05 March 2014

Falgun 21, 1420 Jamadiul Awal 3, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 1 No 341

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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Rise in ‘forced disappearance’ The victims’ list ranges from politicians to businessmen, student to teachers Jamil Khan and n Mohammad Muktasree Chakma Sathi The country is witnessing a sharp rise in “abduction by law enforcement agencies” also known as “forced disappearance” with at least 41 people subjected to such incidents in the first two months of the current year.

The number was 53 last year, according to statistics of rights bodies prepared from reports published in

FORCED DISAPPEARANCE Jan-Feb 2014

41 53 2013

newspapers. The victims include politicians, businessmen, students, teachers, and leaders and activists of the ruling Awami League and the BNP. Families of the victims keep waiting for their loved ones to return some day since most of the victims could not be traced until date.

According to Ain O Salish Kendra, among this year’s abductees four were from Bangladesh Chhatra League

(students’ wing of AL), two from Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (BNP’s student wing), three from Jamaat-e-Islami and 11 from the BNP. Among others, one is a businessman while the nine others have no political affiliation.

According to ASK, of the 41 people abducted this year, bodies of only seven were found while two persons released later. Last year, five dead bodies were recovered, three handed over to the police while two were shown arrested.

In early April last year, Mofizul Islam Rashed, 32, a Chhatra Dal leader was picked up from in front of Diamond Garment on Mirpur Mazar Road’s second colony allegedly by a group of people dressed like members of Detective Branch (DB) of Police, says his family.

Rashed’s uncle Mohammad Titu told the Dhaka Tribune that they had searched for him everywhere and also visited the police stations. The DB and RAB offices said they did not know anything.

On April 11, Nazrul Islam, a teacher of Joypurhat Talimul Islam School and College, was picked up allegedly by some law enforcers. He is yet to be rescued.

In January this year, police allegedly picked up five AL activists for their alleged connection with the killing of another party man, Singra Upazila Chairman Fazlur Rahman. Family members of the victim alleged that he was taken away by a group of Dhaka DB unit officials.

These “missing” people also include Singra BNP’s Organising Secretary Ibrahim Khalil and local AL activist Shamsul Islam.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Bangladeshi supporters are extremely disappointed as their team lost to Pakistan, even after setting a remarkable batting display at Mirpur Sher-e-Bangla Stadium in the capital yesterday MUMIT M

BNP’s reshuffling plans come to a halt n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The reshuffling initiatives of the BNP and its front and associate bodies have come to a halt, with no major development in the process reportedly causing frustration among the party ranks.

In a meeting with BNP’s Dhaka city unit leaders about a month ago, party Chairperson Khaleda Zia reportedly bashed the leaders for their “failed roles” in staging the party’s movement against the election and said the city committee would soon be reshuffled; a move which is yet to be carried out.

The former premier also met leaders

JAMAL UDDIN ABDUCTION AND KILLING

Ex-state minister Babar took Tk3 crore to suppress case, son alleges n Tushar Hayat, Chittagong Family members of murdered millionaire businessman Jamal Uddin Chowdhury have alleged that former state minister for home Lutfuzzaman Babar received Tk3 crore as bribe from ex-MP Sarwar Jamal Nizam to suppress the case.

“Sarwar, who was arrested during the army-backed caretaker government, confessed in the taskforce interrogation cell that he had given three crore taka to Babar for suppressing the case relating to the abduction and killing of my father,” claimed Chowdhury

Farman Reza, Jamal Uddin’s elder son.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, Farman also said there was a stay order from the High Court on the proceedings of the case.

He added that if the trial were to begin, the role of the former BNP lawmaker and several other top leaders of the then ruling party would be revealed concerning his father’s abduction and killing.

“Now that BNP is not in power, I hope we can get justice now,” Farman said, adding that although his father was a BNP leader, the family did not get any justice when the party

INSIDE Business

B1 Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) yesterday moved to set up a commodities market to provide a platform for producers to discover fair prices and hedge risks of their products.

News

5 The High Court has issued a stay order against a directive from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to suspend all academic activities in 13 private medical colleges and one dental college, until the completion of a review of the institutes by inspection teams.

Nation

6 Rajbari Adhunik Sadar Hospital has almost failed to provide proper healthcare services to patients as it is facing acute crisis of doctors, staffs and accommodation facilities.

World

9 A US-led resolution calling for an international probe into allegations that 40,000 civilians were killed at the end of Sri Lanka’s separatist war has been filed with the UN’s top rights body.

Op-Ed

11 Scenario 1: A new department opened. The course was a professional one. Teachers were available. But they did not belong to the group that ruled the campus.

was in power.

Jamal Uddin, the then senior vice president of BNP’s district (south) unit, was abducted as he was returning to his residence at Chandgaon from his Chawk Bazar office on July 13, 2003.

Jamal Uddin had competed thrice against Sarwar Jamal for the party nomination in parliamentary elections from Anwara, which may have led to his killing by his rivals, family sources said.

Nazma Akhter Khanam, Jamal Uddin’s widow, said they had been deprived of justice during the reign  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

of Chhatra Dal’s Dhaka University unit, lambasting them for their role during the election-resistance movement and branding them as a “failure.”

Leaders from different tiers of the party told the Dhaka Tribune that they were in the dark about the reshuffling of Jubo Dal, Swechchhashebak Dal and other associate and front bodies of the party.

At a rally in Rajbari on March 1, Khaleda reiterated plans of consolidating the party and launching a fresh movement after the staging of the upazila parishad polls.

Earlier on February 4, Khaleda told a

press conference that some time might be needed for announcing any programme, as many leaders and activists were in jail, while many were also on the run.

On February 6, Khaleda held a standing committee meeting and decided to reorganise the associate and front bodies before waging any movement.

Later on February 10, the party chairperson met with the Dhaka city leaders and said the new committee will be formed soon.

However, the party failed to realise its plan to announce the new

Bangladesh has held talks with India for getting an additional 100 megawatts of electricity from Tripura.

The meeting was held between Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh yesterday, on the sidelines of the Bimstec summit yesterday.

“Both the leaders want cooperation in the energy sector and the additional import of Indian electricity came up,” said a foreign ministry official.

Bangladesh imports 500MW of power from India and Dhaka has been asking for an additional 100MW from Palatana power plant in Tripura for the last

n Minhaz Uddin Khan

three years.

In yesterday’s meeting, both leaders from Bangladesh and India stressed on a sub-regional hydroelectricity initiative that could help to resolve the power crisis in Bangladesh, India, Nepal and Bhutan.

Hasina emphasized on early completion of Teesta water sharing agreement and hoped that the land boundary agreement between the two countries would be ratified as soon as possible, the official said.

The Indian premier assured Hasina that they would look into the issue.

Bangladesh and India failed to pen the Teesta agreement in 2011 because of strong protests from West Bengal

Few slack deliveries and drained opportunities into the last five overs of the game saw Bangladesh slump into a three wicket defeat thus failing to defend their highest total in the do or die fixture to Pakistan the Asia Cup at Shere-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

Bangladesh went into the game with under immense pressure from the board, the media and the public. But the hosts rose on the occasion to post a big total – 326 for three, beating their previous best of 320 for 8 against Zimbabwe in 2009, when the side went to bat first after winning the toss.

This had boosted the Tigers with chances of winning the game as Pakistan have been failing to chase 300plus targets since 2008. But riding on opener Ahmed Shahzad’s fifth ODI hundred and a blazing fifty off Shahid Afridi saw Pakistan cruise to victory and the final against Sri Lanka. It was also their highest chase in ODI. Bangladesh kicked off their innings in style with opening batsman Anamul Haque’s anchoring hundred and his 150 runs with Imrul partnership with Kayes, the first 100 runs partnership for the opening stand for Bangladesh since 2010. Anamul’s second ODI century was followed by Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim and Shakib Al Hasan’s rapid half-centuries to shred Pakistan attack.

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Dhaka seeks more power from Delhi n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Gallant Tigers shocked by Pakistan

RAB killed him, later staged drama, alleges wife n Mohammad Jamil Khan

Wife of one of the two crossfire victims in Jurain alleged that her husband had been killed in front of her eyes by members of the crime busting force Rapid Action Battalion (RAB).

“I know that my husband was a terrorist and criminal. He might have been involved in snatching. But there are laws against such offences. He could have been punished as per the laws of the land,” said Sonia, pregnant wife of Mahmudul Wasim, 62, of Madina Masjid Road in Alambagh area of Jurain.

“But the RAB staged a drama after they had killed him terming my husband an abductor,” she said. “She was tortured too just before he was killed.

Wasim was killed in a “gunfight” with RAB on Monday. Both RAB and the family members said Wasim was at his residence before the “gunfight”.

Members of the RAB said they carried out an operation upon information that some abductors were torturing some people on the rooftop of a house in Kadamtali area.

Sensing presence of the RAB personnel, the abductors opened fire on them and the elite force retaliated killing two

Sonia Akter, wife of Mahmudul Wasim, sitting with their children claims that her ‘criminal’ husband was a victim of extrajudicial killing abductors – Wasim and Sangram. Three RAB officials were also injured, said the elite crime buster.

When the Dhaka Tribune contacted Director of RAB’s media wing Habibur

Rahman said there might be such allegations from the relatives “but we have nothing new to tell you”.

Sonia ditched the explanation saying that it was a common story the RAB

tells the media after every killing.

She described the details of the day’s event to the Dhaka Tribune: “It was around 12 noon on Monday. My husband was taking shower on our seven-storey flat. Some 50 people in plain clothes surrounded the building with guns.”

Sensing danger, Sonia pushed her younger sister Aysha into the washroom where her husband was taking shower. The law men entered their flat; they searched for him in every nook and corner of the flat and finally they knocked at the washroom.

Aysha responded saying that she was taking shower. Then the officials waited for some time there and at one point broke into the washroom. They grabbed Aysha by the hair and dragged her out of the washroom along with Wasim.

Later they took Wasim to the staircase.

“My whole family and I including my mother and sister pleaded for mercy but the officers did not pay heed.

They kicked on my abdomen while I was expecting.

“They closed the main door of the flat as it was ajar I could see everything.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Around 7% power price hike recommended n Aminur Rahman Rasel The technical evaluation committee of the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC) has recommended raising power tariffs at the consumerlevel for two distribution companies.

The recommendation came yesterday after a public hearing on proposals by the Power Development Board (PDB) and the West Zone Power Distribution Company Ltd (WZPDCO) last month for hiking electricity prices by15.50% and 8.59% respectively to minimise losses from supplying electricity to retail customers at low cost.

The committee recommended increasing average per unit (each kilowatt-hour) tariffs for PDB and WZPDCO consumers by 6.66% and 7.51% respectively.

PDB serves 26.54 lakh consumers in Chittagong, Rajshahi, Sylhet, Rangpur metropolitan area and most district headquarters of the country. WZPDCO

has about eight lakh customers in 21 districts and 20 upazila towns, including Khulna, Bagerhat, Jessore and Barisal.

BERC chairman AR Khan, members Salim Mahmud, Delwar Hossain and Md Maksudul Haque, along with other stakeholders attended the public hearing at the commission’s office in the capital.

The announcement of fresh electricity tariff hike may be made by the end of this month or the first week of next month, but the tariff hike will have retrospective effect from March 1, 2014, a director-level officer of BERC told the Dhaka Tribune on condition of anonymity.

Meanwhile, Shamsul Alam, energy adviser of the Consumer Association of Bangladesh (CAB), opposed the BERC move to raise power tariffs during yesterday’s hearing.

“You should take steps to decrease the electricity rate, rather than increasing it,” the CAB adviser said, addressing the commission.

“The cost of electricity has been ris-

ing as the government adopted shortterm measures of installing dozens of high-cost diesel and furnace oil-fired rental power plants to ease the country’s mounting electricity crisis.” Alam said.

However, BERC chairman AR Khan said: “Everything has a cost and you have to pay for that. Price of everything is increasing day by day. So, there is no option than increasing the power tariff. ” “If anyone has any question, he can place it to BERC by March 6. We will announce the decision of the hearing soon,” Khan added.

During the hearing, members of some left-leaning parties, including CPB, also requested the commission not to increase the tariffs. Protesters under the banner of Gana Sanghati Andolan also staged a mass sit-in outside the BERC building in Karwan Bazar.

Power division officials said the move for new tariff hikes got momentum after getting the nod from Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who is also the minister

of power, energy and mineral resources, on February 6.

PDB general manager (commercial) Mostaque Ahmed and WZPDCO managing director Abul Kalam Azad presented their respective proposals.

“Our technical committee found their proposal to hike power tariffs to be justified,” Md Abul Kasham, chief of the evaluation committee and BERC director (power), said during the hearing.

“For the sustainability of the stateowned organisation, BERC can allow it to raise power tariffs by 6.66% to help the PDB reach the break-even point,” Abul Kasham said.

On average, PDB sells per unit of electricity for Tk6, against its supply cost is Tk6.93, officials said. WZPDCO’s retail rate is Tk5.97, while its supply cost is Tk6.44, thus, incurring a loss of 47 paisa per unit.

Since 2009, BERC has increased power tariffs six times. In the latest increment made in September 2012, retail

price of electricity rose by 15%, from the previous rate of Tk5 per unit. The tariff at the bulk level was raised by 17% to Tk4.70.

Meantime, BERC will conduct a public hearing today on proposals made by the Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) and the Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd (DESCO) to hike tariffs by 23.50% and 15.90% respectively.

BERC will also conduct a public hearing tomorrow on proposals by the Rural Electrification Board (REB) to raise tariff by12.58%.

According to the committee’s recommendation, PDB’s operating revenue this fiscal year (2013-14) will be Tk5,715.16 crore for 849.26 crore units, which is Tk339.49 crore less than its estimation of Tk5,375.67 crore for FY 2012-13.

WZPDCO’s FY 2013-14 operating revenue will be Tk1351.09 crore for 235.82 crore units, Tk91.35 crore less than its Tk1259.74 crore estimation for 2012-13 to reach the break-even point. l

'Bangladesh to be hub of Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor' n BSS US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena yesterday said he would see Bangladesh uses its geographical gift to become the hub of the Indo-Pacific Economic Corridor, linking Central and South Asia to China, Singapore and rest of the world.

Bangladesh would be a lion contributor to the global trade and commerce besides the 21st century trade route, he said while speaking at a conference on “NRB Talent, Remittances and Investment for Development,” arranged by the Centre for NRB, at a city hotel.

Chairperson of the centre Shekil Chowdhury presided over the event while Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman spoke as the chief guest.

Former central bank governor Farashuddin, EU Ambassador to Bangladesh William Hanna and Additional Research Director of CPD Khondkar Golam Moazzem also spoke. l

Dhaka, Delhi to hold series of meetings this month n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

A series of high-level official meetings will be held between Bangladesh and India in March.

Measurement of water flow at Hardinge Bridge in Bangladesh and at Farrakah point in India, joint working group meetings of fisheries and livestock and commerce ministries, director general level talks between BGB-BSF and regional commander level meetings of BGB-BSF will be held throughout this month.

“We are going to measure the water flow at Hardinge Bridge tomorrow and the flow at Farrakah point on March 10,” a senior official of the Joint River Commission (JRC) told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

This was an annual arrangement and once in a year top officials of the JRC measure the water flow, he added.

However, the joint observation committee under the JRC measured water flow for five months, the official said.

A Bangladesh delegation led by JRC member Mir Sajjad Hossain will leave for Kolkata on March 8 to measure the water flow at Farakkah point, he added.

The first Joint Working Group (JWG) meeting between the two fisheries and livestock ministries will be held on March 12 and 13 in Dhaka.

Dhaka and New Delhi signed a deal in 2011 to hold the JWG on regular basis but it did not take place last year because of last minute postponement by the Indian side, said an official of the fisheries and livestock ministry.

Technical cooperation, technology transfer and training would dominate the first meeting, he said. Joint Secretary of the ministry Anisur Rahman will lead the Bangladesh delegation.

Dhaka and New Delhi will have its ninth round of the JWG meeting of the commerce ministry this month. The date was yet to be fixed but it would be held this month, confirmed a commerce and foreign ministry official. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina speaking to her Indian counterpart Manmohan Singh during a meeting at Nay Pyi Taw in Myanmar yesterday

RAB killed him, later staged drama, alleges wife  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

They killed my husband in front of my eyes. They sprayed two to three rounds of bullets on him. I lost consciousness,” she added.

Sonia’s mother said after killing Wasim, the officials took him down by his legs and hands and sent him to hospital as if he was alive.

“The officials also left two female officials inside the flat who stayed until the evening and threatened us with dire consequence if we opened our mouths.”

Sonia also alleged that the law enforcers had not recovered any arms from the flat. “The officials kept two arms on my bed, took photos and circulated to different media. This is nothing

but a drama of the RAB...they killed my husband in a pre-planned way.”

She alleged that her husband was killed as a sequel to a conflict with Alam Super Market owner Alam on extracting toll.

RAB 10 officials arrested Wasim earlier too, Sonia said. When he begged for life one of the officials said: “Alam gave us Tk3, 000,000 for killing him [Wasim].

If you want to survive you have to pay Tk6, 000, 000,” she said quoting Wasim.

On Payment of the amount, RAB released him two days after the arrest.

The other accused, Sangram Chowdhury, 42, who was the manager of Wasim, was staying on the rooftop of the building on the day.

Sensing the presence of law enforcers, he tried to escape by using a pipe but he was shot in the leg and fell down on a tin-shed house.

He again tried to flee the spot but the law enforcers shot him after taking him on the ground floor of the building, said the family members of Wasim who witnessed the incident.

Taslima Akter, a tenant of Wasim’s house, said she had heard two to three bullet shots but would not open the doors and windows out of fear. However, she saw some RAB officials at the building on Monday noon.

Mohammad Yasin, a tenant of an adjacent building, said he had been sleeping at that time but heard several gunshots. l

Gallant Tigers shocked by Pakistan  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

The innings was a performance of complete dominance from the home side as it saw Pakistan bowlers erred in line and length. Anamul’s 132-ball innings ended on 100 after he was swallowed at midwicket, but with the score 204 for 2 in the 40th over, a solid platform had been built for his senior team-mates to launch from.

Anamul had less of the strike than his partner Imrul Kayes, who was making a comeback. But a whip in the fifth over to the midwicket off Mohammed Hafeez got Anamul charge and put some efficient runs on the board. The right handed batsman took 19 deliveries to move from 90 to 100.

Imrul, one of those from the five changed in the Bangladesh side, bagged his 10th ODI fifty off 62 balls in the 24th over. This included two sixes over

midwicket off Afridi at the end of the 17th over and at the start of the 22nd over and used his chances. He was dropped in the first over by Ahmed Shehzad before he had scored, survived a strong lbw appeal, and was caught off a high full toss from Abdur Rehman.

Number three batsman Mominul perished after an efficient fifty while Mushfiqur hammered 51 off 38 balls with eight fours. Shakib, returning from a three-match suspension, slammed 44 off only 16 balls with six fours and two sixes. This also saw Mushfiqur and Shakib put on 77 in 5.4 overs for the fourth wicket with which Bangladesh could not have asked for a better finish.

Later Bangladesh’s bowling and fielding had let them down in defending their hard work. The fielders were sloppy on the boundary and Mushfiqur Rahim dropped Afridi on 52 in the final

moments to add more woes.

Shehzad scored 103 off 123 balls and aided Pakistan with 105 runs for the fourth wicket with FawadAlam.

Shehzad got dismissed in the 39th over.

This was followed by another wicket, of Abdur Rehman. This had Afridi walk to the middle to make or break the game.

Pakistan needed 102 off 52 balls when Afrdi took the charge to hit the ball so hard and far during the assault. Before he was dismissed off a run out in the 46th over, Pakistan needed 33 off 19 with Umar Akmal and Fawad in the middle.

The duo took the score to 325 which had Fawad’s to sixes off AbdurRazzak in the 48th over. Fawad walked back to the dressing room scoring a useful 74 off 70 with Pakistan needing two runs off two balls to win which came with a four from Akmal. He scored 14 runs. l

Rise in ‘forced disappearance’  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Bangladesh Chhatra Union former vice-president Shamim Akther was picked up on September 29, 2011 while a youth named Obaidur was picked up by the law enforcers on December 26, 2012 from Dhaka and Gopalganj.

In March 2012, Sylhet district Chhatra Dal Joint General Secretary Dinar and another leader Junayed were picked up in the same manner. All these persons remain missing until date.

Rights activists and lawyers have expressed their grave concern over such rise in “enforced disappearance” saying that such state-backed crimes are more heinous than the crimes committed by individuals or gangs.

Inspector General of Police Hassan Mahmood Khandker said if anybody could prove the involvement of the law enforcement agencies in such abduction, the authorities would take action against those personnel.

“We are also sincere in investigating such issues whenever the families [of victims] file cases alleging abduction by law enforcers,” he said claiming that the law enforcers maintain their duties and responsibilities properly.

Lawyer Sigma Huda labels enforced disappearance as a “ferocious” incident.

“Sometimes I wonder whether being kidnapped by criminals is safer than being picked up by the law enforcers or not. At least, if one is kidnapped

by criminals there is a chance of rescuing him after fulfilling the kidnapper’s demand. On the other hand, if one is subjected to enforced disappearance, then nobody can hope he/she can be rescued.”

She also alleged that there had been a number of cases where the law enforcers committed such crimes being influenced by the politically- and financially-powerful people.

Pointing out that from 2009 to 2013 more than 156 persons were subjected to such disappearance, Sultana Kamal, executive director of ASK, said: “The state still has to develop itself with regard to protecting and promoting human rights.” l

Dhaka seeks more power from Delhi  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee, while different stakeholders including Indian main opposition party BJP strongly opposed the hurried ratification of the land boundary agreement.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina went to Myanmar on Monday to attend the third Bimstec summit in Naypyitaw, where she also had sideline meetings with Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and Nepalese Prime Minister Sushil Koirala.

Following the two-day visit, Hasina returned to Dhaka at 9pm yesterday. l

PID

Bimstec approves permanent secretariat in Dhaka n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Top leaders of the seven-member regional forum Bimstec yesterday officially approved the establishment of its permanent secretariat in Bangladesh.

The member countries of Bimstec (Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation) inked a memorandum of understanding regard in Nay Pyi Taw of Myanmar yesterday.

Heads of states and governments from Bangladesh, Bhutan, India,

Myanmar, Nepal, Sri Lanka, and Thailand Prime Minister’s special envoy took part in the summit.

They also thanked Bangladesh for providing the premises for the Bimstec Secretariat in Dhaka and also expressed satisfaction at the progress made towards the activities of the secretariat.

The summit adopted a declaration after the summit meeting. The forum also expressed contentment at the cooperation between law enforcement agencies of member countries in combating terrorism and transnational crimes. l

Babar took Tk3 crore to suppress case, son alleges  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

of BNP as several ministers got involved to save the real culprits.

She also called for a reinvestigation of the case to bring the killers to trial.

Farman Reza filed a case with Chandgaon police station on July 27, 2003 in connection with his father’s abduction. The businessman’s skeleton was recovered from a remote hilly area of Kanchan Nagar in Fatikchhari upazila in August 2005.

In July 2006, the investigating officer of the case, CID inspector Mohammed Anwar Hossain, submitted a chargesheet accusing 16 people, including then union parishad chairmen Abul Kashem

Chowdhury and Shahidul Islam.

The police arrested seven of the accused, while nine others, including the prime suspect, Abul Kashem, remained at large. The plaintiff of the case, however, filed a “discontent” petition against the charge-sheet as the alleged mastermind behind the heinous crime, ex-MP Sarwar Jamal and his brother, Maruf Nizam, were not named.

Jahedul Islam Talukdar, a lawyer for the family, said the masterminds behind the abduction and killing filed a petition with the High Court in 2007 through one of the accused, Sobhan, for staying the case proceedings. Thus, the trial proceedings have not started

even after seven years, he added.

“The discontent petition against the charge-sheet will be heard whenever the court vacates the stay order,” the lawyer said.

He also asked for further investigation into the case to “unmask the faces of the masterminds”.

Of the charge-sheeted accused, only Shahidul Islam remains behind bars, Mahabub alias Kala Mahabub, who located Jamal’s skeleton, died in the prison, Shawkat and Mansur were killed in “crossfire” with law enforcers, while Sultan “Driver” was arrested from Cox’s Bazar on Sunday night. The other accused are still on the run. l

BNP’s reshuffling plans come to a halt  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

committee on the second week of February; and was also unable to follow through in what was reportedly its plan of forming the new committee after the release of Dhaka city unit BNP Convener and party Vice-Chairman Sadeque Hossain Khoka.

“Reorganising the party is a regular job and it is not possible to do within a specific time frame. The reorganising process of the party is going on and the chairperson will announce the committee whenever the time will come,” Abdullah Al-Noman, vice-chairman of the party, told the Dhaka Tribune. He, however, did not mention any time-frame.

Sources at the party chairperson’s Gulshan office said Khaleda herself was looking after the reorganising process of the associate and front bodies.

However, many leaders have expressed frustrations as there was no visible progress in reshuffling since the January 5 national poll.

Party insiders said a section of leaders were against reshuffling BNP’s Dhaka city unit now, as the upazila elections were ongoing.

“If committees were reshuffled now, intra-party feuds might come to the forefront, which would backfire; rather the committee should be formed after the stepping down of the government,” a senior leader, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune.

However, preferring to stay unnamed, a standing committee member said: “Khaleda Zia wants to cut trees by keeping the weed. She has to decide whether she will keep the tree or the weed.”

With the fate of the city unit still undecided, Khaleda Zia as well as central leaders of the party have also kept mum about the BNP’s national council, which has been due for more than a year.

Some senior leaders have reportedly advised the party chief to shorten the list of executive

committee members, as most of the 486 members remained inactive during the party’s movement for toppling the previous government.

In the meeting with Dhaka University Chhatra Dal leaders, Khaleda said the new committee would be formed soon with regular students.

Chhatra Dal leaders however said the new committee would be formed after the student wing’s president, general secretary and senior vice president were released from jail. Sources said Khaleda had also expressed similar views.

“Except the senior leaders, it is tough to identify who are the regular students… And there is a chance of infiltration of Shibir. That is why the committee formation might take some time,” a Chhatra Dal leader said.

“Reshuffling process has started and some time might be needed to complete the process,” Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie, student affairs secretary of the party, said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

EC struggles with applications seeking transfer, promotion Applications now being approved without scrutiny n Mohammad Zakaria The Election Commission has been facing difficulties in carry out its regular activities as huge number of police and administrative officials have sought transfers or promotions during ongoing upazila parishad polls.

As numerous applications seeking for transfer and promotion pour onto the commission every day, the commission has been approving applications without scrutiny.

“The concerned section of the commission is failing to carry out its routine work, such as publishing gazettes of the results of the recently

held upazila polls, as large number of transfer and promotion applications are being submitted to the commission,” Senior Assistant Secretary Mizanur Rahman said.

EC sources said the commission approved the transfers of around 200 officials and employees yesterday. As per the laws, one cannot be transferred or promoted without the permission of the commission during the polls.

“The commission was now under tremendous pressure from these transfer and promotion application from. As per the laws, no ministry can transfer any official without the permission of the EC,” an election

commissioner, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

In single letters issued on February 24 and 25 respectively, the commission approved transfers of 30 police personnel and 35 government officials Sources said the applications for transfer were mostly coming from the in administration and police

department.

On Monday, a high official of police administration came to commission with a transfer application and later received his permission on the same day. Even transfer applications from huge number of officials from different ministries and department were also pouring into the commission.

In single letters issued on February 24 and 25 respectively, the commission approved transfers of 30 police personnel, 35 government officials, including additional deputy commissioners, additional district magistrates and upazila nirbahi officers. l

Wife: Mir Kashem tried to kill my husband n Udisa Islam A new prosecution witness in the trial against Mir Kashem Ali said her husband had been abducted and tortured during the Liberation War at Daleem Hotel and Salma Manjil, two torture cells led by the al-Badr commander.

Zulekha Khan, 57, wife of freedom fighter Harun-or-Rashid from Chittagong town, testified at the International Crimes Tribunal 2 yesterday as the 15th witness.

