01 May 2014

Boishakh 18, 1421 Rajab 1, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 32

THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

4 | DREAMS OF JOBS TURN INTO NIGHTMARE

7 | THE LAW SAYS IT ALL

20 pages | Price: Tk10

8 | IRAQ VOTES DESPITE VIOLENCE

Abduction ordeal unwinds

Bodies of six missing men from Narayanganj found in Shitalakkhya River Jamil Khan with our n Mohammad Narayanganj correspondent Days of suspense surrounding the abduction of seven people, including a city corporation ward councillor, reached its climax yesterday afternoon as six of their bodies had been recovered from the Shitalakkhya River.

Narayanganj police said local people first spotted the body of ward councillor Nazrul Islam in the river around 3pm at Bandar Upazila. Later, five other bodies were seen floating in the river.

As news spread, hundreds of people thronged the banks of the river and the ambience took an elegiac turn with the wailings of the family members.

Police recovered the bodies from the river and kept them on the bank where Nazrul’s brother Abdus Salam and his wife Selina Islam Beauty identified him. Lawyer Chandan Sarker’s body was identified by his daughter Shejuty.

The remaining four were identified as Nazrul’s chauffer Moniruzzaman Swapan and associates Liton and Tajul Islam, and Chandan’s chauffer Ibrahim. Nazrul’s associate Jahangir is still missing.

Akhter Morshed, OC of Bandar police station, said the bodies would be handed over to the families after autopsy.

The hands and legs of all the deceased were tied up. The dead bodies were all attached with heavy bricks and cement sacks. They might have been killed somewhere else and dumped into the river at least 24 hours before they had been recovered, Morshed said.

Local policemen said the corpses were all in wretched conditions; some had severed fingers, toes, limbs and even penis while one of them had a ripped-apart belly. They also said the victims might have gone through severe torture before dying.

Soon after news spread that Nazrul’s body had been found in the river, his supporters took to the streets and blockaded the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in protest. They laid bricks and  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Unnatural death of MP Nixon’s wife n Kailash Sarkar The death of the 33-year-old wife of independent lawmaker Mujibar Rahman Chowdhury alias Nixon Chowdhury at a hospital in the capital on Tuesday night remains as something of an enigma.

The mystery deepened as conflicting information began to pour in over the cause of the death of Muntarin Chowdhury, the wife of the lawmaker of constituency-4 in Faridpur.

Meanwhile, Nixon Chowdhury was also admitted to the United Hospital immediately after the death of his wife.

Khandaker Zahidur Rahman who claimed himself to be the personal assistant of Nixon Chowdhury said Muntarin did not commit suicide. She had slipped off the building top.

He also said that Nixon Chowdhury had been kept at the ICU after he fell sick.

Kawsar Hossain, the personal secretary of the lawmaker, however said Muntarin had fallen sick after a  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

HOLIDAY NOTICE Thursday, May 1, is a national and newspaper holiday on the occasion of May Day. Therefore, the Dhaka Tribune will not be published tomorrow. However, our online version will keep updating.

Narayanganj city ward councillor Nazul’s wife Selina wails in front of his dead body, recovered from the Shitalakkhya River yesterday afternoon DHAKA TRIBUNE

Eternal winter in Narayanganj Jamil Khan with our n Mohammad Narayanganj correspondent

Supporters of ward councillor Nazrul set a filling station ablaze on the Dhaka-Narayanganj Highway yesterday after news of recovery of his body spread DHAKA TRIBUNE

Six yaba traders killed, 10 injured in a month n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar Six top yaba traders were killed and another 10 received gunshot wounds over the span of a month in crackdowns initiated after the State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan’s Cox’s Bazar visit, though three brothers of the Cox’s Bazar 4 lawmaker Abdur Rahman Bodi still remain at large.

The three – Md Abdul Shukkur, Moulavi Mujibur Rahman and Abdul Amin – have their names listed in the Home Ministry as top yaba traders.

Sources say the 2012 list of the Home Ministry contained names of 554 yaba traders while more than 1,200 names appeared on a recent list prepared by the BGB, RAB, police, different intelligence agencies and the Narcotics Control Department. Apart from Bodi’s three brothers, his brother-in-law Akhter Kamal, Shahed Kamal, uncle Haider Ali, cousin Kamrul Islam Rasel, nephew Nipu and several other

relatives have also been listed as yaba traders.

The list has identified some of the accomplices of the lawmaker, including Md Rashed, son of former Awami League lawmaker Professor Md Ali; Nur Hossain, Teknaf upazila Jubo League general secretary and former upazila chairman; Zafar Ahmed, an Awami League leader and former chairman of Teknaf Sadar union; Ali Ahmed, Cox’s Bazar district Chhatra League president; Khurshida Karim and Abu Bakkar.

Most yaba pills produced in 37 factories, located in Mongdu, Myanmar, are being marketed in Bangladesh, according to sources. For a very long period, the pills have been being smuggled into Bangladesh through more than 50 channels in Cox’s Bazar. Apart from heightening patrol in the areas, BGB authorities have also taken initiatives to set up new camps.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Khaleda renews call for talks n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia has renewed her call for holding fresh elections under a neutral administration, saying the door for talks with the government is still open.

“The door for discussion is still open. I am urging for talks to hold free, fair and participatory elections under a non-partisan government. If they (the government) think they are popular, they should take the chance to prove their popularity. There is no pleasure in winning a voter-less election,” Khaleda said at a function in the capital, yesterday.

Expressing concerns over recent ex-

tra-judicial killings and abductions, the former prime minister said such crimes would stop only if a people’s government was established in the country.

The BNP chief said the “illegitimate government” led by the Awami League cannot stop the killings and abductions as members of the ruling party and its associates are perpetrating the crimes.

Khaleda was addressing an event to mark the 34th founding anniversary of the Jatiya Ganatantrik Party (Jagpa), a member of the BNP-led former opposition alliance. Jagpa President Shafiul Alam Prodhan chaired the function.

Claiming that the government did not have any control over its leaders  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

In recent months, the city of Narayanganj – a key business hub – has seen murders, abductions and forced disappearances spike significantly, for which scared residents blamed the administration’s insincerity.

In the last three months alone, at least 45 dead bodies have been recovered from various points in the city – that has been turned into a corporation a couple of years ago – and its outskirts.

When counted from March 2013, the number of reported incidents of  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE Business

B1 An idea was floated in a Dhaka seminar to create a fund for financing factory upgrading and general improvement in working standards in Bangladesh.

News

3 Thailand has claimed that around 400 suspected Bangladeshis are now in different detention centres there.

3 Return of chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal to office after a 15-day leave yesterday created much hype within his team on whether his joining was authorised or not.

5 The Rapid Action Battalion wants to take possession of seven acres of land in Kamrangir Char area to set up its office, but a task force has suggested that the government allot only 2.41 acres of land to the elite force.

Nation

6 The prevailing drought-like conditions have reduced soil moisture, affecting the growth of tea plants, leaving different gardens in Panchagarh all dried up.

World

9 Narendra Modi looked triumphant after voting on Wednesday in the eighth stage of the world’s largest election, but the man tipped to be the next prime minister is still not assured of winning an outright majority.

Op-Ed

11 The historic May Day is being observed today throughout the country and elsewhere in the world to show respect to workers who shed their blood for the establishment of the rights of the working class in 1886.

13 | BCB: TURNING LEAKS INTO RIVERS

Jr minister: Abduction rate has gone down n Rabiul Islam

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday summoned the state minister for home, hours after he had claimed that the abduction rate in the country had “gone down.”

She also directed the junior minister to take necessary measures for arresting those involved in the abduction and murder of six people in Narayanganj.

Following a meeting with the premier at her state residence Ganabhaban at 9pm yesterday, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal told reporters that the prime minister was strict regarding the issue.

“Those involved in the abduction and killings will be hunted down,” he said, assuring that results would be visible soon.

Earlier in the day, the junior minister had termed the recent abduction spree an “alarming incident,” but claimed that the current abduction rate has gone down when compared to previous years.

Speaking at a press conference at the ministry, he said: “Although we are considering the recent abduction spree as an alarming incident, we have found that the current abduction rate has de-

creased since previous times.”

Referring to the “success” of the law enforcers regarding the Milky murder case, Kamal said: “The big cities including Dhaka will be brought under security measures such as CCTV cameras, which will soon be placed at important points to ensure security and to trace crimes like abduction.

“Special check posts have already been set up at both entry and exit points of the capital and also in other

PM directed the junior minister to take steps for arresting the abductors cities. Moreover, any private or public vehicle fitted with black tinted glass will not be allowed to run in the capital,” he added.

Meanwhile, the government has banned the use of tinted glass on microbuses, in the wake of a recent series of abductions where kidnappers used microbuses with glasses tinted with dark window films.

The ban will be effective from May 10, according to an order issued by the Home Ministry. l

‘Jubo League man’ detained linked to JMB hijacking n Kailash Sarkar A suspected member of banned militant group Jama’at-ul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) yesterday blamed a leader of Mymensingh unit Jubo League for leading the safe passage of one of the three convicted JMB leaders who were hijacked from a prisons van in Trishal on February 23.

The accused, Ataur Rahman Kamal alias Juboraj, is the joint secretary of Bhaluka thana unit Jubo League, youth wing of the Awami League. His father is also a ruling party leader in Bhaluka.

The disclosure came at a press briefing at the RAB headquarters following the arrest of eight suspects in the last few days for their alleged involvement in the incident.

According to the elite force officials, six of them were arrested for their direct links with the hijacking incident and making safe route for one of the militants while the two others for helping them in their attempts to leave the country.

There were several other groups active on the spot to bring out the two  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, May 1, 2014

15 ex–Ctg port staffs sent to jail n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Chittagong court sent 15 former employees of the Chittagong Port Authority (CPA) to jail yesterday in a case regarding the misappropriation of fabrics from an export-bound container in the port yard.

Judge Farida Parvin of the Metropolitan Magistrate Court passed the order when the accused surrendered before the court, according to court sources.

The accused are: former clerks Humayun Kabir, Adhir Kanti Chakraborty, Pradip Kumar Mohajon, Mostafizur Rahman and Shyamol Kumar Bhowmik, former junior clerk Md Atikur Rahman, former assistant traffic inspector Saleh Jahur, former security guards Sirajul Haq Molla, Ali Azam Chowdhury, Monir Ahmed, Kamaluddin Chowdhury, Nazrul Islam and Sagir Ahmed, and former assistant sub-inspectors

Police attacked n

Our Correspondent, Comilla

Criminals attacked police personnel in the Shashongacha area of the city yesterday to help release a prisoner from custody. According to sources, the police went to the area in the morning to arrest Kaosar, an accused involved in 10 cases.

Kaosar’s cohorts attacked the police personnel when they were going back with Kaosar in custody. l

Harun Chowdhury and Mizanur Rahman.

Advocate Mahmudul Haque Mahmud, counsel for the Anti-Corruption Commission, told the Dhaka Tribune that the 15 accused were on bail from the High Court and they surrendered before the Metropolitan Magistrate Court after their bail period ended, asking for a bail extension.

“The court rejected their petition and sent them to jail,” he said.

ACC Deputy Assistant Director Sirajul Haq filed a case with the Port police station accusing 17 former employees on February 27, 2004 which is still under investigation, Mahmud said.

The accused, allegedly collaborating with one other person, had stolen 90 bundles of fabrics from a container for export, kept in Yard No 1 of the port from February 1, 2000 to April 12, 2000, said the ACC counsel. l

Speakers at a workshop yesterday said the customer relationship management practices have comparatively improved at telecom sector than power sector in Bangladesh.

LIRNEasia, a Sri Lanka-based research organisation, in collaboration with pi Strategy Consulting, a Dhaka-based management consulting firm specialising on strategy and innovation, examined the CRM practices of power and telecom sectors in Bangladesh, India and Sri Lanka.

LIRNEasia and pi Strategy Consulting jointly organised the workshop at a city hotel.

Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission Chairman AR Khan who attended the programme as the chief guest said, “If such kind of practices keeps going, all sectors will develop.”

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The country’s 16-year-old outdated telecom policy should be revised in a coordinated manner to include telecom, ICT and transmission systems as well as re-fixing its goals, said telecom and ICT specialists yesterday.

Speaking at a roundtable on “Revision of Telecom Policy,” organised by the Telecom Reporters’ Network Bang-

He observed that power sector had improved the customer service than earlier and increased the energy efficiency while its system loss also reduced.

“There are pockets of innovative experimentation taking place at power sector. These needs should be objectively evaluated and further refined before deploying them on large scale,” said Pial Islam, managing partner of pi Strategy Consulting.

“Not doing so might lead us to settling with an ‘almost great’ set of products, and losing an opportunity to create and adopt ‘really great’ set of products,” he said.

Helani Galpaya, CEO of LIRNEasia, emphasised on the depth of the study.

She said, “The study was done through surveys on low income MEs (India 1279, Bangladesh – 915, Sri Lanka - 986) and detailed interviews with service providers.” l

Eternal winter in Narayanganj  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

murder and abduction stands at a staggering 119, police said.

Although police claimed to have made good progress in probing some of these incidents, local residents said absolutely nothing had been unearned about the 45 dead bodies found this year; neither had law enforcers succeeded in rescuing any of the abducted.

The most cases of abductions have been reported from the Fatullah, Shiddhirganj, Rupganj, Sonargaon and Araihazar areas in the city. Sources in the local police said most of these disappearances were results of land disputes, collision of financial interests, personal and political conflicts and extramarital affairs.

The residents of the city, who have until now been passively experiencing the criminal activities, finally took to the streets to express their anger after the dead bodies of six people, including local ward councillor Nazrul Islam, were found in a canal in the city yesterday.

Furious protesters blockaded an important city road, vandalised buses and set fire to several petrol pumps, yesterday.

Two buses are placed on the middle of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway as part of a road blockade programme by Narayanganj residents yesterday, protesting the recent abduction of seven people MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Telecom specialists demand coordinated ‘digital policy’

'Telecom sector customer services have improved' n Aminur Rahman Rasel

Body to create posts, fill vacancies in bureaucracy n Mohosinul Karim

The six people were allegedly abducted from the city on Sunday and police reportedly had no clue regarding their whereabouts until their bodies had been found.

Not all cases of alleged abduction, murder and forced disappearance get equal focus. The recent abduction of AB Siddique, husband of environmental lawyer Syeda Rizwana Hassan, fetched a lot of media focus.

Two weeks ago, Siddique, who was involved with the garments-making business in Narayanganj, was dramatically abducted from Fatullah in broad daylight and released a few days later in Dhaka.

He said he did not have any idea why he was abducted; neither did police have any idea about the identity of the abductors.

On March 8 last year, teenager Tanvir Ahmed Twoki’s dead body was found in the Sitalakkhya River, adjacent to the city. He was the son of one of the organisers of the local Gonojagoron Moncho.

Not much progress has been made in the probe of that death either.

Rafiur Rabbi, convener of the Twoki

take initiatives and prepare a precise proposal after holding discussions on it. If you can convince me, I will go to the prime minister regarding the issue,” said Siddique. He also admitted that the ICT policy was being reformed.

The telecom policy of the country was formulated in 1998 and was now unable to address many issues, speakers at the programme said.

Six yaba traders

‘Jubo League man’ detained

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Moncho – formed to protest the unsolved murder mystery – blamed the local administration and the government for the spike in criminal activities in the city.

“None gets punished for their crime.

This is encouraging the criminals to commit further misdeeds,” he said.

Three months ago, Awami League leader Kamal from the Sonargaon area disappeared. Law enforces are yet to trace anything about his disappearance.

In January, police recovered the body of 14-year-old schoolboy Rakibul Islam Imon, packed inside a sack, from a pond in the city 35 days after he had been abducted.

On the 21st of the same month, schoolchildren Jahidul Islam and Sakin Alam were allegedly abducted from the Kachpur area of Sonargaon. Five days later, police recovered their dead bodies from inside a sack at the Sadipur area of Vargaon Bheribadh.

On February 1, police recovered the dead body of schoolchild Nayem Mia, 14, from the Bhingrab area of Rupganj of the city. On April 4, the body of univer-

sity teacher Rajib Ahmed was recovered from the Rupganj area.

The 8km stretch of land beside the road linking the Dhaka-Narayanganj Highway and Rupganj was a safe place for dumping dead bodies, sources said.

Refuting the allegations, Shahidul Islam, an additional police super of Narayanganj, said police had uncovered the mystery surrounding most of the criminal cases that took place last year and claimed to have arrested a number of criminals.

He however did not make any clear comment when asked about the murders and abductions that took place in the last three months.

Shahidul also told the Dhaka Tribune that: “Around seven to eight lakh people work in this small city. It is very difficult to know the identities of these people.

Moreover, it gets even more difficult to track down crimes when factory workers and day labourers get into conflicts centring extra-marital affairs.”

He said local police had strengthened vigilance and that the situation was now under control. l

cause of the death of the wife of the lawmaker. But some of the officials of the hospital said the cause of the death could be known after the autopsy is done.

They said the decision on the autopsy depends on the opinions of the parents and family members of the deceased.

DC Khandaker Lutful Kabir of Gulshan Division told the Dhaka Tribune: “The body of the deceased has been kept at the mortuary for the arrival of her parents and other family members from abroad. On the basis of their opinions the autopsy would be conducted.”

“So far we have been informed that the family members of the deceased are scheduled to arrive in Dhaka tomorrow (today),” the DC said. He said nobody had lodged any case over the death of the wife of the lawmaker.

Inspector Rafiqul Islam, officer-incharge of the Gulshan police station, said they had information about the death of the wife of lawmaker Nixon Chowdhury but they could not say for sure if she killed herself or she was pushed off the building top.

Nixon and Muntarin got married 18 years ago when Muntarin was a student of class VIII. Muntarin left behind a nineyear-old daughter who is a class-V student.

Nixon, who comes from Madaripur district, is brother of ruling party lawmaker Nur-e-Alam Chowdhury alias Liton Chowdhury.

Nixon was elected as a lawmaker from Faridpur as an independent candidate defeating Awami League presidium member Kazi Zafrullah. l

“We have 23 camps in border areas and 15 new camps are being set up. Construction is proceeding fast as we have directives from the top administration to show zero tolerance for drugs,” Cox’s Bazar BGB Sector Commander Colonel Khandaker Farid Hasan told reporters.

Surveillance along the 54km border with Myanmar has been beefed up and yaba traders will be brought to book, said Lt Col Md Abujar Al Jahid, Commander of Teknaf 42 BGB. “The drive against drugs has been given the highest priority in accordance with the list from the Home Ministry. In addition to conducting drives, district police are being rearranged,” Additional Police Super of Cox’s Bazar Tofael Ahmed said.

Of the six traders killed in anti-yaba drives last month, Nur Mohammad was killed in a gunfight with RAB on March 20; Amin, Md Kalu and Jahir Ahmed in a gunfight with Coast Guard on April 25; and Jahed Hossain Jaku and Farid Alam in a gunfight with RAB and BGB on April 27. l

other militants and ferry them to safer places, said RAB. The six detained are Kamal Hossain alias Sabuj, Sohel Rana, 28, Ilias Uddin, 34, and Morshed Alam, 22, of Panchgaon under Bhaluka upazila; Yusuf Ali alias Sohagh, 20, of Panibanda village; and Abu Bakar Siddique, 27, of Morchi village under the same upazila.

Anwar Hossain, 40, of Tentulia village under Naogaon sadar upazila, and Bachhar Uddin, 20, of Bonkuwa village under Bhaluka upazila, were detained for helping the six other persons.

Of the detainees, Sabuj and Siddique – teachers at a coaching centre in Bhaluka – were earlier claimed to have been abducted by the law enforcers. RAB yesterday confirmed that they were detained by the elite crime busters for their links to the hijacking.

Sabuj, who is the general secretary of a ward unit of Jubo League in Panchgaon union, owns a coaching centre named “Jagoron Tutorial Home” at Bhaluka.

However, Wing Commander ATM

Unnatural death of MP Nixon’s wife  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

cardiac arrest before she was rushed to the hospital.

Meanwhile, the body of the deceased has been kept at the mortuary of the United Hospital where she died, said Khandaker Lutfu lKabir, deputy commissioner of the Gulshan Division of Police.

The hospital sources said Muntarin Chowdhury was declared dead around 9:50pm Tuesday by the doctors of the United Hospital immediately after she was rushed to the hospital from her husband’s Gulshan residence around 9:30pm.

Sabbir Hossain, a duty officer at the administration branch of the United Hospital, said Muntarin died after her admission to the hospital but the cause of the death could not be known.

The family members of lawmaker Nixon Chowdhury and his personal staff claimed that Muntarin had slipped off the building during the storm on Tuesday night and then she was rushed to the hospital where the doctors declared her death.

But a source close to the family of the lawmaker said Muntarin jumped from the top of the five-storey building after the couple had a quarrel.

On information of the death, a number of acquaintances of Nixon thronged the hospital and the residence of the lawmaker.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, many of them said they heard that Muntarin died of a cardiac arrest.

But the hospital authorities are yet to make any formal declaration over the

Sunil Kanti Bose, chairman of Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), said a complete telecom policy was needed as soon as possible, as “local or foreign investors want to invest here after seeing the policy.”

The BTRC chairman also said the policy should target covering the next 15 to 20 years, with both achievable long-term and midterm goals. l

ladesh in a city hotel, they added that the formulation of a digital policy was needed to bring all digital systems under a single umbrella.

Telecommunications Minister Abdul Latif Siddique, also the chief guest of the programme, hinted that the government was going to revise some old policies.

“The telecom policy will be revised… You [BTRC and stakeholders]

Habibur Rahman, director of RAB’s Legal and Media Wing, ruled out the claims Sabuj had made at the press bringing.

“All the eight detainees are militants. Whenever any criminal is arrested, he or she opts for political shelter as a technique,” he said.

Police at different times arrested at least 11 persons in connection with the incident. JMB Majlish-e-Shura members Rakib, Salauddin alias Salehin and Zahidul Islam alias Boma Mizan had been hijacked from a prison van while they had been taken to a Mymensingh court from Gazipur jail. Rakib had been arrested a day after the incident and was killed in a shootout by the police.

The hijackers also killed one of the policemen escorting the van. Of the three, Salauddin and Rakib were death row convicts while Boma Mizan a lifer.

At the press briefing, Sabuj said: “The hijacking of Hafez Mahmud alias Rakib Hassan was carried out under the directives and leadership of Ataur Rahman Kamal alias Juboraj.”

Talking to journalists in Mymensin-

Following a recent government order, the cabinet division has taken several initiatives to address the personnel crisis in the civil administration.

Last month, the cabinet asked ministers and senior government officials to prepare lists of vacant posts, recommend new posts after reviewing the administration’s needs and fill up all posts by recruiting new public servants.

The cabinet division yesterday issued a gazette notification on forming a high-level committee, led by the Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan, to expedite the creation of new posts and fill up the vacancies.

Nurul Karim, additional secretary of the cabinet division, said the committee was instructed to resolve the crisis regarding appointments to the vacant posts at different government offices.

It was also authorised to take the initiative to amend existing laws, rules and policies.

Other members of the committee include senior secretaries to the PM’s office and the public administration ministry, as well as education, health and parliamentary affairs division secretaries.

After a cabinet meeting on April 21, Musharraf told reporters that the cabinet division will take necessary steps to comply with the cabinet’s decision and the prime minister’s order.

He also said a high-level committee will be formed to execute the decisions. l

gh and locals in Bhaluka, it was learnt that Kamal’s father Mujibor Rahman is a vice-president of the upazila unit Awami League. Mujibor is a former vice-chairman of Bhaluka Upazila Parishad.

Sabuj said Kamal had informed them about the plan and each of them were given Tk20,000 for the purpose. He claimed that six persons had taken part in the operation while Kamal was present near the crime scene on a black microbus.

“We helped Rakib Hassan to reach Fulbaria from Trishal and then he chose his own way,” he added.

Wing Commander ATM Habibur Rahman claimed that separate groups had taken part in the hijacking and each was tasked with different duties. They did not know each other. “The hijacking of the JMB leader was a long-term plan.

The group led by Sabuj was tasked with the safe escaping of Rakib Hasan only.”

Habibur said they were trying to identify members of the other groups.

Asked about action against Kamal, the official said they had started investigating into the allegation. l

Abduction ordeal unwinds  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

drums on the highway and set a filling station ablaze in the Mouchak area, halting traffic for hours.

A group of lawyers from Narayanganj observed work abstention for the third consecutive day, protesting the abduction and death of Chandan Sarker.

On Sunday, councillor Nazrul, his chauffer and three associates, and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker and his chauffer Ibrahim were abducted. Soon after, authorities withdrew Narayanganj deputy commissioner, police super, commander of local RAB and two OCs. According to sources, councillor Nazrul, known as a supporter of the ruling Awami League, had 18 cases filed against him; at least 10 of those were murder cases. Even Nazrul’s chauffer Swapan and associate Tajul

have several cases against them for various criminal offences.

However, senior lawyer Chandan Sarker is known as a well-mannered man with a clean image. When Nazrul was being abducted, Chandan’s car was reportedly also coming out of the court premises. The abductors might have thought that he saw the abduction, Chandan’s family members said.

Sajjadur Rahman, assistant police super of Narayanganj, told the Dhaka Tribune that he could not disclose anything for the sake of the ongoing investigation.

The situation in the city had been tensed with additional law enforcers deployed at various points in the city to avert any further untoward incident.

Protesters were still occupying the Dhaka-Narayanganj Highway as of filing of this report last night. l

Khaleda renews call for talks  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

and activists, including ministers and MPs, Khaleda said killings and abductions are now a common phenomenon.

“Huge corruption has been taking place in the administration. Killings and abductions will stop only when a people’s government is established in the country,” she said.

Branding the Anti-Corruption Commission as blind, Khaleda said: “It only sees the opposition party. It takes action against those who raise their voice against the government. The government even controls the courts.”

The former prime minister said there is no effective opposition party in parliament now, and nothing useful takes place in the House.

“The government also does not have control over the so-called opposition party,” the BNP chief said, referring to the Jatiya Party.

“The so-called opposition party is part of the illegal government,” she said, adding, “Stop the drama and take immediate steps for talks to hold an in-

clusive election under a non-partisan interim government.”

Khaleda said the present government was “illegitimate” as it was not elected through people’s votes.

“I do not know how independent this country is. People are being killed at the border every day, but the government does not have the courage to protest…. This government is a slave government. They cannot run the country because a slave government cannot protest against anyone,” she said.

The BNP chief said not only the people of Bangladesh, but foreign countries have also stressed on early elections to restore democracy in the country.

Regarding the recent escape of the JMB militants from a prison van, Khaleda claimed that a member of the Jubo League, the ruling party’s youth front, was behind the incident.

“It proves that Awami League, Jubo League and Chhatra League patronise militancy. How will the country be safe in their hands?” she questioned. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Thailand claims to have detained 400 Bangladeshis Police identify 68 of 214 whose documents reached Foreign Ministry n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Thailand has claimed that around 400 suspected Bangladeshis are now in different detention centres there.

“The Thai authorities have notified Bangladesh Embassy that about 400 suspected Bangladeshis are now in their detention centres,” Foreign Ministry Secretary (Bilateral) Mustafa Kamal told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The Bangladesh Embassy immediately asked for consular access and interviewed many of them. “So far the embassy sent us identification documents of 214 and we are verifying it,” he said.

Another Foreign Ministry official

who attended an inter-ministerial meeting yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “Police have so far identified 68 of the 214 as Bangladeshis and hopefully the whole process will complete by next week.”

About 200 of them had been arrested at different times since November and are now in different immigration detention centres in Songkhla province.

The victims told the embassy officials that they had been cheated by agents in both Bangladesh and Thailand and that the Thai agents had even beaten them to extract money, Mustafa Kamal said.

The Foreign Ministry had sent the documents to the Home Ministry for

verification and after its clearance, the embassy would ask for the Thai authorities’ permission to take charge of the identified Bangladeshis, Kamal said.

“We will bring back everyone verified and confirmed as Bangladeshis through proper authorities,” he said.

“We do not want such an issue to become an irritant in our relationship with any country,” he added.

Asked when the repatriation process could begin, he said it was difficult to say. “Different ministries and agencies are involved in the process and we also need fund for the repatriation,” he said.

According to the Rules of Business, repatriation was a subject of the For-

eign Ministry and it had already sought fund from the Finance Ministry for the repatriation, Kamal said, adding that the repatriation process could be expedited if the ministry had the fund.

Meanwhile, family members of seven victims had already submitted plane tickets to the foreign ministry, requesting the authorities for smooth repatriation of their relatives, the ministry official told the Dhaka Tribune after the inter-ministerial meeting.

Requesting not to name, the official said it did not take more than Tk25,000 to bring back a person from Thailand.

About 80 people were repatriated from Iran, one from Israel and about 10 from Lebanon in the past three months. l

3

MAIMING OF LIMON

Hearing on case withdrawal deferred for seventh time n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Charges against Limon in a case lodged

by Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) after maiming him has not yet been withdrawn even after eight months of the home ministry order.

The hearing on the withdrawal of the case has so far been deferred for the seventh time yesterday.

The hearing was deferred to June 23, 2014 as Chief Judicial Magistrate of Jhalokati had been transferred in August 2013 and acting chief judicial magistrate Md Arifuzzaman had no jurisdiction to hear such appeal, explained advocate M Alam Khan Kalam, additional public prosecutor of Jhalokati.

Limon Hossain was a college student who used to work in a brick kiln to bear his educational expenses and allegedly maimed by RAB shooting in the leg after he was taken to a place ad-

jacent to his house at Jamaddarhat in Rajapur Upazila of Jhalokati on March 23, 2011.

Limon’s left leg was amputated from the thigh on March 27 at Dhaka National Institute for Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation (NITOR) Hospital.

The RAB after maiming Limon filed two cases – one under the arms act and the other for obstructing RAB personnel from discharging their duty – with Rajapur police station accusing Limon and seven others of attempting to murder and injure RAB personnel.

