February 21, 2014copy

Falgun 9, 1420 Rabius Saani 20, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 329

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Bangla skills on the wane

Homage paid to language martyrs n Tribune Report

Dhaka University aspirants now struggle with both languages n Ahmed Zayeef Although there is a longstanding general perception that most school and college students have weak English language skills, Dhaka University’s recent admission test results show they are also struggling in their mother language Bangla.

For the 2013-14 session, 31,624 out of 36,836 applicants failed to secure the minimum pass mark in the university’s B unit admission test, held in November last year.

Of the unsuccessful candidates, 55% failed to get the minimum pass mark in Bangla, 56% failed in English, and 38% failed both in English and Bangla.

The 120 mark test, held under the arts faculty, had three sections – Bangla (30 marks), English (30 marks) and

general knowledge (60 marks). In order to pass the test, each student needed to obtain a minimum of 48 marks with at least 8 marks in English and Bangla, and 17 in general knowledge.

After learning the rate of failure in Bangla section, professor emeritus of the university Dr Serajul Islam Choudhury told Dhaka Tribune: “As English is a foreign language, some reasons can stand for the failure in English; but they are similarly failing in their own mother language. What are they actually learning? We must think seriously about this issue.”

Statistics show that the recent years have also seen admission-seekers failing to get passing marks in Bangla and English for the Dhaka University admission tests.

Similar scoring trends were also seen for the admission test of the D unit testing under the social science faculty. The question structure is similar to the B unit, but a student needs to get at least eight marks in both English and Bangla.

Among the 62,917 students sitting for the exam, 57% failed in English, 42% failed in Bangla, and 32% failed in both sections.

“I have been closely observing this trend for a long time. The quality of  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pay homage to the martyrs of Language Movement at the Central Shaheed Minar in the early hours of today SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

AL, BNP feud benefitted Jamaat n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The results of the first phase of the upazila parishad polls show that Jamaat-e-Islami was benefitted by various problems within the ranks of the other major parties namely Awami League, BNP and Jatiya Party.

At least 12 Jamaat-backed candidates emerged victorious in Wednesday’s elections, some of them in areas known as BNP and JaPa strongholds.

Jamaat’s achievement came as a surprise to many, especially because the party had been widely blamed for the street violence in the months preced-

INSIDE News

3 People’s rejection of violent politics has been made apparent in the first phase of the upazila parishad polls as voters elected Awami League-backed candidates in districts considered as Jamaat strongholds.

Nation

6 Chairpersons of around 4,571 union parishads have been instructed to be vigilant of

unscrupulous middlemen luring them into paying cash for increase in allocations.

HOLIDAY Friday, February 21, is a national and newspaper holiday on the occasion of the Mother Language Day. However, the Dhaka Tribune will be published on Saturday under special arrangement.

ing the January 5 elections; and often linked with committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. In Bogra, known as a BNP monopoly, there are ample reasons for the BNP leaders to consider Jamaat a threat to their popularity. Jamaat-backed chairman candidates emerged victorious in at least three upazilas where BNPbacked candidates were expected to win.

Apart from Bogra, in at least seven other upazilas around the country, Jamaat-backed candidates came out second behind BNP in some places

and Awami League in others.

Initially, BNP decided to leave those three seats to Jamaat in Bogra. However, later, in the face of protest by its grassroots leaders, BNP changed its decision and left only one for the ally.

Local leaders said the presence of “rebel” candidates in two of those three upazilas divided BNP’s voters and eventually made it easy for the Jamaat leaders to come out on top.

Joynal Abedin Chan, general secretary of Bogra district unit BNP, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone: “BNP’s intra-party feud and the betrayal of  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

The nation pays homage to the martyrs of the historic 1952 Language Movement today, marking the Language Martyrs Day and International Mother Language Day. People from all walks of life gathered at the Central Shaheed Minar at midnight with floral wreaths and sang “Amar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushey February” in chorus to pay their deepest respects to the heroes of the Language Movement, who sacrificed their lives for the recognition of Bangla as the state language of the then East Pakistan.

On February 21, 1952, Rafiq Uddin Ahmed, Abdul Jabbar, Abul Barkat, Abdus Salam and a nine-year-old boy named Ohiullah embraced martyrdom  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

POST-POLL VIOLENCE

30 injured, 20 houses and offices vandalised n Tribune Report At least 30 people were injured and more than 20 houses and offices were vandalised and looted during post-election violence in Jamalpur, Munshiganj, Jhenaidah, Rajbari and Natore.

Our Jhenaidah correspondent reports: Houses of 13 BNP supporters were vandalised and allegedly looted in sadar upazila in post-poll violence.

Shibu Prasad, sub-inspector of  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, February 21, 2014

5TH PHASE LOCAL BODY ELECTION

Polls to 74 upazilas on March 31 EC to hold re-election in two upazilas

n Mohammad Zakaria After holding its first phase election, the Election Commission has declared that it will hold polls to 74 upazilas in fifth phase on March 31.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday announced the fifth phase poll schedule at a press conference at the EC secretariat in the capital.

The last date of filing nomination paper is March 2 and the nomination would be scrutinised on March 5.

The last day of withdrawal of nomination paper is March 12.

The second phase of elections to 117 upazilas will be held on February 27 while in the third phase, 83 upazilas will go to polls on March 15 and 92 will come under the fourth phase of election on March 23.

The CEC said the first phase upazila poll was held in a free and fair manner.

Some stray incidents marked the first phase poll in some areas, the CEC admitted, but the commission would

Upazila results show AL’s weak points: Obaidul n Arif Ahmed Communication Minister Obaidul Quader has said the results of the first phase of the upazila parishad elections have exposed the ruling Awami League’s weaknesses.

‘The leaders of the Awami League should take lessons from this defeat and be more conscious,” he said while speaking at a discussion-meeting on Mother Language Day, at Dhaka University Teachers and Students Centre yesterday.

Criticised Chhatra League leaders and activists for ‘frequent wrongdoings,’ the minister also warned that rogue activists of its Rajshahi University unit will be penalised if found guilty. l

62.4% voter turnout in 97 upazila polls

n Mohammad Zakaria The first phase poll to 97 upazilas witnessed 62.44% voter turnout, Public Relations Department of the Election Commission said yesterday.

In the third upazila parishad polls held in 2009, the turnout of voters was 68.32%. The election to 97 upazilas was held in the first phase on Wednesday when voters cast 62.44% vote for the posts of chairmen, vice-chairmen and reserved women vice-chairmen.

A maximum turnout was noticed in Nachol upazila in Chapainowabganj at 81.62% while the lowest turnout was 37.20% in Jajira upazila in Shariatpur.

Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad yesterday said around 60%-65% voters turned up in the first-phase poll as per the primary report.

Senior Assistant Secretary to the EC, Farhad Hossain, yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune the commission would get the final result of chairmen posts from the returning officers. l

SSF bars DMP commissioner's car n Tribune Report More than a hundred policemen refrained from duty in Central Shaheed Minar area for about half an hour last night following an altercation between them and the Special Security Force.

The alteration occurred when members of the SSF, the force providing security to the president and the prime minister, barred the vehicle carrying Dhaka Metropolitan Police Commissioner Benazir Ahmed from entering the Shaheed Minar premises for not having an SSF permission.

According to a witness, SSF personnel stopped the DMP commissioner’s vehicle at the Dhaka Medical College crossing when it was trying to enter the area through Dhaka University gymnasium road from Doyel Chattar.

In protest, police personnel in the area retreated from their duty positions to Doyel Chattar and stayed there for around half an hour.

They, however, resumed duty after SSF officials held a discussion with the DMP commissioner. When contacted, DMP Joint Commissioner Monirul Islam said: “There is nothing to mention in report.” l

make an all-out preparation for prevention of such incidents in the future.

About the voters’ turnout in the first phase poll, Rakibuddin said there were around 60%-65% turnout of voters in 97 upazilas.

A senior assistant secretary to the Election Commission yesterday said the commission would hold re-election to five centres of Sonatola upazila in Bogra for the post of vice-chairman and two centres in Sirajganj Ullahpara for the post of chairman.

The commission has also announced the schedule of Dhamrai upazila poll to be held on March 23.

It has announced the poll schedule of 465 of 487 upazilas in five phases.

According to the EC officials, the upazila parishad poll would come to an end in the fifth phase.

They said the commission did not announce the poll schedule to 22 upazilas.

The commission would announce the poll schedule of some upazilas only after settling the demarcation issue. l

Bangladesh Sangskritik Karmi Sangha brings out a rally yesterday to mark the International Mother Language Day

15 receive Ekushey Padak Tribunal asks Bergman n BSS

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday called for spreading the spirit of the Language Movement among the new generation to face the enemies of independence and “Ekushey”.

“Those who deny the spirit of the Language Movement and four pillars of (our) independence are enemies of Ekushey and independence. To face them, the spirit of Ekushey will have to be spread among the new generation,” Hasina said while presenting the Ekushey Padak 2014 awards at the Osmani Memorial Hall in the capital yesterday.

“That is why the practice of Bangla language and literature will have to reach every sphere of the society, and through that, we will build Shonar Bangla as dreamt by Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman,” the prime minister said.

Fifteen people, distinguished for their outstanding contributions to their respective fields, received this year’s Ekushey Padak, one of the highest civilian awards of the country commemorating the martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement. The award comprises a gold medal, Tk1 lakh and a citation.

The award recipients include Shamsul Huda and late Badrul Alam for Language Movement, Samarjit Roy

Homage paid  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

when police opened fire on a protest rally demanding Bangla as the state language in front of the Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Another Shafiur Rahman died the next day. The protests began against a conspiracy by the then Pakistan leaders to declare Urdu as the only state language.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina led the nation in paying homage by placing wreaths at the Central Shaheed Minar at one minute past midnight, according to the state news agency BSS. Marking the day, the Shaheed Minar premises were redecorated with paintings, buntings and Bangla verses upholding the spirit and sacrifice of the

Chowdhury, Ramkanai Das, late SM Solaiman and Keramat Mawla for arts, Golam Sarwar for journalism, Enamul Haque for research, Anupam Sen for education, Jamil Chowdhury, Belal Chowdhury, Rashid Haider, Biprodash Borua and late Abdus Shakur for language and literature and Professor Emeritus Mujibur Rahman for social services.

Hasina called upon the country’s writers and litterateurs to come forward to conduct research on the languages and literature of ethnic communities, along with the Bangla language, alphabets and literature.

The PM said the “Bangali” nation was continuing the struggle to uphold its ideology and the spirit of the Liberation War. “The struggle is still on and it will have to continue,” she said.

Terming “Ekush” (February 21) as the source of pride and spirit of the Bangali nation, Hasina said it was the name of the country’s self-determination and immortal spirit that could never be defeated.

Cultural Affairs Minister Asaduzzaman Noor presided over the function, while Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan conducted it. Cultural Affairs Secretary Ranjit Kumar Biswas delivered the welcome address and read out the citations of the award recipients. l

Language Movement.

Tight security was ensured at and around the venue to avert any untoward incident.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, leaders of other political parties, teachers, students, diplomats and representatives of various organisations, among others, paid their homage to the martyrs at the Shaheed Minar.

The day is also observed across the world as the Unesco recognised February 21 as the International Mother Language Day on November 17, 1999.

The day is a public holiday in Bangladesh. The national flag is hoisted at half-mast at all educational institutions and government, semi-government and autonomous offices. l

AL, BNP feud benefitted Jamaat  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Jamaat [who allegedly violated a written agreement with its ally BNP] led to the party-backed candidates’ poor result in the district.”

Historically, the BNP has never been very strong in Rangpur, the northernmost district of the country and also the homes of JaPa Chairman HM Ershad and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s in-laws.

Interestingly, only one JaPa-backed candidate won in Wednesday’s first phase of the upazila polls, that too not in Rangpur, but in Gaibandha. What is more interesting is that one of the two upazilas that went into polls, one was clinched by a Jamaat contender and the other by an independent candidate.

Abul Masud Chowdhury Nantu, general secretary of Rangpur district unit JaPa, said: “The result in the upazila polls is a reflection of the rift created among the party ranks surrounding the January 5 national election.”

In some uapzilas, “rebel” candidates

winning by big margins or coming out second behind the rival parties’ candidates show that both Awami League and BNP have made some mistake in picking candidates.

Gopalganj – home of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina – has always been known as an Awami League stronghold. But the party unexpectedly lost one of the two upazilas in the district in Wednesday’s polls.

In Moksedpur, an independent candidate defeated two Awami League candidates – one backed by the party and one rebel.

Qazi Ohid, organising secretary of Moksedpur upazila unit Awami League, said there had been some resentments among the party ranks because the local unit had been run by the same old committee for over a decade.

Shaikh Atiar Rahman, a local Jubo League leader, said because the party had chosen the wrong candidate, the 65% Hindu voters, who always play crucial role in any election, got divided. That, he said, was reflected in the results. l

to explain his remarks n Udisa Islam The International Crimes Tribunal 2 has asked Bangladesh-based British journalist David Bergman to explain his blog posts that raised questions about the number of Liberation War martyrs.

Earlier, the ICT 1 issued a warning to Bergman on February 19, 2012, for his article The tribunal asked him to explain his critiques on March 6 in person or by engaging a lawyer following a petition by a Supreme Court lawyer, Adul Kalam Azad. The petitioner alleged Bergman “termed the tribunal’s claim of 30 lakh martyrs as wrong.”

The petitioner said Bergman made the comments in his two blog posts on bangladeshwarcrimes.blogspost.com uploaded on November 11, 2011 and January 28, 2013, following the indictment of Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee and death penalty awarded to Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar.

After hearing, the three-member tribunal led by its Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan issued the order.

The tribunal asked the lawyer, Mizan Sayeed, to clarify the legal position, as the ICT act states that only the prosecution could bring this type of petition. Mizan answered that the contemptuous acts and comments were brought to judicial notice, so the prosecution could take the process forward.

When the tribunal asked what would happen if the prosecution showed no interest, the counsel answered that the tribunal could then issue suo moto in exercise of its inherent power under rule 46(a).

Earlier, the ICT 1 issued a warning to Bergman on February 19, 2012, for his article “A Crucial Period for ICT,” published on October 2, 2011, mentioning that the reporter was found to be in contempt of court but was being let off in consideration of his social status.

Meanwhile, the ICT 2 yesterday also allowed a defence petition that sought a user-friendly microbus for transporting war crimes accused Mir Kashem Ali back and forth between jail and tribunal premises.

Kashem, who is facing trial on 14 counts of crimes against humanity, is now in Kashimpur jail.

The tribunal also directed the accused to bear the expenses of his transport as they included this in their plea, which was filed on February 18. l

Post-poll violence  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Hatgopalpur police outpost, confirmed the incident.

Separate clashes left over 11 supporters of both the Awami League and the BNP injured in sadar upazila and Sharishabari, while five people were arrested, reports our Jamalpur correspondent.

In Sharishabari, supporters of proBNP candidate went on rampage and looted houses of over 12 Awami League supporters and at least 8 people were injured in attacks on them at Shibpur and Hirannabari villages.

Kamrul Ehsan, officer-in-charge of Sharishabari police station, said additional forces were deployed in the area to avert further clash.

On the other hand, in sadar upazila, supporters of pro-Awami League can-

didate who was defeated attacked a pro-BNP family, leaving three members of the family injured at Gobindapur village.

A case, accusing 7-8 people was filed in this connection and 5 of the accused were arrested.

At least 12 people were injured and offices of both the Awami League and the BNP were vandalised in a clash between two groups at Atpara of Sreenagar, our Munshiganj correspondent reports. Additional forces were deployed in the area.

The clash erupted following a quarrel between the supporters of the Awami League and the BNP at Atpara Bazar, locals said.

In Natore, at least seven people were injured in clash at Agtirail Government Primary School polling centre

Bangla skills on the wane  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

today’s students is worse than those who got admitted into the university in the early eighties,” said Syed Manzoorul Islam, a professor of the university’s English department.

He blamed the existing method of “communicative English” taught as part of the Secondary School Certificate as well as the Higher Secondary Certificate levels.

“Literature was scrapped from the syllabus in SSC and HSC levels with the introduction of communicative English, affecting students’ scope for obtaining the power of imagination,” he said, adding that the present content of communicative English would not be able to provide the students with a strong base in English language.

Among the unsuccessful candidates in the C unit under the business studies faculty, 76% failed in the English sec-

tion, in which they needed 12 to pass.

The other two units – A and CHA – have no minimum scoring requirement for English or Bangla.

Musama Mehereen, who sat for this year’s B unit exam but did not pass the English section, said many students are afraid of what will be in the tests as the pre-admission coaching centres fail to give them a proper idea. The teachers at schools and colleges also failed to build a strong foundation in English as a subject, Musama claimed.

Md Jasim Uddin Biswas, an English teacher at Residential Model School and College, said: “I think the communicative method is the main reason for this failure. Students are choosing a shortcut way by practicing some selected passages, paragraphs, and filling in the blanks without practicing grammar properly In the exam, they are also getting

DHAKA TRIBUNE

23kg gold seized at Dhaka airport n Kailash Sarkar

The Armed Police Battalion (APBn) at Shahjalal International Airport last night seized 23kg gold and arrested a security guard of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh and two passengers in connection with the haul.

A total of 23kg gold in 219 bars was recovered a day after the recovery of 4.5kg gold on Wednesday and arrest of a cleaner of the Bangladesh Biman Airlines.

The police in association with the airport customs authority first seized 119 gold bars weighing 10.65kg just after a flight of the Tiger Airways arrived at the airport from Singapore around 8:30pm.

The officials said Caab security guard Saiful Alam had been trying to sneak out the gold bars from the aircraft he had received from passengers Abul Hasem and Monir Hossain.

“The Caab security guard might have links to the smuggling,” said the APBn senior assistant superintendent.

Another haul of 10kg gold abandoned near the Green Channel was recovered immediately after a flight of the Emirates Airlines had arrived around 8pm from Dubai.

Over 700kg gold was recovered in last one year. l

on Wednesday, our correspondent reports.

However, Singra police station OC Shafiqul Islam said he was not aware of any such incident.

Our Rajbari correspondent reports: Baliakandi upazila unit Awami League President Abdul Hannan Master was beaten by the sons of the rebel candidate yesterday.

Police said Abdul Hannan came under attack while he was returning home around 3pm.

Abdul Hannan said rebel candidate Md Khalilur Rahaman failed in the election and as part of revenge, his sons Rezaul, 25, Ibrahim, 23, Chanu, 24, and their fellows made the attack.

Baliakandi OC Abu Shama said a case was filed in this connection. l

the same type of questions every year.

As a result, they are securing good results in SSC and HSC exams but failing to pass in the competitive exams.”

Mostafijur Rahaman, a Bangla teacher at Bir Shreshtha Noor Mohammad Public College, said: “From my experience, I have seen that students do not put in the effort to know the Bangla language as they do for other subjects. Ignorance about the subject grows in their minds as their guardians do not inspire them. They think that since Bangla is their mother language, they can get good results without hard work.”

Manzoorul Islam stressed the need for a national language policy as well as effective training of English teachers. He also recommended setting up libraries in every school to help students develop reading habits from an early age. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Jamaat faces voter backlash n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

The people’s rejection of violent politics has been made apparent in the first phase of the upazila parishad polls, as voters elected Awami Leaguebacked candidates in the districts considered as strongholds of Jamaat-e-Islami.

During recent times, Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir created anarchy in Satkhira, Chapainawabganj and Jessore, places that are considered Jamaat bastions. These places also saw the most unrest recently, as violent attacks were carried out by the Jamaat-Shibir to demand the release of war criminals and to resist the January 5 poll.

However, use of muscle-power by Jamaat-Shibir activists during their attack on minority community members in Obhoynogor following the January 5 polls could not ensure their victory in the upazila elections, as the Jamaat-backed candidate lost to a BNPbacked contender in the upazila.

Sirajganj, another district that has seen spates of violence by Jamaat-Shibir in recent times, also gifted the Awami League with victories in three upazilas.

In Satkhira’s Assasuni upazila, the Jamaat contender was defeated to the

Awami League contender. Though the Jamaat and the BNP blamed each other for the polls results, the voters said they cast their ballots against Jamaat because of their recent violent activities.

In the upazila, Awami Leaguebacked candidate ABM Mustakim bagged 50,778 votes while the Jamaat-backed contender was defeated by 1,165 votes.

In Chapainawabganj’s Nachole upazila, where the Jamaat-backed contender was the incumbent chairman, the whole Jamaat panel was defeated to Awami League contenders.

BNP-backed candidates, however, were also part of the voting equation at the mentioned upazilas.

Meanwhile, in a press statement yesterday, Jamaat blamed the Awami League of illegally using the administration to create anarchy during the first phase of the upazila polls, as well as taking over polling centres to cast fake ballots.

Recent surveys conducted by different national and international organisations, including Dhaka Tribune and Democracy International, have showed that majority of the country’s people were against violent politics and opposed recent violent activities by Jamaat. l

News

ACC to seek wealth statement from MP Badi n Tribune Report

The Anti Corruption Commission is likely to seek a wealth statement from ruling party lawmaker Abdur Rahman Badi on charge of accumulating illegal wealth, an ACC official said.

He said the investigation officer of the case yesterday submitted a primary inquiry report to ACC where he recommended that the commission should serve a wealth statement notice to the Cox’s Bazar 4 constituency lawmaker to trace the reasons behind his phenomenal rise of wealth.

ACC Deputy Director Ahsan Ali has submitted the report to the special inquiry and investigation department of the commission yesterday.

After having the commission’s approval, the notice will ask the lawmaker to submit a wealth statement including his movable and immovable properties.

On Sunday, Badi said he would resign from his parliamentary post if the graft allegation were found to be true.

Earlier, the investigation officer visited different administrative offices and collected documents related to the MP’s wealth, sources said adding that the official had also acquired the wealth statement of the lawmaker and income tax return statements of MP Badi and his wife Shahina Akhter. l

Friday, February 21, 2014

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keep updated throughout the day http://dhakatribune.com

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Friday, February 21, 2014

UP chairpersons told to avoid being cheated 2 bikers die in n Mohosinul Karim The chairpersons of around 4,571 union parishads across the country have been instructed to be vigilant of unscrupulous middlemen attempting to lure them into paying cash for increases in allocations in their respective areas.

KM Mozammel Haque, national project director of the Local Governance Support Project, gave the instructions yesterday.

“We have received allegations that some middlemen are trying to convince UP chairmen to pay them money for increases in development allocations from the project.”

