24 April 2014

Boishakh 11, 1421 Jamadius Sani 23, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 25

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages | Price: Tk10

April 24 will always remain etched in the memory of Bangladesh, as on this day last year the Rana Plaza tragedy claimed 1,136 lives. We publish today’s issue of Dhaka Tribune in black and white to pay our respect to all the victims.

The day that will haunt forever Horror still chases heroic volunteers n Ashif Islam Shaon

Life has not been the same for all Islam and Ashif Islam n Udisa Shaon For Reshma, who survived a 17-day nightmare under the rubbles of Rana Plaza, media spotlight has fetched a comfortable life.

But badly ignored Sultana and Shanenur, who were equally traumatised by the deadly collapse, had to choose prostitution for a living.

The miracle girl’s near-impossible story of survival has put her under media spotlight and landed her quite a comfortable job at a five-star hotel in the capital.

But her fellow survivors came back to a different reality. They have not ended up quite as fortunate. Their agonies and stories still remain unheard.

The survivors did not get much financial help – from the government and other organisations. Yet, they cannot afford to be without work for long.

Sohrab Ahmed Jahangir had a job at one of the factories in the Rana Plaza but now works as a shop assistant.

“I came out of the wreckage minutes after the collapse, but Shahnaz, once my co-worker and later my wife, could not. She was rescued three days later,” he said.

Shahnaz got treatment and recovered from her two broken legs, but is no more fit enough to work again. She now lives in her hometown in Kishoreganj with her children.

“My mother now looks after both of our children and also Shahnaz. I visited them only once in the last three

A year after the Rana Plaza collapse, a relative still fumbles in the wreckage to find any belongings of the lost ones months... I am staying here alone since there are few opportunities for me to earn a decent living back in the village,” Jahangir said.

Although injured workers received some financial support from the gov-

ernment, NGOs, individuals and British retailer Primark, a major portion was spent on medical, food and other necessities.

Jahangir’s family so far has received Tk80,000 in the form of assistance

from local institutions and individuals.

The whole amount has already been spent on Shahnaz’s treatment, relocation from Savar to Kishoreganj and basic needs in the last one year.

Miracle survivor Reshma, mean-

der from Jhalakathi, Keya Akhter from Rajbari, Md Abu Taher from Bogra, Md Abu Sayeed from Rangpur, Alpana Dashi from Savar, Marzina Begum from Rajbari, Jinnat Ara Popy from Barisal, M Tutul Titu from Chandpur, Rasheda from Gaibandha, Shushanta Das from Habiganj, Selim Sheikh from Rajshahi, Md Baki Sheikh from Khulna, Nazimuddin from Naogaon, Sagorika Rani Das from Manikganj, Israfil from Mymensingh, Sumon from Chittagong, Chan Banu from Naogaon, Mamtaz from Tangail, Md Shahadat from Kurigram, Benu Rani Das from Savar,

Many heroic volunteers, who risked their own lives to save hundreds of workers trapped under the Rana Plaza rubble, continue to be haunted by the traumatic experiences they faced during the rescue efforts.

Without any proper financial support or psychological counselling, many of the brave souls now face uncertain futures as their struggle to hold on to their mental stability has forced them to become unemployed.

Abdur Rahman Tota Miah, a 30-yearold NGO worker, was among the thousands of onlookers who amassed at the Rana Plaza site following the collapse on April 24 last year. Without hesitating to join the rescue efforts, Tota collected simple tools like a flashlight, a hammer, and pliers from nearby shops, before starting to dig into the rubble.

Climbing inside the debris, he turned on his flashlight and spotted the bodies of a man and a woman. Tota froze, shocked at seeing the bodies, but soon regained his composure to pull the bodies out.

As he continued to go deeper into the rubble, seven others – who also had no prior experience as rescue workers – joined Tota. The team started to bring out bodies one after another, as well as dragging out many of the trapped survivors.

At the same time, a construction worker named Rafiqul Islam was busy rescuing survivors from another part of the collapsed building site. By noon, he had managed to bring out six survivors by carrying them on his back. When he could find no more survivors, Rafiqul started bringing out the remains of those who had perished.

Like many other volunteers, Tota and Rafiqul did not return home until the rescue work was finally wrapped up on May 14.

However, they brought back the traumatic experiences with them; experiences that continue to haunt them and bar them from having a normal life.

Tota had to spend three weeks in a hospital to get both medical attention and psychological counselling; but the thought of those he was unable to save from under the rubble still makes him angry and restless. He often finds himself wandering in alleys at odd hours, unable to silence the voices in his head.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

while, considers her job at the five-star hotel a gift from Allah. Since June last year, she has been the Public Area Ambassador of Hotel Westin in the capital’s Gulshan.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Twenty-two victims’ bodies handed over to wrong families n Syed Samiul Basher Anik Shafiqul Islam is one among the several hundred relatives of the Savar Rana Plaza victims who went home on May 14 with broken hearts as the operation to rescue survivors from under the debris officially ended and they did not get back the bodies of their near and dear ones.

However, Shafiqul did not lose hope of finding the body of his daughter, Shyamoli Khatun, who used to work as a line operator at a factory on the third floor of Rana Plaza.

He donated samples to the nation-

al forensic DNA profiling laboratory at the Dhaka Medical College, searched the bodies kept at morgues and kept in contact with the district administration office. He visits the Jurain Graveyard every week where the bodies of the unidentified Rana Plaza victims were buried.

“I am looking for her whereabouts constantly. The DNA lab has yet to confirm her body,” he said when the Dhaka Tribune correspondent met with him a few weeks back, in front of Rana Plaza.

Like Shafiqul, many of the victims’ relatives are now looking for the bodies of their near and dear ones, and want

to know who took those bodies away.

The eight-storeyed building collapsed on April 24 last year, killing around 1,140 people, mainly female garment workers of the factories housed in that building, and injuring over 2,500 others.

According to the DC office, a total of 1,136 people were killed during the deadly collapse and only 845 of the bodies were handed over to the families at different times. The remaining 291 bodies were sent to the DNA profiling lab for examinations and identification of 206 bodies was confirmed in three phases. As many as 85 bodies

When all hell broke loose n Julfikar Ali Manik Exactly a year ago on April 24, residents of Savar, a crowded industrial suburb 20km away from Dhaka, began their usual working day in the morning.

It was a little different from any other summer morning because of several thousand anxious readymade garment workers. That morning, they were hesitant about beginning their day’s work in the apparel factories housed in the Rana Plaza.

In just a year, tens of millions of people around the world got familiar with the name Rana Plaza because of its horrific collapse on April 24, 2013.

The collapse that claimed more than 1,100 lives, is easily the deadliest ever industrial disaster in the history of human civilisation. It pushed the 1911 New York factory fire that killed 146 workers, to the second place.

The day of the catastrophic collapse of Rana Plaza that housed five garment factories who made clothes for European and American consumers, thousands of workers were unwilling to get into the factory because they knew that a crack had developed in the building on the previous day.

The anxiety remained unnoticed by not only the thousands of other residents in the area, but also was completely ignored by the authorities of the building and the factories.

Over the past year, thousands of accounts of witnesses and survivors  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

have yet to be identified.

The Dhaka Tribune has conducted an investigation into the matter and found that the district administration handed over at least 22 bodies from the Adhar Chandra School playground to the wrong families in between April 24 and May 14 last year.

These bodies have been buried at the Jurain Graveyard, marked as “unidentified bodies,” and later were identified through DNA sampling.

The Savar upazila administration, however, admits that 10 bodies remain missing.

The 22 victims are Nur-e-Alam Shik-

Charge sheet sees no light in one year n Mohammad Jamil Khan

A young man in tears mourns the death of his sister by lighting candles in front of a mural built in front of the collapse site in Savar SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

One year has elapsed since the Rana Plaza building at Savar collapsed but the investigators are yet to finalise charge sheets in three out of five cases in connection with the disaster.

The Criminal Investigation Department (CID) sought time extension from court time and time again.

For the first time the court asked the CID to submit the charge sheet of those three cases by January 18 of the year but the CID again sought extension of time.

After that the court fixed the dates twice – one in February and the other in March – which were also deferred to April 7 upon a petition of the CID. On April 7, the CID once again submitted a further prayer and the court finally fixed the date on May 21.

Contacted, Bijoy Krishno Kar, senior assistant superintendent of the CID and investigation officer of the case, said: “We are investigating three cases filed separately by Rajuk, police and a worker Sheuli Akter. We have already completed the investigation and now finalising the charge sheet. I hope we will able to submit it the next month.

About the delay, he said there are a huge number of witnesses and evidences in the cases that takes times to investigate. Primarily, we have found 39 accused as per evidence. We will

submit the charge sheet with proper evidence so that no one can evade punishment.

He further said they were placing names of 900 witnesses in the charge sheet.

Ex-CID officer Nurul Islam, however, said such cases only need description of the incident and its type. As it is not an individual murder case it should not take so much time.

There might be over 900 witnesses in the case but even after that it should not take too much time for investigation, he noted.

Aminul Goni Titu, Criminal specialist lawyer of Dhaka Judge Court, said there is no logic of taking too much time to submit charge sheet. It is a clear sign of disqualification and inefficiency of the investigation agency.

Investigators put the total number of the accused at 21 in the murder case and 12 in the case filed under the building construction act. Eight accused have already secured bail from the High Court in the midst of procrastination of the investigation agencies.

The number one accused in the police case and Rana’s father Abdul Khalek got bail in the month of October.

The other accused – Savar Municipality engineers Emtemum Hossain, Rakibul Hassan and Refayet Ullah, its ward councilor Mohammad Ali Khan,  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Dead mates have not left miracle girl Reshma n Ashif Islam Shaon Reshma Aktar, the miracle girl, rescued from under the debris 17 days after the Rana Plaza collapse would not like to relive those terrible memories as it sends a chill of fear down her spine.

“Sometimes my dead colleagues walk down my memory lane. I have recurring nightmare of those days I spent in the pitch dark of the mangled and twisted wreckage of the caved-in building. Still I cannot switch off lights in my room at night.”

Reshma suddenly switched her focus to her new life, dreams and expectations over phone.

She urged the government to stand by the side of those ill-fated people and she herself wantsto do something for them but she does not know how to do that.

However, Reshma could not keep contact with her fellow unfortunate workers and their families who lost their near and dear ones due to her busy schedule in the new job in Dhaka.

Reshma is now staying with her sister Asma Akter and brother-in-law Shahidul Islam’s house at Rajashan in Savar. Her new abode is a one-storey tin-shed house, a few kilometres away from the Rana Plaza site.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

HRW: Rana Plaza victims urgently need assistance n

Tribune Report

International companies that sourced garments from five factories operating in the Rana Plaza were not contributing enough to the fund set up to support survivors and the families of those who died, Human Rights Watch has said.

Survivors of the collapse one year ago were still suffering from injuries and loss of income, the New Yorkbased watchdog said in a statement.

“One year after Rana Plaza collapsed, far too many victims and their families are at serious risk of destitution,” said Phil Robertson, deputy Asia director at HRW. “International garment brands should be helping the injured and the

dependents of dead workers who manufactured their clothes,” he added.

The target for the fund, which is chaired by the International Labour Organisation, is US$40m, but only $15 m has been raised so far, according to HRW. The Bangladeshi authorities announced on Tuesday that victims would receive their first payments of $645 each from the fund.

Of the $15m raised, Primark alone has donated $8m, according to the fund’s website. Some companies that were not doing business with factories, have also contributed. In contrast, 15 brands, whose clothing and labels were found in the rubble by journalists and labour activists, have not paid, HRW said.

The organisation said it had written

When all hell broke loose  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

have been published and broadcast in national and international print and broadcast media including the Dhaka Tribune.

Those interviews revealed many terrible stories before and after collapse.

Around 8am, the building authority, factory managers and supervisors persuaded and forced the panicked workers to get into the building.

The scared and helpless workers could not resist the powerful managers and supervisors; they had to get in. The building was so vulnerable that some workers said they could feel it trembling as early as 8:30am.

Soon after, according to witnesses and survivors, huge bangs could be heard and the building suddenly started jolting heavily.

Many workers thought it was an earthquake; but till then, none of them could fathom the level of devastation and the loss that the catastrophic collapse could result in. Even the authorities concerned took months to get an idea of some sorts about the damages to lives and properties caused by the collapse.

WAKE UP CALL WAS IGNORED The tragedy could have been averted if the frantic warnings of a local engineer and journalists had not been ignored.

The problem surfaced on April 23, the day before the collapse. Busy garment workers on the second floor were shocked by a loud bang that sounded like an explosion. Curious workers found that cracks had appeared on the building.

Information spread like wildfire among the workers in the upper floors, the owners of the shops and the employees of the Brac Bank branch inside the building. Horrified, they all rushed outside.

A local engineer and some journalists warned about the possible risks of using the unsafe building. Some of them even suggested the owner of the building close it immediately.

Only a handful of private television channels broadcast the news of the cracks that had developed in the building on the day before the collapse.

Those news items annoyed Sohel Rana, the owner and a politically and financially powerful gangster.

Only Brac Bank took the wise decision to move its employees out the branch on April 23.

Sohel Rana convinced the other tenants that the building was safe. Ignoring the warnings, the factory owners listened to Rana and decided to operate their units April 24.

INTENSITY OF THE CATASTROPHE It was hard for everyone in the newsroom to readily fathom the intensity of the disaster when news started pouring in on the morning of April 24.

Even the local people had very little idea although they were the first to rush to the site of the collapse and begin rescuing the trapped workers from under the rubbles of a building that was not only constructed with substandard materials but also built illegally on encroached land.

The amateur rescuers did not have any equipment support. When they began the rescue work, the floors of the building were piling up on one another like pancakes.

They had to scrawl on bare hands and unprotected knees through the little places between the floors, pillars and beams. They had to give up the idea of using any sort of equipment out of fear that further collapses might be triggered.

The volunteers did not care about their lives. Later fire-fighters arrived at the scene and some soldiers from the army joined in operation.

Heavy equipment, brought from various government and private organisations, was used only in the last

phase of the operation.

Similarly, news coverage began with usual assignments of a few reporter and photographers. However, very soon, the media house began to realise that the scale of the disaster was beyond any speculation. The authorities of the factories, the garment owners’ association, and local residents – none could say for certain how many workers were trapped under the debris.

Death toll kept on climbing by the hundreds – 100, 150, 200, 250, 300...

Rumour spread that around 500 people were killed. But when the 17day round-the-clock rescue operation eventually ended, the toll crossed the 1,100 mark.

Despite all the tragic developments every other minute, every time someone was pulled out of the rubble alive, the rescuers got a reason to put in more effort and energy into their work.

But how many workers were there?

How many were alive? How long the rescue operation should be continued?

Everyone was asking these questions.

Television channels broadcast the rescue operation live round the clock.

News of the tragedy occupied most of the spaces in the newspapers.

Almost all reporters and photographers, even journalists from the news desk had to be assigned to cover the entire of the operation.

The Rana Plaza collapse remained the talk of the town for several weeks.

All major foreign broadcast and print media rushed to Savar and gave extensive coverage to the disaster.

During the weeks-long rescue operation, thousands of people remained around the site day and night. Many of them were there to look for their missing family members; many were there to help the rescuers; many helped people in their searches; many others were there just to witness of the rescue operation of the most tragic incident ever.

The clinics and the playgrounds of the local schools were the places where the rescued dead bodies and the survivors were kept. Everyday thousands of people gathered around all these places. Many of them offered individual financial supports to the families of the victims – nobody cared how big or small the contributions were. Any size would have mattered.

The death of female garment worker Shaheena for whom rescuers put in hours of frantic efforts, shocked everyone. A fire that was accidentally ignited inside a rescue tunnel killed her.

A brave engineer, who volunteered the rescue operation, also died after being burnt severely in the same fire.

However, pulling Reshma out alive on the 17th day, just before wrapping up the operation, gave a reason for all the exhausted rescuers to smile. Everyone was left pleasantly wondering how Reshma could survive for 17 days under the rubbles.

But there was plenty more stories of survival that are equally incredible – how hundreds of workers survived weeks in the darkness under rubbles without water and food.

One female survivor told this reporter that she had to drink urine and blood of a fellow dead worker for surviving.

Many lost their limbs and had damaged organs. Many kids lost their parents in the tragedy. There are still many more who have never come back to normal life. Hundreds have remained jobless and scores of bodies are still unidentified.

Many victims and the families of the dead ones have not got any compensation.

For decades to come, many more stories will continue to be unfolded surrounding the gruesome disaster.

The consequences of the tragedy will be felt at the social, national and personal levels for many more years ahead. l

to the companies that had not paid into the fund. It also wrote to 14 companies that are listed as donors to the fund, asking them if they planned to take any further step to improve the plight of injured workers or families of the deceased.

“Companies should recognise this fund is the most appropriate mechanism for ensuring that the right help goes to the right people, since it has been set up by all the relevant stakeholders,” Robertson said. “International garment brands now need to step up their support to make this fund work to help the thousands of people affected by this disaster.”

“These brands should help mitigate the damage by assisting with the full restitution,” he added. l

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Horror still chases  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

These voices often drag him back to the Rana Plaza, where Tota says the cries of the trapped workers are growing louder.

“I lose my temper now and then. I still cannot have a night of sound sleep,” said Tota, who is now unemployed.

He lost his NGO job as he struggled with mental instability. He was also fired from another job at a computer shop whose owner blamed him for not being able to behave properly.

Tota said he keeps having recurring nightmares of four girls trapped under a beam, seeking help from him. Two of them die and the other two girls point a gun at his head in the nightmare because he failed to rescue them, Tota added.

When asked about the other members of their eight-member volunteer team, Tota said Khoaj Ali has developed sores on his body, Forkan Ali sometimes sleeps on the streets, one of Shahjahan’s legs is paralysed, while Yusuf’s left hand has been damaged.

Meanwhile, Rafiqul had to switch

jobs from being a construction worker to becoming a rickshaw-puller, as he was unable to work during the whole month. On many days, he just sits idle, staring at walls or at streets.

Sometimes, deep in the night, Rafiqul starts shouting, asking for body bags; during the day he also struggles with his sanity as he pretends to sell bus tickets made out of torn posters.

Tota said no one had given them any financial support, just a number of certificates. Although some organisations offered treatment, many of the affected did not continue the follow-up medical care.

“The Fire Service and Civil Defence and SAFE Bangladesh gave us three days’ training certificates. That is all we have got,” he claimed. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) has reportedly prepared a list of 20 rescuers who are in need of psychological counselling as well as financial support. However, no individual or organisation has stepped up yet to save those heroes of Savar. l

Twenty-two victims’ bodies  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Dhaka, Md Jasim Uddin from Gaibandha and Shilpi Akter from Thakurgaon.

The relatives of these victims identified the bodies, most of which were decomposed, by checking the colour of their dresses or birth marks.

Officials related to the handover process said it had been too tough for them to identify all the bodies.

The Dhaka Tribune has talked to all these families and none of them are now unwilling to face any hassle since the bodies have already been buried at the family graveyards in different districts and they would be required to repay the money given to them from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and the DC office.

Jaru Sheikh, husband of the deceased Marzina Begum, said he had received the body from Adhar Chandra School 13 days after the collapse.

“I received the body after cross checking the colour of the dress she put on that day. However, the DNA profiling lab has informed me that the body of my wife, which matched the sample given by my son Sajal, was buried at the Jurain Graveyard.

“I am confused, but nothing can be done now. I do not want any hassle now,” he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“I have received my son’s dead body from the school ground. It was separated from the waist; we did not get his head. However, the DNA lab is now claiming that the original body is at Jurain Graveyard, but we are not interested any more,” said Md Ahad Box, father of the deceased Md Abu Taher.

Another worker Shilpi Akter’s father, Md Foizul Haque, said the authorities had handed over his daughter’s body after finding a mobile phone with the dead body.

“The officials called me and delivered the decomposed body to me. We have already buried her in Thakurgaon.

But the DNA lab has recently informed us that the original body is now at the Jurain Graveyard.”

All these 22 families have received Tk1 lakh each from the Prime Minister’s Relief Fund and Tk20,000 from the district administration. Now they are tensed about whether they have to repay the money and return the bodies.

It is alleged that some unscrupulous groups were active in taking away the bodies of the dead workers from the school ground as Tk20,000, in cash, was involved with the issue. Police detained some of these frauds from the site, between April 24 and May 16, according to locals.

When the issue was brought before Savar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Kamrul Hasan Molla, now in-charge of the debris site, said they had found that 10 bodies were handed over to the wrong families during the chaotic situation just after the building collapsed.

“In many occasions, we have mentioned that there were 301 unidentified bodies. But we sent 291 bodies to the DNA laboratory for tests as the other 10 were handed over to the wrong families,” he said, admitting the matter.

Referring to the handover process, he said: “We are now trying to collect the DNA samples of these bodies. It is a continuous process.

We delivered the bodies after a primary verification of valid documents, a check of voter ID cards or through making phone calls. When we called the family members, they said they had already taken away the bodies of their relatives and that those were already buried.”

On the issue of mismatch, he said if the authorities received any concrete information on the mismatch in delivering the bodies, “we will consider the issue seriously. But we have yet to receive any concrete information. The solution may lie in DNA testing of the bodies buried by the relatives.” l

Charge sheet sees no light in one year  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Abul Hasan, Anil Dash and Shah Alam, who gave Sohel Rana, the building owner, shelter in Faridpur and Jessore also secured bail.

Sources said local engineer Abdur Razzak who, after visiting the building, said the building could still be used submitted bail prayer eight times to the lower court. The court rejected his bail pleas all the time. Now, his is trying to secure bail from the High Court.

Rajuk’s authorised officer Helal Uddin filed a case on April 25 for breaching the building construction act and building code while the murder case was filed the same day with Savar police station by Sub-Inspector Wali Ashraf.

Another murder case was filed with the Dhaka Judge court by garment worker Jahangir Alam’s wife Sheuli Akter.

The two other cases were filed with Dhamrai police station under arms act by inspector of the DB police Shahin Shah Parvez. The CID started investigating the three cases soon after the incident.

A source close to the investigation agency said they were going to accuse 17 people of five garment factories that were housed in Rana Plaza.

The investigators are framing charges against Sohel Rana, his father Abdul Khaleq and mother Morjina Begum for building the tower illegally without approving the design by proper authorities.

The charge sheet will also have names of three friends of Rana for helping him to escape. Of the chargesheeted accused, 21 are behind bard while 19 are still absconding.

Mokhlesur Rahman, additional inspector general and chief of the CID, told the Dhaka Tribune that massive hunt down would be launched shortly to arrest the absconders after submission of the charge sheet.

The Rana Plaza collapse on 24 April of the last year claimed at least 1,136 lives – mostly workers belonging to five garment factories housed in the building and left around 2,500 others injured. l

Life has not been the same for all  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Available data suggests Reshma ranks third on the list of the longest survivors beneath rubble. Pakistani national Naqsha Bibi survived for 63 days following the 2005 Pakistan quake, while rescuers pulled Evans Monsignac out of rubble after 27 days during the 2010 Haiti earthquake.

“I do not want to go back to that life again. Those factory days were tiring and hard,” she said.

Sultana, Shahenur, Saleha

April 24, 2013 was Sultana’s (not her real name) day off. She and her husband Selim worked for separate factories in Rana Plaza.

Before her husband Selim bade her goodbye on that fateful summer morning, they made plans to go to a movie in the evening after he came back from work.

But little did Sultana know that she was never going to meet her husband again and her life was to become a movie itself. She did not lose a limb in the collapse that left more than a thousand people dead. But she had to go through some dreadful experiences which drove the garment worker to pick prostitution as a profession.

The deadly factory building collapse

affected her in two ways. First, the factory she worked for was closed. Second, she could not claim any compensation for her husband’s death.

Sultana and Selim got married and moved in together nearly a year before the collapse. But their families did not know that. Neither was there any document to prove that they were married because they took the nuptial vows before a local religious scholar, not before “kazi,” who could have put their marriage in papers.

If she could have proved their relationship, she would have been entitled to a compensation of at least Tk1 lakh from the prime minister’s fund.

“Yes I was lucky to be alive. A few days after the building collapsed, I joined another factory in the locality.

But the trauma was too much to withstand. I could not look at the walls and the ceiling of my new workplace. They looked like they would come down on me any moment,” Sultana told the Dhaka Tribune.

“I knew from then on that it would be impossible for me to work inside a factory again. Then some of my [former] colleagues [from the Rana Plaza factory] told me about selling my body.

Some of them even went to a brothel in Daulatdia. But, I was afraid of broth-

els,” she said.

She however did not disclose the location of her work to the Dhaka Tribune reporter out of fear of getting arrested.

Sixteen-year-old Shahenur (not her real name) from Jamalpur was not as “lucky” as Sultana. She was inside the building when it collapsed and managed to escape with minor injuries.

After losing work, she said she and her family of two dependents fought long and hard with poverty. Finally, she decided to work “part time” by “seating” with her “clients” two days a week alongside her regular factory job.

“We [former Rana Plaza workers who took up prostitution] are not few in number. But nobody knows about us as yet because we do not work in the open. Some of us have taken up this profession just because they cannot work in a factory anymore,” Shahenur told the Dhaka Tribune.

Unlike Sultana and Shahenur, Saleha from Chapainawabganj did not have much choice.

After the building came down, her parents got her married to a man, who claimed he worked in India. After the wedding, the couple went to India and Saleha’s parents were happy.

But after about six months, Saleha’s

parents sensed something was wrong because they had not heard from their daughter or their son-in-law since they went to India. They fear that their daughter has been trafficked by her husband and a gang.

Not only the victims of the Rana Plaza disaster, but also many victims of other recent industrial disasters such as the Tazreen inferno have also been falling prey to human traffickers.

Available data shows that at least 10,000 workers have lost their jobs as a result of these industrial catastrophes.

Salma Ali, president of Bangladesh National Women Lawyers Association (BNWLA), said: “We do not know how many women have taken up this profession because some of them choose willingly. When these women become unemployed, they fall prey to the pimps.”

Senior Secretary of Home Ministry CQK Mustaq Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune that the number of such women was not high but the ministry had been alert about the situation.

About trafficking, he said: “We have to take this seriously. We have to stop all kinds of trafficking. He have asked our border guards to remain alert.

Although it is also true that we have failed on occasions.” l

Dead mates have not left miracle girl Reshma  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

She is now working in the five-star hotel The Westin in Dhakaas Public Area Ambassador.The hotel authorities gave her one-month leave recently following the death of her uncle.

Back in April last year after four days of rescue operations with light machinery in which many people were brought out alive, it was assumed that there were no more survivors and heavy machinery were brought in.

On May 10, Reshma was found alive on the second floor of the building.

Before Reshma only two persons Naqsha Bibi in Pakistan and Evans Monsignac in Haiti survived 63 days and 27 days respectively under debris.

Reshma was taken to the Combined Military Hospital after her rescue and was treated there for about a month.

The Westin gave her a job as she did not want to go back toher old profession.

Asked about her new job, Reshma said it’s better than before. “It’s very

different from a garment factory.

“The garment factory used to pay me Tk8000 and now I am drawing over Tk35000. In the factory I worked from morning till late night and now I work from 7am to 4pm.”

“My new authorities trained me for the first eight months. I used to go to every department and work there for a few days. I have learned computer operating and currently I am at the outfit department. We make dresses, alter those or take care of clothes,” Reshma said.

Reshma now speaks a little English.

“I greet foreigners; some foreign guests can recognise me….they want to talk to me…,” she said.Asked if she wants to go back to her old profession again Reshma said an emphatic “never”.

At one point of the conversation as she came back to the right state of her mind this correspondent returned to the horrifying April 24 morning when

all hell broke loose.

“I stepped out at 7:30 that morning as I used to do every day ---- why don’t you understand I don’t want to recall those days. You should try to understand that I feel really very bad ------,” she said.

As she was asked why people doubted about her rescue after 17 days she said: “Many people say many things.

Many people doubted. I pretend not to hear them. I feel really bad. If you were there, you would know,” she said.

Asked why her landlord had told a number of news media that he saw her two days after the collapse.

“I also heard that he said I was rescued two days after the collapse and then sent back in again. Why would someone who was pulled out of that place ever go back in?” she retorted.

After that she regained her composure: “The day I was rescued, I heard footsteps nearby. Then I screamed for help and at the same time started hit-

ting a pipe so that people walking nearby could hear it.”

The rescue workers then came to my rescue. They pulled me out.My clothes were all torn. Before I came out I put on whatever I could find nearby as there was a garment shop on that floor,” she said as she was narrating her ordeal.

Reshma has recently visited her village home Ghoraghat Oishibari in Dinajpur after her uncle died on April 13. She has two sisters – all are married – andtwo brothers and parents.

Reshma’s mother has built two houses with the money she received from different organisations. Construction work of another is going on.

Asked if the army officers kept contact with her, she said: “Some officers do so. They suggested me how to behave, talk, and work in a five-star hotel. They encourage me to do better,” she said.

Reshma said she is grateful to the army, the rescuers and the government for her present position. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Rana Plaza victims are still waiting for compensation n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The family members of Rana Plaza victims especially those who lost their lives in the building collapse are still fighting for compensation from the government as well as the authorities concerned.

“It is better to die. How I can maintain my family with a scanty amount of money I have received from the government and buyers as compensation for the death of my only son,” said Md Akmal Gazi, father of Rabiul Islam who was killed in the Rana Plaza building collapse last year.

“Since my son had obtained bachelor’s degree, I hoped that he would take the helm of my family. Even though he did it, the building collapse had shattered my dream,” Akmal said in an emotion-choked voice.

He has so far received Tk1 lakh from the Prime Minister’s Fund and Tk30,000 from buyers as compensation for the loss of the life of his beloved son.

Pakhi Begum, who worked as a sewing operator at Ether Tex, had lost her two legs in the worst factory disaster on April 24 last year.

She got Tk15 lakh as compensation from the Prime Minister’s Fund and Tk45,000 from buyers. Also, she was getting Tk8,000 every month from Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association.

Pakhi is now living in her village home and maintaining her family with financial assistance she received from PM’s Fund and other sources.

Rana Plaza, an eight-storey building that housed five garment factories, collapsed at Savar on the outskirts of Dha-

ka city on April 24 last year, killing 1,135 workers and injuring 2,500.

Like Akmal, most of the people who lost their earning members are suffering severe financial hardship as they have got less compensation from the government and other authorities concerned.

According to the latest data of BGMEA, the Prime Minister has so far distributed over Tk22.13 crore to 909 victims as financial assistance.

Several organisations, including banks and insurance companies, as well as individuals and garment owners have so far donated over Tk127 crore to the PM’s Fund.

BGMEA, however, collected Tk14 crore from its members and spent Tk12 crore for victims’ treatment and wages while it donated TK2 crore to the PM’s Fund for compensation.

Altab Hossain, father of Al-Amin who worked at Rana Plaza, told the Dhaka Tribune that he got only Tk1 lakh from the prime minister and Tk20,000 for funeral.

“Only Tk1.20 lakh as compensation can make up for the loss of my son’s life,” he said, venting his anger on the government and buyers as well as the factory owners.

A $40 million “Trust Fund” had been formed by IndustriAll, UNI Global Union and Clean Clothes Campaign in cooperation with the International Labour Organisation to compensate the victims of the worst factory disaster.

Currently, the Trust Fund has $17m of which $9m will be distributed to 581 victims, who worked for New Wave Bottom, by the British retailer Primark.

The rest would be used to compensate other workers as per Article 121 of ILO convention.

“It’s very unfortunate that the global retailers are making hefty sourcing from Bangladesh, but they are not paying compensation to the victims of Rana Plaza,” said Sirajul Islam Rony, president of Bangladesh National Garment Workers-Employees League.

He added: “We are still hopeful that the buyers would come up with enough compensation.”