Two separate charge sheets were framed against Limon on April 24, 2011 and July 1, 2012 under the juvenile crime prevention act.

As there was huge uproar from human rights activists and media the home ministry on July 9, 2013 ordered to withdraw the charges brought against Limon by the RAB. l

58 countries agree on migration cost cut n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Fifty-eight rich and poor countries have agreed that human rights of migrants must be protected and costs of migration as well as transfer of remittances must be lowered.

After a two-day hectic discussion, these countries agreed on some recommendations on migration so that origin and destination countries as well as migrants can be benefitted, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told a press briefing held at a city hotel on Tuesday evening.

A total of 88 government officials from 58 countries and 27 officials from different international and civil society organisations took part in the two-day “Global Expert Meeting on Migration and Post-2015 Development Agenda”.

The meeting also endorsed a set of recommendations to be put forward to the UN Secretary General for discussion in the open working group meet which would decide on the future development model.

The meeting acknowledged that migration is an integral component of development and migrants are the agents of development, the foreign secretary said.

“We also agreed that rights of migrants must be upheld and agencies must operate in a socially responsible manner.”

There are some risk factors, including human trafficking and smuggling, and there are certain recommenda-

HC seeks explanation from JU PR director n Tribune Report The High Court issued a rule seeking explanation yesterday as to why legal actions should not be taken against the Jahangirnagar University public relations director who issued a press release regarding the conversion to Islam by a Hindu staff and his family.

It also wanted to know why the press release issued on April 25 should not be declared illegal.

Considering a media report, the bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain, on its own volition, ordered the JU VC, registrar, Syndicate and public relations director to respond to the rule by May 15.

The university authorities have reportedly been under pressure following the incident. l

tions on the issues, he added. “We want safe and affordable migration and rights of migrants must be upheld because it will help the origin and destination countries and migrants as well,” Shahidul said.

When asked about different stances of rich and poor countries on migration issue, he said all the countries must find a common space. “Bangladesh and Switzerland will organise a side event on migration at the 69th UNGA session in September,” he said.

In the concluding session of the meeting, the foreign secretary said migration is still perceived as a political issue and hurdle of politics needs to be crossed. “Let it be a development issue, not a political issue,” he said.

Swedish Special Ambassador for International Cooperation on Migration Issues Eduard Gnesa said the meeting covered different issues like health, education, decent work, economic growth and means of implementation.

“These recommendations will lead us now in two weeks to the Global Forum of Migration and Development which is chaired by Sweden and Bangladesh,” Gnesa said.

Nikhil Seth, director of the Division for Sustainable Development at the United Nations, said all countries must be very vigilant that the recommendations articulated in the meeting and other meetings would not be excluded from the post-2015 agenda. l

A rickshaw-puller recharges his battery-run vehicle in the capital’s Rayer Bazar recemtly. Even though the government has taken decision to ban the battery-run rickshaws, many drivers are still unaware of it while the authorities concerned also have not taken initiatives to withdraw the tri-cycles RAJIB DHAR

Drama surfaces as tribunal’s chief prosecutor returns

HC orders action against petitioner, lawyer for forgery

n Udisa Islam

The High Court ordered legal action against a former staff of Crescent Jute Mills of Khalishpur in Khulna yesterday, for submitting fake documents regarding his age in order to retain his job.

It asked the Supreme Court Registrar Office to file a case against Abul Hossain, and ordered the Bar Council to take action against AZM Farid, the lawyer for the petitioner, for professional misconduct.

While passing the order, the bench of Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice JBM Hassan told Farid not to defile the dignity of the High Court.

The court directed the filing of the case against Abul under sections 195 and 476 of the penal code for which the maximum punishment is life-term imprisonment while the minimum sentence is seven years in jail.

The bench also ordered Dhaka’s chief metropolitan magistrate to issue an arrest warrant against Abul after the filing of the case.

Abul moved to the High Court challenging a decision of the jute mills which asked staff members born in 1952 to retire on December 31, 2012.

However, the petitioner submitted a certificate to the court which stated that he was born in 1962. Following the petition, the High Court, on February 3 last

Chief prosecutor of the International Crimes Tribunal Golam Arif Tipoo returned to office after a 15-day leave yesterday, but it created much hype within the prosecution team on whether his joining was authorised or not.

On April 20, the Law Ministry issued a gazette notification which mentioned that prosecutor Syed Haider Ali would act as the chief prosecutor of in the absence of Golam Arif Tipoo who was allowed a one month leave on April 13 for medical treatment in Singapore.

Tipoo yesterday went to the prosecution office around 11am and stayed there until noon. He also submitted his joining letter, confirmed Rheshikesh Saha, a senior prosecutor. But he could

not say anything about the next proceedings or who to forward the letter to in the ministry.

An insider said when the chief prosecutor had greeted all the prosecutors present in the room, no one responded.

Neither Tipoo nor the acting chief prosecutor could be reached for comments.

A junior prosecutor seeking anonymity said since Tipoo was the senior-most prosecutor, he must join the ministry.

However, a senior government official disagreed with him, saying that if anyone went on leave or joined office after leave, he or she must inform the ministry concerned. “There is no reason to go to the ministry,” he said asking not to be named.

According to the gazette signed

by Mohammad Shahin Uddin, senior deputy secretary of the Law Ministry, the government granted Tipoo a onemonth leave but after 17 days, her returned and wished to join work.

Family sources said Tipoo was feeling better after treatment and so he returned home early.

When contacted, prosecutor Sayedul Huq said: “I do not know whether he is back or not. However, as the ministry issued a gazette over the acting chief prosecutor, it has to dissolve the order with a new one.”

Mokhlesur Rahman, another senior prosecutor, said: “There is no barrier for him to come to office. But it is the matter of the ministry to decide when and how he can take over his duties.” l

PROCUREMENT OF EQUIPMENT FOR CTG PORT

JS body to investigate alleged financial graft n Kamran Reza Chowdhury In the face of allegations raised by an Awami League MP, a parliamentary watchdog yesterday formed a three-member subcommittee to investigate financial corruption in the procurement of port handling equipment in last five years.

The parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry at its first meeting formed the subcommittee, headed by Abdul Latif, lawmaker for Chittagong 10. At the meeting, he alleged that corruption was there in the procurement of equipment, involving Tk1,200 crore.

The other two members of the subcommittee are Nurul Islam Sujon and Anwarul Azim.

Latif who earlier scuffled with po-

lice in Chittagong port apparently to establish ‘control’ also alleged that financial transactions took place in giving jobs in the port.

Lawmaker Abdul Latif alleged that corruption was there in the procurement of equipment, involving Tk1,200 crore Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan told the meeting that the committee should inquire and find out whether financial dealings took place.

“We have formed the subcommittee

to examine whether the allegations of financial corruption raised by Mr Latif were right. As the government maintains zero tolerance for corruption, we will look into it,” Nurul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting at the parliament building.

The shipping minister said the allegations of financial corruption in the procurement of equipment were not true, but ‘some deviations’ could be there on appointment of staff in the port.

“The honourable MPs very often recommend for their candidates. But it does not mean financial dealings were there,” Shajahan told the committee on the allegations of Abdul Latif. He said the watchdog should find out corruption, if any.

Referring some news reports, Abdul

Latif said the Chittagong Port Authority procured excavator, ambulance boat and other port handling equipment, costing over Tk1,200 crore.

He said New Mooring Container Terminal was constructed with huge amounts of public money, but it was still inoperative.

Committee’s Chairman Major (retd) Rafiqul Islam said: “We have formed a subcommittee as allegations have come.”

Shajahan Khan, also a member of the committee, said he would cooperate with the subcommittee to carry out investigation and take actions against the persons, if found guilty.

Committee members Abdul Hye, Talukder Abdul Khaleque, Ranjit Kumar Roy, Md Anwarul Azim and Momtaz Begum attended the meeting. l

n Tribune Report

year, issued a rule asking why sending Abul to retirement should not held illegal.

In the certificate, it was also stated that in 1969 Abul was promoted to class IX from class VII at the age of seven for which the bench, led by Justice Moinul, doubted the credibility of the document. The court then ordered Farid to produce the petitioner before it, but he failed to obey the order three consecutive times.

When the lawyer apologised yesterday, the court observed: “Lawyers think deeply before submitting counterfeit documents to a magistrate court. But they are not afraid of the High Court and submit bundles of documents and obtain rules.”

Earlier on Monday, another High Court bench ordered the Supreme Court registrar to take legal action after investigating the two sons of accused war criminal Mir Kashem Ali, who filed a petition seeking discharge from a fraud case by concealing information.

The two accused are Mohammad Bin Kashem alias Salman and Ahmed Bin Kashem. Salman is facing an arrest warrant in the fraud case filed for misappropriating Tk1.5 crore. But the petition said he had been let out on bail.

Concealing information about the warrant, lawyer Ahmed Bin Kashem filed a discharge petition with the High Court in favour of his brother. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Seven fresh proposals to develop Kaliakoir hi-tech park n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Seven new proposals from different foreign firms and their joint ventures with local ones have been submitted for the development of the country’s first hi-tech park in Gazipur’s Kaliakoir, following a re-tender invitation by the authority concerned.

The re-tender invitation was made after the government won an appeal in January against a previous High Court order that had stayed the appointment of the Kuala Lumpur-based Kulim Technology Park Corporation, which won the previous round of tenders of the public-private partnership project in 2012.

Sources inside the park authority said the Kulim Technology Park Corporation again applied in the latest round of tenders, both as a single entity and also jointly with another Malaysian company named Fibercom Ltd. Mir Telecom, one of the major international gateway operators in the country, also applied the development work.

Jibon Technology, a US-based company applied both as a single firm and also jointly with a local firm named Reza Com. Summit Communications, a local telecom giant, also submitted a solo application as well as a joint one with an Indian company named Info Tech.

Hosne Ara Begum, managing di-

Probe into Jamuna bridge rail mishap begins n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj Investigation into the derailment of nine bogies of a Dinajpur-bound train on the Bangabandhu Bridge is underway. Satellite images have indicated that the train was caught in a sudden cyclone.

The cyclone, however, hit the train for a very short period, said Additional Director-General of railway and chief of the probe team Amjad Hossain. Formation of the team followed a directive issued by the Railways Minister Mujibul Hoque right after the accident.

‘The locomotive report of a train gives authentic evidence of its speed, reasons for accidents or whether the driver was being careless’ Information derived from the images shows that the water in the Jamuna River just beneath the bridge swelled up when the cyclone hit 5-6 minutes before 11pm on the night of the incident, said Amjad. He said a gust of wind hit the train within two minutes from the north and also the bottom of the bridge, thus lifting it.

“That is why it tilted to the south and got stuck on the concrete railings.

Train drivers usually reduce the speed to 15 kilometres while crossing bridges.

However, during the cyclone, the driver was driving at 8-10 kilometres,” Amjad explained.

He continued: “The locomotive reports of a train gives authentic evidence of its speed, reasons for accidents or whether the driver was being careless. We will examine the locomotive report to see whether the driver or the director or the locomaster had neglected their duties. Besides, there are a variety of electronic devices in the train communication and control cell of the railway division that record information about accidents. We will also look into that. However, it is certain, to a reasonable extent, that the accident happened because the train was caught in a cyclone.”

The report will be submitted within 2-3 days, he added.

Around 10:54pm on Sunday, the train, while crossing the Bangabandhu Bridge, was suddenly hit by a cyclone as it reached near pillars no 7 and 8. Of the 14 bogies, nine tilted at 60-70 degrees and were stuck on the railings, while four others and the engine stayed on the track.

Many passengers were hurt while attempting to get out quickly, though no large-scale damage was caused. More than 700 passengers were on the train and they all narrowly escaped fatality.

Meanwhile, two rail accidents, separated by 15 days, on the Dhaka-Sirajganj-Ishwardi route have caused panic and apprehension among hundreds of passengers who frequently journey on the route.

Two passengers were killed and 30 others injured in a collision between the Dhaka-bound Ekota Express and the Lalmonirhat-bound Lalmoni Express at the Ullapara rail station on April 13. l

rector of the Bangladesh Hi-tech Park Authority, admitted that they had received seven fresh proposals, but refused to disclose the names of the companies.

“We are currently evaluating the proposals and within the first week of May, the [evaluation] committee will request proposals,” Hosne Ara Begum told the Dhaka Tribune.

She added that they would need to give a time span of 42 days to the companies, meaning that they want to award the work order within August.

The project had seen little progress in 15 years, with officials concerned blaming the sluggish pace on frequent shifts in government decisions and interference

from the World Bank, which was providing Tk200 crore toward the project.

The park, which was initiated in 1999 but has yet to be completed, is set to be expanded after it had recently received 40.47 hectares of acquired land, bringing its total coverage to 132.8 hectares.

In 1999, the then prime minister Sheikh Hasina decided to establish the park on 232 acres of land at the Kaliakoir Surface Satellite Station. However, the following four-party alliance government did not carry on with the project, while its Science and ICT Ministry initiated a new project at Kaliakoir in 2004, where they did nothing other than acquiring land. l

Vector-borne chikungunya fever, carried mainly by mosquitoes, is emerging as a public health concern in the capital.

Around 33% chikungunya seroprevalence was detected among the Dhaka dwellers living in highly vector-prone areas, namely Dhanmondi, Mohakhali, Sutrapur and Motijheel. Besides, the number of Aedes aegypti, known as yellow fever mosquito, was found to be very large in the areas. This mosquito spreads both chikungunya and dengue fever.

Professor Dr Mahmudur Rahman, director of the Institute of Epidemiology, Disease Control and Rehabilitation (IEDCR), revealed the information at a seminar on chikungunya in the capital, yesterday.

He said it was beyond his thinking that prevalence of chikungunya would

be so high. “We have to address it or it will turn into a threat to public health.”

“It is not a deadly disease but there is currently no effective treatment for chikungunya. Treatment is purely based on symptoms,” he added.

In 2008, an outbreak of the fever was first detected in Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj. It was then detected in Shathia, Pabna, in 2009, and then in 2011 in Dohar, Dhaka, and Shibganj, Chapainawabganj.

IEDCR conducted a survey styled “Entomological and Clinical Attributes and Seroprevalence of Chikungunya” in August and September last year.

A group of doctors and field epidemiology training programme (FETP) fellows collected blood samples from 621 people, aged 15 to 60, from every ten houses selected randomly in Dhanmondi, Mohakhali, Sutrapur and Motijheel, areas known to have a high prevalence of dengue for the last nine

n Our Correspondent, Jessore Police arrested 10 leaders and activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing, Islami Chhatra Shibir, including Jamaat’s present and immediate past district unit amirs, last night.

The arrested were incumbent Jamaat amir Prof Abdur Rashid, immediate past amir Maulana Azizur Rahman, Islami Chhatra Shibir activist Abul Kalam Azad, Jessore district unit Jamaat amir’s driver, Luvlu, and six other Jamaat-Shibir men.

Reshma Sharmin, assistant superintendent of police, said police arrested six of them earlier in an overnight raid in Rupdia under the district’s Sadar upazia where they were holding a clandestine meeting.

Police claimed that they also recovered four bombs, bomb-making materials and a machete from their possession. The party, however, denied the allegations.

Mohammad Shahabddin, publicity affairs secretary, Jessore city unit Jamaat-e-Islami, said the two Jamaat leaders were over 70 years of age and were retired schoolteachers. “They cannot carry bombs,” he added.

The remaining four were arrested Tuesday night in Jessore’s Ghope area when they were returning from the residence of Tariqul Islam, BNP standing committee member.

An online media reported all this soon after the arrest, and the police disclosed their information yesterday morning. l

Dreams of jobs on ships turn into nightmare Cheated 22 migrants return from Iran n Rabiul Islam Jinarul, a 19-year-old HSC passed boy, did not want to miss the opportunity for a job in Iran as he was offered a job on a ship by a middleman in his locality of Meherpur.

With the assistance of SH Tourist and Travel located in Amena Bhaban at Banani in the capital Jinarul went to Iran on January 12, 2014 to work on a ship by spending Tk3,50,000.

But when he reached Iran his dream turned into a nightmare.

He said if he had known he would have to face such hardship he had never gone there, said Jinarul in a voice of frustration while talking to the Dhaka Tribune at the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) office in the capital yesterday.

He thought the work on a ship would be good with a handsome salary Tk1, 00,000 after one year.

“My uncles are rich and their sons stay in European countries including Italy. I dreamt of becoming rich unlike my father,” Jinarul said.

Before flying to Iran he demanded his visa but his recruiter told him he had nothing to do with the visa as he was going there for work.

He along with four other ill-fated migrants landed at Shiraj, an Iranian airport. An Iranian received them and handed them over to a Bangladeshi who said: “We would be given jobs on ships.”

“We were taken to Minar which is a city of Iran and I along with four others were confined to an underground room and all of our belongings were taken away. Our visas along with other documents were torn,” Jinarul said: “They stripped us and we were frisked.”

After three days he was given one bread. He was served with curry of cabbage and water twice a day sometimes

Law enforcers take the 22 Bangladeshi overseas workers from the Dhaka airport yesterday, after they were brought back from Iran. They were deceived by the brokers and were living inhumane life there SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN every five to seven days. “I, however, was allowed to have a bath.

“They began to torment us for money and my father gave them Tk2, 50,000 through the SH Travels. They took away 1,000 dollars I carried with me for a training to work on ship.

“After one month and 10 days the middlemen sold us to other people and during the handover the CID of Iran rescued us and we were sent to jail.”

Zia who works with Bangladesh Embassy in Iran helped their release and kept them in a house and provided them necessary food for about two months before their repatriation.

Like Jinarul 21 Bangladeshi migrants

Chikungunya fever new health concern n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Two top Jamaat leaders among 10 arrested

years.

Of the 621 blood samples, evidence of recent infection was found in 207.

Besides, 16 samples contained evidence of past infections when the seroprevalence rate was 3%.

A total of 1,780 larvae from 640 houses were also collected and 1,725 confirmed the presence of aegypti. The survey was conducted with technical assistance from the climate change and health promotion unit of the Health Ministry.

It was learnt that the chikungunya fever is a viral disease and is transmitted to people when the mosquitoes bite. It causes a sudden onset of high fever, severe joint pain, muscle pain and headache.

Additional symptoms include fatigue, nausea, vomiting, conjunctivitis, myalgia and cervical lymphadenopathy.

The first chikungunya epidemic was

recorded in Tanzania in 1952-1953. It is also commonplace in the Indian subcontinent. Since December 2005, it was estimated that India has witnessed more than 14 lakh chikungunya cases.

Speaking about prevention and control of the fever, Mahmudur Rahman mentioned a number of measures including entomologic surveillance, community awareness, early detection and efficient vector control.

He said there are three laboratory tests available to detect chikungunya cases – virus isolation, serological test and molecular technique of polymerase chain reaction.

Professor Dr Din Md Nurul Haque, director general of the Directorate General of Health Services (DGHS) was the chief guest at the seminar. Dr Md Shah Newaz, director (administration) of DGHS, and Dr M Mushtuq Husain, principal scientific officer of IEDCR, were present, among others. l

who were taken hostage by a gang of human traffickers in Iran returned home yesterday morning. A number of workers told this correspondent harrowing stories during their stay in Iran.

A scheduled flight of Emirates carrying the migrant workers arrived at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in Dhaka at 8am, Binoy Krishno, executive director of the Rights Jessore, said.

They were brought back home with the assistance of Bangladesh Embassy in Iran. The Criminal Investigation Department and Rights Jessore, a non-governmental organisation, helped the repatriation of the victims of human trafficking, he said.

The victims are Abu Sayed Khan of Chandpur, Aminul Islam of Jamalpur, Md Delu and Aminur Islam of Tangail, Rofiqul Islam of Bogra, Arman Hossain of Companiganj in Noakhali, Jinarul and Md Shahin of Gangni in Meherpur, Aktaruzzaman of Chowgachha in Jessore, Ataur Rahman of Bagerhat, Kamrul Hasan Bhuiyan of Kishoreganj, Akram Fakir of Gopalganj, Sohel Miah of Char Chaburiapara in Narsingdi, Akmal Hossain of Kushtia, Ruhul Amin of Rajbari, Md Tahaz Uddin of Meherpur, Md Nazrul of Sakhipur in Tangail, Mamunur Rashid of Dhamurhat and Shahidul of Badalgachhi in Naogaon and Abdur Razzak, Rohidul Islam of Rajshahi and Sallahuddin. l

RAILWAY RECRUITMENT SCAM

Former railway official jailed n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Chittagong court sent Bangladesh Railway (BR) east zone former senior Welfare Official Golam Kibria, accused in different cases over the railway recruitment scam, to jail yesterday.

The court of Divisional Special Judge SM Ataur Rahman passed the order when Kibria surrendered before it.

Sources said two corruption cases over the recruitment of an assistant chemist and a fuel checker were filed against Golam Kibria.

Advocate Mahmudul Haque Mahmud, counsel for the Anti-Corruption Commission, told the Dhaka Tribune the former BR official pleaded for bail from the court but the court rejected his request and sent him to jail.

SM Rashidur Reza, ACC assistant director, lodged the cases on September

13 last year while the charge sheets were submitted on October 2, 2013, he said.

On October 20, a Chittagong court issued an arrest warrant against the former GM Yusuf Ali Mridha of BR (East) and seven others in the two cases.

Regarding the recruitment scam, a total of 13 cases were lodged on September, 2012 and February, 2013.

The Border Guard Bangladesh personnel seized Tk70 lakh from the car of the Assistant Personal Secretary Omar Faruk of the then rail minister Suranjit Sengupta on April 9, 2012.

Mridha, Kibria and Railway Nirapatta Bahini Dhaka Divisional Commandant Enamul Haque were in the car.

The driver of the car, Ali Azam, had been missing since he unfolded the incident. The then minister Suranjit resigned following the incident while his APS, Mridha and Enamul, were suspended. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Task force recommends 2.41 acres of land for RAB at Kamrangir Char The government has allotted seven acres of land to the elite force authority sought help from the authori- ted the lands of the hospital and other of the Buriganga, Shitalakkha, Balu n Mohosinul Karim and Turag rivers. structures to the RAB. ties concerned, including the Dhaka disThough the Rapid Action Battalion wants to take possession of seven acres of land in Kamrangir Char area to set up its office, the task force on river protection has suggested that the government allot only 2.41 acres of land to the elite force.

The task force came up with the suggestion at a meeting held at the Shipping Ministry yesterday with Task Force Chief and Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan in the chair.

Earlier, the government had allotted seven acres of land to RAB 10. An official who attended the meeting said the RAB

trict administration, to take possession of seven acres of land at Kamrangir Char.

After getting an application from the RAB authority, the district administration had formed a technical committee and a technical coordination committee and asked them to visit the site and submit reports. The committees did not find enough space which could have been allocated to the RAB. During the visit, the committee members found that there are hospitals and other structures, city protection dams, wetlands and canals in the area. The government had also allot-

The report said, “A plot of 2.4044 acres of land might be allotted to the RAB.” After the meeting, Shajahan Khan told reporters that the spaces would be given to the RAB authority, taking its physical position into account. The task force asked the authorities concerned to immediately take steps after inspecting the site.

The meeting decided to hand over the authority to Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority from the district administration to maintain the boundary pillars installed on the banks

5

Thursday, May 1, 2014

The district administrations of Dhaka, Narayanganj, Munshiganj and Gazipur had recently installed around 12,000 boundary pillars to demarcate these rivers. The pillars had been installed after evicting illegal grabbers.

The meeting also took decision to remove waste from the rivers and build third terminal in Shashanghat area, the minister added.

The meeting was informed that the authority had reclaimed some 131.34 acres of land since 2009 after demolishing around 2,554 permanent and makeshift illegal structures.

EC frustrated over split DCC polls n Mohammad Zakaria Expressing frustration over pending Dhaka North and South City Corporation elections, Election Commissioner Md Shah Newaz said yesterday that the commission could not hold the much hyped spilt DCC polls as the local government and rural development ministries did not take the EC order under consideration.

“The polls are not being held as the ministry is not solving the demarcation problem. The commission is prepared to hold the polls,” he told reporters at his office in the capital.

Referring to the violent incidents surrounding the upazila parishad polls, Newaz said the commission has learnt many things from those polls, and blamed the political parties for the violence.

“I hope that there will be no violence in the upcoming upazila polls to be held on May 19,” he added.

The DCC elections were originally scheduled for May 24, 2012, but the High Court issued a three-month stay order because of complexities regarding the voter list and the demarcation of the two city corporations, after a petition was submitted by Manzil Murshid.

However, on May 13, 2013, the HC cleared the way to hold the elections by withdrawing the stay order.

The Dhaka City Corporation was split into two—South and North—on November 30, 2011 through a bill that amended the Local Government Act 2009.

The capital witnessed the city corporation election last in April 2002. l

Chittagong road accidents kill three n CU Correspondent

Hajj flights to start from August 27 n Mohosinul Karim

Two persons were killed and another sustained injury in a road accident, while another person was killed in a separate road accident at the Sitakunda and Mirsharai upazilas, respectively, in Chittagong, yesterday.

The deceased of the Sitakunda accident are: Anwar Hossain, 25, the son of Abdur Rashid of Motobi village under the Senbagh upazila in Noakhali, and Md Tareq, 18, son of Abdul Kader of village Shibpur in Feni. Md Forkan, 25, the maternal uncle of Tareq, was injured.

Sergeant Zillur Rahman of the Kumira Highway police outpost said the accident took place at around 4am in the morning when a Chittagong bound speeding pickup van, on which they were travelling, hit a covered van from behind, killing them on the spot.

Police seized the pickup with heavy damages to its front, but its driver managed to escape, said Zillur adding that a case had been filed. Meanwhile, in the Misharai upazila, a person was crushed under the wheels of a train on Tuesday.

Yasin Faruk, officer-in-charge of Government railway police said Md Rezaul, 63, was crushed to death in the Baraiarhat area of the upazila while he was crossing the rail track. l

Flights for Hajj this yearare expected to start from August 27 and continue until September 28, while return flights are scheduled to run between October 8 and November 8.

The tentative dates for Hajj flights were fixed at a meeting held at the civil aviation ministry yesterday to discuss preparations for the annual pilgrimage to Makkah, said Civil Aviation Minister Rashed Khan Menon.

A total of 125 flights will be operated to carry about 101,758 Hajj pilgrims from Bangladesh this year, Menon said. The meeting also decided to form a special taskforce, headed by Joint Secretary Joinal Abedin Talukdar, to ensure smooth travel arrangements for the pilgrims.

Under the two Hajj packages offered by the government, Biman Bangladesh Airlines and Saudi Arabian Airlines will each carry half the number of pilgrims.

Biman will add its four new aircrafts to the Hajj fleet, instead of hiring planes like in previous years.

The minister said a “city check-in”arrangement will also be made so that the airlines authorities can receive luggage from the pilgrims at different points across the capital for convenience. l

11 houses gutted in Chittagong n CU Correspondent A fire gutted 11 thatched houses in the Rangipara area in Chittagong city’s Halishahar, yesterday.

Sources at the Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters in Agrabad said the fire started at a kitchen oven at the residence of Selina Aktar at 4pm and soon engulfed the adjacent houses.

A unit of fire fighters from the Agrabad Headquarters rushed to the spot on being informed and doused the flame after one hour of frantic efforts.

The extent of losses caused by the fire has been estimated to be around Tk2 lakh, said the sources. l

WEATHER THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

WEDNESDAY, APRIL 30 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:27PM SUN RISES 5:24AM FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

36

27 26

Chittagong

34

Rajshahi

38

27

Rangpur

36

25

Khulna

38

26

Barisal

37

27

Sylhet

37

22

Cox’s Bazar

34

27

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

39.0ºC Jessore

20.3ºC Dhaka

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:03am 5:24am 11:56am 4:32pm 6:27pm 7:48pm Source: IslamicFinder.org

Hundreds of activists of Chhatra League Rajshahi University unit stage demonstration yesterday, protesting the recent attack on two Chhatra League activists by unidentified miscreants on the campus DHAKA TRIBUNE

14 gold bars seized in Chittagong n

Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Customs officials at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong city seized 17 gold bars worth Tk70 lakh yesterday from seven passengers of two flights that came in from Saudi Arabia and Oman.

However, the custom officials freed the passengers as per the law, said Moshiur Rahman Mandal, assistant commissioner of Chittagong Customs House.

He said they found 10 bars, weighing 1.633 kg, on five passengers (two from each) on a Biman Bangladesh flight from Saudi Arabia and on four others, again two from each, on an Oman Airlines flight from Oman.

The flights landed in the airport at 4:30pm and 5:15pm, respectively.

“We found the bars by searching their luggage and their bodies,” he said.

“The gold bars were in customs custody and the passports of the passengers were seized,” he added.

Existing laws allow a person to carry a maximum 200 g of gold from abroad after paying the necessary duty fees at the airport. Passengers can also bring in a maximum of two kg of gold by giving early notice to the authorities concerned and paying the duty fees according to a Bangladesh Bank circular, the AC added.

The customs sources said with yesterday’s recovery around 2,000 gold bars worth around Tk90 crore were seized from the airport in 60 drives in 2014 while a total of 686 gold bars worth Tk35.30 crore were seized from the same airport in 16 drives in 2013. l

Chhatra League blames Shibir for attack on its activists n Tribune Report Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, yesterday blamed the Islami Chhatra Shibir, the student wing of Jamaat-e-Islami, for the recent attack on their activists on the Rajshahi University campus and vowed a “stern revenge.”

Unidentified miscreants attacked two Chhatra League activists on the RU campus and severed their limbs in broad day light on Tuesday.

Acting Chhatra League President Joydeb Nandi said at a protest gathering in front of the DU Arts Building yesterday: “The Chhatra League will not sit idle from now on. We will avenge blood with blood.”

The organisation’s Acting General Secretary Mostafizur Rahman Mostaq condemned the Shibir for the attack

and demanded the immediate arrest and punishment of the responsible Shibir activists.