There is no scope for increasing alloca-

tions from the project as this would violate the rules, Mozammel said.

Mozammel said test messages regarding the matter were sent to all 4,571 UP chairpersons, as well as deputy commissioners, deputy directors of district local government divisions and upazila nirbahi officers.

The TK3,912 crore Local Governance Support Project is financed by the Government of Bangladesh and the World Bank. The World Bank has contributed TK2,093 crore.

Beginning in 2000 as a pilot project at Sirajganj, the project was expanded countrywide in 2012 in light of its success.

The project ends in 2016.

The project’s director warned chairpersons they would be being cheated if they gave extra allocations.

Mahbubur Rahman Tulu, president of Bangladesh Union Parishad Forum, said: “We have got such messages on the issue.

“We will inform the union parishad chairmen across the country to keep them alert though there is no probability that the chairmen will be cheated.”

According to the project plan, the allocations would be spent on infrastructure development in the wards of the union parishads.

The ward members will formulate small development projects in direct consultation

Twenty shanties gutted in Barisal

road accident n Tribune Report

on Kurigram-Bhurungamari road around 11am, leaving them critically injured, reports UNB. Of them, Shah Alam succumbed to his injuries at Kurigram Sadar Hospital while Jamal died on the way to Rangpur Medical College Hospital.

Police seized the bus and but its driver and his helper managed to escape, said officer-in-charge of Sadar Police Station Abdul Baten Miah. l

Two motorcyclists were killed as a bus crashed into their bike at Kumarpur in Sadar upazila yesterday.

The deceased were identified as Shah Alam, 30, son of late Kasuar of Ghogadah, and Nur Jamal, 28, son of Jahur Uddin of Sapapara village in the upazila.

Police said the bus hit the motorbike of the two youths

Chittagong BNP demands smooth gas supply

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

At least 20 shanties were burnt to ashes in Bhatarkhal slum of Band Road area in Barisal city in the early hours of yesterday.

Slum dwellers said the fire had originated from an electric short circuit at the locked house of Maleka Begum at about 4am and soon spread to neighbouring houses of the slum.

Three teams of 20 members of fire service unit from Barisal station rushed to the spot, said Hasan Dipu, station officer of Barisal fire service station.

However, firefighters succeeded to extinguish the flame after two hours’, but in the meantime 20 houses were gutted.

Fire service officials estimated the damage worth about Tk15 lakh.

Socio-political leaders, officials from Barisal City Corporation visited the spot soon after the fire. l

with local voters.

To avoid duplication of projects, the schemes will be examined in meetings of the Block Grant Coordination Committee.

The project focus areas include the repair or construction of new bridges and roads, as well as the installation of tube wells and sanitary latrines.

The funding is not to be used for the construction or repair of any mosques, temples, or places of worship.

The Ministry of Local Government, Rural Development and Cooperatives allocates the funds for union parishads through its Local Governance Support Project. l

Mahmud, n Tarek Chittagong

People wander around Bhatarkhal slum in Barisal yesterday after a fire broke out there

The city unit of BNP in Chittagong yesterday morning threatened to go for tougher movement including shutdown and strike, if the government will no ensure smooth gas supply for the city people immediately.

Dr Shahadat Hossain, general secretary of the city unit of BNP, gave the threat at a human chain held in front of Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Limited office around 10am. The city unit of BNP arranged the human chain demanding gas supply in Chittagong where Dr Shahadat Hossain addressing as key speaker.

Residents of port city are suffering daily because of inadequate gas supply, he said, adding that the government had taken no initiatives in their five-year tenure to solve the issue.

Besides, different industries and factories, which are depended on gas for their production, are facing troubles for the unavailability of gas, he said. The power plants of the port city were also facing problems for the same reason that’s why people are facing load-shedding.

Later, BNP leaders handed over a memorandum to Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Managing Director Abdul Matin, demanding immediate steps to solve gas crisis. l

OFFICE OF THE DIVISIONAL TRAFFIC SUPERINTENDENT BANGLADESH RAILWAY, LALMONIRHAT

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Not used at present Lalmonirhat Tender for goods.

1. SG/Sofa/Part-(i)/2013-14, 2. SG/Sofa/Part-(ii)/2013-14 3. SG/Sofa/Part-(iii)/2013-14, 4. SG/Dressing/2013-14 5. SG/Sofa/Part-(iv)/2013-14, 6. SG/Wheel Chair/2013-14 7. SG/Poly Carbon/2013-14 19/02/2014

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Tender Last Selling Date Tender Closing Date and Time Tender Opening Date and time Name & Address of the office(s) -Tender Document Available -Receiving Tender Document -Opening Tender Document 20 Pre-Tender Meeting INFORATION OF TENDER 21 Eligibility of Tender 22 Brief Description of Goods or Services Group A

Description

Open Tendering Method (National) Government Revenue Budget Not Applicable Not Applicable Not Applicable GRPocurement of (A) i. Sofa Set (HATIL Model HPL-601-106-2-1-88 HPL-601-106-2-288 & HCL-203-103-2-1-88, HCL-204-103-2-1-00) or equivalent quality. (B) i. Sofa Set (HATIL Model HPL-601-103-9-1-44, HPL-601-103-9-2-44) & HPL-603-101-2-1-88) or equivalent quality, ii. Cushion Chair (HATIL Model HPL-508-102-6-1-44) of equivalent quality, (C) i. Sofa Set (HATIL Model HPL-601-103-9-1-44, HPL-601-103-9-2-44 & HPL603-101-2-1-88) or equivalent quality. (D) i. Dressing Table (HATIL Model HCL-209128-2-1-88) or equivalent quality. ii. Cushion Chair (Hatil Model HPL-508-102-6-1-44) or equivalent Quality. (E) i. Sofa Set (HATIL Model HPL-601-102-2-1-88, HPL-601-1062-2-88 & HCL-203-103-2-1-88, HCL-204-103-2-1-00 or equivalent quality. (F) i. Wheel Chair (OTOBI) Model HIWP003 SSAO009) or equivalent quality. (G) i. Curtain (Best Quality), ii) FARE CHART MADE WITH POLY CARBON BOARD (41/2ʹ X 31/2ʹ) & TIME TABLE MADE WITH POLY CARBON BOARD (5 x 6).

09.03.14 up to 15.00 hrs.

10.03.14 12.00hrs.

10.03.14 12.30 hrs.

Address DTS Office, Bangladesh Railway, Lalmonirhat.

DTS Office, Banlgadesh Railway, Lalmonirhat.

DTS Office, Bangladesh Railway, Lalmonirhat.

Not Applicable Renowned Suppliers those who meet the criteria as stated in the Tender Documents.

Location of Supply DTS Office, Lalmonirhat

Cost of Schedule (Tk) 1350/-

Tender Security (Tk) 40,500/-

i. Sofa Set (HATIL Model HPL-601-106-2-1-88 HPL-601106-2-2-88 & HCL-203-103-2-1-88, HCL-204-103-2-100) or equivalent quality B i. Sofa Set (HATIL Model HPL-601-103-9-1-44, HPLDTS Office, 1450/44,500/601-103-9-2-44) & HPL-603-101-2-1-88) or equivalent Lalmonirhat quality ii. Cushion Chair (HATIL Model HPL-508-102-6-1-44) of equivalent quality C i. Sofa Set (HATIL Model HPL-601-103-9-1-44, HPL-601DTS Office, 1450/45,500/103-9-2-44 & HPL-603-101-2-1-88) or equivalent quality.

Lalmonirhat D i. Dressing Table (HATIL Model HCL-209-128-2-1-88) or DTS Office, 1450/45,500/equivalent quality.

Lalmonirhat ii. Cushion Chair (Hatil Model HPL-508-102-6-1-44) or equivalent Quality.

E i. Sofa Set (HATIL Model HPL-601-102-2-1-88, HPL-601DTS Office, 450/15,000/106-2-2-88 & HCL-203-103-2-1-88, HCL-204-103-2-1- Lalmonirhat 00 or equivalent quality.

F i. Wheel Chair (OTOBI) Model HIWP003 SSAO009) or DTS Office, 450/15000/equivalent quality.

Lalmonirhat DTS Office, 1250/38000/G i. Curtain (Best Quality) ii) FARE CHART MADE WITH POLY CARBON BOARD Lalmonirhat (41/2ʹ X 31/2ʹ) & TIME TABLE MADE WITH POLY CARBON BOARD (5 x 6).

PROCURING ENTITY DETAILS 23 Name of Official Inviting Tender Md. Mostafizer Rahman 24 Designation of Official Inviting Tender Divisional Traffic Superintendent, BR, Lalmonirhat 25 Address of Official Inviting Tender DTS Office, Bangladesh Railway, Lalmonirhat 26 Contact details of Official Inviting Tender 01711691650 27 The Procuring Entity reserves the right to accept or reject any or all tenders.

RPRD No. 3727, Date: 20/02/2014 GC-15/14 (12x4)

Completion Time 30 days

30 days

30 days 30 days

30 days

30 days 30 days

Md. Mostafizer Rahman Divisional Traffic Superintendent Bangladesh Railway, Lalmonirhat.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

International

7

Friday, February 21, 2014

Ukraine clashes kill 21 more, Pakistan airstrikes on Taliban hideouts kill 15 EU talks shifted n Reuters At least 21 civilians were killed in fresh fighting in Kiev on Thursday, shattering an overnight truce declared by Ukrainian President Viktor Yanukovich, and a presidential statement said dozens of police were also dead or wounded.

Activists hurling petrol bombs and paving stones drove riot police off a corner of the central Independence Square, known as the Maidan, and appeared to capture several uniformed officers. Police responded with stun grenades.

The clashes erupted shortly before three visiting European foreign ministers were due to meet the Russian-backed Yanukovich to push for a compromise with his pro-European opponents. The meeting was delayed for security reasons but began an hour late.

A Reuters photographer counted 21 bodies in civilian clothes in three places on the square, a few hundred meters (yards) from the presidency. That raised the death toll since Tuesday to at least 43, by far the bloodiest hours of Ukraine’s 22-year post-Soviet history.

A statement from Yanukovich’s office said: “They (the protesters) went

Libya to give legal recognition to uprising rape victims n AFP, Tripoli The Libyan government decided Wednesday to recognise as “war victims” women who suffered sexual violence during the 2011 popular uprising that ousted and killed long-time dictator Moamer Kadhafi.

It adopted a decree that “protects victims of rape during the war of liberation and recognises them as victims of war,” Justice Minister Salah al-Marghani said.

Under the decree, those women will be able to benefit from financial, medical, housing and education assistance.

The decree will now be sent to the General National Congress, the country’s highest political authority, for passage into law.

The Kadhafi regime was accused of using rape as a weapon during the uprising. Souhayr Belhassan, honorary chairwoman of the International Federation of Human Rights, said “this law has been awaited by thousands of women in Libya” and said it would urge passage of the law.

There are no reliable figures on the number of cases involved because rape is a taboo subject in Libya, and victims are hesitant to talk. l

Top Singapore diplomat jailed over false claims for pineapple tarts, wine

n AFP, Singapore A high-ranking Singapore diplomat was jailed for 15 months Thursday for inflating expenses for thousands of dollars worth of pineapple tarts and wine bought as gifts for foreign dignitaries. Lim Cheng Hoe, 61, the former head of protocol at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, had pleaded guilty on Monday to ten charges of submitting falsified claims.

State prosecutors had initially slapped him with 60 charges of overbilling the government for gifts bought for foreign officials during overseas visits, totalling Sg$88,997 (US$70,280).

“This case has caused public disquiet as it involved a high-ranking public officer who deceitfully obtained public funds by virtue of his position and the trust reposed in him,” district court Judge Eddy Tham said in a written judgement. Lim headed the foreign ministry department responsible for organising ministerial and presidential trips overseas.

According to charge sheets, he claimed for more than 10,000 boxes of pineapple tarts, a savoury popular in Singapore, but only 2,200 were used as gifts.

Lim asked vendors for blank receipts and overstated the number of boxes purchased. He also claimed for 248 bottles of wine but only bought 89.

In another case Peter Lim, the former head of the civil defence force, was jailed for six months last year for receiving oral sex from a female executive of a defence supplier in return for favours. l

on to the offensive. They are working in organized groups. They are using firearms, including sniper rifles. They are shooting to kill.

“The number of dead and injured among police officers is dozens,” the statement on the presidential website said. Shortly after 9 a.m. (0700 GMT), the protesters advanced to a line closer to Yanukovich’s office and parliament. Television showed activists in combat fatigues leading several captured, uniformed policemen across the square.

Both sides have accused the other of using live ammunition.

The foreign ministers of Germany, France and Poland were expected to present Yanukovich with a mixture of sanctions and enticements to make a deal with his opponents that could end the bloodshed.

“Black smoke, denotations and gunfire around presidential palace ... Officials panicky,” tweeted Polish minister Radoslaw Sikorski to explain the delay in the meeting.

Pro-EU activists have been keeping vigil in the square since the president turned his back on a trade pact with the bloc in November and accepted financial aid from Moscow.

Russia, which has been holding

n AFP, Miranshah

back a new loan instalment until it sees stability in Kiev, has condemned EU and US support of the opposition demands that Yanukovich, elected in 2010, should share power and hold new elections.

In an apparent criticism of Yanukovich’s handling of the crisis, Russian Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev said on Thursday that Moscow could only cooperate fully with Ukraine when its leadership was in “good shape,” Interfax reported. The crisis in the sprawling country of 46 million with an ailing economy and endemic corruption has mounted since Yanukovich, under pressure from the Kremlin, took a $15-billion Russian bailout instead of a wide-ranging deal with the EU. The United States stepped up pressure on Wednesday by imposing travel bans on 20 senior Ukrainian officials, and European Union foreign ministers are due to meet in Brussels later on Thursday to consider similar measures.

A statement on Yanukovich’s website announced an accord late on Wednesday with opposition leaders for “the start to negotiations with the aim of ending bloodshed, and stabilizing the situation in the state in the interest of social peace.” l

Pakistani jets launched multiple strikes on Taliban holdouts in the northwest on Thursday, killing at least 15 in retaliation for a string of attacks by the militants which has derailed peace talks.

The first strike confirmed by security officials came early Thursday when jets bombed several locations including a compound in the town of Mir Ali and surrounding areas of North Waziristan.

“There are confirmed reports of 15 militants including foreigners killed in these airstrikes,” a senior security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.

A second targeted militants hiding in the Khyber tribal district who are suspected of bombing a cinema in Peshawar last week and killing an army major on Tuesday, a second security official said.

The twin strikes and spiralling violence leaves a troubled peace process between the government and the insurgents in further doubt just three weeks after talks began.

The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Taliban (TTP) had offered a ceasefire on Wednesday on condition that government forces stopped killing and arresting their members. l

World powers and Iran make ‘good start’

India’s top court halts release of Rajiv killers

n Reuters, Vienna

n AFP, New Delhi

Six world powers and Iran made a “good start” during talks in Vienna towards reaching a final settlement on Tehran’s contested nuclear program, the European Union’s foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton on Thursday.

Speaking to reporters after three days of negotiations, Ashton said the two sides had identified the ingredients of an accord that could put an end to years of hostility between the West and the oil producing nation.

But she cautioned that future negotiations, which western governments want to wrap up by late July, would not be easy.

“We have had three very productive

days during which we have identified all of the issues we need to address in reaching a comprehensive and final agreement,” she told reporters.

“There is a lot to do. It won’t be easy but we have made a good start.”

Senior diplomats from the six powers - the United States, Russia, China, France, Britain and Germany - as well as Iran’s Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and Ashton agreed to meet again on March 17, also in the Austrian capital.

Although modest in scope, the agreement on an agenda for talks indicates an early step forward in the elusive search for a settlement in the nuclear dispute, which carries the risk of enveloping the Middle East in a new war. l

India’s top court on Thursday blocked the release of three of former premier Rajiv Gandhi’s killers after Prime Minister Manmohan Singh denounced their freeing as against all principles of justice. They were among seven Tamil extremists who had been due to walk free from prison by this weekend after the chief minister of Tamil Nadu state on Wednesday ordered their release, sparking political uproar. Announcing legal action against the move, Singh staunchly rejected any right to freedom, saying Gandhi’s 1991 assassination by a female suicide bomber was an attack on the nation’s soul.

“The assassination of Shri (honorif-

ic) Rajiv Gandhi was an attack on the soul of India,” Singh said in a statement on Thursday. “No government or party should be soft in our fight against terrorism,” he added.

“The release of the killers of a former Prime Minister of India and our great leader, as well as several other innocent Indians, would be contrary to all principles of justice.” After agreeing to an urgent hearing, a Supreme Court bench ordered the Tamil Nadu government to maintain the “status quo” for three of the seven until it had a chance to examine the issue thoroughly. The bench headed by Chief Justice P. Sathasivam said although Tamil Nadu in the country’s south had the right to release the prisoners, it was concerned about “procedural lapses.” l

China aims for Nanjing’s Japan public sceptical history to speak loudly on death penalty n Reuters, Nanjing China pressed a propaganda campaign against Japan this week with a guided visit to the site of the 1937 Nanjing massacre, holding up proof to refute doubts by some in Japan about the extent of the atrocity or even that it happened at all.

China’s ties with Japan have long been poisoned by what China sees as Japan’s failure to atone for its occupation of parts of China before and during World War Two. China is determined to sustain the memories.

Japanese leaders have made repeated apologies for the suffering that Japan’s Imperial Army inflicted but re-

marks by conservative politicians have cast doubt on Japan’s sincerity.

Japanese troops battling Chinese forces captured Nanjing in late 1937.

The city, then known as Nanking, was the Chinese capital.

China says in the weeks that followed, Japanese troops killed 300,000 people. A post-war Allied tribunal put the death toll at 142,000.

To the fury of China, some conservative Japanese politicians and academics deny that the massacre took place, or they put the death toll much lower. Just this month, China criticized a member of the board of Japan’s state broadcaster for saying the massacre did not happen. l

n AFP, Tokyo Japan’s public is less enthusiastic about capital punishment than government research shows, a new study has claimed, amid an acceleration in the rate of executions under Prime Minister Shinzo Abe. The research comes as a Tokyo cinema holds a week-long festival of films on the death penalty, and amid continued pressure from rights groups who say Japan should join most other advanced economies in abolishing the practice.

Mai Sato, a criminology researcher at Britain’s Oxford University who led the study, said when the public is

asked to make an informed choice on the death penalty, many more people are opposed.

“I think my survey can show that even if the government abolishes the death penalty tomorrow, the people will be able to accept that,” she told AFP. The last government poll on the subject, in 2009, showed 86% of those questioned supported the death penalty, a figure Tokyo frequently cites to defend the practice.

Rights groups say it is barbaric, partly because inmates can languish in solitary confinement on death row for years or even decades, and are only told of their impending hanging a few hours in advance. l

Bittersweet tears as divided Koreans meet after 60 years n AFP, Sokcho Several hundred elderly South and North Korean relatives clung to each-other, rocking and weeping, as they met for the first time in 60 years Thursday at a reunion for families divided by the Korean War. The emotional gathering at North Korea’s Mount Kumgang resort was the result of tortuous, high-level negotiations between Pyongyang and Seoul, which had nearly broken down over the North’s objections to overlapping South Korea-US military drills.

Television footage showed snow falling hard as 82 South Koreans – some so frail they had to be stretchered indoors – arrived at the resort in a convoy of buses to meet 180 North Korean relatives they have not seen for decades.

Inside the main hall, where numbered tables had been laid out, there were moving scenes as divided brothers, sisters, uncles, aunts, Lee Son-hyang, 88, (L) of South Korea and Lee Yoon Geun, 72 (R) of North Korea embrace step-siblings and in-laws sought each other during a reunion event for families divided by the two countries AFP out and then collapsed into each others’ arms.

The North Korean women wore tradididn’t have a family of his own in the North?”

Choi Byung-Kwan, 67, whose father was tional hanbok dresses, while the men were Nearly everyone had brought phototaken to the North during the 1950-53 conflict mostly dressed in dark suits. All seemed graphs, either tattered, black and white where he remarried and had seven children, to be sporting badges of former leaders broke down as he hugged his step-brother and images of the family before it was split up, Kim Il-Sung and Kim Jong-Il – obligatory or brand new colour snaps of their current step-sister. “At least he had a family up here so accessories in North Korea. A grand dinner families. These were then passed around, he must have felt less lonely,” Choi said of his was planned for the evening and on Friday stroked and cried over. father. “How lonely would he have been if he

the reunited relatives were to be given the chance for more private gatherings in their guest rooms. According to officials in Seoul, the North Korean group included two South Korean fishermen who had been kidnapped by the North in the 1970s. The South Koreans, with an average age of 84, had left the eastern port city of Sokcho at 8:30am on board 10 buses, with half a dozen police vehicles as escorts. The departure was delayed as two woman needed medical attention, and ended up being taken in ambulances for the entire journey.

More than a dozen were in wheelchairs and needed help getting on and off the buses, which they shared with 58 family members, brought along for physical as well as emotional support. All carried bags stuffed with gifts, ranging from basic medicines to framed family photos and packets of instant noodles. “The gifts I’m bringing to my sister should be good. Something you can’t see much in North Korea so I hope she will be happy,” said Kim Se-Rin, 85.

“I’ve also included some US dollars for her and my younger brother,” Kim said.

Millions of Koreans were separated by the 1950-53 war, and the vast majority have since died without having any communication at all with surviving relatives. l

India court seeks age reports in Danish rape case n AFP, New Delhi An Indian judge Thursday ordered reports to determine the age of one of six suspects accused of the gang-rape of a Danish tourist, as the group appeared in court.

Defence lawyers said the defendant claimed that he was a minor, which would mean he could expect a much lighter sentence than his five co-accused if found guilty of the January 14 attack in New Delhi.

Presiding judge Sudhanshu Kaushik ordered the lawyers to provide reports by the next hearing on March 6 at the court in the capital. The suspects were all remanded in custody until then.

The assault on the 51-year-old Dane, who was attacked at knifepoint after losing her way in central Delhi, was the latest in a series of sex attacks on foreigners in India.

A Polish woman was drugged and raped as she travelled to Delhi with her two-year-old daughter in January, while a US tourist was gang-raped last June in the northern state of Himachal Pradesh.

The issue of women’s safety in the capital was also highlighted by the gang-rape of a student on a bus in December 2012 which sparked mass protests. l

Police: Boko Haram attack in northeast Nigeria kills 60 n AFP, Kano An attack by scores of Boko Haram Islamists in the northeast Nigeria town of Bama has killed 60 people and caused massive destruction to public buildings, police told AFP Thursday.

