15 May 2014

Joishthya 1, 1421 Rajab 15, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 45

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

B1 | MUHITH: KHALEDA RESPONSIBLE

7 | REGISTER DEEDS TO SECURE PROPERTY

Delay in RAB trio’s arrest still a mystery Committee investigating Narayanganj seven murders submits report and plans to seek four weeks to complete probe They have been rather engaged in resting the former RAB officials would n Kailash Sarkar, Mohammad Jamil trio. not be a contempt of court as the court pushing the ball in another’s court.

Khan and Mohosinul Karim

Meanwhile, the high-powered probe committee formed to investigate the seven murders in Narayanganj submitted its primary progress report to the High Court, but details from the report were not revealed.

The Home Ministry and police have been claiming that they are following the “required procedure,” but have not yet elaborated what procedures they have completed so far.

Attorney General Mahbub-e-Alam yesterday claimed that the delay in ar-

did not fix any timeframe for the arrest.

The High Court on Sunday ordered the arrests of former RAB 11 commanding officer Lt Col Tarek Sayeed Mohammad, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana.

On April 27, seven people, including Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarkar, were abducted; their bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya River after three days.

MP-exclusive car stickers on sale for Tk200 only

Shahidul suddenly becomes silent Islam Shaon and n Ashif Ahmed Zayeef

The issue of arresting the three former RAB officials suspected of their involvement in the Narayanganj seven murders still seems wrapped in mysteries even after four days of the High Court order for their arrest.

None of the authorities – the Home Ministry, the police, the Armed Forces Division and the Directorate of the Inter-Services Public Relations – have so far made their stances clear and explained the delay in arresting the

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam By spending as little as Tk200 anyone seeking to get preferential treatment on the road can purchase a sticker that is supposed to be used exclusively for the cars of the members of parliament.

Sources allege that for a couple of years, a section of parliament officials have been selling these fabricated stickers containing the emblem of the Jatiya Sangsad and “parliament member” written under it.

According to the sources inside the parliament, these dishonest staffs are also involved in printing paper pads and business cards for lawmakers, as the official printing process is “time-consuming.”

Officials at the parliament’s printing and publication department told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that this group of unscrupulous employees had already sold several thousand car stick-

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

ers for MPs since the start of the 10th parliament.

Those who use these exclusive stickers on their vehicles can avail special privilege on the road, as they often do not need to pay tolls to cross bridges

Shahidul Islam, father-in-law of slain ward councillor Nazrul Islam, has suddenly become silent on the seven ghastly murders in Narayanganj.

Shahidul earlier blamed the RAB 11 men for the abduction and murders of seven people in exchange for Tk6 corer for the first time and apparently following his allegation three RAB officials were dismissed.

Since the abduction took place on April 27 he has also been blaming another Narayanganj City Corporation (NCC) Councillor and also Awami League leader Nur Hossain for hiring the elite force.

The Rab officials dismissed from their jobs are Commanding Officer of the Rab-11 Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj Arif Hossain and Lt Commander SM Masud Rana.

Of them, Tareque is the son-in-law of Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

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Rahul skips Manmohan Singh’s official farewell dinner n Zeeshan Khan from Delhi In a spectacularly miscalculated move, Rahul Gandhi seems to have permanently put his political career to rest, and taken the venerable Congress party with him.

On the eve of the election results, as the exceptionally eminent Dr Manmohan Singh amongst the eldest of the elder statesmen bids farewell to an illustrious

PM declares 30% special allowance for DGFI n Emran Hossain Shaikh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday declared 30% special allowance for all staff of the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) with effect from the current month.

Hasina declared the allowance at a Darbar with the DGFI men at its headquarters in the Dhaka Cantonment.

While addressing the DGFI members Hasina blamed a section of non-political forces for maligning the reputation of the DGFI by using them in usurping state power.

“After 2001 this forces were also used,” the premier said this while vowing that her party would never use the DGFI to go to power or cling to power.

She asked the DGFI men to get ready round the clock to help continue the democratic process and protect the constitution of the country amid all sorts of threat.

“You have to keep yourselves always ready to protect the sovereignty of the country,” she said.

At the time of Darbar Sheikh Hasina,  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

30-year career, ten of which has been at the helm of the country, Rahul Gandhi, Congress vice-president, has chosen to skip a dinner hosted by his mother, Sonia Gandhi, on behalf of the party. It probably does not get more intimate than that, but the man who-presumes-he-wouldbe-king, is nowhere to be found.

At the time this report was filed the Indian media was abuzz about the blatant disrespect and irresponsibility

that Rahul Gandhi has displayed by not paying his respects to his leader, his elder and an honourable man in the best of Indian traditions. If Gandhi needed Indians to feel even less connected to him, he has done his very best, and turned himself into the most alien of creatures, unfamiliar even with the most basic duties and courtesies of Indian cultural, social and public life.

INSIDE News

4 Over one lakh Hajj pilgrims this year face the risk of being exposed to the contagious Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) virus that has killed at least 147 in Saudi Arabia and 530 in the other Middle Eastern countries, warned a parliamentary watchdog.

Nation

6 Karate-loving children of Bandarban’s Mohamuni Shishu Sadan in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have been bringing glory for the institute for over 16 years by winning titles in different prestigious events including the SAF Games.

World

9 Thousands of Vietnamese set fire to foreign factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed by Vietnam, officials said yesterday.

Op-Ed

11 Thirty-three years ago, it took only about five hours for the army to take custody of Major General Abdul Manzur from the hands of civil authorities – police who arrested the general for his alleged involvement in the murder of President Ziaur Rahman.

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8 | TURKEY’S WORSE EVER COAL MINE BLAST

14 | SABELLA SHUTS DOOR ON TEVEZ

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3 Dhaka Tribune now available in Bangla

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, May 15, 2014

PM: Whimsical writs hamper works

She says activities of some people delaying Narayanganj murder probe job, but if anybody issues any order n Emran Hossain Shaikh [about its activity] it creates a problem The over-enthusiasm of the people who file “frequent and whimsical” writ petitions is hampering the activities of the government, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina said yesterday.

Hinting at the High Court’s recent order regarding the arrest of three RAB officials, she said: “What can we do if the job that is assigned for the executive division is being done by the judiciary?”

Hasina, also the president of the Awami League, made the comment while addressing a working committee meeting of the party at her official residence, Ganabhaban.

“If the judiciary does everything, what are we supposed to do? The overenthusiastic activities of some people are making the investigation [on the Narayanganj killings] difficult,” she said.

“The three key departments - judiciary, legislative and executive – should not interfere in each other’s activities.

The executive division will do its own

for them,” she explained.

The premier’s comment came after the High Court, on May 11, asked the government to arrest three officials of the Rapid Action Battalion for involvement in the abduction and killing of seven people in Narayanganj.

Expressing her government’s firm determination to bring the killers to book, the premier said: “Whoever the killers are, irrespective of their party affiliations, they will be punished.”

Snubbing out BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s demand for stopping RAB’s activities, Hasina said Khaleda had suddenly become vocal against the elite force, even though she used the force when she was in power.

“Who formed the force and killed a number of Awami League leaders and activists?” the premier questioned, adding that her government is taking steps against the RAB members who have been committing different offences. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina receives a crest with the new monogram of the DGFI from the intelligence agency's DG Maj Gen Akbar Hossain at Dhaka Cantonment

BSS

‘Unfulfilled CHT Grenade blast injures 9 army men 2 ministers defend RAB, slam Khaleda sustained minor injuries. n Kailash Sarkar Accord hindering Tribune Report They were injured as a grenade actoo? Would she propose the same thing Bangladesh to militants. n Communication Minister Obaidul At least nine members of Bangladesh cidentally went off, officials said. They, there are lots of allegations good governance’ Stern action will be taken if Khaleda Zia because Quader, meanwhile, also defended Army were injured in a grenade ex- however, could not provide identities against police?”

He made the comment while talking RAB and said an entire force could not plosion during a training exercise at of the injured. stages movement demanding disbandMuktasree Chakma Sathi n According to other sources, the inment of RAB, Information Minister to reporters after inaugurating electric- be discredited because of wrongdoings Kholahati Shaheed Mahbub CantonIndigenous peoples’ representatives from Bangladesh told a UN conference that good governance in the Chittagong Hill Tracts region could not be ensured as the CHT Accord remained unimplemented until date.

“This Accord introduces special governance arrangement for the CHT with the formation of the CHT Regional Council as an apex political body of the region, and three Hill District Councils...however, special self-government system in the CHT remains dysfunctional until today, due to the non-implementation of related Acts,” Mangal Kumar Chakma said at a session of the UN Permanent Forum on Indigenous Issues (UNPFII) at the UN Headquarters in New York on Tuesday.

The statement was jointly prepared

by Parbatya Chattagram Jana Samhati Samiti (PCJSS), Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples Forum and Jum Chab Metta Foundation.

The accord popularly known as Peace Accord ended a decade-long armed struggle of the indigenous people in the CHT region.

The session began on May 12 with a theme on the principles of good governance consistent with the UN Declaration on the Indigenous Peoples rights. The session is set to end on May 23. It was inaugurated in presence of UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon along with around 300 participants across the world.

A group of indigenous leaders including Chakma Circle Chief Raja Devashish Roy, also a member of the UNPFII, and rights activist Binotamoi Dhamai are attending the session. CHT Ministry Secretary Naba Bikram Kishore Tripura is also likely to attend.

In the 2011 session, Bangladesh first denied the existence of indigenous people in the country drawing criticism both home and abroad. l

ACC notice on Hawlader halted n Nazmus Sakib The High Court yesterday stayed for six months the notice of Anti-Corruption Commission which was issued against Jatiya Party lawmaker ABM Ruhul Amin Hawlader asking him to submit wealth statement.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain passed the order following a writ petition filed by Hawlader.

ACC Chairman Bodiuzzaman said the anti-graft body had issued the notice on April 9 to investigate an allegation of amassing wealth beyond his known sources of income. l

Rahul skips  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

To make it worse, nobody in the Congress party can, at the time, tell reporters where he was while the dinner was going on.

May 16, with this absurd move, Rahul Gandhi has lost a great degree, if not the greatest degree of the Indian public’s confidence. l

Hasanul Haque Inu has warned.

Refuting BNP Chairperson Khaleda’s logic behind disbandment of the RAB, Inu said: “Ziaur Rahman was shot dead by some army officials. In view of it, would Khaleda now propose that the armed forces should be disbanded

ity services in villages of Mirpur upazila in Kushtia yesterday.

The minister termed Khaleda’s demand irresponsible, conspiratorial, anti-democratic and politically motivated. He said dissolution of RAB was nothing but a conspiracy for lending

committed by a handful of its members.

Talking to reporters on Dhalai bridge, Quader said Khaleda’s demand was ridiculous.

“Would she [Khaleda] take back the Independence Award bestowed upon RAB if she re-assumes power?” he said. l

Shahidul suddenly becomes silent  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

While visiting his house at Mijmiji yesterday afternoon the correspondents asked Shahidul about the development of the incident. In reply, he just put his finger on his lips and said: “Hush. They asked me not to talk for two days. Don’t ask me any question.”

When asked who told him to refrain from speaking and be quiet he did not want to disclose the name. He also said that his family members were doubtful about any positive outcome to the investigation into the Nazrul murder case.

This correspondent had earlier phoned Shahidul before noon for an interview and Shahid asked him to come to his Mijmiji house. But he was not at home when the correspondents went there in the afternoon.

An on-duty policeman in front of the house said that Shahid had gone to the SP office.

After an hour some journalists went to the SP office to meet him but could not find him there. SP Dr Khandakar Mahid Uddin was found in an informal meeting with Shamim Osman in his room but Shahidul was not there.

When contacted right at that moment Sha-

hidul told this correspondent that he had just gone out of the SP office and was heading for home.

When finally he met the correspondents in the evening he said: “Please do not ask me any question over the seven murders. I will keep quiet for two days.”

Asked if he had met the SP, Shahidul said he met nobody at the SP office.

When the district police chief was asked about his meeting with Shahidul, he also denied it. But the SP said Shamim Osman had come to his office for a courtesy visit as he is new in Narayanganj.

On April 27, Nazrul and his four aides along with senior lawyer Chandan Sarker and his driver were kidnapped. Their bodies were found floating in the Shitalakkhya River three days later. The other victims are Swapan, Tajul Islam, Liton, Jahangir and Ibrahim.

Conflicting statements came from the authorities on the arrest of an accused.

Reports were run in media that Hashmat Ali Hasu, the accountant of prime accused Nur Hossain, was arrested yesterday morning.

Delay in RAB trio’s arrest still a mystery  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

The three RAB officers were sent on forced retirement on April 30 after Nazrul’s fatherin-law Shahidul Islam alleged that RAB had abducted and killed the seven people in exchange for Tk6 crore.

State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal yesterday denied any delay in the arrest of the three former RAB officers, saying: “We are following the High Court order and will carry it out.”

He had earlier said the RAB officers had been kept under watch. But he did not disclose their whereabouts.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, Maj Gen (retd) KM Safiullah, former chief of Bangladesh Army, said: “According to the rules, after an official of Bangladesh Army or Bangladesh Navy is sent on forced retirement or premature retirement, he or she would still remain in touch with the Armed Forces Division for a specific period to enjoy the facilities they are entitled to.”

He said: “During the period, the police require to take the AFD’s permission to arrest any such personnel. However, if there is any order from the High Court, it should be obeyed.”

When contacted, Khandaker Mahid Uddin, superintendent of police in Narayanganj, said all required steps had been taken to execute

the High Court order regarding the arrest and that the arrests would be made whenever the steps were implemented.

He, however, did not answer when asked what types of steps the police had taken.

Shahin Anam, information officer of the ISPR, said he had no update on the procedures for the arrest of the former army and navy officials.

He suggested that this reporter should talk to Mohammad Wahiduzzaman, the chief staff officer of the AFD, who however said he was not dealing with the matter.

Asaduzzaman bins media reports

The home state minister yesterday denied dilly-dallying over arresting the three former officers of Rapid Action Battalion who were allegedly involved in the abduction and killing of seven people in Narayanganj.

“We are following the High Court order and will carry it out,” he told reporters after a meeting at his ministry.

Refuting a media report, the state minister said: “I did not say the three RAB officers would surrender to the court on Wednesday.

Some media misquoted me.

“I told some media that we had done our job. If the former RAB officials want, they can surrender to the court, but the media have misquoted me.”

ment in Rangpur's Parbatipur upazila yesterday.

Directorate of Inter Service Public Relations (ISPR) sources said four of them, with critical conditions, were flown to Combined Military Hospital by helicopter. The five others

Home State Minister Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal said an online media ran a report that Hasu was arrested early yesterday.

However, police, the RAB, and the BGB authorities told the Dhaka Tribune that they were not aware of such arrest.

A leading Bangla daily said the BGB men captured Hasu from the borders of Jessore.

Additional Police Superintendent of Narayanganj Mohammad Zakaria said: “We do not know about the arrest. I do not know how they came up with this report.”

The Narayanganj SP Khandakar Mahid Uddin said he was unaware of the arrest.

Jessore SP Anisur Rahman, RAB 6 Maj Masudur Rahman and BGB 26 Lt Col Motiur Rahman were also unaware of the arrest.

As the Dhaka Tribune later contacted the junior home minister, he assured that the arrest was made.

Meanwhile, the government drew flak from different quarters for not arresting three RAB officials who were sent to forced retirement over their alleged role in the murders despite a High Court order. l

Probe report

Law Ministry’s Deputy Secretary Mizanur Rahman Khan, who is a member of the committee tasked with investigating the seven murders, submitted a three-page report to the court yesterday.

Public Administration Ministry’s Deputy Secretary Abul Kashem Md Mohiuddin told the media: “We have submitted a primary progress report to the High Court as per its directive.

Our report was based on the hearings, visits to places of the incident and several media reports.”

Refusing to comment on any findings, he said: “We will continue our hearings and probe. Another progress report will be submitted to the High Court next week.”

Deputy Secretary Mizanur Rahman said a hearing would be held at the court on the primary report today. “We will request the court to allow four more weeks before the full report is submitted,” he said.

On May 5, the High Court ordered an administrative investigation into the killing of Narayanganj ward councillor Nazrul Islam, lawyer Chandan Sarkar and five others, and the Public Administration Ministry formed the probe committee headed by Public Administration Additional Secretary Shahjahan Ali. l

PM declares 30% special allowance for DGFI  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

also the defence minister, unveiled the new monogram of the DGFI. Hasina said after forming the government in 1996 the Awami League government decided not to use the DGFI politically and took effective steps to regain its lost glory.

“But unfortunately the BNP-Jamaat government after 2001 again used the organisation politically.”

She advised the members of the organisation to work sincerely keeping confidence in their leadership, maintaining mutual trust, fraternity, dutifulness and discipline.

The premier appreciated the role of the force in containing the activities of various militant organisations through providing intelligence report.

“We want to maintain good relations with all our neighbours. Like other forces of the country,

the DGFI should be well-equipped to launch counter attacks if we are attacked by others.”

She said undemocratic rulers played ducks and drakes with the fate of people in the past and her government would never allow anybody to do the same in the future.

Earlier, on her arrival, Hasina was received by her Security Affairs Adviser Maj Gen (retd) Tarique Ahmed Siddique and DGFI chief Maj Gen Akbar Hossain. l

jured are warrant officers Ketabul Islam and Mohammad Ali, corporals Abdul Mannan and Golam Rasul, sergeants Fazlul Haque and Rowshan Ali, and Sepoys Bikash Chandra Roy, Abdur Rahman and Zahir. All of them were members of 34 East Bengal Regiment. l

MP-exclusive car stickers on sale for Tk200 only  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

or ferries, and also manage to get away with violating traffic rules. Vehicles that have the stickers are also allowed to enter Secretariat premises, which could be a security threat.

The original car plaques for MPs are small and made of metal, these fabricated stickers are larger in size and printed on paper and laminated that can be stuck on the front or rear windshield of a car.

Many lawmakers reportedly purchase these duplicate stickers – besides their original metal plaques – and give them to their relatives for using on their vehicles.

Recently, authorities of the Dhaka Cantonment requested the parliament secretariat to supply samples of the authenticated plaques for lawmakers, as numerous vehicles carrying fake paper stickers were gaining entry into the cantonment.

Iqbalur Rahim, one of the whips of parliament, admitted that he had seen some of his colleagues from the ninth parliament collecting additional stickers from parliament and using those for their relatives’ cars.

A senior official of parliament, seeking anonymity, said he had recently experienced preferential treatment while riding a colleague’s car – that had a special sticker for parliament members – to travel to a northern district.