In her deposition, she mentioned that her husband died on 2001. He was the general secretary of an organisation at Chittagong College named Chhatra Shakti. Mir Kashem was president on Islami Chhatra Sangha, Jamaat-e-Islami’s student wing, at the same college. Zulekha added that her husband had been freed by al-Badr conditionally. Her brother was also a freedom fighter, said Zulekha who is a fashion designer by profession.

After their marriage in 1976, she came

WAR CRIMES TRIAL

n Nazmus Sakib

n Udisa Islam

Protesting students of Dhaka College bring out a rally in front of the National Press Club in the capital yesterday, demanding the recognition of their college as a full-fledged university.

The rally created a long tailback on all sides SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

ACC seeks documents to probe six secretaries for obtaining forged freedom fighter certificates n Tribune Report The Anti-Corruption Commission has sought relevant documents from the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs to probe against the six secretaries alleged for obtaining freedom fighter certificates through forgery to extend their retirement age.

The notice has asked the ministry to submit the six secretaries’ application letters for freedom fighter certificates, certified copies of the freedom fighter certificates that they had obtained,

their applications for extension in service under the freedom fighter’s quota, and other relevant documents by March 9.

On February 6, ACC decided to open an investigation into five secretaries and a joint secretary who obtained freedom fighter certificates over the last five years.

They six alleged are Health Secretary Niaz Uddin, Liberation War Affairs Secretary KH Masud Siddiqui, Science and Technology Affairs Secretary AKM Amir Hossain, Housing and Public

No bar to conserving mass killing field at Pahartali n Nazmus Sakib The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday delivered a verdict to conserve the mass killing field at Pahartali in Chittagong.

The four-member top court bench headed by Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha passed the ruling on an appeal lodged by eight distinguished citizens including Prof Zafar Iqbal and Prof Gazi Saleh Uddin.

Additional Attorney General Murad Reza told the Dhaka Tribune there was no bar to conserve the place of much execution during the Liberation War in 1971.

Sheikh Hasina government in 1998 started the process of conserving the land, he added.

“The apex court only declared -appeal allowed with observation. The details can only be known after release of the full text of the verdict,” said Murad.

The lawyer of the appellant ,Manzill Murshid told the Dhaka Tribune the government could take steps to preserve the place.

to know that her husband had played a vital role in establishing Swadhin Bangla Betar Kendra. He also worked as a liaison officer of sector 1. While on duty, Harun and his colleague Shahidul Alam were picked up by the al-Badr men on November 28, 1971 and taken to the city’s Daleem hotel where they were tortured for three to four days.

Harun was also confined at Salma Manjil, a torture cell in Panchlaish led

by Mir Kashem, where the accused attempted to kill him five or more times.

He was confined in a toilet for a couple of days. She heard that al-Badr members had killed at least 15 confined pro-liberation people there.

After her deposition, defence counsel Mizanul Islam questioned Zulekha for some time. The tribunal then adjourned the hearing until March 18. Jamaat Executive Council member Mir Kashem, who is facing 14 charges for committing crimes against humanity in 1971, was produced at the tribunal during the deposition. l

HC issues rule against four secretaries

First witness against Qaisar on March 9

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 will record on March 9, the testimony of the first prosecution witness against Syed Mohammad Qaisar, a former state minister for agriculture from Jatiya Party.

The tribunal fixed the date yesterday after hearing the prosecution’s opening statement.

According to Rana Das Gupta, the conducting prosecutor of the case, the prosecution has submitted a list of witnesses who would testify against the former MP. The prosecutors also read out the charges brought against Qaisar and prayed for recording of the witnesses.

The tribunal then ordered the defence to submit on March 9, the documents and the witness list that they want to rely upon.

On February 2, the tribunal indicted Syed Mohammad Qaisar on 16 charges, according to which, Qaisar had conspired with the Pakistani occupation forces with his Qaisar Bahini, and incited crimes like murders, genocide, mass killing, rapes, and destruction of property, as well as being responsible for the commissioning of international crimes in 1971.

After framing the charges, the ICT 2 set March 4 for beginning Qaisar’s trial with the opening statement from the prosecution.

Earlier on November 10 last year, the prosecution submitted the formal charges against the former state minister. Qaisar was arrested on May 16 last year, just a day after the tribunal had ordered his arrest, and was admitted to a private hospital in the capital. The tribunal later granted him conditional bail considering his age.

Meanwhile, the defence counsel continued the cross-examination of second witness Mostafa Mia, in the case against ATM Azharul Islam yesterday.

Defence counsel Abdus Sobhan Tarafder later cross-examined the witness, quizzing him on his training in India in 1971 and claiming that Mostafa had never fought for the country. l

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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Prof Gazi Saleh Uddin, of Sociology department at Chittagong University, said over five thousand people had been killed in the field on November 10, 1971.

Erstwhile premier Sheikh Hasina in 1998 decided to acquire 1.75 acre land and allotted 94 lakhs for implementing the project On that day, his father and three other family members had been killed by the collaborators of the Pakistani army, he said.

Murshid said: “Erstwhile premier Sheikh Hasina in 1998 decided to acquire 1.75 acre land and allotted 94 lakhs for implementing the project.

But the BNP led government in 2005 cancelled the project which prompted

the eight citizens to challenge the decision of writ petition through High Court.”

But the HC on January 16, 2011 disposed of the petition but did not overturn the then four party alliances’ government decision.

Then the eight lodged an appeal with the Appellate Division against the HC verdict.

The court yesterday cancelled the BNP governments’ decision and paved the way for preserving the field, he said.

During the hearing, the apex court ordered the government to form a committee to ensure the position of the mass killing field.

The government formed a committee headed by Major General (retd) KM Shafiullah, one of the sector commanders in 1971.

Shahriar Kabir, a member of the committee, said according to the description of the eye witnesses, over ten thousand persons were killed in 1971 in the field.

It would be the biggest mass killing field in the country, he said. l

Works Affairs Secretary Khandaker Shawkat Hossain, Prime Minister’s Former Secretary Mollah Waheduzzaman and Liberation War Affairs Joint Secretary Abul Kashem Talukdar.

The anti graft body is currently conducting inquiry on how the officials had obtained the certificates prior to their retirement as they did not claim themselves to be freedom fighters at the time of joining.

According to a circular issued by Prime Minister’s Office, one has to declare himself as a freedom fighter at

the time of joining any service to avail the benefits allotted to freedom fighters. Such claims may not be considered later.

ACC has also sought the lists of freedom fighters prepared in 1980, in between 2001 and 2006, and in 2009, for verification.

A letter would be issued to the ministry of public administration in a day or two asking it to send the service books of the six alleged secretaries and other documents related to their services, said an ACC official. l

HC orders not to harass blind residents of Kaliakoir n

Nazmus Sakib

The High Court imposed a status quo on residing at Andhertek village of Kaliakoir upazila in Gazipur where the 350 blind persons had been living.

The bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order in response to a writ petition lodged by Bangldesh Blind Business Welfare Somity of Kaliakoir.

No one can harass them in residing the khas land (government land) of 14 Bighas as a result of the order.

Sc lawyer Lutfor Rahman argued for the petitioner while Deputy Attorney General Al-Amin Sarker represented the government.

The petition alleged that Jamuna Group tried to evict the blind persons for establishing a factory of Hunter, an energy drink. But it was their constitutional right to reside there, the plea claimed.

The HC also issued a rule seeking explanations as to why the respondents should not be directed to protect the members of the Somity from any illegal eviction. It also wanted to know as to why the court should not direct for ensuring

security of the association members.

The HC also asked as to why it should not order to take necessary measures for providing permanent lease of the khas land in favour of the blind people who had been living there for several years.

Home secretary, land secretary, land senior assistant secretary, deputy collector, superintendent of Police of Gazipur district, Upazila Nirbahi Officer, and assistant commissioner (land) of Kaliakoir and Chairman and Managing Director of Jamuna Group were asked to respond to the rule by two weeks. l

The High Court yesterday issued a contempt rule against 12 people, including four secretaries, for breaching its order regarding installations on forest department land in Cox’s Bazar.

The order came following a writ petition filed by Bela in December last year against the construction of a housing project on a land of the forest department in Cox’s Bazar.

The bench of Justice Mohammad Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Mohammad Ashraful Kamal passed the order at the end of a preliminary hearing on a contempt plea filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).

The four secretaries are Environment Secretary Shafiqur Rahman Patwari, Land Secretary Mokhlesur Rahman, Housing Secretary Golam Rabbani and Civil Aviation Secretary Khurshid Alam Chowdhury.

The other respondents are Chairman of Bangladesh Tourism Corporation Maksudul Hasan Khan, Chittagong Divisional Commissioner Mohammad Abdullah, Director General of the Environment Directorate Raisul Alam Mondol, Deputy Commissioner of Cox’s Bazar district Ruhul Amin, Cox’s Bazar district Superintendent of Police Azad Mia, Chittagong Divisional Forest Officer Sarker Abdul Awal, Cox’s Bazar Sadar Upazila Executive Officer Shahidul Islam and Director of the Environment Directorate (Chittagong circle) Jafar Alam.

They have been given two weeks to explain. Advocate Iqbal Kabir Liton, who argued for the petitioner at the hearing yesterday, told the Dhaka Tribune that the High Court, in a verdict on June 8, 2011, had ordered the government to remove all installations from the land within a month.

“But the government had gone ahead with executing the project on the land defying the court order,” he said.

He told reporters that 51 acres of land in Jhilanja Mouja in Cox’s Bazar was considered “environmentally vulnerable.”

“The High Court had asked the government to submit a report after implementing the order. But the government is persisting with the housing project instead of implementing the court order,” he added. l

Housewife tortured for dowry n Our Correspondent, Natore A housewife was tortured by her husband in Sadar upazila over dowry on Monday. The victim was identified as Mou, wife of Shams Shikder in Chokfulbari village under Dighapatia union of the upazila.

According to sources, Mou was married off with Shams in 2012. After the marriage , Shams used to press Mou to bring dowry. On the day, he asked her to bring Tk 50,000 for running cosmetic business. At one stage , he tortured her by burning her hand with a cigarette when she would fail to bring the money. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

National Health Council to hold its first meeting n Moniruzzaman Uzzal The health ministry is set to organise the first ever meeting of the National Health Council on March 11, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina expected in the chair.

Health Secretary MM Neazuddin, also the member secretary of the National Health Council (NHC), has confirmed that the meeting would be held on that date, adding that it would be the NHC’s first ever meeting since its formation ten months ago.

The meeting’s agenda would include the overall health situation, the successes, failures and ongoing activities of the ministry, he added.

Several important directives aimed at implementing the national health policy by speeding up health sector activities, are expected to come from the meeting, including the introduction of a health insurance scheme for the poor, hinted Health Minister Mohammed Nasim at the annual conference of the orthopaedic society on Saturday night.

Sources at the health ministry said the last government passed the National Health Policy 2011 on January 23, 2012, to fulfil its electoral pledge made in 2008.

The health policy advocated for the

RU Prof Ali Anwar passes away n RU Correspondent Ali Anwar, a retired professor of Rajshahi University English department passed away yesterday night at the age of 79, said a press release of the university.

He was undergoing treatment in the "Long Island Jewish Hospital" at New York for Liver and Kidney diseases.

His body will be brought to Dhaka next Friday, family sources said.

RU VC Muhammad Mizanuddin and Pro-VC Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan condoled with bereaved family.

Prof Anwar joined the university’s English department in 1962 and contributed a lot to RU with his academic excellence before his retirement in 2001.

While recalling his contribution as a teacher of the university, Abdullah-alMamun, associate professor of English Department said: “Prof Ali Anwar was among the respected personalities in the university. As a professor of English literature, he wrote a book on Ibsen and was interested in Drama.”

Mamun further said: “Besides, he has some fabulous translation works.

He translated several English plays into Bangla and works of Hasan Azizul Haq into English. l

formation of a national council, under the leadership of the head of government, to implement the main objectives and working strategies of the policy.

The 46-member National Health Council (NHC), headed by the prime minister, was formed on May 2, 2013.

The other council members include the state minister for health, senior officials from different ministries, director-generals of directorates concerned, senior health officials, educationists and doctors.

The council is supposed to work on developing activities to create equal work opportunity for all, ensure special healthcare measures for deprived people in both urban and rural areas, and to review the activities of different ministries related to the health sector.

According to the National Health Policy, 19 objectives have been fixed to develop the health sector. They include ensuring fundamental health service for all and improving public health, setting up one community clinic for every 6,000 people, prioritising emergency health services, reducing child and maternal death, ensuring standards of service at health facilities, strengthening immunisation programmes to control diseases, and ensuring the availability of essential drugs at a controlled price. l

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid addresses the inaugural ceremony of the three-day workshop on “Building Sustainable and Peaceful Cities: Bangladesh in Comparative Global Perspective,” in the capital yesterday RAJIB DHAR

Elected upazila representatives to take oath in two phases n Mohosinul Karim Oath taking ceremony of newly elected upazila representatives will be held in two phases as the upazila parishad polls are being held in six phases.

Upon completion of the third phase of the polls on March 15, the first round of the ceremony would be held within the current month, while the second round would take place after the polls end.

The date of oath taking ceremony would be finalised after the election commission publishes the gazette.

Election Commission has been requested to publish the gazette of the elected chairman, vice-chairman and women vice-chairman after the third phase ends on March 15, said local government division officials. Election to

83 upazilas will be held on March 15.

In the first two phases, polls were held in 212 out of 487 upazilas on February 19 and 27 Local Government Secretary Monzur Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that the oath taking programme of the elected representatives had to be conducted within a month of the gazette publication, following the Local Government (Upazila) Act. Regarding oath taking of detained and fugitive Jamaat leaders, Monzur said: “Everything would be done following laws and rules.”

Meanwhile, the local government division has sent a letter to the EC requesting it to hold polls in 11 upazilas out of the 20 upazilas where the polls were barred following border disputes. l

Government to punish officials for snatching of militants Karim and n Mohosinul Rabiul Islam The home ministry probe committee found a number of officials including the Gazipur Police Superintendent “responsible” for the snatching of three convicted JMB militants from police custody.

“We will disclose the investigation report this week after holding a meeting. Those who are responsible will be punished,” State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.

On February 23, the militants were snatched from Trishal of Mymensingh while they were being taken from

n Tribune Report

Dry weather likely n UNB

City

High

Low

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

29.4 28.1 27.6 28.0 29.0 28.8 30.7 31.5

19.8 19.2 16.5 15.4 17.2 16.5 16.5 20.5

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

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

Source: IslamicFinder.org

measures had not been taken to escort the prison van. Usually, seven to eight armed police guard a prison van.

But this time it was not maintained.

Moreover, nobody informed the Mymensingh police about the shifting of the militants.

The probe body in its observation said the incident had been the result of a coordinated long-term plan.

The committee also made 10-point recommendations that include providing special prison van and changing the rules and regulations regarding transporting prisoners. It also asked the authorities concerned to stop use of mobile phone by inmates inside jail. It also recommend to. l

Different political parties condemn electricity price hike

WEATHER

Weather may remain mainly dry with temporary partly cloudy sky over the country and chances of light rain or thundershowers is likely at one or two places over Khulna and Rajshahi divisions until 6pm today.

Day temperature might fall slightly and night temperature might rise slightly 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 33.8 degree Celsius was recorded in Rangamati and lowest 13.2 degrees in Srimangal yesterday.

Highest and lowest temperatures recorded in some major cities yesterday were:

Kashimpur Jail to a Mymensingh court.

After receiving the report on Sunday, Home Secretary CQK Mustaq Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that it happened due to negligence of police and jail authorities.

The report is yet to be made public.

The four-strong committee was headed

by Additional Home Secretary Nazimuddin Chowdhury.

A committee member preferring anonymity said: “We have mentioned a number of names including the Gazipur police super in our report. I cannot remember the number.” The official, however, claimed that the number of persons responsible could be six.

The official said adequate security

US-based Bangladeshi photographer Tapas Barua briefs visitors at his third solo exhibition titled The Beauty of Boston at the Drik Gallery in the capital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Jai Jai Din men discharged from defamation case n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka Court yesterday discharged four journalists of the Daily Jai Jai Din, including its Editorial Board Chairman Syed Hossain Chowdhury in connection with a defamation case.

The court discharged the accused as the plaintiff did not attend before the court in a series of fixed dates in the case.

Metropolitan Magistrate Asaduzzaman Noor passed the verdict.

The other discharged accuseds are acting editor Kazi Rokonuddin Ahmed, Publisher Abul Hasan Mohammad and its Rangpur correspondent Sebu Mostafiz.

Defence counsel Mahbububul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune that on

October 27, 2010 Pirganj parliament member Abul Kalam Azad filed the case with the CMM court.

On January 13, 2013, the accused got bail from the CMM court after surrendering before the court, and they had been appearing before the court for a long time. However, the plaintiff did not appear before the court for any action.

According the case details, the daily published a report on October 4, 2010 that said after being elected as parliament member Abul Kalam Azad he misappropriated development work money and also took money from job seekers as hush money.

The plaintiff demanded that the report published was false and claimed that the accused defamed him. l

Different political parties have condemned the ongoing power price hike which is creating suffering for the mass people.

Leaders of Bangladesh Communists Party (CPB) and Bangladesh Samajtantrik Dal (Basad) are going to organize a mass sit-in programme before the Energy Regulatory Commission in the capital’s Karwan Bazar area around 11am.

CPB President Mujahidul Islam Selim, General Secretary Sayed Abu Zafar Ahmed and Basad General Secretary Khalequzzaman urged the people to make the programme successful, said a press release.

The release added that mass people had been suffering financially because of government’s corruption and inef-

fective initiatives in the power sector.

The press release also alleged that a sector of people had been earning money through cutting the pocket of people by increasing the power price gradually. The government decision of electricity price hike should be resisted.

On the other hand, Jatiya Mukti Council, Noyagonotantrik Gonomorcha, Jatiya Gonotantrik Gonomancha and Jatiya Gonofront’s central coordination committees held a meeting yesterday. They condemned the power price hike.

The leaders alleged that the government was involved in corruption.

They criticized the murder of opposition party leaders without trial and also forced disappearance of many leaders. They also demanded a stop to murders and violence. l

Special drive against private hospitals, clinics, diagnostic centres n Moniruzzaman Uzzal The Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) has launched a special drive against all “illegal and substandard” clinics and diagnostic centres in the capital yesterday.

On the first day, a team of the DGHS led by its Deputy Director (hospital and clinic) Swapan Kumer Topadar conducted a drive in six clinics and diagnostic centres in the city’s Mohammadpur area.

Swapan Kumer said during the drive they closed down Famous Clinic and Diagnostic and Blood Centre as they found only one nurse at the clinic who had ordinary training. The clinic had a license but it was not renewed after 2011-2012.

The team also issued a show cause to other five clinics and diagnostic centres . These diagnostic centres and clinics are Unique, National, Mediprime and Dhaka Trauma.

When asked Swapan said none of them had up-to-date licenses adding that they did not have trained doctors, nurses and technicians.

At present, there are about 8,703 government registered hospitals, clinics and pathological laboratories across the country. Of which 3,289 are hospitals and clinics, and 5,414 are pathological laboratories.

All of these are running under the Medical Practice of Private Clinics and Laboratories (Regulation) Ordinance, 1982, a 31-year-old ordinance.

Sources at the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare said there were two separate drafts on private health service act of 2007 and 2010, which were yet to be finalised.

According to the 1982 ordinance, the licence fee for big, medium and small hospitals or clinics is only Tk5, 000 and for pathological laboratory only Tk1, 000. Renewal fees are also the same for these infirmaries. If any of these institutes break the ordinance, they will face financial penalty of only Tk5,000, or six months jail, and to avoid imprisonment they have to pay Tk5,000 as fine.

Moreover, the ordinance has no regulation or control over hospital bed charges, doctors’ fee, different laboratory tests and other operational charges. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

HC stays order against 14 private medical schools n Moniruzzaman Uzzal The High Court has issued a stay order against a directive from the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare to suspend all academic activities in 13 private medical colleges and one dental college, until the completion of a review of the institutes by inspection teams.

The court issued the order on March 3, based on a writ petition filed by the International Islamic Medical College Hospital of Chittagong.

Dr ABM Abdul Hannan, director (medical education and manpower development) of the Directorate Gen-

eral of Health Services (DGHS), told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is true that the High Court has issued a stay order, but we did not get the full copy of the stay order yet. We will collect the copy of the order and take legal steps to withdraw the stay order given by the court.”

Seeking anonymity, several senior officials of the health directorate said a DGHS team including its director general met with the law minister yesterday to discuss the situation regarding the order.

On January 30, the health ministry issued a circular to suspend all academic activities of newly approved 14

medical and dental colleges, until their inspection was completed.

Earlier, inspection teams – consisting senior officials from the health ministry, the DGHS, universities and Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council – were formed and told to submit reports within a month.

There are allegations that former health minister AFM Ruhal Hoque, just before the end of his tenure, approved the new colleges illegally.

The suspended private medical and dental colleges were Addin Basundhara Medical College, Brahmanbaria Medical College, Shah Makdum Medi-

cal College, Care Medical College, United Medical College, Universal Medical College, Advocate Abdul Hamid Medical College, Khulna City Medical College, Park View Medical College, Port City Medical College, US-Bangla Medical College, Kachiruddin Medical College and US Dental College.

Teams of the health ministry are inspecting whether the medical colleges followed the Private Medical College Establishment and Administration Policy 2011 (correctional), and Private Medical College Establishment and Administration Policy 2009.

The Dhaka Tribune has learnt that

four inspection teams have finished inspecting all 14 colleges, with a few of them having already submitted inspection reports before the ministry.

Aiyubur Rahman, additional secretary (medical education and manpower development) of health ministry, expressed hopes of getting all the inspection reports by this week, but refused to comment whether the reports would be made public.

A senior official of the ministry, however, said the health minister had earlier asked them to publish the report before the media.

Health Secretary MM Neazuddin

told the Dhaka Tribune that a meeting would be held with the minister on this issue after receiving all the inspection reports.

The health ministry has also reportedly formed 18 separate teams to inspect other private medical and dental colleges. Those teams were yet to finish inspection, a ministry official said.

The first private medical college in the country, Bangladesh Medical College, was established in 1985 in Dhanmondi. From 1985 to 2005, only 26 private medical colleges were given permission. Another 56 private medical colleges were approved since 2005. l

Photo exhibition on nuclear energy begins Saturday n Tribune Report

BRTC bus vandalised in Barisal n Our Correspondent, Barisal

A weeklong Photo Exhibition titled “Nuclear Energy for peace and progress” will begin at the Nuclear Energy Information Centre of Novo Theater in the capital on Saturday.

The exhibition will be jointly organised by Bangabandhu Novo Theatre and Rosatom, Russia’s state nuclear corporation, according to a Press Release.

More than 60 photos on peaceful and versatile use of nuclear energy, nuclear plant construction and operation, their positive impact on surrounding environment, people working in nuclear power generation, versatile use of nuclear energy, extraction and processing of nuclear fuel and nuclear waste management will be displayed in the exhibition. There will be few photos on Rooppur nuclear power plant as well.

The photo exhibition will remain open for all from 10am to 5pm every day.

Explaining the objective of such photo exhibition Arshad Hossain, director general of Novo Theatre, said, “Nuclear energy is a new topic for our country.

The exhibition will provide an opportunity for our people, especially the young generation to have a visual idea about nuclear energy and it’s use.” l

A BRTC bus was vandalised yesterday in Rupatali area in Barisal city by the drivers of rental motorcycles over getting serial on boarding ferry.

Zamil Hossain, manager of BRTC Barisal depot, said staffs of BRTC bus and drivers of rental motorcycle services had been locked in an altercation over serial of boarding on ferry at Lebukhali on the Barisal-Patuakhali route at 11am.

Later, the motorcycle drivers assembled in front of Lily Petrol Pump in the area and vandalised the BRTC bus when it reached there at 11:40am as they were not provided serial first.

The attackers also beat up the bus driver Ainul Islam and helper Mozammel Hossain, leaving them critically injured, as they had tried to resist the attackers, the BRTC official said.

On receiving information, RAB personnel went to the spot and arrested Imran Khan, 24, and Golam Rabbi, 22, two motorcycle drivers from the spot.

Later, they were handed over to police.

The injured BRTC staffs were admitted to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital as he sustained critical injured. l

Cricket fans enjoy Bangladesh vs Pakistan cricket match on a big screen at TSC, Dhaka University yesterday

JOURNO’S DEATH IN POLICE CUSTODY

Probe body formed to investigate killing n Mohammad Jamil Khan The Dhaka Metropolitan Police yesterday formed a two-member probe committee to investigate the death of a journalist who reportedly died after falling off the rooftop of Uttara west police station The committee headed by DMP Joint Commissioner Shahabuddin Khan would submit the investigation report within three working days.

Shah Alam, 36, a reporter of local newspaper named “Aparadh Daman” allegedly died after falling off the rooftop of the police station while escaping from the police custody on Sunday evening.

Then police said Sagar killed himself by jumping off the roof.

Sagar had an altercation over money

with a local businessman Nazrul Islam.

They had tried to resolve the matter with the help of the police for the past few days, police said, adding that both of them were in the duty officer’s office.

At one stage, Sagar had gone to the roof of the station and later he was found dead.

Chairman of National Human Rights Commission Dr Mizanur Rahman urged authorities concerned to form an independent probe body to investigate the incident.

He said an independent body was a must to find out actual cause behind the death.

He also said as some allegations were brought against police over the death, involvement of law enforcement agencies might make the entire process questionable. l

NASHIRUL ISLAM

Probe report blames negligence of officials for fire at Jamuna oil depot in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The probe report of Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) said negligence of officials concerned and lack of fire safety measures were behind the fire at the depot of Jamuna Oil Company Limited in Chittagong city’s Patenga on February 28.

Assistant General Manager (Terminal) Abul Bashar was suspended after getting the probe report while Managing Director Alimuddin Ahmed and Deputy General Manager Md Manjur Rahman of Jamuna Oil Company Limited were asked to show cause over the incident.

Four officials of state-run Jamuna Oil Company Limited were blamed for their negligence while the probe report recommended replacing the officials from such important posts and taking departmental action against them.

Besides, there was a little measure at the depot for firefighting, the report said, adding, it proved the irresponsibility of Engineer concerned Mushfiqur Rahman and Assistant General Manager (Terminal) Abul Bashar as they were not present on the spot during the maintenance work, said the probe report.

The report also said as they were informed about the risks, they were supposed to be present on the spot according to official system, but they had not done it, which was directly responsible for the incident.

Engineer Mushfiqur Rahman was suspended temporarily after the incident.

The report also blamed Managing Director Alimuddin Ahmed and Deputy General Manager Md Manjur Rahman of Jamuna Oil Company Limited as they did not discharge their duty properly.

Café Joyeeta’s outlet reopened

Artist Jogen Chowdhury visits ancestral home

Café Joyeeta, in collaboration with the International Organisation for Migration’s Mukti project, reopened its Department of Women Affairs outlet yesterday.

Mukti, one of Bangladesh’s first initiatives promoting a public-private partnership for the economic empowerment of women, is in the midst of an expansionary phase.

State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroz Chumki inaugurated the outlet, said a press release.

Secretary of the Ministry of Women and Children Affairs Tariq-ul-Islam and Chief of Mission of the IOM Dhaka Sarat Das were also present.

Partnering with the US Department of State, several new sites are expected to be opened in and around Dhaka, with the goal of socially mainstreaming disadvantaged women.

Initiated by the IOM in 2008 in partnership with the governments of Bangladesh, Norway and Denmark, the project known as ‘Kafe Mukti’ opened four kiosks in order to create employment opportunities for economically disadvantaged women. l

n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

n Tribune Report

Meher Afroz Chumki MP, state minister for women and children affairs, inaugurates Café Joyeeta at the department of women affairs in the city yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

The report also put six-point recommendations.

Of them, the prime and foremost one is to replace the irresponsible officials from such kind of important establishment and re-shuffle the posts with the deployment of capable and responsible officials into the sector.

Second one is to introduce separate and specialised firefighting unit for such depots with all kinds of modern amenities and vehicles.

Third one is to introduce training and practice sessions for the workers and employees of such establishments regularly to face such an incident that happened on February 28.