Residents said gunmen stormed the town at roughly 4:00 am (0300 GMT) on Wednesday, armed with heavy weapons and tossed explosives into various buildings, forcing residents to flee into the surrounding bush.

“We are collating the figures and the death toll has risen to 60 from the Bama attack,” said Lawal Tanko, the police commissioner in Borno state, which is the epicentre of Boko Haram’s four-and-half-year Islamist uprising.

“The toll is likely to rise,” he said.

“The attackers caused enormous destruction. They burnt down some of the major landmarks in the town including the local government secretariat,” and the palace of the area’s top cleric, Tanko added.

He said the airforce dispatched fighter jets to suppress the raid from its base in the state capital Maiduguri some 60 kilometres (40 miles) away and dropped bombs on the fleeing insurgents. “I can’t say how many of the gunmen were killed but the number is huge,” Tanko said. The latest unrest in Nigeria’s embattled northeast came as Boko Haram’s leader Abubakar Shekau threated to widen his rebellion to the southern oil-producing Niger Delta region. In a video statement delivered to AFP Wednesday, Shekau promised to strike the region which churns out some two million barrels of crude per day, the highest oil output in Africa. l

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

February 2

In so many words L

Today, February 21 n Zeeshan Khan anguages are fascinating, belongs not just to living things. They grow, evolve, become structured, Bangladesh compete, plunder, devour, survive and then thrive. but also to the world Some get called prestige languages oth-

er dialects. Some go extinct. Many have scripts, others use the scripts from the ones that do. Some don’t ever get written down.

There are regional languages, national languages, international languages, even UN languages. There are composite languages, like Esperanto and language isolates like Basque.

Many live in families with their relatives. All borrow words from one another and most get caught up in the politics of power and class. This happens across the globe and South Asia is no exception.

The politics of the 1947 Partition of British-administered India left indelible scars on our diverse linguistic landscape. For one, it solidified the positions of Urdu and Hindi as the representative languages of two “nations” in an ill-fitted two-nation theory.

Trouble is, South Asia has never hosted just two nations. It is a multinational entity in the truest sense so when Urdu was chosen as the national language of Pakistan, it was an unnatural occurrence, as the national language of a state is determined, if anything, by its number of speakers. In Pakistan, the majority spoke Bangla.

To be fair, it’s not entirely incongruent that Urdu was chosen as the language of Pakistan. In national terms, the state of Pakistan is an unnatural occurrence to begin with. It had two disconnected wings, various ethnic and linguistic backgrounds, and disproportionalities of resources and power that vastly favoured the minority.

Urdu as a language is not native to any region in Pakistan, in fact it is not a natural language at all but one that was cobbled together to facilitate communication between foreign rulers and Indian subjects in the 15th century, when it was called Hindustani. Even now, 93% of Pakistan’s population has a mother tongue other than Urdu.

Urdu was chosen as the linga franca of the new state, so as not to give any native Pakistani language preference over the other. But it inadvertently gave the minority that spoke it as their native tongue, a privileged position, which was further reinforced by the very power dynamics that brought Urdu into being in the first place. It also carried absurd religious overtones, particularly in its script, which was adapted from Farsi, itself adapted from Arabic.

But a connotative value is seldom more powerful than an intrinsic one, and languages are much more than instruments of communication or vehicles for political expression. They are the catalogue of a nation’s temperament, and carry within them the sum total of a people’s journey through time and thought.

Languages are the expression of a culture’s soul; they preserve values, philosophies, stories, parables, proverbs, humour, priorities and traditions that reflect the history and sociology of the place in which they occur, and the people who carry it on their tongues.

Their very grammars and vocabularies are encyclopaedic, and contain clues about a culture’s evolution and path, along with the way in which it interprets its world.

Languages give vent to emotional, social and spiritual experiences that can only be described in the very unique ways these experiences are felt and understood by different cultures.

Translations never quite carry those feelings across, as they (the feelings)

occur within the same context as the original language, which is designed to accommodate them.

And then there is context itself, which languages give us, by giving us a sense of place and of belonging. Beyond these are the aesthetics of individual languages, which possess their own unique beauty and charm, and the privacy they afford us by virtue of their exclusivity.

There will never be enough space to expound the value of language and how it helps construct our consciousness, as this is something that can be felt far better than it can be explained. But its worth can be understood in the way people cling to their own language, and in the way power is exerted over a people by trying to separate them from it.

Time and again, people have been forbidden to speak their own languages by forces that sought to dominate them. The Irish, the Kurds, Aboriginal Australians, Native Americans, the Moors of Spain, African slaves, the Tamils of Sri Lanka and countless other people have had the unfortunate experience of being forcibly distanced from their linguistic heritage in an attempt to subjugate and divide them.

Languages give vent to emotional, social and spiritual experiences that can only be described in the very unique ways these experiences are felt and understood by different cultures

Even today, immigrants are frowned upon for preserving their language in countries where the call for linguistic homogeneity dominates the debate.

But people have resisted these attempts equally consistently, and numerous languages around the world are experiencing powerful revivals. The most successful of these is of course Hebrew, which was once relegated to ceremonial use, but is now the national language of Israel, spoken widely and freely.

In Bangladesh, we could do much more to support and encourage the numerous languages that are spoken by non-Bengali people like the Shaotal, Chakma, Garo, Marma and others, whose love for their own language is no less than ours. Even Urdu, as the language of the Bihari community, has a place in a country that believes all languages are beautiful.

On the 21st of February, 1952, we signed a contract in blood to remain faithful to ourselves and to our heritage. We eventually succeeded in establishing Bangla as an official language of Pakistan, where it was once regarded by religious and linguistic chauvinists as an inferior, “tainted” tongue.

Today, the date belongs not just to Bangladesh but also to the world, as it marks International Mother Language Day, the day when the world pays tribute to its rich diversity of languages.

This may well be our most enduring contribution to the family of nations, and the sacrifices made by those young men 62 years ago will go on to inspire generations of language-lovers who believe in the old Persian saying that goes: ‘A garden with only one kind of flower is no garden at all.’ l

21 Special

9

Friday, February 21, 2014

The man behind Ekushey Book Fair

RAJIB DHAR

n Promiti Prova Chowdhury

I

t was during the month of February in 1972 when an avid lover of books arrived at the Bangla Academy premises with 33 publications.

He chose a spot on the grass, spread a small jute-mat under a mango tree in front of the academy, and put the books on display. Back then, to commemorate the martyrs of February 21, a seven-day event used to be held at the Bangla Academy.

The man was Chittaranjan Saha, a name intricately associated with the arrangement and inception of the Amor Ekushey Book Fair that today not only has become an obvious phenomenon of the month, but also beholds the glorified history of our language movement – drawing appraisal from both home and abroad.

When Saha came up with the initiative, little did he assume that one day the fair would become as humongous as today’s conglomeration of writers and readers, both old and aspiring.

“He did not do it out of a commercial purpose, but only to instil the habit of reading among people and also to stir up a consensus over the spirit of the Liberation War of 1971,” said Jahar Lal Saha, the brother-in-law of Chittaranjan, who had been with him right from the beginning of the journey.

Born on January 1, 1927, in Latifpur

village of the Begumganj subdistrict under Noakhali, Chittaranjan belonged to a family of cloth dealers. Although he joined the family business initially, he did not continue it as his passion revolved only around books.

He passed his matriculation exam from Noakhali’s Ramendra High School

He said Chittaranjan first began his publishing enterprise by opening a publishing house called Punthighar Prokashani, and kept printing notebooks and test papers for SSC. As his business spread, he set up a printing house in Chaumohani. In 1956, he moved his business from Chaumohani to Dhaka.

The little initiative to spread the habit of reading, which was born in 1972, gradually expanded from seven days to 14, then 21 days. Now it is a monthlong event

in 1943, and passed the intermediate examinations from Kolkata’s Bangabasi College in 1946. Later, he obtained a BA degree from Chaumohani College in 1948 – where Jahar Lal Saha also studied later.

Jahar used to live in Chittaranjan’s house during the undergraduate days, and he witnessed his love for books during that period.

Leaving the family business, Chittaranjan established a textbook shop named Puthighar in Noakhali; it had been burnt down once in the past, said Jahar.

However, when the liberation war broke out in 1971, the Pakistani army burnt down Puthighar’s office, showroom and storeroom in Dhaka. Chittaranjan had to take refuge first in Agartala and later in Kolkata where he came across other well-known Bangladeshi writers and litterateurs including Shawkat Osman, Ahmed Sofa, Dr Anisuzzaman, Syed Ali Hassan, Sattyen Sen, Santosh Gupta, Jahir Raihan, Ranesh Das Gupta, Ramendu Majumdar and many more. During those bloody days of the liberation war, all of them would gather at Professor Syed

Ali Hassan’s house in Kolkata.

“He wanted to do something for the country, and for the liberation war.

Therefore, to build up public opinion in support of the liberation war and make known what was happening in Bangladesh during the troubled period, they formed Shadhin Bangla Shahittyo Parishad, under which Muktodhara started publishing essays, biographies and various literary pieces,” said Jahar, the present owner of Muktodhara Publishing.

A total of 33 publications were brought out through the initiative, all of which were on display in 1972 at the little sale in front of the Bangla Academy, narrated Jahar. The books include Roktakta Bangla, edited by Dr Anisuzzaman, Jagroto Bangladesh by Ahmed Safa and many other legendary pieces.

“Muktodhara continued the sale in the same manner the following year as well. The response was encouraging during those days. From the jute mat, we first went for setting up an eight by eight stall outside the Bangla Academy in 1974 when an international conference of intellectuals was taking place at the academy.

“In 1975 another four or five publishers joined us. However, till then no guideline or committee was formed regarding the fair as we have today. Chittaranjan was the chairman of Bangladesh Pustok Prokashok O Bikreta Samity [cooperative]. As a representative of the samity he held a discussion with the Bangla Academy authority in 1976, upon which the first book fair was held with the cooperation of Bangla Academy that year,” said Jahar.

The little initiative to spread the habit of reading, which was born in 1972, gradually expanded from seven days to 14, then 21 days. Now it is a month-long event.

“It has grown to the extent that this year we had to expand the venue to Suhrawardi Udyan to accommodate the increased number of publishers,” said Jahar.

“Chittaranjan did not have any children. He led a very simple life. Books were like his children,” he added.

Chittranjan Saha died on December 26, 2007. Now, the pioneer is commemorated every year through the Chhittaranjan Saha Smrity Purashkar (Chhittaranjan Saha Memorial Award), which the fair authority awards to the best publisher for its quality publications.

In order to inspire the young writers, Chittaranjan had introduced Muktodhara Puraskar and Ekushey Sahitya Puraskar. For his contribution to the literary arena of Bangladesh, he was awarded the Ekushey Padak in 2005. l

7

Bangla, with 193m native speakers, is the 7th most widely spoken language in the world. It is the second most widely spoken language in India. Apart from the indian states that border Bangladesh, there are large numbers of Bangla speakers in Odissa, Jharkhand, Bihar. Nepal has 23,000 Bangla speakers and the number is still growing.

th

Ethnologue, 17th edition, 2013

Until the 18th century, there was no attempt to document a grammar for Bangla.

The first written Bangla dictionary/grammar, Vocabolario em idioma Bengalla, e Portuguez dividido em duas partes (Vocabulary of Bangla language and Portuguese), was written by Manuel da Assumpção, a portugese Catholic monk between 1734 and 1742 while he was serving in the Bhawal region.

Nathaniel Brassey Halhed, a British grammarian, wrote A Grammar of the Bengal Language – a modern Bengali grammar in 1778 that used Bengali types in print for the first time.

Ram Mohan Roy, the great Bengali reformer, also wrote “Grammar of the Bengali Language” in 1832.

PHOTOS: SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The silent departure of a patriot n Sharif Rakib Hasan

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man can be away from his motherland, but the motherland is never away from him. That’s what Rafiqul Islam always believed in, and thus, worked diligently for the motherland even after being away from her for many years. He is a valiant freedom fighter, and also the architect of the International Mother Language Day; he died last year, on November 21 in Vancouver, Canada, at the age of 63 after suffering from leukemia for over two years.

Rafiqul hailed from Rajbari in Comilla, and had been living in Canada for the last 18 years. Initiatives by him and his friend Abdus Salam, members of the Vancouver-based organisation Mother Language Lovers of the World, inspired the Bangladesh government to work towards achieving UN recognition of the glorious Language Movement. Responding to Bangladesh’s formal proposal, the UNESCO, in 1999, declared February 21 as International Mother Language Day. Rafiqul’s death shocked the Bangladeshis living in North America, Canada in particular. The always smiling, amiable freedom fighter was a highly revered man among the Bangladeshi Canadians for his great merit and effort in immortalising the memory of our language martyrs in the whole world.

The Weekly Aajkal, a Toronto based community newspaper, organised a memorial meeting two days after Rafiqul’s death. In the meeting, speakers mourned the demise of the braveheart, paid homage to his departed soul, and sent condolences to his family. Fellow freedom fighter and the publisher

of the Weekly Bangla Kagoj, MR Jahangir was in tears while talking about his dear friend Rafiqul: “He was a true freedom fighter, an indomitable spirit.

Even after hearing the final words from his doctors, he didn’t break down. He was ready to face the inevitable. We had plans to launch a project for the poor in Bangladesh, but it’s all finished.”

On November 25, another memorial service was held, this time organised and participated by almost all the socio-cultural groups and individuals

The way he has globalised the spirit of February 21 will inspire millions of expatriates living in different parts of the world

of the Bangladeshi community who gathered at the Bangladesh Centre and Community Services auditorium to pay tribute to the patriot. Rafiqul’s comrades in the Liberation War shared their memories of him with the mourners.

The speakers vowed to uphold the spirit of Liberation War that Rafiqul cherished in him, and work towards fulfilling his dreams of making Bangladesh a non-communal, prosperous state.

The mourners expressed their dissatisfaction over the fact that Rafiqul

was not given the recognition he deserved. They demanded that the Bangladesh government award him posthumously with national honours, include the story of his contribution in the textbooks, and take effective initiatives to promote the International Mother Language day in all UN member countries. The speakers also urged the community members to find ways and work accordingly to ensure that the day is observed in befitting manner in the schools of Canada.

Farhana Azim Shuily, one of the organisers and host of the memorial ceremony, said: “The most special characteristic of Rafiqul Islam was his ‘never say die’ attitude. He used to work with great dedication and patience. He had to go through a lengthy bureaucratic process to place and forward his proposal, but he never gave up. He materialised what he wanted for the language martyrs … His contribution will never be forgotten, and the way he has globalised the spirit of February 21 will inspire millions of expatriates living in different parts of the world.”

With all his heart, Rafiqul believed that language constitutes a person’s world, and he knew how important it is in establishing peace and prosperity in the global community. That is why he dedicated himself in a mission to ensure that each and every language is protected. In a telephone interview published in February 2012, on the Weekly Aajkal, he elaborated his ideas and thoughts on language and culture.

There, he shared all his memories related to the complex and herculean task that he and his friends at Mother Language Lovers of the World undertook.

In the interview, Rafiqul clarified that their prime objective was to help save the languages that are on the verge of extinction, and establish the rights of the speakers of all languages.

He and his friends chose February 21 to be designated as International Mother Language Day since the very day marked the only history of sacrificing lives for one’s mother-tongue.

This year in March, Rafiqul came to Toronto, and I was lucky to meet him in person at the Bangla Television studio.

He was extremely weak physically, yet he was strong in spirit. He chatted with us with genuine enthusiasm, shared his war-time memories, and took plenty of photos with us.

The next day, in a reception accorded to the freedom fighters living in Canada, he delivered a touching speech. The intensity of his love for his mother-tongue and motherland was so evident in every word he uttered.

He wanted to visit Toronto again, and work with the community, but before that came true, he was defeated by the fatal disease he was fighting against for more than a couple of years.

Projonmo Canada, a Bangladeshi-Canadian youth forum wrote in their condolence: “From the very beginning, we (Projonmo Canada) have taken Rafqul Islam as the source of our inspiration. He showed us how we can work for the nation even after being away from the homeland.” Truly, that’s what Rafiqul has done successfully. He has proven that loving the motherland is a life-long journey that goes beyond boundaries. l Sharif Rakib Hasan is a freelance contributor.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Friday, February 21, 2014

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

Deregulate foreign exchange controls

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

On power sector reform February 18

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angladesh’s controls on the flow of capital are too tight for a modern economy.

While the success of export industries and expatiates remitting money has helped the government build up record foreign currency reserves, the existing system of capital controls is not fit for purpose, as it prevents these flows from being put to the most productive use.

Businesses have to endure insurmountable hurdles to meet legitimate business expenses abroad and are placed at a huge disadvantage to competitors from other countries if they seek to invest overseas.

Absolutely essential payments for services like foreign consultants and software licenses by companies, or educational and medical expenses for individuals, are all hindered by a traditional policy mindset which wrongly holds that sending any money abroad is harmful.

Even worse is the fact that the very rigidity of the capital controls in force, actively encourages foreign exchange payments via informal and illegal hundi channels, contrary to the aims of anti-money laundering laws. It also increases the scope for corruption by government officials.

We believe it is high time for the currency controls to be deregulated.

Not only can this remove the obvious flaws in the current system, but the economy will benefit from the dynamism and increased foreign trade that it will encourage. The cost of finance will also fall as competition for borrowers and savers funds will also increase.

Foreign exchange laws should allow people and companies to easily buy and use the foreign exchange they need from banks directly.

If transactions are taxed at a small rate, this can also benefit government finances, which are not actually helped by the current out of date restrictive approach.

The existing system of capital controls is not fit for purpose

Contested upazila polls should be welcomed

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e are glad to see a successful completion to the first phase of the upazila polls. It is a good thing that the polls are showing signs of being adjudicated fairly. The BNP should be congratulated for coming out on top, in spite of their widespread accusations that the polls would be rigged, and polls being boycotted by a number of their candidates.

Given that by Thursday, BNP affiliated candidates had already won in 42 out of 97 of the upazilas that went into polls, thereby gaining an unbeatable lead, it can be seen that fears regarding the one-sided January 5 polls may have been overblown.

Voter turnout, at around 60%, was a satisfactory number, approximately the same percentage as the last upazila polls five years ago. The BNP had raised accusations that the polls would be unacceptable due to the Awami League using state apparatus to force elections results to their favor and to harass supporters of BNP-backed candidates.

However, as soon as the results came out, despite some complaints about government interference, the results were found widely acceptable, as they had gone BNP’s way. That is not to say the polls have been problem-free. Accusations of opposition activists being thrown of some polling centres by ruling party activists remain, and there have been complaints to the Election Commission in that regard.

The first phase, by and large, sets a good example and we hope the next three phases of the upazila elections will take place in a similarly fair manner. We trust the government will deliver satisfactory and acceptable polls.

Reform in the power sector should start with better and more fuel efficient power plants that need considerable capital outlay. This should come from power plant earnings, and not all from government coffers. To increase returns from power generation, a realistic power tariff is needed.

Presently, the state subsidises all power costs, and the benefits of a low subsidised power tariff are being enjoyed largely by urban area residents who are far better off than most rural inhabitants. Given this reality, and given the high cost of power generation, we should have a more rational and realistic power tariff so that at least some return on investment is generated for the power sector. Subsidy level must be gradually reduced, say to around 10% per year, based on today’s level of subsidy being provided. I see this as a logical and pragmatic solution that needs to be implemented as the topmost reform objective.

Engr SA Mansoor

BNP must be prepared February 13

Akhtar Shah Political rigidity is what caused the current state BNP finds itself in. Sometimes one needs to take a couple of steps back to put one forward. Old-fashioned threats and unprecedented prolonged violence did not help matters. AL is now amply trained to deal with oborodhs/hartals and pyromaniacs. The prolonged nature of the pre-Jan 5 election violence also means law enforcers know who the troublemakers are.

With violence and hartals not featuring as winning strategies, BNP needs to pull out new rabbits out of the hat! Or oblivion awaits them. nds The article seems to be extremely childish. First, the author tries in a satirical tone to criticise the civil society, media and all others who are expressing their views on the failures of BNP to steer their movement against AL, but at the same time have flooded the BNP with a lot of free advice regarding what they ought to do to for their salvation as if the leaders and policymakers of BNP are so immature that they don’t understand and need to be educated by him.

Secondly, he tries to demonstrate himself as the greatest protagonist of democracy and thinks that in this country his vision and goal of establishing pure and pristine form of democracy is only possible by a progressive and liberal force represented by BNP. Ronnie I have not a shred of doubt, and a lot of confidence, in the BNP effectively reforming and rebounding as a strong political force. So, I’m clearly even more convinced about the BNP’s political resonance and relevance in our country than the author seems to be.

But I agree with the broad thrust of his arguments here.

There’s no denying that the Opposition’s anti-government movement (so far) has proved feckless. There’s a lot of blame to go around for that failure. For the record, all things considered, I feel that the BNP will stand vindi-

cated for its decision to shun the January 5 polls.

Yes, I reckon the chairperson must be even more exasperated than I am at the ceaseless analyses, platitudes and patronising advice, regarding BNP’s decisions and its future, trotted out by sundry pundits in our “civil society.” At any rate, the BNP retains significant levels of popularity and allegiance among the voting public in Bangladesh. If current efforts to effectively reorganise internally, and revamp party policy and strategy at several different levels work out well, I believe Begum Zia can lead anew a stronger, successful anti-incumbent movement, culminating in a manifestly fair, inclusive, acceptable election. I definitely expect the BNP to triumph in such a future election.

‘Govt investigating al-Qaeda clip origin’ February 16 Sina Akter We need to know if it is authentic or not.

Zk Meskat I personally think it’s fake. Wouldn’t be surprised if that’s how it turns out.

Shahin Huq Creating fake videos, circulating them under the name of al-Qaeda, and then linking Jamaat-Hefazat-BNP with al-Qaeda - all these are premeditated acts. Shame on anyone who does this!

Robber died in gunfight in Sylhet February 16

Sam Ronnie: You’re too optimistic. While the BNP’s popularity is not in doubt, its existence as an alternative in the next election is doubtful. For the BNP to have any hope, it has to tell the nation and the world what it would do different structurally. I have yet to hear the former PM say a word about how, in the first 100 days of a BNP government, the police and Election Commission will be made truly independent or how the cancer of student politics will be finished forever.