“The authority of Bangabandhu Bridge let us go without toll and we also experienced VIP treatment on the highway,” the official told the Dhaka Tribune.

He added: “We heard that some rent-a-car businesses

in Mohammadpur area also use these stickers.”

This reporter was able to collect such a sticker for just Tk200 from a staff of the printing and publication department of the parliament.

Following a brief meeting yesterday, Mrinal Kanti Mondol, a data entry supervisor of the parliament, provided the reporter with the sticker made exclusively for lawmakers’ use.

However, when the reporter disclosed his identity, Mrinal initially claimed that he was not attached to this job, but later said he kept some stickers in his office as he was always trying to assist lawmakers.

“Parliament members’ staffs usually come to me and I always help them, and maybe it is my fault in trying to help them,” Mrinal said.

Sources said Mrinal was previously a contractor for printing work, who later joined as an employee of the parliament. He was part of a group who printed the fabricated stickers from the capital’s Katabon area, top-level sources claimed, adding that some members of the group also worked in the speaker’s office.

When asked about the issue, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said: “It will not be tolerated by any means.

We will terminate all the officials who are connected with this process.”

Whip Iqbalur Rahim, meanwhile, said: “These people are damaging the image of parliament and we need to take action against him [Mrinal] and try to find out the faults of the process as well.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Charge sheet pressed in police killing case

WAR CRIMES VERDICTS

Home Ministry issued letters to thwart violence n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Ahead of possible verdicts of Jamaat-e-Islami leaders Motiur Rahman Nizami and Delawar Hossain Sayedee in war crimes cases, the Home Ministry has suggested the administration and the law enforcement agencies to keep the ruling Awami League members and the pro-liberation people on alert to evade any untoward situation.

Analysing an intelligence report, the ministry assumed that the members of Jamaat and its student body Islami Chhatra Shibir men could carry out violent attacks like in the past if the verdict went against their party leaders.

The ministry on April 24 issued the letter mentioning six recommendations for field-level police and district administration The ministry also called for increasing security of ministers, lawmakers and important establishments. A red alert may also be declared, if needed, across the country including the capital city.

Amidst such tense situation, the Home Ministry on April 24 issued a letter – mentioning six recommendations – to all headquarters of the law enforcement agencies and the district administrations.

Signed by Deputy Secretary Habibur Rahman, the letter reached Chittagong Metropolitan Police Headquarters on May 12, said CMP sources. The Dhaka

High Court summons Lalmonirhat SP, OC n Nazmus Sakib

The High Court yesterday summoned the Lalmonirhat SP and the former OC of sadar police station to appear it on June 3.

They have to explain on the day why there were two types of statements in the probe report submitted before the court by the police superintendent on the molestation of a housewife from Kulaghat union of the upazila.

The inquiry report states that the victim did not file any complaint with the sadar police station, while at the same time it mentions that police picked up one person on the basis of her compliant.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain passed the order following a plea of Ain O Salish Kendra (ASK), a human rights body.

On March 3, the High Court ordered the Lalmonirhat SP to submit a report

by April 6 after investigating the incident that took place on January 7.

Deputy Attorney General Biswojit Roy told the court that Jamir Uddin, then OC of sadar police station, who reportedly persuaded the housewife to settle the matter in an arbitration, was transferred to another police station.

ASK field the writ petition citing a Dhaka Tribune report published on January 31. Later the High Court ordered the law enforcers to protect the family of the housewife who was molested for going to the polling centre on January 5 in Lalmonirhat.

The court also sought explanations from the government as to why the inaction and failure of the police after the incident should not be declared illegal.

The housewife had told the Dhaka Tribune that following the incident her family had been denied support both by the law enforcers and the local people. Her two minor daughters stopped going to school after the incident as Shamsul Haque, 45, the alleged molester, and his cohorts had threatened to kidnap them. l

Tribune has got a copy of the letter.

Upon getting the letter, the authorities have started working to thwart any such plan by Jamaat-Shibir members.

The letter also recommended keeping intelligence vigilance over activities and movements of Jamaat guru Ghulam Azam’s son Brig (retd) Abdullahil Aman Azmi, Nizami’s son Abdul Momen Nizami, Mir Kashem Ali’s son Arman Bin Kashem, and Sayedee’s sons Masud Sayedee and Rafique Sayedee.

The ministry suggested that combing operations be conducted in areas dominated by the Jamaat-Shibir. The local-level units were asked to monitor militant organisations like Hizb-utTahrir, Huji and JMB to avert any subversive activities.

Banaz Kumar Majumder, additional commissioner (crime and operation) of the CMP, told the Dhaka Tribune that the police was working as per recommendations of the letter.

“We have already arrested 21 Jamaat leaders including its Chittagong city unit Ameer ANM Shamsul Islam during a secret meeting at the party office on Monday. Some leaders from outside Chittagong also joined the meeting for planning sabotages ahead of the verdicts,” he said.

CQK Mustaq Ahmed, senior secretary of the Home Ministry, told the Dhaka Tribune that he did not know about such letter which mentioned six recommendations.

“Deputy Secretary Habibur Rahman is now abroad while it is not the ministry’s task to alert any organisation or political party,” he said adding that he would look into the matter. l

n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

The students of Tughli Government Primary School of Bahubal upazila under Habiganj attend classes under the open sky as the only building of the institute was declared abandoned recently DHAKA TRIBUNE

Law enforcers early yesterday arrested advocate Moazzem Hossain Helal, the ameer of Barisal city unit and Majlish-e-Shura (Central Executive Committee) member of Jamaat-e-Islami.

Officer-in-Charge Shakhawat Hossain

Fourteen months after the sensational killing of Harinakundu police constable Omar Faruque Bhuiyan, the Jhenaidah police yesterday pressed charges accusing 353 persons.

The charge sheet was submitted to the District and Sessions Judge’s Court.

The next hearing in the case will be held on May 29.

Omar Faruque was beaten and chopped to death on March 3 last year by the activists of Jamaat-e-Islami and its front organisations when he was performing his duty at the Harinakundu Upazila Parishad Complex. Thousands of people witnessed the incident.

Before that, court sources said, the Jamaat-Shibir men brought an agitation rally following the war crimes tribunal’s declaring verdict in the case against Jamaat leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee. Police said they had filed the charges after thorough investigation for 14 months, court sources said. l

‘Subhan collaborated with occupation forces’ n Udisa Islam

A new prosecution witness, in the trial against Maulana Abdus Subhan, said yesterday, that the Pakistani occupation forces had killed four people including his uncle following the accused’s orders during the 1971 Liberation War. Mohammad Israil, 57, a day-labourer, told the International Crimes Tribunal 2: “On April 13 of 1971, Subhan and his cohorts surrounded our village, Pakshi Uttar Baighar of Pabna, and set the houses on fire. In the presence of Subhan, the Pakistani Army men started arson attacks and opened fire indis-

criminately. Out of fear, many villagers left the place.

“The Pakistani troops shot at six of our family members. Four of them, including my uncle, died on the spot.

I received bullet wounds on my abdomen and thigh, and my mother on her leg, but miraculously, we survived.”

Israil said they had been caught by Subhan while fleeing the village, stating, “The accused and his associates took us to the Juktitola mosque where we saw three other confined people.”

The witness claimed that he was 12 years old during the war. He tried to recall the incidents and said: “Then they took us to the Juktitola Primary School

ground and we saw three more pro-liberation people surrounded by the Pakistani Army men and some Urdu-speaking collaborators.”

Israil said he and eight others had been forced to queue while Subhan talked to the army men. “Suddenly two of the inmates tried to run away and Subhan shot at them, killing one on the spot. The other was also wounded and fell into a nearby canal.

The occupation forces killed him too,” he recalled “Following Subhan’s orders, the army men then opened fire on us,” the witness said.

When the tribunal asked how he

knew the accused, the witness said he had known Subhan before the war because of his election campaigns in favour of Jamaat-e-Islami candidates.

After his deposition, defence counsel Md Asadul Islam cross examined him for a while and the tribunal then adjourned the hearing until today.

In the morning session, defence counsels cross examined the prosecution’s fourth witness against Subhan.

Meanwhile, in the trial of Syed Mohammad Qaisar, the defence concluded grilling the 12th prosecution witness at the same tribunal. After the cross-examination, the tribunal adjourned the hearing until today. l

TIB: Administration characterised by Maya demands trial of Narayanganj 7 murders corruption and inefficiency n n

Mohosinul Karim

Tazlina Zamila Khan

The executive has monopolised all powers into their hands, says a study conducted by Transparency International, Bangladesh.

The executive has been given all authorities, making way for abuse of power, said TIB Chairperson Sultana Kamal yesterday.

The study conducted on 15 institutions said although the legal framework is strong, the implementation and practice are largely inadequate.

Extreme lack of transparency is noticed among all sectors, it added.

The findings were released at a press conference held in the capital’s BRAC Centre Inn. The institutions are parliament, executive, judiciary, public administration, police, election commission, supreme audit institution, local government, anti-corruption commission, national human rights commission, information commission, civil society, political parties, media and business sector.

The study said separation of powers between legislative, executive and judiciary are uneven and dominated by the executive.

Besides, partisan biasness in decision-making, absence of legal provision to disclose executive decisions and annual disclosure of income and wealth were mentioned as the major weakness of the executive.

It added: “Police are held hostage to ruling party as recruitment, transfer and promotion depend on political affiliation, nepotism and bribery. Also, the law enforcers work outside public scrutiny. The whole administration is characterised by corruption, inefficiency and partiality.”

Speakers said the absence of strong internal governance in political parties, civil society and the media likewise has exacerbated the governance challenges that confront the country’s integrity system today.

Iftekharuzzaman, executive direc-

tor of TIB said, “We have identified two major obstacles in establishing integrity — political influence and lack of transparency.”

Sultana Kamal said: “We noticed the authorities concerned avoid duties where they should act responsibly. Sometimes innocent people got caught and the criminals roam around in broad daylight. In Limon’s case, we found that he is innocent. But he is being harassed due to case backlogs.”

She added: “Strong synergy among the NIS pillars is crucial for the system’s overall effectiveness as weaknesses in one or more pillars will affect others.”

The survey said the EC is seemingly weak in living up its mandate evident from its failure to withstand pressure of the ruling party and local administrations in the electoral management process.

The ACC is found filing and withdrawing cases while NHRC has inadequate legal framework to ensure transparency and integrity of commissioners.

The survey mentioned confrontational political culture, tendency among elected political parties to treat government as an apparatus of their own political party, lack of internal democracy and political fundraising and

use and criminalisation and commercialisation of politics as weakness.

“Inadequate academic, analytical and technological skills are the weakness of media people,” said TIB researcher Professor Salahuddin M Aminuzzaman.

TIB placed 55 recommendations for each institution, including enactment of laws or rules for further empowerment of the executive committee system to ensure and strengthen oversights on the executive and public bureaucracy and appointment of deputy speaker from the opposition.

Speaker should resign from the party position after being elected and the draft code of conduct bill for MPs must be enacted as law.

It said political parties must not give party membership to identify criminals of convicted persons (at least for a certain period after their punishment) with a view to decriminalising the country’s political arena and it should practise internal democracy.

TIB researcher Sumaiya Khair said: “Within the Bangladesh NIS, a dysfunctional parliament, an all-powered executive, an exploited judiciary, an increasingly politicised bureaucracy and police force have essentially eroded the checks and balances that are pivotal to good governance.” l

Police arrest Barisal city Jamaat-e-Islami chief n Our Correspondent, Barisal

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Thursday, May 15, 2014

of Kotwali police station said they had conducted drives at different houses of Jamaat leaders in the city to prevent suspected sabotage and terrorist activities.

The central Jamaat earlier declared to hold demonstrations yesterday.

Police first raided Kusumaloy, the residence of Helal in Brown Compound

area. After failing to find him there, the police raided other houses of the area, he added. Helal was later arrested at a flat of Runa’s Villa.

According to police, Helal is accused in many cases field over political violence but was granted bail by the court in most cases.

Law enforcers recently began crackdown on the Jamaat-Shibir leaders amd activists fearing massive subversive activities as the courts are set to deliver verdicts in war crimes cases pending against its top leaders including Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami and central leader Delawar Hossain Sayedee. l

Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya yesterday demanded arrest and trial of the suspected accused in the Narayanganj seven murder case reiterating that his family members were not involved in it.

The minister also assured the authorities concerned of all-out support in probing the incident.

Maya expressed his intension while talking to the media in his ministry office at the Secretariat.

Narayanganj City Corporation ward councillor Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Kumar Sarker along with five others were abducted on April 27.

Their bodies were recovered from the Shitalakkhya River after three days.

Nazrul’s father-in-law Shahidul

blamed RAB 11 officials for the abductions and murders in exchange for Tk6 crore. Dismissed RAB 11 commanding officer Tarek Sayeed is Maya’s son-inlaw.

“I also want their trial and punishment with the people of the country.

Everyone should be arrested no matter whoever they might be. I want to help the probe, if needed,” he said. “I should not say more than that as it is under investigation.”

When asked if he would resign for the involvement of his family members in the killing Maya, also general secretary of the Awami League’s Dhaka city unit, left his seat without making any comment.

Earlier in a media statement, the minister ruled out the possibility of the involvement of his family members in the murders. l

MANPOWER FRAUD

Mobile courts authorised to hold summary trial n Mohosinul Karim

The government has empowered mobile courts to take fraudulence in manpower sector into their cognisance to prevent cheating in the name of giving attractive jobs abroad.

The sections 32 and 35 of the Overseas Employment Act 2013 were included in the schedule of the Mobile Court Act giving the mobile courts the authority to run summary trial taking such offenses into their cognisance.

The Home Ministry yesterday disclosed a gazette notification published on May 7. Senior Secretary CQK Mustaq Ahmed signed the notification.

It said the sections would be included in the schedule 101 of the Mobile

Court Act. It will come into effect immediately.

According to section 32, the immigrants will have rights to know about the nature of their job abroad, process of immigration, duration of service, working environment and other legal issues.

The immigrants will also have the rights to legal steps and compensations from the recruiting agencies in case of violation of the overseas employment actand agreements between the immigrants and agents.

The victim or aggrieved immigrants can put forward complaints to the mobile courts against the offender agents along with filing cases with the courts concerned after the provision’sinclusion in the mobile court schedule. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Hajis face Mers infection risk, warns JS body n Kamran Reza Chowdhury Over one lakh Hajj pilgrims this year face the risk of being exposed to the contagious Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (Mers) virus that has killed at least 147 in Saudi Arabia and 530 in the other Middle Eastern countries, warned a parliamentary watchdog.

While discussing the preparation for the upcoming Hajj, the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Religious Affairs Ministry came down hard on the ministry for “inaction” in protecting the pilgrims from the deadly virus.

The Mersis the Arabian variant of the Serious Acute Respiratory Syndrome (Sars) virus. Infection causes severe respiratory problems coupled with fever and cough and infects the persons caring or mixing with the patients. Peoplewith chronic diabetes are

more vulnerable to Mers virus, says the World Health Organisation.

According to a working paper placed before the watchdog, the Health Ministry has already started the procedure for procuring vaccines for 1,01,758 pilgrimsset to go to the Saudi Araba this year.

The paper said instructions had been passed on to the authoritiesconcerned to set up vaccination centresat the upazila level.

This year, nearly 92,000 Bangladeshi are travelling to Saudi Arabia to perform the holy Hajj under private management. Some 10,000 are going under government management.

Syed Nazibul Bashar Maizvandary, Tariqat Federation MP and a member of the watchdog, first raised the issue at the meeting.

“I have performed Hajj five times.

GOLD BAR STEALTH SCAM

ACC questions three policemen n Tribune Report The Anti-Corruption Commission questioned five people, including three officials of the capital’s Rampura police station, yesterday, on charges of stealing gold bars that had been seized in anti-smuggling drives.

ACC Deputy Director Jatan Kumer Ray questioned Sub-Inspector Manzurul Islam, Constables Wahidul Islam and Akash Chowdhury, informer Mahfuz Alam Rony and driver Sajib Shikder at the commission’s Shegunbagicha office, an official told reporters.

On April 27, ACC interrogated OCs Kripa Sindhu Bala and Nasim Ahmed, SI Moniruzzaman and second officer Kamruzzaman of the Rampura police.

14 other officials, including some from

the detective branch, were also grilled as witnesses.

Four among the five interrogated today, were arrested from Narayanganj, Gazipur, and Bogra for possession of 149 gold bars.

On March 13, a gang of smugglers abandoned 235 gold bars in a car in the capital’s Banasree area when they were being pursued by a patrol team. However, after searching the vehicle, police claimed to have found only 70 bars inside.

Driver Samir Biswas and suspect Jahid Hossain were later detained when they went to the Rampur police station to claim the car. They told police that there were 235 gold bars in the car.

Later an investigation was launched and a case was filed for the alleged stealing of the gold bars. l

I have never been given any vaccine.

This is totally wrong,” Syed Nazibulreportedly said.

He said the concerned officials embezzled the money allotted for vaccination. They even collected money from the pilgrims for the same purpose.

“Our Hajis must be protected [from Mers and other viruses],” he said.

BazlulHaqueHaroon, chairman of the parliamentary committee, told the Dhaka Tribune that: “I think we have enough time for vaccination as the Hajj will be performedin October. We have asked the government to ensure all facilities for the safety and convenience of the Hajis,” he said.

Religious Affairs Secretary Chowdhury Md Babul Hasan answered the questions raised by the MPs because Minister Matiur Rahman was ill and could not attend the meeting. l

A woodpecker struggles to break free from a net that was put up on a litchi tree to protect the seasonal harvest. Many birds and bats die each year after falling victims to such bird traps. The photo was taken yesterday in Rajshahi’s Horgram Notunpara area DHAKA TRIBUNE

Four RU Chhatra League leaders expelled n RU Correspondent Bangladesh Chhatra League, the student wing of the ruling Awami League, has expelled four of its Rajshahi University unit leaders on charges of involvement in anti-organisational activities.

They are Vice-Presidents Rana Chowdhury and Mehedi Hasan, Joint Secretary Mahbubur Rahman Polash and Environmental Affairs Secretary

Mustakim Billah.

A press release signed by the Chhatra League Office Secretary Sheikh Rasel on Tuesday night stated the expulsion order.

In the statement, the student wing also asked the RU authorities and law enforcing agencies to take all necessary and legal measures against the responsible RU Chhatra League men.

The expulsion order came after a

group of RU BCL activists led by three of the accused attacked and vandalised a university examination hall on Tuesday morning because a scheduled test had not been deferred out of consideration for the illness of one of its Vice-Presidents, Mehedi Hasan.