“Receiving all kinds of findings and the recommendations, the probe report was forwarded to Mojammel Haque Khan, secretary of the ministry for power, energy and mineral resources,” said the BPC chairman. l

SM Rejoan Hossain, chief of the five-member probe committee of BPC, also a director (marketing) of the corporation, submitted the 16-page probe report to BPC Chairman Md Eunusur Rahman yesterday morning a day later of its scheduled time, said BPC sources.

On February 28 evening, nine employees of the depot sustained burn injuries.

Of them, seven are undergoing treatment at the Burn and Plastic Surgery unit of Dhaka Medical College. Two separate probe bodies were formed on the following to investigate the incident.

The workers opened the lid of the blank tank, which was actually full of octane gas, and switched on the pump machine at a time. As the switching on and off of the pump create spark normally, the switch box needed to be fire proof but the switch box of the affected tank was not fire-proofed, said the report.

The Bangladeshi-born Indian artist, Jogen Chowdhury visited his ancestral home at Kotalipara in Faridpur on Monday after 21 years.

According to sources, the artist recalled his memories of childhood and became emotional. He used to draw pictures sitting beside Satar Kata Dighi.

Jogen said: “The natural environment of the village has changed. There is no existence of family temple or establishment.”

He added only the pond, Boro Dighi and bamboo clusters remained unchanged.

“I am satisfied after coming back to my mother land,” he said.

The Kali O Kolom Editor Abul Hasnat, photographer Nasir Ali Mamun, Indian artists and critic Arun Ghosh and journalist from India Sunil Josman also came to the upazila with Jogen.

Principal of Kotalipara Sheikh Lutfur Rahman College and brother of Jogen welcomed him with floral wreath.

Jogen visited the ancestral house of poet Sukanta Bhattacharya in Unshia

village and Kotalipara Kendrio Kalibari.

He talked to the locals during the visit.

Jogen was born on February 17 , 1939. His father is Promoth Chowdhury. He went to Kolkata at the age of 9 in 1948.He studied Art in India and served as an international Indian art professor.

He said: “This is the second time I am visiting my motherland after 21 years. I will visit my country whenever I get to manage time.” l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Rajbari Sadar Hospital beset with manifold problems n Our Correspondent, Rajbari Rajbari Adhunik Sadar Hospital has almost failed to provide proper healthcare services to patients as it is facing acute crisis of doctors, staffs and accommodation facilities.

According to hospital sources, there are only 10 doctors against 42 posts at the full-fledged hospital meant for 15.20 lakh people of the district.

Currently, there is no senior consultant at cardiology, children, surgery, anesthesia and medicine departments.

Besides, the post of nursing superintendent, administrative officer, statistics officer, accountant and store keeper are also lying vacant, hampering administrative activities of the hospital.

Only four medical assistants from a union health sub-centre are providing treatment to out-door patients.

As a results, the union level sub-centre has remained closed for few months, said the sources.

The Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina announced at a public meeting at Rajbari Railway football ground in January, 2003 that the hospital would be upgraded to a 100-bed from 50-bed hospital soon, but the pledge is yet to be fulfilled.

Moreover, many out-door patients alleged that although doctors sit idly in

their room, patients wait in front of their room in long queue hours after hours.

Rahima Khatoon, 30, who came to the hospital from Ramkantopur village in Rajbari upazila sadar upazila on Monday, said: “I have come here three hours ago, but failed to visit medical assistant while a number of medical representatives already visited them.”

Another patient, who came with her a daughter to the hospital, said after waiting for a few hours, she was returning to home without getting any medical services.

Shymoli , 65, and Feroza, 55, who came from Sujanagar, Pabna with severe respiratory problem and lower abdominal pain respectively, alleged that they were not getting proper treatment at the hospital because of non-availability of doctors.

“After suffering from fever for 10 days, I came to the hospital. But I could not get any chance for treatment as the two doctors Bimol Bepary and Dr Newas were too busy because of huge rush of patients,” said Asikur Rahman, 65, of Kalukhali upazila, 25 kilometer away off Rajbari district headquarters.

Emergency patients, who come to the hospital in the afternoon or at night, are often deprive of medical services, said the sources.

PAVEL MURDER CASE

2 to hang, 2 others get life sentence n Our Correspondent, Habiganj A Habiganj court yesterday sentenced two persons to death, and two others to life imprisonment for their involvement in the killing of Sayed Pavel, a leader of Awami Torun League in the district.

Sylhet Speedy Trial Tribunal Judge Dilip Kumar Debnath passed verdict in presence of six of the seven individuals accused in the case.

The death sentenced convicts are Pavel Ahmed and Abdul Rouf Molla and convicts sentenced to life imprisonment are Shahin Ahmed and Zilani Ahmed.

One of the accused, Raju, is now on the run. The court acquitted three people including two journalist, Emdadul

Islam Sohel, executive editor of Daily Lokaloy Barta, staff reporter Mir Abdul Kadir and Abdur Razzak Razu, as allegations against them were not proved.

According to the case statement, Pavel Ahmed and the others called Sayed Pavel from his home and took the latter to Raj Fashion at old hospital road in the town on November 23, 2010.

Just two days later, police recovered the deceased’s body from a sack beside Raj Fashion.

Later, the deceased’s wife Sayeda Nazratun Naim Moushumi filed a case with the sadar police station in this connection. On March 14, 2011, police submitted charge sheet against the seven accused to the court. l

A four-month-old girl was referred to Faridpur General Hospital for better treatment as there is no pediatric doctor at the hospital.

During a visit to the hospital, this correspondent found that a large number of patients were lying on the floor of different wards, passages and corridors after not getting beds.

On an average 180 to 200 patients stay at different wards daily although there are only 80 staff to look after the patients.

It is also alleged that there is a one Xray machine at operation theatre room and the operation theatre has not been working properly for the last three years for lack of senior surgeon.

If any patient needs surgery they are referred to Faridpur General Hospital, added the sources.

Residential Medical Officer Dr Abdul Hannan said they could not run the hospital properly because of multifarious problems.

“We have no alternative to face crowd of patients as we do not have sufficient staffs,” said Civil Surgeon Dr, Nurul Amin.

“We have sent several letters to the higher authorities seeking measures to fill up vacant post, but steps to resolve the crisis are yet to taken.” l

n Our Correspondent, Narail The eight-day Sultan Mela in celebration of the 89th birth anniversary of world famous artist SM Sultan at Sultan Mancha in Narail Govt Victoria College premises concluded yesterday.

Sultan Foundation president Abdul Gaffer Khan presided over the concluding session Different cultural groups in association with cultural ministry, SM Sultan foundation and district administration arranged the fair.

Engineering Department Head Office 83-85 Motijheel C/A, Dhaka

Corrigendum on

Tender Notice for supply and installation of 2 (two) redundant sets of Diesel Generator each capacity 150 KVA. Ref. No. & Date: H.O./Engg-5(4)Part-2/2013-14,24/02/2014

08

Description

Proposed

Tender Opening 25-03-2014 at 3.00 PM Date & Time

Should be replaced by 25-03-2014 at 5.00 pm in Engineering Department (8th floor), Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Head Office, 83-85 Motijheel C/ADhaka-1000.

10

Name & Address of the Office receiving Tender Document

Engineering Department Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Head Office, Dhaka-1000.

Primary Place: Engineering floor), Department (8th Bangladesh Krishi Bank, Head Office, 83-85 Motijheel C/ADhaka-1000.

Secondary Place:Bangladesh Krishi Bank Training Institute, Mirpur-13, Dhaka-1216

13

Eligibility of Tenders

(a) The Tenderer should have a minimum of 07 years of overall experience in the supply of goods and related services. The Tenderer shall have a minimum of 5 years of specific experience in the supply of similar goods and related services. The minimum supply quantity and value of goods under a single contract in the last 5(five) years is 2(Two) Diesel Generator sets valuing Tk. 1 (One Crore) in any Govt./ Semi Govt./ Autonomous body/ Commercial Bank/ Multinational Company.

(a) The Tenderer should have a minimum of 07 years of overall experience in the supply of goods and related services. The Tenderer shall have a minimum of 5 years of specific experience in the supply of similar goods and related services. The minimum supply quantity is 5 Diesel Generator set each capacity Minimum 100KVA or Minimum Value of supplied Generators is Tk. 1 (One) Crore under a single contract in the last 5 years in any Govt./Semi Govt./ Autonomous body/ Commercial Bank/ Multinational Company.

All other terms & conditions of the Tender Notice will remain unchanged

DG-40/14 (9"×3)

(A.N.M Hanifur Rahman) Deputy General Manager

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Amla college faces teachers’ shortage n Our Correspondent, Kushtia

An acute shortage of teachers at Amla Government Degree College in Mirpur upazila in the district has been prevailing for long, hampering academic activities there.

At present, there are only seven teachers against 18 posts. Due to the shortage, the seven are now compelled to take classes of 18 subjects which is worrying guardians about the future of their off-

Sultan Mela concludes in Narail

Bangladesh Krishi Bank

Sl. No.

Unidentified miscreants cut down a large number of trees from Dhalchar in Bhola

Biren Sikder, state minister for youth and sports affairs, attended the programme as chief guest while advocate Subas Chandra Bose, Narail zila parishad administrator and district Awami League president, Prof MonsurUl- Karim, Sultan padak awarded, Monir Hossen, superintendent of police (SP), Prof Sheikh Anwar Hossen, Govt Victoria College principal, Ashiqur Rahman Miku, Sultan Foundation member secretary, Sharif Humayun Kabir, Sadar upazila chairman and Syed Mohammad Ali, district Awami League secretary were present on the occasion.

Sultan Foundation president Abdul Gaffer Khan presided over the concluding session. l

Social welfare officer convicted n Our Correspondent, Magura A Magura court yesterday sentenced Sreepur Upazila Social Welfare Officer Sheikh Suzauddin Rashed three-day imprisonment for contempt of court. Senior Judicial Magistrate Sheikh Imtajul Islam passed the verdict.

According to the prosecution, Arjun Das of Sabdalpur village of the upazila filed a case with Magura Chief Judicial Magistrate Court against 6 people of the same village in 2012, accusing them of ransacking. Court ordered Suzauddin Rashed to submit an investigation report in this regard on December 2, 2012.

Though the court reminded him nine times for the investigation report, Suzauddin did not pay any heed.

Suzauddin appeared before the court yesterday and appealed for apology, but court sent him to jail for three days. l

Rapist arrested in Magura n Our Correspondent, Magura Alleged rapist of four years child was arrested in Magura yesterday. The arrestee is Ajgar Ali, 28, of Hridoypur village of the district.

Victim’s family members said Ajgar took their four-yearold child to a banana garden in the village while the child was playing yesterday morning. Locals caught Ajgar red-handed while he was fleeing after raping the minor girl.

ASP of Magura Sudarsan Kumar Roy said the victim was admitted to Magura Sadar Hospital, adding that Ajgar was under police interrogation. l

spring.Principal of the college Professor Iqbal Hossain said only seven teachers were now covering all the teaching activities due to lack of teachers.

“At present, we have no teacher to teach students of Science and Business Studies disciplines which is why classes of those disciplines remain closed,” he explained.

Founded on July 1, 1972, the college has now a total of 850 students. The institution was nationalized on Novem-

ber 3, 1987.

No new post of teacher was created following nationalization of the college which resulted in the acute shortage of teachers. Despite that, a number of subjects such as IT, Geography, Sociology, Marketing, Finance and Banking were introduced.

Local people sought intervention of the authorities concerned to solve the problem, saying teachers should be appointed to teach the new subjects. l

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

Putin ends army exercise Pro-Russian troops fire warning shots in Ukraine n Agencies, Ukraine Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered tens of thousands of Russian troops participating in military exercises near Ukraine's border to return to their bases as US secretary of state John Kerry was on his way to Kiev. Tensions remained high in the strategic Ukrainian peninsula of Crimea with troops loyal to Moscow firing warning shots to ward off protesting Ukrainian soldiers.

The massive military exercise in western Russia involving 150,000 troops, hundreds of tanks and dozens of aircraft was supposed to wrap up anyway, so it was not clear if Putin's move was an attempt to heed the West's call to de-escalate the crisis that has put Ukraine's future on the line.

It came as Kerry was on his way to Kiev to meet with the new Ukrainian leadership that deposed a pro-Russian president, and has accused Moscow of a military invasion in Crimea. The Kremlin, which does not recognize the new Ukrainian leadership, insists it made the move in order to protect Russian installations and its citizens living there.

On Tuesday, Russian troops who had taken control of the Belbek air base in the Crimea region fired warning shots into the air as around 300 Ukrainian soldiers, who previously manned the airfield, demanded their jobs back.

About a dozen Russian soldiers at the base warned the Ukrainians, who were marching unarmed, not to approach. They fired several warning shots into the air and said they would

Ukrainian servicemen look on from inside a military post in the Crimean city of Kerch.

Russia has agreed to a meeting with representatives from NATO on Wednesday to discuss the Ukraine crisis, Italian Foreign Minister Federica Mogherini said yesterday REUTERS shoot the Ukrainians if they continued to march toward them.

The shots reflected tensions running high in the Black Sea peninsula since Russian troops — estimated by Ukrainian authorities to be 16,000 strong — tightened their grip over the weekend on the Crimean peninsula, where Moscow's Black Sea Fleet is based.

Ukraine has accused Russia of violating a bilateral agreement on conditions of a Russian lease of a naval base in Crimea that restricts troop movements, but Russia has argued that it was acting within the limits set by the deal.

Russia's ambassador to the United

Syria surrenders a third of chemical arsenal n AFP, The Hague Syria has surrendered or destroyed nearly a third of its chemical arsenal but remains behind on its international obligations, the head of the disarmament mission told the world’s chemical watchdog yesterday.

Syria has already missed several target dates to hand over or destroy its arsenal before a June 30 deadline and the United Nations-Organisation for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) mission called on Damascus to move faster.

“Nearly one third of Syria’s chemical weapons material has now been removed or destroyed,” UNOPCW coordinator Sigrid Kaag told a meeting of the watchdog at its Hague headquarters.

“This is good progress and I expect further acceleration and intensification of effort.”

OPCW head Ahmet Uzumcu told the Executive Council meeting that Syria had submitted a revised proposal to complete the removal of all chemicals

from Syria before the end of April, after previously saying it could only complete the job by June.

An OPCW meeting two weeks ago heard that just 11 percent of Syria’s dangerous chemicals had left the country.

But with two shipments last week and one more expected this week, the country will have handed over more than 35 percent of its arsenal, Uzumcu said.

“Given delays since the lapse of the two target dates for removal, it will be important to maintain this newly created momentum,” Uzumcu said.

According to sources, Syria was to have shipped out most dangerous Category 1 chemicals by December 31 and Category 2 chemicals by February 5.

“For its part, the Syrian Government has reaffirmed its commitment to implement the removal operations in a timely manner,” Uzumcu.

Syria has also destroyed 93 percent of its stocks of isopropanol, used to make sarin nerve gas, a task that was supposed to have been completed by March 1. l

Nations, Vitaly Churkin, said on Monday at the UN Security Council that Russia was entitled to deploy up to 25,000 troops in Crimea under the agreement.

Churkin didn't specify how many Russian troops are now stationed in Crimea, but said that "they are acting in a way they consider necessary to protect their facilities and prevent extremist actions."

There was no sign of tensions elsewhere in Crimea early on Tuesday. A supposed Russian ultimatum for two Ukrainian warships to surrender or be seized passed without action from either side, as the two ships remained anchored in the Crimean port of Sevastopol. l

Suicide bombers attacked the city council headquarters in the Iraqi city of Samarra yesterday, took employees hostage and eventually blew themselves up, killing a total of five people.

The attack, which followed a similar operation last December, illustrates the impunity with which militants in Iraq can strike even targets that should be highly secure, as the country suffers its worst violence in years. Two bombers dressed in police uniforms shot dead a policeman and took control of the council headquarters with employees inside, a police lieutenant colonel said.

Clashes broke out between the militants and security forces, and a

suicide bomber detonated an explosives-rigged vehicle near police and Sahwa anti-Al-Qaeda militia forces when they arrived at the scene.

Security forces then surrounded the council headquarters and exchanged fire with the two bombers inside, who eventually blew themselves up as well, killing four of their hostages. The three blasts wounded a total of 47 people, mainly security forces.

A doctor from a local hospital confirmed that the assault killed five people and wounded 47, among them the deputy head of the city council. Attacks in other areas of Iraq killed three security forces members on Tuesday -- a Sahwa militiaman in Kirkuk province and two policemen in Nineveh province.

Egypt’s army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi said yesterday he “could not ignore demands” that he run for president and will take official measures soon, state media reported.

Officials close to Sisi told AFP the recently promoted field marshal would step down as defence minister after a law is passed to regulate the election expected this spring.

Sisi emerged as the most popular political figure in Egypt after he overthrew Islamist president Mohamed Morsi in July following massive pro-

tests against the year-long rule of Egypt’s first freely elected leader.

Sisi said “he cannot turn his back when the majority wants his nomination in presidential elections,” the official MENA news agency reported.

Sisi is seen by his supporters as a strong hand who can stabilise Egypt following three years of unrest ignited by the 2011 uprising that toppled longtime ruler Hosni Mubarak.

Supporters rallied in the thousands in January calling on Sisi to run, and the military itself has said it would back his decision to enter the election, which he is certain to win.

n AFP, Washington Israel needs to take tough decisions if peace talks with the Palestinians are to have a future, US President Barack Obama told Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday.

In a joint address at the White House as a major snowstorm blanketed the city, the two leaders, who have struggled to overcome mutual antipathy, once again found themselves very publicly at odds. Obama pushed for a decision on the peace process, while Netanyahu insisted Israel had done its part and said Iran is now the most urgent threat.

Israel and the Palestinians have been engaged in seven months of direct peace talks which are due to expire at the end of April.

“The timeframe that we have set up for completing these negotiations is coming near and some tough decisions are going to have to be made,” Obama said. “It’s my belief that ultimately it is still possible to create two states. But it’s difficult and it requires compromise on all sides.”

But the Israeli leader hit back, telling the president that Israel had taken “unprecedented steps” to advance peace over the last 20 years, and that the ball was now firmly in the Palestinians’ court.

“Israel has been doing its part, I regret to say the Palestinians haven’t,” he said, noting that in the past two decades, Israel had both frozen settlement construction, uprooted entire

settlements and released hundreds of Palestinian “terrorists.”

Netanyahu quickly moved to declare Iran as the number one priority.

“The greatest challenge, undoubtedly, is to prevent Iran from acquiring the capacity to make nuclear weapons,” he told Obama, leaning forward in his chair and gesticulating to make the point.

While Obama’s remarks were mostly general, listing the topics the two men would discuss, Netanyahu narrowed in on Israeli grievances over Iran’s disputed nuclear program and the perceived raw deal over the peace process.

In their meeting, which lasted at least two hours, Obama was to push Netanyahu to agree to a framework for future talks put together by US Secretary of State John Kerry to extend the negotiations beyond April.

Unconfirmed reports suggest Washington may demand a partial settlement freeze to try and ensure the Palestinians remain at the negotiating table.

It would be Obama’s most significant entry into peacemaking since 2010 when his first attempt at Middle East mediation collapsed after just three weeks in a bitter dispute over settlements.

The as-yet-unpublished framework, which addresses the most nettlesome issues of the conflict -- borders, security and the future status of Jerusalem -- was central to Netanyahu’s morning meeting with Kerry, a senior Israeli official said. l

Violence in Iraq has reached a level not seen since 2008, when the country was just emerging from a brutal period of sectarian violence in which tens of thousands died. The year-long surge in violence in Iraq has been driven by widespread discontent among the minority Sunni Arab community, and by the bloody civil war in neighbouring Syria. The Iraqi government also faces a two-month crisis in Anbar province, west of Baghdad, where it has lost all of the city of Fallujah as well as shifting parts of provincial capital Ramadi to anti-government fighters.

It is the first time anti-government forces have exercised such open control in major cities since the peak of the deadly violence that followed the USled invasion of 2003. l

Interim president Adly Mansour is expected to approve the election law this week or next week by the latest.

Sisi is reviled by the Muslim Brotherhood and other Morsi supporters, who say he masterminded a coup against the country’s first democratically elected and civilian president.

Morsi himself is on trial on various charges after the military detained him on the night of his ouster.

His supporters have repeatedly taken to the streets in protest, often setting off clashes with police and civilian opponents. The violence has claimed at least 1,400 lives since Morsi’s ouster. l

Egypt bans Hamas n AFP, Cairo An Egyptian court on Tuesday banned the activities of the Palestinian militant Hamas group that rules the neighbouring Gaza Strip and ordered its assets seized, a judicial source said.

Hamas denounced the move, which it said “serves the (Israeli) occupation.”

Egyptian officials have accused Hamas of plotting with deposed Islamist president Mohamed Morsi and his Muslim Brotherhood movement to carry out “terror attacks” in the country.

Several Hamas militants have been named among scores of defendants on trial with Morsi for organising jailbreaks and attacking police stations during the 2011 revolt that toppled strongman Hosni Mubarak.

In a separate espionage trial, Morsi and 35 other defendants are accused of conspiring with foreign powers, including Sunni Hamas and Shiite Iran, to destabilise Egypt.

Ties between Cairo and Hamas, the Palestinian affiliate of the Muslim Brotherhood, flourished during Morsi’s year in power but have deteriorated since the military overthrew him on July 3. Cairo’s new military-installed authorities were furious after Hamas officials openly criticised their decision to outlaw the Muslim Brotherhood, the target of a deadly crackdown since Morsi’s ouster.

Amnesty International says more than 1,400 people have been killed in street clashes, mostly Islamist supporters of Morsi, since his overthrow.

Egyptian troops have destroyed hundreds of smuggling tunnels under the border with Gaza used to supply the Palestinian enclave with fuel and construction materials due to Israeli restrictions. l

N Korea fires rockets from multiple launchers n AFP, Seoul

A man walks in front of the partially frozen American side of the Niagara Falls during sub-freezing temperatures on March 3. For the second time in what has been a frigid winter in the Northeastern United States, Niagara falls has come to an icy halt as the six million cubic feet of water that typically flow over the falls every minute has frozen over REUTERS

Sisi cannot ignore presidency calls n AFP, Cairo

Israel must make ‘tough choices,’ Obama warns PM

FREEZING NIAGARA FALLS

Suicide bombers attack Iraq city council HQ, kill five n AFP, Samarra

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

North Korea fired a volley of rockets from multiple launchers into the sea yesterday, in an apparent show of force to coincide with South Korea-US joint military exercises, South Korean officials said.

Three rockets were fired in the morning from a multiple launch rocket system, the South’s defence ministry said. The projectiles were launched from the North’s eastern port of Wonsan and flew 55 kilometres (33 miles) into the Sea of Japan (East Sea), it said.

The North fired four more in the afternoon that travelled about 155 kilometres, the ministry said, adding it was believed to have been testing two different types of launcher.

“North Korea is displaying a show of force openly against our joint exercises,” said ministry spokesman Kim Min-Seok.

South Korea regards the North’s mobile multiple rocket launchers as a dangerous because they can strike strategic facilities far south of the border. l

Cameron advisor quits after child pornography arrest n AFP, London

Scottish leader to take independence fight to London

A senior aide to British Prime Minister David Cameron has resigned after being arrested on suspicion of child pornography offences, Downing Street confirmed Monday.

Patrick Rock, 62, was arrested by officers from the National Crime Agency last month.

“On the evening of February 12, Downing Street was first made aware of a potential offence relating to child abuse imagery,” said a Downing Street spokesman.

“It was immediately referred to the National Crime Agency.

“Patrick Rock was arrested at his home in the early hours of February 13, a few hours after Downing Street had reported the matter.

“The Prime Minister was immediately informed and kept updated throughout,” he added.

“This is an ongoing investigation so it would not be appropriate to comment further, but the Prime Minister believes that child abuse imagery is abhorrent and that anyone involved with it should be properly dealt with under the law.”

Rock, who helped draw up guidelines on internet porn filters, was an adviser to the Conservative party for 30 years.

A friend of Cameron told the Daily Mail, which uncovered the arrest, that the prime minister was “extremely shocked.” l

n Reuters, London An independent Scotland would be a prosperous country that would retain close ties with the United Kingdom if voters choose to go it alone in the Sept.

18 referendum, Scottish leader Alex Salmond said yesterday.

Salmond will use his first speech in London this year to address arguments against independence by British Prime Minister David Cameron, opposition leaders and some business executives.

Heading the campaign for secession, Salmond is battling a concerted effort by London to prevent a “yes” vote by undermining his Scottish National Party’s central case that oil-producing Scotland could be a prosperous, independent nation.

Salmond will call on voters not to be intimidated by “diktats from on high.”

A vote for independence would not mean ending ties with the United Kingdom, he will say.

“Scotland will not be a foreign country after independence, any more than Ireland, Northern Ireland, England or Wales could ever be foreign countries to Scotland,” Salmond will tell a New Statesman event at Westminster in London.

“We share ties of family and friendship, trade and commerce, history and culture, which have never depended on a parliament here at Westminster,

and will endure and flourish long after independence.”

An Ipsos-Mori opinion poll this week shows 32 percent support for independence, 57 percent against and 11 percent undecided. The gap in opinion polls has narrowed this year.

Salmond’s bid to highlight Scotland’s involvement with the rest of the UK comes after a row over what currency would be used if Scotland ended its 307-year union with England.

A vote for independence would not mean ending ties with the UK Salmond wants an independent Scotland to keep using the British pound in a currency union with the rest of the UK and the services of the Bank of England, but the three main British parties have joined forces to rule this out.

Some financial heavyweights such as the Edinburgh-based Standard Life and Royal Bank of Scotland have voiced concern about uncertainties over the currency, regulation and tax regimes in the event of Scottish independence.

By contrast, the heads of the International Airlines Group , the owner of British Airways, and discount airline Ryanair have said it could be good for business as Scotland would probably cut air passenger tax. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

US puts Sri Lanka on notice over alleged war crimes n AFP, Colombo A US-led resolution calling for an international probe into allegations that 40,000 civilians were killed at the end of Sri Lanka’s separatist war has been filed with the UN’s top rights body.

In a draft resolution posted on the Human Rights Council’s website on Tuesday, the United States endorses UN human rights chief Navi Pillay’s call for an external investigation into alleged war crimes in the final stages of Sri Lanka’s Tamil civil war in May 2009.

The draft welcomed Pillay’s recommendation following her visit to Sri Lanka in August that there should be an “independent and credible investigation in the absence of a credible national process with tangible results.”

International rights groups as well as UN experts have said there are “credible allegations” that up to 40,000 Tamil civilians were killed after government forces ordered them into a nofire zone.

The resolution noted progress in de-mining, reconstruction and re-settling war victims and effectively gave Sri Lanka another year to show results on accountability.

The draft was backed by Britain, Montenegro, Macedonia and Mauritius.

In Colombo, dozens of pro-government Buddhist monks staged a protest against the resolution on Tuesday, marching through the streets of the capital to UN offices.

The resolution is “totally based on

information of questionable veracity”, the monks said in a petition to UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon handed to staff at the Colombo offices.

On Monday, the UN leader also endorsed Pillay’s report on Sri Lanka, whose government has rejected all calls for an international investigation into the allegations.

The US-led resolution asks Pillay to report back on progress with an oral submission to the UN Human Rights Council in March next year, and provide a written report by September 2015.

The draft also called on Sri Lanka to investigate allegations of military excesses and expressed “serious concern” over continuing reports of human rights violations five years after the end of the decades-long separatist war.

It said that “sexual and gender-based violence, enforced disappearances, extrajudicial killings, torture and violations of the rights to freedom of expression” were continuing in Sri Lanka.

The UN rights council in Geneva is expected to vote on March 28 on the resolution, the third in as many years against Colombo.

Sri Lanka has already rejected Pillay’s call for an international probe as an “unwarranted interference”, and President Mahinda Rajapakse has accused Washington of treating Colombo like Muhammad Ali’s “punching bag.”

