could not be reached by phone or hung up shortly after answering.

The International Campaign for Tibet earlier reported that authorities had intensified the security presence in Biru county and nearby areas after residents refused orders to display Chinese flags to commemorate National Day on October 1.

The ICT, a Tibetan rights group, said government work teams had been sent to Biru, known as Driru in Tibetan, ahead of the national holiday to compel local Tibetan residents to fly the flag as part of an intensified effort to enforce

‘I Am Malala’ n AP, London

An elderly woman sits at the door of a ‘house church’ in Kret Krot village in Vietnam’s central highlands AP

Indian army commander Lt Gen Sanjiv Chachra, addresses a news conference in Srinagar, India

A year ago, Malala Yousafzai was a 15-year-old schoolgirl in northwest Pakistan, thinking about calculus and chemistry, Justin Bieber songs and “Twilight” movies.

Today she’s the world-famous survivor of a Taliban assassination attempt, an activist for girls’ education — and a contender to win the Nobel Peace Prize later this week. It’s easy to forget she is still a teenager, and now a long way from home.

The memoir “I Am Malala” goes some way toward redressing that balance.

Published around the world on Tuesday, the book reveals a girl who likes “Ugly Betty” and the cooking show “Masterchef,” worries about her clothes and her hair, but also has an iron determination that comes from experience beyond her 16 years.

The book, written with the British journalist Christina Lamb, recounts Malala’s life before and after the moment on Oct. 9, 2012, when a gunman boarded a school bus full of girls in Pakistan’s Swat Valley and asked “Who is Malala?” Then he shot her in the head.

The shooting is described briefly but vividly in the book, which is briskly written but full of arresting detail. “The air smelt of diesel, bread and kebab mixed with the stink from the stream where people still dumped their rubbish,” Malala remembers. One of her friends tells her later that the gunman’s hand shook as he fired.

Around that pivotal event, the book weaves Malala’s life story into the broader tale of her home region of Swat, a remote, mountainous region near the Afghan border. She says it is “the most beautiful place in the world,” but it’s also a crossroads traversed for millennia by armies and invaders, from Alexander the Great to Winston Churchill.

Malala considers herself a believing Muslim and a proud member of the Pashtun ethnic group, but recounts how from an early age she questioned her culture’s attitude toward women.

“When I was born, people in our village commiserated with my mother and nobody congratulated my father,” she writes. l

loyalty to the Communist Party.

In Sunday’s unrest, protesters were calling for the release of a local resident, Dorje Draktsel, who was detained last week after participating in demonstrations against the flag order, the Radio Free Asia report said.

China has claimed Tibet as part of its territory for centuries while Tibetans say they were largely independent prior to the occupation by communist troops in 1950 The self-proclaimed Tibetan government-in-exile based in India said it has received reports of the firing in Driru but had few details to provide. Spokesman Tashi Phuntsok said by phone that the exiled Tibetans had heard that some protesters were injured but did not know how many.

China has claimed Tibet as part of its territory for centuries while Tibetans say they were largely independent prior to the occupation by communist troops in 1950. Many Tibetans say Beijing’s economic policies in the Himalayan region have largely benefited only Chinese mi-

grants and that they resent strict limits on Buddhism and Tibetan culture that the government imposes. China says it has made vast investments to boost the region’s economy and improve the quality of life for Tibetans.

Meanwhile, in the northwestern Muslim region of Xinjiang, an official Chinese newspaper said authorities have detained more than 100 people from late June to the end of August for the spread of “religious extremism.”

The detentions, reported by the Xinjiang Daily, are the latest in an official campaign in Xinjiang to police the spread of ideas critical of Chinese government rule in addition to pouring troops into the restive region.

Germany-based Uighur activist Dilshat Rexit said Chinese authorities were using such charges as an excuse to crack down on Uighurs who go on the Internet to express their unhappiness about government repression. Xinjiang sees periodic outbreaks of anti-government and anti-Chinese violence, some of it inspired by resentment over economic marginalisation by ethnic Han migrants who have flooded into the region in recent decades, along with restrictions on Uighur social and cultural life. l

Myanmar frees prisoners ahead of regional summit n AFP, Myanmar Myanmar on Tuesday began freeing dozens of its remaining detained activists, officials said, after the country vowed to release all prisoners of conscience by the end of the year.

“Our government will release 56 political prisoners,” presidential adviser Hla Maung Shwe told AFP, in comments confirmed by correctional department officials.

Setting free dissidents detained arbitrarily under the former junta has been a cornerstone of reforms by a new quasi-civilian regime and has been warmly welcomed by the international community with the scrapping of most western sanctions.

Hundreds of political detainees have been freed since President Thein Sein took power in March 2011.

But activists say authorities are continuing to prosecute dissidents and scores remain behind bars. They accuse the government of using the headline-grabbing releases for political gain and leverage with the international community.

Thein Sein, who travelled on Tuesday to a meeting of regional powers in Brunei, announced there would be “no prisoners of conscience in Myanmar” by the end of the year during his first visit to London in July.

Numbers for political prisoners held in Myanmar vary, but Aung San Suu Kyi’s opposition party said there were around 140 activists held before Tuesday’s announcement.

Thet Oo, from the ex-detainees group Former Political Prisoners, told AFP that he could confirm that some of the 56 had already been set free, adding that his organisation estimates that around 50 new activists have been held by the current regime.

“Twenty of them are in the prisons and the rest are facing trials. Most of them were charged for protesting without permission and under charges causing defaming to the state,” he said.

The arbitrary imprisonment of political opponents was a hallmark of the previous brutal junta and sparked a web of western sanctions which stifled the economy. l

online ‘Jihad’ talk amid rumour crackdown n Reuters, Beijing

Police in China’s Xinjiang region are cracking down on people who promote jihad online, state media reported on Tuesday, amid a nationwide campaign against internet rumours that activists say is a blow to freedom of speech.

Sprawling Xinjiang is home to the mostly Muslim Uighur ethnic minority, many of whom harbour resentment of what they see as Chinese repression of their culture and religion. Some are campaigning for a separate Muslim state and there have been incidents of violence.

Xinjiang police were investigating 256 people for spreading “destabilising rumours” online, the Xinjiang Daily newspaper said. Of those, 139 spread rumours about jihad, or Muslim holy war, or other religious ideas. More than 100 had been detained.

“Our local public security bureaus are strongly cracking down on those who engage in illegal activities online,” the newspaper said. “Xinijang must not allow the internet to become a platform for crime.” l

India moves to ease visa restrictions to attract tourists

n AFP, New Delhi

India is looking at issuing visas on arrival for visitors from 40 more countries, a minister has said, raising hopes it will overcome national security fears to boost its tourism industry.

A meeting of senior officials from the home, foreign and tourism ministries, as well as intelligence officers, concluded on Monday evening with a consensus in favour of the sweeping visa reform.

“There was a consensus about initiating the process to make India a tourist-friendly country and extending the on-arrival visa facility to around 40 more countries,” Planning Minister Rajeev Shukla told the Press Trust of India news agency.

The new countries would include the United States and Britain — the source of about 25 percent of all tourists last year — as well as Canada, Brazil, Australia and most western European nations including France and Germany. l

UN says 2.7 bn people will be online

n AFP, Geneva

Myanmar women prisoners walk outside Insein Prison in Yangon, Myanmar. Myanmar’s Thein Sein has pardoned 56 political prisoners, moving forward with his pledge to by the end of the year release all those jailed for opposing the government AP FILE PHOTO

Around 2.7 billion people – 40 percent of the world’s population – will be connected to the Internet by the end of 2013, the United Nations said Monday.

Another 250 million people came online in 2012, but 4.4 billion people remain unconnected, said the UN’s International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

Ninety percent of those not online live in developing countries.

The ITU also said there would be 6.8 billion mobile-cellular subscriptions – almost as many as there are people on the planet – by the end of the year.

South Korea leads the world in information and communication technology (ICT) development for the third consecutive year, followed closely by Sweden, Iceland, Denmark, Finland and Norway, the ITU said in its annual report. l

10 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Base of the pyramid October 5

Charge sheet not en-route to justice

The Japanese PM’s praise of our women, calling them the “base of the pyramid” in development in Bangladesh, in his UN speech, was published by a local English daily on October 1. It was indeed a valued recognition. I may possibly not be wrong in feeling that our women are the most accomplished among the women of Muslim countries in the world.

The Japanese PM’s remark was based on the performance of Yaesmin, the “Poly Glue Lady,” for her achievements in familiarising women in her area to the advantages of this glue, which is now being used in Bangladesh, to easily clean all turbid water.

Frankly speaking, this is the first time I have heard about Poly Glue. I have never come across anything about it in any of our local English dailies. I would request you to look further into this matter through your local correspondents, so that the matter may be known. If the material is easily available, then many people in Dhaka, its outskirts, and in other cities and towns can also use it. I wonder if any NGOs are aware about this, or use it in their work, related to clean water in rural areas?

Engr SA Mansoor Dhaka

T

he charge sheet for the Hall-Mark scam excludes the high profile names that were allegedly connected with it. It is impossible that a scheme of such magnitude could have happened without the involvement of the board members and the people who have significant political sway to make sure they escape the repercussions, if there were any.

This action paints a sorry picture of the government and Anti-Corruption Commission’s commitment to serving the people’s cause and paves the way for more such scams to take place. It seems to send the message that, at the end of the day, it is possible to go unpunished even if This action paints a you steal billions. sorry picture of the During the current government and government’s term, this Anti-Corruption is not the only scam that Commission’s has not been taken care of. commitment to The fall of the share market serving the people’s or the Bismillah group cause and paves the scams have also not been way for more such resolved, and the perpetrators are still at large. scams to take place At the end of the day, the people who have swindled more that Tk35bn from a state-owned bank are little more than thieves who are being allowed to run free, and the people who were merely means to this end are being taken to task. A proper investigation would have indicted the very people who have been at the forefront of this white-collar crime of enormous magnitude, and not chase the people who simply followed orders and possibly had only a miniscule share of the loot.

Stealing such an amount is not a matter of a joke and has to be taken care of, regardless of who commits the theft.

Else, people will lose all belief over the government and the mechanism that is supposed to safeguard and utilise the people’s money for the nation’s cause. All those involved have to be punished, no matter their position.

October 1 Nazmul Khair Good decision but I am sure it will take a long time, as our politicians are reluctant to take good decisions.

Malcolm Arnold I am at a total loss to why the creation of power has not been suggested or explored from the tidal and river flows in the vast waterways of this country – the technology is already available. No country on the globe has river systems like here.

Nazmul Khair But we are reluctant to follow through because this option is not as profitable, as from quick rentals. We the citizens are like good guinea pigs for our politicians; they can charge us anything and we are happy to pay as long our party is in power!

Malcolm Arnold You know, this (hydropower) could create enough power so that Bangladeshis could pay very little for power and it could even be sold to India / Myanmar /Nepal.

Rickshaw trapper October 3

I have gone through the news about the rickshaw trapper and then physically witnessed the said rickshaw trapper set at the Modhubag approach towards Hatirjheel. I saw the wonderful performance of this simple, technical device, which has been invented by an engineer, Jahan E Alam.

It is needless to mention that the main reason for traffic tangles in Dhaka city is due to the unruly plying of countless rickshaws. They also penetrate their long-ended, extended axle rods, beside the two-back wheels, at each other, and cause hour-long traffic jams on the roads.

I personally feel proud of our engineer, Mr Alam, for such a wonderful invention that traps rickshaws in the rickshaw-banned areas. I would also like to mention Major Shakil for his work in sharing the implementation

MLM law must be made imposable

T

he government has passed the Multi-Level Marketing Activities (Regulation) Bill-2013 to put an end to MLM companies using the pyramid scheme to fleece people out of their money.

Numerous people have already become victims of such schemes, and lost vast sums. The companies guilty of swindling these people must be held acMerely having such countable and the victims regulations is not should have their money enough. In fact, any returned to them. law is worthless if While we are happy to not followed up with see this piece of regulation strict enforcement being passed, we must reiterate that merely having such regulations is not enough. In fact, any law is worthless if not followed up with strict enforcement.

Up until now, there had been no regulation in place to put a check on such fraudulent activities. Thus, a number of companies had been able to take advantage of the situation, allegedly procuring licences through secondary parties, marketing substandard products, violating packaging rules and charging exorbitant prices for their products. These companies need to be charged with these crimes and punished accordingly.

Likewise, more should be done to prevent such scams in the future. The only way to ensure this happens is for the MLM law to be fully implemented, allowing no room for corruption, and for all guilty companies to be held accountable.

of this incredible project in Hatirjheel.

We feel, if all the left lanes of Dhaka city are facilitated with such rickshaw trappers, each cross roads (where there are 4 left lanes out of 12 directions of a cross road) shall always remain free for other moving traffic, and consequently, traffic jams will automatically come down to a reasonable extent. For Hatirjheel, we feel if all other approaches all around the entrances of Hatirjeel are covered with similar rickshaw trappers, then Hatirjheel would remain free from any traffic hazards, and its beauty as well as dignity shall remain long-lasting. Thanks again to Major Shakil and Engr Alam.

Nurul Alam This is great!

Amazad Hossain

Probir Renewable energy sources are the most sustainable options for humans to ensure a cleaner environment. We’re too late to take actions when they’re needed. After a few years, maybe we would see the government subsidising solar and wind power technologies for people to make use of the sunny days we have most of the year, and the wind in the coastal areas. The price of solar home systems for small industries is still too high to be in reach for the majority of the country. Moreover, when the subsequent governments have been carrying out the promotion campaigns with the help of different international development partners, it continues much slower than needed.

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CALVIN AND HOBBES

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU ACROSS 1 Tree (3) 3 Constraint (6) 8 Wading bird (4) 9 Pithy saying (3) 10 Sound of thunder (6) 11 Stretcher (6) 14 Separates (5) 17 Glittering particle (5) 20 Firmly fixed (6) 24 Much ornamented (6) 26 Groove (3) 27 Way out (4) 28 Leave off (6) 29 Arch (3)

Wind power mapping starts next month

DOWN 1 Wicked (4) 2 Thin fog (4) 3 Dreadful (4) 4 Take unjustly (5) 5 Live coal (5) 6 Sun personified (3) 7 Slender supports (5) 12 Little devil (3) 13 Sailor (3) 15 Liable (3) 16 Large cask (3) 17 Weapon (5) 18 Family members (5) 19 Flying toys (5) 21 That following (4) 22 Newts (4) 23 Neat (4) 25 Regret (3)

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS Crossword

How to solve Sudoku: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

Code-Cracker

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

India to stick with austerity despite looming election n John Chalmers and Manoj Kumar

T

World War II Nazi propaganda and counter propaganda

WIKIMEDIA COMMONS

Righting wrongs

A

n Ikhtisad Ahmed man once went on a mission to rule, by spreading fear and hatred, and by appealing to the ego that resides within every individual. His unrelenting propaganda machine meant that his campaign gathered not supporters, but converts and followers.

Religion became what best suited his political purposes. Facts were what he decreed to be factual. He always had on the best new clothes. In 1920, this man was Adolf Hitler. In 2001, a lesser version of him was George W Bush. In 2010, lesser still, he was Nigel Farage.

The US revels in the role it has cast itself in: that of governing the world and always being right. Countries fall in line, meekly or begrudgingly, as doing otherwise is hazardous to their health.

The myth of infallibility reflects in Americans. Being wrong is un-American, so is constructive criticism, since what is right cannot be criticised.

Across the Atlantic from the new emperor of the world is the nation whose past empire was always bathed in sunlight.

Imperial pride has given way to a bourgeois nationalism that reminisces former glories and is desperate to be relevant today. It may not be brazen enough to celebrate the day that pilgrims landed on foreign soil to mark

the beginning of the purging of natives and colonisation of their land, but the UK believes it has long played the decisive role in global politics.

In the face of such fierce nationalism, facts matter not. God above does judge, but He does so in accordance with the wishes of his representatives on earth: members of far-right fringe elements who have put the Pope out of a job.

the present has seen the Tea Party prevail over saner heads in the US to seize the Republican agenda, and the United Kingdom Independence Party enjoy a surge in popularity across the Atlantic that has the Conservatives towing the line.

The deceptive names themselves demand respect by falsely invoking nationalism and patriotism.

It may not be brazen enough to celebrate the day that pilgrims landed on foreign soil to mark the beginning of the purging of natives and colonisation of their land, but the UK believes it has long played the decisive role in global politics

While his search for new employment has seen him begin to speak sense, the marginal voices have shouted loudly and repeatedly in anger. Worryingly, they have seeped into mainstream politics, and are increasingly influencing political thought and conscience.

They have done so by overlooking facts and policy, speaking instead to the heart of the uneducated masses.

That particular battle of the heart and the head has proven to be a no contest. Their unabashedly discriminatory message, spoken with vitriol disguised as passion, has been received.

This manufactured version of

Bangladesh is likely to take its lead from the imperial rulers, new and old.

Politicians on both sides of the aisle already say whatever they want to, unchecked. They speak of the past, present and future, contradicting reality and themselves, yet somehow producing a plausible version.

Delusional Dhaka-dwellers who overestimate their influence in the grander scheme aside, the populace hangs on their every word, believes in them, gets riled up by them, acts according to them.

Short-sighted, the masses, additionally, find it easy to believe that things are worse now than they were when a new

government was last formed. Thus, the promise that things will be better under a different government is an easy case to make.

It is stated casually, with little thought given by the leaders or the public to how that will be fulfilled in a discourse of the heart, not the head.

People are told to be better Muslims and better Bangladeshis, as their leaders will be.

It is portrayed as the panacea that Bangladesh has been waiting for. On the contrary, if the trends in the US and the UK are anything to go by, it is the cancer that will be nigh on impossible to cure if it is fostered. It has already spread to cause substantial corrosion, verging on metastasising to the point of no return.

The comedic threat of the Tea Party and UKIP tragically became a reality because of the commoner than common man. He does not question when his religion is perverted to give him false hope, nor does he shy away from a bigotry-fuelled nationalism that promises a future without darkness.

This potent power of propaganda may mean that, while the intellectual, philosophical, transcendental and metaphysical battles rage on in the capital, the war is already lost. Whoever ascends to the throne post-election – if and when that happens – may well be two steps left of Hitler. God forbid he is two steps right of him. l Ikhtisad Ahmed is a writer and an erstwhile lawyer.

he Indian government will have to rein in spending and cut subsidies to meet its fiscal deficit target, the country’s finance minister said on Monday, underlining that an austerity drive will not be blown off course by an election due next year.

P Chidambaram told Reuters ahead of a trip to the United States – where one stop will be to woo investors on the West Coast – that he will not allow the deficit to cross a “red line” set at 4.8 % of gross domestic product this fiscal year.

“We’ve issued austerity instructions, it will bring us some savings,” he said.

The finance minister’s vow to contain the deficit means there will be little room ahead of a tough election to spur growth, which has slumped from a double-digit pace in early 2010 to below 5.0%, its lowest in a decade.

The government recently introduced a plan to distribute cheap food for two-thirds of the population, a step widely seen as wooing voters ahead of the election. But – without giving details – Chidambaram pointed to food subsidies as one area where spending would need to be addressed in coming months.

Along with pallid growth, Asia’s third-largest economy is facing stubborn inflation, companies are struggling, and bank asset quality is worsening. But Chidambaram shrugged off the risk of a cut in India’s sovereign credit rating, which is one precarious notch above junk status.

“There is no case for a downgrade,” he said in an interview at North Block, the sandstone colonial building that houses the finance ministry in New Delhi. “If any rating agency is looking for candidates to downgrade there are half a dozen other countries.”

The Indian rupee was one of the hardest-hit emerging-market currencies recently amid alarm in financial markets about an imminent “tapering” of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus, falling by about 20% at one point from May. It has recovered somewhat recently, and Chidambaram said the central bank may now be able to consider reversing some of the liquidity tightening steps it took to shore the currency up.

“If the volatility of the rupee has been contained and speculation has come to an end, the central bank may want to unwind some of the measures it took earlier,” he said.

On Monday the Reserve Bank of India cut a key overnight interest rate, further dialling back an emergency measure it had imposed in mid-July in order to defend the rupee that had tightened market liquidity and pushed up borrowing costs.

Chidambaram said there would be some impact when the Fed’s tapering –

which was put on hold – does eventually come, but it was now mostly factored into the market and he was confident that speculators had been put in their place.

“We think we have sent a message to everyone – don’t speculate on the rupee,” he said.

Chidambaram said the economic downturn was no reason to think that his Congress party, which has been weakened by years of fractious coalition rule and a string of corruption scandals, would be ousted in a national election that must be held by May. “Don’t write us off so easily,” he said, adding that the next leader of the Congress party would be Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for most of its 66 years since independence.

“I am glad you acknowledge prime minister Rahul Gandhi, but that is a question you should put to him,” Chidambaram said, when asked if he would serve again in a government led by the party’s heir apparent if Congress wins a third straight term in office. “The time has come for the torch to be passed on to a new and younger generation.”

Modi is widely credited with bringing investment, regular electricity supplies and infrastructure to the state of Gujarat

Chidambaram dismissed the dazzling emergence of opposition figurehead and candidate for prime minister Narendra Modi on the national political stage as “largely media created.”

He conceded that the Hindu nationalist leader had united the rank and file of the Bharatiya Janata Party and “gained some traction among urban youths,” but said the rising political star was someone with a “very, very chequered track record.”

Modi is widely credited with bringing investment, regular electricity supplies and infrastructure to the state of Gujarat, where he has been chief minister for more than a decade.

But Chidambaram downplayed the double-digit growth enjoyed by the coastal state, referring to a new national development index that gave it a middling “less developed” ranking.

Modi was chief minister of Gujarat when deadly communal riots raged there in 2002. He has always vehemently denied charges that he turned a blind eye to the violence, and a Supreme Court inquiry found no evidence to prosecute him. l This article was syndicated from Reuters.

Who eats free bhuna khichuri n Abdul Matin

O

ne of my friends dropped in unannounced recently with a basket of food in his hand. It was raining outside. I did not go to the market. So, I was very happy to see the basket of food brought by my friend.