However, RU unit BCL President Mizanur Rahman denied the allegation and claimed the Chhatra League men were not involved in the vandalism. l

Case against 16 Regency Hotel shareholders n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday ordered Khilkhet police station to register a regular case in place of a complaint and take necessary action against 16 shareholders of Regency Hotel who are accused of vandalism and theft of hotel property.

Additional chief metropolitan magistrate Ali Masud Sheikh gave the order

after Arif Motahar, the hotel’s managing director (MD), filed a complaint as Khilkhet police refused to file a case against the 16 shareholders.

According to the MD’s petition, the 16 accused booked rooms at the hotel from February 18 to April 24. On the last day of their stay, they allegedly brought in some 20-25 hired criminals who ransacked the hotel and beat up staff members.

The accused also took away 40 walkie-talkie sets, 10 computers, four laptops, Tk10 lakh in cash and some important documents, including cheque books, licences and passports.

Arif mentioned that the accused, as general shareholders, were only entitled to yearly dividends, but they demanded more money from the hotel’s proceeds. l

7 arrested over JSD leader killing n Our Correspondent, Kushtia RAB has arrested seven people, including the prime accused, in connection with the killing of Kushtia’s Mirpur upazila Jatiyo Samajtantrik Dal (JSD) Vice-president Ismail Hossain Panjer. They were arrested from Bara Mile area of Bheramara upazila around 03:45am yesterday.

The arrestees are mastermind Dulal Hossain, 39, Jakir Hossain, 35, Sumon Sheikh, 29, Shahidul Islam, 35, Sagor Islam alias Naju, 21, Shariful Islam Saikat alias Romon, 27, and Majedul Islam Farid alias Fatkya, 53. RAB said they fled to Sylhet to avoid arrest following the murder and were on their way back to Kushtia by truck during the arrest assuming the situation had calmed down.

The seven had given confessional statements during primary interrogation by RAB. Panjer, 55, was shot dead in broad daylight while taking tea at a tea stall in Ahmedpur Bazar on April 14. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Rajshahi studio makes fake police IDs n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi A studio near gate no 1 of Rajshahi Police Line is producing fake police identity cards.

Sarker Studio has allegedly been involved in making phony national identity cards, driving licences, identity cards for police and other cards for Indian nationals for long. The studio is run by Rezaul Islam Liton, son of Akbar Ali of Keshabpur in the city.

Such a fake card was given to Liakat Ali, an Indian citizen, and the address mentioned in it was actually that of Liton’s residence owned by his father Akbar Ali. Liakat’s card read: Name: Liakat Ali, father: Harunur Rashid, locality: Keshabpur, holding no 84, Rajpara, Rajshahi.

His original address, however, was at Bagdanga village of Bhagabangola thana in Murshidabad district of India.

No one named Liakat Ali was found in the Rajpara address or in nearby homes either.

Producing fake identity cards by copying authentic ones and using them, are both unlawful, said a police official.

He said as a law enforcer, if he loses his card or gets it damaged, he is held accountable to the higher authorities.

The potential hassle prompts many to go for fake cards. Many even keep the

Rescued black kite on the mend n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

The injured black kite rescued from Mahasthangarh, Bogra last month is currently recovering in Rajshahi after a successful surgery.

The kite, which was rescued on April 10, went under the knife on Tuesday. The surgery was led by Dr Jalal Uddin Sardar and Dr Hemayetul Islam, professors of Rajshahi University’s veterinary and animal husbandry department.

Sharifuzzaman, official of Wildlife Management and Nature Conservation Division Rajshahi (WMNCDR), said the kite was responding to the treatment well and would be released to the wild as soon as it was fully cured.

The kite was severely injured when it was rescued by members of Team for Energy and Environment Research, a student organisation of Bogra Government Azizul Haque College.

The students left the bird under the supervision of Sabuj Nursery’s owner Professor Abdul Mannan, who then handed it over to WMNCDR, said Sharifuzzaman.

Since then, the bird has been receiving treatment and kept under close observation at WMNCDR, he added.

Once a natural habitat for several species of kites and other preying birds, the number of these birds in Rajshahi has been decreasing at an alarming rate lately, according to Sharifuzzaman.

Environment experts believe that rapid deforestation, scarcity of food and reaction from medicines given to domestic cattle are the main reasons for the population drop. l

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Thursday, May 15, 2014

Indefinite strike halts activities at Hili Port n Our Correspondent, Dinajpur

A studio near Rajshahi Police Lines produces fake identity cards of police officials. Police say making or using such cards is unlawful DHAKA TRIBUNE

original cards at home and carry the fake ones without informing the authorities.

Even there is restriction from the authorities to use phony cards, he added.

Many policemen of Rajshahi Police Line have been said to have collected

fake cards from Sarker Studio.

Officer-in-charge of Rajpara police station Khan Mohammad Shahariar said no lawman is allowed to use such fake identity card. This is a serious offence for both the maker and user of such cards.

“I will look into it and will take necessary action,” he said.

Sarker Studio owner Liton, however, rejected his involvement in such illegal acts outright. He said he was hired in the national identity card project but now spends less time at his studio. l

All types of export-import related activities at the Hili Land Port here came to a halt yesterday as four import organisations enforced a strike for an indefinite amount of time, based on a three-point demand, which includes stopping the harassment that occurs during the process of importing.

Sources at the country’s second largest land port said the C&F agent association and three other import organisations imposed the strike and yesterday was the first day.

Due to the strike, trade with India was stopped and about 150 goods-laden trucks got stuck on the Indian side while trying to enter Bangladesh territory.

However, the immigration department of the port was kept in the dark about the strike.

As part of the strike, members of the association and organisations brought out a procession in the morning and held a rally in front of the Panama Port before sending a memorandum to the Hakimpur UNO in this regard. They also observed a token strike for the last two days.

Authorities of the BGB-3 battalion had fixed pass cards titled “Manifesto

n CU Correspondent The shuttle train service between the Chittagong University (CU) campus and the city which had remained suspended for eight days because of an indefinite strike enforced by the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), resumed yesterday night.

The decision came from a tripartite meeting held among the university authorities, railway officials, staff and the demonstrating BCL men at the general manager’s office of the Central Railway Building (CRB) in the city in the afternoon.

Mohammed Ali, general secretary of the Railway Running Staff, said they had agreed to operate the shuttle train service again on the campus route after getting assurances from the university authorities that it was safe to do so.

The shuttle train service will be normal from today [Thursday], he added.

Earlier, on May 7, a section of the

BCL unit of the CU enforced a blockade on the campus to press home its eightpoint demands, thereby halting the train service.

The BCL men forced a suspension of the train service between the campus and the city by abducting and injuring the train drivers and cops.

Following the attacks, the railway authority decided to suspend the train service to ensure the security of their staff.

In a separate incident on April 5, a faction of the BCL had physically assaulted Nasir Haider Babul, assistant secretary of the AL central sub-committee, on campus when he went there to attend a meeting.

Protesting the attack, another faction of the BCL had enforced a blockade for an indefinite period of time, which they finally withdrew on April 13, after putting forward an eight-point demand, including the permanent expulsion of the attackers from the university. l

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal The Sikder Women’s Medical College and Hospital authority suspended one of its doctors, Shafiul Azam, yesterday, for allegedly assaulting a journalist of the Bangla daily, Prothom Alo. Major General (retd) Bijoy Kumar, principal of the college, confirmed the news and told the Dhaka Tribune that a three-member probe body, headed by a professor, has been formed to investigate the allegations of assault.

The hospital will not support any illegal activity by any individual, Bijoy said, adding that the probe committee will also investigate claims about Dr Azam’s misrepresentation of his designation.

Shishir Morol, a special correspondent of the national daily, was allegedly confined and beaten up by Dr Azam and his associates on Tuesday when he went to the hospital to investigate allegations that the doctor had been misrepresenting his designation to the patients.

Bangladesh Medical and Dental Council (BMDC) also submitted a letter to the principal of the medical college, asking for explanations from the college and from Dr Azam regarding Tuesday’s incident.

Zahedul Haque Bosunia, registrar of the BMDC, told the Dhaka Tribune that they have called an emergency meeting of the central executive committee and the disciplinary committee of the BMDC to discuss Tuesday’s incident.

He said the principal has been directed to respond to the letter by Thursday morning, adding that they have also sought details about the accused doctor.

Despite repeated attempts, Dr Azam could not be reached for comments, as his phone has been turned off.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh Health Reporters’ Forum (BHRF) met with the state minister for health, Zahed Maleque, yesterday, and submitted a fivepoint memorandum which included

DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:34PM SUN RISES 5:16AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 37

27

Rajshahi

42

28

Rangpur

39

26

Khulna

40

26

27

Barisal

38

28

Sylhet

35

24

Cox’s Bazar

34

28

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

41.2ºC Jessore

21.4ºC Sylhet

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

3:53am 5:16am 11:55am 3:18pm 6:33pm 7:57pm Source: IslamicFinder.org

demands for the arrest of the accused doctor and his associates, the formation of a law to end doctors’ strikes, and the withdrawal of the restriction of reporters from entering hospitals.

Speaking about Tuesday’s incident, the state minister said such an attack was unexpected, and that necessary measures will be taken in accordance with the law.

Earlier in the day, the BHRF also formed a human chain in front of the National Press Club, demanding the arrest of the attackers within 48 hours.

Presided by BHRF President Toufiq Maruf, the programme was addressed by the Dhaka Reporters Unity (DRU) President Shahed Chowdhury, DRU Secretary General Elias Khan, National Press Club Secretary Abdal Ahmed, Prothom Alo’s Chief Reporter Sharifuzzaman Pintu, former president of the BHRF Moniruzzaman Uzzal, incumbent BHRF General Secretary Badruduzza Sumon and the BHRF Vice-President Nurul Islam Hasib. l

Relatives of a seven-year-old admitted in Mymensingh Medical College Hospital vandalised the hospital and barricaded the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway yesterday following the child’s death.

Fazlul Karim, OC of Kotwali Model police station, said Nirob was admitted in the hospital’s paediatric ward with stomach ache and died at 11am. His family accused the doctors of administering wrong treatment to the child and attacked them, who had to escape the scene.

Angered by the incident, the locals joined the family, blocked traffic on the highway near the hospital and vandalised a few vehicles as well, the OC said.

Police intervened and brought the situation under control, he added. l

THURSDAY, MAY 15

34

When contacted, the BGB-3 battalion commander Lieutenant Colonel Abdur Razzak Tarakder said: “It is our regular security task to know about the goods that enter the country daily and it takes only 30 seconds to complete.”

He denied the claim of alleged harassment during the process of importing that was made by the importers.

Kuli Sramik Samannoi Committee, Truck Sramik Samannoi Parishad and Truck Owners Association took part in the strike. l

Mymensingh Medical College Hospital vandalised n Our Correspondent, Mymensingh

THUNDERSHOWER

Chittagong

Due to the strike, trade with India was stopped and about 150 goodsladen trucks got stuck on the Indian side while trying to enter Bangladesh territory

CU shuttle train service Doctor of Sikder medical suspended resumes after eight days for assaulting journalist

WEATHER

Dhaka

Card” (the card states production place and date of products) for the Indian trucks since April 27, but the local importers identified it as a time consuming system.

The association has been demanding that the battalion and port authorities stop using the cards.

Vehicular movement was as usual during yesterday’s hartal called by Jamaat-e-Islami in greater Chittagong. The photo was taken from Comilla bypass area

Ship breaking worker killed in Ctg n CU Correspondent A worker was killed at a ship breaking yard in Jahanarabad area under Sitakund upazila in Chittagong district yesterday afternoon.

The deceased was identified as Saidur Rahman, son of Sahid Uddin, hailing from Pirojpur district and worker of the ship breaking yard under S Trading Corporation at the area. Nayek Jahangir Alam of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) police outpost said Saidur Rahman fell from the rooftop of a ship while he was cutting iron plates at 5:55pm and sustained critical injuries.

The co-workers rushed him to CMCH where the on-duty doctors declared him dead, Jahangir added. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Jamaat’s hartal observed in relaxed manner in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The dawn-to-dusk hartal called by Jamaat-e-Islami in greater Chittagong yesterday did not have much effect on the lives of the general people.

On Monday, law enforcers arrested the chief of Chittagong unit Jamaat ANM Shamsul Islam and 20 others from the city with possession of bomb-making materials. Protesting the arrest, Jamaat called the dawn-todusk hartal throughout Chittagong, Cox’s Bazar, Khagrachhari, Rangamati, and Bandarban, in the greater Chittagong division.

However, during the hartal, government and non-government offices, business organisations, factories, industries, educational institutions and other functional bodies continued their operations like every other working day.

Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examinations took place as usual in and around the city regardless of the shutdown.

Vehicular movement was less than usual, though buses continued operating on the road and rail communication was undisrupted. However, no inter-district bus left the port city.

The only reported incidents were

that the picketers vandalised three CNG-run auto-rickshaws on the city’s Chatweswari Road in the afternoon and in the early morning hours, police detained two Islami Chhatra Shibir activists near the Patharghata Ansar Club as they were preparing for the hartal.

Apart from these, no major incidents were reported in the port city and the 14 upazilas in the district during the hartal hours, said sources.

Abu Bakar Siddique, a resident of the city’s Halishahar area, told Dhaka Tribune that this type of hartal is not for the common people, even though they are the only sufferers. l

Bomb hurled at lawyers’ house n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi Unidentified attackers hurled a crude bomb at the residence of a lawyer couple in the Baliapur area of Rajshahi city, early yesterday, damaging a groundfloor office room. Aslam Sarkar and his wife, Ismot Ara Begum, were woken by the sound of an explosion at around 1.30pm, and when they rushed downstairs, they found the doors, windows and furniture of their office damaged.

Aslam, an advocate and legal secretary of the Rajshahi city Awami League, filed a case with the local police yesterday in this regard.

He told the Dhaka Tribune that he suspected Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir to be behind the attack as he had recently appeared in court against some of their activists. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Bandarban institute deprived of patronisation

Farmers want a stop to all tidal Mohamuni Shishu Sadan faces manifold problems in maintaining regular academic activities for fund crunch projects n Our Correspondent, Jessore junior fellows have continued n Our Correspondent, Bandarban to Their work hard to fulfil their dream of Farmers in a press conference demanded Karate-loving children of Bandarban’s Mohamuni Shishu Sadan in the Chittagong Hill Tracts have been bringing glory for the institute for over 16 years by winning titles in different prestigious events including the SAF Games.

The residential institute – which is the one of its kind in the district – had won the national championship in karate for consecutive 13 years since its establishment in 1997.

Of the around 200 students at the institute, at least 102 are engaged in taking karate training every day alongside their conventional academic activities.

The school was founded by Father Lupi, an Italian philanthropist who has initiated many schemes across the country, in Sabek Beelchhari under Lama Upazila.

Jo U Pru, an athlete-turn-trainer of the institute, won a number of titles in her career. Apart from graced with the Saarc Gold Medal in 2006, she won gold in 2010 SAF Games and bronze in the event of 2006. She also clinched the title in All India Wado-Kai Karate Championship.

Two other athletes from the institute – And Nai Chak and O Chanu – also won several gold medals in national level competitions.

bringing more successes for the school.

But because of fund crunch, the authorities have been facing manifold problems in maintaining the regular academic activities and providing the students with adequate facilities including proper food and clothes.

The current situation has created concern among the students since they think poor quality food would not help them grow as skilled athletes. Their dreams are becoming bleak day by day, according to officials.

Locals say proper patronisation of the government may help increasing quality of sportsmen at the institute.

Moreover, despite having huge contribution in sports and education, the school has never received any funds from the district administration or the district sports council.

Jo U Pru said they had been facing acute financial crisis for the last one year, and now badly needed support of the government – either in terms of education assistance or in sports.

Lama Upazila Chairman Thowai Nu Ong told the Dhaka Tribune that the government should come forward for the betterment of education and sports, especially karate at the Shishu Sadan. l

40 injured in B’baria clash

Peanut cultivation turns profitable in Nilphamari

Correspondent, n Our Brahmanbaria At least 40 people were injured in a clash between two groups of villagers in the Nazirbari village in the Bijoynagar upazila of the district, yesterday, centering the upcoming upazila election.

According to sources, supporters of the BNP backed chairman candidate, Kazi Rafiqul Islam, damaged the posters of the AL backed chairman candidate Advocate Tanvir Bhuya in the morning.

Getting agitated, Tanvir’s supporters physically attacked some of Rafiqul’s supporters. The clash which followed, featuring local weapons, occurred at noon, and left 40 injured.

On information, police went to the spot and opened fire in an attempt to bring the situation under control.

Rasul Ahmed Nizami, officer-incharge of the Bijoynagar police station said the situation had been brought under control and a number of police personnel had been deployed in the area. l

Correspondent, n Our Nilphamari A good number of farmers from the Dimla upazila in Nilphamari have become interested in peanut cultivation because it has a low cost of production but yields huge profit.

This year, many farmers of the upazila have cultivated peanuts on sandy land since they procured seeds and agri-inputs in time.

A vast tract of the riverbed in the distrcit has dried up because of the adverse impact of climate change and the surrounding land has remained barren over the years.

Taking the advice of agricultual officials, farmers of the upazila have become involved in peanut cultivation and now they are expecting bumper yeilds.

As it is risky to cultivate other varieties of crops on the sandy land, the farmers are opting for

Children are engaged in taking karate training on the premises of Mohamuni Shishu Sadan in Bandarban yesterday

peanut cultivation, especially because of its low farming cost, said sources at the Department of Agriculture Extension.

Abdul Gafur, 42, a resident of the Chatnai Kolony Para village under Dimla upazila of the district said, “This season I have cultivated the crop on one acre of land, which only cost me Tk5,000. Now I am happy and expecting a minimum return of Tk15,000 as profit from the land.”

He added, “Sandy areas are not suitable soil for cultivating jute, paddy, wheat and other seasonal crops.

This type of land is mainly suitable for cultivating crops like maize, onion and peanut. But I have decided to cultivate only peanut this season.

The cultivation of peanut is an easy process. It is also a profitable crop.”

Abdul Matin, 43, a resident of the Pagol Para village under Dimpa upazila of the district, said, “I was a fisherman. But I could not maintain

my family with that profession. So I decided to cultivate peanut in the Teesta riverbed. I have cultivated peanut on 0.5 acres of land.”

When contacted, SM Sirazul Islam, deputy director of the Department of Agriculture Extension, said, “The farmers of Domar, Jaldhaka, Dimla, Kishoriganj, Syedpur and Sadar upazila of the district cultivated peanut on seven hectares of land. The production target has been fixed at 119 tonnes.”

Sources at the Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC), Niphamari, said the BADC has distributed a high yielding variety of peanut seeds at a fair price among the farmers in six upazilas of the district.