At least 100,000 people were killed in the 37-year battle for a separate homeland for ethnic minority Tamils before Rajapakse’s troops crushed the Tamil Tiger rebels. l

Thailand may extend state of emergency despite scaled-back protest n Reuters, Bangkok A state of emergency in Bangkok could be extended until anti-government protests end completely, Thailand’s foreign minister said yesterday, adding that he feared more violence even though calm has returned to the capital in the past few days.

Protests aimed at overthrowing Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra are in their fifth month but at the weekend the remaining activists closed down several big protest sites and moved to a central Bangkok park.

The protests are led by Suthep Thaugsuban, once a senior member of the main opposition Democrat Party, which boycotted a general election last month.

“If Suthep continues with his protest and there are more violent incidents, including grenades thrown, shootings and acts of violence by provocateurs, the emergency law will have to stay until the situation improves,” Foreign Minister Surapong Tovichakchaikul

told reporters.

The government imposed the 60day emergency in Bangkok on January 21 in a bid to contain the latest unrest in an eight-year conflict that broadly pits Bangkok’s middle class, southern Thais and the royalist establishment against mostly rural supporters of Yingluck and her brother, ex-premier Thaksin Shinawatra.

The protests began in November with attempts to occupy government buildings and spread in January when major roads in the capital were blocked.

Those roads reopened on Monday after most of the protesters withdrew and regrouped in Lumpini Park.

The protesters have lost faith in elections, which parties of the populist Thaksin keep on winning, and want to change the political system to end the influence of the former telecoms tycoon whom they accuse of being a corrupt crony capitalist. Thaksin has lived abroad since 2008 to avoid a jail term for a graft conviction he says was politically motivated. l

9 NATO supply trucks under fire in Pakistan n Agencies

Pakistani relatives mourn as they look at the body of a victim of a suicide attack in an ambulance outside a hospital mortuary following a gun and suicide attack on a court in Islamabad. Eleven people including a judge were killed in the attack AFP

Pakistan orders court attack probe n AFP, Islamabad

Pakistan’s Supreme Court on Tuesday ordered the authorities to identify policemen who failed to respond to a gun and suicide bomb attack on a court complex in Islamabad which killed 11 people.

Chief Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani summoned top security officials over Monday’s attack, the deadliest to hit the heavily-guarded capital in more than five years.

Pakistan has been grappling with a homegrown Taliban insurgency since 2007. But attacks in Islamabad have been rare and Monday’s incident raises questions about the authorities’ ability to secure the city.

The judge asked for detailed reports

on the incident by next Monday and ordered CCTV cameras at courthouses in Islamabad and its twin city Rawalpindi to be made fully operational within 48 hours.

Shahid Khan, the chief bureaucrat in the interior ministry, had told the court that cameras and three security scanner gates at the district courts had been broken for some time.

“The Secretary Interior is directed to make the CCTV cameras functional within 48 hours and by the evening ensure that compensation to the victims’ families is announced,” the top judge said.

Islamabad police chief Sikandar Hayat was also told to submit a report about the security detail on Monday and their response to the attack.

Jillani also directed the president and secretary of the Islamabad District Bar Association to submit eyewitness accounts of the incident.

Monday’s assault on the complex of courtrooms and offices in a well-heeled area of Islamabad popular with foreign residents was the first major attack in the city since June 2011.

The Pakistani Taliban denied any connection to the assault, which came two days after the militants announced a month-long ceasefire aimed at restarting stalled peace talks with the government.

More than 110 people have now been killed in militant attacks since Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif announced the talks in late January, leading some observers to question the value of the process. l

Two people were killed in northwest Pakistan after gunmen attacked four vehicles carrying NATO supplies for Afghanistan, according to officials.

The vehicles came under fire in the Jamrud area of Khyber Agency, one of seven districts that make up Pakistan’s semi- autonomous tribal belt.

“The four containers were on their way to Afghanistan when four gunmen riding two motorbikes opened fire at them in Jamrud, killing two helpers and wounding one driver and one helper,” Jehangir Azam Wazir, a senior local administration official, told AFP news agency.

Wazir added that one of the helpers died at the scene, while the second succumbed to his injuries in hospital.

No group has yet admitted responsibility, but the Taliban have in the past claimed such attacks to disrupt supplies for US-led international troops fighting in Afghanistan.

Sources said, Pakistan is a major transit supply route for NATO’s mission in landlocked Afghanistan.

Taliban and al-Qaeda-linked fighters frequently launch attacks across northwest Pakistan and the lawless tribal belt, which Washington calls the most dangerous place in the world.

The Pakistani Taliban declared a month-long ceasefire on Saturday to encourage the resumption of peace talks with the government in Islamabad.

From November 2011 to July 2012, Pakistan shut its Afghan border to overland NATO traffic after botched US air raids killed 24 Pakistani troops. l

Machete attack may signal wider China troubles n AFP, Beijing The brazen and bloody machete attack at a Chinese railway station could herald an ominous change in the violence Beijing blames on separatists from Xinjiang, analysts say, threatening more incidents far beyond the restive region.

Until now, disturbances have largely been confined to Xinjiang, a vast resource-rich area in far western China, and focused on symbols of the Chinese state, such as police.

But the scale, location, nature and timing of the Kunming mayhem potentially points to a change in mindset with the overt targeting of civilians -whoever was behind it.

Beijing immediately labelled the incident as terrorism, and Washington followed suit on Monday after initially referring to it as a “tragedy”, in language that drew angry accusations of double standards on Chinese social media.

“You can’t class this attack as other than a terrorist attack,” Michael Clarke, an expert on Xinjiang at the Griffith Asia Institute in Brisbane, Australia, told AFP, adding that it was designed to “induce fear amongst the Chinese populace.”

Xinjiang is home to Uighurs and oth-

Nepal to force Everest climbers to collect rubbish n Agencies Climbers scaling Mount Everest will have to bring back eight kilograms (17.6 pounds) of garbage under new rules designed to clean up the world’s highest peak, a Nepalese official said.

The rule, one of several new measures for mountaineering in the Himalayan nation, will apply to climbers ascending beyond Everest’s base camp from April onwards, said tourism ministry official Madhusudan Burlakoti.

“The government has decided in order to clean up Mount Everest, each member of an expedition must bring back at least eight kilos of garbage, apart from their own trash,” he said, adding authorities would take legal action against climbers who failed to comply with the new rule, although it was unclear whether this would involve a fine or other penalty.

Decades of mountaineering have taken This picture taken on May 23, 2010 shows a Nepalese sherpa collecting garbage, left a toll on the peak, which is strewn with by climbers, at an altitude of 8,000 metres during the Everest clean-up expedition at rubbish from past expeditions, including Mount Everest.

AFP oxygen cylinders, human waste and even individual climbers to Everest and other fork out a $4,000 deposit, refunded once climbers’ bodies, which do not decompose they show they have brought back everything Himalayan peaks to attract more mountainin the extreme cold. eers, sparking concerns of increased traffic they took to the mountain, enforcement has Expeditions will have to submit their and more trash on the mountains. trash to an office to be set up next month at been a problem. “Our earlier efforts have not Everest is a key revenue-earner for been very effective. This time, if climbers base camp. It will also offer medical aid and the impoverished country, with hundreds don’t bring back garbage, we will take legal resolve conflicts, after a brawl between Euscaling the mountain every year during the action and penalise them,” Burlakoti said. ropean climbers and local guides last year. peak climbing season in April and May. l Last month Nepal slashed fees for Although expeditions currently have to

er ethnic minorities with strong cultural and historical links to neighbouring Central Asian states such as Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan. It has seen regular clashes for much of the past year.

Uighurs resent decades of immigration by China’s Han majority they say has brought economic inequality and discrimination in education and religious affairs, such as a campaign to stop the Muslim practice of women covering their faces.

China counters that it plays a positive role and has brought about development and improvements to health and living standards.

Deadly incidents as reported in state media and by exile groups often centre on violence between Uighurs and local police and security authorities, with both sides trading accusations over who is to blame.

But Saturday’s bloodshed in the southwestern city of Kunming, where knife- and machete-wielding attackers clad in black killed 29 people and wounded 143, stands out for its brutality and targeting, analysts say.

“It must have taken a lot of planning and involved the recruitment of a large number of attackers who assumed

most would die,” said Gardner Bovingdon, an expert on the history and politics of Xinjiang at Indiana University in the US. Police captured three suspects on Monday, the ministry of public security said, adding that eight people were involved in all, four shot dead and a wounded woman held at the scene.

Saturday’s bloodshed in Kunming stands out for its brutality and targeting State media were quick to point the finger at “Xinjiang separatists”, code for Uighurs, the largest single group in Xinjiang.

Some analysts outside mainland China, however, are wary of such assertions until hard evidence emerges, given the state’s overwhelming control of domestic information and media.

Clarke said that if eventually proven, it “really signals a new level in development in terms of the conflict

Vietnam’s popular blogger jailed on antistate charges n AFP, Hanoi Popular Vietnamese blogger and journalist Truong Duy Nhat was jailed for two years yesterday for posting articles critical of the Communist government and leaders, his lawyer said.

Nhat was found guilty of “abusing democratic freedoms to infringe on the interests of the state” at a half-day trial in his native city of Danang on the central coast. The broad anti-state charges can carry a maximum of seven years in jail.

“He strongly denied the charge, claiming that he is innocent,” said lawyer Tran Vu Hai. Nhat, 50, was a journalist working for several state-run papers before he quit and set up the popular blog “A Different Viewpoint.”

Private media are banned in Vietnam with all newspapers and television channels state-run, but many citizens now prefer to access news through blogs and social media.

Nhat’s posts frequently dealt with highly sensitive political issues and offered alternative commentary to the staid official press.

In a post in April 2013 Nhat called for Vietnam’s top leaders to resign. He said it

was “time for a new party general secretary and prime minister” to save the nation from economic and political woes.

He was taken into police custody in May that year and his blog was shut down.

According to a copy of the indictment posted online, his articles “were not true (and) defamed leaders of the party and state, creating a one-sided pessimistic viewpoint.”

At the trial, “Nhat said he should have been appreciated for being a good citizen as it is normal to criticise party and state leaders”, lawyer Hai told AFP. On Monday New York-based Human Rights Watch called on the government to let Nhat walk free, saying he could not be jailed merely for disagreeing with the government and the party.

In Vietnam, lawyers, bloggers and activists are regularly subject to arbitrary arrest and detention, according to rights groups.

Reporters Without Borders said Vietnam was second only to China in the number of bloggers it detained, with at least 34 currently behind bars.

Hanoi denies it holds political prisoners and declines comment on the issue. l

there, in a sense spreading the struggle from Xinjiang basically to the rest of China.

“And that has to be concerning for the Communist Party moving forward.”

According to sources, Beijing regularly accuses what it says are exiled Uighur separatist groups such as the East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) and the Turkestan Islamic Party (TIP) as being behind terrorism.

The US-based SITE Intelligence Group, which monitors extremist groups, said in November that in a video posted online TIP leader Abdullah Mansour described a fiery vehicle crash on Beijing’s Tiananmen Square as a “jihadi operation” and the perpetrators “mujahideen.”

“The Kunming attack is either ETIMled or ETIM-inspired,” said Rohan Gunaratna, professor of security studies at Nanyang Technological University in Singapore, describing it as the military wing of the TIP and the only group with the ability to conduct or instigate such an assault.

However, the shadowy nature of the alleged Uighur extremists means there is a lack of hard information on their numbers, location and capabilities. l

Sahara group boss attacked with ink at court n AFP, New Delhi A protester splattered the boss of India’s giant Sahara group with ink yesterday as he arrived at the Supreme Court for a hearing over delays in repaying billions of dollars to small investors.

The shirtless protester attacked flamboyant billionaire Subrata Roy, whose face was blackened with the ink, as he reached the top court in New Delhi following his arrest last week.

As guards whisked away Roy, the protester yelled “thief” before a group of lawyers and Sahara supporters starting beating him up, as police dragged him away from the court, an AFP photographer said.

Roy “wilfully submitted himself” to police on Friday, two days after the court ordered his arrest over delays in repaying billions of dollars collected from rural savers through illegal bond sales.

The court issued the order after Roy’s lawyers said he could not appear in person at a hearing last week because his elderly mother was ill, frustrating the judges and further delaying the 18-month-old case.

Sahara, a famous name in India through its former sponsorship of the national cricket team, raised about 200 billion rupees ($3.2 billion) from millions of savers in a process judged by authorities in 2012 to be against the law. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

PM can gain by acting on BCL

O

ngoing incidents of lawbreaking by members of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) are an embarrassment to the government.

We call on the prime minister to take concrete steps to rein in wrongdoers within the ruling party, before any more damage is done to the credibility of the Awami League.

The government has significant achievements to its credit during its previous term in maintaining economic growth, and has made some positive policy moves during the first two months of its second term.

However, there are disturbing signs of a continuation in illegal activities by BCL activists including intimidation, extortion and violence.

Highly visible incidents have not only harmed the lives of citizens and undermined the rule of law but are harming the reputation of the AL. This threatens to overshadow notable positive aspects of the government’s record.

While high level AL leaders have condemned criminal acts

by BCL members, and the party has on occasion been quicker than past governments in reacting swiftly to expel wrongdoers, this is still proving insufficient to deter fresh infractions.

The government needs to be more assertive in ensuring the rule of law. If government–affiliated thugs are found breaking laws, it should make sure they always be duly apprehended and brought before the courts.

By taking clearer action to demonstrate that heinous behaviour has no place within the AL, the PM would benefit both the public and improve the standing of her government.

Action against wrongdoers would benefit both the public and the standing of the government

1st woman VC should be the first of many

W

e congratulate Professor Farzana Islam on her appointment as the vice chancellor of Jahangirnagar University.

The appointment of the first female VC of a public university is an important and long overdue milestone for educational institutions in our country.

Women make up half the population and their representation in the workforce and senior leadership positions should reflect this fact. Not doing so undermines society by not making the best use of everyone’s skills and talent.

Although the participation of women in the workforce in Bangladesh has steadily increased over the years and women hold important political positions, considerable barriers and inertia remain which discourage or prevent more women from holding senior leadership roles.

Informal or unseen barriers can serve as a glass ceiling to hold back women’s progression in the workplace. The constitutional right to equality needs to be supported by changes in individual and organisational attitudes.

The career aspirations of all women are helped by more women achieving key positions of authority. This makes it all the more important to welcome new women leaders as role models for the future.

More proactive action is needed within both the public and private sectors to help more women make the most of their potential. Initiatives to provide mentorship to women leaders or to develop more gender-sensitive and family friendly workplaces may all be welcome in furthering this goal.

We hope Professor Islam’s appointment will inspire many more women to achieve senior leadership positions across the country.

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Amount of stipend should be significant March 1

In February this year, stipends for students of primary school certificate (PSC) examination were declared on the basis of their exam results and on thana quotas. About 55,000 students have been selected for the talent pool and general categories. Each talent pool student will get Tk200 per month, whereas each general student up to class 8 will get Tk150. Each student will also get Tk150 consolidated extra per annum.

A stipend is a motivating factor to a student. So is the amount of the stipend. The present amount is very insignificant; hence I would like to urge the government to increase it. The monthly stipend for each talent pool student should be increased to Tk600 and the general stipend should be increased to Tk500.

Every year, each student should get Tk1,000 consolidated for both categories. Investment in education should not go in vain.

Md Ashraf Hossain

Scorpions to rock and roll in Bangladesh March 1

Sayam Sharfuddin When are they coming??

Rashed Islam But the Scorpions are not the same anymore.

Drowning claims 12,000 children every year February 27

In good faith February 28

Sam This is one of the finest pieces by the editor ... brave, lucid, and reflective of his pluralist, constitutional, and classical liberal ethos. To say “well done” would be a rank understatement.

Mahmudul Islam Greatly appreciating the articulate explanation.

Criticising part of something or particular characteristics of it never means criticising or opposing the whole thing. I think emotional maturity to understand the other side of the coin is of paramount importance when it comes to dealing with sensitive issues. Some in Bangladesh, oddly enough, are yet to develop that essential maturity. deep purple blue Good piece – thank you Mr Editor! And I like your honesty – the full disclosure.

Asif Khan The best op-ed I read in DT. If only our fellow countrymen could understand this Bangladesh could have gone 20 years ahead.

WaliulHaqueKhondker Needless to restate that it is an outstanding oped!

This condones David of all the misunderstanding prevailing in the corridors of trial process and in the minds of the trial watchers about him. But David owes me a lecture for my learning, when he told me this war crime and crime against humanity trial is not comparable to the Nuremberg trial process! David dear, are you listening? :) Ronnie It’s actually a timely indictment of our highly politicised, emotionally charged, nuance-free,

absolutist attitudes regarding the ICT trials, that Mr Sobhan has to even write such an article explaining the vital and necessary distinction to be made between an “anti-trial” and “pro-fairness” stance. I’ll admit that I have been consistently somewhat sceptical and critical about the levels of due process and fairness of the ICT trials, so far.

And I can testify to the fact that my criticisms have disappointed, or enraged many people I know.

Isn’t it also very obvious how any stance that runs counter to the interests and propaganda of the AL is predictably pounced upon as “anti-liberation” (and in this case, “anti-trial,” Jamaat-loving etc)?

Besides, in the prevailing political environment where the PM and her ministers have embarked on a relentless and cynical campaign falsely depicting the war crimes issue as the #1 public issue of the day, and themselves as the sole guarantors of “justice” on this issue, any dissent regarding the trials process is depicted as perfidy.

There’s also the broader “Us vs Them” rhetoric of the PM and AL that I find odious in its destructive divisiveness. It is unfortunate and unwarranted.

Discussions on the ICT trials are an obvious casualty of this intolerance. nds “Constructive criticism” is a sort of blanket that may be used both to provide warmth to one feeling the cold and it may also be used to cover the dirt that needs to be swept outright. Here in Bangladesh, BNP enjoying the support of a huge number of people, in spite of their pretentious statement opposed to the trial, will catch hold of any criticism, be it constructive or anything, and twist it against the trial to confuse or even mislead the people with the ultimate goal to foil it lock, stock and barrel. Therein lies the real danger.

Allah save us from this ignorance and negligence.

A mother gives birth to a child and suffers pain, feeds him or her to grow up and, as a minor, that child dies by drowning! It is so painful.

Forget about the government (though not in a bad sense) as it cannot provide help to all corners of the country.

The children normally don’t go far from home to swim or take a bath, so a local “Mohalla Somiti” or adults (those who are jobless or have time) should sit around that pond to help the children in their distress. And in return, the “Mohalla Somiti” should give some wages to those people who provide their time. This way, it will provide protection to the children while a person gets some wages too.

Remember, there is nothing free and if the people take care of each other then there will be safety, protection, prosperity and happiness in society.

Think, think, and think again. The drowning of 12,000 children every year is not only gross negligence but a national crime in which everyone is involved! It is something that can be prevented and must!

Muhammad Safder Ali

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CALVIN AND HOBBES

The appointment of the first female vice chancellor is an important milestone

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU ACROSS 1 Of a choir (6) 5 Gratuity (3) 7 Grinding tooth (5) 8 Dodges (6) 10 Church seat (3) 12 Vocal sound (4) 13 Strange (3) 14 Nimble (4) 16 Brave man (4) 17 Sailor (3) 18 Golfer’s warning (4) 20 Female deer (3) 23 Dried grape (6) 24 Nominated (5) 25 Wager (3) 26 Accompany for protection (6)

DOWN 1 Head cook (4) 2 Public speaker (6) 3 Correct (5) 4 Fail to keep (4) 5 Faucet (3) 6 Anger (3) 9 Extinct bird (4) 11 Crooked (3) 14 Hindu garment (4) 15 Quickly (mus) (6) 16 Bricks’ carrier (3) 17 Ugly amphibians (5) 18 Gratis (4) 19 Single entity (4) 21 United (3) 22 Consume (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

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

11

Blue for girls, pink for boys? n Syeda Samara Mortada

A

s soon as a couple finds out that they are expecting, the first question they face is: Boy or girl? And as soon as one knows the gender of the to-be-born, parents or other family members rush to nearby baby stores in search of baby clothes.

Pink for girls and blue for boys seems to be the popular norm. But who decided on this colour patterning, and what will really happen if the reverse-coding mechanism is applied?

In Bangladesh, it is difficult to find baby clothes outside of this colour palate Is the mix of politics and education a bad formula?

BIGSTOCK

The wrong place for politics

S

n Syed Ishtiaque Reza

cenario 1: A new department opened. The course was a professional one. Teachers were available. But they did not belong to the group that ruled the campus. So, another one had been chosen, who had no degree, no certificate, not even a minimum level of experience in the subject.

But he was made the chairman of the department, as he was a stalwart of the group that decides everything in the university. The result was a lack of quality teachers being hired, and a high dropout rate.

Scenario 2: A teacher of a public university is a leader of a party too.

First, he was chosen for a top ranking position, but there were feuds within his group. He was then sent to another public university to a top position.

Scenario 3: A teacher, surely a front line activist of the ruling party-backed teachers group, contested the teachers’ association polls. He lost. But the next day, he got a big administrative post in the university, as the ruling team did not want to see him disappointed.

These are only three scenarios out of hundreds of immoral, illogical, and crooked practices going on in public universities these days. Recent events in Jahangirnagar, Rajshahi, Begum Rokeya in Rangpur, and other public universities give clear signals that grave problems are there.

As private universities are still at an elementary level, public universities are highest seat of learning. There are many criticisms of the violent activities of student organisations.

The campuses in most public universities are being badly affected by corruption and nepotism. Teacher politics is so strong now, that universities these days actually recruit voters, not teachers.

Many academics say that the cur-

rent trend of highly politicised teacher politics is responsible for demeaning the image of the universities in the country. As these universities are financed by the government, public universities turn into havens for those who are pro-ruling party.

No one will disagree that political awareness is a must for educated citizens. But will teachers understand that their politics should be different from that of the country’s political parties? Teachers’ involvement in party politics always results in the abuse of power in the name of autonomy.

The blue-white-pink political identity of teachers damages their academic identity.

made these institutions highly undemocratic, as only the ruling party enjoys everything there.

The situation is so political that every government has been following their own methods to run these universities, flouting their autonomy. University teachers also get directly involved with politics. And the ultimate result is the spread of corruption.

A former student of Rajshahi University told this scribe that 554 teachers and employees (all on political consideration) were recruited during the past BNP-Jamaat regime. And the same way, over 600 have been recruited during the last five years.

Will teachers understand that their politics should be different from that of political parties?

Be it academic or administrative, everything is controlled by pro-ruling party teachers. Transfers, postings, and recruitment are all based on political loyalty, not merit. One of the main causes of deterioration of the public universities is said to be too much autonomy granted under the 1973 university ordinance.

The ordinance was believed to have been contributing positively towards the democratisation of the administration of the universities. Once seen as a great virtue, university ordinance is now being looked down upon as a vice, as it is misused seriously. Teachers say public universities are given full freedom by the 1973 ordinance.

But the much talked about ordinance

Now, he said, the university was facing difficulties to pay their salaries.

In most of the public universities, recruitments were done without UGC approval. The approvals were managed later.

Teachers want comfortable positions either inside the university or outside. For this, they do not hesitate to sacrifice their values. They resort to any kind of acts they want. When a new government takes over, it appoints a vice-chancellor upon political consideration, and the VC starts recruiting others in different positions the same way.

As it is said earlier, they employ new teachers on the basis of their party allegiance, not on the basis of merit and

academic performance. It is strongly perceived even by university teachers, that successive regimes, through their appointees in the public universities, have recruited many teachers who have seriously undermined the academic standards of these institutions.

In any discussion of public universities, a section of teachers and students try to talk about the glorious past of student politics in national movements. In fact, those days are gone.

Student politics contributed to the enrichment of national politics, and to the struggle for the rights of the people in the past.

But today, it has grossly degenerated into all out attempts by political parties to occupy campuses and establish influence and authority.

Politics by teachers are rather fuelling the violence among feuding student organisations. Even if we accept the contributions of student movements in different historical turning points, the question comes as to whether we should say that public universities were established for political purposes, not academic ones.

In fact, the problems are built in.

Political spirit always gets preference over academic excellence in these universities. The expectation is also not clear. The priority is also not fixed. The general expectation is education, but since the very beginning, the universities are used for political gain.

Today, the overall focus is on politics, not on education. The intellectual environment is gradually overtaken by sectarian political grouping. Most teachers, students, and employees (if not all) feel that it is better to have links with politics, not with academic work. If they can reach the desired position without doing academic work, why should they bother? l Syed Ishtiaque Reza is Director of News, Ekattor Television.

According to Jo B Paoletti, historian and author of Pink and Blue: Telling the Girls from the Boys, pink and blue designations area rather recent phenomena. Earlier, it was more widespread to wear white, a shade that entailed neutral clothing. Then, in the mid-19th century, pink and blue started to gain more acceptance for babies, although at that time it was pink for boys and blue for girls.

A June 1918 article from the trade publication Earnshaw’s Infants’ Department wrote: “The reason is that pink, being a more decided and stronger colour, is more suitable for the boy, while blue, which is more delicate and dainty, is prettier for the girl.” Clearly, times have changed and with it, a person’s thinking habits.

In Bangladesh, it is difficult to find baby clothes outside of this colour palate; colours such as green, white, and brown are almost unavailable. Also, people insist on sticking to these two colours, often saying things like “girls look cutest in pink,” and often implying that a boy’s “manliness” might be put under the microscope if he is made to wear pink.

Speaking from personal experience, I can vouch for this as my daughter has a closet full of pink dresses, accessories, bedspreads, the works – all of which are gifts from others. So what does this mean for growing children in general?

Overall, the movement was more a marketing ploy than anything else according to Philip Cohen, a sociologist at the University of Maryland. “Being ‘gender normal’ is very important to us, and as a marketing technique, if retailers can convince you that being gender normal means you need to buy a certain product – cosmetics, plastic surgery, blue or pink clothing, etc – it just makes sense from a production or mass marketing perspective,” says Cohen.

Thus, like many other products that are mass-produced to sustain capitalistic needs, the colour-coding mechanism reads no differently. Customers are drawn to such distinctions and apply it to their daily lives without

confirming its authenticity or its history. So is this colour-coding system only a culturally acquired phenomenon or do colours actually have an effect on a child’s code of conduct?

Research shows that when children under detention at the San Bernardino County Probation Department in California become violent, they are put in a cell with one distinctive feature – it is bubblegum pink in colour. The children tend to relax, stop yelling, and often fall asleep within 10 minutes, said Paul E Boccumini, director of clinical services for the department.

If looked at closely, this association of pink with calmness suggests a connection of calmness and womanly behavior, a belief that is also culturally popular. Although most researchers do not agree with this theory, and claim that it is something that we hope to accomplish by mere association of colours, the fact remains that some researchers believe in it.

The question remains: Do girls inherently have a fondness for pink and is it tied to their biology? In 2007, a study found evidence that males and females may be sensitive to different regions of the colour spectrum, but the explanations that have been proposed are still very speculative.

According to Del Guidice, an assistant professor at the Department of Psychology, University of Turin: “People stopped studying whether there was a biological basis for the gender-color associations because it seemed obvious that there couldn’t be one …” Thus, the fact that there is a biological gender-colour correlation seems highly unlikely and one that is yet to be established.

So how should new parents go about it? One option could be gender neutral parenting, whereby parents don’t force any preconceived gender norms onto a child and let them choose what they are comfortable with.

Growing children need to witness their parents sharing an equal pedestal

Parents should also refrain from generalised comments such as “girls wear bangles,” and “boys don’t cry.” Again, if a girl opts to play with balls and a boy with dolls, let them do so. Most importantly, growing children need to witness their parents sharing an equal pedestal at home where chores are divided, and both parents respect one another.

Finally, breaking free of such colour patterns that clearly distinguish one gender from the other might be a starting point. l Syeda Samara Mortada is the Associate Editor of ICE Today, a lifestyle magazine, and a freelance writer.

Cultural predators and other goondas n Garga Chatterjee

P

eople in the Bengals use the word goonda quite liberally – to refer to anything between a naughty child to the local political thug. But in the eyes of law, who is a goonda? One of its many legal definitions is to be found in the Control of Disorderly and Dangerous Persons (goondas) Act (East Bengal Act IV of 1954).

