04 March 2014

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

TMAG | MANLIER THAN MOST MEN?

7 | NAZRUL’S SOJOURNS IN CHITTAGONG

‘Gunfights’ on the rise 46 killed in first 47 days this year, 208 last year n Mohammad Jamil Khan Despite massive criticisms, the incidents of extrajudicial killings in the name of “gunfights” or “crossfire” is on the rise with 46 people reportedly killed at the hands of law enforcers in the last one and a half months.

According to rights watchdog Ain O Salish Kendra, at least 46 people were killed in “gunfights” from January 1 to February 16. Of them, 15 were killed by RAB, 22 by police, one by RAB and police, one by BGB and 16 others by the joint forces.

Such killings first surfaced in 2004, after the formation of the elite crime fighting force RAB (Rapid Action Battalion). In 2005 and 2006, at least 739 people were killed in such incidents.

At that time, then opposition party Awami League criticised the BNP-Jamaat government and asserted that they would stop “crossfire” incidents by law enforcers if assumed power. But in 2009, at least 229 people were killed this way.

The incidents of crossfire or extrajudicial killings were on the decline after

2006 and it came down to 91 in 2012.

According to ASK, 210 people were killed in 2004; 377 in 2005; 362 in 2006; 180 in 2007; 175 in 2008; 133 in 2010; 100 in 2011.

However, last year, “crossfire” got a new name, “gunfight”, when around 208 people were killed.

Over the last 10 years, a good number of people were allegedly picked up by law enforcement agencies and were never found again.

Rights activists say the incidents of crossfire suddenly increased centring on the 10th national election held on January 5.

Prof Mizanur Rahman, chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, has said that the incidents have risen alarmingly in recent times. These go against the rule of law and democracy, and are in no way acceptable.

“Those responsible for such criminal acts must be given capital punishment to stop this practice,” he said.

However, police chief Hassan Mahmood Khandker claimed that forced disappearance and killings were

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Police killed him for publishing corruption news, alleges family n Mohammad Jamil Khan

KILLED IN CROSSFIRE 377

Around

362

46 people were killed

in crossfire from January to February 16 this year SOURCE:

Ain o Shalish Kendra (ASK)

229

210 180

208

175 133 100

2004

2005

2006

2007

2008

2009

2010

2011

91 2012

2013

S LATIF/DT INFOGRAPHIC • PHOTO: RAJIB DHAR/DT

Falgun 20, 1420 Jamadiul Awal 2, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 340

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3 killed in ‘gunfights’ with RAB, police n Kailash Sarkar At least two members of an alleged gang of kidnappers were killed in a ‘gunfight’ with a RAB team at Jurain in the capital yesterday.

In another incident, a member of an alleged gang of robbers was killed when police fired returned gunfire when attacked with bombs in the early hours of yesterday at Savar, on the outskirts of the capital.

According to RAB 10 officials and police, four RAB members and four policemen sustained injuries during the

incidents while the elite force recovered two pistols from the spot.

Police also recovered a machete, a homemade long sharp weapon, a bomb and a torch.

The persons killed in RAB shootout were identified as Sangram Chowdhury, 42, and Mahmudul Wasim, 62, of 129 Madina Masjid Road in Alambagh under Kadomtoli police station, while the identity of the 28-year-old alleged robber could not be known immediately.

The injured RAB 10 members were Sub-Inspectors Taiyebur Rahman, 38, and Sanjay, 35, and constable Rajeeb,

30, while one of the four injured policemen was Sub-Inspector Rafiqul Islam.

Rafiqul was admitted to Enam Medical College and Hospital and three constables were given first aid.

RAB officials said they also rescued four persons abducted and tortured in a house on Madina Masjid Road of Alambagh in Jurain.

Of them, Mohammad Rana, 18, was kidnapped from Ashulia, Jahangir Miah, 30, from ZiRABo, Hridoy Mahmud, 32, from Sign Board, and Akhter Hossain, 40, from Sanarpar.

Nearly 75% of fifth graders do not have adequate competence for grade V Bangla while 67% lack that in mathematics, a World Bank report revealed yesterday.

Although these students are at the end of the primary education cycle, they are still performing at a level lower than what is typical of fifth grade com-

petence, World Bank’s “Bangladesh: Education Sector Review” noted.

The report said data and figures were collected from a survey of the Directorate of Primary Education. It was unveiled at a consultation meeting organised by Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) at a city hotel yesterday.

The learning level, according to the report, is low at the beginnings of

primary education, with 50% of third graders failing to meet the competency target for Mathematics, 33% failed to do so in Bangla.

The survey found competence is worse among children from economically disadvantaged backgrounds.

Children from poor families were found to be at least three-fourths of a school year behind in Bangla compared to their richer counterparts and half a

Criminals buy time to stay in jail, says minister n Mohosinul Karim

school year behind in Mathematics.

However, in Primary School Certificate examinations in 2013, 98.58% passed the exam while a total of 2,40,961 students secured GPA-5.

The pass rate was 92.34% in 2010, 97.26% in 2011, 97.35% in 2012 and 98.58% in 2013.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, CAMPE executive director Rasheda

Detained high-profile criminals have been extending their stay in jails by delaying cases pending in courts and carrying out misdeeds, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said.

Commenting on the two escaped JMB militants now on the run, he said there was no need for panic. “We have taken all necessary measures so that they cannot leave the country. Red alerts have been issued along the border. They will be arrested...”

He made the remarks at his office yesterday while talking about the home ministry probe report on the assisted escaping of three convicted JMB militants from a prison van. The report, submitted on Sunday, held the police and the jail authorities responsible for the incident.

The state minister said: “A number of dangerous criminals and militants are in jails as cases filed against them are pending in the courts. The number of such cases is also increasing. Law

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Report: Most fifth graders lack competence in Bangla, math n Mushfique Wadud

Family members of journalist Shah Alam Sarkar, who worked at local magazines, yesterday alleged that he had been killed by officials of Uttara west police station for publishing a news report on corruption by an influential person.

They also brushed aside the police’s claim that Shah Alam had died on Sunday evening falling from the rooftop of the police station as he wanted to flee from the police custody.

“Shah Alam had no cases against him, so why would he want to escape?

This is nothing but a pre-planned killing of police,” the victim’s elder brother Kamal Mollah said yesterday.

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

UPAZILA POLLS

AL ignores allies’ proposal n Emran Hossain Shaikh Leaders of the 14-party alliance allege that the ruling Awami League ignored their proposal for jointly contesting the upazila parishad polls.

Pointing at the BNP and its ally Jamaat-e-Islami, the 14-party leaders say the BNP-Jamaat alliance is doing better because of their strong unity and that the results could have been different had the AL acted in a similar fashion.

Out of a total of 466 upazilas, polls in 211 have ended in two phases where most of the AL-backed candidates were defeated by the BNP and Jamaat-backed candidates.

In the two phases, BNP and Jamaat candidates won 119 chairman seats while their AL rivals secured only 78.

Results of vice-chairman and female vice-chairman contestants of the AL are very poor as well.

The 14-party alliance leaders, whose aim was to join the upazila polls jointly, say if the AL, after securing threefourths majority in the national election, did accordingly, they would not have faced this fiasco.

The alliance leaders claim that they urged the AL to extend the 14-parties’ activities to upazila level and to contest the polls jointly; but were turned down.

Although the national election and the upazila polls are not the same, the AL now sees the result of rejecting the proposal, alliance leaders observe.

At the last meeting of 14-partiy alliance on January 21 in the run-up to the first phase of upazila polls, the 14-par-

ty alliance leaders raised the proposal urging the AL to take part in the polls together. The AL then rejected it and asked allies to contest polls separately.

When asked, Anisur Rahman Mallik, secretary of Workers’ Party of Bangladesh, an associate of the 14-party alliance, said the AL had rejected their proposal for contesting upazila polls jointly.

“Our proposal was turned down and we were asked to participate in the polls separately. Now we can see the result of the denial,” Anisur told the Dhaka Tribune. His party won only one vice-chairman seat.

He said they had requested the AL several times to extend the alliance’s activities to the grassroots but their requests were not taken into account.

“We think if we were able to contest the polls together like the BNP and Jamaat, the results would have been different,” he observed.

Nurur Rahman Selim, secretary of Ganatantri Party which is another associate of the 14-party alliance, made the same observation. He said there was much to learn from the unity of BNP and Jamaat.

National Awami Party’s Secretary Enamul Haque said the polls results would have been different if single candidates for each of the upazilas were chosen and if the polls were contested jointly.

Earlier, Co-Chairman of AL’s Election Steering Committee HT Imam said like the BNP and Jamaat, the AL was considering contesting the next phases of polls along with their allies. l

11 Bangladeshi migrants arrested for gambling in KSA n Rabiul Islam Saudi police arrested 11 Bangladeshi migrant workers on charges of gambling in Taif and recovered SR 21,388.

“We received the news and sent our officials to get detailed information,” Md Mokammal Hossain, labour counsellor of Bangladesh Consulate in Jeddah, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.

The security patrol forces raided the site after receiving a tip-off and arrested 11 people involved in gambling with

a net sum of SR 21,388, reported Saudi Arabia-based English daily Arab News yesterday quoting a police statement.

Dr. Athe Al-Quraishi, police spokesperson for Makkah region, said the Bangladeshis were referred to the Bureau of Investigation and Prosecution.

Bangladesh labour counsellor Mokammal said if the Bangladeshis were found guilty of gambling, they would have to face imprisonment for a minimum of six months that could be extended to a year and would also be fined SR 1000 to 2000. l

Junior minister suspends one, transfers two land officials n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong State Minister for Land Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed suspended a land ministry official and transferred two others for alleged corruption and irregularities during a surprise visit to a land office in Chittagong yesterday afternoon.

While visiting the Kattali land office, the state minister ordered the suspension of Safiq Uddin, a deputy assistant land official, as he was reportedly taking his time to clear some cases.

He also ordered the transfers of assistant land official Akkas Uddin and deputy assistant land official ABM Masum for allegedly taking additional money as revenue and not depositing

the revenue collected in the government coffers on time.

The two officials were also asked to explain the charges against them.

Saifuzzaman also visited Sadar and Chandgaon circle land offices yesterday.

The state minister later directed SM Abdul Quader, additional deputy commissioner (revenue) of Chittagong district administration, to conduct mobile courts in the land offices to wipe out all kinds of irregularities.

Saifuzzaman told journalists that no kind of irregularity would be tolerated in the land offices and such sudden visits would continue to take place. He also said the government had a plan to create a “land bank” with state-owned land. l

Relatives wail after seeing the body of journalist Shah Alam Sarker at the DMCH yesterday. Story on Page 1

Picnic bus had no fitness certificate n Our Correspondent, Jessore The picnic bus that plunged into a roadside ditch in Jessore on January 15 killing eight primary schoolstudents, did not have a fitness certificate, one of the three probe bodies, formed in connection with the accident, has found.

The probe body formed by the district administration, headed by additional district magistrate Sabina Yeasmin, has already submitted its report.

The two other bodies have not yet submitted their reports.

Mostafizur Rahman, deputy commissioner of Jessore, said he was yet to read the report.

Ashraqur Rahman, BRTA assistant director, said the tenure of the fitness certificate for the vehicle bearing plate number Rajshahi Metra-Ja-11-0080 expired on September 25, 2013. l

Rajshahi University reopens March 10 n RU correspondent After remaining closed for more than a month, the Rajshahi University will reopen on March 10. The residential students will be able to get back to the halls on March 9, said a press statement.

The decision came at an emergency syndicate meeting held at the vice-chacellor’s lounge. The press release also said the syndicate had imposed an embargo on holding processions and rallies on the campus until further notice.

The syndicate also asked a probe body to investigate into the February 2 incident.

The university authorities have asked students to carry their identity cards on campus and sought cooperation from different quarters. l

‘Gunfights’ on the rise  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

nothing but an old criminal practice and that it continues to happen.

“The law enforcers are on alert about such practice and they have successfully solved such cases by arresting the criminals,” he said.

About the involvement of law enforcers in the extrajudicial killings in the name of gunfights, he said action would follow investigation if any allegations were proved based on evidence.

According to allegations, most crossfire incidents are nothing but a plot and are one-sided. The police versions of these incidents follow a standard pattern leading to questions about their veracity.

In most cases, individuals identifying themselves as police, RAB or DB officials pick up people. Students, politicians, businesspersons and opposition leaders are on the list of missing.

Sometimes their bodies are found and sometimes they disappear completely. The law enforcers issue press statements claiming that the deceased person had been a criminal, a proposition found to be false in certain cases.

The law enforcers also claim that they have to open fire in self-defence since the detainee’s cohorts launch armed attacks on them.

During an investigation, the Dhaka

Tribune found that one person, who had no criminal record, was killed in a gunfight with law enforcers in Jatrabari on February 15.

Salauddin, 29, and Jewel, 28, were killed on the spot. Although Salauddin was accused in eight murder cases, Jewel had no charges against him.

He was a businessman in Kaptanbazar area and used to sell filter instruments.

The Jatrabari police could not show any cases against Jewel, or even a general diary. Confirming the fact, Mohiuddin Ahmed, senior assistant commissioner of police (Demra division), told the Dhaka Tribune that although Jewel was not accused in any case, Salauddin mentioned his name while giving three separate confessional statements before a magistrate.

Asked about Jewel, Shanir Akhra resident Ashraful Haq said they had heard about Salauddin as a criminal but nothing about Jewel. “I do not know any criminal by this name.”

The Dhaka Tribune also contacted the investigation officer of the case, Prodip Kumar Kundu, who is a sub-inspector of Jatrabari police. He also failed to show any legal documents against Jewel.

In this regard, Elina Khan, chief executive of Bangladesh Human Rights Foundation, said: “Complaints are filed

by families with local police stations after a person goes missing and most of these complaints are filed against the law enforcers. If they did not do anything, then why are the complaints filed against them repeatedly?”

She observed that political will and cooperation of the government was needed to stop these incidents of disappearance and killings.

On January 28, Tanvir Hassan Anjan, organising secretary of Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Bhatara unit, went missing. The members of police, Rab and DB failed to make any progress or trace him even though several complaints were lodged about the matter.

On December 4 last year, Asaduzzaman Rana, Mazaharul Islam and Al-Amin – former leaders of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal’s Jagannath University unit – went missing from Baridhara in the capital.

Rana’s sister Minara Begum filed a general diary with Mugda police station soon after incident, but police are yet to find him.

The Dhaka Tribune found no complaint or case filed with Kotwali police station against the three.

Campus sources said they knew the three as Chhatra Dal leaders but had not heard about their involvement in violence or crimes in the area. l

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Criminals buy time to stay in jail

Police killed him

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yers of the criminals are delaying trial intentionally by seeking time for hearings.”

He said it was a major problem for the government, which is trying to conclude the cases swiftly as high-profile criminals are living comfortably in jail.

“If they are found guilty, they will be punished. Otherwise, they will be released.”

Regarding the probe report, Kamal said: “We are examining the report and the recommendations made by the committee. We will inform the prime minister about the findings and recommendations.”

He said steps would be taken against those responsible, conforming to suggestions by higher authorities in government.

The logical recommendations would be implemented shortly. “We must consider the logical suggestions of the committee. If [government]

officials are found involved with the incident, action will be taken against them. We will also find out the reasons behind their getting involved in such activities.”

The probe body headed by its additional secretary Nazim Uddin Chowdhury was formed on February 23, immediately after the incident happened at Trishal, Mymensingh. The report also named the suspects behind the incident.

Informing the reporters about a plan to release innocents who have been in jail for a long time, the state minister said: “Many people are in prison without any reason. There is no case against them. The jail authorities do not have any documents against them.

“The government is preparing to set them free.”

They would be freed shortly after examining the related documents and reports, he added. l

Report: Most fifth graders lack  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

K Choudhury said these findings called the country’s examination system into question. She said at all levels of education, it was quality that suffered.

Manzoor Ahmed, senior adviser at Brac University’s Institute of Education and Development, said low budgetary allocation was one of the obstacles to ensuring quality education.

He said budgetary allocation in Bangladesh was the lowest among South Asian countries and should be increased.

Taking part in the discussion, teachers’ representative Kazi Faruque Ahmed said teachers should be given training to ensure quality education.

Power and Participation Research Center executive director Hossain Zillur Rahman said the government should rethink the Monthly Pay Order System, as there were irregularities in it. He said school managing commit-

tees running non-government schools was a major problem and there should be a policy on that.

Zillur Rahman added the government should establish more public secondary schools.

Jesko Hentschel, World Bank’s Human Development director of South Asia region, said: “By improving quality of education and also skill development, Bangladesh can link its youth to productive employment in local or overseas job markets.”

Speaking at the programme, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said he himself was not satisfied with the quality of education, though it had been improving over the years.

“Now the main challenge of our education system is ensuring quality. We are working on it,” he said.

The minister admitted that the examination system was bad and said they were working to improve it. l

Shah Alam, 36, used to work at little-known local magazines and newspapers named “Aparadh Daman,” “Asia Barta” and “PhotoJatra.”

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune at Dhaka Medical College morgue, Kamal said police were involved in killing his brother “as when we went to the police station for filing a case, they not only rejected to take our complaint but also forced us to leave the station.”

Shah Alam published a corruption report against Uttara Trust College Principal Bashir Uddin Ahmed recently. Following this, police called him at the station and killed him after torture, Kamal said.

Contacted, Nisarul Arif, deputy commissioner of police (Uttara division), told the Dhaka Tribune that following the report, Principal Bashir filed a general diary with the police station.

The investigation officer of the GD called both of them at the police station on Sunday for enquiry.

When the IO started interrogating both of them, Shah Alam suspected that he might be arrested. He ran to the rooftop of the building and tried to get down using a pipe. But he fell down and died on the spot, said Nisarul.

On the other hand, the first information report (FIR) of police mentioned that Shah Alam died falling from the sunshade of the building’s seventh floor as he tried to escape from the police station using the space created for air condition.

Kamal also said there were marks of injury on the victim’s knees and hands “which clearly means that he was tortured by the police.”

Shah Alam also had a grocery shop in Roisnagar area of Jatrabari and lived in Shanir Akhra area with his wife Suma Akter and daughter Shanta Alam Khadiza, a student of class VIII at Rayerbagh Roisnagar High School.

This reporter visited Jatrabari area but found no allegation against Shah Alam. The officials of Uttara west police station too failed to show any document to prove Shah Alam guilty in any robbery or criminal cases. l

3 killed in ‘gunfights’ with RAB, police  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Executive Magistrate Farid Mohammad Farhad Hossain said the rescued persons had been under the RAB custody.

RAB officials said all victims bore different injury marks.

‘Gunfight’ between RAB and ‘abductors’ Wing Commander ATM Habibur Rahman, director of Legal and Media Wing of RAB, told the Dhaka Tribune the gunfight between the RAB 10 members and the kidnappers took place when the elite force had been on a drive to rescue some abducted persons from a house on Madina Masjid Road in Alambagh under Kadomtoli police station area.

“Acting on a tip-off that a gang of criminals kidnapped some people and had been torturing them by taking them hostage in the house, we went into action,” said Wing Commander Habibur Rahman.

He said immediately after the RAB personnel rushed to the spot, the criminals opened fire on them, prompting the crime-busters to retaliate with gunshots, triggering a gun battle.

According to the official, at one

stage of the gunfight, two members of the gang and four RAB members also sustained injuries while the other members of the gang fled.

Wing Commander Habibur Rahman added that the gang members who received bullet wounds succumbed to their injuries to the Mitford Hospital while the injured RAB men were undergoing treatment.

While talking to journalists at the hospital, Sayema Chowdhury, wife of deceased Sangram Chowdhury, said her husband had gone out of the house Sunday night, but he did not return home till noon.

“In the afternoon, I came to know my husband died along with another man in a so-called gunfight with RAB,” she said.

Inspector Mostafizur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Kadomtoli police station, said: “RAB officials told them about the gunfight that took place between a team of RAB 10 and a gang of criminals leaving two of the alleged criminals dead and three RAB members injured.”

He added that two pistols were also recovered from the possession of injured members of the gang.

But neither RAB nor Police could detail the cause of abduction of the four and anything more about the incident.

Shootout by police In Savar, an alleged member of a gang of robbers was killed when police opened fire at them in return for an attack with bombs at the lawmen early in the morning on Dhaka-Aricha Highway in Harannagar area in Rajfulbaria under Savar police station.

Inspector Mostofa Kamal, officer-in-charge of Savar police station, said during the gunfight that took place around 3am, four policemen also sustained injuries when the robbers hurled bombs at them.

“Acting on a tip-off that a gang of robbers had been preparing for committing robbery on the highway, a team of police rushed to the spot,” Inspector Pradeep said.

He added that sensing the presence of police, the gang of robbers tried to run away, but the lawmen caught some of them and charged batons.

Pradeep said at one stage the robbers hurled bombs at the lawmen, prompting them to retaliate with gunshot that left one member of the gang dead. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Eviction drive near public hospitals next week n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

The Ministry of Health and Family Welfare has decided that a special drive against illegal establishments near public hospitals in the capital will be conducted by next week. The ministry has also decided that Ansar members will be posted at the recovered areas for the next seven days.

The decision was taken during a meeting of the ministry at the conference room of the Secretariat in the capital yesterday.

Health Minister Mohammed Nasim, Home Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal, State Minister for Health Zahid Malek, Dhaka Metropolitan Commissioner Benzir Ahmed, Health Secretary MM Niazuddin, Director General of Health Services Professor Dr Din Md NurulHaque, Chief Executive Officer of Dhaka (North) City Corporation BM Enamul Haque, Commissioner of Dhaka division and directors from different public hospitals, including Dhaka Medical College hospital and Sir Salimullah Midford hospital, were present at the meeting.

The meeting also formed a committee headed by an additional secretary from the administration to lead the eviction drive. Other members of the committee include high officials from different public hospitals, Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Dhaka City Corporations and the Dhaka Division Commissioner’s Office. The committee is expected to sit for a discussion within the next few days to decide when they the drive would be conducted.

During the meeting, Nasim said: “The overall environment of public hospitals are being spoiled by illegal

JU proctor resigns n JU Correspondent Jahangirnagar University Proctor Professor Muzibur Rahman resigned from his position yesterday evening.

Muzibur told the Dhaka Tribune that he felt uncomfortable working with the new authorities, adding that factional clashes by the university unit of Chhatra League had prompted him to resign from office.

Dr Tapan Kumar Saha of the chemistry department has been appointed as the new proctor of the university.

Registrar of the university Abu Bakar Siddique said: “The university authorities have removed five assistant proctors from the previous proctorial body and appointed chemistry department Professor Dr Tapan Kumar Saha as the new proctor along with ten new assistants.”

The new assistant proctors are Nazmul Hasan Talukder, Sikder Md Zulkarnaine, Humayun Kabir, Nigar Sultana, Enamul Haque, Mehedi Iqbal, Tanzinul Haque Molla, Salina Akter, Mahmudul Hasan and Sheikh Adnan Fahad. l

Suu Kyi: Myanmar can learn from Bangladesh n BSS

Myanmar Opposition Leader Aung San Suu Kyi has said her country can learn many things from Bangladesh.

“The programmes Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has taken for the poor, especially women and children, are an inspiration for me,” she said.

Nobel laureate Suu Kyi, also the chairman of the National League for Democracy, made the remarks when Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina went to meet her at the Myanmarese capital Naypyidaw.

After the meeting, the premier’s Special Assistant Mahbubul Hoque Shakil briefed reporters.

Suu Kyi said both she and Sheikh Hasina had come across a long way in the struggle for establishing democracy in their respective countries.

The Myanmar opposition leader highly appreciated Sheikh Hasina’s ceaseless strive for development in Bangladesh, especially for women empowerment.

In her turn, Sheikh Hasina said her government had emphasised on increasing savings of the rural women.

“We have taken a number of steps to make rural women economically self-reliant.”

Sheikh Hasina is now in Myanmar on a two-day official trip to attend the third Bimstec Summit. l

establishments in and around its compound. Many illegal businesses have originated in these illegal establishments. Even the medicine from public hospital are being sold there.”

Saying that some illegal establishments, including shops and other businesses, in few places were being run under political shelter, Nasim said: “As the prime minister does not entertain any sort of political interference, I will not interfere with the eviction drive once it starts. Footpaths are public property, not someone’s asset.”

He also added that it would be the duty of the hospital authorities to preserve the areas once the eviction drive cleans out the illegal establishments, adding that action will be taken if anyone fails to comply.

DMCH Director Brigadier General Dr.Mustafizur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that the meeting was very fruitful.

“Health minister is determined to conduct the drive and make the public hospital completely free from illegal establishments,” he added.

It is learnt that primarily the eviction drive would start at medical college hospitals. After T-20 world cup, the drive will be conduct at Mohakhali area’s public hospitals.

The special drive will target the eviction of illegal establishments, such as slums, permanent or temporary houses, shops and business, near public hospitals in the capital.

In a recent assessment by the Ministry of Land, these illegally occupied lands were valued at nearly Tk35 billion. Sources said, the real price of these grabbed lands could be three to four times higher than estimated. l

Alleged snatcher of JMB men remanded n Our Correspondent, Mymensingh A Mymensingh court yesterday granted 10 days’ remand of Raju Ahmed who allegedly took part in the attack on a prison van in which a policeman was killed and three condemned militants were snatched away.

Raju, 26, was detained on suspicion of partaking in the incident from Natarkandha area of Islampur, Jamalpur around 10:30pm on Sunday. He was produced before the Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Farzana Islam in Mymensingh, Officer-in-Charge of the Detective Branch of police Mazedur Rahman said.

On February 23, three condemned militants of the banned Islamist outfit JMB (Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh) were snatched away from a prison van in Trishal, Mymensingh. One policeman was killed in the raid. Hours after the attack, one of the escapees Rakib Hasan was recaptured. He was killed in what the police said was a gunfight..

Later, two people were arrested. Police said one of them, Zakaria, was one of the snatchers.

Two other militants – death row convict Salauddin Salehin and life-sentence server Mizan – are currently on the run with a bounty of Tk5 lakh each on their heads. l

ASK demands fair probe into attacks on minorities n Tribune Report A child holds a placard at a human chain fromed by Sex Workers’ Network in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding proper education facilities MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Witness identifies Mir Kashem as al-Badr commander n Udisa Islam

Two new prosecution witnesses against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Kashem Ali yesterday said the accused had been a commander of al-Badr force in Chittagong during the 1971 Liberation War who used to torture the pro-liberation people at Daleem Hotel in the city.

They told the International Crimes Tribunal 2 about the abduction of Saifuddin Khan and torture of many others.

Fourteenth prosecution witness Fayez Ahmed Siddiqui, 66, from Banshkhali of Chittagong, said he had heard about the abduction of his broth-

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Tuesday, March 4, 2014

er-in-law Saifuddin on November 24, 1971 from his sister.

“He was taken to Daleem Hotel.

When I went there, Absar Uddin, leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha [formerly Jamaat’s student wing], asked me not to worry. Then I left Chittagong for Patia and stayed there with our guerrilla unit,” the witness said.

Then a banker, Fayez had been the member of the guerrilla force formed with activists of National Awami party, Communist Party and Students’ Union.

He said he had gone to the Daleem Hotel again on December 16 but failed to find his brother-in-law. He then saw many people confined there including

Jahangir Chowdhury and Emran from Kadamtali, and Sunil Kanti Bardhan and Eskander Ali from Hazari Lane.

Fayez said he had met Saifuddin after December 17 and came to know that he was sent to jail on December 2/3. Saifuddin told him that after torturing the confined people, the al-Badr members used to throw the bodies to River Karnaphuli.

Before Fayez, 13th prosecution witness Md Hasan from Sadarghat of Chittagong told the tribunal about the abduction and torture of Habibur Rahman, Ilias Sawdagar and Sanaullah Chowdhury.

He said some masked people had

abducted them in late November. Habibur returned home after 10 days and Sanaullah after 14 days. They both had sustained injuries in torture at the Daleem Hotel.

After their deposition, defence counsel Mizanul Islam cross examined them and the tribunal adjourned the hearing until today.

Meanwhile, the tribunal 2 yesterday asked Mir Kashem to be gentle in the dock as he was sitting on a chair crossing his legs.

The Jamaat executive council member, also the treasurer, Kashem is facing 14 charges of crimes against humanity. l

Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK) has demanded a fair investigation and trial of the perpetrators responsible for recent attacks on minority communities across the country.

The leaders of the legal rights organisation also called for initiatives from local governments to ensure the security of minority communities.

In a press release issued by executive director Nur Khan yesterday, ASK termed the attacks and torture on minorities as violation of human rights.

ASK also expressed concerns over the government’s apparent reluctance in taking necessary steps to overcome the situation.

“If the situation continues, it would seriously hamper the democratic process of the country,” it said.

The ASK leaders also condemned Friday’s attack on a Hindu temple in Kachua upazila of Chandpur and the torching of houses belonging to minorities in upazila election-related violence at Patia upazila of Chittagong on Thursday. l

Former railway GM Mridha sent to jail EC seeks info on cases n against reserved seat contenders Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A Chittagong court yesterday sent Yousuf Ali Mridha, former general manager (GM) of Bangladesh Railway (BR) East Zone, to jail in relation to five cases filed in connection with irregularities in recruitment.

Chittagong Metropolitan Sessions Judge SM Mojibur Rahman passed the order when Mridha surrendered before the court after absconding for more than one and a half years, said Omar Fuad, bench assistant of the court.

Mahmudul Haque Mahmud, prosecutor of the Anti-Corruption Commis-

sion, said Mridha was accused in 13 cases which were lodged in September, 2012, and February, 2013, regarding irregularities in the recruitment process for various posts at BR (East).

The court issued a warrant for his arrest in relation to five cases, chargesheets for which have been submitted, he said.

“Mridha surrendered before the court in the cases related to irregularities in the recruitment for the positions of fuel checker, assistant chemist, train number checker, tool keeper and ticket issuer posts. He pleaded for bail, which was rejected by the court,” he added.

HC stays move to demolish Buddhist temple, cemetery n Nazmus Sakib The High Court yesterday suspended for 6 months the government’s order to remove the 18th century Buddhist temple and cemetery from Koroldenga village of Boalkhali in Chittagong.