Abdullah Al Masud and Tagar Mohammad Saleh, second year students of the RU History and Folklore departments, respectively, were attacked near the Ziaur Rahman Hall, said Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge of the Motihar police station.

The victims were admitted to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in critical conditions. The OC also said drives were being conducted continuously to nab the true culprits.

Earlier on Tuesday, police arrested fifteen Shibir activists in several drives for their alleged involvement in the attack.

No case was filed in this regard till the filing of this report, the OC added.

Meanwhile, the RU unit of the Chhatra League also staged demonstrations on

campus yesterday, protesting the attack.

Over a hundred Chhatra League leaders and activists, led by its RU unit President Mizanur Rahman Rana, brought out a procession around 11:30am.

Addressing the rally, Rana termed Shibir “a terrorist organisation,” and demanded that Shibir be banned from politics on campus. He also demanded the punishment of the attackers as soon as possible.

Teachers and students of the History and Folklore departments separately brought out silent processions and formed a human chain on the campus, protesting the brutal attack on Masud and Tagar.

Speakers at the programmes urged the university authorities to take stern steps to identify the miscreants and to ensure the security of the students on the campus. l

‘Increasing number of unpaid women a challenge’ n Tazlina Zamila Khan

A vast number of working women hold unpaid jobs in the country which is a challenge, said speakers at a workshop at the Brac Centre in the capital’s Mohakhali area, yesterday.

Yet, the female labour force participation rate has increased from 4% in the 1970s to 36% in 2010, they said.

Titled “‘Gender dynamics in the labour market in Bangladesh: A puzzle and a challenge,” the workshop was organised by the BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), the Centre for Gender and Social Transformation (CGST) and the London School of Economics and Political Sciences.

A three-year research programme under the BGID and CGST was launched at the event. The research will focus on how job markets for men and women from different socio-economic groups work in Bangladesh.

Sultan Hafeez Rahman, executive director of the BIGD and country director of International Growth Centre (IGC) Bangladesh, said: “In Bangladesh, women’s participation in the labour market has happened via unpaid work, rather than salaried employ-

ment. Around 77% working women are involved in unpaid work.”

Naila Kabeer, professor of Gender and Development at the London School of Economics and Political Sciences, said: “Women spend much of their time on domestic chores or unpaid work, which is around 60% of their daily time allocation. Gender segmentation in the labour market is not unique in Bangladesh.

People think the primary responsibility of women is household chores and child care, rather than working outside.”

Speakers agreed that money brought women respect and recognition both in their families and the society. Some case studies on paid and unpaid working women were also presented at the workshop.

Lily, a 24 year old NGO worker said: “Women were neglected when they did not work. Earning husbands sometimes did not give their wives any money, or did not give them enough. But even if their husbands are millionaires, there is still a need for women to earn their own income because otherwise they are not valued by society. They should have some means of strengthening their positions.”

Simeen Mahmud, leading researcher at the BIGD and coordinator at the

Sultan Hafez Rahman, BIGD executive director, addresses a workshop on gender dynamics at Brac Centre yesterday CGST, said: “Women in paid work are more likely to value their own work and feel that their families value their contribution and have a greater voice

within the family. They also get the opportunity to have savings of their own.”

Speakers said most of the women did not prefer to take paid work due to

NASHIRUL ISLAM

bad work environments and potential harassment. The current challenge is to find a solution to overcome the barriers, they said. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Dry weather taking toll on tea production BAU gets new proctor n Our Correspondent, Panchagarh The prevailing drought-like conditions have reduced soil moisture, affecting the growth of tea plants, leaving different gardens in Panchagarh all dried up.

As the district did not have rainfall in the last three months, previously green tea leaves in many gardens have dried up, even though the growers are trying to irrigate their fields through deep tube wells.

All of their efforts have become futile.

Growers said sufficient rainfall is needed for good tea harvest in the month of February and March, but there was no rainfall in the district during that period.

They said many tea gardens are being attacked by red spider pests as the temperature is increasing day by day.

During a recent visit to a few Tea Gardens in Panchagarh, this correspondent saw that many tea plants and tea saplings in the gardens have dried up in this

dry weather. Tea leaf plucking is getting delayed this year due to the absence of expected rainfall and the lack of irrigation facilities, many growers told the correspondent.

They said tea saplings need balanced rainfall and sunshine, especially during the period from March to September-October, while a minimum rainfall during October-December and February-April periods is also very important for its growth.

Moreover, the processing of the tea leaves is being severely hampered currently at all six tea processing factories in the district following the drastic reduction in the supply of green tea leaves.

Most of the water reservoirs have dried up because of the lack of seasonal rainfall. This is adversely affecting the normal growth of tender tea leaves and the growth of the newly pruned branches and saplings in the gardens in recent

weeks, said Sayed Shoaib Ahmed, chief operating officer of the Kazi&Kazi Tea Estate in Tetulia.

He said there was almost no rainfall at the beginning of the year. The sensitive crop suffered much from the fluctuating temperatures and sunshine.

Soil nutrients are also gradually falling.

Tea planters also need to arrange for water reservoirs to manage irrigation, he said.

Manager of the Karatoa Tea Garden & Factory Mozahidul Hannan Nipun told this correspondent that if the situation continues, production targets will not be met in the current season.

Manager of the Saliland Tea Estate in Panchagarh Abdus Salam said they have put their all facilities in operation around the clock, but are still failing to provide adequate irrigation to their tea gardens.

Manager of the North Bengal Central Tea Industry Sheikh Jahid Hossain said they have closed down the tea process-

ing due to the inadequate supply of green tea leaves. For this reason the factory is running only two days in a week.

Tea cultivators demanded that the Bangladesh Tea Board help tea growers to irrigate their fields as tea cultivators in Panchagarh are not solvent enough.

Tea growers Motiar Rahman and Moklesur Rahman called upon the authorities concerned for the irrigation of small-scale tea fields as they are unable to purchase costly machines to irrigate their larger tea fields. As tea cultivation is a promising industry, the government should take proper initiatives to promote and expand the export oriented tea production, they opined.

President of the Bangladesh Small Tea Garden Owners’ Association Abdul Jabbar said “We are demanding the arrangement of irrigation by the Tea Board to boost production of this export oriented produce.”

amid Saad killing protest n Our Correspondent, Mymensingh Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) authorities have appointed a new proctor and a student affairs adviser, according to a press release issued yesterday.

The press release was issued by Dr Aminur Rahman Chowdhury, director of the BAU’s public relations office.

Professor Dr Harun-or-Rashid of the Dairy Science Department replaced Professor Dr Md Shahidur Rahman Khan as proctor, while Professor Dr Jahirul Haque Khandakar of the Animal Nutirition Department took over the post of student affairs adviser, the press release said.

Meanwhile, the indefinite strike called by the university’s students continued until the filing of this report.

As part of their protest, students gathered in front of the administrative building and staged a sit-in programme since yesterday morning.

A section of the students gathered under the banner “Students’ Association,” and took to the streets in front of the BAU’s VC’s residence, demanding immediate resuming of classes, the arrest of Saad’s killers, and the VC’s resignation.

Faisal Islam Joy, leader of the Students’ Association, said they would continue the protest until all their demands were met.

Saad Ibne Momtaz, a final-year student at the university and leader of the Bangladesh Chhatra League’s BAU unit, was killed in an attack allegedly made by a rival group on the campus on April 1. l

Fugitive held in Sirajganj n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj

Minor girl brutally raped n Our Correspondent, Madaripur

Police arrested a dacoit on Tuesday in Sirajganj who had been sentenced to 10 years of imprisonment in an arms case.

The arrested, Bablu, 45, is the son of Osman Ghani who is a resident of the Bahulee village under the Bahulee union in the Sadar upazila, Sirajganj.

Sources said a total of five cases including 4 cases under the arms act and robbery had been filed against him so far.

Habibul Islam, officer-in-charge of the Sadar police station said Bablu was arrested on Tuesday night from the Razapur area under the Bahulee upazila in the district. He was ordered to be jail yesterday morning by the court, after the necessary interrogation.

An eight year old girl, who was a student of Class III at a local madrasa in the district, was brutally raped by a physician, yesterday.

Police said Shariful Sarder, 40, a physician from the Boalia-Chandibordi area in the Dutkhali union of the Sadar upazila lived in a rented house beside the girl’s home.

The girl went out of her house in the early morning and when she was heading back inside, the accused physician dragged her to his house and raped her.

The girl was admitted to the Madaripur Sadar Hospital in a critical condition. Abu Bakar Siddique, additional superintend of police confirmed the incident. l

Bandarban union council polls on June 2 n Our Correspondent, Bandarban

1,600 bottles of phensidyl seized, two held n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj Police of the Bangabandhu Setu West Thana detained two persons in a car in Sirajganj and seized 1600 bottles of phensidyl from them.

The detained are Shamim Ahmed, 25, a phensidyl dealer from the Madaripur district and Fahim Ahmed, 30, the dealer’s car driver.

Aminul Islam, officer-in-charge of the Bangabandhu Setu West police station said they searched a suspicious looking Dhaka-bound private car and seized the phensidyl bottles which had been hidden inside the car in an unprecedented manner.

A case was filed, the officer added. l

Businessman’s body recovered in Jamalpur n Our Correspondent, Jamalpur Police recovered the body of a businessman, who had been missing since Tuesday night, from a paddy field in the Baksiganj upazila, Jamalpur.

The deceased was identified as Akkas Ali, a resident of the Charkauriapar area under the Baksiganj upazila, Jamalpur.

Mostasinur Rahman, officer-incharge of the Baksiganj police station said Akkas Ali left his home at around 11:30pm on Tuesday night but did not return.

Locals found his body lying in a paddy field in the Kuthibari Ghat area of the upazila yesterday morning and informed police. Police sent the body to the morgue for an autopsy after recovering it from the spot, the officer added.

The victim had signs of haemorrhaging on his face, the officer informed.

Journo held for drug dealing in Rangpur Our Correspondent, Rangpur Rab 13 men arrested a journalist from a local newspaper in Rangpur yesterday for allegedly dealing drugs.

The arrested, Zafe Faruque Shirin, works for a local newspaper, sources said.

Rab sources said Zafe Faruque was arrested yesterday morning from the railway station area in Rangpur. Later he was handed over to the Kotwali police.

The in-charge of Rab 13 told the Dhaka Tribune that Zafe Faruque has been involved in drug dealing in the area for a long time, using journalism as a cover. l

Students of Community Development Centre School at Naikhangchhari upazila attend a class under open sky yesterday as their school building has been damaged by a storm which swept over the district on March 25 DHAKA TRIBUNE

Kidney smugglers active in Sirajganj n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj

Members of a gang of kidney smugglers have been very much active in collecting kidneys through killing the children of Ullahpara upazila here.

Sources in the district said local agents and a Savar-based gang of kidney smugglers have been kidnapping children from the upazila and cutting off their kidneys, leaving them dead.

Later, their bodies are dumped into different areas of the district.

Most victims of the gang are the boys who are from poverty-stricken families and the gang is paying their agents Tk10 lakh for every kidney.

Two such types of incident were recorded last year at Tarafdia village in

the upazila.

Khalilur Rahman Khalil, 22, son of Kalu Promanik, of Tarafdia village in the upazila, who was arrested on April 27 on charge of child abduction, kidney smuggling and then killing.

Later, he gave a confessional statement before a court of Kohinur Arjuman, judge of Sirajganj Senior court under the section 164.

During interrogation, Khalil confessed that he, Chand Ali, 25, son Belal Hossain, of the village, Matin, 30, son of Manto Pramanik, and Delwar, son of Dulal, of the village, work for the gang of kidney smugglers and they are given Tk10 lakh for every kidney, said sources at the court.

The ring leader of the gang is a doc-

Land dispute clash leaves 26 injured n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah At least 26 persons were injured in a clash over a dispute about land that occurred between two brothers from the Hakimpur village in the Sailkupa upazila of the Jhenaidah district, yesterday.

Police said there had been a longstanding conflict between Abbas Ali and his brother Akter Hossain over the possession of a piece of land.

On the day, the supporters of the two brothers attacked each other with local weapons, leaving 26 injured.

Of them, 12 were admitted to the upazila health complex in critical conditions.

When contacted, the Sailkupa police station Officer-in-Charge Maniruzzaman Mollah said additional police forces had been deployed in the village to avoid any untoward situations from occurring.

No case was filed, said the OC. l

One construction worker killed n Our Correspondent, Dinajpur A construction worker named Masud Rana was killed, while six others were injured, in an accident at a railway bridge construction site at the Panchagarh-Dinajpur railway in Dinajpur on Tuesday night.

The injured are: Mamtajul Islam, Delwar Hossain, Nazrul Islam, Jahangir Islam, Mohirul Islam and Mahbub.

According to the witnesses, a section of the under-construction dual-gauge railway bridge over Punarbhava River

collapsed on seven construction workers at 10pm. Among them, Rana died, while receiving treatment, at around midnight.

Mamtaj, Delwar and Nazrul were taken to the Dinajpur General Hospital and Jahangir, Mohirul and Mahbub were taken to the Dinajpur Medical College Hospital.

Three among them remain in critical conditions.

Rana, 27, was from the Nafanagar village in Bochaganj, Dinajpur. His body was handed over to his family after a post-mortem yesterday. l

tor who resides in Savar. However, he could not elaborate the identity of the physician.

On April 22, the members of the gang kidnapped a six-year-old boy of day labourer Abdul Hannan, a resident of Tebaria village, and collected both kidneys. Later, the boy died in the operation that conducted by the Savar doctor.

In the incident, Mannan lodged a case and on April 27 Khalil was arrested in the lawsuit.

Ullahpara police station SI and also investigator of the case said Abdul Jalil confessed that he along with two brokers on April 22 kidnapped a child by alluring with money and food and later killed him to collect his kidneys.

Bidi workers for substitute job n Tribune Report Hundreds of bidi workers organised protest procession, human chain and rally in Rangpur demanding substitute employments for them to earn livelihoods instead of working in bidi factories amid harmful environment.

The bidi workers, under the banner of ‘Bikhhubdha Bidi Sramik’, brought the protest procession bearing placards and banners from Paira Chattar area in the city, organised a human chain and later, a protest rally on Press Club premises.

Bidi workers Motaleb Hossain, Ansarul Haque, Rashedul Islam, Haider Ali and Sirajul Islam addressed the protest rally and forwarded their five-point demand for arranging substitute employment to save them for harmful jobs at the bidi factories, reports BSS. l

Later, his body was dumped into a pond, which was found four days after abduction.

On a query about the murder of another child named Saim in the same way, Ullahpara police station OC Tajul Huda said they were investigating into whether there was any relation between the killing and the gang.

Police were trying to arrest the others accomplices of the kidney smuggling gang, the OC added.

When the correspondent visited the houses of the victims, the parents burst into tears and urged the government to track down the gang and to arrest the miscreants involved in the misdeed. l

The polls of the three union councils under the Naikhongchhari upazila in Bandarban will be held on June 2.

Sources at the election office said the District Election Office declared the schedule for the election of the Sadar, Dhumdhum and the newly formed Sonaichhari union councils on April 27 saying it would take place on June 2.

Naikhongchhari Upazila Election Officer Riazul Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that the deadline for submission of the nomination forms for electoral candidacy is May 5, scrutiny of the nomination forms will be on May 7, withdrawal of candidacy will be till May 14 and the election will take place on June 2.

The number of voters of these councils is 20,231 and the number of polling centres is 27.

The offices of the union councils have remained vacant for a long time but the elections of these councils could not be held in 2010 due to the demarcation of boundaries, since the polls of the countrywide union councils were being held at that time. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Juris

7

Thursday, May 1, 2014

The law says it all

JURIS QUOTE

The lobour code details how organisations are to treat their staff

Laws or ordinances unobserved, or partially attended to, had better never have been made.

M n Raju Mollah

ay 1 is international labour day, a day which commemorates a time of civil unrest in the late 19th century when workers in industrialised countries demonstrated for improved working conditions, wage raises and the establishment of a maximum working day and week. Many of the demonstrations were suppressed with force. The rights that demonstrators fought for at that time are crystallised in many labour legislations.

Bangladesh Labour Code, 2006 has provided detailed provisions related to working hours, working conditions and leave.

Here is a brief account of the laws relating to employment of labours, workings hours, leave and child labour, etc:

George Washington

(1732–1799) First president of the United States

Working hours Daily working hours No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in an establishment for more than eight hours in any day.

LAW CARTOON

Interval for rest or meal A worker is entitled to: • An interval of at least one hour for rest or meal if he works more than six hours in any day • An interval of at least half an hour for rest or meal if he works more than five hours in any day • An interval of at least one hour or two intervals of at least half an hour if he works for more than eight hours Weekly hours No adult worker shall be required or allowed to work in an establishment for more than 48 hours in any week.

Extra-allowance for overtime Where a worker works in an establishment on any day or week for more than the hours fixed by the law, he shall be entitled to allowance at the rate of twice his ordinary rate of basic wage and dearness allowance and ad-hoc or interim pay.

Limitation of hours of work for women No women shall, without her consent, be allowed to work in an establishment between the hours of 10pm and 6am.

Leave Casual leave Every worker shall be entitled to casual leave the full wages for ten days in a calendar year, and such leave shall not be accumulated and carried forward to the succeeding year Sick leave Every worker other than a newspaper worker, shall be entitled to sick leave with full wages for fourteen days in a calendar year. Every newspaper worker shall be entitled to sick leave with half wages for not less than one-eighteenth of the period of services.

RAJIB DHAR

• •

•

•

prohibiting or restricting the employment of women, adolescents or children in the operation providing for the periodical medical examination of persons employed in the operation and prohibiting the employment of persons not certified as fit for such employment providing for the protection of all persons employed in the operation or in the vicinity of the places where it is carried on and the use of any specified materials or processes in connection with the operation notice specifying use and precautions regarding use of any corrosive chemicals

Child labour • No child shall be employed or permitted to work in any occupation or establishment.

• No adolescent shall be employed or permitted to work in any occupation or establishment unless a certificate

of fitness in the prescribed form and granted to him by a registered medical practitioner Labour Court A labour court consists of a chairman and two members.

The chairman of the labour court is appointed by the government from amongst the district judges or additional district judges.

The terms and conditions of appointment of the chairman of the labour court shall be determined by the government.

A labour court has exclusive jurisdiction to adjudicate and determine and industrial dispute or any other dispute related to labour or any question which has been brought before it. l

Raju Mollah is an advocate at Dhaka Judge Court and author of several law books.

NOTICE BOARD

OFFENCES AND PUNISHMENTS RELATED TO EMPLOYMENT OF LABOUR

Festival holidays Every worker shall be allowed eleven days of paid festival holiday in a calendar year.

RIO SHUVO

Section

Offences

Maximum punishment

284

If any person employs any child or adolescent or permits any child or adolescent to work in contravention of any provision of the law

Fine which may extend to Tk5,000

Working conditions

289

Any employer who pays any worker wages at a rate lower than the rate declared under the law

Imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to Tk5,000, or with both

Health and safety of the employees If the government is satisfied that any operation carried on in an establishment exposes any person employed in it to a serious risk of bodily injury, poisoning, or disease, it may make rules applicable to such establishment or class of establishments in which such operation is carried on: • specifying the operation and declaring it to be hazardous

294

Any worker who commences, continues or otherwise acts in furtherance of an illegal strike

Imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year or with fine which may extend to Tk5,000, or with both

296

If any person takes part in or instigates or incites others to take part in, or otherwise acts in furtherance of, a go-slow

Imprisonment for a term which may extend to one year, or with fine which may extend to Tk5,000, or with both

298

If any person dishonestly embezzles or misappropriates or converts to his own use any money of the workers, provident fund

Imprisonment for a term which may extend to three years, and shall also be liable to fine

Send us queries for

Consult Your Counsel

and also your articles on any legal issues at: law@dhakatribune.com

Dhaka Tribune

FR Tower, 8/c Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka- 1207 Visit our website at: www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

State sponsored legal aid for those in need

I

n Raisul Islam Sourav

n Bangladesh, litigants have to spend a lot of money to get justice or to enforce their rights that have been breached. The reason is, in civil suits each litigant has to pay a prescribed court fee to commence his proceeding. In addition to this, he/she will also need to appoint a lawyer who will proceed the suit on behalf of him/her before the court. Apart from this, there are many other costs and fees involved in a court case, eg collecting and copying necessary documents, serving the notice/summons, adjournment fees, fees to appoint commission, etc. Hence enforcement of legal rights or getting justice is expensive.

Many poor villagers of our country cannot seek legal remedy due to their financial crises. A popular perception exists in our society that one needs money to get legal remedy.

Many people cannot even think of coming to the Supreme Court because of heavy fees of those lawyers and huge costs of court fees and other expenses. Consequently, in many circumstances common people are deprived from getting justice only for lack of financial ability.

To become a welfare state and to resolve this problem, our parliament had enacted a law entitled the Legal Aid Act in 2000 to provide free legal support to the people of this land. The government has already made rule under this Act and constituted National Legal Aid Providing Committee. A district legal aid committee is also formed in every district under the national committee to disseminate legal aid for the poor. Now the committee extends to upazila, and to some extent to unions.

gal aid then the aggrieved appellant can file an appeal before the national committee within 60 days from the date of the decision of the district committee. In addition to this, there are three dedicated contact numbers, ie 01761222222-4 from which any interested person can get more information about free legal aid service. In addition, a pauper (an insolvent person) is also entitled to enforce his rights under the provision of the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908.

When legal aid may be granted

BIGSTOCK

• • • • •

Who are eligible to get free legal aid

•

Only financially defeated persons are entitled to get free of cost legal aid under the Act. As per the provision of this law the following persons are eligible to get free legal aid from the government: • The person who earns less than Tk50,000 in a year • Disabled, partially disabled or unemployed freedom fighters whose income is not more than

• •

Tk75,000 in a year Person who gets old-age allowance or VGD card holder poor mother Abducted children/women or acid victim children/ women Poor widow, women abandoned by husbands and marginal women Unemployed and poor disabled persons The person who cannot establish his legal right before the court for lack of money The person who is detained in jail without trial and who is unable to defend himself Person declared insolvent by competent court Persons recommended by prison authority as unable to maintain case for lack of money

How to apply Now in every district there is a legal aid office at the district

court. Application forms to apply for legal aid is available there and any eligible person can collect an application form from the legal aid office. In addition, a prisoner can take this form from designated prison officer.

Apart from this the form is also available at the office of secretary of local bar association, bench assistant (peshkar) in each district court, district and upazila office of national women forum, etc. An applicant will have to fill up the form duly and submit it at the district legal aid office. An applicant may apply on a white paper mentioning his full name, address and reason for seeking legal aid addressing the chairman of district legal aid committee or if the matter is concerned with any division of the Supreme Court then to the chairman of the national legal aid committee.

After scrutinising the application, the authority will appoint a lawyer on behalf of the petitioner to conduct his/ her case for free of cost. The government will pay the honorarium to the advocate appointed for the case instead of the litigant. If district committee is declined to provide le-

A litigant can seek legal aid from the government before or after the commencement of the proceeding of his/her case.

Legal aid may be provided in both civil and criminal cases.

Even a legal aid may be granted to pay the remuneration of a mediator or arbitrator appointed under the Code of Civil Procedure, 1908. The government will fund all relevant costs to conclude a legal proceeding. Usually legal aid is allowed to conduct suit relating to custody and guardianship of minor children, remarriage by a husband without taking permission from arbitration council, torture by husband, dowry or torture for dowry, acid throwing, kidnapping, abduction, rape, arbitrary arrest by law enforcing agencies, etc.

Moreover, legal aid may also be awarded to maintain civil suits, eg divorce, maintenance, recovery of dower, recovery of possession, cancellation of deed, perpetual injunction, partition, declaration or suit arising out of breach of contract, etc.

The lawmakers should bear in mind that this state has a constitutional obligation to ensure equality before law and equal protection of law to all citizen of the territory under Article 27 of the Constitution. Hence mere enactment of a law to provide legal aid is not sufficient to guarantee equality and to protect legal rights of marginal people and it is also not the last task for them. Rather, implementation of the provisions of the enacted law has to be ensured for the commoners to get justice and to uphold the true spirit of the constitution. l RaisuL Islam Sourav is a prasticing lawyer at Dhaka Judge Court and a rights activist.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Iraq votes despite violence

The surge in violence has failed to keep voters away from casting their votes band approached a polling station in n AP, Baghdad Baghdad’s mainly Shiite Karradah disUnshaken by the latest surge in violence, Iraqis braved the threat of bombs and attacks to vote Wednesday in key elections for a new parliament amid a massive security operation as the country slides deeper into sectarian strife.

Hundreds of thousands of troops and police fanned out to guard voting centers in the first nationwide balloting since the 2011 American pullout. Scattered attacks still took place north of Baghdad, killing at least three people and wounding 16.

Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who has held power for eight years, faces growing criticism over government corruption and persistent bloodshed as sectarian tensions threaten to push Iraq back toward the brink of civil war.

The 63-year-old Shiite leader’s State of Law party was widely expected to win the most seats in the 328-member parliament but to fall short of a majority. That would allow al-Maliki to keep his post only if he can cobble together a coalition — a task made more difficult given the divisions with former Sunni Arab and Kurdish allies.

Even some of al-Maliki’s Shiite backers denounce him as a would-be dictator, amassing power for himself, but most in the majority sect see no alternative. Al-Maliki also has the support of neighboring powerhouse Iran, which aides have said will use its weight to push discontented Shiite factions into backing him for another term.

Polls opened across the energy-rich nation at 7 a.m. (0400 GMT, midnight Tuesday EST) and were to close at 6 p.m. There were 22 million eligible voters, choosing from among some 9,000 candidates.

In central Baghdad, police and army manned checkpoints roughly 500 meters (yards) apart, while pickup trucks with machine-guns perched on top roamed the streets. Much of the city looked deserted without the normal traffic congestion. Most stores were closed.

Iraqi women smile after voting in the central Shiite holy city of Najaf during the country’s general elections on April 30. Iraqis streamed to voting centres nationwide, amid the worst bloodshed in years, as Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki seeks reelection AFP Voters are being subjected to multiple searches before being allowed inside polling centers and surrounding streets were blocked by police trucks

and barbed wire.

“I decided to go and vote early while it’s safe. Crowds attract attacks,” Azhar Mohammed said as she and her hus-

British terror convict emailed as ‘sacrifice72@yahoo.com’ n AFP, New York A British convict who plotted to blow a US passenger plane out of the sky was so determined to die for Al-Qaeda that he used the email address sacrifice72@yahoo.com.

Saajid Badat, 35, told the New York trial of British hate preacher Abu Hamza on Tuesday that he used the Yahoo account while researching Jewish targets in South Africa.

The word sacrifice was a nod to his determination to die in the cause of violent jihad and 72 a reference to the number of virgins that Al-Qaeda preached a “martyr” is entitled to deflower in heaven.

Badat said he went to Pakistan in mid-2001 to use the Internet to research Jewish targets, which included a Holocaust museum, synagogues and the diamond industry.

Under cross-examination from Abu Hamza’s lawyer Jeremy Schneider, he said he spent two days preparing a “detailed”

Top Sunni cleric’s group slams Egypt death sentences n AFP, Doha A Qatar-based Sunni Muslim group led by influential cleric Sheikh Yusef al-Qaradawi has condemned as “politicised” an Egyptian court’s decision to sentence hundreds of Islamists to death.

The court on Monday imposed death sentences on 683 suspected Islamists – including Muslim Brotherhood leader Mohamed Badie – amid a crackdown on supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohamed Morsi.

The Association of Muslim Scholars responded by saying it “rejects these verdicts coming from a court that takes orders from those who came to power in a military coup and govern Egypt using coercion and repression.”

In a statement issued late on Tuesday, the Qatar-based organisation said the sentences were “politicised and considered an insult to justice” in Egypt.

The Minya court in southern Egypt is set to confirm the death sentences on June 21.

It reversed 492 of 529 death sentences it passed in March, commuting most of them to life imprisonment. l

report for Al-Qaeda bosses on the targets.

He admitted he was willing to see women and children killed should the attacks have gone ahead.

When Al-Qaeda asked him instead to blow a US jet out of the sky and murder hundreds of people in late 2001, he confessed that he felt “honored” and “proud.”

Badat flew back to Britain from Pakistan, via the Netherlands and Turkey, with a shoe bomb strapped to his foot but backed out of the plot in December 2001.

Schneider told the court during cross-examination that Badat had received

75,000 pounds ($125,000) in total benefits from the British government since agreeing to testify against his former Al-Qaeda associates.

The benefits included rent, a TV licence, utility bills, travel and hotel expenses, Schneider said.

Badat said he received “very minimal money” and insisted he was “predominantly self-sufficient.” He entered a formal co-operation agreement in 2009.

He was released from prison in 2010 after serving 6.5 years for conspiracy to harm an aircraft.

Britain also interceded to free up his assets frozen by UN sanctions, Badat admitted. The November 2003 Istanbul attacks, blamed on Al-Qaeda targeted two synagogues, the British consulate and a British bank, killing 63 people.

Blind in one eye and with both arms blown off in an explosion in Afghanistan years ago, he sat quietly in the courtroom in tracksuit bottoms and a T-shirt. l

trict. The 37-year-old woman said her brother — a soldier — was killed last week in the northern city of Mosul.

“There has been a big failure in the way the country has been run and I think it is time to elect new people,” she said, shrouded in black.

Not far away, 72-year-old Essam Shukr broke into tears as he remembered a son killed in a suicide bombing in Karradah last month. “I hope this election takes us to the shores of safety,” he said. “We want a better life for our sons and grandchildren who cannot even go to playgrounds or amusement parks because of the bad security situation. We want a better life for all Iraqis.”

In Baghdad’s mostly Shiite Sadr City district, for years a frequent target of bombings blamed on Sunni insurgents, elite counterterrorism forces were deployed and helicopters hovered above the sprawling area. Double-decker buses ferried voters to polling centers.