Ronnie Sam: You’re onto something here. I have said elsewhere in the blogosphere, and discussed with fellow BNP supporters that it’s imperative for Begum Zia and BNP to immediately begin publicly and coherently stating their policy plans and a vision for the future. Indeed it’s never been more urgent than it is today for the chairperson and her party to delineate as honestly and specifically as possible their plans to roll back the abuses and horrors of the past seven years, and restore our republic to visibly competent governance, justice, security and prosperity.

Rule of law should have been followed! Instead, this has become another example of the police holding too much power and crossing the limits!

Kazi Nurul Alam

Be Heard Write to us at: Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email us at: letters@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion@dhakatribune.com Visit our website: www.dhakatribune.com Come join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

CALVIN AND HOBBES

Fears regarding the one-sided January 5 polls may have been overblown

CROSSWORD

PEANUTS

SUDOKU ACROSS 1 Eating places (5) 4 Planet (4) 7 United (3) 8 Long-leaved lettuce (3) 9 Essential (5) 12 Gem (4) 13 Precious stone (7) 15 Optic (3) 16 Eyelid affliction (3) 18 Donkey (3) 19 Self (3) 21 Extols (7) 24 Advise strongly (4) 26 S American animal (5) 27 Tree (3) 28 Limb (3) 29 Therefore (4) 30 Abnormally fat (5)

DOWN 1 Sheltered nook (4) 2 Hostility (6) 3 Festivity (4) 4 Emotional state (4) 5 Snake (3) 6 Foolish (5) 10 Land measure (3) 11 Stratum (5) 14 Within the law (5) 17 Short melodies (6) 18 Entertain (5) 20 Lubricant (3) 21 Mexican dollar (4) 22 Auction (4) 23 Wise man (4) 25 Joke (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.

Sudoku

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Friday, February 21, 2014

Partnering for health n Kuhel Faizul Islam

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The public still wants a fresh election soon

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Has the BNP learned its lesson?

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n Zafar Sobhan

t seems as though reports of the BNP’s death may have been greatly exaggerated.

There is no question that the party’s ability to mobilise on the streets has been compromised (no bad thing) and it may well have been outsmarted and outmaneuvered by the AL when it came to the January 5 elections.

But the first phase of the upazila chairman elections suggests that the party is in good shape when it comes to getting out the vote, and in a democracy surely that is the one criterion that really counts.

BNP-backed candidates won a comfortable plurality of the seats available, and their claims that they would have won even more had the vote been fairer are certainly plausible.

Either way, the point is that candidates backed by the BNP and its allies won well over half of the 97 UZ chairman posts up for grabs, while ALbacked candidates bagged less than a third.

Any irregularities were able to be reported in real time and covered by the media, with the EC making credible promises to investigate.

In short, the results were not only a success for the BNP, but also, when you think about it, something of a success for the AL. The AL had long been touting its fine record in administering local level polls over the past five years as evidence that it could be trusted to hold the January 5 national elections.

It is too early to make a final call on this, but if the upazila elections continue in the same vein as they have start-

ed, they will give considerable weight to the AL argument that BNP fears of electoral misconduct were overblown.

The BNP does not have to start trusting the AL, it merely needs to consider the logistical difficulties of stealing an election in this day and age. It is not that elections cannot be stolen, it is just that they cannot be stolen without everyone noticing.

prevent the election from taking place or create enough of a ruckus to ensure fresh elections soon thereafter.

Well, as they say, hindsight is always 20-20, and perhaps the BNP truly believed that a white knight would ride to its rescue and postpone the January 5 elections, or that public disenchantment would be so great that the AL would have no option but to go

The lesson here should be clear: Not only should the BNP come to and contest every election that it can, but that it needs to abandon violence Had the BNP taken part in the January 5 elections, it is hard to see how it would have been much worse off.

They may well have won the election had they participated, regardless of machinations (if any) on the part of the ruling administration.

Had the AL rigged the election, as BNP were sure they would, it would have provided BNP with a much stronger casus belli to oppose the current government than it has now.

The final option would have been that the AL might have squeaked by in a relatively fair election. Clearly, it was this option that weighed on the BNP much more than the possibility of the AL stealing the election.

But surely that would have been better than where they are now In the final analysis, boycotting an election only makes sense if you can

for fresh polls immediately.

Either way, the events of the past few months should have taught the BNP something. The first is that a campaign of violence is not only wrong and not only likely to harm their credibility in the eyes of the people, but that it does not and will not work.

The correlation between the abandonment of violence and the results of the upazila polls should be lost on no one.

The lesson here should be clear: Not only should the BNP come to and contest every election that it can, but that it needs to abandon violence, and especially violence that targets innocent civilians, as a means to press its case.

Imagine if the BNP had announced in September that it would take part in the election and had started campaigning then.

It could have taken up the AL offer of seats in the interim cabinet, including the Home Ministry, and it might even have been able to force a neutral head of the interim government.

Even with the PM at the head of the interim government, the threat of a last minute boycott could well have been enough to have kept the process honest. And had it not, then a last minute pullout would have been far more effective than a pre-emptive boycott.

So where should the BNP go from here? As the Dhaka Tribune poll revealed last week, the Bangladeshi public still wants a fresh election before too long.

I remain in favour of the caretaker government to hold elections and the polls still show that that is the wish of a healthy majority of the population.

But the BNP needs to consider not whether an interim government would be fair or trustworthy, but whether a caretaker administration is necessary for them to win a general election.

They have no ability to force the government to reconstitute the caretaker government system and returning to the politics of the street would only once again send their popularity and credibility plummeting.

Realpolitik would suggest that they go for the best deal they can get, which would be to push for fresh elections under an interim government arrangement of their choosing, and to push their case through non-violent means.

They might be surprised just how effective and difficult to resist such a tactic would be. l

Zafar Sobhan is the Editor, Dhaka Tribune.

ince the 1990s, an ideological growth has been witnessed – that public and private sectors should work together. International bodies constantly advocate for public-private partnerships (PPPs) as the policy innovation of recent times and actively lobbying to have partnerships be accepted as the way forward.

Although the dynamics of publicprivate partnership arrangements are generic across social and health sectors, international literature has been persistently emphasising on country-specific studies on partnership to gain more insights, to know more about its effectiveness, and to mitigate the challenges of partnership to ensure safe and efficient health service delivery.

Recently, I have browsed through a number of literatures where people have made claims about the relative sizes of the public and private sectors in healthcare delivery. A report on the private sector in Africa by World Bank claims that the private health sector now provides half of all health services in the region. A few documents reviewed recently claimed that “much” of medical care is provided by the private sector – an endorsement popularly highlighted in mass media.

The government of Bangladesh has been pushing for public-private partnerships in health service delivery since the 1980s. The healthcare system of Bangladesh is a mix of public and private initiatives.

In terms of physical infrastructure, the public sector is stronger than the private sector, although in terms of coverage, the healthcare system of the country should be termed a privatised one. Although public health services attempt to make healthcare accessible and affordable for the poor and marginalised, it has largely failed to do so.

On the other hand, high outof-pocket expenditure and the unpredictable quality of care by the private sector has limited access to health services for the poor. NGOs have emerged as an effective option to make health services accessible to the poor, sometimes in a vertical program, sometimes in collaboration with the government.

To improve efficiency in the use of public funds and broaden coverage of health services through utilising the potentials of all the providers available, the government has opted for public-private partnership.

In the health sector, public-private partnership has taken a variety of forms, producing diverse results.

In the present experiences of two programs, one has been successful and the other is challenging. As a successful program, the Expanded Program of Immunisation (EPI) has been selected while National Nutrition Program (NNP) has been picked up as a challenging model.

Based on the performance of the

programs in terms of coverage and access to services, the immunisation program has been termed as successful, and the nutrition program as challenging.

This finding is from a study sponsored by the James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC University.

Data for the study was collected through documentary surveys and interviewing key government and NGO officials of the respective programs.

Bangladesh has been pushing for publicprivate partnerships in health service delivery since the 1980s

It is a continuing challenge for the health sector to find optimal means for harnessing the strengths of all the sectors in ways which will best address priority needs.

Learning lessons from the existing partnerships is the simple and most straightforward means of identifying the best opportunities, and steer clear of the weaknesses. The present study offers two sets of findings: Factors that contribute to the success of partnership, and factors that contribute to make partnerships difficult and challenging.

Public-private partnerships are increasingly advocated to alleviate deficiencies in the public health system, as well as to reduce economic stress on those who seek services from an expensive, burgeoning, and unregulated private health sector.

Focusing on Bangladesh, it is imperative to observe and assess how the private sector is tapped to deliver health care services to poor and underserved sections of society through collaborative arrangements with the government.

Having emerged as a key reform initiative, aspects of public-private partnership can be examined to understand the genesis of private sector partnerships, the ways in which the private sector is encouraged to deliver public health services, and the models and formats that make such partnerships possible.

It is important to analyse challenges, opportunities, and benefits of implementing public-private partnerships, and to explore whether partnerships with the private sector can be designed to deliver healthcare services to the poor. l Kuhel Faizul Islam is Senior Researcher and Internship Program Coordinator, James P Grant School of Public Health, BRAC Institute of Global Health, BRAC University.

Let the people decide the fate of Jamaat n Israfil Khosru

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t seems that the possibility of a dialogue between the two major parties is now purely contingent upon the solitary precondition that has been thrown towards the BNP by the ruling Awami League.

The AL’s obdurate position regarding the BNP leaving Jamaate-Islami as an alliance partner to create any room for negotiations has been met with an equally unyielding response where the BNP justified its alliance purely on strategic grounds and refused to cave in to such demands.

the Jamaat issue from the perspective of the two parties is likely to prolong the deadlock.

It is important to note that the Jamaat has participated in all the credible national elections starting from 1991. Thus, it can be assumed that this party has some degree of conviction towards democracy, although its performance trend clearly reveals that it is likely to be nothing more than a fringe party.

It is safe to assume that the people of this country, through their mandate over a number of elections, have determined the fate of Jamaat as a political entity. So what has changed

This party has some degree of conviction towards democracy, although its performance reveals that it is likely to be nothing more than a fringe party

As the stalemate continues, the issue of Jamaat is getting even murkier with the allegation of links with al-Qaeda, although the authenticity of such claims is yet to be verified. The matter needs to be viewed from a broader discourse in order to harbour any hope of a resolution. A microscopic view of

now? Why cannot the people of this country determine the political future of Jamaat through a free and fair election at this particular juncture?

The ruling party has projected the issue of Jamaat’s presence in Bangladesh politics as a threat to national security, and if this is the

dominant view that resonates with the people of this country, they are likely to display it by outright rejecting Jamaat and its much stronger ally in an inclusive national election.

So, what is really stopping the ruling party from proceeding with such an election, overseen by a neutral government, which supposedly also serves to reaffirm and lend credibility to their ideological stance against the Jamaat and eventually vindicate their position? The answer seems to reveal three distinct possibilities.

Either the ruling party itself (a) lacks conviction in what it actually believes in, or (b) it lacks confidence in securing the mandate of the people, thus leveraging the Jamaat issue to avoid election and prolong their stint in power, or (c) it could be a bit of both.

Let us analyse these three possibilities clearly. If the AL actually firmly believes that the ideology garnered by the Jamaat is detrimental to the nation, then it has the option of overtly banning the party’s politics as a whole, and not just halt at cancelling their party registration.

The one-sided election of January 5 has bestowed the AL with absolute power, and they will never be in a better position to proceed with such measure. However, in a bid to gain political mileage, they have continuously passed on the responsibility to the BNP and shied away from making the difficult decision.

Secondly, in the matter of elections,

the AL knows clearly well that the Jamaat issue is not a big enough factor to swing the votes their way as witnessed in the mayoral elections preceding the national election in January. In this case, the apparent strategy seems to be to sustain their stay in power and try and shape public opinion till they reach a favourable status, and then proceed to give an election to attain a favourable outcome.

Analysing the first two possibilities behind the government’s reluctance to move forward with an interim poll to end the prevailing political crisis reveals that, in fact, the third possibility holds true by default.

All said and done, only a free and fair election can serve to bring some perspective on the presence of Jamaat and its subsequent existence in the political sphere of Bangladesh. The political dimension of the Jamaat issue seems to have overridden the ideological standpoint regarding a fair election to a certain extent, and that needs to be reclaimed by the people.

Saying that, time has come for the BNP to re-evaluate its political strategy and engage the people rather than relying on its allies to mobilise and give fruition to its political programs.

The one-sided election has lent them a legitimate voice, and it is about time they make their voice relevant to the people.

The issue of Jamaat cannot be a reason for a standstill between the two parties, as there are far greater things at stake. Let the people decide the

fate of Jamaat like they have always done. So far, people’s mandate clearly shows that they do not represent the majority, and probably never will. l Israfil Khosru is a businessman and runs a youth-led think called The Bangladeshi.

Why can’t Jamaat’s fate be determined democratically?

RAJIB DHAR

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Friday, February 21, 2014

Shilpakala launches 40th anniversary celebration Jibondhuli goes to Khulna and Jessore n Entertainment Desk

After opening for the Dhaka audience on Friday, ace filmmaker Tanvir Mokammel’s latest feature film Jibondhuli is going to be released in Jessore and Khulna.

The Jessore audience will be able to enjoy the Liberation War based film from February 20 to 22 at the Shilpakala Academy Auditorim and at the auditorium of Jessore University of Science and Technology on February 22.

On the other hand, the film will be screened for the Khulna audience at the Moyuri Digital Cinecomplex in Shankha Cinema Hall from February 21 to 27.

The film revolves around Jibonkrishna Das, a poor Hindu lower-caste drummer, whose wife and children were killed by Pakistani armed forces. It depicts how he struggles to survive against the brutality of the Pakistani occupation forces and local collaborators. Shatabdi Wadud, Wahida Mallik Joly, JyotikaJyoti, Ramendu Majumder and Paresh Bhuiya played the lead roles in the movie. l

TODAY IN DHAKA Film

Jibon Dhuli

By Tanvir Mokammel Time: 3pm – 11pm, Shawkat Osman Auditorium, Public Library

Exhibition

Duet Art Exhibition

By Hashem Khan and Mohammad Iqbal Time: 12pm – 8pm, Gallery Twenty One, Taj Lily, 751 Satmasjid Road (level 11)

Theatre

Court Martial

By Theatre Art Unit Time: 6:30pm – 8:30pm, Experimental Theatre Hall, BSA

A dance recitation by dance troupe Dhriti at the event

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak The celebration of the 40th founding anniversary of the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, the premier cultural organisation in the country, kicked off with its inaugural programme at 6pm on February 19 at the academy premises. In attendance were Asaduzzaman Noor, minister for cultural affairs, Ramendra Majumder, prominent theatre personality, Hashem Khan, famed painter, Liaquat Ali Lucky, director general of BSA, and many other cultural personalities.

Mostafa Nurul Islam, the first director general of BSA and a national professor, launched the celebration by sounding forty bell tolls, releasing a hot air balloon, igniting forty candles and setting off colourful fireworks.

Chief guest Asaduzzaman Noor said in his speech that cultural organisations like BSA were necessary to fight against fundamentalism, superstition, religious hypocrisy, illiteracy, and to uphold the Liberation War’s motto. The government would take necessary steps to make the organisation more

QUAMRUL ABEDIN

dynamic and broaden its service towards every citizen.

The two-day programme of the celebration featured renditions of patriotic songs, group dances, recitals, musical concerts and acrobatic performances. The dance troupes Dhriti Nrittalok and Rewaz Performing Arts staged several eye catching dances choreographed by Warda Rihab and Munmun Ahmed (respectively). The famed Dalia Ahmed recited the poem Basonti by Kazi Nazrul Islam. Chandana Majumder and Kiran Chandra Roy performed several famous local folk songs.

Fusion band Joler Gaan started their performance with popular love song Bokul Phul. The audience had been waiting for their appearance, and when the band began, the crowd erupted with joy. They performed Paater Gaan, Ei Pagoler Bhalobasha and Emon Jodi hoto with instrumentals, which took the audience to a new level of musical experience.

The Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Acrobatic Troupe also mesmerised audiences with their astonishing performance.

Over the years the academy has been considered the main hub for the practice of theatre, especially after the establishment of National Theatre Hall. However, all kinds of cultural activities – such as dance, music, recitation and others – take place throughout the year.

The academy also promotes many folk and traditional indigenous performing arts through different programmes. An ethno-cultural archive was launched recently with the aim to preserve the traditions of different ethnic peoples in the country.

BSA regularly screens world classic and local quality films. Its National Art Gallery is mostly used for large scale exhibitions. The adjacent plaza can be used for discussions, seminars and cultural functions. An auditorium with modern features has recently been opened at the Art Plaza.

The academy was established under the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Act 1974, to practice and uphold local culture and to facilitate the arts. Now the Academy is functioning under the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Ordinance 1989. l

FEBRUARY 21 SPECIALS ON TELEVISION Kabir Hossainer Pandulipi

Kabir Hossainer Pandulipi airs on ATN Bangla at 10:55pm. Written by Shourjyodipto Shurjo and directed by Hasan Shikder, the telefilm features Raisul Islam Asad, Rawnak hasan, Bhabna and others. When Kabir grows up to be a young man, he goes to Dhaka, to look for his missing father. After a fruitless search, defeated and tired, he goes to the Shahid Minar and comes upon a man, to whom he passes a biography on his father’s life. l

Amar Ekush

Drama Amar Ekhush will air at 7:40pm today on Maasranga TV. The drama is directed by Tuhin Hossain and features Bijori Barkatullah, Intekhab Dinar, Syed Hasan Imam, Saira, Sahana and many others. The story of the drama revolves around a family who loses touch with its heritage and a member of that family, Barkat, tries to remind them of their roots. l

Manusher Chhaya

Manusher Chhaya will air tonight at 10pm on Channel 9. Directed by Mahmud Didar, the drama features Tania Hossain, Afran Nisho and Raisul Islam Asad among others. l

Devo’s Bob Casale dies at age 61 n Entertainment Desk

Bob Casale, the guitarist for Devo, best known for the 1980 hit “Whip It,” has died of heart failure, his brother and band member Gerald Casale said Tuesday. He was 61.

Devo founding member Casale said in a statement that his younger brother’s death Monday was “sudden” and “a total shock.”

“As an original member of Devo, Bob Casale was there in the trenches with me from the beginning,” Casale said. “He was my level-headed brother, a solid performer and talented audio engineer, always giving more than he got.”

No further details on his death were provided.

The Ohio-based Devo introduced themselves to the world in 1977 by making a frenetic version of the Rolling Stones’ “Satisfaction.” The new wave band released its Brian Eno-produced debut, “Q: Are We Not Men? A: We Are Devo!,” in 1978 and reached platinum status with 1980’s “Freedom of Choice,” which featured “Whip It.” Gerald Casale formed Devo with lead singer Mark Mothersbaugh. Alan Myers, the group’s drummer, died last year after a battle with cancer age at 58. Devo is short for devolution, the idea that man was regressing into an earlier state. l

Ochin Pakhi

Bangla

Film Bangla is adapted from Ahmed Sofa’s literary works Omkar and directed by Shahidul Islam Khokon. Marking International Mother Language Day, the film will be aired on ATN Bangla today at 3.10pm. The cast of the film includes popular actor Shabnur, Mahfuz, Humayun Faridi and many others. The story is about a beautiful young woman with a stormy personality. Her depth of character perhaps comes from the fact that she is mute but can hear everything. When Mahfuz comes across her, he is instantly attracted to the mesmeric characteristics of the volatile personality and decides that he wants to marry her. Facing opposition from his family, Mahfuz moves to the city with his mute wife who realises the struggle her husband is going through, to maintain their relationship. When the Language Movement starts, she tries to speak and after several failed attempts, she utters one word, “Bangla.” l

Special drama Ochin Pakhi will air on NTV at 2:30pm. Written by Hasan Azizul Haque, scripted by Shibu Kumar Shill and directed by Parvez Amin, the drama features popular soap actors Rokeya Prachi, Ashish Khondoker, Hrid and many others.

The drama is about a boy named Hrid, who goes missing during the Language Movement. Hrid asks for a pet bird from his father. Giving into his son’s demand, his father buys him a bird. His pet’s staple food was paddy and Hrid decides to fetch the paddy from a nearby field by himself and never returns. l

Bangla Apa

Banglavision’s own production Bangla Apa will be aired at 9:05pm today. The drama features Sumaiya Shimu, Dipto, Rahmat Ali, Khan Alam and many others. Technology has made it possible for people to be high achievers and Manabi is an example of the kind.

She gains a scholarship via internet and goes abroad to teach Bangla. There, she makes her country proud through her unyielding performance and becomes known as “Bangla Apa.” When she returns to the country, a journalist comes to interview her. l

Poetry recitation at Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre

Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre arranges free shows ranging from concerts of renowned singers, film screening, classical music and many other programmes. Today at 6:30pm at their Gulshan-1 premises, the IGCC has arranged for a poetry recitation programme in association with Asian Paints, IRCON and Marico Bangladesh.

The event titled Ami Tomaey Bhalobashi will feature Dahlia Ahmed, Jayanto Chattopadhayay and Rana Thakur on the occasion of International Mother Language Day. A leading recitation artiste and elocutionist of Bangladesh, Dahlia Ahmed was born in 1951 at Mymensingh to an esteemed Muktijoddha family.

Jayanto Chattopadhyay is a wellknown recitation artist, elocutionist and actor of Bangladesh.

Born in 1958 at Pabna, Rana Thakur is a recitation artist and translator. He has a keen interest in Rabindranath Tagore’s philosophy and works. He has recited poems on several occasions in Bangladesh and abroad. l

Did you know?

Bayern’s Toni Kroos completed the same number of passes (147) as the 12 Arsenal outfield players combined on Wednesday

Sport

Friday, February 21, 2014

0 2 3

14 Away wins for

DAYS TO GO

Bayern, Atletico in CL first legs

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Proteas rue

rash shots as De Villiers stays hot

Lions complete domination

CATCH DROP MATCH DROP

Bangladesh’s Nasir Hossain drops Ashan Prianjan of Sri Lanka in the 2nd ODI at the SBNS yesterday

MUMIT M

Disappointed Mushfiq rues mistakes Bangladesh once again paid heavily for their mistakes in the field as the home side skipper Mushfiqur Rahim held blunders responsible for losing the second ODI and the three-match series yesterday.

“I think in critical times we have made too many mistakes, the biggest thing that has happened in the last two ODI’s. If you do so many mistakes, it’s difficult to win against any team,” said Mushfiq.