Looking at the basket, I was thinking of having bhuna khichuri (rice cooked with lentils) with chicken dupiaja (chicken curry) and fried hilsha fish for lunch, a perfect meal on a rainy day!

The mood of my friend, however, confused me. While entering into my house, he was literally shouting, “No. No. I can’t bear it anymore. This is too much!”

For President Barack Obama. I don’t know if he and his family have enough food or not! I am sure he is also without pay like the rest of the federal workers

Normally, people bring food or sweets on happy occasions. My friend always had a smiling face every time he brought sweets for me, particularly when Barack Obama won the two presidential elections.

I was naturally surprised by his outbursts.

“What is the problem?” I asked.

Worrying times for the Nobel laureate “Don’t you know? You must be kidding!” He replied.

“Honestly, I don’t know.” I acknowledged my ignorance.

“The whole world knows. There is no reason you should not know.” He was surprised by my ignorance.

“Please tell me what it is,” I requested.

“You know, the Republicans tried all possible tricks to beat Barack

AFP Obama during the last two presidential elections. They failed. Now, they are taking revenge against him,” he said.

“Oh! Are you talking about the shutdown of the US government?

Don’t worry. I am sure they will find a solution,” I told him lightly.

“You can’t take it so casually!” He retorted at me and added, “About 800,000 federal workers are staying at home without pay. Another 1.3m

employees are working but may not be paid on time. The national parks and the National Zoo have closed down.

I do not know if the poor pandas are getting enough food or not.”

His voice began to choke.

“Calm down, my friend. Things will be all right soon. Have a cup of tea.” I tried to console him and be hospitable to him.

He paid no attention to what I said.

I could see tears in his eyes. Suddenly, he said, “I have to leave now.”

I was surprised to find him in such a hurry. He often spent hours with me, gossiping over cups of tea.

“Why are you in such a hurry? You can’t leave without having a cup of tea.” I insisted.

“I am sorry. I don’t have time for tea. The post office must have opened by now. I have to leave.”

“What will you do at the post office?” I asked.

“I collected some rice, lentils, a frozen chicken and a hilsha fish. I want to post them as soon as possible,” he replied.

“Do you really want to post them and for whom?” I asked him, totally astonished.

“For President Barack Obama. I don’t know if he and his family have enough food or not! I am sure he is also without pay like the rest of the federal workers,” he replied as he wiped his tears.

He soon left with the basket of food which I thought he brought for me. While eating dal and alu bharta for lunch that day, I was only thinking about Barack Obama and his family enjoying a free delicious meal of bhuna khichuri with chicken dupiaja and fried hilsha fish cooked by Michelle Obama. l Abdul Matin is a former chief engineer of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Topu comes up with third solo album

n Afrose Jahan Chaity Popular singer Topu’s third solo album “Ar Tomake” hits the market today through a launching ceremony at Café 33 in Baily Road. The album is being released under the banner of G-Series.

His last solo album was released before two and a half years ago. For the first time in his musical career, Topu

has composed all the songs of his new album along with his lead guitarist Shetu. The accomplished singer also wrote all the songs except for one written by Robiul Islam Jibon.

The album features ten songs that are “Ar Tomake,” “Phire Ay,” “Ebhabe Na,” “Sharthopor,” “Ekhane Ebhabe,” and four more songs which include an instrumental piece of the title track “Ar Tomake.”

Regarding the album, Topu shared with the Dhaka Tribune: “I have done new things in my album ‘Ar Tomake.’

The songs are very melodious and rhythmic. Hopefully, I think the audience will enjoy the extract in the song and will love them, as they always showed their appreciation for my music.”

Topu has also expressed his satisfaction, saying: “We have used more acoustic sounds rather than electronic sounds. We tried our best to give good quality songs to the music lovers. This time, I became more conscious about lyrics so that my fans won’t get disappointed. I request that the audience buy original CDs from the market.”

Topu also shares: “I am planning to bring out music videos of the album, after some days.”

Topu’s first album “Bondhu Bhabo Ki” released in 2008 and second album “She Ke” came out in 2010. Both the albums turned out to be big hits. l

ON TV MOVIE 4:41pm WB 17 Again

9:30pmHBO Rush Hour 3

COMEDY 4:30pm Z Cafe

Just For Laughs

7:30pm FX

It’s Always Sunny In Philadelphia

Dance drama Dhaka Amar Dhaka was staged at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy on October 7 as part of a dance festival. Around 15 dance productions were presented as part of BSA’s elaborate programme upholding the rich heritage of Bangladesh SADIA MARIUM

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition

Invitation to the Dance Carel Richter Time: 12 - 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, Gulshan

Dhamrai Metal Craft Brass and bronze sculpture exhibition EMK Centre, Dhanmondi 27

TUMI (YOU) Mostofa Jamil Akbar Shamim Time: 6:30 pm Institute of Asian Creatives Road 36, House 9, Gulshan 2

I am Gautam Chakraborty Time: 1:00am – 7:30pm Galleri Kaya, Sector 04, Uttara

MISC 3:30pm Channel (V)

V Superstar Preview

8:30pm AXN Group Photography Exhibition POV_Prime 50’s: Season 1 Time: 3pm – 8pm Dhaka Art Center (DAC) House-60, Road-7A Dhanmondi R/A

So You Think You Can Dance

NEWS

Film

Nari Cholochchitra Nirmatader Cholochitra Utsab 2013 Time: 3pm – 9pm National Art Plaza Auditorium, BSA

6:45pm RTV

Shondhar Shongbad

10:00pm Maasranga Primetime news

Bengal Foundation holds classical music workshop n Entertainment Desk

Share Bazaar Dot Com airs tonight on ETV n Entertainment Desk

Bengal Foundation has organised a three month long classical music workshop prior to the second installment of the “Bengal Classical Music Festival” scheduled to begin on November 28.

The workshop, titled “Sangeet Aboyob,” began on September 26 and is being held at the Bengal Café in Dhanmondi on every Thursday (3-5pm) and Saturday (10am-12pm).

The workshop, designed by Chhayanaut’s classical music teacher Dr Rezwan Ali, highlights the history of Hindustani Classical Music, grammatical structures of different ragas, and the aesthetics and philosophy of classical music and more. The workshop will conclude on November 16.

Any classical music enthusiast can join the workshop free of charge.

Director of Bengal Foundation Subir Chowdhury opened the workshop by delivering the welcome address on September 26.

Among others Saju Ahmed, Asit Dey and Kamol Khalid will conduct workshops on classical music, dance, instrument and others on different days.

The repertoire of the event also features documentaries on classical music gurus like Ustad Amjad Ali Khan, Ustad Alla Rakha, Pt Birju Maharaj, Pt Bhimsen Joshi, Ustad Bismillah Khan and Pt Ravi Shankar.

The organisers informed that the huge response they received at last year's classical music festival encouraged them to organise such a workshopl

For the first time in Bangladesh, a drama is made based on the share bazaar (stock exchange) of the country. Drama series “Share Bazaar Dot Com” will air every Tuesday and Wednesday at 9:30pm on ETV.

Dazzling theatre performance by Students of Scholastica

AMIRUL RAJIV

Scholastica stages Moliere’s The Miser n Shadma Malik The annual theatre staging of Scholastica took place yesterday at the STM Hall of the school’s Uttara campus. The students staged Moliere’s “The Miser” and left the audience enchanted with their excellent performance.

Scholastica’s theatre club is one of the consistent group who stages masterpieces of English playwrights. The play is directed by Kazi Toufikul Islam Emon, who is also an activist of the Prachyanat theatre troupe.

The 17th century talented playwright Jean Baptise Moliere’s “The Miser” is a satirical comedy-based drama about a central character Harpagon, a wealthy miser, who wishes his daughter Elise to marry a wealthy old man Anselme.

To keep and further his wealth, the miser did not hesitate to give his daughter’s hand in marriage to an old man. Not only that, he also plans to marry the girl his son has set his heart upon to benefit financially.

Father and son become rivals as they have chosen the same woman. To

take control of their own destinies, the children of the old miser stage a robbery, forcing their father to give up his menacing plans of their weddings in return for the restoration of his wealth.

The students gave a tremendous effort to give a professional look in the set, costumes, and props. On the other hand, their acting captivated the audience. Moreover, the live music presented by the students simply added more life to the theatre piece.

The director shared: “The class and coaching time of the students

were rescheduled according to the rehearsal time. Such support from the teachers and dedication from the students made the production successful.”

The play was a unique opportunity to enhance their learning experience and develop their confidence in public speaking and social skills. The educational institution believes that theatre will enable the students to grow aesthetically. Also, the platform provides knowledge on historical genre of acts by popular playwrights. l

The drama series is made with the input from share bazaar experts and the entire process of the share market is highlighted in the play.

The play puts emphasis on the fundamentals and analysis skills required to do share business and bring forward stories of small investors in the market.

“Share Bazaar Dot Com” shows the stories of the people who went into the business without having proper information and on idea of the business and as a result lost everything they owned.

The interesting drama series is written by Mustafizur Rahman and the script and direction is by Nayan Milton.

Popular soap actors Apurba, Hillol, Jenny, Dipa Khandaker, Humaira Himu, Shameem, Nayan Babu, Raju Ahmed and others acted in the play, which tells a story that thousands in the country can relate to. l

Esquire chooses Johansson as the ‘sexiest woman alive’ n Entertainment Desk American actress Scarlett Johansson has been named the sexiest woman alive for the second time by Esquire, the men’s lifestyle magazine said on Monday.

“The Avengers” star was named the sexiest woman in 2006 and is the only woman to have been given the title twice by the publication. The annual recipient of the title is chosen by Esquire editors.

Husky-voiced Johansson, who rose to prominence as a teenager in the 2001 cult film “Ghost World,” stars in three films this fall. In “Don Jon” she plays the girlfriend of a pornography addict and in the sci-fi thriller “Under the Skin” she is a seductive extraterrestrial. She voices a man’s computer

companion in “Her.” “You know, I gotta hustle,” Johansson told the magazine of her busy work schedule. “I’m a 28-year-old woman in the movie business, right? Pretty soon the roles you’re offered all become mothers. Then they just sort of stop.”

Johansson said last month she was engaged to marry French journalist Romain Dauriac. Her previous marriage to actor Ryan Reynolds ended in 2011 after three years.

Last year’s sexiest woman, according to Esquire, was American actress Mila Kunis. Barbadian pop singer Rihanna, British actress Kate Beckinsale and South African actress Charlize Theron have all been given the “sexiest” distinction by the magazine. l

Krrish 3 game launched

by Microsoft n Entertainment Desk Microsoft launched the official “Krrish 3” game which will be available on Windows tablets smartphones, and laptops and is based on the Bollywood actor Hrithik Roshan-starrer “Krrish 3” movie releasing next month.

The game has been developed by Hungama Digital Media Entertainment and Gameshastra, Microsoft said in a release. “The game gives a real taste of all the ‘Krrish 3’ action with multiple characters, numerous weapons and amazing graphics,” it stated on Monday.

The game is available for Windows

smartphones now, while for tablets and PCs users can download it by the end of the week from Windows Store, it said.

Set against the backdrop of Mumbai, the game has six levels, three of which are set in the old city and three in the newer parts of Mumbai.

Meanwhile, Bollywood heartthrob Hrithik says he used to feel “unbreakable and unstoppable” after wearing his superhero suit while shooting for “Krrish 3.”

Directed by Rakesh Roshan, the film is set for a Nov 1 release. It also stars Priyanka Chopra, Kangana Ranaut and Vivek Oberoi in pivotal roles. l

Did you know?

Sunderland’s newly appointed head coach Gus Poyet is the first Uruguayan to manage a team in the English Premier League

Sport

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

14 Open season as English big guns misfire

Probable Squads Bangladesh Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Marshall Ayub, Mominul Haque/Naeem Islam, Mushfiqur Rahim (capt & wk), Shakib Al Hasan, Nasir Hossain, Mahmudullah, Sohag Gazi/Abdur Razzak, Robiul Islam, Rubel Hossain New Zealand Peter Fulton, Hamish Rutherford, Kane Williamson, Ross Taylor, Brendon McCullum (capt), Dean Brownlie/Corey Anderson, BJ Watling (wk), Neil Wagner, Doug Bracewell/Ish Sodhi, Trent Boult, Bruce Martin

Bangladesh’s Nasir Hossain, foreground, catches the ball during a practice session ahead of their first Test cricket match against New Zealand at the Zohur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday AP

Marshal Ayub - birth of a star? n Mazhar Uddin

13 years ago a boy from Jurain started practicing cricket under the eye of his uncle Mohammed Yakub at the Dhupkhola ground in Gendaria. The boy looked promising right from and today, it is no surprise that the stylish right hander is on the verge of playing his first Test match for Bangladesh in place of his favorite cricketer Mohammed Ashraful.

Marshal Ayub is all set to bat at the all-important number three position in his first Test against New Zealand today.

Marshal was born into a relatively lower class family as the second of four sons and started his national cricketing service in 2000 as the captain of Bangladesh U-13 team which toured Shiliguri that year. His rise was a meteoric one as he continued to impress the selectors at the junior levels and played at every age-level team for Bangladesh.

“I have played for Bangladesh U-13 team in 2000 and I used to practice under my uncle Yakub who was my first coach,” said Marshal.

The stylish right hander later played for High performance squad and also in the Bangladesh “A” team. His solid and pleasing-to-the-eye performances continued, Marshal sustained a knee injury in 2007 which kept him out of cricket for three months.

“I had a very bad injury on my knee back in 2007 while playing for Academy team and later I missed the Dhaka league season that year, which was very crucial for me. Later I had an operation on the knee in India, which I paid for myself,” said Marshal.

After returning to the field, Marshal continued to excel at the domestic level. Last season, he struck two double centuries and smashed a hundred in a recent practice match. The selectors were unable to ignore what the talented Marshal offered the national side any longer.

“I always try to play my natural game and I worked hard last season. I batted

for hours in the net which paid off for me and as a result, I got the chance,” said an excited Marshal.

The 24 year old has been close to earning a national cap before. He was named in the primary squad for the T20 World Cup in 2007 and included in the Test squad for the tour of Sri Lanka earlier this year, but did not make his international debut.

It was Mohammed Ashraful’s confession to being involved in fixing activities – a move that saw the youngest ever Test centurion suspended from all forms of cricket – that opened the door for Marshal to step into the national team. It was a bitter-sweet experience for the player, as Ashraful is one of his cricketing heroes.

“Ashraful bhai is one of my favorite cricketers but it’s a part of life and definitely I will try to give my everything fulfill the expectations of the Bangladesh people,” said a determined Marshal.

Dream come true or otherwise, Marshal is philosophically only looking to what is immediately ahead. “I only thinking about this Test match, nothing further. My approach will be the same as ever – the same as in first class cricket – I’m just going to try and play my natural game.”

Marshal’s outlook is one that is supported by the captain of the Bangladesh team Mushfiqur Rahim, who has taken the field many a time with the newcomer at the junior level.

Marshal explained, “Mushfiq told me that I have nothing to lose and asked me to play my natural game – and leave the rest to God. He also said I’d be batting at number three,” said Marshal. l

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim wanted his team to be mindful of the 4-0 thrashing they inflicted on New Zealand during the kiwi’s last tour in 2010, but was keen to stress that things were different this time and nothing should be taken for granted at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) yesterday.

“Not exploit. We are obviously motivated because of the win in 2010, but to be honest, Test cricket is a different ball game entirely and we are playing Tests after a long time. We just played one three –day match to prepare and a few competitive games in the premier league (Dhaka Premier League), but Test cricket is different,” the Bangladesh skipper said at the pre-match conference at ZACS yesterday.

“To be honest our bigger challenge is with ourselves rather than against them (New Zealand) because we are playing Test cricket after a long time. If we are facing trouble for the new wicket and a new squad, then I expect it to trouble

Shamim, Ranjit share lead n Shishir Hoque Indian golfers Shamim Khan and Ranjit Singh moved to the top of the standings after the second round of the bti International Golf Championship at the Kurmitola Golf Club yesterday. Shamim carded a sixunder-par 72 and Ranjit clubbed fourunder-par 74 and both totaled eightunder-par 136 to leapfrog overnight leaders Jamal Hossain Mollah and Md Saiyum of Bangladesh. Jamal is closely following the Indian duo with a sevenunder-par 137 after a two-under par score in the second round.

Sitting in third position are Md Nazim, Raju Ali Mollah and Saiyum with a six-under-par score. l

them three times more, so we are quite habituated and we are hoping to get used to the pitch fast,” he added.

Bangladesh’s batting has been firing in recent times and have posted totals of 500 and even 600 in the recent past. The finishing, however, has not been quite as good.

“We are trying to work a lot more because it is often seen that we play well in the first three days and then lose because of the last two days. From the Sri Lanka tour, we kept reminding ourselves after each session to perform well in the next so that we can play well throughout the match. So we have these short aims that we are trying to achieve and hopefully we can play well in the entire Test and be consistent,”

Game on in Chittagong Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Chittagong

The last time Bangladesh met New Zealand in a Test match at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS) was in 2008 and it was only Daniel Vettori’s 70 odd runs that denied the home team a win. With the memories of that match having faded away and the convincing 4-0 result in the ODI series of 2010 to bolster Bangladesh’s expectations, the two teams are set to meet once more at the same ground in the first match of a two Test series starting today.

Inclement weather washed out a three day warm up game for the Kiwi’s but the last two days have been blessed with bright sunshine. Both teams have taken advantage of the weather to engage in practice at the ZACS as they prepare for the big clash.

The last two years have seen the Tigers progress in the longer format of the game, especially under the leadership of wicket-keeper/batsman Mushfiqur Rahim. The team won the last Test they played in Zimbabwe in April to square the away series 1-1.

On the batting side of things, Bangladesh’s middle order has been reasonably solid in recent times, while opener Tamim Iqbal – who alternates between brilliance and carelessness – has come to be feared by almost all. Nonetheless, there are likely to some changes to the line-up for the first Test – which will be played on a recently-laid wicket.

Top order batsman Anamul Haque Bijoy who missed the Zimbabwe tour, is likely to open the innings with Tamim.

In the absence of Mohammad Ashraful, who is out of cricket on fixing allega-

said the wicket-keeper batsman.

Ace all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan will be one of the men that the team will be banking on to turn in a critical performance. Though Shakib’s recent injury troubles have kept him away from cricket and rain denied him from time-inthe-middle in the washed out three-day practice match, Mushfiq is counting still on Shakib.

“It would have been good had he played the three day match, but we have to do with what time we have. He is a smart player and he can adjust. He might be a little rusty but he can adjust as the game progresses. Hopefully he can be amongst the runs which will be good for us,” said Mushfiq.

Though Mushfiq thinks that a few more longer-version games could have aided his team in preparing for the very important home series, the 25-year old is expecting a series win.

“Yeah, there is obviously hope for a series win and we will play to win. Whatever there is to do we will do all that to win not only the Test series but also the ODI and the Twenty20,” said the optimistic Mushfiq. l

Nazmul set to become president on Friday n Raihan Mahmood Nazmul Hasan, the president of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) adhoc committee is set to become the first elected president of the apex body of the country’s cricket on Friday.

The BCB elections are scheduled for Thursday and the elected directors will be voting to elect the president the day after the elections. As per the new constitution of BCB, the elected directors will be electing the president through a voting process.

Nazmul Hasan, Ahmed Sajjadul Alam and Ismail Haider Mallik were nominated as the directors of BCB by the National Sports Council and they

13

14 Michu relishing 15 Kiwi skipper challenge of McCullum securing Spain spot looks ahead

Mushfiq confident of good result Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Chittagong

DHAKA TRIBUNE

withdrew their nomination papers on Monday.

With the category-2 directors all set to be elected unopposed, the elections will be limited to two directors post from the Dhaka division, one director post from the Rajshahi division in category-1 and one director post in category-3. Former national skipper Naimur Rahman Durjoy, Monjur Kader and Mirza Zillur Rahman are vying for the two director posts of Dhaka division, Rafiusshams Paddy and Saiful Alam Swapan are competing for the Rajshahi division and former national skippers Gazi Ashraf Hossain Lipu and Khaled Mahmud Shujon are fighting for the lone director’s post in category-3. l

tions, Marshal Ayub is likely to make his debut at the all-important number three position. The number four spot is more uncertain with both Naeem Islam and Mominul Haque having proved their worth in recent times. Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is expected to play a significant role with the bat himself and his recent performances - which includes the first ever double century from a Bangladeshi player in Sri Lanka earlier this year – supports the high expectations the country has of the captain.

Bangladesh are likely to announce a final 11 that includes eight players capable of scoring a century without causing surprise. Rubel Hossain and Robiul Islam are likely to be the two specialist pace bowlers and the big question is who will be the specialist spinner. Abdur Razzak or Sohag Gazi are fighting for the final slot, to pair up with all-rounder and left arm orthodox spinner Shakib Al Hasan.

While injury troubles have kept a number of key Kiwi players benched, their morale remains high as they try to erase the memories of their last tour of the youngest member of the Test match club. With Vettori missing, the spin bowling will rest on left arm bowler Bruce Martin on what is expected to be a spinner-friendly wicket. Leg-spinner Ish Sodhi is also likely to make his debut.

On the batting front, the visitors will look to established stars Brendon McCullum and Ross Taylor to lead the way, but newcomers Kane Williamson and Hamish Rutherford may also make their way into the team. Another newcomer, Bradley Watling, might keep wickets to relieve skipper McCullum from the additional duty. McCullum also hinted that either one of left-arm paceman Corey Anderson or batting all-rounder Dean Brownlie might make it into the playing 11. l

BOA severs tie with Waliullah n Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh Olympic Association has terminated Col. (Rtd) M. Waliullah tenure as Chief Operations Officer and Director General. The decision came into effect on October 1 and Col. Wali asked about the termination benefits at that time.

Commenting upon the subject, BOA secretary general Syed Shahed Reza said all the dues will be met in accordance with existing guidelines. l

Badal slams BCB n Raihan Mahmood

Cricket organiser Lutfor Rahman Badal slammed the Bangladesh Cricket Board for anomalies and irregularities at a press conference at the Hotel Purbani yesterday.