Though the buyers were supposed to provide compensation to the victims’ family members and injured workers, they are yet to show good response, said a factory owner preferring anonymity.

“The buyers only donated $8m to Trust Fund while many buyers like Walmart are not providing any financial support to the fund,” he said.

Meanwhile, garment workers and trade union leaders have claimed that due to lack of coordination, the amount of proper compensation has not been set and compensation not paid to the victims in proper way.

“From now, compensation should be coordinated and integrated as there is a trust fund where the buyers, government, trade unions and other stakeholders are involved,” said Roy Ramesh Chandra, secretary general of IndustriAll Bangladesh Council.

Calling on the government to come up with a permanent solution to the compensation issue, he said the country has witnessed several industrial incidents, but no mechanism has been developed yet.

“I am hopeful of getting 40 million funds for compensation as the global brands are facing mounting pressure from consumers and rights groups,” he added. l

3

Thursday, April 24, 2014

‘My photography is my protest’ n Udisa Islam

“A final embrace,” the photograph that won a World Press Photo award and was selected as one of Time magazine’s top 10 photos of 2013, is one of the most recognised pictures that represent the haunting tragedy of the disaster.

Taslima Akhter, the photographer who snapped the image, recalled how she felt when taking the picture, telling the Dhaka Tribune: “Whenever I look back at this photo, I feel uncomfortable, and that is what I want to be.”

Describing the harrowing hours of the fateful day, she said: “April 24 [of 2013] was the shortest day of my life, as I cannot recall how the day passed. At midnight, all of us were in a state that cannot be explained. I saw the startled eyes of the relatives. Some were crying. Some were looking for their family members.”

When asked about how she had found the embracing workers inside the rubble, Taslima said: “Around 2am on April 25, some of my friends who are activists came and told me that there were many dead bodies near the back of the collapsed building. I went with them and found many scattered bodies, some of them in horrible conditions, which continue to haunt me.

The place was completely dark, so we turned on our flashlights and found the couple at the back of the building, embracing each other in the rubble.

“I just took a few snaps and noticed a drop of blood running from the man’s eye like a tear. I stopped taking snaps and just left the place without saying anything. You cannot really feel the situation; 1,136 lives is not a matter of joke. This drop of blood that ran like a tear describes the situation of our workers who do not know when they might have to die for the factory owner’s criminal negligence. My photography is my protest,” Taslima said.

“Believe me; I was not ready to take a

photo at the time, because for the whole day we had only seen hundreds of bodies of the workers with whom I had been working since 2008. However, after taking the photo, I kept thinking about them for the whole night. In that place, I saw bodies in the most horrible conditions inside the concrete. Who they were, I do not know,” she added.

Describing her feelings on winning an award for such a tragic situation, the acclaimed photographer said she hopes that her photo will haunt the audience and force them to think whether the dreams of the victims matters to them.

“With my photo I just want to provoke your thoughts,” said Taslima, who had also won the best photography award in the fifth Dali International Photography Exhibition in China in 2013.

Time magazine, which gave the photo its title: “a final embrace,” also termed the image as the “single most haunting photo” of the Rana Plaza disaster. Although the magazine had not consulted the person behind the lens for the title, Taslima said she agreed with Time’s decision, as the couple may have been trying to embrace just before their deaths.

“Whenever we face any type of accident, we feel like holding onto anything that comes in front of us,” she said.

Although she has tried for a long time, Taslima has not been able to learn the names of the two victims in her photo, nor was she able find out whether the couple had been lovers.

Many of the survivors told the photographer that when they were trapped inside the rubbles, they pulled other people’s hair or bit them in order to ease their own pain. Some tried to kill themselves by slamming their own heads in the rubble as they could not tolerate the suffering.

She said the photograph of the embrace was a witness to this suffering, adding that when the photo receives any award, she feels like she had shared the pain with a worldwide audience.

Taslima, whose website also features photos from four other garment factory fires that killed hundreds more, said: “My photographs are witnesses to the cruel history of workers being killed. The photographs always tell me that the deaths of workers are only a number to a state.” l

‘Ideal procedure was not maintained in identifying Rana Plaza victims’ n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

CPD Chairman Rehman Sobhan speaks at a programme at the Brac Centre Inn yesterday, left, commemorating the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster. Right, Sonabanu, a survivor of the tragedy, cannot hold her tears at the event while speaking of her husband she lost in the incident RAJIB DHAR

No comprehensive list of Rana Plaza victims yet n Tazlina Zamila Khan

Even though one year has already elapsed, there is no fully comprehensive list of the Rana Plaza victims while many of them are awaiting compensation.

Still there is an utter confusion over the total number of missing workers, buried after identification, rescued and injured workers because of lack of a complete report by the government.

According to the Labour Ministry, 180 people were still unaccounted for. But the Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) report said it was 88 while Bangladesh Institute of Labour Studies (BILS) put the figure at 379 and Rana Plaza Coordination Cell at 146.

The ministry said 127 people were buried unidentified, while the CPD said it was 27, ActionAid 137 and Rana Plaza Coordination Cell 136.

The CPD revealed the findings in its report titled “One Year after the Rana

Plaza Tragedy: Where Do We Stand? The Victims, the Sector and the Value Chain”.

The report was released at a programme held at Brac Centre Inn yesterday.

Lawmaker Shirin Akter said: “A list should be posted immediately on the website.” She added: “If there was a trade union in the factory, it was not possible to force the workers to work there.”

Shireen Haq, founder member of Naripokkho, said: “We have noticed lack of coordination in rescuing the victims and publishing a comprehensive report. Are we ready enough to handle another disaster like Rana Plaza?”

CPD’s report said the BGMEA provided help to 3,109 workers’ families and Primark to 3,639 while 909 received one-time support (Tk1-5 lakh) and 41 got long-term support (Tk10-15 lakh) from the government.

Dr KZ Moazzem, additional research director of the CPD said: “The government’s commitment to provide long-term treatment to the victims re-

mained unfulfilled.”

Also, there are around 700 children of victims while only a few received long-term support.

The report said around 676 workers were registered with Enam Medical College and Hospital while 418 with the CRP. More than 1000 workers have not yet been able to join any work due to various kinds of physical difficulties while only 777 were re-employed in RMG. Mikail Shiper, secretary of the ministry said: “Around 962 people got compensation from the PM’s Fund.

The government gave Tk200,000 to rescue workers, Tk7,500,000 to the injured undergoing treatment in hospitals. We got 291 unidentified bodies of which 206 were sent to DNA testing lab.

Tk235,572,000 was distributed from the fund till yesterday.”

Union leaders have asked brands to pay $40m by April 24 to the ILO- managed Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund

while it requires about $73m. Around 248 people said they got compensation from the fund, he added.

After the tragedy, although Accord was established but it was said Accord was not working in favour of workers.

Nazma Akter, president of Awaz Foundation said: “Factories were closed, but workers are not getting wages. Accord is not working in favour of workers’ interest.”

CPD suggested paying workers’ wages after closure of the factories, speeding up legal actions against alleged, paying compensation quickly and publishing a complete list of victims and others.

Rehman Sobhan, chairman of the CPD said: “It’s important to form a standing national commission headed by civil society and government bodies to address the workers’ issues. There should have a helpline so that victims seek help and get solution. Otherwise, victims will become victims.” l

Faced with an industrial disaster of an unprecedented scale, it was not possible to follow the ideal procedure of using DNA tests to identify the Rana Plaza victims, the chief of the national DNA lab has told the Dhaka Tribune.

Although more than 100 victims remain unidentified after a year, the identifications could still be made if the government took initiative to collect DNA samples from relatives of all the victims, he added.

Professor Dr Sharif Akteruzzaman, head of the National DNA Profiling Laboratory at the Dhaka Medical College (DMC), said they had received 322 DNA samples from unidentified bodies as well as collecting 556 samples from families of the victims. So far, 206 of the bodies have been identified in three phases, he added.

According to official government figures, a total of 1,134 bodies were recovered from under the collapsed building.

The DNA test was not a complete procedure but a partial one, Akteruzzaman admitted, adding that samples from only one-fourth of the victims had been sent to the DNA lab, while 812 bodies had been handed over to relatives without collecting any DNA sample.

As such a large-scale incident was unprecedented; the bodies were improperly handed over to those claiming to be family members, after identification was made only through clothes, ornaments, or objects found in the pocket.

Although the national DNA lab had

experience in carrying out DNA tests with a low-capacity machine, it needed the US Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Combined DNA Index System (Codis) to carry out such a large-scale test, the lab chief said.

The lab carried out 1,000 tests a year on an average, but was forced to conduct a similar number of tests within only a five-month period after the Rana Plaza collapse, he added.

It was still possible to identify the rest of bodies, if people who were yet to locate their relatives would submit DNA samples, Dr Akteruzzaman said, adding that the government could advertise in the mass media in this regard.

The government could also take an initiative to exhume the victims and collect DNA samples, in order to crosscheck and confirm their identities based on other DNA samples collected from the relatives, he added.

Dr Akteruzzaman also slammed the BGMEA, claiming that the apex body of apparel makers did not contribute anything to the DNA testing efforts, and added that more family members of victims would have come forward to provide samples if the BGMEA had been more serious on the issue.

To ensure better services for any future disaster, the DNA lab chief said no dead body should be handed over to relatives without preserving DNA samples. A temporary morgue should be set up beside the disaster site, Dr Akteruzzaman said, adding that all garment workers along with public and private organisation workers who faced risks of a disaster should be brought under a DNA database. l

was lagging, and the results of inspections needed to be made publicly available on an easily accessible database.

Bangladesh must also do more to ensure protection when workers face intimidation and reprisals for trying to organise, the statement read, adding: “Addressing these issues would help workers secure safer working conditions and better wages and enable Bangladesh to realise its full economic potential.”

Washington also claimed that all stakeholders – including the government, employers, and buyers of Bangladeshi products – have to bear a responsibility for ensuring safe working conditions.

“To that end, we are working with all stakeholders to implement the Action Plan we laid out after President [Barack] Obama suspended Bangladesh’s benefits under the Generalised System of Preferences program last June.” l

Government, BGMEA: Vested interests US: Bangladesh made progress with labour rights n trying to destroy country’s RMG sector Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

n Emran Hossain Shaikh The government and the BGMEA alleged that a group of conspirators were trying to destroy the country’s garment industry capitalising on the Rana Plaza collapse.

“Those who are carrying out such conspiracy againstthe export-oriented industry are doing it only for their personal interests. Do they think who will lose from this? A lot of garment industries will be closed and millions of workers will lose their jobs,” prime minister’s Special Assistant for media Mahbubul Haque Shakil said at a briefing yesterday.

BGMEA President Atiqul Islam alleged that some NGOs and labour bodies planned to demonstrate today in different parts of the world, especially in developed countries, to discourage foreigners from using Bangladeshi apparels.

“Some national and international NGOs and labour organisations are

propagating to destroy our garment industry,” the leader of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association said.

Both Shakil and Atiqul sought cooperation of the media in helping out the garment sector. They also gave assurance that the treatment of the injured Rana Plaza workers would continue.

Issuinga note of warning against the vested interests, Shakil said if anyone was found guilty of spreading propagandas against the country’s garment sector, they would be brought to book.

“The garment industry is our national asset and it is our duty to save it,” he said.

Referring to the government efforts, rescue operation and financial assistance to the victims along with their treatment, he said: “Necessary measures will be taken to avoid such incidents in future.”

Asked about alleged mismanagement of the PM’s relief and welfare fund, he

said the fund had been maintained with highest transparency and accountability.

Shakil said 2,438 people had been rescued alive from the Rana Plaza debris and 1,117dead bodies had been recovered. Eighteen more people later died in different hospitals while undergoing treatment. The government handed over 844 dead bodies to their families and buried 291 dead bodies at Jurain graveyard after collecting their DNA samples.

The PMO official said Savar police had filed a case against the Rana Plaza owner and arrested the accused. “Besides, 11 cases have been filed under the labour law. Investigation into these cases are at the final stage and the chargesheets will be submitted soon.”

The Prime Minister’s Office organised the briefing to inform the media about the steps taken by the government and other agencies after the Rana Plaza tragedy. l

Washington has acknowledged that Bangladesh made progress with important labour rights issues last year, but added that much work was still to be done.

The observation was made in a joint statement by the US Department of State, the Office of the US Trade Representative, the USAID, and the Department of Labour.

The statement read that Bangladesh made progress in allowing over 140 unions to register, permitting re-registration of a leading labour rights NGO, agreeing to an ambitious plan for safety inspections and factory-level monitoring and remediation across the garment sector in collaboration with the ILO, beginning the hiring of new labour inspectors, and conducting preliminary safety inspections.

“But there is much more work still to be done. There continue to be concerns about basic worker rights protections under both Bangladesh’s labour law and its special Export Processing Zone law.”

The government’s hiring of inspectors

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Teesta water flow starts lessening again JRC member says diplomatic pressure increased the flow previously

n Abu Bakar Siddique The water flow of the Teesta River marked a fall again yesterday after a dramatic increase on Tuesday.

According to Bangladesh Water Development Board, the river flow was recorded at 1242 cubic feet per second (Cusec) at Dalia point near Teesta Barrage located in Lalmonirhat district yesterday while it surprisingly stood at 3006 Cusec on the previous day.

Teesta water flow in last 3 days April 21

830 Cusec

April 22

3,006 Cusec

April 23

1,242 Cusec

On a query about the unprecedented decrease just after one day, Mir Sajjad Hossain, a member of Joint River Commission (JRC), could not give any satisfactory answer.

However, he said earlier water flow increased due to releasing more water

by Indian government on the face of the continuous diplomatic pressure and swelling ice melting in the Himalayans.

Wishing anonymity, a former member of JRC told the Dhaka Tribune that such sort of ups and downs of water

flow has been happening as per India’s whim.

“This is not the proper time of ice melting, which can create such kind of huge flow like Tuesday,” he added.

The water flow of the Teesta River dropped a record low which was only 409 cusec on March 9 this year as India allegedly withdrew water unilaterally

by Gajoldoba barrage to move water to its expanded projects.

The regular water flow during the month of April is around 3,000 Cusec

after introducing the Gajoldoba barrage located upstream of the river in India while the historical natural flow of the river during this period was around 6,000 Cusec, said Water Development Board sources.

The remarkable water flow (around 500 Cusec) decrease this year has turned the farmers of the Northern districts vulnerable, who are vastly dependent on Teesta Irrigation Project which required at least 2,000 Cusec of water. l

Thursday, April 24, 2014

BNP: No water, no relation Al-Masum Molla n Mohammad from Teesta Barrage The BNP yesterday said the relation between Bangladesh and India would depend on proper sharing of water from the Teesta River.

The party also said the incumbent government would never be able to sign any treaty on water sharing of the Teesta.

“Our environmental and ecological balance is at risk. Especially, our farmer and fishermen have become victims of the adverse impact of the barrage.

We are urging the smaller countries to be united to protect the countries from the natural disasters for which the big countries are responsible,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, said.

Fakhrul said people of the country hoped a Teesta Treaty deal during the visit of Manmohan Singh but people were frustrated.

“We are a small country and we are not so much powerful economically.

Our movement is not against India rather we want to ensure proper sharing of water.”

Addressing a rally at Dalia point of the Teesta Barrage in Lalmonirhat in the concluding programme of the two-day long march towards Teesta Barrage, Fakhrul also made the call to India to ensure 10,000 cusecs of water to Bangladesh from the Teesta River to maintain good relation between the two countries.

The long march led by Fakhrul was organised by the party to mount pressure on the government for the fair

share of Teesta water.

The spokesperson of the party said the Awami League government could not sign any treaty as there is no public support to the government.

“They (AL) do not have the courage to make unhappy those who have helped them to assume the office. So an organised movement is needed to oust the government,” he said.

Though the first day of the long march programme witnessed poor participation the second day witnessed a bit better participation. Some thousands party leaders and activists including people of the adjacent areas thronged the meeting venue.

On the first day of the programme the presence of central leaders was negligible but on the second day many central leaders were present including the central Jamaat and alliance leaders.

Farmer Asir Uddin delivered a speech at the rally narrating his sufferings due to water scarcity and a Bhawaia song was sung on Teesta river.

Prior to starting for the Teesta barrage around 10am, the party men held a brief rally on the premises of Rangpur Town Hall.

Addressing the programme, BNP standing committee member Nazrul Islam Khan said: “If water from Teesta flows into Bangladesh we will be on good terms with India but if there is no water there is no scope to maintain good relation with India.”

Another standing committee member Mahbubur Rahman said: “We do not want to beg water. We do not want gift. We want proper sharing of water.

It is our right.” l

Hanif: BNP has staged drama n Tribune Report

Awami League Joint Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif alleged that the BNP had staged a drama in the name of the long march programme to con the nation.

“This long march is nothing but an act of deceit with the country people.

No problem has ever been solved by long marches,” he said at a discussion at the National Press Club in the capital.

He said the Teesta water crisis was a state problem, and launching a long march programme was not going to help solving it.

“It should be resolved through bilateral talks between the two neighbours.

And BNP leaders also know that,” he said.

“BNP has been shedding crocodile’s tears for the proportionate sharing of Teesta’s water. But its leader (Begum Khaleda Zia) forgot to talk about the issue when she was in power.

“Our new government was formed through the 10th National Elections.

Polls are being held now in India through which a new government will assume power there. The Teesta water sharing crisis will be resolved through talks with the new government in India,” Hanif said.

The Swadhinata Shikkhak Parishad, a teachers’ organisation, organised the discussion on the “Historic Mujibnagar Day and Relevant Thoughts” at the VIP Lounge of the National Press Club. Prof Dr Abdul Mannan Chowdhury, convener of the organisation, chaired the discussion. l

High Court rejects Khaleda’s petitions

Ramesh credits diplomatic success for more Teesta water n Tribune Report n Kamran Reza Chowdhury The High Court rejected the pleas of The Awami League-led government’s “diplomatic success,” rather than BNP’s long march, convinced India to release more of the Teesta River water, said the chairman of a parliamentary watchdog on water resources, yesterday.

Ramesh Chandra Sen made the comment after chairing the first meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on water resources ministry.

Ramesh also said India will not cut the flow of water to the trans-boundary river, which is drying upon the Bangladesh side because of unilateral withdrawal of its waters upstream.

The meeting briefly discussed signing an accord with India to share the waters of the Teesta River, which is considered a lifeline for farming in the northern Rangpur and Dinajpur districts.

Ramesh, a former water resources minister, has claimed several times throughout his tenure during Awami League’s last term that a Teesta water-sharing deal would be signed “soon.”

He raised the Teesta issue at yesterday’s meeting in the presence of his successor, Anisul Islam Mahmud.

Ramesh said there was increased flow of water in the Teesta on Tuesday as New Delhi had put pressure on the West Bengal government.

“Because of the government’s diplomatic success, India released more of the Teesta’s water. This is not because of BNP’s long march,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Terming West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee as a “pig headed” lady, Ramesh said she blocked the singing of a water-sharing deal during Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka in September 2011. l

Committee formed to probe Otobi fire n Kailash Sarkar Furniture manufacturer Otobi yesterday shut down its fire-ravaged factory in Savar, while the Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD) authorities formed a three-member committee to probe the incident.

Factory authority put up a notice in front of its gate announcing the closure, while Sheikh Mohammad Rasel, assistant superintendent of police of Savar circle, told the Dhaka Tribune that additional forces have been deployed at the factory to prevent any looting.

Meanwhile, Abdus Salam, director (administrations) of the FSCD, said the three-member committee headed by Deputy Director Farid Uddin has been tasked with finding out of the cause of the fire and estimating damages, and submit report within three working days.

The fire that broke out on Tuesday evening was doused by 13 units of fire fighters. l

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia to revoke the lower court orders indicting her in two corruption cases involving Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust, yesterday.

As a result of the orders passed by the bench of Justice Borhanuddin and Justice KM Kamrul Kader, there is no bar to starting the trials against the former prime minister.

However, the defence lawyers said they would move the Appellate Division against the High Court orders.

The presence of a good number of law enforcers on the Supreme Court premises hinted that the petitions would be rejected, alleged Khandker Mahbub Hossain, Khaleda’s lawyer and one of the advisers.

The hearing on the petitions was held for three days, ending on Sunday.

Khandker Mahbub, Moudud Ahmed and AJ Mohammad Ali contended

for Khaleda, while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and the AntiCorruption Commission’s counsel Khurshid Alam Khan opposed the pleas.

On March 19, Judge Basudev Roy of the Dhaka’s Third Special Judge’s Court passed the indictment orders against Khaleda.

As yesterday was the date set for the orders, on April 21 the lower court fixed May 21 for the start of the trials with depositions of prosecution witnesses.

Six people, including Khaleda and her elder son Tarique Rahman, have been indicted in the Zia Orphanage Trust case for embezzling over Tk2.1 crore by establishing a “fake” trust in 1991.

The lower court also indicted four people, including the BNP chief, in the Zia Charitable Trust case for raising funds by abusing the power of the Prime Minister’s Office during Khaleda’s 2001-2006 tenure. l

Keraniganj residents block the Dhaka-Mawa highway yesterday, protesting the acquisition of local lands for a housing project for retired army officials DHAKA TRIBUNE

Two ‘freedom fighters’ testify for Mir Kashem n Udisa Islam Two defence witnesses in the case against alleged al-Badr commander of Chittagong, Mir Kashem Ali, gave their depositions yesterday, claiming to be freedom fighters.

But when the prosecution cross examined them, they could not tell the tribunal anything about the formation of the Peace Committee, members of which collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces. They also refused to talk about Jamaat-e-Islami, mentioning that they had no idea about the involvement of the party in the war crimes.

After the cross-examination of the third defence witness Abu Taher Khan, 63, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 closed the witness depositions from both sides and set April 27 for the closing arguments by the prosecution.

On Tuesday, a sister of the accused

testified at the tribunal as the first defence witness.

Taher, claiming to be a freedom fighter, said he had no knowledge whether former Jamaat chief Ghulam Azam had been involved with the Peace Committee during the war or not. He also could not name any leader of the Peace Committee in Chittagong.

The witness said he had heard about torture cells in the port city but denied knowing anything about Goods Hill, Chittagong Circuit House, Chittagong Stadium, Dost Mohammad Building and Daleem Hotel which had been used as torture cells by the local collaborators.

He said: “I came here in response to Barrister Akram’s [son of the accused] request. He said as I am a freedom fighter, I can save his father by telling the truth about Daleem Hotel.”

The defence also exhibited four documents of this witness including a

document in connection with a case relating to Daleem Hotel and three books.

Taher claimed that he had been an activist of the Railway Workers’ League in 1971. When asked by the prosecution whether the organisation was formed with supporters from all parties – Awami League, Muslim League and Jamaat, he answered in the negative.

The defence first brought forward Mohammad Ali, 60, who also claimed to be a freedom fighter. Ali admitted that he had never taken part in any significant operations during the war.

He also could not name any martyred freedom fighters who had been tortured or killed at Daleem Hotel, alleged to be run by Mir Kashem, now the Jamaat executive council member and also its treasurer.

Interestingly, both the witnesses said they had never seen Mir Kashem before 1983 when they met on a matter

of advertisement. They also claimed that they had never heard about Mir Kashem in relation with the Daleem Hotel but said there was a man named Motiur Rahman alias Moitya Gunda who had captured the place.

After their depositions, prosecutors Zead-al-Malum and Sultan Mahmud Simon cross examined them. Besides them, the tribunal asked Taher when he had heard about Motiur. The witness said he had heard about Motiur after the independence.

A key financier of Jamaat, Mir Kashem is facing 14 charges of crimes against humanity which he had allegedly committed in Chittagong in 1971.

Meanwhile, the defence in the trial of the alleged war criminal Syed Mohammad Qaisar, yesterday cross examined the prosecution’s eighth witness Shah Hussain Ali alias Sabu Miah for the second day. He gave his deposition on Tuesday. l

ADMISSION TO ENGLISH MEDIUM SCHOOLS

High Court imposes an injunction against charging extra fees to students n Tribune Report The High Court yesterday imposed an injunction against charging students extra fees for admission in new sessions by the English medium schools’ authorities for the next three months.

An HC bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Khurshid Alam Sarkar came up with the order.

Secretaries for education, law, home, primary and mass education, director general of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education, director general of the Directorate of Primary Education and heads of 23 leading English medium schools in Dhaka have been made respondents to the petition filed by a student’s guardian Zabed Faruk.

The court also issued a rule, ask-

ing the respondents to explain in four weeks why they should not be directed to form a monitoring cell and formulate a guideline on supervising admission and readmission fees collection process.

SC lawyers Bodruddoza Badal and JR Khan Robin pleaded for the petitioner while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam and Deputy Attorney General Al-Amin Sarker contended for the

government.

The plea lodged on April 20 sought the HC directives to stop charging English medium students additional fees for admission.

The petition said the authorities of English medium schools are collecting extra fees from their students arbitrarily as there is no specific guideline on charging admission, readmission and session fees. l

13th case against Tanvir, Jasmine to realise money n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu Sonali Bank yesterday filed a fresh case against Hall-Mark Group Chairman Jasmine Islam and Managing Director Tanvir Mahmud for realising Tk226.43 crore from Wall Mart Fashion Limited, which swindled a significant amount of money from the bank through forgery.

Abdus Salam, executive officer of the bank’s Ruposhi Bangla Hotel branch, filed the case with Artha Rin Adalat 1 (Money Loan Court) in Dhaka for realising the amount.

Judge Md Rabiuzzaman took the case into cognisance and ordered the defendants to submit a written statement before the court by May 26 through their counsel.

With the case, the authorities of the state-run commercial bank have filed 13 cases against Hall-Mark Group for realising more than Tk388.25 crore.

Hall-Mark alone took away Tk2,686 crore from the bank through forged documents between 2010 and 2012.

The scam shook the entire country when it came to light in May 2012.

On the other hand, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed 11 cases with Ramna police station against 27 persons tied to Hall-Mark and its lender Sonali Bank on October 4, 2012.

On October 7 last year, the graft watchdog pressed charges against 25 of the accused. Of them, seven persons including Tanvir are now behind the bars while Jasmine is on bail. Seventeen others are absconding. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

New taxi service ‘awful’ for commuters Passengers allege that the new fare rate is double the previous amount n Abu Hayat Mahmud The newly inaugurated taxicab service has provoked a negative reaction from passengers as they say the new fare is almost double the amount they used to pay.

After a long wait, a brand new fleet of taxicabs hit the city roads on Tuesday but failed to live up to the taxi riders’ expectation, many said.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurated the new cab service operated by the Trust Transport Services under the Army Welfare Trust at the Army Golf Club in Kurmitola of the capital.

Following the inauguration, the premier, however, urged the authorities concerned to fix Tk85 as fare for first two kilometres instead of Tk100.

The new rate came into effect the first day after the PM’s directive.

But the taxi riders alleged that the new charge was telling on them. They termed the new rate double the fare they had to pay previously.

Shawkat Hossain, a commuter who took a Toma Taxicab, said: “I came to Dainik Bangla from Gulshan – a 12-kilometre-long distance – and paid Tk554 as fare, which is much higher than before.”

A Gulshan 1 resident, Munia Islam, also an employee of a private Bank in Motijheel, said: “I was very hopeful about the new taxicab service, but the hike in fare has made me disinterested to hire a cab.”

SM Russel, a driver with Toma Taxi,

Chhatra League expels five CU unit activists n CU Correspondent

WEATHER

SUNNY

THURSDAY, APRIL 24 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:24PM SUN RISES 5:29AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 39

28

Chittagong

35

27

Rajshahi

41

26

Rangpur

40

24

Khulna

40

25

Barisal

40

26

Sylhet

39

24

Cox’s Bazar

35

27

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

41.6ºC Jessore

19.5ºC Sayedpur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

avoided answering when asked about the new rates.

With a smile, he said he drove his taxi from morning to afternoon yesterday and earned Tk1,450.

Md Kamrul Hossain, a former driver of Navana Taxi, said: “The present rate is almost double the earlier one.”

Earlier the fare from Gulshan 2 to Dainik Bangla intersection was around Tk300, which currently goes over Tk550, he said, adding that if this rate

4:10am 5:29am 11:57am 4:32pm 6:24pm 7:44pm Source: IslamicFinder.org

continues, the new taxicab service will not be able to draw passengers.

MAN Siddique, secretary of the Roads Division under the Ministry of Communications, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The fare rate has already been reduced after the PM’s directive, and it has been brought into effect from the day of inauguration.”

When contacted, Brigadier General (rtd) Mustafa Kamal, chief executive officer of Toma Taxi, echoed the same

ABU HAYAT MAHMUD

sentiment.

“There is no chance to further reduce the existing fare rate – Tk85 for the first kilometer – because the cabs run on octane. The fare may rise in the future in accordance with the hike in fuel price,” he added.

The fare for the new AC taxi service was fixed at Tk100 for the first two kilometres, Tk34 for every subsequent kilometre and Tk8.5 per two-minutes of waiting, while for the non-AC ones, the

fare would come down to Tk50, Tk20 and Tk5 respectively.

The rate is comparatively higher than in other major cities in South Asia and in the south-east Asian counties.

In Kolkata, an AC taxicab charges Tk32.31 at the beginning of the journey, Tk19.38 for every subsequent kilometre and Tk1.52 per minute of waiting.

In Kuala Lumpur, a taxicab charges Tk71.25 for the first one kilometre, Tk23.23 for every subsequent kilometre and Tk10 per minute of waiting.

In Bangkok, Tk101 is charged as fare for the first one kilometre and Tk11.95 for 2 to 12 kilometres.

In Dhaka city, with its constant gridlock, a journey by an AC taxicab from Mouchak to Mirpur 10 that covers 12km costs around Tk550, while by a non-AC taxicab the fare might be around Tk325.

The Trust Transport Services of Army Welfare Trust will initially operate in the capital with 27 taxicabs with the 1500cc engines of the Premio, Allion, Probox and Axio models purchased from Japan’s auto giant, Toyota.

Another private organisation, Toma Group, will also operate 19 air-conditioned taxicabs of the same kind.

The two companies will operate 650 taxicabs in Dhaka and Chittagong.

The Trust Transport Services is expected to introduce 400 such taxicabs while Toma Group will introduce another 250.

The Army Welfare Trust will operate 150 taxis in Chittagong. l

Three hurt in BCL factional clash at RU n RU Correspondent Three leaders and activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League’s Rajshahi University unit were injured in a factional clash on the campus over a previous enmity, yesterday.

The injured are the General Secretary Touhid-al-Hossain Tuhin and activists Kabir Hossain and Murad Hossain, a first year and a second year student, respectively, of the History Department.

Witnesses said the incident ensued around 1:30pm at the Tukitaki Chattar on the campus when Kabir, a supporter of the RU unit Chhatra League President Mizanur Rahman Rana, and Murad Hossain, a supporter of the General Secretary Tuhin, argued over a previous enmity.

During the scuffle, Kabir and Murad brought out sharp weapons and firearms in the presence of the law enforcers.

On receiving information about this, the General Secretary Tuhin, along with other leaders and activists, rushed to the spot to diffuse the situation.

Tuhin was injured as he tried to take away the sharp weapon from Kabir.

Following the incident, both rival groups took up positions on the campus, while the Proctor Professor Tarikul Hasan and the law enforcers brought the situation under control.

When contacted, Tuhin told the Dhaka Tribune that the incident ensued from a misunderstanding and added that he had settled the issue. l

Young woman held with ATTACK ON 10 JOURNALISTS 1kg gold at Dhaka airport RMCH interns withdraw strike, journalists continue protest n Kailash Sarkar

Bangladesh Chhatra League has expelled five of its activists of Chittagong University unit on charges of attacking a central Awami League leader.

The decision to expel them was taken at a meeting on Tuesday night, 17 days of the incident.