There, a goonda is someone “involved in affray, rowdyism or acts of intimidation or violence in any place private or public so as to cause alarm to the people living or frequenting the neighbourhood.” According to the Uttar Pradesh Control of Goondas Act (U.P. Act No. 8 of 1971, amended by U.P. Act No. 1 of 1985), it is “generally reputed to be a person who is desperate and dangerous to the community.”

But if film and artist communities in Assam and West Bengal have been protesting mischief, and many young people in the People’s Republic of Bangladesh are disgusted at the false and mischievous retelling of its Liberation struggle, then the source of mischief can safely be called a goonda, at least rhetorically if not legally.

When there is more than one such public enemy, in Hindi they are called “gunday.” Gunday are backed by deep pockets whose ulterior projects are more extensive than the specific acts of mischief. More often than not, the gunday of the real world are mercenaries for other people’s projects, even part of broader, more sinister projects of which the employed gunday may not be even aware.

In the real world, Gunday is a project of Yash Raj Films, a Bollywood-centric entertainment behemoth. It is one of the greatest flag-bearers of Bollywood Hindi films, that grandest by-product of “Indianness.” Some perverse people like me feel that the relationship is inverse – that “Indianness” is a by-product of Bollywood Hindi films, among other things. It is the thread that connects the browns to browns, with the punitive sedition laws at hand just in case some folks didn’t get the point.

Whatever be the tall “diversity” claims of the Indian Union, the cultural landscape after partition has a couple of winners (English being one) and a large set of losers. In the Indian Union, we all know that cultural and

political clout of which language has expanded after partition, so much so that not knowing it is seen as a sign of being politically and culturally queer.

This advancement comes with the retreat of Marathi, Kannada, Bengali, Assamese, etc as playgrounds of cultural imagination and virtual annihilation of fecund tongues like Maithili, Awadhi, Brajbhasha, etc. It is not accidental that the most successful film industry is of the same language that receives the maximum preferential subsidy for its advancement.

Let me not beat about the bush and come to the point. Gunday is a Bollywood Hindi film. For West Bengal, it was dubbed in Bengali. This “make one, get many” formula by dubbing into other tongues makes economic sense for the producer. But that also opens the flood gates for this trend.

The film and cultural community in West Bengal has protested against this.

If using their mighty economic muscle, Bollywood producers can brow-beat distribution networks and cinema halls into showing such dubbed material, this will be an economic bonanza for Bollywood. Much black money will find greater returns but fledgling

non-Hindi film industries will fail, as they cannot outcompete Bollywood in black money, film volume, and the cinema-hall blackmailing strength that comes with it.

This desperate aggression was in full display in Assam where Rajni Basumatary’s Assamese film Raag, which was running quite well, was removed by economic goondaism to make way for Gunday.

my story and then forcing it down your throat using my economic muscle will slowly silence you. You won’t be able to tell your own stories. You will have to adapt my stories. It does not matter if you have a long tradition of telling stories.

Soon you may even develop an aesthetic sense for my stories, get alienated from your stories, from your people, look at them with the curious eyes of an outsider. In short, I will de-

Gunday has chosen to parrot the official Delhi fiction of Bangladesh being a product of a brief Indo-Pak war

Not too many films are produced in Assamese and when a good one is made with help from the Assam Film Development Corporation, this is the fate. Cultural diversity, even cultural competition, can only flourish in a level economic playing field.

Let me describe a scenario. Dubbing

stroy your cultural roots, replace them with mine, and you will finally clap along the way. If that does not make me a goonda, I don’t know what does.

The acts of some gangsters have international manifestations. Gunday has chosen to parrot the official Delhi fiction of Bangladesh being a product of a brief

Indo-Pak war. The people of that independent nation did not take that lying down. The producers have apologised.

The Assamese can dream on.

Pakistan has sought to protect its film industry by trying to restrict “Indian” (read Bollywood) films. The states of the Indian Union have no such power, just like they do not have the power to protest the huge subsidy and preference given to one Desi language.

Apparently, this language “unites.”We know how this unidirectional unity works. No Assamese film will be dubbed in Hindi and released to multiplex audiences in Delhi and Mumbai. Not in this nation state. If slow but sure annihilation of certain cultures is a pre-condition to some kind of a “national integration” project, then that nation is an enemy of those cultures.

It is up to the Indian Union to decide what integration project it wants to promote – a predatory one or a harmonious one. It is up to you, the viewer, to ask whether your film ticket is filling a goonda’s pocket. l Garga Chatterjee is a freelance contributor.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Drama serial on Humayun Ahmed’s Ekjon Mayaboti

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Tobuo Bhalobasha addresses climate change threat n Afrose Jahan Chaity Impress Telefilm Limited organised a muharat for their new film Tobuo Bhalobasha. The film is jointly produced by Impress Telefilm Limited and Reggae Entertainment and Tourism. The event was held onboard of MV Flamingo, a luxurious ship docked at the Buriganga river. The reason for holding the muharat on a ship is that it is related to the subject of the film as it addresses the drastic climate change issues. The plot includes climate refugees and the assumption that 50% of Bangladesh will be under water in 2050. Through this film, Swapan Ahmed wants to create more awareness about global warming and the effects of climate change. However, aside from the serious aspects, the film also has the elements of a love story.

Scripted and written by Anisul Haque and directed by Swapan Ahmed, the film will introduce a new silver screen duo Anisur Rahman Milon and debutant Ritu Islam in lead roles. Other members of the cast includes Hena, Pronob Sarker Opu, Lutfur Rahman Jorje, Chashi and more.

Actors of the film joined the muharat a bit later as they were attending a campaign to save the river by holding placards with the message “Love for river, love for country.”

Shooting of the film will start from March 6 in Kurigram, different islands on Megna and other locations of Dhaka. About the film, Swapan Ahmed said: “The storytelling of the film will be different, it will be done in such a manner that the international audience will also be able to connect with the story.” l

Anisur Rahman Milon and Ritu Islam pair up for Tobuo Bhalobasha

A scene from Ekjon Mayaboti

n Entertainment Desk Celebrated actor Mahfuz Ahmed and Mili paired up for an upcoming drama serial based on late legendary author Humayun Ahmed’s novel Ekjon Mayaboti.

The novel was published in 2002 from Anyaprokash Publications Limited and the head of the publication, Mazharul Islam is all set to direct the 52-episode serial.

Mazharul believes if Humayun Ahmed was alive today, he would love the script written by Arun chowdhury.

He also informed that the series will be aired on Channel i soon. Mahfuz Ahmed

will be seen as Monjur and Mili as Jahnara who are the lead roles of the series.

Mahfuz shares: “Just because it’s Humayum Ahmed sir’s story and Mazharul Islam is giving the direction, I left all my agendas.” Mahfuz, who is currently directing a mega serial Mago Tomar Jonyo, further added: “May be it will be the only drama series where I will be acting this year.”

Mili shares: “This is the first time I’m working in a Humayun Ahmed story. I will try to give my best effort since the audience will have a big a expectation from the production and I don’t want to leave any stone unturned to do my best.” l

Airin to appear in Rupkotha

DRAMA

COMEDY 4:00pm ATN News

8:45pm Star Movies

10:00pm Maasranga Tv

Diya Aur Bati Hum The Sixth Sense

Film

Avatar 3D 47 Ronin (3D), Aakash Koto Dure, Thor: The Dark World 3D, The Hobbit: The Desolation of Smaug in 3D, Frozen in 3D, Shunte Ki Pao, Agnee Time: 10am - 10pm Star Cineplex, Bashundhara City Robocop, Gravity, Captain Phillips, Elysium Time: 12:30pm – 9:30pm Blockbuster Cinemas, Jamuna Future Park, Ka- 244, Pragati Avenue, Kuril

n Entertainment Desk A popular face in the entertainment industry nowadays, Airin Sultana will be seen in Rupkotha on Maasranga Television at 9:20pm today. It is a show that talks about beauty regimes and gives great tips to the audience.

The glamorous Airin will share her beauty secrets on the show. She will also give some beauty tips that she follows on a regular basis, keeping in line with her busy schedule.

Airin has drawn in audience with her attractive acting skills and appealing appearance through her debut film Bhalobasa Zindabad. On the other hand, she completed shooting of Saif Chandan’s Chheleti Abol Tabol Meyeti Pagol Pagol and Gaziur Rahman’s Ei Tumi Shei Tumi. In both of the films, she is the counterpart of Dhallywood newcomer Arju. Both the films are in the queue for release. Recently, she has signed up for her fourth film Time Machine, where she will be seen in the age of dinosaurs. l

ON TV 5:30pm Star Plus

TODAY IN DHAKA

News Now

Exhibition

Fragments of the Unknown

By Najma Akhter, Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts House 42, Road 16 (New) / 27 (old) Dhanmondi War and Colonies 1914-1918 Rare photographs of World War II Time: 3pm – 9pm Alliance Francaise de Dhaka

Prime Time Maasranga News

Leonardo DiCaprio Oscar snub: Why he never wins Preity Zinta to try her n hand in politics Entertainment Desk

Leonardo DiCaprio must be one of the unluckiest devastatingly good-looking Oscar-nominated movie stars in the world.

Leonardo DiCaprio did not get an Oscar this year, yet again. Many had hoped that the 39-year-old actor would finally get his first Oscar almost 20 years after he was first nominated. However, Matthew McConaughey was throughout the frontrunner for the best actor Oscar for his turn in Dallas Buyers Club and finally went home with the prized statuette.

DiCaprio’s been nominated thrice before for roles in Blood Diamond (2006), The Aviator (2004), and What’s Eating Gilbert Grape (1993), and many thought he was an obvious pick this year for his portrayal of financial crook Jordan Belfort in Martin Scorsese’s The Wolf of Wall Street.

Despite a stellar body of work DiCaprio hasn’t come away with the sauce yet. He’s never won an Oscar. Ever.

Ever since DiCaprio’s Titanic (1997) sunk all competition at the box office, the guy’s been a consistent

box office draw. Not only does he pack the house, the films he’s chosen to be a part of are breathtakingly quirky but not too dark to scare viewers off. Known for starring in Oscar-winning films like Inception and The Departed, what’s holding DiCaprio back from that win? Well, here are a few things.

tomed to his great acting, they tend to forget that it takes a certain level of mastery to make thesbianism look effortless.

2. The films

Perhaps the films so great that they’re eclipsing his powerful performances. Maybe it’s time for our star to slow down with the powerful, well-written numbers and headline the dud of all dud. His performance will stick out like a sore thumb and the Academy will take note of how “DiCaprio took an ordinary film to the extraordinary.” That type of charity would stand to be rewarded.

3. Good looks

1. Child star syndrome

People have seen Leo act for the past 20 years, since Growing Pains. Perhaps the masses are so accus-

Do his “sculpted from clay” chiseled good looks get in the way from judging him with integrity? Are his movies hard to keep up with because of the overwhelming amount of times people must avert their eyes so as not to be receive the “Jack Dawson” effect?

His career is brilliant so far. He doesn’t need an Oscar to validate that. But we bet he sure wouldn’t mind one. l

n Entertainment Desk After her almost retirement from Bollywood and subsequent “flop show” in the IPL, actress Preity Zinta is reportedly aspiring to try her luck in politics now. According to sources, Preity Zinta has plans to contest election against Sanjay Dutt’s sister, Priya Dutt. It has been reported that the dimpled cheek girl, Preity Zinta has been offered nomination by Bharatiya Janata Party’s General Secretary, Rajiv Pratap Rudy to fight election from the North-Central Mumbai constituency against Munna Bhai’s sister, Priya Dutt.

As a matter of fact, Rudy happens to be a distant kin of Preity Zinta and it has been learned that the BJP leader wanted to fix some Bollywood

celebrity against Priya Dutt for the said constituency in the upcoming polls. l

Feel the heat of Agnee, the girl with the big guns

n Saddam Hossain Hriyad Frankly asking, how many times have you seen a female holding guns and ammunition and taking merciless revenge on the brutal criminals? You may answer “Many a times.” But if asked within the context of Bangladesh only, you might find yourself bewildered in searching for a name in the history! Mahiya Mahi, as the female protagonist of Agnee, with apt skills in modern day fighting and seeking out her arch-rivals dazzles in the history and takes Bangladeshi film industry a step forward. In the

role of a trained Killer Mahi, as Tanisha in the film, has definitely proved that she can pull off such roles as easily as she can change between her getups without raising a single eyebrow from people nearby!

To give our readers a glimpse of this newest action thriller, let us tell a bit of the story without any spoiler. Tanisha is out on the loose and is killing off members of a criminal gang (Gulzar – Ali Raj, Haider – Misha Shawdagar and others). The targeted men are notorious criminals of the Bangladeshi underworld, currently residing in the safe havens of Thailand. Nobody

knows her true identity, or her motive. To keep safe, the mob hires Dragon (Arifin Shuvoo), a boxer who has won the Thai Boxing Championship, and orders him to kill her straightaway. But cruel fate plays its card and the deft Dragon falls in love with her instead.

In course of time, they find themselves in a world where nobody can be trusted. The movie is a Jazz Multimedia production and is directed by Iftakhar Chowdhury.

The cinematography is noteworthy. Scenic depiction of Thailand and the smooth colour tone is very soothing to the eyes, a rare quality seen in our mainstream movies. Thanks to Digital Media, we can now see some Bengali movies where the screen would not dance and go nuts, but rather give us the scope to really concentrate on the story.

The costumes were a delight with both Mahi and Shuvoo sporting youthful and fashionable attires, with modern makeup which accentuated their positive features. The music of the movie has the ability to bring in cash but the ambience audio is still lagging behind. Tanisha screaming

every time she sees her hero was hell of an experience for the audience too. People in the theatre have been having their share of enjoyment by screaming and whistling loudly whenever they saw Mahi or her moves, but her screams were so loud that even a hall of audience had to go silent to adjust their hearing. But the blame does not rest with the ambience only, the director has failed to live up to the expectation elsewhere - somewhere gross.

The script is a bummer. Yes it’s a commercial flick, but it could have been made into an interesting story with the sharp bends, the unanticipated twist, or the heart-wrenching story of any character can really make the audience wait and be pleased. The script of Agnee is lacklustre, the characters, with the exception of Tanisha, do not have any depth, the dialogues are cliché, the humour is primitive and continuity falls apart to accommodate some unnecessary songs. The biggest turnoff was the lack of thoughts in building the character of Dragon. During the length of the movie, he seemed to

be good for nothing except for some overstretched romantic gestures, like in some romantic songs. While scopes were enough to present a new Mr Smith, alongside a kung-fu Ms Smith.

Mahi had everything: the break, the lead and the scope. But she needs to learn to put on some expressions on her face and study some moves to rock the dance floor and use all those opportunities. She also needs to work on her acting skills and scream a little less the next time she needs to act terrified. People love skills in flicks. The production unit should have thought about it too.

Having said it all, here is a serious note to consider. Being critical is easy, doing right is not. But Iftakar Chowdhury has tried things right.

The team of Agnee have ambitions to be on the top and they will eventually learn what to do in order to bring that about. Nonetheless, Bangladesh is seeing smarter moves in its film industry these days. Hope the “bad old days” will be gone very soon. If you want to be a part of a revolution in the most critical and creative art sector of this country, and we believe which you should be, then you must book a seat to feel the heat of Agnee. l

Did you know?

Pakistan’s chasing down of Bangladesh’s maximum ODI score 326/3 was former’s highest successful ODI chase

Sport

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

0 1 1

14 Last chance

DAYS TO GO

for World Cup hopefuls

‘Afridi made all the difference’ Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim thought the ‘Tigers’ lost to the blitzkrieg innings of Shahid Afridi who made all the difference in the three wicket loss of his team in the posy match presser yesterday.

“The reason well, is Afridi. If it was any other batsman it would have been difficult. If he can hit Shakib for three sixes, you can say that he is the best. We tried to make him mis-hit, Afridi turned the game completely. His strength and the way he hits, even a mis-hit goes for a six. We had nothing much to do,” said Mushfiq.

With experienced bowler Abdur Razzak, picked ahead of Arafat Sunny was expensive giving away 72 runs in his nine overs, Musfiq was quizzed about that. “No I don’t think career finishing performance. In that pressure, Shakib is our best bowler and he went for three sixes, I think Razzak bhai what he did in the last ten years everyone knows.

When we need an attacking option he has always supported. Our choice was definitely that, unfortunately, it went for length balls. It might happen against any bowler because it’s a high intense game” added Mushfiq.

Mushfiq urged to see the team effort. “It’s difficult if you just blame one person, because performance-wise ev-

eryone goes through a bad patch. But you can’t just remove some one. Sunny bhai is performing well yes, luckily. But Razzakbhai is a senior player and he was playing well. It could have gone either way, because it didn’t go our way, we have to take the blame,” he added.

Why seamer Ziaur Rahman was not even handed a single over Mushfiq said, “Pakistan is one of the best bowling attack, to go with six batsmen is a risk.

Zia is not someone who can bat for long overs, he can play in the last 10 15 overs.

Taking an extra batsman, was because of their good bowling attack and also our batsmen weren’t playing very well. Our target was to bat first. I think that was a right selection. Rubel had a knee injury, but he still played” said Mushfiq.

On the other hand Misbahul Haq informed that the turning point of the match was the two sixes by FawadAlam on the 48th over which turned the match for them,” I think those two sixes by Fawad turned the match for us as we needed 31 runs in the last three overs,” said Misbah.

However the Pakistani skipper gives the credit to Afridi along with Ahmed Shehzad and Fawad Alam for the win, “I think Afridi deliverdhis one of the best innings and turned the match into our side by his big hitting. But Shehzad and Fawad also played brilliantly and without their contribution it would have not possible to chase such a huge total,” added Misbah. l

Afghanistan and India will have a different set of mind when they face each other in their last Asia Cup match at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium today.

The Virat Kohli led India will be ruing the missed chances in the previous matches while looking forward to wrap their campaign with a win while the Afghans will maintain their simple strategy of making it hard for their stronger opponents as much as possible.

India haven’t looked like the same side without senior members MS Dhoni, Yuvraj Singh and Suresh Raina. The batting is completely dependent on Kohli and it was pretty much evident when he was out on five against Pakistan.

The return of Shakib al Hasan against Pakistan in the Asia Cup after a three match ban resulted in the 26 year old proving why he is the best player in the Bangladesh side as the total approach of the team changed dramatically.

The left hander went to bat in the 45th over and made his presence felt from the very first ball when he smashed a boundary through point of Mohammad Talha and later in the over, Shakib smashed another boundary this time by a beautiful pull shot as Bangladesh were 276/3 with only four overs remaining.

clash with India today

Anamul Haque c Shehzad b Ajmal Imrul Kayes c Akmal b Talha Mominul Haque c Hafeez b Ajmal Mushfiqur Rahim not out Shakib Al Hasan not out Extras: (lb3, nb3, w15)

100 59 51 51 44 21

Total: (for three wkts; 50 overs) Fall of wickets

326

1-150, 2-204, 3-249 Bowling Hafeez 10-0-27-0, Gul 10-1-76-0, Rehman 0-0-8-0 (3nb), Alam 2-0-12-0, Talha 7-0-68-1, Ajmal 10-0-61-2, Afridi 10-0-64-0, Maqsood 1-0-7-0 Pakistan Ahmed Shehzad b Razzak 103 Mohammad Hafeez c Kayes b Haque 52 Misbah-ul Haq b Shakib 4 Sohaib Maqsood c Anamul b Haque 2 Fawad Alam run out 74 Abdur Rehman c Zia b Mahmudullah 8 Shahid Afridi run out 59 Umar Akmal not out 14 Umar Gul not out 0 Extras: (b1, lb3, w9) 13 Total: (for seven wkts; 49.5 overs)

329

Fall of wickets 1-97, 2-102, 3-105, 4-210, 5-225, 6-294, 7-325 Bowling Islam 5-0-49-0 (3w), Hossain 6.5-0-500, Shakib 10-2-53-1, Razzak 9-0-72-1 (2w), Haque 9-1-37-2, Mahmudullah 7-1-47-1, Nasir 3-0-17-0 Result Pakistan won by three wickets

POINTS TABLE

Bangladesh opener Anamul Haque celebrates his century during the Asia Cup match against Pakistan at SBNS yesterday

from New Zealand. Some people are definitely going through some mental fatigue as well, but I’m sure the team management is very capable of handling the team and they are doing a fantastic job.”

Rayudu also said that Kohli is a very proactive leader and has done a fantastic job against Pakistan before he revealed their plans for today. He said, “As I see it, we would like to go out tomorrow and win the game with a bonus point and see how it goes. We are just bothered about going out there tomorrow and winning right now. We’ll analyse our chances after the game today (yesterday).”

Meanwhile, the associate nations of the tournament Afghanistan has impressed so far in the tournament.

Bangladesh allrounder Shakib al Hasan celebrates a wicket with teammates at SBNS yesterday

Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim at the other end was also going good but he preferred to give the strike to Shakib who was in a killing mood as the left hander smashed two fours and a huge six over long off from Saeed Ajmal.

Shakib played his trademark scoop shot to Umar Gul for a boundary in the 48th over and took Bangladesh past 300 by hitting 12 runs off the last three balls of Gul’s last over.

He smashed a pull shot for a boundary followed a brilliant six in the midwicket region and a brilliant straight drive for two runs to take Bangladesh to their highest ever total in the ODI of 326/3, surpassing their previous best of

15 Bangladesh

SCORECARD

They have repeatedly said after their arrival that they are here to show the world what they are capable of and exhibit their talent against the top Asian teams.

After n exciting opening match against Pakistan, they beat Bangladesh before again losing to Sri Lanka in their last match. The Afghans have a very enthusiastic fielding and bowling unit, but it’s their batting that remains the concern against the top bowlers of the world.

The match today, win or lose, for Afghanistan it will be yet another chance to gain experience while for India a win will be just a consolation, but if they stumble for any reason then it will be their opponents biggest achievement.l

Eves stun Pakistan in first ODI

Shakib stars on return

13

Bangladesh

India, Afghanistan lock horns today The middle-order is a relatively line-up which consists young AjinkyaRahane, AmbatiRayudu and RavindraJadeja. Despite being in the squad, CheteshwarPujara is still mysteriously to get a game and Kohli should consider the batsman given their weak link in the middle-order.

India has only beaten Bangladesh and they lost their big clashes against Sri Lanka and Pakistan. Indian legend Sunil Gavaskar criticized the team for not being fully serious. However, Rayudu had to say, “We have been working as hard as anybody, if not more. Moreover, we have played back to back games as you all know. We have also been travelling from South Africa to New Zealand. We played a game here just two days after travelling

DHAKA TRIBUNE

MUMIT M

320/8 against Zimbabwe on 2009.

Shakib remained unbeaten on 44 off just 16 balls smashing six fours and two sixes with Mushfiq scoring 51 off 33 balls, and the pair added 77 runs in 34 balls.

The all-rounder made his mark when he came on to bowl in the fifth over with a maiden and the left arm bowler took the important wicket of Misbah ul Haq when he clean bowled the Pakistani skipper in his fifth over.

The star of Bangladesh was everywhere in the field yesterday as he ran out the dangerous Shahid Afridi in the 47th over when he had a direct hit from cover, after Afridi struck 59 off just 25 balls. l

Bangladesh women’s cricket team stunned Pakistan women’s team by 43 runs in the first match of the twomatch ODI series at Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium in Cox’s Bazar on Tuesday.

Sent to bat first, Bangladesh Women team scored 152 all out in 49.3 overs.

Pakistan were all out on 109 runs in 44.1 overs.

For Bangladesh middle order Rumana Ahmed scored the highest 44 runs off 75 balls with five boundaries while lower order Nuzhat Tasnia scored 26 runs off 30 balls. Shaila Sharmin batting at number nine added 22 runs.

Lata Mondol who scored grabbed four wickets for 35 runs in her eight overs was adjudged player of the match. Qanita Jalil claimed three wickets for 26 runs in 10 overs while Nida Dar bagged two wickets for 19 runs and Asmavia Iqbal Khokhar, Sadia Yousuf and Sana Mir took one wicket each for 19, 25 and 33 runs respectively.

Pakistani lower order Asmavia Iqbal Khokhar scored 40 runs off 86 balls with five boundaries but her effort was sufficient to pull Pakistan out of trouble. Bismah Maroof made 15 runs off 17 balls. Bangladesh bowling was efficient as Jahanara Alam grabbed three wickets for 22 runs, Salma Khatun captured two wickets for 10 and Rumana Ahmed claimed one wicket for 23 runs. The two teams meet again in the 2nd ODI tomorrow. l

MUMIT M

Teams Sri Lanka Pakistan India Afghanistan Bangladesh

Mat Won Lost Pts Net RR 3 3 0 13 +0.971 4 3 1 13 +0.349 3 1 2 4 -0.027 3 1 2 4 -1.127 3 0 3 0 -0.285

Openers set the tone The brilliant 150-run opening partnership of Anamul Haque and Imrul Kayes set the platform for Bangladesh to post the massive 326 for three in their do or die match against Pakistan yesterday.

This was the second highest opening partnership for Bangladesh after Shahriar Hossain and Mehrab Hossain’s 170 against Zimbabwe in 1999 while it was the fifth ever highest partnership for Bangladesh for any wicket, 175 against Kenya in 2006 between Rajin Saleh and Habibul Bashar being the highest. This was also the sixth highest opening partnership in the Asia Cup history.

Anamul and Imrul played very sensibly right from the start and enabled the home side to go in to the last 15 overs with plenty of wickets in hand.

Imrul replaced Shamsur Rahman in the line-up yesterday as the latter could add only 16 and 1 on their first two matches against India and Afghanistan.

The left-handed Imrul produced one of his best performance on his comeback in the ODI side though he was lucky surviving a lbw shout off Mohammed Hafeez and he was also caught at deep mid-wicket, but only

off a high full toss called for a no-ball.

Imrul and Anamul added fifty runs in 12 overs with the latter being the more dominant. Anamul smashed two sixes and a boundary in the 16th over bowled by fast bowler Mohammad Talha.

Anamul reached his fifty from just 55 balls and was looking to convert that into hundred which he did successfully later.

TOP PARTNERSHIPS FOR BD

Partners Rajin, Bashar Anamul, Mushfiqur Shahriar, Mehrab Raqibul, Shakib Imrul, Junaid Mushfiq, Naeem Rafique, Aftab Anamul, Imrul

Runs (Wkt) Opp 175* (4th) Kenya 174 (3rd) WI 170 (1st) Zim 165* (4th) Zim 160 (2nd) Pak 154 (4th) NZ 150 (2nd) Zim 150 (1st) Pak

Date 2006 2012 1999 2009 2010 2013 2005 2014

Bangladesh reached 100 for no loss in the 18th over before Imrul reached his ninth ODI fifty in a time when Bangladesh team is desperately seeking for a opening partnership. He was adjudged caught behind off Umar Gul for 59 off 75 balls with two sixes and five boundaries. However, the replays showed the ball had brushed his arm on the way to the wicketkeeper.

By then Bnagladesh had 150 on the scorecard, which helped them reach their biggest total against any team in ODIs. l

MOMENTS The beamer ‘shame’ Pakistan left-arm spinner Abdur Rehman’s inclusion in the playing XI was supposed to boost the team’s bowling attack. But the opposite happened as the 34-year-old from Sialkot was brought into attack in the 11th over. His first ball of the over slipper out of his hand and went way up and way wide to opener Imrul Kayes on strike.

The second ball was also a full toss outside off and Imrul slapped it straight to deep midwicket but the umpire called delivery another “no” for its height and warned Rehman for another beamer. The disaster happened in the third delivery which was again a no ball and definitely a beamer this time to Anamul Haque. It was full toss on the body which was slapped to the midwicket boundary. The umpire handed the bowler his cap and he was not allowed to bowl in the innings for the two beamers.

Rehman’s game was over with humiliation and a record which was to give 8 runs off zero balls. However this was not unique in

cricket. There have been at least four occasions on record where a bowler had to go off for the comical error but never after giving eight runs!

Pakistan fan go down

The journey of the Asia Cup 2014 so far has seen abundance of support for Pakistan for Bangladesh people, the team which was concerned of their participation in the tournament due to security reasons.