He presented a total of 12 points to support his claim. The points included the BCB elections not being held in true democratic spirit, the concerned people being motivated to cash in on their positions and they being involved with all BCB works with most of the big budget jobs done without a tender process, many of the ad-hoc committee members being inexperienced and the foreign relations of BCB being at the lowest level they have hit in recent years.

Badal also noted that Bangladesh have to play in the qualifiers for the WT20 Cup and the BCB allowing players from competition Zimbabwe and Afghanistan learning about the conditions they would encounter while playing the Dhaka Premier League. He also pointed out that BCB had failed to form a tribunal to investigate match fixing allegations despite 40 days having passed since the ICC paved the way for such a move.

“The amendments to the BCB constitution are just a mockery. The existing committee members have penned it to serve their own causes and the whole election process has become most controversial. The marketing of BCB has hit the lowest level. Overall the BCB is now surrounded by failures,” concluded Badal. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

MIND THE WINDOWS!

Britain’s Prince William warned footballers to watch the Buckingham Palace windows on Monday as Queen Elizabeth II’s official residence staged the first football match in its 308-year history. A match between two of England’s oldest amateur teams took place in the 39acre gardens of the famous central London landmark as part of celebrations to mark the 150th anniversary of the Football Association. William, president of the FA and second in line to the British throne, was on hand to oversee the event AP

Open season as big guns misfire n AFP, London The topsy-turvy opening weeks of the Premier League campaign have fuelled pre-season optimism that the 2013-14 title race would be one of the most open in years.

With Manchester United, Manchester City and Chelsea all under new management, and a glut of new players having arrived during the close season, the English top flight is in the throes of transition, and the off-pitch upheaval has been mirrored in the results.

For the first time since 2009, there are no unbeaten teams after seven games.

I won’t smoke again: Wilshere n

AFP, London

Arsenal midfielder Jack Wilshere has promised never to smoke again after being caught with a cigarette in public.

Wilshere was photographed smoking outside a London nightclub in the early hours of Thursday morning as he celebrated Arsenal’s 2-0 win over Napoli in the Champions League.

“Players make mistakes,” he told Arsenal Player on Monday. “I am not a smoker. I spoke with the boss and he asked me what happened. “I explained to him and we sorted it out.

“He put me in the team and hopefully I repaid him.

“I am not a smoker so I think that will be my last (cigarette).” l

The six-point gap between leaders Arsenal and 10th-place Aston Villa, meanwhile, represents the narrowest such gap since 2007 and it is only the second time since 1994 that the teams in the top half of the division have been so tightly bunched at this stage of the season.

Unexpected defeats for the league’s leading lights have only added to the sense of disorder.

Arsenal’s stunning home defeat by Villa on the season’s opening day set the tone and champions United have already lost three times, including a 4-1 humiliation in the Manchester derby.

City have been beaten by both Villa and promoted Cardiff City, while Tottenham Hotspur crashed to a surprise

3-0 loss at home to West Ham United on Sunday.

Amid the carnage, Mauricio Pochettino’s well-drilled Southampton side have stealthily crept up the table to fourth place, following a run of three wins and a draw in which they did not concede a single goal.

West Bromwich Albion are another club to have exploited the uncertainty, having won 2-1 away to United with a performance of laudable boldness before drawing 1-1 at home to Arsenal.

Speaking before his side’s victory at Old Trafford, West Brom manager Steve Clarke presciently proclaimed: “I don’t believe it has a fear factor. I don’t hold with feeling nervous or intimidated. You should relish the challenge.”

not once has the team in fourth place ended the season within 10 points of the champions.

However, although the statistics suggest the early throes of a much more democratic title race, former Liverpool defender turned BBC television pundit Alan Hansen feels it is too soon to tell.

“People are saying it’s the most open Premier League for years, but as far as I’m concerned, the favourites at the start are still the favourites: the two Manchester clubs and Chelsea,” he said.

“The first 10, 12 games, you can’t win the title, but you can lose it. Maybe Man United are a bit further behind than they’d want to be, but apart from that, they’re all in position.” l

P 7

W D 5 1

L 1

GD Pts 6 16

Liverpool Chelsea Saints Man City

7 7 7 7

5 4 4 4

1 2 2 1

1 1 1 2

6 6 5 9

16 14 14 13

Tottenham Everton Hull Man United

7 7 7 7

4 3 3 3

1 3 2 1

2 1 2 3

1 1 -1 1

13 12 11 10

Aston Villa Newcastle West Brom

7 7 7

3 3 2

1 1 3

3 3 2

1 -3 1

10 10 9

West Ham Cardiff Swansea Stoke

7 7 7 7

2 2 2 2

2 2 1 1

3 3 4 4

2 -1 -3 -3

8 8 7 7

Fulham Norwich Crystal Palace

7 7 7

2 2 1

1 1 0

4 4 6

-4 -4 -8

7 7 3

Sunderland

7

0

1

6

-11

1

Mounting injuries won’t stop Germany’s path to World Cup

Struggling Sunderland turn to Poyet

n Reuters

Premier League strugglers Sunderland have entrusted Gus Poyet with the responsibility of securing their top-flight survival, announcing on Tuesday that they have appointed him as manager on a two-year contract.

The 45-year-old Uruguayan, who previously worked at second-tier Brighton and Hove Albion, succeeds Paolo Di Canio, whose seven-month tenure left the northeast club at the foot of the table.

Di Canio was sacked last month with Kevin Ball placed in caretaker charge and Poyet arrives to find the club six points adrift of safety with only one point from their first seven games.

“I look forward to proving my ability to the fans -- I want them to believe, be-

Germany may be missing more than half a dozen key players through injuries, including their top strikers, but anything other than automatic World Cup qualification with a win over Ireland on Friday will be a disappointment, officials said.

Germany coach Joachim Loew will be without his starting strikers Mario Gomez and Miroslav Klose as well as defender Marcel Schmelzer, twins Sven and Lars Bender, Lukas Podolski and offensive midfielder Marco Reus among others. “We always hope that in the autumn to have all players fully fit but there are times when players are stretched every three days with matches,” team manager Oliver Bierhoff told a

news conference in Duesseldorf.

Germany need two points from their last two games against Ireland in Cologne and away to Sweden four days later to top Group C and advance to next year’s World Cup finals in Brazil.

Germany are on 22 points from eight games with Sweden in second place, five points off the pace.

Bierhoff also brushed off criticism that a lack of attackers could be a problem, with Max Kruse the only designated forward in Loew’s squad.

For Bastian Schweinsteiger, who will reach 100 caps if he plays in both games, a win over Ireland would be the first step towards winning that elusive first international trophy with Germany since 1996. l

Redknapp feared hair would get in Bale’s way

n AFP, London

cause we need to stick together,” Poyet told the Sunderland website.

“I think the key behind my strong home record at Brighton was the connection with the fans. I can see that here also.

“It’s a huge challenge, but one I am excited about and I am grateful for the opportunity to manage in the Premier League.”

Sunderland’s Texan owner El-

Football must lead anti-racism fight: Platini

n AFP, London Former Tottenham Hotspur manager Harry Redknapp has revealed that he once feared Gareth Bale was too preoccupied with his hairstyle to make it as a leading footballer.

Bale left Tottenham for Real Madrid last month for a reported world-record transfer fee of £85 million ($137 million, 100 million euros), but Redknapp says he used to have doubts about the Welsh forward’s strength of character.

“He drove me mad in training,” wrote Redknapp in his autobiography, which is being serialised in British newspaper the Daily Mail. “Technically, he was outstanding, but he always seemed to be playing with his hair.

“It was never right. He’d be flicking the fringe or wiping it out of his eyes and I would be going quietly mad, just watching. ‘Gareth, leave your barnet alone! Gareth! Stop touching you hair!’”

‘Barnet’ is cockney rhyming slang for ‘hair’, derived from a rhyme with ‘Barnet Fair’.

Redknapp, who now manages secondtier Queens Park Rangers, was also worried about Bale’s propensity for injury. l

The notion of a shifting power structure was embodied by Morgan Amalfitano’s arrestingly brazen opening goal in that game, the French winger driving at the United defence, impudently nutmegging centre-back Rio Ferdinand, and then nonchalantly lifting the ball over goalkeeper David de Gea. It was also apparent at White Hart Lane on Sunday, when Ravel Morrison sealed West Ham’s victory over Spurs with a similarly precocious burst through an opposition defence that had previously conceded only two goals in six matches.

Over the last 10 seasons, the average gap between the teams finishing first and fourth has been 20 points and

Points Table Team Arsenal

n AFP, Geneva

Uruguay's national player Suarez (L) controls the ball while being watched by Forlan during a team training at Montevideo, on Monday. Uruguay will face Ecuador and Argentina on October 11 and 15 respectively for qualifiers to the World Cup finals of Brazil 2014 REUTERS

Football must lead the fight against racism inside and outside the game, Michel Platini, head of the sport’s European governing body UEFA told a United Nations meeting on Monday.

As the globe’s most popular sport, the iconic former France international said, football has a particular role to play in confronting prejudice.

“Football is honour-bound, by virtue of that very popularity, to promote values which are able to make society more tolerant of diversity,” Platini told campaigners and diplomats at a session on racism and sport at the UN’s European offices in Geneva.

Over recent years, UEFA and its global football counterpart FIFA have increased the severity and number of punishments able to be imposed for racist offences. There have been mixed opinions among football chiefs, however, about whether players should take matters into their own hands.

The prime example came when Ghana international Kevin-Prince Boateng stormed off the pitch in January during

a friendly between his then club AC Milan and a lower-league Italian side.

While UEFA’s leaders backed him right away, FIFA boss Sepp Blatter initially cast doubt on such unilateral action, before finally swinging behind Boateng. “Those who govern our game have a duty to protect players, who are in their workplace, against all forms of discrimination,” Platini said. “The FIFA anti-discrimination taskforce is committed to eliminating racism on and off the pitch,” Webb told the UN meeting in a video address.

“There’s a real problem with racism in some regions of Europe, for sure,” said Platini. “This behaviour is largely down to small organised groups who choose to express their hatred in a football stadium in order to take advantage of the popularity and media coverage enjoyed by our sport.” But the broader context could not be ignored, he said.

“Football reflects society’s values but also, unfortunately, its prejudices, fears and mistrust. But it’s precisely because football is often more open to diversity than wider society that it enables advance that would be more difficult in other areas,” he said. l

lis Short, who conducted a two-week search for Di Canio’s successor, said he was convinced he had found the right man for the job.

“We analysed a wide range of candidates and believe that Gus’s track record, experience, commitment and passion make him the right man to take us forward,” he said. “We welcome him to Sunderland.”

Poyet becomes Sunderland’s sixth permanent head coach in less than five years and he will also be the first Uruguayan to manage a team in the Premier League.

He first came to England as a player in 1997, joining Chelsea from Real Zaragoza and winning the FA Cup, the now defunct UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup, and the UEFA Super Cup, before spending three years at Tottenham Hotspur. l

Michu relishing challenge of securing Spain spot n Reuters, Madrid Swansea City forward Michu says being called up by Spain filled him with childlike joy but at the same time he knows convincing coach Vicente del Bosque he deserves a place in the team will not be easy.

Del Bosque drafted in the 27-yearold after the withdrawal of injured David Villa but with the stiffest of competition in a glittering squad Michu may struggle to play in the holders’ final two World Cup qualifiers against Belarus in Palma de Mallorca on Friday and Georgia in Albacete four days later.

Michu is one of a host of gifted goalscorers vying for a place in the side, including Manchester City’s David Silva and Alvaro Negredo, Barcelona’s Pedro, Chelsea’s Juan Mata and Real Madrid’s Isco.

Michu, who joined up with the rest of the squad in Madrid on Tuesday, has plenty to offer with his strength in the air and an ability to arrive in the danger areas at the right time perhaps matched among the current Spain contingent only

by Barca playmaker Cesc Fabregas. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

McCullum looks ahead

Quick Bytes

BD U-19 thrashed

by Iraq Bangladesh lost 0-6 to hosts Iraq in a group C match in the AFC U-19 qualifiers at the Francouse Al-Hareeri Stadium in Iraq yesterday. The eventual winners were up 4-0 at half-time and built on the lead in the second half. Bangladesh will play Kuwait on October 10 and Pakistan on October 12 at the same venue.

– RM

Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Chittagong

U-19 cricketers go down Bangladesh Under-19 cricket team started their Caribbean tour with a sixwicket defeat against the West Indies U-19 in their 1st ODI at the Providence Stadium, Guyana yesterday. The home side decided to field first after winning the toss and bowled Bangladesh out for 135 in 46 overs. Skipper Mehedy Hasan top scored with 29, while wicketkeeperbatsman Jashimuddin made 21. Alzarri Joseph picked up three wickets for the Caribbean side. It was an easy trail for the hosts as they strolled to victory in 34.4 overs for the loss of four wickets.

Opening batsman Leroy Lug made 69, while Mehedy was also the most successful with the ball for Bangladesh with two wickets. The second match of the 7-match series will be played today at Georgetown.

– SH

Dhaka win karate tournament Dhaka division emerged as the champions of the 5th Divisional Karate Championship with six gold medals, four silvers and two bronze at the National Sports Council gymnasium yesterday.

Khulna became the runners-up with five golds and six silvers while Chittagong was third with four golds, three silvers and four bronze.

– SH

Queens Baton Relay tour The Glasgow 2014 Queen’s Baton Relay is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka on October 14 and will leave the country two days later. The commonwealth baton is due to leave London today and expected to arrive at its first international stop in New Delhi on Friday. The baton will visit Bangladesh afterwards and will leave for Pakistan on October 16. It will travel 118,000 miles across 71 Commonwealth nations and territories in 288 days before the start of the Commonwealth Games 2014 on July 23. A coordination meeting with British Council and UNICEF regarding the plan and schedule of the Queen’s Baton Relay, presided by organizer of the Queen’s Baton Relay organizing committee Sheikh Bashir Ahmed Mamun was held at the Bangladesh Olympic Auditorium board room yesterday.

- SH

Players do care about England, says Gerrard England captain Steven Gerrard has dismissed as “nonsense” the notion that his international team-mates are not motivated by the prospect of playing for their country. The 33-year-old Liverpool midfielder will be a key player in England’s final two World Cup qualifiers at home to Montenegro on Friday and Poland next Tuesday. Back-to-back victories will guarantee Roy Hodgson’s side a place in Brazil next year, but anything less could leave England either in the play-offs or eliminated altogether.

– AFP

Mexes slapped with four-match ban AC Milan defender Philippe Mexes has been slapped with a four-match ban after video footage showed the Frenchman punching Juventus defender Giorgio Chiellini. Chiellini had called for a “heavy sanction” for Mexes following the sides’ bad-tempered clash in Turin on Sunday, which Juve won 3-2. Serie A disciplinary officials used video footage to rule that Mexes had indeed punched Chiellini as the pair tussled prior to a corner being taken. The Juventus defender said after the match: “Some people just won’t learn. When you’re tough and determined, that’s fair enough because at the end of the day you get up from a hard tackle and shake hands.

– AFP

Day’s Watch Ten Sports 12:00pm ATP 1000 Masters 2013 LIVE Shanghai Rolex Masters Round 2 Ten Action I League 2013/14 LIVE 4:20pm Salgaocar SC v Dempo SC 7:20pm Mumbai FC v United Sikkim Club

15

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

New Zealand cricket captain Brendon McCullum plays a shot during a practice session at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday AFP

The New Zealand team will be looking to mentally put the disastrous 2010 ODI series in Bangladesh behind as they get ready to take on the same in the first Test of a two match series at Chittagong’s Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium today.

Skipper Brendon McCullum thinks it is something that the Kiwis should forget but is conscious of the difficulties of doing so for those who played on that tour.

“It is something we need to forget.

The pain that inflicted on the guy’s careers and also on this cricket team, that’s something, we won’t forget. But at the same time we think that we are a different breed of players and we got a different management set up and a different playing group and we are going to learn our lessons from that series.

But we won’t let that worry us when it comes to play,” McCullum told the media at ZACS yesterday.

“The last time we were here was incredibly tough for us. I think the preparation for us was not how it should have been and we were caught on the hop a little bit by a very good Bangladeshi team in their own condition. We tried to make sure that our preparation is done properly for this tour. Some guys played in Sri Lanka right before this series and some other subcontinent areas as well, so I think they are a lot better prepared

Brothers refuse to play; claim default win n Mazhar Uddin Brothers Union refused to play as Cricket Coaching School (CCS) arrived five minute late for their match yesterday at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in the Walton Dhaka Premier League (DPL) yesterday.

In the other two matches of the day, Kalabagan CA’s Nuruzzaman’s unbeaten 85 helped his side to a 52 run win over fellow Kalabagan KC at the BKSP-3 ground, while in-form Prime Doleshwar fell to a second successive defeat against Khelaghar SKS, for whom Nizam Uddin Ripon snatched five wickets, at the Shaheed Chandu stadium.

Cricket Coaching School were five minutes late for their match at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium, and Brothers declined to play the match while insisting that they receive full points for the non-existent encounter.

“We came to the field right on time but

we did not see our opponents CCS as they came to the field at 9.15. According to the by-laws, both team have to report on the field by8.45 am,” said Amin Khan, the manager of Brothers Union.

Match referee Samiur Rahman, who came to the ground with the CCS team bus, waited for almost half an hour for the toss as Brothers skipper Sohrawardi Shuvo remained absent.

CCS official Iqbal Yusuf Chowdhury said that his team came late because of an incident in Jatrabari. “There was some problem on the roads in Jatrabari, so it took some time for us to reach the ground. Brothers team had already given the player list but why they did not play, I have no idea,” said Iqbal.

Meanwhile Jalal Yunus, the chairman of CCDM, said he would discuss the matter with match officials today.

“We have received a letter from Brothers Union and also from the match referee. We will sit with everyone tomorrow (today) and later take a decision,” he said.

Kalabagan CA v Kalabagan KC

Asked to bat first, Kalabagan CA were made to struggle from the start. Middle order batsman Nuruzzaman’s unbeaten 85 helped them to recover and along with Zakaria Masud’s 32, allowed the batting side to reach 189/9 from their 50 overs. For Kalabagan KC, Syed Rasel, Shaju Datta, Rakibul Hasan and Tasamul Haque took two wicket each.

Kalabagan KC in their reply kept losing wickets regularly. Opener Mithun Ali struck 43 and Forhad Hossain added 44, but the batting side were bowled out for 137 in 39.2 overs to lose the game.

Asif Hasan took three wickets and left arm spinner Nazmul Apu claimed two for Kalabagan CA.

Prime Doleshwar v Khelaghar

Khelaghar SKS opted to bat after winning the toss and Ariful Haque’s 69, Nizamuddin’s 39 and Al-Mahumudul’s 33 were at the heart of the team’s total of 215/7 from 50 overs.

Doleshwar skipper Forhad Reza took three wickets and Taijul Islam

Brief Scores Kalabagan CA v Kalabagan KC Kalabagan CA 189/9 in 50 over Nuruzzaman 85, Zakaria Masud 32 Tasamul Haque 23/2, Rakibul Hasan 25/2 Kalabagan KC 137/10 in 39.2 over Forhad Hossain 44, Mithun Ali 43 Asif Hasan 37/3, Nazmul Apu 19/2 Kalabagan CA won by 52 runs

Prime Doleshwar v Khelaghar Khelaghar SKS 215/7 in 50 over Ariful Haque 69, Nizamuddin 39 Forhad Reza 35/3, Taijul Islam 27/2 Doleshwar 168/10 in 46.1 over Sabbir Rahman 37, Ripon 16/5, Khelaghar won by 47 runs two for the bowling side.

In reply, Doleshwar were bowled out for 168 in 46.1 overs. Opener Arman Hossain made 30 to follow top scorer Sabbir Rahman’s 37, but it was not enough as the in-form side slid to their third loss in the tournament.

Nizamuddin Ripon returned figures of 5/16 for Khelaghar and was named man-of-the-match. l

than the last time,” said the wicketkeeper batsman.

Back 2010 it was Bangladesh’s allrounder and then captain Shakib Al Hasan that made the difference between the two teams. Shakib rose as a world-class all-rounder as he claimed two man-of-the-match awards and the Man-of-the-series prize as he performed with bat, ball and as captain in the four matches. Asked if Shakib was the main threat to the kiwis, McCullum said, “He is a world class player, I have seen him perform in the international stage for a long time and was lucky enough to play with him in Kolkata. He is a great fellow and a very humble man.

We know that again he is going to be a big danger for us but we are going to try to outsmart him. We have some good plans in place for his batting and obviously his bowling is going to pose some questions as well. I think Tamim Iqbal at the top is also very dangerous so we need to restrict him as well.”

McCullum who is likely hand over his wicket-keeping duties to Bradley Watling is counting on his side’s new members to step up.

“We have got a lot of fresh faces and they have begun to perform as well. In recent times our game has gone up there as well. We got a better understanding of how we want to play as a team. We know Bangladesh can be extremely difficult in their own conditions. They are very smart in their own tactics. We are going to try and make up for what happened a few years ago and also help in the development of the team,” said the 32-year old. l

Sharapova withdraws from season finale n AFP Maria Sharapova on Monday withdrew from the season-ending WTA Championships in Istanbul because of a right shoulder injury that has dogged her since before the US Open, The Women’s Tennis Association (WTA) announced.

The 26-year-old Russian -- presently number three in the world -- had had to withdraw from the US Open on the eve of the tournament because of the injury and owing to a previous hip problem has played just one match since a second round exit at Wimbledon in June.

“I am very disappointed that I will not be able to play in the WTA Championships this year,” said Sharapova, whose turbulent season has also been marked by her splitting with Jimmy Connors after just three weeks as her coach. “The fans in Istanbul have welcomed us each year with such intense passion and warmth, I will sincerely miss the energy and excitement they brought to the year-end tournament. “I want to thank Istanbul for being a tremendous host and hope to play in Turkey sometime in the future.” l

Federer already looking forward to ‘great’ 2014 n Reuters Looking back is a waste of time, as far as Roger Federer is concerned. While tennis fans and pundits are obsessed with his below-par performance at the four majors this year which has left him in danger of missing the cut for the seasonending ATP finale for the first time since 2001, Federer has already put a positive spin on his 2013 trials and tribulations.