The expelled activists are Rubel Dey, Shohel and Shuvo of English Department, Mehraj of Computer Science Department and Asif of Islamic History Department. All of them are third year students.

Confirming the decision, Rashedul Islam Rashed, deputy publicity affairs secretary of Chhatra League told the Dhaka Tribune that the decision was made in connection with the attack on Awami League central sub-committee Secretary Nasir Haidar Babul.

A group of Chhatra League activists had attacked Nasir and physically assaulted him at the library premises on the campus in presence of ABM Mohiuddin, Awami League city unit president, on April 5.

Following the incident, Nasir filed a case with Hathazari police station and the central Chhatra League leaders visited campus to probe the incident. l

Dhaka

A passengers pays fare yesterday to the driver of a taxi that was newly introduced on the capital’s streets

5

Thursday, April 24, 2014

A young woman was arrested with a gold bar, weighing 1kg, at the Shahjalal International Airport on Tuesday night.

Mariyam Akhter, 24, was arrested with the bar around 10pm immediately after her arrival at Dhaka on a Malaysian Airlines flight from Malaysia, said Ayesha Akhter, an assistant director of the Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) at the airport.

“A CIID team seized the gold bar by searching her body while she was crossing the immigration,” said the CIID official.

Officials of the CIID at the airport said that the detainee who hailed from Munshiganj admitted that she carried the smuggled gold from Malaysia, which was given by a man in Malaysia.

She was handed over to Airport police station where a case was also filed in this connection.

Earlier on Monday night, the CIID

personnel also seized 20 gold bars weighing 20kg and arrested 4 people, including a security guard of the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB).

Sources said the customs and police officials seized around 70kg of gold at Dhaka airport and around different places of the capital, while over 100kg gold was seized in Chittagong and Sylhet this month.

Smuggling of gold has become frequent since the Indian authorities imposed some restrictions on the import of gold.

A section of unscrupulous officials and employees of different government and private organisations, including customs, NSI, the CAAB and different airlines, working at the airports have been aiding the smugglers.

In September last year, an investigation committee identified at least 18 officials of the Biman Bangladesh Airlines for their involvement in two separate hauls of smuggled-gold. l

n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi Intern doctors at Rajshahi Medical College Hospital returned to work yesterday, ending a two-day strike that caused immense sufferings to patients.

The intern doctors had gone on an indefinite strike on Sunday night following a scuffle with some journalists, who were at the hospital to cover the alleged mistreatment of a patient’s relatives. At least 10 newsmen were injured when a group of interns assaulted them with hockey sticks and batons snatched from police guards.

In the meantime, journalists in Rajshahi demonstrated for a third day yesterday demanding exemplary punishment of the interns responsible for Sunday’s incident.

Over 100 journalists formed a human chain at Shaheb Bazar Zero point in the city to protest the attack on their colleagues. They were joined by mem-

bers of civil society and cultural and political activists.

Later, journalist leaders went to the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police commissioner’s office and submitted a memorandum demanding the immediate arrest of the accused interns.

RMP Commissioner Mahbubur Rahman assured them of addressing their demand.

On Tuesday, two of the injured journalists, Assaduzzaman Asad of daily Amar Desh and Mahfuzur Rahman Rubel of ATN News, filed two separate cases with Rajpara police station accusing 150 RMCH interns of assault and damaging laptops and cameras.

Hospital sources, meanwhile, said the sudden work stoppage by the interns severely affected medical services at the state-run hospital on Monday and Tuesday.

No major surgeries were performed over the two days, while many patients

were seen leaving the hospital due to lack of treatment. A lone staff doctor was seen going from ward to ward to attend the more serious patients, the sources said.

Poor patients were the worst affected, as they could not afford to go for treatment at private hospitals.

RMCH director AKM Nasir Uddin, however, claimed that all regular doctors performed their duties as usual and health services were not hampered.

“Interns are not particularly responsible for treating patients. They are here to get training,” Nasir Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune.

On the other hand, the hospital’s death register showed that more patients died during the two days of strike. A total of 31 patients died on Monday and Tuesday, compared to a dozen deaths in the previous two days. l

7kg explosives recovered in Dhaka Fire at Tejgaon, Mirpur n

Kailash Sarkar

RAB arrested two men with 7.1kg of explosives and raw materials which they claim they were going to use to make explosives in the capital’s Abdullahpur area in Uttara early yesterday.

The arrested men are Ahmed Ali Sagar, 26, from Pashchimpara in Abdullahpur, and Md Azahar, 20, from Madhya Badera under Mymensingh Sadar upazila.

RAB 2 personnel conducted raid acting on a tip-off at Sagar’s house at Road 6, Abdullahpur around 4:30am and recovered the explosives and raw materials, said Raihan Uddin Khan, additional superintendent of police ana d the operation officer of RAB 2.

“During primary interrogation, Sagar and Azahar confessed that they had collected the explosives and raw materials to supply bombs to aid subversive activities, like they had in the

past,” said the RAB 2 official.

According to RAB, Sagar is one of the main patronisers in making and supplying bombs. Prior to the arrest, he had been on the run because of a case filed against him on October 25 last year with Uttara East police station.

The elite force said the detained were professional bomb makers, but they had yet to disclose their political affiliation. l

n Tribune Report

Separate fires broke out yesterday in the capital’s Mirpur and Tejgaon areas, while no causality was reported in the incidents.

In Tejgaon, a blaze broke out at a warehouse of the Bengal Group, situated next to the Bengal Multimedia Studio around 5:20pm. Fire Service officials said eight fire-fighting units brought it under control within an hour.

The studio is owned by private tele-

vision channel RTV, a subsidiary of the Bengal Group. The warehouse is situated next to the studio, just opposite the BSTI Tejgaon office.

Ataur Rahman, duty officer of fire service control, said they suspected that fire broke out from electric circuit.

In Mirpur 2, fire broke out at Masjid Market beside Commerce College around 12:15pm.

Three fires fighting units rushed to the spot and doused the blaze within 15 minutes, said Ataur Rahman. l

French author’s book on ’71 to launch tomorrow n Tribune Report A Bangla translation of “Les Indes rouges,” written by noted French author and philosopher Barnard-Henri Lévy, will be launched at La Galerie of Alliance Française de Dhaka at its Dhanmondi branch tomorrow at 5pm, followed by a book signing session by the author.

A leading intellectual figure in France and shortly associated with the first Bangladeshi administration, Levy covered the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh for Combat, a French newspaper created during the Second World War. “Les Indes rouges” is his only work on the Liberation War. Minister of Liberation War Affairs AKM Mozammel Huq will be chief guest at the launch ceremony, while Professor Kaiser Haq, poet, essayist and a freedom fighter, and Shishir Bhattacharja, translator, will be present as guest of honour and special guest, respectively.

Lévy will also give a talk on “Philosophy and Commitment: For a phi-

losophy of action” at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh Campus A, on Saturday at 5pm.

Opening of Marlaux Garden Jardin Marlaux (Marlaux Garden), named after the first French minister for cultural affairs, André Marlaux, will be officially inaugurated at Dhaka University on Saturday at 10am.

It is located near the university’s Faculty of Business Studies building, and is a tribute to his vehement support of Bangladesh’s liberation movement.

Minister of Liberation War Affairs AKM Mozammel Huq will be the chief guest at the opening ceremony, while His Excellency Michel Trinquier, French ambassador to Bangladesh, and Lévy will be present as guest of honour and special guest, respectively.

Following the ceremony, the inaugural speeches will take place at the university’s Senate Bhaban at 10:30am and at 11:15am there will be a screening of a 31-minute documentary by Phillipe Halphen. l

Smoke billows out of a warehouse beside the Bengal Multimedia Studio in the capital’s Tejgaon yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Blacksmiths busy making sickles n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj The blacksmiths of Kastegraam, (real name Araibaria) , a remote village at Hossainpur upazila in the Kishoreganj district are busy making sickles ahead of the harvest of Irri-Boro paddy in haor areas.

About 800 sickle making factories have been set up in the village and 3,000 labourers are now working in these factories.

The makers are busy making sickles for the current Boro season.

Hearing the sounds of a blacksmith’s hammer and seeing the labourers go about their business, it would be seem that the whole village is a big sickle industry.

The labourers are pulling out Hapurs, one kind of machine used in the blacksmith factories. Some are burning pieces of iron and some are sharpening sickles by Ret, one kind of sharpening instrument.

About 50 lakh pieces of sickle have been sold this season.

Though modern machineries have taken over the agricultural sector, sickle is still a unique tool for cutting paddy.

Khelon Mia, a day labourer of the haor area said: “ Labourers get a satisfaction in cutting paddy with this thin and sharp sickle.”

The sickles produced in the village are sold in the markets in Sylhet, Rajshahi, Bogra, Pabna, Shirajganj, Tangail, Jamalpur, Chandpur, Sherpur and B. Baria.

It is also exported to India and Saudi Arabia for cutting grass.

The blacksmiths said they did not get fair prices for their products due to

n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

Blacksmiths in Kastegraam, a remote village under Hossainpur upazila in Kishoreganj district are busy making sickles ahead of the harvest of Irri-Boro paddy DHAKA TRIBUNE Blacksmiths Rokan Uddin and Selim Mia said many blacksmiths had left their ancestral businesses and taken up new jobs as the price hike of raw materials has been affecting their business over the past few years.

Blacksmiths said they had to take loans from various NGOs and village capitalists because of a lack of capital of their own.

Sohel Chowdhury, a social worker in

lack of marketing facilities.

Bachhu Mia said:” I have been involved with the business for 25 years and 30 labourers are currently working under my supervision.”

He said 15,000 pieces of sickle have been made from iron priced at Tk 60,000.

“Each was sold at Tk 20, whole sale, and they sell each for Tk 25 to Tk 30 to the retailers and consumers,” said Bachhu.

Three held after gunfight with police n CU Correspondent Three criminals of Tempo Bahini were arrested Tuesday night after a gunfight between police and the terrorist group in city’s Khatiberhat area.

The arrested were identified as Rasel, 20, Saiful, 18, Anis, 22.

Abu Jafar Md Omar Faruk, officer-incharge (OC) of Panchlish police station, said the arrested demanded Tk5 lakh

In retaliating, police also opened fire. Rasel and a police man sustained injury in the incident.

Later, the police held the trio while the other gang members managed to flee the scene. A case was lodged with the police station in this connection.

The police also arrested Ismail Hossen the ring leader of “Tempo Bahini” ,an accused in 21 cases on April 11 after shootout with cops in the city. l

to a local businessman as extortion in the area and took away Tk20, 000 from him earlier.

Following a complaint from the businessman, the police conducted a drive in the area around 11:40 am to nab the extortionists when they came to receive money.

“Sensing the presence of police, the extortionists opened fire triggering a gunfight with cops”, added the OC.

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh Office of the Chief Engineer Education Engineering Department, Ministry of Education Shikkha Bhaban, Dhaka-1000

Invitation for Tender (IFT) 1

Ministry/Division

Ministry of Education (MoE).

2

Agency

Education Engineering Department (EED).

3

Procuring Entity Name

Executive Engineer, Education Engineering Department.

4

Procuring Entity Code

2571

5

Procuring Entity District

Dhaka

6

Invitation for

Supplying fitting, fixing of tyre, battery for Mitsubishi Pajero Jeep, Isuzu trooper Jeep, Nissan microbus and Toyota microbus.

7

Invitation Reference No.

Tender No. 37.07.0000.020.39.010.12/168

8

Date

22/04/2014

KEY INFORMATION 9

Procurement Method

Open Tendering Method (OTM) National

FUNDING INFORMATION 10

Budget and Source of Funds

Revenue (Code No. 4901)

PARTICULAR INFORMATION 11

Project Name

N/A

12

Tender package No.

1 (One)

13

Tender Last selling Date

14/05/2014. During office hours.

14

Tender Closing Date and time

15/05/2014 upto 1.00 PM

15

Tender Opening Date and time

15/05/2014 at 2.00 PM.

Name and Address of the Office(s) 16

(a) Selling Tender Document (Principal)

Accounts Section, Education Engineering Department, Shikkha Bhaban Block-2, Room no-907 (8th floor) Dhaka.

(b) Selling Tender Document (Others)

Office of the Divisional Commissioner, 1st 12th Storied Bldg, Segunbagicha, Dhaka.

(c)

Office of the Chief Engineer, Education Engineering Department, Room No. 808 7th Floor, 2nd Block, Shikkha Bhaban, Dhaka.

Receiving Tender Document

(d) Opening Tender Document

Office of the Chief Engineer, Education Engineering Department. Room No. 808, 7th Floor, 2nd Block, Shikkha Bhaban, Dhaka.

INFORMATION FOR TENDERER 17

Eligibility of Tender

The bidder shall have to submitted the following documents: i) Purchase Receipt of Tender Document (Original): ii) Up-to-date Trade Licence: iii) Up-to-date Income Tax Clearance Certificate iv) Vat Registration Certificate with 10 Digit Number for Domestic Bidders v) Reputed contractors/Organization/JVCA/NHA enlisted contractors who have minimum 05 (five) years experience of related works. vi) completion Certificate of at least One Contract of Similar Nature and Volume of work in successfully completion last five years. (from Fy-2008-09 to 2012-13. vii) the experience certificate for successfully completion of Similar Nature and Volume of works shall have to be issued by the officer not below the rank of Executive Engineer of the concerned department/ organization. viii) Tender Capacity: Equivalent to quoted tender amount

18

Brief Description of works

Supplying, fitting, fixing of Tyre, battery for Mitshubishi Pajero Jeep, Isuzu trooper Jeep, Nissan microbus and Toyota microbus.

19

Price of Tender Document (Tk.)

20

Tk. 500.00 (Five hundred) only (None-refundable).

Package No

Identification of Lot

Completed Similar Nature of work at least one contract in the last-5 (five) years (taka in lakh) (From Fy-2008-09 to 2012-13

Annual average turnover in the last 3 (three) year (Tk)

Minimum liquid asset. (Tk)

Tender security amount (Tk)

Completion time in (days)

01

01

Supplying, fitting, fixing of Tyre, battery for Mitsubishi Pajero Jeep, Isuzu trooper Jeep, Nissan microbus and Toyota microbus.

18,00,000.00

1,45,000.00

13,000.00

30 Days

PROCURING ENTITY DETAILS 21

Name of Official Inviting Tender

(Md. Raihan Badsha)

22

Designation of Official Inviting Tender

Executive Engineer (Desk-1)

23

Address of Official Inviting tender

Education Engineering Department, Room No. 808, 7th Floor, 2nd Block, Shikkha Bhaban, Dhaka.

24

Contact details of Official Inviting Tender

Tele. No. 9569360, Fax No. 9559380.

25

a)

the procuring entity reserves the right to accept or reject any/all tenders and shall have the right to correct/modify the description/qty. for items before entering into agreement.

b)

Requisite tender security (Mentioned above sl no.20) must be in the form of pay order/Bank draft/Bank Guarantee and in favour of the Executive Engineer (Dest-1), Education Engineering Department, Shikkha Bhaban, Dhaka.

c)

Bidder/his representative may be present at the time of tender opening.

d)

Any information regarding this Tender to be available at the procuring entity office.

DG-77/14 (9.5 × 4)

Illegal quarrying ruins Bholaganj Ropeway Plant

(Md. Raihan Badsha) Executive Engineer (Desk-1) For Chief Engineer

the district said the government should take proper steps to save their ancestral businesses.

Upazila chairman Ayub Ali said:”We are motivating the local NGOs to give loans with easy terms and conditions to the blacksmiths.” “ We are also trying to give bank loans from the government on easy terms and conditions to save their ancestral industry,” said the chairman. l

Hundreds of people are illegally digging up stones at the Bholaganj Ropeway Plant in Sylhet’s Companiganj upazila and the guards have become abettors there.

They are also stealing the government excavation equipment lying there since 1994 when the quarrying, around the plant situated on a delta inside the Dholai River, was stopped.

These people are also cutting down trees inside the plant, defacing its greenery and putting the area’s ecological balance under threat, locals say.

This place was attractive to the tourists who used to come here.

But now they no longer come here since it has lost its charm due to the illegal quarrying and felling of trees, they add.

Awami League leader and Sylhet’s Companiganj Upazila Chairman Abdul Bashir’s son Shamim Ahmed is allegedly controlling the illegal quarrying here, the locals say.

The correspondent tried to contact Shamim on this but failed to reach him

on the phone.

The Dhaka Tribune correspondent visited the site and saw the railway guards aiding and abetting in the digging up of stones there.

Railway Security Inspector Saidur Rahman, however, denied allegations that his guards are abetting in the quarrying.

“We have only 47 persons to maintain the security of the plant. We need more security guards to protect it. Besides, we are not getting any help from locals in this regard,” he said.

When asked about this, Companiganj Upazila Nirbahi Officer Asif Bin Ikram said, “This plant is on the verge of ruins due to the negligence of the railway security guards.”

“Sixty seven railway guards have been deployed there to guard it. They have even been ordered to shoot people conducting illegal quarries. Yet they are failing to protect it.”

“They have even been asked to set up a check post there to protect the plant. But they were reluctant. They are liable for its ruins.”

“I will write to the railway secretary about it soon,” he added. l

Three robbers jailed n Our Correspondent, Natore

Three robbers were sent to jail in the Singra upazila, yesterday.

The convicts were identified as Shobahan Uddin, 35, the son of Momtaj Uddin, Mukul Hossein, 30, the son of Azahar Ali and Jaberul Islam, 28, the son of

late Tayez Uddin.

Singra police station Officer-inCharge Shafiqul Islam said police arrested the three robbers from their houses at night.

Several murder and robbery cases were lodged against them with the police station, police sources said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Special

7

Thursday, April 24, 2014

One year of Rana Plaza tragedy After Savar, the ability to manage a postdisaster situation has raised serious concerns Syafitri and Mohammed n Sonya Norul Alam Raju

O

n April 24, 2013, Rana Plaza, an eight-storied commercial building, collapsed in Savar. On May 13, after 21 days of the incident, the search for the dead ended with the death toll of 1,136.

Approximately 2,515 injured people were rescued from the building alive.

It is considered to be the deadliest garment-factory accident in history, as well as the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern human history.

According to BGMEA source, at the time of the collapse, five garment factories were in operation in the Rana Plaza building, total 2,760 workers were deployed in five factories of the building while the numbers are 3,900 as per reports by other sources.

The newspaper report said warnings to avoid using the building after cracks appeared the day before had been ignored. Garment workers were ordered to return the following day and the building collapsed during the morning rush-hour.

Why the building collapsed?

According to an assessment report of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Centre (ADPC, 2013), the column sizes of Rana Plaza were comparatively small, compared to a standard 8-9 storied industrial building, which might have facilitated the sudden collapse. Storage of heavy equipment in the upper floors, poor workmanship and use of low-strength materials all contributed to the collapse.

The ill-constructed building was built on marshy land filled in with garbage and loose soil. The collapse followed reports of trembling from nearby buildings, giving an eerie sense of the low-lying areas on which the surrounding community stood.

Following the tragedy, it was also alleged that Rana Plaza was constructed according to a faulty design, using poor quality of construction materials and violating the rules of law.

Search and rescue operations, vulnerability of Dhaka and our capacity Rana Plaza collapse foretastes the preparedness of government and other

relevant service providing agencies including factory owners for a tremor.

A single building collapse killed 1,136 people and wounded more than 2,000 workers while government’s “all out action” took around 21 days for completing the search and rescue operation.

Logically, curiosity grows: if a moderate tremor hits the country and collapses thousands of buildings, then how long will the government take to finish their search and rescue operation with this minimum extent of preparation along with huge gaps in equipment stock.

It is predicted that Dhaka – one of the most populous mega cities in the world – will face a series of disasters in coming years due to destruction of city environment caused by its rapid growth of unplanned urbanisation and lack of good governance. According to the sources, the city will become fifth largest city by 2030 in terms of population. Dhaka city is also at high risk due to earthquakes. According to the earthquake disaster risk index, Dhaka is most vulnerable among the 20 most vulnerable cities in the world.

on the Richter scale occurred during 2000–2010.

Quakes in Bangladesh

Capital trouble

Earthquake is a major threat to urban environments. Although Bangladesh has not experienced a major earthquake in over a century, recently an escalation in seismic activity has been observed. But, a strong earthquake of 8.6 magnitude occurred in Assam on August 15 in 1950, killing 1,526 people.

Another 8.1 magnitude quake hit Assam on June 12 in 1897, killing 1500 people. The casualties were less because of low density of population and fewer numbers of concrete structures at that time.

The observatory at BUET recorded 86 tremors of over 4 magnitude during January 2006 to May 2009. These minor tremors indicate the possibility of much more powerful earthquakes hitting the country. According to a seismic zoning map (BUET), 43% area in Bangladesh can be rated high risk, 41% moderate and 16% low.

The high risk group includes major population belts such as Chittagong, Dhaka, Rangpur, Bogra, Mymensingh, Comilla, Rajshahi and Sylhet. An Oxfam study in 2002 shows there were more than 130 instances of minor seismic disturbance during 2007–2009.

Eight tremors with magnitude of 4

Bangladesh is situated at a high risk earthquake prone zone and an unprecedented human disaster may occur in the country anytime for even a moderate to heavy tremor. A powerful earthquake needs at least 100 to 150 years

PHOTOS: NASHIRUL ISLAM

a 7.5 magnitude earthquake, some 72,316 buildings in the capital will be damaged totally and 53,166 others partially while the numbers will go up to 238,164 across the country in case of an 8.5 magnitude tremor.

There would be an economic loss of about Tk8,580 crore resulting from only structural damage in case of a 7.5 magnitude earthquake. The loss would be Tk8,346 in case of 6-mag-

It is predicted that Dhaka will face a series of disasters in coming years due to destruction of city environment caused by rapid growth of unplanned urbanisation and lack of good governance to originate in a particular region and in that sense it is overdue for Bangladesh and parts of Assam, as 112 years have passed by since a heavy tremor from Dawki Fault hit the region.

Dhaka is more vulnerable to earthquakes due to its geological location and both human and economic exposure. According to CDMP study, some 78,323 buildings will be destroyed completely if a 6 magnitude earthquake shakes Dhaka. In case of

nitude earthquake if the epicentre is Dhaka city. Some 30 million tonnes of debris, equal to 2,880,000 truckloads (25 tonnes per truck), will be generated if a 6-magnitude earthquake jolts the city from beneath it. According to the study, at least 10 major hospitals, 90 schools in the capital will be destroyed completely and another 241 hospitals and clinics, 30 police stations and four fire stations partially in case of a 7.5-magnitude quake.

Rana Plaza Collapse, 2013 Tazreen Fashions, 2012

1,136

Fire at the Ali Enterprises, 2012 Istanbul Fireworks, 2008

112 289 22 32 22 188 18 0 10 58 5 14 13 7 25 14 21 18

Qinghe Special Steel, 2007 Enschede Fireworks, 2000 Kader Toy Factory Fire, 1993 MESIT Factory Collape, 1984 Triangle Shirtwaist Factory, 1911 Grover Shoe Factory, 1905 Pemberton Mill, 1860 Georgia Sugar Refinery, 2008 Haysville KS Grain Elevator Explosion, 1998 Hemlet Chicken Processing Fire, 1991 Dust Explosion, 1979

Numbers of deaths in major disasters in the manufacturing sector of the world

The Boston Molasses Disaster, 1919 Washburn A Mill, 1878 Graphics: NA Nadvi

Best preparation for the worst Considering the nature of an entire city’s vulnerability to earthquake, the government of Bangladesh has undertaken a number of initiatives to minimise the loss and damage caused by any possible disaster.

Analysing the seismic data, the government has already prepared the earthquake risk maps of Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet City Corporations and similar mapping projects are indeed underway for some of sub-regions. The Standing Orders on Disaster (SOD) has been updated in 2010 to identify the duties and responsibilities of the relevant ministries, departments and agencies to reduce disaster risk and damage.

The National Contingency Plan has already been prepared. The authority concerned is going to update the plan by formulating the contingency plans of the emergency response agencies like Fire Service and Civil Defence (FSCD), Armed Forces Division (AFD), Department of Disaster Management (DDM), and Cyclone Preparedness Programme (CPP) to address the post-disaster situation, including for earthquakes.

The Ministry of Housing and Public Works is working to enforce the Bangladesh National Building Code in constructing new structures to make the structures earthquake-resilient.

The government launched an initiative under the Comprehensive Disaster Management Programme (CDMP) to build an emergency force of 62,000 community volunteers across the country to carry out rescue operations immediately after any disaster like earthquake.

The government has also taken a step to procure equipment under the “Procurement of Equipment for Search and Rescue Operation and Other Disasters” to carry out rescue operation immediately after disasters.

It has already procured equipment worth Tk60 crore and handed them over to the concerned agencies.

Poor capacity to deal with quake Although GOB took significant initiatives, considering the country’s vulnerability the government’s preparedness is far too inadequate to address its aftermath. Many risk factors like unplanned urbanisation remain. People have no proper knowledge about tremor and citizens have no idea what they have to do during one.

Under the CDMP, the government decided to build 62,000 community volunteers to carry out rescue operations immediately after an earthquake.

But in four years since announcing the scheme, they could merely train a fraction – 12,000 – of the intended amount.

On the other hand, inefficiency and lack of coordination among the different government bodies and among GO-NGO is also considered as a big challenge. Debris management will become a serious challenge if tremor hits. A single building collapse (Rana Plaza) generated about 7,000 tonnes of debris and nearly 21 days were needed to complete the rescue operation.

If an earthquake like the 1897 one hit the country, about 300 million tonnes of debris will be generated and the first task would be to clear roads leading in and out of cities before any rescue drive could commence in

earnest. A contingency plan is yet to be tested while Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) for the organisations, departments and the institutions yet to be developed.

More steps needed to face disasters So the question remains – how prepared is the government to face possible worst-case scenarios following a disaster, such as an earthquake or a severe flood?

Involving different ministries and the non-government organisations, a coordination mechanism should be developed so that special guidelines could be prepared and disseminated, and extensive mass awareness programmes would be launched. The awareness programmes must span all strata of society including city dwellers, government officials, municipality officials, politicians, engineers, architects, designers, builders and medical people.

The government must enforce the Building Construction Act and the Building Construction Regulation in setting up new structures and stress the need for formulating a policy and nominate an authority to implement the Building Construction Regulation.

Through the implementation of Bangladesh National Building Code (BNBC), casualties and the overall damage can be minimised.

Initiatives should be taken to demolish old and highly risky buildings as a first step towards minimising casualties in such natural disasters, followed by their retrofitting to make the vulnerable buildings earthquake-tolerant.

Recommendations The collapse of Rana Plaza reminded us how fragile our buildings are.

Learning from this tragedy, we may take the following steps to reduce the impact of a similar tragedy or even ones bigger in scale such as during an earthquake.

• Ensuring proper implementation of Bangladesh National Building Code and its monitoring and implementation framework and mechanism as well as establishing proper authority to oversee the implementation.

• Increase the capacity of emergency response agencies in skills and equipment as well as their structure, responsibilities and coordination mechanism along with proper-regular financial allocation.

• Disaster risk reduction (DRR) measures should be institutionalised in every government institution at every level, especially in the urban context.

• Government should emphasise greater involvement of public and private sector on implementing DRR measures.

• Increase disaster preparedness and awareness capacity of the communities where media could play an important role along with other related stakeholders.

Finally, we never expect these sorts of accident or any major earthquake anywhere but preparedness, awareness and governance could contribute, reducing the loss of lives and property. l Sonya Syafitri is project manager at Urban DRR, Oxfam and Mohammed Norul Alam Raju is programme officer at Urban DRR, Oxfam.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Blair: West should wage war against radical Islam n AFP, London Western leaders should set aside their differences with Russia over Ukraine to focus on the growing threat of Islamic extremism, former British prime minister Tony Blair said yesterday.

In a speech in London, the Middle East envoy said the spread of extremist ideology in that region as well as in Pakistan, Afghanistan and North Africa “represents the biggest threat to global security of the 21st century.”

“On this issue, whatever our other differences, we should be prepared to reach out and cooperate with the East, and in particular, Russia and China,” Blair said.

His comments come amid a precarious Cold War-style standoff between Moscow and the West over Ukraine.

Blair said there was a shared interest between East and West on the dangers of religious extremism and it should be at the top of the global agenda.

He said many people were “curiously reluctant” to acknowledge the common thread linking Islamist movements around the world, but said “we have to take sides” against a dangerous ideology that was a “perversion” of Islam.

“There is a Titanic struggle going on within the region between those who want the region to embrace the modern world – politically, socially and economically – and those who instead want to create a politics of religious difference and exclusivity. This is the battle,” Blair said.

Taking sides meant supporting the principles of religious freedom and open rules-based economies, whether they were held by states or revolutionaries.

In reality, this meant backing the new governments in Egypt and Tunisia and helping the security services in Libya and Yemen to reform, he said.

‘We have to take sides’ against a dangerous ideology that was a ‘perversion’ of Islam In Syria, which he called “an unmitigated disaster,” Blair said both the prospect of President Bashar al-Assad staying in power and the opposition taking over seemed like “bad options.”

“Repugnant though it may seem, the only way forward is to conclude the best agreement possible even if it means in the interim President Assad stays for a period,” he said.

He also said it was an “absurdity” that Western nations spent so much on defending themselves against Islamist extremism that was being taught to young people in countries “with whom we have intimate security and defence relationships.” He suggested the G20 launch an international programme to eradicate religious intolerance from schools systems and civil society organisations in those countries. l

World

Blair’s speech on Islamic extremism generates strong reactions n Agencies Tony Blair's speech seeking to rally global support for a confrontation with Islamic extremism generated a storm of reaction, most of it negative and much of it focusing on the messenger rather than the message.

The director of the Council for Arab-British Understanding, Chris Doyle, said the former prime minister had

Commentators focused on his own credibility on the subject as much as the subject itself been right to underline the importance of the subject in his Bloomberg speech but was sharply critical of the way he went about tackling it.

Doyle said: "Blair is largely right to highlight the issue. Islamic extremism is not on the wane. It is flourishing in many areas of the world. Nobody should be complacent.

"It is his solutions that are very problematic – particularly the idea that people in the Middle East have to choose between dictatorship and Islamic extremism, and in criticising the Muslim Brotherhood, he has endorsed the military leadership in Egypt. But the choice the people of the region need is not between dictatorship and extremism but between those systems and pluralist democratic rule. In fact, dictatorships have often been a significant cause of

Protestors hold a banner reading ‘Putin! Hands off the Ukraine’ (Putin! Haende weg von der Ukraine) in front of the Westin Hotel where the German-Russian forum ‘Petersburg Dialogue’ took place in Leipzig, eastern Germany, yesterday AFP

Syria lawmaker becomes first presidential challenger n AFP, Damascus A communist lawmaker has registered as the first challenger for the Syrian presidency in an upcoming election expected to return incumbent Bashar al-Assad to power, the speaker of parliament said yesterday.

“We have received information from the higher constitutional court that member of parliament Maher Abdel Hafiz Hajjar has filed his candidacy for the post of president of the Syrian Arab Republic,” state television quoted Mohammad Lahham as saying.

Hajjar’s candidacy was announced two days after Lahham said Syria would hold a presidential

election on June 3.

Hajjar was born in Aleppo in 1968 and has been a member of the Syrian Communist Party since 1984, the broadcaster said.

He “took part in the peaceful, popular movement at the start of the crisis,” it added, referring to Arab Spring-inspired demonstrations against Assad that erupted in March 2011.

The protests escalated into an armed uprising in the face of a deadly crackdown by Assad loyalists, triggering a descent into civil war.

Assad, who became president on the death of his father Hafez in 2000 and whose current term ends on July 17, is expected to stand and win an-

Thursday, April 24, 2014

other seven-year term despite the raging conflict.