About 20kg of seed is needed for the cultivation of peanuts on one bigha (30 decimals) of land. The high sandy soil is preferred for the cultivation of the crop, the sources added. l

Seven murdered across the country n

Tribune Report

At least seven people were murdered in Habiganj, Dinajpur, Lakshmipur, Gazipur ,Sirajganj and Tangail districts yesterday.

In Habiganj, a farmer was killed as rivals attacked him at Mahmudpur village in Ajmiriganj upazila.

The deceased was identified as Rakhesh Sutradhar,50.

Locals said that men of one Taher Mian in the village were damaging a chatal (rice-processing unit) of Rakhesh. They beat up him mercilessly as he protested.

Locals rescued him and rushed him to Sylhet Medical College and Hospital. He died in the hospital.

Taimur Bokto, officer-in-charge of Ajmiriganj police station, confirmed the incident.

In Dinajpur, a man was beaten to death allegedly by his second wife and his step sons at Ramchandrapur village in Parbotipur upazila.

The deceased was identified as Subas Chandra Roy, 48, son of late Hariprada Roy. Locals said Subas, father of four daughters, had married Joytsna Bala, widow of Ganapoti of the same village and mother of three sons, eight years back.

He often had quarrel with Joytsna, his second wife, over different issues since after their marriage. A few days back, Joytsna along with her three sons, had started living separately at a house beside Subas’s.

On the fateful night, Subas was locked in an altercation with Joytsna over the previous issues at about 11pm when he was returning home.

At one stage, Joytsna and her two sons Nitesh and Pradip beat Subas mercilessly, leaving him dead on the spot. Local people caught Joytsna, Pradip and his wife Sandha Rani, Nibesh and his wife Pratima while they were trying to flee after the incident. On information, police went to the spot and arrested them.

Police recovered the body and sent it to hospital morgue for an autopsy.

A case was filed in this connection. In Lakshmipur, two people were killed in separate incidents in the district.

Sources said a man was killed in a clash between two groups of villagers over a land dispute at Charporagachha village in Ramgati upazila. The deceased was identified as Sekandar Hossain, a resident of the village.

Witnesses said there had been a longstanding dispute between Zaher Majhi and Sekandar Hossain over the ownership of a piece a land.

At noon, following an altercation, a group of 10-12 supporters of Zaher Majhi group swooped on Sekandar Hossain, leaving him severely injured.

He was rushed to Ramgati upazila health complex where Sekandar succumbed to his injuries around 9pm.

Abul Kalam Azad, officer-in-charge of Ramgati police station, confirmed the incident.

On the other hand, a youth was murdered over cricket in Sadar upazila.

The deceased was identified as Sohag, son of Nurnabi in Dharmapur village.

According to sources, Firoz, friend of Sohag, was locked in an altercation with him while they were playing cricket in the field. At one stage, Firoz Sohag’s head with a brick, leaving him dead on the

spot. On information, police recovered the body and sent it to hospital morgue.

In Gazipur, a woman’s body was found inside a sack at Baimail area in Konabari.

Police said the woman was allegedly murdered by some unidentified persons who later stuffed the body in a sack and dumped it in the area.

The identity of the deceased could not be known.

In Tangail, police recovered a hanging body of a housewife in Adajan village of Basail upazila.

The deceased was identified as Keya Akter,19, wife of Saudy expatriate Lavlu Mia and daughter of

Abul Hossain in Mohera village under Mirzapur upaizla of the district.

On information police recovered the body and sent to Tangial General hospital morgue for autopsy.

In Sirajganj, a housewife was killed by her husband for dowry in Biara village of Kazipur upazila.

The deceased was identified as Anjumara Bagum,16.

Police said Anjumara had been married off with Mehedi in the village two years back.

After the marriage, Mehedi used to torture Anjumara for dowry.

On the day, they were locked in an altercation over the issue and one stage Mehedi strangled. l

cancellation of all the tidal river management projects in a press conference held at Jessore Press Club yesterday noon.

The program was organised by the farmers who have been vocal regarding the issue under the banner of ‘Committee on the Bhabadah Water Logging Resolving Movement.’

They said all the dams, embankments and sluice gates should be removed from the river Bhabadah and its adjacent areas for the sake of bringing natural flow of water in the area.

Based on the design made by Institute of Water Modelling, the Water Development Board has been implementing projects one after another at Bhabadah waterlogged area. Instead of bringing any benefit to the affected people, these projects meant money spinners for the officials concerned due to misappropriation of the funds, people of water-logged area told the press conference.

They also demanded withdrawal of cases filed against a total of 7,000 farmers of Bhabadah waterlogged areas.

Sirajul Islam Sarder, convenor of Committee on Bhabadah Water Logging Resolving Movement, Paritosh Debnath, joint convenor of the committee and a number of farmers were present at the press conference. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Executive Engineer, Narail O&M Division, BWDB, Narail

INVITATION FOR E-TENDER Invitation Reference No. T-3/743 dt. 12-05-2014 Tender ID (from e-GP portal) 8325 Name of the Work Construction of Drainage Cum Flashing Regulator (2-Vent-1.50M×1.80M) at Bhombag in “ Rehabilitation of Bhutiarbeel & Barnal-Salimpur-Kolabashukhali Flood Control & Drainage Project in Khulna District (Phase-II)” under Narail O&M Division, BWDB, Narail during the year 2013-14.

This is an online tender where only e-tenders will be accepted in e-GP portal and no offline and hard copy will be accepted. To submit e-tender please register on e-GP system (http://www.eprocure.gov.bd/). For more details please contact Support Desk contact number (01762-625528-31).

Zulfikar Ali Howlader Executive Engineer Narail O&M Division BWDB, Narial

Pani-735/13-14 DG-96/14 (5×3)

Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh

Bangladesh Railway

Office of the Divisional Superintendent, Bangladesh Railway.

Saidpur, Niphamari.

INVITATION FOR TENDERS GENERAL INFORMATION 1

Ministry

2

Agency

Ministry of Railway.

Bangladesh Railway.

3

Procuring Entity Name

Divisional Superintendent/Railway/Ministry, Saidpur.

4

Procuring Entity District

Saidpur, Nilphamari.

5

Invitation for

At SDP (Officer colony):- Repairs to DFA Chamber with Computer room, books & budget section, baranda including roof treatment.

6

Invitation Ref No

10/AEN/IC/REV/SDP/2013-14

7

Date

May11, 2014

KEY INFORMATION 8

Procurement Method

Open Tendering Method (OTM)

FUNDING INFORMATION 9

Budget and Source of Funds

GoB

PARTICULAR INFORMATION 10

Tender Last Selling Date

Date

Time

May 29, 2014.

15:00 Hours 12:00 Hours

11

Tender Closing Date & Time

June1, 2014

12

Tender Opening Date & Time

June 1, 2014

13

Name & Address of the office(s) Selling Tender Document

12:30 Hours Address

1. Office of the Assistant Executive Engineer/In-Charge Bangladesh Railway, Saidpur, Nilphamari.

2. Office of the Divisional Engineer/I, Bangladesh Railway, Paksey, Pabna.

3. Office of the Divisional Engineer, Bangladesh Railway, Lalmonirhat.

4. Office of the Assistant Executive Engineer, Bangladesh Railway, Rajshahi.

Receiving Tender Document

Assistant Executive Engineer/ In-Charge. Bangladesh Railway, Saidpur.

Opening Tender Document

Assistant Executive Engineer/ In-Charge. Bangladesh Railway, Saidpur.

INFORMATION FOR TENDER 14

Eligibility of Tenderer

15

Description of work

“A” “B” & “C” class approved contractor of Bangladesh Railway or any other enlisted contractor under any Government. Semi-government or autonomous agency who fulfill the conditions of tender document(s) are eligible.

Sl No

Description of work

Location

Price of Tender Document (Tk)

Tender Security (Should be MICR) Amount (Tk)

Completion Time (Days)

i)

At SDP (officer colony)-repairs to DFA Chamber with Computer room, books & budget section baranda including roof.

Siadpur, Nilphamari

600/-

17,100/-

90

PROCURING ENTITY DETAILS 16

Name of Official Inviting Tender

Nur Ahmmod Hossain.

17

Designation of Official Inviting Tender

Divisional Superintendent, Bangladesh Railway, Saidpur.

18

Address of Official Inviting Tender

Office of the Divisional Superintendent, Bangladesh Railway.

19

Contact details of Official Inviting Tender

Mobile: 01711692863

20

The procuring entity reserves the right to reject all tenders.

RPRD No. 3770, Date: 14/05/2014 GC-61/14 (8×3)

Rly Digital: 87-927

Md. Reyad Ahmed Assistant Executive Engineer/In-Charge On behalf of Divisional Superintendent Bangladesh Railway Saidpur, Nilphamari.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Juris

7

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Register your deeds to secure your property

Forgery goes unabated A stronger legal framework to address this menace is called for

A

n Jennifer Ashraf

BIG STOCK

R

n Raisul Islam Sourav

egistration of all sorts of deed relating to transfer of immoveable property is mandatory after July 1, 2005 by amending the hundred years old registration law of the country. Hence, in the eye of law, an unregistered document has no legal effect and no one can claim any right on the basis of it.

Moreover, no court of law will admit any unregistered instrument as an evidence. Consequently, an unregistered document may create complexity and one may lose his/her rights over their properties only for non-registration.

So, all deeds of sale, gift, mortgage, partition, contract for sale, exchange and lease need to be duly registered at the office of the Sub-registrar under the jurisdiction of which the property is situated. Likewise, registration of moveable property is necessary to secure proprietary rights but not always obligatory.

Procedure for getting registration Apart from a sale deed, registration of a contract for sale deed (Bainanama) is also mandatory. A contract for sale deed must be registered within 30 days from the date of its execution.

After completion of all requirements to register and fulfilling the conditions of contract for sale deed, the sale deed has also to be registered within three months from the date of execution.

There is no scope to register after lapse of this stipulated time. However, a defaulter may appeal to the district registrar for registration after showing proper cause of delay.

Before presenting the documents to register, one has to scrutinise all necessary papers relating to the property cautiously and identifies the title, ownership, possession etc over the property of the transferor. Now,

it is essential to submit an affidavit by the transferor in this regard. The next thing to do is to draft the deed properly. It is very important for both the transferor and the transferee to set up their rights and liabilities in the deed appropriately. Usually, some professionals draft the deed and the transferee depends on them so much so that he/she does not even care to read/check it.

In reality, the contents of the deed will determine the rights and liabilities of the parties. Hence, it is crucial to set

registration may be done in any of the place or places at which larger portion of the property is situated.

A receipt will be given at the time of registration which has to be showed while collecting the registered document. Therefore, it is important to preserve your receipts carefully. Everyone should take a copy of registered deed after completion of the whole process and examine the papers thoroughly.

In case there remains any discrepancy, one has to inform the sub-registrar and apply for correction.

In reality, the contents of the deed will determine the rights and liabilities of the parties. Hence, it is crucial to set up the rights and duties of the parties clearly, legibly and specifically up the rights and duties of the parties clearly, legibly and specifically.

In addition, it is very important to draft the deed legibly so that there arises no confusion to determine the rights and liabilities. However, some laws, eg the Specific Relief Act permits to correct/amend or even cancel the deed after the execution and registration of a defective deed through the court. But the process is complex, time consuming and expensive.

Now, to transfer an immoveable property the parties will have to affix there attested photos on the deed and appear physically before the registry office. Moreover, in case of sale, the transferor will provide detailed information and history about the chain of ownership for the last 25 years.

Furthermore, he/she will explain the way by which he/she acquires the right to transfer and submit all original papers, records of rights (khatiyans) etc relating to the property. If the property is situated in more than one sub-registrar’s jurisdiction then the

JURIS QUOTE

If the parties are unable to present physically before the Sub-registrar’s office, the concerned officer will come to the convenient place to register the document. It is necessary to remember that a deed is being effective from the date of execution and not from the date of registration. If anybody executes a deed in foreign state, the deed will have to be registered within four months of the document holder’s arrival in Bangladesh. The language of the deed may have to be translated for the convenience of the registrar.

Sometimes parties show less value than the original in the deed to avoid fees and taxes which may create obstacles to get proper legal protection. Do not take aid from any unauthorised person to register your property. In reality, there are a lot of middlemen or touts who may ask you to appoint them for money to do your registration promptly. It may affect adversely and it is also prohibited under the Registration Act.

LAW CARTOON

Registration fees The registration fee for contract for sale deed may vary depending upon the value of the property. The fee is Tk500, if the value of the immoveable property is less than Tk500,000.

It is Tk1,000, if the value is between Tk500,000-5,000,000 and it is Tk2,000, if the value of the property is more than Tk5,000,000.

In case of a mortgage deed the registration fee depends upon the mortgage amount. If the amount is less than Tk500,000, then the amount of fee will be 1% of total mortgage money, but the amount must not be less than Tk200 and not more than Tk500. If the amount is between Tk500,000-2000,000, then the fee will be 0.25% of total amount, but not less than Tk1,500 and not more than Tk2,000. If the amount exceeds Tk2,000,000 then the fee will be 0.10% of total amount which will not be less than Tk3,000 and not more than Tk5,000.

If it is a gift/heba (heba is for Muslims only) deed which is executed between husband-wife, parentschildren, grandfather-grandmother, brother-sister, grandfather/grandmother-grandson/granddaughter then the fee is Tk100 only and for rest of the cases the fee is same as sale deed.

In case of partition deed, the registration fee is Tk500 if the market price of the property is within Tk300,000.

If the value of the property is between Tk300,000-1,000,000, the fee will be Tk700. If the value is between Tk1,000,000-3,000,000, the fee is Tk1,200 and if the value is between Tk3,000,000-5,000,000, the fee will be Tk1,800. However, in this case the highest amount of fee is Tk2,000 when the market price of the property exceeds Tk5,000,000. l Raisul Islam Sourav is a Senior Lecturer and Coordinator, Department of Law, Dhaka International University (DIU).

NOTICE BOARD Send us queries for

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

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

Dhaka Tribune George Washington

FR Tower, 8/c Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka- 1207

(1732–1799) First president of the United States

RIO SHUVO

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news piece caught my eye roughly a week back – a man, lacking any medical qualifications and having almost no training, began performing medical procedures on patients whilst accepting money for his services. The amusing bit is that he actually got away with it for quite a while, conducting serious surgeries and performing other medical services on patients who came to him for assistance.

This made me wonder – how did someone in such a position get away with it for so long? Also, why would someone knowingly go to such a person to receive medical treatment, when he did not have any of the requisite medical qualifications or the appropriate training? The answer is shockingly simple – they didn’t know.

Let’s face it: compliance and verification is a tricky process in Bangladesh. Of course, Nilkhet isn’t helping much either. It’s an open secret that any document you want made or counterfeited, can be done so over there, for a comparatively minimum price. Of course, whilst I find it reassuring that I can easily call myself an architect or an engineer by virtue of a forged certificate from Nilkhet, I’m also secure in the knowledge that I would never misuse this certificate in order to defraud others or diversify my professional expertise.

Unfortunately, the same cannot be said for all the thousands of other individuals who have access to Nilkhet’s resources. Instead of choosing to simply be content with their sham certificates, certain individuals (such as the one above) may also choose to employ questionable practices.

This, in a connected way, brings to mind the question – are there any laws at all in the arena? What is our legal framework doing to address this situation? The Penal Code contains a few provisions (mainly 463 to 477)

which deal with the issue of forgery and it being a punishable office. A few such forgery establishments in Nilkhet have already undergone scrutiny by the law authorities but numerous other establishments remain untouched.

It’s a pity that whilst these are legitimate issues, the legal framework in Bangladesh still contains loopholes in this context This is also brazenly proven by the fact that these establishments continue to exist despite the fact that provisions punishing forgery is present in the Penal Code itself. Whilst more priority is given to the issue of counterfeiting of money bills (as evidenced by the constant reform and introduction of appropriate laws, ie, The Fake Currency Prevention Bill 2013), the issue of forged certificates appears to continually be treated trivially. It appears that the obligation rests on the employers or higher education bodies to verify the authenticity of any such qualifications or educational certificates.

It’s a pity that whilst these are legitimate issues, the legal framework in Bangladesh still contains loopholes in this context. This once again brings to mind the burning question - how seriously are the concerned authorities treating this significant issue? l Jennifer Ashraf is barrister and solicitor of England and Wales. She is currently a senior partner at Legacy Legal Corporate.

She can be reached at jennifer.ashraf@ legacylegalcorporate.com.

READER’S REACTION

A melancholy anniversary The disaster could have been avoided if the applicable laws were adhered to

“A

n Khairul Islam Taj

bunch of candles, colourful hanging balloons, most often a branded caramel cake, ultimate festivity of a joyous evening or a full day”- this is how we celebrate an anniversary. While reading this, forget about the blissful celebrations; we are talking about a melancholy anniversary.

Let us turn our eyes one year back. The terrific tragedy of Rana Plaza downfall at Savar, crafted a deadly spot on the canvas of peoples’ memory. Thousands of lives were lost in the blink of an eye, though around four hundred lives were saved. Even today, relatives of the victims look for the missing body at the venue of the tragedy. Many of the victims who survived are on the recovery track, yet many are mutilated for life.

Did we take any lesson from such a fatal accident? The prevalent labour law of the country boasts of a couple of hefty provisions, the implementation part is still a far cry. Rights of workers cry in silence, working environment deteriorates, and the owners get a fistful of dollars.

Plentiful talks and debates have taken place, yet the solution has never been reached. Rana, the owner of Rana Plaza, was seized and eventually freed, his property was supposed to be confiscated by the law enforcement authorities too. But do all these steps suffice towards a remedy?

Like Rana Plaza, hundreds of establishments in the capital city might fail in fitness test. Technical faults in the buildings that house garment factory, non-congenial working

environment, failure of employers to comply with minimum wage scale as decided by the authorised body, are common pictures almost everywhere.

We all thought, the Rana Plaza disaster would put a complete halt to any further calamity. Irony of fate, later on, we witnessed two or three similar accidents, eg, outburst of fire in some establishments with toll of lives.

Watchdogs from the government and NGOs are enormous in number, so are the number of recommendations.

The government should regularly monitor the working conditions in garment factories. Worker-employer relationship in the industry should be properly scrutinised. It is evident from the growth of the industry, that workers have been giving their full potential. However, some invisible factors contribute to make the sector unstable. Rapt attention must be paid while constructing new garment factories. Building codes must be followed very rigorously.

Workers’ safety and security should be given high priority. Fire extinguishers, emergency exit, elevators, staircases, etc should be made easily accessible for the workers. A regular fire-drill should be conducted to familiarise the workers with their responsibilities during an outbreak of fire.