HC also issued a rule on why the notice should not be declared illegal It also ordered the government not to demolish the monastery or take any further actions regarding the eviction for six months. The bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order in response to a writ petition. It was lodged on February 20 by Supreme

Court lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua on behalf of two persons who represent the governing body of the cemetery.

On February 12, the Chittagong deputy commissioner issued a notice to remove the temple and cemetery within seven days, or face eviction.

The court yesterday also issued a rule giving the government 4 weeks to provide an explanation as to why the notice should not be declared illegal.

BM Elias Kachee represented the petitioners while Deputy Attorney General Al-Amin Sarker represented the government during the hearing.

Jyotirmoy alleged that the notice had been issued because local MP Mainuddin Khan Badal wanted to build a bungalow on the site and the police authorities wanted to build a training centre. l

Sources at BR said the east zone put out seven advertisements in October and November 2010 to fill 3,419 vacant posts in 38 categories.

Border Guard Bangladesh personnel seized Tk70 lakh from the car of Omar Faruk, the former assistant personal secretary of the then railways minister Suranjit Sengupta, on April 9, 2012. Mridha and Railway Nirapatta Bahini Dhaka Divisional Commandant Enamul Haque were in the car.

Suranjit Sengupta resigned following the incident and Omar Faruk was suspended. Mridha and Enamul were also suspended temporarily. l

HC questions law minister’s candidacy in January 5 polls n Tribune Report The High Court yesterday issued a show cause notice to Law Minister Anisul Huq for contesting the January 5 polls while allegedly holding office of profit.

An HC bench of Justice Soumendra Sarker passed the order after hearing on a petition, Deputy Attorney General Runa Nahrin told the Dhaka Tribune.

Khandaker Hebzur Rahman, a candidate of Manju-led Jatiya Party, filed the petition on February 11, alleging that Advocate Anisul Haque had contested the polls while holding the post of chief law officer at the Anti-Corruption Commission, violating the Representation of the People Order, 1972.

Anisul Haque has been asked to explain to the notice within three weeks.

On January 5 polls, Awami League backed Advocate Anisul Haque was elected unopposed from the Brahmanbaria-4 constituency. l

n Mohammad Zakaria Ahead of the election for the reserved parliamentary seats for women – scheduled to be held on April 3– the Election Commission has sought information from the home ministry on whether the contenders for the seats had cases filed against them.

The commission has also asked Bangladesh Bank for information on loan defaulters, as well as on bill defaulters from the BTCL, Wasa and other utility authorities.

In this regard, the commission has sent letters, signed by EC Joint Secretary Jesmin Tuli, to these institutions. An assistant secretary of the commission said contenders for the reserved seats for women would have to submit eight types of documentation with their affidavits, which would later be made public.

If any wrong or incorrect information is included in the candidate’s affidavit, the commission would cancel the nomination of the candidate as per

the law, the senior official said.

EC officials said the commission has asked the authorities concerned whether any bill defaulter was participating in the polls.

According to the rescheduled dates for the election of the reserved seats, the last date of filing nomination papers is March 9 and the nominations will be scrutinised on March 11. The last day to withdraw nominations is March 18.

The Awami League-led alliance will get 41 seats, opposition Jatiya Party will get six, and the independent alliance will get three seats. If a party or an alliance submits the same number of candidates they were allotted, the candidates will be elected unopposed.

In the January 5 national poll, Awami League won 234 seats out of 300 constituencies, Jatiya Party won 34, Workers party six, JSD (Inu) five, Tariqat Fedaration two, Jatiya Party-Manju two and Bangladesh Nationalist Front (BNF) won a single seat, while independent candidates won 16 seats.l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

'No more load-shedding in Bangladesh' n

Hearing on Mahbub’s contempt deferred

n Aminur Rahman Rasel

State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid has said there will be no load shedding in the upcoming summer season.

“At present, there is no load shedding in the country as the government has successfully been able to generate more than 10,000MW and the situation will be the same during the summer,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

According to government estimations, the demand for electricity peaks during the Boro irrigation and summer seasons,which take place between March and May. They estimate the demand during this period to be around 7,500MW. “We are capable of producing the required demand of electricity in the

country. Oil and gas based power plants will be used at its highest capacity to meet the demand,” said Hamid, adding that “We have taken special preparation to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to the rural areas for irrigation during the summer season.

“There will be no such word as ‘load shedding’ in the country anymore,” he claimed.

The state minister also said the ministry has been working to eradicate bribery and corruption in the power and energy sector, especially regarding new electricity connections.

“We have plans to provide electricity connections to every household within the next five years. Distribution companies, including the Rural Electrification Board, have been working on it.

“We have received complaints from consumers that they had to paybribesto get connections. To prevent such, we will make the entire system technology-based as early as possible,” he said.

“An information wing will be formed under the ministry who will work to create awareness among the consumers against irregularities. They will also advertise the achievements of the power sector,” he added.

Admitting that there is a shortage of primary fuel needed to generate electricity, he said the ministry was trying to minimise the crisis. Accordingly, two compressor stations will be set up to maximise gas pressure within two months.

“The Hydrocarbon Unit under the Energy and Mineral Resources Division

will be reformed so that it can work as the power cell’s think tank. It will help in the Hydrocarbon sector’s development and decision making processes,” the minister said.

According to Hamid, the country’s first floating storage and re-gasification unit (FSRU) will be set up in due time, within one and a half years of a deal being signed with a contractor.

The FSRU, commonly known as a Liquefied Natural Gas terminal, will facilitate the import of 500 million cubic feet of gas per day at Moheskhali in Cox’s Bazar.

On January 29, 2012, the government inked a deal with India for the installation of a coal-based 1,320MW power plant at Rampal in Bagherhat.

The plant will start production within

the next five years.

In Habiganj, the construction of the Bibiyana Southpower plant, a 400MW gas-based combined cycle power plant project, will be completed within five years.

Meanwhile, the government will also keep a close watch on private coalbased power plants to ensure they start production on time.

“We have decided to bring all consumers under the prepaid electricity meters, scrapping the conventional meters by 2021,” he added.

Meanwhile, the state-own Dhaka Power Distribution Company, under a pilot project, will install 10,000 singlephase prepaid meters under the Azimpur Network Operation and Customer Services division soon. l

Defamation suit against Prothom Alo journos n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Tk200 crore defamation suit was filed with a Dhaka court yesterday against the Bangla daily, Prothom Alo’s Editor Matiur Rahman and its two other journalists for allegedly publishing ‘false and baseless’ reports.

The two other defendants are chief news editor/news editor and Comilla correspondent of the daily.

Engineer MA Rashid, director of South Point School and College, Dhaka, also owner of Karnaphuli Ship Builders Limited, lodged the defamation suit with the fourth Joint District Judge Muhammad Abu Taher’s court of Dhaka seeking Tk200 crore in compensation.

Plaintiff ’s lawyer Md Moniruzzaman Hawlader said the court fixed March 10 to pass an order on the acceptance of the case.

According to the case statement, the plaintiff alleged that the daily published news and editorials regarding railway and the government-owned land and South Point School and College.

These news and editorials had defamed the educational institution and business organisation run by plaintiff, Rashid, as per the case.

Rashid also alleged that the three defendants tarnished the image of him and his institution in public by publishing ‘untrue and baseless’ reports. l

Ferdousi Haque dies

n Tribune Report Ferdousi Haque, mother of Dhaka Tribune’s Senior Brand Executive Yasser Tamim Haque, died on Sunday at the age of 65.

The deceased was buried at the Banani Military graveyard in the capital yesterday. She has left her husband, two sons, four daughters, and several well wishers.

The well wishers of the deceased are requested to join the Qulkhani to be held today after Asar prayers at their residence: House no137, Road-S.E.(E)-3, Gulshan-1, Dhaka. l

WEATHER

Slight rise in temperature n UNB Weather may remain mainly dry with temporary partly cloudy sky over the country until 6pm today.

Day temperature might rise slightly and night temperature might remain nearly unchanged over the country, Met Office said. The sun sets in the capital at 6:03pm today and rises at 6:17am tomorrow.

Country’s highest temperature 32.2 degree Celsius was recorded in Sitakunda and lowest 13.1 degrees in Srimangal yesterday. Highest and lowest temperatures recorded in some major cities yesterday were: City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

29.4 30.0 29.4 27.8 29.2 29.4 30.2 31.0

18.5 19.8 15.2 16.5 17.0 16.7 13.5 21.0

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

5:02am 6:17am 12:10am 4:24pm 6:03pm 7:18pm

Source: IslamicFinder.org

Udisa Islam

The war crimes tribunal yesterday deferred the hearing on contempt notice against Supreme Court lawyer Khandaker Mahbub Hossain until April 10 upon an adjournment plea of the defence.

The tribunal 1 on October 6 of 2013 issued the notice asking Mahbub, also an adviser to the BNP chairperson, as to why contempt proceeding would not be initiated against him for his comments on the death penalty against war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury on October 1 last year.

Yesterday was set for holding a hearing on the matter. But defence counsel Tajul Islam placed an oral submission pleading eight weeks’ adjournment. He cited that the defence lawyers could not turn up for the hearing due to personal difficulties.

The tribunal then set the new date amid opposition from the prosecution.

Shortly after the conviction of Salauddin Quader, Mahbub told the media that “each and every person” involved in the trial process would be tried if the BNP assumed power. l

Sunday Times shortlists Tahmima Anam for literary award

n Tribune Report

A viewer takes picture of a stuffed tiger during an exposition organised by the Forest Department at the National Press Club yesterday, on the occasion of World Wildlife Day RAJIB DHAR

Bangladeshi-British writer Tahmima Anam has been shortlisted for this year’s Sunday Times EFG Short Story Award for her work, “Anwar Gets Everything”.

In the shortlist announced on Friday, Tahmima will vie for the literary prize with Pulitzer prize-winners Elizabeth Strout and Adam Johnson, British writers Anna Metcalfe and Jonathan Tel and Canadian-American author Marjorie Celona, a press release said yesterday.

The winner will be named at a gala dinner at Stationers’ Hall in London on April 4. The prize comes with £30,000 (about Tk38 lakh), sponsored by EFG Private Bank.

Tahmima’s short story evokes the voice of a Bangladeshi migrant worker in Dubai.

Tahmima, who was born in Dhaka, is also the author of The Good Muslim and A Golden Age, winner of the 2008 Commonwealth Writers Prize for Best First Book. l

Traders allege forced toll collection by 'regional scout camp'

HC asks government for update on RU firing probe

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

n Nazmus Sakib

A number of businessmen in Barisal say they have been forced to pay money collected in the name of a scout camp.

Wishing to remain anonymous, one of the men showed this correspondent a copy of a letter he received asking him to pay money for a regional cub camp scheduled to be held at Barisal Regional Scout Training Centre from March 2 to 7. The letter was signed by Barisal divisional commissioner and was sent from his office (memo no.

05.10.0000.102.06.001.14.10(20) dated January 12, 2014).

In the letter, it was said that 800 cub scouts, 130 unit leaders and nearly 70 officials from 130 schools in 41 upazilas

in the region would join the camp and Tk12 lakh was needed to bear the cost of the programme which was beyond the capacity of the regional scout fund.

Mentioning a shortage of funds, the letter from the divisional commissioner’s office asked several businessmen and business institutions to deposit at minimum of Tk5,000in the form of a demand draft or pay order- in the account of Bangladesh Scouts Barisal region at Prime Bank’s Barisal branch.

Recipients of the letter said it would be considered an official toll collection form and none of them had courage to ignore the letter in fear of administrative harassment which could include facing the mobile court.

Touhiduddin Ahmed, regional director and secretary of Bangladesh Scouts in Barisal, said the letter was issued by the divisional commissioner as president of the First Regional Cub Camp Organizing Committee.

Denying the allegation of forcibly collecting money, the regional scout official said businessmen were humbly asked for money in the form of donations. He said they were not compelled to pay any money, adding that many businesspeople often volunteer to help arrange different scout activities.

The money would be adjusted as “advertisement charges” for the businesses for their advertisements on the event souvenir to be produced for the occasion, he added. l

The High Court yesterday asked the government to inform the court whether any case was lodged against the political activists who were seen brandishing firearms during the February 2 violence at Rajshahi University (RU).

On February 2, over 100 RU students were injured as police and Bangladesh Chhatra League activists fired rubber bullets at students, who were demonstrating demanding the cancellation of fee hikes and evening master’s programs.

The HC also asked the deputy attorney general to inform the court as to whether any committee was formed to investigate the incident.

Deputy Attorney General Al Amin

Sarkar has been asked to provide the information on behalf of the government within a week to the HC bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Muhammad Khurshid Alam Sarkar.

After passing the order, the bench adjourned the hearing on the writ petition for a week, said BM Elias Kachee, the lawyer for the petitioner.

Challenging the legality of firing on the RU students, Supreme Court Lawyer Jyotirmoy Barua, on behalf of a group of human rights activists and public university teachers, filed the petition with the HC on February 19.

The petition was filed after the government authorities failed to respond to a legal notice served on February 11 seeking an explanation for police actions. l

ACC to quiz Khulna Jamaat Swiss cooperation for local government development in strategic planning chief Parwar n Tribune Report

The Anti Corruption Commission will soon question detained Khulna Jamaat-e-Islami chief and the party’s assistant secretary general Mia Golam Parwar at Khulna jail gate, on charges of amassing illegal wealth.

the ACC also served notices to three AL leaders asking them to submit their wealth statements ACC Deputy Director Farid Uddin Patwary, who is the investigation officer of the case, told the Dhaka Tribune that the commission, on Sunday, approved his plea to question the former lawmaker and had already served a notice to the concerned court in Khulna for approval.

Earlier, officials from the anti-graft body conducted drives in Khulna city, collected necessary documents and questioned many individuals in connection with the allegations against the Jamaat leader.

Sources at the ACC said the inquiry officer has almost completed his inquiry report of the case and needed the statement of the Jamaat leader before submitting the report to the commission.

As soon as the court approves the plea, the ACC officials will question Parwar at Khulna jail gate, sources added.

In August last year, the Detective Branch of Police arrested Professor Mia Golam Parwar from the Khulna jail gate area immediate after he was released from prison. Parwar was sent to jail earlier on charges of vandalism and obstructing police work.

Meanwhile, the ACC yesterday served notices to three Awami League leaders, including two former ministers, and members of their families, asking them to submit their wealth statements before the commission within next seven days.

The commission, in a notice, asked former health and family welfare minister Ruhal Haque, his wife Ila Haque and son Ziaul Haque for their wealth statements. It also served similar notices to former state minister for water resources Mahbubur Rahman, his wife Preeti Rahman and their son, Enamul Haque, who is also the lawmaker from Rajshahi 4 constituency, and his wife Tahura Haque. l

n Tribune Report

Switzerland yesterday launched a new programme aimed at developing the local government system in Bangladesh.

The third phase of the “Sharique” project was launched with a focus on strategic planning and fiscal autonomy of local governments, as well as poverty reduction and social inclusiveness, according to a press release from the Swiss Embassy in Dhaka.

The project area includes 207 union

parishads in the districts of Rajshahi, Sunamganj, Chapainawabganj and Khulna.

The third phase of the local governance project will end in 2016 and benefit over 50,000 citizens in the target areas.

Since 2006, “Sharique” has been addressing the issue of poverty alleviation in Bangladesh by facilitating improved local governance services.

In the first two phases, significant milestones in improving local governance were achieved, particularly in increased transparency, accountability

and participation of communities.

Under the programme, 130 targeted union parishads are now formulating their annual plans and budgets through the open participation of citizens.

At present, Switzerland’s cooperation strategy for Bangladesh focuses on three thematic areas- local governance, skills development and market development.

Annual Swiss development assistance to Bangladesh amounts to around US$34million. l

BCL activists confine PUST teachers, officials n Our Correspondent, Pabna Activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League at the Pabna University of Science and Technology (PUST), allegedly angered at not being invited to an informal opening of a new administrative building, yesterday confined teachers and officials of the university inside the new building for two hours.

According to university sources, administrative work kicked off yesterday in the newly built administrative PUST

building in Rajapur.

An informal programme was held to mark the start of work at the new building, but no political leader was invited as it was an informal program, the sources said.

Chhatra League activists, angry at not being invited, reportedly confined officials and teachers inside the administrative building for two hours, as well as vandalising rooms in the academic unit of university.

He said angry students locked the

building when university officials misbehaved with the students after being asked why student leaders were not invited to the programme.

University Proctor Md Kamruzzaman said Chhatra League activists unlocked the building after an understanding was reached.

Asked why the Chhatra League leaders were not invited, the proctor said there was no need to invite political leaders as the programme was an informal and internal event of the university. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Foot-over-bridge escalator to ease pedestrians’ woes n Abu Hayat Mahmud

The country’s first escalator, a moving staircase driven by motor, on the Airport road from Sainik Club to Road 11 of Banani in the capital, is likely to be opened to public this month.

Installation and other beautification works of the project are in the final stage. There will be a stairway and an escalator on both sides of the structure to help people easily move to the destination. Pedestrians will use the escalator for going up and the stairway could be used to walk down when they reach the other side.

Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) is implementing the project while MAQ Engineering Bangladesh is constructing the footbridge as part of an experimental Clean Air and Sustainable Environment Project that started in June 2009. Construction of the structure will cost Tk 1.5 crore.

If the project succeeds in meeting its objective, the city corporation will construct another seven in seven different places in the city.

Speaking of the footbridge, Md Ratan, site supervisor of MAQ Engineering said: “Installation of the escalator is likely to be finished soon and it will also be possible to inaugurate it by this month.”

“It is likely to be inaugurated on March 26, the country’s Independence Day,” he added.

In reply to a question, Ratan said the DNCC has to finish the project before March 16, which is also the ICC T20 World Cup inauguration day.

“Although we will be able to com-

plete installation of escalators, but construction of shed roof over the escalators cannot be finished before March 16,” he said.

Project director Shihab Ullah said two escalators had been imported from Malaysia, each costing Tk 75,40,000.

“Security guards will be appointed to ensure proper maintenance of the escalators,” he added.

Shihab Ullah observed the purpose of attaching escalators to footbridge was to encourage people to use pedestrian bridge. Moreover, it would reduce the risk of accidents while crossing the road and older people would also benefit from it, he said.

During a visit yesterday, this correspondent noticed installation of halogen lights on the shed had been completed. Workers were also seen cleaning and painting parts of the bridge.

Pedestrians, while speaking to this correspondent, said they were happy to see such a structure in the capital.

Shahin Mhmud, a resident of Banani said: “Many aged people, especially women and children, find it hard to use footbridge. I think they, along with other city pedestrians, will now feel encouraged to use it.”

“Besides, it will largely help people having problem in their legs,” he added.

Another pedestrian Nafisa Chowdhury echoed the same but said maintenance of the escalator would have to be prioritized.

“After building the footbridge, drug addicts may occupy this. The authorities have to keep an eye on that,” she added. l

Workers set up parts of the escalator on the foot over-bridge in the capital’s Banani area yesterday

JNU HALL RECOVERY DEMO ENTERS 19TH DAY

Education Ministry forms body to recover halls n Mohammad Jamil Khan Education Ministry, on the nineteenth day of ongoing students’ movement demanding hall recovery of Jagannath University (JnU), formed an eight-member probe body yesterday.

The committee headed by local parliamentary member Kazi Firoz Rashid was formed in a meeting held at the ministry with Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid in the chair.

The body will submit its report over the status of recovering the halls within 30 days.

JnU Registrar Engineer Ohiduzzaman will be the member secretary of the committee.

Education Secretary Mohammad Sadik, JnU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr Mizanur Rahman and Additional Secretary Kazi Salahuddin Akbar were present at the meeting.

Speaking at the meeting, Nahid asked university authority to form another committee with university treasurer to buy new land nearby the

Students of the university have been staging demonstration since February 12 demanding recovery of 10 halls from land grabbers university to extend the campus and started construction work of Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib hall.

He later urged teachers to continue their professional duty to keep congenial atmosphere on the campus.

On the other hands, students of the

university staged demonstration like the previous 18 days.

They brought out a procession on the campus around 10am which paraded main points of the campus.

They later put up barricade on English road, Rayshaheb Bazar intersection, Bangla Bazar intersection, Luxmibazar intersection and in Bahadur Shah Park area.

The road blockade continued till 2pm and created huge traffic jam in the areas.

During agitation, the students set fire to tires in several spots which spread panic among neighboring people.

“The traffic movement on the Gulistan and Sadarghat route resumed around 2pm after the students withdraw their blockade,” says Harun-orRashid, deputy commissioner of police of Lalbagh.

Bangladesh Chhatra League President JnU unit Shariful Islam said they

would besiege the Bangladesh Bank of Sadarghat Branch today as a part of ongoing demonstration.

Meanwhile, JnU teachers association held a protest rally in front of university Shaheed Rafiq building to press home their demands, including hall recovery and withdrawal of deputy commissioner of police of Lalbagh and officer-in-charge of Kotowali police station The ongoing teachers demo would continue until the demands are meet, said Prof Dr Sarkar Ali Akkas, president of JnU teachers association.

Students of the university have been staging demonstration since February 12 demanding recovery of 10 halls from land grabbers.

On February 23, a bloody clash took place between the students and police, leaving at least 200 people injured including teachers and staffs of the university. l

POLICE CONSTABLE SIDDHARTHO MURDER

Five BNP-Jamaat men sent to jail n Our Corresondent, Rajshahi A Rajshahi court yesterday rejected the bail petitions of 5 BNP-Jamaat men and sent them to jail in connection with the police constable Siddhartha Sarker murder case.

The convicts are district unit BNP advisor Shaheen Showkot, its vice-president Tofazzol Hossain Topu, Juba Dal convener Anowar Hossain Ujjol, activist Jamil and Jamaat city unit acting secretary-general Mohammod Jahangir.

Judge Ashraful Islam of Metropolitan Daira Judge Court, passed the order after they surrendered before the court in the afternoon and sought bail.

Earlier, on February 24, Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court

rejected the bail petitions of 36 BNP leaders and activists and sent them to jail in relation to the same case.

On December 26, 2013, Siddhartha died after he, along with eight others, was wounded after miscreants hurled several crude bombs at a police car in Rajshahi city while the BNP-led alliance was holding a procession.

Siddhartha succumbed to his injuries at the Combined Military Hospital in Dhaka after being flown from Rajshahi to the capital.

The police filed two separate cases against Mosaddek Hossain Bulbul, BNP joint secretary general Mizanur Rahman Minu, Jamaat city unit secretary general Mohammod Jahangir and 485 others on the charge of killing the police constable. l

BCL expels 4 JU unit leaders over clash

40 shanties catch fire n Tribune Report At least 40 shanties and a warehouse caught fire in different incidents in the capital yesterday.

According to sources, the fire broke out at the warehouse of RAK Paints (Pvt.), a paint producer, at Jasimuddin Road, close to the Aarong’s showroom at 11:40am.

On information, six fire fighting units from Biman Bandar, Baridhara and Tongi fire stations rushed in and doused the flames around 12:25pm.

Officer-in-charge of Uttara west police station Rafiqul Islam confirmed the incident.

He said the warehouse was full of flammable liquid.

“We are not sure about the source of the fire. We suspected that electric short circuit is liable,” said Md Zakir Hossain, a senior station officer of fire service.

On the otherhand , 40 shanties were damaged as a fire broke out at Milk Vita slum at Mirpur section-10 in the morning.

Shahjadi Sultana, a fire brigade station officer at the headquarters, said the fire originated from a stove of the slum around 11:50am and it soon raged through the area, damaging 40 shanties of the slum.

On information, firefighting units from different fire stations of the city, including Mirpur fire station, rushed to the spot and doused the flame around 12:40pm.

“The fire perhaps originated from a stove in the slum,” said Mohammad Ali, station officer of the fire service.

Meanwhile, another fire gutted some shanties around noon at Gendaria of Doyaganj around 11am.

Firefighters doused the fire within an hour. l

NASHIRUL ISLAM

n JU Correspondent

A fire broke out at a slun in Gandaria of the city yesterday

Activists slate Rajuk’s development plans n Tribune Report The Rajuk deviated from its role of promoting development plans and monitoring their implementation, said a press release yesterday.

Instead of playing the role, the city development authority was engaged in implementing development works.

The environmental activists came up with the observation at a human chain organised by pro-liberation organisations including social, political, cultural and environmental groups in front of the National Press Club yes-

terday, said a press release of Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Save the Environment Movement).

The speakers said the Rajuk began an eviction drive to demolish the Zinda Park, a natural wonder, located at Rupganj upazila in Narayanganj, is underways as the organisation took the initiative to establish a housing project ‘Purbachal Town’ by destroying the park.

Many people have lost their homes and became poor. More than 10,000 trees of 250 species were planted there and many people were earning money through maintenance of the park. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

The central committee of Bangladesh Chhatra League yesterday suspended four leaders of its Jahangirnagar University unit following a factional clash at the campus that left at least 15 students injured on Sunday.

The suspended BCL leaders are JU unit general secretary Rajib Ahmed Rasel, organising secretary Faisal Hossain Dipu, sports secretary M M Niamul Hasan Taaj and deputy social welfare secretary Bashirul Haque.

“Four Chhatra League leaders of Jahangirnagar University unit have been expelled on temporary basis for breaking the discipline of the organisation,” Siddique Nazmul Alam, central general secretary of the ruling party’s student wing, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Meanwhile, Rashedul Hasan Rasel, joint secretary of the organisation’s JU

unit, has been made the acting general secretary, central office secretary Sheikh Russel said.

At least 15 students were injured on Sunday as two rival groups of BCL, led by Rajib and Faisal respectively, clashed on the JU campus over non-payment of food bills. The leaders and activists from both sides also traded several rounds of gunfire, leaving one victim with bullet wounds.

Source said after hearing of the clash, the organisation’s central committee president HM Bodiuzzaman Shohagh and general secretary Siddique visited the campus on Sunday night and met with the leaders and activists of its JU unit.

At the meeting held at the cafeteria, they decided to temporarily expel the rival leaders, the sources added.

Both Rajib and Faisal could not be reached for comments as they were unavailable over their mobile phones. l

Clash over kitchen market lease injures eight in Barisal n Our Correspondent, Barisal At least eight activists of Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and Awami Jubo League, the student and youth fronts of the ruling Awami League respectively, were injured in a clash between followers of the organisations over the leasing of a kitchen market at Gournadi upazila in Barisal yesterday afternoon.

Witnesses said upazila BCL and Jubo League men at Gournadi Palli Bidyut office compound engaged had an altercation over the leasing of Chandshi

Bazaar at about 11:30am.

At one stage of the altercation, Rakibul Islam Barkat, upazila BCL convening committee member, was assaulted by upazila Jubo Leugue convening committee member Md Mithu.

Zakaria Akand, another upazila Jubo Leugue convening committee member, was severely injured by the BCL activists.

Jubo League activists led by Rezaul Karim Titu, municipal councilor, placed the issue before Upazila Chairman Shah Alam Khan for arbitration.

When they were exiting the office, BCL activists swooped on them, triggering a fierce clash that left eight people from both groups injured.

Police rushed to the spot and controlled the situation by charging batons on the clashing groups.

Of the injured, Zakaria was admitted to Gournadi Upazila Health Complex.

Officer-in-Charge of Gournadi police station Abul Kalam said police had conducted raids in different parts of the city and arrested four BCL activistsRubel, Barkat, Selim and Rumman. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Election fever hits Bholahat Jubo League leader Correspondent, n Our Chapainawabganj Campaigns for the third phase of the upazila polls at Bholahat upazila in Chapainababaganj have gained momentum.

The candidates aspiring to be chairmen and vice-chairmen from both Awami Leugue and the BNP are doing dawn-to-dusk canvassing so that voters would cast their votes in their favour.

Voters are seen debating amongst themselves about candidates, rival candidates, their strategy and also national politics in hotels, restaurants, local markets and tea stalls.

During the 10th national parliamentary election, many voters were seen apathetic as the BNP-led 19-party alliance did not participate in that election.

But, the upazila poll is an exception.

Both voters and candidates are enthusiastic about the polls scheduled for March 15.

On that day, election would be held in Chapainawabganj Sadar, Shibganj and Bholarhat upazilas.

During a visit to Bholarhat upazila, this correspondent found that makeshift campaign offices were established which are covered with candidate posters.

Supporters of the candidates have also been doing election campaigning from 2pm to 8pm using sound systems.

The roads and streets were seen filled with digital banners and black and white posters.

Bholarhat upazila Nirbahi Officer and Assistant Returning Officer Kazi Ziaul Baset said: “Election campaign has been going on in full swing. We are yet to get any complaints against any candidates regarding violation of electoral law.

“We will take legal actions if we receive any complaint.”

He added, a total of 66,024 voters would cast votes in 211 booths of 30 polling centres.

Upazila Awami League have finalised single candidates for each post while three candidates, including two rival candidates, have been contesting from the BNP-led 19 party alliance.

Chapainawabganj district Awami league’s Vice-President Dr Ashraful Haque Chunnu was nominated as single candidate to contest for the chairman post at the upazila from the party.

Chairman candidate of AL Ashraful Haque Chunnu, Anwarul Islam of the BNP-led 19-party alliance and incumbent chairman Babar Ali Biswas said they would work for the development of the upazila if elected.

Besides, voters said they would choose honest and capable candidates who would fulfill their demands. l

Five jewellery shops looted

builds structure on public land in Barisal n Our Correspondent, Barisal A Jubo League leader is building a structure on public land in the Gournadi area of Barisal, violating a government order.

The land-grabber is Sohel Sardar, an influential leader of Gournadi Municipal unit Jubo League convening committee.

Confirming the incident, local land office and police station sources said Sohel occupied 27 decimals out of 56 decimals of government land and began construction work there on January 17, 2014.

The remaining 29 decimals land being used by Gournadi Upazila Health Complex.

n Our Correspondent, Pabna

Mofizul Islam, Mahilara union assistant land officer, as the complainant, lodged a case against the land grabber with Gournadi police station.

Sohel promised in a written bond to return the occupied land.

However, on Sunday March 2, he resumed construction on the occupied land, violating the bond and the government ruling.

The Jubo League leader claimed that he obtained permission from the authorities concerned and then recommenced construction on the land.