It will be the first presidential election organised by the regime – previously a referendum was held on a single candidate but that system was replaced by an amendment to the constitution.

Election rules require candidates to have lived in Syria for the last decade, effectively preventing key opposition figures in exile from standing.

The Syrian opposition has slammed the planned election as a “farce,” while the United Nations and the Arab League have said it poses a major obstacle to efforts for a negotiated peace. l

Tony Blair’s speech has been compared to Winston Churchill’s famous 1946 warning about the descent of the iron curtain AFP

Netanyahu tells Abbas to choose peace partner: Hamas or Israel n Reuters, Jerusalem Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu cautioned Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas yesterday over just-revived unity talks with Hamas, saying he had to choose between peace with Israel or its Islamist enemy.

Amplifying Netanyahu’s warning, Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Abbas’s signature on a unity accord with Hamas would be tantamount to “signing the termination of negotiations between Israel and the Palestinian Authority.”

Delegates from Hamas and Abbas’s Fatah party-led Palestine Liberation Organisation held a fence-mending session on Tuesday in the Gaza Strip, their first since a 2007 conflict in which forces loyal to the Western-backed leader lost control of the enclave to the militant group, an opponent of peace with Israel.

A Palestinian official who attended Tuesday’s meeting said there had been an “agreement in principle” on forming a “government of experts” - or a cabinet staffed by technocrats rather than politicians, possibly within five weeks.

A PLO-Hamas news conference was expected later on Wednesday.

But Palestinian hopes of reconciliation have been dashed repeatedly in the past. Since 2011, Hamas and Fatah have failed to implement an Egyptian-brokered unity deal because of disputes over power-sharing and the handling of the conflict with Israel. l

frustration and anger, and a driving force behind the rise of al-Qaida."

Blair found support for his position from a former foreign office minister, Denis MacShane, who said he had warned about the threat of Islamism in 2003 and was nearly sacked for his stand. He compared Wednesday's speech to Winston Churchill's famous 1946 warning about the descent of the iron curtain. MacShane tweeted: "Just read Blair speech. Ignore headlines.

This is Fulton Mark 2. Bien pensant left then refused to challenge Stalinism.

Orwell knew better."

Others complained that the speech conflated different strands in political Islam. The Palestinian editor of the Rai al-Youm news website, Abdel Bari

Atwan, said: "Blair is implying that extremist Islam is a danger for the whole world. But the target is the Muslim Brotherhood. He is a very good friend of Mr Sisi in Egypt and he does a lot of consultancy work in the region so it's not surprising that he's speaking out.

He had spent years as peace envoy but what kind of peace has he achieved?

We have to differentiate between radical Islam and moderate Islam. If you criminalise Islamists like the Muslim Brotherhood then you are pushing them into extremism."

Much of the commentary focused on Blair's own credibility on the subject as much as the subject itself, particularly his role in leading Britain into the war in Iraq alongside President George Bush. l

Ukraine: Have US backing to take on ‘aggressors’ n Reuters, Kiev

Lavrov: Russia will respond if interests attacked in Ukraine

Ukraine’s government relaunched a security operation to crack down on pro-Russian armed groups after an Easter pause yesterday and said it had the backing of the United States. Prompted in part by the discovery of the body of a Ukrainian politician who appeared to have been tortured, officials in Kiev decided to renew what they call an “anti-terrorist operation” against separatist militias who have seized control of about a dozen public buildings in eastern Ukraine.

But it was unclear what steps, in reality, Kiev could take to restore its authority in the mainly Russian-speaking east, without wrecking an international deal, signed last week in Geneva, designed to defuse the stand-off.

The crisis over Ukraine, now in its fourth month, has dragged Russia’s relations with the West to their lowest level since the Cold War. A further escalation could lead to damaging economic sanctions, and raises the risk of a disruption to the Russian gas supplies on which Europe depends. “The security forces are working on the liquidation of illegal armed groups,” in the east of Ukraine, First Deputy Prime Minister Vitaly Yarema told reporters. The Kiev government, which took power after President Viktor Yanukovich fled the capital in a row over whether to strengthen ties with Europe, appeared to have been emboldened by Tuesday’s visit of US Vice-President Joe Biden. He brought a package of aid and urged Russia to curb the separatist militias in the east. l

n AFP, Moscow Russia will respond if its interests are attacked in Ukraine, as they were in South Ossetia in 2008 which led to war with Georgia, Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said yesterday.

“If we are attacked, we would certainly respond,” he told state-controlled RT television in an interview.

“If our interests, our legitimate interests, the interests of Russians have been attacked directly, like they were in South Ossetia for example, I do not see any other way but to respond in full accordance with international law.”

Lavrov did not elaborate further on what the response would entail but the reference to Georgia’s breakaway region of South Ossetia strongly hints at the possibility of military action.

In August 2008 Russia sent troops into South Ossetia and then into Tbilisi-controlled Georgian territory after then president Mikheil Saakashvili tried to reestablish control over the breakaway region.

Russia then recognised South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia, as independent in defiance of the West.

“Russian citizens being attacked is an attack against the Russian Federation,” Lavrov told RT, which published excerpts of the English-language interview to be broadcast later Wednesday.

The West has accused Russia of clustering thousands of troops around Ukraine’s eastern forces and of already sending special forces into the country.

Lavrov however strongly denied that any Russian forces had entered Ukraine.

“The only thing I would like to highlight at this stage is that the Russian troops are on the Russian territory.”

He added that this had been confirmed by international inspections involving Ukraine, Europe and the US. “No one who participated in these inspections... ever brought up any fact that would indicate Russia was engaged in some dangerous military activity,” said Lavrov.

The West has strongly warned Russia against sending troops into eastern Ukraine to aid pro-Moscow separatists.

President Vladimir Putin has said he hopes there will be no military action but has not ruled out such a move.

Lavrov also accused the United States of controlling the actions of the pro-West Ukrainian government, saying that Washington was now “running the show” in Kiev.

He noted that Ukraine had chosen to relaunch military operations against separatists in the east during a visit to Kiev by US Vice President Joe Biden.

“There is no reason not to believe that the Americans are running the show in the most direct way,” Russia’s top diplomat said. l

THE HILLTOP FORTRESS OF MASADA

UN aid chiefs appeal for Syria access n AFP, Geneva

The heads of five UN agencies yesterday made an impassioned call to both sides in Syria’s conflict to allow aid deliveries countrywide, end siege warfare and halt indiscriminate attacks on civilians.

“The war escalates in many areas.

The humanitarian situation deteriorates day after day,” the leaders of the UN humanitarian aid office and its children’s, refugee, food and health divisions said in a joint statement.

“For the civilians remaining in the cities of Aleppo and the Old City of Homs, as well as other parts of the country experiencing heavy fighting,

the worst days seem yet to come,” they warned.

In Aleppo alone, at least one million people are now in need of urgent humanitarian assistance, but the road linking the northern city to Damascus has often been cut by the warring sides.

“All too often, humanitarian access to those in need is being denied by all sides. Aerial bombardment, rockets, mortars and other indiscriminate attacks slaughter innocent men, women, and children,” the aid chiefs said.

In Aleppo, there are now only 40 doctors for a population of 2.5 million, where once there were more than 2,000.

And across Syria, more than 9.3 million people are now affected by the conflict which erupted in March 2011, they said.

“With a third of the nation’s water treatment plants no longer functioning, with 60 per cent of health centres destroyed, and with some 3.5 million people living in areas under siege or unable to be reached with humanitarian assistance, the innocent civilians of Syria seem to be surviving on sheer courage,” they said.

Aid agencies are doing all they can to save lives and alleviate suffering, despite the huge risks staff face operating in a war zone, the five UN officials said. l

Tourists visit the ancient hilltop fortress of Masada in the Judean desert. Masada, a ruined desert fortress steeped in myth, symbolism and controversy, is an archaeological site seen by many as an emblem of Israel’s fighting spirit two millennia after 960 Jews are believed to have committed suicide on the isolated, wind-swept plateau rather than surrender to the Romans AFP

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

India holds second biggest round of polling today n Agencies Stakes are high for Congress and BJP and a number of other parties like AIADMK, DMK, NCP and Shiv Sena as 117 constituencies in India go to polls today in yet another substantial round of polling in the Lok Sabha elections.

Over 180m voters in 11 states and union territory of Puducherry will be able to vote in the sixth of the ninephased elections tomorrow in which there are 2076 candidates.

This is second biggest phase of the staggered election after the largest round of polling for 121 seats which was held on April 17. Analysts say this round, like the one before, will also have a bearing on the prime ministerial ambitions of AIADMK chief J Jayalalithaa and Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav, who is in the fray from bastion Mainpuri. Polling in key state Maharashtra will also be completed.

The Congress had won 36 of these 117 seats in 2009, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) 26, the DMK 18, the AIADMK 9 and the Samajwadi Party 5. Voting for 349 of the 543 Lok Sabha seats will be completed with this phase.

Tamil Nadu will see voting for all its 39 seats in one go. Jayalalithaa is in power and aiming for a clean sweep, including the Puducherry seat.

The BJP drew a blank in the state in 2009, but has engineered a coalition with parties that cumulatively won more than 16% votes in the 2011 assembly polls.

BJP prime ministerial nominee Narendra Modi has addressed at least sev-

Cost not a ‘concern’ in MH370 search n AFP, Perth Australia said yesterday cost was not a concern in the search for Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, after the mini-submarine plumbing the depths of the Indian Ocean for wreckage ended its ninth mission empty-handed.

Searchers were also investigating “unidentified material” which washed up on the country’s southwest coast to see if it was linked to the Boeing 777, which vanished on March 8 with 239 people aboard.

But officials cautioned it may be unconnected to the plane.

Australia is leading the multinational search, and bearing many of the costs of the mission expected to be the most expensive in aviation history.

“There will be some issues of costs into the future but this is not about costs,” Defence Minister David Johnston told reporters in Canberra.

“We want to find this aircraft. We want to say to our friends in Malaysia and China this is not about cost, we are concerned to be seen to be helping them in a most tragic circumstance.”

China, whose citizens made up two-thirds of the passengers, and Malaysia are among eight countries including Australia which have committed planes or ships to the Indian Ocean search. l

en meetings in Tamil Nadu in this campaign. The saffron party’s best showing in Tamil Nadu was four seats in 1999, as junior partner to the DMK. The electoral debut of Congress candidate Karti Chidambaram, son of Union finance minister P Chidambaram, is grabbing eyeballs.

Maharashtra’s final chunk of 19 seats, including six in Mumbai, is on the line. Debutants such as actor-director Mahesh Manjrekar, activist Medha Patkar and former banker Meera Sanyal are in the fray along with many of the old guard and second-generation leaders such as Priya Dutt and Milind Deora.

The ruling Congress-Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) coalition is up against anti-incumbency, having been in power since 1999, and a belligerent BJP-Shiv Sena combine.

It is a showcase of heavyweights in Uttar Pradesh, where voting will take place across 12 seats. Mulayam, daughter-in-law Dimple Yadav, external affairs minister Salman Khurshid, Amar Singh and Hema Malini are in the fray.

In Bihar, polling will be held for 7 seats.

The political dynamics of Bihar have changed since the BJP-Janata Dal (United) split. The BJP has managed to seal a pact with Ram Vilas Paswan’s Lok Janshakti Party (LJP). The big interest, however, is in what kind of impact Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad makes.

In West Bengal, President Pranab Mukherjee’s son, Abhijit Mukherjee, and Deepa Dasmunshi are among the central figures in the poll ring. Voting will be held for 6 seats. l

Kejriwal accuses rivals of sell-out n AFP, Varanasi

Indian supporters of the All India Trinamool Congress Party wave party flags and a cutout of the party symbol as unseen party candidate for the Kolkata North seat Sudip Bandyopadhyay files his nomination papers in Kolkata AFP

30 Kashmir officials quit after threats n AFP, Srinagar

At least 30 fearful local officials have resigned in Indian Kashmir after rebels killed two colleagues and issued a warning against voting this week in the country’s elections, residents said yesterday.

Hand-written notices announcing the resignations were posted in Tral area of the southern Kashmir valley where militants shot dead two officials and another man on Monday night, residents told AFP. Notices also appeared in local newspapers, while local imams read out other resignation letters of officials from “panchayat” or village councils

‘Unidentified material’ under investigation for MH370 link n

Agencies

Three pieces of debris washed up off the coast of Western Australia are being investigated to see if they could be wreckage from missing Malaysian flight MH370, Mail Online reported.

One of the objects is believed to be the length of a car with ‘distinct rivets’.

They were found by someone walking on the beach who notified police.

The search coordination centre said yesterday that police secured the material that washed ashore six miles east of Augusta in Western Australia.

The Australian Transport Safety Bureau is examining photographs to assess whether further investigation is needed and if the material is relevant to Flight MH370.

Augusta is near Australia’s southwestern tip about 190 miles from Perth, where the search has been headquartered.

The Australian-led Joint Agency Coordination Centre said in a statement: “The ATSB is examining the photographs of the material to determine whether further physical analysis is required and if there is any relevance

9

Thursday, April 24, 2014

to the search of missing flight MH370.

“The ATSB has also provided the photographs to the Malaysian investigation team.”

Meanwhile Malaysia’s cabinet approved the appointment of an international team to investigate the disappearance of missing Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370, the country’s acting Transport Minister Hishammuddin Hussein said.

“The main purpose of the international investigation team is to evaluate, investigate and determine the actual cause of the accident so similar accidents could be avoided in the future,” Hishammuddin told reporters in Kuala Lumpur.

Australia has vowed to keep searching for the missing plane despite no sign of wreckage after almost seven weeks, and as bad weather again grounded aircraft and an undersea drone neared the end of its first full mission.

The Australian and Malaysian governments are under growing pressure to show what lengths they are prepared to go to in order to give closure to the grieving families of those on board flight MH370. l

Firebrand anti-corruption champion Arvind Kejriwal accused his rivals in India’s elections yesterday of selling out to big business by accepting hundreds of millions of dollars to bankroll their campaigns.

As he arrived in Varanasi to file his nomination papers and line up a contest against frontrunner Narendra Modi, Kejriwal said India’s democratic future was at stake in the ongoing elections.

“The people of India have to decide what kind of democracy they want,” Kejriwal, who is leader of the Aam Aadmi (Common Man) Party, told hundreds of supporters in the holy city on the banks of the Ganges.

“Do you want a democracy of neighbourhoods, streets and villages or a helicopter democracy?,” he said in a jibe at Modi who is due to fly in on Thursday to file his nomination and Rahul Gandhi, the ruling Congress party’s frontman.

Both Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Congress have assembled massive warchests for the six-week election, filing the airwaves and dominating newspaper frontpages with advertisements.

While there have been no official figures, Kejriwal said the parties had spent around 150 billion rupees (around $2.5 billion) on adverts. “You turn on the TV or you look at the papers or the billboards and you see the political adverts everywhere,” he said, asking “My friends, where are they getting this money from?

Kejriwal, a former tax inspector, stunned Indian politics in December when he came to power in Delhi’s state elections on a wave of growing voter anger over levels of corruption. l

at mosques in Tral town, residents and local media reports said.

“We were misled that Panchayat elections are only meant for addressing local issues. It was a mistake on our part and we apologise for that,” one of the resignation letters seen by AFP read.

In some of the resignation letters, council members dissociated themselves from political parties taking part in the current election as well as denying involvement in the election process.

Tensions were running high ahead of voting in the area on Thursday, after rebels issued a warning against taking part in the mammoth general election underway throughout India.

Separatists have called for a boycott of the staggered election which ends next month when hardline Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi and his party are expected to vault to power after a decade of Congress-party rule.

Rebels often target council members as part of their insurgency, with at least a dozen killed since elections were held in 2010 in the region for “panchayat” or village councils.

A dozen rebel groups have been fighting since 1989 for the Muslim-majority region’s independence or for merger of the territory with Pakistan.

The fighting has left tens of thousands of people, mainly civilians, dead. l

Afghan election result delayed due to fraud probe n AFP, Kabul

Grief, anger at memorial for Korea ferry victims

Afghanistan’s preliminary presidential election result has been delayed by two days due to fraud investigations and will now be released on Saturday, officials said yesterday as they vowed to sift out fake votes.

Partial results from the April 5 election to succeed President Hamid Karzai have already been released, with former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah ahead of his main rival Ashraf Ghani after half of the ballots were counted.

Hundreds of serious fraud allegations are being probed in an attempt to ensure a cleaner election than in 2009, when Karzai retained power in a vote marred by rampant cheating.

“The IEC is conducting thorough investigations of all irregularities,” the Independent Election Commission said in a press release. “While these investigations have delayed the process slightly, they are critical to the accuracy and integrity of final results.”

The latest partial results put Abdullah in the lead with 44.4 percent followed by former World Bank economist Ghani on 33.2 percent. If no candidate gains more than 50 percent, a second-round election between the two leading names is tentatively scheduled for May 28. l

n AFP, Ansan Thousands of mourners paid tearful respects yesterday at a temporary memorial to the hundreds of student victims of South Korea’s ferry disaster, as the grim search for bodies entered a second week.

The confirmed death toll now stands at 150, but 152 are still unaccounted for The confirmed death toll stood at 150, but 152 were still unaccounted for, their bodies believed trapped in the inverted, submerged ship that sank a week ago in circumstances that have yet to be fully explained.

As the relatives of the missing began their daily vigil at the harbour on Jindo island, where bodies recovered from the disaster site are brought, others converged on a temporary memorial to the victims in Ansan, 200 miles (320 kilometres) to the north.

Ansan has become a focal point of national mourning. The city is home

to the Danwon High School which had 352 students and a dozen teachers on the Sewol when it capsized.

Nearly 280 students are among the dead and missing.

The memorial, set up in an indoor sports stadium, was opened yesterday and comprised a giant altar in the form of a terraced bank of flowers – white, yellow and green chrysanthemums – among which rested the framed pictures and names of students whose funerals have already taken place.

Among the 6,500 mourners who passed through the memorial during the day, were many schoolchildren in uniform, some of whom broke down and had to be helped out of the stadium.

Meanwhile, North Korea, which has barely referenced the ferry disaster over the past week, sent its condolences yesterday via a Red Cross channel used for inter-Korean communications.

The message voiced sorrow that “so many passengers, including young students, died or went missing,” the South’s Unification Ministry said.

In Jindo harbour, the latest bodies recovered from the ferry were taken to a small tented village set up to manage the process of identifying the bodies. l

Obama arrives in Japan Climate change likely to make Everest riskier for tension-filled Asia trip n AP, New Delhi

n AFP, Tokyo US President Barack Obama landed in Tokyo Wednesday to launch an Asian tour dedicated to reinvigorating his policy of “rebalancing” US foreign policy towards a dynamic Asia.

Obama landed aboard Air Force One to begin a state visit to Japan, which comes as regional tensions boil over maritime territorial disputes and fears that North Korea could soon carry out a new nuclear test.

The president touched down a day after nearly 150 lawmakers paid homage at a controversial Tokyo war shrine seen by neighbouring nations as a symbol of Japan’s brutal imperialist past, and shortly after the prime minister made a shrine offering.

Days earlier, China seized a huge Japanese freighter over what a Shanghai court says are unpaid bills relating to Japan’s 1930s occupation of vast swathes of the country.

In the seas to the southwest, boats from China and Japan spar for ownership of a small chain of islands. And an ever-unpredictable North Korea – which has denounced the presidential tour as “reactionary and dangerous”

– appears to be trying to seize the spotlight with preparations for a fourth nuclear test.

Despite the increasingly tense security situation, getting top regional US allies Japan and South Korea – Obama’s next destination – to talk to each other is tricky.

South Korean President Park GeunHye and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe have met just once since both came to power over a year ago, and only then when the US leader cajoled them into a choreographed photo op.

East Asia is a tumultuous region with a multitude of fractures that the US has done little to mend over the last half-century, said Christian Wirth, a research fellow at Griffith University in Australia.

“Since the establishment of the post-war regime in San Francisco in 1951 and the onset of the Korean War in 1950, (the US has been) directly and deeply involved in East Asian politics,” he told AFP. “Washington’s preference for bilateralism has contributed to the lack of intra-Asian cooperation and historical reconciliation.” l

Climbing to the roof of the world is becoming less predictable and possibly more dangerous, scientists say, as climate change brings warmer temperatures that may eat through the ice and snow on Mount Everest.

Nepal was left reeling when a sudden ice avalanche slammed down onto a group of Sherpa guides on Friday and killed 16 in the deadliest single disaster on Everest. While it is impossible to link any single event to long-term changes in the global climate, scientists say the future will likely hold more such dangers in high-altitude regions.

Avalanches of snow, rock or ice could increase. Climbing and trekking terrains would become unsteady. Glaciers may be more unpredictable. Storms will become more erratic, and the Himalayas in particular could see more snow as warming oceans send more moisture into the air for the annual Indian monsoon that showers the 2,400-kilometer (1,500-mile) mountain range.

Friday’s disaster occurred at the Khumbu Icefall, long recognized as one of Everest’s most dangerous spots, as the edge of the slow-moving glacier is known to crack, cave and send huge chunks of ice tumbling without warning.

“It’s Mother Nature who calls the shots,” Tim Rippel, an expedition leader, said in a blog post from Everest base camp as many

of the 400 Sherpa guides were leaving, demanding better government compensation for the high risks they take in helping climbing companies ferry rich tourists up the peak. “The mountain has been deteriorating rapidly in the past three years due to global warming, and the breakdown in the Khumbu Icefall is dramatic,” he said. “We need to learn more about what is going on up there.”

There is nothing to prove the icefall was behaving unusually on Friday. But scientists say mountaineers should assume that everything is now in flux.

What makes the situation so risky, scientists say, is the uncertainty itself. While scientists are sure things are changing, they’re not entirely sure how. Much of the evidence is anecdotal, and there isn’t enough data or decades of scientific observation to draw solid conclusions. Rigorous glacier studies have only begun in the Himalayas in the last decade, and no one is studying snow patterns on a large scale, Nepalese glaciologist Rijan Bhakta Kayastha at Kathmandu University said.

Meanwhile, as global temperatures have gone up 0.75 degrees C (1.4 degrees F) in the last century, according to the International Panel on Climate Change, studies show the Himalayas warming at a rate up to three times as high.

“You can be sure that if the climate is changing — and it is — then glaciers are

Mother of Nepalese mountaineer Ang Kaji Sherpa, killed in an avalanche on Mount Everest, holds prayer beads in her hand and cries while she waits for his body at Sherpa Monastery in Katmandu, Nepal AP changing and the danger is shifting,” said US hydrologist Jeff Kargel of the University of Arizona who is leading a global project to measure and map the tens of thousands of Himalayan glaciers through satellite data. “It doesn’t necessarily mean it’s getting worse, it just means you don’t know.”

High-altitude mountain climbing has always been inherently risky — more so as

more people take those risks. Hundreds have died attempting to summit Everest from avalanches or rock falls, or from hypothermia or altitude sickness. The Sherpas who died on Friday were some of today’s most skilled Everest climbers, underlining the fact that experience is no guarantee of safety, even if better gear and oxygen-breathing equipment have helped reduce some dangers. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Letters to

www.dhakatribune.com

the Editor

LETTER OF THE DAY

Never forget, never again

What about our safety?

W

e must mark April 24, 2013 as a watershed moment for the RMG industry, not just in Bangladesh, but globally.

Commemoration events today to mark the first anniversary of the Rana Plaza disaster will allow the nation to offer respects and stand in solidarity with the families of the bereaved.

Many thousands of rescue workers and volunteers endured for many days to find survivors. We salute their courage. Disaster response systems can never be a substitute for preventing disasters, but efforts to improve them can always be made.

Banking and media outlets should work together to institutionalise a formal independent appeals framework that can allow citizens who are not in a position to provide direct assistance but can contribute financial support to give money to a trusted central body that can be swiftly activated to collect and distribute funds.

Similarly, while monetary compensation is inadequate solace for loved ones lost or injuries suffered, no effort should be spared to increase and speed the pace of payments to victims and families.

For the longer term, everything possible that can be done to prevent future disasters must be a high priority for brands, consumers, and governments the world over.

Rana Plaza was a needless and preventable tragedy. Sadly, fatal incidents are not historically rare in the RMG sector, whether in Bangladesh or elsewhere. Spectrum and Tazreen are just two of the more deadly accidents which have befallen workers in recent years.

Building a safer, more sustainable garment industry will be the best and most lasting memorial to those who suffered at Rana Plaza.

Rana Plaza was a needless and preventable tragedy.

Build a safer, more sustainable garment industry

Invest in new EPZs to secure RMG jobs

I

t is vital to build a better future for the country’s RMG workers.

With thousands facing layoffs following ongoing factory safety inspections, the government has a duty to facilitate new, compliant buildings to which workers can move.

Reports suggest that in total, 50,000 out of the RMG industry’s 4 million workers have lost their jobs due to cancelled orders in the last year. Their number will be added to by workers whose factories are closed following government safety inspections and those conducted by the two brand-led stakeholder safety initiatives, the Accord and Alliance.

These inspections are absolutely vital to prevent future disasters.

Their multi-stakeholder scope can help build the confidence and support which is necessary to secure long–term investment in the RMG industry in Bangladesh.

However, care must still be taken to mitigate factors which could give rise to cancellations of orders and lost jobs. Unless tangible safety and productivity improvements are continually made, more buyers may be tempted to move their business, or forced to do so by factory closures, to factories in other exporting countries, which are more expensive, but may be perceived as less risky.

The government must provide land and support for new EPZs with properly designed buildings, so that factories which are closed by inspectors can relocate to visibly safer buildings.

This will help not just the owners and workers affected, but the industry itself by improving its image and securing new investment.

April 21 Many people claim that the situation in Bangladesh is getting worse day by day. In fact, many find the present circumstances, with AL-led government in power, to be more critical when compared to 1975, at the verge of the formation of Baksal. Many heinous activities have been carried out by the members of Chhatra League: The attack on protesting students at Rajshahi University, and earlier, the death of Biswajit Das come to mind.

As we saw only last week, Abu Bakar Siddique, the husband of BELA Executive Director Rizwana Hasan, was kidnapped in broad daylight. Civil society is seriously concerned about the lack of safety in this country, as murders, hijackings, and kidnappings have become far too common here. The government must turn things around, and make the safety of the public a priority.

Mawduda Hasnin

Pahela Boishakh or Prathama Boishakh?

April 20

DP I applaud your effort to enlighten the reader with the origin of the word Pahela. Regardless of the origin of the word, Pahela is still a Bengali word because it is extensively used in the Bengali language. As for your call for the reader to adopt Prathama, instead of Pahela, in denoting the beginning of the new year, I fear that the ingrained nature of Pahela Baishakh in the mind of the reader will prevent an adoption of Prathama Baishakh. imzy DP: We need a Bisuddho Bangla movement, just as the Tamils did in the 1960s with their pure Tamil movement.

A stand on Crimea

April 19 Anyone who dissents with this brand of foreign policy is likely to be branded a Razakar. The author is bringing in acute reasoning, astute scholarship, and morality to advise a government which bases its policy on chutzpah, and a seemingly absolutist dislike of dissent.

Sam

Khaleda: Govt abducted Siddique

April 19 The chairperson’s remarks seriously beg the question of why hasn’t the BNP more strongly campaigned for finding Ilias Ali, their own man, now tragically missing for exactly two years.

One

‘Anarchy in name of long march won’t be tolerated’ April 19

So what will Hasan Mahmud’s party do now?

Should we expect a disgraceful encore of December 29, 2013? This time, instead of sand-laden trucks, perhaps a fleet of buses, or a pair of tanks, or even a fighter jet, parked smack in front of Begum Zia’s residence is not a far-fetched possibility. Mr Mahmud’s peremptory rhetoric of threats is very inappropriate.

I don’t think he is privy to the details of the BNP chairperson’s discussions with the Indians during her visit to Delhi. So his jibe at the chairperson is an uncorroborated remark we can ignore.

BNP’s failure in the past to extract from India a just resolution to the discord on the Teesta issue does not mean they cannot, or should not, forcefully commit themselves to the issue, today. The incumbent government’s incompetence, insincerity, and its capitulation on the Teesta issue should be condemned by all Bangladeshis, not just BNP. Ronnie

Combating domestic emotional abuse of children April 17

The worst thing is that, in Bangladesh, emotional and physical abuse is seen as normal by parents.

Sanzida Rahman

Indian Bangla film, Jaatishyar, wins big at 61st National Film Awards April 18

West Bengal movies are way better than Bangladeshi movies.

Shakil Khan

Man makes traditional sherbet at sherbet shop in the capital’s Chawkbazar April 18

It’s my favourite!

Maruf Umar

Khaleda demands early election

April 19 Begum Zia ought to know very well that her entirely reasonable, justified comments and demands are in vain. Her appeals to this government are wasted. She must revamp and remobilise BNP in a sustained political campaign to compel the government to heed the will of the nation. It is the BNP’s and the chairperson’s duty to ensure that outcome, the soonest possible.

Anon

Be Heard

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

CALVIN AND HOBBES

Support new EPZs so that factories which are closed by inspectors can relocate to safer buildings

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU ACROSS 1 Exhibit (4) 3 Postpone (5) 8 Lake (4) 9 Ooze (4) 11 Wish evil upon (5) 12 Snout (4) 14 Colour (3) 15 Prepared (5) 18 Concise (5) 19 Jurisprudence (3) 21 Equipment (4) 24 Combine (5) 26 Fondness (4) 27 Inherited character unit (4) 28 Confection (5) 29 Legal document (4)

DOWN 1 Waistband (4) 2 Frank (4) 4 Flightless bird (3) 5 Passenger vessel (5) 6 Celtic tongue (4) 7 Water grasses (5) 10 Skin opening (4) 11 Stop (5) 13 Durable fabric (5) 16 Business transaction (4) 17 Stoppers (5) 18 Strong thread (5) 20 Afresh (4) 22 Bellow (4) 23 Dexterous (4) 25 Golf mound (3)

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS Crossword

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

Sudoku

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Much left to do n Mahdin Mahboob

T

What have we learnt from this tragedy?

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Can we evolve?

A

n Zeeshan Khan year on since the worst industrial disaster in Bangladesh’s history, the deadliest garments accident in history, and the deadliest accidental structural failure in modern times; the only questions that really need asking are, what have we learnt, and what are we doing about it?

The hyperbolic, and patently exaggerated fears of imminent ruin by garment-owners, their threats about the collapse of the national economy, and their insistence that they are “commercially important people” and therefore above reproach have been heard.

The violent demonstrations for better wages and conditions by workers and their support networks, the allegation of sabotage, and the police action against them have been seen. The Sohel Ranas and the Murad Jungs, the government’s impotence against them and its inability to reel in unethical operators in the industry as well as their own ranks have been exposed. After it’s all been taken into account we are left with a few simple yet inevitable conclusions.

Our economy is in desperate need of diversification. It can no longer be reliant on a competitive advantage that is based on a race to the bottom for cheaper labour. This has proven to put lives at risk, and will be

untenable in the future as the cost of living drives up wages. It is not only unethical, but makes bad business sense and will leave Bangladesh hostage to an exploitative economic order that belongs in the Middle Ages.

We need industries that produce goods that are higher up the value chain and workers that have the skills to produce them.

The most encouraging outcome of this tragedy has been the national outpouring of support

The government must be able to regulate the sector, and all sectors much better. While small government may be better for business, no government is surely catastrophic. Not enforcing building codes, safety standards, and fairness for workers will eventually lead to a “disabled” environment that will drive away investors. This is a concrete social obligation that is non-negotiable.

The industry must weed out rogue traders and insist on better standards from their members. Compliant

factories and businessmen should no longer have to bear the brunt for the negligence of their non-compliant co-industrialists.