Last but not the least, the offenders who snatched away the lives of workers must be given exemplary punishment and no political or other consideration should be allowed. Proper implementation of law is required, without which mere discussion, seminars, talk-shows, policy fixing, etc would go in vain. l Khairul Islam Taj is an LLM candidate at University of Dhaka.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Turkey’s worse ever coal mine blast kills 232, hundreds more trapped n AFP, Turkey Rescuers battled yesterday to reach hundreds of workers feared trapped after an explosion at a mine in western Turkey that has killed at least 232 people in one of the worst industrial disasters ever to hit the country.

As Turkey declared three days of national mourning for the victims, energy minister Taner Yildiz said the toll could rise to exceed the 263 workers killed in the country’s worst ever mining disaster.

“We are worried that human loss could increase,” he told reporters.

“The problem is more serious than we thought. It is developing into an accident with the highest worker death toll Turkey has seen so far.”

Yildiz said 232 miners had been confirmed dead after Tuesday’s blast at the mine at Soma, in Manisa province.

He declined to say how many people remained trapped in the mine, although earlier reports said 787 workers were underground when the blast occurred.

Turkey’s disaster management agency AFAD said 93 people had been rescued, 85 of them injured.

Explosions and cave-ins are common in Turkey, particularly in private mines where safety regulations are often flouted.

Turkey’s worst mining accident happened in 1992 when 263 workers were killed in a gas explosion in a mine in Zonguldak. Tuesday’s explosion was believed to have been triggered by a faulty electrical transformer at around 1230 GMT on Tuesday.

A security source told AFP that there were pockets in the mine, one of which was open so rescuers were able to reach the workers, but the second was blocked with workers trapped inside.

Hundreds of people gathered around the explosion site as rescuers brought out injured workers, who were coughing and struggling to breathe due to the dust.

Sena Isbiler, mother of one of the miners, stood on top of piles of wood, craning her neck to see who was being led out of the mine.

“I have been waiting for my son since early afternoon,” she told AFP. “I haven’t heard anything about him yet.”

Arum Unzar, a colleague of the missing miners said he had lost a friend previously “but this is enormous.” “All the victims are our friends,” he said as he wept.

“We are a family and today that family is devastated. We have had very little news and when it does come it’s very bad,” he added.

‘Tragic accident’

Fire officials were trying to pump clean air into the mine shaft for those who remained trapped some two kilometres (one mile) below the surface and four kilometres from the entrance.

Injured people emerged from the collapsed mine, some walking, others being carried by rescue workers while being given oxygen, as security officers tried to keep ambulance routes clear.

Energy Minister Yildiz promised the government would “not turn a blind eye” to negligence. “We will do what-

Nigerian girls start second month in captivity n AFP, Abuja More than 200 schoolgirls yesterday began their second month as Boko Haram hostages, with Nigeria’s government indicating it was willing to talk to the militants to secure their release.

Lawmakers in Abuja were also set to debate a request from President Goodluck Jonathan for a six-month extension to a state of emergency first imposed in three northeast states worst affected by insurgent violence exactly a year ago.

Boko Haram, which has waged an increasingly deadly campaign of bombings and attacks in the last five years, kidnapped 276 girls from the remote town of Chibok in Borno state on April 14.

Street protests, including in a torrential downpour in Nigeria’s financial capital, Lagos, marked the one-month anniversary of the girls’ abduction, calling for the 223 still being held to be returned to their families.

The United Nations expressed its “deep concern” about the fate of the teenagers. The head of the Committee on the Elimination of Discrimination

Against Women, Nicole Ameline, said the mass abduction violated UN conventions and “may qualify as a crime against humanity.”

Open to talks

On Monday, Boko Haram released a video purporting to show about 130 of them and claimed they had all converted to Islam. All of the girls were later identified as attending the school in Chibok.

The group’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, suggested they could be freed in a prisoner exchange and on Tuesday, special duties minister Taminu Turaki indicated that the government was open to talks.

“Nigeria has always been willing to dialogue with the insurgents,” Turaki, who last year headed a committee tasked with pursuing an amnesty pact with some of the group’s fighters, told AFP. Meanwhile, there are fears that the abducted girls may have been split into groups and taken into neighbouring Chad or Cameroon, from where Boko Haram has previously launched attacks and sought safe haven. l

Clockwise from top left: A man kisses his son, rescued of the mine, on May 13 after an explosion in a coal mine in the western Turkish city of Manisa, in which at least 232 miners were killed. Rescuers carry out a dead miner on May 14 after the explosion. People stand in front of a hospital as they wait for news of relatives on May 14 in Soma AFP ever necessary, including all administrative and legal steps,” he said.

The mining company Soma Komur issued a statement saying it had taken maximum measures to ensure safety.

‘Hopes fading’

Turkey’s ministry of labour and social security said the mine was last inspected on March 17 and was found to comply with safety regulations.

UK offers spy planes to help Nigeria schoolgirl search n AFP, London Britain has offered Nigeria surveillance aircraft and a military team to help with the search for more than 200 missing schoolgirls abducted a month ago by Boko Haram militants, Prime Minister David Cameron said yesterday.

“Today I can announce we have offered Nigeria further assistance in terms of surveillance aircraft, a military team to embed with the Nigerian army in their HQ and a team to work with US experts to analyse information on the girls’ location,” he told parliament.

Specialist teams from the United States, Britain, France and Israel have been sent to help in the search operation, which Nigeria’s military has said is concentrated on the Sambisa forest area of Borno state.

US surveillance planes have been scouring a vast swathe of northern Nigeria looking for the girls.

Boko Haram this week released a video of more than one hundred of the girls, saying they had converted to Islam. l

But Oktay Berrin, a miner, said workers were not protected underground. “There is no security in this mine,” he told AFP. “The unions are just puppets and our management only cares about money.”

Speaking in Ankara, Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan expressed his “heartfelt condolences” to the families of those who died.

“Some of the workers have been rescued and I hope we will be able to rescue the others,” Erdogan said.

Turkey’s President Abdullah Gul has cancelled a trip to China and will also travel to the scene of the disaster.

Yildiz told journalists in Soma that a team of 400 people were involved in the rescue effort and that the main cause of the deaths was carbon monoxide and dioxide poisoning.

He said fires and the risk of toxic carbon monoxide were hampering rescue efforts. “I must say that our hopes about rescue efforts inside (the mine) are fading,” he added.

The miners are all thought to have gas masks, but it was not clear how long they would last.

Soma is one of the key centres for lignite coal mining in Turkey, a district with a population of around 100,000. l

Nearly 850 dead in Syria jails in 2014 n AFP, Beirut Nearly 850 prisoners have died in Syrian regime jails this year, many executed summarily or tortured to death, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said yesterday.

“From the beginning of the year until May 13, 847 prisoners, including 15 below the age of 18 and six women, have died in security service prisons and army bases,” the Britain-based monitoring group said.

“Families and relatives were noti-

fied of the deaths,” it added.

“All these people lost their lives as a result of torture, summary executions, maltreatment, poor detention conditions, including a lack of food, and because they were unable to obtain the medicine they needed.”

The Observatory, which relies on a network of activist, medical and military sources in Syria, said the number of deaths in regime prisons was likely much higher because of the difficulty in recording the fatalities.

It said some 18,000 people among

those held by the government have disappeared, and many were feared dead.

“The number of victims increases because there are no measures being taken to deter the regime,” said Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman.

“When the criminal knows there is no accountability, he continues his crimes.”

More than 150,000 people have been killed in Syria since the conflict there began in March 2011, and nearly half the country’s population has been displaced. l

A Syria family forced to flee every minute n AFP, Geneva The war in Syria is driving one family from their home every minute, pushing the number of people internally displaced by conflict to record highs globally, a report said yesterday.

The study by the Internal Displacement Monitoring Centre (IDMC) said that 33.3 million people were displaced by violence in their own nations last year.

The report showed that just five countries accounted for two-thirds

SOLDIER ON GUARD

of the tally: Syria, Colombia, Nigeria, the Democratic Republic of Congo and Sudan.

Internally displaced people (IDPs) are those who flee their homes but do not leave their country, as opposed to those who cross a border and are counted as refugees.

While the bulk of the 33.3 million were people who had already fled before 2013 – including some displaced over a decade ago – the total of new IDPs reached 8.2 million by the end of the year, the report said.

World’s oldest sperm discovered in Australia n Agencies

An armed pro-Russian militant stands guard at a barricade outside the village of Shchastya near the eastern Ukrainian city of Lugansk on May 14. Ukraine launched Western-sponsored roundtable ‘national unity’ talks yesterday but without pro-Moscow rebels who are waging an armed insurgency in the east that threatens to tear the country apart AFP

Of those, nearly half were in Syria.

With 9,500 people a day – approximately one family every 60 seconds – being displaced inside Syria, the country remains the largest and fastest evolving displacement crisis in the world.

“The IDMC report reveals a frightening reality of life inside Syria, now the largest internal displacement crisis in the world,” said former UN aid chief Jan Egeland, who now runs the Norwegian Refugee Council, of which the IMDC is part. l

Scientists have discovered the world’s oldest and best-preserved sperm from tiny shrimps, measuring a massive 1.3 millimetres and dating back to 17 million years in Australia.

Preserved giant sperm from shrimps were found at the Riversleigh World Heritage Fossil Site in Queensland and are the oldest fossilised sperm ever found in the geological record, researchers said.

The shrimps lived in a pool in an ancient cave inhabited by thousands of bats, and the presence of bat droppings in the water could help explain the almost perfect preservation of the fossil crustaceans.

The giant sperm are thought to have been longer than the male’s entire body, but are tightly coiled up inside the sexual organs of the fossilised freshwater crustaceans, which are known as ostracods.

“These are the oldest fossilised sperm ever found in the geological record,” said Professor Mike Archer, from the University of New South Wales (UNSW), who has been excavating at Riversleigh for more than 35 years.

“The discovery of fossil sperm, complete with sperm nuclei, was totally unexpected.”

A UNSW research team led by Archer, Associate Professor Suzanne Hand and Henk Godthelp collected the fossil ostracods from Bitesantennary Site at Riversleigh in 1988. They were sent to John Neil, a specialist ostracod researcher at La Trobe University, who realised they contained fossilised soft tissues.

He drew this to the attention of European specialists, including the lead author on the research paper, Dr Renate Matzke-Karasz, from Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich, who examined the specimens with Dr Paul Tafforeau at the European Synchrotron Radiation Facility in Grenoble, France.

The microscopic study revealed the fossils contain the preserved internal organs of the ostracods, including their sexual organs. Within these are the almost perfectly preserved giant sperm cells, and within them, the nuclei that once contained the animals’ chromosomes and DNA. Also preserved are the Zenker organs chitinous-muscular pumps used to transfer the giant sperm to the female. The researchers estimate the fossil sperm are about 1.3 millimetres long, about the same length or slightly longer than the ostracod itself. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Afghan election results delayed over fraud probe n AFP, Kabul

Smoke and flames billow from a factory window in Binh Duong on May 14, as anti-China protesters set more than a dozen factories on fire in Vietnam, according to state media, in an escalating backlash against Beijing’s deployment of an oil rig in contested waters AFP

Vietnam mobs set fire to foreign factories in anti-China riots n Reuters, Hanoi/Manila Thousands of Vietnamese set fire to foreign factories and rampaged in industrial zones in the south of the country in an angry reaction to Chinese oil drilling in a part of the South China Sea claimed

by Vietnam, officials said yesterday.

The brunt of Tuesday’s anti-China violence appears to have been borne

by Taiwanese companies in the zones in Binh Duong and Dong Nai provinces, as rioters mistook the firms to be Chinese-owned. There were no reports of casualties and the rioting appeared to have subsided by Wednesday.

The row over the South China Sea and anti-China violence in tightly-controlled Vietnam have brought relations between Hanoi and Beijing to one of their lowest points since the Commu-

nist neighbors fought a brief border war in 1979.

“I fear a dark chapter in Sino-Vietnamese relations is now being written,” said Ian Storey, a South China Sea expert at Singapore’s Institute of Southeast Asian Studies.

“And because China wants to keep that oil rig in place into August, these protests could just be the first pages.”

Tran Van Nam, vice chairman of the Binh Duong People’s Committee, said workers initially held peaceful protests on Tuesday. But disorder broke out when the numbers swelled to about 20,000.

Gates were smashed and rioters set 15 factories on fire, he said.

“This caused billions of dong (hundreds of thousands of dollars) in damages and thousands of workers will have

Stock-taking for Rahul, routine work for Modi, break for others

An Indian party worker holds a smartphone decorated with stickers bearing the image of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi at the party’s head office in New Delhi on May 14 AFP

n Agencies The chief minister in Narendra Modi broke out of the mould of BJP’s Prime Ministerial hopeful a day after the nine-phase general elections ended on Monday. He was back to routine work in Gujarat on Tuesday while it was more of an election performance assessment day for Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi.

And if some star campaigners of Mandate 2014 like AAP convener Arvind Kejriwal spent a quiet day at home, others chose to relax in cooler hill stations or holiday abroad.

“The CM held a meeting with officials to take stock of the drinking water situation in Gujarat in summer.

He also had a series of meetings with bureaucrats,” a senior BJP leader said.

Modi also met party leaders at the BJP headquarters in Gandhinagar to share his experience during the nationwide campaigning.

Rahul, who logged nearly 165,000km and addressed more than 250 rallies since September 15 last year, had lunch with Congress president Sonia Gandhi at a south Delhi mall. Later, he attended a core group meeting at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh’s 7, Race Course residence followed by deliberations on the poll outcome with senior party functionaries at 10, Janpath.

Kejriwal, on the other hand, con-

fined himself to his residence on Tuesday after arriving from Varanasi the night before, as did BJP leader Arun Jaitley at his newly acquired home in Chandigarh, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar and RJD chief Lalu Prasad in Patna.

SP president Mulayam Singh Yadav too spent the day at his Lucknow home but chose not to switch off completely.

His son and UP chief minster Akhilesh Yadav spent the day at his official residence clearing pending files.

West Bengal chief minister Mamata Banerjee plunged into her daily routine, reviewing the status of various projects at home and later at the state secretariat.

Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan headed for Shimla on May 10 to de-stress from the hectic campaigning. His Tamil Nadu counterpart J Jayalalithaa had rest after the April 24 polls but still took off for her estate in hill resort Ooty. Like Chouhan, she will return to work on Wednesday.

Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is also expected to return from a holiday in Europe before the results are announced.

Others were preoccupied with party meetings and post-result strategies. They included BJP president Rajnath Singh, BSP chief Mayawati, NCP chief Sharad Pawar and MNS chief Raj Thackeray. l

lost their jobs,” Nam said by telephone.

“We urge everyone to stay calm, exercise restraint and have faith in the leadership of the Party and State.”

FY Hong, president of Taiwan’s Formosa Industries Corp, one of the companies that was attacked, said about 300 rioters looted televisions, computers and personal belongings of workers.

“Due to the limited number of police, they couldn’t stop the looters. The situation was like in a country where there were no authorities to protect its people,” Hong said.

A police official in Binh Duong province, speaking by telephone, said about 200 people had been arrested.

“We are working on other areas in the province ... We haven’t seen any injuries.” l

A fight on two fronts for Mamata in Lok Sabha polls n Agencies In her political life of more than three decades, the 2014 Lok Sabha polls are the first occasion where Mamata Banerjee has something to lose. In all the polls that she contested earlier, both Lok Sabha and assembly, she had almost nothing at stake.

But these polls are an exception, and her plight has been evident in the desperation that her body language and tongue displayed during the tumultuous campaign.

“If the Trinamool Congress chief is appearing desperate today, she cannot be faulted. Her stakes are high both on the political as well as the administrative front,” remarked a senior MNC executive, who was a bureaucrat with the state government. It is difficult to be more accurate. At 59, Banerjee is fighting one of the toughest political battles of her life.

Capital stake

Her first challenge is to restore her relevance in the Capital. In UPA 2, the Trinamool Congress had a place of pride as it was the second largest constituent with 19 MPs before it walked out in September 2012. The position gave her not only clout, but also close-tocentre stage position in the national discourse.

This is perhaps the biggest stake for Banerjee as she ardently hopes of emerging as a national player, leapfrogging from the platform in Bengal.

During the campaign before the Saradha scam took away the spotlight, she consistently maintained that the Trinamool would emerge as the third largest party in the country (after the Congress and the Bharatiya Janata Party) and she would emerge as the kingmaker in the Capital.

“If she does not get back her position in Delhi, she remains politically stunted. She will pull out all stops to ensure that does not happen,” remarked Amal Kumar Mukhopadhyay, a professor of political science.

With the dreams of taking her party beyond the borders of Bengal, Banerjee decided to field candidates in several states such as Jharkhand, Uttar Pradesh, Assam, Tripura and Mizoram.

Before the polls began, Banerjee gave her party leaders a target of minimum 30 seats out of the 42 in Bengal.

They now say anything below 28 will be regarded as a failure in their home turf. It is this home turf that Banerjee has to defend after the historic wiping out of the Left Front. l

9

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Afghanistan’s presidential election result was delayed yesterday as authorities said they had not completed fraud investigations into the first round of voting to find a successor to Hamid Karzai.

Full results from the April 5 election were released late last month, but the final declaration will factor in the outcome of weeks of deliberation over fraud allegations.

“The final result has been delayed for an unknown number of days,” Independent Election Commission (IEC) spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor told AFP. “We still have not received the ECC (Election Complaints Commission) decisions and findings. We hope we receive them as soon as possible.”

In the preliminary results, none of the eight candidates appeared to have gained more than 50% of the vote, pointing to a second round run-off between the two top names as Afghanistan undergoes its first democratic transfer of power.

The head-to-head contest would pit former foreign minister Abdullah Abdullah, who took 44.9% of the first-round vote, against ex-World Bank economist Ashraf Ghani, on 31.5 percent.

Karzai, who has ruled since the Taliban were ousted in 2001, is constitutionally barred from a third term in office, and the next president will lead Afghanistan into a new era as US-led combat troops withdraw by the end of the year.

Abdullah said on Wednesday that his campaign had evidence of fraudulent voting that could have a “significant impact on final results.”

The ECC said it would deliver its report to the IEC on Wednesday.

“We finished our work last night and it is being sent to the IEC today,” ECC spokesman Nader Mohseni told the Tolo News TV channel.

Election officials have pencilled in June 14 for the run-off.

Taliban could target run-off

On Sunday, Abdullah received a major boost with the endorsement of thirdplaced Zalmai Rassoul, a close ally of President Karzai, who has stayed publicly neutral in the election.