Abul Kalam, officer-in-charge of Gournadi police station, said the case lodged by the land office was still valid and they would should take action against Sohel. l

Bumper potato yield expected in Khulna

Farmers demand water supply from Teesta dam n Our correspondent, Dinajpur Hundreds of agitated farmers from the Debiganj area of Chirirbandar upazila in Dinajpur yesterday staged a demonstration on the Rangpur Highway, demanding adequate water supply to their farmlands from the Teesta dam.

There are several canals connected to the Teesta dam that supply water to famers during production seasons, particularly for Boro farming, according to local sources.

However, despite a 40km long canal from the Dalia point to the dam in Chirirbandar, the farmers do not get sufficient water during dry seasons which hamper their cultivation process badly, farmers claimed.

Officials from the upazila administration said the canal water gets blocked by sluice gates at different points before reaching the farmlands and for that reason farmers do not get sufficient water.

The farmers continued the demonstration for two hours in two phases.

Farmer alleged that officials from the upazila administration had earlier promised them that they would ensure water supply immediately, but that little was done in reality.

Chirirbandar Upazila Executive Officer Mizanur Rahman said they would take necessary steps soon after consultation with the concerned authorities. l

n Tribune Report

Farmers thrash mustered oil seeds at Mahadevpur under Godagari upazila. Farmers in the district have witnessed bumper production of the oil seeds this year

Cotton a boon for char farmers n Our correspondent, Jamalpur Cultivation of cotton is gaining ground in the barren char areas of Jamalpur.

It has brought prosperity to a number of farmers, including women, in the char (river island) areas of Jamuna and Brahmaputra this year.

Leaving behind the cultivation of paddies, jute and mustard, a number of farmers took up cotton cultivation during the Bangla months of Magh and Chaitra.

Over 3500 hectares of uncultivated land was used for the cultivation of cotton this year.

Previously it was tough for farmers to recoup their expenses in cultivation of other crops in the barren char areas. However, this

year they are gaining substantial profits from producing cotton, said sources at the Jamalpur Cotton Development Board.

They said this year cotton was cultivated on 225 hectares of land through which farmers could produce over 450 metric tonnes, significantly higher than the amount of cotton produced last year.

The board officials hoped that the farmers would get a handsome price selling the outputs.

They have fixed the price of cotton at Tk2,520 per mound.

Farmers in the area said if the government could allocate khas land (government-owned land) to the farmers on the char so more farmers could take up cotton cultivation.

Cotton farmer Abul Hossain of

Government of the People’s of Bangladesh

Local Government Engineering Department Office of the Upazila Engineer Upazila: Rajbari Sadar, District: Rajbari Memo No. LGED/UE/Raj/Sadar/2013-14/ 142

INVITATION FOR TENDER (WORKS)

Date: 02.03.2014

Tender Notice. 06/2013-2014

Sealed Tenders are hereby invited from the eligible tenderers as defined in the tender documents for the under mentioned works as per Terms & Conditions stated below.

1.

Project Name

Construction of Union Parishad Complex Bhaban (2nd Phase)

2.

Source of Funds

GOB

3.

Procurement Method

Limited Tendering Method (LTM)

4.

List of Works: Sl. No.

Package No

Name of Works

01

LGED/RAJ/SAD/ UCCP/2013-14/01

Construction of Ramcantapur Union Parishad Complex Bhaban Under Rajbari Sadar Upazila, DistrictRajbari

Estimated Amonunt (Tk)

Amount of Tender security (Tk)

Price of tender document (Tk)

Time of completion

97,20,473.00

2,91,700.00

2,000.00

270 Days

5.

Date, Time and Place of Pre-Tender Meeting

Date: 12/03/2014, Time: 11.00AM Place: Office of the undersigned.

6.

Last date, time and Places of selling tender documents.

Date: 24/03/2014 Time: Up to 5.00 PM. Place: (a) Office of the Project Director, UCCP, LGED, Bhaban, Agargaon, Sher-E-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka-1207. (b) Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Dist, Rajbari. (c) Office of the Executive Engineer, LGED, Rajbari. (d) Office of the Upazila Engineer, Goalondo, Rajbari. (e) Office of the undersigned.

7.

Last date, time and Places of receiving tender.

Date: 25/03/2014 Time: Up to 12.00 PM. Place: (a) Office of the Deputy Commissioner, Dist, Rajbari (b) Office of the Executive Engineer, LGED, Rajbari. (c) Office of the Upazila Engineer, Goalondo, Rajbari. (d) Office of the undersigned.

8

Date, time and places of Opening of tender

Date: 25/03/2014 Time: Up to 3.00 PM. Place: Office of the undersigned.

9.

Tender shall be valid for a period of 120 days after tender Opening and must be accompanied by the tender sucurity Specified above. Interested tenderers may obtain further information from the Office of the undersigned and purchase the tender documents in cash/ treasury chalan/ bank draft from the places mentioned above. The tender or their authorized representatives are allowed to attend the opening of tenders. The authority reserves the right to accept or reject any or all the tenders without assigning any reasons whatsoever. The Tender shall be rejected more than 5% Above or more than 5% Less.

GC-23/14 (6"×3)

Robbers looted five jewellery shops yesterday in Nakalia Bazar, Bera upazila, Pabna.

According to sources, a gang of 30 to 35 armed robbers entered the bazar at 2am and confined the night guards Muttakim Islam and Nazar Ali. The robbers looted 208 tolas of golden ornaments, 1,185 tolas of silver and Tk6 lakh in cash.

Police said the robbers looted ornaments from five jewellery shops at the market- Pronob Kormokar, Panushil Kormokar, Ronojit Kundu and Anis Kormokar.

They also looted the grocery shops of Siddikur Rahman and Sukumar Sen. Abu Bakar Siddik, assistant superintendent of police, said police had visited the spot and tried to catch the criminals. l

(Md. Jalal Uddin Sheikh) Upazila Engineer Rajbari Sadar, Rajbari, Tel No. 0641-65570

Naobhanga char said he had cultivated cotton on 10 bighas of land and had earned Tk1 lach in profit after recouping the expenses.

Lokman, Mukul, Aiyub Ali and other farmers said previously it was difficult to get back the expenses for the cultivation of jute, paddies and mustard. But, for the last three years, they have been earning good profits from cotton.

Cotton cultivation also increases fertility of land, they said.

Acting Unit Cotton Officer of the board Md Abdul Goni said the board had assisted farmers in every phase, from the cultivation to the marketing of the cotton.

If other uncultivated lands could be brought under cotton cultivation then it would help farmers to increase production, he added. l

Absconding burglar arrested in Natore n Our correspondent, Natore An absconding criminal accused of burglary was detained in Haludghor village under Naldanga police station in Natore yesterday.

The arrestee is Zakir Hossain, 45, who was awarded a two year prison sentence for burglary.

Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Naldanga police station, said following an arrest order from Baraigram police station, a team from Naldanga police arrested him around 2pm.

Anowar Hossain, officer-in-charge of Baraigram police station, said the arrest order was passed following a magistrate court order made under Lalpur police station. l

10 held for entering Bangladesh illegally n Tribune Report Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) detained 10 people on charge of entering Bangladesh illegally at Kulia road in Debhata upazila yesterday morning.

The arrested are Nityananda Roy, 25, Sarjit Kabiraj, 18, Sanjit Mallick, 29, Pradip Roy, 30, Prokash Mondal, 24, Mahendra Sarkar, 19, Shibpada Mondal, 27, Kajal Kumar Sarkar, 25, Krishna Mondal, 18, and Chandra Kanta, 52. All of them were said to be from different parts of the district, reports UNB. BGB-38 Battalion BoP Nayek Subedar Jasim Uddin said the BGB members arrested them around 8:30am as they entered the country from India without valid travelling documents.

Later, they were handed over to local police and a case was filed under the Passport Act. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Farmers and agronomists are expecting a bumper production of Potato in ten south-western districts under Khulna division in this current season.

The ten districts are Jessore, Narail, Jhenidha, Magura, Kushtia, Chuadanga, Meherpur, Satkhira, Khulna and Bagerhat.

A section of potato growers said they were interested in potato farming this year to get better prices like as previous years.

ATM Momtazul Karim, additional director, Department of Agricultural Extention Jessore region said favourable climate conditions, adequate supply of necessary fertilisers and pesticides are the reasons behind the bumper production of potato.

DAE Jessore regional office sources said the farmers and the officials have targeted 260,286 tonnes of quality potato from 13,240 hectares of land in south-western region this season. l

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Office of the Executive Engineer, RHD Naogaon Road Division, Naogaon. : 0741-62593 E-mail: eenao@rhd.gov.bd

“LEASE QUOTATION NOTICE OF RHD” 01. Lease Quotation Notice No.

: 02-EE/LEASE/NRD/2013-2014.

02. Name of Work

: Lease of Mohadevpur Iron Bridge for Collection of Toll at 1st Km of Mohadevpur-Saraigachi-Porsha Road Under Road Division, Naogaon during the year 2013-2014.

03. Invitation for Lease Quotation : Memo No. 546, Date: 02/03/2014.

Ref. No. Date 04. Time of Completion

: 12/06/2014 to 11/06/2015.

05. Quotation Price

: Highest Quotation Price.

06. Security Money

: Earnest Money-10% (Ten Percent) of Quoted amount in favour of the Executive Engineer, RHD, Road Division, Naogaon from any Schedule Bank in the form of BD/Pay-Order along with the Quotation.

07. Eligibility of Quotationers

: All Quotationers regardless of whether enlisted or not enlisted with the employer fulfill the requirement stated in the Quotation Schedule may submit Quotation provided that they are otherwise qualified.

(Bonafide firm/Person/Sangstha/Contrators)

08. Lease Quotation Last Selling : On 18/03/2014. Up to Office hours. date 09. Lease Quotation Closing Date : On 19/03/2014. at 12.00 Noon. & Time (Tenderer may also submit tender on any day (except holiday) during Office hours before the tender closing date & time) 10. Lease Quotation Opening Date : On 19/03/2014.at 04.00PM. (Tenderers/Authorized & Time representatives are allowed to attend).

11. Name & address of the Office(s) : a) Divisional Commissioner, Rajshahi.

Selling Lease Quotation Docub) Executive Engineer, RHD, Road Division, ment.

Naogaon/Rajshahi/ Planning Division-01, Tejgaon Equipment Control Compound, Tejgaon, Dhaka. c) Sub-Divisional Engineer, RHD, Road Sub-Division, Naogaon/ Patnitala/1st line Workshop Sub-Division, Naogaon.

12. Name & address of the Office(s) : Primary Location:Receiving Lease Quotation (a) Executive Engineer, RHD, Road Division, Document Naogaon.

Secondary Location:(a) Superintending Engineer, RHD, Road Circle Rajshahi. (b) Deputy Commissioner, Naogaon.

13. Name address of the Office(s) : Executive Engineer, RHD, Road Division, Naogaon.

Opening Lease Quotation Document.

14

Price of Lease Quotation : Tk. 1000.00 (Tk. One Thousand) Only.

Schedule (Non refundable)

N.B.: The highest accepted quotationer shall have to deposit 15% (Fifteen percent) for VAT & 5% (Five percent) or as per Government order for income TAX at a time on the quoted amount in the form of BD/Pay-Order in favour of Executive Engineer, RHD, Naogaon, within 07(Seven) days of Notification of Award. Failing which his quotation shall be cancelled with forfeiture of Earnest Money.

(Md. Arzullah Miah) Assistant Engineer, RHD(C.C) Road Division, Naogaon.

GC-22/14 (10"×3)

(Md. Monges Salim) Executive Engineer, RHD(C.C) Road Division, Naogaon.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Feature

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

7

Nazrul’s sojourns in Chittagong “Weary of struggles, I, the great rebel, Shall rest in quiet only when I find The sky and the air free of the piteous groans of the oppressed.

Only when the battle fields are cleared of jingling bloody sabres Shall, I, weary of struggles, rest in quiet, I, the great rebel.”

Rebel by Kazi Nazrul Islam (Translation: Kabir Chowdhury)

A

n Uday Sankar Das rebel poet he definitely was – a poet who had always spoken for the political freedom of the downtrodden, but Kazi Nazrul Islam was also a poet of love and humanism, a fact we often tend to forget.

Unlike Rabindranath Tagore, he was not a globe-trotter, but whenever the opportunity arose and whenever an invitation was forthcoming, Nazrul never failed to go to any part of Bengal and even visited some places more than once.

Between 1926 and 1933, Nazrul visited the south-eastern, natural beauty-laden port city of Chittagong three times.

Nazrul became friendly with the chief whip of Deshbandhu Chittaranjan Das’ Swaraj Party and Subhas Bose’s close friend, Hemanta Kumar Sarkar, who hailed from Krishnanagar.

Nazrul was gradually getting more directly involved with the various political activities while he was in Krishnanagar, and at the end of July, 1926 he went to Chittagong with Hemanta Kumar and stayed there till the first week of August.

Although they initially put up at the District Bungalow, at the request and insistence of renowned literary personality Habibullah Bahar, Nazrul, for the rest of his visit, stayed at Bahar’s maternal grandfather Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz’s house in the city’s Tamakumundi area. Although the Khan Bahadur had recently died, the hospitality extended to Nazrul in Aziz Manjil was extremely cordial.

Nazrul’s ever-smiling face, his vibrant personality, his songs, recitations and his style of talking with

Nazrul during one of his visits to Chittagong

people around him, and above all his mannerism, greatly helped in lifting the shadow of grief from his host’s house.

Eminent litterateurs of Chittagong used to call on the poet and prominent citizens together with representatives of various institutions accorded him a number of receptions. Among those who had taken the initiatives to hold these receptions for Nazrul were Principal Kamaluddin, Mahim Chandra Das, Khan Shaheb Abdus Sattar, Rai Bahadur Kamini Das, Habibullah Chowdhury and Abdul Khalique Chowdhury.

People from all walks of life and from both the Muslim and Hindu communities attended these receptions in huge numbers; the enthusiasm shown by the young generation was overwhelming.

Despite Nazrul’s busy schedule of attending receptions and lecture meetings, he never refrained from writing; some of his prominent poems in his anthology of poems and songs “Sindhu Hillol” were penned during this visit to Chittagong. Noted among these poems are “Anamika,” “Gopon Puja,” “Sindhu” (Parts 1 and 2), “Bangla-r Aziz” and “Karnaphuli.” These were written between 27th July and 1st August.

It was on 31st July, 1926 that Nazrul, during his stay at Aziz Manjil in Chittagong’s Tamakumundi, dedicated “Sindhu Hillol” to “Bahar and Nahar” (Habibullah Bahar and his sister Shamsunnahar Mahmud). In the dedication, which began as follows – “I give these writings to Bahar and Nahar,” Nazrul wrote a poem to them, and signed at the bottom as: “Nazrul Islam, Tamakumundi, Chattagram, 31-7-26.”

The first two lines of that poem to “Bahar and Nahar” in the dedication read: “Who is the better of you two, Bahar, you bring flowers to the garden, Nahar, you bring light” …

On 1st August, Nazrul, accompanied by Habibullah Bahar and a few political activists and teachers, left Chittagong for Feni to address a political rally. The rally was held at Feni’s Islamia High School ground. While ad-

PHOTO: COURTESY

dressing the huge crowd, Nazrul made a fervent appeal to the people to rise against all sorts of oppression from the ruling class. He asked the people to take a very strong position against the local and foreign rulers.

At the request of the citizens of Feni who assembled to listen to Nazrul, the poet rendered a few patriotic songs – “Kara-r Oi Louho Kapat,” “Oth re Chaashi” and “Durgamo Giri Kantaro Moru”. At the end, the crowd insisted on his reciting his epic poem “Rebel.”

Nazrul, with a smiling face, duly obliged by reciting a part of that poem.

This gesture was greatly appreciated on that day by the people of Feni.

But, a sudden torrential downpour disrupted the proceedings and the meeting had to be hurriedly called off.

Nazrul then returned to Chittagong, and after staying there for three days left for Kolkata on his way to Krishnanagar on 4th August, 1926.

The poet however promised his ardent followers and fans that he would be visiting Chittagong again and would stay for a longer period.

Kazi Nazrul Islam did keep his promise and his second visit to Chittagong was more eventful and lasted longer than the first.

Early in January 1929, he visited Chittagong and again was guest of Habibullah Bahar and his sister Shamsunnahar Mahmud. In her book, “Nazrul-ke Jaemon Dekhechhi” (The way I have seen Nazrul), Shamsunnahar wrote, “At the end of 1926 and during the early part of 1929, Nazrul came to Chittaging twice. The sweet results of these trips were some of the poet’s greatest poems which were included in “Sindhu Hillol” and “Chakrabak.”

During this visit, Nazrul went to the grave of Khan Bahadur Abdul Aziz to pay his respects, and also attended an anniversary programme held in the memory of Poet Nabin Chandra Sen. The Bulbul Society of Chittagong also accorded Nazrul a reception.

The day following his arrival, Nazrul attended the 30th founding anniversary of Muslim Education Society held at the Victoria Islami Hostel. In his speech, the poet fervently appealed to establish a cordial and harmonious relationship between the Muslims and the Hindus, and impressed upon the necessity of both the communities to be aware about each other’s religious treatise and culture.

This speech was later published in the magazine “Bulbul” under the headline “The practice of Muslim culture.”

Kattali Union Club accorded Nazrul a grand reception which was attended by thousands of people from both the Muslim and Hindu communities.

This meeting was chaired by Moulana Azizur Rahman, a former superintendent of Darul Union Madrasa and the founder of the first Muslim-owned printing press “Islamabad Press.”

Nazrul delivered an in-depth speech on education and civilisation, heard in rapt attention by the huge audience at whose request, the poet also rendered a song.

During this almost-a-month-long visit, Nazrul also went sightseeing with ‘Bahar and Nahar’. He went on a boat cruise on River Karnaphuli and to the various picturesque hilly sites, met the youth of the city and also visited Sitakunda, going to the hilltops there.

The days when Nazrul did not attend any public function or meeting, the Tamakumundi residence where he stayed was turned into a venue of literary discourse attended by litterateurs, political leaders, cultural activists and also the youth of the city.

These discussions would often go on till late at night.

Nazrul penned quite a number of popular songs and poems while residing at Tamakumundi, including the introductory poem “Ogo O Chakrabaki” of his anthology of poems and songs “Chakrabak.”

Other notable writings during this sojourn in Chittagong included a song of sampan “o majhi bhai,” folk song “ki hoibo lal boithaa baiyaa” and a bhatiyali song “tomai kuuley tuuley bandhu.” For Chakrabak, he also wrote “Badal Raater Paakhi,” “Stabdha Raatey” and “Sheet-er Sindhu.”

The last poem was re-named “Sindhu – Fourth Wave.” Paying respect to poet Nabin Chandra Sen, an illustrious son of Chittagong, Nazrul penned a poem “Nabinchandra” during this visit.

Towards the end of January, 1929 Nazrul was a guest of the Alam Brothers, as they were known, members of a literary-passionate family hailing from the village of Fatehabad, in the

outskirts of the city.

Of the four brothers, Shamsul Alam, Mahbub ul Alam, Didarul Alam and Wahidul Alam, there is a similarity between the second-named and Nazrul, in that they both fought for the British during the First World War and later became renowned litterateurs.

The Alam family was hosts to Nazrul on 25th and 26th January, 1929.

The district administration of Chittagong had recently put up a memorial in honour of this visit in the village.

Both Nazrul and Mahbub ul Alam had to face severe criticism for going to war with the British, and Nazrul did give a reply to this criticism later.

The real highlight of this visit was Nazrul’s trip to the tiny island of Sandwip in the Bay of Bengal, where he went to visit a small village. There lied the ancestral home of his close friend Muzaffar Ahmed, who later became a reputed communist leader of West Bengal. Muzaffar in his memoirs on Nazrul wrote: “I do not think he went to Sandwip on his own initiative. Two of my nephews used to study in Intermediate Class in Chittagong College at the time. In 1927, Nazrul was introduced to one of them (Abdul Muktadir). Now I have come to know that Nazrul went to Sandwip at Muktadir’s initiative.”

reception committee of which was headed by Dr Mohammed Enamul Haque.

On his way to the conference in Raozan, the poet made a stopover for lunch at Gohira at Ahmed Sagir Chowdhury’s village home. He also inspected Gohira High School and instantly wrote a song praising the school “You have built this clay Tajmahal here” (Tomra gorechho ekhaaney ei maati-r Tajmahal).

In the conference, chaired by Abdul Karim Shahittya Bisharad, Nazrul was again openly criticised for going to war “with the British against the Muslims” by the editor of weekly Mohammadi, Nazir Ahmed Chowdhury. Nazrul, in his speech, did give a reply to this criticism.

Wahidul Alam, the youngest of the Alam brothers, in his book “Prithibir Pothik” (World Traveller) dealt with the poet’s reply in details and quoted him saying, ”You’ve heard the allegation brought against us that we fought for the British against the Muslims.

But I want to say that when we went to the war we were full of youthful energy, and not being able to contain the vibrant energy of the youth, we jumped into the war, not caring for which party we were fighting, or against whom.”

“I have not come to be a poet, I have not come to be a leader. I came to give love, I came to get love.

Because I have not had that love, I depart in quiet pique from this love-lorn, insipid world forever.”

On 28th January, 1929 Muktadir and one of his friends, Salimullah Chowdhury accompanied Nazrul to Sandwip where he was put up in the government bungalow. On the following day, the people of the island accorded Nazrul a civic reception at the local Kargil High School ground.

The meeting was chaired by Prasanna Kumar Moktaar and the address of honour and welcome on behalf of the islanders was read by Mohammad Waliullah. In his speech, Nazrul heaped praise on the courage and hospitality of the people of Sandwip. He was fascinated by its natural beauty, he added. Nazrul also rendered a few songs and recited a part of his poem “Rebel.”

In that meeting, a resolution was passed criticising “the baseless slander that was leveled against Nazrul.”

Nazrul also visited Muzaffar Ahmed’s ancestral house in the village of Musagram in Sandwip, where he was born. Muzaffar later wrote, “I do not know why Sandwip was liked by Nazrul. After returning to Kolkata, he expressed his desire to go to Sandwip once more, of course, if I went along with him”. But that did never happen as very soon after that Muzaffar was arrested and sent to Meerut Jail.

Although Nazrul also could not visit Sandwip again, he did return to Chittagong once more; his third and final visit to the land of another great revolutionary, Masterda Surya Sen was in May, 1933 when he came to attend the Chittagong District Literary Conference held at Raozan as the chief guest.

Among others, Professor Abul Fazal, Mahbub ul Alam, Wahidul Alam and Habibullah Bahar took part in the conference. The editor of The Musalman, Mujibur Rahman and Mohammed Modabber also came from Kolkata.

This conference was a huge success with an estimated ten thousand people coming to join the various sessions. Local leaders like Moulvi Nurul Afsar Chowdhury, Nurul Huda Chowdhury, Abul Kashem (who later became a Sub-Judge) and Ahmed Kabir Chowdhury played a prominent role in organising this conference, the

This last visit of Nazrul to Chittagong was very short and in less than a decade, he was affected by a disease that took away his voice and his memory. For 34 long years, he had to suffer a life of silence, which was equally unbearable to millions of Bengalis.

The poet of love and humanism also had this remorse in life, which could be easily deciphered from this writing: “I have not come to be a poet, I have not come to be a leader. I came to give love, I came to get love. Because I have not had that love, I depart in quiet pique from this love-lorn, insipid world forever.” l Uday Sankar Das is a senior journalist who worked for BBC World Service Radio in London and is presently based in Chittagong.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Russia cements grip on Crimea amid G7 condemnation n AFP, Kiev Russia cemented its control of the flashpoint Crimean peninsula without firing a shot as markets plunged on Monday and world leaders held a series of crisis talks over the worst standoff between Moscow and the West since the Cold War. The price of oil surged on fears of an all-out conflict as Russia looked set to send troops into eastern parts of Ukraine, an area with close ties to Russia that the Kremlin has vowed to protect from "ultranationalist forces".

British Foreign Secretary William Hague opened talks with Ukraine's Western-backed but untested interim leaders a day after the world's top industrialised powers threatened to strip Russia of its coveted seat at the Group of Eight for menacing its ex-Soviet neighbour.

Germany offered a rare glimmer of hope by announcing that Russian President Vladimir Putin had agreed in telephone talks with Chancellor Angela Merkel late Sunday to set up a contact group on Ukraine.

Western allies in the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation also said they wanted to send international observers to Ukraine while engaging Moscow in direct talks.

Washington added it would like to see a mission from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) deployed in the nation of 46m"immediately". The OSCE president said it wanted the mission to investigate "incidents" in Ukraine.

Russia offered no immediate response to any of the proposals – all backed by Kiev's interim leaders who are trying to pull Ukraine closer to the European Union after replacing the deposed and largely exiled regime of pro-Kremlin

president Viktor Yanukovych.

A crisis on the eastern edge of Europe that threatens to blow up into the biggest test of Moscow's relations with the West since the height of the Cold War also saw world powers promise to deliver urgent aid to try to prevent Ukraine's teering economy going into default within days.

Crimea itself, which has housed Russian navies since the 18th century, is now almost under complete control of Russian forces and local pro-Kremlin militia who patrol both government buildings and the perimeters of Ukrainian military installations on the rugged Black Sea peninsula.

Russia’s army of 845,000 soldiers could easily overwhelm Ukraine’s force of 130,000 – half of them conscripts

G7 condemns Russian 'violation'

The White House on Sunday released a statement symbolically signed by the G7 biggest industrialised nations – an economic grouping that unlike the G8 excludes Moscow – condemning "the Russian Federation's clear violation of the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Ukraine."

The G7 ministers promised "strong financial backing" that US Treasury Secretary Jack Lew said would probably be delivered through a programme overseen by the International Monetary Fund.

US Secretary of State John Kerry also bluntly warned that Moscow risked losing its G8 seat over its "brazen act of aggression" in Ukraine.

Kerry was scheduled on Tuesday to meet Ukraine's new leaders – in power since the February 22 overthrow of Yanukovych following a week of violence that claimed nearly 100 lives – to reaffirm "strong support for Ukrainian sovereignty, independence, territorial integrity."

'David and Goliath'

Military personnel, believed to be Russian servicemen, walk in formation outside the territory of a Ukrainian military unit in the village of Perevalnoye outside Simferopol March 3. Ukraine mobilised for war on Sunday and Washington threatened to isolate Russia economically after President Vladimir Putin declared he had the right to invade his neighbour in Moscow's biggest confrontation with the West since the Cold War REUTERS

EU ministers seek joint response on Ukraine at crisis talks

Analysts believe Ukraine would face a David-and-Goliath struggle should the conflict escalate.

Russia's army of 845,000 soldiers could easily overwhelm Ukraine's force of 130,000 – half of them conscripts.

But Matthew Clements of Jane's Intelligence Review also noted that "if the Ukrainian forces remain unified and there are no defections to the Russian side, they have some chance of holding Russia back in a full-combat situation for a considerable time."

Putin says it has a duty to protect ethnic Russians in Crimea and southeastern swathes of Ukraine that have ancient ties to Moscow and look on Kiev's new pro-EU leaders with disdain.

Russia also turned for diplomatic backup from China l

European Union foreign ministers met Monday for crisis talks on Ukraine seeking to gather hawkish nations and those favouring dialogue behind a common stand on Russia’s threat of military incursion. “It is vital that Europeans speak with a single voice,” said France’s Laurent Fabius on arriving for the talks that formally begin at 1200 GMT. The talks, the second such emergency EU get-together on Ukraine in less than two weeks, is expected to see the

Suspected Islamists kill 85 in northeast Nigeria

Fighting in Damascus district halt aid to Palestinians

Obama to meet Netanyahu on Mideast peace

n Reuters, Maiduguri

Fighting in the Damascus district of Yarmouk have interrupted aid distribution to thousands of besieged Palestinian refugees, the United Nations said on Monday.

The clashes broke out on Sunday in Yarmouk, where 20,000 people have been trapped for months by Syria’s civil war and are dependent on humanitarian supplies delivered by UNRWA, the UN agency which supports Palestinian refugees. The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, a Britain-based monitoring group, said an ambulance driver was killed in mortar fire on Sunday and residents reported several explosions.

A Palestinian group that supports President Bashar al-Assad, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine-General Command, blamed the fighting on al Qaeda’s Syrian branch, the Nusra Front. It said “terrorist groups from the Nusra Front and their takfiri brothers ... infiltrated Yarmouk Camp” on Sunday. A “takfiri” denotes someone who brands others, including some Muslims, as infidels, often as justification for fighting and killing them.

UNRWA spokesman Chris Gunness said the UN agency was unable to distribute food parcels in Yarmouk on Sunday and called on all sides in the conflict to immediately allow the resumption of the aid operation. l

Suspected Islamist militants have killed at least 85 people in northeastern Nigeria, witnesses and officials said on Sunday, in a further setback to President Goodluck Jonathan’s military campaign.

Twin bomb blasts in the city of Maiduguri killed at least 46 people on Saturday evening while, around 50 km (30 miles) away, dozens of gunmen were razing a farming village, shooting dead another 39.

The attacks will heap pressure on Jonathan, whose intensified military push to end the Islamist sect Boko Haram’s four-and-a-half-yearold insurgency has been running for almost a year.

While the bloodshed has not diminished, the army had at least had some success in confining it to remote rural areas in recent months, so that the attack on a densely populated market area in Maiduguri will be seen as a setback.

Jonathan is expected to run for re-election next year in what is expected to be a close contest.

Boko Haram, which has killed thousands in its fight for an Islamic state in northern Nigeria and become the biggest threat to security in Africa’s top oil

The devastating scale of Kiev's loss was underscored late Sunday when the head of Ukraine's navy Denis Berezovsky announced just a day after his appointment that he was switching allegiance to the pro-Russian authorities in Crimea after troops surrounded his building and cut off the electricity.

Crimea's pro-Kremlin government chief Sergiy Aksyonov – appointed Thursday after an armed raid on the region's government building but who is not recognised by Kiev – immediately named Berezovsky as head of the peninsula's own independent navy.

Ukraine's interim Prime Minster Arseniy Yatsenyuk admitted Sunday: "We are on the brink of a disaster" and said any invasion would mean "war."

producer, is increasingly targeting the civilian population.