Authorities also closed Iraq’s airspace for the elections, and banned vehicles from the streets to reduce the threat of car bombings.

Soldiers and police cast ballots on Monday to enable them to provide security for the rest of voters on Wednesday.

Iraqis living in about 20 other countries voted on Sunday and Monday.

Initial and partial results from Wednesday’s vote were expected to start trickling out next week, but it was unclear when the final outcome would be announced.

Al-Maliki rose from relative obscurity to office in 2006, when Iraq’s sectarian bloodletting began to spiral out of control, with Sunni militants and Shiite militias butchering each other’s communities.

Over the years that followed, Sunni tribes backed by the Americans rose up to fight al-Qaida-linked militants, while al-Maliki showed a readiness to rein in Shiite militiamen — and by 2008, the violence had eased. l

Masked gunmen seize buildings, tighten grip on eastern Ukraine n Reuters, Horlivka, Ukraine Masked gunmen in military fatigues took control of a government building in another Ukrainian town yesterday, as pro-Russian separatists tightened their grip on a swathe of the country’s industrial east largely unopposed by police.

Local media reports said the gunmen turned up at first light, and were later seen by a Reuters photographer to be controlling entry to the building in the town of almost 300,000 people.

They refused to be photographed.

The heavily armed men wore the same military uniforms without insignia as other so-called “green men” who have joined pro-Russian protesters with clubs and chains in seizing control of a string of towns across Ukraine’s Donbass coal and steel belt abutting the border with Russia.

A police official in nearby Donetsk, the provincial capital where separatists have declared a “People’s Republic of Donetsk,” said separatists were also in control of the Horlivka police division, having seized the regional police HQ earlier in April.

Wednesday’s takeover followed the fall of government buildings on Tuesday further east in Luhansk, capital of Ukraine’s easternmost province, driving home just how far control over the densely populated region has slipped from the pro-Western central government in Kiev.

“They’ve taken them. The government administration and police,” the police official said of Horlivka.

The town sits just north of Donetsk, where mainly Russian-speaking separatists have called a referendum on secession for May 11.

Many hope to follow Crimea’s break from Ukraine in late March and subsequent annexation by Russia, following the overthrow of Ukraine’s then

Death toll from attacks in Syria’s Homs now at 100 n AFP, Beirut Twin car bombs claimed by jihadists on a government-held district of Syria’s third city Homs killed at least 100 people, mostly civilians, a monitoring group said yesterday, sharply raising an earlier toll.

Tuesday’s attack was the deadliest of its kind in Homs since the Syrian conflict erupted three years ago, and came as government forces make a new attempt to overrun the handful of remaining rebel enclaves in the city centre.

It also came a day after President Bashar al-Assad registered to stand in a controversial June 3 election which is expected to return him to office despite the raging violence.

Al-Qaeda’s Syria affiliate, Al-Nusra Front, said it carried out the twin bombings against the city’s Abbasiyeh neighbourhood, which is mainly inhabited by members of Assad’s Alawite minority community.

“God allowed the Al-Nusra Front’s fighters to achieve a feat despite draconian security measures,” the hardline Sunni group said.

“It is so that they (the residents of pro-government areas) taste the hell that our brothers have tasted,” it added, referring to the repeated bombardment by the army of rebel-held districts of Homs.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights had initially reported a toll of at least 51 dead and scores wounded from the bombings but raised that Wednesday to at least 100 dead.

Observatory chief Rami Abdel Rahman said the bombers had not come from inside the city’s rebel enclaves but from elsewhere.

“It’s a message from the rebels to Assad that there won’t be any safe zones to hold the election in,” he said.

Also on Tuesday, mortar fire killed 14 people in Damascus, the state SANA news agency reported, blaming rebels in the outskirts of the capital. l

Moscow-backed president Viktor Yanukovich in late February in a tug-ofwar between the West and Russia over the strategic direction of the former Soviet republic.

The Donbass region is home to giant steel smelters and heavy plants that produce around a third of Ukraine’s industrial output.

‘The Russian leadership is doing everything to prevent the election.

But the election will take place on May 25,’ Turchynov said An armed uprising began there in early April, with Kiev almost powerless to respond for fear of provoking an invasion by tens of thousands of Russian troops massed on the border.

Oleksander Turchynov, Ukraine’s acting president until an election on May 25, reiterated on Wednesday that police were incapable of reasserting control in the region.

“Our main task is to prevent the terrorist threat from spreading to other regions of Ukraine,” he told a meeting of regional governors in Kiev.

“The Russian leadership is doing everything to prevent the election. But the election will take place on May 25,” he said.

Authorities in Kiev said security forces had “liquidated” three separatist checkpoints near the eastern town of Slaviansk, a separatist stronghold, and the gunmen manning them had disappeared. The information could not be independently confirmed. l

Ukraine ‘on full combat alert’ against possible Russia invasion n AFP, Kiev Ukraine’s military is “on full combat alert” against a possible invasion by Russian troops massed on the border, acting President Oleksandr Turchynov said in a ministerial meeting in Kiev yesterday.

“Our armed forces are on full combat alert,” he said. “The threat of Russia starting a war against mainland Ukraine is real.”

His comments came as Ukraine’s army and police appeared to be making little progress in a high-profile operation to stop pro-Russian rebels expanding their grip over towns in the restive east.

Russia deployed an estimated 40,000 troops to its shared border with Ukraine in March. Moscow initially said they were mobilised for exercises but last week said they were ready to respond to Kiev’s military offensive against pro-Kremlin rebels. l

Two millennia on, Rome celebrates legacy of Emperor Augustus n Reuters, Rome Rome, a city that thinks in millennia, is going through a bout of “Augustus fever” to mark the 2,000th anniversary of the death of its first emperor, who left his mark on Rome and Western civilisation like few others.

The Eternal City is staging shows, exhibitions, debates and seminars on Augustus, who died on August 19, 14 AD at the age of 75 after a 41-year reign that was the longest in Roman history.

The celebrations will also explore the dark side of a legacy that inspired modern-day dictators, including Italy’s own Benito Mussolini, who followed Augustus in using monumental architecture as propaganda to buttress their rule and studied his techniques of gaining, consolidating and masking power.

Augustus vastly expanded the Roman Empire, established a period of relative peace known as the “Pax Romana” and sponsored an explosion of creativity and innovation in architec-

ture, law and literature whose effects were felt far beyond the capital.

He also made Rome a world-class city with infrastructure projects that vastly improved its liveability after the discord and violence that marred the preceding period of the Republic.

“The peace he brought meant that a lot of the longstanding problems could be resolved and one of the first ones he tried to resolve was the city of Rome itself,” said Valerie Higgins, programme director of archaeology and classics at the American University of Rome.

On his deathbed, according to the historian Suetonius, Augustus said: “Marmoream relinquo, quam latericiam accepi” (I found Rome a city of bricks and left it a city of marble).

Monuments that endure to this day, including the Forum of Augustus, the Pantheon, the Theatre of Marcellus, aqueducts and his own massive family tomb were either built on his direct orders or were financed or encouraged by him. l

An image projected on the walls of the Forum of Augustus displays a view of ancient Rome in Rome. The project is one of many initiatives to mark this year’s 2,000th anniversary of the death of Augustus, Rome’s first emperor REUTERS

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Afghan, foreign forces kill 60 Crisis-hit Thailand to hold new election on July 20 militants near Pakistan border n AFP, Bangkok

n Reuters, Kabul Afghan troops backed by Western air power have killed at least 60 militants near the Pakistan border, Afghan security officials said yesterday, in one of the single biggest assaults against the Taliban-linked Haqqani network.

US officials say Washington has intensified its drive against the network in an attempt to deal a lasting blow to the militants before foreign combat forces depart at the end of the year.

The National Directorate of Security, Afghanistan’s main intelligence agency, said in a statement that about 300 Haqqani insurgents and foreign fighters came under intensive fire on Monday when they tried to storm Afghan bases in Ziruk district of Paktika province.

Interior Ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said Afghan forces were already in position after receiving information about imminent attacks by the insurgents.

“Hundreds of insurgents tried to take over the district centre but we were there and hit them with a huge blow,” Sediqqi told Reuters, adding that five Afghan policemen were wounded.

“Dead bodies, wounded fighters, their weapons and pick-up trucks were left on the battlefield,” Sediqqi added.

The Nato-led international force declined to comment.

Haqqani crackdown

The Haqqani network, which professes obedience to Taliban leader Mullah Mohammad Omar, is believed to have been involved in some of the most deadly attacks of the Afghan war.

The group has been blamed for attacks on hotels popular with foreigners in Kabul, the bombing of the Indian embassy in the capital, a 2011 attack on the US embassy and several big attempted truck bombings.

The United States blacklisted the group as a terrorist organisation in

2012. It also accuses Pakistan’s powerful spy agency of supporting the network and using it as a proxy in Afghanistan to gain leverage against growing influence of its arch-rival India. Pakistan denies that.

Monday’s battle occurred in the southeast province of Paktika which shares a long and porous border with lawless areas in Pakistan where foreign fighters and the Haqqani network are believed to be based.

The Obama administration has created a special unit based in Kabul to coordinate efforts against the militant group.

The US-led military operation in Afghanistan is due to end on Dec. 31, although the United States wants to keep a small force in the country for counter-terrorism support and training. Outgoing President Hamid Karzai has declined to sign a security agreement allowing US forces to stay, but the two front runners to replace him as president in an election say they will enact the pact. l

Thailand will hold a new general election on July 20, a top poll official said yesterday, in an effort to resolve a deadly six-month political crisis.

Election Commission (EC) secretary general Puchong Nutrawong said the new voting date had been decided during talks with Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra.

“We agreed that the most suitable election day is July 20 and the EC will draft the royal decree for the prime minister to submit to the king for royal endorsement,” he told reporters.

The kingdom has been without a fully functioning government or parliament since December. A general election held in February was voided after opposition demonstrators disrupted voting.

It was not immediately clear if the main opposition Democrat Party would take part in the new vote.

The opposition protesters want

Yingluck to resign to make way for an unelected “people’s council” to oversee political reforms before elections are held.

Yingluck is pushing for new polls as soon as possible to shore up her position in the face of a series of legal threats that could force her from office.

She is accused of dereliction of duty linked to a loss-making rice subsidy scheme and the improper transfer of a senior civil servant.

The nation has been shaken by months of political violence that has left 25 people dead and hundreds wounded, including many anti-government protesters, in grenade attacks and shootings.

Thailand has been bitterly divided since a coup in 2006 ousted Yingluck’s brother Thaksin Shinawatra as prime minister.

He still wields huge influence from his self-exile in Dubai, where he lives to avoid prison for a corruption conviction. l

Jubilant Modi votes, Congress fights to deny BJP majority n Reuters India’s Hindu nationalist Narendra Modi looked triumphant after voting on Wednesday in the eighth stage of the world’s largest election, but the man tipped to be the next prime minister is still not assured of winning an outright majority.

Some 139 million people were registered in the 89 constituencies that polled on Wednesday in a race pitting Modi against the Nehru-Gandhi dynasty-led ruling Congress party and a pantheon of satraps. Results are due on May 16.

Casting his vote in his home state of Gujarat, the leader whose pro-business policies have delighted investors brandished his party’s lotus symbol and taunted Congress heavyweights for shying away from the fight.

“The prime minister himself is not fighting the election. The finance minister is not fighting the election. All its

top leaders have run away,” Modi said to cheers from a large crowd gathered at the polling station in the state’s largest city, Ahmedabad.

India is sometimes described as a collection of countries united mainly by a common currency. The results of its elections are notoriously hard to predict, with block voting by caste and religion. Dramatic last-minute swings can confound experts, with opinion polls getting the result wrong in 2004.

In a reminder of the difficulties in converting Modi’s popularity into seats, Arun Jaitley, a possible future finance minister, risks losing a contest in the state of Punjab over anger with the state government headed by a BJP ally.

The BJP’s president, Rajnath Singh also faces a tough fight in Lucknow, the capital of the mammoth state of Uttar Pradesh, where voters lined up at schools despite the blazing summer sun on Wednesday. l

9

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Claims of MH730 wreckage in Bay of Bengal dismissed n Reuters, Malaysia A private company said it had found what it believes is wreckage of a plane in the Bay of Bengal that should be investigated as potential debris from missing Malaysia Airlines (MASM.KL) Flight MH370, but the possibility was dismissed by search coordinators.

The Joint Agency Coordination Centre (JACC) managing the multinational search for the missing plane said it believed that the plane came down in the southern Indian Ocean off Australia.

“I think that we have been looking in the right place,” Angus Houston, the head of JACC, told Sky New Australia.

“I’m confident the aircraft will be found.”

A massive search operation involving satellites, aircraft, ships and sophisticated underwater equipment capable of scouring the ocean floor has failed to turn up any trace of the Boeing 777, which disappeared on March 8.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Monday the chance of finding floating debris was now remote. l

South Korea ferry disaster: Confirmed death toll hits 212 n AP, Mokpo, South Korea,

Narendra Modi holds up his ink-marked finger and the party symbol as he poses for a photograph after casting his vote at a polling station in Ahmedabad AFP

Two weeks after a ferry sank off South Korea’s southern cost, divers have recovered 212 bodies from the wreckage, but they fought strong currents and floating debris inside the ship Wednesday as they searched for 90 passengers still missing.

Meanwhile, family members of high students killed in the sinking dismissed as insincere President Park Geun-hye’s apology for the government’s handling of the disaster. They called for the quick retrieval of the missing. The ship carried 476 people, mostly from a single high school. Only 174 people survived, including 22 of the 29 crew members.

After several days of sluggish search efforts because of bad weather, divers on Tuesday retrieved more than a dozen bodies from the ship, which lies on the ocean floor, triggering a fresh outpouring of emotions by family members waiting for the return of their loved ones. l

Church demolition illuminates China’s religious tensions

Pak minister slams Modi’s ‘irresponsible’ statement on Dawood n AFP, Wenzhou

n Agenceis, Islamabad

Pakistan’s interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan on Tuesday condemned Narendra Modi’s statement on underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and warned that BJP’s prime ministerial candidate could become a great threat to regional peace.

Modi had recently said that he will bring back Dawood from Pakistan if he comes to power.

“Before making such an irresponsible statement, Modi should have first confirmed the whereabouts of Dawood,” Pak’s interior minister said.

Nisar said that those who are giving statements that Islamabad shelters Dawood Ibrahim and are talking about launching operation against him on Pakistani soil, should realise that Pakistan is not so weak that it will be afraid of such threats. l

The destruction of a towering church

by Chinese authorities has sown fear in a thriving Christian community and highlighted tensions between a rapidly growing number of worshippers and the Communist state.

Massive slabs of concrete on a hillside were all that remained yesterday of the Sanjiang Church after an army of excavators smashed into the building this week, following government claims it was an illegal structure.

The church stood above the village of Pudong, part of the city of Wenzhou.

The metropolis has a reputation for greater leniency towards religion and is known as China’s Jerusalem with more than a million Christians, as well as being a freewheeling centre of capitalism.

In Pudong, Christian households are openly marked out by posters with a red cross and a Bible verse from John: “In him was life and that was the light of men.”

The church was built in part with donations from the hundreds-strong congregation.

“We are crying inside, there is nothing more to say,” a middle-aged man who had been a member told AFP. “It’s gone now,” added his wife.

They declined to give their names for fear of reprisals by authorities.

The couple said some Christians living in the area have fled while others have been visited since the demolition by government “work teams” criticising them for their religious beliefs.

China’s ruling Communist Party keeps a tight grip on religion for fear it could challenge its grip on power, requiring followers to worship in places approved by the state and under government supervision.

But the Sanjiang church was registered with the authorities, unlike “underground” or “house” churches which seek to exist outside government control.

WRESTLING IN AFGHANISTAN

Activists believe the demolition was part of a wider crackdown on Protestant Christians, cloaked in a campaign against structures violating building codes in Zhejiang province.

The government has ordered at least five churches in Zhejiang – four of them in Wenzhou – to be demolished or to remove prominent crosses from their rooftops, state media has reported.

“I suspect it is a well-orchestrated campaign in order to contain the rapid growth of Christianity,” said Bob Fu, president of the China Aid Association, a US-based religious rights group.

“The deliberate wounds will take years to heal and the remaining little trust between the Chinese government and Chinese religious communities is gone,” he said.

‘What can we do?’

Despite the constraints, the number of Christians has grown. The state-linked China Christian Council estimates the

Power plants blamed for deadly India floods n AFP, New Delhi

Afghan wrestlers compete at an outdoor arena in the northern town of Mazar-i-Sharif on April 29. Wrestling is a popular sport in Afghanistan, and is traditionally practiced among poorer members of Afghan society AFP

country has around 20 million Christians – not including Catholics – 70 percent of them living in rural areas.

But the true number of worshippers could be higher, at least 40 million to 60 million, according to some estimates.

Academics said authorities had tightened control over religion since Xi Jinping took power in late 2012.

“There has been a noticeable tightening in the religious atmosphere,” said Carsten Vala, an assistant professor at Loyola University Maryland and a specialist on Christianity in China.

At the same time a younger generation of church leaders has sought to push the boundaries, he added. “The registered churches are becoming more active and evangelical – that kind of exuberance.”

There have been previous cases of churches in China going under the wrecking ball, but largely in the 1980s and 1990s, Vala said. l

Hydropower projects in northern India were partly to blame for devastating floods last year that killed thousands, a government report has concluded, in a warning to other Himalayan nations investing in the alternative energy source.

Floods and landslides caused by early monsoon rains tore through the Himalayan state of Uttarakhand last June leaving more than 5,500 people dead or missing, and destroying villages and towns.

The world’s second most populous country has turned to hydropower projects in the Himalayas for electricity as it seeks to curb its reliance on coalfed plants as well as reducing its crippling power shortages.

Pakistan, China, Bhutan and Nepal are also eyeing expansion of hydropower in the Himalayan range to varying degrees, often in ecologically fragile areas.

In a report commissioned by the Indian government, a panel of experts said some of the more than 30 hydropower projects had caused a build up of sediment in Uttarakhand’s rivers, including soil dug up during construction and dumped on the banks.

When record-high rainfall hit the region, rivers burst their banks, sending tonnes of water as well as the sediment downstream, exacerbating the flooding that washed away roads, bridges and whole buildings.

The report, which was handed to the government and the Supreme Court this month, called for a single government department to manage conservation issues in the Himalayas.

It also recommended studies be conducted across the region to better understand the impact of multiple plants, the effects of deforestation, tunnelling, blasting and reservoirs on the environment. l

India’s biggest loser: 158 - 0 n AFP, New Delhi Indian shop owner K Padmarajan (pictured above) doesn’t feel like a loser. In fact, he sees much to celebrate in the 158 times he has stood for public office and failed.

Starting out in 1988, he had a point to prove – to those who laughed at the ambitions of a man who repaired tyres for a living and to the cynics who scorned Indian democracy with all its flaws and inefficiencies.

“Back then, I owned a cycle puncture repair shop and a thought struck me that I, an ordinary man with an ordinary income and no special status in society, could contest the elections,” he told AFP. He lost. And then lost again and again. Over 26 years, he has competed hopelessly for local assembly seats and parliament, often standing against big names such as prime ministers A.B. Vajpayee or Manmohan Singh.

In all, he says he has forfeited 1.2 million rupees ($20,000) in deposits tendered in his lonely pursuit, in the process earning a place in the Limca Book of Records, the national repository of India’s eccentric record-making.

“I have never contested an election to win and the results just don’t matter to me,” laughs the entrepreneur whose tyre shop has flourished alongside his other business, a homeopathic medical practice. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Thursday, May 1, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

A better solution

L

ast year alone, over $828m in tariffs was paid to the US on goods, primarily RMG products, exported there from Bangladesh.

Bangladesh pays the second-highest rate of tariff duty (15.6%) for exports to the US market. This is almost twice the rate of other developing countries such as Vietnam and roughly five times the rate of China and India.

The Ticfa talks this week suggest there is no sign of this discriminatory rate changing soon. As RMG exports do not come under the suspended bilateral GSP arrangement, even restoration of GSP will not make a difference.

We call on policy-makers in both countries to give urgent attention to the elegant proposal made by the chief economist of the Bangladesh Bank for a Tariffs for Standards fund.

A portion, say a quarter of the $800m plus that Bangladesh pays the US to export garments, could be invested by the US in a fund administered by a third party such as the World Bank, to finance factory upgrades and improvements in working standards in Bangladesh.

The RMG industry needs substantial long-term investment to allow more modern factories to be built. Reports such as the 10 point plan issued by the RMG Action Group last year indicate that a $1bn fund is needed to make substantial progress.

While some overseas investors are reportedly raising money for factory upgrades, a multilateral government supported fund would make this much easier.

Tariffs for standards can address both countries concerns, by applying money which is already being collected to improve factories and working conditions.

The RMG industry needs substantial longterm investment to build more modern factories

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com

Fakhrul: No water, no relations April 24

One BNP must begin preparing a politically pragmatic but equally assertive stance in dealings with India when the party is again elected to govern Bangladesh. Meantime, I applaud BNP’s march to the Teesta, their principled efforts to highlight the gravity of the issue and demands for a just and enduring resolution of this with India.

Akhtar Shah If only international relations were that simple!

April 23 Vimal BJP will get more seats in UP than you believe. I have worked on the ground. Has the author done so?

B

oth AL and BNP members are alleged to have been involved in recent incidents of a syndicate illegally cutting down and selling off a large number of trees belonging to Bangladesh Railways in Chittagong.

The case sadly once again demonstrates mismanagement and corruption among public officials and politicians.

Sources in the railway department have admitted that it has no reliable data on the number of trees that it owns, creating the perfect opportunity for outside forces to appropriate these public properties. In addition, large swaths of land owned by the railway department are currently being illegally occupied.

There are persistent allegations of collusion between railway management and local politicians that enable these crimes to take place. What is particularly disturbing is that both political parties are implicated in these incidents.

Although a probe body has been formed to investigate these incidents, there is little indication thus far that this will be performed impartially. The head of the probe body has dismissed the connection of an Awami League leader to these incidents even though the investigation indicated their involvement.

The lethal combination of mismanagement, corruption, and collusion between railway officials and local politicians is leading to the squandering of valuable and scarce public assets in Chittagong.

Urgent action now needs to be taken by appropriate higher authorities within Bangladesh Railway, both political parties and law enforcement bodies, to ensure that this is stopped immediately and those responsible are held accountable.

Investigate these incidents and ensure those responsible are held accountable

You them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

As you get the letters, fill in other squares with the same number in the main grid, and the control grid. Check off the list of alphabetical letters as you identify them.

www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Who will form the next government in India?

End political protection for railway tree looters

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 10 represents A so fill in A every time the figure 10 appears.

nds Why this beating about the bush? A few days’ wait will make everything clear. Why this lack of patience which only makes unwanted room for making money by the fake political analysts on speculative article in national dailies?

Dilip T T Krishnan UPA will at least 150 seats. No way BJP/NDA will form next government. rsmnr Dilip T T Krishnan: You must be mad to make that assessment.

NC Shukla I am an agricultural researcher in UP. The analysis that you people do sitting in front of your laptops is meaningless. In UP, it is possible for BJP to readily win more than 50 seats.

Traveller_23 Akhtar Shah: Exactly! I believe we need to learn to stand up to India and assert our position but cannot be done as simply as Nazrul puts it.

These words and the march to Teesta are more about populism. When they come to power I doubt they will manage to summon the diplomatic finesse needed to solve these problems.

Instead they’ll just sour our relationship with our powerful neighbour.

Rajuk asked to identify unauthorised buildings

April 23 Dr Ahsan Habib Why does the committee have no mandate to ask for demolition? In Bangladesh, parliament under the PM can do or undo anything. Saying that it does not have mandate appears to be skirting the issue. Also, what about the mother of all illegal constructions, the BGMEA building? Will something be done about it? Who let that spring up in Hatirajheel?

Election Commission probe finds ‘no irregularity’ in upazila polls April 23

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Settle cosily (6) 5 Liable (3) 7 Anger (3) 8 Annul (6) 11 Play on words (3) 12 Venomous ill will (5) 14 Swimming organs (4) 16 Concise (5) 18 Foreign (5) 20 Bring up (4) 21 Devotional song (5) 23 Faucet (3) 24 Balances (6) 27 Had a meal (3) 28 Blushing (3) 29 Rubs with oil (6)

DOWN 1 And not (3) 2 Drink slowly (3) 3 Long locks (7) 4 Bound (4) 5 Electrical unit (6) 6 Offer (6) 9 Wicked (4) 10 Ignited (3) 13 White ant (7) 14 Waver (6) 15 Pinched (6) 17 Wise man (4) 19 Short sleep (3) 22 Fertile soil (4) 25 Briny (3) 26 Distress signal (3)

deep purple blue How is it that the EC probes its own irregularities and determine that the upazila polls were free, fair, peaceful, and participatory with no untoward incidents? What came in the print and electronic media were lies fabricated by some journalists.

Seriously? The EC is clearly trying to fool people all the time. Dumb!

Man seeks green card after American husband dies April 23

Negotiator: Japan has not narrowed trade differences with US April 23

Berkeley Yellow Cab Japanese officials on Tuesday said there was still a significant way to go before reaching a broad agreement on trade with the United States, a day before President Barack Obama visits for a summit.

‘2 joint secretaries’ enmity leaks scam over golden crests for foreigners’ April 25

Dhaka experiences highest temperature in 54 years April 25

Ronnie Funny how this paper has been, for the past week, daily forecasting a temperature of 40 degrees in Dhaka, while a few of the other papers have been printing the highest temperatue in Dhaka every day, in the range of 37-39 degrees. At any rate, it’s lately been a hellish heat spree, and a few of the days, including yesterday, actually felt even hotter than the 40.2 degrees reported here. It’s easy to believe it’s the hottest period in the living memories of very many Dhaka denizens. Just like a lengthy cold wave in winter – January, 2013 – was clearly the chilliest it’s been in Dhaka, in decades.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

rutland waters When so much gold is being smuggled in, why did they have to fake the crests?

Rajeeb 39 years of marriage but never got state recognition!

No matter what sex people belong to, their love must be equal under the law. Wishing the best for Anthony Sullivan. And thanks DT for carrying this story.

SUDOKU How to solve: 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.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CROSSWORD

SUDOKU PEANUTS

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Op-Art

Unanswered questions n Kazi Liakat Hossain

T

he historic May Day is being observed today throughout the country and elsewhere in the world to show respect to workers who shed their blood for the establishment of the rights of the working class in 1886. On this day 128 years ago, the workers of the Hay Market of Chicago, USA, sacrificed their lives to ensure eight-hour working days for workers.

Since then, the day has been observed all over the world as the day for solidarity with working people.

A major new step in the labour front was the establishment of the International Labour Organisation (ILO) three decades after the decision to observe May Day internationally.

The ILO was established in 1919 to promote social justice for the working class. It formulates international policies and programs to improve working and living conditions, and creates international labour standards to serve as guidelines for national authorities in putting those policies in action.

Consciousness about labour rights did not come overnight. In the beginning, everyone worked with their own hands. Then society came to be divided between the rich and poor, the exploiter and the exploited. The exploited were put to hard labour.

Though slavery was formally abolished, vestiges remain. The dignity of labour is yet to be fully restored.

The labour movement has a proud heritage in Bangladesh. The country is a signatory to the ILO convention and has a number of legislations for labour welfare.

The government is also keen on improving the lot of the working class, and their concern extends to spheres where the labour is not organised.

Self-styled labour leaders, particularly after the emergence of Bangladesh, have sprung up only to give lip service to some parties.

On this great day, some questions haunt the minds of those who really feel for just causes of the working class. Why have extraneous elements found place as representatives of labourers? Why have bargaining agents failed to occupy their rightful position, and are not representing the workers?

Why has the government in the past fiddled with the fates of the helpless

lot by creating more than one union?

What is the achievement of the past BNP government in creating confidence and restoring industrial peace and harmony? These questions need to be answered.

This concept must be changed for the restoration of a congenial environment conducive to uninterrupted operations of all industrial establishments. Labour unions, in most cases, have become unreasonable and come up with fantastic demands only to help in the closure of the units. It must be understood that better employer-employee relations can only ensure productivity and welfare of the workers.

In our country, poor labourers are always neglected

They cannot always think in terms of agitation, strikes, and “gherao-jalao” tactics. The wages invariably have to be linked with productivity, and the demand for higher wages cannot reasonably be pressed without increasing output.

The working atmosphere has to be made conducive and peaceful, especially for women workers. The efforts to remove economic and social causes for the swelling number of children engaged in labour have to be identified.

Corruption in the labour directorate has to be handled very seriously.

Last year’s Savar disaster has jolted the country and the world. In our country, poor labourers are always neglected; they don’t get their wages properly and in time. RMG workers should be given their rights to open trade unions in all sectors.

To stop this type of disaster, particularly in the garments sector, garment owners should be made to follow the government’s building code. Violators should be brought to book. Labour unrest in Bangladesh should be brought under control by paying workers their dues regularly and on time. l Kazi Liakat Hossain is a senior journalist.

Broken promises

Formal industries, informal practices

n Mushfika Jahan

n Zia Rahman

E

very year, Bangladeshi rightsbased organisations, civil society, and the media highlight workers’ rights and welfare on Labour Day. Street demonstrations are arranged, seminars are held, talk shows are aired, and various activities take place to emphasise the spirit of the day.

But International Labour Day 2013 was completely different in Bangladesh. Rana Plaza collapsed on April 24, just six days prior to the day. According to the government, more than 1,100 people died and about 2,500 were rescued from the disaster. A total of 3,565 people – dead and alive – were pulled out of the rubble.

In the aftermath of the disaster, various international multi-stakeholder initiatives were created, bringing together global brands, trade unions, NGOs, and the International Labour Organisation (ILO). The goal was to improve building and fire safety codes of textile factories in Bangladesh, as well as to compensate Rana Plaza survivors and victims’ families.

The Rana Plaza tragedy took place close to Labour Day. What does this say about us?