There must be measures within the industry and in the BGMEA to make sure they are not all painted with the same brush. This is their own responsibility and it will not do to cry foul when they are lumped together, unless they do anything to stand apart themselves.

Workers must not be forced to resort to violence and vandalism, but must be allowed to voice their concerns in a responsible manner. This means they must have representation.

How much of this has been done?

Not a lot, but then again, not nothing either. Since April last year, the government has tried to regulate the sector better, more inspectors have been fielded, non-compliant factories have been shut down, and owners with blood on their hands have been arrested. However, the garments industry lobby has proven to be strong enough to retain the industry’s standing, and their threats of an economic collapse have kept stronger action at bay.

They (the industry) have in fact done themselves and the nation a disservice by banding together the way that they did, instead of throwing the criminals among them under the bus.

The buyer, for their part, has acted more commendably, and a number of accords and agreements have been

inked, with ILO oversight, to ensure sourcing occurs in a more conscientious and meticulous manner. They have also agreed, some of them at least, to share more of the profits with producers.

In some instances, privileges have also been withdrawn until better compliance is achieved. These are positive developments, the benefits of which will hopefully reach the workers.

The workers have also experienced a pay rise, and compensation to victims of the Rana Plaza tragedy has been forthcoming, though many would say not enough and not soon enough. However, it’s equally evident that no one has been able to get away with doing nothing, and with sustained pressure, it’s likely that they will eventually have to do their best.

But the most encouraging outcome of this horrendous tragedy has been the national outpouring of support. There are no blind eyes being turned, and no one is willing to let this get swept under the rug. The debate has been sustained, actions demanded, and consequences felt, and though it’s been slow going, there is reason to believe that it will not stop until the minimum standards that become a country on the threshold of middle-income status, with all its attendant rights and responsibilities, are achieved.

Zeeshan Khan is a journalist at the Dhaka Tribune.

Time to pay up

A time to heal

n Niaz Alam

Plaza Arrangement n Rana Coordination Committee

M

any factors underlay the culture of poor enforcement of safety laws, which enabled supervisors to order workers into buildings at Rana Plaza that had already been officially declared unsafe.

Apportioning responsibility between the broader factors, such as poor enforcement of laws by government, or cost-cutting by factories, which allowed lax enforcement of safety to reach such a fatal situation, is a complex task.

One factor which is widely appreciated though is that the garments industry globally relies on many tiers of sub-contractors, in order to meet short lead times for getting goods into shops. Hence, no matter how comprehensive a buyer’s ethical auditing practices may be, or however many well run, compliant factories it deals with directly, the reality on the ground is that some work may and is subcontracted to less well-run sites.

Hence, there was little surprise that 29 brands were identified as being linked to production at sites in Rana Plaza.

signing the Rana Plaza Compensation Arrangement to establish an agreed framework to assess and deliver compensation in a timely manner.

As of this week, it was still twothirds short of its $40m target for contributions to the voluntary Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund, administered by the ILO, which it set up to manage funds for victims of Rana Plaza.

The Clean Clothes Campaign which supports the Arrangement is urging consumers around the world to write to all the brands involved asking them to make contributions. The table below lists the names given on its website, on which further details can be found.

For those who can afford to, Rana Plaza Donors Trust Fund does say on its website that it is open to any company, organisation, or individual that wishes to contribute as a way of expressing solidarity. The Arrangement’s website provides full details of how this is administered, but currently does not list any Bangladeshi banks to receive funds.

In total, the combined profits of these brands last year exceeded $22bn, so for them the amounts being sought are relatively small. For the victims how-

Brands reported to have made some contributions to Rana Plaza Trust Fund (source CCC 23 April 2014)

Bonmarche, C& A Foundtion, Camaieu, El Corte Ingles, Inditex, KiK, Loblaw, LPP S.A, Mango, Mascot, Premier Clothing and Walmart, The Childrens Place, Asda, via BRAC USA

Brands which have yet to publicly commit despite having had links to a factory in the building according to ccc 23 april 2014 www.cleanclothes.org

Adler Midemarkte, Ascena Retail, Auchan, Benetton, Carrefour, Cato Fashions, Grabalok, Gueldenpfennig, Iconix (Lee Cooper), JC Penney, Kids for Fashion, Manifattura Corona, Matalan, NKD, PWT (Texman), Yes Zee

Rana plaza donors trust fund bank account

UBS Rue du Rhone 8, Case Postale CH-1211 Geneva, Switzerland Swift Address: UBSWCHZH80A Account no: 0240-FP100364.0 IBAN No.: CH1900240240 FP1003640 Reference: ILO for Rana Plaza Trust Fund

Details available via Rana Plaza Arrangement http://www.ranaplaza-arrangement.org/

In a welcome move, four of these brands, (Primark, Loblaw, Bonmarche, El Corte Ingles), joined the Bangladesh Ministry of Labour, Bangladesh Employers’ Federation, BGMEA, Bangladesh Institute for Labour Studies (BILS), and labour groups including the global trade union, IndustriALL, in

ever, they are absolutely crucial as the Arrangement provides an accountable and transparent mechanism to provide much needed assistance.

Niaz Alam has worked on ethical business issues since 1992 and is a former vice-chair of War on Want.

A

year ago today, we, along with millions of others, watched with horror the scenes of devastation from Savar, as the Rana Plaza building collapsed trapping and killing thousands of garment workers.

The distressing images of so many young women and men who lost their lives or were trapped in the building have stayed with us all, and today we will continue to remember all those who lost their lives, a loved one, or have been left with life-changing injuries.

The collapse of Rana Plaza placed the garment industry, which provides work and support for so many in Bangladesh, in the spotlight like never before. For the manufacturers, international brands, trade unions, NGOs, and the government of Bangladesh, it was not an option to stand by and do nothing.

We must all ensure that those who lost so much have the support to continue with their lives For the 1,138 families who lost loved ones and the more than 2,000 workers who suffered injuries, it was clear that support would be needed to ensure they did not have to endure ill-health and financial hardship in addition to the trauma of the terrible events of April 24, 2013.

In the last year, we have all worked together to develop a groundbreaking approach to address the needs of all survivors and the families of the victims – the Rana Plaza Arrangement.

The Arrangement is of major significance as it is the only coordinated and systematic approach to ensure all the victims, their families, and dependents will receive entitlements to cover their losses. For the first time, such a process brings together all the key parties involved in a Coordination Committee that governs the Arrangement.

This is the first time a mechanism to deal with financial support of victims of such a tragedy has been drawn up that the whole industry can support.

The Coordination Committee is comprised of: The government – the Ministry of Labour and Employment; the employers – the BGMEA, and the Bangladesh Employers Federation (BEF); global and local trade unions – IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC), National Coordination Committee for Workers’ Education (NCCWE), and IndustriALL Global Union; non-governmental organisations –BILS and Clean Clothes Campaign (CCC); and the global brands that source from Bangladesh, represented by El Corte Ingles, Loblaw, and Primark.

The Coordination Committee, with the UN agency, the ILO, acting as a neutral chair, has developed a comprehensive and independent process that will deliver support to the victims, their families, and dependants in a predictable manner consistent with international labour standards.

The details of the process were agreed in late 2013, and as of March 24, 2014, the claims process has begun.

The claims system has been designed to ensure it is easy for beneficiaries to access the process, that it is easy to understand, and that claims are calculated in a fair and equitable manner consistent with international standards.

There are two groups of beneficiaries able to make a claim under the Arrangement: A person

wenty-fourth April, 2013 was perhaps the saddest day in the history of modern Bangladesh.

On that fateful day, people in Bangladesh woke up to hear that in Savar, on the outskirts of the capital Dhaka, a building which housed five readymade garment factories, had caved in, with thousands of people, mostly workers, stuck inside. The next few days saw complete mayhem, with corpses being found from under the rubble, injured people being rescued, and it seemed the country was not well equipped for such massive rescue operation.

Soon the authorities took over rescue operations. In the end, the official death toll was 1,134, with 2,515 injured being rescued alive. Many were not found at all.

The incident shook not only Bangladesh, but the whole world, given the fact that the RMG factories in Bangladesh supplied clothes to many of the world’s top brands based in North America, Europe, Australia, and Japan.

The million dollar question was: Who was to blame for the ill fate of the poor workers? Was it the corrupt government officials, the inspectors who allowed such a building, with violations of almost all building codes, to exist?

Or was it the factory owners who put heavy machinery in such a weak building, and also, forced workers to continue working even after it become too risky to work there? Or the owner of the building, Sohel Rana, who went on making storey after storey with only profit in mind, with not enough foundation, and violating almost all building codes? Or the big brands like Primark, Walmart, Matalan, Benetton, and Mango, who bought clothes from these factories with little knowledge about the working conditions of the workers?

Or, was it the customers in the West to blame, who were the end users of these products? Whoever is to blame, it does not matter much to the people who are suffering immensely because of what happened.

It matters little whose fault it exactly is for Shushanto Kumar Das, whose daughter Sheuli Rani Das died in the tragic incident. She was the primary bread-earner of the family and after her death, the family received little, if any, compensation. Whose fault it actually is matters little to Laboni Khanam, whose left hand had to be cut off after she was rescued from the rubble.

Although the victims – the injured workers and families of the dead – received some financial support from different government and non-govern-

who was injured in the disaster and has lost his/her earning capacity as a result of that injury, or a dependent of a person who was killed in the Rana Plaza disaster who was partially or fully reliant on the income earned by that person.

ment organisations from both home and abroad, a major portion has been spent for medical purposes, with many still left not rehabilitated.

Many of the families have fallen into debt – unable to pay back and living lives of hardship. According to ActionAid Bangladesh, two-thirds of the 1,436 survivors are finding it very difficult to make ends meet.

The majority of the victims have not received much compensation, and are suffering

Since the incident, the government in Bangladesh has become stricter in terms of regular factory inspections, checking building codes and working conditions. The Western buyers are pressuring the Bangladeshi RMG owners for safer working conditions, given that their consumers are now putting more pressure on them to ensure safer working conditions for the workers.

The ILO has estimated that it will cost about $40m to compensate victims and set up a fund to collect donations from the 29 Western retailers who used to buy garments from the five factories housed in Rana Plaza.

According to the ILO, the payment of compensation is going very slow since the retailers have no legal obligation to pay the workers, given the fact that they were directly not employees of those companies. It is a matter of good will. After a year of the collapse, only a third has yet been paid up to the ILO fund.

Many organisations in Bangladesh, both in large and small scales, are working towards rehabilitation of the victims – some providing medicare, some providing jobs, and some providing entrepreneurship opportunities.

But so far, the effort has been anything but sufficient.

Much more needs to be done, since the majority of the victims have not received much compensation, and are suffering. We, as Bangladeshis have a part to play in helping the people who play a major role in our foreign currency earnings. For those of us who can, we should come forward to help them in any way that we can.

Mahdin Mahboob is the founder Chairperson of Savar Foundation, working towards rehabilitation of Rana Plaza collapse victims.

estimated $40m that will ensure all those affected by the terrible collapse of Rana Plaza receive the support they require. If all funds are collected soon, then we hope that all payments will be made within six months.

The Trust Fund is open to any-

The distressing images of so many young women and men who lost their lives or were trapped in the building have stayed with us all

Each beneficiary will receive payments based on their individual circumstances and needs. Each claim will be independently assessed and calculated, based on a formula developed by actuarial experts in line with standards embedded in the ILO Convention No 121. Workers who have suffered injuries in the disaster will be given a medical assessment to determine the extent and permanence of their injury. Medical care has been provided free of charge by the medical centers, and for future long term needs of the injured, the Coordination Committee will ensure that medical care will continue to be provided free of charge.

Yesterday, an advance payment of Tk50,000 was made under the auspices of the Arrangement to all injured workers, dependents of the deceased and missing workers. For cases of injured workers or surviving dependents, this amount will later be deducted from their full payments.

The non-injured workers also received this Tk50,000.

The Rana Plaza Donor Trust Fund, which is collecting donations for the Arrangement, still needs significant donations in order to reach the

one who wishes to donate to it. It is imperative that we build on the initial donations and ensure sufficient funds are raised. This is an obligation for all: Employers, government, brands, and all those that relied on the hard work of Bangladeshi workers to build the industry, the country, and the sector globally.

Today, as we take a moment to reflect on the terrible events of last April 24, we must also ensure that the impact of that day stays with us.

That the horror we felt at the loss of so many does not fade, and we do not falter at this last step. We must all ensure that the Donor Trust Fund reaches its target of an estimated $40m, and show that we are all committed to ensuring those who lost so much on that fateful day have the support to continue with their lives. What justice would there be for those who lost their lives if we failed now?

The Rana Plaza Arrangement Coordination Committee is a multi-stakeholder body tasked with developing and overseeing “the Arrangement” – a single approach for establishing the amount of financial support and level of medical care to be provided to the victims of the disaster.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Andrew Biraj lenses catastrophe and struggle

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Jochhona Andhkarey address issues on Savar Tragedy

n Entertainment Desk To mark one year of Savar Tragedy, a drama Jochhona Andhkarey will be aired at 9pm tomorrow on SATV. Written by Polash Mahbub, and directed by Hasan Morshed, the drama features Rownak Hasan, Moutushi Biswas, Munira Mithu among others.

Showcasing a different angle of Savar Trage-

Andrew Biraj and a spectator at the Dwrik Gallery

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak Remembering the first year anniversary of the disastrous incident of Rana Plaza, Andrew Biraj, one of the country’s prominent photographers arranged a solo photography exhibition titled Bonded Stitches & Struggle at three venues of the country including Drik Gallery of Dhanmondi, Savar Central Hospital of Savar and Chhobir Haat of Shahbagh from April 23 to May 1.

Andrew has captured the distress of various tragic incidents that has befallen on the labourers of the country including the Spectrum collapse, the fire incident at the factories owned by Ha Meem Group and Tazrin Fashion and last year's tragic accident of Rana Plaza collapse with the highest dead count.

The documentary based photography exhi-

SADIA MARIUM

bition portrayed the photos covering a quantity of garments disasters and the workers’ struggle with the law enforcement for their demands and rights. Each photo of the exhibition narrates the heartache or the gut-wrenching story behind the image. Even after a year of the Rana Plaza incident, Andrew's photographs hold the power to awaken emotions among the spectators. The photos raise the crucial questions about the fair wage of the garments workers and the working conditions they are exposed to, they provide a window to the harsh realities that is faced by these labourers on a day-to-day basis.

Amirul Rajiv, the curator of the exhibition said: “We arranged the exhibition with the aim of raising a mass awareness among the people of the country, not just among a handful of middle class intellectuals. So, we are show-

casing the photos at the three different venues where people from all spheres of the society will have access to view the truth as it is.”

Before the inauguration of the photography exhibition, a discussion was held at the Drik Gallery premises where Heather Cruden, the Canadian High Commissioner to Bangladesh, Gerben Sjoerd de Jong, the Ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands, Jesmine Akhter, a survivor of Rana Plaza, Anu Mohammad, economist & activist and others expressed their concern over the workplace safety of garments workers and minimum standard of living.

The photos in this exhibition, whether they focus on the tragic consequences of disasters or on the more mundane daily realities, remind us that for the workers, the garment sector is their life. l

John Travolta to appear at IIFA awards John Travolta will appear during the 15th International Indian Film Academy awards in Tampa Bay, USA. Organisers of the event said Monday that Travolta will receive the Most Popular All-Time International Star in India at the awards ceremony. The awards, making their debut in the United States, started yesterday and will continue until Saturday at various venues in Tampa. The main event is Saturday at Raymond James Stadium.

Some 30,000 people are expected to attend the event, which celebrates Indian films.

Travolta is best known for his roles in such films as Saturday Night Fever, Pulp Fiction, Grease and Get Shorty. l

Meryl Streep reveals her thoughts on self image n Entertainment Desk

“I never had that. I’ve always been an omnivore, interested in way too many things, but I found the one profession that fed all my appetites,” she added.

For being over 50 in the entertainment industry, Streep said: “When I was 40, I was offered three witches in one summer.

And I thought, OK, this is it.

You turn 40, and oh my god.

The only reason I have a career at 64 is that I’ve had hits later in life. I’ve found that once certain movies are out, audiences aren’t so age-phobic. They were willing, and they were happy,” she added. l

Baramkhana by Theatre (Baily Road) was staged yesterday at the National Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy SADIA MARIUM

Star World airs today at 6:30pm on Boishakhi TV. Produced by Shahid Shompod, the show features all the latest celebrity and showbiz news, gossip, photos and videos of Dhallywood, Bollywood and Hollywood. The host of the show is Sabila Nur

n Entertainment Desk

Hollywood veteran Meryl Streep says that at the start of her career she thought her looks weren’t good enough to make her a success in the industry.

Scoring an Oscar victory thrice, Streep, 64, is the most nominated actress in Hollywood, having 18 nominations to her credit, reported E!Online.

“I was always in plays, but I thought it was vain to be an actress. Plus, I thought I was too ugly to be an actress. Glasses weren’t fabulous then. Many of my friends woke up at 3 years of age and said: ‘I have to be on stage’,” Streep said.

dy, Moutushi with a photo is searching for her husband and Munira is searching for her son.

A young fire victim is lying in the hospital bed.

Moutushi claims that he is her husband and Munira says the young man is her son. They get into a conflict but the young man’s face is damaged and covered with bandage and is unrecognisable. The authority of the hospital falls in a dilemma and waits for the young man’s recovery. l

Puthi artiste Kamrul brings audio album on the traditional art

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition

Death Trap Time: 3pm – 9pm Alliance Française de Dhaka 1134 - Lives not Numbers Time: 3pm – 8pm Pathshala South Asian Media Academy Serenading Suchitra Time: 12pm – 8pm Shilpangan Gallery House-7, Road-13, Dhanmondi Last Summer

by Iffat Ara Dewan Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, Gulshan Avenue

Film

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3D & 2D) Jonakir Alo, Boishommo The Legend of Hercules 3D Avatar in 3D , Frozen in 3D Time: 10am – 10pm Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City

Music

Room2 Time: 7:00pm – 9:30pm Goethe Institut Bangladesh, Road 9 (new), House 10, Dhanmondi Acoustic Guitar Night Time: 5pm – 8pm Jamuna Future Park

Theatre

Shopnopothik

By Aranyak Time: 4:00pm – 8:30pm Shilpakala Academy, Shegun Bagicha

n Entertainment Desk Baishakher Puthi, an audio album on Puthi Paat by artiste Kabbo Kamrul released this Pahela Baishakh. Produced by Puthiyal (a group of Puthi artiste), the album consist of Puthis composed with the use of folk musical instruments. The Puthi songs include Baishakher Puthi, Lungi, Ati Bhaiyer Kotha and Shopno. Puthi Paat (puthi recitation) was used as a medium for education and constructive entertainment during a period when the variety of entertainment mediums at hand nowadays were unavailable. A modern day Puthi artiste, Kabbo Kamrul has embarked on a journey to resurrect this traditional entertainment form and once again popularise the folk-art among the people of the country. His Puthis addresses simple realities and

various issues of life and his talent is his way of expressing his feelings and emotions about certain issues.

In a conversation with the Dhaka Tribune, the musician said: “At one time, Puthi was a popular medium and important part of the Bangalee culture.

With the rhythm of Puthi, artistes use to tell stories and incidents while others would listen. A medium for education and entertainment, rural Bangla amusements included listening to Puthis. Now, in the modern era, Puthi, a rich culture of Bangladesh is about to disappear. Through my passion and dedication for this lost art, I want to revive my roots.”

This is his second album. The artiste debut album Kabbo Kamruler Puthi was released in 2010.

The album is available at www.rokomari.com. l

Sport

Thursday, April 24, 2014

14 Chelsea hold

out for Atletico stalemate

14 Scholes makes

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Players to blame

United return to assist Giggs

for United woes: Kanchelskis

DPL’s payment issues resurface Majority of players still unpaid from 2012-13 season Bangladesh’s domestic cricket calendar has been in a haphazard shape in the past two seasons while the recent decision from the Bangladesh Cricket Board to skip the 2013-14 Dhaka Premier League (DPL) season has just added fuel to the fire. The common scenario of players not getting fully paid still exists though BCB ensured full payment of the cricketers before the start of the previous season.

BCB announced the schedule of the 2014-15 DPL with the players’ transfer window on August 4 and 5 and the league starting from October 10.

Debabrata Paul the secretary of the Cricketers Welfare Association in Bangladesh (CWAB) did not take the decision from the board lightly and

I have only received forty percent of my payment from the last season by Sheikh Jamal Club also said they never received anything positive from the board despite several attempts to put together a structured calendar.

“We don’t support skipping a domestic season where the performance of the Bangladesh team recently was not up to the mark and we need to ensure more domestic cricket. Therefore skipping a season is would be quite unusual. At the same time players are suffering financially as the Dhaka League is the main source of income for them,” said Debabrata.

National cricketer Jahurul Islam, who played for Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club last season, said he is yet to receive his full payment as the cheque given to him from the club had

already bounced thrice.

“I have only received forty percent of my payment from the last season by Sheikh Jamal Club along with few other players. They have given a cheque dated December 31st but the check bounced three times. However I am positive to get the payment from the club as I heard other players have received their payment and I am waiting for my turn,” said Jahurul.

However, Mushfiqur Rahman Mohon the chairman of the Sheikh Jamal Cricket Committee said that only two or three players along with Jahurul are yet to receive full payment.

“Actually I was busy with my personal work recently and as far as the players payments are concerned I think only Jahurul and one or two players are yet to receive their full payment. But Sheikh Jamal Club has a great reputation when it comes to clearing players payments and I am sure the remaining cricketers will also receive their payments before the start of the league,” said Mohon.

The former chairman of the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis Jalal Younus along with the BCB ensured the players of full payment after the player’s by choice system was introduced last year. Jalal said they were unaware about the issue and that the board will sit with the clubs very soon.

“I was not aware that the players did not receive their full payments from all the clubs which they should have been paid by now as the date of the upcoming league been already announced and I think the players should get their payments before that,” said Jalal.

Champions Gazi Tank Cricketers, Prime Bank Cricket Club and Prime Doleshwar however stand out from the majority as these clubs cleared full payment of their players. l

Abahani winger Touhidul Alam celebrates his late strike against Soccer Club, Feni in the BPL match at the BNS yesterday

Abahani return to winning ways A late goal from Towhidul Alam saw Abahani Limited return to winning ways in the Nitol-Tata Bangladesh Premier League. The Sky Blues had to toil hard for the 2-1 victory over Feni Soccer Club at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Jamal Hossain put the Sky Blues ahead before Landing Darboe equalised at the stroke of half-time only to see Towhidul steal the lime light, who replaced Jamal, with only seven minutes remaining in the game.

It was a contrasting outing for the teams - Abahani came in to the game on the back of their first defeat in the

season while Feni started having registered their first win in the previous league game. However, full three points ensured Abahani the second place with 22 points, minimising the gap with table toppers Shiekh Jamal to five points. Feni remained eighth with seven points.

An unchanged Feni side was under pressure right from the whistle blew before they launched their own attacks in the second-half to little effect.

Leonildo Suares almost wrote his name in the scorer sheet with just two minutes on the clock as his powerful strike from the right of the box was blocked by Feni goalkeeper Nehal.

A defence-splitting pass from Sierra Leon forward Umaru Mustapha created another golden opportunity for Portuguese Soares who was once

again denied by Nehal in a one-on-one situation.

However, the Sky Blue tent was relieved in the 22nd minute when Jamal finally took them ahead. It was a fabulous array of passes that started with Saikat Bhowmik’s long ball to Mustapha at the right flank and ended with Awudu passing to Jamal who finished with a cool head.

Mustapha added to the chances squandered in the 38th minute when his shot from the edge of the six-yard box flew over the bar.

Landing made their stronger opponents pay for the misses as he restored the parity from a brilliant free kick in the 42nd minute. The Gambian midfielder pierced the Abahani wall from 25 yards out to find the back of the net.

Abahani could have taken the

MUMIT M

lead eighth minute into the secondhalf but this time it was Awudu who missed from the six yards out. Locked at 1-1 it was anyone’s game in the last quarter and Feni almost cashed in from Abahani shaky defence that was missing Waly Faisal and Md Sujon due to injury. Shaidul Alam produced a lovely save in the 73rd minute as he fisted away Gambian forward Mathew Mendy’s header for a corner to keep them in the game.

Winger Towhidul joined his teammates in the middle 20 minutes from time and sealed the win for the Sky Blues in the 83rd minute. Suares’ fantastic footwork saw him deceive his marker at the right flank before he unselfishly slid the ball to unmarked Towhidul who tapped home into an empty net. l

Cox’s Bazar, Sylhet stadiums unavailable for the season

Fifa development officer Shaji Prabhakaran and BFF president Kazi Salahiuddin in all smiles at BFF House yesterday

Fifa to install artificial turf at Kamalapur stadium Bangladesh football will take a giant leap forward towards consolidating the development process even further with the installation of an artificial turf at the Bir Shreshta Shahid Sipahi Md. Mostafa Kamal Stadium, Kamalapur at the end of the year.

In a press conference held at the BFF House, Fifa Development Officer Shaji Prabhakaran revealed the details of the project which will provide Bangladesh Football Federation with a full time competent football venue.

Shaji Prabhakaran acknowledged Bangladesh’s endeavor towards developing the game. “Bangladesh‘s effort in developing football is well admired

by FIFA and this turf is the outcome of Salahuddin’s request and FIFA looks forward to extending more support in future. The Kamalapur stadium will have a new turf at the end of the year.

It would be of international standard

with a top quality turf measuring 105 X 68 meters and it would be capable of holding full-fledged international matches. After the completion of the tender process from May to June, I hope the installation process will be over at the end of September,” said Prabhakaran.

“We will also sit with BFF regarding the development works in the grassroots level and in the women’s football.

FIFA will be involved with the development process of Bangladesh football actively. The Kamalapur stadium, however, needs refurbishment in the dressing rooms and some other parts,” opined the Fifa official.

Shaji Prabhakaran also handed footballs provided by Fifa. “We have also provided 7000 Adidas football for the development of Bangladesh football. I feel the government of Bangladesh will step up its efforts for the development of football like they supported cricket,” said Prabhakaran.

COURTESY

BFF president Kazi Salahuddin was hopeful of taking football to a new height. “I feel the attitude and the approach of the sports ministry and the NSC regarding the development of football is positive at this moment.

We have requested them to make 35 percent of District Sports Association’s money available to District Football Association as per the rule. The ministers and the secretary have shown positive gesture. We have asked the ministry to allocate the district stadium for a particular period so that we can run football.

We have also asked for a little amount of money in the national budget. I thank Sepp Blatter for the turf and we have already finalized the deal of a lease of 20 years regarding the venue,” said Salahuddin.

Salahuddin further added that the sports ministry had given BFF assurance of handing over the academy of Sylhet to BFF in July next. l

The latest cricket venues in the country - Sheikh Kamal International Cricket Stadium (SKICS) in Cox’s Bazar and the Sylhet Stadium – will not be available for use in the upcoming season 201415. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) grounds and facilities department informed that both venues will undergo renovation work and thus will not be able to hold any cricketing activity.

SKICS, which was initially built keeping the ICC World Twenty20 in mind, made its debut with a women’s ODI match between Bangladesh and Pakistan last month, and will have a vast renovation work likely to begin in

Sri Lanka axe Chandimal as T20 captain Sri Lanka’s cricket selectors on Wednesday sacked Dinesh Chandimal as Twenty20 captain and replaced him with Lasith Malinga, while Angelo Mathews was retained as the Test and one-day skipper.

Chandimal, 24, opted out of the last three matches, including the semi-final and final, of the recent World Twenty20 in Bangladesh due to poor batting form, leaving Malinga in charge.

All-rounder Mathews was retained as the Test and one-day captain till the end of next year’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand, a release from Sri Lanka Cricket said. Lahiru Thirimanne, a 24-year-old left-hand batsman, was promoted to vice-captain in all three formats, the release added.

Sri Lanka have yet to appoint a new coach after Englishman Paul Farbrace resigned on Tuesday. l

three months time.

The BCB ground and facilities manager Abdul Baten informed that a budget of Tk1.54b has been proposed and awaits an approval from the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (ECNEC).

The project is to turn SKICS into a complete international cricket venue with the ‘state of the art’ facilities, he added.

“The major task will be to construct the two tier stands with capacity of at least 12000 seats. The floodlights, an academy complex with bed accommodation, indoor facilities, a swimming pool and international standard media center are part of the renovation project of SKICS,” said Baten yesterday.

It will take at least three months for the approval and another three years for the work to complete in full. It was learnt that the BCB will get the venue on lease for at least 30 years from the National Sports Council.

While at Sylhet Stadium the drainage system will be upgraded. According to Baten, a proper drainage was not installed in the venue as it would have delayed them to meet the deadline of the ICC ahead of the World Twenty20 in last March. The work is expected to start in June.

Sylhet Stadium staged six games from the first round of the men’s competition and the first round games of the women’s competition in the ICC World Twenty20. l

Asian Games squad within two days The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) will announce both men’s and women’s squads for the 2014 Asian Games within next two days. The BCB cricket operations chairman Akram Khan informed so to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Akram informed that a draft squad of 27-men and a squad for the women have been chalked down and is waiting for approval.

“We have to meet the deadline of April 30 to submit the squads to the BOA (Bangladesh Olympic Association) for which we will confirm the squad within next two or three days,” said Akram.

Bangladesh won its first-ever gold medal in the Asian Games when the cricket team defeated Afghanistan in the final game of the Twenty20 competition in China in 2010.

This time it is expected that nearly all the Test playing nations from Asia will participate and will send a ‘good’ team.

In 2010, it was only India, the senior cricket nation from Asia, who skipped from sending a team. It is expected that they won’t send a side this time too.

“We are actually not looking into who are participating in the competition and who are not. We believe participating in the Asian Games will enhance our cricket,” said the former Bangladesh national captain.

The matches will be played in Incheon, a city located in the northwest of South Korea from September 19, just two days after Bangladesh national team ends their tour of West Indies. With no international commitments in next three weeks, Akram informed that the board intends to send the best possible squad. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Red Devils shares jump 6%

Sport

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Wizards edge Bulls in playoff

Shares of Manchester United jumped six percent Tuesday after the struggling Premier League giant sacked manager David Moyes just 10 months into the job. Shares of the popular British football team, traded on the New York Stock Exchange, leaped in opening trade and rose to $19.18, before closing at $18.78, their best level since May 2, 2013. The company announced Moyes’s departure ahead of the market opening, a much-anticipated move after the club’s poor showing this season.

–AFP

Bradley Beal scored a game-high 26 points to spark Washington over Chicago 101-99 in overtime Tuesday, giving the Wizards their best NBA playoff start in 32 years. Brazilian forward Nene scored 17 points and John Wall added 16 as the Wizards seized a 2-0 lead in the best-of-seven Eastern Conference first-round series with games three and four Friday and Sunday in Washington. It’s the first time in franchise history that Washington won the first two games on the road to open a series and the first time since 1982 they won the first two games in a playoff series.

–AFP

Davis gets one-year ban Former world indoor and outdoor triple jump champion Walter Davis was issued a one-year ban Monday by an arbitrator for repeatedly failing to file his location with anti-doping officials. The ban announced by the US Anti-Doping Association (USADA) began last Wednesday and saw him disqualified from all results since last July 1. An independent US arbitrator found that Davis, 34, failed to properly file his whereabouts information for USADA’s random testing pool three times between July of 2012 and July of last year.

–AFP

Chelsea hold out for Atletico stalemate

Chelsea defender Cesar Azpilicueta (L) vies with Atletico Madrid forward Diego da Silva Costa during their Uefa Champions League semifinal first leg match at the Vicente Calderon stadium in Madrid on Tuesday AFP

Atletico Madrid and Chelsea will have it all to play for when they meet in the second leg of their Champions League semi-final in London next Wednesday after a 0-0 draw in the first leg at the Vicente Calderon on Tuesday.