But when it comes down to a Bangladesh game, the cricket crazy nation is uncompromising. The stands at Mirpur during the Bangladesh-Pakistan game were packed with Bangladesh flag. However there was a supporter for Pakistan at Shaheed Jewel Stand who was wrapped around with a Pakistan flag. But the lone Pakistan supporter after heavy boos fried by the stand full of Bangladesh supporters, had to fold the Pakistan flag and put inside in his backpack – a move for survival.

–Minhaz Uddin Khan

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Seventh heaven for Cech

Sport

Wembley to host Froch-Groves rematch

Czech Republic international goalkeeper Petr Cech was named Czech player of the year for the seventh time on Monday. The 31-year-old Chelsea star – capped 106 times since making his international debut in 2002 – beat Tomas Rosicky, who plays for Chelsea’s Premier League rivals Arsenal, and Vladimir Darida, who plays for Bundesliga outfit Freiburg, in a vote by coaches, players and club officials. “It is an award so therefore one never wants to let ones standards slip,” said Cech.

–AFP

London’s Wembley Stadium will host the May 31 rematch between bitter British super-middleweight rivals Carl Froch and George Groves, organisers announced on Tuesday. IBF and WBA champion Froch beat Groves with a contentious ninth-round stoppage when they met in Manchester last November and their rematch is tipped to be one of the biggest fights in British history. Groves floored Froch in the first round of their first encounter and was ahead on all three judges’ scorecards when referee Foster halted the fight following a flurry of punches from Froch.

–AFP

Spain's Diego Costa controls the ball during a training session at Soccer City grounds in Las Rozas, near Madrid on Monday REUTERS

China look to seal Asian Cup spot China will expect to put an unconvincing qualifying campaign behind them and reach their 11th straight Asian Cup in front of new manager Alain Perrin when they play former champions Iraq on Wednesday.

An away draw against lowly Indonesia and defeat to Saudi Arabia have made for a difficult path for China, who sacked highly paid ex-Real Madrid manager Juan Antonio Camacho midway through qualifying.

But the Asian giants -- who, despite their size and resources, are ranked just 88th in the world -- are in the box seat to progress in the second automatic spot in Group C as qualifying ends.

China lie second behind group winners Saudi Arabia while Iraq, who lifted the trophy in 2007, are two points further back, meaning they need to win on Wednesday in Sharjah to guarantee progression.

However, China can lose the game and still be confident of qualifying as the best-performing third-placed team, with closest challengers Lebanon then needing to beat Thailand by at least six goals.

Only two spots are up for grabs on Wednesday with 13 teams, including hosts Australia and defending champi-

Vettel predicts Red Bull debacle Four-time Formula One world champion Sebastian Vettel predicts a debacle for Red Bull unless they improve their car before the season opens at the Australian Grand Prix in two weeks. “First of all, just getting to the finish would be a success,” the German told broadcaster Servus TV. “If half the drivers fail to finish, then maybe we could take a few points.” The 26-year-old is bidding for a fifth consecutive world title when the season kicks off in Melbourne on March 16, but endured a frustrating fourdays of testing the new Red Bull car in Bahrain, which concluded on Sunday.

–AFP

Last chance for World Cup hopefuls, history for Kosovo

Ince, Southgate query Campbell racism claims Former England players Paul Ince and Gareth Southgate have added their voices to criticism of Sol Campbell’s claim that he was prevented from captaining his country because he is black.

Campbell, capped 73 times by England, made the claim in his new autobiography, in which he alleged that he would have been national team captain “for more than 10 years” if he had been white.

However, former managers Graham Taylor and Sven Goran Eriksson both dismissed his claim, while David Davies, the Football Association’s executive director during Campbell’s England career, said the allegation was “wrong”.

Ince became the first black player to captain England when he was handed the armband by Taylor in 1993 and he said that the level of competition for the captaincy makes it impossible for any player to lead the team for 10 years.

“There’s been me, (Tony) Adams, (Stuart) Pearce, (David) Seaman, (Alan) Shearer, (John) Terry, (Rio) Ferdinand. That’s a lot of big names with a lot of big egos,” Ince told Tuesday’s Daily Mail.

“Sol’s a clever, articulate man and he’s a friend of mine, but he wouldn’t have been England captain for 10 years -- nobody is. He has obviously had different experiences to me as a footballer and I can only really talk about my own.” l

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

ons Japan, already confirmed and one place reserved for the winners of the AFC Challenge Cup in May. According to state news agency Xinhua, caretaker boss Fu Bo will take charge of China for the last time with France’s Perrin expected to be watching from the stands.

Perrin was announced as a surprise choice of manager last week, after

FIXTURES Oman Jordan Thailand Iraq Saudi Arabia Yemen Qatar Uzbekistan Vietnam

v v v v v v v v v

Singapore Syria Lebanon China Indonesia Malaysia Bahrain UAE Hong Kong

Guangzhou Evergrande’s Marcello Lippi had been hotly tipped. Lippi later signed a new three-year deal with the Chinese and Asian champions.

Perrin, the well-travelled, 57-yearold former Marseille and Portsmouth coach, arrives with none of the pedigree of the World Cup-winning Lippi.

His greatest success was leading Lyon to the French double in 2008.

But after disquiet over the large sums reportedly paid to Camacho, the Chinese Football Association may have wanted a more affordable manager for the Asian Cup and the 2018 World Cup qualifiers.

Perrin will hope that China’s newfound success in the AFC Champions League, after Guangzhou became the competition’s first Chinese winners last year, will start to translate into success on the international stage.

China have only qualified for one World Cup, in 2002, and their last success in regional competition was reaching the Asian Cup final against Japan on home turf in 2004.

Lebanon will also be hoping China beat Iraq and avoid the need to rack up a hatful of goals against Thailand -- although it is a feat they are well capable of after winning 5-2 at home last year.

War-wracked Syria also have an outside chance of going through as the best performing third-placed team, but they have to beat Jordan and hope both Iraq and Lebanon lose.

Elsewhere Malaysia and Hong Kong, who like Syria are on four points to Lebanon’s five and Iraq’s six, will also be praying for a miracle when they take on Yemen and Vietnam away. Iran rounded off their campaign with a 3-2 win over Kuwait late on Monday. Both teams had already qualified.l

Brazilian-born Diego Costa could finally make his Spain debut on Wednesday when the world and European champions host Italy in one of more than 60 friendly internationals being played worldwide.

All 32 World Cup finalists will be in action, with France meeting Netherlands in another heavyweight clash, and there will also be a milestone in littleknown Mitrovica when Kosovo make their international debut in a match against Haiti.

Wednesday’s matches are the last chance for coaches to fine-tune their teams and try out new players before they send a preliminary list of 30 players to FIFA on May 13. The definitive 23man squads must be confirmed no later than June 2.

Atletico Madrid forward Costa turned down an invitation to play for Brazil last year, prompting coach Luiz Felipe Scolari to angrily claim that he had “turned his back on the dreams of millions.”

Spain coach Vicente del Bosque included Costa in his squad for two November friendlies but he was ruled out by injury. The Italy match, a repeat of the Euro 2012 final which Spain won 4-0, could therefore mark his debut for his adopted country.

“I think he is a great choice and he can bring a lot to the team,” Spain and Real Madrid centre back Sergio Ramos told reporters on Monday as he arrived at the team’s training camp.

Spain and Italy also met last year in a Confederations Cup semi-final which ended with both sides staggering around the field exhausted after the game went into extra-time in the tropical heat of Fortaleza. Spain won on penalties.

Although the World Cup will be held in South America, the continent will not

KEY FRIENDLIES Japan South Africa Romania Austria Switzerland Belgium Germany England France Portugal Spain Mexico

v v v v v v v v v v v v

New Zealand Brazil Argentina Uruguay Croatia Ivory Coast Chile Denmark Netherlands Cameroon Italy Nigeria

be staging any of Wednesday’s matches.

Hosts Brazil head for South Africa, surprising observers who would have expected them to face top-level opposition, while Argentina - with Carlos Tevez again overlooked by coach Alejandro Sabello - visit Romania.

Colombia’s ability to play without Radamel Falcao, should the prolific striker not recover from a knee injury in time for the World Cup, will be tested against Tunisia in Barcelona.

Coach Jose Pekerman has called up Hertha Berlin striker Adrian Ramos, the

Keane right to get shirty, says England’s Ox England midfielder Alex OxladeChamberlain has admitted that he was wrong to ask Brazil superstar Neymar for his shirt during the sides’ friendly game last year.

The Arsenal player, nicknamed ‘The Ox’, scored a memorable goal to earn England a 2-2 draw at Rio de Janeiro’s iconic Maracana last June, but he was criticised for his mid-match request to Neymar.

The players subsequently swapped shirts after the game, but former Manchester United captain Roy Keane and Gareth Southgate, the current England Under-21 manager, took exception to Oxlade-Chamberlain’s behaviour.

Commenting on the game for British television, Keane said that Oxlade-Chamberlain should have been concentrating on the match and the 20-year-old has admitted that he made an inappropriate decision.

“I did ask him (Neymar) during the game. I gave him a little nudge,” Oxlade-Chamberlain said.

“Roy Keane hammered me for it.

I didn’t try and make it too blatant. It just happened that the camera landed on me right at the time I nudged him.l

Italy's coach Cesare Prandelli (L) and goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon (R) pose during a press conference to present the new jersey of Italy's national team at Malpensa on Monday AFP

IPTL a no-go if it clashes with Thanksgiving: Agassi

Revellers from the Imperatriz Leopoldinense samba school are suspended by wires on a float made to resemble a vertical football field, as they participate in the annual Carnival parade in Rio de Janeiro's Sambadrome yesterday REUTERS

Bundesliga’s second top scorer, for the first time since the 2011 Copa America.

Of the other South American teams, Uruguay visit non-qualifiers Austria, Chile travel to Germany and Ecuador play Australia in London.

Germany coach Joachim Loew has been fretting about injuries and lack of form ahead of his team’s match.

“It looks on paper that we have a top team with individuals. But the truth at the moment does not look so good,” Loew told reporters.

“We have a lot of injuries, some players have been injured for months, others lack match fitness and some players who are battling to find their form.”

African champions Nigeria have recalled former captain Joseph Yobo for their game in Atlanta against Mexico, who staggered to the finals via a playoff against New Zealand.

Cameroon have given Barcelona reserves Macky Frank Bagnack and Jean Marie Dongou an unexpected call up for their friendly against Portugal in Leiria.

Ghana, possibly Africa’s biggest hope for success in Brazil, are away to Montenegro while ageing Ivory Coast visit Belgium and Algeria play Slovenia. Elsewhere, England host Denmark at Wembley, while fellow finalists Switzerland and Croatia meet in St Gallen, Russia entertain Armenia and the United States and Ukraine meet in neutral Cyprus. Kosovo’s meeting with Haiti follows a long struggle for the right to play matches and finally came about after Fifa brokered negotiations with the Serbian FA last year. l

Andre Agassi will snub the inaugural International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) if it clashes with Thanksgiving, the former world number one said the day after being signed up by the Singapore franchise.

The eight-times grand slam champion was named in Sunday’s player draft for the new Asia-based event but said he had since learned the first match would clash with the November holiday.

“It’s a good thing to take tennis to places in the world where they want to see it. There’s no downside in doing that,” American Agassi told Reuters ahead of his World Tennis Day showdown with former arch-rival Pete Sampras in London later on Monday.

“My agreement to do it was based on a few very specific conditions. Certain-

ly economics played a little part in it but also time away played another part.

“I can’t be away for more than four or five days so I set some limitations and had some dates in December.

“Now I read in an email that the dates are over Thanksgiving,” said the 43-year-old Agassi who is married to former women’s world number one Steffi Graf and has two children.

“That would be a non-starter for me.

Six or seven days away is too much of a price to pay.”

The draft for the IPTL set up by Indian doubles specialist Mahesh Bhupathi saw the four teams - Singapore, Dubai, Bangkok and Mumbai - bid for players. Organisers said a total of $24 million was spent.

Agassi was selected for Singapore along with world number one Serena Williams and Czech Tomas Berdych while 14-times major winner Sampras is set to join Rafa Nadal in the Mumbai team. l

AFC welcomes lifting of scarf ban Asian football authorities claimed success Tuesday after the sport’s governing body allowed women to wear headscarves for competitive matches, saying the move will benefit women’s football in Muslim-majority West Asia.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) welcomed Saturday’s decision

by FIFA and rule-makers the International Football Association Board (IFAB) to allow female players to cover their heads after two years of testing a safe headscarf design.

“Women’s football is still at the beginning stage in West Asia but I hope that it (the ruling) will give a big boost as the member associations will be able to field teams in international events,” said AFC president Shaikh Salman Ebrahim Al Khalifa in a statement.

He added that AFC had been at the forefront of the issue and had made a strong case for the ban to be lifted. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

15

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

Bangladesh clash with India today

QUICK BYTES

Bollettieri, Davenport voted into Hall of Fame

Being one of eight U-20 players in the team, Mohammedan midfielder Hemanta Vincent Biswas is also likely to make debut as substitute with Mamunul, Sohel Rana and Jamal Bhuiyan start in midfield. The main concern in the team in recent time is lack of goals but striker Zahid Hassan Emily’s recent form in the league could boost Kruif’s confidence.

After conducting the final practice session yesterday evening, Kruif said all the players are fit and are ready to go. “It’s a match of prestige and pressure, after the SAFF Championship it’s more than six months and the national team has not played any matches, we look forward to put a good show,” said the Dutch coach.

Kruif is positive about Bangladesh’s chance adding that he will mix youth and experience. “The team is new as a number of players have earned their first call, India are a strong team and they are the hosts, we have to put a good show in the middle and commit less mistakes and when we get our chances we have to take them and hope for a good result,” he added.

There is a little change in India’s Dutch coach Wim Koevermans’ squad as he kept most of the players who were selected for friendlies in November last year. The Dutchman is likely to go with two strikers, one of them is of course captain Sunil Chhetri.

“We are not underestimating Bangladesh. We respect every opposition we play and we will respect them too,” said Koevermans yesterday. l

Legendary coach Nick Bollettieri and former women’s world number one Lindsay Davenport were among five people named Monday as new inductees to the International Tennis Hall of Fame. The Americans will be joined by Dutch wheelchair tennis star Chantal Vandierendonck, long-time executive Jane Brown Grimes and British author and broadcaster John Barrett. A ceremony will be conducted July 12 during the ATP Hall of Fame Championships at Newport, Rhode Island. The newcomers will join 235 people from 20 nations on the 60-year-old roll of honour. Bollettieri, 82, has coached 10 players who would become world number ones, including Andre Agassi, Jim Courier, Monica Seles and Boris Becker.

–AFP

Hit Putin with Russia World Cup boycott: Green MEP

Bangladesh and Indian coaches Lodewick de Kruif and Wim Coevermans, skippers Mamunul Islam and Sunil Chettry seen in the official presser of the Fifa International Friendly at Goa yesterday COURTESY

Veteran Euro MP Daniel Cohn-Bendit on Tuesday urged European governments to threaten a boycott of the 2018 World Cup in Russia over Vladimir Putin’s actions in Crimea. “There has to be a response. The worst thing to do would be nothing at all,” Cohn-Bendit told France Inter radio. “The one thing that would really hit Putin would be saying that the Europeans and everyone who will go along with them will not go to the World Cup in four years time if he does not stop. “He has to be isolated, politically and personally.” Cohn-Bendit, a member of the Green group in the European Parliament, said European leaders should try to engineer a situation in which Putin feels pressured to make political concessions, as he did in the run-up to the recent Winter Olympics in Russia’s Black Sea port of Sochi.

–AFP

It is not going to be just a friendly match for Bangladesh. Concerning national team’s disappointing display in the last Saff Championship despite being followed by a fine year, the men of red and green have a lot to prove ahead of their Fifa international friendly against rivals India kicking at Pundit Jawaharlal Nehru Stadium in Goa today at 6.30pm BST. Ten Action will telecast the match live.

After six months without playing any international matches, the wound Bangladesh endured in the Saff

South Africa, first innings, 287 Australia, second innings (overnight 27-0) C Rogers run out (Steyn) D Warner c De Villiers b Abbott A Doolan c Abbott b Morkel S Watson c Duminy b Abbott M Clarke c sub (De Kock) b Abbott S Smith not out B Haddin not out Extras (b3, lb12, nb3)

Total (5 wkts dec, 58 overs)

39 145 37 25 0 36 3 18

303

Fall of wickets 1-123, 2-188, 3-245, 4-257, 5-290

Bowling Morkel 13-1-67-1, Abbott 14-2-61-3, Philander 6-0-42-0, Duminy 19-3-76-0, Steyn 3-1-24-0, Elgar 3-0-18-0

South Africa, second innings A Petersen lbw b Harris G Smith c Doolan b Johnson D Elgar b Johnson H Amla lbw b Pattinson A de Villiers not out K Abbott not out Extras (nb1)

9 3 0 41 16 1 1

Total (4 wkts, 41 overs)

71

Fall of wickets 1-12 , 2-12, 3-15, 4-68

Bowling Harris 8-5-10-1, Johnson 13-3-31-2, Pattinson 9-6-13-1, Lyon 5-3-3-0, Watson 3-2-1-0, Smith 3-0-13-0

Match situation South Africa need 440 to win with six wickets remaining

DAY’S WATCH Sony Six NBA 2013-14 7:00AM Houston v Miami 9:30AM La Lakers v New Orleans 1:30AM Fifa Friendlies 2014 Romania v Argentina 01:45AM Fifa Friendlies 2014 Germany v Chile

INDIA v BANGLADESH Total matches played:-------------------- 30 Matches won by India: ------------------- 17 Matches won by Bangladesh: ----------- 5 Matches drawn: --------------------------- 8 Goals scored by India:-------------------- 41 Goals scored by Bangladesh: ----------- 20 Last Meeting : Sep 3, 2013 (2013 SAFF C'ship, Kathmandu) India 1-1 Bangladesh Sunil Chhetri 93 Meshu 83

Smith fails as South Africa battle to avoid defeat

SCORECARD, AUS v SA Australia, first innings, 494-7 dec

Championship in Nepal is still intact which could give Lodewijk de Kruif’s men inspiration to fight till the end.

Graeme Smith was out for three in his last Test innings as South Africa struggled to 71 for four while chasing 511 to win on the fourth day of the third and final Test on Tuesday.

South Africa were 15 for three at tea before steadying the ship in the final session of the day at Newlands as they fought to reach an unlikely target in this deciding match of the series.

Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers defied the bowlers for more than two hours in a fourth-wicket stand of 53 before Amla was leg before wicket to James Pattinson 20 minutes before the close.

Earlier, Australia’s declaration at 303 for five was set up by a dashing second century of the match by David Warner.

There were a potential 144 overs remaining after the declaration, leaving South Africa needing to fight an extended rearguard action in order to avoid defeat in captain Smith’s last Test.

Smith was given a guard of honour by the Australian players but soon lost Alviro Petersen, his opening partner, who was leg before wicket to Ryan Harris - the 100th Test wicket for the fast bowler.

Six balls later Smith fell for the fourth time in the series to Mitchell Johnson, edging a lifting delivery onto his thigh pad, with the ball looping to short leg Alex Doolan for an easy catch.

The Australians stood to salute Smith as he left the ground and his

South African Graeme Smith, international cricket’s longest-serving captain, sprang a shock on Monday as he announced he would retire from all international cricket after the current third Test against Australia at Newlands.

The 33-year-old – whose long-time team-mate Jacques Kallis retired from test cricket in December though he wants to remain part of the one day side – had said only on Friday that he still had things to achieve in international cricket.

However, after another batting failure in the present series, he made just five in the first innings on Monday he decided it was time to call it a day and told his team-mates of his decision.

“This has been the most difficult decision I have ever had to make in my life. It’s a decision that I have been considering since my ankle surgery in April last year.

“I have a young family to consider, and I felt that retiring at Newlands would be the best way to end it because I have called this place home since I was 18 years old.”

Smith captained South Africa in 108 Test matches, including the present match, over 11 years. He also captained a World XI against Australia in Sydney in 2005. His total of 109 Test captaincies is 16 more than the previous record held by Allan Border of Australia. l

South Africa's Graeme Smith leaves the pitch as Australia celebrate his wicket during the fourth day of the third cricket test match at Newlands Stadium in Cape Town yesterday REUTERS

yesterday, Mousum Ali, the general secretary of Bangladesh Rugby Union, stated that Rugby is making its mark in the country. Mir Imam, the managing director of Monowara Hospitals Ltd and Saeed Ahmed, the secretary of the tournament committee were also present on the occasion.

The rugby union will provide jerseys, balls to the teams and arrange coaching program for them also. l

Channel 9 & Star Sports 1 2:00PM Arise Asia Cup Afghanistan v India

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Inns NO

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02:30PM South Africa v Australia 3rd Test, Day 5 Ten Action 06:30PM Fifa Friendly India v Bangladesh Ten HD

Bangladesh Rugby Union general secretary Mousum Ali speaks at the press conference of Health First Rugby yesterday COURTESY

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9265 277 48.25 59.67

27

38

1165

24

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8

2/145 110.62

3.74

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197

194

10

6989 141

37.98 80.81

10

47

788

44

105

18

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52.83

5.56

T20Is

33

33

2

89* 31.67 127.53

0

5

123

26

18

0

-

-

14.25

982

SAFF Congress Today The Congress of South Asian Football Federation will be held today at the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel. The congress will be presided over by the president of the organization Kazi Salahuddin.

There will also be a few changes in the executive committee of the SAFF as the vice-president posts will be extended from two to three.

As no one from the other eight SAFF countries had yet expressed interest in seeking the president’s post, Kazi Salahuddin, also the chief of the BFF, was likely to retain post.

However, if a contender appears, the eight countries will vote. Salahuddin was elected SAFF chief unopposed in 2009.

Ganesh Thapa, Makhdoom Syed Faisal Hayat and W Ranjit Rodrigo the presidents of Nepal , Pakistan and Sri Lanka football federations will be present among the dignitaries. All the dignitaries arrived at Dhaka on Tuesday.

Ahmed Yar Khan Lodhi, general secretary, PFF, Sayed Ali Reza Aghazada Sadat. general secretary, Afghanistan FF, Ugyen Wangchhuk general secretary Bhutan FF, Subrata Dutta,

Pistorius witness still relives ‘terrifying screams’

Ten Cricket

7:15PM West Indies v England 3rd ODI

Smith calls time on int'l career

T H E L A ST WA L K

teammates gathered on the pavilion steps to applaud him off.

It ended a poor last series for Smith, who scored only 45 runs at an average of 7.50 in the three matches. He finished his 117-Test career with 9,265 runs at an average of 48.25.

He hit 27 centuries and 38 halfcenturies and was captain in a world record 109 Tests.

Dean Elgar was then bowled by Johnson with what proved to be the last ball before tea.

Smith announced on Monday that he was retiring from international cricket after this match, but his last stint as captain in the field was an ignominious one as at times he had nine fielders on the boundary in a futile effort to stop the flow of runs.

Warner followed up his first innings 135 with 145, made off 124 balls. His last 45 runs were scored off 32 balls before he edged Kyle Abbott to wicketkeeper De Villiers going for another big shot.

He hit 13 fours and four sixes.

When Warner was on 79 he reached 1000 runs in eight Test matches during the southern hemisphere season. The left-handed opening batsman finished the three-match series with 543 runs at an average of 90.50, hitting three centuries and two fifties. l

Health First Mini Rugby starts tomorrow The Health First Mini Rugby, organised

by Bangladesh Rugby Union and sponsored by Monowara Hospital Ltd gets underway comprising 12 Dhaka schools at the Paltan Ground tomorrow.

State minister for youth and sports Biren Sikder will be inaugurating the meet as the chief guest. At a press conference held at the handball stadium

defender Nasir, midfielders Mamunul Islam and Sohel Rana’s performance caught the attention of many. The trio along with seven other players in the 21-man squad are from Sheikh Jamal and their recent experience and performance away from home would be vital for Bangladesh.

Ahead of team selection, Kruif’s only concern is the right wing. With both Jahid Hossain and Mobarak Hossain injured, the Dutch coach could opt for giving youngster Toklis Ahmed a chance at right wing and if not, Brothers’ in-form forward Rubel Mia could make his debut for the national team.

Adding to the matter, the last meeting between the two sub-continent sides ended with Sunil Chettri’s lastgasp 93rd minute free-kick helping India narrowly escape defeat - which eventually saw them make an early exit from the group stage of Saff Champinship.

India are also giving the game more importance after seeing Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club’s performance in the IFA Shield where the Bangladesh Premier League club defeated two I-League clubs to reach the final of world’s 4th oldest club cup competition. Apart from the foreigners,

A key witness who testified to hearing screams then gunshots from Oscar Pistorius’s home the night his girlfriend was killed, broke down and wept in court Tuesday, saying she still relives the “terrifying screams” she heard.

In an emotive second day of the South African Paralympian’s murder trial, a shaken Michelle Burger sobbed

after tough cross-examination, saying the events of Valentine’s Day 2013, when Steenkamp was killed, still haunted her.

“When I’m in the shower, I relive her shouts. The terrifying screams,” she told the North Gauteng High Court.

The university lecturer has testified that she heard screams, then gunshots, then more screams from Pistorius’s Pretoria home less than 200 metres (yards) away from her own. l

vice president , All India FF, Hardev Jadeja, treasurer, All India FF, Ibrahim Waheed and Nooh Ali, Ex-Co Members , Maldives FF, Mani Kunwar and Shivanee Thapa , officials of Nepal FF, J.M. Jauzi, treasurer, Sri Lanka FF, Upali PathiranaHewage, general secretary Sri Lanka FF, Tabith Awal vice president Bangladesh FF and Md Abu Nayeem Shohag,general sSecretary Bangladesh FF are the delegates of the Congress. Alberto Agostinho De Jesus Colaco the General Secretary, SAFF and World Sports Group officials Harish Krishnamachar and Deepak Singh will also be present. l

Heat beat Bobcats LeBron James scored a career-high 61 points to break the Miami Heat onegame scoring record on Monday, sparking the defending NBA champions over the Charlotte Bobcats 124-107.

The Heat’s season win streak stretched to eight games in a row with a 16th consecutive victory in meetings with Charlotte, whose win drought against Miami now spans four years.

James sank eight 3-pointers, hitting 22-of-33 shots from the field overall. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Wednesday, March 5, 2014

JNU HALL RECOVERY DEMO ENTERS DAY 20

Students declare two plots as TSC and academic building n Mohammad Jamil Khan Students of Jagannath University (JnU) declared an empty plot of Bangladesh Shomobay Bank in old Dhaka as teachers-student centre (TSC) while Sadarghat branch of Bangladesh Bank as academic building yesterday since it was the 20th day of hall recovery demonstration by students and teachers.

The students declared to build their TSC on the empty plot of Shomobay Bank which is opposite to the main gate of the university. They took control of it around 1:00pm by breaking down the boundary walls and setting fire on it.

On information, two fire-fighting units from Sadharghat Fire and Civil Defence Station rushed to the spot and doused the fire. Later, students have taken three street hawkers on the vacant space. The students asked the hawkers to sell foods from there as from now it is their TSC. Earlier in the morning, the agitating students started their sit-in in front of Bangladesh Bank main gate of Sadarghat Branch at around 11.00 am as per their previous schedule program. The demonstrated started on the day from 10.00am by brought out procession from the campus.

During the demonstration led by Chhatra League JnU unit president Shariful Islam and general secretary Shirajul Islam, the students hung a banner on the bank gate around 12:00pm mentioning as “Bangabandhu Academic Building.”

The sit-in programme of students

closed the entrance of the bank suspending all entrance and exit of the bank. For this reason, the bank activities were suspended for the day.

The agitating students also created blockade on the roads of Chittaranjan Avenue and Bahadurshah Park suspending all vehicular movement from Gulistan to Sadarghat route from 11:00am. The traffic resumed after the students withdrew their barricade around 2:00pm, said Harun-or-Rashid, deputy commissioner of police of Lalbagh division.