The attack on the village of Mainok on Saturday evening is typical of recent raids by Boko Haram as its fighters continue to target anyone they view as supporting the government’s effort to end its insurgency.

“They were shooting sporadically and throwing explosives on buildings.

I counted 39 bodies this morning,” Mainok resident Mansur Buba told reporters in Maiduguri. “I fled the place because nobody is safe.”

Mustapha Musa, another resident, said the village was in ruins with every house burned to the ground.

An emergency relief official confirmed the death toll as 39 but asked not to be named because he was not authorised to speak officially.

There was global outrage last week when dozens of school children were shot or burned to death in a rural region near the northeastern city of Damaturu.

Insurgents killed more than 300 people last month, mostly civilians.

Among the attacks were two in which more than 100 people were killed.

In one, militants razed a village and shot panicked residents as they tried to flee. l

n Reuters, Beirut

STORM ON THE HORIZON

n AFP, Brussels

n Reuters, Washington President Barack Obama takes a break from the Ukraine crisis to hold potentially difficult talks on Monday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on US efforts to keep Middle East peace negotiations alive.

With time running out for a framework Israeli-Palestinian deal to salvage a troubled US-brokered peace process, Obama and Netanyahu sparred in public comments in the run-up to a meeting that will also focus on Iran’s nuclear program.

Netanyahu arrived in Washington to a veiled warning from Obama that he would tell the Israeli leader the United States would find it harder to defend Israel against efforts to isolate it internationally if peace efforts failed.

Boarding his flight to the US capital, Netanyahu, who has had a strained relationship with Obama, said that Israel knew how to resist pressure and that he intended to stand firm on what he

termed his country’s “vital interests.”

Secretary of State John Kerry has been trying to persuade Netanyahu and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas to agree to a framework deal that would enable troubled land-for-peace negotiations to continue beyond an April target date for a final accord. Abbas is due at the White House on March 17.

“When I have a conversation with Bibi, that’s the essence of my conversation: If not now, when? And if not you, Mr. Prime Minister, then who?

How does this get resolved?,” Obama, using Netanyahu’s nickname and borrowing from the Jewish rabbinical sage Hillel, said in an interview with Bloomberg View.

Palestinians seek to establish a state in the occupied West Bank and the Gaza Strip, with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel captured those areas in the 1967Middle East war and in 2005 pulled out of the Gaza Strip, now run

by Hamas Islamist opposed to Abbas’s peace efforts. l

Venezuela opposition revels in expressions of support at Oscars n Reuters, Caracas

Snow falls in front of the US Capitol yesterday in Washington, DC. The Federal Government is closed due to major snow storm that is expected to dump up to a foot of snow in the Washington area AFP

28-nation bloc firmly condemn Russia’s action while taking a conciliatory tack, seeking a peaceful solution possibly with the help of outside mediation.

That is the line proposed by powerhouse Germany, whose Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier arrived saying it was time for diplomacy.

“Europe is without doubt in the worst crisis since the fall of the (Berlin) wall” 25 years ago, he said.

“The threat of a division of Europe is real again,” he added. “Now is the time for diplomacy. Diplomacy does not

Venezuela’s political opposition reveled in cautious messages of solidarity from movie stars at Sunday’s Academy Awards after an intense Twitter campaign calling on Hollywood’s top actors to boost the profile of anti-government protests.

Critics of President Nicolas Maduro cheered comments by Jared Leto during his acceptance speech for best supporting actor, as well as tweets from Kevin Spaceyand Forest Whitaker on the right to demonstrate.

“To all the dreamers out there around the world watching this tonight, in places like the Ukraine and Venezuela, I want to say ‘we are here’,” Leto said. “And as you struggle to make your dreams happen, to live the impossible, we’re thinking of you tonight.”

Parts of eastern Caracas, which includes some of the capital’s most affluent neighborhoods, broke into applause during his speech.

Unrest has killed at least 17 people since a February 12 march turned violent, with rock-throwing protesters clashing almost every day with troops

lobbing tear gas.

Critics accused the government of a brutal crackdown on the protests, which Maduro has called acts of vandalism that have put lives at risk and disrupted public order in an attempt to force him from power. (Full coverage: ) “Thank you @JaredLeto we’ll never stop dreaming,” wrote one enthused tweeter, including the hashtags #OscarsForVenezuela and #SOSVenezuela.

Opposition supporters among Venezuela’s famously avid tweeters had for days been pressing Hollywood stars to speak out during the ceremony.

Whitaker said in a Twitter message that he was “deeply saddened by the violence in #Venezuela. Everybody has the right to have their voice heard.”

Spacey wrote: “Venezuela don’t give up, everybody has the right to express themselves! #SOSVenezuela #PrayForVenezuela.”

None directly mentioned Maduro.

Venezuela’s popular mock news website The Bipolar Capybara, which needles both sides of the country’s bitter political divide, chortled at the importance given to the messages from the Academy Awards. l

mean weakness but is more needed than ever to prevent us from being drawn into the abyss of military escalation.”

On Sunday, German Chancellor Angela Merkel spoke to Russian President Vladimir Putin and said he was violating a 1994 accord in which Moscow committed to respect the independence and sovereignty of Ukraine.

But she also suggested, and Putin agreed, to set up a contact group on Ukraine, reflecting Berlin’s desire to keep contacts open with Moscow rather than risk an open breach. l

Egypt policemen sentenced to 10 years for blogger death n AFP, Alexandria Two Egyptian policemen were sentenced to 10 years in jail Monday for the killing of a blogger whose death rallied protesters in the 2011 revolt that toppled Hosni Mubarak.

The two were sentenced following a retrial for the manslaughter and torture of Khaled Said in June 2010, when they had unlawfully arrested him at an Internet cafe in the Mediterranean city of Alexandria.

The two police, Mahmoud Salah Mahmoud and Awad Ismail Suleiman, had initially been sentenced to seven years in October 2011 for excessive brutality.

Said’s death galvanised protests against then-president Hosni Mubarak, after pictures emerged online of the 28-year-old’s mangled face.

The government further enraged Mubarak’s opponents when it tried to cover up the killing by alleging he choked on a bag of drugs.

A Facebook group entitled “We are all Khaled Said” helped organise the 18-day protests that drove Mubarak’s hated police force from the streets and forced him to resign in February 2011.

The sentencing comes amid renewed popularity for the police, who supported the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July, and a pattern of acquittals for policemen tried for killing protesters during the anti-Mubarak revolt.

Both defendants were in a caged dock when judge Ismail Attiya delivered the verdict. They showed little emotion on hearing the sentence.

Their lawyer said he would appeal the verdict, and relatives yelled at police outside the court room: “You sold out your men!”

Mahmoud Abdel Rahman, a lawyer for Said’s family, told AFP “justice has been delivered for all” and that the verdict sent a message of “deterrence to a powerful institution.”

Police and the forensic authority had initially said that Said choked to death after swallowing a packet of drugs.

Another forensic report later said he died of asphyxiation after being beaten, and that the packet of drugs was thrust in his mouth when he was unconscious.

Pictures of Said’s badly bruised face after his death spread on the Internet, and his case became synonymous with police brutality under Mubarak.

Said’s supporters and opposition activists have often clashed with security forces, in particular during the trial hearings. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

After vacating Bangkok’s streets, Thai protesters look to courts

At least 11 killed in attack on Pakistani court n Reuters, Islamabad

AFP

REUTERS

Anti-government protesters in Thailand have retreated to a central Bangkok park, freeing up traffic after blocking big intersections for more than a month, but Thailand’s four-month political crisis looks no closer to a solution.

The protesters, who moved to Lumpini Park over the weekend after orders from protest leader Suthep Thaugsuban, are now banking on judicial intervention from courts hostile to Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra to bring down her government.

“Bangkokians are able to go to work more easily but the state of play in Thailand has not changed since protesters scaled back,” said Siripan Nogsuan Sawasdee, a political analyst at Chulalongkorn University in Bangkok.

“He (Suthep) realises that the fate of

the government won’t be determined by his group but lies in the hands of independent organisations - the anti-corruption body and the courts.”

Demonstrators seeking to overthrow Yingluck took to the streets in November and have since blockaded ministries, occupied government offices and, in January, set up camp at major traffic intersections in Bangkok.

They want Yingluck to resign to make way for an appointed “people’s council” to overhaul a political system they say has been taken hostage by her billionaire brother and former premier, Thaksin Shinawatra.

Yingluck faces several legal challenges, the most significant being negligence charges for mishandling a disastrous rice subsidy scheme.

The scheme paid farmers above the market price and has run out of funds,

prompting farmers – normally the prime minister’s biggest supporters - to demonstrate inBangkok.

Hundreds of farmers joined anti-government protesters led by Buddhist monk Luang Pu Buddha Issara in a rally at the Finance Ministry on Monday, demanding faster payments.

Yingluck has been given until March 14 by the National Anti-Corruption Commission (NACC) to defend herself. It will then decide whether there is a case to pursue. “It seems likely she will be found guilty,” said Kan Yuenyong, an analyst at the Siam Intelligence Unit think tank.

“At that point, she will have to suspend her duties if the case goes to court. The endgame that protesters are hoping for is a way to suspend the whole cabinet so that an interim, socalled neutral, prime minister can be elected,” Kan said.

Gunmen burst into a court in a busy shopping area in the heart of Pakistan’s capital on Monday, killing at least 11 people in a suicide-bomb and gun attack likely to shatter any prospect of meaningful peace talks with Taliban insurgents.

The Pakistani Taliban, who have declared a month-long ceasefire to pursue peace talks with the government, immediately distanced themselves from the attack as well as a separate blast on the Afghan border which killed two soldiers.

An explosion reverberated in central Islamabad just after 9 a.m., followed by bursts of gunfire. Police said at least 30 were wounded. A judge was among those killed.

“There was a blast, then there was a lot of gunfire. Gunmen were spraying bullets at everyone,” said Faisal Ali, a businessman who witnessed the attack.

The protesters rejected and disrupted a snap election called by Yingluck for Feb. 2. Fresh elections were held in five provinces on Sunday and passed off peacefully.

But there is still no date set for elections in nine southern provinces where there was no voting on Feb. 2, meaning it is still impossible to get a quorum to open parliament, elect a prime minister and get a government with full powers.

Yingluck heads a caretaker administration with only limited spending and borrowing powers, which has complicated the rice scheme problems and other aspects of government business.

She has kept away from the capital for much of the past two weeks. On Monday morning, Yingluck went to the Centre for Maintaining Peace and Order, the body set up to oversee a state of emergency imposed in January. l

China to boost development in minority areas n Reuters, Beijing China will boost development in ethnic minority areas and spur their industrialisation, a senior Communist Party official said on Monday, in implicit recognition of the economic causes of some unrest in areas like Xinjiang.

The comments by Yu Zhengsheng, the fourth most senior ruling party member who heads a largely ceremonial advisory body to parliament, came as China reeled from a deadly attack on a train station blamed on militants from Xinjiang.

“We will conduct investigations and studies on ways to improve the distribution of industry in ethnic minority areas ... promote faster development and spur unity and harmony in ethnic

IAEA: Iran cutting ‘Angry’ Karzai says War not ours, sensitive nuclear stocks, for US and Western interests n much work remains Reuters, Washington

n Reuters, Vienna Iran is reducing its most proliferation-prone nuclear stockpile as required by its landmark deal with world powers but much work remains to be done to resolve all concerns about Tehran’s activities, the UN atomic watchdog chief said on Monday.

Among measures Iran is taking since the interim agreement took effect on Jan. 20 is the dilution of its stock of higher-enriched uranium to a fissile concentration less suitable for any attempt to fuel an atomic bomb.

Yukiya Amano, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), indicated that Iran had made sufficient progress in this regard to receive a scheduled March 1 instalment of $450m out of a total of $4.2bn in previously blocked overseas funds.

The IAEA has a pivotal role in checking that Iran is living up to its part of the six-month accord in curbing its disputed nuclear programme in exchange for some easing of sanctions that have

impaired its oil-dependent economy.

“As of today, measures agreed under the Joint Plan of Action are being implemented as planned,” Amano said, referring to the Nov. 24 agreement struck in Geneva between Iran and the United States, Germany, France,Russia, China and Britain.

These included “the dilution of a proportion of Iran’s inventory” of 20% uranium gas to a lower enrichment level, which “has reached the halfway mark,” he told the IAEA’s 35-nation board, according to a copy of his speech.

Under the accord, Iran suspended enrichment of uranium to 20% fissile concentration - a relatively short technical step away from the level required for nuclear bombs - and is taking action to neutralise its holding of the material.

In return, Iran is gradually winning access to $4.2bn of its oil revenues frozen abroad and some other sanctions relief. The funds will be paid out in eight transfers on a schedule that started with a $550m payment by Japan on February 1. l

Expressing “extreme anger” toward the US government, Afghan President Hamid Karzai said in an interview with the Washington Post that the war in Afghanistan was not fought with his country’s interests in mind.

“Afghans died in a war that’s not ours,’ Karzai said in the interview published on Sunday, just a month before an election to pick his successor.

He was quoted as saying he was certain the 12-year-old war, America’s longest and launched after the attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was “for the US security and for the Western interest.”

Karzai’s refusal to sign a security deal with Washington that would permit foreign troops to stay in Afghanistan beyond this year has frustrated the White House, and President Barack Obama has told the Pentagon to prepare for the possibility that no US troops will be left in Afghanistan after 2014.

Obama told Karzai in a phone call on Tuesday he had given the order to the Pentagon. The phone call was the first substantive discussion between the

Narendra Modi’s most direct attempt to woo Muslim voters n Reuters Narendra Modi’s most direct attempt to woo Muslim voters BJP prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi attends the Confederation of All India Traders national convention in New Delhi on February 27, 2014.

Lucknow: Narendra Modi, BJP’s candidate for prime minister, appealed to Muslim voters on Sunday and hit out at rivals accusing him of bias against the country’s largest religious minority.

Addressing hundreds of thousands of mainly Hindu supporters at a rally in Uttar Pradesh, Modi said his economic policies meant Muslims are better off in Gujarat, the state he has governed for 13 years, than other parts of India.

“We believe in economic development, while you play the politics of votes, letting Muslims languish in poverty,” Modi said, in a jibe at the ruling Samajwadi Party, which relies on Muslim support and has a poor development record.

His comments were his most direct attempt to woo Muslim voters since being named last year as the BJP’s choice for prime minister His rally was held in

Modi’s message is unlikely to win over Muslim voters in droves, it may help convince other Indians in Lucknow, where a third of the population is Muslim. Modi contrasted tension between religious communities in Uttar Pradesh, which has seen dozens of riots in the past two years, with a period of peace in Gujarat.

Modi, 63, has a strong lead in opinion polls, but the surveys suggest he may still struggle to gather enough seats to form a government. Muslim votes could help.

Modi is dogged by allegations that

he did not stop religious riots in Gujarat over a decade ago, when at least 1,000 people, mainly Muslims, were killed in communal riots. He has denied the allegations and a Supreme Court inquiry has concluded there is no evidence to suggest he was complicit in the violence.

“We want people to unite, if that happens, India will be much more prosperous and more secure for Muslims,” said Amir Uddin, a scholar of Islam sporting a “Modi for PM” cap who travelled 200 km in a BJP bus to attend the rally.

Experts say that while Modi’s message is unlikely to win over Muslim voters in droves, it may help convince other Indians who are drawn to his strong economic record but fear he is a divisive leader.

His speech came just a few days after BJP President Rajnath Singh made conciliatory remarks to Muslims, saying the party was ready to apologise for mistakes it may have made. He called on Muslims to give the BJP a chance. l

Even as the Taliban declared willingness to talk peace, almost daily attacks have continued around Pakistan in past weeks, showing that the central Taliban leadership is not entirely in control of its operations.

“We have already declared a ceasefire for a month and we stand by our promise,” a Taliban spokesman said.

Bomb attacks are rare in Islamabad, the leafy and hilly seat of Pakistan’s government.

The judge, Rafaqat Awan, was killed on the spot. He had rejected a petition last year to file a murder case against former President Perzez Musharraf over his order to storm a hardline mosque in Islamabad in 2007.

Many radical Islamists hold a grudge against Musharraf over the storming in which more than 100 people were killed, and any official seen as obstructing their fight for justice is likely to be on their hit list. l

REUTERS

Clockwise from left, Farmers take part in a rally demanding the Yingluck administration resolve delays in payment, 2) one of the farmers look on, 3) Buddhist monks collect alms from anti-government protesters at Lumpini Park

n Reuters, Bangkok

9

two leaders since June.

But staking out a new position, the White House said in a statement it would leave open the possibility of concluding the bilateral security agreement later this year.

Karzai felt betrayed by what he described as an insufficient US focus on going after Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan “It’s good for them to sign it with my successor,” Karzai told the Post. He has insisted the United States must jump-start peace talks with Taliban insurgents and end raids and strikes on Afghan homes before he signs the deal.

The Nato-led force in Afghanistan has a current strength of more than 52,000 soldiers, including 33,600 US troops. More than 3,400 coalition forces have been killed in the fight against

Protesters display a large banner during a rally to support press freedom in Hong Kong on March 2, 2014. The rally was staged following the attack of a former editor of local liberal newspaper which comes at a time of growing unease over freedom of the press in the southern Chinese city, with mounting concerns that Beijing is seeking to tighten control over the semi-autonomous region

the Taliban, including more than 2,300 US troops.

While Afghanistan’s police and army are seen as having made big strides in their ability to fight militants, doubts remain about whether they can keep a still-potent Taliban at bay, especially in remote areas.

In the interview, the Afghan leader said he was deeply troubled by the war’s casualties, including those in US military operations, and felt betrayed by what he described as an insufficient US focus on going after Taliban sanctuaries in Pakistan rather than in Afghan villages.

Civilian casualties in Afghanistan dissipated his country’s “common cause” with the United States, Karzai told the newspaper.

Criticizing his US allies was the only way to secure a response by Washington to his concerns, he added.

The Post said Karzai told his interviewers as he escorted them out of his office on Saturday night: “To the American people, give them my best wishes and my gratitude. To the US government, give them my anger, my extreme anger.” l

minority areas,” Yu said at the opening session of the advisory body, held in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People.

State media reported in January that President Xi Jinping was shifting Xinjiang’s focus to maintaining stability over development, after a series of attacks last year fuelled by what the government said was religious extremism.

However, state media said last month that the government will pump more than $10bn in extra funds into Xinjiang this year to improve housing and employment. Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people and strategically located on the borders of central Asia, has been beset by violence for years, blamed by the government on Islamist militants and East Turkestan separatists. l

North Korea frees Australian Christian missionary n Reuters, Seoul North Korea freed a Australian missionary who had been jailed for promoting Christianity on Monday, releasing a picture of a handwritten confession by the elderly man who was arrested last month.

John Short was picked up at Beijing airport by an Australian embassy vehicle and did not speak, according to Reuters Television journalists at the airport.

He was accused by Pyongyang of committing a crime by distributing tracts from the bible at a Buddhist temple in Pyongyang on Kim Jong Il’s birthday, a national holiday in North Korea to mark the ruling dynasty’s second leader.

“I deeply apologise for what I have done by spreading my Bible tracts on February 16th the birthday of his excellency Kim Jong Il,” Short said in the confession released by KCNA and dated March 1.

Short admitted wrongdoing and apologised, KCNA said, and released photos that showed him authoring a three-page handwritten confession and using red ink to mark each page with his thumbprint. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

SEC should not interfere with bank regulation

T

he Bangladesh Bank has rightly tightened up limits for banks’ exposure to the capital market.

Investments in shares by subsidiaries of banks, which were previously excluded from this rule, are now included under the bank regulators limits for capital market exposure by banks.

This is a necessary and timely rule change.

Previous looser guidelines, coupled with lax monitoring, allowed risky levels of speculation and were implicated in exacerbating the 2010/11 share market debacle. Unlimited levels of investment by subsidiaries unduly exposed their parent banks to capital market risks and adversely affected their balance sheets, harming bank depositors and shareholders.

It is inappropriate for the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission to be complaining about the Bangladesh Bank’s rule change. As the banking regulator, Bangladesh Bank has prudently acted to prevent banks from taking on too high levels of risk.

In addition, it is concerning that the BSEC is expressing concern about the rule change, which is being phased in gradually over the next 15 months for those banks which currently breach the new limit, because it may cause a fall in the price of shares.

As the stock exchange regulator, BSEC’s primary concern is ensuring the fair functioning of the market for shares.

The previous rules which encouraged bank subsidiaries to indulge in share market speculation unnecessarily increased market volatility. The BSEC should be welcoming the Bangladesh Bank’s move to limit banks’ capital market exposure to a more prudent level, not complaining.

As the stock exchange regulator, BSEC’s primary concern is ensuring the fair functioning of the market for shares

Hail city’s new taxi cabs

T

he government has announced that new taxicabs will be introduced in the capital before Pohela Boishakh in mid-April.

With the T20 World Cup due to start in two weeks, it is a missed opportunity for the first batch of 500 new taxicabs, not to be running well before the tournament.

Dhaka is conspicuous for having very few taxis running on its streets.

We welcome the communications minister’s announcement that the terms and conditions for importing taxicabs are being relaxed to help the introduction of new services. It is long overdue for this process to be speeded up.

Plans to introduce 1,000 new taxicabs were first announced in 2010.

The Army Welfare Trust and Toma Construction and Company Ltd, which won the bidding process to introduce the new services, have had to endure a long wait for the import approval process to be progressed by the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority.

Modern well-run taxis are a vital part of any large city’s infrastructure. It is a symptom of Dhaka’s congestion and transport crisis that we do not currently have adequately functioning taxi services.

The inconvenience caused by the lack of modern taxis is acute and adds to the burden on other forms of transport and artificially increases the number of private cars clogging up traffic.

BRTA’s announcement that the new taxicabs will be properly regulated to ensure they run for the convenience of passengers is a welcome move in the right direction.

The government should go further to allow more cabs to be imported in future, to encourage the market to develop and provide better taxi services for all city dwellers.

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Young Bangladeshis’ contributions to technology March 2

The new generation of Bangladeshis has brought much glory to our nation. Recently, we have seen the students of Shahjalal University building a remote-controlled aircraft, referred to as a drone, which made its inaugural flight on January 29 this year.

The device will be able to reach any place within a relatively short amount of time, and is quite silent in its operation. This outstanding device can contribute much in preserving our motherland from its enemies.

Another torch bearer in this new generation is Jawed Karim, one of the co-inventors of Youtube, the popular video sharing website. So many young people are working hard on innovations every day. Their innovations can develop our service sector more and more. Their innovations can lead us towards building up our country so that we get where we want to and dream of. All we need are mere guidelines and cooperation from our government.

Md Imranur Rahman East West University

NHRC chief: Why is Taslima in exile?

February 28

Why is she in exile? That’s the reward for telling the truth. In this age of hypocrisy and corruption under the cover of so-called religion, anyone may be put to death as well. I really admire her courage and strength to stand against the odds she is facing.

Muhammad Safder Ali

PM: BD, US to jointly resist militants February 27

Jointly resist militants? No, I think she should hold a fair election first.

Ahnaf Saber

‘Stop statue worship or move to India’

Rape victim beaten for demanding justice

February 26

Osmania Don’t give publicity to the dishonest excuses bigots use to justify their violence.

Kalu_Mia These miscreants remain immune to all kind of legal harassment while we, the common man, have to taste bitterness in court, no matter where in Bangladesh we are. On the other side, they help create a space of political blame games. And at the end of the day, it’s the poor who lose their lives and properties in the trap of politics in Bangladesh.

BNP-Jamaat start from where they left

February 28 Just as I had recently predicted and stated on this site, BNP-Jamaat’s significant successes in the first phase of the UZ elections (despite random cases of vote fraud by hired hoodlums) meant that this time the ruling AL regime stepped up the ante in even greater vote rigging, intimidation and violence to skew the final results as much as was possible. Still, BNP-Jamaat (especially BNP) managed to reinforce their gains in the second phase by a strong return that should encourage the party and its supporters. The results of the Jatiya Party (supposedly the “Opposition” in Parliament) speak for themselves.

Ronnie

February 28

The urban botanist

February 27 This is a lovely portrait of the city of Chandigarh.

Sohel

Fencing off democracy February 27 When the very of essence of democracy-inclusive and participatory election, active parliament, checks and balance of power between the different organs of the government, rule of law, inner party democracy, tolerance, and decentralisation of power are totally absent, then this bemoaning about the architectural beauty of the parliament building appears completely meaningless and ridiculous to me. Even if this building is replaced by a mere tin-shed kacha-pucca structure I won’t mind, and welcome the decision to turn this huge land surrounding the existing building into a residential area that will serve to mitigate the huge housing problem of the ever-expanding population of the city. Even if the parliament venue is transferred to some far-flung area of Chittagong Hill Tracts, that will cause no harm to our brand of democracy. nds

Ashraful Islam Siam Oh, brutality at its best. Shame on them.

Adnan Qader Write a proper article first. All u wrote was: x got raped, y beat them up, and both filed cases out of anger.

How about that for an opinion?

Sayeeda Ahmad This is not an opinion article. This is a news article. What else do you expect in a news article but facts about who, what, when, where, why, how?

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CALVIN AND HOBBES

The government should encourage the market to develop and provide better taxi services for all city dwellers

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU ACROSS 1 Thunder god (4) 4 Seed covering (4) 8 Forefront (3) 9 Skin opening (4) 10 Pleased (4) 11 Riverside embankment (5) 12 Crippled (4) 14 Horseplay (coll) (3) 15 Colour (3) 17 Stain (3) 19 40 Winks (3) 21 Hit with open hand (4) 23 Show amusement (5) 26 Departed (4) 27 Sport (4) 28 Opening (3) 29 Encourage in crime (4) 30 That following (4)

DOWN 1 Pulled forcibly (6) 2 Egg-shaped (4) 3 Tracking system (5) 4 Monkey (3) 5 Wanderer (5) 6 Anger (3) 7 Sheltered side (3) 11 Within the law (5) 13 Minister’s residence (5) 16 Fault (6) 18 Banishment (5) 20 Heathen (5) 22 Church leader (4) 23 Mineral spring (3) 24 Unruly crowd (3) 25 Fate (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

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Stub it out n Faisal Mahmud

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Is wealth necessary to buy power?

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Egalitarian Uncle Pennybags

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n Ikhtisad Ahmed atching from the sidelines while someone else takes one’s ill-intentioned authoritarian plan, irons out the flaws in its implementation, gives it the appearance of something acceptable, if not palatable, and somehow pulls it off can make the best of people seethe.

The bitter feelings are much worse when the plan was conceived over two decades ago, and failed to be implemented twice by those presently crying crocodile tears and having the audacity to pretend to be for the people.

The nation where these mythical best of people are nowhere to be found, nay, the world surely sympathises with the erstwhile opposition.

An endemic combination of ignorance, indifference, and idiocy has seen the country repeatedly buy into lies, some sugar-coated or concealed, others blatant but unchallenged. The only reason members of the ruling class have left for the charade of taking up arms for the people is when they are faced with the ignominy of being unable to pilfer and pillage.

At all other times they busy themselves with making hay. They find themselves in this wonderful position because no one contends their carefully honed brand of capitalism, which, more than others, adheres to John Maynard Keynes’s critique. He said: “Capitalism is the astounding belief that the most wickedest of men will do

the most wickedest of things for the greatest good of everyone.”

In the mad land where a fraction of a percentage of the total population enjoys the indefensibly disproportionate power of having complete control over everyone else, this criticism is reused and recycled as sound logic.

Therefore, any solution to Bangladesh’s ills, the perceived and the real ones, that is devised by the brilliant minds of the chairperson and leaders of the old opposition that first concocted the notion of autocracy veiled as democracy comes from the Tom Perkins school of thought.

This novel idea, sans the unsavoury issue of taxation, is sure to be championed by the Bangladeshi elites, if not brazenly at first, then certainly wholeheartedly in silence. The eventuality of such a movement is, of course, undeniable.

The poor are a burden on society.

Their only use is when they can be abused in sweatshops and fields, on construction sites and roads, at home and abroad. They are a nuisance at all other times, especially when they voice their demands for rights. The misperception that they are human, which can lead to oppression being de-

The rich deserve more votes than the poor, with a direct correlation between the number of votes each person gets and his bank balance

The American venture capitalist turned philosopher followed up his significant thesis about the progressive Kristallnacht with a proposal for proportional and representative democracy. The synopsis of this purer democracy is that the rich deserve more votes than the poor, with a direct correlation between the number of votes each person gets and his bank balance, which dictates how much he pays in taxes.

noted a negative, undesirable thing, is precisely what the sage Perkins wants to dispel.

Bangladesh agrees, since it takes pride in not allowing the poor to have such delusions of grandeur. They know their place. The risk that they will rise up against those defined as the one percent in a stirring re-enactment of Nazi Germany’s war on its one percent – the Jews – is downright non-existent. It is, thus, the utopia

that Perkins desires.

Neither the erstwhile and current oppositions nor the government stand for the people, certainly not when in power, equally so when not. That is because they do not have to in the perfect society of Bangladesh. Even the pretence of being for the people will fade away very soon.

It is already beginning to sound as tired as the US’s contrived phrases about lines that should not be crossed and people deciding the fate of their respective countries in matters of international affairs and diplomacy.

Every time a politician speaks for the people, it is an unforgivable affront to the masses. The leaders and the rich, increasingly one and the same, are too far removed – and forever pulling further away – from the people to ever dare speak for them.

The only thing they achieve by screaming themselves hoarse, by levelling accusations at one another because the sun only shines on them most of the time, all in the name of being for the people echoes the teachings of philosopher Tom Perkins.

That there are members of the ruling class who have a right to be aggrieved is not preposterous at all. The poor ruling class, they truly have been wronged, they really are handicapped.

They only ever want what is best for the people, honest. l Ikhtisad Ahmed is a writer and an erstwhile lawyer. He can be contacted on Twitter via @ Ikhtisad.

like the way a fresh firm pack feels in my hand. I like peeling away that little piece of cellophane and seeing it twinkle in the light. I like coaxing that first sweet cylinder out of its hiding place and bringing it slowly up to my lips.