Chances were far and few between as Chelsea set up to stifle the hosts with two late headers from Raul Garcia the closest Atletico came to breaking the deadlock.

The English side did suffer two significant injuries, however, as both goalkeeper Petr Cech and captain John Terry were forced off ruling them out of the second leg.

Frank Lampard and John Obi Mikel will also be missing for Chelsea, along with Atletico captain Gabi at Stamford Bridge as they all received yellow cards that means they are suspended for the second leg.

Mourinho hailed his players defensive efforts which allows them to play “the game of their life” when they host Atletico in eight days time.

“We had problems before the game and during the game, we lost four players; two with injuries and 2 with yellow cards, but we will fight.

Fernando Torres started on his first game back at the Calderon as a visiting player since leaving to join Liverpool in 2007, but he cut an isolated figure as Chelsea were happy to stick 10 men behind the ball.

Mario Suarez shot just wide and Diego Costa had an effort brilliantly

MATCH FACTS ATLETICO 25 10 62% 6 44 2 0

Shots On Target Possession Corners Crosses Yellow Cards Red Cards

CHELSEA 5 3 38% 4 5 3 0

blocked by Cesar Azpilicueta as Atletico began to build up some semblance of pressure towards the end of the half.

However, Diego Ribas’ tame low effort that was easily gathered by Schwarzer was their only effort on target before the break.

Chelsea finally registered a shot on target three minutes after the restart when Lampard’s volley was well held

by Courtois. l

Guardiola ‘not surprised’ Sacked Moyes ‘proud’ of Man United tenure

by Moyes sacking Bayern Munich coach Pep Guardiola believes David Moyes’s sacking as Manchester United boss on Tuesday was no surprise given the cut-throat nature of managing one of Europe’s biggest clubs.

He said the lack of patience shown to the Scotsman after less than a season in charge of the Premier League giants was part of modern football.

“It is nothing new,” said Guardiola who contributed to Moyes’s downfall by dumping United out of the Champions League at the quarter-final stage.

“For the past five, 10, 15 years at the big clubs, if you lose you are out on the street,” he added ahead of Bayern’s Champions League semi-final, first leg against Real Madrid.

“If you don’t win you are always in danger of losing your job. At the big teams

the only thing that counts is winning.”

Guardiola had already committed to taking over at Bayern when the United job became available following Alex Ferguson’s retirement in May .

He insisted he had no interest in leaving the European champions come the end of the current campaign.

“I am at Bayern and I want to stay two more years here. We have won the Bundesliga but I feel our team can improve.

“I knew perfectly the style of managing in Spain but I had to change to a new culture, to the ideas in Germany and I needed more time to feel this is really my team.

“I feel Bayern now is my team but I feel we can play better, we can improve and I think I still have work to do. I am comfortable here. The people I work with are gentleman and after Bayern I don’t know what will happen.” l

David Moyes declared on Wednesday that he was “proud” to have managed Manchester United, but said that he understood the “frustration” that had led to his dismissal.

Moyes, 50, was sacked by United on Tuesday after a dismal 10-month tenure in which the reigning champions slumped to seventh place in the Premier League, denying them a place in next season’s Champions League.

“During this period of transition, performances and results have not been what Manchester United and its fans are used to or expect, and I both understand and share their frustration,” Moyes said in a statement released by the League Managers’ Association (LMA).

“I have always believed that a manager never stops learning during his career, and I know I will take invaluable

Fifa halts Barca transfer ban

Scholes makes United return to assist Giggs Former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes has been drafted in to assist the club’s newly appointed interim manager Ryan Giggs, United revealed on Wednesday.

“It’s great to see Paul Scholes here at the Aon Training Complex today, assisting Ryan Giggs, Nicky Butt and Phil Neville,” United said on their official Twitter feed.

Giggs, 40, was placed in temporary charge of the first team on Tuesday after David Moyes was sacked as manager.

Nicky Butt and Phil Neville were already on United’s back-room staff.

Scholes briefly worked as a coach at the club after first retiring as a player in 2011.

Giggs, Neville, Scholes and Butt all graduated from the United youth team in the early 1990s and went on to play key roles in the success the club enjoyed under former manager Alex Ferguson. l

Fifa on Wednesday suspended a ban on Barcelona signing players while the club makes an appeal against a 14-month transfer ban.

World football’s governing body, which imposed the sanction this month for breaching rules on the registration of minors, announced in a statement that the ban would be temporarily suspended allowing Barca to sign players during the summer transfer window which opens on July 1.

The club welcomed the move.

The Spanish champions are in desperate need of an overhaul in the summer transfer window after a difficult season.

Replacements are primarily needed for goalkeeper Victor Valdes and club captain Carles Puyol who have both announced their intention to leave the club.

Barcelona has appealed against what would be a dramatic restriction on its operations and asked for the sanction to be suspended, the FIFA statement said.

FIFA Appeal Committee chairman Larry Mussenden agreed that the appeal meant the ban should be suspended. l

experience from my time as United’s manager.

“I remain proud to have led the team to the quarter-finals of this year’s Champions League and I remain grateful to Sir Alex Ferguson (his predecessor) for believing in my ability and giving me the chance to manage Manchester United.”

The LMA, the trade union for managers working professionally in England, criticised United for the “unprofessional manner” in which Moyes was dismissed.

Chief executive Richard Bevan said the organisation was “very disappointed” that “extensive reports in the press” had announced Moyes’s sacking before he “had been spoken to officially by the club”.

Although reports about Moyes’s departure first emerged in the British media on Monday afternoon, he did not learn of his fate until early on

Tuesday morning.

Responding to Bevan’s comments, United said that they had not acted irresponsibly.

“We do not accept that it was handled in an unprofessional manner,” said a spokesperson.

“The decision was not taken until late Monday night and was communicated face-to-face first thing on Tuesday morning.

“When reports started emerging on internet news sites on Monday afternoon, no decision had been taken at that time.”

Moyes added: “Taking charge after such a long period of continuous stability and success at the club was inevitably going to be a significant challenge, but it was one which I relished and never had a second thought about taking on.

“The scale of the manager’s job at United is immense, but I have never

stepped away from hard work and the same applies to my coaching staff. I thank them for their dedication and loyalty throughout the last season.”

British newspaper reports on Wednesday claimed that Real Madrid coach Carlo Ancelotti has been identified as a potential candidate for the United job.

Several papers said that Ancelotti was being considered for the vacancy, along with Netherlands coach Louis van Gaal, who emerged as the early favourite for the post.

However, whereas Ancelotti, the former Chelsea manager, is less than a year into a three-year contract at Madrid, Van Gaal is scheduled to step down from his position with Holland after this year’s World Cup in Brazil.

Van Gaal, 62, is currently on holiday in Portugal. Dutch tabloid Algemeen Dagblad reported that he was “maintaining radio silence”. l

Forlan takes Cerezo into Asia’s last 16 Forlan, who is expected to figure at this year’s World Cup, grabbed the decisive goal shortly after half-time as Cerezo won their final group game 2-1 to reach the knockout stages.

It was Forlan’s most telling contribution since the ex-Manchester United, Inter Milan, Atletico Madrid and Internacional striker arrived in January.

Forlan has insisted his move to Japan will not hurt his chances of World Cup selection. l

Chelsea goalkeeper Petr Cech (C) leaves the pitch due to an injury during their Uefa Champions League semifinal first leg match against Atletico Madrid on Tuesday AFP

Buoyant Benfica set for Juve showdown Chelsea suffer double injury blow

Having shaken off the hangover from their title celebrations on Sunday, Portuguese champions Benfica host Juventus in the first leg of their Europa League semi-final on Thursday.

The Eagles have been driven this season by the bitter memory of 12 months ago, when they found themselves on the verge of winning a treble of Portuguese league and Cup and Europa League, only to miss out on all three trophies in an agonising two weeks.

Now, though, Benfica have a possible quadruple in their sights.

Having lost just once in 35 games, they are through to the Portuguese Cup final, in which they will play Rio Ave next month, and they face Porto in the semi-finals of the League Cup this weekend.

Europa League semi finals 1st leg: April 24 Sevilla (ESP)

2nd leg: May 1 - v -

Valencia (ESP)

FINAL

May 14, Turin

S

V

B

Benfica (POR)

- v -

Juventus (ITA)

Standing in their way are a Juve side who are motivated by the prospect of reaching a final that will be played in

their own stadium in Turin.

Juve are on the brink of retaining their Serie A title - they could be crowned champions this weekend - but success in Europe is also hugely important for a club whose last continental trophy was the Champions League in 1996.

The winner will face Spanish opposition in the final itself, with La Liga rivals Sevilla and Valencia facing off in the other last-four tie.

Sevilla have won 12 of their last 15 matches in all competitions, form that means they remain in the running to qualify for next season’s Champions League, and coach Unai Emery can look forward to coming up against his former club. l

Czech goalkeeper Petr Cech will miss the rest of the season delivering a huge blow to Chelsea’s Premier League and Champions League title winning aspirations after he was injured during his club’s 0-0 draw with Atletico Madrid in their Champions League semi-final first leg match on Tuesday.

In a double injury blow it was also revealed by Chelsea manager Jose Mourinho that captain John Terry will miss the rest of the Premier League season because of a foot injury he suffered in the second-half of the match.

Unlike Cech, though, he could be fit were Chelsea to reach the Champions League final on May 24.

Cech, 31, landed awkwardly when he clashed with Raul Garcia when defending an Atletico corner in the 17th minute.

“Petr Cech’s season is over. Don’t ask me technically, but season over,” said Mourinho.

“And John - we have to play in the final for him to play with us.”

Australian goalkeeper Mark Schwarzer was forced into action and became the oldest player to ever feature in the knockout stages of the Champions League at the age of 41. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

QUICK BYTES

Narail upset holders Satkhira

Sport

Thursday, April 24, 2014

Sri Lanka players resolve pay dispute

ARMY, BGB WIN IN PREMIER KABADDI

Narail upset defending champions Satkhira in the first semifinal of the Walton Inter District Volleyball Championship at the kabaddi stadium yesterday. It was, however, a fiercely contested affair as Satkhira won the first game 25-18. But Narail won the second one 25-18. Satkhira bounced back in the third set winning 25-20. Remarkably, Narail fought back even harder and produced their best form later as they won the last two games by 25-20 and 15-11 points. In the second semifinal, Pabna ousted Khulna 25-19, 25-20 and 25-13 to register a straight 3-0 game win and are now all set to meet Narail in the final. The final will be held today.

–RM

Injured Mirallas to miss Everton run-in Everton’s Champions League qualification hopes suffered a blow on Tuesday as it was revealed that Kevin Mirallas will miss the final three games of the season with a groin injury. “Kevin Mirallas will miss the remaining three games of the season,” read a statement on the club website. The 26-year-old Belgian winger limped off after scoring the second goal in his side’s 2-0 win over Manchester United on Sunday. Everton said that he had sustained “a small tear in his groin” and would be “out for the next three weeks”. The Belgium international has been in impressive form of late, scoring three times and supplying three assists in his last five appearances to help bolster Everton’s push for a top-four finish in the Premier League. He is scheduled to miss matches against Southampton, Manchester City and Hull City, but manager Roberto Martinez said that he should recover in time to play for Belgium at the World Cup in Brazil.

–AFP

Nuremberg sack coach Verbeek Bundesliga strugglers Nuremberg announced on Wednesday they had sacked coach Gertjan Verbeek after just 184 days in charge. The decision to fire the 51-year-old Dutchman follows Sunday’s 4-1 home to defeat to Bayer Leverkusen that kept the club second bottom of the league and set to be relegated. “After a run of defeats for the club, we have decided to take the necessary steps to get back to winning ways while we still have three matches to play,” general manager Martin Bader said. Under-23s coach Roger Prinzen will take over as coach on an interim basis and will be Nuremberg’s third trainer this season. Prinzen has just three games left to keep Nuremberg up starting on Saturday against Mainz 05, then Hanover 96 and Schalke 04. “Roger knows the team well and has already proven he can help out in a very difficult situation,” said Bader.

–AFP

Singaporean match-fixer arrested in Helsinki

Finnish police have arrested a convicted Singaporean match-fixer linked to corruption cases in Europe and Australia, the Helsingin Sanomat newspaper reported on Wednesday.

Wilson Raj Perumal was detained last week in Helsinki after an international arrest warrant was issued by Singaporean authorities, the paper said.

“The police will investigate, after that it will be judged if he can be extradited”, said Jari Nieminen, who is leading the investigation. In July 2011 Perumal was convicted by a Finnish court for rigging around 30 matches between 2008 and 2011. He served half of a two-year sentence before being extradited by authorities to Budapest to assist in match-fixing trials in Hungary.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Sony Six 8:30PM Pepsi IPL 2014 Bangalore v Kolkata NBA Play Off 2013-14 5:00AM Charlotte v Miami 7:30AM Portland v Houston Star Sports 4 6:30PM Barcelona Open Uefa Europa League: SF-Leg 1 Ten Sports 12:45AM Sevilla FC v Valencia Ten Action 12:45AM Benfica v Juventus

15

A Bangladesh Navy player fail to cross the line after being held by BGB players in Walton premier kabaddi yesterday. Bangladesh Army and Border Guard Bangladesh continued their winning spree in the Walton Premier Division Kabaddi Super League at the Kabaddi Stadium. Army beat Bangladesh Police by 11-06 points while BGB outplayed Bangladesh Navy by 35-17 points including two lonas MUMIT M

The pay dispute between Sri Lanka Cricket and its 13 contracted players ended on Wednesday when the latter agreed to accept 10 percent of the participation fees from ICC and Asian Cricket Council (ACC) events.

The players had demanded 20 percent of the participation fees which Sri Lanka Cricket would not sanction.

The players were due to sign their central contracts by March 1 but the impasse dragged on for nearly two months.

A three-member committee appointed by Sri Lanka Cricket comprising treasurer Nuski Mohamed, CEO Ashley de Silva and chief selector Sanath Jayasuriya held talks with Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews on Tuesday.

“After discussions, the committee in consultation with the office bearers of the SLC’s Executive Committee, offered 10 percent of the participation fee from the ICC (International Cricket Council) and ACC events to the players which will be applied for the next five years and will be non-negotiable,” said an SLC statement.

“The above offer was accepted by the players and they have agreed to sign the annual contracts in due course.”

Sri Lanka travel to England early next month to play two tests, five one-dayers and a T20 international. l

Players to blame for United woes: Kanchelskis Andrey Kanchelskis watches events at Old Trafford from afar these days but weighed into the debate over Manchester United’s woes this week, saying several high-profile players are not good enough to wear the red shirt.

The former United winger, now living 2,500kms from Manchester, also said he was surprised at the timing of David Moyes’s sacking, just 10 months after replacing Alex Ferguson.

“Not all the players are ready to play for Manchester United, especially in defence and midfield,” the 45-yearold former right winger, who scored 36 goals in 161 appearances for United, told Reuters in an interview.

“I do not understand why Rio Ferdinand and Rafael are still in the side.

They are not up to the standard of Manchester United. They need to get rid of a few players across the pitch.

“The number of injuries throughout the season also shows that not all is well with the club’s training regime.”

United curtailed Moyes’s short reign even before the end of a humbling season for the 20-times English champions.

With four matches to go they are seventh and have no chance of finishing in the top four, meaning they will be absent from next season’s Champions League.

United have lost 11 times this season in the league, were knocked out of both domestic cups by Swansea City and Sunderland respectively and were outclassed by Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals.

“The team is going through a difficult period and unfortunately David Moyes did not have the same influence that Alex Ferguson had,” Kanchelskis said.

“Sir Alex had such an impact on the players - they were afraid of him. Players need to revere their head coach, but evidently this was not the case under Moyes.

“He knew what he was getting himself into. He tried himself at a great club, where there are different criteria,

Keflezighi, Jeptoo take historic Boston wins Meb Keflezighi ended a 31-year Boston Marathon win drought for American men and Rita Jeptoo defended her title Monday in a race that began with remembrances of last year’s bombing tragedy.

Keflezighi became the first American man to win the famed race since Greg Meyer in 1983 while Kenya’s Jeptoo added to her 2006 and 2013 victory haul in a record time for the 26.2-mile classic.

A moment of silence was observed

before the start by a field of 35,755 from 95 nations for the victims of two bombs hidden inside backpacks that exploded near the finish line last year, killing three people and injuring more than 250 others.

Keflezighi, who was born in Eritrea and became an American citizen in 1998, held off Kenya’s Wilson Chebet to win in two hours, eight minutes and 37 seconds. Chebet was 11 seconds adrift with Kenyan Franklin Chepkwony third in 2:08:50. l

relationships, demands and pressure.

He did not get it right.

“But I think it was necessary to keep Moyes until next season. If they gave him that chance then, with time, I think he would have done all right. “I

didn’t think that they would sack him.”

Kanchelskis, a former team mate of caretaker manager Ryan Giggs in the mid 1990s and a Russian international, said United should turn to Borussia Dortmund manager Jurgen Klopp,

even though the German on Tuesday ruled himself out of the job.

“I really like this coach. I think his style would really suit Manchester United,” Kanchelskis said.

Right winger Kanchelskis, one of the fastest players to play in the Premier League, says he still keeps in contact with Giggs and several other former team mates and has fond memories of the club he joined in 1991 from Shakhtar Donetsk.

In his first full season United finished runners-up to Leeds United in the old first division before winning the Premier League’s opening edition the following year - ending United’s 26-year wait to be crowned English champions.

Kanchelskis, who also played for Everton in England, said he remembers having to phone Alex Ferguson to get tickets for the Champions League final against Chelsea in Moscow.

“I tried to get a few tickets for the game through our football federation.

However, they didn’t give me any,” Kanchelskis recalled. l

Sharapova pleased despite scare Defending champion Maria Sharapova admits she had a tough opening in her bid to win a third straight Stuttgart WTA tournament title after her threesets win over Lucie Safarova.

Sharapova, who has never lost on her two appearances in Stuttgart after winning the 2012 and 2013 titles, will face Russia’s Anastasia Pavlyuchenkova in Thursday’s last-16 tie after beating Czech Republic’s Safarova 7-6(7/5), 6-7(5/7), 7-6 (7/2) late on Tuesday.

Sharapova had to dig deep having

been just two points away from defeat when Safarova levelled at 30-all with the scores at 6-5 in the decisive third set.

The statuesque Russian, the sixth seed in Stuttgart, needed three hours, 24 minutes for the 100th clay-court victory of her career.

“I hadn’t expected that it would be an easy match,” said Sharapova, three days after her 27th birthday.

“There were ups and downs, but the level was good from both of us.

“The momentum changed hands a couple of times.

“I’m happy that I’m the winner, be-

cause at one stage in the third set I was only two points away from defeat.”

Earlier Pavlyuchenkova defeated Latvian qualifier Diana Marcinkevica 6-3, 6-2 to set up her clash with Sharapova for a quarter-final place.

Former world number one Jelena Jankovic, the fifth seed, saved four match points to reach Thursday’s last 16 when she came back to claim a 2-6, 7-6 (10/8), 6-3 win over German lucky loser Mona Barthel.

Jankovic will now face either German wild-card Andrea Petkovic or Italy’s Flavia Pennetta for a place in the quarter-finals. l

Gabashvili sends Barca second seed Ferrer crashing out Four-time finalist David Ferrer stumbled out in the second round of the Barcelona Open on Wednesday, the Spanish second seed losing 6-4, 6-2 to Russian Teimuraz Gabashvili.

The loss came five days after world number five Ferrer upset Rafael Nadal in the quarter-finals at Monte Carlo, a career highlight for the winner.

Nadal was starting his bid for a ninth Barcelona title later against countryman Albert Ramos after a bye.

Waiting for the winner in the third round is Croatian Ivan Dodig, who hammered Spanish 13th seed Feliciano Lopez 6-1, 6-4.

Last season Ferrer lost at the same stage at the Club de Tenis, going out to Dmitry Tursunov after losing a quartet of finals to Nadal over the years in the Catalan capital.

The favoured Spaniard had beaten Gabashvili in both of their previous matches, both played on hardcourt.

Gabashvili won the opening set in 44 minutes with a break in the final game, when Ferrer hit the net trying to return

a drive forehand off the Russian’s racquet. The Spaniard was able to convert on only one of six break points in the opener as his opponent successfully defended.

In the second, the challenger did not let up, breaking the unsteady Ferrer for 2-0 and finishing off the upset as he broke Ferrer to win it on a second

match point, with the the Spaniard putting a forehand long into the corner.

Gabashvili, ranked 55th, is playing Barcelona for the eighth time and had never gotten past the second round.

His win over Ferrer lifted his ATP record in 2014 to 4-7.

Ferrer went down in 80 minutes, converting only one of eight break point chances while losing his own serve four times and firing four double faults.

The victory was the best for Gabashvili since upsetting Andy Roddick in the Roland Garros third round four years ago.

Two Spaniards advanced, with sixth seed Nicolas Almagro beating Slovak Martin Klizan 7-5, 7-6 (7/4) and Albert Montanes defeating eighth seed Alexandr Dolgopolov of the Ukraine 7-6 (7/5), 6-3.

“It was a tough match, he gets a lot of balls back and makes life difficult,” Montanes said. “I’m very pleased to have gotten through in straight sets.

“I’m playing well and my confidence is high, it’s a good moment for me. The secret right now seems to be in good mental preparation.” l

US President Barack Obama plays tennis with a youth partner during the annual White House Easter Egg Roll on Monday in the tennis court on the South Lawn of the White House in Washington. Thousands of children gathered at the White House for the annual Easter Egg Roll. This year’s event features live music, cooking stations, storytelling, and of course, some Easter egg rolling AP

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

One year on, the most important abiding truth that remains about the Rana Plaza disaster is that 1,136 workers lost their lives. The issues of accountability and compensation and whether the tragedy could provide a watershed moment for the industry cannot and should not obscure the simple human fact that Rana Plaza took 1,136 lives from us: sons and daughters, fathers and mothers, brothers and sisters, husbands and wives. Whatever happens in the future, these men and women -- many of them no

In Memoriam

more than boys or girls – are gone forever and nothing can bring them back to their families. Let us never forget the human element that lies at the heart of this tragedy, and it is to this end that the Dhaka Tribune has chosen to commemorate the dead by taking a full page to print their names to give our readers some sense of the scale and enormity of this catastrophe.

Note: The list presented here contains 1,019 names out of

Thursday, April 24, 2014

the number of 1,136 dead provided by the DC office. The discrepancy arises due to the fact that not all bodies were able to be definitively identified, and this is the fullest list of names that we could compile from the information provided by the DC office and the National Forensic DNA Profiling Laboratory. We mean no disrespect to those whose names may have been left off the list and do not mean to diminish the loss suffered by their families. We honour the memory of all of the Rana Plaza dead and mourn their loss.