“I always knew that this year, after a very tough year in 2012, the Olympics (and winning Wimbledon), was going to be a bit more quiet,” the Swiss told reporters in Shanghai on Monday after winning his first-round doubles match with little-known Chinese Zhang Ze.

“I expected myself probably not to be as successful and as busy playing matches and tournaments.

“My mindset now is, okay, next year is going to be a great year again where I’m not going to have that many points to defend, especially at some very key moments where I consider myself a favourite. “For that reason I’m really looking forward to 2014 already.”

Federer, who won the last of his record 17 grand slam titles at Wimbledon 15 months ago before scooping a silver at the London Games, went through the 2013 season without reaching a major final for the first time since 2002 and his only success has been at the low-key Halle tournament. l

Mumbai Indians squad pay homage to Sachin Tendulkar in Mumbai yesterday

AGENCIES

Lewis Hamilton ‘clarifies’ Vettel snooze jibe

Court clears Srinivasan’s return

n AFP, Tokyo

India’s Supreme Court on Tuesday reinstated N. Srinivasan as the country’s cricket chief, but ordered him to stay away from a fresh enquiry into alleged spot-fixing in the Indian Premier League.

Srinivasan, 68, widely regarded as the most powerful man in world cricket, had been barred by the court from taking charge since his election on September 29 as chief of the Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) for a third year.

“Srinivasan can take over as BCCI president, but we have also formed

Britain’s Lewis Hamilton Tuesday rowed back on his suggestion that Sebastien Vettel’s Formula One dominance was a turn-off for fans, hailing the German as a “true champion”.

Hamilton said he wanted to “clarify” his comments from Sunday’s Korean Grand Prix, and sent a series of laudatory tweets about the soon-to-be fourtime world title-winner.

“Read some of the stories/reports of my comments on Seb. Feel the need to clarify my thoughts. Seb is great cham-

pion!!” tweeted Hamilton.

“Not only that, he is a great human being who is funny and humble. Deserves all the success he is having!” he added.

“I admire his dedication & ability to consistently perform without mistakes.

This is the mark of a true champion.

“Regardless of what you & I may think about his car, at the end of the day he’s doing the perfect job.”

In Korea, Hamilton said Vettel’s hold on the sport reminded him of the days of Michael Schumacher, who won seven world titles. l

n AFP, New Delhi

a new probe panel to investigate the case,” ruled A.K. Patnaik, one of the two judges who heard the case.

The court appointed a threemember panel headed by a former judge to investigate a scandal that has rocked the popular Indian Premier League (IPL) Twenty20 tournament run by the BCCI. A cricket body in the eastern state of Bihar which is not affiliated to the BCCI had petitioned the court to prevent Srinivasan’s return on moral grounds because his son-in-law had been charged in the scandal.

The son-in-law, Gurunath Meiyappan, was the team principal

of the Chennai Super Kings, the IPL franchise owned by Srinivasan’s India Cements company and captained by national skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Srinivasan, who has not himself been accused of any wrongdoing, stepped aside temporarily as BCCI president in June when Meiyappan was named in the scandal.

The new Supreme Court-appointed panel, whose expenses will be borne by the BCCI, was given four months to submit its findings to the court. The verdict came after Srinivasan agreed not to interfere in the panel’s working. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, October 9, 2013

Surprise changes in administrations n Mohosinul Karim Amid government denials the home and public administration ministries started to reshuffle both public and police administrations as the government’s tenure comes to a close.

Calling the changes regular part of the public administration, ministry officials said the process would continue as per guidelines of the ministry.

On Tuesday, the ministry reshuffled the offices of nine deputy commissioners (DC), five additional secretaries, eight joint secretaries and six deputy secretaries.

The home ministry promoted four deputy inspectors general (DIG) of police to additional inspector general (additional IG) that same day, out of them, three DIGs are already working as additional IGs. Despite the major changes, the public administration ministry’s Senior Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar denied any reshuffles were taking place.

He said: “It’s the ministry’s regular work. We have only changed the office of the DC’s who were promoted to the rank of joint secretary earlier and have been working over two years, as per decisions of the ministry.”

“It’s not a major reshuffle or any attempt to reorganise the administration,” he stated.

He also said there are more joint secretary level officers in the field level administration serving as DCs who would

be replaced shortly, as all DC’s serving in field level administration for more than two years are to be replaced.

Sources in the public administration ministry said 10 months earlier they had prepared a list of about 50 deputy secretaries to be appointed as DCs, as if they are not appointed within two months they lose out on the chance of being promoted to the post of DC. The decision was therefore taken to replace the DCs with those whose promotions were pending.

Among those promoted are the director of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Abu Hena Morshed Zaman who has been posted as DC in Faridpur while Deputy Director of Rajuk SM Alam has been promoted as DC in Kishoreganj; Public administration ministry’s Deputy Secretary Sohel Imam Khan in Noakhali, Bangladesh Television’s Director Kazi Ashraf Uddin in Pabna, Personal Secretary to ACC Secretary GSM Zafarullah in Madaripur, Dhaka South City Corporation Regional Executive Officer Abul Kalam Azad in Netrokona, Home Ministry Deputy Secretary Zahurul Islam Rohel in Gaibandha, Deputy Director of the BPATC AKM Shamimul Haque Siddiqui in Pirozpur and Economic Relation Division Deputy Secretary A Gaffar Khan was appointed as the DC in Narail.

Meanwhile, DC of Kishoreganj Siddiqur Rahman was transferred to the home ministry, DC of Madaripur Nur Ur Rahman to land ministry and DC

of Noakhali to shipping ministry as joint secretary. DC of Pabna Mostafizur Rahman was appointed director of BCS admin academy and DC of Gaibandha Dr Kazi Anwarul Haque as director of BIAM on deputation. The two officers are also joint secretary. DC of Narail Zahirul Haque was transferred to home ministry, DC of Faridpur Mayeen Uddin Ahmed to health and family welfare ministry and DC of Pirozpur Anal Chandra Das to land ministry as deputy secretary. Netrokona’s DC Anis Mahmud, who is a deputy secretary, was appointed as deputy project director to the Identification System for Enhancing Excess to Services projects on deputation.

Among the additional secretaries is Mosharref Hossain of fisheries and livestock ministry posted as officer on special duty (OSD) to the public administration ministry. OSD Additional Secretary Rafiqul Islam was posted to the environment and forest ministry and Kamal Krishna Bhattacharjee as additional secretary to the railway ministry.

While OSD Additional Secretary AKM Yahia Chowdhury was appointed as administrator to the office of the Wakf Administrator and environment and forest ministry’s Additional Secretary MA Hannan is on deputation as director general of the National Institute of Population Research and Training (NIPORT).

Of the joint secretaries, civil aviation and tourism ministry’s Mizaur

ALLEGED GANG RAPE BY COPS

Rights bodies demand judicial probe n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Boy rescued, suspected abductor held n Our Correspondent, Gazipur Local people caught a man on suspicion of child abduction at Palli Bidyut Harinhati area under Kaliaikoir upazila and beat him before handing him over to police yesterday.

The man, identified as Manjurul Haque,35, of Baniapara area of Debiganj upazila of Panchagar, was allegedly wrapping a boy into a jute sack, police said quoting locals. The boy, aged about two years and a half, was in police custody.

Kaliakoir police station Sub-inspector Tofayel Ahmed said Manzurul abducted the child from Mirpur Mazar area in Dhaka Monday evening and started for Panchagar onboard a bus. As the bus stopped at Palli Bidyut Harinhati area around 7.30am yesterday, Manjurul got down wrapping the boy into a jute sack.

After a mob beating Manzurul was handed over to police. Manzurul told the police that he took the boy from Mirpur as he looked like his son and started for home. l

A number of rights groups have alleged that Gobindaganj police in Gaibandha is trying to cover up the alleged gang rape by cops on a 14-year old girl.

According to the victim’s statement, she was violated on the night of September 29 inside the Gobindaganj police station after a police team had picked her up from the Fashitola area where she had been left by her step mother.

‘They did not take me to a doctor. The policemen asked me to keep silent and warned that if I spoke, they would implicate me in a false case’ When contacted on Monday, OC Sheikh Md Delwar Hossain declined to disclose the names of the policemen on duty on that night. Instead, he offered bribe to this correspondent for not filing report on the issue.

The OC claimed that some of his rivals had been trying to use the girl against him in order to get him transferred. “Or, it might be so that the girl came up with rape story so that she could put us into difficulty and realise some money from us.”

Currently, a police investigation team is investigating into the alleged rape.

Women’s rights groups Mohila Parishad and Nari Mukti Kendra on Monday urged the government to form an independent judicial probe committee.

Conducting investigation against police members by police was tanta-

mount to covering up the incident, they said.

The central committee of Mohila Parishad, who had tasked two lawyers for providing legal assistance to the victim, alleged in a press conference held yesterday that police had been trying to save the culprits by dilly-dallying in filing a case in this connection.

Yesterday morning, police allegedly took away two loudspeakers when the Samajtantrik Mohila Forum and the Communist Party of Bangladesh were demonstrating against the authority’s inaction with the alleged rape.

Later they staged a token sit-in in front of the rail gate in the Gaibandha town by wrapping up their mouths with pieces of black cloths.

The victim in her recorded statement to the senior judicial magistrate’s court said: “After the police patrol team picked me up and took me to the station, five police members tied my hands up and raped me for about 3-4 hours.

“They did not take me to a doctor.

When I was being taken to the court on September 30, the policemen asked me to keep silent and warned that if I spoke, they would implicate me in a false case,” the statement read.

Meanwhile, a medical team that had examined the girl more than a week after the alleged rape concluded that they had found no evidence of rape.

Listening to the details, the court observed that it was unlikely that a girl of 13-14 would be in a good physical condition and act normal after being gang raped for hours. l

Rahman was transferred to fisheries and livestock ministry, Director of the Bureau of Manpower Employment and Training Abul Hasnat Md Ziaul Haque to civil aviation and tourism ministry, health ministry’s Sazzad Kabir to commerce ministry, General Manager of Jiban Bima Corporation Lokman Hossain Miah to civil aviation ministry and OSD Faruq Ahmed has been posted to the cabinet division.

Joint Secretary of Agriculture Ministry AMM Azhar was made OSD while Wakf Administrator Nurul Huda was withdrawn from office and sent to the public administration ministry for further posting. OSD Joint Secretary Harunur Rashid was posted as general manager of the Dhaka Mass Rapid Transit Development project, Afroza Parvin as member of Tariff Commission, Dr Shahadat Hossain Mahmud as director of Bangladesh Institute Management, Ali Nur as secretary of the BSCIC and Golam Mostafa Khan as director of BMET. Meanwhile, four deputy inspectors general of police were promoted to additional IG, among them are Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Benazir Ahmed, BIWTA Chairman Dr Shamsuddoha Khandokar and CID’s Mokhlesur Rahman and Fatema Begum.

Benazir, Dr Khandokar and Mokhlesur were working as additional IG (current charge) and only confirmed in their posts. l

Arrest warrant against NU teacher for demeaning PM n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday issued arrest warrant against a National University (NU) teacher in a defamation case filed for his derogatory comments about Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her family members on social media Facebook.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Tarek Mainul Islam Bhuyun issued the warrant against AKM Ohiduzzman, a teacher of Geography Department, after recording the complainant’s statement.

AB Siddiqui, president of pro-Awami League organisation Bangladesh Jononetri Parishad, yesterday lodged the defamation case with the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

In the case statement, the complainant mentioned that the accused made derogatory comments in Facebook about the premier, her son Sajieeb Wazed Joy and daughter Saima Wazed Putul on August 22. The complainant also included names of seven witnesses in the case.

Earlier on April 23 last year, the complainant filed a general diary with the Rampura police station against Hafizur Rahman Rana, a lecturer of Mechanical Engineering Department of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, alleging that the teacher made death threat to the prime minister on Facebook.

Hafizur was sentenced seven years imprisonment following the case on June 27. l

Higgs boson scientists win Nobel in physics n Tribune Desk Peter Higgs of Britain and Francois Englert of Belgium won the Nobel Prize for Physics yesterday for conceiving of the so-called “God particle” which confers mass.

Higgs, 84, and Englert, 80, were honoured for theorising a particle – discovered last year that explains why the universe has any substance at all.

“This particle originates from an invisible field that fills up all space. Even when the Universe seems empty this field is there,” the jury said in a statement, according to a report by AFP. “Without it, we would not exist, because it is from contact with the field that particles acquire mass.”

Known as a boson, after the Bengali physicist Satyendranath Bose, the discovery was popularly dubbed the “God Particle” because it is everywhere yet baffingly elusive to find.

The presumed particle was discovered last year by physics lab at CERN, near Geneva, after decades of search.

“As an achievement, it ranks along-

side the confirmation that the Earth is round or Man’s first steps on the Moon,” Canadian physicist Gagnon said.

The history of the discovery dates back to 1964, when six physicists, including Englert and Higgs, working independently in three groups, published a flurry of papers. However the concept was proposed decades earlier by Bose who wrote a paper in 1924 in which he derived Planck’s quantum radiation law.

At a lecture at the University of Dhaka on the theory of radiation and the ultraviolet catastrophe, Bose intended to show his students that the contemporary theory was inadequate, because it predicted results not in accordance with experimental results. Bose adapted this lecture into a short article called “Planck’s Law and the Hypothesis of Light Quanta” and sent it to Albert Einstein.

Einstein agreed with him, translated Bose’s paper German, and had it published under Bose’s name, in 1924. Bose’s interpretation is now called Bose–Einstein statistics. This result derived by Bose laid the foundation of quantum statistics. l

Elevated expressway project cost goes up n Asif Showkat Kallol The Bridges Division has decided to appoint a Thailand, UK and Netherlands joint venture firm as an independent engineer for the construction of the first Dhaka elevated expressway project under public private partnership (PPP).

The project, aimed at easing the perennial traffic gridlock in the city, was laid out over five years. But for the last one-and-half years, since its inauguration by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in April 2011, the construction work of Bangladesh’s first big PPP project was mostly stalled. Now the project has only three-and-half years left.

Now the project appears to be gearing up as a new proposal from the Bridges Division in this regard will be placed at the next meeting of the cabinet committee on economic affairs for approval.

The joint venture firm is Thai Mott MacDonald Ltd (Thailand) - Mott MacDonald Ltd (UK) – Euroconsult Mott MacDonald BV. The proposal of revised alignment of the Dhaka elevated expressway will also be placed for approval in the same cab-

inet committee meeting. This revision will increase the estimated project cost

by Tk2.37bn or 2.72% from the previous Tk87.03bn and viability gap financing will also be increased to Tk24.13bn.

Bridges Division Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune: “We do not know the actual date for starting the project yet. We hope that the work will begin within the tenure of this government,” he added.

According to the proposal, due to complexity in acquiring land for the expressway in Dhaka, the appointment of an independent engineer was delayed.

The cost of appointment of an independent engineer will be Tk528m. Two other foreign firms also participated in the tender process - High Point Rendel UK and South Korean firm SUNJIN Engineering and Architectural Company.

The other proposal says the new alignment will increase the length of Dhaka elevated expressway to 40 kilometres. In the first phase an 8km route from Shahjalal Airport to Tejgaon will be built, and an 8km road from Tejgaon to Kamalapur and 7km from Kamalapur to Kutubkhali of Shanir Akhra. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed at Romask Limited, 184, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1215. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

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B2 First 3G service goes to Baridhara

B3 Make RMG a clean industry

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

Business www.dhakatribune.com/business

Exports see 36% growth in September ‘We have to ensure compliance within short period of time to avoid the Rana Plaza impact’ n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The export earnings rose to about US$2.6bn in September, over 36% higher compared to the same month last year, riding on readymade garments sector despite labor unrest over wage hike.

The figure is 27% higher than the target of $2.04bn set for the month. In September 2012, the amount of total export stood at $1.9bn.

Meanwhile, the country’s export earnings rose 21% to $7.6bn in the first quarter of the current fiscal year as compared to the same period of previous fiscal year’s vale of $6.29bn in the first quarter of 2012-13.

RMG export posted over 24% growth to $6.20bn in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the same period of last year’s vale of $5bn.

The knitwear and woven garments – the two largest export earners for the country – posted 24.4% and 23.9% growth respectively, followed by frozen foods 47.6% and leather 58.2% in the first quarter of the current fiscal year compared to the same period a year ago.

Major products Frozen food Rubber

Earnings Q1 2012-13

The income tax collection stood at around Tk73.1bn in the first quarter of the current fiscal year – a period when collection of tax traditionally goes slow.

Officials blamed recent political situation as the main reason for the shortfall.

The tax fell by Tk2.8bn 3.7% short of the target of Tk75.9bn for the July-September period of 2013-14, officials at the National Board of Revenue said yesterday. Each of the three months witnessed shortfall.

Out of the 31 income tax zones, only 12 achieved their respective target and 19, including the Large Taxpayers Unit, failed.

In September, the revenue body received only the income tax figures. The data on value added tax and import duties takes some more time to compile.

In July and August, the NBR faced a shortfall of Tk4.71bn in import duties as it collected around Tk53bn against the target of over Tk57bn.

The Value Added Tax witnessed Tk2.02bn shortfall to Tk57bn against the target of over Tk59bn.

The other taxes witnessed Tk720m short-

% change

$129.54m

$191.28m

47.66%

$3.33m

$2.89m

-13.21%

Leather

$75.74m

$119.82m

58.2%

Jute and jute goods

$251.19m

$205.52m

-18.18%

Knitwear

$2539.83m

$3160.2m

24.43%

Woven garments

$2456.86m

$3043.69m

23.89%

Home textile

$198.77m

$179.28m

-9.81%

Footwear

$111.47m

$148.61m

33.32%

It is a fantastic performance for Bangladesh, as export earnings in the first quarter outperformed by 36% over last year’s 31%,” said Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Center for Policy Dialogue Jute and jute products marked over 18% fall, followed by home textile 9.8%, ships and boats 69% and rubbers 13.2%.

Among the major sectors, knitwear earned the highest over $3.16bn, followed by woven

Q1 income tax falls slightly short of target n Syed Samiul Basher Anik

Earnings Q1 2013-14

fall by collecting over Tk940m against the target of Tk1.67bn.

“The first two or three months of any fiscal year generally go slow,” said a senior official. “The political instability had a negative impact on the overall economy as it hindered smooth business operations, resulting in a slowdown of export and import activities and affecting the revenue.”

He said the country witnessed several strikes during the last three months, affecting smooth operation of business.

However, he expected the state of revenue collection would be improved in the coming months.

“We have already instructed the field offices to identify new potential sectors and bring the tax evading individuals and businesses under the tax net,” he said. “Reforms in many administrative duties have already been done.”

If the initiatives work properly, the revenue collection would be increased, he said.

In 2012-13, revenue collection grew by over 14% to Tk1.09tn against the target of Tk1.12tn. For the current fiscal year, the revenue collection target is set at Tk1.36tn, with a growth target of 21%. l

garments $3.04bn in the first quarter.

Footwear exports fetched $149m, frozen foods $191m and leather $120m during the period.

“It is a fantastic performance for Bangladesh, as export earnings in the first quarter outperformed by 36% over last year’s 31%,” said Mustafizur Rahman, executive director of Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD). “Bangladesh is getting the benefits of the recovery in global economic recession.”

He said buyers have chosen Bangladesh for their sourcing as the country can offer

competitive prices, proper shipment and lead time.

“And we have capacity to take large volume of orders,” he added. Export earnings continued to increase as Bangladesh is getting orders from china.

Replying to a question, Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have to ensure compliance within short period of time to avoid the Rana Plaza impact.”

“The export earnings increased due to the execution of orders placed before the deadliest incident of Rana Plaza,” said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB).

He said the impact of the incident would affect the export figure in the next quarter as the orders from buyers already suffered setback.

An official at the Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh, however, expected that the country’s export earnings would cross the export target for the current fiscal year if the current trend continues.

Bangladesh set an export target of US$30.5bn for the fiscal. l

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

First 3G service goes to Baridhara n Tribune Report Grameenphone has commercially launched the third generation mobile broadband service in Basundhara and Baridhara areas through bringing out a colorful procession in Dhaka yesterday.

They are the first in Bangladesh to reach the customers with the high-speed wireless communication facility.

A bicycle procession was held in the Bashundhara residential area to mark the occasion. A boy’s scout band also marched around the area. Brand promoters of the company also visited different institutions and offices. Customers and visitors were invited at GP House to make video calls to the celebrities.

GP customers within the coverage areas will be able to use 3G packages. The operator initially is offering three packages in two speed tiers. Three packages under 512 kbps, starting with 2GB standard monthly plan at Tk400.

There is a smart plan for smart phone users comprising unlimited data (fair usage policy after 1.5GB), voice minutes, SMS and MMS at Tk800 and for the heavy users’ unlimited monthly plan (fair usage policy after 8GB) at Tk950.

In the 1mbps tier, there are three packages, starting with 2GB standard monthly plan at Tk700. Smart plan for smart phone users comprising unlimited, voice minutes, SMS and MMS at Tk1,100 and for the heavy users

Bangladesh Bank has launched Integrated Supervision System to bring all banks and non-bank financial institutions of the country under online monitoring.

With the launch of the system, the central bank can view online the financial statuses of the banks and financial institutions across the country.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman inaugurated the system at the central bank headquarters in Dhaka yesterday.

A Bangladesh Bank officer can now supervise a bank located in remote area by sitting at his desk in Dhaka as he will be able tom see the bank’s financial status online.

The banks and financial institutions must develop an effective management information system (MIS) to supply information to the integrated supervision system

Grameenphone commercially launches 3G service at Baridhara in Dhaka yesterday unlimited monthly plan Tk1,250.

A video call to other 3G-enabled GP number will cost Tk1.20/minute with 10 second pulse.

Formalin import drops remarkably: GM Quader

The Westin Dhaka recently has earned the prestigious World Travel Award 2013 simultaneously for the third time.