Non-government organisations and multinationals took supportive measures after the accident. The government, BGMEA, and many development partners, international organisations, and retailers made a host of pledges, some immediate and some long-term, to the victims and the garment sector at large. BRAC programs also took on supportive initiatives on a long-term and short-term basis.

In response to such a great loss, major support initiatives were anticipated from the government and the BGMEA. The BGMEA has formed a supportive

fund, which asked each member to contribute a minimum amount of Tk25,000. But only about a quarter of the members contributed to the fund.

Later, BGMEA became silent regarding this supportive initiative. Considering the slow progress for supportive measures, requests have been placed recently to international garment brands to help mitigate the damage by assisting with the full restitution of those who were injured or the families of those who lost their lives.

Labour Day is not only significant for the original eight hours’ work demand, but it gives an opportunity to honour the workers and the labour movement for their hard work, dedication, and their contribution to economic and social growth and development. It also forces many others to think about securing workers’ rights and to ensure worker’s safety and security at the workplace.

The international community has declared the one-year anniversary of the Rana Plaza collapse as Fashion Revolution Day to commemorate this tragic event. But the question is, why are we compelled to find separate days for different welfare issues for workers? Fashion Revolution Day is not completely unwanted or unnecessary. It’s always better to identify a date to remember the lessons from tragic events. But then what about the significance of International Workers’ Day? This day promises to remember and consider the issues around workers’ welfare. Though Bangladesh observes the day annually, the Rana Plaza tragedy took place close to Labour Day. What does this say about us?

Have we been dishonest with the promises we made while observing International Workers’ Days in past years? This might be the reason behind inadequate results in the endeavour to have policies ensuring secure and safe workplaces for Bangladeshi workers.

Do we need another day to remember secure workplace rights for workers?

Let’s think about that before the next tragedy strikes. l Mushfika Jahan is Field Coordinator, Migration Program, BRAC.

T

he historical Chicago Movement gave rise to many significant practices directly or indirectly, including eight-hour standard work days, improved workplace environments, standard overtime payment, standard maternity leave, festival bonuses, compensations for work related injuries, trade union rights, etc, although we sometimes erroneously forget the historical workers’ sacrifices.

Bangladesh’s workers are classified to two major sectors – formal and informal. While the majority of the workers work as informal labour, a large number of female workers have lately been engaged in the readymade garment industry in the name of socalled formal workers. That the hawkers, rickshaw pullers, street vendors, and the many others depending on informal labour have been outside the workers’ rights, acknowledged in the country’s labour law and international conventions, is well-known.

People in Bangladesh have been so accustomed and familiar with the miseries of informal labour that they have somewhat complied these workers’ miseries as their fate and reality. But what about the formal workers who are supposed to be regulated by the country’s labour law and international conventions in the industries like the RMG? Apart from the historical jute, cotton, and textile industries that emerged during the 1940s-60s, the RMG industries became the popular formal industry, starting in the late 1970s, in terms of the percentage of workers employed in this sector and of earning foreign currency. The military regime that initiated the export-led apparel industries under the aegis of the World Bank and the capitalist core by attracting hundreds of thousands of illiterate young rural women often hymned this venture as “women’s empowerment” or “women and development.”

The hardcore reality of the development of the RMG industries in Bangladesh seems capital’s incessant hunting for cheap labour, the relocation of capitals in a safe place having union-free environment, the introduc-

tion of neoliberal globalisation, the use of docile and allegiant rural unskilled women workers, and the international hegemonic power-military autocrat nexus.

From the very beginning of the journey, the impoverished and socially excluded rural women entered the industry, often stigmatised due to breaking down the traditional “purdah” system. Gradually, more poverty-stricken young women joined in the industries while more industries appeared and more internationally recognised brands came to the fore.

The initial conditions of the workers were like what we encountered in Bombay, Lancashire, Manchester, Boston, or New York.

intermittently bypassing the country’s labor laws and international labour conventions. But most of the workers’ demands remained unfulfilled for a long time. It is interesting to note that the issues related to the demands of the workers are prototypical to the demands placed by the workers of the Bombay cotton and textile mills workers, most of which were fulfilled in the First and Second Factory Acts of India in 1881 and 1891 respectively.

Imagine, after more than one hundred years of the history of industrialisation in this region, the workers of Bangladesh are fighting for the same issues! Meanwhile some international unions came to the fore establishing their sponsored local unions in the

Still the workers are exploited; still the workers are deprived of all kinds of rights

The horrific conditions of the workplace in terms of the absence of safe exits, and washroom and dining facilities, low wages and unregulated long working hours, no facilities of housing and transportation, notorious physical, psychological, and sexual repression by the managements, initiatives of organising unions slapped by the local thugs recruited by the factory owners, idiosyncratic overtime rates and violations of most other labour rights occasionally rendered a few sporadic, contingent, and ad-hoc movements, including street agitations, factory blockades, and factory ransacking that could not save the innocent women workers from the rapacious owners whose main thrust was to make absolute profit without providing the standard benefits of the workers, let alone the legal ones.

In the past decades, informally or formally, some labour unions have emerged. Most of them have very little union experience but they signed many accords with the owners association, ie the BGMEA, which has been

name of so-called international labour solidarity movements while some NGOs emerged to assist the vulnerable workers. It is interesting to note that while the international labour unions are meticulously fulfilling their own agendas serving the imperialist interests, the NGOs are providing aids and services to the workers. In a true sense, few, though not all, NGOs are providing some telling services to the Bangladeshi workers.

The RMG industry is almost close to ending its so-called first generation industrial era. Still the workers are exploited; still the workers are deprived of all kinds of rights even though Bangladesh has its own labour law, and it ratified major fundamental conventions of the International Labour Organisations.

In addition to the violations related to building structures and factory conditions mentioned in the Bangladesh Labour Act, the other common violations of the Bangladesh Labour Act are Section 100-102, Section 108, Section 109, Section 123 while the

common violations related to ILO conventions are conventions No 87 and conventions No 98. As a result, the workers in this trade have been facing many horrific accidents intermittently starting from Saraka fire accident in 1990 to Spectrum Garment Industry in 2005, to the Tazrin Fashion accident in 2012. The infamous and tragic Rana Plaza incident in 2013, snatching 1,138 lives and injuring more than 2,500 workers, left us stunned, terrified, and speechless.

The industry is thriving day by day in terms of attracting more “industrial reserve army,” in terms of the development of a proud entrepreneur with eight industries employing 4000 workers – someone who once lived in a rented shack shared with three co-workers spending only TK600 a months, or was a local political urchin with nothing, or a chef in the Middle East, or a corrupt police officer, in terms of earning foreign currency, in terms of providing more clubs and industries for the recreation of the national bourgeoisie, in terms of boosting up the export capacities despite the horrific Rana Plaza incident, in terms of developing trade union bureaucracy patronised by the international unions, of having American citizenship or being the proud owner of an NGO who was once a factory operator now receiving $100,000 from a donor agency.

This might be the process that Karl Marx once labeled as the “primitive accumulation of capital.” Contrarily, living in the era of so-called “global village” or “global city,” the workers endure their lives in the same manner that a street hawker or a rickshawpuller endures. She has an incessant risk of being raped, assaulted, and killed. She lives in the same squatter, walks without any transportation, and she is deprived of all kinds of benefits vividly acknowledged in the country’s labour law and ILO’s conventions.

This industry, thus, I label as a formal one in the paper while informal in the everyday practices. l Zia Rahman is Professor and Chairperson, Department of Criminology, University of Dhaka.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Thursday, May 1, 2014

‘I am waiting for a film like Agnee’ n Milan Afridi Bobby’s debut film Khoj:The Search made her one of the most popular heroines of recent time. Her second film Dehorokkhi made her an A-list actor in the Bangladesh film industry. Recently, Dhaka Tribune interviewed the bold actor about her progress in the glamour world.

sponsibility, neither is it possible for me to ensure that a film will be successful.

Dehorokkhi was a hit in terms of business, but I believe that a different male actor in the leading role would have made the movie more popular. I thought that the plot of Inchi Inchi Prem was quite admirable and I am clueless as to why the audience did not appreciate the film.

Tell us about your journey in the media industry.

How much hopeful are you about your upcoming films?

It was my childhood dream to make my way to stardom and I made my debut in a commercial for Ruchi chanchur when I was still a school student. I kept on working as a model. Later, I got propositions to act in TV plays and films. I became more involved, dedicated and hopeful when the audience gave me love. I started getting offers from brands like Airtel, Walton and others to act as their ambassador. My career as a successful model enabled me to create a strong foothold in the media. Iftakar Chowdhury’s Khoj:The Search was my first big break. You can call it the turning point of my career.

I am really hopeful about my recent projects including Iftakar Chowdhury’s One Way, Shafique Hasan’s Shopno Chhoa and

Badiul Alam Khokon’s Hero The Superstar . I am optimistic that they will appreciate my appearance in these films. The songs are very entertaining as they are shot in a variety of locations and I request everyone to watch my upcoming movies.

The audience was also hopeful about Iftakar Chowdhury’s Rajotto, what went wrong?

I was hopeful about Rajotto as well. The film’s failure broke my heart. But it was not my fault, the instable political situation and the state of the movie theatres were most likely responsible for the downfall.

If you are right, then why was Agnee a huge commercial success?

Agnee is a marvelous film. If I had the chance to work in Agnee, I would have taken the golden opportunity. I am waiting for a film like that.

What happened to your modeling career?

I have every intention of continuing my career in the modeling industry and will definitely sign up with high-end brands to promote their products. Let’s see what the future holds for me. l

Tell us about Khoj: The Search.

Khoj: The Search was a one-man show.

Ananta Jalil was the producer of the film and also the protagonist. Barsha and I shared screen space as the two female leads and our roles were quite muted compared to that of Ananta Jalil. I was dressed in risque outfits in the movie, as it was the director’s decision to portray my character in that light. Back then, I was unaware that I would receive negative reviews for my attire. After the experience, I become conservative and choosy about my costumes and appearance.

Jibondhuli duo appears in Muktahin Jhinuk n Entertainment Desk Shatabdi Wadud and Jyotika Jyoti, the leading actors of the recently released Liberation War based feature film Jibondhuli, have paired up again in a telefilm titled Muktahin Jhinuk. It will be aired tonight at 7:50pm on Maasranga TV. Written by Golam Rabbani and directed by Rasel Azam, the story is about the negative impact of Hilla marriage (interim marriage). According to some ancient Islamic clerics, if a Muslim divorced couple want to remarry, the woman is required to enter into a Hilla marriage with another man, have the marriage consummated, and then her

new husband must divorce her. Only then, she can go back to her former husband.

In the play, Kajol (Shatabdi) and Alo (Jyoti) ties the knot after having an affair for a long period.

But, one day, in a fit of rage, Kajol utteres the word Talak (divorce) thrice. The village headman immediately declares the couple divorced. Later, Kajol admits his mistake when he realises that he cannot live without Alo. Then he fixes Alo’s Hilla marriage with his best friend Kashem who promises Kajol that he would divorce her shortly. But, he breaks the promise. After three days of the marriage, Kajol goes to Kashem’s house to stage a confrontation in the hope of bringing Alo back. l

TODAY IN DHAKA Music

Acoustic Guitar Night Time: 5.00pm- 8.00pm Blue Horizon, Level 5, Block A Jamuna Future Park, Bashundhara

Dehorokkhi and Inchi Inchi Prem were commercial failures, why do you think the audience did not take to the films?

Exhibition

Germany – A Sporting Nation Time: 11am – 6pm Goethe Institut Bangladesh Road 9(new), House 10, Dhanmondi

The blame of a film’s failure goes to the entire cast and crew. It is not my sole re-

‘Water Rhymes-2’ Time: 11am – 8pm Galleri Kaya, House 20, Road 16, Sector 04, Uttara Bonded Stitches & Struggle Time: 3pm – 8pm Drik Gallery House 58 Road 15A (New) Dhanmondi

Film

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3D & 2D) Jonakir Alo The Legend of Hercules 3D Avatar in 3D Frozen in 3D Ender’s Game Time: 10am – 10pm Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City

Lenin’s debut album out in the market n Shadma Malik Mujahidul Haque Lenin’s debut album Gondhoraaj Ar Ekti Bimurto Raatri released on February 7. The

album is comprised of eight tracks and the music is arranged by Ibne Rajon.

Lenin, who is inspired by Tagore’s literature and music, expresses his philosophy of life in an interview with the Dhaka Tribune.

“The album explores romanticism. It talks about relationships, passion and many other emotions.

A melodic and raaga centric album, Gondhoraaj Ar Ekti Bimurto Raatri is a contemporary musical album for all ages.”

Talking about the title song, the musician said: “When I started my career in 1996 as a struggling musician, the scent of Gondhoraj from a nearby bloom use to enchant me at night. I use to relate the smell with the essence of love and companionship. My title song is about that particular feeling.

“I received good response from

my listeners. I am not interested in the commercial success of the album. I am hopeful that in this era there will always remain a market for melodious songs.”

Talking about his upcoming projects, the musician is gearing up to release an EP album as a tribute to his beloved motherland, Bangladesh.

Lenin was a student of Chhayanaut and completed his musical training under prominent Ustads.

Apart from being a musician, Lenin has completed his honours in Physics from the Dhaka University. In 1990, Lenin was an activist and promoted democracy through various extracurricular activities. He was also actively involved with the Dhaka University Shangskritik Dol and was a member of the Lokyo Natyo Dol. He participated in cultural shows as a recitation artiste and was keen on writing poems. l

Kareena makes Shahid Kapoor speechless

n Entertainment Desk Ever since their break-up in 2007, each time the Bollywood superstars crossed paths, they drew a lot of media attention.

But when they met at the recently-concluded IIFA Award function in Florida, Shahid Kapoor and Kareena Kapoor offered a new twist to the story.

Kareena, who was accompanied by her husband Saif Ali Khan, greeted her ex cordially, leaving him speechless, momentarily.

Revealed an eyewitness: “When Kareena and Saif stepped on to the stage to present an award, Shahid, who was co-anchoring the segment with Farhan Akhtar, was standing at the the far end.

Kareena greeted him graciously and even complimented the duo on the

brilliant job they were doing. Saif who was standing beside his wife, smiled too. Shahid responded to Kareena’s “Hi” courteously but after the couple had stepped off the stage, he turned to his co-host with a grin and asked: “Did she say ‘Hi’ to me?”

When Shahid and Kareena ended their four year-long relationship acrimoniously, few believed that they would ever manage to put their past behind. But a couple of years ago, at the Filmfare Awards, the two had met and exchanged similar plesantaries. But Saif was not present on that occasion.

While the two actors have always maintained that if an interesting script pops up, they’d be happy to work together again, industry seniors have always believed otherwise. l

A week-long dance programme organised by Bangladesh Nritya Shilpi Sangstha came to an end with vibrant dance recitals of different genres on April 29 at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy SADIA MARIUM

Star Wars: Episode VII cast unveiled n Entertainment Desk

After months of carefully guarded secrecy and endless Internet speculation, the cast of the latest incarnation of the space epic was unveiled recently on the official Star Wars website by Lucasfilm and the Walt Disney Co. Actors John Boyega, Daisy Ridley, Adam Driver, Oscar Isaac, Andy Serkis, Domhnall Gleeson, and Max von Sydow will join the original stars of the saga, Harrison Ford, Carrie Fisher, Mark Hamill, Anthony Daniels, Peter Mayhew, and Kenny Baker in the new film.

The companies declined to name the characters each will play, though Driver, the breakout star of HBO’s

Girls, is widely expected to be playing the film’s feature villain.

They join returning Star Wars veterans Harrison Ford, Mark Hamill and Carrie Fisher.

“It is both thrilling and surreal to watch the beloved original cast and these brilliant new performers come together to bring this world to life, once again,” director and co-writer Abrams said in a statement. “We start shooting in a couple of weeks, and everyone is doing their best to make the fans proud.”

Disney will release Star Wars: Episode VII, which will be set 30 years after 1983’s Return of the Jedi, in December 2015. Disney acquired Lucasfilm in 2012, and immediately put a

new Star Wars trilogy into development.

The Episode VII cast is a mix of fresh faces, up-and-comers and established names. The 22-year-old British actor Boyega is best known for the 2011 science fiction monster movie Attack the Block. Ridley, also a young British actor, is largely unknown. She has appeared in several British TV series, including Mr Selfridge.

Like Driver, Isaac is a recent breakout star, following his acclaimed performance in the Coen brothers’ Inside Llewyn Davis. The 30-yearold Irish actor Gleeson has appeared in numerous films, including 2012’s Anna Karenina and both parts of Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows. l

British actor Bob Hoskins dies aged 71

n Entertainment Desk

An attractive fashion show will be telecast live on RTV at 6:30pm tomorrow. Renowned fashion designers Emdad Haque and Shahrukh Amin outfitted the models and the makeup was done by beauty experts Kaniz Almas Khan and Kaji Kamrul Islam.

A total of 24 models will participate in the fashion show

British actor Bob Hoskins, who rose to fame for his performance in the film Who Framed Roger Rabbit and dozens of others, has died after a bout of pneumonia at the age of 71, his publicist said on Wednesday.

A statement issued on behalf of his wife Linda and his children said: “We are devastated by the loss of our beloved Bob. Bob died peacefully at hospital last night surrounded by family, following a bout of pneumonia. We ask that you respect our privacy during this time and thank you for your messages of love and support.” l

Did you know?

Liverpool have made more errors (41) leading directly to goal attempts than any other side in the Premier League this season

Sport

Thursday, May 1, 2014

14 Real rout holders

Bayern to reach Lisbon final

14 Ronaldo sets

sights on final after scoring record

BCB TV rights moving in right direction The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) floated the worldwide media rights tender on April 24 and it was learnt the feedback has been encouraging so far with few international and local broadcasters showing interest by purchasing the tender.

“I am happy to say several international and local broadcasters already purchased the tender documents. The international channels are major Asian cricket broadcasters.

There is a lot of interest in this property as Bangladesh cricket is improving and the recently concluded WT20 showed we have the best neutral fans,” said Kazi Inam Ahmed, chairman of the BCB Marketing and Commercial committee.

According to sources, two of the most popular sports channels - Ten Sports and Star Sports - along with local TV channels Gazi TV and Mediacom (Maasranga TV) have already purchased the tender documents for the TV rights for six years starting from May 1 2014 to April 30 2020.

In an emergency board meeting re-

Turning leaks into rivers What do Manchester United and the Bangladesh cricket team have in common?

They both have dodgy boards, they’ve both underperformed this season and embarrassingly as of this week they have both found themselves without a full time coach for the near future.

While David Moyes was sacked and Shane Jurgensen quit, both their positions were made untenable by the boards that should have looked out for them.

News of Moyes’ sacking was made public a day before he even met the MUFC board with the leaks emanating directly from the board itself. The situation turned so toxic that the League Managers Associa-

holds true in Bangladesh. But while Moyes was pushed out, Jurgensen decided to resign before the board pushed him.

A few days before his resignation, members of the board requesting anonymity said they were looking for a new head coach, possibly someone with a batting background. The leaks continued until Jurgensen decided to take his fate into his own hands and step away.

The situation was shambolic for a number of reasons. Firstly, members of the board were openly talking about and looking for replacements for a coach who has served the team honorably. And secondly, they leaked it to the press, thus piling pressure on a man who still had a year to run on his contract. The pressure would

have been justified had he heard it directly from the board, but he didn’t. Exactly like Moyes he had to read the tea leaves in the morning papers.

Let’s not forget this is a man who stood by the team when they needed him. After Stuart Law left the team, it was Jurgensen who stepped into the breach, took over the reins and performed above and beyond the call of duty.

The players look up to and respect him, and while the team has performed well below their expectation in the past three months, that alone does not justify questioning his position. In the past year and a half, Bangladesh has punched above its weight and there has been a certain pomp to their play which was previously lacking.

Dhaka team celebrates their Inter Divisional Women’s Kabaddi title at the Kabaddi Stadium yesterday

COURTESY

Mosharraf Rubel returns to cricket Left-arm spinner Mosharraf Rubel is all set to resume his cricket career afresh in the Bangladesh Cricket League (BCL) after being named in Walton Central Zone’s revised squad for the last round game starting tomorrow.

Rubel was one of the nine individuals who were accused of involvement in match-fixing in Bangladesh Premier League 2. However, the BCB Anti-Corruption Tribunal acquitted him from all charges brought by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit (ACSU).

15 Senna more life

than death for movie maker

The board should have looked back further than a few months while also keeping an eye on the upcoming World Cup before they started discussing the search for a new coach.

Most importantly, they should have spoken to him directly instead of using the media as an unprepared midwife. He deserved better.

The professional coach circuit is full of ringers - consultants who come for the money and leave just as quickly. Shane Jurgensen is not one of them. He may not have a few hundred international wickets or 10,000 international runs but what he brought to Bangladesh cricket was his dedication and loyalty.

Loyalty goes a long way for those who value it. Which begs the question, what does our cricket board value? l

Bangladesh Cricket League season 2013-14 resumes with the last round matches tomorrow after a break of over two months. The first-class competition went in to hibernation in January as the national team and the country was committed to international duty which started with Sri Lanka’s arrival for a full series followed by the Asia Cup and the ICC World Twenty20.

The last round was earlier scheduled for April 28, but upon requests from the franchises, who wanted some more time in order to get the squad ready, Bangladesh Cricket Board agreed to delay the resumption by four days.

However, with only a day left before the match only two teams – Walton Central Zone and BCB North Zone – were found holding a full team practice session yesterday.

Prime Bank South Zone coach Khaled Mahmud, who is also a board director, cited the hot and humid weather for not holding any practice sessions though they will train today ahead of their match against Islami Bank East Zone tomorrow at Fatullah.

“We didn’t want to risk any of our players getting ill due to the extreme heat. The players have been asked to report and we will move to Narayanganj tomorrow (today) morning and hold a practice session,” informed Mahmud to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Their opponents Islami Bank East Zone was found in a more haphazard condition as the players are yet to receive a call from the team management regarding their game, let alone any practice session. Their manager Hasibul Hossain Shanto, however, also echoed Mahmud’s sentiment and said, “Everything is set and we will soon start contacting our cricketers to report. Because there is no time for us to hold a practice session, we will directly get down for the game on Friday (tomorrow).”

The former national fast bowler Shanto also said “no practice” will not be an issue as majority of the players was involved in the recently concluded National Cricket League.

Walton Central Zone lead the league table with 31 points from two matches with a win and a draw. BCB North Zone is in second position after playing as many matches with a solitary point separating them from the table toppers. Prime Bank South Zone stand third position with 17 points while winless Islami Bank East Zone are at the bottom with two points. l

BPL produces goals worth remembering

Dhaka lift women’s kabaddi title Dhaka emerged as the champions in the Marcel Inter Divisional Kabaddi Championship beating Narail by 23-16 points in the final at the Kabaddi Stadium yesterday.

In the third place decider Jamalpur overpowered Panchagarh by 41-23 points. Shahnaz Parvin Maleka of Dhaka was adjudged as the best player in the tournament while Narail’s Sharmin Sultana Rima was declared as the player of the final.

Post and Telecommunications minister Abdul Latif Siddiki distributed the prizes as the chief guest. AFM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn, the additional director of Walton, and Kabaddi Federation general secretary Nazrul Islam were also present among others. l

13

BCL set to resume tomorrow

cently, a five-member committee was formed to handle the TV rights. Led by Inam, the committee also consist other BCB directors Afzalur Rahman Sinha, Mahbub Anam, IH Mollick and Iqbal Hasan Mahmud.

Tenders can be dropped till May 5 before an open auction on May 12. Prior to that the tenders received will be examined on May 8.

Earlier, the BCB inked a $56.88m deal with Nimbus Sports International in 2006 which fell in ruins before the Nimbus-BCB relationship ended in 2012 with the latter filing a case of $20m over the non-completion of the deal.

However, BCB has relaxed the rules this time around in order to allow the local TV channels to participate in the bidding. A local broadcaster with a year’s experience in the business can take part in the bidding to win the rights.

Bangladesh will play a total of approximately 90 international matches - 31 Tests, 43-47 ODIs and 14 T20Is - till May 2020. During the period Bangladesh is also scheduled to host India in 2014 and 2016. l

tion (LMA) even issued a statement where they said, “The LMA is very disappointed with the nature of David’s departure from Manchester United and to read extensive reports in the press, confirming David’s sacking, before David himself had been spoken to officially by the club.

“Throughout his time at United, David, as he always does, has conducted himself with integrity and professionalism, values that he believes in and that have been strongly associated with the club and its rich tradition. It is therefore sad to see the end of David’s tenure at United being handled in an unprofessional manner.”

Replace David Moyes with Shane Jurgensen and Manchester United with the Bangladesh cricket team and the same

DHAKA TRIBUNE

In the wake of Tribunal’s short-verdict, BCB lifted the ban imposed on Rubel and allowed the cricketer to take part in the domestic cricket league. The BCL will be his first assignment after the BPL-2 of 2012.

“I was far away from cricket for one year. I can’t say how I spent the time without cricket. I can’t express it in words. Nobody can imagine how tough the life was without cricket,” said Rubel to the media yesterday. “I always believed I can prove myself innocent since I didn’t engage in any wrongdoings.

Now it’s like a new start after a year. I’ve

to prove my credential once again.”

“I went to gym, practiced and kept myself fit because deep inside me, I knew I would make a comeback,” he added.

“I played my last match for Walton in the final of last year’s BCL. Thereafter, I didn’t get to play any match.

Everybody accepted me so easily which I have never thought of. Everyone clapped and I feel so good on my comeback.”

Rubel, however, was not sure whether Walton included him in the squad after he was cleared from all

charges as he wasn’t involved in any form of cricket.

“I wasn’t sure that I could play in BCL after returning. I thank Walton for including me in the team again. I also thank the board (BCB) at the same time.”

Rubel was the captain of Walton in the last edition. This year Mahmudullah is leading the side and Rubel said he will assist his captain in all aspects so that Walton can retain the title.

He also advised the youngsters to keep faith and to be honest in all aspects of life which he thought could bail them out from all dangers.l

Spectacular strikes stimulate the passion for the game and its mode and approach remain as a topic of discussion among all football fans.

The ongoing Bangladesh Premier League has so far produced some spectacular goals, which, though little in number, are surely impregnated with abundance of quality one can ever hope for to savor them forever.

Nigerian defender Eleta Benjamin scored one of the finest goals in Bangladesh Premier League’s history when his bicycled effort fooled the Team BJMC’s defense as well as the goalkeeper on April 22.

On the hour mark and with Muktijoddha leading 1-0, skipper Maruf Ahmed whipped in a low corner from the left flank which landed on the edge of the box to Eleta on the left edge who toe-poked the ball in the air, turned his body and fired in a back volley into the near post. Team BJMC defense and the goalkeeper were left bamboozled in disbelief.

Muktijoddha coach Shafikul Islam Manik later admitted that he had seen Sheikh Md. Aslam score a similar goal about twenty years ago.

Such is the beauty of Eleta Benajmin’s goal that it is bound to occupy a special corner in the hearts of all those

fans who were fortunate enough to witness it.

Just a week later Team BJMC midfielder Abdullah Parvez netted an audaciously outrageous goal to sink Dhaka Mohammedan.

In the dying minutes of the match, Parvez, who is well known for his left footed antics, was standing just a few yards in front of the opposition half when his stunning lob caught Mohammedan goalie Mamun Khan off guard.

The specialty of the goal was it dipped perfectly and deceived Mamun Khan in the air. It hit the inside edge of the crosspiece and Mamun failed to keep it out although he did make a desperately vain attempt to prevent the ball from going in.

Scoring a goal from 40 yards out in a competitive match is undoubtedly hard, unique and unprecedented and all these superlatives fittingly justify Parvez’s goal.

The lethally left footed Parvez scored another superb goal against Uttar Baridhara on Januray 19. It was a Banana Kick’ from 25 yards out.

Receiving the ball at the top of the arc, Parvez cut the ball with his side foot, it spun right and swerved in the air to crash into the net.

Stunning goals create attraction and public awareness for the league and BPL has surely delivered a few pieces for the fans to cherish and relish for a long time. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Banana-throwing fan faces charges Spanish police said Wednesday they have laid criminal charges against a football fan for throwing a banana at Barcelona defender Dani Alves, a slur that has sparked a global storm of anti-racist protest. The Spanish authorities arrested the young man Tuesday unleashing condemnation worldwide including from Brazilian President Dilma Rousseff and FIFA president Sepp Blatter. The suspect, who has been named and pilloried on social media but has not been identified by the authorities, was charged on the same day with an offence against civil rights and liberties before being released, a police spokeswoman said.

–AFP

Sport

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Clippers owner banned for life The NBA came down hard on Los Angeles Clippers owner Donald Sterling on Tuesday, banning him for life for “deeply offensive and harmful” racist comments that sparked a national firestorm. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver hit Sterling with every penalty at his disposal, fining him a maximum $2.5 million dollars and calling on other owners to force him to sell his team. The swift, sharp reaction drew praise from around the league and buoyed Clippers players, who defeated the Golden State Warriors 113-103 on Tuesday night to take a 3-2 lead in their best-of-seven Western Conference first-round playoff series.

–AFP

Everton identify site for new stadium Everton have identified a site in Liverpool with a view to building a new stadium, chief executive Robert Elstone revealed during the Premier League club’s annual general meeting. “The stadium remains a big priority,” Elstone said.

“We’re not ruling out any of the sites that we’ve identified and that the council has presented to us, but there is one site which is getting more attention and has been getting more attention for a number of months. “We hope it comes to fruition and, if it does, I think it’s something that the city and our fans will be very proud of.”

–AFP

Real rout holders to reach final Real Madrid reached their first Champions League final for 12 years with an historic 4-0 win at Bayern Munich in Tuesday’s semi-final, second leg to knock the holders out.

Having won last week’s first leg 1-0 in Madrid, Real won the semi-final 5-0 on aggregate as Pep Guardiola’s Bayern suffered their heaviest home defeat in European competition.