Dulali Begum • Mahfuza • Shaheen • Shaheena • M Basu Mia • Jewel • Merina • Harun-ur-Rashid • Shaheda • Saiful Islam • Aklima • Fatema • Rozina • Kaiyum • Aktara Khatun • Rifat Hasan Alamgir • Sogir Ahmed • Abdul Kader Rubel • Ataur Molla • Jhuma Akhter • Chan Banu • Jhumur • Arzina • Sathi • Sonia • Julekha • Nupur • Khadiza • M Azizul Haque • Firoza • Reba Khatun • Shahnara • Mir Hossain Miraz • Foysal • M Bilal Hossain • Monira • Amirul Islam • Shiuli • Shahida • Shufola • Fatema • Shukla Sarker • Shipon Rashid • Laboni • Shanta • Fouzia • Nargis • M Yadul Hasan • Nuruzzaman • Shuborna • Tania • Habibur Rahman • Biplob • Ambia • Nazrul Islam • Habirun Nesa • M Abu Sayeed • Nasrin • Kalpana • Shilpi Akhter • Moni • Chayna Akhter • Rubel Bishwash • Golapi Rani • Kalpana • Rayhan • Rumana Afroze Nishat • Rabeya Khatun • Madhobi Rani • Romisa • Jahurul Islam • Kabir • Mashiur Rahman Nannu • Jahangir Alam • Nazrul Islam Bacchu • Masum • Ripon • Alia Akhter • Rehana Begum • Zafar Sadek • Mozammel • Bilkis • Hamida • Aduri • Nasima Akhter • Sheuli Begum • Rina Akhter • Akhtaruzzaman • Hasina • Taslima Begum • Rehana • Rubiya Khatun • Rabeya Begum Laizu • Bilkis Akhter • Mohel • Shagor • Anwar • Newaz Shafik • Parvin • Momena • Zoba • Razzaque • M Noyon Akhter • M Mahbub Alam • Mollika • Aliya • Manju Rani • Hazrat Ali • Khaleda • Jayanta • Lipi Begum • Monika • Shikha Rani Karmakar • Salma Khatun • Shirin Akhter • Jahanara Begum • Selina Akhter • Runa • Halima • Suzarua • M Al Masud • Nayan • Jamil • Ruma • Peyarul • Rashid • M Nayeem • Nargis • Momin • Rohima • Siddiqur Rahman • Rahima • Ferdous • Shyamoli • Pabitra Rani Mondol • Jahurul • Mala • Kamrul Islam • Kabir Khan • Sonia Akhter • Nur Alam • Dinaj • Ismail • Rohima • Shirin Sultana • Rozia • Shapla • Hira Begum • Nazma Begum • Abdur Rahman • Rasel • Shayla • M Harun-Ur-Rashid • Vagi Rani Dash • Hafiza • Marium • Gulshan Ara Begum • Alpana Akhter • Amena Begum • Firoz Al Mamun • Shefali • Taslima Akhter • Ratna • Beauti Rewa • M Momin • Riya • Nilufar Yasmin • M Shawon • Khaleda Akhter • Mazsuda Akhter Mukti • Lima Akhter • Ziasmin • M Rezaul • Sweety • Aleya Begum • Izabul Mollik • Josna • M Jahidul Islam • Shantona • Milon • Kobir Molla • Doyeli • Shahidul Islam • Salam • Azharul Islam • Rubel • M Ilias • Khushi • Shohagi • Tushar Mia • Murad Sheikh • Lavli Akhter Laki • Farida Parvin • Shompa Begum • M Wahed Mia • Shaheb Ali • Nipa Khatun • Kausar Ahmed • Salma • Golapi Begum • Anwar Begum • Moni • Taslima • Sheuli • Shahadat hossain • Shariful Islam • Ataur Rahman • Anju Begum • Bamel • Fozila Khatun • M Shohagh Hawlader • Khushi Akhter • Rita • Abu Taleb • Sonia Akhter • M Saiful Islam • Jakiya • M Selim Mia • Runa Begum • Titon Baladam • Ruzina Begum • Johurul Islam • Morjina Akhter Lima • Sumi • Sharmin • Sathi • Salma • Rashida Akhter • Ochona Rani • Monowara Begum • Abdus Sattar • M Hakim • Rehana Begum • Lavli • M Palash • Imran • Bishwajit Saha • Salma • Abdus Salam • Golapi Kajol • Aklima • Milon Kumer Sarker • Selina Begum • Selina Akhter • Rima Akhter Koli • Abdus Slam Jibon • Abdullah • Beauti Akhter • Rabiul Islam • Lipi • Nazma Begum • Saifullah • Sima • Dip Kor Ghosh • M A Malek • Hanif • Nargis Akhter • Moushumi • Afruza Begum • Fazle Rabbi • Nipa Akhter • Kajoli Rani • Salma Akhter • Sathi • M Omar Faruk • Shahinur Begum • Nazma Begum • Shariful Islam • M Lutfor Rahman • Sabina Begum • Shohagh • A Halim • M Altaf Hossain • Sarothi Rani Dash • M Alamgir Hossain • Sharifa Begum • Neela • Nazma Begum • Robin • Alpana Rani • Shona Mia • Shajeda • Firoz • M Jashim Uddin • Mamun • Shobuj Ahmed • Rahima • Ali Hossain • Abdul Baten • Lavli • Lipi Akhter • Josna Begum • Hasinur Rahman • Shirin Akhter • Jahura Begum • Tashura Begum • Hasina • M A Momin • Sima Akhter • M Ariful Islam • Lota Begum • Rumsana Akhter Roni • Malek Mondol • Liton • M Siddik • Arzina • Sajid Sarder • Murshida Akhter • Putul • Sweety Begum • Nashrin • Anwar Nowshad • Rima Akhter • Khodeza Begum • Chompa • Uzzal • Kohinur Begum • Rozina Begum • Kaiyum • Sumi Akhter • Rahima Begum • Nazim Uddin • Rasheda Begum • Tanzila Akhter • Banecha • Rimu Begum • Suchita Rani • Josna Begum • M Anisur Rahman • Riaz • Sri Doyal Chandra Ray • Shaheena • Israil Bishwash • Ainul Haque • Rozina Akhter Robina • Sheuli • Mozammel • Aleya Begum • Julekha • Naznin Akhter Brishti • Sabina Begum • Nasim Uddin • Tanzina Akhter • Dulali • Sathi Akhter • M Arman • Afzal Hossain • Mazeda • Kawsar • Selim • Ripon Bepari • Anwar Hossain • Noyon • Sujon • Rashida • Asma Begum • Momtaj Begum • Mukta • Laizu Akhter • Rojina Akhter Shammi • Kaiyum • Tozammel Hossain • Chumki • Nayeem • Sumi Akhter • Poli Akhter • Akram Hossain • M Ashraful Islam • Monsur Sheikh • Sathi Akhter • Sobuj • Sheuli Begum • Sima Akhter • M Kabir Hossain • Chayna • Mitu • Selimuzzaman Badsha • Amena Akhter • Liyakat Ali • Moksedur • Alamgir • Sagar Mandal • Shumi Akhter • Poritosh Chandra Bormon • Mahfuzur Rahman • Jahangir Hossain Sharif • Rehena Akhter • M Dulal Mia • Parvin Begum • M Furkan • Tushar • Rajuka Khatun • Tushar • Zaheda • Shilpi • Mamun • Shova Akhter • Yunus Mia • Promila • Sharifa Begum • Sabina Akhter • Swapan Bepari • M Rahidul Islam • Kalpana Begum • Minu Mia • Janata Akhter • Rubina Banu • Julekha • Momtaj Begum • Kabir Hossain • Kamrul • Khadiza Begum • Oli Ullah • Ruksana • Mehedi • Jewel Hawlader • Dulali • Riya Akhter Ruma • Sheuli Rani Dash • Ripon • Smrity • Khushi Khatun • Al Amin • Babul Bishwash • M Sujon • Khandker Selim Ahmed • M Sultan • Tahsan Ahmed • Kamal Hossain • Jahanara • Rashida Khatun • Nur M Mir • Dipa Patra • Rahima Begum • Iftekhar Hossain Shahin • M Liton Sheikh • Anzu Begum • Sohel Rana • Rafikul Islam • Rakib • Selim Rana • M Shablu • Rekha • Maksuda Khanom • M Selim • Fahima • Sihena Akhter • Shamima • Sonia Akhter • M Abu Saleh • Poli • Sabiha Sultana • Shilpi • M Rasheduzzaman • Sohel Rana • Kawsar • A Hamid • Rehana Akhter • Selina • Rafikul Islam • M Ishak • Laboni Akhter • Tofazzol Hossain • Mehedi Hasan • Idris Ali • Saifur Rahman • Kamrul Alam • Rawshan Ali • Saiful Islam • Rehena Khatun • Milon Shikder • Fatema Begum • M Jahangir Alam • Sumi Khatun • M Toslim Hossain • Rohima Khatun • Farzana Khatun • Jahanara Begum • Swapan Sarker • A Malek • Shohan Sheikh Sazid • Nayan • Mili • Josna • Hasan Uddin • M Jahid Hasan • Ajupa • Moynal Haque • Mayeedur Rahman • Omar Faruk • M Ripon • Asma Begum • Shilpi • Sri Riti Rani Sutradhar • M Latifa • Rukshompa Begum • Rozina Akhter • Jakir Hossain Pathan • Hashi Khatun • Jakiya • Hridoy • Sharifa • Shafiul Alam • Sanjit Dash • M Yusuf Ali • Rubi • Maya Rani • M Alamgir Hossain • Mostafizur Rahman • M Ikramul Haque • Johora • Ashraful Islam • M Robiul Islam • M Al Amin • M Abu Taher • Majeda Begum • Sushanto Dash • M Alamgir Hossain • Rashida • Taslima Begum • Josna Khatun • Abul Kashem • Sima Akhter • Parveen • M Abdul Hai • Rita Rani • M Mohit Sheikh • Sonia • Parveen • Maya Rani • Shirin Akhter • Anika • Antara • Badsha • Muslima Khatun • Ratna Khatun • Shamsuddoha • Din Islam • Mamunur Rahman • Sheikh M Yusuf Rana • Julfikar Ali Masud • M Nasim • M Abdul Hai • Shahabuddin • M Gias Uddin • Shaheenur • Hannan • Mehedi Hasan • Ijabul Mallik • Keya Akhter • Shapla Akhter • M Farhad Ali • Rezaul • Ruhul Amin • Sathi • Laki Akhter Sonia • Morjina Begum • Jewel • Sabina Yasmin • Bilkis Begum • Sumon Dash • A Kader Liton • Shefali • Aklima • M Israil Hossain • Nilufa Begum • Nuruzzaman • Jinnat Ara Popy • Helal • Shirina • Sayeedur Rahman • Mahfuza • Mollika • Sharmin Akhter • Rita Khatun • Ariful Islam Raju • Mazeda • M Monjur Elahi • Farida • Nurul Islam • Liva Begum • Laki • M Rafik • M Farhad Hossain • M Tajul Islam • M Shahin • Shahidul Islam • Arifa Khatun • Moyna Begum • Jomela • Aklima Begum • Hamida Akhter • Selina • Shahidul Islam • Shamsunnahar • Nishi Akhter • Sheikh Abul Kalam Azad • Nazmul • Rafikul • M Sajedul Islam • Abul Fazal Khan • Mukta • Roksana • M Monowarul • Hosne Ara • Parvin • Rubi • M Muzaur Rahman • M Ariful Rahman • Sumon Sarder • Rasel • Anjuman Ara • Anjuman Begum • Nargis • M Soleman • Nasrin Anwar • Asma • M Jakir Hossain • M Tutul Titu • Afzal Hossain Joy • Kulsum • Ripon • Robiul Islam Sujon • M Nazmul Hossain • M Ridwan Luku • Monowar Hossain • Fulchan Chandra Mondol • Mamun-ur-Rashid • Jobirul Mawla • Rashedul Islam • Alpana • Shahida Khatun • Shefali Akhter • Sinara • M Shohagh • M A Gani • Parvin Begum • Shariful Islam • M Kamal Hossain • Eklas • M Belayet Hossain • Shahanaz Begum • M Ayidul Islam • Harun-ur-Rashid • Shima Akhter • Forkan Hawladi • Kamruzzaman Babul • Mini Akhter • M Hasan Chowdhury • Shamsul Alam • M Sabuj Sheikh • Josena • Abu Jafar Mantu • Khalek • Jahid Molla • Shaheena Akhter • M Anwar • Lal Mia • Raju Ahmed • Salma • Ariful Islam • Halima • Rehana Begum • Khokon • Benu Rani Dash • Dulali Begum • Asma • Nure Alam Shikder • Firoza Begum • Sabindra Dash • Ekramul • Kakoli • Shilpi Akhter • M Sumon • Hosne Ara • Josna • Mousumi • Reshma Akhter • Khodeza Begum • Sharmin Sultana • Rizia Khatun • Sabina Khatun • Nittya Khatun • Shila Rani Shipra • M A Kader Siddik • Sajeda Begum • Bithi • Shariful Islam • Sheuli Akhter • M Selim Hossain • M Shahidullah • M Humayun • Dipali Rani Dash • Rahima • Merina • Moyna Akhter • Mahida Begum • Rofikul Islam • M Israfil • M Ali Azam • Jorina Khatun • Sahera • M Babul Hossain • Robita Rani Dash • Shafikul Islam • Sonia • Monowara • Sultana Begum • Mamun Sheikh • Jahurul Islam • M Abdur Razzaq Khan • Morium Begum • Poli Khatun • Nuri Akhter • Shahajahan • Shahanaj • Sayeedul Islam • Selim Sheikh • Motija • Asma Khatun • Rajina • Jamuna Rani • Nargis Begum • Sumi • Sorjita • Shabana • Kalpana • M Kayem Begum • M Anis • M Masud Rana • Jamal Mia • Rokeya Akhter • M Jillur Bari • Lipi Akhter • M Lutfor Rahman • Laki Akhter • Lota Begum • M Nur Islam Rabbani • Rani • Sheuli Akhter • Nila Akhter • Alpana (double with 849) • Nargis • Sagorika • Mala Rani Baroi • Sonia • Shirina Khatun • M Sumon • Rekha Begum • Monjila Begum • M Mizanur Hossain • Jhorna • M Nasir Uddin • Khairul Nagar • Munna Mia • Shahana Begum • Alo • Shahnaz • Parvin Akhter • Rahima • Lipi Akhter • M Kajol Mia • Rehena • Abdul Aziz • M Jashim • Taslima • Anisur Rahman • Rupa Akhter • Rifat Hossain • Ratena Khatun • Laili Begum • Rayhan • Suriya Begum • Mala Akhter • Rabeya Bashri • Rozina Akhter • M Badol • Rina Akhter • M Iqbal Hossain Forazi • Jahid Hasan • Surman Ali • Salma Begum • M Rafiqul Islam Mukul • Monira Begum • M Mominur Mia • Morjina Akhter • Jakir Hossain • Jorina Begum • Al Amin • Rubina Begum • Anwara Begum • Mahabubul Alam • M Ripon • Monowara • Kakoli • Al Amin • Alamin • Shahinur Akhter • Hashi Begum • Maksuda • Ashik • Jashim • Shova Akhter • Irul Huda Sohel • Dulal Mia • Belal Hossain • Sharmin • Khokon Mia • Nasima Begum • Shahida Akhter • Sathi • Helena Begum • Fuljan Khatun • Nur Karim • Sumon Mia • Hanif Khan • Biplob Bhattacharya • Rekha Begum • Nurjahan Begum • Piyara Khatun • Rozina Khatun • Shefali Begum • Lata Yasmin • Shaheen • Champa Begum • Pintu • Rina Akhter • Rina • Kabita Akhter • Mita Khatun • Shahjahan Ali • M Monowarul • Sultana • Baki Sheikh • Momtaj • Anju Ara • Ashraful • Sujon Chandra • Rupali • Sohel Rana • Monowar Hossain • Sabi Begum • Salma Akhter • Popi Akhter • Amina Khatun • Aleya Khatun • Parvin • Sriti Begum • Sumi • Hena • Shuman Dum • Riajul Islam • Akai Akter • Urmi Begum • Sultana Khatun • Marjina Khatun • Rahana • Sakina • Layzu Akter • Md Jahangir Sheikh • Taslima Akter • Sultana • Bristi Akter • Nazma Begum • Rina • Hahi Begum • Banna Akhter • Shilpi Akter • Mahmuda • Abu Sayed • Rafiqul • Provat Basu • Md. Khairul • Laboni • Rafiqul Islam • Shirin Begum • Arjuba • Forijan • Selina • Suman • Monoar Hosen • Martha Sikha Hasda • Md. Abdur Rashid • Samsun Nahar • Sujit Saha • Sohima • Helena Khatun • Lucky Akter • Sirin Akter • Shahinur Begum • Rozina • Md. Saidul • Shimatun Sujata • Arisa Khatun • Shilpi • Begum • Eni Begum • Maleka Akter • Rishma • Shamsunnahar • Shahidul • Pepetua Hashda • Rina Akhtar • Maksuda Akter • Liza Akter • Morjina • Himayet Ali Chowdhury • Bulbuly • Pervin Begum • Lata Begum • Esmatara Begum • Mohsina Khatun • Mousumi Akter • Shomola Akter • Jhorna • Shilpi Akter • Jannat • Sathi • Bithi • Rashida Khatun • Pinky • Liton • Komela Begum • Asma Begum • Md. Anis • Shahida • Masud • Surabi Rani Das • Md. Sultan • Asma Akter • Bulbuli Begum • Roksana Begum • Md. Jahangir Hossain • Taslima Khatun • Yasmin • Rezaul Mondal • Nazma • Puspa Rani • Asadul Bepari • Sagorika • Md. Abul Kashem Bhuiyan • Monira Khatun • Meher Rani Begum • Rozina Akter • Salma • Asha • Salma • Farid Hossain • Raja • Emran Hossain • Nasima Akter • Shahidul • Shahnaj Begum • Lata Khatun • Kohinur • Nasha Begum • Taslima • Parvin Begum • A Salam • Md. Sharif Hossain • Hasna Begum • Jadab Das • Sajeda Begum • Md. Kamrul Hasan • Zahinunnesa • Razima Akter • Rehana Parvin • Rubina Khatun • Sajeda • Asma • Marjina Khatun • Rahima Bibi • Halima Khatun • Asadur Zaman • Sabeda Khatun • Shirina • Sapna Begum • Asma Akter • Jesmin • Moslema • Shathi Akter • Shamima Akter • Monika • Sompati Rani Das • Josna Begum • Rabeya Akhter • Reshma Begum • Rakib • Shirin Akter • Sowkat Hosen • Naju Aktar • Sweet • Bitu Baroi • Md. Obaidul • Rabeya Khatun • Nasima Akter • Jahanara Begum • Nargis • Rasheda Begum • Nilufa Begum • Fatema Akter • Kanchan Mala • Nurjahan Begum • Jaheda Khatun • Md. Shahin Reza • Rehana Begum • Surja Banu • Alina Akter • Ojifa • Shima Khatun • Alkas Mia • Sobiron • Unknown victims-claimed by the relatives • Hasina • Fazila Khatun • Rekha • Shirin Akhter • Rabea • Mominul Islam • Rafeza • Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

B4 The 21st century supply

chain management - six drivers of change

THURSDAY, APRIL 24, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Economists for more SEZs, export-oriented Telecom minister trade policy to spur economy INTERNATIONAL CALL TERMINATION

to consider 50% tariff cut n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The telecom ministry would consider a proposal to cut 50% tariff on international phone call termination for a sixmonth period on test basis.

Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology Minister Abdul Latif Siddique spoke about the tariff cut at an exchange of opinion meeting with Telecom Reporters’ Network Bangladesh (TRNB) at his office in Dhaka yesterday.

He said the ministry would request the finance ministry to approve the proposal.

He was, however, critical about lots of irregularities in international call termination process.

Secretary of Posts & Telecommunications Division Md Abubakar Sdddique was present.

Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) made the proposal to the telecom ministry weeks before, but the finance ministry refused it.

The BTRC had estimated that the tariff cut would cause a revenue loss of around Tk1,100 crore annually.

Currently, international incoming call termination rate is fixed at $.03, which the government now wants to fix at $.015 per minute. The government share is 51.75% of the tariff.

Meanwhile, the government cut by half the annual licence fee for International Gateway (IGW) operators from Tk7.5 crore to Tk3.75 crore.

The minister said they know that lots of countries have call termination rate more than $0.08 to $0.1 per min-

ute, but if the call volume increases, the government will lose no money.

Currently, per minute international call termination rate in Sri Lanka is $.09, $.095 in Nepal, $.088 in Pakistan and $.25 cents in Maldives, sources of the industry informed.

Replying to a question, the minister said as Ratul Telecom is the owner of his party leader’s daughter and they are under his grip that’s why he gave them time to pay their dues of Tk99 crore.

“There is no scope to think that I gave them better scope. I just want to collect the government’s money and it is a process to collect. If they fail within the timeframe, I can catch up them anytime as they are in my party,” he added.

Recently, BTRC gave Ratul Telecom a time extension to pay their dues by 31 May, although four other IGWs are facing cases for the similar offence of failing to share revenues on time.

The BTRC filed certificate cases to get dues of Tk92.5 crore from Telex Ltd, Tk181.5 crore from Vision Tel Ltd, Tk122.5 crore from Bestec Telecom Limited and Tk84.27.5 crore from Kay Telecommunications Ltd against revenue share plus annual license fees.

Ratul Telecom, 50% of which is owned by Nanak’s daughter Syeda Amrin Rakhi and 20% more by Nanak’s wife Syeda Arzuman Banu, had paid only Tk15.01 crore in last two years.

Latif Siddique said he has an intention to reduce the number of IGWs and other gateways to control the situation. l

n Tribune Report Setting up of more special economic zones (SEZs) and export-oriented trade policy would be the driving force to accelerate the country’s economic growth, economists said in Dhaka yesterday.

Many short-term factors and lacklustre investment are holding back the GDP growth, which was mainly driven by investment and exports, they said.

They were speaking at a seminar on “Trade and Investment for Higher Growth” jointly arranged by the Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) and UK-based development organisation DFID (Department for International Development) PRI Executive Director Ahsan H Mansur said Bangladesh will require multifaceted approaches to increase domestic investment and growth.

“In order to make the export driven growth, all policies leading to anti-export biases need to be corrected.”

Investment in infrastructure will help create immediate domestic demand and at the same time would lay the foundation for catalysing higher private sector investment, he said.

He said removing land constraint is important for industrialisation by establishing a series of special economic zones in various parts of Bangladesh through public private partnership arrangement.

PRI Chairman Zaidi Sattar said after three decades of trade policy reforms, most analysts and international institutions often describe Bangladesh’s situation as a glass half full. “Much has been done, but more is left to be done in order to complete the trade reform agenda.”

Focusing on trade-stimulated growth, he said, Bangladesh has come a long-way since the early years of inward-looking import substituting industrialisation policies that neither led to industrialisation nor resulted in an acceleration of economic growth.

Bourses want tax benefits be continued n

Tahmidur Rahman

The country’s two stock exchanges have urged the National Board of Revenue to continue exempting tax on their profits for at least five years more along with other tax benefits.

The representatives from Dhaka Stock Exchange and Chittagong Stock Exchange made the call at a pre-budget meeting with NBR held yesterday in the capital.

Despite demutualization of the bourses, they said the tax benefits would be used for meeting implementation and training cost for introducing different product lines such as derivatives and equities to generate even higher taxable income in the near future.

“Stock exchanges in the neigbouring countries are generating a substantial income from its products other than equities and therefore we must build our capacity for such a market for the sake of future benefits,” said Syed Sajid Husain, managing director of Chittagong Stock Exchange Ltd. In addition, the exchanges demanded one-time exemption of unrealised capital gain tax of shares issued to the initial shareholders on

demutualisation and to impose tax only when the shares are sold.

All the TREC holders are given shares having a value of Tk10 each of the exchanges totalling above Tk4 crore. The shares given to the TREC holders make up 40% of the exchanges while the rest can be sold to strategic investors.

“We are looking for such investors but it’s unlikely to find a match for the current market and also the time to be taken for such a deal is a factor to be considered as well,” answered Sajid Husain to a question asked by Dhaka Tribune on the sidelines on using the sale of shares to strategic investors for funding the new line of products rather than tax holiday.

The NBR chairman Md Ghulam Hussain requested the companies to be more willing to make higher contribution to the country’s source of funds, considering the contribution and benefits they had been given in the recent years for stabilising the market.

Among the other mentionable demands, the bourses urged the government to allow income tax credit of 50% instead of current 15% to new small investors who invest up to Tk1 lakh in the market and has an annu-

al income of below Tk15 lakh with a three-year lock-in period.

“Such investors make up most of the market, and high importance, therefore, should be placed on their benefits,” said Professor Dr Swapan Kumar Bala, CEO of Dhaka Stock Exchange Ltd. The stock exchanges demanded increasing exemption limit of dividend income from Tk10,000 to Tk50,000 and corporate capital gain tax on securities trading at varying rates of as high as 5%, based on holding period rather than the existing 10% single rate.

The bourses also urged to make collection of tax from TREC - trading right entitlement certificate holders (formerly known as members) - of the stock exchanges 0.015% replacing 0.05%.

The initially set tax on trading was 0.0125%, which was raised to 0.05% based on the increase of trades a few years back and therefore the rate should be reduced considering investors’ participation in the current market, said Ruhul Amin, independent director of Dhaka Stock Exchange.

Representative from Central Depository of Bangladesh Ltd (CDBL) also attended the meeting. l

NBR unhappy over evading turnover tax n

Syed Samiul Basher Anik

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Md. Ghulam Hussain has expressed his grave dissatisfaction over the businessmen’s unwillingness to file their genuine annual turnover taxes.

He uttered his anger yesterday while the leaders of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry (DCCI) urged the NBR to increase the taxfree turnover limit for small businesses and industries from existing Tk80 lakh to Tk1 crore and fix the turnover tax rate at 2% from the existing 3%.

The trade body also put forward a set of proposals consisting 21-point recommendations for the coming budget for the fiscal year 2014-15 at a pre-budget discussion with NBR officials held at its headquarters in the capital.

“Nobody wants to file annual turnover taxes. Although a few people file the turnover tax, most of them file their taxes, just showing less than Tk10lakh as their annual turnovers,” alleged Md. Ghulam Hussain.

DCCI director Haider Ahmed Khan said: As the small investors and industries are contributing largely to the development of the local indus-

tries, the limit of annual turnover tax should be increased just to further encourage them in investment.

In response, NBR member (VAT policy) Jahangir Hossain said, “Most of the businesses, who files their turnover taxes, mention their annual turnover in between Tk4 lakh to Tk5 lakh and the maximum is below Tk 11 lakh. Whatever the areas of his or her business are, they are just simply showing Tk10 lakh as their turn over, but if we go deep into it, we might find that they get minimum annual turnover of Tk5 crore to Tk10 crore.”  B 3 COLUMN 5

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed attends quarterly briefs of Policy Research Institute titled 'Trade and Investment for Higher Growth' as chief guest in Dhaka yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE “By changing its policy stance to outward-looking export-oriented development, it subscribed to a regime of trade openness, on a gradual rather than radical track.”

He said the spectacular success of RMG industry has not been replicated.

“A major reason for this is the existence of anti-export bias in non-RMG export production.”

He said around 98% of the country’s exports are end consumer products with little or no intermediate goods.

“Trade and domestic policies have an anti-intermediate good bias. This needs to be changed as trade in intermediate goods is the fastest component of global trade.”

PRI Operations Director Khurshid Alam said the country’s inability to cross over to the 7% rate of GDP growth is to large extent a reflection of investment constraint.

“Shortfall of private investment growth is worrisome as because Sixth Plan identified private investment as a major engine of growth and exports, especially in manufacturing sector.”

He said implementing SEZs could be one way catalysing new desired private sector investment.

For example, he said, in Asia, owning to availability of certain specialised skills and trained human resources, IT firms in India, and electronics firms in

China, Taiwan Province of China, Malaysia and Singapore have successfully integrated into global supply chains.

Given Bangladesh’s success in exploiting the global supply chain in the RMG sector, it could very well look for opportunities to integrate into it and exploit benefits from global supply chain in other sectors, he said.

“This integration can be triggered through FDIs as well as domestic investments, and the SEZs could be the catalyst for attracting such FDI while at the same time source from domestic supply chain,” he said.

Referring to Mongla EPZ that has the weakest performance in terms of employment, investments and exports, he said location is an important ingredient to achieving success, and decision on location should follow economic and business principles.

Professor of economics at the Dhaka University Selim Raihan said Bangladesh trade policies need to be rationalised and open in the context of global and regional, as incoherent and ad hock-based policies affect the economy.

He said RMG industry enjoys many facilities on exports compared to any other sector. He estimated that the sector enjoys incentives 7% of total revenue income.

“Reduction in tariff structure is im-

ISPs join hands with GP to ‘go broadband’ n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Grameenphone, partnering with two major internet service providers Agni Systems Ltd and ADN Telecom Limited yesterday launched fixed wi-max internet services brand name ‘go broadband’ in Dhaka and Chittagong.

They would next go to Sylhet and rest of the country. All the operators declared their launching officially yesterday in Dhaka.

Mohammad Abdus Salam, managing director of Agni Systems Ltd, Asif Mahmood, anaging director & Chairman of ADN Telecom Ltd and Emdadul Haque, deputy director (Technology) of Grameenphone jointly launched the services.

The two ISP’s will use Grameenphone’s network to provide service to the customers, while GP’s marketing and distribution channel will be used to market the product. GP will also provide customer service.

Mohammad Abdus Salam informed

the service will be suitable for the big screen users in homes and offices who need more than 20GB to 30GB bandwidths, which can be a challenge for the mobile operators even with 3G services.

Asif Mahmood said Grameenphone’s superior network will ensure quality of the services.

He said, as they are using Grameenphone’s infrastructure they will share revenues with them, but were not willing to disclose the ratio. Initially, the customers will be able to use unlimited internet at up to 1mbps speed starting at TK4,232 while economy packs like 512kpbs 3GB pack at TK550 are also available. The device price is TK2,450.

Sources said both Agni Systems and ADN Telecom Limited have fixed wi-max spectrum on 3.5 band, 7 megahertz respectively.

Two other ISPs – Bangladesh internet exchange limited (BIEL) and New Generation Graphics Limited (NGGL) – jointly deliver the same services since 2011 in Dhaka, in the name of OLLO. l

perative for diversifying exports.”

Founder and Managing Partner of Asian Tiger Capital Partners Iftekharul Islam said global investors, specially from China, Japan and Korea look to relocate their industry due to higher cost of production. “To woo them, it is inevitable to set up SEZs.” He said Bangladesh can be Switzerland of Asia as it has advantage of geographical position better than any other countries.

Councilor for Development Cooperation and Economic Affairs at Japan Embassy in Dhaka Masayuki Taga said Japanese investors look for joint venture here but Bangladesh needs to ensure supply chain and efficient industrial policy.

In response to analysts view, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said the government is working to set up more special economic zones and to diversify its export baskets.

The government has already given cash incentives to 40 new products to encourage exports to new destinations.

He admitted the fact that land constraint and necessary infrastructure development is a problem to attract FDI. He said Bangladesh makes policy but unfortunately it is not implemented. The minister, however, assured to look into the suggestions put forward at the seminar. l

Apparel export tax lowered to 0.30% n Syed Samiul Basher Anik National Board of Revenue (NBR) yesterday reduced the tax at source on all readymade garments products from 0.80% to 0.30%, which will be applicable till June 2015, officials said.

They said export oriented RMG products, particularly exports of knitwear and woven garments, terry towel, carton and accessories of garments will have to pay 0.30% tax from the export proceeds as per the NBR decision.

Export oriented products, other than apparel items, are now subject to pay 0.60% tax at source on export proceeds, which was earlier 0.80%.

The NBR published a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) yesterday.

The government has taken the decision as a special incentive to the RMG exporters, who failed to do businesses and incurred heavy losses during the political unrest before the January 5 polls, officials said.

They said the decision would cause a revenue loss of around Tk2,000 crore for the national exchequer. l

Mobile banking clients cross 1.5cr-mark n Tribune Report The number of mobile banking customers has crossed 1.5 crore-mark for the first time in the country.

The number of clients under mobile financial services stood at 1.5 crore in March increasing by 4 lakh from the previous month, Bangladesh Bank said in a statement yesterday.

Earlier, the number of mobile banking clients crossed the milestone of 1 crore in November last year.

The number of transactions increased by about 15% to 3.34 crore and financial transaction increased by over 20% to Tk7,849 crore in March from the previous month.

Currently, seven types of mobile financial service are being provided including inward remittance, cash in transaction, cash out transaction, P2P transaction, salary disbursement, utility bills payment, said the statement.

The growth rate of two types of services - Cash In and Cash Out – grew mostly among the other services due to growing popularity.

The mobile baking services, launched in the country in 2011 under the mobile financial service guidelines, provides the much needed financial access to the poor and unbanked

population across the country.

Access to the formal banking system is very limited in Bangladesh as only 15% of the 160m people have the bank accounts. However, the 110m mobile phone users in the country are fuelling the expansion of mobile financial services.  B 3 COLUMN 4

B2

Stocks rally with upbeat mood n

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks rallied for the fifth consecutive session yesterday with increased volume of trade.

The rally was led by heavyweight Grameenphone (GP) that gained 5.5% after the news that it plans to enter into the wi-max service market.

The benchmark index DSEX soared 34 points or 0.8% to 4,694.

The blue chips DS30 gained 9 points or 1% to 1,038. The Shariah index, DSES was up 21 points or 1% to close at 1,725.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also edged marginally higher with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, gained 68 points to 9,047.

Like GP, business re-structuring news of Glaxo SmithKline and Novartis attracted investors too.

Consequently, Glaxo gained 6.24%, making pharmaceuticals as the second best performing sector.

The total turnover on DSE, however, stood at Tk550 crore, registering a rise of 40% over the previous session.

Lanka Bangla Securities said market added substantial gain to the winning streaks of previ-

Company

Turnover (Million Taka)

5,473.14 105,935,262

Number of Contract

ous sessions as buying interest in stocks of financial institutions and multi-national companies has bucked up notably.

Considering that the upcoming budget would be conducive to the corporate business, market expectation remained buoyant, it said.

Bank topped the buying list raising the sector return to 0.8%. The strength on rally was partly due to expectation of upbeat Q1 earnings from banks and multi-national companies.

After bank and telco, pharma, power and food and allied posted 5%, 1.9%, 1% and 1.3% gain respectively.

IDLC Investments said market gained for the fifth straight session with significant increase in turnover. Telecommunication posted a phenomenal gain of 4.97%, highest among all the sectors. Thanks to the large cap stock GP, which gained 5.4%.

Grameenphone was the top turnover leaders with shares worth nearly Tk53 crore changing hands, followed by Meghna petroleum, Olympic Industries, Lafarge Surma Cement, Heidelberg Cement, Padma Oil and Square Pharma. l

Tribune Report

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features April 23, 2014

Turnover (Volume)

101,315

Traded Issues

296

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

161

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

128

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,388.97

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.96

Turnover (Million Taka)

321.06

Turnover (Volume)

9,269,436

Number of Contract

12,687

DSE Broad Index :

4694.21736

(+) 0.73%

▲

Traded Issues

216

DSE Shariah Index :

1038.95749

(+) 0.92%

▲

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

117

DSE - 30 Index :

1725.26462

(+) 1.24%

▲

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

94

CSE All Share Index:

14473.3332

(+) 0.65%

▲

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

CSE - 30 Index :

12138.6666

(+) 0.45%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,285.10

9047.5841

(+) 0.76%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.70

CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS

Familytex (BD) Ltd.-N Fareast Finance-Z Rahima Food -Z Stylecraft -A Renwick Jajneswar-A BD Fixed Income MF-A Sonargaon Tex -A Samata LeatheR -Z

-45.66 -18.55 -7.07 -6.25 -6.21 -6.19 -5.03 -5.00

Average (% change) -46.66 -19.64 -3.80 -6.25 0.23 -6.19 -2.85 -4.16

Eastern Lubricants -A City G Insu.-A

-4.92 -4.25

-3.06 -2.74

Company

Closing (% change)

CSE LOSERS Company Familytex (BD) Ltd.-N Fareast Finance-Z PragatiLife Insu. -A National Housing Fin.-B Rahima Food -Z Sonargaon Tex -A Northern G Insur-A B I F C -A

Beach Hatchery -A BD Finance-A

-45.59 -19.20 -7.10 -5.88 -5.63 -4.35 -4.10 -4.05

Average (% change) -47.05 -19.67 -7.10 -4.58 -2.58 -3.09 -3.51 -4.20

-4.03 -3.93

-2.64 -3.58

Closing (% change)

ANALYST

Closing average

Closing

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 803.18 214.01 123.07 327.97 382.77 936.05 1.44 368.05 594.79 0.57 63.89 92.80 17.27 578.03 25.28 47.38 97.52 593.61 43.62 161.64 0.19

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

Latest PE

29.24 10.19 46.10 984.40 403.02 9.10 15.33 30.67

29.40 10.10 44.70 984.40 391.50 9.10 15.10 30.40

29.70 11.30 47.80 984.40 427.50 9.10 16.00 31.00

28.10 9.40 44.10 984.40 388.00 9.10 15.10 30.20

78.690 15.205 1.429 0.098 14.287 0.382 1.564 0.046

3.63 0.12 -1.00 47.83 3.92 0.54 -0.69 -0.04

8.1 84.9 -ve 20.6 102.8 16.9 -ve -ve

578.14 24.83

566.60 24.80

600.00 26.00

564.00 23.50

4.654 0.699

6.02 1.73

96.0 14.4

Closing average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

29.60 10.10 195.10 28.80 45.30 15.40 37.40 14.20

29.90 9.90 195.10 28.80 45.30 15.80 37.40 14.40

28.30 10.00 195.10 28.70 45.20 15.20 37.30 14.00

9.133 7.059 0.098 0.029 0.045 0.038 0.206 0.035

3.63 0.12 2.38 1.57 -1.00 -0.69 1.82 0.68

8.1 84.4 82.0 18.3 -ve -ve 20.5 20.8

24.01 17.26

23.80 17.10

24.60 17.50

23.80 17.00

1.465 0.261

0.99 1.34

24.3 12.9

The strength on rally was partly due to expectation of upbeat Q1 earnings from banks and multinational companies

CSE GAINERS Company H.R. Textile -A Bangas -A DESCO Ltd. -A City Bank - A Berger Paints-A Grameenphone-A Mithun Knitting -A Phoenix Fin. 1st MF-A PHP 1st M. F.-A Paramount Insur-A

% change 14.67 3.91 2.25 5.99 6.99 17.10 0.03 6.72 10.87 0.01 1.17 1.70 0.32 10.56 0.46 0.87 1.78 10.85 0.80 2.95 0.00

Million Taka 58.73 16.79 7.63 28.13 12.76 40.87 40.39 19.88 8.71 4.01 11.38 1.37 27.58 3.18 2.85 5.33 33.95 6.50 16.97 0.00

% change 16.93 4.84 2.20 8.11 3.68 11.78 0.00 11.64 5.73 2.51 1.16 3.28 0.39 7.95 0.92 0.82 1.54 9.78 1.87 4.89 0.00

Million Taka 861.91 230.79 130.70 356.10 395.53 976.92 1.44 408.45 614.67 9.28 67.90 104.18 18.64 605.61 28.46 50.23 102.85 627.57 50.11 178.61 0.19

Total

Closing (% change) 9.09 6.54 6.24 5.88 5.79 5.66 5.65 5.36 4.92 4.59

Average (% change) 7.93 5.76 6.67 3.75 5.31 4.16 4.54 4.29 3.61 6.41

FAREASTFIN: The Board of Directors did not recommend any dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 17.06.2014, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Bashundhara Convention Center-2, Plot#66, Block-C, Umme Kulsum Road, Bashundhara R/A, Dhaka-1229. Record Date: 08.05.2014.

The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. (0.51), NAV per share of Tk. 13.39 and NOCFPS of Tk. (3.24) for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

FAREASTFIN: The Company will be placed in "Z" category from existing "N" category with effect from April 24, 2014 as per Dhaka Stock Exchange (Settlement of Transactions) Regulations, 2013; since the Company did not recommend any dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

FAREASTFIN: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 31st March 2014 (Jan'14 to March'14), the Company has reported net profit after tax of Tk. 4.27 million with EPS of Tk. 0.03 as against Tk. 5.15 million and Tk. 0.03 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Accumulated profit/(loss) of the Company was Tk. (41.83) million as on 31.03.2014.