The award based on the casted votes enhances the hotel’s brand equity, eventually leading towards greater business possibilities, said a press release.

Votes were cast by 213,000 travel professionals who included travel agencies, tour and transport companies and tourism organisations in over 160 countries across the globe.

The World Travel Awards was launched in 1993 to acknowledge and recognise excellence in the world’s travel and tourism industry. l

n Tribune Report

Mutual Trust Bank Limited (MTB) launched its first MTB bills payment booth and 24/7 ATM at its Panthapath branch, Dhaka.

Former Member of Parliament SA Khaleque inaugurated the booths as chief guest, said a press release.

MTB DMD Md Zakir Hussain and head of MTB Dhaka division branches Syed Rafiqul Hossain were also present. l

Commerce Minister GM Quader said the import of formalin has remarkably fallen after the government takes initiative to stop widespread use of the chemical in the food items.

“The import and use of formalin is now under effective control of the government.

Nobody can enjoy freedom now in import and use of the toxic chemical,” he said, but didn’t provide any details.

The minister was speaking at a discussion organised by the Bangladesh Fresh Fruits Importers’ Association (BFFIA) at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel in Dhaka yesterday.

BFFIA formally started its journey at the function as a platform of the country’s fruits importers vowing to deliver chemical-free fruits to the consumers.

GM Quader said the government has taken tough stance against the use of toxic chemi-

DHAKA TRIBUNE

GP sources said other areas of Dhaka and Chittagong along with Sylhet, Gazipur and Narayangonj will be covered with 3G network within the next few weeks. l

Westin wins World Travel Award n Tribune Business Desk

MTB opens bills payment booth at Panthapath n Tribune Business Desk

Banks brought under online supervision n Tribune Report

cal in the perishable foods, which has helped ease the spread of formalin in the markets.

He stressed the need of building more cold storages for the fruits and import of fruits with quality certificate. “If there are adequate storage facilities, the traders can preserve fruits from perishing.” Besides, he alleged that the traders are not importing fruits with quality certificate.

At the function, the importers insisted that formalin is not used now in the imported or local fruits.

With BFFIA president Swadhon Chandra Das in the chair, the discussion was also addressed by the FBCCI vice president Md Helal Uddin, former Member of Parliament and BFFIA adviser Haji Mohammad Selim, BFFIA general secretary Sirajul Islam, senior vice president Selimul Haque Esha and Holistic Health Centre’s Dr Md Almasur Rahman. l

“Integrated Supervision System is to report on banks online,” said Governor.

He said the new system is associated with automatic risk identification method, multidimensional analytical tables, charts and graphs.

Besides, the observation period for the activities of banks’ head offices and branches will come down to one month thanks to the system.

Taking decisions in the central bank will be faster as well.

In Addition, the field supervisors can take necessary information from website before going to inspection of a bank.

Officials said the banks and financial institutions must develop an effective management information system (MIS) to supply information to the integrated supervision system.

The integrated system will also help banks and non-bank financial systems monitor their own branch offices across the country, said the central bank source.

The source said it will increase the effectiveness of the internal control system of the banks. l

BTMA seeks cut in insurance premium n Tribune Report Bangladesh Textile Mills Association (BTMA) has asked for a reduction in the insurance premium on shipping charges for imported products.

They put forward the demanded at a meeting with Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) Chairman M Shefaq Ahmed in Dhaka yesterday.

They argued that Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) and Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BKMEA) are already enjoying a reduced premium, which contributed to reduce the cost of trade and export in garment industry. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

3

Make RMG a clean industry Dutch envoy urges Bangladesh’s apparel manufacturers

BSEC warns stock exchanges of short-selling

n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

The Dutch ambassador to Bangladesh Gerben de Jong has urged Bangladesh’s readymade garment manufacturers to earn the trust of buyers to retain the growth in the sector.

He was speaking as chief guest at a seminar titled “Taking the RMG sector forward: The role of media” in Dhaka yesterday.

“The EU and Netherlands want to see transparency and labour safety in every stage of production,” said Ambassador Gerben.

He said the EU-led RMG Safety Accord and the North American Alliance are working together with the Bangladeshi government to improve the conditions in the sector and make the factories compliant.

Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI) executive director Daniel Seidl, Advocate Tuhin Malik, BGMEA president Atiqul Islam and vice president Shahidullah Azim, former DCCI president Asif Ibrahim and Benchmark Ltd managing director Ashraf Kaiser, among others, were also present.

Dhaka Tribune editor Zafar Sobhan presented the keynote paper at the function.

Daniel Seidl said: “Brand of Bangladesh is not very positive and the entrepreneurs have to keep in mind that Bangladesh is not the only choice of buyers.”

He put stress on journalists’ free access to information to make the sector transparent. BGCCI official alleged foreign journalists are sometimes denied visa to Bangladesh, which sends a negative message to the outside world.

Bangladesh’s Supreme Court lawyer Tuhin Malik suggested providing fund to the media campaign to rebuild the lost image of

The securities regulator BSEC has warned the country’s two stock exchanges of short-selling and said the rate of breaching the securities rules increased in the recent times.

Short selling is the selling of a stock that the seller doesn’t own. More specifically, a short sale is the sale of a security that isn’t owned by the seller, but that is promised to be delivered.

“The commission has asked the stock exchanges to take necessary steps to refrain from short-selling executed by its member brokers,” said Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission in a statement yesterday.

The regulator has detected notable number of short-selling by the newly set-up Instant Watch Surveillance System software.

On charge of short-selling, the commission fined Hilly Securities, a member of the Chittagong Stock Exchange, Tk100,000. The brokerage firm sold 5,000 shares of First Securities Islami Bank Ltd on May 15.

Kabir Securities, another member of CSE, was also fined Tk500,000 for violating margin loan rules.

It provided loan for purchasing Z-category or junk shares to its clients in October and for transferring fund from consolidated customers’ account to its FDR account. Credit issued against Z-category shares is a violation of margin loan rules.

The BSEC has also directed the Dhaka Stock Exchange not to allot shares to its member Don Securities Ltd after Demutualisation until settlement of allegation of swindling money of its clients.

Since August, 2010, the commission suspended trading activities of the brokerage firm in response to the complaints of its clients who brought allegation of not returning money and share for long. l

AFC Agro Biotech receives IPO approval n Tribune Report AFC Agro Biotech has got approval from the securities regulator to float IPO (initial public offering) to raise Tk120m from the stock market to expand its operation.

The approval to the agro-based pharmaceutical fermentation product manufacturers was given at a commission meeting, said a statement of Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) yesterday.

The company will float 12m ordinary shares of Tk10 each. The IPO proceedings will be used in purchasing machineries and IPO expenses.

According to its latest financial statement, the company’s earnings per share is Tk1.01 and net asset value Tk11.1 a share.

The regulator has also given consent to One Bank for raising a fund of Tk2.2bn by issuing subordinated floating rate bond through private placement with maturity period of seven years from the date of issuance. l

A seminar on role of media in the RMG sector was held in Dhaka yesterday the sector.

Ashraf Kaiser said BGMEA should share the industry’s successes and challenges to the journalists on a regular basis, not merely holding press conference after a big incident happens.

Asif Ibrahim said managing director of New Age Group, commenting on media’s role.

“We need to work hand in hand to rebuild the image of the country’s apparel sector in the outside word.”

Zafar Sobhan said the media can partner

NASHIRUL ISLAM

with the industry in a number of ways, the first of which, will be simply responsible reporting.

“We all know, if it bleeds it leads (in the newspapers). Bad news sells newspapers.

But in Bangladesh, people are hungry for the positive stories as well.”

Zafar Sobhan said the garment industry has done a lot to lift the people, especially the women, out of poverty in Bangladesh and to transform the social fabric here than anything else. l

DSEX slips to 20-week low n Tribune Report Stocks extended losses for the fourth consecutive session yesterday with the benchmark DSEX index slipping to almost 20-week low.

The index shed 65 points or 1.7% to close at 3,792, lowest since May 16. The blue chip index DS30 dropped 31 points or 2.3% to 1,372.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, declined 134 points to 7,409.

The total turnover at the DSE was Tk2.7bn, a rise of 13.7% over the previous session and driven by BD Building that gained unusually 372% in its first trading day from its offer value of Tk10 a share.

The debutant topped the turnover chart with more than Tk228m, making up nearly 10% of the day’s total turnover. This is the highest single-day turnover for a company in recent times on the first trading day.

The BD Building attracted attention of the investors and created some hype in the engineering sector, contributing to pull down the market.

“Because investors swooped on BD Building selling other shares,” said a stock dealer.

Almost all the sectors suffered, led by non-banking financial institutions that fell 3.6%, telecommunications 3.5%, food and allied 3% and life insurance 2.7%.

Market continued to see declining capitalisation before Eid closure as number of almost every sector saw erosion in prices, said Lanka Bangla Securities in its daily market analysis.

It said skeptical investors are scrutinising how political gridlock will be resolved and how things unfold in coming days.

Heavy sale off in micro cap and large cap scrips has sent the market to the negative territory, said IDLC Investment.

Market sentiment continued to dwindle in line with investors shaky confidence, resulting in sluggishness of participation in trade, it said.

After BD Building, other top turnover leaders included Envoy Textile, Square Pharmaceuticals, Argondenim, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd, CMC Kamal, Titas Gas and Active Fine Chemicals. l

Traders warned of giving fair price for raw hide n Tribune Report Commerce Minister Ghulam Muhammed Quader yesterday said the government would think about exporting raw hides if the traders do not set fair prices during the Eid-Ul-Azha.

Prices of rawhides of sacrificial animals has to be fixed fairly in line with international market so the vested quarters cannot buy hides at lower prices, he said after a meeting with the traders in Dhaka.

He asked commerce ministry official to take necessary steps to prevent manipulation of prices.

Traders assured that they would set prices of rawhides of sacrificial animals in line with the international market prices.

Abdul Hai, secretary general of Bangladesh Tanners Association told the Dhaka Tribune that they would set fair prices considering the international market. They would make the price public on October 12 through a press conference. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

Vodafone plans $2bn investment to raise stake in Indian unit n Reuters

India’s Finance Minister Palaniappan Chidambaram speaks during an interview with Reuters in New Delhi

India to stick with austerity despite looming election n Reuters, New Delhi The Indian government will have to rein in spending and cut subsidies to meet its fiscal deficit target, the country’s finance minister said on Monday, underlining that an austerity drive will not be blown off course by an election due next year.

P Chidambaram told Reuters ahead of a trip to the United States - where one stop will be to woo investors on the West Coast - that he will not allow the deficit to cross a “red line” set at 4.8% of gross domestic product this fiscal year.

“We’ve issued austerity instructions, it will bring us some savings,” he said.

The finance minister’s vow to contain the deficit means there will be little room ahead of a tough election to spur growth, which has slumped from a double-digit pace in early 2010 to below 5%, its lowest in a decade.

The government recently introduced a plan to distribute cheap food for two-thirds of the population, a step widely seen as wooing voters ahead of the election. But - without giving details - Chidambaram pointed to food subsidies as one area where spending would need to be addressed in coming months.

Along with pallid growth, Asia’s third-largest economy is facing stubborn inflation, companies are struggling and bank asset quality is worsening. But Chidambaram shrugged off the risk of a cut in India’s sovereign credit rating, which is one precarious notch above junk status.

“There is no case for a downgrade,” he

said in an interview at North Block, the sandstone colonial building that houses the finance ministry in New Delhi. “If any rating agency is looking for candidates to downgrade there are half a dozen other countries.”

The Indian rupee was one of the hardest-hit emerging-market currencies recently amid alarm in financial markets about an imminent “tapering” of the US Federal Reserve’s monetary stimulus, falling by about 20% at one point from May.

I am glad you acknowledge prime minister Rahul Gandhi, but that is a question you should put to him It has recovered somewhat recently, and Chidambaram said the central bank may now be able to consider reversing some of the liquidity tightening steps it took to shore the currency up.

“If the volatility of the rupee has been contained and speculation has come to an end, the central bank may want to unwind some of the measures it took earlier, he said.

On Monday the Reserve Bank of India cut a key overnight interest rate, further dialing back an emergency measure it had imposed in mid-July in order to defend the rupee that had tightened market liquidity and pushed up borrowing costs.

Chidambaram said there would be some impact when the Fed’s tapering - which was

REUTERS

put on hold - does eventually come, but it was now mostly factored into the market and he was confident that speculators had been put in their place. “We think we have sent a message to everyone - don’t speculate on the rupee,” he said.

Chidambaram said the economic downturn was no reason to think that his Congress party, which has been weakened by years of fractious coalition rule and a string of corruption scandals, would be ousted in a national election that must be held by May. “Don’t write us off so easily,” he said, adding that the next leader of the Congress party would be Rahul Gandhi, scion of the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty that has ruled India for most of its 66 years since independence.

“I am glad you acknowledge prime minister Rahul Gandhi, but that is a question you should put to him,” Chidambaram said, when asked if he would serve again in a government led by the party’s heir apparent if Congress wins a third straight term in office. “The time has come for the torch to be passed on to a new and younger generation.”

Chidambaram dismissed the dazzling emergence of opposition figurehead and candidate for prime minister Narendra Modi on the national political stage as “largely media created”.

He conceded that the Hindu nationalist leader had united the rank and file of the Bharatiya Janata Party and “gained some traction among urban youths”, but said the rising political star was someone with a “very, very checkered track record”. l

Britain’s Vodafone plans to invest as much as $2bn to buy out minority shareholders in Vodafone India, the Financial Times reported on Monday.

Vodafone will file an application this month with India’s foreign investment promotion board to seek clearance for the investment, the Financial Times reported, citing two people familiar with the situation.

Vodafone could not immediately be reached for comment.

The FT said the size of the investment suggested that the world’s second-largest telecoms operator will not up its stake to 100%.

In July, India approved raising the foreign investment limit in the telecom sector to 100% from 74% in a bid to lure capital inflows, prop up a sliding currency and boost growth.

The Financial Times said Vodafone is considering buying out some minority investors including billionaire industrialist Ajay Piramal, who holds 11% stake in Vodafone India.

Vodafone owns about 64% of Vodafone India, while 25% is controlled by undisclosed minority shareholders, who are understood to include Analjit Singh, chairman of Vodafone India, the FT said. l

Oil prices down, eyes on US budget stand-off n AFP, Singapore Crude prices fell yesterday in Asia, as the political paralysis in Washington over the US budget shows no sign of ending, fuelling concerns it could lead to a US debt default.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for delivery in November was down eight cents at $102.95 in afternoon trade while Brent North Sea crude for November eased 27 cents to $109.41.

As the US standoff enters its eighth day on Tuesday with no end in sight, investors are worried about the knock-on effect for demand in the world’s top oil consumer, said Vanessa Tan, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

“Concerns continue to run high as investors are also looking ahead to the October 17 deadline when the debt ceiling has to be raised or risk a default on US debt,” Tan said.

Failure to lift the debt limit will mean the government is unable to pay its bills or service its debts, causing a default that analysts have warned could send the world economy back into recession.

A similar stand-off in 2011 went down to the wire before the ceiling was raised, but not before world stock markets tumbled and Standard & Poor’s stripped the US of its top AAA rating.

Analysts said the fall in oil prices was partly stemmed because a tropical storm passed without major damage to energy infrastructure in the Gulf of Mexico. Producers had shut in about 62% of the region’s oil production ahead of the storm. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

5

US remains hopeful of Asia trade deal n Reuters, Nusa Dua The United States maintained it hopes to seal an ambitious trade pact on schedule by yearend despite resistance in some countries and the absence of President Barack Obama from a regional summit that was to iron out differences on the pact.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman said yesterday that world trade ministers may discuss the US-proposed Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) on the sidelines of a World Trade Organization meeting that starts on December 3, with a goal of reaching a deal by year-end.

But several outstanding issues remain, he told reporters at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit on the Indonesian island of Bali, citing issues ranging from intellectual property to state-owned enterprises, labour and the environment.

The World Trade meeting will also be held on Bali.

Although many APEC leaders have already left Bali, trade ministers are still in talks over TPP and a joint statement is expected to be issued later this week.

“I think there is a consensus that there has been substantial progress on outstanding issues and there are still remaining issues that must be addressed,” Froman told reporters.

The three-year-old TPP talks, now involving 12 nations, are aimed at establishing a free-trade bloc that would stretch from Vietnam to Chile to Japan, encompassing 800 million people, about a third of world trade and nearly 40% of the global economy.

A major goal of the Obama administration, the TPP would tear down trade barriers in areas such as government procurement and set standards for workers’ rights, environmental protection and intellectual property rights.

Obama had hoped to settle the outstanding issues in discussions with other leaders at the APEC meeting but was forced to cancel his visit because of the fiscal standoff and partial government shutdown in Washington.

“We didn’t expect any real breakthrough on TPP in the meeting, especially with Obama not here. There is some progress though,” said a delegate from an East Asian country, who wished not to be named because he was not authorized to speak to the media.

The TPP, by seeking unprecedented access to domestic markets, is proving highly sensitive in developing countries such as Malaysia and Vietnam, whose political systems could be shaken by intrusions in areas such as government procurement and stateowned enterprises.

Indonesian President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono speaks at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Leaders’ Press Conference and Joint Declaration session as delegates listen in Nusa Dua, on the Indonesian resort island of Bali REUTERS Proponents call the TPP, the most ambitious trade pact since the demise of the Doha round of global talks, a “high-standard” agreement to eliminate tariffs and tackle an unprecedented range of non-tariff barriers that restrict growth.

Obama has touted the deal by saying that 5,000 US jobs are created for each extra $1bn in exports created under the pact.

For the United States, the TPP would complement its shift of diplomatic and military resources to Asia to tap the region’s fast growth and balance the growing influence of China, which has not joined the pact.

To its opponents, including a range of advocacy groups globally, the TPP represents an encroachment of US economic might that gives big corporations unprecedented powers to challenge national policies in the name of free trade.

U.S. multinationals like Wal-Mart and Fedex have warned Washington not to compro-

mise and weaken the trade pact in order to complete the deal by the end of this year.

“For Wal-Mart, we would like to see a high-quality agreement, which is that no sectors and no products are excluded. That there are no compromises that leak into the process for the purpose of speed,” Scott Price, chief executive of the US retailer in Asia, told Reuters.

More intrusive than other trade pacts, the TPP seeks to regulate sensitive areas such as government procurement, intellectual property and the role of state-owned enterprises as well as giving corporations more rights to sue governments.

In TPP nations such as Malaysia, Japan, and Vietnam, reform-minded leaders are seen as using the pact as external leverage to break down vested interests and force liberalization of protected, inefficient sectors.

The Singapore Straits Times newspaper said a draft statement to be released on Tues-

day shows that leaders will likely report that TPP talks are not “substantively finished”.

Negotiators hope to revive global trade, which has weakened due to an economic slowdown in China and emerging markets like India and Indonesia.

The 21 countries of APEC closed out the summit by agreeing to implement responsible macroeconomic policies that will help offset the slowdown.

“Global growth is too weak, risks remain tilted to the downside, global trade is weakening and the economic outlook suggests growth is likely to be slower and less balanced than desired,” the group said in a prepared statement.

“We will implement prudent and responsible macroeconomic policies to ensure mutually reinforcing effect of growth and to maintain economic and financial stability in the region, and prevent negative spillover effect.” l

Australia sees free trade deal with China within 12 months n Reuters, Sydney Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said he is intent on finalizing a free trade agreement with China within the next 12 months, and is prepared to accept a watered-down deal in order to quickly cement an arrangement that has been negotiated since 2005.

“I want the agreement to be as comprehensive as possible, but I’ve always taken the view that you

should take what you can get today and pitch for the rest tomorrow,” Abbott said late on Monday at the annual APEC summit, held on the Indonesian island of Bali. “We will get the best deal we can (but) I can’t at this stage say it is going to include everything,” added Abbott, stressing the importance of Chinese foreign investment to Australian jobs and economic activity. Negotiations have been delayed by Beijing’s concerns over opening markets to Australian food, while Australia wants

China to do more to protect intellectual property.

Former prime minister Kevin Rudd urged a close to the trade deal after its 19th round of talks in June.

“It would be wonderful if a trip towards the end of the first half of next year was consummated with an agreement here,” said Abbott.

“That might be a little too optimistic, but our intention is to move as quickly as we can.”

Bilateral annual trade between Australia and China is worth around A$125bn ($117.8bn), and

China’s thirst for minerals has fuelled 20 years of unbroken economic growth in Australia.