Talking with Dhaka Tribune, Shirajul Islam, member secretary of JnU hall recovery parishad (committee) said: “We want to turn this empty plot into our TSC as the university does not have adequate land and also establish academic building on the plot of Bangladesh Bank Sadarghat Branch as it was built on university lands.”

When asked about Wednesday’s program, he said we would seal off the main gate of B.Bank’s Sadarghat Branch and stay put on Najimuddin Hall with students.

On the other hand, teachers also brought out protest procession and held a rally on the campus. The teachers also formed human chain in front of university Shaheed Minar and joined in the sit-in program held in front of B.Bank Sadarghat branch.

Meanwhile, Kazi Firoz Rashid, the eight-member probe body convener, also local parliamentary member held a meeting with university authority

Protesting students of Jagannath University break the boundary walls an empty plot of Bangladesh Shomobay Bank, demanding the establishment of the university’s TSC at the site, in the capital’s Bahadur Shah Park area yesterday RAJIB DHAR tion as they had started working in full swing to recover students’ halls and other demands would be met shortly.

The students had been agitating for

at Vice-Chancellor conference room to discuss options for recovering the halls. After the meeting, he urged the students to suspend the demonstra-

Climate-tolerant rice unpopular among farmers n Abu Bakar Siddique

Rice varieties that are tolerant of salinity, drought and water submersion – developed by the Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) – are yet to gain popularity among the farmers, with agricultural researchers blaming the “slow pace” of the “weak” initiatives by government agencies for the failure.

The BRRI released two saline-tolerant rice varieties named Brri 53 and Brri 54 in 2010, as well as releasing two submersion-tolerant varieties Brri 51 and Brri 52 in the same year.

In 2012, the government-led research organisation released two more varieties named Brri 56 and Brri 57 with the quality of draught-tolerance.

In addition to these six extreme-climate-tolerant rice varieties, the BRRI also released eight more varieties between 2009 and 2013, though most of them also failed to be popular among farmers.

The researchers who developed the varieties have blamed the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation

(BADC), the agency that works to distribute seed, for its “slow pace” of seed production and distribution.

Most varieties except the Brri 58, which was produced by cross-breeding the most popular Boro varieties Brri 28 and Brri 29, were yet to reach the farmers because the lack of adequate seeds and its publicity, said Dr Tamal Lata Aditya, chief scientific officer of the BRRI. She also said the Brri 58 manages to reach farmers, as the BRRI itself had promoted it in the farmers-level in areas surrounding Comilla.

However, Lutful Karim, assistant general manager (seed distribution) of BADC, said the popularity of the extreme-climate varieties was low among the farmers, despite the BADC having adequate stock of such varieties.

According to the BADC, the total seed sales of saline-resilient varieties Brri 53 and Brri 54 were only 7.5 tonnes and 20 tonnes respectively during last Aman season.

In case of drought-tolerant varieties Brri 56 and Brri 57, the total seed sales were 2 tonnes and 2.5 tonnes respectively.

However, the sale of seeds was higher for submerge-tolerant varieties of Brri 51 and Brri 52, with total sale reaching 406 tonnes and 453 tonnes respectively, sources at the BADC said, adding that 17,554 tonnes of Aman seed was sold last year.

Karim also said such low popularity of the climate-tolerant varieties was a result of poor publicity by the Department of Agriculture Extension (DAE), as it was the sole authority to make farmers aware about the new varieties and their specialty.

On the other hand, Rafiqul Hasan, deputy director of the DAE, said they have been running adequate publicity and field-training programme among farmers to introduce every new production. He also said the farmers were yet to receive the new varieties.

Asked why farmers turn their backs on the climate-tolerant varieties, Professor Shamsul Alam, a member of Bangladesh Planning Commission, said farmers opted for varieties that were comfortable to produce, and rejected those that had substandard quality.

As an example, Shamsul Alam, who is also an agriculture economist, said Brri 28 and Brri 29 have been the most popular varieties developed by the BRRI for the last 20 years, because of their farmer-friendly qualities that include more production and less irrigation requirement.

Out of the 55,500 tonnes of Boro seed sold last year, Brri 28 and Brri29 were the most popular varieties, with 25,633 tonnes and 26,555 tonnes sold respectively.

Jiban Krishna Biswas, director general of the BRRI, acknowledged the matter and said the DAE has to gear up its publicity to make the varieties popular.

Regarding the popularity of some specific varieties, he said along with the Boro, only a few other varieties are popular among the Aman farmers, including Brri 11 and Indian variety Swarna.

Jiban Krishna termed the tendency of mono-variety cultivation culture as bad, because it hampered crop diversity and thus increased the tendency of different types of insect attack on crops. l

long to recover 13 halls from illegal occupants since the university started its journey on October 20, 2005. The latest protests began on February 12, with

teachers and staff joining in while 200 students and teachers got hurt during a clash held around campus on Feb 22 between students and police. l

Ashraf ‘changes’ position on partisan local polls n Tribune Report After a day of hinting local body election holding as partisan basis, LGRD Minister Syed Ashraful Islam has changed his speech saying the government has no desire for holding the election under party banner.

Syed Ashfar, also secretary of Awami League told yesterday, to the parliament in a written speech while answering to Awami League lawmaker M Abdul Latif: “The government has no plan to hold Union Parishad, Upazila Parishad, District Council, Municipality and City Corporation election in party basis at present.”

On Monday, in a party meeting, Ashraf hint for holing local body election in partisan mood, saying that Prime Minister had instructed him to take initiative for amending local body law.

He raised questions: “What is the point in not participating in local body

polls with party symbols? Why is this hide and seek?” “ There is no such dual policy anywhere else in the world,” he said.

He added it was important to change the law to make the local government bodies effective.

In the answer of the question of Jatiya Party lawmaker Pir Fazlur Rahman, LGRD Minister said that it was the duty of election commission to hold City Corporation election.

“According to article 35 of Local government (City Corporation) Law-2009, election commission’s duty is to hold City Corporation election. The commission will conduct the poll under its rules,” he said.

Peer Fazlur Rahman asked the Minister if government had planned to hold Dhaka City Corporation Election.

Law Minister Anisul Haque said there was no fixed timetable from the government. l

India ends two-finger test on identifying rape victims n Tribune Desk

The Union health ministry, which has drawn new guidelines for treating rape victims, has asked all hospitals to set up a designated room for forensic and medical examination of victims besides outlawing the two-finger test performed on them, dubbing it as unscientific.

The Department of Health Research (DHR) along with Indian Council of Medical Re-

search (ICMR) with the help of experts formulated this set of national guidelines for dealing with criminal assault cases, which will hopefully put an end to the “horrendous” medical process, which the victims are subjected to after the sexual abuse, the Times of India reported with reference from PTI. The DHR has also drafted a new manual to address the psycho-social impact of sexual violence including counselling that the victims should receive to alleviate her woes.

These guidelines have been made available to health care providers who work with victims of sexual violence.

An experts’ group on gender and health was formed by Dr V M Katoch, secretary to GOI-DHR and director general ICMR in November 2011 under the chairmanship of Dr M E Khan (secretary, Sexual Violence Research Initiative) to formulate these guidelines which can be used at Primary Health Centres and district hospitals whenever a

rape victim approaches them.

Later, Indrajit Khandekar, in-charge Clinical Forensic Medicine Unit (CFMU) and associate professor at Mahatma Gandhi Institute of Medical Sciences (MGIMS) Sevagram- Wardha (on whose study report titled “pitiable & horrendous quality of forensic medical examination of sexual assault cases” a PIL was filed in Bombay high court) was given the responsibility to draft these guidelines. l

New born found n Tribune Report

A new-born baby boy receives treatment at DMCH after being recovered alive from a roadside in front of Pubali Bank’s head office in Motijheel area yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

A new born baby boy was found alive on the street in an adjacent alley of Pubali Bank’s head office at Motijheel in the capital yesterday morning.

Police rescued the baby and took it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital around 11am. Doctors said the baby was fine.

Amena Begum, a cleaner of the bank, first noticed the boy told reporters that she heard a crying in feeble voice while sweeping the area. She looked for the voice and found the baby wrapped in a cloth lying in a corner of the alley. She informed the bank official and they contacted with police.

Md Shahriar, a doctor of the children ward of DMCH said they examined the baby and it was out of danger. The baby’s umbilical cord was not cut after birth.

“Perhaps he was abandoned immediately after birth,” he observed.

Meanwhile, a police official seeking anonymity said they were suspecting a mid-aged mentally ill street woman to be the baby’s mother. Police had talked with some floating people there who informed that they had seen that pregnant woman around there since the last one month.

“We are trying to trace the woman,” he said.

However Hayatuzzaman, officer- in-charge of Motijheel police station said they were also suspecting that the boy was born elsewhere and someone dumped him there.

Doctors at DMCH said they would arrange a DNA test to match relationship with the woman once she is traced by the police. l

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Continue to the Business section...

Business

B3 Buffett says bitcoin ‘not a currency’

B4 Carmakers fret emerging

markets gloom could overshadow European recovery

WEDNESDAY, MARCH 5, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Steps to set up commodities exchange initiated n Kayes Sohel Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) yesterday moved to set up a commodities market to provide a platform for producers to discover fair prices and hedge risks of their products.

The move emerged after an amendment in November last year to the Securities and Exchange Ordinance 1969, allowing establishment of a commodity exchange in the country.

Derivatives and commodities market, a very new concept in Bangladesh, is a place arranged to allow selling and buying of commodities.

On a derivative market, futures contracts or options for tangible commodities are bought and sold while on a commodity market primary goods rather than manufactured products are traded.

On stock market now existed in the country, investors trade shares of the listed companies.

To carry out a feasibility study and formulate norms, the commission at its meeting yesterday formed three separate panels on derivative and commodity markets, and clearing corporation affairs.

The three-member of the derivative market affairs body will be led by BSEC executive director Farhad Ahmed.

Other two members were directors Mohammad Rezaul Karim and Farhana Faruqui.

Executive director M Mahbubul Alam is the convener of the commodity market affairs committee. Directors Mohammad Jahangir Alam and Mansur Rahman are the other two members of the committee.

Members of the clearing corporation affairs committee, headed by executive director M Saifur Rahman, are executive director M Mahbubul Alam and director Prodip Kumar Basak.

Tofail holds talks on GSP with foreign diplomats today n Asif Showkat Kallol Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed holds a meeting with six foreign diplomats and ILO representative in Bangladesh today to discuss the progress on execution of the action plan in getting back the generalised system of preferences (GSP) in the US market, official sources said.

Minister will inform them about the status of implementation of the fire and safety issues in the garments factories in the country, and how the government would make efforts to enhance bilateral trade with the countries, a senior official of the commerce ministry said yesterday.

He said the diplomats would communicate the bilateral trade issues with the high-ups of their countries.

The diplomats are United States ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena, Netherlands ambassador Gerben De Jong, European ambassador Willium Hana, Canadian ambassador Heather Cruden and Spanish ambassador Luis Tejada. ILO representative in Bangladesh Srinivas Reddy is also scheduled to attend the meeting.

Bangladesh has been asked to fulfill 16 conditions, including trade unions for workers and factory inspection procedures, to get back the GSP the US authorities suspended after the Rana Plaza tragedy.

The commerce minister earlier said 13 of the conditions have already been met and implementation of the rest would not take much time. l

Commodities market will help rice growers learn about prices in advance “The three committees have been asked to submit their study reports to the commission as early as possible,” said Saifur Rahman, also a spokesperson of the commission, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He said the committees will look into present market condition, guideline on trading, disciplinary, membership rules and other required rules to introduce the derivative and commodity market.

Last year, a feasibility study has been carried out by the Asian Development Bank under its capital market development project (phase-III).

Some broker firms have already trained their executives on how to execute trade in the commodities market,

said a broker. “They have been trained mainly on gold trading,” he said.

Experts believe a commodities exchange could be developed in the country to help stabilise the commodities market.

Derivative market expert and Chairman and Managing Director of Alliance Capital Asset Management Ltd Wali-Ul-Maroof said most of our agricultural producers are small farmers who have inadequate access to updated market prices and are vulnerable to price shocks.

“Small and medium traders and middlemen are usually engaged in marketing of agricultural commodities and farmers generally have no bargaining power,” he said.

Palak annoyed as software park not completed in 5 years n Muhammad Zahidu Islam

The construction work of the country’s first-ever software park is yet to be accomplished even after five years in the backdrop of the legal tussle between the government and the construction firm.

It is very unfortunate for us to see that the work for the software park still remains pending State minister for Information Communication Technology (ICT) division Zunaid Ahmed Palak yesterday expressed his utter frustration over the progress of the software park while he was visiting the Janata Towerat Kawran Barzar in the city.

During his maiden visit, the state minister found the video-conference equipment lying abandoned in the storehouse, which cost Tk50 lakh and also showed his anger to the officer responsible for their negligence in performing their duties.

Only three institutions: e-soft Arena International ltd. Millennium Information Solutions ltd and Square Informatics ltd. were found at the software park in three different floors.

The others IT companies are yet take over their position as the construction

work still remains incomplete, according to officials concerned.

Officials informed as the constrictions work is not over so other companies can’t take over their positions there.

Although the previous government-led by Awami League had declared the Janata Tower as the first software park in the country in 2009, but the process for turning it into a part is taking a long time.

“It is very unfortunate for us to see that the work for the software park still remains pending though the government is always in favour of ICT-related development work,” said Zunaid Ahmed Palak.

He asked the officials concerned to completed all the necessary pending work as early as possible and open it for the software companies.

Managing Director of the Software Park Hossne Wara Begume, Bangladesh Association of Software and information Services (BASIS) president Shameem Ahsan and other officials were present during his visit.

Explaining the reason behind the delay in accomplishing the park Hossne Wara Begume, said, “As the constriction firm failed to complete half of its work within the given deadline, we have suspended them. But, they went to the court for a legal battle.’’

In this regard, Palak said, “We are trying to solve all the problems including the legal battle and also hoping that the park will be run in full swing shortly.” l

SYED ZAKID HOSSAIN

So, they do not have much choice but to accept prices offered by middlemen in the marketing chain, he said.

Establishment of a commodities exchange might bring positive changes in this context, he said.

Allowing growers to sell futures contracts for their commodities helps them ensure guaranteed prices and better plan for the future, he said.

“Futures take out the uncertainty in the market and help ensure price predictability. They allow you to know your income without uncertainty.”

A well-functioning marketing system with a commodity exchange can handle the demand-supply uncertainties, reduce transaction costs and improve food security, he said. l

Grameenphone to focus more on data business

It plans providing customers with smartphone sets at Tk3,900 next month its internet subscribers grow at least n Muhammad Zahidul Islam 45%, said Grameenphone CEO. The mobile phone operator Grameenphone is concentrating on expanding its internet business which, the company thinks, will generate more revenue than the voice in future.

Senior executives of the largest operator in Bangladesh and its parent company have observed that the data business will reach a strong position within a couple of years, which the voice market is now enjoying.

“The voice clients are growing at 15% year-on-year in Bangladesh, but it may happen over the period for data, and we’re preparing ourselves for that,” Vivek Sood, CEO of Grameenphone, told the Dhaka Tribune.

As part of the preparation, Grameenphone has deployed their full strength on data side and is going to offer smartphone handsets at the cheapest rate to their middle-class customers in April so that they could experience the fastest data service, he said.

“We are going to offer in next few months which will make lower and middle income customers able to have smartphone sets.”

According to the sources concerned, Grameenphone will provide the locally-assembled smartphones in an association with the handset maker Symphony at Tk3,900 each.

Grameenphonehas already placed a proposal in this regard to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) for approval.

The mobile phone company launched application store “which will be helpful for them to boost the market,” said VivekSood.

Currently, Grameenphone’s internet subscribers are one crore of its total 4.47 crore active SIM users.

After the launch of 3G service in October last year, the company has seen

Grameenphone bought 10 Megahertz spectrum in 3G auction in September last year. After that a significant number of 3G connections were sold.

The number is increasing every day.

The mobile companies in different countries in Europe, America and Middle East are witnessing drop in voice revenue and rise in data use.

Some of those countries are offering free voice service with data package, and Bangladesh may also plan such package if necessary, according to the mobile operator sources.

At its internet campaign Grameenphone provided21 lakh free internet hours for school children last month.

The “Internet for All” campaign involved popular Bangladeshi cricketers Mushfiqur Rahim, Tamim Iqbal and Nasir Hossain for promote their WhatsApp is a massage application free for the mobile phone users, which is a threat for the mobile phone operators.

Facebook has bought it and declared they will add voice on it which will also be free.

Jon Fredrick Baksaas, president of Telenor Group, said it has created an “enormous threat” for the telecom companies, especially the mobile phone operators.

At present, 45 core people are using WhatsApp around the globe, and in Bangladesh it is becoming popular among the users.

Vivek Sood said mobile phone operators, telecom vendors and the OverThe-Top (OTT) content operators like Facebook, twitter, WhatsApp were trying to find some solutions and set up new business models.

“The revenue can be shared by both OTT operators and mobile phone operators, and we can find some solutions to it,” he said. l

German diplomat: Corruption, poor infrastructure deterring FDI

Charge D’ Affairs of the German embassy in Dhaka, Ferdinand von Weyhe

n Tahmidur Rahman Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) can play a significant part to increase intra-industrial productivity in Bangladesh but infrastructural shortcomings like energy crisis are deterring the investors, said a top German diplomat in Dhaka.

Charge D’ Affairs of the German embassy, Ferdinand von Weyhe was talking with the Dhaka Tribune on the sidelines of a business networking lunch at city hotel yesterday.

Bangladesh German Chamber of Commerce and Industry (BGCCI) organised the event.

The German diplomat pointed out

that the dynamics of the businesses operating in the country might lay out more opportunities to boom exports and increase FDI alongside.

“Two core challenges must be tackled for increasing bilateral trade, one being better infrastructure that includes sufficient supply of electricity and lower congestion, the other challenge is to tackle corruption.”

He mentioned that international press would be landing in Dhaka to oversee improvement of condition in the RMG factory a year after Rana Plaza incident on April 24 last year.

He added that IT industry could be the next big thing for the country, next to RMG in the longer run with proper treatment and nurturing.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed was the chief guest of the event.

He said: “Our business community is the engine of the country’s growth and they will once again rebrand the country from the damage done by the recent disasters in the RMG industries.”

Executive director of BGCCI, Daniel Seidl presented the export trend of the bilateral trade between Bangladesh and Germany, which has seen a slight fall in 2013 against the figure of 2012.

However, export to Germany during the first seven months of the current fiscal year totalled US$2.78bn while it was less than US$4bn last fiscal.

President of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) Md Atiqul Islam and BGCCI president Sakhawat Abu Khair also spoke on the occasion among others. l

Atiur: Easy transfer system helps Bangladesh achieve high remittance growth n Tribune Report

The country’s remittance inflows have gradually witnessed a growth of an average of 11% against 7.15% in the other Asian countries during the last four years (FY2009-13) thanks to easy and hassle-free remittance transfer system.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman came up with the disclosure while addressing an inaugural session

of the World Conference Series-2014 titled “NRB Talent, Remittances and Investment for Development’’ held at a city hotel yesterday.

“Remittances in Bangladesh now stand around 10% of the GDP, rising from 5% of the GDP in the beginning of year 2000,” he said.

“Despite global economic recession and political turmoil in the Middle East, Bangladesh’s financial and exter-

nal sectors continued to remain resilient with the foreign exchange reserves of more than $18bn, which was mainly aided by the robust growth in exports, moderate growth in imports and due to unflinching remittance inflows.”

Describing the growth trends in remittance inflows, Atiur said: The remittance inflow in the FY 2012-13 were around $14.46bn, a 12.59% growth, leading a current account surplus for

the last five years, only in south Asia, despite being a trade deficit country.

This demonstrates inherent strength of our external sector and hence that of our currency. And one must give credit to NRBs for attaining this strength, said the governor.

Pointing at the central bank’s steps for ensuring easy and hassle-free remittance transfer system, he said Bangladesh Bank had already simpli-

fied approval policy for drawing arrangements between foreign exchange houses and domestic banks.

Thirty-seven banks have already been permitted to set up 1,084 drawing arrangements with 288 exchange houses all over the world for collecting remittances. Responding to this arrangement, some banks have already established exchange houses abroad.

“Bangladesh Electronic Fund

Transfer Network (BEFTN) and mobile banking are operating in full-swing to ease remittance disbursement. Micro-finance Institutions (MFIs) are also involved as partners in smooth delivery of inward remittances.”

The central bank has already given licenses to at least three NRB banks to further improve the pace of remittances & foreign investment inflows in the country, said the governor. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Tribune Report

'There has been a wide sector wise rotation, from blue chip stocks into stocks belonging to main index' The Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, gained 22 points to close at 9,214.

Turnover remained poor as confidence was somewhat less solidified on a market reversal, causing investors hesitant to stay inactive. As a result, turnover declined by 8.5% to Tk462 crore at the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

“After showing a lack of direction in index for more than a week, DSEX has moved modestly higher over the course of trading,” said Lanka Bangla Securities in its market analysis.

“Banking stocks have maintained a

Company

Turnover (Million Taka)

4,628.22

Turnover (Volume)

strong upward movement, driving the benchmark index. The strength in the sector came amid beaming corporate earnings of the banking stocks.”

Cement, engineering and power sectors showed strength in mid-day trading.

On the other hand, food and allied, life insurance, tannery and telco stocks saw a dip of 2.8%, 0.8%, 2% and 2.7% in their market capitalisation respectively restricting the day’s gain in index.

IDLC Investment said four declining sessions prompted for natural reversal in the bourse. “In addition, volatility was prominent, with more than 70 scrips posting gains of more than 3% movements.”

Meanwhile, a handful of stocks continued to dominate turnover, yielding another session with top five stocks having over 25% turnover.

Lafarge Surma Cement rose over 8% and Southeast Bank 5% due to their earnings announcement.

Zenith Investment said market emerged from its vulnerable position, albeit it is still difficult to measure how long the rally would continue. “There has been a wide sector wise rotation, from blue chip stocks into stocks belonging to main index.”

Most attracted stock was Square Pharmaceutical, the country’s top drag maker, with shares worth Tk31 crore changing hands.

It was followed by Olympic Industries, Lafarge Surma Cement, Bangladesh Submarine Cable and Company Ltd, Southeast Bank, Grameenphone Meghna Petroleum and Heidelberg Cement. l

Stocks ended flat amid dull trading yesterday, breaking four consecutive days of losses.

The benchmark DSEX edged 16 points or 0.4% higher to close at 4,703, pulled up by market bellwether banks that rallied on better-than-expected earnings.

Shariah DSES was marginally up 5 points or 0.5% to 1,006. The blue-chip comprising DS30 ended at 1,695 with a loss of 7 points or 0.5%.

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features March 4, 2014

Stocks end flat amid dull trading

83,146,727

Number of Contract

97,200

Traded Issues

290

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

152

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

130

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

8

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,305.03

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.94

Turnover (Million Taka)

431.89

Turnover (Volume)

9,135,479

Number of Contract

14,779

Traded Issues

227

DSE Broad Index :

4703.87812

(+) 0.36%

▲

119

DSE Shariah Index :

1006.02645

(+) 0.45%

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

▼

103

DSE - 30 Index :

1694.81770

(-) 0.44%

▼

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

CSE All Share Index:

14565.5265

(+) 0.45%

CSE - 30 Index :

12315.5095 9221.2419

CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS Company Al-Haj Textile -A Libra Infusions-A Usmania Glass -Z NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A Intl. Leasing-B Marico BD Ltd-A Dutch Ban. Bnk- A Monno Stafllers -A GeminiSeaFood-Z

BATBCL -A

Closing (% change) -9.96 -5.83 -4.76 -4.76 -4.71 -4.64 -4.35 -4.14 -3.74

-3.52

CSE LOSERS Company Dutch Ban. Bnk- A Pragati Gen. I -A Mercantile Insur -A ICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A Rangpur Foundry -A Marico BD Ltd-A Apex Tannery -A PragatiLife Insu. -A Eastern Cables-Z

Prime Islami Life -A

Closing (% change) -7.52 -7.34 -6.91 -6.42 -5.36 -5.33 -4.75 -4.10 -4.00

-3.70

Average (% change) -8.68 -5.85 -3.08 -2.61 -3.13 -5.24 -5.62 -7.17 -4.29

-4.73

Average (% change) -6.66 -7.34 -7.55 -6.22 -5.31 -5.34 -3.45 -4.10 -4.02

-3.67

ANALYST

Closing average 130.69 484.55 165.45 8.20 16.39 1057.64 108.29 326.67 167.50

2113.61

4

▼

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

(+) 0.48%

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,199.29

▼

(+) 0.31%

▼

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.66

Closing 125.60 484.60 161.90 8.00 16.20 1045.00 107.80 326.40 167.20

2096.50

Closing average

Closing

106.81 58.10 25.60 10.25 106.05 1,044.00 179.30 236.00 120.05

105.80 58.10 25.60 10.20 106.00 1,044.00 176.40 236.00 120.10

112.00

112.00

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

DSE Million Taka 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

140.00 490.10 172.00 8.50 16.80 1079.90 112.00 327.00 171.00

125.60 480.00 161.00 8.00 16.00 1042.00 103.00 326.00 166.00

2218.00

Daily high

Turnover in million

Daily low

2070.00

112.00

5.719

Turnover in million

Daily low

110.00 58.10 25.60 10.40 106.10 1,044.00 185.20 236.00 120.10

44.848 1.066 2.945 1.562 3.949 9.413 20.794 0.196 0.067

105.50 58.10 25.60 10.20 106.00 1,044.00 175.00 236.00 120.00

112.00

0.748 0.006 0.026 0.031 0.106 0.052 3.730 0.236 0.024

0.006

8.05 7.29 7.01 6.82 6.05 6.04 5.99 5.79 5.79 5.73

CSE GAINERS Company SonarBangla Insu. -A Metro Spinning -A LafargeS Cement-Z aamra technologies-A Beach Hatchery -A Golden Harvest Agro-N Rangpur Dairy-N Maksons Spinning-A ICB -A Southeast Bank-A

Closing (% change) 9.49 8.00 7.57 7.53 7.29 5.68 5.49 5.33 5.15 5.02

Average (% change) 3.46 4.30 4.32 3.98 3.83 2.33 2.68 3.70 3.29 5.95 Average (% change) 12.10 2.97 2.80 3.90 4.65 5.07 2.83 3.50 5.67 6.14

Closing average 40.02 30.79 39.11 18.56 22.50 15.39 17.21 25.48 32.38 41.13

Closing average 27.70 18.05 39.64 39.19 30.63 41.00 24.73 15.66 1849.04 23.18

Closing 41.60 30.90 39.70 18.80 22.80 15.80 17.70 25.60 32.90 40.60

Closing 27.70 18.90 41.20 40.00 30.90 40.90 25.00 15.80 1840.00 23.00

Daily high 42.20 31.40 40.30 19.00 22.90 16.00 18.00 25.90 33.30 42.20

Daily high 27.70 18.90 42.00 40.40 31.40 42.00 25.20 16.00 1849.80 24.80

Daily low 38.10 27.00 35.00 16.00 21.80 13.50 16.70 25.00 29.20 35.00

Daily low 27.70 17.90 36.10 37.50 28.50 38.90 24.00 15.00 1840.00 22.70

Turnover in million 229.235 28.254 53.641 5.155 3.150 20.230 1.497 0.790 9.372 26.055

Turnover in million 0.125 0.224 44.099 7.805 9.051 3.149 2.014 2.693 1.572 19.089

Latest EPS

Latest PE

2.19 0.79 1.88 0.88 2.56 0.64 -0.69 0.80 1.70 1.62

Latest EPS

18.3 39.0 20.8 21.1 8.8 24.0 -ve 31.9 19.0 25.4

Latest PE

1.85 0.88 2.19 1.88 0.79 1.62 1.13 0.64 40.46 3.87

15.0 20.5 18.1 20.8 38.8 25.3 21.9 24.5 45.7 6.0

Latest EPS

Latest PE

2.06 3.04 5.10 1.03 -0.21 46.53 10.00 5.25 6.44

63.4 159.4 32.4 8.0 -ve 22.7 10.8 62.2 26.0

81.14

Latest EPS

26.0

Latest PE

10.00 4.19 1.49 1.46 3.03 46.53 4.86 2.38 1.40

4.95

10.7 13.9 17.2 7.0 35.0 22.4 36.9 99.2 85.8

From TradeServers:

SOUTHEASTB: The Board of Directors has recommended 16% cash dividend and 5% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 31.03.2014, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Bashundhara Convention Centre-2, Block-C, Umme Kulsum Road, Bashundhara R/A, Baridhara, Dhaka-1229.