SEBL1STMF: (Q3): As per un-audited quar-

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Grameenphone-A Meghna Petroleum -A Olympic Ind. -A LafargeS Cement-Z HeidelbergCement -A Padma Oil Co. -A Square Pharma -A

CSE

10.00 8.69 8.01 7.01 6.60 6.24 6.24 5.88 5.41 5.30

Average (% change) 9.46 8.74 7.11 4.88 5.35 6.20 5.41 3.27 3.94 5.37

Closing average 112.20 341.76 367.74 22.57 91.11 1,697.99 1,101.69 17.68 261.65 1,058.38

Closing average 32.38 491.89 68.32 17.70 1016.25 261.87 90.79 5.84 6.31 22.75

Closing 112.20 342.70 370.80 22.90 92.00 1,698.10 1,109.30 18.00 265.20 1,058.70

Closing 32.40 495.50 68.10 18.00 1020.90 265.00 91.70 5.90 6.40 22.80

Daily high 112.20 342.80 372.00 23.40 93.70 1,698.10 1,109.30 18.40 266.00 1,068.20

Daily high 32.60 498.00 69.00 18.30 1027.50 266.00 92.80 6.00 6.40 22.80

terly accounts for the 3rd quarter ended on 31st March 2014 (Jan'14 to March'14), the fund has reported net profit of Tk. 56.19 million with earnings per unit of Tk. 0.56 as against Tk. 26.45 million and Tk. 0.27 respectively for the same period of the previous year.

Whereas net profit was Tk. 99.85 million with earnings per unit of Tk. 1.00 for the period of nine months (July'13 to March'14) ended on 31.03.2014 as against Tk. 62.66 million and Tk. 0.63 respectively for the same period of the previous year.

NLI1STMF: (Q3): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 3rd quarter ended on 31st March 2014 (Jan'14 to March'14), the fund has reported net profit of Tk. 27.60 million with earnings per unit of Tk. 0.55 as against Tk. 14.19 million and Tk. 0.28 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas net profit was Tk. 51.13 million with earnings per unit of Tk. 1.02 for the period of nine months (July'13 to March'14) ended on 31.03.2014 as against Tk. 39.62 million and Tk. 0.79 respectively for the same period of the previous year.

Dividend Disbursment: SALAMCRST Cash dividend is being remitted through BEFTN on 23.04.2014. Other Dividend warrants will be avaiable from 23.04.2014 to 27.04.2014

Daily low 112.20 320.10 330.00 19.30 85.00 1,696.50 1,044.00 15.60 245.00 950.00

Daily low 31.80 480.00 67.30 17.00 1000.00 253.90 88.00 5.70 6.00 22.70

Turnover in million 0.022 12.628 1.229 6.546 20.355 84.305 110.559 48.898 528.264 1.011

Turnover in million 1.214 0.836 1.161 6.520 0.508 23.778 0.944 0.073 1.490 0.046

Latest EPS -10.24 11.53 7.88 0.56 2.42 45.35 41.39 1.09 10.23 30.36

Latest EPS 1.56 5.70 1.12 1.09 57.68 10.23 2.42 0.60 0.40 1.51

Latest PE -ve 29.6 46.7 40.3 37.6 37.4 26.6 16.2 25.6 34.9

Latest PE 20.8 86.3 61.0 16.2 17.6 25.6 37.5 9.7 15.8 15.1

during 10:00 AM to 05:00 PM Dhaka Liaison Office and at S. Alam Bhaban, 2119, Asadgonj, Chittagong. RELIANCINS credited the bonus shares on April 22, 2014. Cash Dividend Warrants will be available at Head Office during Office hours from 24.04.2014 to 29.04.2014.

DHAKABANK credited the bonus shares on April 21, 2014. GBBPOWER credited the bonus shares.

RIGHT SHARE: DELTASPINN: Subscription 05.08.2014 to 31.08.2014. RD for entitlement of rights share: 28.04.2014. RUPALILIFESubscription 06.04.2014 to 05.05.2014. RD for entitlement of rights share: 16.01.2014.

BRACBANK: Subscription 20.04.2014 to 15.05.2014. RD for entitlement of rights share: 10.02.2014.

IPO Subscription: Khulna Printing & Packaging Limited subscription date 04 – 08 May 2014, NRB upto 17 April 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Tung Hai Knitting & Dyeing Limited subscription date 12-22 May 2014, NRB upto 31 May 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500.

Far East Knitting & Dyeing Industries Limited subscription date 15-19 June 2014, NRB upto 28 June 2014. @ taka 22, face value taka 10 and market lot 200.

Latest PE

29.27 10.13 195.10 28.75 45.25 15.38 37.39 14.14

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Daily high

Northern Jute -Z Aramit -A Kohinoor Chem -A Prime Bank-A Mithun Knitting -A GlaxoSK (BD) -A Renata Ltd. -A City Bank - A Grameenphone-A 1st ICB M F -A

Closing (% change)

News from trade server

CSE key features April 23, 2014

Daily capital market highlights

Thursday, April 24, 2014

% change 14.81 3.97 2.25 6.12 6.80 16.79 0.02 7.02 10.56 0.16 1.17 1.79 0.32 10.41 0.49 0.86 1.77 10.78 0.86 3.07 0.00

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

Southeast Bank-A UCBL - A Jamuna Oil -A

Renata Ltd. -A AB Bank - A BSC-A GlaxoSK (BD) -A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-N CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Grameenphone-A

LafargeS Cement-Z UCBL - A Meghna Petroleum -A Appollo Ispat CL -N BD Submarine Cable-A Southeast Bank-A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-N BSC-A Square Pharma -A Matin Spinning-N HeidelbergCement -A Fareast Finance-Z City Bank - A Padma Oil Co. -A

Volume shares 2,018,966 1,207,651 1,154,965 3,955,000 413,240 607,949 665,420 8,624,603 5,437,126 506,790

100,354 3,566,315 155,725 49,650 2,691,000

Volume shares

90,800 239,500 510,089 33,795 385,800 49,400 464,003 312,000 14,305 29,964 200,000 12,980 696,500 368,300 18,342

Value in million 528.26 376.73 281.48 257.43 243.14 213.34 187.82 184.12 148.20 117.35

110.56 106.67 93.66 84.31 78.69

Value in million

23.78 15.74 13.92 10.55 10.49 10.17 9.91 9.13 8.57 8.46 8.15 7.68 7.06 6.52 6.43

% of total turnover 9.65 6.88 5.14 4.70 4.44 3.90 3.43 3.36 2.71 2.14

2.02 1.95 1.71 1.54 1.44

% of total turnover

7.51 4.97 4.40 3.33 3.31 3.21 3.13 2.88 2.71 2.67 2.57 2.42 2.23 2.06 2.03

Daily closing 265.20 313.30 244.70 64.90 595.10 350.00 281.90 21.50 27.60 231.10

1109.30 30.20 595.00 1698.10 29.40

Daily closing

265.00 66.00 27.50 313.70 26.80 205.20 21.50 29.60 594.30 281.60 41.00 594.40 10.10 18.00 349.80

Price change 5.41 1.49 2.47 -3.28 4.79 1.10 0.75 1.90 2.22 -0.47

Daily opening 251.60 308.70 238.80 67.10 567.90 346.20 279.80 21.10 27.00 232.20

Price change

Daily opening

6.24 0.67 -0.63 6.24 -45.66

5.66 -1.64 2.23 1.49 3.08 0.15 2.38 -45.59 -0.62 0.75 0.24 4.28 -19.20 5.88 0.95

1044.10 30.00 598.75 1598.30 54.10

250.80 67.10 26.90 309.10 26.00 204.90 21.00 54.40 598.00 279.50 40.90 570.00 12.50 17.00 346.50

Daily high 266.00 315.00 246.70 67.00 598.00 360.00 295.00 23.00 28.00 233.20

1109.30 30.50 613.25 1698.10 29.70

Daily low 245.00 282.00 225.00 63.90 567.90 340.00 275.00 19.00 25.00 220.00

1044.00 27.00 591.00 1696.50 28.10

Daily average 261.65 311.95 243.71 65.09 588.37 350.91 282.26 21.35 27.26 231.55

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

266.00 67.00 27.90 315.00 27.60 208.00 21.70 29.90 609.00 283.50 41.40 599.00 9.90 18.30 354.00

253.90 64.90 26.20 310.10 26.50 204.20 20.50 28.30 590.00 279.10 40.30 575.00 10.00 17.00 347.00

1101.69 29.91 601.44 1697.99 29.24

261.87 65.71 27.30 312.06 27.18 205.96 21.35 29.27 599.00 282.21 40.76 591.59 10.13 17.70 350.49

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

China is a driver, not a drag, for US earnings in first quarter

Citigroup’s leaders say company needs to simplify itself

n Reuters, New York Economic growth may be slowing in China, and fears of a credit crunch there may be rife, but the world’s secondlargest economy was a driving force for US company profits in the last quarter.

Some of the biggest names in Corporate America, including Coca-Cola Co, General Motors Co, United Technologies Corp and McDonald’s Corp all in the past week reported strong results from their China operations. In some cases this helped to offset weakness in the US or Europe.

Yum Brands Inc, the fast food chain operator which gets more than half of its overall sales in China, on Tuesday reported first-quarter sales at established restaurants in China rose 9%, rebounding after an avian flu outbreak and a food safety scare badly hurt sales last year.

“It is still a little surprising how strong China remains, given what you read,” United Technologies’ Chief Financial Officer Greg Hayes said in an interview in reference to the conglomerate’s building systems businesses, which include elevators and climate control equipment.

The initial results this period could soothe concerns on Wall Street that a cooling off of China’s booming economy will drag down results of US corporations operating in the region. China’s economy expanded 7.4% between January and March, its slowest pace in 18 months, and well below the turbo-charged double-digit growth rates that it has often

n Reuters

A woman walks past electric bikes sitting outside a McDonalds fast-food outlet in central Beijing experienced in the past 20 years.

But that growth is still far faster than in the United States, where the economy - which took a heavy blow from a deep winter freeze - is expected to have grown just 1.1% in the first quarter, according to the latest Reuters poll of economists.

And lower growth rates in China partly result from a push by Chinese authorities to rebalance the economy so that it is less reliant on export growth and more focused on domestic consumption. That is good for Western companies trying to sell into China.

“The economic growth remains

REUTERS

favourable in China,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer with Solaris Asset Management. “While that growth rate has slowed slightly there is still a lot of business being done, especially by larger companies, and US companies are receiving their fair share of that business.” l

Oil prices down ahead of US stockpiles report n AFP, Singapore

Oil prices edged lower in Asian trade yesterday despite hopes that a key US stockpiles report would beat bearish forecasts and ease concerns about tepid demand in the world’s top crude consumer.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate for June delivery, was down 20 cents at $101.55 a barrel in afternoon trade while Brent North Sea crude for June eased nine cents to $109.18.

WTI for May delivery, which expired

Tuesday, fell $2.24 in New York trade.

Brent dropped 68 cents in London.

“Prices are holding steady as investors are hoping that US inventories out Wednesday would not be as bearish as expected,” Ric Spooner, chief market analyst at CMC Markets in Sydney, told AFP. “But investors remain nervous over concerns overall US stockpile levels seem to be pretty high, and that the upcoming summer driving season may not do enough to boost demand,” he said.

The Department of Energy’s weekly

B3

Thursday, April 24, 2014

report on US crude supplies is expected to show an increase of 2.4 million barrels, according to the consensus of analysts polled by Dow Jones Newswires.

In the week ending April 11, supplies swelled to a record 394.1 million barrels, the highest level since the DoE began the weekly report in 1982.

Crude supplies jumped 10 million barrels, much higher than the 1.5 million expected.

Investors continue to “keep a watching brief” on developments in crisis-hit Ukraine, Spooner said.

Ukraine’s leaders on Tuesday re-

launched military operations against pro-Kremlin separatists, hours after US Vice President Joe Biden ended a twoday Kiev visit in which he warned Russia over its actions in the former Soviet republic.

Ukraine is a major conduit for Russian natural gas to Western Europe and traders are concerned that a full-scale armed conflict in the region will disrupt supplies and send prices rocketing.

“The Ukraine situation continues to provide broad support to oil prices and is curbing losses when there is downside pressure,” Spooner said. l

NRBCB elects chairs for its risk management and audit committee n Tribune Business Desk

Mobile banking  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

To make mobile banking popular, the central bank allowed mobile financial service in Bangladesh and granted licences to 28 banks to launch the service. So far, 18 banks have started providing mobile financial service while bkash Limited, a BRAC bank subsidiary, and Dutch Bangla Mobile Banking Limited are leading the sector.

Dutch Bangla Bank first launched the mobile financial service in March 2011, followed by bKash, a joint venture of BRAC Bank and Money in Motion LLC, a US mobile financial service company.

Later in April 2013, International Finance Corporation, the private sector investment arm of the World Bank Group became an equity partner of bKash. l

The two men at the top of Citigroup Inc, the third-biggest US bank and the most international, acknowledged on Tuesday that the company must do more to simplify itself.

Asked at an annual meeting of shareholders whether Citigroup is too big to manage, Chairman Mike O’Neill said the task “is certainly harder” for its size and that the company has more years of work in a drive to reduce risk and complexity that started when the company was bailed out in the financial crisis.

“We are making progress, but we are not where we want to be,” O’Neill said.

Chief Executive Mike Corbat said the bank is “a couple of years” from turning what he called an “amalgamation” of 35 local consumer banks around the world “into one truly global bank.”

The issue of Citigroup’s complexity took on renewed importance last month when the US Federal Reserve rejected the company’s bid for permission to pay a higher dividend and return $6.4bn to shareholders through buybacks.

The Fed apparently turned down the capital plan because of multiple issues with Citigroup processes for managing its capital and testing risk in stressful scenarios, said Corbat, citing conversations with regulators. He and O’Neill said the rejection did not seem to reflect a disagreement with Citigroup’s strategy or business model.

Corbat said Citigroup will spend more money on staff and information systems to upgrade its capital planning tools in time for the Fed’s next annual

review in early 2015. The spending will be funded through cost-cutting and productivity gains in other areas, he said.

Costs have been a chronic problem for the company and Corbat has told executives reducing expenses is their number one priority.

He said at Tuesday’s meeting he recently gave executives six different sets of assignments to improve the company’s business processes and eliminate unnecessary steps. The executives will give the board of directors a progress report this summer.

O’Neill acknowledged that the Fed’s rejection of the capital plan had made it virtually impossible for Citigroup to meet a key performance goal set last year of delivering 2015 profits amounting to 10% of tangible common equity.

O’Neill said he still believes the company is capable of that level of return but did not say when it could be reached.

“I have a lot of confidence in Mike and his management team,” O’Neill said in the meeting. The chairman was the key force on the board in October 2012 in pushing out then-CEO Vikram Pandit and replacing him with Corbat, now 53.

O’Neill said, however, he expects directors will factor into Corbat’s and other executives’ pay this year their failure to win approval of the capital plan.

The company said 84.6% of shareholders had endorsed the company’s executive pay for 2013, by a preliminary count, down from 92% shareholder approval a year ago. The compensation process was overhauled after failing in a 2012 vote with only 45% approval. l

NBR unhappy over evading turnover tax  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

“People are not willing to file turnover taxes and if we increase the limit, who will come to file the taxes?” he further questioned.

Putting emphasis on keeping the income of the chambers out from the tax net, the DCCI president Mohammad Shahjahan Khan requested the NBR not to impose taxes on income of chambers and trade bodies as all these are non-profit organisations.

In response, NBR chairman Md. Ghulam Hussain reminded that the government had already exempted the income of the chambers generated from the house rents.

Pressing the other demands, DCCI director Khan said the existing 10% surcharge on properties worth over Tk2 crore was too high and it should be 10% on valued between Tk5 crore and Tk15 crore.

The other demands from the chamber include reducing the tax on dividend to 15% from existing 20%, withdrawal of tax while opening local Letter of Credit (LC), continuation of tax holiday facility for newly established industrial undertakings till 2020 etc.

The trade body also demanded cancellation of Advance Trade Vat (ATV) system in import level and cancellation of 9% VAT from the rents generated from commercial establishments.

In response, NBR member Jahangir Hossain said: The businesses should not be worried about the VAT from the commercial rents as the VAT will be paid by the person, who consumes the service, not by the landlords.

The DCCI also said the corporate tax on the listed companies should be brought down to 20% from the current 27.50%, private limited companies at 27.5% from the existing 37.5%, and bank and financial institutions at 30% from the existing 42.5%.

Attending the meeting, the DCCI leaders also requested the NBR not to harass them in the name of audit or universal self assessment.

They also urged the NBR not to increase the tax net, imposing more taxes on the existing taxpayers, not to increase the tax free income ceiling for individual taxpayers to Tk3,00,000 from existing Tk2,20,000, for the sake of protecting the local industries, rather than giving any benefit to the foreign companies etc. l

The UAE-Bangladesh Investment Company Limited (UBICO) recently signed an agreement with Bangladesh Petrochemical Company Limited (BPCL) to set up the first petrochemical recycling plant in the country. Dr SM Akbar, managing director of UBICO and Khadem Mahmud Yusuf, CEO and managing director of BPCL signed the agreement on behalf of respective organisations

Engr Syed Munsif Ali and Mohammed Adnan Imam have been elected chairs of BRBCB’s risk management and audit committees respectively at the bank’s 18th board meeting.

Engr Syed Munsif Ali is the founder chair and director of Golden Life Insurance Ltd. Mohammed Adnan Imam is the managing director of IPE Group Ltd and vice chair of First Security Services Ltd. l

NCC Bank recently signed an agreement with Apollo Hospitals in Dhaka. The bank’s credit and debit cardholders along with its employees will get special service and discount facility from Apollo Hospitals Dhaka under the agreement signed by Md Omar Faruque Bhuiyan, EVP and head of cards of the bank and Dr Shagufa Anwar, GM of business development at Apollo Hospitals Dhaka

BBS Cables Ltd recently held its second dealer conference at Bashundhara Convention Centre-2 in Dhaka. The company’s managing director Engr Abu Noman Howlader was present at the programme

First Security Islami Bank Limited recently sponsored the soon to be held event, Children Science Congress 2014. On this regard, the bank’s division head of marketing and development, Azam Khan exchanged a MoU with Dr Farseem Mannan Mohammedy, general secretary, Society for the Popularization of Science, Bangladesh

Ashoke Madhab Roy, additional secretary at the ministry of LGRD is seen unveiling the plaque of MTB Tax Collection Booth as chief guest at Habiganj Municipality building. The bank’s deputy managing director, Md Hashem Chowdhury attended the programme as special guest

M Wahidul Haque Salim Ahmed M Wahidul Haque has been re-elected as the board’s chair of AB Bank Limited while Salim Ahmed as the vice chair at a board meeting held on April 21.

Wahidul Haque sits in the board of Amana Bank as well, the first Islamic Bank in Sri Lanka and Cashlink Bangladesh Limited. Salim Ahmed is the managing director of the Elite Group of Companies and the president of Bangladesh Paint Manufacturing Association.

Rich Foods in association with Red Crescent Society recently held Noboborsho Blood Donation Campaign at Banani, Dhaka

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

The 21st century supply chain management - six drivers of change n Shahid Bappy As the use of supply chain strategies to gain market share and competitive edge is on the upswing, the spending and activities in this area have also augmented to a great extent.

In today’s dynamic business world, various technologies and process upgrades used at the forward-thinking companies accentuate the applicability of supply chain management as a crucial element of overall business strategy. It is also pointing towards the fact that increasing customer value is everyone’s business rather than only management’s.

From the observation of the trends in key industries in the world- the FMCG, high tech and industrial manufacturing industries, six key trends – demand planning, globalisation, increased competition, and price pressures; outsourcing; shortened and more complex product life cycle management (or PLM); closer integration and collaboration with suppliers-have been very evident as driving the management of supply chain in today’s enterprises.

Demand planning To influence and manage demand more efficiently, companies are now shifting their focus from plant-level production planning to demand-driven focus. In adopting a demanddriven model, it is very critical to decide what a firm is best at selling, making and delivering and align firm’s sales force according to that.

Ultimately, this demand-driven approach can improve demand planning and management by creating a more customer-focused mindset. Besides, advanced demand planning helps a company uncover data and identify important trends buried in a company’s information systems. But to best achieve this, agreement among company’s internal stakeholders- sales, marketing, finance, product development etc. - upon a consensus demand plan is imperative.

Globalisation Mostly due to improvements in communications, globalisation is bringing change in the ways business is done, managed and transacted. Today Manufacturing, distribution, sourcing of materials, invoicing and returns have all been significantly impacted by the increased integration of a global customer and supplier base. So, undoubtedly, supply chain is the area in an organisation mostly affected by globalisation. In managing the changes incurred by rapid globalisation, the right Supply Chain Design is important.

A well thought-out Supply Chain Network Design can optimise the network and the flow of materials through the network.

Thursday, April 24, 2014

China yuan touches sixteen-month low against dollar n AFP, Shanghai

Increased competition and price pressure As the extent of commoditisation (less differentiated products) is increasing in today’s marketplace, weapons like pricing, product features, brand recognition are ceasing to differentiate a product. Hence companies are in search of better ways to distinguish themselves. With this respect, the idea of significant cost improvement through effective use of supply chain is gaining increasing strategic priority in today’s businesses. Here companies are mainly making cost improvements around inventory management, logistics operations, material management and manufacturing costs, including raw material and component acquisition. To do this, companies are resorting to improvements in Sales and Operations Planning (S&OP), transportation & distribution management, product life cycle management or PLM and strategic sourcing and procurement management. But besides using supply chain for cost improvements, companies should also increase their capabilities and streamline processes to stay competitive.

Outsourcing Due to advantages around product design capabilities; cost and quality of global manufacturing and distribution; and information media and systems, companies are increasingly choosing to outsource parts or all of their supply chain from a more capable third party. But to minimise the underlying risks associated with outsourcing, companies must develop right systems, processes and organisational management structure.

In an outsourced supply chain environment, the need for information, controls and excellence from the “information worker” becomes a high priority.

Shortened and more complex PLM Today, industries are under pressure to develop innovative products and bring them to market more rapidly, while minimising cannibalisation of existing products, which are still in high demand. To ensure this, companies need more efficient product life cycle management or PLM processes including new product introduction, discontinuation, and design for manufacturability and leveraging across entire product and infrastructure characteristics. This can benefit companies by helping to design products that can share common operations, components or materials with other products and thereby reducing risks of obsolescence write-offs and also increasing the investments in purchasing key raw materials and infrastructure development.

Collaboration between stakeholders in the extended supply chain The ultimate goal of collaboration is to increase visibility throughout the value chain in an effort to make better management decisions and to ultimately drive down value chain costs. As supply chains continue to develop and mature, a move toward more intense collaboration between customers and suppliers has occurred.

Today, collaboration is not limited merely to linking information systems; rather it is stretching out to fully integrate business

processes and organisational structures across companies comprising the full value chain. The expansion of Sales and operations Planning (S&OP) provides the real life examples of collaboration.

S&OP processes include upstream and downstream value chain partners as regular participants and help maintain a well-coordinated and valid plan in support of customer demand, a business plan and a strategy. The resulting operating plan provides the management of each partner with a complete picture of forecasted demand, supply capacity, corresponding financial information with financial implications and allows them to make informed decisions. Companies using the S&OP thus have greater visibility across their value chain, gain the agility necessary to improve the Product Lifecycle Management (PLM) process, improve promotional planning, minimise unnecessary buildups of inventory, increase revenue predictability and execute customer service expectations.

But to enjoy a sustainable improvement in overall supply chain performance, businesses must have the right balance of investments in organisation, processes and technology. As a company’s business drivers change, business processes, SCM technology investment and the overall approach to supply chain management must change and keep pace. l The writer is a Certified Supply Chain Analyst (CSCA TM) and currently pursuing MBA at the department of International Business, University of Dhaka

China’s yuan currency extended its downtrend against the dollar Wednesday to touch a 16-month low, despite the country’s central bank fixing its trading point for the unit at a higher level.

The unit fell to as low as 6.2466 to the dollar, its weakest level since December 2012, according to Dow Jones Newswires.

But it closed at 6.2373, only slightly weaker than Tuesday’s close of 6.2370, according to the China Foreign Exchange Trade System.

The People’s Bank of China had set the mid-point for trading at 6.1599, compared with 6.1610 on Tuesday. The PBoC keeps a grip on the currency but allows it to move up or down two percent on either side of a daily-set point.

The yuan has fallen repeatedly in recent months, with many dealers believing the depreciation is a deliberate move by the central bank to target speculative funds betting on continued rises. But traders have also blamed the slowing economy as a crucial factor.

A Shanghai-based local bank trader told Dow Jones Newswires: “This round of yuan falls are mainly driven by investors spontaneously purchasing dollars instead of the central bank’s intervention, so we may see it slowly weakening towards 6.26 in the coming weeks.”

Policymakers have pledged to move gradually towards full convertibil-

ity of the yuan, allowing it to be freely bought and sold, and bringing with it the uncontrolled movement of funds in and out of China.

The unit, which is also known as the renminbi, has fallen more than three percent so far this year, erasing gains of the amount in 2013.

“The depreciation... since mid-February has to some extent defied market expectations for one-way appreciation, so now expectations towards the renminbi are divided,” Jiang Shu, a foreign exchange analyst with Industrial Bank, told AFP. “Expectations towards the domestic economy will certainly affect renminbi prices, but the impact should not be overestimated,” he said.

China’s economy grew 7.4% year on year in the first three months of 2014, down from 7.7% the previous quarter, with authorities blaming a slow global recovery and domestic structural reforms.

The US Treasury said earlier this month that the recent fall in the yuan could “raise particularly serious concerns” if it represents a reversal in China’s pledge to move towards a more free-floating yuan.

However, it stopped short of branding China a currency “manipulator” in a twice-yearly report to the US Congress.

A weaker yuan makes Chinese exports cheaper overseas, at a time when Beijing is seeking ways to boost growth. l

WhatsApp says it now has half billion users n AFP, Washington WhatsApp now has 500 million regular, active users around the world, the free mobile messaging service being acquired by Facebook said.

That is up from an estimated 450 million as of late February, as the service’s reach expanded rapidly in countries including Brazil, India, Mexico, and Russia.

WhatsApp said Tuesday on its blog that its users are also sharing more than 700 million photos and 100 million videos a day.

Facebook founder Mark Zuckerberg

announced in February that his social network is acquiring WhatsApp for $19bn.

The stock and cash purchase marries WhatsApp’s steadily growing user base with Facebook’s 1.2 billion active users.

The huge price tag raised eyebrows but Zuckerberg told the Mobile World Congress in Spain days after the announcement that he believes WhatsApp is actually worth much more.

He argued that there are very few services that reach so many millions of people in the world.

The acquisition would be Facebook’s largest ever. l

Brazil hosts meeting to craft Internet governance rules n AFP, Sao Paulo Brazil will host a meeting yesterday on how the Internet should be governed in the future, aiming for global partnership after worldwide outrage over allegations of widespread online spying by the United States.

President Dilma Rousseff had called the two-day NetMundial meeting in a bid to find ways to curb abuses following the furore sparked by allegations of US spying revealed in documents leaked by former intelligence contractor Edward Snowden.

“After what happened with Snowden, there has been a change in the public perception of the Internet and there is a need for change,” said Brazilian Communications Minister Paulo Bernardo.

But beyond looking at cyberspying issues, the Sao Paolo gathering of officials from 80 countries also comes in the wake of word from Washington that it plans to loosen its grip on the Internet.

The recently revealed plan by Washington would set into motion a process that foresees a “multi-stakeholder” model of Internet governance.

The United States has had a supervisory role over Internet website addresses overlords at the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN).

As it looks set to relinquish supervision of ICANN, the next steps are unclear.

DILBERT

Some countries like China and Russia want oversight of the Internet’s technical functions to come under a group of governments or an intergovernmental organization.

Kuek Yu-Chuang, ICANN vice president and managing director for the Asia Pacific, said at a meeting last month that “there is widespread agreement” on the multistakeholder model.

But NETMundial chair Virgilio Almeida, a Brazilian government official, said he sees “some points of contention” at the gathering.

Snowden leaks on unofficial agenda US online spy tactics exposes by Snowden are not on the official summit agenda but were expected to be hot topics.

Almeida, a senior official at Brazil’s ministry of Science and Technology, told AFP that giving concrete shape to a new model of governance will be difficult “because the Internet has no ruler.”

Governance happens at the national and global levels, which interact, he said. If a country does not accept new rules of governance, civil society can exert pressure for it to do so, Almeida said.

Slated to join Rousseff in opening NETmundial are the head of ICANN as well as Tim Berners-Lee, the man credited with creating the World Wide Web 25 years ago and a fierce advocate for Internet freedom.

Any resolutions that come out of the summit will not be binding.

It remains unclear whether a consensus can be reached at the summit amid these concerns, and with some countries seeking measures that could allow more filtering and censorship of Internet content.

NETmundial organizers maintain that Internet governance must be “open, participatory... technologically neutral, sensitive to human rights and based on principles of transparency (and) accountability.”

The US on Tuesday confirmed that a delegation led by the White House cybersecurity coordinator Michael Daniel will take part in NETmundial.

Established in 1998, ICANN issues domain names on the Internet, like .com or .gov. Despite having its headquarters in California and being watched over by the Department of Commerce, it sees itself as an international organization.

The goal is to transition ICANN to a new model without US oversight sometime next year.

“This transition should be conducted thoughtfully with a focus on maintaining the security and stability of the Internet, empowering the principle of equal participation among all stakeholder groups and striving towards a completed transition

by September 2015,” NETmundial said at its website.

New online neighborhoods began opening in January with the introduction of Web addresses ending in “.guru,” “.bike” - and even “.singles.”

The meeting begins a day after Brazil’s Congress passed comprehensive legislation on Internet privacy in what some have likened to a web-user’s bill of rights.

Rousseff has spoken out forcefully against cyber-snooping revealed by Snowden. The US eavesdropping targeted her staff ’s communications and those of others at Petrobras, the state oil giant. l

Apple Genius bar employees assist customers at the company's Fifth Avenue store on Earth Day in Midtown Manhattan on tuesday in New York City. The store is one of at least 120 Apple stores currently powered by renewable energy. To coincide with Earth Day, Apple announced it's offering free recycling of all of its used products. Employees wore green shirts for the occasion AFP

Study: Cyber risks can cause disruption on scale of 2008 crisis n AFP, Geneva Organisations must dramatically improve their response to cyber risks to avoid a new global shock on the scale of the financial crisis that rocked the world in 2008, a study showed Tuesday.

Zurich Insurance said in a statement that even cyber security professionals did not have a clear overview of all the interconnected risks organisations can face.

The Swiss insurance group, which has produced a report on cyber risks in cooperation with the Atlantic Council think tank, warned that “a build-up in these risks could create a failure on

a similar scale to the 2008 financial crisis”.

Subprime mortgages were at the root of that crisis which began when the US housing market collapsed, dragging down major banks, and causing panic on world financial markets.

The Zurich Cyber Risk Report said IT risks could pose a threat of a similar scale.

“Few people truly understand their own computers or the Internet, or the cloud to which they connect, just a few truly understood the financial system as a whole or the parts to which they are most directly exposed,” said Zurich risk chief Axel Lehmann.

Outsourcing of server management for example or creating direct connections between organisations for things like corporate joint ventures makes it more difficult to get an overview of the risks involved, Zurich said.

The risk of disruption in the Internet infrastructure itself, malware attacks and major international conflicts can also create system-wide risk, it added.

“The Internet is the most complex system humanity has ever devised. Although it has been incredibly resilient for the past few decades, the risk is that the complexity which has made cyberspace relatively risk-free can, and likely will, backfire,” Lehmann said. l