Another costly, and potentially violent, election could be avoided by deal-making in the coming weeks – and Rassoul’s support for Abdullah increased pressure on Ghani to concede.

The United Nations’ mission has welcomed Afghanistan’s conduct of the vote but warned officials that they must address all fraud allegations openly.

The 2009 election, when Karzai retained power after defeating Abdullah, was marred by ballot-box stuffing in a chaotic process that shook the multinational effort to develop the country after the Taliban’s 1996-2001 regime.

The first-round election last month was hailed as a success, with turnout far better than in 2009 and the Taliban failing to launch a major attack despite threats to disrupt the vote.

A run-off vote in June – at the height of the Taliban’s traditional “fighting season” – is likely to prove more difficult for Afghanistan’s stretched security forces.

Abdullah’s support is strongest in Tajik and Hazara ethnic areas due to his role as a close advisor to the late Ahmad Shah Massoud, a celebrated Tajik leader who fought the Taliban during their 1996-2001 rule.

Ghani, a Pashtun who spent many years studying and teaching in the United States, has repeatedly said he will fight on despite falling far behind Abdullah in the first round.

Both candidates have pledged to explore peace talks with the Taliban and sign a deal with Washington that could allow up to 10,000 US troops to stay on after this year on a training and counter-terrorism mission. l

Pakistan tells Indian journalists to leave n AFP, Islamabad Pakistan has ordered the only two Indian journalists stationed in the country to leave within a week, telling them their visas would not be renewed, officials said yesterday.

Meena Menon of The Hindu newspaper and Snehesh Alex Philip of the Press Trust of India (PTI) news agency were given letters late on Tuesday telling them they must leave Pakistan by May 20.

Both journalists had been posted in Pakistan for less than a year and no reason was given for the decision to deny them new visas.

The move comes just days before the results of India's general election, with Hindu hardliner Narendra Modi expected to triumph.

Pakistan and India have fought three wars since independence from British rule in 1947 and relations are perennially strained.

The nuclear-armed arch-rivals have had an arrangement in place since the 1980s allowing a small number of journalists to work in each others' capital cities, but there has been no Pakistani reporter in New Delhi since 2010.

"The two Indian journalists based in Islamabad have been asked to leave by May 20th," an information ministry official told AFP. "Their visas expired and they were informed that there will not be further extensions," the official said on condition of anonymity without giving any reason for the decision.

MK Razdan, the editor-in-chief and CEO of PTI, said there was "no rationale and no reason" for the move.

"It is a unilateral action and absolutely no reason has been given," Razdan told AFP. "We have other arrangements for news coverage in Pakistan but since decades the norm has been that the main correspondent to Pakistan is sent from India."

He added it was too early to say whether the agency would apply to send a replacement for Philip. l

BJP top brass goes into huddle ahead of counting of votes n Agencies The BJP top brass yesterday went into a huddle to discuss the possibility of the party forming the government at the Centre and changes in the organisation ahead of counting of votes on May 16, the PTI reported.

BJP leaders also discussed the possibility of seeking the support of some allies including the BJD, AIADMK and NCP. The party has already made it clear that it is not averse to receiving the support from any party which even has a single MP and will welcome it if it supports the BJP agenda.

Senior BJP leaders held a series of meetings in the capital since morning with party President Rajnath Singh

meeting Sushma Swaraj at her residence here, before she flew to Bhopal.

Former BJP chief Nitin Gadkari also met her today. The meeting lasted around half an hour. Gadkari is playing an active role in negotiating with groups within the party. He had yesterday met BJP patriarch LK Advani amid speculation about his role in the next government.

Senior party leaders Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah also held a meeting at the former's residence to discuss the situation arising out of exit poll results that favour an NDA government from coming to power.

Rajnath, Jaitley and Gadkari are also slated to meet Narendra Modi in the afternoon to discuss the possibility of a possible government formation in case

What’s Modi really like? n Agencies As post-poll projections point to Narendra Modi as the likely new occupant of 7, Race Course Road, the capital, nay the world, is trying to make sense of BJP’s prime ministerial candidate: What’s Modi really like?

Opinion is divided, says a report run yesterday by the Times of India. Modi’s own people describe him as being akin to Margaret Thatcher, the original Iron Lady.

Can Modi do for Indian labour laws what she did for Britain’s infamous unions?

Or could Modi, the outsider from Ahmedabad, be likened to Barack Obama, the outsider from Chicago? Obama ran his electoral campaign by Beltway outsiders, swore to change Washington and pull America out of an economic rut. Sounds familiar? If exit polls are to be believed, Indians appear to be riding on a similar hope. Modi ran a presidential-style campaign and like Obama, he is more interested in national development.

If you collate all the recommendations by an ever-growing tribe of pundits, like Obama, Modi will be expected to walk on water. Obama’s current approval ratings are below George Bush’s.

Or should we, as some of his admirers want us to, compare him to Vladimir Putin?

(That bare chest of the Russian strongman must certainly be 56”). Putin is hungry for Russian-speaking territories outside Russia, while running a country which has made crony capitalism an art form. He is growling at the US while giving the Chinese bargain basement deals, sitting atop a definitely declining economy. You really want India’s

the NDA received a majority.

Speculation is also rife about some changes in the party if NDA comes to power. Sources in the party feel that there is unlikely to be any change in the party leadership and Rajnath Singh may have to continue as party chief, though Gadkari's name is also being floated to replace him.

Gadkari on his part has ruled out his taking over the party and said Rajnath will continue to steer the party as he had ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.

Sources point out that RSS has also advised the BJP not to weaken the party in case it forms the government and that the pary should remain strong and vibrant even after a BJP-led government comes to power. l

‘Why do all terrorists belong to a particular community?’

n Agencies

next leader to be like that?

On the Asian theatre, Modi, in many ways, joins a group of strongmen leaders.

The Chinese love him, and many Chinese officials who have dealt with Modi compare him to their present boss Xi Jinping. That’s for getting the economy going, targeting corruption and changing the way the Chinese state goes about its business, all this while retaining the primacy of the Party.

Some see a glimmer of Japan’s nationalist PM Shinzo Abe in Modi (Modi, like Manmohan, is a Jap-phile). While Abenomics is distinct from Modinomics, Abe and Modi have the unenviable task of changing the status quo in their countries and governments. Japan wants to rise again to take control of the nation’s security in the face of a rising China, as well as take the moribund economy out of the stagnant decades. India wants to reclaim its growth trajectory, tackle corruption, secure a better deal in the world, and become a credible balance to a rising China. l

India’s BJP leader Giriraj Singh again courted controversy yesterday by saying that all terrorists belong to a “particular community,” hinting at the Muslim-minority population in the country.

“Since terrorism is a matter relating to the country and not to a community, why secular leaders remain silent when all persons arrested in terrorism cases belong to a particular community,” he told reporters in Patna.

“Are there only a few to define religious non-discrimination? Is it not true that all the terrorists caught belong to one community? I am not saying that all the people in that community are terrorists but whoever is caught belongs to the same community,” he said.

The BJP leader, who was recently booked for his hate speeches, said this mindset was “posing a danger” to the country.

“This is a naked example of pseudo-secularism and patronization of a community for vote-bank politics. This mindset is posing a danger to the country,” said the Nawada Lok Sabha candidate of the saffron party.

During the poll campaign, Jharkhand and Bihar police had lodged three FIRs against Singh for saying that those opposed to Narendra Modi had no place in India and that they should go to Pakistan. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Thursday, May 15, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Reprimands insufficient to curb BCL lawlessness

F

irmer action is needed to curb the involvement of Bangladesh Chhatra League activists in incidents of extortion and law-breaking.

Following complaints about BCL activists extorting money outside the university during Pohela Baishakh, five journalists were assaulted when they made enquiries, with one being left critically injured.

Following the incident, the university authorities identified 21 activists involved in the attack and extortion, and handed over six of them to the Shahbagh police station.

While the president of the BCL League central unit has condemned those involved in extortion and intimidation of fellow students and members of the public, and has promised to take stern action, he has also claimed that the involvement of BCL members in such incidents is very rare.

The facts suggest otherwise, however. Just this month BCL activists of the Jagannath University unit allegedly assaulted at least eight reporters from different media outlets and kept them confined for over half an hour because they wanted to submit a complaint. Rajshahi University saw numerous windows vandalised when BCL activists went on a rampage.

At Dhaka University, the acting proctor has acknowledged that there have been many reports over the past year of BCL members being involved in incidents of extortion and coercion, and that the university authorities have not taken sufficiently effective preventative action.

Senior political leaders need to step up to root out criminal activities among the ranks of their supporters, so that law enforcers can properly act to ensure public safety.

Firmer action is needed to root out criminal activities

Take BUET advice on RMG inspections

S

takeholders in the garment industry must agree a clearer consensus on the way forward for safety inspections and sharing the costs for necessary remediation works.

The government, BUET, ILO and the two brand-led multi-stakeholder groups, the Accord and Alliance, all share a vital, common goal to improve safety standards throughout the industry.

Engineers from BUET are due to meet the Accord and Alliance on Thursday to review their recommended standard for the required concrete strength of RMG factory buildings.

The advice of BUET’s experienced engineers and its local knowledge need to be taken into account to ensure a fair and feasible approach to measuring the strength of buildings. If unrealistic standards are set by some parties, factories may be closed unnecessarily.

Just as important, the brands involved in Accord and Alliance need to follow up on promises to provide financial and logistical support to enable remediation works by factories shut down by inspections. The government can help in this respect by facilitating land on which new, compliant factories can be built.

All parties involved must also pay attention to the many subcontracting sites, on which the industry relies, to ensure the initiatives reach all workers in the industry.

BGMEA data indicates that over 170 factories have closed due to lack of orders and safety issues in the past year. It is vital that the projects to improve safety, work together constructively to ensure common standards and procedures to remediate problems as quickly as possible, so that more workers can get back to work in safe conditions.

All parties share a common goal and should work together to ensure progress

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

India’s election and secularism

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.

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.

May 9

Mohammad Munshi India has never truly been a secular country; otherwise parties and organisations like the BJP, RSS and VHP would never have been allowed to exist. In fact, communalism seems to be a staple of Indian politics, with various minorities being the victim of majority Hindu oppression. It is also wrong to assume that relations between India and Bangladesh have even been good. The Congress party allegedly sought to exploit the country at every turn, as well as interfere in its internal affairs.

The BJP will likely do exactly the same thing with the objective of making India a regional power, except with the possible difference that Narendra Modi will try to seek to rid India of its Muslims. This involves the expulsion of Muslims who are alleged illegal immigrants. Narendra Modi and the BJP appear to want a purified Hindu India which will naturally create tensions with neighbours.

RD The author senses that secularism in India is about to erode away and finds the erosion of secularism a problem for his motherland of Bangladesh. I ask the author what his thoughts are on the state of secularism in Bangladesh. I am sure he is absolutely fine with Islam being the state religion in Bangladesh.

I am confident that in a thousand years I will not come across an article by the author that complains about the lack of secularism in Bangladesh.

There is a saying that goes “Practice what you preach.” First, raise your voice to correct the poor state of secularism in Bangladesh. After you succeed in doing that, poke your nose in India’s business.

Shah RD: Hindu extremist parties win elections and run governments in India. That never happened in Bangladesh.

N’ganj killing: Maya denies involvement of family May 10

khanadil During the commission of inquiry of the Christine Keeler/Profumo sex scandal of the sixties, when the commissioner told Ms. Keeler this: “Ms Keeler, Mr Profumo denies allegations of sexual relationships with you, what have you got to say about this?” Ms Keeler replied: “He would, wouldn’t he?”

In response to the above report, that says: “Dhaka City Awami League General Secretary and Disaster Management and Relief Minister Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury Maya, Bir Bikram, has said there was no link of his family members with the accused of the 7-murder incident of Narayanganj,” I say: “Mr Maya would say this, wouldn’t he!?”

Gibraltar We all knew about his son’s involvement. Now it seems his son-in-law may also have been influenced.

I wonder what he will say when the RAB officer is convicted. I guess he will disown him then. After all, he is an in-law – there is no biological relation!

DispassionateObserver While I agree with RD about the state of secularism in Bangladesh, the author’s main topic is India’s secularism, so it’s not fair to assume one way or the other about his view on Bangladesh’s secularism.

Bangladesh sure has a lot of work to do in this area, but that’s a topic for another day. As for India though, the right-wing political parties there are propagating the infiltration myth (of course the ground reality is that people historically moved across an artificial border in both directions, mostly post ‘47 and leading up to ‘71). There’s another thing more sinister with this myth, and that’s Islamophobia.

BJP-RSS will get the populace to believe that Muslims – though aliens across the borders for the time being – are roots of all their ills. So kick them out and, bingo, nirvana achieved. You guessed where this kind of mindset will lead to – next it would be their native Muslims, and then Christians and so on. Unfortunately for India, despite having a secular constitution and allied state institutions that go with it, the media also perpetuate this myth.

Take the case of Bangladesh, for instance. Indian media have a proclivity to portray Bangladesh in a negative light, especially on matters of religion, as if it’s a hotbed of fundamentalists. The fact of the matter – and it is common knowledge to the Indians in the know, the vested interest groups like the South Block guys and the RAW functionaries – is that Bangladesh is by and large a far more liberal society than India. Look at the percentage of votes Islamist parties garner in an election here. It’s about 4% and declining, and look where India is heading with RSS-BJP. Then there are the comparative rankings in Social Progress Index and Human Development Index, which in a way also mimic the liberal bent of the Bangladeshi society. When all is said and done, whatever happens in India will affect Bangladesh and vice-versa. We can change friends, but as neighbours, we are destined to co-exist.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Cicatrix (4) 3 Venomous ill will (5) 8 German river (4) 9 Given shoes (4) 11 Weapon (5) 12 Flying toy (4) 14 Beverage (3) 15 Make merry (5) 18 Force back (5) 19 Zodiac sign (3) 21 Country (4) 24 Presentation (5) 26 Fleet (4) 27 Nothing (4) 28 Useful thing (5) 29 In addition (4)

DOWN 1 Tolerable (4) 2 In a frenzy (4) 4 Mild explosion (3) 5 Perfect (5) 6 Small duck (4) 7 Made a mistake (5) 10 Dreadful (4) 11 Cut off (5) 13 Lukewarm (5) 16 Dash (4) 17 Public square (5) 18 Bellows (5) 20 Female sheep (4) 22 Fastener (4) 23 Stains (4) 25 Fish eggs (3)

Goyeshwar freed from Kashimpur jail May 9

Khaleda’s Nemesis Why was Goyeshar freed? He should have stayed in jail. He is a danger to society, as his hate speeches lead to uncountable deaths on the streets of Bangladesh.

N’ganj killing: Khaleda to visit victims’ families Wednesday May 10

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.

Ronnie This dysfunctional, deeply unpopular government is perpetually paranoid about BNP pulling off a popular, successful public meeting anywhere in the country. Hence the government’s predictable pattern of outright refusal, on nonsensical pretexts, to allow BNP to hold meetings/rallies in Dhaka and elsewhere. I’m sure people in Narayanganj can clearly see what’s going on here.

CALVIN AND HOBBES Becoming a mum May 9

M Ehsanul Karim Amazing write-up. Thanks for sharing.

Nifath Karim This was lovely. :)

Restoring trust in law enforcement May 10

PEANUTS

nds Actually we don’t want to lose faith in law enforcement, but if they are determined to abduct our faith what can we do? The volume of our faith is actually immeasurable. We had voted AL to power with overwhelming faith, and neither did we have any lack in reposing our faith in BNP. We have undiminished faith in the judiciary, in professionals such as doctors, university teachers, in civil society, intellectuals, or constitutional bodies, you name it. As a matter of fact, they all thrive on our faith, but you know what game many of them play with our faith. Still if you insist on keeping our faith unwavering, then I must say you are doing crass injustice to us.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Living outside the firewall n Tamanna Khan

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Our budget should help business without losing sight of social safety nets

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BIGSTOCK

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Y

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Good budget, bad budget

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n Mamun Rashid

evenue earnings by the government, and more importantly, its optimum usage arrested my attention from my school days. However, over the years, I have gradually shifted from my original understanding of a “good budget” and a tax structure befitting for a transition economy like that of Bangladesh.

While 30 years ago, I would have focused much on the “ability to pay” approach in tax incidence planning, today I would emphasise more on incentives or tax breaks for the businesses with more employment generation potential. My definition of a good budget would therefore be more biased towards helping the real entrepreneurs and businessmen without losing sight of building a wider safety net to look after the “marginalised” people. However, I would have tried to narrow the earning-expenditure gap by expanding the tax net to include newer streams of wealth concentration.

Having observed almost all the finance secretaries and tax planners at the National Board of Revenue with above average visibility during the last 25 years, we would say even in Bangladesh the definition of a good budget is changing, or has changed over the years to increasingly focus on accelerated revenue growth, increased public spending to facilitate higher growth, continuous poverty reduction, employment generation, and improvements in standard of living through targeted investment.

Most of our policy planners could not stop the bleeding in the national

balance sheet due to huge losses in state-owned enterprises, and have therefore failed to create adequate “fiscal space” to finance growth-friendly endeavours. We are failing to increase the size of the budget without accepting the reality of further deficits, which is not possible keeping the set arrangement with the development partners or the budget architecture being followed in recent years.

reflecting a little increase over the level of the current fiscal. This is also mostly for subsistence and administrative expenses rather than for productive activities. We are also currently not able to increase the allocation for the social safety net for the “passenger population” due to the allocation of large sums of money for subsidy.

More painstakingly, while advocating for increasing subsidies for public

A bad budget is always reflective of bad planning or allocation for gaining cheap popularity

In the ensuing budget too, the government is reportedly keeping a large provision for subsidies for the state-owned enterprises and agriculture. The planned amount of subsidy is expected to be almost equivalent to a one-year salary and benefits of the public servants. If we could get rid of the unnecessary subsidies, we could have easily increased the salary and benefits of the public servants, and thereby prevented a few of them from indulging in corruption and irregularities at the cost of public goods, or diverted a big chunk of money for building few more public medical colleges or engineering universities.

Allocation for building a social safety net is likely to be expanded,

enterprises seldom focus on increasing the management efficiency in the public enterprises. India and Pakistan bear a lot of testimonies with regards to bringing in synergy in the public enterprises through private sector engagement at the board or higher management level. The Philippines have demonstrated much success through performance audit of the state-owned enterprises.

Though there have been some talks about downsizing the “government” itself during the early 90s, governments are merrily opening one ministry after another or expanding the public offices in the name of meeting the public demand. This might have helped with some popularity gains to stay in power,

but has also created heavy pressure on the public exchequer.