Bayern had previously never lost at home by more than two goals in Europe as the Bavarian giants saw their dreams of reaching a fourth Champions League final in five years crushed.

Real win 5-0 on aggregate

0 4 Ramos 16, 20, Ronaldo 34, 90

64

POSSESSION(%)

36

19

TOTAL ATTEMPTS

13

10

ON TARGET

7

9

CORNERS

3

0

OFFSIDES

3

13

FOULS COMMITTED

7

822

PASSES

414

“We have witnessed a debacle, we didn’t put enough passion into it,” said Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge.

“We have to keep our nerve and stay rational.”

Real are now one game away from ‘La Decima’ - their 10th European title - and will face either neighbours Atletico Madrid or Jose Mourinho’s Chelsea in the May 24 final in Lisbon.

Real centre-back Sergio Ramos produced two early bullet headers to dismiss Bayern’s dreams of becoming the first team to defend the Champions League title. World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo made it 3-0 at the break before the Real superstar netted his 49th goal of the season with a freekick just before the final whistle.

Having now netted 16 times in this season’s Champions League, Ronaldo set a new record for the most goals in a single European campaign, bettering the previous mark of 14 set by Barcelona’s Lionel Messi and ex-AC Milan forward Jose Altafini.

“Today Madrid have gone to a level that will be recognised across the world and to score two goals is a dream,”

said Ramos.

“The final in Lisbon is a dream. It has been a long time coming.”

The only downside to Real’s stunning win in Germany was the loss of Xabi Alonso for the Lisbon final after he picked up his third booking of the campaign for a first-half foul on Bastian Schweinsteiger. But there was no denying an historic night for Real, especially for coach Carlo Ancelotti, who has now never lost to Bayern in eight matches, six times with former club AC Milan and twice with Madrid.

The Italian is through to his fourth Champions League final as a coach, equalling the record.

There was a minute’s silence before kick-off for former Barcelona coach Tito Vilanova, who died on Friday at the age of 45, and Vujadin Boskov, the former Real coach who passed away on Sunday aged 82. The Munich crowd soon saw their dreams of a repeat of last season’s treble of Champions League, Bundesliga and German Cup swept away as Real floored the Bavarians in a devastating first-half spell.

Real needed just 16 minutes to take the lead at the Allianz Arena as Ramos powered home his first header from Luka Modric’s corner to silence the home support.

It was the start of a miserable five minutes for Bayern as centre-back Dante was shown a yellow card for clumsily scything down Ronaldo just before Ramos struck again. When Angel Di Maria swung in a free-kick, centre-back Pepe flicked it on for Ramos to head home his second goal in just four minutes to leave Bayern reeling. Real then compounded Bayern’s misery as Di Maria played Karim Benzema into space and the Frenchman found Bale, who accelerated away.

His pass was drilled home by Ronaldo on 34 minutes, the Portuguese forward breaking the record for most Champions League goals in a campaign, to leave the hosts 3-0 down at the break. Guardiola responded at half-time by swapping Mario Mandzukic for Javi Martinez, abandoning his 4-2-3-1 formation for a 4-2-4 system and pushing Schweinsteiger further forward with Thomas Mueller.

Despite Bayern’s best efforts, Real’s defence held firm and then Ronaldo put the final nail in the holders’ coffin with his second of the game when his freekick went under the Munich wall on 90 minutes.

“This is a big disappointment which we have to analyse, but there is no need to speak ill of what we have achieved over the last two years,” said Bayern captain Philipp Lahm. l

Real Madrid’s Sergio Ramos (C) celebrates scoring his side’s second goal during the Champions League semifinal second leg against Bayern Munich at the Allianz Arena in Munich, southern Germany on Tuesday AP

Pep picks up pieces after Real ‘debacle’ Pep Guardiola has been left picking up the pieces amidst the fall-out from Bayern Munich’s historic 4-0 hammering at home to Real Madrid which dethroned the Champions League holders.

Bayern suffered their heaviest home defeat in European competition on Tuesday, losing the semi-final 5-0 on aggregate, with Guardiola admitting he made mistakes with both his tactics and selection in Munich.

“Debacle” was how chairman KarlHeinz Rummenigge described the defeat and most of the shell-shocked players expressed their “deep disappointment” in the mixed zone.

Germany’s media did not pull their punches.

Bild ran the headline “Real humiliate Guardiola” and Munich-based

his style of football, Guardiola then insisted he was “proud” of what they had achieved this season prior to the Real drubbing.

“We need to think if this is the best system for the players,” said Guardiola, who is under contract until June 2016.

“I made a mistake with the tactics, the trainer wasn’t good today.

“I made a mistake with our tactics.

“We are at the highest level in Europe where such errors are punished.”

Such talk can only come from a head coach who feels secure in his position, but that will change quickly should there be any challenge to Bayern’s position at the top of German football.

Guardiola has the chance to redeem himself on May 17 when holders Bayern face arch-rivals Borussia Dortmund at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium in the German Cup final. l

Spain dreams all-Madrid final

Ronaldo sets sights on Lisbon after scoring record Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo has turned his sights on winning the Champions League in his native Portugal after setting a record for goals scored in a single edition of Europe’s elite club competition.

Ronaldo’s brace in Wednesday’s 4-0 drubbing of holders Bayern Munich, which sent Real through to next month’s final in Lisbon 5-0 on aggregate, took his Champions League tally for the season to 16 in 12 matches.

The 29-year-old had equalled Barcelona forward Lionel Messi’s record of 14 scored in the 2011-12 edition with a goal in the quarter-final first leg against Borussia Dortmund and has 66 overall in 102 appearances.

Former Real striker Raul is the leading marksman with 71 goals, with Messi second on 67.

“I was looking for it (the record) and I knew I needed one goal but I was not going to be mad if it didn’t happen,” Ronaldo told reporters.

“I’m really happy to break the Champions League record but what I want is to win it and we’re very excited,” added the Portugal captain.

“A final is always complicated. It will be in my country and I want to win the Champions League.”

“We showed a very good attitude and we deserved to reach the final,” he said. l

tabloid TZ echoed Rummenigge with “debacle Dahoam”, using the Bavarian word for ‘home’.

Bayern had never previously lost in Europe by more than two goals in Munich and the defeat made a mockery of their dream to become the first team to successfully defend the Champions League title.

Even with their European crown now gone, Guardiola has still won three titles this season and the German Cup can yet be added to their league, Club World Cup and UEFA Super Cup triumphs.

But with their coveted Champions League hopes in tatters, Guardiola has already faced criticism of his fast-passing ‘Tiki-Taka’ football and over reliance on posession after Real hit them on the counter-attack.

Having cryptically questioned whether his players were up to playing

Spain dreamed Wednesday of an unprecedented Madrid derby final to the Champions League, as the nation’s sporting press gloated over Real Madrid’s demolition of the mighty Bayern Munich.

“Worst thrashing in history!” boasted the front-page of Spain’s biggest selling sports daily Marca after Real Madrid wreaked havoc in Munich with a 4-0 away leg win delivering a 5-0 aggregate crushing of Bayern.

Many papers recalled Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge’s prematch warning to Real Madrid that the

German ground would be an “inferno” and “Munich will burn”.

“Rummenigge was right. Munich burned,” ran the front-page headline of Madrid-based sports daily AS after Pep Guardiola’s Bayern suffered their heaviest home defeat in European competition.

“What a night! The best Madrid I can remember in Europe, a night to banish once and for all the phantom of Bayern, to wipe away all the bad times suffered before the Bavarian giants,” said AS football analyst Alfredo Relano.

Real are now one game away from their longed-for, yet elusive “La Decima” – their 10th European title. l

FACTS & STATS Bayern lost by four goals at home in European competition for the very first time The last time Bayern lost a home match with a difference of 4 goals was in 1979 in Bundesliga (0-4 v Bielefeld) Real beaten Bayern Munich on route to their last two Champions League victories Real have reached a CL final for the first time since 2002 Ancelotti has won two of his previous three CL finals as a manager Cristiano Ronaldo has now netted 16 goals this season, the highest tally in a single European Cup or Champions League campaign Sergio Ramos (2) and Cristiano Ronaldo (1) have made 3 touches in Bayern’s box during the first 45 minutes: 3 goals Ancelotti has never lost against Bayern Munich as manager in CL (W5 D2) Bayern beaten Real eight times, more than any other side in CL

Ancelotti close to delivering ‘decima’ In mild-mannered Italian Carlo Ancelotti, Real Madrid president Florentino Perez may finally have found the man capable of sculpting his expensively assembled squad into a unit capable of delivering an elusive 10th European crown.

Ancelotti’s side produced a devastating performance at Bayern Munich on Tuesday to humble the holders 4-0 and advance 5-0 on aggregate to their first Champions League final since they won a record-extending ninth continental title in 2002. l

Juve, Benfica in slugfest for final

Cristiano Ronaldo celebrates scoring the 0-3 and breaking the record for the most goals in a European Cup or Champions League season in Munich, southern Germany on Tuesday AFP

While they close in on retaining the Serie A title, Juventus are confident they can overturn a 2-1 deficit in the second leg of their Europa League semi-final against Benfica on Thursday.

The teams, both two-time European champions in the past, meet at the Juventus Stadium in Turin looking to clinch a place in the final, which will be played at the same venue on May 14.

That is a huge source of motivation for Juve, who are looking for a first European title in 18 years and are eyeing a trophy double after beating

Sassuolo 3-1 on Monday to move to within two points of securing a third consecutive Serie A title.

“We are obviously satisfied with the victory against Sassuolo, but our thoughts move immediately to another important game against Benfica,” said Juve midfielder Claudio Marchisio.

“It will be a difficult match, but we already showed in the first leg that we were up to the task. We will give everything on the field and we are counting on the support of our fans.”

Home advantage could be crucial for Juve, who have not lost in front of their own fans since a 2-0 defeat to Bayern Munich in the Champions League quarter-finals in April last year.

Portuguese champions Benfica hold the slight edge thanks to Lima’s smashing late strike at the Estadio da Luz last Thursday, but Carlos Tevez’s away goal for Juve could be vital.

Jorge Jesus’ Benfica side have been beaten just once in their last 37 matches in all competitions - and that was an ultimately inconsequential defeat to Porto in the first leg of a Portuguese Cup semi-final that the Lisbon club won - but this is set to be their biggest test in a long time.

And Benfica are furious at UEFA for agreeing to open a disciplinary process against their Argentinian midfielder Enzo Perez following a clash with Juve defender Giorgio Chiellini in the first leg. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

QUICK BYTES

Sport

Senna legacy lives on: sister

THE LAST RACE

Salim Malik seeks life ban review Pakistan’s cricket authorities have promised to review the life ban imposed in 2000 on former Test captain Salim Malik for match-fixing, an official said Wednesday. The 51-year-old Malik met Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi to seek to overturn the sanction. Malik was banned for life in May 2000 after an inquiry commission found him guilty of offering bribes to Australian cricketers Shane Warne, Tim May and Mark Waugh to under-perform in matches during Australia’s tour of Pakistan in 1994.

Malik’s name also featured in separate inquiries which resulted in life bans on Mohammad Azharuddin of India and Hansie Cronje of South Africa.

–AFP

England to name WC squad on May 12 England manager Roy Hodgson will reveal his squad for the World Cup on May 12, a day after the Premier League season ends, the Football Association announced on Wednesday. “This will be an important day for Roy and the players ahead of an exciting summer in Brazil,” said Club England managing director Adrian Bevington in a statement.

Hodgson is expected to announce a 23-man squad and name up to seven players on standby in case of injury. The final list of 23 players must be submitted to FIFA on June 2. England have been drawn to face Italy, Uruguay and Costa Rica in World Cup Group D and will open their campaign with a match against the Italians in the Amazonian city of Manaus on June 14.

–AFP

PCB chief backs Misbah as captain Pakistan’s cricket chief on Wednesday backed Misbah-ul-Haq as one-day captain, saying he would lead the side to next year’s World Cup. Chief selector Moin Khan on Tuesday hinted at a possible change of one-day captain, saying discussions were in progress and if there was a consensus, a change could be made. But Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) chairman Najam Sethi gave his support to Misbah, who has led the side in 71 one-day internationals since taking over in May 2011, winning 39 of them. “I stand by my decision to retain Misbah as captain until the World Cup,” Sethi told AFP. Australia and New Zealand co-host the 11th World Cup in February-March next year.

–AFP

Sangakkara excited

by Durham challenge Celebrated Sri Lanka batsman Kumar Sangakkara refused to rule out a return to Durham after being unveiled as the English county side’s latest overseas signing on Wednesday. The left-handed batsman has agreed a short-term twoand-a-half-week contract to join the reigning county champions, but hinted that he is open to a more long-term return in future. “If I can have another year here, where I can be successful, I would love that,” said Sangakkara, who helped his country to lift the World T20 crown earlier this year. “The real key is the relationships that you build up over time. Durham were one of the few counties with an opening for an overseas player. Sangakkara will make his Durham debut in the four-day game against Yorkshire in the County Championship on Sunday.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Thursday Uefa Europa League, SF-Leg 2 1:05AM Ten Action Juventus v Benfica Ten Sports Valencia v Sevilla Sony Six NBA Play Off 2013-14 5:00AM San Antonio v Dallas 7:30AM Houston v Portland Friday Sony Six Indian Premier League 8:30PM Chennai v Kolkata NBA Play-off 2013-14 6:00AM Oklahoma City v Memphis 8:30AM La Clippers v Golden State Star Sports 4 La Liga 1:00AM Rayo Vallecano v Athletic Bilbao

15

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Brazilian F1 driver Ayrton Senna concentrates in the pits on May 1, 1994 before the start of the San Marino Grand Prix in Imola. Senna died after crashing in the seventh lap AFP

Viviane Senna recalls a conversation she had with her brother, motor racing legend Ayrton, in March 1994. He told her how he wanted to contribute to a better future for Brazil by helping to open up opportunities for children.

Weeks later, aged just 34, he was dead, killed in a May 1 crash at Imola in Italy which shocked Formula One to the core.

Viviane, who now chairs the Ayrton Senna Institute, told AFP in a telephone interview that the values her brother transmitted to Brazilians earned him a mythical status she says is deserved.

“He turned in incredible performances in this sport, making him one of the all-time best, though I don’t think that suffices to explain his ongoing importance 20 years later.

“What is remarkable is the way he won, performance aside.

“He did so adhering to values which people still admire – discipline, tenacity, persistance, passion, courage ... I think Ayrton rose above the celebrity fray.

“He is in a mythical category, transcending time and space,” Viviane asserts of a man who won three world

Senna more life than death The helicopter swoops down, its television camera following the lines of a sunlit track below, as the words ‘San Marino GP, Imola’ appear on screen.

Twenty years on from the fatal accidents of Formula One great Ayrton Senna and Austrian Roland Ratzenberger at the Italian circuit, the moment in the award-winning documentary ‘Senna’ still makes the heart beat faster.

What followed on that 1994 weekend, and particularly on May 1 when the Brazilian crashed his Williams, is as familiar to most F1 fans as the waving of a chequered flag.

For screenwriter and executive producer Manish Pandey, who will attend a showing of his 2010 film in Imola this week as part of events marking the anniversary, the focus will be more on marking an extraordinary life than a tragic death.

In an interview with Reuters, he recalled how director Asif Kapadia asked him early on what he wanted to achieve with the film.

“I said ‘My big ambition for the film is whether you know what happened to him or don’t know what happened to him, you forget for a while’,” Pandey said.

“And that’s where I think the film is very successful. Even if you know, you get so caught up in it you kind of forget.

And then when it suddenly says Imola everyone knows and it hits them very hard.”

Imola, Pandey said, was not a weekend he particularly wanted to remember and nor was it one to be taken out of context.

“You can’t tell people how great a something is lost, whether it’s humanity or talent or whatever you want to describe it as, until you show people what that was in the first place,” he said.

“I think a less salubrious film maker

Ayrton Senna: a Formula 1 legend Teams

Debut in F1: Brazil 1984

161 Grand Prix entered

80

Podiums

1

65

Pole positions

19

Fastest laps

Toleman (1984)

41 3 23 16 2

World Drivers Championship ranking 1st

2nd

3rd

4th

(1988, (1989, (1987) (1985, 1990, 1993) 1986, 1991) 1992)

9th (1984)

Hamilton, Alonso salute legacy of tragic Senna Lewis Hamilton and Fernando Alonso have paid emotional tributes to Ayrton Senna on the 20th anniversary of the death of the maverick Brazilian superstar and three-time world champion.

Senna, widely regarded as the greatest racing driver of all time, died when his car careered off the Imola track in the early stages of the San Marino Grand Prix on May 1, 1994.

He was 34 years old.

It was Formula One’s blackest weekend which also saw Austrian rookie Roland Ratzenberger killed and Senna’s compatriot Rubens Barrichello injured.

“When I was a kid I had all the books, all the videos, he was the driver I looked up to,” said Hamilton, who was just nine at the time of Senna’s death.

“He inspired me to be a driver and on the day of his passing, his death was... it was very difficult for me to show my emotions so I went off to a quiet place and it was very difficult for several days to really... your hero’s gone.”

Senna, the outspoken world champion of 1988, 1990 and 1991, was leading in San Marino on lap seven when his Williams car veered spectacularly off the racing line at 190mph (307km/h) at the Tamburello corner and straight into a concrete wall.

He received emergency treatment at the scene before being airlifted to Bologna hospital where he was later declared dead.

“He was an incredible legend. You like to think that one day you may be recognised as someone that was able to drive similarly to him,” added Hamilton, the 2008 world champion. l

Fahad continues winning streak in int’l school chess Fide Master Mohammad Fahad Rahman, Rafshan Bin Omar, Arka Sengupta of India, Akib Jawad and Subrata Biswas registered their second consecutive victory in the Open Group section of the Mohammedan International School Chess Championship yesterday.

Fahad, the youngest Fide Master of the country, defeated Muhit while Rafshan beat Kungsuk. Arka and Akib beat Miraj and Rabbi respectively in the second round.

Arpita Mukharjee and Asmita Das of India and Fatematuzzohora Sraboni of Bibi Marium School won their respec-

may well have just gone for the death of Ayrton Senna. I’m really glad that we went for his life.”

The producer said that, for him, the most emotional moment of the film was not Imola but Senna’s victory at his home grand prix at Interlagos in 1991 - the champion’s first win in Brazil. Senna, who had to be lifted out of his McLaren after taking the chequered flag with only sixth gear still functioning, declared afterwards: “God gave me this race”.

“You see a man at the very top of his game, you see the drama of what it is

tive second round games in girls’ class 6-10 group with two points each. Sayantan Mukharjee of India, Mehrabuddin Ahmed, Moshtafa Amir Faysal, Nova Tasha and Dihan Mashroor Niloy earned maximum two points each in the boys’ class 5-7 group.

Jannatul Ferdous, Jarifa Nawer Rahman, Rumaisa Hasnat and Mayabi Marzan earned victories in the girls’ class 3-5. Abdullah Al Raihan Saikat, Ramim Ahmed, Denial Murad and Niloy Mitra Barua earned maximum two points each in the boys’ class 3-4 group while Tahsin Tajwar Zia, Swarnova Choudhury, Sultan Z Yasin and Mushfiqur Rahman Tamim won their matches in the kids section (KG-class 2). l

Lotus (1985-1987)

Brazilian born Sao Paulo (1960-1994)

McLaren (1988-1993)

Williams (1994)

First victory: Portugal 1985 (Lotus) Last victory: Australia 1993 (McLaren-Ford)

1 May 1994: killed in an accident at the San Marino Grand Prix

titles to impose his mark on the history of the sport while also putting Brazil in the limelight.

“Ayrton was very important in terms of the moment he triumphed -- at the time Brazil was not well regarded or fashionable as it is today.

“People saw Brazil as a country of theft and fraud and not worth much, with myriad problems and one that did not function well economically, socially or politically. “In that sense, Ayrton was the first to feel pride in being Brazilian and lifting the Brazilian flag” on the podium.

“What’s more, he scored victories in the developed world. He won over there without cheating, with tenacity and determination, and that’s what makes him a source of inspiration for today,” she asserted. On his continuing legacy, she added his fame endures even in countries outside Formula One’s race orbit.

“Once, I received a letter from a child in Latvia who told me he had stuck a photo of Ayrton on his cupboard door and that every day when he got up he looked at it and told himself: ‘I am going to fight as you did, not let go, and overcome the difficulties I am going through.” l

Death timeline Friday, April 29

to be a motor racing driver...there the context of Imola is properly defined,” said Pandey.

“You can see what he did, what he went through to win that race and what the stakes were and what the context was. He couldn’t come second in that race. Not this year. He had to win it and it didn’t matter what was taken out of him.”

A qualified orthopaedic surgeon, who established an immediate rapport with the late Formula One medical delegate Professor Sid Watkins, Pandey saw Senna race only three times in his life and never met him. But he was hooked nonetheless.

“I was brought up a Hindu and those values are very important to me. For me the whole film is a metaphor about man’s struggle to find God. But not to find God in another universe but on this earth....it’s a spiritual struggle,” he said.

“Professor Sid Watkins said he (Senna) had an inner peace. Because he could take the cigarette companies, the oil companies, the fumes, the smoke, the girls, all of that noise and just transform it into this thing that was so sublime.

“This man right on the very edge, just doing something better than anyone else had ever done before. And doing it day after day, keeping that edge. That for me is what the film was about.” l

In the first qualifying session, Jordan driver Rubens Barrichello hits a kerb at the Variante Bassa corner at 140 mph (225 km/h). He is knocked unconscious while his car comes to rest upside down.

After treatment at the Imola medical centre and Bologna’s Maggiore Hospital, the Brazilian returns to the track nursing a broken arm and nose. He does not race over the weekend.

Saturday, April 30 Austrian driver Roland Ratzenberger fails to negotiate the Villeneuve curva in his Simtek and crashes into a concrete barrier wall head-on. The force of the crash causes a basal skull fracture. Ratzenberger is airlifted to Maggiore Hospital where he dies from multiple injuries. It is the first Formula One race weekend fatality since the 1982 Canadian Grand Prix when Riccardo Paletti was killed.

Sunday, May 1 The start of the race sees the cars of Pedro Lamy and JJ Lehto collide on the grid leading to deployment of safety car to allow debris to be removed. The cars proceeded under the safety car for five laps. On lap seven, Senna’s Williams car leaves the track at 190 mph (310 km/h) at the Tamburello corner and careers into a concrete barrier. Senna is airlfited to Maggiore Hospital but he pronounced dead at 6:40pm local time. l

Senna, a man who really cared Ayrton Senna da Silva: is his legacy to be recalled in statistics or memories?

Numbers on a page or emotions stirred? Sporting supremacy – or rare humanity?

The stories of his on-track talent, the utter determination and all-consuming passion are well chronicled. Indeed, 161 Grands Prix, 64 pole positions and 87 front row starts reflect all that. To cap it all off 42 Grands Prix victories and three world titles - in 1988, 1990 and 1991.

His fierce rivalry with McLarenHonda team-mate Alain Prost, concern for drivers’ safety and the humility that was so visible with children and ordinary motor racing fans confirm the passion and personality of a man whose death 20 years ago, in 1994, will be remembered again, and so vividly, on May 1.

That afternoon, at Imola, capped a tragic, black weekend at the San Marino Grand Prix, where he started his final race from pole position.

Saturday’s qualifying had brought the brutal death of Austrian Roland Ratzenberger, a shock that sent a shudder of apprehension and misery through an overcrowded paddock.

Friday had seen Senna rush to the bedside of his protégé Rubens Barrichello, then only 21 and in his second season of Formula One, after he had survived a massive airborne crash during afternoon practice. It was the first huge shock. And Sunday delivered more.

But in this anniversary year, as Honda prepare their comeback, it is Senna the man that many, including this correspondent, will remember: the smiles, jokes and kindnesses that were a part of his unique charisma

along with the intensity and singleminded passion.

Memory can play tricks on us, but not when so many remember the same things at the same place.

In a rush at the Hungaroring in 1987, he stopped to answer a question with a serious frown. In Lotus overalls, he smiled and then ran on to catch lost time.

Later that year, at Monza, he shuffled shyly in slanting late-summer sunshine as he stood with Prost at a McLaren announcement to confirm the formation of a dream team - Prost and Senna, McLaren and Honda.

In Paris, where the sport’s ruling body celebrated 500 Grands Prix, he agreed to sign, for my son, a menu printed for the occasion. ‘Joshua?

How do you spell that?’ he asked after mistaking the name for George, more common in English at the time. He duly signed and remembered. l

Khagrachari and Gaibandha win in women’s football Khagrachari beat Noakhali by 2-0 goals in the KFC National Women’s Football at the Laxmipur stadium yesterday. Eli Pru Marma scored both the goals in the 11th and 21st minutes to seal the win for Khagrachari.

Meanwhile, Gaibandha defeated Joypurhat by 3-1 goals in the shoot-out after the stipulated time ended goalless at Rajshahi stadium Tithy, Saleha and Mitu of Gaibandha scored from the spot for the winners.

The 43 team KFC National Women’s Football Championship is sponsored by global fast-food franchise KFC who has provided a purse of tk. 1.5 million. l An action from the match between Joypurhat and Gaibandha in the KFC women’s football yesterday COURTESY

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Thursday, May 1, 2014

TIB: BTCL a house of corruption Tk2,000 crore corruption every year at the state-owned telecom company produce the machine-generated call ren Muhammad Zahidul Islam cords for international calls in 2011-12, State-owned telecom company BTCL is becoming a house of corruption, since crores of taka are being drained out of the company ever year, claimed Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB), yesterday.

The watchdog said government-backed musclemen and politically influential persons, in collusion with BTCL officials, were involved in corruption worth around Tk2,000 crore, every year.

“Corruption and irregularities of the BTCL is happening openly,” said Iftekharuzzaman, executive director of the TIB, while releasing a report titled “BTCL: Challenges of Good Governance and Way Forward” at a press conference in the capital’s Brac Centre Inn. He said proper plans and regulations were absent when the government restructured the Bangladesh Telegraph and Telephone Board (BTTB) into the Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) as a company.

“Although it was believed that after forming a company, the BTCL will be efficient and profitable, but the reality says something different,” Iftekharuzzaman said.

Recommendations placed by the TIB included reducing the Telecom Ministry’s interference in the BTCL, facilitating the employees, and the formation of proper rules and regulations.

“We also recommend that the government should merge the stare-run telecom companies Teletalk, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company [BSCCL] and BTCL for better governance,” Iftekharuzzaman added.

According to the findings of the TIB, the company lost Tk1,500 crore because of call record tampering, as it showed only 5.79 billion call minutes instead of the original 8.5 billion minutes.

The TIB also said the BTCL failed to

because of corruption among thw officials of the BTCL and Telecom Ministry.

While presenting the findings, TIB researcher Dipu Roy said the BTCL officials were tampering call records, facilitating the private companies with logistics beyond authorisation, engaging in illegal VoIP business and renting BTCL-owned land to other people.

“Currently, the private and foreign carriers have sent outstanding bills to the BTCL worth Tk965 crore, of which the company will never be able to pay back even Tk500 crore since the officials are facilitating the private firms,” she added.

They added that the post and telecom minister and other senior ministry officials were using cars taken from the BTCL and there was a huge misappropriation of funds regarding this.

Only 60% of the total expenditure on maintenances and operation was spent on real claims, according to the TIB. Dipu said the pool car drivers were also renting the vehicles to private car renting companies.

“The drivers are getting Tk15,000 every alternative month for repairs,” she said.

In the report, Dipu alleged that the BTCL officials were involved in illegal VoIP business by dodging the telecom regulator’s monitoring system.

Dipu also said the government should take initiatives to make the BTCL a public limited company in six months time.

M Hafizuddin Khan, TIB member and adviser to the immediate past interim government, said corruption had increased after the formation of BTCL as a company.

“I was a telecom secretary 16 years back and at that time, the BTTB was more profitable than the BTCL is now.

There was corruption also back then, but now it has increased,” he said. l

May Day today

Shiuli blooming in summer!

n UNB

n Parimal Mazumdar

The historic May Day will be observed in the country as elsewhere across the world today with a fresh vow to establish the rights of workers.

The May Day, also known as International Workers’ Solidarity Day, commemorates the historic uprising of working people in Chicago, USA, at the height of a prolonged fight for an eighthour workday.

Trade unions and professional groups have taken up various programmes to observe the day to press for improving the working conditions with better wages for the workers and job security.

On the occasion, the Labour and Employment Ministry will arrange a discussion at Osmani Smriti Auditorium in the capital at 10am today. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will be present as the chief guest at the discussion to be held with State Minister for Labour Mujibul Haque Chunnu in the chair.

The ministry will also bring out a rally at 7am from Shram Bhaban, which will end in front of the Jatiya Press Club.

Besides, two seminars will be held on May 4 at the Jatiya Press Club, marking the May Day. State Minister Mujibul Haque Chunnu will be the chief guest at the two seminars to be held at 10am and 4pm respectively.

Meanwhile, the premier will address a rally in Gazipur today on the occasion of the historic day.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina have issued separate messages ahead of the day.

On May 1, 1886, at least 10 workers were killed when police opened fire on a demonstration in Chicago near Hay Market. The demonstration was staged demanding an eight-hour working day instead of a 12-hour shift. On the height of agitation, the authorities had to accept the workers’ demand and the eight-hour day has been introduced universally.

On July 14, 1889 in Paris, an international workers’ rally declared May 1 as the International Workers Solidarity Day in recognition of the Chicago workers’ sacrifice and achievement and since 1890, the day has been observed globally as the International Workers Solidarity Day. l

It is summer and yet Shukur Mahmud and Aleya Khatun wake up every morning thinking it is just anoth-

Shiuli, a flower that usually blooms in Autumn, has bloomed in summer in Kurigram because of the recent climate change trends. The photo was taken on Tuesday DHAKA TRIBUNE

A motorcyclist defies the signal of an oncoming train and ducks through the iron bar at the Karwan Bazar rail crossing in the capital yesterday. Earlier on Tuesday, three people were killed when a train rammed a bus in Dhaka. However, people continue to risk their lives by ignoring the signal, only to save a few minutes MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Prosecution for policy to cover war crime trials n Udisa Islam

International Crimes Tribunal prosecutor Tureen Afroz sought the formulation of a media policy on how to cover its proceedings, yesterday.