Striking a match, watching it burst into a perfect little flame and knowing that soon that flame will be inside me. I love the first puff, pulling it into my lungs. Little fingers of smoking filling me, caressing me, feeling that warmth penetrate deeper and deeper, until I think I’m going to burst! Then – whoosh! – watching it flow out of me in a lovely, sinuous cloud, no two ever quite the same.”

Remember how passionately Bebe Glazer (Harriet Sansom Harris) was explaining to Dr Frasier Crane (Kelsey Grammer) what she loves about cigarettes in an episode of the popular sitcom “Frasier”? Remember how everyone present in that room had a sudden craving for a smoke?

There is no beating around the bush. Cigarettes on the silver screen look glamourous, so glamourous that it has become a major headache for anti-tobacco campaigners across the world in fighting tobacco promotion.

The biggest media – as Noam Chomsky termed Hollywood – has long been a smoky place, at least since 1942’s Now, Voyager, in which Bette Davis and Paul Henreid showed how to make and seal a romantic deal over a pair of cigarettes that were as smouldering as the stars.

Then you have the great Humphrey Bogart. He never seemed to be without a cigarette on the big screen, and a generation of men in the 40s as well as the 50s learned that “coolness” would never come without having a cigarette dangling from the lips.

Incidentally, cigarettes are more common on-screen these days than at any other time since the mid-century: 75% of all Hollywood films – including 36% of those rated G or PG – show tobacco use, according to a 2006 survey by the University of California, San Francisco.

Audiences, especially kids, are taking notice. Two recent studies published in Lancet and Pediatrics have found that among children as young as 10, those exposed to the most onscreen smoking are up to 2.7 times as likely as others to pick up the habit.

Worse, it’s the ones from non-smoking homes who are hit the hardest, perhaps because they are spared the dirty ashtrays and musty drapes that make real-world smoking a lot less appealing than the sanitised cinematic version.

A study published by the Harvard School of Public Health said that getting cigarettes out of movies could have as powerful an effect, but it wouldn’t be easy. Cigarette-makers had a history of striking product-placement deals with Hollywood, and while the 1998 tobacco settlement prevents that, nothing stops directors from incorporating smoking into scenes on their own.

Reference studies available on the internet say that in 1999, Harvard began holding one-on-one meetings with studio execs trying to change that, and in 2006, the Motion Picture Association of America flung the door open, inviting Bloomberg foundation, the biggest anti-tobacco donor in the world, to make a presentation to all the studios. Harvard’s advice was direct:

“Get the butts entirely out, or at least make smoking unappealing.”

After those presentations, a few films have provided a glimpse of what a no-smoking – or low-smoking – Hollywood would be like. Producer Lindsay Doran, who once helped persuade director John Hughes to keep Ferris Bueller’s Day Off smoke-free in the 1980s hit, wanted to do the same for the leads of her 2006 movie Stranger than Fiction, reported Time Magazine.

Cigarettes on the silver screen have become a major headache for anti-tobacco campaigners The magazine reported that when a writer convinced Lidsay Doran that the character played by Emma Thompson had to smoke, Doran relented. But from the way Thompson hacks her way through the film and snuffs out her cigarettes in a palmful of spit, it’s clear the glamour’s gone.

Movies produced in Hollywood, however, are not only the biggest influence of tobacco smoking on the silver screen, at least not for the people of Bangladesh.

Rather it’s the tinsel town of our neighbouring country – Bollywood.

When some of the latest Bollywood films like Heroine and Fashion come across our minds, Kareena Kapoor and Priyanka Chopra holding the tobacco stick are some of the potent images that are remembered. The characters they portrayed belonged to the glamour industry. They learned to smoke, because they believed that smoking would help them in times of depression and failure.

A similar portrayal was done in The Dirty Picture. It was said that Vidya Balan had smoked 10 cigarettes for the film. Bollywood personalities choose to smoke to make their characters appear more realistic on-screen, when they do not smoke in reality.

Award-winning Kahaani showed officer Khan (Nawazuddin Siddiqui) smoking in front of pregnant Vidya Bagchi (Vidya Balan), sending the wrong message to society. Though such a minor thing, the impact is quite harmful.

No Smoking starring John Abraham was not received well at the box office.

However, it sent an important message about smoking to society. His character, a heavy chain-smoker, had decided to quit smoking for his loved ones.

The Indian government has banned smoking in films and has made it compulsory to issue a statutory warning in the opening credits. But that actually helps very little for the cause.

Incidentally, the amended Tobacco Control Act of Bangladesh has a similar warning. But the films produced in “Dhalywood,” because of the loopholes in the sensor board, barely use that statutory warning.

In terms of influencing people to consume tobacco to look menacing rather than cool, Dhalywood films, however, have some influence. Almost in every typical Dhalywood movie, the villain is shown smoking cigarettes, which prompts the working class people to try out cigarettes. l

Faisal Mahmud is a journalist at the Dhaka Tribune.

It’s time to understand democracy n Mohammad Ali Sattar

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he nation is going through local government election times. The polls planned in phases will continue for some time. A sustainable and functional local government is important for an effective democracy.

Simply having five-yearly national and local polls are not democracy. Rather, the pre and post-polls functioning of the institutions and departments of various government and semi-government bodies are important cornerstones of democracy.

When we talk about polls in any tier of the state administration, we can’t help commenting on the accompanying violence that mars the entire spirit and expectations of the democratic exercise.

We have witnessed large-scale violence during the January 5 national polls, as though we are, as a nation, unable to hold any political contest without hostility. Not only does this violence disturb the process of the electioneering and voting, it also leads to tragic killings, and unrestrained destruction of land and property.

The most tragic thing is that no side in the contest is ready to talk or work in a peaceful manner. Living in the same area, these contestants and activists do not hesitate to take up arms against each other whenever political interest interferes. Having lived for generations in the same neighbourhood, even having distant family bondage, does not stop them from taking up arms against each other.

The spirit or understanding of democracy is absent in our system.

For instance, we expect the national polls to be peaceful and democratic.

How? Don’t we forget that even in the national polls, we have the whole country involved in the practice? Campaigning and voting is held all around the districts and rural areas, as it happens during local government polls.

So, in either case, be it national elections or upazila polls, we have the whole country and citizenry involved in the exercise.

Election times are supposed to be times of festivity. But we witness increasing violence. Local contests used to be a matter of excitement and sport in the past.

Things have changed drastically.

The politics of retribution has crept into our systems like no other thing.

Instead of developing a peaceful democratic system, we helped ourselves with the politics of violence that was marked by communalism, extremism, inflammatory speech, intolerance, gruesome killings, and unresolved mysteries. In the garb of politics, we also developed a perverted trend in our social dealings.

The ongoing violent local government polls are yet another indication of our continued intolerance and disrespect towards each other, and our total disregard towards a system of self-rule.

Dangerous to all these, are mainly the leaders who have been fanning the trouble. Polls are marked by the snatching of ballot boxes, physical attacks on each other, the burning of voting centres, and mass scale rigging.

It is no longer a surprise to hear about violence and other related crimes when it comes to the polls. The Election Commission also apprehends violence in marked areas, and plans security measures.

So, it all boils down to one thing – our election times will be accompanied by hostility and aggression. Many lives will be lost, and destruction of all kinds will happen.

More surprisingly, there is no effort from any quarter to address this situation. No one comes forward with a solution to the ills that are eating up the morale of society.

Not only should we talk about the pre and post-polls violence, we should also seriously contemplate the causes of the violence, and supply remedies with good grace.

We should have a national agenda to make the polls peaceful, and give democracy a chance to make its way in our system.

Violence and hostility have now become an accepted part of the election process. Even the EC, law enforcement agencies, and political parties have taken things for granted – that polls and violence mean the same thing.

This time around, government activists are in action trying to outdo the opposition in the fear that they might lose big.

Politically, BNP-backed candidates are leading in the contest, while second in the race are ruling party-backed candidates. Jamaat has also fared well in the sense that it was supposed to be lost and gone.

So, it all boils down to one thing – our election times will be accompanied by hostility and aggression.

Many lives will be lost, and destruction will happen

Regardless of who wins and takes over the reins of local governance, we expect a turnaround in our mindsets.

Our political competition should be civilised, and local polls should set an example for the urban people – that Bangladeshis can live in peace and harmony, and hold peaceful contests for changes of power. l Mohammad Ali Sattar is a journalist and DT columnist.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

86th Academy Awards announced

12 Years a Slave director Steve McQueen and one of the producers Brad Pitt

Cate Blanchett

Matthew McConaughey

Lupita Nyong’o

A landmark Oscar win for First-time nominee 12 Years a Slave Matthew McConaughey wins Best Actor In a triumph long deferred, 12 Years a Slave won the best picture Oscar at the 86th Academy Awards on Sunday night, the first time Hollywood conferred its top honour to the work of a black director.

“I’d like to thank this amazing story,” said Steve McQueen, the British-born filmmaker who grasped a prize that has eluded African-American directors and their movies since the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences gave its first Oscars in 1929.

“Everyone deserves not just to survive, but to live,” said McQueen, who dedicated the film to those who had endured slavery, both in the past and in the present.

Only minutes before, McQueen had been overlooked for the directing award, which went to Alfonso Cuarón for Gravity, a 3-D blockbuster whose story of survival in space had been locked with McQueen’s film and David O Russell’s American Hustle in a ferocious contest for the best picture statuette.

Not a single award for American Hustle

Crime caper American Hustle suffered one of the worst shutouts in Oscars history on Sunday after failing to win any awards despite its 10 nominations.

The drama had received broadly favourable reviews and had led the field in terms of nods along with eventual best picture winner 12 Years A Slave heading into Sunday’s Academy Awards.

As well as a nomination for best picture, the movie had also earned nods for director David O Russell as well as for actors Christian Bale, Bradley Cooper, Amy Adams and Jennifer Lawrence.

However the film, based on a 1970s FBI sting operation known as ABSCAM, missed out in all of the major and minor categories in which it was nominated.

The disappointment for American Hustle was arguably even more unexpected given the movie had consistently picked up honors throughout Hollywood’s awards season, including a Golden Globe for best comedy or musical and the top honor at the Screen Actors Guild award.

Matthew took home the Best Actor at the 2014 Oscars for his role in Dallas Buyers Club, beating out Christian Bale, Leonardo DiCaprio, Bruce Dern and Chiwetel Ejiofor.

But he had a lot more to say before that (but no worries, there was no Neptune talk this time around).

“Thank you to the academy for this, all 6,000 members. Thank you to all the other nominees, all of these performances were impeccable. I didn’t see a false note anywhere. I wanna thank JeanMarc Vallée, our director. I wanna thank Jared Leto, Jennifer Garner, who I worked with daily,” he began.

“There are three things to my account that I need each day.

One of them is something to look up to, another is something to look forward to and another is someone to chase. First off, I wanna thank God, because that’s who I look up to. He has graced my life with opportunities that I know are not of my hand or any other human hand. He has shown me that it’s a scientific fact that gratitude reciprocates...

The actor then went on to tanks his family and everyone who supported him and ending his speech with famous last words “alright, alright, alright.”

Jared Leto beats Bradley Cooper and Barkhad Abdi

Jared Leto has won the Best Supporting Actor award for his role as transgender Aids patient Rayon in Dallas Buyers Club.

Leto, who stars alongside Best Actor nominee Matthew McConaughey, had been the favourite to take the accolade after winning at multiple recent awards ceremonies. As last year’s Best Supporting Actress winner Anne Hathaway announced Leto’s name as winner, he hugged McConaughey before taking to the stage.

“Ellen I love you,” Leto began, in a nod to this year’s Oscars host Ellen DeGeneres. “To my fellow nominees, I’m so proud to share this journey with you. I have awe and so much respect for you all. To the academy, thank you.”

Leto went on to thank his mother, who he had invited along to the ceremony as his date.

Alfonso Cuaron

Cate Blanchett champions women in film

Cate Blanchett has won the Best Actress Oscar for her powerful and emotive performance as an unhinged once wealthy woman in Woody Allen’s Blue Jasmine.

This is the Australian star’s second Academy Award after taking home Best Supporting Actress almost a decade ago for her role in The Aviator.

Blue Jasmine lead Cate Blanchett gave a heartfelt speech while accepting the Best Actress Oscar, graciously supporting women in film and thanking director Woody Allen.

The stylish star claimed the golden Oscar statue onstage at the Kodak Theatre Sunday while showering her fellow contenders Amy Adams, Sandra Bullock, Meryl Streep, and Judi Dench with praise.

“Amy Adams, everything you do, but your performance in American Hustle blew my mind,” Blanchett said. “And Meryl, what can I say? Sandra, I could watch that performance to the end of time, and I sort of felt like I had.”

The Australian actress then championed women in film and slammed filmmakers “who are still foolishly clinging to the idea that female films with women at the centre are niche experiences.”

“They are not,” Blanchett noted. “Audiences want to see them, and in fact, they earn money.”

Lupita Nyong’o creates history

Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o has made history by becoming the first woman from her country to win the Oscar for best supporting actress for her performance in the film 12 Years a Slave.

“Thank you to the academy for this incredible recognition,” an emotional Nyong’o said, earning a thunderous standing ovation from the Hollywood audience.

“When I look down at this golden statue may it remind me, and every little child, that no matter where you are from your dreams are valid,” she said.

Nyong’o, 31, won her first Oscar after earning the same award from her peers at the Screen Actors Guild Awards in January.

She received plaudits from critics for her depiction of suffering as a field-working slave who becomes an object of sexual desire for her master.

But Gravity dominates ...

Italy’s The Great Beauty wins best foreign language film

Gravity was the big winner at Sunday night’s 86th Academy Awards, taking home seven Oscars, cleaning up in technical categories like cinematography and editing.

It was the first Academy Award for Cuaron, 52, and the first best director Oscar for a Mexican. His 3-D film starring Sandra Bullock and George Clooney mixes dazzling special effects, suspense, and human drama.

Accepting the Oscar, Cuaron paid special tribute to Bullock: “Sandy, you are Gravity, you are the soul and heart of the film. You are an amazing collaborator and one of the best people I have ever met.”

Visually stunning Italian drama The Great Beauty won the Oscar for best foreign language film on Sunday, capping its successful awards season run in the United States and Europe.

Director Paolo Sorrentino’s film about an aging writer’s reflections on life and his search for meaning among Rome’s idle rich also won top foreign film honours at the Golden Globes and Britain’s BAFTAs. It was the first Oscar for Sorrentino and the 11th win for an Italian film since foreign language film became a competitive category in 1956, the most of any country. Italian films earned three additional Academy Awards before that time.

In his acceptance speech, Naples-born Sorrentino gave a nod to Italian director Federico Fellini, former Argentine soccer player Diego Maradona - who once played for Naples soccer club - his wife and the central focus of his film, Rome.

Bappa composes new song for Independence Day

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Entertainment Desk

Marking the country’s 44th Independence Day on March 26, 3 lakh people will stand together to sing the National Anthem at the National Parade Ground in a bid to set a new Guinness World Record.

Cultural Affairs Minister, Asaduzzaman Noor, unveiled the logo of the programme on Sunday at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, declaring the event.

Celebrated musician Bappa Mazumder composed a special patriotic song written by prolific writer Syed Shamsul Haque

with lines: Bangalir Joy/Joy Banglar Dhonitey Ekattor/Shonitey Lekha Jonoker Naam Bangabandhu Mujibur, Joy Joy Bangla/Joy Joy Joy. The other catchy feature of the song will be the ten renowned artistes including Sabina Yasmin, Subir Nandi, Andrew Kishore, Samina Chowdhury, Momtaz, Bappa Mazumder, Elita and Konal, who lends their voice to Bappa’s composition.

The remarkable song has been divided into three segments based on the Liberation War, the last stanza being the national anthem.

A music video has been produced already by Shankar Shawjal. Thanking everyone, Bappa Mazumder’s Facebook status read: “it was a big day for me .... great artists like Sabina Yasmin and Subir Nandi came to my studio and recorded their voices in my composition .... and of course the great Syed Haque who has written the song which was one of my biggest achievements .... thanks to all other artists ... Biswajit Da (Kumar Biswajit da) Konal, Kona, Elita for their enormous supports ... grateful to sir Asaduzzaman Noor, the great Shankar da, the person whom I think as one of my guardians.” l

Jared Leto

Oscar winners of 2014 Best picture 12 Years a Slave Actor in a leading role Matthew McConaughey - Dallas Buyers Club Actor in a supporting role Jared Leto - Dallas Buyers Club Actress in a leading role Cate Blanchett - Blue Jasmine Actress in a supporting role Lupita Nyong’o - 12 Years a Slave Directing Alfonso Cuaron - Gravity Writing (adapted screenplay) 12 Years A Slave - John Ridley Writing (original screenplay) Her - Spike Jonze Animated feature film Frozen Documentary (feature) 20 Feet From Stardom Music (original song) “Let it Go” - Frozen - Kristen Anderson-Lopez and Robert Lopez Music (original score) Gravity Steven Price Visual effects Gravity Cinematography Gravity Costume design The Great Gatsby Makeup and hairstyling Dallas Buyers Club Film editing Gravity Documentary (short subject) The Lady in Number 6: Music Saved My Life Foreign language film The Great Beauty - Italy Short film (live action) Helium Short film (animated) Mr. Hublot Production design The Great Gatsby Sound editing Gravity Sound mixing Gravity

Tapas Barua: Bangladesh is a prolific place for photographers n Hasan Mansoor Chatak Chittagong–born highly gifted photographer Tapas Barua is recently in Dhaka with his third solo exhibition titled The Beauty of Boston, a series of 40 photographs depicting the nature and beauty of Boston, USA. The exhibition will begin today at 4pm at the Drik Gallery and will continue until March 6.

Tapas Barua is currently a Boston based photographer and Dhaka Tribune caught up with the talented individual: Why did you choose the title The Beauty of Boston and was the series preplanned?

I worked as a photojournalist in Bangladesh for a few years and I love to photograph people’s facade and expressions. But in Boston, people’s privacy is highly secured and photographers like me don’t have access to them. So I tried to capture the nature and beauty of Boston through my camera and brought these pictures to my homeland to showcase. Actually the series of photographs aren’t preplanned, rather when I planned to visit Bangladesh, I gathered earlier and latest pictures of Boston.

You have the experience of working as a photographer in both USA and Bangladesh, which place

is more challenging for people of your profession?

In Bangladesh, subjects are more accessible and transparent. Everything comes across the lens easily including the people, their face, their expressions, their struggles, nature and natural disaster and any kind burning issues in society. I would call this place a prolific platform for photogra- A photograph by Tapas Barua, whose solo exhibition begins today at Drik gallery phers. At the same time, in Bangladesgh, the risk factor for journalists comes hand in hand with all the positive as- Which style or trend do you follow in photography? pects.

I do not take flat photographs, rather when I find Photography in the USA is more challenging a subject in action, with vivid composition of as people are inclined towards protecting their light and shadows, I usually do not miss that. l privacy and access to all subjects is not possible.

Did you know?

Sangakkara is the fastest to 1000 international runs in a calendar year beating Kallis (10/3/2004)

Sport

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

0 1 2

14 Tevez hits 15th

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15 Tamim set

goal as Juventus punish Milan

DAYS TO GO

DHAKA TRIBUNE

for MCC bicentenary

SL cruise to final n

Players shake their hands after their Asia Cup match between Afghanistan and Sri Lanka at SBNCS yesterday

Jamal joins team in Mumbai n Jamal Bhuiyan, the Denmark-born Bangladeshi footballer, joined the Bangladesh national team in Mumbai yesterday after flying from Denmark.

Jamal is the first non-resident Bangladeshi to play for national team and the midfielder showed glimpse of his brilliance in the Saff Championship in Nepal last year where he made his debut. The 24-year-old is expected to pair with Mamunul Islam and Sohel Rana in the midfield. Young midfielder Vincent Hemanta Biswas could also make his debut for the national team. Bangladesh will lock horns with India in a Fifa friendly scheduled to be kicked off at the Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa tomorrow. l

MOMENTS Kiss of death Afghanistan pacer Shapoor Zadran once again gave his side a good start in their match yesterday. He uprooted Sri Lanka opener Lahiru Thirimanne’s stumps, a merry sight every fast bowler loves, in the 6th over. The left-handed batsman went forward but missed the line of the in-swinging delivery which dislodged the middle stump. Zadran burst in celebration and at the same time animated a flying kiss to accompany Thirimanne to his long walk back.

Beamer bummer Dawlat Zadran bowled two beamers which made the on-field umpire put him off in the 50th over. His first beamer was to Thisara Perera in 48th over when an attempted yorker went wrong ending up being a high full toss outside off. An over later, Dawlat bowling his and Afghanistan’s last over delivered another wild one in the third ball to Angelo Mathews. The umpires called off Dawlat right away and the over was completed by Afghan skipper Mohammad Nabi.

Sangakkara beaten!

Given Kumar Sangakkara’s recent batting form in Bangladesh, it is probably any bowlers dream to take his wicket early.

He made another 76 yesterday, but one should call him lucky to reach there. He was comprehensively beaten several times by off-spinner Mohammad Nabi during the 11-17 over. There were also instances when Nabi looked frustrated as the deliveries beat his edge and also the stump by a whisker. For the first time in the last one month Sangakkara looked fragile against a bowler, quite an achievement for Nabi.

–Minhaz Uddin Khan

MUMIT M

A clinical performance from the Sri Lankans confirmed their place in the final of the Asia Cup after they crushed an upbeat Afghanistan side by a huge 129 runs at the Sher-e-Bangla National stadium yesterday. The win also brought a bonus point for the table toppers Sri Lanka, meaning India, who sit third in the points table and has a match left against Afghanistan, are all but out of the tournament with Pakistan is a safe position with nine points.

The high flying Afghans spent a difficult time against the Lankan bowling unit as they never looked easy during their chase of 254.

After losing Mohammad Shahzad with the scorecard reading eight, Afghanistan staged a fight back with Noor Ali Zadran and Ashgar Stanikzai, their hero against Bangladesh, adding 45 for the second wicket.

Stanikzai, after stroking some glorious boundaries, was cleaned up by fast bowler Thisara Perera on 27 while Noor Ali was trapped leg-before by Ajantha Mendis as Afghanistan were reduced to 59/3.

The Afghans were not able to recover from that position as they faced some disciplined bowling from the Lankans.

Mohammad Nabi played some beautiful shots to score the highest 37 for the batting side before he fell lbw to Chaturanga de Silva. The associate members were eventually bowled out for 124 runs.

Mendis and Thisara bagged three wickets each while Silva and Suranga Lakmal took two each for the winners.

However, earlier it was yet another impressive display from the Afghans in the field which momentarily put Sri Lanka in a spot of bother. The bowlers used the slowness of the wicket to perfection as even Kumar Sangakkara found it difficult to find the gaps.

Shapoor Zadran once again gave the minnows the start they looked for by cleaning up Lahiru Thirimanne with the scorecard reading 14, while after a 36-run partnership off 9.3 overs Kusal Perera gave away to the pressure from Mirwaris Ashraf.

Afghan skipper Nabi created the pressure on Sangakkara by beating the edge on several occasions, but the lefthanded stood calm as always to produce another fifty to his name. After Mahela Jayawardene’s soft dismissal on 14, Sangakkara took Chandimal and added 74 runs for the fourth wicket.

The vice-captain Chandimal tried to cut loose and in the process lost his wicket followed by Sangakkara getting run out with Sri Lanka suddenly placed at 158 for five.

Sri Lanka was badly looking for quick runs and skipper Angelo Mathews provided just the innings they needed. The right-handed smashed 45 off 41 balls with four boundaries to help Sri Lanka post the competitive total of 253 for six.

Mathews helped put on 69 runs in the last eight overs after they were reeling at 184 for six at the 42nd over. l

Cornered Tigers face upbeat champions n The last time Bangladesh and Pakistan met was two years back in the final of the last Asia Cup, which the Tigers lost by two runs, and it should give some inspiration to the home side, who are in dire strait, when they meet the defending champions at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.

The hosts are going through tough times both on and off the field. Defeat to India in the opening match was followed by a humiliating loss against minnows Afghanistan which will surely hurt for long time to come. Howev-

er, the Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim is looking to turn the tables around in the last two matches of the tournament.

“We have two more opportunities to play well. We need to play well in all the three departments. The last two games we played against Pakistan were close. We need one match for a turn around. We can win these games.

There are chances. We hope to finish on a good note,” said Mushfiq.

However, the return of Shakib al Hasan after serving the three-match ban will be a boost to the side who are struggling in the middle-order with the bat while the bowling unit also looks toothless.

“Shakib is an important player and

when he is in the team we will have an extra bowler and extra batsman. The pressure will be less on me as well. It’s good news. Last few years he has been our big player so it will be really good.

His inclusion will change the whole team,” said Mushfiq.

The top order is also a matter of concern for the tigers as Shamsur Rahman is likely to be replaced by Imrul Kayes who will open the innings with Anamul Haque. Sohag Gazi was ruled out from the Asia Cup after injuring his right thumb against Afghanistan which opened the door for Mahmudullah in the squad. Though Mahmudullah was left out of the squad for poor form, the former vice-captain might squeeze in the playing XI today.

The Tigers will miss the service of their most experienced fast bowler Mashrafe bin Mortaza as Rubel Hossain looks to be the only genuine pacer to play supported by medium pacer Ziaur Rahman. Meanwhile, the absence of Gazi and the return of Shakib meant Bangladesh’s spin will be controlled by the left-armers which also included Arafat Sunny and Abdur Razzak.

Meanwhile Mushfiq added that if Bangladesh can do well in all the three departments, which they are not doing recently, it is not impossible to beat Pakistan. “We haven’t been able to do the basic things in the three departments and if we can do well in all the three departments, although they are a difficult side, it won’t be impossible to

beat them,” said Mushfiq.

Pakistan, on the other hand, will be looking to confirm their spot in the final with a win today. The two openers Sharjeel Khan and Ahmed Shehzad should be looking to play longer innings as the duo produced two consecutive fifty partnerships but were unable to convert it bigger. Pakistan has limited batsmen and the contribution from the top four, that also includes Mohammad Hafeez and Shoaib Maqsood, must be immense.

With fast bowler Mohammad Talha fit to play against Bangladesh and Umar Gul and Junaid Khan alongside it will be a test for the Bangladeshi batsmen, while the top class spin of Saeed Ajmal will also be a threat. l

Mathews not thinking of final yet BCB to impose new ‘rules’ n The huge 129-run win yesterday has confirmed Sri Lanka’s place in the final of the Asia Cup, but despite the feat the Lankan captain Angelo Mathews is looking forward to their last match against Bangladesh, rather than thinking about the final already.

Sri Lanka won all three matches against Pakistan, India and Afghanistan which took their point tally to 13 points. Sri Lanka will play their last scheduled match before the final against Bangladesh on February 6.

“We have just won a game to be honest didn’t get the time to think that far. Have few days in hand and also the Bangladesh before the finals. We want to think of the game left for now. And as far as the opposition is concerned, every team aims to win – let it be any opposition – India or Pakistan or any other team should not matter. Our aim will be to play best of cricket and win the game,” said Sri Lanka skipper Mathews in the post-match conference at SBNS yesterday.

The game yesterday was Sri Lanka’s first against Afghanistan and Mathews as any other captain showed respect for their opponents.

“They [Afghanistan] have a very good bowling attack with couple of pacers and the spinners and it was not easy to score against them.

“The wicket was slow and our batsmen had to work hard to put the runs on the board. We always had respect for them [Afghanistan] like we have to any other team and they had put a good competition for us to be honest,” said the 26-year-old.

It has already been more than a

difference between his team and Sri Lanka.

“We played against a team which has cricketers who have played more 100 games so hardly had any chance.

What we earned from the game was experience of being among the big boys and the more we do this the more the Afghanistan players will nurture,” said Kabir. l

RESULTS Sri Lanka

month that Sri Lanka had set foot in Bangladesh. During the month long bilateral series against Bangladesh, the side had done everything for the victories and came into the Asia Cup boosted with the local condition and the clean sheet so far in the tournament is their hard work paying off, but despite the achievements Mathews ruled out his side being the “favourites”.

Meanwhile, for Afghanistan it was another opportunity to bag experience against a Test nation said the side’s coach Kabir Khan.

“This tournament [Asia Cup] is a journey for us to learn and today was our fifth game against a Test playing nation. The win against Bangladesh accomplished our mission which was to win at least one game in the tournament. The boys are enjoying the games and at the same time are also learning being amongst the world class cricketers,” said Kabir.

The former Pakistan national cricketer held experience as the main

K Perera b Ashraf L Thirimanne b Shapoor K Sangakkara run out M Jayawardene c Nabi b Ashraf D Chandimal b Hotak A Mathews not out P de Silva c Ashraf b Dawlat T Perera not out Extras: (lb6, nb6, w6)

33 5 76 14 26 45 17 19 18

Total (for six wkts; 50 overs) 253 FoW: 1-14, 2-50, 3-83, 4-157, 5-158, 6-184 Bowling: Najibullah 3-0-9-0, Shapoor 9-1-46-1, Dawlat 9.2-0-60-1, Ashraf 8-1-29-2, Nabi 6.4-1-23-0, Hotak 7-1-43-1, Shinwari 4-0-20-0, Mangal 3-0-17-0

Afghanistan Shahzad b Lakmal Noor Ali Zadran c de Silva b Mendis Asghar Stanikzai b Thisara Nawroz Mangal c Sangakkara b Thisara Samiullah Shinwari c Thirimanne b Lakmal Mohammad Nabi lbw de Silva Najibullah Zadran c Mathews b Perera Mirwais Ashraf c Thisara b de Silva Hamza Hotak lbw b Mendis Dawlat Zadran b Mendis Shapoor Zadran not out Extras: (lb2, w7) Total: (all out; 38.4 overs) 124 FoW: 1-8, 2-53, 3-59, 4-61, 5-73, 6-121, 7-121, 8-122, 9-124 Bowling: Malinga 5-0-23-0, Lakmal 7-2-30-2, Thisara 10-2-29-3, de Silva 9.4-1-29-2, Mendis 7-2-11-3 Result: Sri Lanka won by 129 runs

7 21 27 4 6 37 11 1 1 0 0 9

n

It can easily be said that Bangladesh cricket team has never after winning the ICC Trophy in 1997 faced such criticism for their performance. One frustration led to another in the past one month and it reached an extreme high after their latest defeat in the Asia Cup against associate members Afghanistan.