The visitors despite been reduced to 63/3 went on to score 289/6 courtesy of a brilliant hundred by Kumar Sangakkara. Mushfiq thought they batted well, and “If the run was around 260 or 270, the chase would have been different. We were never behind run-rate.

But you need a 100 plus or 80 plus partnership to chase this score. You need two set batsmen, like they did after falling three wickets. From that side, we played a few shots. In the middle overs, the set batsmen got out quickly, Nasir and Shakib’s wickets put us on

the back foot.”

Mushfiq also explained the reason for overlooking Naeem Islam, highest scorer in their last home series, and said, “Naeem generally bats at number five and at number five we have Shakib. At number seven we need an all rounder, where we are trying, whoever plays, Gazi or Riyad bhai, that we get an according input.

“Immediately dropping a player without giving him another chance is something that I am not for as a Bangladesh captain. I will try that even if

Eight dropped catches in the first two one-day internationals against Sri Lanka can easily be termed as the major reason behind Bangladesh los-

ing the three-match series. The home side fielded first in both the matches and the four misses in each game did not only shift the momentum, but the pressure also reflected in their batting approach later.

Bangladesh are known as one of the best fielding sides and though their ground fielding has been satisfactory, it was the catching from some of the best fielders in the side that raise concerns.

It must also be said that a dropped catch also demoralizes the bowler.

In the second game at Sher-eBangla National Stadium yesterday, Mominul Haque dropped two while Mahmudullah and Nasir Hossain squandered one each to help Sri Lanka build partnerships and register a big total of 289.

Nasir and Mahmudullah were the common culprits as they dropped one each in the first game too. More importantly the chances that went down were not very hard. From 67 for 8, Sri Lanka, especially Thisara Perara, capitalised on the gifted lives and posted a respectable 180 which proved 13 runs safe in the end.

With Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20 around the corner Bangladesh must find a solution to their butter fingers or else they have to end up paying pretty heavy. l

Butter fingers DROP CATCH

First ODI

Second ODI

Over 22.4 Sohag Gazi at long-on dropped Thisara Perera off Arafat Sunny. The ball bounced off his hands and over the top for a six

Over 14.2 Priyanjan pulled Gazi at deep square leg and Nasir rushed across to his left and dived full length but could not hold on to it

Over 25.3 Mahmudullah was not alert as he failed to hold on to Senanayake’s edge off Sohag Gazi

Over 45.5 Mathews tried to scoop Rubel and Mahmudullah dropped a dolly at short fine-leg

Over 28.1 Thisara Perera lofts Gazi to long-on but Nasir loses balance as the ball popped out of his hands and sailed over the rope for a six Over 38.4 Al Amin the bowler and Perera survived again as Shakib juggled the ball couple of times before spilling it on the ground at long-off

Over 48.2 Vithanage heaved Arafat Sunny to midwicket and Mominul, instead of coming forward focused on the angle, dropped it Over 49.4 Mominul put down a sitter at cover as Vithanage got an outside edge looking to smack a fullish delivery from Rubel

Commonwealth and Asian Games plans taking shape Bangladesh will take part in 10 disciplines of 2014 Commonwealth Games which will be held in Glasgow, Scotland and run from July 23 to August 3.

Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) informed the respective federations through letters yesterday after finalising the disciplines.

A total of 30 athletes from 10 disciplines excluding 17 coaches, managers and officials are expected to tour Glasgow. However, the names of the athletes have not been finalised and BOA asked the federations to confirm it soon.

Eight players from shooting, four from weightlifting, three each from cycling, table tennis, boxing, two each from athletics, swimming, badminton,

wrestling, and one from gymnastics are expected to get tickets for Glasgow.

Shooting and boxing started their

The other 20 disciplines are swimming, archery, athletics, badminton, boxing, cricket (men’s and women’s), cycling, fencing, football (men), golf, gymnastics, hockey, kabaddi (men’s and women’s), karate, shooting, table tennis, taekwondo, beach volleyball, weightlifting and wrestling. preparation on January 10 and the preparation for other eight disciplines is expected to begin from the first week of March.

Meanwhile, BOA training and devel-

opment committee proposed 136 athletes from 21 disciplines in the preliminary process for the 17th Asian Games. The largest sporting event in Asia is scheduled to take place in Incheon, South Korea from September 19 to October 4.

The committee also proposed to include Kabaddi (men)discipline that was earlier ignored by BOA due to the men team’s lack of activity in recent times but women’s kabaddi were on the list from the beginning. The proposal regarding the 21 disciplines will be one of the few issues to be discussed in the next BOA executive committee meeting.

Bangladesh kabaddi team has a fine record in the Asian Games after being inducted in 1990 and SA Games where they won gold in the last edition in India. l

someone goes through a bad patch, I will try to back him,” he added.

Meanwhile Sri Lankan captain Angelo Matthews said it was a comfortable win for them compared to their recent T20 and first ODI. “But you can’t take anything away from Bangladesh as this was a hard fought win and they played some good cricket, they kept losing wickets that was their main downfall but they batted very well and put us under pressure and we had fight really hard and our bowlers once again did it which was amazing,” he added. l

Kumar Sangakkara continued his awesome batting form in Bangladesh as the Sri Lankan smashed 128 to secure the second ODI and the three-match series for his country at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. Sri Lanka won the match by 61 runs while for Bangladesh the ODI series defeat was the first at home since 2011. The ODI series win also secured all available trophies in the tour for Sri Lanka as they earlier won the Test and T20 series.

Both sides made a change from their previous match as the veteran Mashrafe bin Mortaza came in from Al Amin Hossain for the home side while Ajantha Mendis replace injured Nuwan Kulasekara in the Sri Lankan line-up.

Chasing 289 Bangladesh, facing a must-win situation after losing the first match, caved in under pressure and were dismissed for 228 with seven overs to spare. Captain Mushfiqur Rahim topscored with 79 from 83 balls while Anamul Haque made 42 as none of the other batsmen were able to make any impact in front of the Sri Lankan bowling attack.

Bangladesh batters had to be patient and avoid imprudent shots but their irresponsibility cost them once again as they literally gifted their wickets.

Shamsur Rahman was dismissed for a duck in the first over but Anamul Haque and Mominul Haque added 55 runs for the second wicket with the latter scoring the most. The islanders got the break through after Mominul was brilliantly caught behind by Sangakkara.

This didn’t bring down Anamul rather he kept on charging the Lankan bowlers before his innings came to an end in the 14th over. The dismissal

made two senior members of the side; Shakib al Hasan and Mushfiq join in the middle. The duo did everything possible to keep the score board ticking until Shakib was caught at long-off

by Sachitra Senanayake off a hideous swing to break the 53 runs partnership.

He scored 24 off 23 and also became the highest ODI run scorer of the country.

Mahmudullah was unfortunate to get run-out scoring just one as he was sent back on his half way attempting a single by Mushfiq. While Nasir Hossain (22) after being in the middle for some time returned giving a dolly at deep square-leg. The dismissal ended any hopes the home side had as they were left reeling at 153 for five.

Mushfiqur propelled with singles, doubles and hitting boundaries when opportunity struck, but after his dismissal in the 41st over Bangladesh it

P15 SCORECARD was only a matter of time for Sri Lanka to wrap up the match.

Earlier Sri Lanka won the toss and opted to bat. Bangladesh got regular wickets in the first 45 minutes into the innings. They had taken down three Lankan wickets with 63 runs in first 12 overs but yet the bowlers seemed to lose track as the fielders produced another poor catching exhibition.

Sangakkara paired up with Priyanjan (60) for the fourth wicket and they added 114 shift the momentum on their side. Skipper Angelo Mathews lifted the total with an unbeaten 56 off 39 balls, having added 83 for the fifth wicket with Sangakkara.

Fast bowler Rubel Hossain was the most expensive among the home side bowlers giving away 76 runs in his 10 overs for three wickets. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Top Fifa official backs Eriksson Fifa referees committee chairman Jim Boyce defended Jonas Eriksson on Wednesday after Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini criticised the official following the 2-0 home defeat by Barcelona in the Champions League. Pellegrini questioned Eriksson’s impartiality and accused the Swede of deciding the outcome of the last-16 first leg tie at the Etihad Stadium on Tuesday. The Chilean also said a referee from Sweden should not have been put in charge of such an important match and that he had “no control” of the game.

–Reuters

Sport

Friday, February 21, 2014

Venus reaches Dubai semis Venus Williams continued to raise hopes of a return to the top echelons with her third straight sets win in a row and a place in the semi-finals of the Dubai Open on Thursday. The seven-times former Grand Slam winner overcame Flavia Pennetta, the seed-destroying Italian, 6-4, 7-5 with a mixed performance which included a slow start and a tense finish but some typically powerful ground stroking during the guts of the match. It followed her rather more impressive conquests of Ana Ivanovic and Elena Vesnina and increased Venus’ chances of regaining a title.

–AFP

Lotus stick with Renault for ‘new era’ Lotus took time out putting their new E22 car through its paces in Bahrain on Thursday to announce the signing of a new deal with Renault engines for “2014 and beyond”. Confirming the news Lotus chief executive officer Matthew Carter said: “Lotus F1 team and Renault Sport F1 have enjoyed a successful partnership these past few years and we look forward to continue to build on our relationship and collaboration in 2014 and beyond. “It is the beginning of a new era in Formula 1 and we are pleased to embrace it together with Renault Sport F1.”

–AFP

Away wins for Bayern, Atletico Kroos missile destroys 10-man Gunners, Costa late show sinks Milan nal were not punished from the spot as n AFP, PARIS David Alaba’s penalty hit the post.

Munich's Toni Kroos (front) celebrates the opening goal with teammates during their Champions League, round of 16, first leg match against Arsenal at the Emirates stadium in London on Wednesday AP

'Szczesny red card killed the game' n Reuters, London

Arsene Wenger cut a frustrated figure after his 10-man Arsenal side suffered a 2-0 home defeat to Bayern Munich in their Champions League Round of 16 first-leg clash at the Emirates Stadium on Wednesday.

Both sides missed penalties in an explosive first half, with Arsenal’s Mesut Ozil the first to draw a blank with David Alaba following suit for Bayern after home keeper Wojciech Szczesny had been sent off for wiping out Arjen Robben in the box.

Bayern made extra man count in the second half as Toni Kroos’ sublime curling effort gave them the lead and substitute Thomas Mueller headed in Philipp Lahm’s cross on 88 minutes to put the German side firmly in control of the tie.

“The referee made a decision that basically killed the game,” a disgruntled Wenger told reporters of Italian official Nicola Rizzoli’s dismissal of his goalkeeper.

“I think these rules are different in every country. In Italy, they are sent off for these kind of fouls,” the Frenchman added.

“I think our keeper went in for the ball and he touched Robben, who certainly made more of it and I told him.

“He (Robben) has enough experience to make more of it. Bayern made a lot of every single contact, we are not used to that in England.

“We complain sometimes and I think fouls were given today that are not normally given in the Premier League.”

Arsenal started brightly and their high tempo caused problems for the Champions League holders but the

My US team will oust Germany or Portugal: Klinsmann n Reuters, Florianopolis

United States coach Juergen Klinsmann believes his side will turf out Germany or Portugal in the first round of the World Cup in Brazil in June.

“Our team has matured a lot over the last couple of years and we are going to give them a big, big fight,” he told reporters at a FIFA pre-World Cup workshop on Wednesday.

“We are expecting to go to the knockout stage, that means Germany, Portugal and Ghana will have to fight it out for the other spot (from Group G).

“We’ve come through a tough qualifying process where we proved our capability. We have a lot of good players,” said the former Germany coach who led his home country to third spot at the 2006 finals.

Klinsmann shrugged off the extensive travel his squad would have to undertake in Brazil but said he was worried the fans would not be able to watch all of their matches.

“I think that for a team to travel long distances at the World Cup is not that difficult because you are well taken care of with charter flights and road escorts,” he added.

“It might be more difficult for the fans to go from one place to the other.

“We are going to have the biggest fan group ever from the U.S. going to Brazil. We have amazing fans so hopefully they are going to be all right.”

The Americans meet Ghana in Natal, Portugal in Manaus and Germany in Recife, arguably the toughest schedule of any of the 32 finalists.

“We all expect an amazing World Cup in the country of the five-times champions,” said Klinsmann. l

game swung in the German side’s favour after Ozil squandered his opportunity to put the Gunners ahead and Sczcesny saw red.

“We needed that (penalty) tonight because you could see that Bayern were on the ropes at the start of the game,” Wenger said.

“We had three good chances at the start of the game and I feel to insecure them more we needed to score that penalty tonight.”

Bayern beat Arsenal 3-1 at the same stage of the competition last season but scraped through on away goals after losing the home leg 2-0 and coach Pep Guardiola warned his side against complacency in the return fixture on March 11.

“After the clear penalty and red card the game changed completely,” Guardiola, who won the Champions League as Barcelona coach in 2009 and 2011, said. l

Atletico tie not over: Seedorf n AFP, Milan

AC Milan coach Clarence Seedorf said the Italians’ Champions League quarter-final bid is far from over despite suffering a 1-0 defeat to high-flying Atletico Madrid on Wednesday.

“On the whole lads showed a lot of spirit and determination and I also saw some great individual performances,” said the Dutchman, the only player to have won Europe’s most prestigious club trophy with three different clubs – Ajax, Real Madrid and twice with Milan.

“At the end we were tired and we perhaps paid for our efforts. It’s a positive result for them but the tie is not over. I know the Vicente Calderon (stadium) well but the stadium also knows me.” l

Holders Bayern Munich and Spanish side Atletico Madrid took large strides towards the quarter-finals as they secured precious away wins in their Champions League last 16 firstleg ties on Wednesday.

Bayern beat Arsenal 2-0 with both their goals coming in the second half after the hosts had been reduced to 10 men shortly before half-time when Polish goalkeeper Wojciech Szczesny was sent-off for a rash challenge on Arjen Robben.

Toni Kroos and Thomas Mueller struck for the visitors -- the duo having also netted in the 3-1 win a year ago to the day against the same opponents in London -- and Arsenal will have to repeat at the very least their 2-0 win in the away leg last year to hold any hope of progressing.

Atletico gave themselves a great chance of making the quarter-finals for the first time in 17 years as a fifth goal of the campaign by Diego Costa seven minutes from time gave them a 1-0 win over Italy’s last representatives AC Milan.

The Arsenal and Bayern match was an engrossing affair for the first-half -Arsene Wenger having taken the bold decision to start the raw young French striker Yaya Sanogo up front instead of the vastly more experienced Olivier Giroud -- with Mesut Ozil seeing former schoolmate Manuel Neuer saving his early penalty.

However, with the match evenlypoised Arsenal, like their Premier League title rivals Manchester City against Barcelona on Tuesday, went a man down when Szczesny was sent off – the Gunners’ 100th red card under Wenger.

The Pole did himself few favours with UEFA by making an offensive gesture as he entered the tunnel but Arse-

However, they finally cracked in the 53rd minute as Kroos’s superbly struck right-foot curler gave Lukasz Fabianski no chance.

Arsenal staged a superb backs to the wall defensive performance, although they were perhaps fortunate not to concede another penalty when Laurent Koscielny appeared to take substitute Thomas Mueller’s legs from under him.

However, two minutes from time - eerily also like the City loss to Barcelona - they conceded a second as Mueller was on hand to head the ball home.

RESULTS AC Milan

0 1

Arsenal

0 2

Atletico Madrid

Diego Costa 83

Bayern Munich

Kroos 54, Mueller 88

In the other game Milan had started the brightest against Atletico but the early fireworks were not a forestaste of what was to come as the match petered out.

Atletico finally broke the deadlock as Diego Costa headed home to give the Spaniards a superb chance of reaching the quarter-finals and end Italian interest in the competition.

Atletico’s Argentinian coach Diego Simeone said that his side had improved after a wobbly start.

“Milan were full on and aggressive, especially after the first 10 minutes,” said the 43-year-old former Argentinian internatioonal midfielder.

“However, in the second-half we played better, and we gained control little by little. We realised that one error in such a tight match could be costly and we took advantage of one to win.”

His Milan counterpart, another former great midfielder Dutchman Clarence Seedorf was far from downcast about their chances of turning things round. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

QUICK BYTES

BD v SL, SCORECARD Sri Lanka

Sport journalist Mahmud’s father passes away

Perera c Shamsur b Rubel 8 Dilshan c Rahim b Rubel 8 Sangakkara c Mahmudullah b Sunny 128 D Chandimal c Shamsur b Gazi 9 A Priyanjan lbw b Shakib 60 A Mathews not out 56 T Perera c Mahmudullah b Rubel 0 K Vithanage not out 13 Extras: (lb3, w4) 7

Alhaj Afajuddin Ahmed, father of a senior sub-editor of The Financial Express AHM Mahmudul Haque, died of old-age complications at his residence at Sribodi in Sherpur district in the early hours yesterday. He was 91, family sources said. He was buried at his family graveyard following a namaze- janaza at his village mosque after Asr prayers. Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association (BSJA) expressed condolence at the death of Alhaj Afajuddin Ahmed. They prayed for eternal peace of the departed soul and conveyed deep sympathy to the bereaved family members.

-BSS

Total (for six wickets, 50 overs) 289 Fall of wickets 1-9, 2-38, 3-63, 4-177, 5-260, 6-262

Bowling Mortaza 8-0-52-0, Rubel 10-0-76-3, Gazi 10-0-50-1, Shakib 10-1-46-1, Sunny 8-1-44-1, Mahmudullah 3-0-110, Mominul 1-0-7-0.

Bangladesh Anamul Haque lbw b T Perera 42 Shamsur c Senanayake b Malinga 0 Mominul c Sangakkara b Senanayake 15 Mushfiqur c Senanayake b Malinga 79 Shakib c Senanayake b Priyanjan 24 Nasir Hossain c Vithanage b Mendis 22 Mahmudullah run out 1 Sohag Gazi c Sangakkara b T. Perera 7 Mashrafe c T Perera b Mendis 17 Arafat Sunny not out 1 Rubel c sub (A Perera) b Senanayake 6 Extras: (b3, lb3, w7, nb1) 14

School handball Scholastica and Sunnydale moved into the girls section final of the Milkman Mini Handball winning their respective semi-finals at the Shahid (Captain) M.Monsur Ali Handball Stadium yesterday. In the first semi-final,Scholastica beat Viqarunnisa Noon School 9-2 while Sunnydale ousted Green Herald School 15-5. In the boy’s final, St. Gregory’s School will face Dhaka Residential School. Both the finals will be held on Sunday. Biren Sikder, the state minister for youth and sports Biren Sikder will distribute the prizes as the chief guests.

–Tribune Desk

Total (all out, 43 overs)

Tejkunipara Krira Sangha emerged as the unbeaten champions in the second division badminton league with 14 points beating strong contender Rockland Badminton Club by 3-2 games at the Shahid Sohrawardi Indoor Stadium, Mirpur on Wednesday. Rockland Badminton Club, the runners-up finished their campaign with 12 points. The Super League phase consisted of Rockland, Kawasaki, Banashree, Kamlapur, Proyash GC Pal Academy, Tejkunipara and Gopibagh Friends.

–Tribune Desk

Marquez out 3-4 weeks MotoGP world champion Marc Marquez fractured his right leg during dirt track practice in Spain, his team announced Thursday, but he hopes to be fit in time for the season-opening Qatar Grand Prix. The 21-year-old Spaniard, who last year became the youngest rider ever to win the world title, and the first rookie to win in 35 years, was injured on Wednesday and could be out for three to four weeks, Repsol Honda said. Marquez’s injury comes just a month before the MotoGP championship resumes in Qatar on March 23. But a “full recovery” is expected in time for the Losail race, a statement on Honda’s Facebook page reported.

–AFP

Italy book pre-World Cup friendly with Luxembourg

Italy will host minnows Luxembourg in a friendly little more than a week before commencing their World Cup campaign, the Italian Football Federation (FIGC) announced Tuesday.

“Luxembourg will be Italy’s opponents for a friendly on June 4, the team’s last test before the World Cup,” said a statement by the FIGC. “The match will be used by coach Cesare Prandelli to gauge the condition of his players a few days before the start of the World Cup.” Italy will face far tougher opponents in World Cup and European champions Spain in Madrid on March 5. Prandelli’s side open their 2014 World Cup in Brazil away to England in Manaus on June 14.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Sony Six NBA 2013-14 7:00AM Oklahoma City v Miami 9:30AM Golden State v Houston

1-2, 2-57, 3-63, 4-116, 5-153, 6-155, 7-170, 8-217, 9-220, 10-228

Bowling

Sri Lanka's Kumar Sangakkara plays on his way to century at SBNS yesterday

Injured Dhoni to miss Asia Cup Indian captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni was ruled out of the Asia Cup in Bangladesh due to a side strain suffered during the recent New Zealand tour, the Indian cricket board said on Thursday.

Top-order batsman Virat Kohli will lead India in the five-nation tournament which starts on Tuesday, while Dinesh Karthik will replace Dhoni as wicketkeeper, the board said in a media release.

“Dhoni suffered a grade-one strain to his left side during the second Test against New Zealand in Wellington and will undergo rehabilitation for 10 days,” the release said.

The Indian team returned early Thursday from the tour where New Zealand won the one-dayers 4-0 and also clinched the two-Test series 1-0.

India play hosts Bangladesh in their first Asia Cup match in Fatullah next Wednesday.

Defending champions Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are the other teams in the tournament, the symbol of one-day supremacy in the region.

Dhoni, who captains India in all three formats of the game, is expected to be fit for the World Twenty20 which will also be played in Bangladesh from March 16. l

MUMIT M

South Africa were left to rue the loss of cheap wickets after battling to 214 for five on the opening day of the second test against Australia on Thursday.

Bad light brought a premature end to the day after 83 overs bowled with AB de

SCORECARD, DAY 1 South Africa, first innings G Smith lbw b Harris 9 D Elgar c Harris b Lyon 83 H Amla lbw b Johnson 0 F du Plessis c Smith b Lyon 55 A de Villiers not out 51 Q de Kock c sub (Henriques) b Smith 7 J Duminy not out 2 Extras (b4, lb2, w1) 7

Total (5 wkts, 83 overs)

214

Fall of wickets 1-10, 2-11, 3-123, 4-181, 5-200

Bowling Harris 18-5-36-1, Johnson 15-2-44-1, Siddle 22-7-61-0, Lyon 23-6-47-2, Warner 1-0-2-0, Smith 4-0-18-1

BFF in new BNS dilemma Due to Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club’s participation in the 118th IFA Shield, they are yet to complete the first phase matches in the Bangladesh Premier League.