During the hearing on a contempt allegation against Channel 24 over comments made by participants of a talk show, she said: “When we have many directives on how to act on women issues or violence, then why not for the International Crimes Tribunal?”

Following the hearing, the tribunal 1 led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim set June 12 for the passing of an order whether the contempt proceedings would start or not.

On September 26 last year, responding to a prosecution plea, the tribunal asked eight persons including the top management of private television

er autumn day. That’s because they wake to the mind-blowing smell of Shiuli.

The couple remain astonished that Shiuli, an autumnal flower, is blooming in this summer season.

Freedom Fighter Shukur Mahmud, a retired professor told the reporter that he had planted a Shiuli tree around eight years ago. The flower blooms every autumn, since two years after he planted it.

But in this summer season, the flower has been blooming every day for a month and it is shed in the early hours of every day.

Aleya Khatun, a school teacher by profession, thinks that the tree must have misread the weather as autumnal weather has been prevailing in these summer nights. Whatever the case is, the couple has been enjoying this rare incident of nature.

The couple’s home has been showered with a lot of visitors after the news of this unusual incident spread.

Bipradas Barua, a flower researcher, said it might happen due to the cool weather and dewfall during the night in that region. l

frullah himself submitted a written reply and asked for his acquittal from the charge. He also urged the tribunal to allow him to read out the reply.

He claimed, sticking to his position, that he had expressed his views as he had the right to freedom of speech.

He said several times: “I did not commit any offence by making an open statement.”

The tribunal then criticised him for his language: “We respect you for your work but in your reply you have written the name of a judge without prefacing it with ‘Justice.’ We did not expect this from you.

“The language you used is alright for your living room, but when you are replying against a contempt notice, you should be sincere about it.”

Tureen Afroz then submitted that an apology must come from the heart, not from the pen. She mentioned about

BAF training plane catches fire in Ctg n Tushar Hayat, Chittagong

Boy returned to mother’s lap after 16 days

A training aircraft of Bangladesh Air Force caught fire while landing at the Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong, yesterday.

Chittagong Airport Manager Wing Commander Nur-e-Alam told the Dhaka Tribune that the fire started in the plane’s landing gear when the pilot was landing the aircraft at the airport around 12:23pm. The pilot, Flight Lieutenant Adib, managed to evacuate himself using the ejector switch, he added.

“We managed to douse the fire soon after the incident,” the airport manager said, adding that the pilot sustained minor injuries and was rushed to the hospital immediately.

Mohammed Mizanur Rahman, additional deputy commissioner (immigration) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police at the airport, said two units of the fire brigade had been deployed to douse the fire.

Sources at the Jahurul Hoque Base of BAF said the fire started due to a technical glitch. However, no official comment was available regarding with the incident. l

Man gets death penalty for killing pregnant wife n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Chittagong court sentenced a man to death and fined him Tk1 lakh yesterday for killing his pregnant wife in 2010 for dowry.

The court also ordered Chittagong district collector to collect the fine within six months from the defence side and hand over the money to the victim’s family, said court sources.

Judge Md Rezaul Karim of Women and Children Repression Prevention Tribunal 1 gave the verdict when the accused, Fazle Karim, 38, was presented before the court, the sources said.

Advocate Chandan Talukder, prosecutor in the tribunal, told the Dhaka Tribune that the court had sentenced the death penalty to the accused under

section 11 (A) of Women and Children Repression Prevention Act as the allegation against him was proved beyond reasonable doubt.

The convict was sent to the Chittagong Central Jail after the verdict, he said.

According to the case document, Fazle, of Pashchim Boroghona village of the Banshkhali upazila in Chittagong, had tortured his wife, Bilkis Akhter, of the same village, for dowry since their wedding in 2009.

On June 21, 2010, the convict beat a pregnant Bilkis to death in his residence demanding a dowry of Tk2 lakh.

He had attempted to establish the murder as suicide by pouring poison into Bilkis’s mouth, which was discov-

some linguistic faults in the reply. She also criticised the sentence where Zafrullah stated that freedom fighters do not fear to be tried but get angry about facing intentional allegations.

The prosecutor said freedom of expression had some limitations too.

Tajul Islam, counsel for Mahfuz, submitted that his client just said a few words at the show following Zafrullah’s speech.

Tureen claimed that Tajul’s statement was not true as his client had made some comments too.

Asaduzzaman, counsel for Channel 24, submitted that in a live programme they have nothing to do. But acknowledging the matter, they apologised.

Tureen then raised the issue of media policy, mentioning that every live programme did not have the some policy to run it. l

Channel 24 to explain why contempt proceedings should not be initiated for airing the “scandalous” talk show titled “Muktobaak” on September 18.

Talk show participants Zafrullah Chowdhury of Gonoshasthaya and Mahfuz Ullah of the Centre for Sustainable Development made comments about the case against war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury while his trial was underway.

In the order, the tribunal asked the two participants to appear before the court in person. The six others were asked to submit written explanations.

Zafrullah and Mahfuz appeared at the tribunal in person yesterday, along with other parties. Except for Zafrullah, everyone made unconditional apologies for doing anything that the tribunal may consider as contempt.

Without engaging a lawyer, Za-

ered during the post-mortem, according to the case document.

Jannat Khatun, Bilkis’s mother, filed a case before the tribunal accusing five persons including the convict on August 2, 2010 after receiving the post-mortem report. Banshkhali police took the First Information Report on September 8, 2010 after completing judicial investigation according to the order of the tribunal.

Later, police submitted a charge sheet against Fazle before the tribunal on March 22, 2011. The court framed charges against the lone accused on September 18, 2012.

The court sentenced the verdict after taking statements of 10 prosecution and two defence witnesses at the trial. l

n Mohammad Jamil Khan Police have returned a six-year-old boy to his mother after rescuing him from abductors. He was held for 16 days.

Kadamtali police recovered Mohammad Mizan and handed him over to his family yesterday, said Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media and publication) of the DMP. He said Mizan was abducted on April 14 as the nation was celebrating Pahela Baishakh.

Police also arrested four people in connection with the abduction – Joy Ahmed Sujon, 22; Shafiqul Islam, 36; Rafiqul Islam Rasel, 19; and Rahima Akther Rahi, 28. They planned the abduction for days in order to get the ransom money, the DC said while addressing a media briefing.

Mizan lives in Jurain, Alambagh, with his mother Sajeda Akther. His father Shahin Mollah is an expatriate in Oman. The mastermind of the abduction, Sujon, used to visit Mizan’s house with Rahi, Mizan’s paternal aunt.

On April 14, Sujon went to the house to chat with Mizan and at one point took the boy outside, saying he would buy him toys. Rasel was waiting on the ground floor of the building and as Mizan, accompanied by Sujon, came

down, he was taken to Tongi.

While in Tongi, Sujon contacted his relative Shafiq and introduced Mizan to him as his nephew. Sujon, who said Mizan’s mother had died, urged Shafiq to take Mizan to a place where the boy could get some fresh air.

Shafiq took Mizan to Faridpur and kept him at the house of his father-inlaw Hafiz Chowdhury. The boy stayed there for 11 days and Sujon gave Shafiq Tk500 every day to take care of the boy.

Meanwhile, the abductors demanded a ransom of Tk1,000,000 from Mizan’s family and threatened that they would kill him if the money was not paid.

Kadamtali police, along with members of the Detective Branch of police, were investigating the abduction and nabbed Rahi in Shibchar.

Based on Rahi’s information which she revealed during interrogation, police arrested Sujon and others and rescued Mizan from Faridpur.

“For a few days, they tortured me but then became friendly. I was given a bat and ball to play with. They also gave me food whenever I demanded but would beat me if I wanted to know about my mother,” Mizan told the Dhaka Tribune. l

Mizan’s mother embraces him after law enforcers handed him over to her

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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

B3 IMF says Russia is in recession

B4 Social Business: Changing how world does business

IMPROVING LABOUR & FACTORY STANDARDS

New idea floated to build fund with tariffs Bangladesh pays to US n Tribune Report An idea was floated in a Dhaka seminar to create a fund for financing factory upgrading and general improvement in working standards in Bangladesh.

The fund is proposed to be built up on the tariffs Bangladesh pays the US and other tariff-imposing countries.

Bangladesh pays $850m or so of tariffs to export garments to the US market.

“They (the fund) could be used for measures which improve worker welfare in developing countries,” Bangladesh Bank Chief Economist Hassan Zaman floated the idea at SAARC finance seminar held in Dhaka on Tuesday.

He raised the issue a day before local trade experts urged the government yesterday to appoint lobbyists to try getting the duty-free and quota free (DFQF) market access in the US. They raised the issue after the USTR made it clear after the maiden meeting of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (Ticfa) in Dhaka on Monday that the issue should be settled in the World Trade Organisation (WTO).

Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) had earlier appointed lobbyists for about a three-year period since 2005, but their success was limited to only raising a bill in the US congress seeking the DFQF. The “expensive” efforts had yielded no positive results for Bangladesh.

“The first best principle is to allow DFQF, and the developing countries like Bangladesh should keep pressing for this,” Zaman told the seminar.

At the same time, he said: “Why can’t this $850m, or even a portion of that, be placed by the US in a fund which finances factory upgrading?”

This “Tariffs for Standards” fund could be administered by a third party such as the World Bank by collecting contributions not only from the US but from other tariff-imposing countries too, he added.

The argument for this fund, he added, is strengthened by the fact that aid from the US to Bangladesh has only averaged $150 million in the last five years – so contrast that to the $850 million “we are contributing to the US Treasury.”

He said this type of fund has been set up for different initiatives in the past such as 15 years ago when developed countries contributed to a fund which reduced the external debt levels of low income countries and there are other examples. “The issue of labor and factory standards is now as important as debt relief was back then.”

The central bank chief economist personally pitched the idea at a meeting between Commonwealth countries and G20 representatives two weeks ago, before placing it at the seminar in Dhaka.

He stressed the need for even higher level concerted advocacy, and recommended the idea to take up by the SAARC to the likes of the G20.

BGMEA President M Atiqul Isalm and former president Annisul Huq urged the government to appoint lobbyists to deal with the Generalised System of Preferences (GSP) suspended by the US government.

They raised the issue at the first meeting of the business advisory committee of the Commerce Ministry at the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) in Dhaka yesterday, with Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed in the chair.

Aftabul Islam of American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in  B3 COLUMN 1

Ghulam: Achieving 22% growth in revenue collection ‘challenging job’ n Tribune Report The National Board of Revenue (NBR) Chairman Md Ghulam Hussain has said achieving the tax revenue target worth Tk149,000, crore with a 22% growth set for the fiscal year 2014-15 will be a challenging job.

The NBR has to fulfill the revenue collection through establishing a bridge by offering more benefits for the businesses to collect more revenue from them, NBR chief told a pre-budget meeting held on Tuesday at the NBR headquarters in the capital.

“We have to set a five-year long revenue collection plan for the government. This year, we have to collect Tk149,000 crore, which will be doubled to Tk300,000 crore in the concluding year of this government,” he said.

“Although the tax base was minimal earlier, we have to push it up to a now height and also have to work hard together to achieve the target.

As we are dreaming to become a mid-income country within 2021, we need to have more tax contribution as the dream will never come true without achieving the target of highest revenue collection.”

Regarding the government’s different policies, Ghulam Rahman said the government should work for encouraging businesses to invest more in the domestic market.

“As the existing policy structure encourages businesses to launder money abroad, many companies and people are siphoning money abroad.

There have been so many incident of money laundering cases while few of them were traced out and most of them remain untraced,” said Hussain.

The government should encourage the businesses to invest for the development of different domestic industries, which will need policy support as well, he added.

The NBR chief urged the businessmen to raise their voices at the consultative committee meeting to be held on May 8, for pressing home their demands on investment policies and environment friendly businesses.

“We are yet to achieve one-fourth of our development goal, which should be achieved fully in the last 42 years. Bangladesh is even still lagging behind Myanmar in terms of achieving economic growth.”

The government has been providing many facilities for the betterment of the readymade garments sector as it has employed over 40lakh people and over 43 other sectors and services are directly or indirectly depends on the garments businesses, he said.

“I have discussed with the Prime Minister and finance minister as both of them had earlier asked me to think about some dynamic and productive plans for earning more revenues,” he said.

Coming down heavily on traditional education, he urged the people not to stick to the existing traditional education system. Rather he suggested for choosing technical education, which will be ultimately helpful for them to get a support in getting a job abroad. l

THURSDAY, MAY 1, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Bangladesh ranked world's 6th least expensive economy n Tahmidur Rahman Bangladesh has been ranked 172nd expensive economy out of 177 countries, according to a new World Bank report released yesterday.

The country scored 40.3 on the Price Level Indexes (PLIs) whereas the most expensive economy scored 209.6 based on the ratio of nominal expenditures to real expenditures in terms of US dollar.

Ahead by only 1.4 points, the neighbouring country India ranked 171 with Pakistan falling behind to number 176 with a score of 36.4 points.

Economies falling at the bottom of the PLIs are the ones with the lowest prices, still having a gross domestic product (GDP) per capita among the smallest in the world even though the purchasing power parity-based (PPP) real expenditures are more than double the exchange rate–based nominal expenditures within these countries.

PPP is the measure of an identical goods in different economies using the same currency to observe how much more expensive is the same elsewhere in the world.

Apart from PLIs, the report also

mentioned Bangladesh being the 144th position in a ranking by PPP-based GDP per capita, meaning per citizen of the country.

According to World Bank data, Bangladesh had a GDP per capital of $731.9 in 2011 while PPP-based GDP per capital was around $2,000 during the same year.

Compared to the last time the research was done in 2005, middle-income countries gained a bigger share of the world economy at the expense of both high and low-income peers.

The report said: “Middle income economies’ share of global GDP is 48% when using PPPs and 32% when using exchange rates.”

Such phenomenon is seen in the economies, whose linkage to the global trade is not at its most fluent and therefore the gap between PPP-based and currency-based GDP per capital differs significantly, said Shahidul Islam, a chartered financial analyst and CEO of VIPB Asset Management Co Ltd. According to the ranking, products in India are generally more expensive than in Bangladesh while cheaper in Pakistan.

The International Comparison

Program (ICP), the world's largest statistical initiative has released new data yesterday, showing the world economy produced goods and services worth over $90tn in 2011 based on PPP which was $70tn if measured by exchange rates, out of which, Bangladesh has contributed $111.88bn.

Almost half the world’s $90.6tn in total economic output in 2011 came from low- and middle-income coun-

tries, the World Bank said.

Switzerland and Norway are the world's most expensive economies, followed by Bermuda, Australia and Denmark.

The economies with the lowest prices are Egypt, Pakistan, Myanmar, Ethiopia and Laos, according to the review of economic data, which seeks to compensate for exchange rate effects and measure spending power across countries. l

PMO forms body Business urges government to to probe SOEs remove FDI barriers privatisation n Tribune Report deals n Tribune Report

The government has formed a 5-member committee to examine the legal process of privatising the state-owned enterprises and see whether the deals complied with the law, officials said.

Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) issued a circular yesterday of forming the committee.

PMO Director General-1 has been made chairman of the committee while four other members are from ministries of textile and jute, and law, PMO and Privatisation Commission.

The committee has been asked to examine the deals, particularly under the Ministry of Textile and Jute. l

NBR: Undisclosed money should be relaxed for investment n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The government should relax the conditions to allow undisclosed money not only for investing in setting up new industries but also for preventing money laundering abroad.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) chairman Md Ghulam Hussain yesterday came up with the observation while addressing a pre-budget discussion with the Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) held at the NBR headquarters in the capital.

Many developed countries have gone far away in terms of financial and social development, just allowing undisclosed money in investments with trouble-free conditions, whereas Bangladesh lacks in such facilities, said NBR chief.

“Since there have been tougher conditions for allowing undisclosed money in investment, the wealthy people are now busy in siphoning off those black money abroad.’’

“The money was supposed to be used in developing industries in Bangladesh but other countries are developing their industries with the money laundered from Bangladesh.

The country is not only losing the money but also being deprived from a scope of creating new jobs,” he said.

The NBR chairman made the response while ERF former general secretary Abu Kawsar proposed the NBR to allow investment of undisclosed money with 2% penalty and also relax the conditions to evade money laundering from the country.  B3 COLUMN 5

The local businessmen urged the government to remove all the barriers in doing business to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) in the country and attain higher growth.

They urged the government to provide gas, water and electricity connections, lower lending rates, ease tariff and tax system, removing double taxation, and provide land for setting up factories to make the RMG sector compliant through relocation.

They made the appeal in the first meeting of Business Advisory Committee, formed to recommend finance minister to expand and develop the country’s trade and commerce.

“I will talk to finance minister and form sector-based committees to identify problems and find out effective solutions,” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said, in response.

He said the government would take all necessary steps to keep prices of essentials at a reasonable level during the holy month of Ramadan, he added.

Former BGMEA president Annisul Haque it is quite impossible to make the RMG sector compliant with relocation. The government should manage land for factory relocation, he added.

He said small factory owners do not have enough fund to relocate factories

and that’s why the government should allocate fund to provide loan at lower rate.

He also urged the government to provide gas connection to those factories immediately, which already has built buildings and imported machinery, but cannot go for production due lack of power connection.

Aftabul Islam of American Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Bangladesh urged the government to enact coal policy to remove the power crises as there are enough coals in the mine through which country’s demands can be met. The public private partnership exists only in the papers. It should be activated to expedite the investment, he added.

BGMEA President M Atiqul Islam urged the government to provide lands at Korea EPZ to the factory owners of Chittagong as they are doing business in shared buildings.

Mir Nasir Hossain, managing director of Mir Group, urged the government to include the country’s think tanks in research for the development of business and to strengthen the WTO cell of Commerce Ministry, Bangladesh Tariff Commission and Bangladesh Foreign Trade Institute to ease the process of doing business.

“We have several times raised our problems, but were not addressed,”

said Tapan Chowdhury, president of Bangladesh Employers Federation, adding entrepreneurs are being harassed in the name of environmental issues and others.

Former FBCCI President Ak Azad urged the government to provide agriculture loan at lower rate, particularly for the jute sector, as the sector is struggling.

If all the facilities, including export development fund (EDF) provided to the apparel sector, is provided to the other sector, it will help diversify products and increase exports, said Saiful Islam, chairman of Western Marine Shipyard.

Exporters Association of Bangladesh (EAB) President Abdus Salam Murshedy demanded unified exchange rate for the exporters and to keep allocation in the national budget for construction of deep sea port as the exporters have to chase lead time.

Yousuf Abdullah Harun, former president of FBCCI, suggested the government to form sub-committee to identify problems and take initiative to resolve the problems with combined efforts in collaboration with all ministries.

“We have enough supply of essentials and the prices would remain stable during Ramadan,” said Mostofa Kamal, chairman of Meghna Group. He urged the consumers not to buy in bulk before Ramadan. l

Job creation main challenge for SME n Tribune Report

Employment generation is the key challenge for the country’s Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sector as more than two million young people are joining the labour force every year.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman yesterday made this observation while inaugurating an international seminar on “Sustainable SME Development in Bangladesh,’’ held in CIRDAP auditorium in the capital.

The seminar was jointly organised

by Bangladesh Bank, Cirdap, BIBM and Midas (UK) in association of Prime Bank, Trust Bank and Islami Bank.

Attending the seminar panelists discussed on two key-note papers titled “Cluster, Technology & Innovation: Global Perspective and relevance of Bangladesh” and “Making SME Financing Sustainable and Profitable: Indian Experiences.”

The moderator of the panel discussion was Dhaka University Professor Sayed Munir Khasru and Bangladesh Institute of Bank Management (BIBM) Director General Dr. Toufic Ahmed Chowdhury. High officials from the central bank, different banks and financial institutions, other national and international institutions attended the seminar.

Sustained inclusive economic growth is the key to job creation, poverty reduc-

tion and journey towards achieving the goal of middle income country by this decade. As we are not a highly industrialised country, we need to rely on our capacity to create employment and self-employment at the lower end of our economy’’ said BB Governor in his inaugural speech.

“To achieve this objective, we should focus on SMEs, which are considered to be the backbone of our economy. Bangladesh has selected SME development as a strategic priority for industrial and economic growth,” he added.

He also noted that the major advantage of the SME sector was its potentiality in creating new jobs at low-cost capital investment.

“Bangladesh is facing the challenge of attaining sustainable economic growth by dealing with high population growth, high rates of unemployment

and poverty reduction,” he added.

SME lending portfolio of banks are steadily growing while lending to productive and labor intensive businesses, to cottage, micro and small segment and to women entrepreneurs are on the increasing trend.

In 2010 when BB started this focused SME financing initiative SME loan portfolio in the banking sector was 21% of the total loan where as at the end of 2013 the portfolio increased to 24%, according to the central bank.

Total lending to SME sector increased by 59% from 2010 to 2013.

Lending to productive sectors (manufacturing and service) increased by 55% for the same period. Financing to women entrepreneurs increased from 3% of the total SME lending to 4%.

During 2013 Tk13,198 crore has been disbursed to 65,504 new businesses. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stock

Stocks finish flat with volatility

DSE key features April 30, 2014

n Tribune Report

Number of Contract

beating market sentiment at opening. But, lucrative prices prompted some witty investors to come upfront with some late hour buying spree.”

The market was very much sensitive to corporate declarations.

Seemingly, more than expected earnings of ACI stimulated investors much, with 21.57% gain.

Meanwhile, no dividend disclosure of Shinepukur Ceramics and Beximco Synthetic put them in ‘Z’ category which disappointed investors and helped the scrips emerge as top losers of the day.

Lanka Bangla Securities said after rising more than 103 points in last week, market wrapped the week eroding gains and closed flat over jerky participation of investors.

It said throughout the week, market breadth was weak and index performed mixed.

On the last trading day of the week some large cap stocks, specially bank and financial stocks took correction in large volume, while rally in other large and mid-cap stocks got a strong footing. Thus, market was a bit volatile with corrective mood closing the index down.

Multinational pharmaceutical company Renata topped the turnover’s chart following its dividend declaration of 75% cash and 25% stock. Its shares worth almost Tk29 crore was changed hands. l

Stocks finished flat with volatility yesterday, as late buying spree on pharmaceuticals and telecommunication offset early losses.

The market was in positive territory throughout the session but it recovered all the points lost in early trading due to rally in heavy weights – Grameenphone and Square Pharmaceuticals – helped market end marginally lower.

After previous session’s steep fall, the benchmark index DSEX witnessed fractional losses of 0.2 points to close at 4,567.

The comprising blue chips DS30 rose 3 points or 0.2% to 1,671. The Shariah index DSES gained 5 points or 0.6% to close at 1,018.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, dropped 24 points to 8,771.

Trading recovered slightly with 12.6% increase in DSE turnover.

The total market turnover stood at Tk440 crore. Other major sectors, including banks and non-banking financial institutions, power and, food and allied, closed down. Cement, textile and insurance sectors edged higher.

IDLC Investments said despite a depressed start up, closing session of the week ended flat.

“Following tri-session’s toll of 135 points, sale pressure started

DSE GAINERS Company

Turnover (Million Taka)

4,363.58

Turnover (Volume)

84,850,457 94,713

Traded Issues

292

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

84

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

201

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,347.27

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.45

CSE key features April 30, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

329.95

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights

9,542,167

Number of Contract

13,548

DSE Broad Index :

4566.85991

(-) 0.004%

▼

Traded Issues

214

DSE Shariah Index :

1018.20429

(+) 0.58%

▲

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

50

DSE - 30 Index :

1671.92800

(+) 0.18%

▲

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

158

CSE All Share Index:

14043.3203

(-) 0.11%

▼

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

CSE - 30 Index :

11688.6101

(-) 0.45%

▼

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,240.64

8771.0460

(-) 0.27%

▼

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.16

CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS Company Shinepukur Ceramics-A Beximco Syn.-A Sonargaon Tex -A Premier Leasing-Z Active Fine Chem.-A City G Insu.-A Agrani Insurance -A BD. Thai Alum -B

Hakkani P& Paper -B Fine Foods A

-33.33 -28.89 -27.74 -14.77 -13.53 -12.18 -10.39 -9.87

Average (% change) -34.15 -29.86 -30.40 -14.27 -15.14 -11.41 -10.38 -11.36

-9.72 -9.52

-10.74 -9.26

Closing (% change)

CSE LOSERS Company Shinepukur Ceramics-A Sonargaon Tex -A Beximco Syn.-A Active Fine Chem.-A Premier Leasing-Z City G Insu.-A BD. Thai Alum -B Legacy Footwear -A

GSP Finance-A Hakkani P& Paper -B

-35.03 -33.09 -30.88 -13.49 -12.64 -12.50 -9.78 -8.81

Average (% change) -34.63 -32.66 -29.69 -15.02 -12.84 -11.92 -9.92 -11.12

-8.22 -8.21

-6.51 -8.10

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 420.35 138.46 87.52 268.50 223.88 583.89 1.74 286.63 1096.55 0.79 61.99 87.96 30.57 347.84 42.30 32.74 113.58 377.59 73.12 87.28 0.33

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

Latest PE

10.20 9.75 9.57 7.63 66.83 21.11 20.80 20.21

10.20 9.60 9.90 7.50 68.40 20.90 20.70 20.10

10.80 10.20 11.80 8.60 68.80 21.40 21.10 22.40

9.50 9.00 8.60 6.50 64.00 20.50 20.40 20.10

19.478 9.737 2.565 2.601 41.418 1.368 0.208 7.082

-0.08 -0.40 -0.81 0.04 4.85 1.73 1.83 0.77

-ve -ve -ve 190.8 13.8 12.2 11.4 26.2

26.17 15.38

26.00 15.20

27.60 16.40

26.00 15.20

0.785 2.353

0.28 -1.01

93.5 -ve

Closing average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

ACI Limited- A Bay Leasing.-A Orion Infusions -A Matin Spinning-N AFC AgroBiotech-N JMI Syringes MDL-A PragatiLife Insu. -A Apex Tannery -A Kohinoor Chem -A Apex Footwear-A

10.20 9.30 9.40 68.00 7.60 21.00 20.30 23.80

9.00 9.80 9.90 68.20 8.20 21.60 21.00 24.30

10.00 10.00 10.00 65.00 7.50 20.80 20.30 23.50

2.600 0.159 4.239 0.734 0.240 0.015 0.607 1.999

-0.08 -0.81 -0.40 4.85 0.04 1.73 0.77 0.36

-ve -ve -ve 13.8 190.0 12.3 26.5 65.7

20.10 25.77

20.10 25.70

20.10 27.20

20.10 25.30

0.070 0.425

1.34 0.28

15.0 92.0

After rising more than 103 points in last week, market wrapped the week eroding gains and closed flat over jerky participation of investors

% change 9.63 3.17 2.01 6.15 5.13 13.38 0.04 6.57 25.13 0.02 1.42 2.02 0.70 7.97 0.97 0.75 2.60 8.65 1.68 2.00 0.01

Million Taka 38.50 13.15 4.90 20.24 20.73 41.59 49.04 42.47 26.99 2.75 31.33 3.92 20.79 6.78 0.76 6.49 47.41 15.90 14.61 1.28

% change 9.40 3.21 1.20 4.94 5.06 10.15 0.00 11.97 10.37 6.59 0.67 7.65 0.96 5.07 1.65 0.19 1.59 11.57 3.88 3.57 0.31

Million Taka 458.85 151.61 92.42 288.75 244.61 625.47 1.74 335.67 1139.02 27.77 64.74 119.29 34.49 368.63 49.07 33.51 120.07 425.00 89.02 101.88 1.61

Total

21.57 16.67 9.98 8.79 8.70 8.38 7.52 7.49 6.47 6.05

CSE GAINERS Company ACI Limited- A Bay Leasing.-A AFC AgroBiotech-N Matin Spinning-N JMI Syringes MDL-A Orion Infusions -A Safko Spinning-A Samata LeatheR -Z Apex Tannery -A ACI Formulations-A

Closing (% change) 22.00 14.38 9.29 9.07 9.03 8.78 7.28 6.79 4.95 4.87

Average (% change) 18.88 13.48 7.94 6.34 6.34 4.36 6.20 3.72 6.92 4.02 Average (% change) 20.39 12.42 7.30 5.73 4.54 7.93 5.70 2.25 4.34 7.92

Closing average 234.20 33.93 44.99 41.43 57.23 158.44 184.98 140.09 364.78 437.67

Closing average 236.26 33.86 57.30 41.13 159.58 44.63 22.05 28.63 141.95 86.44

Closing 241.20 34.30 45.20 42.10 58.70 163.00 187.30 146.30 363.70 443.50

Closing 240.10 34.20 58.80 42.10 167.80 44.60 22.10 29.90 144.30 84.00

Daily high 250.00 34.90 45.20 42.50 59.40 169.00 189.80 149.00 371.40 447.00

Daily high 247.00 34.80 59.10 42.40 167.80 45.10 22.10 29.90 147.30 89.00

Daily low 180.00 27.00 40.60 40.40 54.20 136.00 177.30 135.00 315.00 416.00

Daily low 215.00 32.90 54.00 40.00 145.10 42.40 20.00 28.00 136.00 83.10

Turnover in million 198.330 16.331 53.212 70.315 56.230 23.212 4.162 16.895 5.137 11.292

Turnover in million 11.397 0.783 6.504 14.026 2.553 0.732 0.203 0.043 0.894 1.063

Latest EPS 5.28 1.21 4.81 4.55 1.54 2.08 2.38 4.35 9.37 23.61

Latest EPS 5.28 1.21 1.54 4.55 2.08 4.81 1.04 -0.04 4.35 6.28

Latest PE 44.4 28.0 9.4 9.1 37.2 76.2 77.7 32.2 38.9 18.5

Latest PE 44.7 28.0 37.2 9.0 76.7 9.3 21.2 -ve 32.6 13.8

News from trade server ISLAMIINS: The Board of Directors has recommended 15% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 09.07.2014, Time: 12:00 Noon, Record Date: 12.05.2014. Venue of the AGM will be notified later. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 1.93, NAV per share of Tk. 13.83 and NOCFPS of Tk. 4.54 for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

BXPHARMA: The Board of Directors has recommended 10% cash dividend and 5% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 21.06.2014, Time: 10:30 AM, Venue: Bexico Industrial Park, Sarabo, Kashimpur, Gazipur. Record Date: 18.05.2014. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 4.01, NAV per share of Tk. 56.45 and NOCFPS of Tk. 6.08 for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

STANDARINS: The Board of Directors has recommended 15% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 18.06.2014, Time: 10:30 AM, Venue: Spectra Convention Centre Limited, House # 19, Road # 7, Gulshan-1, Dhaka-1212.