The result made the Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan sit in a one-on-one meeting with both national captain Mushfiqur Rahim and head-coach Shane Jurgensen to find a quick solution to the problem.

Batsmen throwing away their wickets at crucial times, few not following the message from the think tank and lack of commitment were amongst the agendas discussed in the meetings.

However, other than finding the remedy, the meeting also listed few cricketers whose body languages were not positive.

“It is pretty hard when the things are not going your way on the field. It raises questions. As a team we are yet to play our best cricket. Management can say it as well because they are a part of it. Being a captain the biggest challenge is to perform as a team,” said Mushfiq to the media yesterday.

It was learnt that the BCB president has already asked the national selection panel to make the necessary changes, after the coach and the captain had suggested, in the World Twenty20 squad.

However, cricket experts think it will create more panic in the side which is already suffering for some bold and necessary moves by the board.

Apart from the failure in executing

the plans on the field, ‘off-field distractions’ are also taken into consideration. It was reported across the media that the BCB spotted four players for lack of commitment on the field.

“I haven’t heard of the names that were published in the media. As a captain it is alarming for me, because I am not being able to lead the team and for which these names have come up.

The mistake is mine and the coach’s.

We are trying, but unfortunately, it is not working out,” said Mushfiqur.

Middle order batsman Nasir Hossain is amongst the four cricketers ‘black listed’ for his commitment for the team. Since his debut, Nasir showed how cool and composed he can bat under pressure but since failing in the past two months, the arrow of criticism is mostly towards him.

According to an influential BCB director Nasir is underperforming because of his “other” involvement outside the field. Whatever the involvement is, it should not be of BCB’s interest but when it is a reason behind his contribution to the team, the board does have the right to intervene.

The board’s decision to take issues into account and try to mend it has been taken positively by majority. The team is now likely to be imposed with regulations through a change in the team manager, a manager who is more professional and carries ability to keep things straight and will be there for a long time. But then again time will say how the cricketers, who love to be off limits in some cases, react to the regulations. Being aware of that limitation for the members of the team, even in personal life, is not unique. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Pakistani, Afghan hail headscarf move

Sport

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Birmingham City owner guilty

Pakistani and Afghan sports officials have hailed a decision by football’s world governing body to lift a ban on head coverings, saying this will allow more Islamic girls to take up the sport. FIFA on Saturday officially authorised the wearing of head covers for religious purposes during matches, allowing women who wear a veil in everyday life to cover their heads during matches and men to wear turbans.

Rukhsana Rashid, the captain of the all-women’s Dia club in Pakistan’s southern province of Sindh, said Monday the move would help the sport to grow.

- AFP

A Hong Kong court on Monday found Birmingham City owner Carson Yeung guilty of five counts of money-laundering, completing the former hairdresser’s fall from grace since taking over the club in 2009. The 54-year-old had denied laundering HK$720 million between 2001 and 2007, and repeatedly tried to halt proceedings over the course of the trial, claiming irregularities. Judge Douglas Yau criticised Yeung’s “self-contradictory” testimony and said he was “making it up as he went along”, in comments at a district court.

- AFP

Kanu has corrective heart surgery Former Nigeria striker Nwankwo Kanu has undergone corrective cardiac surgery in the United States, the head of the heart charity set up in his name said on Monday. Onyebuchi Abia, the co-ordinator of the Kanu Heart Foundation, said the rangy former Arsenal forward and Super Eagles skipper was operated on at the weekend in Cleveland, Ohio, in the US mid-west. “It was a corrective heart surgery,” Abia, without specifying the nature of the ailment, was quoted as saying in a number of Nigerian newspapers.

- AFP

Tevez hits 15th goal as Juventus punish Milan n Carlos Tevez struck a league-leading 15th goal for Juventus in a 2-0 win at AC Milan which gave the champions an 11-point lead over title challengers Roma on Sunday.

Roma sit second with a game in hand but are now lamenting a scoreless draw at home to Inter on Saturday which cost them two precious points and a possible first title since 2001.

RESULTS Cagliari Ibarbo 18, Vecino 81, Ibraimi 89

Atalanta

3 0 2 1

Carmona 21, Cigarini 85)

Genoa

Udinese

Chievo Dainelli 72

2 0

Catania

0 0 0 1

Bologna

0 2

Sampdoria

Antonelli 14, Sturaro 85

Verona Sassuolo Torino

Parma Parolo 1

Okaka 7, Gabbiadini 79

Livorno Reina 39-og

Fiorentina AC Milan

1 1 0 1 0 2

Napoli Mertens 32-pen

Lazio Cana 5

Juventus

Llorente 44, Tevez 68

Spain striker Fernando Llorente and Tevez had been rested for Juve’s 2-0 second leg win over Trabzonspor in the last 32 of the Europa League on Thursday.

But Llorente hit his 11th goal of the campaign to open the scoring on the stroke of half-time with Tevez hitting a 25-metre screamer on 68 minutes to

score his 15th league goal and take the league lead from injured Giuseppe Rossi.

Milan’s second defeat in seven league games under Clarence Seedorf left the Rossoneri in mid-table, six points behind fifth-placed city rivals Inter.

Milan had to reshuffle with Mario Balotelli injured and midfielder Sulley Muntari suspended, meaning a second consecutive start for striker Giampaolo Pazzini, who wore a face mask to protect a nose injury.

Juventus broke the deadlock two minutes before the interval after an error by Adil Rami allowed Tevez to send Lichsteiner through to then cut back for unmarked Llorente to slot home from six yards.

Juventus finally underlined their class when Milan made the fatal mistake of giving Tevez time and space on the outside of the area.

The Argentinian collected from the left, took a touch and unleashed a shot which looped over Abbiati before coming off the underside of the crossbar and into the net.

Tevez’s 15th league goal took him past injured Fiorentina striker Rossi into the lead of the league scoring charts and had Seedorf purring.

In the other late game, a superb fifthminute volley from Loik Cana helped visitors Lazio stun Fiorentina 1-0.

Lazio moved up to eighth with Fiorentina failing to close the gap to Napoli in the final available Champions League qualifying spot.

Napoli, who suffered their second consecutive draw when held earlier at relegation-threatened Livorno, remain third at 17 points adrift of Juve but are seven ahead of Fiorentina. l

Cavani scores on return as PSG defeat Marseille n Paris Saint-Germain continued their relentless quest to retain the Ligue 1 crown on Sunday as they overcame bitter rivals Marseille 2-0 at the Parc des Princes to move eight

points clear.

Laurent Blanc’s side notched up their 19th win in 27 outings, against just one defeat, as they rode second

RESULTS PSG Ajaccio Tallo 1, 42

n

Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson has denied Sol Campbell’s claim he would have been captain of the national side “for more than 10 years” had he been white.

Campbell, one of the leading black English footballers of his generation, made the controversial allegations in a new biography, extracts of which were serialised in Britain’s Sunday Times last weekend. The 39-year--old former Tottenham Hotspur and Arsenal defender said: “I believe if I was white, I would have been England captain for more than 10 years – it’s as simple as that.

“I think the FA (England’s governing Football Association) wished I was white. I had the credibility, performancewise to be captain,” added Campbell, who led his country on three occasions.

“Not a chance - during my years, not a chance,” the Swede told Britain’s Daily Telegraph in an interview published on Monday. “As you know, from my first to my last game, I had David Beckham (as captain) and there were never, ever any discussions at all in the team or in the FA about the captain.”

Former England striker Ian Wright, like Campbell a prominent black English footballer, also contested his former international team-mate’s assertion, insisting there were better candidates to lead the national side at the time. l

Juventus' Carlos Tevez (L) celebrates with his team-mate Paul Pogba after scoring against AC Milan during their Italian Serie A match at the San Siro stadium in Milan on Sunday REUTERS

n

RESULTS

Cristiano Ronaldo equalised eight minutes from time as Real Madrid remained top of La Liga thanks to a pulsating 2-2 draw against Atletico Madrid at the Vicente Calderon.

Real remain three points clear of Atletico but Barcelona moved to within a point of the leaders as they beat Almeria 4-1 on Sunday.

Karim Benzema had fired Real into a third minute lead when he converted Angel di Maria’s cross.

However, despite being denied what appeared a penalty when Sergio Ramos seemed to trip Diego Costa, Atletico were in front by half-time thanks to fine strikes by Koke and Gabi.

Villarreal Bruno 70-P

Atletico Madrid Koke 27, Gabi 45

Sevilla Gameiro 77

Rayo Vallecano Larrivey 60

Barcelona Sanchez 8, Messi 24, Puyol 83, Xavi 88

1 1

Real Betis Ruben Castro 84

2 2

Real Madrid

1 0

Real Sociedad

Benzema 3, Ronaldo 82

1 0 4 1

Valencia Almeria Trujillo 27

Another turned down penalty appeal saw Atletico assistant boss Mono Burgos sent to the stands as he tried to confront the referee midway through the second-half.

And Atletico were left to feel hard

Pistorius pleads not guilty as witness tells of ‘bloodcurdling screams’ n South African Paralympian star Oscar Pistorius pleaded not guilty Monday to murdering his girlfriend as his trial opened with a neighbour’s account of “bloodcurdling” screams on the night of the killing.

Pistorius, whose trial is being broadcast live around the world, faces a life sentence if convicted of the fatal Valentine’s Day shooting of model and reality television star Reeva Steenkamp a year ago. After a state prosecutor charged that Pistorius “unlawfully and intentionally did kill” Steenkamp, he entered a plea of “not guilty, my lady”.

Pistorius, 27, a double amputee sporting hero known as the “Blade Runner” for his carbon-fibre running blades, also pleaded not guilty to three unrelated gun charges.

A single judge, Thokozile Masipa, is presiding in the case that has already been likened to the murder trial of American footballer OJ Simpson over the killing of his ex-wife and a friend in 1995.

In a statement read out by his lawyer Kenny Oldwage, Pistorius described her death as a “tragic accident” saying he had mistaken his 29-year-old lover for an intruder. He admitted killing Steenkamp, but denied murderous intent.

Marseille

2 3

Lille

0 0

Montpellier

Kalou 25-pen, 38, 74-pen

Lyon

Ronaldo salvages point for Real

Eriksson hits back after Campbell racism charge

2 0

Maxwell 50, Cavani 79

“This allegation is denied in the strongest terms,” he said. “We were in a loving relationship.”

The first prosecution witness to take the stand, Michelle Burger, said she and her husband were awoken at around 3 am by “bloodcurdling screams” coming from the Pistorius home in an upmarket Johannesburg gated community.

‘Four shots’ “She screamed terribly and she yelled for help,” the university economist said.

“It was something you can’t explain to someone else, how anxious those screams were.” “Just after her screams, I heard shots, four shots,” she said, describing one clear shot then three clustered together.

“Bang... bang, bang, bang.”

“I heard petrified screaming before the gunshots, and just after the gunshots,” she said when pressed by Pistorius’s lawyer. l

done by when Ronaldo spun on the edge of the box to drill home a late equaliser.

Ancelotti’s men came into the game full of confidence after thrashing Schalke 6-1 on their return to Champions League action in midweek and took just three minutes to open the scoring.

A short corner from the right was worked back to Di Maria and his inswinging cross was slotted home at the back post by Benzema.

The home fans and players were left incensed seven minutes later when Costa seemed to be tripped inside the area by Ramos, but referee Carlos Delgado Ferreiro waved away claims for a penalty.

The hosts bossed the latter part of the opening period and were level on 27 minutes when fine work from Turan teed up

Koke inside the area to smash a low rightfooted drive into the far corner.

Atletico went in front in spectacular fashion in first-half stoppage time when Gabi collected a short free-kick and fired high into Diego Lopez’s top right-hand corner from 35 yards.

More controversy was to come as Costa appeared to be bundled over inside the area, this time by Alvaro Arbeloa, but rather than pointing to the spot Ferreiro booked Costa for diving.

And that decision was to prove vital as Ronaldo fired home a loose ball from the edge of the area eight minutes from time to give Real a share of the spoils.

At the Camp Nou, Barcelona maintained the pressure on both Madrid sides as they made amends for their 3-1 defeat at Real Sociedad last weekend. l

half goals from Brazilian left-back Maxwell and Uruguayan Edinson Cavani to see off Jose Anigo’s side.

Ligue 1 top scorer Zlatan Ibrahimovic released former Inter Milan and Barcelona defender Maxwell on 50 minutes and the Brazilian international calmly placed the ball beyond Steve Mandanda in the visitors’ goal.

Blanc’s men locked up shop following the goal and rarely gave Marseille a clear cut chance as they extended their record to 16 wins and three draws after opening the scoring.

Cavani, who came on as a secondhalf substitute after a month out injured, then sent the Paris faithful into raptures with a powerful headed finish with 11 minutes remaining to put the gloss on a fine evening’s work. “It was very hard to be out injured for a month so I’m very happy tonight,” Cavani told Canal Plus TV following the match. l

POINTS TABLE Team

GP

W

D

L

GD

PTS

1 Real Madrid

26

20 4

2

47

64

2 Barcelona

26

20

3

3

53

63

3 Atlético Madrid 26

19

4

3

40

61

4 Athletic

26

15

5

6

19

50

5 Villarreal

44

26

13

5

8

16

6 Real Sociedad 26

12

7

7

10

43

7 Sevilla

26

10

8

8

3

38

8 Levante

26

9

9

8

-5

36

9 Valencia

26

10

5

11

1

35

10 Espanyol

26

9

6

11

-3

33

-5

30

11 Celta Vigo

26

8

6

12

12 Osasuna

26

8

5

13 -15

29

13 Elche

26

7

8

11

-14

29

14 Granada

26

8

3

15 -14

27

15 Getafe CF

26

7

6

13

-17

27

16 Málaga

26

6

8

12

-11

26

17 Almería

26

7

5

14 -21

26

18 Valladolid

26

4

11

11

-16

23

19 Rayo

26

7

2

17 -33

23

20 Real Betis

26

3

6

17 -35

15

Soldado ends barren spell as Spurs stay in hunt n Roberto Soldado ended his personal goaldrought and kept Tottenham Hotspur’s fast-fading hopes of a top four place alive with the only goal in a 1-0 victory over relegation-threatened Cardiff City at White Hart Lane.

Sunday’s win helped consolidate Tottenham’s hold on fifth place, although they remain four points adrift of Manchester City, who lie fourth having played two games fewer than Spurs.

For Cardiff, a seventh successive away league defeat leaves Ole Gunnar Solksjaer’s side second bottom, three points off safety, and capped a week in which Malaysian owner Vincent Tan again reiterated his threats to sell the club if supporters continued to object to his regime.

Soldado justified the faith shown in him by Sherwood -- whose own future has been thrown into doubt after Dutch national coach Louis van Gaal was linked with a move to White Hart Lane -- with the decisive first-half goal that built on the midweek Europa League victory over Dnipro.

That European win had lifted spirits following the disappointing defeat at Norwich that dealt a severe blow to the

north London club’s hopes of securing a place in next season’s Champions League.

Andros Townsend led the move, collecting Hugo Lloris’s clearance and running powerfully up the centre of the pitch before finding Adebayor on the left hand of the Cardiff area.

The Togo striker held the ball up then squared for Soldado, who had been allowed to find space ten yards out despite the presence of three Cardiff defenders, and the Spaniard took one touch before volleying past David Marshall.

The reaction of the Tottenham players as they mobbed their team-mate spoke volumes about the build-up of tension during Soldado’s goal-drought.

But the home side were almost brought back down to earth immediately afterwards when Steven Caulker headed Craig Bellamy’s corner against the bar from close range.

The second half was even less enthralling than the first, although Spurs believed they should have had a penalty when Declan John tripped Aaron Lennon on the edge of the box.

Referee Phil Dowd adjudged contact took place outside the area and Townsend fired the resulting free-kick tamely wide, summing up the latter part of the game. l

RESULTS Aston Villa

4 1

Norwich

1 1

Crystal Palace

1 0

Cardiff

Benteke 25, 27, Bacuna 37, Bassong 41-og

Swansea De Guzman 25

Tottenham Soldado 28

Hoolahan 3 Murray 82-pen

POINTS TABLE Team

GP

W

D

L

GD

Pts

1 Chelsea

28

19

6

3

30

63

2 Liverpool

28

18

5

5

38

59

3 Arsenal

28

18

5

5

24

59

4 Man City

26

18

3

5

42

57

5 Tottenham

28

16

5

7

4

53

6 Everton

27

13

9

5

11

48

7 Man United

27

13

6

8

12

45

8 Newcastle

28

13

4

11

-2

43

9 Southampton 28

10

9

9

3

39

10 West Ham

28

8

7

13

-4

31

11 Aston Villa

28

8

7

13

-7

31

12 Hull City

28

8

6

14

-5

30

13 Stoke City

28

7

9

12 -14

30

14 Swansea City 28

7

8

13

-4

29

1 Norwich City

28

7

7

14 -22

28

16 Crystal Palace 27

8

3

16 -18

27

17 West Brom

27

4

13

10

-8

25

18 Sunderland

26

6

6

14 -16

24

19 Cardiff City

28

5

7

16 -30

22

20 Fulham

28

6

3

19 -34

21

DHAKA TRIBUNE

QUICK BYTES

World Tennis Day observed Bangladesh Tennis Federation (BTF) has observed the ‘World Tennis Day 2014’ for the first time yesterday.

The federation organised a rally, ‘Play and Stay’ campaign and other activities to observe the day. Sports organisers, former and current players joined the campaign. Around 100 countries around the world out of 210 International Tennis Federation (ITF) affiliated nations were expected to observe the day.

–Tribune Desk

Rahmatganj held

by Agrani Agrani Bank SCL and Rahmatganj MFS played out a goalless draw in the Premier Bank Bangladesh Championship League at the Kamalapur stadium yesterday. Wari Club will take on Farashganj SC in the only match today at the same venue.

–Tribune Desk

Liza 66th in Cannes National Woman Champion WIM Shamima Akter Liza finished 66th in the Group A of the Open section in the 28th Cans Winter Chess Festival which was held at Cannes in France. Liza earned 3.5 points out of nine games.

She drew with Spanish Fide Master Gavilan Mario Diaz in the last round on Sunday. IM Ankit Rajpara of India emerged as the champion. A total of 84 players from 23 countries including 18 Grandmasters, 19 International Masters, 13 FIDE Masters, 2 Women grandmasters and 4 women International Masters participated in the event.

–Tribune Desk

Noah’s triple-double leads Bulls over reeling Knicks

French big man Joakim Noah notched the fifth triple-double of his NBA career Sunday to lead the Chicago Bulls to a 109-90 victory over the reeling New York Knicks. Noah scored 13 points, grabbed 12 rebounds and handed out a career-best 14 assists as the Bulls posted their ninth win in 10 games.

DJ Augustin scored 23 points, Jimmy Butler chipped in 19 and Carlos Boozer scored 14 for Chicago, who led from start to finish. The Bulls stormed to a 16-1 lead in the first five minutes, their smothering defense causing the Knicks to go 0-for-4 from the field and turn the ball over three times. The margin would swell to 21 points by the end of the first quarter. The Knicks trimmed the deficit in the second period, as Amare Stoudemire scored six points in an 8-0 scoring run that brought the Knicks within nine points with less than four minutes to play in the first half.

–AFP

SCORECARD, WI V ENG

West Indies

D Smith c Wright b Root K Powell c and b Ali K Edwards c Tredwell b Root Darren Bravo b Broad L Simmons c Stokes b Parry Dwayne Bravo st Buttler b Tredwell D Sammy c Broad b Parry D Ramdin b Bresnan N Miller not out S Narine st Buttler b Parry R Rampaul c Lumb b Tredwell Extras (lb5, w6)

5 16 9 13 70 20 3 5 2 4 1 11

Sport

Tamim set for MCC bicentenary n AFP, London Bangladesh opener Tamim Iqbal have joined several other leading international cricketers in being confirmed for this year’s Lord’s bicentenary match, it was announced yesterday. Pakistan’s Shahid Afridi and Saeed Ajmal will also take part in the July 5 fixture which celebrates the 200th anniversary of the current Lord’s ground in north-west London. All the three Asian stars confirmed Monday for the fixture have enjoyed previous success at Lord’s.

The match will be between Marylebone Cricket Club (MCC), which owns Lord’s, and a Rest of the World XI. The MCC XI will be captained by India hero Sachin Tendulkar while the Rest of the World side will be led by Australia great Shane Warne.

Flower gets new ECB role

n AFP, London

Former England head coach Andy Flower was appointed to a new role within the England and Wales Cricket Board (ECB) hierarchy after officials announced Monday he’d become their technical director of elite coaching.

Flower resigned last month as coach of the national side following the team’s humiliating 5-0 Ashes series loss in Australia, a reverse that also signalled the end of star batsman Kevin Pietersen’s international career. But at the time of his departure from the coaching role, English cricket chiefs made it clear they wanted Flower to stay on in another capacity and ECB managing director Paul Downton said Monday: “The ECB is delighted that we are able to retain a man of Andy Flower’s experience and quality. l

Tamim has a coveted place on the Lord’s honours board having, as a 21-year-old, made 103 in the second innings of the first Test against England in 2010 - the first century at the ground by a Bangladeshi batsman. That match, his only previous appearance at the ground, also saw Tamim make 55 in the first innings.

MCC president Mike Gatting, the former England captain, said, “It shows the standing of the club and this marvelous ground that players of the quality of Shahid, Saeed and Tamim want to come and be part of these celebrations,” he said.

Australia wicket-keeping great Adam Gilchrist, India’s Rahul Dravid and Yuvraj Singh, West Indies’ mainstay Shivnarine Chanderpaul and New Zealand left-arm spinner Daniel Vettori are all due to play in the match as well. l

n Reuters, Cape Town Mitchell Johnson and Ryan Harris bowled Australia, leading by 234 runs with 10 wickets left, into a winning position on the third day of the third and final test against South Africa at Newlands on Monday.

Australia were 27 without loss in their second innings at the close, having bowled the home team out for 287 and decided not to enforce the followon. David Warner blazed his way to 25 not out while Chris Rogers was unbeaten on one.

Johnson took four for 42 and Harris

Total (7 wickets, 44.5 overs) 163 FoW: 1-29, 2-30, 3-79, 4-81, 5-81, 6-89, 7-105 Bowling: Dwayne Bravo 10-1-41-2, Rampaul 10-0-40-1, Narine 10-0-25-1, Miller 10-1-28-2, Sammy 4-0-19-0, Smith 0.5-0-5-0 Result: England won by 3 wickets Series level at 1-1

DAY’S WATCH Sony Six NBA 2013-14 6:30AM Brooklyn v Chicago 9:00AM Portland V LA Lakers Channel 9 & Star Sports 1 2:00PM Arise Asia Cup Bangladesh v Pakistan Ten Cricket 02:00 PM South Africa v Australia 3rd Test, Day 4

claimed three for 63 after visiting captain Michael Clarke declared their first innings on the overnight score of 494 for seven, leaving himself undefeated on 161.

Left-arm paceman Johnson maintained his red-hot form and seamer Harris swung the ball both ways to bamboozle the South African batsmen.

Harris removed dangermen Graeme Smith for five, Hashim Amla for 38 and JP Duminy for four.

The dismissals of Smith and Duminy were similar, balls that shaped away from the left-handers and found the edge to give wicketkeeper Brad Haddin

comfortable catches.

Amla succumbed to reverse swing, playing down the wrong line as the ball clattered into his stumps.

Only Faf du Plessis (67) and Alviro Petersen (53) showed serious resistance, the latter scoring the fastest half-century by a South African against Australia in 50 balls.

It beat the previous record of 56 deliveries by Barry Richards in Durban in 1970.

Vernon Philander hung around for 107 balls for his unbeaten 37 while Dale Steyn pitched in with 28. The series is level at 1-1. l

SCORECARD, DAY 3

South Africa, first innings G Smith c Haddin b Harris A Petersen c Haddin b Johnson D Elgar c Haddin b Pattinson H Amla b Harris A de Villiers c Clarke b Johnson F du Plessis c Warner b Johnson J Duminy c Haddin b Harris V Philander not out K Abbott b Watson D Steyn c Watson b Johnson M Morkel c Watson b Pattinson Extras (b8, lb3, nb3, w6)

5 53 11 38 14 67 4 37 3 28 7 20

Total (82.5 overs) 287 Fall of wickets: 1-7 , 2-42, 3-95, 4-121, 5-133, 6-146, 7-241, 8-249, 9-279 Bowling: Harris 22-9-63-3, Johnson 19-5-42-4, Pattinson 18.5-4-77-2, Watson 9-1-34-1, Lyon 12-1-53-0, Smith 2-0-7-0

Australia, second innings C Rogers not out D Warner not out Extras (lb1)

1 25 1

Total (0 wkts, 6 overs) 27 Bowling: Morkel 3-0-24-0, Abbott 3-1-2-0 Australia lead by 234 runs with 10 second innings wickets remaining

Bopara, Broad lead England to three-wicket win n AFP, North Sound

An unbroken eighth-wicket partnership of 58 between Ravi Bopara and captain Stuart Broad averted another embarrassing England collapse and saw their team to a series-levelling three-wicket win over the West Indies on Sunday.

On a day when both teams performed below average with the bat, the home side lost their last six wickets for 26 runs after skipper Dwayne Bravo’s controversial dismissal to be dismissed for 159 off 44.2 overs.

England, their confidence at a low ebb on the back of six defeats in their last seven ODIs, seemed to have frittered away an excellent position in being reduced to 105 for seven in the 32nd over.

However Broad joined Bopara in defying the primary threat of spinner Sunil Narine and survived a few alarms before striking the winning boundary with five overs to spare.

West Indies thought they had removed Broad immediately upon his arrival at the crease to a catch at the

wicket off Ravi Rampaul but umpire Rod Tucker’s on-field decision was reversed on television review.

He was then put down on three by Bravo diving to his left at slip off the same bowler.

It proved to be the critical miss with Broad finishing unbeaten on 28 and Bopara on 38 not out setting the stage for the deciding third and final match at the same venue on Wednesday.

West Indies had won Friday’s opener by 15 runs at the same Sir Vivian Richards Stadium.

“We made it really hard for ourselves,” said Broad. “But Rav (Bopara) did what we expected of him at number seven and we were able to keep our minds clear on the target required.”

On another dry pitch, spinners again proved to be England’s most effective weapon, left-arm orthodox bowler Stephen Parry taking three for 32 on debut and earning the man of the match award.

“This is the greatest day of my life,” said Parry. “To make my debut, get man of the match and, most importantly, get the win, it’s a dream come

true.”

The other three slow bowlers used by the tourists -- James Tredwell, Joe Root and Moeen Ali -- shared five wickets among them as only Lendl Simmons (70) prospered in a West Indies top-order that once again lacked the technique and application to succeed in the conditions.

Simmons and Bravo were threatening a repeat of their century partnership in the first ODI two days earlier, having put on 52 for the fifth wicket.

But the West Indies captain was ruled stumped off Tredwell by television umpire Marais Erasmus despite lengthy deliberation and the examination of numerous camera angles which appeared to suggest there was enough doubt as to whether wicketkeeper Jos Buttler had effected the dismissal before the ball fell from his grasp.

“They’re going to get some harsh words in the dressing room,” said a despondent Bravo after the lower-order fell away following his demise, leaving more than five overs unused.

“It could have meant another 30 runs for us.” l

Afghanistan pacer Shapoor Zadran falls down on the ground after being hit by a return shot of Sri Lankan Angelo Mathews at SBNCS yesterday Mumit M

Williams look to put barren years behind them n AFP, Paris It’s been 17 years since Williams last won a world title, but Formula One’s grand old men are showing unexpected signs of life after long, barren seasons in the wilderness. When four days of testing wrapped up in Bahrain on Sunday, it was Felipe Massa topping the time charts with the rejuvenated British team.

Massa, having left behind some trying times with Ferrari where he was re-

placed by Kimi Raikkonen, clocked the best time at Sakhir, 1min 33.25sec after an impressive 202 laps.

Teammate Valtteri Bottas was fourth fastest overall with the Williams men sandwiching the two Mercedes cars of Lewis Hamilton and Nico Rosberg.

“We had a very good day Saturday doing almost 100 laps,” said Brazilian driver Massa, whose move to Williams has also seen his longtime race engineer Rob Smedley decamp from Ferrari. l

Rajuk, Green Herald lift school Volleyball titles n Raihan Mahmood

England 39 10 0 23 4 0 38 10 28 11

The South African U19 cricket world team parade their World Cup trophy on Day 3 of the third Test match between South Africa and Australia at Newlands yesterday AFP

Johnson and Harris bamboozle South Africa

Total (all out, 44.2 overs) 159 FoW: 1-10, 2-30, 3-30, 4-81, 5-133, 6-145, 7-151, 8-151, 9-155, 10-159 Bowling: Root 5-0-15-2, Broad 8-0-25-1, Ali 3-011-1, Tredwell 9.2-2-39-2, Parry 10-1-32-3, Bresnan 5-2-13-1, Bopara 2-0-6-0, Stokes 2-0-13-0 M Lumb lbw b Miller M Ali c Miller b Rampaul L Wright b Narine J Root c and b Dwayne Bravo B Stokes c Ramdin b Miller J Buttler c Ramdin b Dwayne Bravo R Bopara not out T Bresnan run out S Broad not out Extras (lb5, w5, nb1)

15

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Baridhara Rajuk School and Green Herald International School emerged as the champions in the boy’s and the girl’s section respectively in the Orient Bread Dhaka Metropolis School Volleyball at the Shahid Sohrawardi Indoor

Stadium, Mirpur yesterday.

Baridhara Rajuk beat Scholastica 3129 and 25-20 to lift the boy’s title while Green Herald overpowered BIT by 25-13 and 25-14. It was the consecutive defeat for Baridhara while Green Herald got hold of the title after 2005 again.

Deputy minister for youth and

sports Arif Khan Joy distributed the prizes as the chief guest. The managing director of Orient Bread and the vice-president of Volleyball Federation Mahbubuzzaman, federation officials Azizur Rahman, Advocate Fazley Rabbi and Sirajul Haque were also present on the occasion. l

Arjun M. Ranga, the managing partner of N.R. Group speaks during the presser at Hotel Sonargaon yesterday COURTESY

Cycle Agarbathies to explore local cricket n Raihan Mahmood

Cycle Pure Agarbathies, who entered the Bangladesh cricket arena as the co-sponsors of the Asia Cup cricket, are firmly focused to remain involved with the game here in the future.