After a meeting with President Xi Jinping on Sunday, Abbott accepted an invitation to visit China and announced his intent to bring along numerous business leaders and premiers to further bilateral ties. “The president made it clear to me how much foreign investment China hopes to make in coming years, and I want Australia to get a fair share of that foreign investment,” said Abbott. l

6

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

DSE Broad Index: 3792.36 ⇓ 1.68%, Turnover: 2651.23 M.Tk ⇑ 13.66%, PE: 12.05 Turnover. 2,946.43 MTk . ⇑ 17.12% October 8, 2013 MarketCap. 1,845.29 BTk. ⇓ 1.89% CSE All Share Index: 11762 ⇓ 1.62%, Turnover: 295.19 M Tk. ⇑ 61.16%, PE: 11.89 Combined Turnover Leader

CompanyCode | EPS | BV | Volume Traded (Share) DSE/CSE: ClosePrice ⇓/⇑ Chn % | Avg.Price | Hi / Lo

BANK ABBANK | 2.95 | 32.60 | Vol. 141616 D: 22.20 ⇓ 1.33% | 22.37 | 22.60 / 20.30 C: 22.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 22.28 | 22.40 / 22.20 CITYBANK | 1.15 | 25.97 | Vol. 297182 D: 15.20 ⇓ 0.65% | 15.26 | 15.40 / 14.30 C: 15.30 ⇑ 1.32% | 15.21 | 15.40 / 15.00 IFIC | 1.10 | 18.34 | Vol. 229103 D: 19.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 19.74 | 19.90 / 19.00 C: 19.50 ⇓ 0.51% | 19.46 | 19.60 / 19.40 ISLAMIBANK | 3.78 | 27.16 | Vol. 204797 D: 35.30 ⇓ 1.40% | 35.48 | 35.90 / 34.00 C: 35.00 ⇓ 2.23% | 35.36 | 35.70 / 34.50 NBL | 1.05 | 15.76 | Vol. 1488919 D: 9.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 9.97 | 10.10 / 9.00 C: 10.00 ⇓ 0.99% | 9.99 | 10.10 / 9.90 PUBALIBANK | 1.92 | 21.18 | Vol. 258402 D: 31.10 ⇓ 0.32% | 31.17 | 31.40 / 28.50 C: 30.90 ⇓ 0.32% | 30.97 | 31.10 / 30.80 RUPALIBANK | 6.70 | 64.27 | Vol. 11400 D: 58.50 ⇑ 1.56% | 57.88 | 58.90 / 57.00 C: 58.10 ⇑ 0.17% | 58.10 | 58.10 / 58.10 UCBL | 1.90 | 21.72 | Vol. 667833 D: 17.40 ⇑ 0.58% | 17.37 | 17.50 / 16.00 C: 17.40 ⇑ 1.16% | 17.33 | 17.50 / 17.20 UTTARABANK | 3.42 | 26.97 | Vol. 169373 D: 24.90 ⇓ 0.40% | 25.01 | 25.20 / 23.00 C: 24.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 24.81 | 25.00 / 23.00 ICBIBANK | -1.60 | -13.03 | Vol. 51500 D: 5.60 ⇓ 1.75% | 5.63 | 5.80 / 5.50 EBL | 3.91 | 28.22 | Vol. 242410 D: 26.00 ⇓ 0.38% | 26.12 | 26.20 / 24.50 C: 26.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 26.00 | 26.00 / 26.00 ALARABANK | 2.03 | 14.91 | Vol. 138201 D: 13.50 ⇑ 0.75% | 13.52 | 14.00 / 13.00 C: 13.60 ⇓ 0.73% | 13.60 | 15.00 / 13.00 PRIMEBANK | 2.89 | 22.40 | Vol. 62833 D: 16.90 ⇑ 0.60% | 16.88 | 17.10 / 15.30 C: 17.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 17.04 | 17.20 / 16.90 SOUTHEASTB | 1.89 | 22.66 | Vol. 546901 D: 13.80 ⇓ 2.13% | 13.92 | 14.10 / 13.30 C: 13.80 ⇓ 3.50% | 13.90 | 14.00 / 13.80 DHAKABANK | 1.46 | 18.08 | Vol. 53685 D: 17.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 17.26 | 17.40 / 15.90 C: 17.00 ⇓ 2.86% | 17.03 | 17.50 / 16.80 NCCBANK | 1.90 | 15.88 | Vol. 383227 D: 10.50 ⇓ 0.94% | 10.59 | 10.80 / 9.80 C: 10.50 ⇓ 0.94% | 10.52 | 10.70 / 10.40 SIBL | 2.05 | 14.47 | Vol. 297427 D: 10.80 ⇓ 0.92% | 10.88 | 11.30 / 10.00 C: 10.90 ⇓ 0.91% | 10.90 | 11.00 / 10.80 DUTCHBANGL | 11.57 | 54.27 | Vol. 5500 D: 87.10 ⇓ 1.47% | 87.09 | 87.50 / 87.00 MTBL | 1.17 | 17.27 | Vol. 72700 D: 14.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 14.26 | 14.30 / 14.00 C: 14.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 14.13 | 14.20 / 14.00 STANDBANKL | 2.33 | 14.41 | Vol. 314194 D: 12.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 12.30 | 12.50 / 11.50 C: 12.40 ⇓ 0.80% | 12.40 | 12.40 / 12.40 ONEBANKLTD | 2.35 | 15.34 | Vol. 322192 D: 13.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 13.98 | 15.00 / 12.80 C: 14.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 13.94 | 14.00 / 13.80 BANKASIA | 1.35 | 20.80 | Vol. 380079 D: 18.40 ⇓ 1.08% | 18.39 | 18.70 / 17.50 C: 19.00 ⇓ 0.52% | 18.98 | 19.00 / 18.70 MERCANBANK | 2.07 | 16.59 | Vol. 457185 D: 11.30 ⇑ 0.89% | 11.49 | 12.00 / 10.90 C: 11.20 ⇑ 0.90% | 11.27 | 11.40 / 11.10 EXIMBANK | 1.80 | 14.31 | Vol. 530147 D: 10.30 ⇓ 1.90% | 10.43 | 11.00 / 9.50 C: 10.40 ⇓ 1.89% | 10.33 | 10.60 / 9.90 JAMUNABANK | 2.47 | 18.56 | Vol. 23836 D: 12.60 ⇓ 1.56% | 12.72 | 12.90 / 12.00 C: 12.70 ⇓ 0.78% | 12.67 | 13.00 / 12.60 BRACBANK | 1.51 | 24.87 | Vol. 359744 D: 26.80 ⇓ 1.83% | 27.05 | 27.50 / 26.80 C: 27.40 ⇓ 0.72% | 27.26 | 27.50 / 27.10 SHAHJABANK | 2.61 | 14.47 | Vol. 107516 D: 13.50 ⇓ 0.74% | 13.55 | 13.80 / 12.50 C: 13.60 ⇑ 0.74% | 13.46 | 13.70 / 13.40

Vol.

TO M. Tk.

% of TTL

Avg. P

BD Building Systems -N

6708000

278.51

9.45

41.52

Square Pharma -A

822052

143.34

4.86

174.37

Envoy Textiles Ltd-N Argon Denims Limited-A

2530160

139.93

4.75

55.30

2571400

129.90

4.41

50.52

CMC Kamal Tex. -A

3496798

112.95

3.83

PREMIERBAN | 1.18 | 13.95 | Vol. 409689 D: 8.80 ⇓ 1.12% | 8.90 | 9.00 / 8.10 C: 8.90 ⇓ 1.11% | 8.85 | 9.00 / 8.70 TRUSTBANK | 0.50 | 18.00 | Vol. 37998 D: 16.50 ⇓ 1.20% | 16.53 | 16.70 / 15.10 C: 16.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 16.30 | 16.30 / 16.30 FIRSTSBANK | 1.85 | 13.89 | Vol. 298661 D: 10.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 10.93 | 11.10 / 9.90 C: 10.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 10.74 | 11.00 / 10.50 NON BANKING F I IDLC | 4.43 | 29.18 | Vol. 92107 D: 55.50 ⇑ 0.91% | 55.68 | 56.50 / 54.00 C: 55.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 55.25 | 55.30 / 55.20 ULC | 1.80 | 14.90 | Vol. 85028 D: 24.80 ⇓ 1.59% | 25.05 | 25.40 / 23.50 UTTARAFIN | 7.16 | 41.54 | Vol. 33357 D: 71.50 ⇓ 0.14% | 71.76 | 72.00 / 69.00 C: 70.70 ⇓ 1.67% | 71.16 | 72.00 / 70.00 MIDASFIN | 0.16 | 10.21 | Vol. 52418 D: 32.60 ⇓ 1.21% | 32.87 | 33.00 / 30.10 FLEASEINT | 2.34 | 13.93 | Vol. 116304 D: 23.30 ⇓ 2.51% | 23.54 | 23.80 / 21.90 C: 23.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 23.74 | 24.00 / 23.50 PLFSL | 1.37 | 17.48 | Vol. 226747 D: 20.90 ⇓ 1.88% | 20.98 | 23.00 / 19.30 C: 20.80 ⇓ 2.35% | 20.96 | 21.40 / 20.70 PRIMEFIN | 0.87 | 17.88 | Vol. 87780 D: 21.80 ⇓ 0.46% | 21.88 | 22.30 / 21.00 C: 21.90 ⇓ 0.90% | 21.91 | 22.00 / 21.70 PREMIERLEA | 0.10 | 11.37 | Vol. 69000 D: 10.30 ⇑ 0.98% | 10.30 | 10.40 / 10.20 C: 10.10 ⇓ 0.98% | 10.27 | 10.30 / 10.10 ISLAMICFIN | 1.03 | 15.48 | Vol. 368070 D: 15.10 ⇓ 1.95% | 15.26 | 16.50 / 13.90 C: 15.10 ⇓ 2.58% | 15.14 | 15.30 / 15.00 LANKABAFIN | 1.61 | 31.07 | Vol. 108156 D: 53.20 ⇓ 1.66% | 53.80 | 56.00 / 49.00 C: 53.60 ⇓ 0.92% | 53.71 | 54.10 / 52.50 BIFC | 0.15 | 18.58 | Vol. 64563 D: 15.40 ⇓ 3.14% | 15.48 | 16.00 / 14.50 C: 15.40 ⇓ 3.75% | 15.37 | 15.40 / 15.30 IPDC | 1.23 | 19.43 | Vol. 93088 D: 17.50 ⇓ 1.13% | 17.74 | 17.90 / 17.50 C: 17.20 ⇓ 4.44% | 17.24 | 17.30 / 17.20 UNIONCAP | 0.54 | 17.85 | Vol. 50630 D: 28.80 ⇓ 0.35% | 28.80 | 30.00 / 27.10 C: 28.20 ⇓ 2.76% | 28.15 | 28.30 / 27.80 BDFINANCE | 0.57 | 14.77 | Vol. 376331 D: 19.70 ⇓ 1.50% | 19.69 | 20.30 / 18.00 C: 19.70 ⇓ 1.01% | 19.35 | 20.00 / 18.20 ILFSL | 0.35 | 12.19 | Vol. 210500 D: 13.50 ⇓ 2.88% | 13.71 | 14.10 / 13.50 C: 13.70 ⇓ 1.44% | 13.68 | 13.80 / 13.60 PHOENIXFIN | 2.46 | 19.39 | Vol. 135400 D: 27.10 ⇓ 1.45% | 27.18 | 28.00 / 25.00 C: 27.00 ⇓ 4.93% | 27.00 | 27.00 / 27.00 FASFIN | 0.19 | 13.56 | Vol. 418642 D: 13.70 ⇓ 3.52% | 13.91 | 14.20 / 13.50 C: 13.90 ⇓ 0.71% | 13.92 | 14.10 / 13.80 DBH | 4.47 | 21.27 | Vol. 49052 D: 51.80 ⇓ 2.26% | 51.99 | 54.00 / 51.00 NHFIL | 0.57 | 12.70 | Vol. 184000 D: 29.00 ⇓ 2.03% | 29.21 | 29.90 / 28.80 C: 28.90 ⇓ 2.03% | 28.94 | 29.20 / 28.80 BAYLEASING | 0.72 | 25.55 | Vol. 110404 D: 24.80 ⇓ 2.75% | 25.08 | 25.80 / 23.20 C: 24.60 ⇓ 3.53% | 24.59 | 25.30 / 23.00 ICB | 89.23 | 607.74 | Vol. 18437 D: 1498 ⇓ 6.23% | 1530 | 1598 / 1498 C: 1650 ⇓ 5.60% | 1650 | 1650 / 1650 GSPFINANCE | 1.63 | 22.23 | Vol. 59000 D: 23.30 ⇓ 2.51% | 23.61 | 24.00 / 23.30 FAREASTFIN | 0.68 | 13.64 | Vol. 882000 D: 15.80 ⇓ 1.86% | 16.02 | 16.60 / 15.70 C: 15.80 ⇓ 3.07% | 15.90 | 16.60 / 15.70 INVESTMENT 5THICB | 23.45 | 188.92 | Vol. 300 D: 145.6 ⇓ 3.26% | 146.67 | 146.0 / 145.0 6THICB | 10.99 | 60.14 | Vol. 12100 D: 44.40 ⇓ 1.77% | 44.46 | 44.90 / 44.20 8THICB | 12.47 | 70.07 | Vol. 22000 D: 48.60 ⇓ 1.62% | 48.73 | 49.90 / 48.00

32.30

DSE Loser

DSE Gainer

C%

A%

CP

Argon Denims Limited-A

9.75

9.15

51.80

Aziz Pipes-Z

8.25

4.45

21.00

Stylecraft-A

6.05

6.10

1,198.90

Envoy Textiles Ltd-N

5.08

4.24

55.80

Eastern Cables-Z

4.46

4.10

1STBSRS | 14.43 | 161.88 | Vol. 108500 D: 83.20 ⇓ 0.72% | 83.19 | 84.00 / 81.30 C: 78.90 ⇓ 9.62% | 85.38 | 90.90 / 78.70 AIMS1STMF | 3.02 | 15.70 | Vol. 323750 D: 35.70 ⇓ 2.46% | 35.97 | 37.20 / 35.70 C: 36.00 ⇓ 2.96% | 36.46 | 37.80 / 35.90 ICBISLAMIC | 2.21 | 26.81 | Vol. 3500 D: 16.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 16.86 | 16.90 / 16.50 GRAMEEN1 | 6.26 | 33.23 | Vol. 194000 D: 42.80 ⇓ 2.51% | 43.28 | 45.70 / 42.50 C: 44.50 ⇑ 2.06% | 44.49 | 44.70 / 43.10 ICB1STNRB | 4.06 | 35.31 | Vol. 14500 D: 21.60 ⇓ 0.46% | 21.59 | 21.70 / 21.60 ICB2NDNRB | 2.49 | 16.24 | Vol. 251000 D: 8.70 ⇓ 2.25% | 8.83 | 9.10 / 8.70 C: 8.90 ⇓ 3.26% | 8.91 | 9.00 / 8.80 GRAMEENS2 | 2.17 | 16.41 | Vol. 666550 D: 15.50 ⇓ 2.52% | 15.66 | 16.00 / 14.50 C: 15.50 ⇓ 2.52% | 15.75 | 15.90 / 15.50 1STPRIMFMF | 0.64 | 11.63 | Vol. 958500 D: 20.30 ⇓ 5.14% | 20.85 | 21.70 / 20.20 C: 20.50 ⇓ 5.53% | 20.56 | 21.00 / 20.20 EBL1STMF | 0.55 | 12.62 | Vol. 453900 D: 6.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.66 | 7.00 / 6.00 C: 6.60 ⇓ 1.49% | 6.56 | 6.70 / 6.50 ICBAMCL2ND | 0.60 | 12.12 | Vol. 67000 D: 5.50 ⇑ 1.85% | 5.52 | 5.60 / 5.30 ICBEPMF1S1 | 0.52 | 11.32 | Vol. 169500 D: 5.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.74 | 5.80 / 5.60 C: 5.70 ⇑ 3.64% | 5.70 | 5.70 / 5.70 TRUSTB1MF | 0.75 | 11.65 | Vol. 964696 D: 7.30 ⇓ 2.67% | 7.39 | 7.70 / 6.80 C: 7.40 ⇓ 1.33% | 7.39 | 7.50 / 7.30 PRIME1ICBA | 0.42 | 11.18 | Vol. 43000 D: 5.00 ⇓ 1.96% | 5.07 | 5.10 / 5.00 C: 5.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.10 | 5.10 / 5.10 DBH1STMF | -1.12 | 10.15 | Vol. 372000 D: 5.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.44 | 5.50 / 5.40 C: 5.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.35 | 5.40 / 5.30 IFIC1STMF | 0.83 | 11.88 | Vol. 783488 D: 6.10 ⇓ 1.61% | 6.20 | 6.30 / 5.60 C: 6.20 ⇓ 1.59% | 6.21 | 6.30 / 6.20 PF1STMF | 0.51 | 11.11 | Vol. 206500 D: 5.10 ⇓ 1.92% | 5.19 | 5.30 / 5.10 C: 5.10 ⇓ 3.77% | 5.15 | 5.20 / 5.10 ICB3RDNRB | 0.00 | 10.60 | Vol. 244500 D: 4.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 4.95 | 5.00 / 4.90 C: 4.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 4.99 | 5.00 / 4.90 1JANATAMF | 0.78 | 10.68 | Vol. 348000 D: 5.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.72 | 5.80 / 5.70 C: 5.60 ⇓ 1.75% | 5.60 | 5.70 / 5.60 GREENDELMF | -0.82 | 9.72 | Vol. 199500 D: 5.00 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.09 | 5.10 / 5.00 C: 5.00 ⇓ 1.96% | 5.00 | 5.00 / 5.00 POPULAR1MF | 0.77 | 11.38 | Vol. 448511 D: 5.60 ⇓ 3.45% | 5.75 | 5.80 / 5.30 C: 5.70 ⇓ 1.72% | 5.70 | 5.70 / 5.60 IFILISLMF1 | 0.00 | 10.45 | Vol. 355500 D: 5.20 ⇑ 1.96% | 5.25 | 5.40 / 5.10 C: 5.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.01 | 5.10 / 5.00 PHPMF1 | 0.63 | 10.92 | Vol. 782500 D: 5.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.22 | 5.40 / 5.20 C: 5.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 5.21 | 5.30 / 5.10 AIBL1STIMF | -0.07 | 9.25 | Vol. 15000 D: 6.30 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.34 | 6.40 / 6.30 C: 6.20 ⇓ 4.62% | 6.20 | 6.20 / 6.20 MBL1STMF | -0.16 | 9.08 | Vol. 121500 D: 6.00 ⇓ 3.23% | 6.05 | 6.10 / 5.90 SEBL1STMF | 0.94 | 11.85 | Vol. 810000 D: 7.80 ⇓ 3.70% | 7.97 | 8.20 / 7.80 C: 7.70 ⇓ 4.94% | 7.76 | 7.90 / 7.70 EBLNRBMF | 1.07 | 10.88 | Vol. 416 D: 7.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.90 | 6.90 / 6.90 RELIANCE1 | 0.95 | 10.33 | Vol. 534700 D: 7.90 ⇓ 3.66% | 7.99 | 8.20 / 7.80 C: 8.30 ⇑ 1.22% | 8.31 | 8.50 / 7.90 LRGLOBMF1 | 0.50 | 10.82 | Vol. 191000 D: 7.90 ⇑ 2.60% | 7.89 | 8.00 / 7.70 ABB1STMF | 0.92 | 10.63 | Vol. 105000 D: 6.70 ⇑ 0.00% | 6.72 | 6.80 / 6.60 C: 6.60 ⇓ 1.49% | 7.15 | 7.20 / 6.60 NLI1STMF | 1.17 | 12.22 | Vol. 1084950 D: 8.30 ⇓ 7.78% | 8.58 | 9.10 / 8.20 C: 8.30 ⇓ 8.79% | 8.41 | 8.60 / 8.30

74.90

Meghna Con. Milk-B Imam Button -Z Central Pharm-N Mithun Knitting-A Legacy Footwear -A

C%

A%

CP

-10.00

-8.50

7.20

-9.90

-9.41

9.10

-9.76

-6.73

30.50

-9.58

-7.40

84.90

-9.34

-5.92

36.90

FBFIF | 1.30 | 10.27 | Vol. 3500 D: 8.80 ⇑ 2.33% | 8.86 | 8.90 / 8.80 NCCBLMF1 | 1.16 | 10.48 | Vol. 114500 D: 9.20 ⇓ 4.17% | 9.29 | 9.90 / 8.70 ICBSONALI1 | 0.00 | 10.39 | Vol. 270000 D: 6.40 ⇓ 3.03% | 6.36 | 6.60 / 6.30 C: 6.40 ⇓ 3.03% | 6.29 | 6.50 / 6.20 EXIM1STMF | 0.00 | 10.91 | Vol. 27000 D: 7.20 ⇓ 4.00% | 7.21 | 7.60 / 6.90 C: 7.00 ⇓ 1.41% | 7.00 | 7.00 / 7.00 ENGINEERING AFTABAUTO | 4.29 | 52.65 | Vol. 281052 D: 100.9 ⇓ 2.98% | 102.15 | 106.0 / 100.0 C: 101.2 ⇓ 2.50% | 101.74 | 104.0 / 100.0 AZIZPIPES | 0.39 | -42.04 | Vol. 10600 D: 21.00 ⇑ 8.25% | 20.66 | 21.30 / 19.70 OLYMPIC | 5.94 | 14.91 | Vol. 126286 D: 192.4 ⇓ 3.75% | 191.76 | 203.0 / 185.0 C: 190.0 ⇓ 6.36% | 190.46 | 194.5 / 189.0 BDLAMPS | -5.31 | 37.07 | Vol. 13200 D: 138.2 ⇓ 3.89% | 140.34 | 143.7 / 138.0 C: 138.0 ⇓ 4.89% | 139.87 | 145.0 / 137.1 ECABLES | 2.04 | 18.87 | Vol. 11000 D: 74.90 ⇑ 4.46% | 74.64 | 75.10 / 71.90 MONNOSTAF | 5.31 | 44.78 | Vol. 900 D: 317.4 ⇓ 0.84% | 317.78 | 345.0 / 313.0 SINGERBD | 9.99 | 45.74 | Vol. 43699 D: 185.7 ⇓ 2.72% | 187.75 | 191.5 / 178.0 C: 184.1 ⇓ 4.06% | 189.04 | 192.0 / 183.2 ATLASBANG | 11.98 | 207.70 | Vol. 15117 D: 159.6 ⇓ 4.03% | 161.86 | 167.0 / 159.0 BDAUTOCA | 0.25 | 6.23 | Vol. 24708 D: 38.40 ⇓ 9.00% | 39.23 | 46.40 / 38.10 QSMDRYCELL | 1.17 | 57.54 | Vol. 152405 D: 31.70 ⇓ 3.35% | 31.90 | 35.00 / 30.00 C: 31.50 ⇓ 2.78% | 31.84 | 32.80 / 31.40 RENWICKJA | 5.62 | -90.00 | Vol. 6050 D: 133.7 ⇓ 5.98% | 136.53 | 145.1 / 132.5 NTLTUBES | -2.52 | 312.10 | Vol. 51600 D: 69.00 ⇓ 3.50% | 70.04 | 72.10 / 65.00 BDTHAI | 0.43 | 39.35 | Vol. 195568 D: 27.00 ⇓ 4.26% | 27.37 | 28.60 / 26.50 C: 26.80 ⇓ 4.96% | 27.13 | 27.30 / 26.60 ANWARGALV | 0.51 | 8.08 | Vol. 128500 D: 25.70 ⇓ 7.55% | 26.27 | 27.40 / 25.60 C: 25.70 ⇓ 7.89% | 26.68 | 27.30 / 25.60 KAY&QUE | -3.89 | 6.03 | Vol. 3500 D: 16.10 ⇓ 5.29% | 16.00 | 16.20 / 16.00 C: 15.30 ⇓ 10.00% | 15.30 | 15.30 / 15.30 RANFOUNDRY | 2.84 | 18.62 | Vol. 44500 D: 86.00 ⇓ 6.11% | 87.50 | 89.00 / 85.10 C: 86.20 ⇓ 6.30% | 87.63 | 91.00 / 86.00 SALAMCRST | 3.31 | 20.00 | Vol. 76150 D: 37.90 ⇓ 0.79% | 37.88 | 38.70 / 35.00 C: 37.80 ⇓ 1.31% | 37.80 | 37.80 / 37.80 GOLDENSON | 3.70 | 28.70 | Vol. 351162 D: 39.20 ⇓ 0.76% | 39.68 | 40.80 / 36.00 C: 39.00 ⇓ 1.76% | 39.09 | 39.70 / 39.00 BSRMSTEEL | 3.06 | 19.53 | Vol. 220620 D: 61.00 ⇓ 2.24% | 61.06 | 61.90 / 56.20 C: 61.00 ⇓ 2.56% | 61.04 | 62.50 / 60.50 NAVANACNG | 4.09 | 27.04 | Vol. 91688 D: 61.10 ⇓ 3.17% | 61.88 | 65.00 / 58.00 C: 61.30 ⇓ 3.31% | 61.65 | 66.80 / 61.00 DESHBANDHU | 0.26 | 10.67 | Vol. 299356 D: 16.50 ⇓ 5.71% | 16.84 | 17.80 / 16.00 C: 16.60 ⇓ 5.68% | 16.83 | 17.50 / 16.30 GPHISPAT | 2.11 | 15.27 | Vol. 61300 D: 39.90 ⇓ 0.99% | 40.09 | 41.50 / 38.10 C: 40.00 ⇓ 2.20% | 40.10 | 40.50 / 40.00 BENGALWTL | 2.42 | 20.72 | Vol. 105400 D: 43.50 ⇑ 0.93% | 43.57 | 44.30 / 43.10 C: 43.10 ⇓ 0.23% | 42.87 | 43.70 / 42.20 BDBUILDING | 1.02 | 12.40 | Vol. 6708000 D: 47.20 ⇑ 0.00% | 41.48 | 48.70 / 35.10 C: 46.80 ⇑ 0.00% | 41.68 | 49.00 / 35.10 NPOLYMAR | 2.01 | 324.37 | Vol. 39500 D: 52.20 ⇓ 3.51% | 52.89 | 54.20 / 51.20 C: 51.20 ⇓ 3.40% | 51.20 | 51.20 / 51.20 FOOD & ALLIED APEXFOODS | 2.54 | 90.81 | Vol. 35500 D: 87.50 ⇓ 4.27% | 90.15 | 93.80 / 85.50 C: 84.10 ⇓ 6.76% | 88.06 | 90.10 / 84.10