On Tuesday, Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) rescheduled the four remaining fixtures which were supposed to be tomorrow, February 25, 28 and March 10. However, the venue and date of the latter two matches might see a change.

The day after BFF rescheduled the fixtures, National Sports Council (NSC) confirmed that Bangabandhu National Stadium will be provided to the Bangladesh Cricket Board from March 9-15 for the ICC World Twenty20 concert.

Malinga 8-2-45-2, Mathews 8-1-440, Senanayake 8-0-33-2, T Perera 6-0-40-2, Mendis 8-0-43-2, Priyanjan 5-0-17-1 Sri Lanka won by 61 runs; lead 2-0 in three-match series

Ireland stun World T20 champions West Indies Ireland added to their list of giantkilling victories with a six-wicket win over World Twenty20 champions West Indies in the first T20 international at Jamaica’s Sabina Park on Wednesday.

It was at the Kingston venue where Ireland dramatically defeated Pakistan in a St Patrick’s Day 50-over World Cup match back in 2007.

And seven years on from that success, Ireland – the leading non-Test cricket nation – upset one of the sport’s ‘big boys’ once again, with former England batsman Ed Joyce making a decisive 40 not out.

After the West Indies won the toss

The new dilemma in the current situation came up yesterday when Dhaka District commissioner office wanted the venue to be allotted for the final and closing ceremony of Bangabandhu Gold Cup Primary School Football Tournament and Bangamata Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib Gold Cup Primary School Football Tournament while they also wanted the venue from February 26 to March 3 for preparation.

“We can alter the venue for March 10 match and shift it to Kamalapur stadium. But we have not received any letter regarding providing the BNS (from February 16 to March 3). I think we can still hold the February 28 match and if needed, we will negotiate with them,” said BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday. l

Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games Day 14 2:00AM La Liga Real Valladolid v Levante Ten Cricket 02:30PM South Africa v Australia 2nd Test, Day 2 Ten Action Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh recently organized an exclusive Cricket Clinic for children, aged between 7 and 13 years, at the Gulshan Youth Club Ground. Approximately 120 children joined the Cricket Clinic including children of Standard Chartered clients and staff.

World renowned all-rounder and Shakib Al Hasan conducted the cricket clinic COURTESY

Villiers not out on 51 and JP Duminy on two at the close.

De Villiers passed 7,000 test runs and became the first player in history to score half-centuries in 12 tests in a row.

It might well have been a better day for the hosts after they won the toss and elected to bat, but Dean Elgar (83) and debutant Quinton de Kock (seven) gave their wickets away with rash shots.

The pitch did not have the devil of Pretoria and rendered Mitchell Johnson less effective, the South Africans playing him with relative comfort once the shine had been taken off the new ball.

“This is probably the slowest I have ever seen the pitch in Port Elizabeth,” Elgar told reporters.

“Here patience is one of the key things teams look for. I knew I had to bat long to put us in a good position, first- innings runs here at St George’s are golden.”

It has been a bitter-sweet week for Elgar, who found out he would play in this test match on the same day Cricket South Africa decided not to renew his central contract.

and batted, a good all-round Ireland effort in the field saw the hosts restricted to 116 for eight in their 20 overs.

Tim Murtagh, Alex Cusack and Kevin O’Brien took two wickets apiece, with Cusack capturing the prize scalp of dangerman Chris Gayle for a meagre innings top score of 18. Ireland, coached by former West Indies batsman Phil Simmons, collapsed to 37 for three in reply. l

BRIEF SCORE West Indies 116/8 in 20 overs Cusack 2-17, O’Brien 2-17 Ireland 117/4 in 19.1 overs Joyce 40* Ireland won by six wickets

Pakistan bowling coach wants rotation policy for pacemen Pakistan, stung by injuries to key bowlers, will soon implement a rotation policy for their pacemen to prolong their careers, the team’s bowling coach Muhammad Akram said.

“We have spoken about it and I have discussed it with the two captains and coaches and it is something we will implementing soon,” Akram told reporters on Thursday.

Pakistan have suffered a spate of injuries to their bowlers including top fast bowlers Umar Gul and Muhammad Irfan.

Proteas rue rash shots as De Villiers stays hot

Star Sports 4

1:30AM French Ligue 1 As Monaco v Stade De Reims

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Fall of wickets

Tejkunipara clinch 2nd div badminton title

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Friday, February 21, 2014

“I got the bad news first, then they softened me up with the good news,” he said.Proteas captain Graeme Smith (nine) said at the toss his side wanted to bat first and put Australia under pressure, but it was South Africa who felt the early heat.

Smith was struck on the back leg by Ryan Harris with the total on 10 and the umpire had no hesitation in giving him out lbw. In the next over, Johnson breached the defence of Hashim Amla who was also trapped leg before for a duck.

But Elgar and Faf du Plessis (55) batted patiently for a third-wicket partnership of 112 before the latter gave a catch to Steve Smith at short leg off the bowling of Nathan Lyon.

Left-handed opener Elgar added a further 58 with the fluent De Villiers before he tried to smash Lyon to the boundary and skied the ball to Ryan Harris at mid-off.

That brought De Kock to the crease one place higher than expected, with Duminy slipping down to seven, and the confident 21-year-old got off the mark in test cricket with a boundary. l

The latter has also been ruled out of the forthcoming Asia Cup and World T20 tournaments in Bangladesh.

“Obviously in our set-up every captain wants to field his strongest bowling line up in every match,” he said.

“But the realisation is there now that with the amount of matches being played these days bowlers need to be nursed and handled with care.

Akram, himself a former test bowler, said that the loss of Irfan had been a big setback as had been Gul’s ouster from cricket for nearly eight months due to a knee surgery. l

Govt to provide Tk6bn for WT20 Bangladesh government will provide a purse of Tk6bn to facilitate the ICC World T20 scheduled to start in the country from March 16.

Finance minister and the chairman of the organising committee AMA Muhith presided over a meeting of his committee at the secretariat yesterday and the expenses of the various activities were discussed. The construction of the Sylhet stadium has already been completed with an expense of Tk2.6bn while the accommodation and security measures costs were recorded at Tk2bn. The organising committee also decided to spend a purse of Tk1.15bn for the beautification of the roads and places necessary. The cost of the inauguration ceremony is estimated at Tk240m and a purse of Tk250m was also released for the different activities.

Amid the proposed expenses the sponsors will bear Tk400m from their part. State minister for cultural affairs Asaduzzaman Nur, state minister for youth and sports Biren Sikder and deputy minister for youth and sports Arif Khan Joy were also present in the meeting. l

Sehwag and Murali to star for MCC in Abu Dhabi India’s Virender Sehwag is to captain Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC) in their four-day match against English champion county Durham in Abu Dhabi next month, officials announced Thursday.

Meanwhile Sri Lanka great Muttiah Muralitharan will lead the MCC team in the preceding Emirates Twenty20 event.

Sehwag, one of the most destructive opening batsman cricket has known, said he was honoured to be leading MCC in a match that acts as a ‘curtain-raiser’ to the forthcoming English season.

“I was delighted to be asked to play in this match, and being able to captain the MCC side makes it even more of a privilege,” said the 35-year-old, who has scored 8,586 runs at an average of nearly fifty with 23 hundreds in 104 Tests.

Also in the squad are England spinner Monty Panesar and Sri Lanka wicketkeeper batsman Prasanna Jayawardene as well as several promising county players including Middlesex opener Sam Robson, who has been scoring heavily for the second-string England Lions of their tour of Sri Lanka.

Prior to the Champion County match, MCC will arrive in Abu Dhabi on March 18 for a Twenty20 tournament featuring county sides Lancashire, Sussex and Durham, as well as a Fly Emirates Select XI. In that event, MCC will be led by extraordinary off-spinner Muralitharan, Test cricket’s most successful bowler of all-time with 800 wickets. l

Fazle Hossain Badsha inaugurates the 34th National Table Tennis Championship at Rajshahi yesterday COURTESY

National Table Tennis inaugurated at Rajshahi Title contenders Bangladesh Ansar defeated Barguna in the men’s section of the 34th National Table Tennis Championship at the Rajshahi Women’s Complex yesterday.

In the other matches of the day, Dinajpur beat Nilfamari 3 – 1, Narail outplayed Moulovi Bazar 3-0, and Munshiganj overpowered Sirajganj 3-0. In the women’s section Ansar beat Narayanganj 3-1, Rajshahi defeated Gaibandha 3-1, Dhaka routed Pabna 3-0 and Shariatpur thrashed Rangamaty 3-0.

Fazle Hossen Badsha, M.P. Rajshahi Sadar inaugurated the meet as the chief guest. HelalUddin Ahmed, Rajshahi Divisional Commissioner was the special guest.

Mohammad Mezbauddin Chowdhury, District Comm, Rajshahi, Shamsul Alam Anu, general secretary, South Asian Table Tennis Federation, Zobera Rahman Linu general secretary, BTTF, Khandoker Hasan Munir Sumon chief coordinator, Tournament Committee and Rabfus Shams Paddy of Ragshahi DSA were also present on the occasion. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sale to break previous records n Ahmed Zayeef 107

new books published A M A R E K U S H E Y B O O K FA I R 2 0 1 4

Sale of books has reached an unprecedented height this year at the Amar Ekushey book fair.

The publishers are expecting a sale of above Tk1crore at the end of the fair.

GM Mizanur Rahman, deputy director of Bangla Academy told the Dhaka Tribune: “Last year we sold books worth around Tk71lakh but this year we have already sold books worth Tk68lakh. We are expecting that the sale would cross Tk1crore at the end of the fair.”

Bangla Academy has set up three stalls at each of the venues including one stall for children. The academy is also running a sale at the newly built Dr Muhammad Shahidullah Bhaban.

A total of 65 new books were brought in by the Bangla Academy.

The books include three editions of “Bangla Academy Bibortonmulok Bangla Obhidhaan,” “Tumi Ki Kebol e Chobi,” an album on Rabindranath Tagore, and two editions of “Bangla Academy Promito Bangla Bhashar Byakoron.”

A total of 107 new books were published yesterday including Sohrab Hasan’s “1971: Bangladesher Shotru Mitro” from Nobojug Prokashoni, and Badiul Alam Majumdar’s “Shongbidhan, Shushthu Nirbachon O Gonotantrik Shashon” from Agami Prokashoni.

Today the fair will open at 7:30am on the occasion of the International Mother Language Day. A poem recital would take place on the central stage. l

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Friday, February 21, 2014

Snail’s pace in ethno linguistic survey n Asif Showkat Kallol If duly implemented, the Ethno-Linguistic Survey launched by the International Mother Language Institute could be the saviour for many of the endangered indigenous languages, especially practiced by the indigenous peoples in the country.

It would have also made it possible for the government, who had tried but failed several times in recent years, to publish textbooks in the languages exclusive to some of these communities.

However, with only four months to go before reaching the completion deadline in July this year, barely 20% work of the Tk3.89 crore one-year project has been completed.

Sources said despite the fact that there had been no shortage of funds, the IMLI officials had been utterly negligent about finishing the project in due time.

The institute has not even managed to start the field level survey work in eight months. According to the project documents, the survey is supposed to cover 25 different indigenous languages in around 30 districts.

An official from the Finance Division told the Dhaka Tribune that the ministry might decide to cut funding if IMLI failed to show any progress soon.

According to an IMLI official, only the paperwork had been finished in eight months. They have documented some 5,000 words from four dialects – Chakma, Marma, Tripura and Achik.

Neither had the institute ever contacted the leaders and researchers from these communities, sources said.

Sanjeeb Drong, general secretary of the Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples’

Forum, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is very unfortunate that nobody has contacted us regarding the survey although it has been eight months. We have only heard from others that a survey of that sort was being implemented. Not only would we have appreciated any attempt to consult us, we would also have extended our full support to make the survey successful.”

He also regretted that his organisation had never been consulted in the nearly 15 years that the institute had been in operation.

When contacted, Bir Bahadur Ushwe Sing, state minister for Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Nobody has ever contacted me in this regard. Even before becoming a state minister, I did not know anything about the survey. As far as I know, no other lawmaker from our communities has ever been contacted either.

“I believe they [IMLI] should have contacted us for taking such a survey forward,” the state minister said.

Jinnat Imtiaz Ali, director general of IMLI, said the field level survey which would take about five months to complete, could not be started because all the technical assistances from abroad could not be brought in.

“We need foreign linguists, specialised software and some electronic gadgets for the survey. Those have not arrived yet. But we have appointed an anthropologist,” he said.

“After conducting the survey, we will get a real picture of the current status of the languages of the various indigenous communities. We will also then be able to come up with full corpuses [a large collection of written or spo” Jinnat said. l

Cycling to this side of Bengal n Syeda Samira Sadeque As a gesture of respect to the martyrs of the 1952 Language Movement, a group of cyclists have been cycling all the way from Kolkata to Dhaka on February 21 for the past three years.

“We do this for the linguistic thread that connects the two sides,” Chandan Saurav, one of the four organisers of the initiative, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“The initiative comes to respect the struggle for one’s right to their mother language and for the martyrs who fought for this right,” he added.

Other organisers of the initiative are

Sharajit Roy, Anwar Shumontro and Amitabh Sengupto.

The bike ride, arranged by Adventure Tourism, takes seven days to reach Dhaka, traversing about a 100-mile. The group plans to attend the “Probhat Feri” today and visit the University of Dhaka campus in the evening, before they head back to India tomorrow.

For the past three years, many people from diverse backgrounds have joined the group for the initiative. This year, the group has nine participants, including one from Rajasthan who does not even speak Bangla, and an 80-year old man. Last year, there was a Spanish woman on their team. l

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Business

B3 Dialogue: Agriculture development policy must be timeworthy

B4 Coins are exhibited at

the currency museum in Sri Lanka

INTERNATIONAL PHONE CALL TERMINATION

Tariff cut plea faces hurdles Showkat Kallol and n Asif Muhammad Zahidul Islam A proposal to cut international phone call termination tariff by 50% is unlikely to get through as the government machinery viewed against the recommendation by Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

The approval to the proposal in reducing the rate from $.03 to $.015 per minute, which is estimated to cause an annual loss of Tk1,100 crore to the national exchequer, would however depend on Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

A summary on the proposal the finance ministry prepared yesterday would soon be placed before the minister for approval, officials said.

They said the ministry is against the proposal and suggested the telecom regulator to go through due technical process to protect the illegal call termination and help save from the monetary loss, according to the summary.

BTRC had sent their recommendation to the post and telecommunication ministry at the end of last year, before referring it to the finance ministry recently.

Industry insiders believe the recommendation has been forwarded backed by “powerful political connections.”

Earlier in a set of recommendations, BTRC had also suggested the government to reduce the call termination rate along with another proposal for changing the revenue sharing structure – reducing the government’s share from existing 51.75% to 40%.

With the same recommendation, BTRC also claimed that at present 3.5cr minutes international calls were generated a day and it had estimated the loss of Tk1,073 crore based on this count. But the finance ministry summery signed by the finance secretary claimed: “There is no statistical base on BTRC’s recommendation whither it is anticipatory.”

They also raised question to BTRC, the termination rate was $.06 per min-

ute in 2008 and reduced to $.03 in 2009, but was there any improvement in illegal call termination or not? BTRC submitted no response in this regard as noted in the finance ministry summery.

One the other hand, though BTRC is claiming present call of 3.5 crore minutes, but industry insiders said at least 5 core minutes of international calls are being generated now. In this count, the government would incur annual loss of around Tk1,500 crore.

They said incoming calls generally increases up to 9 crore minutes a day during the Eid and other festivals.

The summery also noted that the telecom regulators of the neighboring countries share anything about the call termination rate. Here VoIP Service Provider Association (VSPA) claimed that the neighboring countries call termination rate is three to eight times higher than Bangladesh. VSPA convener Rabiul Karim claimed, the international call termination rate in Sri Lanka is $.09 while it is $.095 in Nepal. In Pakistan, it is $.088 and Maldives is the highest with $.25 per minute.

“International call is considered as export earning in every country, but our decision makers are against that,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

The BTRC proposal recognised that lowering the call termination charge and the government’s share will result in a revenue shortfall of Tk1,073 crore – from Tk1,851 core earned from the IGWs and ICXs last year to Tk777 crore.

Though finance ministry doesn’t have raised any legal question about changing the revenue sharing structure, but Barrister Aneek R Haque, a Supreme Court lawyer, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The revenue sharing structure has fixed through a public auction and BTRC cannot violate a public auction decision.”

Aneek, who had held the auction of IGWs in 2008, said by changing these decisions the BTRC had destabilised the whole sector. l

FRIDAY, FEBRUARY 21, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Dhaka urges Washington to allow duty and quota free access under WTO n Tribune Report Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday urged the US authorities to allow duty-free and quota-free access of Bangladeshi products to their market in accordance with the decision at the 9th Ministerial Conference held in Bali, Indonesia late last year.

“I hope, the USA would allow duty-free access of Bangladeshi products to their market,” he told a luncheon meeting with the foreign investors in Dhaka, as expected to get back the suspended GSP by the US authorities.

The minister brought forward the decision of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) for the least developed countries (LDCs) when Bangladesh is struggling to get back the generalised system of preferences (GSP) the US authorities suspended for Bangladeshi products to the US market.

He pointed out that the WTO conference decided duty-free access should be given to the LDCs under the Bali package.

At a separate meeting in the morning, Tofail said the country needs to get the duty-free and quota-free (DFQF) access to the developed markets as per the decision of the ministerial meeting.

Sub-Saharan countries are getting such benefit, but Bangladesh is not getting such facilities, he said, apprising that he would raise the issue again at the WTO forum once goes to Geneva for attending any WTO meeting.

Speaking at the luncheon meeting of Foreign Investors’ Chamber of Commerce and Industry (FICCI) at a local hotel, the commerce minister reiterated that unless considered from political point of view, Bangladesh will soon get back the GSP facility in the US market.

He said the government has already fulfilled most of the 16 conditions of the USTR (United States Trade Representative) for regaining the trade preferences, and the remaining conditions will be fulfilled by March next.

Replying to a query, he said in future the government will be very tough

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed delivers speech at a seminar in Dhaka yesterday in dealing with the troublemakers who resort to violence in the name of political programmes, as it costs everyone — businessmen as well as poor people.

Newly elected FICCI President Rupali Chowdhury, its executive director MA Matin and member Jim McCabe were, among others, present.

Meanwhile, Commerce Minister also attended a seminar on “Challenges of Economic Transformation and Growth: Agriculture and Manufacturing” organised by the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) in the morning.

He said the report on the completion of the 16-point GSP action plan will be sent to the US authorities before April 15. “If politics is not engaged, we’ll get our GSP.” He said the GSP facility which Bangladesh used to enjoy in the US market is “nothing” compared to its total export to that country. Out of the to-

ILO: Union registrations rise in RMG sector n Tribune Report Union registrations in Bangladesh’s readymade garments (RMG) sector rose sharply last year, reflecting a significant progress in improving workplace conditions and strengthening workers’ rights in line with the country’s new labour law, the country head of the International Labour Organisation said yesterday.

“Working conditions and workers’ rights issues are receiving high priority in Bangladesh,” ILO Country Director Srinivas Reddy said at the closing session of a two-day training on Bangladesh’s labour law.

About 30 officials from the labour department attended the training that focussed on a 2013 amendment to the law. The ILO and the Department of Labour arranged the programme.

Reddy said working conditions in

the RMG sector would only improve when workers’ rights were respected.

“Your actions can help create better, safer working conditions. Ultimately, this will increase investor confidence, bring more business and jobs to Bangladesh,” he said.

Since amendments to the Bangladesh Labour Act were made last July, there has been a dramatic increase in registering of new unions in the RMG sector, the ILO said in a press release.

In 2013, 96 new trade unions in the RMG sector were registered with the Department of Labour (DoL). In contrast, only two RMG trade unions were registered in the previous two years. At present, a total of 222 RMG unions are registered with the DoL, according to the ILO. Speaking at the event, Dan W Mozena, the US ambassador in Dhaka, said the defiant owners of RMG factories who were “unwilling” to meet the interna-

tional safety and labour rights standards should “close and leave” their businesses to keep the vibrant export-earning sector free from further risks.

“I think they have no right to make their profits by exploiting their workers, thus, putting the entire sector at risk as inevitable future Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza disasters destroy the Bangladesh brand,” the envoy said.

The ambassador, however, said some owners were fully engaged in supporting transformation of their individual factories and of the sector as a whole.

Mozena said the BGMEA (Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association) must ensure that all owners were part of the solution to transforming the sector to help the country become a global model for apparel production and export.

He also appreciated the government for its “powerful leadership” to trans-

form the RMG sector following the roadmap of the GSP Action Plan and the Sustainability Compact.

“However, more remains to be done on numerous fronts, including hiring 200 new inspectors, establishing and utilising a publicly accessible database and proper implementation of the amended labour law,” Mozena said.

He hoped that more progress would be made on all the fronts before the April 15 deadline for submitting inputs for the next review of Bangladesh’s GSP (Generalised System of Preferences) privileges in the USA. Terming Tazreen Fashions and Rana Plaza tragedies as “horrible days” in Bangladesh’s history, the US envoy said both tragedies could have been avoided.

M Faizur Rahman, joint secretary of the labour ministry, and BGMEA vice president Reaz Bin Mahmood Sumon, also spoke on the occasion. l

Plastic goods makers assured of government support n Tribune Report A four-day fair of plastic products began in Dhaka yesterday, inviting foreign entrepreneurs to invest in the country’s growing industry.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith inaugurated the exhibition titled “9th International Plastic Fair (IPF) 2014” at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

Bangladesh Plastic Goods Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BPGMEA) and Chao International Co Ltd are jointly organising the show fair with over 200 exhibitors from 15 countries, including China, India, Taiwan, Vietnam, Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, UAE, Singapore, Italy and UK. The plastic goods manufacturers put on display products like household items, packaging materials, moulds, toys, pharmaceutical industry items, furniture, melamine goods, garments accessories items, polypropylene (PP) woven bag and machineries in 300 stalls.

Muhith said the sector is growing enviably in the country, but affected due to the suspension of generalised system of

Children making their choice of plastic toys at a stall in the plastic goods fair begins in Dhaka yesterday NASHIRUL ISLAM preferences (GSP) by the USA. “The government is ready to support the industry to take it a new height as it has bright prospect as exportable item.”