The high-ups of the NR Group was happy with the feedback they received with the tag “Asia Cup, powered by Cycle Pure Agarbathies” and they affirmed to continue the association.

“Since our beginning in 1948 we have been associated with sports and we believe cricket is a like religion in this subcontinent, all the family members enjoy the visibility of the game, if refreshes the mind, the fragrance products of ours also does the same, that’s why we

have been associated with cricket” said Arjun M Ranga, the managing partner of NR Group in a press conference yesterday.

At the same time the officials said their different products with the price ranging for Tk30 to 300 will be available in the market as Bangladesh have a tradition of using the fragrance sticks in different occasions. “With the expansion of our market we have plans to get associated with the local sports and the cultural sphere also,” said Arjun. It should also be mentionable that they are involved with the Indian Hockey Legaue.

Kiran V Ranga, Dibendyu Chakrabarti and Sriren Reginald, the other high-ups of the company were also present on the occasion. l

Green Herlad International School , who emerged as the girls champions of Orient Bread Dhaka Metropolis School Volleyball pose for photograph with the dignitaries at the Mirpur indoor stadium yesterday COURTESY

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Ashraf hints at amending law for partisan local polls n Emran Hossain Shaikh LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam has hinted that the existing laws may be amended if necessary to turn local body elections into partisan affairs.

While addressing a programme in the capital yesterday, he also said: “They [BNP-led 19 party alliance] do not believe in the democratic system of governance. What is the point in not participating in local body polls with party symbols? There is no such dual policy anywhere else in the world.”

Ashraf said he had been instructed

by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to take initiatives for amending the local government laws.

According to existing arrangements, political parties can directly nominate candidates for only the parliamentary election. For local body polls such as the city corporation, union parishad or the ongoing upazila parishads, the parties are allowed only to back certain candidates. Party symbols do not apply for the local body elections.

Commenting that the two separate systems could not simultaneously exist in the country, Ashraf said: “Amending the law is urgent for making the local

governments dynamic. I hope to place a bill in parliament [in this regard].”

Referring to India, he said there was a uniform system for the national government, state governments and panchayet bodies.

He also referred to a February 12 meeting of the Awami League central working committee where participants talked in favour of holding local body elections as partisan affairs.

Ashraf, also the general secretary of the ruling Awami League, criticised BNP chief Khaleda Zia saying: “Assuming office in 1991, the Khaleda Zia-led government annulled the upazila parishad system and suspended the upazila chairmen. Does she really believe in upazila elections?”

The minister also criticised the practice of publishing the affidavits of candidates of various elections and the media making it a news issue. He said: “Like everyone else, a politician also submits tax returns. Why should there be a different law for them [that they have to submit separate affidavits]?”

He also said: “Publishing the affidavits is like assassinating the character of a politician... As a politician, can I not own a house? Will I live under a tree?” l

Back Page

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

FORBIDDEN FRUIT

The reading in a formalin detector shows the presence of 77% of the chemical in the fruits in a shop in the capital’s Hatirpul yesterday

Hasina discusses Rohingya issue with Thein Sein n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has discussed the Rohingya issue with Myanmar President Thein Sein and Speaker Thura Shwe Mann.

She also discussed social development and achievements by Bangladesh with Nobel Laureate Aung San Suu Kyi on the sidelines of the Bimstec summit held in Naypyitaw.

“The prime minister discussed how Bangladesh and Myanmar can resolve the Rohingya issue bilaterally,” Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

About half a million undocumented Rohingya refugees are residing in Bangladesh putting serious pressure on the country.

Another foreign ministry official said the leadership of the countries agreed to resolve the Rohingya problem after holding mutual discussions.

He said the Myanmar opposition

leader Suu Kyi wanted to know about the social experiments and their results in Bangladesh.

“She also expressed interest in the banking sector as Myanmar lacks the proper financial infrastructure,” he added.

The prime minister went to Naypyitaw Monday morning on a special flight with an entourage of 50 officials to attend the Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) summit to be held today.

Hasina will meet her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh today on the sidelines of the summit. This will be the first meeting between the two prime ministers after the Awami League came back to power through an election on January 5.

Teesta agreement, ratification of Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) and other important bilateral issues would be discussed in the meeting, said an-

other foreign official.

The interim Teesta deal could not be inked because of the strong protests

by West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee while the LBA ratification process was delayed due to determined resistance by different stakeholders including India’s BJP. Hasina will also have meetings with the presidents and prime ministers of Nepal, Bhutan and Sri Lanka, he said.

Bangladesh, Bhutan, Myanmar, India, Nepal, Sri Lanka and Thailand are the member countries of Bimstec and Myanmar is the current chair.

Bimstec was formed in Bangkok in 1997 and had its first summit in in that city in 2004 and the second one in New Delhi in 2008.

It has 14 sectors based on issues, and Bangladesh is the lead country for trade, investment and climate change.

At the summit, the countries were likely to sign a deal to set up the Bimstec Secretariat in Dhaka and also a

weather and climate centre in New Delhi, said another diplomat.

An agreement on a cultural industries commission, to be set up in Thimpu, was also in the pipeline, he said.

The government has already allocated a building in Gulshan as an interim headquarters for the secretariat. The completed renovation of the building is expected in three or four months.

Sri Lankan Diplomat Sumith Nakandala will be the first secretary general of Bimstec. He will visit Dhaka after the completion of the headquarters.

Meanwhile, a press release of the Foreign Ministry said Bimstec’s permanent Secretariat in Dhaka would start functioning from May. State Minister for Foreign Affairs Md Shahriar Alam affirmed that the secretariat would start functioning in May 2014 following the signing of the memorandum of association that will bring it into existence. l

BUSINESSMAN JAMAL UDDIN ABDUCTION CASE

Accused arrested after eight years n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The Detective Branch (DB) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) yesterday arrested a man from Cox’s Bazar’s Lighthouse Colony in connection with the abduction of businessman Jamal Uddin Chowdhury.

The accused, Sultan Driver alias Kala Sultan, had been on the run since 2005 and has been staying in Cox’s Bazar after changing his name and address, Babul Akhter, additional deputy commissioner (ADC) of the DB of CMP said.

ADC Babul said: “Sultan made a forged national identity card stating his name as Nurul Islam, which puzzled us after catching him. Later we could be sure about his identity with the help of someone from his village of Fatikchhari.”

Govt to import refined fuel oil from 8 companies n Asif Showkat Kallol The Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) is set to import 1,660,000 tonnes of refined fuel oil from eight foreign companies for the first half (January-June) of this year, which involve moderate premiums as compared to previous contracts.

The country’s sole importer and distributor of oil would have to spend around Tk11,666 crore for the imports, while the total import from the eight companies during the January-December period is expected to be around 3,290,000 tonnes.

Officials said the premiums (freight and other costs) for all petroleum products except gas and oil had not increased, as freight charges have gone down globally.

A high-powered delegation, led

by Energy Secretary Md Mozammel Haque Khan, visited Singapore last November to negotiate the premium for the oil purchase for the period.

The premiums – transportation, insurance and other costs – are reviewed every six months.

Through government-to-government contracts, the BPC has signed two-year (minimum) deals with interested national oil companies of eight countries. Eight proposals by the energy ministry on public purchase and sources would be placed at the next cabinet committee.

BPC Chairman Md Eunusur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that the demand for diesel declined over the last few months because of the smooth supply of electricity, which was used for agricultural machinery, stabilising the demand for fuel.

He also said the total demand for fuel oil would be 25-26m tonnes over the next six months, going up to 5052m tonnes by the end of the year.

“Foreign exchange pressure will be relaxed if the demand for fuel declines in the next couple of months,” Eunusur added.

The demand for diesel will decline over the next six months because of an adequate generation of electricity across the country, said a senior official of the Energy Division.

For the next six months, the projected total demand for diesel is 1,760,000 tonnes while furnace oil demand is 520,000 tonnes, compared to a 1,800,000 tonnes demand for diesel for the same period in the previous year.

The eastern refinery would refine 180,000 tonnes each of crude diesel and crude furnace oil.

During the first half of the year, 1,220,000 tonnes of diesel is expected to be imported, while the rest of the imports include 320,000 tonnes of furnace oil, 15,000 tonnes of petrol, 140,000 tonnes of jet fuel and 5,000 tonnes of kerosene.

In the contract, the premiums for jet fuel and kerosene have been set at $5.80 per barrel, which was the same during the July-December period of 2013. The premium for furnace oil, however, dropped by $2 per tonne to $35 from $37 during the first half of the 2012-13 fiscal.

The suppliers are – Kuwait Petroleum Corporation, UAE-based Emirates National Oil Company, Vietnamese National Oil Company or Petro Limex, PT Bumi Siak Pusako of Indonesia, Philippines PNOC Exploration Corporation, Petrochina International (Singapore) Pte Ltd, Malaysian PETCO Trading Labuan Company Ltd, and Chinese Unipec Singapore Pte Ltd. Emirates National Oil Company raised premiums of diesel from $4.00 to $4.80 during the first half of fiscal year 2012-13. l

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Family members of Sultan in Fatikchhari thought he had gone abroad, he added.

Millionaire businessman Jamal Uddin Chowdhury, also a BNP leader, was abducted on July 13, 2003 while he was on his way home from his office. The abductors demanded Tk1 crore as ransom. A case was lodged with Chandgaon police station in this connection.

The skeletal remains of the victim were recovered from a remote hilly area in Fatikchhari on August 24, 2005.

The Criminal Investigation Department submitted a charge sheet for the case in 2006, accusing 16 individuals in the case, nine of whom were absconding.

The trial proceedings of the case remain halted because of a High Court order. l

HC orders to protect family of Lalmonirhat housewife n Tribune Report

Like everyday, the students of Kakon Hat Mahadevpur area in Rajshahi walk miles along the isles of paddy fields to attend classes in the nearest decent school in the vicinity DHAKA TRIBUNE

Students from poor families still charged illegal fees: TIB n Our Correspondent, Kurigram Although any type of fee is prohibited in government and registered non-government primary schools across the country, many schools in Kurigram are realising admission fees and others charges from the students.

This was revealed in a study titled “Citizen Report Card Survey Report.”

To find out actual atmosphere of primary schools in Kurigram, the Sacheton Nagarik Committee (SONAC) has conducted the survey on Attaram Bisshwechar Government Primary School under the supervision of the Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB).

Deputy Manager of the TIB (research and policy) Mahmud Hossain presented the survey report on the premises of the school yesterday morning.

According to the report, the school has been realising illegal fees from stu-

dents at eight sectors. Around 90.1% students give Tk21.67 on an average to get enroll to class I. About 97.3% students give Tk19.21 as first-term examinations fees, 64.1% students provide Tk15.94 as second-term examination fees and 63.3% students give Tk17.19% as final examination fees.

Violating laws, the school authorities are realising Tk5.58 from 89.7% students as arts fees, Tk13 from 2.2% students as sports fees, Tk10 from 1.8% from students as religion fees and Tk4.67 from 1.3% students as other procurement fees.

But, the school authorities do not provide any receipt to the students against the payment.

Around 26.8% students are paid around Tk31.13 less than the actual amount of scholarship, said the survey report.

According to the Compulsory Pri-

mary Education Act 1990, the five-year primary education programme is free at all primary schools across the country.

Later, a parents’ gathering was held at school playground where parents raised questions about the standard of the education provided at the school.

With Sonac President Md Shahabuddin in the chair, the programme was attended by District Assistant Education Officer Osman Goni, Upazila Assistant Education Officer Birendranath Ray, President of School Managing Committee Nasir Uddin, Head Master Sultana Arjuma Haque, Sonac members, Samiul Haque Nantu and Rawshan Ara Chowdhury.

Both qualitative and quantitative methods were followed to conduct the survey.

A total of 223 students from Class I-Class V were question during the study. l

The High Court yesterday ordered law enforcers to protect the family of the housewife, who had been molested for casting vote in the national election.

It also asked the inspector general of police and the Lalmonirhat police chief to investigate the incident submit reports by April 6.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain sought explanation from the government in two weeks as to why inaction and failure in probing the incident should not be declared illegal.

The orders followed a writ petition filed by rights group Ain O Salish Kendra, who cited a report published in the Dhaka Tribune on January 31.

The family of the victim, who live in Dhairkhata village in Lalmonirhat, are now planning to move selling their six-decimal land. They have been denied support from law enforcers and local people.

The housewife filed a case with sadar police station on January 12 against neighbour Shamsul Haque for attempting to rape her daughter on January 8.

She alleged that Shamsul and others had asked her not to go to the voting. l

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Continue to the Business section...

Business

B3 Tea growers want 20% hike on imports

B4 Asian factory activity stutters, led by China

Internet use not immune from political unrest The number of internet users drops by over 11 lakh during October-January period

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The mobile phone operators witnessed a fall in internet users as the overall number declined by 3.07% since October last year when the third generation data service was launched.

From October to January, the number fell by 11.26 lakh as the internet users stood at 3.55 crore from 3.67 crore, according to the statistics of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Industry people attributed the decline to the political unrest sweeping over the country in the months.

The data published yesterday however showed the increase of number of active SIM cards. BTRC said the number was increasing sharply every month.

The number of active mobile SIM cards in the country totalled 11.48 crore in January from 11.37 crore in December.

The 3G auction was held in September last year among four operators. All the operators came up with their 3G service offers on the first of October.

Industry people said they hoped the number of internet users would rise rapidly after the launch of the fastest data service, 3G, and the fall was opposite to their prediction.

According to them, political turmoil during the period affected the use of internet, which made the number decline.

People’s internet use declined for communication and other purposes when the political chaos erupted in the country, the telecom insiders think.

“During the turmoil, many lost their income and were unwilling to spend

'If anything like this (decline of internet users) happens, it will be unfortunate, but I find no clue in this regard' for internet. Besides, the mobile operators shifted their focus on voice service as they had to bear more cost for the data service,” Mahbub Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Citycell, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Citycell, a renowned mobile operator in Bangladesh for data service business, suffered a slight fall in the number of subscribers, he said.

Due to the political turmoil, the operators might lose interest to invest more on data devices or routers, which could also be responsible for the de-

cline of the number of internet users, said a high official of a mobile operator.

Robi’s executive vice president Mahmudur Rahaman said: “We found a negative growth in the use of voice service for last couple of months. The same thing happened in the case of internet users.”

The country’s total internet users reached 3.55 crore as of January, and out of the number, 3.42 crore was mobile internet users. Through WiMax some 3.12 lakh were using internet while the internet service providers and land phone operators were serving internet to 12.25 lakh, showed BTRC data.

At the end of October, the number of mobile internet users was 3.51 crore.

“If anything like this (decline of internet users) happens, it will be unfortunate, but I find no clue in this regard,” Md Mujibur Rahman, managing director of the state-owned Teletalk, told the Dhaka Tribune. l

Remittance drops 7% in February n Tribune Report The country received US$1.16bn in remittance in February, registering 7% fall from the previous month, according to Bangladesh Bank data released yesterday. The remittance inflow was $1.25bn in January, which was highest in last one year.

The foreign exchange reserve reached a new record of $19.048bn on February 19 despite the slow growth in remittance, but moderate growth in export earnings. The reserve stood at $19.20bn yesterday.

Remittance witnessed a slow growth throughout the year due to falling manpower export and political unrest, said a central bank senor executive.

The slow growth in remittance has

HC verdict on eight Pubali Bank directorships upheld n Nazmus Sakib The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday upheld the High Court verdict that annulled the directorships of eight Pubali Bank directors including its chairman.

The posts of the directors were declared vacant by the Court as they had failed to hold 2% shares of the bank each during their election on August 21 last year.

Earlier on Wednesday Justice Hasan Foez Siddique, the Chamber Judge of the Appellate Division, stayed the HC judgment following a petition of the directors and referred the matter to the full bench of the apex court for further hearing on Sunday.

The five-member top court bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain did not extend the stay period and disposed of the matter which means upholding of the HC ruling.

On Tuesday, the HC cancelled the directorship of the eight - Hafiz Ahmed Majumder (chairman), Muhammad Faizur Rahman, Ahmed Shafi Choudhury, Fahim Ahmed Faruk Chowdhury, Muhammed Kabiruzzaman Yaqub, Rumana Sharif, Suraiya Rahman and Azizur Rahman.

They were nominated from the general shareholders.

been identified as a risk factor for the near future as the central bank took steps for bringing remittance through formal banking channel.

In its latest monetary policy for the second half of the current fiscal year, Bangladesh Bank pointed out that the imports particularly of industrial machinery and raw materials would create increased demand for the greenback, putting pressure on the balance of payment (BoP).

To address the risk, Bangladesh Bank proposed the government to take measures in increasing manpower export to offset the possible setback in the country’s foreign exchange balance.

Of the remittance received in February, $367.56m received through

state-owned commercial banks, $13.27m through specialised banks, $769.33m through private commercial banks and $13.87m through foreign commercial banks.

Only four lakh workers migrated to different countries in 2013 compared to over six lakh in 2012, according to a report by the Refugee and Migratory Movements Research Unit (RMMRU).

To boost remittance inflow, Bangladesh Bank has created separate savings instruments for non-resident Bangladeshis (NRBs).

The instruments include, among others, non-resident foreign currency deposits, US dollar premium bonds and wage-earners’ development bonds, according to Bangladesh Bank.

Public admin ministry okays appointing 200 factory inspectors n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The Ministry of Public Administration has approved a labour ministry proposal for urgently appointing 200 more factory inspectors to fulfill the condition of the Bangladesh Action Plan set by the United States for the restoration of GSP facilities.

According to the proposal, the inspectors will be appointed from the Bangladesh Civil Service (BCS) candidates, who have already passed all the three tiers of the tests, but so far failed to secure any cadre posts.

“Public administration ministry approved last week appointing of 200 more factory inspectors,” Md Faizur Rahman, a joint secretary of labour and employment ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said: "We have already sent the necessary documents to the public administration ministry, so the ministry can place those in the secretary-level meeting scheduled this week."

“After the approval at the secretary-level meeting, the proposal would soon be sent to the public service commission for its consent and then to the law ministry for examining the legal matters.’’

Soon after the law ministry’s scrutiny, the labour ministry will hold a meet-

ing with the PSC officials to discuss about the possible expedite procedures for appointing the inspectors, he added.

The government will appoint 288 factory inspectors, of them, 65 will be non-cadre first class officials while 223 will be second class.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had earlier directed the officials concerned to see whether the factory inspectors could be appointed through Bangladesh Public Service Commission (BPSC) in an accelerated manner for retaining the GSP facilities.

Appointment of the factory inspectors was one of 16 conditions outlined in the Bangladesh Action Plan by the United States.

The government has already met 13, out of the 16 conditions, set by the US, and needs to meet rest of the three conditions that includes appointment of 200 more inspectors, allowing trade unions at export processing zones (EPZs) areas and resolving allegations of tortures on workers in 19 factories.

On June 27, 2013, the US government suspended Bangladesh’s trade benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) in view of insufficient progress by the government in affording workers internationally recognised worker rights and work place

TUESDAY, MARCH 4, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

60% listed textile companies register Q4 profit n Kayes Sohel Around 60% of the listed textile companies registered profits in the fourth quarter this year, shrugging off recent political unrest and industrial accidents.

Profits by the rest of the companies, mostly export-oriented ones, declined for the first time in recent years.

Investors pulled funds from the poor-performing textile stocks, reflecting in sharpest decline in volume of trade from October last year till yesterday.

However, volume of trade in terms of value sharply declined to 7% from 17% of the total trade at the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DE) during the period, according to BRAC-EPL, a leading brokerage firm.

However, textile index rose more than 170 points in the last five months as points were added by two new listed companies and the market capitalisation increased slightly to 3.81% as of yesterday from 3.63% on October 1 last year.

Of the 32 textile companies listed with the bourses, 23 disclosed their financial reports of fourth quarter (Q4) from October through December this year.

Companies those made profits more than 100% in Q4 are Maksons Spinning Mills, Metro Spinning, Desh Garments, Muzzafar Hussain Spinning Mills, Delta Spinning, Rahim Textile and Tallu Spinning.

Companies those made profits between 50% and 100% are Paramount Textile and Stylecraft and companies those posted marginal profits included Anlima Yarn, Modern Dyeing, Prime Textile and Saiham Textile.

FOURTH QUARTERLY PROFIT OF TEXTILES(IN LAKH TAKA) 2012

2013

AL-HAJTEX

78.1

48.1

▼

ALLTEX

49

-73.2

▼

ANLIMAYARN

49.6

55.9

▲

APEXSPINN

49.8

48.3

▼

DACCADYE

654.5

452.7

▼

DELTASPINN

74.5

157

▲

DSHGARME

4.6

15.7

▲

ENVOYTEX

1056.3

393.6

▼

HRTEX

107.8

99.1

▼

MAKSONSPIN

51.6

351.3

▲

MALEKSPIN

977.2

880.2

▼

METROSPIN

24.5

103

▲

MHSML

65.1

175.5

▲

MITHUNKNIT

152.2

86.6

▼

MODERNDYE

4.6

5.5

▲

PRIMETEX

95.2

110.6

▲

PTL

288.5

539.3

▲

RAHIMTEXT

52.3

148.7

▲

SAIHAMTEX

518.3

670

▲

STYLECRAFT

58.3

94.8

▲

TALLUSPIN

238.5

740.5

▲

ZAHINTEX

289.9

27.7

▼

Dulamia Cotton

-19.6

-10.3

▲

Profits of ten companies dropped for the first time in recent years.

Alltex Industries was the hardest-hit one as in Q4 this year it posted losses of Tk70 lakh, a steepest drop of 249% from the same period a year earlier, according to the company’s financial statements.

Envoy Textiles Limited came second as its profits during the period stood at Tk3.9 crore, down over 62% from the same period a year ago, says its latest financial statements.

“Profit dipped due to the recent political unrest and image crisis in the overseas countries due to the recent industrial accidents,” said Abdus

Salam Murshedy, managing director of Envoy Textiles Limited.

“We will come back to the satisfactory level as we have already started our second unit of production, which is expected to double the output. But, it might take time to be able to reach the level of profits as seen in the past.”

The country witnessed a series of shutdowns and strikes last year till the national election held on January 5, making all walks life and the economy almost standstill.

On 24 last year, Rana Plaza, an eight-story commercial building, collapsed in Savar, killing more than 1,100 people. It is considered to be the deadliest garment-factory accident in history as well as the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history.

Alltex and Envoy were followed by Zahin Textile, Mithun Knitting, Al-haj Textile, Dacca Dyeing, Malek Spinning, HR Textile, Apex Spinning and Dulamia Cotton.

President of Bangladesh Garments Manufactures and Exporters Association Atiqul Islam said most of the export oriented textile companies faced profit erosion because of the recent political unrest as they missed to ship goods during the shutdowns.

“But profits of companies supplying locally is relatively lower than that of the export-oriented ones,” he said.

Bangladesh, the second largest garment exporter behind China, exported knitwear items worth $7bn and woven items $7.18bn, registering year-on-year growth of 18% and 17% in July-January period of the current fiscal year, according to Export Promotion Bureau data. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Tribune Report

Participation was largely concentrated to a few scrips.

Notably, top five scrips captured more than 25% of total turnover Shariah DSES witnessed factional loss of 0.8 points to 1,001. The bluechip comprising DS30 also witnessed fractional loss of 0.5 points or 0.5% to close at 1,702.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, was marginally up 0.8 points to close at 9,192.

Participation in trading continued to slip as the DSE total market turnover stood at Tk419 crore, which was 12% lower than

Company

Turnover (Million Taka)

5,054.30

Turnover (Volume)

81,372,799

Number of Contract

the previous session.

Market bounced back in the morning session as banking stocks got back to their track with improved market capitalisation of 0.4%, said Lanka Bangla Securities in its market analysis.

Banks have packed in investors’ confidence with strong ground and the early recovery is largely supported by covering in most beaten down banking stocks, it said.

“However, late hour sell pressure dragged the index down.”

Most of the manufacturing stocks took the hit with food and allied, tannery and textile sectors’ market capitalisation down by 3.8%, 1.4% and 0.5% respectively.

Participation was largely concentrated to a few scrips. Notably, top five scrips captured more than 25% of total turnover. Life insurance gained 1.5% and non-banking financial institutions 1.2% after previous session’s depressed mood.

Square Pharmaceuticals posted the highest liquidity with turnover of nearly Tk420 crore, making up more than 8% of the total market turnover.

It was followed by Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd, Grameenphone, Olympic Industries, Jamuna Oil, Bangladesh Shipping Corporation, Meghan Petroleum, Heidelberg Cement and Padma Oil. l

Stocks edged lower in a volatile trade yesterday, extending the losing streak for the fourth consecutive session.

The market swung between negative and positive as intra-day volatility was 47 points.

The benchmark DSEX was down 10 points or 0.3% to 4,687.

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features March 3, 2014

Stocks continue to fall

106,967

Traded Issues

296

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

82

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

207

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,312.18

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.03

CSE key features March 3, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

451.71

Turnover (Volume)

8,385,841

Number of Contract

Daily capital market highlights

16,059

Traded Issues

230

DSE Broad Index :

4687.19067

(-) 0.22%

▼

62

DSE Shariah Index :

1001.51560

(-) 0.07%

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

▼

162

DSE - 30 Index :

1702.25795

(-) 0.03%

▼

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

CSE All Share Index:

14500.6713

(-) 0.09%

CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS Company LankaBangla Fin. -A Uttara Finance -A Eastern Lubricants -A BD Fixed Income MF-A CVO PetroChem RL-Z Meghna Con. Milk -B Modern Dyeing -Z Monno Stafllers -A Desh Garments -B

Aramit -A

Closing (% change) -9.31 -7.91 -6.85 -6.19 -5.95 -5.77 -5.56 -5.47 -5.47

-5.33

CSE LOSERS Company Uttara Finance -A LankaBangla Fin. -A CVO PetroChem RL-Z NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A First Lease- A Republic Insu.-A Marico BD Ltd-A Summit Power -A National Polymer -A

Aziz PipesZ

Closing (% change) -9.20 -9.17 -6.73 -6.67 -5.54 -5.02 -4.90 -4.88 -4.87

-4.76

2,200.86

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.68

▲

9192.3165

(+) 0.01%

▲

Average (% change) -7.86 -8.52 -5.49 -7.22 -5.84 -5.25 -7.41 -1.94 -4.17

-2.95

Average (% change) -8.75 -8.19 -4.09 -6.15 -5.46 -5.02 -4.90 -2.06 -3.01

-3.71

Closing average 66.38 82.87 445.71 9.00 790.65 9.93 75.00 351.90 92.76

352.45

Closing average 83.32 66.14 802.06 8.40 29.24 43.50 1,102.84 42.23 63.81

20.22

Closing 65.30 81.50 432.10 9.10 773.10 9.80 76.50 340.50 89.80

344.90

Closing

DSE Million Taka 410.06 375.54 96.99 381.26 371.46 659.10 3.37 319.16 728.45 0.79 21.01 106.19 13.43 326.84 49.98 67.93 350.05 528.19 53.60 190.63 0.26

Daily high

62.00 75.00 426.50 9.00 770.00 9.70 76.00 330.00 88.50

364.00

Daily high

340.10

21.00

Latest EPS

56.572 95.866 1.248 0.009 10.299 0.288 0.015 1.390 6.697

4.36 7.49 6.02 0.54 -4.06 -4.58 1.54 5.25 1.18

3.313

11.53

Turnover in million

Daily low

89.00 67.60 830.00 8.40 30.20 43.50 1,110.20 43.20 65.10

20.00

Turnover in million

Daily low

68.70 88.50 470.00 9.30 805.00 10.20 77.00 364.50 98.00

81.90 65.40 777.90 8.40 29.00 43.50 1,102.80 40.90 62.50

81.50 64.70 771.60 8.40 28.80 43.50 1,092.10 40.70 62.10

20.00

Latest EPS

4.787 8.698 1.604 0.008 0.921 0.022 0.441 3.726 0.562

7.49 4.36 -4.06 1.03 2.07 3.03 46.53 3.59 1.70

0.048

0.59

% change 8.11 7.43 1.92 7.54 7.35 13.04 0.07 6.31 14.41 0.02 0.42 2.10 0.27 6.47 0.99 1.34 6.93 10.45 1.06 3.77 0.01

Million Taka 47.06 26.88 5.37 41.59 27.41 32.45 26.67 59.23 1.37 1.29 8.97 1.95 16.43 4.48 1.67 14.75 93.79 9.25 34.55 0.08

CSE

% change 10.34 5.90 1.18 9.14 6.02 7.13 0.00 5.86 13.01 0.30 0.28 1.97 0.43 3.61 0.98 0.37 3.24 20.60 2.03 7.59 0.02

Million Taka 457.12 402.42 102.37 422.85 398.87 691.55 3.37 345.83 787.69 2.16 22.30 115.16 15.38 343.28 54.46 69.60 364.81 621.99 62.85 225.18 0.34

Total

Rupali Life Insur.-A Intl. Leasing-B Meghna Life Ins. -A ICB -A Pubali Bank - A BD Submarine Cable-A Southeast Bank-A National Tea -A Prime Islami Life -A Savar Refractories-Z

Closing (% change) 8.45 6.25 6.15 5.99 5.50 5.20 4.76 4.71 4.21 3.87

CSE GAINERS Company Rupali Life Insur.-A Prime Islami Life -A Meghna Life Ins. -A Kay & Que (BD) -Z Standard Ceramic -A National Life I -A BD Submarine Cable-A Intl. Leasing-B Phoenix Insur -A ICB -A

Closing (% change) 9.10 6.80 5.56 4.97 4.97 4.91 4.84 4.46 4.44 4.34

Average (% change) 4.97 5.62 4.52 4.05 0.36 2.69 2.06 2.72 3.53 1.69 Average (% change) 6.07 6.58 5.05 5.26 4.97 4.29 2.57 2.41 5.29 4.34

Closing average 109.22 16.92 153.56 1,730.48 33.17 227.45 21.85 880.00 118.82 64.40

Closing average 110.77 116.27 153.81 19.00 38.00 356.31 227.39 16.15 47.00 1749.86

Closing 111.60 17.00 153.60 1,765.25 34.50 232.60 22.00 896.40 118.70 64.40

Closing 113.90 116.30 153.70 19.00 38.00 356.70 231.80 16.40 47.00 1749.80

Daily high 112.90 17.20 158.20 1,765.25 34.90 234.00 22.40 901.00 122.00 64.40

Daily high 114.00 119.70 156.70 19.00 38.00 360.00 234.00 16.90 47.00 1777.00

Daily low 104.90 14.80 140.00 1,678.00 29.50 201.80 19.00 860.00 110.00 64.40

Daily low 108.10 116.00 149.60 19.00 38.00 346.30 222.20 15.40 47.00 1710.00

Turnover in million 49.194 40.203 93.765 26.106 5.690 282.462 43.298 3.036 5.038 0.003

Turnover in million 1.274 0.326 3.204 0.010 0.019 0.546 62.972 1.221 0.009 1.575

Latest EPS 5.33 -0.21 6.45 40.46 2.90 3.28 2.24 21.79 4.95 0.60

Latest EPS 5.33 4.95 6.45 -0.89 1.06 12.46 3.28 -0.21 3.81 40.46

Latest PE 20.5 -ve 23.8 42.8 11.4 69.3 9.8 40.4 24.0 107.3

Latest PE 20.8 23.5 23.8 -ve 35.8 28.6 69.3 -ve 12.3 43.2

News from trade server UTTARAFIN: The Board of Directors has recommended 30% cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 30.04.2014, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Spectra Convention Centre, House #19, Road #7, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212. Record date: 12.03.2014. The Company has also reported net profit after tax of Tk. 852.83 million, EPS of Tk. 7.49, NAV per Share of Tk. 49.03 and NOCFPS of Tk. 11.59 for the year ended on December 31, 2013 as against Tk. 814.98 million, Tk. 7.16 (restated), Tk. 47.70 and Tk. 6.19 respectively for the year ended on December 31, 2012.