BANGAS | 7.20 | 50.27 | Vol. 59050 D: 418.7 ⇓ 6.67% | 429.73 | 456.3 / 412.0 C: 420.6 ⇓ 6.68% | 429.94 | 463.9 / 418.1 BATBC | 65.69 | 117.22 | Vol. 4050 D: 1537 ⇓ 3.35% | 1567 | 1618 / 1505 C: 1534 ⇑ 0.91% | 1534 | 1535 / 1530 GEMINISEA | 10.88 | 9.69 | Vol. 700 D: 185.4 ⇓ 7.53% | 185.71 | 188.0 / 183.0 NTC | 29.88 | 110.05 | Vol. 1100 D: 793.5 ⇑ 0.24% | 794.00 | 800.0 / 785.0 C: 800.0 ⇓ 1.23% | 800.00 | 800.0 / 800.0 AMCL(PRAN) | 6.53 | 53.37 | Vol. 50900 D: 227.5 ⇓ 5.95% | 231.74 | 244.4 / 226.0 C: 227.0 ⇓ 6.16% | 232.53 | 241.6 / 227.0 FUWANGFOOD | 1.26 | 12.37 | Vol. 256194 D: 23.70 ⇓ 2.47% | 24.04 | 24.70 / 22.20 C: 24.00 ⇓ 1.64% | 24.25 | 24.70 / 23.90 MEGHNAPET | -0.58 | -1.02 | Vol. 6500 D: 7.80 ⇓ 9.30% | 7.80 | 7.80 / 7.80 MEGCONMILK | -6.68 | -16.22 | Vol. 56000 D: 7.20 ⇓ 10.00% | 7.32 | 7.70 / 7.20 BEACHHATCH | 1.01 | 12.48 | Vol. 1002270 D: 22.90 ⇓ 6.53% | 24.00 | 25.50 / 22.30 C: 22.70 ⇓ 7.35% | 23.56 | 25.00 / 22.50 FINEFOODS | -0.11 | 10.58 | Vol. 448200 D: 25.20 ⇓ 8.03% | 26.39 | 28.70 / 24.90 C: 25.40 ⇓ 8.96% | 26.35 | 28.90 / 25.20 RDFOOD | 0.91 | 16.84 | Vol. 511400 D: 21.50 ⇓ 2.71% | 21.81 | 22.60 / 21.40 C: 21.40 ⇓ 3.60% | 21.72 | 22.30 / 21.20 GHAIL | 1.01 | 22.08 | Vol. 423980 D: 42.60 ⇑ 0.00% | 42.72 | 43.80 / 38.50 C: 42.80 ⇑ 0.71% | 43.03 | 44.00 / 41.50 FUEL & POWER LINDEBD | 31.71 | 144.00 | Vol. 4880 D: 616.5 ⇓ 4.11% | 622.54 | 635.0 / 610.0 PADMAOIL | 16.38 | 43.67 | Vol. 185635 D: 286.2 ⇓ 5.58% | 290.94 | 303.1 / 285.0 C: 286.0 ⇓ 5.42% | 292.40 | 306.0 / 285.0 EASTRNLUB | 6.32 | 68.68 | Vol. 100 D: 299.5 ⇓ 8.13% | 300.00 | 300.0 / 299.1 BDWELDING | 0.33 | 16.82 | Vol. 402210 D: 21.20 ⇓ 4.07% | 21.65 | 23.40 / 20.00 C: 20.90 ⇓ 6.28% | 21.26 | 24.00 / 20.70 SUMITPOWER | 3.17 | 19.26 | Vol. 175802 D: 30.60 ⇓ 0.33% | 30.89 | 31.40 / 27.70 C: 30.90 ⇑ 0.00% | 30.96 | 31.10 / 30.70 DESCO | 2.80 | 35.25 | Vol. 103725 D: 69.80 ⇓ 1.27% | 70.24 | 70.80 / 66.00 C: 69.90 ⇓ 1.69% | 69.54 | 70.00 / 69.20 POWERGRID | 2.56 | 48.08 | Vol. 22707 D: 53.30 ⇓ 1.11% | 53.29 | 54.00 / 49.00 JAMUNAOIL | 22.78 | 50.24 | Vol. 222960 D: 215.2 ⇓ 1.37% | 215.46 | 222.6 / 210.0 C: 214.4 ⇓ 2.06% | 215.01 | 220.0 / 213.9 MPETROLEUM | 16.98 | 40.41 | Vol. 231941 D: 244.7 ⇓ 3.36% | 246.04 | 253.0 / 232.0 C: 245.2 ⇓ 3.65% | 247.19 | 252.0 / 243.7 TITASGAS | 9.01 | 36.56 | Vol. 766417 D: 78.80 ⇓ 2.60% | 79.60 | 81.00 / 73.00 C: 78.10 ⇓ 2.62% | 78.06 | 79.00 / 77.00 KPCL | 4.73 | 15.86 | Vol. 93887 D: 43.40 ⇓ 0.91% | 43.57 | 44.50 / 41.00 C: 43.10 ⇓ 2.49% | 43.29 | 43.50 / 43.00 BEDL | 1.48 | 19.43 | Vol. 266430 D: 25.80 ⇓ 1.53% | 26.07 | 26.90 / 23.60 C: 25.80 ⇓ 1.90% | 26.03 | 27.70 / 25.70 MJLBD | 2.73 | 30.24 | Vol. 69436 D: 69.30 ⇓ 0.72% | 69.52 | 75.00 / 63.00 C: 68.50 ⇓ 0.29% | 68.62 | 69.00 / 68.00 GBBPOWER | 1.86 | 22.63 | Vol. 282895 D: 24.60 ⇓ 1.99% | 24.77 | 25.40 / 22.60 C: 24.80 ⇓ 1.98% | 24.90 | 25.20 / 24.70 SPPCL | 3.81 | 23.34 | Vol. 299150 D: 47.80 ⇓ 2.25% | 48.08 | 49.10 / 44.50 C: 48.10 ⇓ 2.43% | 48.24 | 49.00 / 47.70 JUTE JUTESPINN | 2.06 | 17.42 | Vol. 14900 D: 108.9 ⇓ 9.17% | 110.20 | 121.0 / 108.0 SONALIANSH | 5.54 | 218.80 | Vol. 8400 D: 136.2 ⇓ 4.56% | 138.45 | 141.3 / 134.0

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

7

October 08, 2013 Sectotal Index: BANK: 30,947.85 ⇓ 0.68% NBFI: 18,791.95 ⇓ 1.52% INVS: 4,595.35 ⇓ 1.22% ENGG: 5,462.39 ⇓ 3.75% FOOD: 9,752.22 ⇓ 1.68% F&P: 9,661.09 ⇓ 2.30% TEXT: 3,014.21 ⇓ 1.27% PHAR: 16,625.76 ⇓ 0.67% PAPR: 1,035.59 ⇓ 4.48% SERV: 2,768.81 ⇓ 2.76% LEAT: 5,112.05 ⇓ 0.54% CERA: 479.96 ⇓ 2.31% CMNT: 4,228.06 ⇓ 1.97% INFO: 7,098.69 ⇓ 2.69% GINS: 9,165.73 ⇓ 3.06% LINS: 109,088.81 ⇓ 1.58% TELC: 1,268.54 ⇓ 3.64% MISC: 5,897.86 ⇓ 1.37% TEXTILE AL-HAJTEX | 1.35 | 15.64 | Vol. 80892 D: 83.60 ⇓ 8.13% | 87.02 | 93.00 / 82.00 STYLECRAFT | 20.00 | 287.30 | Vol. 100 D: 1199 ⇑ 6.05% | 1199 | 1199 / 1199 RAHIMTEXT | 0.51 | 73.88 | Vol. 100 D: 252.0 ⇓ 5.72% | 250.00 | 252.1 / 252.0 SAIHAMTEX | 2.75 | 29.50 | Vol. 715400 D: 30.80 ⇓ 0.32% | 31.01 | 31.50 / 30.70 C: 30.60 ⇓ 2.24% | 30.83 | 31.40 / 30.40 MODERNDYE | 0.91 | 10.37 | Vol. 1000 D: 96.40 ⇓ 9.06% | 96.00 | 97.50 / 96.00 DSHGARME | 0.72 | 12.00 | Vol. 35900 D: 68.60 ⇓ 9.26% | 71.20 | 77.80 / 68.10 DULAMIACOT | -8.46 | -27.78 | Vol. 4200 D: 8.80 ⇓ 2.22% | 8.81 | 9.00 / 8.70 TALLUSPIN | 2.56 | 12.06 | Vol. 1352535 D: 39.70 ⇓ 8.10% | 41.04 | 44.30 / 39.00 C: 39.70 ⇓ 8.31% | 43.14 | 43.40 / 39.50 APEXSPINN | 2.01 | 49.32 | Vol. 11800 D: 66.10 ⇓ 4.34% | 66.95 | 69.50 / 65.10 MITHUNKNIT | 4.54 | 30.39 | Vol. 121400 D: 84.90 ⇓ 9.58% | 87.71 | 93.90 / 84.60 C: 83.70 ⇓ 9.61% | 86.57 | 90.10 / 83.40 DELTASPINN | 3.06 | 18.12 | Vol. 196100 D: 31.60 ⇓ 1.86% | 31.86 | 32.60 / 30.00 C: 31.50 ⇓ 2.78% | 31.77 | 32.30 / 31.40 SONARGAON | 0.27 | 34.50 | Vol. 170250 D: 17.50 ⇓ 7.89% | 18.09 | 19.00 / 17.40 C: 17.30 ⇓ 8.95% | 17.93 | 18.50 / 17.30 PRIMETEX | 1.01 | 63.54 | Vol. 295250 D: 26.80 ⇓ 0.74% | 27.21 | 28.40 / 26.70 C: 26.80 ⇓ 2.55% | 27.30 | 28.20 / 26.70 ALLTEX | -0.11 | 23.81 | Vol. 79500 D: 8.20 ⇓ 5.75% | 8.37 | 8.70 / 8.10 C: 8.60 ⇓ 4.44% | 8.62 | 8.70 / 8.60 ANLIMAYARN | 1.19 | 11.01 | Vol. 174000 D: 35.60 ⇓ 1.11% | 36.04 | 36.60 / 35.00 C: 35.00 ⇓ 4.63% | 35.00 | 35.00 / 35.00 HRTEX | 2.08 | 14.92 | Vol. 369689 D: 37.80 ⇓ 4.30% | 38.90 | 41.50 / 37.00 C: 38.30 ⇓ 5.43% | 38.93 | 40.00 / 38.00 CMCKAMAL | 1.37 | 19.31 | Vol. 3496798 D: 33.00 ⇓ 2.65% | 32.30 | 34.50 / 30.60 SAFKOSPINN | 0.95 | 21.78 | Vol. 213000 D: 23.70 ⇓ 4.05% | 24.44 | 25.60 / 23.50 C: 24.80 ⇓ 0.40% | 24.78 | 25.00 / 23.20 SQUARETEXT | 4.32 | 31.82 | Vol. 119301 D: 88.70 ⇓ 0.67% | 88.78 | 90.00 / 82.50 C: 87.30 ⇓ 1.13% | 87.43 | 88.00 / 87.20 METROSPIN | -1.00 | 19.59 | Vol. 193497 D: 16.60 ⇓ 2.35% | 16.80 | 17.50 / 15.90 C: 16.60 ⇓ 2.35% | 16.77 | 17.20 / 16.50 MAKSONSPIN | 0.16 | 20.55 | Vol. 926895 D: 15.40 ⇓ 1.91% | 15.57 | 15.90 / 14.50 C: 15.40 ⇓ 2.53% | 15.54 | 15.90 / 15.30 DACCADYE | 1.21 | 31.13 | Vol. 238806 D: 26.20 ⇓ 1.13% | 26.23 | 26.90 / 24.00 C: 26.10 ⇓ 1.88% | 26.22 | 26.80 / 26.00 RNSPIN | 2.80 | 16.58 | Vol. 1714213 D: 28.00 ⇓ 0.71% | 28.14 | 28.50 / 25.50 C: 28.00 ⇓ 1.06% | 28.09 | 28.40 / 27.90 BXSYNTH | 0.93 | 25.42 | Vol. 181335 D: 15.20 ⇓ 0.65% | 15.31 | 16.50 / 14.80 C: 15.10 ⇓ 2.58% | 15.14 | 16.70 / 15.00 MALEKSPIN | -1.44 | 46.87 | Vol. 558175 D: 23.60 ⇓ 4.45% | 24.32 | 25.50 / 23.30 C: 24.00 ⇓ 2.83% | 24.50 | 25.10 / 23.50 ZAHINTEX | 1.91 | 35.25 | Vol. 272250 D: 29.60 ⇓ 2.31% | 29.94 | 30.70 / 28.00 C: 29.50 ⇓ 3.28% | 30.12 | 31.40 / 29.10 SAIHAMCOT | 1.92 | 23.62 | Vol. 511300 D: 23.30 ⇓ 2.10% | 23.57 | 24.00 / 22.00 C: 23.70 ⇓ 0.42% | 23.79 | 24.10 / 23.50 GENNEXT | 1.68 | 15.15 | Vol. 1420180 D: 22.00 ⇑ 1.38% | 21.95 | 22.30 / 19.60 C: 22.00 ⇑ 0.92% | 21.95 | 22.30 / 21.60 ENVOYTEX | 3.26 | 39.26 | Vol. 2530160 D: 55.80 ⇑ 5.08% | 55.30 | 56.20 / 49.90 C: 56.00 ⇑ 5.86% | 55.38 | 56.50 / 54.00 ARGONDENIM | 1.89 | 38.86 | Vol. 2571400 D: 51.80 ⇑ 9.75% | 50.56 | 51.90 / 42.50 C: 51.70 ⇑ 9.77% | 49.80 | 51.80 / 47.20 FAMILYTEX | 3.72 | 14.68 | Vol. 470500 D: 37.80 ⇑ 0.27% | 38.15 | 38.90 / 37.50 C: 37.00 ⇓ 1.07% | 37.84 | 38.50 / 36.20

INTECH | 0.94 | 10.08 | Vol. 182504 D: 15.90 ⇓ 5.92% | 16.29 | 17.10 / 15.90 C: 16.00 ⇓ 5.88% | 16.44 | 17.00 / 15.50 AGNISYSL | 1.07 | 25.52 | Vol. 207500 D: 22.20 ⇓ 2.20% | 22.32 | 23.30 / 22.10 C: 22.40 ⇓ 2.18% | 22.44 | 22.60 / 22.10 DAFODILCOM | 1.12 | 11.14 | Vol. 323500 D: 17.10 ⇓ 4.47% | 17.29 | 18.10 / 17.00 C: 17.30 ⇓ 3.89% | 17.47 | 18.70 / 17.20 AAMRATECH | 1.46 | 21.90 | Vol. 449200 D: 31.60 ⇓ 4.24% | 32.12 | 33.50 / 29.70 C: 31.60 ⇓ 4.24% | 32.10 | 34.00 / 31.50

PHARMACEUTICAL & CHEMICAL AMBEEPHA | 3.94 | 26.15 | Vol. 8100 D: 248.6 ⇓ 6.96% | 252.81 | 270.0 / 247.5 C: 249.8 ⇓ 7.89% | 253.01 | 261.0 / 249.5 BXPHARMA | 3.77 | 52.55 | Vol. 224643 D: 41.10 ⇓ 2.61% | 41.50 | 43.00 / 38.00 C: 41.30 ⇓ 2.36% | 41.47 | 42.20 / 41.20 GLAXOSMITH | 20.25 | 123.32 | Vol. 250 D: 904.6 ⇑ 3.08% | 904.00 | 909.0 / 898.0 ACI | -5.82 | 126.42 | Vol. 15000 D: 157.4 ⇓ 1.38% | 157.79 | 159.0 / 156.5 C: 156.0 ⇓ 3.05% | 156.62 | 158.0 / 155.0 RENATA | 33.57 | 138.83 | Vol. 3650 D: 698.8 ⇓ 2.63% | 702.47 | 710.0 / 696.0 RECKITTBEN | 27.16 | 78.89 | Vol. 250 D: 731.2 ⇓ 0.75% | 732.00 | 735.5 / 725.0 PHARMAID | 5.06 | 26.30 | Vol. 25600 D: 166.3 ⇓ 5.35% | 169.30 | 175.1 / 165.6 IBNSINA | 3.44 | 34.02 | Vol. 83100 D: 100.0 ⇓ 4.31% | 101.71 | 106.9 / 99.20 C: 99.20 ⇓ 4.15% | 99.78 | 99.90 / 100.0 LIBRAINFU | 4.64 | 1565.37 | Vol. 1200 D: 416.5 ⇓ 7.16% | 416.67 | 420.1 / 412.0 ORIONINFU | 8.72 | 1.73 | Vol. 113400 D: 42.50 ⇓ 2.75% | 42.53 | 43.50 / 42.10 C: 42.80 ⇓ 2.73% | 42.80 | 42.80 / 42.80 SQURPHARMA | 6.93 | 37.18 | Vol. 822052 D: 174.7 ⇑ 1.28% | 174.44 | 185.0 / 155.3 C: 173.6 ⇑ 0.99% | 173.22 | 173.9 / 172.0 IMAMBUTTON | -1.68 | 5.67 | Vol. 87500 D: 9.10 ⇓ 9.90% | 9.15 | 9.20 / 9.10 C: 11.70 ⇓ 9.30% | 11.70 | 11.70 / 11.70 KEYACOSMET | 1.55 | 21.54 | Vol. 377697 D: 23.60 ⇓ 2.07% | 23.88 | 25.50 / 23.00 C: 23.50 ⇓ 2.08% | 23.73 | 24.10 / 23.50 BERGERPBL | 32.46 | 100.20 | Vol. 50 D: 815.0 ⇑ 0.17% | 815.00 | 815.0 / 815.0 ACIFORMULA | 3.33 | 38.08 | Vol. 20750 D: 75.40 ⇓ 1.31% | 75.96 | 76.80 / 74.00 C: 75.20 ⇓ 2.46% | 75.24 | 77.00 / 75.00 MARICO | 27.53 | 62.47 | Vol. 5800 D: 744.0 ⇓ 4.09% | 753.33 | 781.9 / 738.1 C: 733.5 ⇓ 4.74% | 744.40 | 760.0 / 731.0 BEACONPHAR | 0.33 | 11.97 | Vol. 192000 D: 14.10 ⇓ 0.70% | 14.19 | 14.40 / 14.00 C: 14.10 ⇓ 1.40% | 14.21 | 14.40 / 14.10 ACTIVEFINE | 3.23 | 13.89 | Vol. 656073 D: 89.20 ⇓ 1.33% | 90.58 | 92.00 / 83.00 C: 88.40 ⇓ 1.12% | 90.33 | 91.90 / 88.00 SALVOCHEM | 0.68 | 10.57 | Vol. 365695 D: 20.00 ⇓ 4.76% | 20.26 | 21.30 / 18.90 C: 20.00 ⇓ 5.21% | 20.37 | 21.80 / 20.00 GHCL | 2.14 | 57.31 | Vol. 320250 D: 48.00 ⇑ 4.35% | 47.37 | 48.90 / 45.50 C: 47.30 ⇑ 2.38% | 47.85 | 49.50 / 46.50 ORIONPHARM | 5.02 | 68.68 | Vol. 392880 D: 61.40 ⇓ 2.07% | 62.07 | 63.10 / 56.50 C: 61.10 ⇓ 2.55% | 61.73 | 63.00 / 60.60 JMISMDL | 1.12 | 12.83 | Vol. 210000 D: 238.1 ⇓ 5.14% | 250.01 | 262.8 / 232.3 C: 235.3 ⇓ 5.54% | 249.36 | 261.5 / 233.2 CENTRALPHL | 0.61 | 10.99 | Vol. 878500 D: 30.50 ⇓ 9.76% | 31.60 | 34.00 / 30.50 C: 30.20 ⇓ 9.58% | 31.11 | 33.10 / 30.10 PAPER & PACKAGING HAKKANIPUL | 0.64 | 11.02 | Vol. 37000 D: 29.40 ⇓ 7.26% | 29.84 | 31.50 / 28.60 C: 29.40 ⇓ 5.16% | 28.83 | 29.50 / 27.90