Record Date: 15.05.2014. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 3.05, NAV per

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Renata Ltd. -A Grameenphone-A Meghna Petroleum -A ACI Limited- A Square Pharma -A LafargeS Cement-Z HeidelbergCement -A

CSE

Closing (% change)

share of Tk. 16.85 and NOCFPS of Tk. 7.18 for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

SONARGAON: The Board of Directors did not recommend any dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

Date of AGM: 07.06.2014, Time: 12:00 Noon, Venue: Barisal Club, Barisal. Record Date: 15.05.2014. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. (0.81), NAV per share of Tk. 33.69 and NOCFPS of Tk. (1.69) for the year ended on December 31, 2013 as against Tk. 0.28, Tk. 36.22 and Tk. (2.72) respectively for the year ended on December 31, 2012.

BAYLEASING: The Board of Directors has recommended 17% cash dividend and 15% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 29.05.2014, Time: 10:30 AM, Venue: Institution of Diploma Engineers, Bangladesh (IDEB), IDEB Bhaban, 160/A, Kakrail, VIP Sarak, Dhaka-1000. Record Date: 12.05.2014. The Company has also reported consolidated net profit after tax of Tk. 137.52 million, consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.21 and consolidated NAV per share of Tk. 25.45 for the year ended on Decem-

ber 31, 2013. The Company has further informed that the consolidated NOCFPS of the Company is Tk. (2.25) for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

JMISMDL; The Board of Directors has recommended 15% cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013. Date of AGM: 24.07.2014, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: White House Hotel, 155, Shantinagar, Dhaka-1217. Record Date: 22.05.2014.

The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 2.95, NAV per share of Tk. 46.03 and NOCFPS of Tk. 3.16 for the year ended on December 31, 2013 ACIFORMULA; The Board of Directors has recommended 25% cash dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

Date of AGM: 10.06.2014, Time: 9:00 AM, Venue: Officers Club, 26 Baily Road, Dhaka. Record Date: 12.05.2014. The Company has also reported net profit of Tk. 129.23 million, EPS of Tk. 2.87, NAV per share of Tk. 38.45 and NOCFPS of Tk. 9.38 for the year ended on December 31, 2013 as against Tk. 149.96 million, Tk. 3.33, Tk. 38.08 and Tk. 2.63 respectively for the year ended on December 31, 2012.

Latest PE

10.27 9.34 9.78 66.73 7.60 21.29 20.44 23.65

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Daily high

Thursday, May 1, 2014

% change 9.61 3.18 1.94 6.05 5.12 13.10 0.04 7.03 23.86 0.58 1.36 2.50 0.72 7.72 1.03 0.70 2.52 8.90 1.87 2.13 0.03

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

Olympic Ind. -A Padma Oil Co. -A BD Submarine Cable-A

Delta Life Insu. -A Linde (BD) Ltd. -A Matin Spinning-N UNITED AIR-A Southeast Bank-A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company BD Submarine Cable-A

UNITED AIR-A Matin Spinning-N Grameenphone-A ACI Limited- A Square Pharma -A LafargeS Cement-Z Meghna Petroleum -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A National Bank - B HeidelbergCement -A LankaBangla Fin. -A AFC AgroBiotech-N BD Building Systems -A Delta Life Insu. -A

Volume shares 312,194 1,049,790 673,381 846,850 575,842 2,369,500 214,060 474,153 299,460 538,545

400,650 69,050 1,697,200 5,416,563 2,715,527

Volume shares

194,163 1,266,428 341,000 49,400 48,238 38,720 157,500 33,568 349,086 690,224 12,450 133,300 113,500 97,575 28,950

Value in million 373.97 283.11 201.91 198.33 161.92 156.58 126.15 112.77 103.34 94.48

82.58 79.27 70.32 65.22 58.48

Value in million

34.10 15.24 14.03 13.31 11.40 10.88 10.35 10.05 9.37 9.01 7.34 6.86 6.50 6.31 5.99

% of total turnover 8.57 6.49 4.63 4.55 3.71 3.59 2.89 2.58 2.37 2.17

1.89 1.82 1.61 1.49 1.34

% of total turnover

10.77 4.81 4.43 4.20 3.60 3.44 3.27 3.17 2.96 2.85 2.32 2.17 2.05 1.99 1.89

Daily closing 1240.00 268.90 300.50 241.20 281.70 67.70 590.10 240.30 346.40 182.10

208.40 1133.70 42.10 12.00 21.70

Daily closing

180.70 12.00 42.10 268.90 240.10 281.40 67.30 299.60 26.80 13.20 589.40 51.40 58.80 67.30 207.20

Price change 5.72 0.37 -1.05 21.57 1.70 5.45 -1.30 1.82 0.79 0.00

Daily opening 1172.90 267.90 303.70 198.40 277.00 64.20 597.90 236.00 343.70 182.10

Price change

Daily opening

1.12 2.89 8.79 -3.23 -0.46

-0.99 -4.76 9.07 0.60 22.00 1.77 4.83 -1.35 -1.47 0.00 -1.55 -1.15 9.29 2.59 0.44

206.10 1101.90 38.70 12.40 21.80

182.50 12.60 38.60 267.30 196.80 276.50 64.20 303.70 27.20 13.20 598.70 52.00 53.80 65.60 206.30

Daily high 1399.00 271.70 305.40 250.00 283.30 69.50 604.00 241.70 350.00 184.50

214.00 1164.90 42.50 12.50 22.00

Daily low 1155.00 260.00 279.00 180.00 270.00 63.80 578.10 222.00 340.00 170.00

202.60 1120.00 40.40 11.20 19.70

Daily average 1197.87 269.68 299.84 234.20 281.19 66.08 589.33 237.83 345.09 175.44

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

182.50 12.60 42.40 272.00 247.00 283.70 69.90 303.00 28.30 13.50 600.00 52.10 59.10 68.00 213.00

168.50 11.90 40.00 265.50 215.00 276.60 63.70 295.40 26.10 12.80 580.00 50.50 54.00 62.10 201.10

206.12 1148.05 41.43 12.04 21.54

175.63 12.04 41.13 269.43 236.26 281.09 65.68 299.40 26.84 13.06 589.91 51.47 57.30 64.62 206.98

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Tripartite MoA signs to resolve disputes IMF says Russia is in recession between owners and workers n Tribune Report Bangladesh Frozen Foods Exporters Association (BFFEA), Bangladesh Shrimp and Fish Foundation (BSFF) and Solidarity Center - Bangladesh yesterday signed a Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to resolve the disputes between the employers and the workers in an alternative dispute resolution process.

BFFEA President Md Amin Ullah, BSFF Chairman Syed Mahmudul Haq and SCB field Programme Specialist Jennifer Kuhlman signed the

Yen rises in Asia after BoJ holds fire on new easing n AFP, Tokyo The yen ticked up in Asia yesterday as the Bank of Japan held off fresh monetary easing, despite fears that Japan’s recovery is faltering on the back of tepid data and a recent sales tax rise.

In afternoon Tokyo trade, the dollar weakened to 102.50 yen, down from 102.64 yen in New York on Tuesday.

The euro was also weaker at $1.3807 and 141.51 yen, from $1.3811 and 141.75 yen in New York.

Bank of Japan (BoJ) policymakers also lowered their growth expectations for the world’s number three economy, saying it would expand 1.1% in the fiscal year to next March, down from an earlier 1.4% forecast, according to the BoJ’s semi-annual outlook report which gauges the median of members’ views.

However, their feeling that inflation would come in at 1.3% over the same time period was unchanged from a previous forecast. Some analysts questioned the upbeat inflation view.

“I wonder how they would explain the price increase while revising down the growth forecast,” Takeshi Minami, chief economist at Norinchukin Research Institute, told Dow Jones Newswires. l

New idea floated to build fund with tariffs Bangladesh pays to US  B1 COLUMN 2

Bangladesh, however, argued for strengthening economic diplomacy, instead of appointing lobbyists.

“It’s not that the efforts through appointing lobbyists would yield result,” Annisul Huq, who led the apex apparel trade body when BGMEA had appointed lobbyists, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. “But, it would create an impression among the customers that Bangladesh is trying hard to get the DFQF.” He added: “No one can give you a guarantee that things will be done if lobbyists are appointed.” l

agreement on behalf of their respective organisations to resolve disputes between employers and workers of shrimp and fish processing industry.

Under the agreement titled “Rules of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Mechanism”, the employers and the workers will be able to resolve their disputes in number of steps through bi-partite negotiation, mediation and arbitration, said a statement of the BSFF issued yesterday.

The workers and the employers will be able to resolve the disputes in a comparatively shorter period avoid-

ing the lengthy process of formal legal system through courts, it added.

“Both the workers and the employers will use this procedure in good faith, which will help to sustain a good working condition in shrimp and fish processing industry,” said the Country Program director of Solidarity Center Alonzo Suson.

The Memorandum of Agreement was funded by USAID through Ministry of Fisheries and Livestock (MoFL) and undertaken by the trio in association with Department of Fisheries (DoF).

Before the development of this process, 14 pending cases of the Labor Court in Khulna had been resolved through the negotiation between the respective workers and employers.

Earlier on March 24, 2013 BFFEA, BSFF and Solidarity Center signed a tripartite Memorandum of Agreement (MoA) to work together to promote Bangladesh Labor Law and ILO Core Labor Standards in the Shrimp and Fish Processing Industry in Bangladesh and the Rules of ADR Mechanism was developed in the pretext of that MoA. l

Euro zone bonds reverse as inflation rises, takes heat off ECB n Reuters, London Euro zone bond yields reversed earlier gains yesterday after euro zone inflation cooled expectations that the European Central Bank would need to immediately loosen monetary policy to support the bloc’s fledgling growth.

Consumer prices nudged above 2009 lows in April, although at 0.7%, inflation fell short of forecasts of 0.8% and remain well below the ECB’s target of just under 2%.

Markets had earlier been positioning for inflation to fall even further below forecast, after flash estimates for Germany - the bloc’s largest economy - released on Tuesday were 0.2% below economists’ predictions.

“Market expectations changed after the German reading. So today’s reading was actually at the higher end of what was expected,” said Luca Jellinek, European head of fixed income at Credit Agricole.

While the threat of deflation keeps alive the chances of a more accommodative stance from the ECB, strategists say more evidence is needed to spur action.

“One set of data is not enough,” said Eric Oynoyan, Europe rates strategist at BNP Paribas. “If inflation falls back again, that will up the pressure.”

The ECB next meets on Thursday May 8, although few in the market predict any surprise policy action then.

However, ECB policymaker Chris-

tian Noyer added further fuel to the speculation by saying he was personally in favour of one or two further measures, for example injecting more liquidity.

Strategists say such measures are likely to include a further cut in official rates or an end to a process whereby the ECB drains euros from the banking system equal to its own holdings of government bonds bought at the

that was injected into the euro zone banking system on Tuesday filters through.

Timing crucial

European market participants will now turn their attention to events in the US, seeking clues for when the world’s largest economy will raise rates, a move that is likely to be felt across continents.

Market expectations changed after the German reading. So today’s reading was actually at the higher end of what was expected

height of the crisis, or sterilization of its Securities Markets Programme.

A programme of asset purchases, or quantitative easing, which the ECB has referenced as a possible tool, is also on the cards. Italian Economy Minister Pier Carlo Padoan reiterated on Tuesday, however, that the implementation of such a programme would prove difficult.

Immediate pressure on the ECB from money markets is expected to ease, with the euro zone overnight bank-to-bank lending rate tipped to fall from multi-year highs as 100bn euros

Later on Wednesday, US Federal Reserve officials are not expected to deviate from continued tapering of its massive bond-buying stimulus at the end of its two-day meeting. Neither is it likely to provide any more guidance on rates rises, predict strategists, leaving ADP employment data as the key indicator.

“The Fed is on autopilot regarding tapering, thus the labour market data will be key regarding the market’s take on the timing of the first interest rate move,” said Commerzbank analyst Alexander Aldinger said. l

Crude prices down in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore Oil prices eased in Asian trade yesterday on expectations of another increase in US crude stockpiles, which would suggest weak demand in the world’s biggest economy.

New York’s West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June delivery dropped 80 cents to $100.48 in afternoon trade, and Brent North Sea crude for June eased 32 cents to $108.66.

Rezaul Hossain, chief commercial officer of bKash is recently seen handing over Tk100,000 to Mushanna Jahan, winner of the Facebook based photo competition named ‘bKash Smile Contest’

RFL recently inaugurated two new exclusive showrooms in Bogra and Sirajgong. The company’s brand ambassador, Mousumi launched the exclusive showrooms at the presence of the company’s exclusive outlets’ assistant general manager, Md Gias Uddin Biswas

Analysts expect data due later Wednesday to show US crude stockpiles rose by 2.2 million barrels last week, according to a Wall Street Journal survey.

Tan Chee Tat, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said an announcement by Libya that it will resume oil exports from the Zueitina port is also likely to push prices lower as there would be more supply in the market.

“Libya is also a cause for downside after the announcement that their second port is ready to take on their first oil tanker,” Tan told AFP. Libya’s National Oil Corporation is set to resume exports from Zueitina after declaring an end Tuesday to a force majeure imposed on the eastern port, which was blocked by rebels for nine months.

The measure was imposed in August to clear NOC of any liability for failure to honour contracts. l

Rupali bank limited has recently won the best corporate award 2013 from Institute of Cost and Management Accounts of Bangladesh (ICMAB). Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith has handed over the crest and certificate to the bank’s chair Dr Ahmed–al Kabir and its managing director, M Farid Uddin

Pubali Bank Limited has recently won the best corporate award in the category of private commercial bank (traditional operation) from the Institute of Cost and Management Accountants of Bangladesh (ICMAB). The bank’s MD and CEO, Helal Ahmed Chowdhury received the award from the Finance Minister Abul Maal Abdul Muhith

n AFP, Moscow

The International Monetary Fund said yesterday that Russia is already in recession and slashed its growth forecast for 2014 citing the effect of the Ukraine crisis on investment.

“If we define recession as negative growth in two quarters in a row, then Russia from that point of view is experiencing recession,” IMF economist Antonio Spilimbergo was quoted as saying by the Interfax news agency.

The IMF has lowered its 2014 growth forecast for Russia to 0.2% from the 1.3% figure it issued on April 8, Spilimbergo said.

“We have clarified our forecast on Russia’s economic growth. We expect growth at the level of 0.2% this year.”

The IMF’s decision came taking into account “the difficult current situation and the significant level of uncertainty related to geopolitical tensions and sanctions,” Spilimbergo was quoted as saying in comments translated into Russian.

“This all has a very negative effect on the investment climate,” he said.

“We expect that the fall in investments that already took place in 2013 will increase further this year.”

Russia’s economy contracted by

about 0.5% in the first three months of the year compared with the previous quarter.

The finance ministry warned this month that the economy could tip into recession in the second quarter.

Finance Minister Anton Siluanov said this month that Russia could see growth of 0.5% in 2014 but warned growth could be only “around zero”.

Standard and Poor’s ratings agency on Friday downgraded Russia’s ability to repay debt to BBB-, one notch above junk status, and retained its negative outlook.

Russia’s economy has already seen colossal capital flight since the start of the Ukraine crisis as investors have pulled out their funds.

Spilimbergo said the IMF “expects capital outflows this year at a level of $100bn,” but that a “high degree of uncertainty” remained.

Russia’s government has predicted capital outflows over 2014 of between $70 and $100bn. Russia’s central bank said that capital flight in the first quarter alone amounted to $50.6bn.

Spilimbergo said the IMF was forecasting 1% growth in Russia in 2015, down from its previous forecast of 2.3%. l

NBR: Undisclosed money should be relaxed for investment  B1 COLUMN 3

NBR chairman also said if the government allowed investing undisclosed money with relaxed conditions, there would be a rise in setting up new industries and money laundering could also be prevented.

Referring to an example of the Ready-Made Garments (RMG) sector, he said as the government had allowed investing undisclosed money to the RMG sector in 1989 and the sector now became the largest industry with creating employment for 40 lakh poor women while lives of around 2 crore people have also been changed remarkably.

ERF President Sultan Mahmud proposed the NBR to eliminate discriminatory tax system as people having Taxpayers Identification Number (TIN) were paying 15% tax while people without TIN number were paying only 10% taxes under the existing system.

Forum leader Sheikh Abdullah alleged that the people were evading taxes through transitions of land.

Urging the NBR to address policylevel loopholes, former NBR president Khaza Mainuddin said fast food, sweetmeat, hotel-restaurant businesses were evading Value Added Taxes (VATs).

In response to the proposal of ERF, NBR chairman said NBR would bring some major changes in the revenue collection system, particularly in the income tax collection system.

“Corporate tax rate will be brought down to almost same level of individual level income tax to encourage more investments,” he said.

He also noted that special emphasis would be given on income tax than the customs and VATs. “Large and medium industries from the rural areas will also be brought under the tax net,” he added.

Hussain said that the taxes on health hazardous products would see a sharp rise in the upcoming budget whereas NBR was also working towards bringing house owners, doctors, engineers, lawyers and other professionals under tax net.

Responding to queries made by ERF leaders, Hussain mentioned that though NBR was a big organisation but it lacked in sufficient numbers of inspectors that was hindering the field level inspection process.

“To ensure an effective tax collection system, we will need a tax inspector in each circle, although most of the circles lack in inspectors. A tax zone needs at least 27 inspectors, whereas currently there are only 7 inspectors in each zone,” he added.

Regarding the pending cases at courts, NBR chief said: “Around 1000012000 cases have been remained pending at courts involving around Tk25,000 crore revenue as people secured stay orders from the High Court once the cases were filed against them for tax dodging. l

Ahmad Mohamed Ali, president of Islamic Development Bank seen speaking at a seminar on shariah banking that was organised by the Islamic Banks Consultative Forum at a hotel in Dhaka recently

Daffodil International University organised an international seminar on sustainable SME development and creating new entrepreneurs in Bangladesh on Tuesday at its auditorium.

Speakers including Md Sabur Khan, former president of Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry at the seminar stressed on the importance of networking, collaboration and clustering for sustainable SME development and creating new entrepreneurs in the country

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Thursday, May 1, 2014

Social Business: Changing how world does business n Sazzad Hossain “For thousands of years, business existed only at the fringes of society. Society thought little of people in business, and people in business expected little of society.

Profit was their only reward because power, social status, and even social acceptability, were closed to them. In this context, the idea that making a profit was the only goal of business might have some sense.” But in a time when the values of the business world largely influence the values of society as a whole and the possibilities of future generations, the purposes and goals of business need to be questioned and expanded. And so did Muhammad Yunus, the only Nobel Prise winner from Bangladesh who came up with a theory of microfinance to question the status quo and to change the way the world does business.

The way the present world does businesses and its true colour Modern day businesses are based on the core concept of making profits and maximising the wealth of its shareholders – an outcome of the free market economy aka capitalism. Theoretically, capitalism was supposed to do a favor to the society as a whole, which it did to some extent after the fall of mighty Soviet Union in 1991. Still today, capitalism is flourishing as businesses are growing and so is the world trade.

However, not everyone is reaping the fruits of success. It is as clear as crystal when we look at the real picture of the global income distribution: 94% of world income goes to only 40% of the people. Just imagine how devastating the real scenario is when 60% of the world’s population has to fight among themselves to get a share out

of this tiny, little 6% of world income!

This gets scarier when you convert the figure into dollar terms: Half of the world lives on two dollars a day or less, while almost a billion people struggle with their lives severely with less than one dollar to spend per day! The rich are getting richer and the poor are getting poorer throughout the world. Imbalance in power and wealth is dividing the world into uneven halves, destroying the core values of humanity. As a result, several unprecedented, major crises such as high food prices, energy crisis, financial crisis, and the ever-worsening environmental crisis have combined forces to bring even greater misery and frustration to the world’s bottom 3 billion people.

Social business is redefining human nature from selfish to selfless However, there are still many people left in this world for who it’s very hard to envisage

a world where words like “humanity” and “selflessness” are ruled out of the dictionary and replaced by “greed” and “selfishness”.

Dr Yunus is one of those men who not only faced difficulty in imagining such a world but also tried to get rid of it by bringing up a revolutionary theory of social business which is said to be capable of changing the face of the world.

Dr Yunus believes that economic theories have so far interpreted human beings as selfish, ignoring the spirit of selflessness among individuals. To him, explaining humans from only the selfishness perspective is a “fundamental flaw” in the whole structure of economic theories that maintain that business is only for making money.

“We have misinterpreted humans.

People are selfish; at the same time, they are selfless too. Theoreticians have never looked into that,’’ he said.

With the idea of social business, Prof

OECD: Top income earners take too much, pay too little n AFP, Paris People with the highest incomes in advanced countries have grown disproportionately richer despite the recent financial crisis and should pay their fair share of the tax burden, the OECD said yesterday.

The lowest wage earners have scarcely progressed and some may even have fallen behind in real terms in the last 30 years, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development said.

The gap will widen without policy action on the way tax systems work, it said, probing facts, trends and causes of a perpetually hot subject in political debate which took centre stage as governments ramped up taxes to cope with a banking crisis, and then in Europe with a debt crisis.

The richest 1% of wage earners had captured a “disproportionate” share of overall income growth in the last three decades, it said.

In the United States the real incomes of the top one-in-a-hundred people had grown by 47% and in Canada by 37%.

Noting that in the last 30 years, top income tax rates had fallen markedly in most OECD countries, the organisation suggested that death duties, or inheritance tax, could feature among measures to correct the imbalance.

The 34-member OECD grouping

advanced democracies is known for providing hard-hitting policy advice recommending competition and open markets as the key to rising prosperity and welfare for all.

It’s mission slogan is “Better policies for better lives”.

Commenting on new analysis on how the top one percent of income earners have shot ahead in good times and held onto gains in bad times, OECD Secretary General Angel Gurria said: “Without concerted policy action, the gap between the rich and poor is likely to grow even wider in the years ahead.”

He said: “Therefore, it is all the more important to ensure that top earners contribute their fair share of taxes.”

The analysis concluded: “Even in countries which have a history of more equal income distribution, such as Finland, Norway and Sweden, the share of the top 1% increased by 70%, reaching around 7-8%.

“By contrast, top earners saw their share grow much less in some of the continental European countries, including France, the Netherlands and Spain.”

The poorest households had not kept pace with the overall growth of incomes and many were no better off than they were in the mid 1980s.

The recent financial crises had temporarily halted the trend but top

income earners had held onto their gains.

“On average, real incomes of the top 1% increased by 4% in 2010, while the lowest 90% of the population saw their real incomes stagnate.”

In the last 30 years most OECD countries had cut tax rates for top incomes, on average from a rate of 66% to 43% in 2013, and this had been tracked by a rise in the share of wealth taken by top incomes.

Other taxes affecting top incomes had also fallen. The average baseline rate of tax on companies had fallen by nearly half from 47% to 25% and taxes on local dividend payments from 75% to 42%.

The analysis suggested various reforms to ensure that top income earners made a fairer contribution to shouldering the tax burden.

Among these were: abolishing or reducing tax advantages; taxing all forms of income, fringe benefits and stock options as ordinary income; weighting taxation towards “immovable property”; and reviewing wealth taxes such as inheritance tax.

The OECD also suggested international cooperation on tax rules to discourage high earners from organising their affairs to benefit from different rules, so-called “treaty shopping”.

It also pressed for further progress on efforts led by the OECD to fight cross-border tax evasion. l

Yunus has introduced a new dimension for capitalism: A business model that does not strive to maximise profits but rather to serve humanity’s most pressing needs.

According to him, social business is a nonloss, non-dividend enterprise and dedicated entirely to achieving a social goal, where an investor aims to help others without taking any financial gain for him/herself, contrasting the core concept of traditional businesses.

At the same time, unlike today’s notfor-profit organizations, ie INGOs and local NGOs, which depend on donations or on private or public grants to survive and to operate, social business generates enough income to cover its own costs which makes it sustainable; any surplus is invested in expansion of the business or for increased benefits to society. According to Prof Yunus,”A charity dollar has only one life; a Social Business dollar can be invested over

US economy stalls on inventories, trade n Reuters, Washington The US economy barely grew in the first quarter as exports tumbled and businesses accumulated stocks at the slowest pace in nearly a year, but activity already appears to be bouncing back.

Gross domestic product expanded at a 0.1% annual rate, the slowest since the fourth quarter of 2012, the Commerce Department said on Wednesday.

That was a sharp pullback from the fourth quarter’s 2.6% pace and was worse than economists’ expectations for a slowdown to a 1.2% rate. The slowdown partly reflected an unusually cold and disruptive winter, marked by declines in sectors ranging from business spending to home building.

The Commerce Department’s first snapshot of first-quarter growth was released just hours before the Federal Reserve wraps up a two-day policy meeting.

While harsh weather partially explains the weakness in growth, the magnitude of the slowdown could complicate the US central bank’s message as it sets to announce a further reduction in the amount of money it is pumping into the economy through monthly bond purchases.

US stock index futures fell slightly on the report, while US Treasury debt prices trimmed losses.

The first-quarter stall in growth, however, is likely to be temporary and recent data have suggested strength at the tail end of the quarter. l

and over again.”

To remove disparity in income and wealth distribution throughout the world, it is high time that the world embraced social business as a tool that cares for its inhabitants and can turn the current financial woes around. As the microcredit pioneer says: “There is no alternative to social business to solve social problems. We cannot continue destroying our planet. If we can come up with an idea, we will be able to change the world. We have to do that before the world reaches a point of no return.”

The difference between traditional business model and social business model The business model concept offers a consistent and integrated picture of a company and the way it generates revenue and profit. But social businesses cannot be based on simply replicating con-

SazzadHossain is a business analyst at LightCastle Partners, an emerging market specialised business planning and intelligence firm. The article was originally published in the LCP Blog (lightcastlebd. com/blog)

China pushes for rival trans-Pacific trade deal n AFP, Beijing China is pressing for a vast Asia-Pacific free trade agreement, a senior official said yesterday, as a rival US-led deal that excludes the Asian giant runs into snags.

Wang Shouwen, an assistant commerce minister, told reporters at a briefing that China has proposed setting up a working group to study the feasibility of an Asia-Pacific Free Trade Agreement (FTAAP).

The proposal comes ahead of a meeting in May of trade ministers from the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) forum, which China will host.

“The feasibility study will look into the potential economic benefits if APEC members reach a free trade agreement, how to make use of existing FTAs ... and whether we can use the similar aspects of the various FTAs to serve the general FTA within the Asia-Pacific region,” he said.

“We think there will be no conflict between the FTAAP and the region’s other FTAs under discussion.”

The idea for the FTAAP was raised in 2006 by leaders of APEC, Wang said.

That group has 21 members including both China and the United States.

The US has been trying to secure agreement on a Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP), a grouping of 12 nations including Japan, Australia, Malaysia and Mexico. All belong to APEC. But the US-led trade talks have become snagged on issues related to Japan’s tightly guarded auto and agricultural sectors.

There had been hopes that Tokyo and Washington might break the impasse during US President Barack Obama’s visit to Japan last week, but they failed to clinch a deal and negotiations continue.

Chinese President Xi Jinping in October said at the APEC business forum in Indonesia that his country will “commit itself to building a trans-Pacific regional cooperation framework that benefits all parties”.

The comments were interpreted by Chinese media as criticism of the TPP - a key part of Obama’s economic and strategic policy.

Wang said the composition of the

DILBERT

Passengers walk at a terminal upon their arrival at the new Hamad International Airport (HIA) on April 30 in Doha, Qatar. The first commercial flight chartered by Qatar airways landed at HIA, greeted by water cannons AFP

ventional for-profit business models. New value propositions and new value constellations have to be created so as to match into a positive profit equation.

The figure, one can easily identify the basic difference between these two. In the social business model, there are three changes: Addition of social profit equation (Impact Investment) to the conventional model, putting a condition in economic profit equation to ensure total recovery of capital employed and replacing the customers with stakeholders in the value proposition to broaden the scope of social businesses. l

working group has yet to be decided but will possibly comprise government officials, business people and academics from different countries.

It will come up with suggestions on whether the FTAAP is desired and whether negotiations should start, he said.

The proposal “has won positive reactions from some APEC member countries”, he added, though he did not identify them.

Separately, China and Indonesia, which would also be excluded from the TPP, are involved in plans for another trade agreement involving 16 countries around the AsiaPacific region and spearheaded by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

Wang told reporters that the FTAAP can eventually be developed based on that pact and the TPP.

'The feasibility study will look into the potential economic benefits if APEC members reach a free trade agreement, how to make use of existing FTAs'

Previously when commenting on the TPP, the commerce ministry has said that China thinks all parties should be open, inclusive and transparent while setting up free trade deals.

“They should be flexible, particularly when dealing with economies at different stages of development, so that all economies can have more options” on the road to ultimately reaching an all-encompassing FTA, commerce ministry spokesman Shen Danyang said last year. l