In recent times, while we have seen upward trends in revenue collections as well as Annual Development Program implementation, we cannot confidently say that this has significantly influenced our journey towards becoming a middle-income country or has ensured distributive justice. Our political seniors have utterly failed to discipline their lieutenants, the public representatives, and ensure proper accountability from them.

Though our development partners and even the finance ministers have been focusing on qualitative implementation of the projects, we have not seen any systematic approach towards that destination. We are never sure whether all the new projects have been drawn on purely “public good” consideration, or with proper due diligence. There has been no proper research done on picking up a project or even dropping a project.

A bad budget is always reflective of bad planning or allocation for gaining cheap popularity. Increasing the retirement age, ad hoc promotions, salary-increase, or creation of new posts for government servants, inclusion of more school and colleges in to the MPO, or selection of projects at the request of the local representatives to help them win the election may temporarily help the government to reap some ad hoc political gains. But this may, at the same time, open too many Pandora’s boxes for subsequent governments. l

hirty-three years ago, it took only about five hours for the army to take custody of Major General Abdul Manzur from the hands of civil authorities – police who arrested the general for his alleged involvement in the murder of President Ziaur Rahman.

Today, about 72 hours have passed since the High Court issued order to arrest three defence force men for their alleged involvement in the murder of seven people in Narayanganj, but police could not complete the arrest formalities till the writing of this piece.

Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Maj Arif Hossain, and Lt Commander SM Masud Rana, former RAB members, were sent into forced retirement by their respective forces when allegations were raised against them.

The trio are reportedly living inside the cantonment, where according to newspaper reports, the police needs certain documents to make the arrest.

As an ordinary citizen with no knowledge of the law whatsoever, it fails my comprehension as to the reason of the delay. Why should it take the police so much time and processing to enter an area, which is very much inside the digitally advanced Bangladesh?

A naive thought passes through the mind. If Manzur can be taken away by army from police custody following the then acting president Abdus Sattar’s order just within five hours, why, even with the HC and home ministry’s orders can the police not do the same – enter cantonment and take custody of Tareque, Arif, and Rana?

How far was the Chittagong cantonment from Hathazari Police Station where Manzur was held?

How far is the police headquarter in Dhaka from the cantonments where the trio reside? Is there an invisible wall that surrounds the cantonment area through which one can come out easily but not get in?

Why should it take the police so much time to enter an area, which is very much inside Bangladesh?

Mamun Rashid is a business professor and financial sector entrepreneur.

I do not have the answers to these questions, but I know one thing for certain. The people who lost their fathers, brothers, husbands, sons, will not see justice. Perhaps the army

express their innermost feelings with ease without book-learned western conceptual crutches, people whose self-identity would not be in peril if white colonisers never appeared in the subcontinent, young people who don’t say “ohmygod” in sitcom accents, people who love and dream in their mother-tongue and who sing their children generationally handed-down lullabies. And so on. Ashis Nandy has taught us to take people’s categories seriously. That talisman also helps distinguish between people and their parasites.

Thus those who don’t attend any political rallies (too many people, too much sweat), do not know the name of their local councilor, anglicised “aspirational” migrants who do not care to change their domicile when they move to another city (and neither visit their parental home to vote), those who love to paint most brown people as “uneducated,” and hence unfit for the kind of decisionmaking that electoral politics requires – these are the people who capture inordinate public discourse space due to their privileges. In their view, the “uneducated” cannot see through propaganda and can be instigated easily.

These parasites, after reading tome after tome, will tell you that they get it – how power works and the sort and if others got it too, it would all be so nice. If they could, they would elect the people themselves, replacing the

rural and “uneducated,” with their own English-big word correctly reared kind.

They do not care about data, but they are masters at abstractions- fitting the world into their warped book-derived worldview. They hate the masses, wish the masses were not as they are and spend lifetimes trying to shut the masses out of their lives.

When such people capture positions from where they can infect others, like academia and media, social justice is at stake. Long well-fed by the dole that the Indira Congressite governments at the centre reserved for the professor/activist nomenklatura and other managers of such Delhi-based government-subsidised “liberal” fortresses, there is a feeling that the party might end. The emigration “joke” is a part of that anxiety.

The advantage of “book-read” ideologies is that they offer excellent excuses for holding both wine glasses and radical positions. Those with a penchant for theorising the world before they can jump in do that by constantly cleaning their local socio-political infections in their private homes with imported soaps. Nothing is more sacred than pure ideology.

Their engagement with the people – zero. Thankfully, that’s what most people think of them as – zero. Common people’s lives are at the cross-roads of caste-class-language-religion flows. To them “fascism” and “neoliberalism”

official would finally be arrested, but the long and tricky legal process would continue to keep the victims’ families waiting for justice.

We do not expect justice anymore. All we ask of the state is some kind of assurance

My doubt about justice being served did not evolve out of the blue. I saw the same fear, the same hopelessness, and a numb anguish in the eyes of Shamsunnahar, Jahangir Alam’s widow now eight months pregnant. Her weary looks do not seek justice, just an assurance that she and her unborn will at least be able to live.

In fact, that is the only thing that people like me wish for now. We do not expect justice anymore. All we ask of the state is some kind of assurance that we or any of our loved one won’t be abducted, killed, defaced with acid, mutilated, and then drowned.

A few days back, a reporter asked a lawmaker whose family members were allegedly involved in the seven murders whether the minister would resign from his post. Expressing surprise at the question, the lawmaker retorted: “Kheyedeye ar kaj nai” (Prothom Alo, May 13) which in English loosely translates to “Don’t I have anything better to do?”

Surely, our lawmakers have much more important things to do such as protecting their family members from arrest, rather than waste their time resigning from their position. Why should they? We have not elected them, given them the mandate to protect us, ensure our safety and so on.

They went to power without having to compete taking into account our only right, the right to choose. So naturally, they are not answerable or accountable to us.

Our lawmakers can do whatever they want and we have no right to say anything about it, at least not for another five years. So what should we, namely the ordinary citizens who live outside the invisible wall of cantonments, do?

We can read newspapers, watch the news, feel a cold shiver run down our spines every time we hear someone went missing, cry out in helplessness, shed tears reading daughters’ memories of their murdered fathers, and wait for our turn to get kidnapped and killed. l Tamanna Khan is a journalist.

Quitting Modi’s India n Garga Chatterjee

S

oon after May 16, the nature of the union government due to be formed at New Delhi should be clear. While a coalition of parties led by Narendrabhai Modi is the most talked about scenario, the possibility of a non-Gandhi, non-saffron helmswoman buoyed up by political forces outside the Delhi establishment cannot be ruled out.

The rustic and the fantastic, not liberal smart-talkers, have always carried on the struggles for a just world

Some well-heeled liberal types, half-jokingly (you never know), have declared a desire to leave the country, if Modi eventually happens, which looks increasingly likely. UR Ananthamurthy and Kamaal Khan are the most famous among this species.

This joking about fleeing a place whose emerging reality you do not like is another clichéd Anglo-American import. This unoriginal venting style was copied from those who disliked

the George W Bush regime in USA. Many of them wanted to move to Canada if Bush won again (he did). Other Bush-haters jokingly wanted the Eastern and Western coasts of USA (where Bush had less support) to secede.

The “liberated” brown person’s international imagination has predictable import locations. Beyond the joke, the difference is that most residents of the subcontinent do not have the means to move anywhere.

The emigration “joke” only highlights the disconnect of this class from the masses.

The problem is that the Modi-hate of urbane left-liberal types does not stop at Narendrabhai. Their hate list is long and includes hundreds of millions who didn’t vote for the BJP. These objects of urban liberal disgust includes those who are most comfortable in dhoti, lungi or saree, women wearing sindoor, namaji Muslims, ritual fasting Hindus, people who scratch themselves publicly, people who have not heard of white thinkers of the last two centuries and don’t need their “eyes opened” by intellectual mumbo-jumbo, people who think family and community are important, people who can clearly reply to the question “where are you from, which community do you belong to,” people who create and recreate culture rather than using fancy technology to “document” it, people with faith in gods, goddesses and other divine beings, people who are able to

are not smart words to be said at the right time but things with real-life consequences. To the non-religious, post-casteist, cosmopolitan left-liberal urbanite, these are “concepts” which coexist perfectly well with their sixth pay commission salaries and “refined” sensibilities.

Some of them even fancy themselves as the cutting edge of the fight against Modi, fascism and all that.

Uday Chandra puts it: “Electoral fight against Modi and his politics begins and ends in the regions and localities where the likes of Mayawati, Laloo, and Mamata emerge from. Upon their unpretentious and all-too-mortal shoulders the hopes of millions of Indians rest.”

There is much to be concerned about a strong, stable government that defends extra-judicial killings of young women, is unapologetic about large-scale killings under its watch, pimps out natural resources to those who help light up the government’s “vibrant” mask and shares the Delhi-Mumbai Indian vision of the urbane.

The fight against such powers and such governments will continue to come from the rooted, with family values and communitarian ethos. The rustic and the fantastic, not urban liberal smart-talkers, have always carried on the real struggles for a just world. l Garga Chatterjee is a freelance contributor.

He can be followed on twitter @gargac.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Thursday, May 15, 2014

National Sculpture Exhibition 2014 n Hasan Mansoor Chatak A stunning display of sculptures is being showcased at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) since May 11. The ten-day long exhibition is organised by BSA and will continue until May 20. One of the main attractions of the “National Sculpture Exhibition 2014” is the number of artists showcasing their artworks.

A total of seventy six sculptors from around the country are displaying approximately a hundred sculptures. As the country’s most prominent sculptors selected the art pieces the sculptures on display will surely be a source of enthusiasm for the art lovers of the country.

The remarkable artworks possess attractive features and are truly worthy of being displayed in the national-level exhibition.

The rich heritage of Bangla-

desh, including its political situation, social norms and traditions are reflected through the array of sculptures. Some of the pieces such as the abstract work titled “Inner Nature” by Rupam Roy, are quite majestic to look upon, whereas the piece titled “Meditation” radiates tranquil energy. Rabiul Hossain installed a piece titled “Songram” which reinterprets Zainul Abedin’s famous sculpture of the same name with the leitmotif as well, is rather tiny and in a contemporary style and different material.

Sabia Ferdousy Panna installed a sculpture titled “Garments Tragedy” portraying the recent incidents. Imam Hossain Sumon is showcasing three sculptures made of disposable paper, “Man with Levi’s,” “Man with Nescafe” and “Fair and Lovely,” depicting contemporary life style.

Film festival begins

Two installations by Shimul Datta titled “Formalin 100%” and “Formalin 100% 1” will easily capture the spectator’s attention as it portrays the danger of using formalin in food.

Promothes Das Pulok’s “Progression” has depth and character as it shows the basic truth that although modern life looks comfortable on the outside, it has its imminent pitfalls.

The number of sculptors in Bangladesh is dwindling due to the cost of components required for producing sculptures and the lack of a platform.

There are few artists who are specialised in the art of sculpting. It is more common for an artist to pursue career as both painter and sculptor. The exhibition is a wonderful platform for new artists to display their work alongside more mature and popular artists of the country. l

n Entertainment Desk

Documentary on Gitanjali set to release n Entertainment Desk

A musical program titled “Shuvomukti”, comprised of songs from the newly released films, will be aired today on ATN Bangla at 12:10pm which covers the shooting scenes for films from location, a sneak peak of the films, short-interviews with actors and many more. Today’s episode is designed on a newly released film “Ami Shudhu Cheyechi Tomay” while Maghla, a cast of the film, will present as guest in the programme and newly debuted film actor Anjali will anchor thes show

Two European films will be showcased today n Entertainment Desk British film “The Selfish Giant” and German film “Almanya” will be showcased today as part of the seven-day long “European Film Festival” which began on May 13 at the Star Cineplex of Basundhara City shopping mall. “The Selfish Giant” will be screened at 1:05 pm and 5:20pm and “Almanya” will be shown at 10:50pm, 3:05pm and 7:30pm.

This is the second time the festival is taking place in Bangladesh and the European Union along with Star Cineplex have organised the event that features a total of 12 movies from 12 countries of the EU. l

TODAY IN DHAKA Film

Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3D & 2D) I, Frankenstein, Divergent Time: 10am – 10pm Star Cineplex, Bashundhara City

Exhibition

Photography Exhibition Innate Identities Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Road No 16 (Old 27), Dhanmondi National Sculpture Exhibition Group art show Time: 11am - 7pm National Art Gallery Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Music

Happy Hour Jazz Time: 7:30pm – 10:00pm EMK Center, House 5, Road 27 (old)/ Road 16 (new), 9th floor Midas Center, Dhanmondi

Theatre

Ja Nei Bharote Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm Experimental Theatre Shilpakala Academy

A documentary titled “Timeless Gitanjali” directed by Chanchal Khan, an eminent Tagore exponent and researcher is set to be released on May 16 at the National Museum at 6:30pm. The documentary is sponsored by the India- Bangladesh Foundation, Bangladesh Secretariat. Produced by Shurolok Bangladesh, a music appreciation group and co-directed by Hasina Ahmed Shoma, the 50 minutes documentary is in English.

The film traces the history of “Gitanjali” from its original publication in 1910, leading to its translation and transformation into its English version, the events that shaped its Nobel award, and its relevance in today’s world.

A number of eminent Tagore researchers, artistes and academics have been interviewed in this documentary, highlighting “Gitanjali’s” relevance as a timeless creation, and how this work became a part of the Western Literature. Professor Emeritus Anisuzzaman, Dr Hayat Mahmud, Professor Shamsuzzaman Khan, Dr Karunamaya Goswami, Chitralekha Choudhury and Mr Ranjan Bandopaddya are among those interviewed. Shooting for this documentary was done in London, Kolkata, Shantiniketan and Bangladesh over the last one year. Each of these places carries significant historical perspectives surrounding “Gitanjali.” The documentary also features songs, and recitation from the celebrated literature. l

The winner of the reality TV show “Channel i Shera Nachiye - Season 2” has been announced. Ivana from Chittagong won the contest with her fantastic performance throughout the entire duration of the show. The dancer was rewarded with a car and was graced with a diamond tiara. The first runner up is Ivan and Mimu was named the second runner up. Ivan and Mimu received Tk300,000 and Tk200,000 respectively.

The three winners will get the opportunity to release a CD by Impress Audio Vision and a platform to dance in films

A three-day film festival and poster exhibition started today at the National Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA). The programme celebrates the three decades of the founding of the Bangladesh Film Archive and has been jointly organised by Bangladesh Film Archive, Bangladesh Film Archive Alumni Association (BFAAA) and BSA. The festival will be inaugurated by renowned author and playwright Syed Shamsul Haque at 4pm today, followed by the screening of “Shurjo Snan” directed by Salahuddin. Narayan Ghosh Mita’s“Nil Akasher Niche” will also be showcased at the event.

Tomorrow, Kazi Zahir’s “Abujh Mon” and Pramadkar’s “Sujon Sokhi,” will be screened at 4pm. Alamgir Kabir’s “Dhire Bohe Meghna” will be shown on the concluding day of the festival at 5:30pm.

On May 17, a discussion session will take place, focusing on the prospects of the Bangladesh film industry. Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu will be present at the programme. Liaquat Ali Lucky, director general of BSA, director Morshedul Islam, president of Bangladesh Film Archive Alumni Association, and Dr Mohammad Jahangir Hossain, director general of Bangladesh Film Archive, will speak at the event. l

Meril-Prothom Alo Puroshkar 2013: Red Carpet airs today

n Entertainment Desk The red carpet segment of the programme –“Meril-Prothom Alo Puroshkar 2013: Red Carpet” will be aired at 7:30pm today on Maasranga Television. Anchored by Rumman Rashid Khan and Dipali, the show will feature nominees and winners of the award function walk the red carpet and get interviewed by the hosts.

Celebrities including Nayok Raj Razzak, Raisul Islam Asad, Faridur Reza Sagar, Sharmili Ahmed, Apu Biswas, Joya Ahsan, Rumana Rashid Ishita and many others will talk about their experience. The highlights of the main event will be showcsed at the red carpet segment. The actual award ceremony will be aired tomorrow at 2:30pm. l

Shahid-Sonakshi Dating?

Justin Bieber accused of attempted robbery

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk

Actors Shahid Kapoor and Sonakshi Sinha’s link up reports refuse to die.

The “R...Rajkumar” actors’ on screen chemistry and off screen friendship has been the talking point for quite some time now. Tabloids have carried reports on the actors having soft corner for each other, even though both have vehemently denied the romantic angle.

And yet again, the duo’s equation has come to the fore as the actors were witnessed spending quality time recently. The duo was seen having dinner together at a popular nightspot in Mumbai on Saturday. Later, the pair along with two of their friends were further spotted heading to the “Kaminey” actor’s new place in Juhu late at night.

Reports of Shahid and Sonakshi’s rumoured link up started doing rounds from the time both were promoting for their film “R...Rajkumar.” The speculations rose when the two appeared in “Koffee with Karan” as reports carried that Sinha had strongly insisted appearing on the show with Kapoor alone.

Further, during Shahid’s birthday on 25 February this year, the actress had posted a birthday message on Twitter which raised the dating speculations further. Some reports even went to the extent of stating that Sinha had secretly sneaked up to Shahid’s birthday bash in Goa. But the actress had taken to her social networking site to laugh away the rumours. Meanwhile, certain reports had come up stating that Shahid was done dating actresses and he is now seeing a producer friend of his. l

Pop star Justin Bieber has been accused in an attempted robbery.

TMZ reports that the incident allegedly took place Monday night Sherman Oaks Castle Park, a complex in the San Fernando Valley with miniature golf and a batting cage.

The alleged female victim claims Bieber demanded to see her phone so he could erase any photos taken of his entourage, according to the report. The singer allegedly grabbed the woman’s phone when she refused to give it to him.

The woman claims that after taking the phone, Bieber demanded that she unlock the device to see if she had taken any photos, TMZ reported. She eventually proved no photos were taken.

She said the singer screamed at her and her 13-yearold daughter, saying, “You’re humiliating yourself in front of your daughter. Why don’t you just get out of here.” Her daughter then started crying, according to the report.

LAPD Officer Rosario Herrera told The Los Angeles Times that detectives were interviewing the victim of the alleged attempted robbery. Detectives have not interviewed Bieber. l

Did you know?

Glenn Maxwell has recorded the 23rd instance of a player hitting 500 runs in an IPL season; he has the highest S/R on this list, 201

Sport

Thursday, May 15, 2014

14 Sabella shuts

door on Tevez World Cup recall

14 Valdes says

farewell after ‘cruel’ year

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 ‘Isinbayeva to

come out of retirment for Rio’

Four-horse race for BCB media rights Three local companies and a foreign organisation submitted technical offers bidding for the international media rights of the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB). The successful bidder will earn exclusive media rights of Bangladesh cricket for the next six years spanning from 2014 to June 2020.