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI) President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed invited the foreign investors, particularly from China, to

relocate their industry in Bangladesh taking the opportunity of cheap labour.

The industry has more than 5,000 entrepreneurs, which is a good sign of better prospect of the industry ahead, he said. The industry has a great potential as it acts as both backward and forward linkage industry for the RMG sector, the mainstay

of the economy.

BPGMEA President Md Jashim Uddin said export growth of plastic products averaged at 20% year-on-year. “But the industry is passing hard time due to suspension of the GSP facility and faced financial losses about Tk4,000 crore due to the recent shutdowns and blockades across the country.”

To overcome the situation, he sought some incentives, including LC opening at zero margin for two years, reducing interest rate on bank loans, 20% cash incentive and reducing tax at source to 0.03% from 0.08%.

At present the country is producing plastic goods worth Tk18,000 crore and earns almost Tk2,000 crore as revenue from this industry, according to the BPGMEA. During 2012-13 fiscal year, the country exported plastic goods worth $84.51m, up from $68.76m a year ago.

According to Export Promotion Bureau of Bangladesh, exports of plastic products fell to $46m during July-January period of the current fiscal year from $49m of the same period previous fiscal year. l

tal export of US$5.56bn to the US, the volume of the GSP-backed exports was only US$30m, he added.

Tofail said despite the GSP cancellation, the country saw export growth so far in the current fiscal year and it will reach US$30.5bn at the end of the fiscal.

About promoting the RMG sector, he said an area in Gozaria in Munshiganj district had already been identified to set up a planned garment city with an estimated cost of Tk800 crore.

The government would provide Tk700 crore when the rest amount would be sourced from other investors.

He said there was also an idea of implementing the project under public-private partnership initiative as the government would provide land and the private investors would do the development works.

The commerce minister said there would also be special industrial eco-

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

nomic zones in some important areas of the country to facilitate more industries for export diversification.

About promoting the country’s positive image abroad, he said the image was hurt after the Rana Plaza tragic accident, but such industrial accident was not uncommon.

“There was a big accident in the United States at a fertiliser factory,” he said, adding that no accident happened in the past one year after the Rana Plaza building collapse as the government and industry people addressed workers’ safety with utmost priority.

Chiared by CPD distinguished fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya, the seminar was also addressed by senior BNP leader and former Planning Minister Abdul Moyeen Khan and president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Atiqul Islam. l

RMG machinery imports fall 23% in January n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The capital machinery imports of Bangladesh’s garment sector declined over 23% in January, shrinking the figure to $23m from $30m last year.

According to the industry insiders, political unrest and labour rights issue disrupted the sector’s expansion plans, which made the capital machinery imports fall.

The total import in 2013 fell 13.5% to $310m from $359m in 2012, said Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA).

The year 2013 was marked by prolonged political violence and industrial disasters killing over 1,000 workers.

“Political uncertainty affected the expansion of RMG industry. Capital machinery imports have therefore declined,” said BGMEA vice president Reaz Bin Mahmood.

Investors were not interested to make any fresh investment due to the political unrest, he said. Bangladesh’s $21.5bn apparel industry had seen the deadliest incident last year, the Rana Plaza incident, killing over 1,100 workers.

The factory building collapse raised questions over the workers safety in work place. The local and international outcry after the incident brought the workers’ rights to the spotlight.

“After the Rana Plaza incident, I lost my interest to establish a new factory.

I was frightened,” said Azmal Hossain who intended to set up a woven factory.

“At that time the new investment ran risks, and any expansion would have not been a wise step,” the RMG exporter told the Dhaka Tribune.

Ensuring adequate workplace safety for the workers involve a cost of huge sums. The thinking of safety costs also deterred many from implementing expansion plans.

'After the Rana Plaza incident, I lost my interest to establish a new factory. I was frightened' Besides, the vague idea of the safety requirements set by the international retailers’ groups Accord and Alliance held back the investors from fresh investment.

“Investors are not planning fresh investments as they are still not clear about the safety requirements set by the Accord and Alliance,” said BGMEA former president Anwar Ul Alam Chowdhury.

Further, investors lost confidence as the sector was facing order crisis from the international buyers, he added.

Anwar said Implementation of new wage structure was another reason to abandon expansion plans as it increased the production cost.

The new wage structure for the garment workers came to effect in December last year. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks rally for 2nd day

DSE key features February 20, 2014

n Tribune Report

Number of Contract

vestors as lucrative valuation was still offered at scrip level. “Search for such scrips kept market vibrant during the trading session.”

Lanka Bangla Securities said: “Stocks have careened around the market since the market got some breathing space after three days of correction.”

Although ADB expected subdued economic growth in its quarterly report on Bangladesh, market showed a sign of relief on account of revived economic activities in post-election period, it said.

Investors are also expected to put a positive spin on the news of historic hike in foreign exchange reserve of $19bn as it might taper the interest rate in the economy, it said.

The major sectors saw mixed performances. Non-banking financial institutions posted the highest gain of 2.67%. Food and allied, and power edged 0.85% and 0.40% up respectively. The other large cap sectors like telecommunications and pharmaceuticals ended in red.

Zenith Investment said investors breathed a sigh of relief, as market closed down with the week in positive territory although many expected the market to remain downbeat for a couple of few more days.

“The pressure mainly came from buying spree investors, who found stock prices lucrative after correction in the past few days.” l

Stocks rallied for the second session in a row yesterday with continued poor participation in trading.

The rally was led by non-banking financial institutions, engineering, textile and ceramic that gained more than 1% each.

The benchmark DSEX gained 12 points or 0.3% to settle at 4,761.

The Shariah-based DSES index rose marginally 1 points or 0.2% to 995.

The blue chip DS30 index was up 1 point to 1,688.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, ended at 9,341 with a rise of 9 points.

The total turnover at DSE stood at Tk4 billion (US$51.4 million), which was 4.5% higher over the previous session.

Heavyweight banking issues edged 0.5% lower after rallying in the last two trading sessions and a bout of profit booking took place in mutual funds after rally in the previous session. Among the top ten losers, five came from mutual funds.

“After eight sessions of market correction, it recovered 90 points in the last two consecutive sessions amid relatively less participation,” said IDLC Investment in its market analysis.

It said portfolio re-balancing was prominent among cautious in-

Company

3,998.01 85,647,220 89,462

Traded Issues

291

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

207

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

79

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,304.45

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.93

Turnover (Million Taka)

412.32

Turnover (Volume)

9,632,962

Number of Contract

14,430

Traded Issues

223

4761.18102

(+) 0.25%

▲

152

995.27913

(+) 0.14%

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

▲

68

DSE - 30 Index :

1688.02777

(+) 0.06%

▲

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

CSE All Share Index:

14762.4568

(+) 0.18%

CSE - 30 Index :

12441.5244 9341.6937

DSE Shariah Index :

CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS Company NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A G Next Fashions-A Prime Bank 1st MF-A UCBL - A AMCL 2nd MF-A Standard Ceramic -A Delta SpinnersA MBL 1st M. F.-A PrimeFin. 1st MF-A

GeminiSeaFood-Z

Closing (% change) -5.45 -3.14 -3.13 -2.73 -2.70 -2.57 -2.35 -2.35 -2.29

-2.20

CSE LOSERS Company Samata LeatheR -Z NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A The Ibn SinaA Apex Foods -A Fareast Islami Life -A Imam Button -Z G Next Fashions-A Delta SpinnersA Eastland Insur -A

City G Insu.-A

Closing (% change) -9.20 -8.55 -4.19 -3.84 -3.39 -3.37 -3.13 -2.81 -2.78

-2.71

Average (% change) -6.09 -1.85 -2.80 -1.13 -1.33 -2.62 -1.16 -1.06 -1.06

-0.90

Average (% change) -9.26 -7.64 -2.02 -5.47 -2.02 -3.70 -1.88 -1.65 -2.78

-2.68

Closing average 10.64 31.30 6.25 28.90 7.41 37.90 41.80 8.37 21.47

178.38

Closing average 23.70 10.76 108.57 102.97 115.56 8.60 31.27 41.77 52.50

28.71

2

▲

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

(-) 0.32%

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,198.22

▼

(+) 0.10%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.625

Closing

Daily high

10.40 30.80 6.20 28.50 7.20 37.90 41.60 8.30 21.30

11.10 32.00 6.50 30.50 7.80 37.90 42.80 8.50 21.90

177.70

Closing

10.20 29.00 6.20 26.50 7.10 37.90 40.00 8.20 21.20

182.10

Daily high

23.70 10.70 107.40 102.70 114.00 8.60 30.90 41.50 52.50

176.50

29.00

23.70 10.60 107.20 102.60 114.00 8.60 30.50 41.30 52.50

28.60

Latest EPS

14.764 65.146 0.428 48.800 2.135 0.038 22.758 10.664 4.562

0.024 0.323 0.456 0.170 1.046 0.004 10.245 2.724 0.011

0.089

Latest PE

1.03 2.25 0.62 2.44 0.88 1.06 1.26 1.48 1.00

0.330

Turnover in million

Daily low

23.70 10.80 110.00 103.00 116.90 8.60 32.00 42.70 52.50

28.70

Turnover in million

Daily low

Desh Garments -B Miracle Industries -B Beach Hatchery -A Meghna Con. Milk -B Anwar Galvanizing-B Deshbandhu Polymer-A BSC-A Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z Bangladesh Welding -A Legacy Footwear -A

10.3 13.9 10.1 11.8 8.4 35.8 33.2 5.7 21.5

6.44

Company Kay & Que (BD) -Z Hakkani P& Paper -B Beach Hatchery -A Miracle Industries -B Deshbandhu Polymer-A BSC-A Samorita Hospital -A Bangladesh Welding -A CVO PetroChem RL-Z National Polymer -A

Sector Bank NBFI Investment Engineering Food & Allied Fuel & Power Jute Textile Pharma & Chemical Paper & Packaging Service Leather Ceramic Cement Information Technology General Insurance Life Insurance Telecom Travel & Leisure Miscellaneous Debenture

DSE Million Taka 452.47 235.40 151.47 407.81 400.95 505.29 0.94 402.64 516.64 1.51 15.98 62.28 24.86 167.16 93.02 65.24 192.83 154.65 42.14 104.31 0.44

% change 11.32 5.89 3.79 10.20 10.03 12.64 0.02 10.07 12.92 0.04 0.40 1.56 0.62 4.18 2.33 1.63 4.82 3.87 1.05 2.61 0.01

Million Taka 44.53 32.47 4.99 43.03 31.97 28.37 40.92 50.88 0.52 2.64 5.56 2.81 23.07 10.34 3.40 18.68 33.32 8.60 26.45 0.01

CSE

% change 10.79 7.87 1.21 10.43 7.75 6.88 0.00 9.92 12.33 0.13 0.64 1.35 0.68 5.59 2.51 0.82 4.53 8.08 2.09 6.41 0.00

Million Taka 497.01 267.87 156.45 450.84 432.92 533.66 0.94 443.57 567.52 2.04 18.62 67.84 27.67 190.23 103.36 68.64 211.51 187.97 50.75 130.76 0.45

Latest EPS

9.94 9.76 9.62 9.57 7.69 7.46 7.27 6.82 6.74 6.07

Average (% change) 10.19 9.45 7.58 8.19 7.25 9.55 7.33 7.83 7.11 6.07

Closing average 80.34 22.39 27.80 10.64 28.23 20.86 543.49 8.80 23.60 38.36

Closing average 19.90 31.49 27.96 22.71 20.71 544.25 93.00 23.70 911.47 64.70

Closing 81.00 22.80 28.20 10.70 28.60 21.20 543.50 8.80 23.50 38.80

Closing 19.90 31.50 28.50 22.90 21.00 544.30 93.00 23.50 910.80 64.70

Daily high 81.10 22.80 28.30 10.70 28.80 21.40 543.50 8.80 24.00 39.10

Daily high 19.90 31.50 28.60 22.90 21.30 544.30 93.00 24.10 915.00 64.70

Daily low 74.30 19.00 24.00 10.10 27.10 17.60 530.00 8.80 20.00 33.00

Daily low 19.90 31.40 25.90 21.80 19.90 544.30 93.00 22.70 908.90 64.70

Turnover in million 9.360 5.987 26.068 0.250 2.611 7.971 63.923 0.002 15.955 5.263

Turnover in million 0.010 0.441 11.853 1.366 2.899 18.143 0.047 2.571 0.547 0.032

Latest EPS 1.18 0.22 0.79 -4.58 0.02 0.46 24.00 -25.08 0.57 0.36

Latest EPS -0.89 0.28 0.79 0.22 0.46 24.00 2.74 0.57 -4.06 1.70

Latest PE 68.1 101.8 35.2 -ve 1411.5 45.3 22.6 -ve 41.4 106.6

Latest PE -ve 112.5 35.4 103.2 45.0 22.7 33.9 41.6 -ve 38.1

ACIZCBOND: Advanced Chemical Industries Limited, Sponsor of the Bond, has informed the following: (1) As per the maturity schedule, the record date of ACI 20% Convertible Zero Coupon Bond is 4th March 2014. The bondholders whose name will appear in the Depository List on the record date will be entitled to get the redemption of 4th Series of Bonds, (2) As per the announced features, 80% of the redemption value will be paid in cash and rest 20% can be converted into ACI shares. The bondholders, who do not want to exercise the convertibility option, shall notify in writing their intention by 5 working days from the record date i.e. by 11th March 2014 to the address of Bonds Department, ACI Limited, 245, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208 or to the Share Department, ACI Limited, 9 Motijheel, Dhaka-1000, (3) The NAV per share as per last audited financial statements (2012) is Tk. 213.73 and the conversion strike price is Tk. 235.00 (Tk. 213.73 x 1.1) as per announced formula, (4) If any bondholder gets fraction or odd lot number

of shares through conversion, the fraction or odd lot shares shall be credited to suspense account and will be sold out in the market.

The equivalent selling price against the odd lot or fraction of shares will be paid to the respective bondholders and (5) After record date of 4th Series of Bonds, the number of series in each lot will be reduced to 1 from 2.

GLAXOSMITH: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on February 20, 2014 at 4:30 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

TRUSTBANK: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on February 24, 2014 at 8:00 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

ABBANK: The Company has informed that Mr. Shamim Ahmed Chaudhury has been appointed as President & Managing Director of the Company for a period of 3 years with effect from 23rd February, 2014.

From BIASL Desk: Top gainers were low to medium paid up cap companies with very high PE ratios: Paid up cap of Desh Garments, Miracal Ind., Beach Hach., and Anwar Gal. Are 34 million, 242 million, 343 Million and 132 Million respectively. NAV per share are 12.16, 14.41, 12.48 and 8.10 taka respectively. Last Audited EPSs are 0.88, 0.09, 1.02 and 0.52 respectively and PEs are 92.05, 253.33, 27.92 and 55.00 respectively.

RIGHT SHARE: ARAMITCEM: Subscription 23.03.2014 to 17.04.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 09.01.2014.

RUPALILIFE- Subscription 06.04.2014 to 05.05.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 16.01.2014.

Latest PE

-0.04 1.03 3.12 3.56 4.60 -2.58 2.25 1.26 3.60

1.99

Total

Closing (% change)

Average (% change) 8.71 7.03 6.92 7.91 7.42 7.19 9.58 5.64 7.57 6.14

27.7

-ve 10.4 34.8 28.9 25.1 -ve 13.9 33.2 14.6

14.4

Investors breathed a sigh of relief, as market closed down with the week in positive territory although many expected the market to remain downbeat for a couple of few more days

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY

9.76 9.62 9.30 9.18 8.75 8.72 7.46 7.32 7.31 7.18

CSE GAINERS

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

ANALYST

Closing (% change)

News from trade server

CSE key features February 20, 2014

Daily capital market highlights DSE Broad Index :

DSE GAINERS

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

Friday, February 21, 2014

% change 11.27 6.07 3.55 10.22 9.82 12.10 0.02 10.06 12.87 0.05 0.42 1.54 0.63 4.31 2.34 1.56 4.80 4.26 1.15 2.96 0.01

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

Olympic Ind. -A Square Pharma -A BD Submarine Cable-A Meghna Petroleum -A LankaBangla Fin. -A Delta Life Insu. -A AFC AgroBiotech-N

Padma Oil Co. -A Jamuna Oil -A Bengal Windsor-A

Southeast Bank-A LafargeS Cement-Z aamra technologies-A G Next Fashions-A BSC-A Argon Denims Limited-A Renata Ltd. -A Golden Son -A BD Building Systems -A Mercantile Bank -A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company BD Submarine Cable-A

AFC AgroBiotech-N LafargeS Cement-Z BSC-A LankaBangla Fin. -A Square Pharma -A Appollo Ispat CL -N Beach Hatchery -A Olympic Ind. -A Bengal Windsor-A UCBL - A G Next Fashions-A National Life I -A aamra technologies-A Southeast Bank-A Delta Life Insu. -A Olympic Ind. -A

Volume shares 1,012,000 658,391 702,361 450,230 1,406,957 356,700 1,218,500 245,120 334,247 1,255,424

3,205,550 1,653,500 1,589,155 2,081,070 117,615 805,780 58,054 908,566 711,025 2,533,998

Volume shares

151,151 295,000 455,000 33,335 233,000 52,116 409,000 423,893 57,000 190,200 396,492 327,580 28,300 213,590 345,008 27,000 29,500

Value in million 209.21 172.13 154.65 128.97 99.87 96.79 86.78 82.31 77.97 76.11

75.84 68.39 65.85 65.15 63.92 56.86 56.47 55.87 51.72 49.86

Value in million

33.32 21.06 18.73 18.14 16.58 13.61 13.06 11.85 11.79 11.53 11.40 10.24 9.36 8.84 8.12 7.32 5.89

% of total turnover 5.23 4.31 3.87 3.23 2.50 2.42 2.17 2.06 1.95 1.90

1.90 1.71 1.65 1.63 1.60 1.42 1.41 1.40 1.29 1.25

% of total turnover

8.08 5.11 4.54 4.40 4.02 3.30 3.17 2.88 2.86 2.80 2.76 2.48 2.27 2.14 1.97 1.78 1.58

Daily closing 207.40 258.90 217.70 282.70 72.20 270.40 72.40 334.30 231.90 61.70

23.60 41.40 41.20 30.80 543.50 70.90 958.80 61.20 72.10 19.40

Daily closing

217.60 72.70 41.40 544.30 72.80 259.00 31.90 28.50 207.70 61.80 28.60 30.90 335.00 41.20 23.40 270.30 202.70

Price change 2.32 -0.96 -0.96 -0.98 5.56 2.39 4.93 0.81 -1.15 4.93

Daily opening 202.70 261.40 219.80 285.50 68.40 264.10 69.00 331.60 234.60 58.80

Price change

Daily opening

-0.84 0.73 1.23 -3.14 7.46 5.04 -0.32 0.66 -0.41 -2.02

-1.09 5.36 0.98 7.46 5.97 -0.92 1.27 9.62 2.47 4.92 -2.05 -3.13 -0.65 1.48 -2.09 2.12 4.43

23.80 41.10 40.70 31.80 505.75 67.50 961.90 60.80 72.40 19.80

220.00 69.00 41.00 506.50 68.70 261.40 31.50 26.00 202.70 58.90 29.20 31.90 337.20 40.60 23.90 264.70 194.10

Daily high 210.00 267.00 225.00 290.70 72.50 285.00 73.30 337.50 240.00 62.30

24.00 42.00 42.20 32.00 543.50 71.70 986.00 62.00 73.80 20.50

Daily low 199.00 250.00 202.00 261.00 62.00 266.00 68.10 310.00 215.00 53.00

21.50 40.90 37.00 29.00 530.00 62.00 955.60 55.00 65.50 18.00

Daily average 206.73 261.44 220.18 286.46 70.98 271.34 71.22 335.78 233.28 60.63

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

225.50 73.00 41.90 544.30 73.50 265.50 32.40 28.60 209.50 62.50 29.30 32.00 340.00 42.50 23.80 274.50 204.00

217.00 68.30 40.50 544.30 68.80 257.50 31.60 25.90 195.00 59.40 28.30 30.50 330.50 40.80 23.30 266.10 190.10

23.66 41.36 41.44 31.30 543.49 70.56 972.73 61.49 72.73 19.68

220.47 71.40 41.16 544.25 71.16 261.09 31.94 27.96 206.86 60.64 28.74 31.27 330.57 41.40 23.52 271.07 199.56

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Friday, February 21, 2014

Dialogue: Agriculture development Robi makes impressive profit in 2013 policy must be timeworthy n n Tribune Report

The agriculture development policy should be more time-worthy to ensure the proper use of the existing potentiality of this sector, which can lead the country’s economic growth.

Speakers at a dialogue yesterday stressed the need for undertaking the timely policy intervention in the country’s agriculture sector as the farmers are incurring financial losses very often due to lack of policy intervention.

Center for Policy Dialogue (CPD) organised the dialogue titled “Bangladesh’s Agriculture and Structural Transformation” at a city hotel yesterday.

“Agriculture sector should not be limited within the boundary of ensuring food security, rather it should be considered as one of the prioritized sector that can play vital role in ensuring the country’s economic growth,” said Hossain Zillur Rahman, chairman of Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC).

Citing an example of Denmark, he said, “Based on its agricultural and livestock resources the country is now emerged as the global leader in agri-

Bangladesh, Kuwait ink deal to avoid double taxation n Tribune Report Bangladesh and Kuwait have signed a deal on avoidance of double taxation to further enhance the bilateral trade and investment between the two countries.

Chairman of the National Board of Revenue (NBR) Ghulam Hussain and under-secretary for the Kuwait finance ministry Khalifa M. Hamada signed the agreement on February 19 in the capital of Kuwait on their respective behalves.

The agreement tiled “The Avoidance of Double Taxation and the Prevention of Fiscal Evasion with respect to Taxes on Income” was signed as part of strengthening mutual economic relations between the two countries, said a press statement released here yesterday.

The signing ceremony was attended, among others, by Bangladesh Ambassador to Kuwait Major General Mohammad Ashab Uddin, Counselor (political) SM Mahbubul Alam, First Secretary (labour) KM Ali Reza from Bangladesh side and director of international treaty Omar A. Welayyti, director at ministry of finance Adel A, Al-Asousl, and financial specialist Nawaf M. Al-Najdi from the Kuwait side.