PRIMETEX: National Credit Ratings Limited (NCR) has announced the rating of the Company as "A" in the long term and "ST-2" in the short term based on audited financial statements of the Company up to June 30, 2013.

BEDL: BSEC NEWS: BSEC has imposed penalty of Tk. 1.00 lac upon the Company as the Company has failed to comply with clause (d) of Notification No. SEC/ CMRRCD/2009-193/119/Admin/34 dated November 22, 2011.

SOUTHEASTB: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on March 03, 2014 at 3:00 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

UNIONCAP: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on March 04, 2014 at 3:00 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

From BIASL Desk: Impact after declaration: Price of UTTARAFIN droped by 7.91% ( taka 7) against 30% cash (taka 3 ) dividend.

Price Correction after Record Day: LankaBanglaFinance’ price correction was 9.31% (taka 6.7) against 15% Cash & 5% Stock Dividend (1.5+3.6=taka 5.1 per share approx.).

After record day restated EPS is taka 4.36 and NAV per share is taka 29.83.

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. BRACBANK: Subscription 20.04.2014 to 15.05.2014.

Record date for entitlement of rights share: 10.02.2014. GENNEXT: Subscription 18.03.2014 to 09.04.2014, Record date: 25.02.2014.

Latest PE 15.2 11.1 74.0 16.7 -ve -ve 48.7 67.0 78.6

30.6

Latest PE 11.1 15.2 -ve 8.2 14.1 14.4 23.7 11.8 37.5

34.3

Banks have packed in investors’ confidence with strong ground and the early recovery is largely supported by covering in most beaten down banking stocks

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY 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

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

(+) 0.30%

ANALYST

Sector

5

▼

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

12256.6739

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Square Pharma -A BD Submarine Cable-A Grameenphone-A Olympic Ind. -A Jamuna Oil -A BSC-A Meghna Petroleum -A

HeidelbergCement -A Padma Oil Co. -A UCBL - A

% change 8.30 7.30 1.86 7.67 7.24 12.55 0.06 6.28 14.30 0.04 0.40 2.09 0.28 6.23 0.99 1.26 6.62 11.29 1.14 4.09 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

Uttara Finance -A Meghna Life Ins. -A ConfidenceCement A Delta Life Insu. -A Active Fine Chem.-A LafargeS Cement-Z BATBCL -A Singer BD -A LankaBangla Fin. -A Purbanchol Power-N CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company BD Submarine Cable-A

Grameenphone-A Square Pharma -A BSC-A UCBL - A Olympic Ind. -A AFC AgroBiotech-N Padma Oil Co. -A Singer BD -A LankaBangla Fin. -A UNITED AIR-A Appollo Ispat CL -N Delta Life Insu. -A Orion Pharma-N Southeast Bank-A S Purbanchol Power-N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Jamuna Oil -A LafargeS Cement-Z Uttara Finance -A

Volume shares 1,537,542 1,241,864 1,110,081 838,837 800,753 216,745 443,270 270,000 351,582 3,432,891

1,156,791 610,600 579,544 323,350 947,787 2,029,500 35,250 265,925 852,200 820,020

Volume shares

276,930 139,200 100,559 41,870 600,058 52,250 157,500 29,508 36,250 131,500 550,289 273,400 26,950 105,020 272,944 79,210 172,358 22,293 129,000 57,450

Value in million 419.49 282.46 245.73 189.58 189.36 136.26 128.29 126.27 119.38 98.97

95.87 93.77 89.60 86.94 84.76 78.49 78.20 68.20 56.57 56.26

Value in million

62.97 30.82 27.45 26.32 17.29 11.81 10.48 10.01 9.27 8.70 8.31 8.21 7.23 6.39 5.96 5.46 5.42 5.30 4.97 4.79

% of total turnover 8.30 5.59 4.86 3.75 3.75 2.70 2.54 2.50 2.36 1.96

1.90 1.86 1.77 1.72 1.68 1.55 1.55 1.35 1.12 1.11

% of total turnover

13.96 6.83 6.08 5.83 3.83 2.62 2.32 2.22 2.05 1.93 1.84 1.82 1.60 1.42 1.32 1.21 1.20 1.18 1.10 1.06

Daily closing 274.30 232.60 220.30 225.80 234.30 631.75 287.70 464.30 334.90 28.60

81.50 153.60 153.20 267.10 88.30 38.50 2173.00 255.40 65.30 68.20

Daily closing

231.80 220.10 274.60 630.30 28.70 225.80 65.10 335.20 254.60 65.40 15.20 29.70 267.70 60.30 21.90 68.20 31.00 234.90 38.30 81.90

Price change 2.54 5.20 0.41 -0.27 -1.47 2.22 -1.30 0.63 -1.47 1.78

Daily opening 267.50 221.10 219.40 226.40 237.80 618.00 291.50 461.40 339.90 28.10

Price change

Daily opening

-7.91 6.15 -1.92 0.45 -2.54 -1.53 -4.70 -1.05 -9.31 -1.30

4.84 0.59 2.58 2.16 1.77 -0.48 -2.54 -1.47 -1.16 -9.17 1.33 -1.33 0.26 -1.31 4.29 -1.59 -2.21 -0.42 -2.05 -9.20

88.50 144.70 156.20 265.90 90.60 39.10 2280.10 258.10 72.00 69.10

221.10 218.80 267.70 617.00 28.20 226.90 66.80 340.20 257.60 72.00 15.00 30.10 267.00 61.10 21.00 69.30 31.70 235.90 39.10 90.20

Daily high 275.10 234.00 224.00 228.90 239.50 638.00 293.30 473.00 345.00 29.50

88.50 158.20 158.00 270.20 91.40 39.50 2220.0 265.00 68.70 70.00

Daily low 244.10 201.80 215.00 206.60 222.00 616.00 280.00 462.00 310.50 25.30

75.00 140.00 141.90 266.00 82.00 38.40 2166.50 248.00 62.00 62.20

Daily average 272.83 227.45 221.36 226.01 236.48 628.67 289.41 467.66 339.55 28.83

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

234.00 224.00 275.80 639.00 29.30 229.00 68.50 344.90 259.00 67.60 15.30 30.40 270.30 61.60 22.30 70.00 32.10 241.00 39.40 89.00

222.20 218.30 267.00 618.00 28.10 224.50 64.70 334.50 253.00 64.70 14.90 29.70 266.70 60.10 21.10 68.00 30.90 234.00 38.00 81.50

82.87 153.56 154.61 268.89 89.43 38.68 2218.50 256.48 66.38 68.60

227.39 221.42 272.94 628.58 28.81 226.02 66.53 339.36 255.66 66.14 15.10 30.05 268.34 60.81 21.84 68.91 31.45 237.93 38.56 83.32

Business

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Tea growers demand 20% hike on import duty n Tribune Report

B3

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

Government makes efforts to get credit rating enhanced

Bangladesh Tea Association (BTA) yesterday demanded of the government to reinstate 20% supplementary duty on tea import to protect local producers.

BTA said import of tea increased to 10.62 million kg in 2013 from 1.92 million kg in 2012 due to the withdrawal of the duty. The supplementary duty was lifted in the budget for the current financial year.

A delegation of the association put forward the demand to Finance Minister AMA Muhith at his ministry, urging him to save the local industry from the uneven competition with imported tea.

At present, the tea import is subject to 61% duty as against 110% in India.

The BTA leaders argued that the local tea producers are facing tough competition due to import of substandard and cheaper tea from dif-

ferent countries, taking the duty advantage.

As a result, locally produced tea remains unsold at every auction in Chittagong, they said. Bangladesh annually produces around 62 million kg of tea against the average internal demand for 56 million kg.

According to Bangladesh Tea Board (BTB), there are 165 tea estates in the country located in Moulvibazar, Sylhet, Habiganj, Chittagong, Rangamati, Brahmanbaria and Panchagarh.

Of them, 91 are in Moulvibazar, 22 in Habiganj, 19 in Sylhet, 22 in Chittagong, 9 in Panchagarh and one each in Rangamati and Brahmanbaria.

Though tea production had increased significantly in last four decades, tea export had been falling over the years mainly because of increased domestic consumption, BTA leaders said.

Bangladesh exported only 1.11 million kg of tea in 2012 against 18.10 million kg in 2000. l

Etihad Airways annual profit climbs 48%

Oil prices surge as Ukraine mobilises army

India tightens checks to curb gold smuggling

n Tribune Report

n AFP, Singapore

n Reuters, Mumbai

Oil prices surged in Asian trade yesterday as Ukraine’s Western-backed government mobilised the army with Russia poised to invade.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery, gained $1.14 to $103.73 in afternoon trade, and Brent North Sea crude for April jumped $1.62 to $110.69.

Lawmakers in Moscow voted Saturday to allow President Vladimir Putin to send troops into Crimea, a predominantly Russian-speaking peninsula in the southeast of Ukraine following the ouster of its pro-Russian government last week.

In what has become the most serious crisis since the end of the Cold War, global leaders condemned the move as Ukraine’s new prime minister, Arseniy Yatsenyuk, warned: “We are on the brink of a disaster.”

Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said that the escalating tension in Ukraine was providing strong support for oil prices.

“Considering that Ukraine is part of the supply chain for Brent, we are looking at this pent-up risk premium resulting in overshooting prices,” Chua told AFP. “Right now we would have our eyes on Ukraine, on the situation in Crimea ...

I do think that at least for the next couple of days this situation will be superseding any other market data,” Chua added.

Gunmen believed to be acting under Kremlin orders have already tightened their grip on Crimea, seizing government buildings and surrounding Ukrainian military bases. l

India has started to make physical checks of gold stocks held by wholesalers to ensure inventories match the amount imported by banks and staterun traders, an industry association said, as the country steps up efforts to halt smuggling.

The move could aggravate shortages in the physical market as authorities seize gold without a valid provenance, boosting premiums, which rallied to a record of $160 an ounce on London prices late last year.

“Government agencies are raiding and seizing gold at various places and asking to reconcile the (gold bar) number with the imported gold,” said India Bullion and Jewellers Association (IBJA) general secretary Surendra Mehta.

Gold was being seized if numbers do not match up, said Mehta, whose 1,200 bullion dealers and jewellery retailers plan plan to close their shops on March 10 in protest at the spot checks and import curbs.

Officials from India’s Customs department were not immediately available to comment.

To tackle a widening trade deficit, India - the world’s second-biggest gold consumer behind China - has put in place measures to dissuade gold buying, including a 10% import tax.

Imports have fallen sharply, leading to shortages and triggering smuggling. India imported about 750 tonnes of gold in 2013, while up to another 200 tonnes was believed to have been smuggled into the country, according

Woman seen working in a tea plant

Etihad Airways, the national carrier of the United Arab Emirates, yesterday announced record financial results for 2013, with net profit up 48% to US$62m.

The record performance also saw earnings before interest and tax up 22% to $208m and earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and rentals up 30% to $979m, a margin of 16% of total revenues, says a press release.

This marked the third successive year of net profitability in the airline’s tenth year of operation.

James Hogan, President and Chief Executive Officer of Etihad Airways, said: “This is another important step forward in our journey as a growing, commercially successful business.

We have hit every financial target for each of the last seven years, bringing sustainable profitability to a business which has grown from just $300m in revenues in 2005 to more than $6b today.

“We have delivered that through our unique strategy, which has seen us combine industry-leading organic growth with wide-ranging partnerships and minority equity investments in strategically important carriers around the world.”

Revenue increased by 27% to $6.1b on passenger numbers up 12% to 11.5m. Revenue Passenger Kilometres – measuring passenger journeys - increased by 16% to 55.5bn, while Available Seat Kilometres–

AFP

representing capacity - grew by 17% to 71.1bn.

These figures reflected strong growth in passenger traffic volumes, in a year when Etihad Airways added six new destinations – Washington DC, Amsterdam, Sao Paulo, Belgrade, Ho Chi Minh City and Sana’a - and increased capacity on 18 existing routes. At year’s end, the average network-wide seat load factor was 78%, unchanged from 2012.

A key driver of Etihad Airways’ growth in 2013 was its partnership strategy, based on wide-ranging codes hares and its unique approach of minority equity investments in strategically important airlines.

This has accelerated network growth, giving it the largest route network of any Middle Eastern carrier, reaching almost 400 destinations; boosted sales and marketing opportunities in key markets around the world; and allowed significant business synergies and cost savings.

This strategy delivered revenues of $820m in 2013, up 30%, and represented 21% of total passenger revenues for Etihad Airways.

The airline has a fleet of 91 Airbus and Boeing aircraft, and over 220 aircraft on firm order, including 71 Boeing 787s, 25 Boeing 777-X, 62 Airbus A350s and 10 Airbus A380s. Etihad Airways holds equity investments in airberlin, Air Seychelles, Virgin Australia, Aer Lingus, Air Serbia and Jet Airways, and is seeking regulatory approval to invest in Swiss-based regional carrier Darwin Airline. l

Holcim Cement (Bangladesh) Limited, recently launched a traffic safety programme in collaboration with Safe Crossings – a Netherlands based organisation, as a part of its CSR initiatives. Under the first phase of the programme, 100 rickshaws in Baunia area of Uttara, Dhaka were decorated with reflective stickers to facilitate rickshaw visibility at night. The program was inaugurated by Rajnish Kapur, managing director of Holcim Cement (Bangladesh) Limited

Tony Roma’s, a world-famous food chain restaurant has entered into an agreement with Food Chain Asia Limited, a promising local food and food processing venture, to open a number of outlets in Dhaka soon. Kenneth Lee Myres, global president of Romacorp Inc, Bradley Steven Smith EVP - chief operating officer of Romacorp Inc and Mohammad Lutfar Rahman, chairperson and CEO of Food Chain Asia Limited signed the agreement at a function at Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel on Sunday

n Asif Showkat Kallol The government has undertaken a move to up-date the country’s economic indicators to further enhance its image abroad.

As part of the effort, Finance Secretary Fazle Kabir sits today with the high officials of the international credit rating agency Standard & Poor’s at Bangladesh Secretariat, said an official.

He said credit rating of Bangladesh’s economy has been delayed during last six months due to political unrest ahead of the national election held on January 5.

“The credit rating would not be below B+ as all the indicators of economy are in good shape, expecting the revenue growth,” Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.

The government decided to extend the job of the global rating agencies Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s for 2014

to the World Gold Council.

The bulk of official imports are channelled through either state-owned or private foreign banks and governmentbacked trading companies, which in turn sell the metal to local jewellery makers.

Mehta said legally imported gold bought by retailers from middlemen was being caught up in the checks.

“My 125 kilograms (4,400 ounces) of gold has been stuck at Ahmedabad airport unnecessarily for a month now,” Prithviraj Kothari, owner of Rid-

BAF-Dutch-Bangla Bank Golf Tournament-2014 held its closing and prize distribution on Saturday at Shaheen Golf and Country Club Patenga in Chittagong. Chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Mohammad Enamul Bari, ndu, psc was chief guest at the programme in the presence of the special guest, KS Tabrez, managing director of Dutch-Bangla Bank

dhisiddhi Bullions Ltd, a leading jeweller, told Reuters.

Customs officials have said only a fraction of illegal shipments have come to light.

The finance ministry and the Reserve Bank of India have acknowledged that smuggling has increased considerably but have said they would not ease the import restrictions until they have a better grip on the trade deficit.

Gold premiums are currently sitting at $80 an ounce. l

The State Minister of Labour and Employment ministry Md Mujibul Haque Chunnu recently inaugurated the first national convention of Bangladesh Motorjan Mechanic federation while Secretary of Labour and Employment ministry, Mikail Shiper and MD of Jiban Bima Corporation attended the event as special guests

‘Expert Protidin’ workshop launched n Tribune Business Desk

Master in Bank Management - MBM Alumni Society (MAS) of Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) organised an event titled MBM Night-2014 at BIBM campus on Feb 28. Esteemed professionals from banking industry and MBM graduates attended the occasion

and 2015 on the advice of the central bank, said the finance ministry official.

The rating agencies were appointed in 2010, for the first time in the country’s history, and the government paid them Tk2.26 crore for 2012 and 2013.

Last year Moody’s reassessed Bangladesh’s rating unchanged at Ba3 for the third consecutive year.

Bangladesh’s rating is higher than that of Sri Lanka (B1) and Pakistan (Caa1), but one notch below India.

Fitch Ratings would also provide sovereign credit rating of Bangladesh as the government on February 4 allowed Bangladesh Bank to sign agreement with the New York-based global rating agency.

They would work on the ratings for the country besides existing two agencies – Standard & Poor’s and Moody’s.

It is expected to facilitate the country to be rated by three different agencies and thus increasing the credibility to make it easy getting foreign capital and credit. l

A concern of Unilever Bangladesh Limited, Fair & Lovely Foundation and Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) are jointly conducting a workshop titled “Expert Protidin” in garment factories across the country.

The objective of this workshop is to make work place safer for women by educating them regarding safety related issues such as: fire safety, earthquakes, road crossing and the need for

following rules while operating different machineries.

The workshop also focuses on the importance of skin and hair care for women and the need to use safe products.

The goal is reach out to over 550,000 garments workers and plans to raise awareness in the entire garment sector in the next 3 years.

Atiqul Islam, BGMEA president, Kamran Bakr, chairperson and MD of Unilever Bangladesh Limited visited a local factory on February 25th to observe the programme. l

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G7 promises robust aid for Ukraine n AFP, New York

The finance ministers of the world's top industrialized countries promised a firm aid package to Ukraine on Sunday, while calling for reform and a central role by the International Monetary Fund.

Earlier, leaders of the countries symbolically billed themselves as the "G7," saying Russia's actions were incompatible with the Group of Eight Nations, which Moscow joined in 1997, and withdrew from preparations for June's G8 summit in Sochi.

"We are united in our commitment to provide strong financial backing to Ukraine," the finance ministers of Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan and the United States said in a statement released by the US Treasury.

They welcomed the planned visit of an IMF team to Ukraine this week to begin technical and policy discussions.

"The International Monetary Fund remains the institution best prepared to help Ukraine address its immediate economic challenges through policy advice and financing, conditioned on needed reforms," the finance ministers said.

"IMF support will be critical in un-

Tuesday, March 4, 2014

FAILING TO MAKE A GO OF OIL PRODUCTION

locking additional assistance from the World Bank, other international financial institutions, the EU, and bilateral sources."

Interim Ukrainian authorities who succeeded ousted president Viktor Yanukovych had launched a call for IMF help and the world financial body immediately said it stood ready to respond.

IMF programs, however, are usually conditioned on reforms taking place.

"Closely monitoring" the situation, the G7 ministers said the governmental transition "offers a unique opportunity to put in place urgently needed market-oriented reforms that will restore financial stability, unleash economic potential and allow Ukraine's people to better achieve their economic aspirations."

"We are also committed to mobilize rapid technical assistance to support Ukraine in addressing its macroeconomic, regulatory, and anti-corruption challenges," they added.

In their separate statement, the G7 leaders said Russia's "clear" violation of Ukraine's sovereignty by sending troops into Crimea contravened the principles on which the G7 and G8 groupings operates. l

A view of one of South Sudan's last working petroleum facilities in the town of Paloch on Sunday. Fighting in South Sudan has cut production from the country's lifeline oilfields by about 29%, the press secretary to President Salva Kiir said in Khartoum yesterday AFP

Asian factory activity stutters, led by China n Reuters, Beijing

Manufacturing activity among Asia's major export economies stumbled in February, led by China where data suggested growth in the factory sector was stalling.

New export orders in China fell in February compared with January and growth in overseas demand for Japanese and South Korean goods eased, purchasing managers' reports said.

The data painted a gloomier picture compared with January when factories outside of China had shown signs of solid expansion.

The HSBC/Markit purchasing managers index (PMI) on China manufacturing fell to 48.5 in February, a seven-month low and the third straight monthly decline in the index.

A government PMI released on Saturday fell to 50.2, indicating the slowest growth in eight months. A PMI above 50 points to growth from the previous month, while one below 50 suggests contraction.

"Signs are becoming clear the risks to GDP growth are tilting to the downside," Hongbin Qu, chief economist for China at HSBC, said in a statement accompanying its PMI release.

An HSBC/Markit PMI on South Korea fell to 49.8 in February, marking the first contraction in the sector in five months. New export orders are growing, but at their weakest pace in five months.

Japanese manufacturers are still growing strongly off the back of aggressive economic stimulus policies promoted by Prime Minister Shinzo Abe.

But a Markit/JMMA PMI released late last week pulled back from an eightyear high to 55.5, marking the first decline in the index in seven months.

New export orders showed demand was still expanding, but the index fell for the third straight month.

In India, whose economy is less reliant on exports, the PMI rose to 52.5 for its highest level in a year. Overall new orders were also rising at their strongest pace in a year, which HSBC economist Leif Eskesen said was partly a reaction to reduced economic uncertainty compared with last year. At that time, the currency fell to a record low against the dollar as investors worried about a gaping current account deficit.

Euro zone manufacturing PMI figures due later on Monday are expected to show steady growth in February from January.

Similar US data - also due later on Monday - is forecast to show a sliver of improvement in growth in the manufacturing sector, although much focus will be on new order growth, which slumped in January - the most in more than three decades.

China

Containers are seen at a port of Shanghai Free Trade Zone

REUTERS

While Chinese manufacturers were struggling for growth, the services sector regained some momentum in February. China's official non-manufacturing PMI rose to a three-month high of 55.

"If the services PMI is to be believed, the service sector is not doing so bad, but ... the manufacturing, or the investment-heavy sector, not as well," said Wei Yao, China economist at Societe Generale in Hong Kong.

Although the PMI indexes are seasonally adjusted, some analysts cautioned against reading too much into the latest Chinese data, given the possible impact from the long Lunar New Year holiday, which began on January 31 and covered early February. Many businesses close for periods surrounding the holiday.

China's statistics bureau will release combined January-February figures for factory output, fixed-asset investment and retail sales later this month.

In recent weeks, China's economic indicators have been mixed. Weak investment and declining PMI readings have been countered by surprisingly buoyant exports and bank lending figures.

The annual parliament session, due to start on Wednesday, will provide the next marker for financial markets on the outlook for the world's secondbiggest economy.

Premier Li Keqiang is widely expected to say that the government will maintain the 2013 economic growth target of 7.5% in 2014.

Although the pace of China's expansion has slowed down sharply from the breakneck double-digit pace of the last three decades, analysts at Bank of America Merrill Lynch said a 7.5% growth rate was achievable this year.

"We don't think policymakers will attach a big weight to the PMI readings in January and February," they said in a client note, arguing the government could stick with neutral fiscal and monetary policies for now. "We think the government has enough policy room to achieve 7.5% GDP growth this year." l

Yen gains in Asia on Ukraine conflict fears n AFP, Tokyo The yen gathered steam in Asia yesterday on rising geopolitical fears as Ukraine mobilised its army with Russian troops poised to invade the former Soviet state.

In Tokyo afternoon trade, the dollar weakened to 101.45 yen, from 101.76 yen in New York Friday afternoon.

The euro was also down at 139.79 yen from 140.44 yen, while it weakened to $1.3778 against $1.3800 in US trade.

Russia's parliament voted Saturday to allow President Vladimir Putin to send troops into Crimea - a predominantly Russian-speaking peninsula in the southeast of Ukraine - following the ouster of the country's pro-Moscow government.

The move was met with global condemnation, with the leaders of the world's top industrialised powers -- Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, and the United States calling it a "clear violation" of Ukraine's sovereignty.

Symbolically billing themselves as the G7, they warned in a statement that Russia's actions were incompatible with the Group of Eight Nations, which Moscow joined in 1997. They also said they would not take part in preparatory talks for June's G8 summit in Sochi, Russia.

US Secretary of State John Kerry is to visit Kiev for talks on Tuesday that US officials said would lend support to Ukraine's interim Western-allied

leaders. "The escalating geopolitical risk is likely to raise risk aversion in markets until tensions ease," National Australia Bank said.

The downbeat atmosphere was compounded by another disappointing set of manufacturing figures from China that added to concerns about growth in the world's number two economy.

And on Friday, the US Commerce Department said US gross domestic product growth in the final quarter of 2013 came in at 2.4%, compared with its initial estimate of a 3.2% expansion.

The downward revision dented confidence in the state of the US economic recovery, although the results have been partly dismissed as being due to extremely cold weather that dampened activity.

The euro had enjoyed a brief rally Friday after data showed eurozone inflation was low but stable, giving some respite from fears the 18-nation bloc could slip into a deflationary spiral.

The data reduced expectations of policy action by the European Central Bank at a meeting this week. The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It weakened to Sg$1.2674 from Sg$1.2675 on Friday, to 11,575 Indonesian rupiah from 11,645 rupiah and to 61.91 Indian rupees from 62.16 rupees.

The greenback also slipped to 32.59 Thai baht from 32.66 baht, while it rose to 44.73 Philippine pesos from 44.67 pesos and to 1,070.45 South Korean won from 1,068.06 won. l

Ferrari returns to turbo as supercar makers face up to emissions rules n Reuters, Geneva Italy's Ferrari has mounted a turbocharged engine on its latest supercar for the first time in more than two decades, as even luxury automakers are forced to seek ways to cut emissions without sacrificing performance.

The California T, which will debut at the Geneva auto show this week, will be equipped with an eight-cylinder engine that Ferrari says will consume 15% less fuel than its naturally-aspirated predecessor, reducing carbon dioxide emissions to 250 grams per kilometer (g/km) from 299.

By pumping air into the cylinders, turbochargers get more power from a smaller engine, sometimes at the price of sluggish initial acceleration. Naturally aspirated engines, which instead draw in air through a valve, can deliver more consistent torque and a bigger engine sound.

Unlike holdout Lamborghini and its naturally aspirated 5.2-litre Huracan on show in Geneva, Ferrari is breaking with tradition to offer its first turbo since the F40 coupe, sold between 1987 and 1992. The Fiat-owned sports car maker claims to have achieved "zero turbo lag" with new technology that adapts the torque curve to each gear change.

"The California T ... is one of the results of significant investment in

product and technological innovation," Chairman Luca di Montezemolo said last month.

The new model can accelerate from 0 to 100 km/h in 3.6 seconds, Ferrari said, 0.2 seconds faster than the 2012 California. Pricing has not been disclosed, although it is not expected to be significantly higher than the tag of around 185,000 euros ($255,500) on the last California.

The Italian carmaker also said it had modified the car's exhaust to enhance engine noise, offsetting the turbo's muffling effect.

More efficient

Fans of Ferrari - ranked the world's most powerful brand last month by consultancy Brand Finance - are optimistic.

Joe Adams, president of the Ferrari Club of America, said his members were excited about the prospect of getting more efficient horsepower and better fuel mileage out of the cars.

"Ferrari needs to be able to show its technical prowess," said Adams, who has owned seven different Ferraris over the years. "Being green is just another challenge and that's something Ferrari relishes."

The move by Ferrari coincides with the introduction this year of new Formula One rules requiring the use of tur-

The new car looks more like a younger brother to, rather than a distant relative of, the other vehicles in the current Ferrari range bocharged engines in the sport for the first time since 1988.

Fuel-efficiency improvements account for a large share of the 2bn euros

AFP

in planned research and development spending over five years, Ferrari has said.

The carmaker, which last year introduced its first hybrid, the 1 million euro LaFerrari, said its average CO2 emissions have already fallen 40% since 2007.

While supercars will keep emitting more than small family cars, they need at least to show improvement, said Jay Nagley, managing director at Redspy, an automotive consultancy. "They don't want to look like dinosaurs," he said.

Unlike Ferrari, Lamborghini is avoiding turbos for now and has no intention to pursue hybrids anytime soon. However, both technologies are readily available from parent Volkswagen should it choose to use them later.

The Huracan LP 610-4 on show in Geneva is Lamborghini's successor to its bestselling Gallardo model, which ended production last year. The carbon fibre and aluminum car's 10-cylinder engine emits an average 290 g/km of CO2.

"One thing that makes a Lamborghini so unique is the music that comes out of the exhaust pipes," said Nick Wirth, a fellow of Britain's Royal Academy of Engineering. "A turbocharged engine would make the orchestra a little bit quieter."

However, Wirth believes it is only a matter of time before even the most exotic brands are forced to embrace turbos and hybrids to meet tightening emission rules. "Ultimately, everyone will have to move in that direction." l