SERVICE SAMORITA | 2.31 | 17.25 | Vol. 16705 D: 102.5 ⇓ 1.82% | 103.57 | 110.0 / 100.0 C: 98.00 ⇓ 8.41% | 102.75 | 98.00 / 107.5 SAPORTL | 1.23 | 38.39 | Vol. 127699 D: 24.60 ⇓ 1.99% | 24.86 | 25.20 / 24.60 C: 24.50 ⇓ 2.39% | 24.71 | 25.10 / 23.00 EHL | 2.87 | 18.48 | Vol. 117133 D: 51.90 ⇓ 4.07% | 52.78 | 54.00 / 48.70 C: 52.20 ⇓ 3.33% | 52.66 | 53.50 / 52.00 LEATHER APEXTANRY | 6.57 | 69.38 | Vol. 400200 D: 113.0 ⇓ 2.16% | 114.23 | 118.0 / 112.1 C: 112.6 ⇓ 1.75% | 115.00 | 116.0 / 112.1 BATASHOE | 49.12 | 135.53 | Vol. 2144 D: 684.4 ⇓ 2.72% | 683.79 | 694.0 / 660.0 APEXADELFT | 23.01 | 203.26 | Vol. 23600 D: 362.3 ⇓ 0.85% | 363.86 | 371.9 / 359.0 SAMATALETH | -0.07 | 12.08 | Vol. 1500 D: 11.70 ⇓ 0.85% | 12.00 | 12.00 / 11.50 LEGACYFOOT | 0.63 | 17.19 | Vol. 385214 D: 36.90 ⇓ 9.34% | 38.43 | 41.50 / 36.70 C: 36.90 ⇓ 8.89% | 38.23 | 42.50 / 36.60 CERAMIC MONNOCERA | 0.71 | 96.33 | Vol. 71150 D: 34.30 ⇓ 7.05% | 35.69 | 37.40 / 34.00 C: 35.00 ⇓ 3.05% | 35.56 | 35.70 / 35.00 STANCERAM | 1.07 | 15.97 | Vol. 16150 D: 37.10 ⇓ 3.13% | 37.50 | 39.80 / 36.80 FUWANGCER | 1.43 | 13.25 | Vol. 222760 D: 18.70 ⇓ 3.11% | 18.90 | 19.40 / 17.90 C: 18.60 ⇓ 2.62% | 18.73 | 19.00 / 18.50 SPCERAMICS | 0.62 | 30.92 | Vol. 174328 D: 15.70 ⇓ 1.26% | 15.85 | 16.20 / 14.50 C: 15.70 ⇓ 2.48% | 15.82 | 16.20 / 15.60 RAKCERAMIC | 1.98 | 16.76 | Vol. 123072 D: 49.00 ⇓ 0.81% | 49.26 | 50.00 / 45.00 C: 49.10 ⇓ 2.19% | 49.15 | 49.30 / 49.00 CEMENT HEIDELBCEM | 22.85 | 111.50 | Vol. 40300 D: 344.6 ⇓ 4.20% | 350.63 | 356.1 / 338.0 C: 344.2 ⇓ 3.96% | 344.56 | 353.0 / 340.0 CONFIDCEM | 6.23 | 90.76 | Vol. 81928 D: 113.6 ⇓ 1.13% | 114.42 | 115.6 / 110.0 C: 113.5 ⇓ 2.07% | 113.99 | 115.4 / 113.0 MEGHNACEM | 6.28 | 33.81 | Vol. 43600 D: 124.6 ⇓ 4.81% | 127.78 | 133.0 / 122.2 ARAMITCEM | 3.03 | 14.65 | Vol. 58000 D: 67.90 ⇓ 3.41% | 68.41 | 70.40 / 67.00 C: 68.00 ⇓ 9.21% | 68.37 | 69.10 / 68.00 LAFSURCEML | 1.60 | 7.22 | Vol. 656500 D: 33.10 ⇓ 1.78% | 33.45 | 33.80 / 33.00 C: 33.40 ⇓ 1.18% | 33.49 | 33.70 / 33.30 MICEMENT | 4.14 | 40.00 | Vol. 260330 D: 92.10 ⇑ 1.21% | 91.19 | 93.70 / 85.00 C: 91.10 ⇑ 0.22% | 90.64 | 92.00 / 89.00 PREMIERCEM | 3.59 | 22.92 | Vol. 90600 D: 99.90 ⇓ 2.73% | 100.26 | 103.0 / 98.50 C: 99.20 ⇓ 2.75% | 100.07 | 99.20 / 100.0 IT IINDUSTRIES ISNLTD | 0.28 | 17.31 | Vol. 106212 D: 17.90 ⇓ 6.77% | 18.30 | 19.50 / 17.50 C: 17.90 ⇓ 7.25% | 18.42 | 20.00 / 17.50 BDCOM | 1.00 | 14.91 | Vol. 526715 D: 26.90 ⇑ 3.46% | 26.50 | 27.60 / 25.80 C: 26.70 ⇑ 2.69% | 26.60 | 27.50 / 25.90

GENERAL INSURANCE BGIC | 1.65 | 20.33 | Vol. 130098 D: 27.90 ⇓ 2.11% | 28.25 | 31.30 / 25.70 C: 27.90 ⇓ 2.79% | 27.97 | 28.20 / 27.60 GREENDELT | 4.05 | 64.44 | Vol. 13200 D: 93.90 ⇓ 3.79% | 94.50 | 96.00 / 93.40 C: 90.00 ⇓ 8.16% | 90.00 | 90.00 / 90.00 UNITEDINS | 2.47 | 21.04 | Vol. 1800 D: 43.40 ⇓ 2.25% | 43.33 | 43.50 / 43.00 PEOPLESINS | 2.05 | 20.72 | Vol. 318900 D: 33.00 ⇓ 3.51% | 33.70 | 34.60 / 32.60 C: 33.40 ⇓ 2.62% | 33.40 | 34.00 / 32.60 EASTERNINS | 2.22 | 35.88 | Vol. 28610 D: 38.30 ⇓ 1.29% | 38.25 | 40.80 / 37.50 C: 38.00 ⇓ 9.09% | 38.00 | 38.00 / 38.00 JANATAINS | 7.84 | 170.69 | Vol. 21677 D: 256.3 ⇓ 3.30% | 258.08 | 270.0 / 254.5 C: 254.0 ⇓ 4.87% | 258.48 | 275.0 / 252.0 PHENIXINS | 2.70 | 20.96 | Vol. 42127 D: 40.00 ⇓ 1.23% | 40.09 | 41.20 / 39.50 EASTLAND | 4.06 | 23.29 | Vol. 96360 D: 45.60 ⇓ 1.94% | 45.86 | 46.70 / 42.00 C: 45.70 ⇓ 3.79% | 45.69 | 45.90 / 45.60 CENTRALINS | 1.54 | 19.04 | Vol. 96400 D: 29.10 ⇑ 0.00% | 29.18 | 30.10 / 28.90 KARNAPHULI | 1.56 | 19.42 | Vol. 79100 D: 23.00 ⇓ 2.95% | 23.10 | 24.40 / 22.80 RUPALIINS | 2.76 | 23.38 | Vol. 190213 D: 31.10 ⇓ 2.51% | 31.62 | 32.20 / 30.00 C: 31.60 ⇓ 0.63% | 31.63 | 32.30 / 31.30 FEDERALINS | 1.10 | 10.98 | Vol. 155236 D: 22.70 ⇓ 2.99% | 23.06 | 23.90 / 21.50 C: 22.80 ⇓ 2.98% | 23.07 | 23.30 / 22.70 RELIANCINS | 3.93 | 61.52 | Vol. 7500 D: 70.00 ⇓ 3.85% | 70.13 | 72.00 / 68.60 PURABIGEN | 1.05 | 18.71 | Vol. 128500 D: 22.00 ⇓ 1.79% | 22.12 | 22.60 / 21.90 PRAGATIINS | 2.01 | 50.30 | Vol. 26592 D: 54.40 ⇓ 1.09% | 54.92 | 55.20 / 54.00 C: 49.70 ⇓ 9.64% | 49.67 | 49.70 / 49.60 PRIMEINSUR | 2.14 | 14.14 | Vol. 57257 D: 30.90 ⇓ 3.44% | 31.05 | 32.00 / 30.00 PIONEERINS | 3.11 | 23.84 | Vol. 55430 D: 65.60 ⇓ 0.91% | 65.83 | 71.90 / 65.10 MERCINS | 1.53 | 14.50 | Vol. 155721 D: 29.10 ⇓ 3.64% | 29.37 | 33.20 / 27.20 C: 28.30 ⇓ 2.41% | 29.17 | 30.50 / 28.00 AGRANINS | 1.73 | 14.39 | Vol. 91300 D: 28.20 ⇓ 1.05% | 28.21 | 28.70 / 28.00 GLOBALINS | 1.09 | 11.78 | Vol. 42561 D: 29.00 ⇓ 3.33% | 29.03 | 29.90 / 28.00 NITOLINS | 2.59 | 15.41 | Vol. 36164 D: 34.20 ⇓ 2.29% | 34.47 | 35.60 / 34.00 ASIAPACINS | 1.84 | 13.76 | Vol. 87500 D: 29.50 ⇓ 2.32% | 29.98 | 30.30 / 29.00 C: 29.00 ⇓ 3.97% | 29.00 | 29.00 / 29.00 SONARBAINS | 1.68 | 13.38 | Vol. 159002 D: 25.00 ⇓ 3.10% | 25.22 | 25.50 / 24.70 C: 25.00 ⇓ 1.96% | 25.00 | 25.00 / 25.00 PARAMOUNT | 1.26 | 13.19 | Vol. 31913 D: 23.10 ⇓ 3.75% | 23.28 | 24.00 / 22.00 CITYGENINS | 1.65 | 14.26 | Vol. 99468 D: 27.60 ⇓ 3.83% | 28.25 | 30.00 / 27.20 C: 27.60 ⇓ 4.50% | 28.41 | 29.90 / 27.50 CONTININS | 1.41 | 15.68 | Vol. 251050 D: 30.90 ⇓ 4.92% | 31.46 | 32.40 / 30.00 C: 32.50 ⇓ 3.56% | 32.45 | 34.00 / 31.50 TAKAFULINS | 2.19 | 15.17 | Vol. 34142 D: 43.60 ⇓ 2.24% | 43.93 | 46.00 / 41.00 STANDARINS | 2.58 | 13.99 | Vol. 7253 D: 39.90 ⇓ 1.72% | 39.97 | 40.60 / 39.00 NORTHRNINS | 1.77 | 11.15 | Vol. 43721 D: 44.20 ⇓ 0.45% | 44.62 | 48.00 / 42.00

REPUBLIC | 2.14 | 12.42 | Vol. 48416 D: 42.60 ⇓ 3.84% | 43.06 | 44.30 / 42.00 C: 44.40 ⇑ 0.00% | 45.00 | 44.40 / 44.40 ASIAINS | 1.56 | 17.34 | Vol. 32493 D: 27.30 ⇓ 2.50% | 27.51 | 28.00 / 26.00 C: 27.40 ⇓ 1.44% | 27.36 | 27.60 / 27.00 ISLAMIINS | 1.29 | 11.96 | Vol. 8276 D: 30.90 ⇓ 3.13% | 30.81 | 32.40 / 29.00 PROVATIINS | 1.90 | 14.30 | Vol. 43862 D: 28.60 ⇓ 2.39% | 28.85 | 29.30 / 28.00 C: 27.90 ⇓ 2.11% | 27.90 | 27.90 / 27.90 DHAKAINS | 2.84 | 18.02 | Vol. 57750 D: 39.20 ⇑ 0.77% | 38.77 | 39.50 / 36.00 C: 38.70 ⇓ 0.26% | 39.94 | 42.50 / 38.50 LIFE INSURANCE NATLIFEINS | 12.34 | 80.99 | Vol. 5588 D: 246.7 ⇓ 1.24% | 246.60 | 250.0 / 240.0 DELTALIFE | 38.53 | 189.40 | Vol. 5950 D: 5280 ⇓ 3.75% | 5282 | 5350 / 5280 C: 5459 ⇓ 3.75% | 5459 | 5459 / 5459 SANDHANINS | 2.39 | 28.22 | Vol. 44610 D: 69.30 ⇓ 2.53% | 69.64 | 71.00 / 69.10 POPULARLIF | 3.70 | 715.41 | Vol. 1138 D: 174.7 ⇑ 1.33% | 172.67 | 174.7 / 158.0 FAREASTLIF | 9.21 | 60.79 | Vol. 25900 D: 92.20 ⇓ 2.02% | 92.49 | 93.50 / 92.10 C: 90.70 ⇓ 3.41% | 90.66 | 91.10 / 90.00 MEGHNALIFE | 10.82 | 48.87 | Vol. 19510 D: 100.0 ⇓ 1.57% | 100.15 | 101.0 / 91.50 C: 104.9 ⇑ 2.34% | 104.90 | 104.9 / 104.9 PROGRESLIF | 2.30 | 31.45 | Vol. 6242 D: 106.3 ⇓ 7.16% | 106.22 | 115.0 / 103.9 PRAGATILIF | 0.60 | 30.15 | Vol. 37461 D: 113.9 ⇓ 5.32% | 115.08 | 127.9 / 110.0 PRIMELIFE | 5.51 | 27.10 | Vol. 2585 D: 94.00 ⇓ 4.47% | 94.00 | 98.40 / 93.60 RUPALILIFE | 3.75 | 31.25 | Vol. 45618 D: 99.10 ⇓ 3.97% | 99.92 | 103.1 / 95.00 PADMALIFE | 1.63 | 25.76 | Vol. 27080 D: 60.90 ⇓ 3.18% | 61.24 | 65.00 / 60.50 C: 60.50 ⇓ 4.72% | 60.50 | 62.00 / 60.00 SUNLIFEINS | 0.00 | 0.00 | Vol. 149675 D: 54.20 ⇓ 4.07% | 55.65 | 57.50 / 51.00 C: 54.70 ⇓ 2.32% | 54.97 | 55.90 / 54.00 TELECOM GP | 12.96 | 26.26 | Vol. 259000 D: 178.8 ⇓ 3.46% | 182.28 | 186.2 / 178.0 C: 178.6 ⇓ 3.46% | 183.11 | 186.0 / 177.6 BSCCL | 5.82 | 26.38 | Vol. 360930 D: 200.3 ⇓ 4.07% | 204.07 | 211.0 / 195.0 C: 200.2 ⇓ 4.12% | 203.47 | 210.8 / 199.1 TRAVEL & LEISURE UNITEDAIR | 1.10 | 12.87 | Vol. 3509332 D: 15.00 ⇓ 2.60% | 15.13 | 15.50 / 14.50 C: 15.10 ⇓ 1.95% | 15.18 | 15.50 / 15.00 UNIQUEHRL | 4.02 | 86.29 | Vol. 413145 D: 81.60 ⇓ 3.77% | 83.19 | 85.80 / 76.40 C: 81.90 ⇓ 3.65% | 83.36 | 89.00 / 81.50 MISCELLANEOUS ARAMIT | 16.07 | 99.93 | Vol. 7350 D: 291.6 ⇓ 5.02% | 295.65 | 311.6 / 290.2 BSC | 1.77 | 565.82 | Vol. 91290 D: 485.3 ⇓ 4.85% | 496.70 | 518.0 / 478.3 C: 487.5 ⇓ 4.79% | 496.65 | 514.0 / 483.0 GQBALLPEN | 6.55 | 250.45 | Vol. 37650 D: 145.3 ⇓ 2.22% | 146.26 | 150.0 / 145.0 C: 143.5 ⇓ 3.17% | 143.81 | 146.0 / 142.1 SAVAREFR | 0.23 | 12.32 | Vol. 1300 D: 59.00 ⇓ 6.50% | 59.23 | 60.30 / 57.80 BEXIMCO | 3.24 | 86.74 | Vol. 979303 D: 27.30 ⇓ 2.50% | 27.66 | 29.00 / 25.20 C: 27.60 ⇓ 2.13% | 27.84 | 28.50 / 27.50 SINOBANGLA | 1.75 | 21.01 | Vol. 141000 D: 22.20 ⇓ 2.63% | 22.48 | 23.00 / 22.00 C: 22.30 ⇓ 3.88% | 22.60 | 23.00 / 22.30 MIRACLEIND | 0.14 | 14.90 | Vol. 118539 D: 15.60 ⇓ 6.02% | 15.88 | 16.60 / 15.50 C: 15.40 ⇓ 4.94% | 15.55 | 16.20 / 15.00 BOND IBBLPBOND | 0.00 | 1000.00 | Vol. 90 D: 954.3 ⇓ 0.13% | 955.56 | 955.0 / 954.0

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

WEDNESDAY, OCTOBER 9, 2013

Only change is constant Sandeep Pandey, an experienced strategy consultant with a proven record of driving business growth for diversified industries and currently a business planning partner providing consultancy, analytics and Intelligence for Mindshare shares his thoughts with Mehrab Al Islam How has the branding concept of businesses changed in the past decade?

The change is constant, it’s been happening for more than five years or so. There has been significant change mainly due to technology and the digital revolution. Consumption patterns have changed. Although we are still watching the same news or reading the same newspaper, the devices have changed.

Are customers loyal to brands these days?

Have things changed? What can businesses do to retain loyal customers?

Brand loyalty is decreasing as consumers are young and restless. The youth are flirtiest and not loyal to a single product. Nowadays, consumers are loyal to a brand as long as it fulfils their need. The moment one brand goes off, another brand takes the opportunity to go on. Consumers also switch to that brand.

It’s not about providing contentthat is intrusive, rather it’s about finding useful ones.

Presenting the form of product or brand in which the activity of the product or brand is proved useful, pushed with a stimulus can retain brand loyalty to some extent. However, brand loyalty will not last for an extended time period. Constant engagement with right content is vital in retaining loyal customers.

How is consumers’ perception of brands changing in the South Asian region?

Undoubtedly, loyalty is changing. The word of mouth component has increased significantly. According to statistics, about 85% people go for products endorsed by their friends, reviews read by them or word of mouth. It’s a clear shift from advertisement to word of mouth.

While advertisement, product, features and communication are very important, engagement with customers and catering to their need in the form of content or features, which is found useful by them and not forced upon, is a noticeable change.

With companies putting much focus on business analytics, which is a good place to start analysing?

Analytics starts from capturing information,

Sandeep Pandey speaking at Commward 2013 but gathering information from somewhere in the cloud will not help unless it is analysed. Identifying individuals whose advice consumers follow while buying brands and endorsing them to vouch for the brand or spreading the good message is one way of doing it.

As brand ambassadors or influencers may backfire, how does it blend in?

Brands are choosing real influencers instead

of artificial or wannabe influencers on the digital platform. A subject matter expert whose words and opinions matter about the subject, the particular activity or the service and influences peoples’ buying behaviour are sought among online influencers.

A company must identify and meet consumers’ demand prior to consumers understand their needs. How should a company go about it?

There are many online and offline ways of doing it. Usage And Attitude (UNA) study is one way of identifying new avenues and features. Also, text mining is another way from which companies are able to hear all the words circulating regarding a desired or specified product or a brand. From there, it could be determined what customers are expecting. Certain unmet needs of customers could be considered and answered through research and product development. l

Get richer, die younger: Study n AFP, Paris We all live longer when times are good, right? Not so, according to a new study which says that in developed countries, the elderly have a higher mortality rate when the economy goes into higher gear. Even its authors are baffled by the outcome.

The finding was “highly unexpected”, Herbert Rolden from the Leyden Academy on Vitality and Ageing in the Netherlands, told AFP. In the long term, economic prosperity is credited with lower mortality rates across all age groups

- largely due to a drop in old-age mortality.

But the picture changes when you look at short-term economic fluctuations, according to the study that appears in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

For every rise of one percentage point in a country’s gross domestic product, mortality among 70-74-year-old men rose by 0.36% and for women of the same age by 0.18%, it found.

Among 40-45-year-olds, the corresponding rise was 0.38% for men and 0.16 for women.

The study analysed mortality and economic

growth figures from 1950 to 2008 in 19 developed countries - Australia, Japan, New Zealand, the United States and several in Europe.

“Since many developed countries are currently in a recession, one could expect that this has a dampening effect on old age survival,” says the study.

“However, it has been found that annual increases in unemployment, or decreases in gross domestic product (GDP) are associated with lower mortality rates.” A similar, seemingly counterintuitive trend had already been found in younger people.

That had been ascribed to more work stress and

traffic accidents due to higher employment in economic boom times. But such factors are unlikely to hold true for older, retired people, said Rolden.

“We are still in the dark on what really explains the association,” he admitted.

The cause may lie in a change in social structure, with younger relatives and friends working longer and having less time to care for the elderly, according to one, untested, theory.

Another idea pins the blame on air pollution, which increases during economic expansion and is likelier to have more of an effect on frail people. l