Currently, Bangladesh has agreements on avoidance of double taxation with 28 countries, according to NBR website. l

Yen gains in Asia after poor data shake investor confidence n AFP, Tokyo Currency traders moved into the yen in Asia yesterday as weak data from the US, Japan and China dented investor confidence in the state of the global economy.

The dollar sank to 101.87 yen in Tokyo, from 102.31 yen on Wednesday in New York where it won support from minutes of the Federal Reserve’s January meeting, which showed some policymakers pushed to raise interest rates.

The euro weakened to 140.18 yen from 140.51 yen in US trade, while it rose to $1.3780 from $1.3734. l

Kabir Reza, chairperson of Dhaka Regency Hotel and Resort and president of British Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce has been accorded CIP (commercially important person) status by the Bangladeshi Government

culture sector while Bangladesh could not use its full potentiality due to the absence of proper policy intervention.”

Regarding the lack of policy intervention, Prof Rafiqul Islam, vice-chancellor of Bangladesh Agriculture University said, “The potato farmers has faced a huge amount of financial lose in the current year as they did not get any time-worthy policy decision from the government.”

“As the government has failed to

keep the interest of the farmers, the farmers might decide to refrain themselves from cultivating potato from the next season.” he added.

He, however, said if the government had any plan to export potato or create enough storage capacity for the access potato, the situation could be different.

Zillur Rahman also said that the country’s fisheries sector should also be prioritised as it contains huge potentiality to give pace to the country’s

economic growth.

Regarding the increase of agricultural production, Prof MM Akash of Dhaka University said, “A vast track of agricultural lands in the country has been turning into barren land as a good number of farmers are now interested to live in urban areas, leaving their traditional livelihood.’’

The government should form a Land Bank by accumulating such kind of land to produce the crops, he added.

Prof Akash also urged the government to provide more soft-loans for the small and medium scale farmers so they can arrange their initial production preparation on time, which will ultimately enhance the production.

Shamsul Alam, a member of Bangladesh Planning Commission, said, “The government has already increased the volume of loans with low interest for the agricultural sector which has become popular among the farmers.”

“The government should be attentive to conduct more research on the sector especially to develop new varieties with the capacity of more yielding,” he added. l

Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Mobile phone operator Robi has gained a impressive profit in the just concluded year 2013.

The country’s third-largest mobile phone operator earned a profit over Tk365 crore in 2013, said a Robi report released yesterday.

According to the report, Robi had earned only Tk91 crore in the year 2012.

The revenue of Robi in the last quarter, between the months of October and December, faced a setback due to the political unrest, the report said.

The telecom operator managed to sustain a 16% growth despite some adverse challenge. The revenue of the company increased by Tk4,500 crore in 2013, which was nearly Tk3,900 crore in 2012.

Addressing a press conference at a city hotel yesterday, Robi officials formally announced that they had already been able to expand its market share, by adding 43 lakh new customers in 2013.

The press conference was addressed, among others, by Robi Chief Market Officer Pradeep Shrivastava, Chief Human Resource Officer Matiul

Islam Nowshad and Executive Vice President Mahmudur Rahman.

The active Robi subscribers now stand at 2.54 crore, which is around 23.3% of the total subscribers.

The revenue in the fourth quarter (October-December) of 2013 amounted to Tk1,013 crore, which was Tk1,173 crore in the third quarter (July-September), officials told the press conference.

“Adverse external impact especially instability in the country’s political environment has triggered the negative growth during the Q4,” said Mahtab Uddin Ahmed, Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of Robi while announcing the financial statement of 2013.

He said, “Earnings Before Interest, Taxes, Depreciation and Amortization (EBITDA) dropped 38% from Tk470 crore in Q3 to Tk290 crore in Q4, primarily due to revenue fall, increased operational expenses, and 3G related costs.”

“Profit after Tax (PAT) was completely wiped out in the last quarter from Tk140 crore in Q3 to a negative PAT of Tk one crore inQ4 due to drop in EBITDA and a higher depreciation resulting from investments towards network expansion,” said Ahmed. l

Samsung seeks to wow mobile world with new smartphone

Google fund invests in education start-up Renaissance Learning

n AFP, Madrid

Renaissance Learning, an education technology start-up, said on Wednesday that Google Inc’s investment fund had bought a minority stake in the company, valuing it at $1bn.

Renaissance, owned by British private equity firm Permira, provides cloud-based education software, including reading and assessment tools that the company says are used by nearly 20 million students and teachers.

Google Capital was formed in 2013 to invest in technology start-ups. Its investments include SurveyMonkey, an online survey company, and Lending Club, a service that matches people seeking loans with people willing to make them.

The Renaissance investment is Google’s first in education.

New York Times said on Wednesday Google’s investment was $40m. l

Samsung aims to take the mobile world by storm Monday, almost certainly unveiling a new Galaxy S5 smartphone with rumoured Apple-fighting features such as a fingerprint scanner and larger screen.

The top smartphone maker coyly announced to journalists an “Unpacked 5” event for the opening day of the February 24-27 Mobile World Congress in Barcelona, Spain.

“We are holding a global launch event of our new flagship product in 2014,” its invitation said, using a wellworn technique of not naming the smartphone so as to build anticipation.

The new device will be at the vanguard of Samsung Electronics Co Ltd’s defence of its number-one position.

The South Korean group sold 300

million smartphones last year, 31% of the nearly one billion sold globally and double archrival Apple Inc’s 15.6% share, according to US technology research house Gartner Inc. The Galaxy S5 is variously rumoured to have a fingerprint scanner on the home button; a 5.24-inch, full highdefinition display; a water and dustproof case and a 16 megapixel camera.

At the same time, the industry anticipates that Samsung will reveal the latest, possibly thinner, version of its smartwatch, the Galaxy Gear 2, after the first version failed to win over many critics.

It will be one of an array of new “smart devices” to launch at the show, analysts predict, as manufacturers seek alternative sources of revenue during a slowdown in the well-developed smartphone market. l

n Reuters

G20 final document to address US policy impact on emerging markets n Reuters The world’s financial leaders will address the impact of US monetary policy on emerging markets in a final document from their meeting this week in Sydney, but the wording has yet to be agreed, a Russian G20 official said.

Finance ministers and central bank governors from the Group of 20 major developing and advanced economies, which acts as a steering committee for global economic policy, will meet on February 22-23.

Major policy breakthroughs, including on global growth, investment, financial regulation or cooperation in cross-border taxation are unlikely to emerge from the meeting, the first under Australia’s helm, the source said.

The focal points will be the slowdown in China’s economic growth and the selloff in emerging bond, currency and stock markets that erupted last month after the US Federal Reserve began to run down its monetary stimulus policy.

Emerging market nations will demand clarity from the United States, said the Russian official, who is in-

volved in preparations for the meeting.

“At this moment, we do not have a clear understanding of whether some responsibilities will be taken or whether there will be some agreements that will minimise the negative impact from these (US) measures,” said the official.

Discussion on fiscal and monetary policy changes to bring the global economy to sustainable and balanced growth will concentrate on preparing strategies, using a framework adopted at the G20 summit in Russia last fall.

“While there is a discussion on how the whole process should be drawn up,

tough given that Germany has indicated it would reject any specific goals.

Much discussion will be devoted to the global economy, but the talk will be “traditional”.

“There is no new ‘know-how’ and it is actually difficult to come up with something (at this moment),” the official said.

The G20 financial leaders will most probably agree to the International Monetary Fund’s proposal from last month to extend the deadline for the next round of reforms to the Fund until January next year, a result of the United States failing to ratify a 2010 reform.

Washington is expected to be criticised for holding up a reform of decision-making that gives developing economies more say, but in the end, there is a “broader understanding” among the G20 of the issue.

“We are talking here about the G20’s confirmation, consent that the decision (on deadline extension) is acceptable for them,” the official said. “It’s probable that the ministers will adopt this (in the document).”

Officials from the BRICS countries, which include Brazil, China, India, Russia and South Africa and which are especially handicapped by the halt in the IMF quota reform, will discuss it, but there is to be no separate statement by the group.

“There are no intentions to come up with some reproof or condemnation,” the official said.

BRICS officials will meet on the sidelines of the G20 meeting, to discuss the creation of a development bank with capital of up to $50bn and a $100bn fund designated to steady currency markets.

The turn in Fed policy has prompted investors to reverse the cheap dollar flows that fuelled a boom across emerging asset markets last year, adding urgency to moves to make funds available to countries who need to plug current account gaps.

“There should be no expectations that the negotiations (on will be completed in Sydney,” the Russian official said. “It is too early to say what time frame we are talking about here ... but perhaps the time factor should be of paramount importance.” l

Standard Bank Ltd held its 220th board meeting on Tuesday in the board room of the bank’s head office. Chairperson at the board of directors, Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed presided over the meeting

Md.Sahidur Rahman joined as a Director General in Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) on Wednesday. Earlier he was Director General, Water Resources Planning Organisation

Not much going for brics

'We are talking here about the G20’s confirmation, consent that the decision (on deadline extension) is acceptable for them,” the official said. “It’s probable that the ministers will adopt this (in the document)'

The final communiqué will address the issue.

“We have a preliminary version, but it is still a very rough draft, especially when it comes to that very point,” the official said.

“It is difficult to say now how it will be reflected in the final document of the ministers.”

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited announced the launch of its next generation Islami Bank VISA Debit Card. Dasgupta Asim Kumar, executive director of Bangladesh Bank at a local hotel on Wednesday formally inaugurated the launch of the card as chief guest

how the strategies should look, what they should involve, it is premature to talk about filling them with specific parameters and specific results that can be achieved,” the official said.

Australian officials have said they will use the country’s presidency to push for agreements on growth strategies, but the discussion is likely to be

B4

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World economic recovery struggling to gain traction n Reuters China’s vast factory sector contracted again this month and the expected acceleration in euro zone business activity failed to materialize, highlighting the fragile state of a global economy.

A survey out of China reinforced concerns of a minor slowdown in the world’s second biggest economy while a sister index underscored an ongoing divergence between France, the bloc’s second biggest economy, and the rest of the 18-member currency union.

“The euro zone is most at risk of a global demand shock given the chills emanating from China’s deleveraging across emerging markets, North America’s current ‘frozen’ growth patch and the fact that the US is exporting less of its growth to the rest of the world,” said Lena Komileva at G+ Economics.

Figures due later on Thursday from the United States are expected to show a marked easing of the pace of growth in its manufacturing industry.

The flash Chinese Markit/HSBC PMI fell to a seven-month low of 48.3 in February from January’s 49.5, although some analysts cautioned against reading too much into the report, noting it was a shorter-than-usual snapshot.

Anything below 50 indicates a contraction. “Today’s (yesterday) poor PMI numbers add to the raft of survey and activity data showing that growth momentum in China is clearly slowing after having peaked last summer,” said Nikolaus Keis at UniCredit.

“However, one should not read too much into a single number that may have been additionally depressed by the Lunar New Year holidays.”

After the earlier disappointing surveys from China the yen, which often gains in line with investors’ aversion to risk, got a leg up against its rivals but markets were little moved after European figures.

Flagging france

Markit’s Eurozone Composite PMI, which is based on surveys of thousands of companies and is seen as a good guide to growth, dipped to 52.7, just below January’s 31-month high of 52.9.

That missed expectations in a Reuters poll for a modest rise to 53.1 but marked the eighth month the index has been above the 50 level.

“The story behind the euro zone PMIs remains one of an increasingly fragile recovery under way amid growing divergence between the union’s

largest economies, global growth headwinds and persistent euro strength,” Komileva said. The overall index masked news France is lagging far behind its European peers, pouring cold water on hopes for a recovery gathering momentum in the country after it expanded 0.3% in the fourth quarter.

“All in all, it remains to be seen if the first quarter of 2014 will confirm the beginning of the French recovery or of a longer period of stagnation,” said Julien Manceaux at ING. Still, Markit said the latest data point to 0.5% economic growth in the bloc this quarter, stronger than the 0.3% predicted in a Reuters poll published last week.

But while the recovery across the euro zone appears fairly broad-based, with growth across private industry near 2-1/2 year highs, firms cut prices again to drum up trade, which may further stoke fears of deflation in the bloc.

A composite prices charged index showed firms have cut prices every month for nearly two years, suggesting inflation is not going up anytime soon.

Inflation dropped unexpectedly to just 0.7% across the euro zone in January, official data showed last month, well below the European Central Bank’s 2% target ceiling. l

Friday, February 21, 2014

FIAT MONEY FOR COMMODITY?

Various coins are exhibited at the newly-opened currency museum run by the Central Bank of Sri Lanka in Colombo. Sri Lanka is hoping that popular Buddhist and Hindu temples and Christian shrines will accept electronic cash to ease pressure on loose change in an attempt to free up billions of coins stuck in tills of places of religious worship AFP

Google prepares 34-city Facebook to buy WhatsApp for $19bn in deal shocker push for ultra-fast n Fiber service

Gap to raise hourly pay to $10 in 2015; Wal-Mart remains ‘neutral’ n Reuters

n Reuters, San Francisco

Apparel retailer Gap Inc said it would raise the hourly pay for its US employees to $9 in June 2014 and $10 in June 2015, after the White House said the minimum wage for federal contract workers would be raised to $10.10 an hour in 2015.

Gap, owner of Old Navy, Banana Republic and Gap apparel chains, said the increased pay will benefit about 65,000 store employees. “I applaud Gap for announcing that they intend to raise wages for their employees beginning this year,” US President Barack Obama said.

Separately, Wal-Mart Stores Inc, the largest private employer in the United States, said it remains “neutral” on the issue of the federal minimum wage order of at least $10.10 per hour as it already pays most full-time employees above that level.

“We are looking into the impact that this proposal will be on our business,” Wal-Mart spokeswoman Brooke Buchanan told Reuters on Wednesday.

“We remain neutral. Our position has not changed.”

She said an earlier Bloomberg report that the world’s largest retailer was “looking at supporting” an increase in the federal minimum wage was inaccurate.

“Wal-Mart is not a minimum wage business. Ninety-nine percent of our hourly associates, people working in stores earn above the state and federal wage,” Buchanan said.

Obama said last week he would sign an executive order to raise the minimum wage for federal contract workers starting next year.

The order applies to new contracts and replacements for expiring contracts.

Wal-Mart is expected to report fourth-quarter results today. l

Reuters

Google Inc is exploring a major expansion of its super-fast “Fiber” TV and Internet service, which could extend the nascent network to 34 more US cities and pose a competitive threat to home broadband providers.

Google executives told reporters on Wednesday the search company has reached out in recent weeks to cities from nine metropolitan areas around the country, including San Jose, Atlanta and Nashville, to discuss the feasibility of building out Fiber, which Google says delivers the Internet at speeds up to 100 times faster than average networks.

As Google delivers more music, videos and other content to mobile devices, it is increasing investment in ensuring it gets the bandwidth it needs.

Web-access projects like Fiber could also help grow revenues beyond its maturing search business, and give it more insight into consumers’ online habits which, in turn, is crucial to making ads more effective.

Google had initially billed its first Fiber broadband offer, launched in Kansas City last year, as a test project to spur development of Web services and technology. But industry observers speculate that the one-gigabit-asecond high-speed Internet service could become a viable business for the company, prompting traditional rivals such as AT&T to mount a defense.

“We continue to believe that Google Fiber is an attempt by Google to build a profitable, stand-alone business,” argued Carlos Kirjner, senior Internet analyst for Bernstein Research.

“Google is taking the long view and we think in five or more years, it could turn out to be a significant, profitable business for Google and headwind for incumbents.”

AT&T Inc said last year it was ready to build its own one-gigabit-per-second fiber network in Austin, provided it got the same treatment from local authorities as Google. AT&T CEO Randall Stephenson said in September he expects the telecoms carrier to expand that offer to “multiple markets” in coming years.

And Comcast Corp, which will become the largest cable provider in the country if it passes antitrust scrutiny for its proposed $45bn acquisition of Time Warner Cable, argued to regulators this month that Google Fiber could threaten its business over time. Google now provides Fiber service, at up to $120 a month, in the Kansas City metropolitan area. Last year, it announced plans to expand in Provo, Utah and Austin, Texas in 2014.

The consumer response so far in Kansas City has been “overwhelming,” Kevin Lo, General Manager of Google Fiber, told reporters on a Wednesday conference call. He did not elaborate.

Disruption and expense

To make a difference to Google’s overall business, which is expected to generate roughly $70bn in revenue this year, Fiber needs to expand dramatically.

In a city of one million households for example, Google would reap a modest $288m a year in subscription revenue if 20% of families were to sign up for its $120 monthly service. If it were able to enlist half the homes in the city, that could mean $720m in annual revenue.

Fiber may not prove feasible for every one of the 34 cities under consideration. The company will make a final decision on which of those get Fiber by the end of the year, Lo said.

Building high-speed networks is a cumbersome process that typically requires tearing up streets and working with local governments to get access to utility poles and approvals. l

Facebook Inc will buy fast-growing mobile-messaging startup WhatsApp for $19bn in cash and stock in a landmark deal that places the world’s largest social network closer to the heart of mobile communications and may bring younger users into the fold.

The transaction involves $4bn in cash, $12bn in stock and $3bn in restricted stock that vests over several years. The WhatsApp deal is worth more than Facebook raised in its own IPO and underscores the social network’s determination to win the market for messaging.

Founded by a Ukrainian immigrant who dropped out of college, Jan Koum, and a Stanford alumnus, Brian Acton, WhatsApp is a Silicon Valley startup fairy tale, rocketing to 450 million users in five years and adding another million daily.

“No one in the history of the world has ever done something like this,” Facebook Chief Executive Mark Zuckerberg said on a conference call on Wednesday.

Zuckerberg, who famously closed a $1bn deal to buy photo-sharing service Instagram over a weekend in mid-2012, revealed on Wednesday that he proposed the tie-up over dinner with CEO Koum just 10 days earlier, on the night

of February 9.

WhatsApp was the leader among a wave of smartphone-based messaging apps that are now sweeping across North America, Asia and Europe. Although WhatsApp has adhered strictly to its core functionality of mimicking texting, other apps, such as Line in Japan or Tencent Holdings Ltd’s WeChat, offer games or even e-commerce on top of their popular messaging features.

The deal provides Facebook entree to new users, including teens who eschew the mainstream social networks

but prefer WhatsApp and rivals, which have exploded in size as private messaging takes off.

“People are calling them ‘Facebook Nevers,’” said Jeremy Liew, a partner at Lightspeed and an early investor in Snapchat. How the service will pay for itself is not yet clear.

Zuckerberg and Koum on the conference call did not say how the company would make money beyond a $1 annual fee, which is not charged for the first year. “The right strategy is to continue to focus on growth and product,” Zuckerberg said.

Zuckerberg and Koum said that WhatsApp will continue to operate independently, and promised to continue its policy of no advertising.

“Communication is the one thing that you have to use daily, and it has a strong network effect,” said Jonathan Teo, an early investor in Snapchat, another red-hot messaging company that flirted year ago with a multibillion dollar acquisition offer from Facebook.

“Facebook is more about content and has not yet fully figured out communication.” l

Oil down in Asia on weaker Ukrainian roots shine through at WhatsApp China manufacturing sector n Reuters

n AFP Oil prices fell in Asian trade yesteday after a closely-watched index showed that China's key manufacturing sector contracted further in February to hit its lowest level in seven months.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for March dropped 24 cents to $103.07 in afternoon trade, while Brent North Sea crude eased 55 cents to $109.92 for its April delivery.

DILBERT

British banking giant HSBC's preliminary reading for its purchasing managers' index (PMI) for China, which tracks manufacturing activity in factories and workshops, fell to 48.3 this month.

That marked a further tumble from the final reading of 49.5 in January, when the figure showed contraction for the first time in six months. l The index is a closely-watched gauge of the health of the world's second biggest economy. l

WhatsApp grew up in Silicon Valley, but its founder’s background in Eastern Europe gave it its DNA. The messaging company bought

by Facebook for $19bn in a deal announced on Wednesday has become a global force, with 450 million customers who find it an easy way to send messages across borders and between different brands of mobile devices.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer Jan Koum, 37, grew up mostly in the Ukraine, and moved to Mountain View, California, as a teenager, an immigrant path reminiscent of other Silicon Valley successes such as Max Levchin, the Ukrainian-born co-founder of Paypal, and Google’s Russian-born co-founder, Sergey Brin.

Like technology titans Bill Gates and Mark Zuckerberg, Koum dropped out of college, but in his case, it was San Jose State rather than Harvard.

Koum’s eastern European back-

ground was key to WhatsApp’s creation, according to Jim Goetz, the partner at Sequoia Capital who backed the company.

Unlike companies such as Google and Facebook, which try to learn as much as possible about each user, WhatsApp does not collect personal information such as name, gender, or age, Goetz wrote in a blog post, and messages are deleted from servers once delivered.

“It’s a decidedly contrarian approach shaped by Jan’s experience growing up in a communist country with a secret police,” Goetz wrote. “Jan’s childhood made him appreciate communication that was not bugged or taped.”

Similarly, Brin’s early childhood in Russia contributed to its “Don’t Be Evil” motto.

Koum’s view was evident in a tweet he wrote last year about Iran and Turkmenistan blocking WhatsApp. “When government gets in the way, consumers and freedom to communicate suffers,” he wrote. He also sees

advertising as an imposition.

“When advertising is involved, you the user are the product,” Koum wrote in a 2012 blog post, disparaging the effort other companies make to collect personal data. That same year, he quoted singer Kanye West in a tweet, writing, “You think you free but you a slave to the funds, baby.”

'It’s a decidedly contrarian approach shaped by Jan’s experience growing up in a communist country with a secret police' WhatsApp charges 99 cents a year, and that bargain-basement approach extends to the WhatsApp’s original office, according to Yoav Leitersdorf of YL Ventures, who visited in 2010 in an attempt to invest in the young company.

He’s still impressed by both the founders and what he saw.

“It was like a car dealership with no cars inside and hardly any furniture at all for that matter,” Leitersdorf recalled. “I remember parking my car and walking around the building for about five minutes or more, looking for the office door.” The office contained a handful of desks atop a stained wall-towall carpet, he said.

At the time, Koum mentioned that many of the engineers worked remotely; today he provides recommendations for some on his LinkedIn page.

Last month, as the crisis in his home country of Ukraine escalated, Koum posted photos of revolutionaries and tweeted “praying for peace and quick resolution to the crisis #ukraine #freedom.”

He also has given a shout-out or two to his adopted country. “WhatsApp Messenger,” he tweeted last year.

“Made in USA. Land of the free and the home of the brave.” l