Record date: 13.03.2014. The Company has also reported Consolidated EPS of Tk. 3.87, Consolidated NAV per share of Tk. 25.11 and Consolidated NOCFPS of Tk. 23.58 for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

DUTCHBANGL: The Board of Directors has recommended 40% cash dividend for the General Public Shareholders and Foreign Sponsors/Shareholders for the year ended on December 31, 2013. The Local Sponsors (holding total 122,634,240 shares of Tk. 10.00 each) of the Company will not receive any dividend. The total amount of Tk. 309,463,040.00 (40% cash dividend for 77,365,760 shares of Tk. 10.00 each) will be payable to the General Public Shareholders and Foreign Sponsors/Shareholders.

Date of AGM: 30.03.2014, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: 'Ballroom' of Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Dhaka. Record date: 13.03.2014.

The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 10.00, NAV per share of Tk. 63.21 and NOCFPS of Tk. 68.34 for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

LAFSURCEML: The Board of Directors did not recommend any dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 10.06.2014, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: "Harmony Hall", Bangabandhu International Conference Center, Agargaon,

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka 1207. Record Date: 07.04.2014. The Company has also reported consolidated profit of Tk. 2,546.10 million, consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.19, consolidated NAV per share of Tk. 9.51 and consolidated NOCFPS of Tk. 3.89 for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

FAREASTLIF: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to purchase a land measuring area of 33.56 decimals with 4 storied building at 36, Topkhana Road, Ramna, Dhaka-1000 subject to permission of the concerned authority.

PRIMEBANK: 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 2:30 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

ULC: 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 05, 2014 at 3:00 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

UNIQUEHRL: 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 06, 2014 at 4:00 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

BANKASIA: 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 5:00 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 SOUTHEASTB up by 5%, close at 23.20 with PE 5.97, DUTCHBANGL price slided by 4.34%, close at 107.80 with PE 10.78. With no dividend declaration LAFSURCEML price shot up by 8.05% and closed at 41.60 with PE 19.

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.

IPO Subscription: Hwa Well Textiles (BD) Limited subscription date 17-23 February 2014, NRB upto 04 March 2014. At per, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Far Chemical Industries Limited subscription date 10-16 February 2014, NRB upto 25 March 2014. At per, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. The Peninsula Chittagong Limited subscription date 30 March-03 April 2014, NRB upto 12 April 2014. @ taka 30, face value taka 10 and market lot 200.

Shahjibazar Power Co. Limited subscription date 06-04 April 2014, NRB upto 19 April 2014. @ taka 25, face value taka 10 and market lot 200.

22.6

Market emerged from its vulnerable position, albeit it is still difficult to measure how long the rally would continue

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Daily high

LafargeS Cement-Z Beach Hatchery -A aamra technologies-A Metro Spinning -A ICB AMCL IslamicMF-A Maksons Spinning-A Sonargaon Tex -A Anlima Yarn -A BDCOM Online-A Golden Harvest Agro-N

Closing (% change)

News, Analysis and Recent Disclosers

CSE key features March 4, 2014

Daily capital market highlights

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

% 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

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

% 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

Company Square Pharma -A Olympic Ind. -A LafargeS Cement-Z BD Submarine Cable-A Southeast Bank-A Grameenphone-A Meghna Petroleum -A

Square Textile -A HeidelbergCement -A Singer BD -A

Jamuna Oil -A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company BD Submarine Cable-A

LafargeS Cement-Z BSC-A Southeast Bank-A Grameenphone-A Square Pharma -A Singer BD -A Olympic Ind. -A Beach Hatchery -A UCBL - A

Volume shares 1,149,875 1,141,956 5,728,500 913,165 8,348,390 679,200 405,491 1,089,011 234,050 416,226

448,287

Volume shares

227,155 1,112,500 31,670 823,420 82,200 55,008 60,062 62,500 295,487 300,977

Value in million 319.76 254.42 229.24 212.05 193.02 146.74 116.10 115.31 107.90 105.53

104.19

Value in million

52.58 44.10 19.89 19.09 17.76 15.29 15.24 13.97 9.05 8.64

% of total turnover 6.91 5.50 4.95 4.58 4.17 3.17 2.51 2.49 2.33 2.28

2.25

% of total turnover

12.18 10.22 4.61 4.42 4.12 3.54 3.53 3.24 2.10 2.00

Daily closing 275.10 220.50 41.60 227.30 23.10 214.20 284.60 106.80 453.80 251.20

231.50

Daily closing

226.20 41.20 619.50 23.00 214.20 275.70 251.20 220.80 30.90 28.60

Price change 0.29 -2.35 8.05 -2.28 5.00 -2.77 -1.08 3.19 -2.26 -1.64

Daily opening 274.30 225.80 38.50 232.60 22.00 220.30 287.70 103.50 464.30 255.40

Price change

Daily opening

-1.20

-2.42 7.57 -1.71 5.02 -2.68 0.40 -1.34 -2.21 7.29 -0.35

234.30

231.80 38.30 630.30 21.90 220.10 274.60 254.60 225.80 28.80 28.70

Daily high 285.00 227.80 42.20 238.50 26.00 220.80 290.00 108.80 467.00 265.00

240.00

Daily low 254.00 215.00 38.10 219.00 20.00 213.40 270.00 99.00 451.60 240.00

220.00

Daily average 278.08 222.79 40.02 232.22 23.12 216.04 286.32 105.89 461.02 253.55

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

238.00 42.00 648.00 24.80 220.90 280.00 257.80 229.00 31.40 28.90

224.50 36.10 618.00 22.70 213.00 273.20 250.00 219.00 28.50 28.50

232.41

231.47 39.64 628.18 23.18 216.09 277.91 253.78 223.55 30.63 28.71

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Buffett says bitcoin ‘not a currency’ n AFP, New York

Bill Gates reclaims top Dollar gains on upbeat data n of Forbes billionaire list from Slim AFP, Tokyo

Bill Gates has returned to the top of Forbes magazine’s annual list of the world’s richest people, as rising stock markets swelled the ranks of billionaires, which included a record number of women.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who left office two months ago, was 16th at $33bn, built mainly through his eponymous media company With a net worth of $76bn, the Microsoft Corp co-founder reclaimed the top spot after a four-year hiatus, toppling Mexico’s telecommunications mogul Carlos Slim Helu, who placed second at $72bn, Forbes said in announcing the list on Monday.

Amancio Ortega, the Spanish founder of clothing conglomerate Inditex SA, which includes the Zara fashion chain, ranked third at $64bn.

Investing icon Warren Buffett, who runs Berkshire Hathaway Inc and is a frequent bridge partner for Gates, was fourth at $58.2bn. Oracle Corp chief Larry Ellison came in fifth at $48bn.

Gates has topped the list in 15 of the last 20 years.

Hwa Well IPO oversubscribed by 44 times n Tribune Report

The Oracle of Omaha is not a believer in bitcoin. Warren Buffett, chief executive of investment conglomerate Berkshire Hathaway and one of the world’s most respected investors, told CNBC television Monday that bitcoin “does not meet the test of a currency.”

“I wouldn’t be surprised if it’s not around in 10 or 20 years,” said the 83-year-old billionaire, whose nickname stems from his investment savvy and his home city of Omaha, in the US state of Nebraska.

Buffett called the virtual currency, which has no central bank backing and is generated by an automated computer program, “very speculative, a Buck Rogers kind of thing” like the Dutch tulip mania in 1637.

His criticism came on the heels of the collapse of what was once the leading exchange for bitcoin, Mt Gox, in Japan. Mt Gox said it is investigating the disappearance and apparent theft of nearly $500m worth of bitcoin. l

n Reuters

B3

Wednesday, March 5, 2014

A record 1,645 billionaires with a total net worth of $6.4tn made Forbes’ list, up from 1,426 last year.

Just over 10 percent were female, with 172 women compared with 138 a year earlier.

Wal-Mart Stores Inc heiress Christy Walton was the highest-ranking woman, in ninth place, at $36.7bn. France’s Liliane Bettencourt, who got much of her wealth from cosmetics company L’Oreal SA, was next among women at $34.5bn, and ranked 11th overall.

The Internet was well-represented. Google Inc founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin ranked 17th and 19th, worth a respective $32.3bn and $31.8bn, while Amazon.com Inc’s Jeff Bezos was between them at $32bn.

Facebook Inc founder Mark Zuckerberg, 29, more than doubled his net worth to $28.5bn, and ranked 21st.

Former New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg, who left office two months ago, was 16th at $33bn, built mainly through his eponymous media company.

Forbes said the year’s biggest loser was Brazilian tycoon Eike Batista, whose net worth fell below $300m from $10.6bn as his oil and natural resources empire collapsed amid too much debt and falling output.

Roughly two-thirds of the world’s billionaires, or 1,080, were self-made.

The United States had the most billionaires, with 492, followed by China at 152 and Russia at 111. Algeria, Lithuania, Tanzania and Uganda joined the list with one each. l

The dollar rose in Asia yesterday, supported by a pickup in US manufacturing activity, but fears about the escalating crisis in Ukraine hung over currency markets.

In afternoon trade the greenback fetched 101.67 yen, up from 101.44 yen on Monday in New York where it touched a one-month low of 101.20 yen as investors flocked to the safety of the Japanese unit. The euro strengthened to 139.63 yen from 139.34 yen, while buying $1.3732 against $1.3737.

On Monday, Russia’s intervention in Ukraine sent Moscow stock markets tumbling more than 10% and the ruble plunging to historic lows - prompting a surprise rate hike by the central bank in Moscow.

Russia’s parliament voted Saturday to allow President Vladimir Putin to send troops into Crimea, a mainly Russian-speaking Black Sea peninsula in the southeast of the ex-Soviet state.

The move sparked global outrage and Western powers have threatened

to expel Russia from the Group of Eight leading industrial countries, while the United States is pushing for strict economic sanctions.

“Markets are on edge, watching the headlines and waiting to see how the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia play out,” National Australia Bank said.

“On a far more positive note, the US ... manufacturing series was better than expected, despite the poor February weather.”

'Markets are on edge, watching the headlines and waiting to see how the escalating tensions between Ukraine and Russia play out' US manufacturing activity picked up last month, data showed Monday, after slowing in January owing to severe winter weather, while home building pushed US construction

spending higher.

Consumer spending, the main driver of the US economy, climbed 0.4% in January from December. Despite the upbeat data, tensions in Ukraine are likely to fuel demand for safe-haven currencies such as the yen, dealers said.

However, the Japanese was facing pressure as the threat of higher global energy costs meant a possible boost in demand among Japanese importers for dollars to pay the nation’s rising postFukushima energy bills, they added.

The dollar was mostly higher against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It rose to Sg$1.2703 from Sg$1.2674 on Monday, to 11,630 Indonesian rupiah from 11,575 rupiah and to 62.08 Indian rupees from 61.91 rupees.

The greenback firmed to 44.82 Philippine pesos from 44.73 pesos and to 1,072.54 South Korean won from 1,070.45 won while slipping to 32.55 Thai baht from 32.59 baht.

The Australian dollar edged up to 89.29 US cents from 89.11 cents and the Chinese yuan bought 16.50 yen against 16.47 yen. l

Oil prices mixed, eyes on Ukraine crisis n AFP, Singapore Oil prices were mixed in Asian trade yesterday as investors cautiously watch events in Ukraine, with western powers threatening sanctions against Russia for its military intervention in the region. The United States said it had suspended defence cooperation with Russia and the UN Security Council began a meeting on the crisis.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for April delivery, eased 23 cents to $104.69 in afternoon trade on profit-taking as after hitting its highest

levels this year in New York on Monday.

Brent North Sea crude for April gained two cents to $111.22 in volatile trade that saw the contract’s price see-sawing throughout the day. Producing more than 10 million barrels a day in January, Russia vies with Saudi Arabia as the world’s largest crude oil producer, and is the secondlargest producer of natural gas.

More than 70% of its gas and oil exports to Europe pass through Ukraine.

“The Ukraine event is a new catalyst that propped up crude oil prices to form new highs,” Phillip Futures said in a market commentary. “When war

FMC Dockyard Limited has recently signed an agreement with IDLC Investments Limited to raise capital through initial public offering (IPO). IDLC Investments Limited will act as Manager to the Issue in this regard. Pankaj Datta, executive director (corporate affairs), FMC Dockyard Limited and Md Moniruzzaman, managing director of IDLC Investments Limited has signed the contract

Bangladesh Commerce Bank Training Institute recently organised a training workshop on prevention of money laundering and combating terrorist financing. The bank’s MD and CEO, Abu Sadek Md Sohel, inaugurated the course as chief guest

Pubali Bank Limited has been honoured with a plaque from the Centre for Non-Resident Bangladeshis (NRBs) for remarkable support service to increase the flow of inward foreign remittance. On behalf of Pubali Bank Limited, managing director and CEO Helal Ahmed Chowdhury has received the award from Dr Atiur Rahman, governor of Bangladesh Bank

Bangladesh Krishi Bank on Sunday held its half yearly review meeting for its divisional general managers at the bank’s head office. The chairperson on the board of directors, Alauddin A Majid addressed the review meeting as chief guest

erupts, Russia, one of the world’s top oil producers, is likely to reduce oil exports due to higher domestic consumption.”

It warned that any possible disruption to oil infrastructure could hit production, leading to tighter supplies.

Research house Capital Economics noted that “Europe is heavily dependent on supplies of Russian energy”.

Ukraine on Monday accused Russia of pouring more troops into Crimea as world leaders grappled with Europe’s worst crisis since the Cold War and global stock markets tumbled on fears of an all-out conflict. l

The IPO (Initial public offering) of Hwa Well Textiles (BD) Ltd has been oversubscribed by more than 44 times on offer.

Investors ordered shares worth over Tk881 crore against the offer of Tk20 crore, according to the Chittagong Stock Exchange. Of the total subscribed amount, resident Bangladeshis deposited Tk870 crore and non-resident Bangladeshis Tk11 crore against offer.

The company offered two crore ordinary shares of Tk10 each.

In December last year, Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission approved the company’s IPO for purchasing and developing land, construction of factory building, changing existing machines and meeting IPO expenses.

The company’s earnings per share stood at Tk3.66 each and net asset value of Tk28.25, according to its financial statement at the end of June 30 this year. It will be 34th textile company to be listed with the Dhaka Stock Exchange. l

KPP IPO approved n Tribune Report Khulna Printing and Packaging has got green signal from the securities regulator to go public.

The company will issue four crore of ordinary shares of Tk10 each to raise Tk40 crore from the capital market.

The commission has approved the company’s initial public offering (IPO) for strengthening capital base, bank loan repayment and meeting IPO expenses, said Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) in a statement yesterday.

The company’s earnings per share stood at Tk2.82 each and net asset value of Tk24.26, according to its financial statement at the end of June 30 last year.

The commission has also fined Southeast Capital Services Ltd Tk2 lakh, a merchant bank, for providing margin loan on non-marginable securities to some of its clients. l

Japan FM: Gathering facts on bitcoin, unsure whether crime involved n Reuters, Tokyo Japanese Finance Minister Taro Aso said yesterday that the government is still trying to figure out what has led to the collapse of the Tokyo-based bitcoin exchange Mt Gox and is not sure whether crime is involved.

"We still have not had a clear grasp of the situation," Aso said in response to a reporter's question after a cabinet meeting. "(We) don't know if it was a crime or just theft." l

A seminar on stress management and counseling was arranged by Mercantile Bank Training Institute for its senior executives and branch managers at city’s spectra convention centre on Saturday. The chairperson on the board of directors of the bank, M Amanullah inaugurated the daylong seminar

Bank Asia provided a three-week foundation training to its 35 officers in an effort to improve their professional efficiency. A Rouf Chowdhury, the bank’s chairperson handed over certificates to the participants Monday

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Carmakers fret emerging markets gloom could Russia warns it overshadow European recovery could 'reduce to n zero' economic dependency on US Reuters, Geneva

n AFP, Moscow Russia could reduce to zero its economic dependency on the United States if Washington agreed sanctions against Moscow over Ukraine, a Kremlin aide said yesterday, warning that the American financial system faced a "crash" if this happened.

"We would find a way not just to reduce our dependency on the United States to zero but to emerge from those sanctions with great benefits for ourselves," said Kremlin economic aide Sergei Glazyev.

He told the RIA Novosti news agency Russia could stop using dollars for international transactions and create its own payment system using its "wonderful trade and economic relations with our partners in the East and South."

Russian firms and banks would also not return loans from American financial institutions, he said.

"An attempt to announce sanctions would end in a crash for the financial system of the United States, which would cause the end of the domination of the United States in the global financial system," he added.

He said that economic sanctions im-

'Android tops as tablets go mainstream' n AFP, San Francisco Tablet computer sales soared last year with Android-powered devices dethroning iPads atop a booming global market, according to figures released Monday by Gartner.

Sales of tablet computers surged to 195.4 million last year in a 68% jump from what was seen in 2012, the industry tracker reported.

The raw number of iPads sold climbed more than nine million to a total of 70.4 million.

Meanwhile, the portion of sales grabbed by tablets running on Googleback Android rose to 61.9% last year from 45.8% in 2012, according to Gartner.

"In 2013, tablets became a mainstream phenomenon, with a vast choice of Android-based tablets being within the budget of mainstream consumers while still offering adequate specifications," Gartner research director Roberta Cozza said in a release.

Apple continues to rule the high-end of the market with iPads, but low-cost Android tablets appeal to buyers with slim budgets in emerging markets, according to Gartner.

California-based Apple's compelling "ecosystem" of music, games, films, and other digital content and services for mobile devices has rivals under pressure to provide similar experiences on tablets, Cozza said. l

posed by the European Union would be a "catastrophe" for Europe, saying that Russia could halt gas supplies "which would be beneficial for the Americans" and give the Russian economy a useful "impulse".

Glazyev has long been seen as among the most hawkish of the advisors to President Vladimir Putin but many observers have seen his hand in the apparent radicalisation of policy on Ukraine since the overthrow of president Viktor Yanukovych.

Economists have long mocked his apocalyptic and confrontational vision of global economics but also expressed concern that he appears to have grown in authority in recent months.

A high ranking Kremlin source told RIA Novosti that Glazyev was speaking in the capacity of an "academic" and his personal opinion did not reflect the official Kremlin policy.

Glazyev descrived the new Ukrainian authorities as "illegitimate and Russophobic", saying some members of the government were on lists of "terrorist organisations, they are criminals".

"If the authorities remain criminal then I think the people of Ukraine will get rid of them soon," he added. l

French carmaker Renault has trimmed its growth forecast for the global market this year, in a sign the industry is becoming increasingly worried about volatile emerging markets even as demand in Europe starts to pick up.

Renault sales chief Jerome Stoll told the Geneva auto show on Tuesday the group now expected global car sales to rise by slightly less than the 2% previously forecast.

"While Europe is showing some signs of recovery, we are at the same time seeing some headwinds from emerging markets," he said, citing weaker than expected demand in Russia, Argentina, Turkey and Algeria in particular.

After a six-year sales slump, Europe's car market is finally showing signs of recovery as even countries hardest hit by a sovereign debt crisis move out of recession. Industry data on Monday showed car sales in Germany, Italy and Spain rose last month, although they dipped in France.

But some emerging markets such as Brazil and Russia have seen a slowdown in demand, and executives are concerned the latest bout of volatility sparked by Russia's military intervention in Ukraine could lead to a further weakening.

"Some countries have seen their currencies devalue by 20, 30 or 35%.

That always has consequences ... very strong consequences if one doesn't produce locally," Christian Klingler, sales chief at Europe's biggest carmak-

The Porsche 918 Spyder is presented during a preview show by Volkswagen Group yesterday, on the eve of the press day of the Geneva Motor Show in Geneva AFP er Volkswagen (VW) , told Reuters at the show late on Monday.

"We're a major trade partner of Russia and are looking at the Ukraine and Russia with concern," added VW Chief Executive Martin Winterkorn.

Nonetheless, executives remain mostly upbeat about prospects for

expectations.

Stoll said he was still confident of recovery in the French market, despite a drop in February sales, and added the strength of recovery in previously crisis-hit European countries such as Italy, Portugal and Spain was a "good surprise." l

LEADERSHIP SUMMIT 2014

Battle of the tablets

A keen eye for performance

Apple 70.4

Samsung 37.4 Units sold Worldwide 2013 Millions

ASUS 11.0 Amazon 9.4 Lenovo 6.5

Others 60.7 Operating systems Market share Android 61.9 percent

the global car industry, pointing to the continued strength of demand in China, the world's biggest autos market, and to recovery in the United States.

"It's a question of tenths of a percentage point," Renault's Stoll said of the French group's cut in its growth

iOS 36

Microsoft 2.1 Others <0.1

Source: Gartner, AFP

n Tribune Business Desk Beth Macdonald, speaker for the Leadership Summit 2014 and Global Executive Coach and Learning Facilitator As global executive coach and learning facilitator, Bethâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s continuing challenge is to harness human potential and convert it into sustainable, exceptional performance.

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Her work experience includes senior executive responsibility for corporate technical innovation and market development; new business development and organisational consultancy. She has worked with both Fortune 500 companies and small enterprises in a career that spans over 30 years. Bethâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s is a unique combination of technical and creative skills and a broad corporate experience spanning several industries, to industries as far afield as technical textiles, consumer products, medical devices, training and website development.

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Bethâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s formal training as a coach includes certification in Gestalt Facilitation and Coach, a programme in Ontological Coaching from Newfield in Australia; and the New Ventures West Coaching to Excellence program. In addition, she is certified in Emotional Intelligence, Spiral Dynamics, NLP, MBTI and Firo-B. Beth attended the University of Pennsylvania (MS candidate for Leadership, Dynamics of Organization), University of the Philippines, the Asian Institute of Management and Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science. Her client base includes multinational corporations and leading-edge Asian companies with a focus on the senior and upper-middle managers of organisations. At the Leadership Summit 2014, she will be inspiring the audience with her presentation under the title: Leadership Mindset and its impact on Business Decisions. l

From India's northern backwaters, a new business elite rises n Reuters Ravindra Kishore Sinha built India's largest security business from a garage in the dirtpoor state of Bihar. He has just won a seat in the upper house of parliament, becoming its richest member, and his Security and Intelligence Services (SIS India) firm is growing at 40% a year.

A few hundred miles to the west, but still in northern India, the Gupta family of Kanpur has transformed Dainik Jagran, which was born in the tumult of the independence movement, into a newspaper giant with the world's highest readership.

And close by, from a dusty by-lane, the Gyanchandani family has gone head-tohead against global titans Procter & Gamble and Unilever to build a detergent brand that has now taken 17% of the domestic market.

India's northern Hindi-speaking belt, home to around half a billion people, is taking off after decades of trailing industrialised seaboard states in the west and south.

Leading the charge is a mix of old-world families like the Guptas and aggressive first-generation businessmen such as Sinha who have combined first-mover advantage, street-fighting techniques and old political connections to build empires of their own, all in the space of a few years.

Saurabh Mukherjea, chief executive officer for institutional equities at Ambit Capital, describes the new class of highly successful, wealthy and well-connected regional entrepreneurs as "the new kings of North India".

"Through their access to regional political overlords and through their money power, this regional elite is already influencing national politics and shifting the balance of power away from the better-known business houses in Mumbai and Delhi," he said. "This is no bad thing, as it will lead to more power migrating to the state capitals of India."

To be sure, the rise of some of north India's business groups has been controversial and mired in allegations of graft and wrongdoing, backed up by a cosy relationship with regional politicians. Last week, Subrata Roy, chairman of the Sahara conglomerate, was arrested, capping a long struggle with the securities regulator over accusations that he failed to comply with a 2012 court order to repay billions of dollars to investors in a bond scheme. The scheme was later ruled to be illegal. Roy denies the charges.

Hindi heartland Much of what is today known as India's Hindi heartland was once home to the rich and powerful Mughal empire. But in

the 20th century it became a byword for poverty, crime and corruption, a region that failed to reap the benefits of free-market reforms that came in the 1990s.

Over the last decade, however, the centre of rapid growth has shifted northward and inland on the back of better roads, mobile networks and generous financial assistance from the left-leaning government led by the Congress party.

The average growth rate in the northern states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa, Bihar and Uttar Pradesh jumped from 2.2% in the 1990s to 9.1% in the 10 years beginning 2002, while India's national growth rate gained just 2 percentage points.

In Bihar, Sinha scaled up his business overnight six years ago, buying security firm Chubb Australia's manpower business, whose revenues were then seven times bigger than his own firm's. Currently SIS, with a turnover of 27bn rupees ($435m), is the world's 13th-largest security business and its owner is looking to the Middle East for more acquisitions.

From providing security at the Taj Mahal monument to protecting businessmen transferring car loads of cash and jewellers moving gold in a nation where the underground economy accounts for some 40% of activity, there is plenty of work for Sinha's army of 40,000 trained guards.

"It is foolish to expect the state to do everything. The state doesn't have infrastructure or the zeal to protect each and every citizen, each and every industry, each and every corporate," Sinha, 62, said in an interview at the firm's plush headquarters in New Delhi, which is adorned with idols of Hindu gods - a far cry from the decrepit garage on a water-logged street in Patna, Bihar's capital, where he launched the state's biggest start-up.

His connections run deep in Bihar's bureaucracy and politics. Several of his managers are former police and military brass and he himself has been a member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for three decades, quietly financing the party as his business flourished.

A top bureaucrat said a dramatic improvement in law and order in Bihar, where kidnapping was once more lucrative than any business, has opened up investment opportunities.

"There has been an upsurge in the rural economy, our agriculture growth is higher than the country growth and that has created demand," said Vivek Singh, the state's principal agriculture secretary.

A transformed countryside Perhaps the renaissance of the north is best reflected in the spectacular growth of the

Dainik Jagran newspaper on the back of increased literacy levels.

The Gupta brothers, based in Kanpur once known as the Manchester of the East for its colonial-era textile industry - publish 37 editions of their newspaper and 210 subeditions to reach 55 million people, more than the population of South Africa.

With a presence in 11 states stretching from Kashmir in the Himalayas to West Bengal in the east, the low-key Guptas wield immense influence. A newspaper launched in 1942 as the Quit India movement to oust British rulers began, Dainik Jagran adapted early to foreign technology and finance.

Computers with Hindi-character keyboards came to the newspaper long before anyone in the vernacular press had thought about them. In 2010, private equity firm Blackstone Group ploughed 2.25bn rupees ($36.3m) into the holding company Jagran Prakashan Ltd, its first investment in a media company in the country.

"It reflects the growth that we see sweeping north India. Gone are the days when three to four families shared one newspaper or people read the paper in the village square," said Sanjay Gupta, chief executive officer of Jagran Prakashan. "Now we are delivering the paper to individuals in villages. These villages are small towns in themselves now."

One member of the close-knit family that lives in a sprawling bungalow in Kanpur has just ended a term in the upper house of parliament as a representative of a regional party that governs Uttar Pradesh. Another previously represented the BJP, underlining the family's reach across the political spectrum.

It's the same rural prosperity that has transformed the Gyanchandani family's Rohit Surfactants into one of the largest makers of detergents. It began as a oneman army with patriarch Murli Dhar making the soap in his house and then doing the rounds of shops on his bicycle, urging them to give Ghari a try.

Murli Dhar still gets on the phone each day to pump up the sales force that has turned his firm into a $600m conglomerate with interests from dairy products to footwear.

Like many of their Hindi-belt peers, the Gyanchandanis keep a low public profile, and requests for interviews went unanswered. Behind the scenes, however, these "kings of North India" are exerting greater influence on regional parties that play an outsized role in the country's ruling coalitions.

"The dynamics of coalition politics will allow these elites to pull more federal taxpayers' funds their way and bend policy in their direction," said Mukherjea. l