Several companies had displayed an interest towards the bid and communicated with the BCB since the tender was afloat. However, only five companies, both local and overseas, had submitted their tenders with one company already stepping out of the race by not taking part in the technical bid.

It was learned that private satellite television channels Maasranga TV, Channel 9 and Gazi TV from Bangladesh and Sporty Solutionz from India presented their technical offers for evaluation. Sporty Solutionz is thought to be the sub-continent’s leading Sports Rights Management company. According to an official of the organisation who is currently in Dhaka, Sporty Solutionz will go on to sell the media rights to a top broadcaster if they are successful in bagging the rights.

“We received proposals from four companies at home and abroad. We will then give all these documents to the special committee. They will then

Sergey Tiviakov to coach chess team Russian born naturialised Dutch grandmaster Sergey Tiviakov will coach the 41st World Chess Olympiad bound Bangladesh national chess team from the first week of the June.

He will be at Dhaka till the 1st of July. The next edition of Chess Olympiad will be held at Tromso Norway in July.

The four Grandmasters Abdullah Al Rakib, Ziaur Rahman, Enamul Hossain and Niaz Murshed and IM Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar will be in the coaching camp. Tiviakov won the chess Olympiad in 1994, won the European Championship and is regarded one of most talented players of world chess. l

verify the documents through their legal chartered accountants and audit firms. After holding a meeting, we will decide which company qualifies for open bidding,” said BCB acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury to the media yesterday.

“An open bidding will be held at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel on May 16 (tomorrow) with the participation of the qualified company or companies,” he informed.

However, the floor price of the media rights is yet to be determined. The BCB sat for meetings on many occasions to decide a floor price but was unable to set one and later settled on seeking professional help.

According to BCB sources, the board will sit with an Australian-based company, Future Sports, today. Members of Future Sports will submit a presentation to the BCB on the ‘value’ of cricket in Bangladesh. The board will then decide a floor price although it was learned from a director, wishing not to be named, that the floor price is likely to be between $14m-$21m.

“Bidding will be completed through a transparent process and the highest bidder will acquire the media rights,” said Nizamuddin.

Earlier, the BCB formed a five-member committee, led by convener and director Kazi Inam Ahmed to look after the matter of the media rights. l

MUMIT M

BCB confirms India date Abahani romp past Uttar Baridhara India national cricket team will arrive in Dhaka on June 13 and take the field for the first ODI of their three-match series against the home side on June 15, confirmed the Bangladesh Cricket Board yesterday.

The remaining matches will be played on June 17 and 19 respectively. All matches will be played at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium.

Both cricket boards, BCCI and the BCB, came to an understanding and confirmed the tour during last month’s ICC executive board meeting.

It was reported India is likely to have a new captain for the series MS Dhoni and Virat Kohli will be unavailable for the tour.

Dhoni has planned a family vacation

Nat’l Wrestling begins The Walton 31st National Senior Men’s and 5th National Women’s Senior Women’s Wrestling got underway at the kabbadi stadium yesterday.

In the women’s section the first round of the 48, 53, 55, 58 and 60 kg weight category were held while the men’s section saw the weight categories of 57, 61, 65, 70, 97 and 125 kg being

Abahani’s Portuguese forward Suares scores a goal against Uttar Baridhara at BNS yesterday

held in the first round. The finals will take place today.

BOA secretary general Syed Shahed Reza inaugurated the meet as the chief guest. Tabiur Rahman, the general secretary of Bangladesh Wrestling Federation along with F.M. Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn, the additional secretary of Walton and the country manager of Walton battery Sirajul Islam were also present on the occasion. l

Ahsan Habib of Rajshahi beats Borhan Mondol of Jessore in 86kg during the National Wrestling at the kabbadi stadium yesterday COURTESY

while the BCCI is inclined towards resting the captain for a rigorous season starting with the England tour and culminating with the 2015 World Cup.

TOUR SCHEDULE June 15 June 15 June 19

First ODI Second ODI Third ODI

SBNS SBNS SBNS

While Kohli, who led India in the absence of injured Dhoni during the Asia Cup in March, has also hinted the BCCI he wishes to have a break from the hectic season.

Opening batsman Rohit Sharma and off-spinner Ravichandran Ashwin are the likely choices as captain in case of Dhoni and Kohli’s absence. l

Abahani Limited reduced the gap to six points with table toppers Sheikh Jamal DC after their 5-2 thrashing of Uttar Baridhara Club at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday saw them register their biggest victory in the Bangladesh Premier League this season.

Baridhara had conceded the highest number of goals (40) this season before yesterday’s game and it took Abahani just 42 seconds to put one into their net when Shahedul Alam fired home following a neat cutback from Ekele Paatrick.

Nasirul Islam doubled the lead in the 13th minute as the right winger calmly placed the ball into the net after connecting a short pass from Awudu Ibra-

him from just outside the box.

Goals were coming thick and fast when Suares scored in the 21st minute to make it 3-0. Following a one-to-one with Ibrahim, Suares placed home past Baridhara goalkeeper Osman Gani after a square pass of Ibrahim from the left flank. Suares had an opportunity to double his tally but his effort in the 40th minute was blocked by a defender before his shot off the rebound was saved by Gani.

Awudu extended the lead in the 55th minute with a solo effort to take the game beyond Baridhara’s reach.

The Ghanaian midfielder dodged past a defender to break down the right side of the penalty area before smashing the ball into the net to make it 4-0. However, Baridhara could have scored one at the hour mark but Nigerian defender Yakubu Suleiman’s powerful strike was punched away by Shahidul Alam Sohel.

Jurgensen joins Division 7 team Fiji Just two weeks after resigning from his position as the head coach of Bangladesh cricket team, Shane Jurgensen has taken the charge of not so famous in the game, Fiji cricket. The Australian will be in charge of the country’s senior men’s, women’s and age-group teams.

Jurgensen’s first task as the new Fiji coach will be touring India in October and later his new side will be playing in the ICC East-Asia Pacific World Cricket League qualifiers.

“I have been appointed the Fiji national coach for the next three years and it will be a busy role with a heavy amount of coaching while looking after the senior men’s, women’s and Under 19 squads,” said Jurgensen over phone yesterday.

The 38 year old Australian explained his new role and was excited to take the charge of an emerging cricketing nation. “The job is based in Suva and the first assignment will be to prepare the men’s squad for an India tour and the WCL qualification tournament in October and November, from which there is a chance to go into Division 6 and be among the top 6 teams to qualify for the World T20’s qualifying tournament,” he said.

Fiji is currently in the WCL’s Division 7 after finishing fourth in last year’s tournament in Botswana and

according to the Cricket Fiji website, Jurgensen’s appointment received green signal after the country’s sports regulatory body confirmed funding to develop lesser-known sports.

Jurgensen informed that his target would be to take Fiji cricket a step forward, “The amount of coaching involved is the exciting part in Fiji and it will take me back to the reason why I love coaching - to help in developing and supporting passionate cricketers.”

“I have been extremely impressed with their energy, enthusiasm and professionalism with my limited dealings so far and it highlights Fiji’s strong desire to take their cricket to another level. I hope to bring my international experience, coaching methods and planning to help Fijian players and

teams to give them every opportunity for long-term success,” he said.

With the amount of experience the Australian gathered as the bowling coach of New Zealand and also as the head coach of a Test playing nation like Bangladesh, Fiji cricket will certainly get a boost to thrive on his experience and expertise. Cricket Fiji’s general manager Inoke Lesuma informed that the appointment of Jurgensen was exceptional.

“It’s truly remarkable that we have someone of Shane’s caliber coming to work with us here in Fiji and to have someone like him who has come from a Test-playing nation to a country which is not currently a part of the World Cricket League, is just remarkable,” said Lesuma. l

Baridhara finally had something to cheer about when Kenyan striker Collins Tiego managed to pull one back in the 65th minute. He scored with a tapin from a Khalekur Jamen cross whose electric pace had been consistently posing a threat down the left flank.

However, their joy didn’t last long as Ekele Patrick restored Abahani’s 4-goal lead in the 81st minute to seal their biggest victory in the league this season.

Suares was the architect of the goal by providing a through pass for the Cameroonian striker who broke into the penalty area in time to receive the pass and slot past Gani. Dulal Hasan pulled another one back in the stoppage time to reduce the margin to 5-2.

With 31 points from 15 matches Abahani remain second while Baridhara sit eighth with 10 points after playing same number of games. l

BD ‘A’ starts training today The Bangladesh ‘A’ team will begin their training camp at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium from today ahead of their upcoming month-long tour of the West Indies. The Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) had earlier announced a 15-member squad which will be captained by national cricketer Nasir Hossain and is scheduled to leave the country on May 22.

Outgoing Bangladesh fielding coach Corey Richards, who has already submitted his resignation letter, will act as the head coach of the second-string side after cricket’s governing body decided to send him to the Caribbean as his two-month notice period is still ongoing.

Meanwhile, off-spinner Sohag Gazi, who was earlier named in the 15-member squad, will be missing the tour due to a back injury which he incurred during the final of the recently-concluded Bangladesh Cricket League.

All-rounder Shuvagata Hom has been drafted into the squad as Gazi’s replacement.

The Bangladesh A side will be playing two four-dayers, three ODIs and two T20 matches against the West Indies High Performance Centre with the first four-day match beginning on May 26 at Winward Cricket Club in Barbados. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Scolari faces tax cheat inquiry

Sport

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Clippers on brink of elimination

Portuguese authorities are investigating Brazil’s national football coach Luiz Felipe Scolari for tax fraud, media reports said Wednesday less than a month before the start of the World Cup. Scolari has strongly denied any wrongdoing as he prepares Brazil to host the tournament which starts June 12. Prosecution sources quoted by Portugal’s Lusa news agency said Scolari was suspected of failing to declare seven million euros ($9.6m) in income when he was Portugal’s coach between 2003 and 2008. Scolari coached Brazil to their World Cup triumph in 2002.

–AFP

Russell Westbrook sank three clutch free throws with six seconds left as Oklahoma City rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 105-104 in game five of their second round playoff series. But the Clippers didn’t help their cause by making costly mistakes down the stretch, including Los Angeles point guard Chris Paul who lost the ball on the Clippers’ final possession. The loss puts the Clippers, who are also having to deal with the Donald Sterling controversy, on the brink of elimination from the 2014 playoffs. It remains to be seen if the pattern of teams being unable to hold onto big leads continues.

–AFP

Ex-Man Utd midfielder Park retires South Korea’s former Manchester United star Park Ji-Sung announced his retirement on Wednesday, ending a trailblazing career that made him Asia’s most decorated player. Park, 33, said a long-running knee problem had finally forced him out of a sport in which he reached the 2002 World Cup semi-finals and became the first Asian to play a Champions League final. The last game for the industrious and versatile midfielder was on May 3 for Dutch club PSV Eindhoven, where he had been on loan from Queen’s Park Rangers in the English Championship.

–AFP

Sabella shuts door on Tevez World Cup recall SQUAD

Goalkeepers Mariano Andujar (Catania/ITA), Sergio Romero (Monaco/FRA), Agustin Orion (Boca Juniors)

Defenders Lisandro Lopez (Getafe/ESP), Hugo Campagnaro (Inter Milan/ITA), Federico Fernandez (Napoli/ITA), Pablo Zabaleta (Manchester City/ENG), Ezequiel Garay (Benfica/POR), Marcos Rojo (Sporting Lisbon/POR), Jose Basanta (Monterrey/ MEX), Nicolas Otamendi (Atletico Mineiro/ BRA), Martin Demichelis (Manchester City/ ENG), Gabriel Mercado (River Plate)

Midfielders Javier Mascherano (Barcelona/ESP), Jose Sosa (Atletico Madrid/ESP), Augusto Fernandez (Celta Vigo/ESP), Ricky Alvarez (Inter Milan/ITA), Lucas Biglia (Lazio/ITA), Ever Banega (Newell’s Old Boys), Fernando Gago (Boca Juniors), Maxi Rodriguez (Newell’s Old Boys), Enzo Perez (Benfica/ POR), Fabian Rinaudo (Catania/ITA)

Forwards Lionel Messi (Barcelona/ESP), Angel Di Maria (Real Madrid/ESP), Rodrigo Palacio (Inter Milan/ITA), Gonzalo Higuaín (Napoli/ ITA), Sergio Agüero (Manchester City/ ENG), Ezequiel Lavezzi (Paris SG/FRA), Franco Di Santo (Werder Bremen/GER)

Carlos Tevez excellent form for Italian champions Juventus this season failed to earn him a recall when Alex Sabella named a provisonal 30-man squad for the World Cup finals on Tuesday.

Tevez, capped 64 times, scored 19 goals for Juventus as they retained their Serie A title this term but not even that was a strong enough argument for Sabella to call up the 30-year-old for the first time since he took over at the helm of the national side following Argentina’s failure to win the 2011 Copa America which they hosted.

Tevez, who played a full part in Argentina’s 2010 World Cup finals campaign, had wanted to make up for his last appearance as it ended in him missing a penalty in the shootout loss to eventual champions Uruguay in the Copa quarter-finals.

Sabella, who has till June 2 to decide on his final 23 players, opted to allow star player Lionel Messi to play in the role he pklays to such effect at Barcelona - that did not allow for Tevez to be part of his plans. l

Germany’s defender Matthias Ginter (C) vies with Poland’s midfielder Maciej Rybus during their Fifa 2014 World Cup friendly match in Hamburg on Tuesday

Youthful Germans draw

Nasri, Abidal left out of France squad Samir Nasri, who was instrumental in helping Manchester City to win the Premier League title, was left out of France’s World Cup squad when Didier Deschamps unveiled a 23-man list plus seven standby players on Tuesday.

Nasri, who has a reputation of being a troublemaker and was disappointing in Les Bleus’s playoff first leg against Ukraine last year, was a notable absentee along with defender Eric Abidal.

Abidal, who has been used sparingly by Claudio Ranieri at Monaco during the second part of the season, has been deemed not good enough to travel to Brazil.

French radio RMC reported that

Abidal, 34, is retiring from international football.

“Samir is an important player for Manchester City but he has not performed that well with France,” Deschamps told French TV channel TF1.

“He is a starter at City, which is not the case with France and he has made clear that he is not happy when he is not (a starter), and I can tell you it can be felt in the squad.

“I built the best squad, I did not pick the 23 best French players.”

Nasri was banned for three matches after launching a foul-mouthed rant at a reporter following France’s quarter-final defeat by Spain at Euro 2012.

Also left out was City fullback Gael Clichy, who was at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 but Deschamps instead

picked the talented yet inexperienced Lucas Digne of Paris St Germain.

In Brazil, Deschamps will rely on Bayern Munich winger Franck Ribery, who with Mathieu Valbuena should support Real Madrid striker Karim Benzema.

The seven standby players, which includes Southampton’s Morgan Schneiderlin, will be with the squad until May 28. France will play neighbours Switzerland, Ecuador and Honduras in Group E. They will gear up for the June 12-July 13 tournament with friendlies against Norway (May 27), Paraguay (June 1) and Jamaica (June 8).

Squad:

Goalkeepers: Hugo Lloris (Tottenham Hotspur), Steve Mandanda (Olympique

AFP

Marseille), Mickael Landreau (Bastia) Defenders: Mathieu Debuchy (Newcastle United), Lucas Digne (Paris St Germain) Patrice Evra (Manchester United), Laurent Koscielny (Arsenal), Eliaquim Mangala (Porto), Bacary Sagna (Arsenal), Mamadou Sakho (Liverpool), Raphael Varane (Real Madrid) Midfielders: Yohan Cabaye (Paris St Germain), Clement Grenier (Olympique Lyon), Blaise Matuidi (Paris St Germain), Rio Mavuba (Lille), Paul Pogba (Juventus), Moussa Sissoko (Newcastle United), Mathieu Valbuena (Olympique Marseille) Forwards: Karim Benzema (Real Madrid), Olivier Giroud (Arsenal), Antoine Griezmann (Real Sociedad), Loic Remy (Newcaste United), Franck Ribery (Bayern Munich) l

Coach Joachim Loew brushed off whistles from disgruntled home fans as Germany’s youngest-ever side held Poland to a goalless draw in the first of their three pre-World Cup friendlies.

With 13 of his squad involved in Saturday’s German Cup final between Bayern Munich and Borussia Dortmund, Loew named eight debutants in his starting eleven, which had a combined total of just 13 caps, and ultimately 12 debuts were made after a flurry of second-half substitutions.

It was the youngest side ever named - with an average aged of 21.45 - in the 106-year history of German Football Association (DFB) internationals, beat-

ing the previous record of 21.5 for a 1908 international against Switzerland.

Several youngsters impressed on Tuesday in Hamburg, but it remains to be seen who stays in when the squad is cut to 25 or 26 players on Wednesday before being reduced to the definitive 23 in three weeks time.

Despite the whistles of discontent from the 37,000-strong crowd at the final whistle, at least Germany had protected their proud record of never having lost to their neighbours in 18 meetings.

“I didn’t hear any whistling at the end, but besides the fans got a good performance from a young side and should be happy with that,” said the 54-year-old Loew.

“That was fun, we had a crazy amount of debutants in the team, but they did their jobs very well. l

Valdes says farewell after ‘cruel’ year

Tourists pose with Neymar’s jersey as they visit a cloakroom in the Maracana stadium, one of the stadiums hosting the 2014 World Cup matches, in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday REUTERS

Fans to pay Bayern’s Uefa fine Four young fans responsible for a homophobic banner which saw Bayern Munich fined by Uefa will repay the club and undertake community service, according to reports Wednesday.

European football’s governing body Uefa fined Bayern 10,000 euros ($13,774) after the youths from Bayern’s Tirol-based fan club displayed a “Gay Gunners” banner, aimed at opponents Arsenal during the Champions League last 16 second leg on March 11.

Because of the banner, Bayern were also ordered to close part of their stadium for their quarter-final at home to against Manchester United, meaning the loss of 150,000 euros in

revenue on unsold tickets.

Bayern officials have told the parents they must each pay the Bavarian giants 2,000 euros towards the fine and do community service in Munich.

“The youths will do ten hours of community service in the summer on top of the fine,” a Bayern spokesman told Munich-based paper the Sueddeutsche Zeitung. The father of one of the four, whose ages have not been disclosed, confirmed the punishment.

The Bayern spokesman said their reaction highlights changing attitudes in football and served as a warning to others.

Karl-Heinz Rummenigge, chairman of the Bundesliga champions, said he distanced himself from the banner’s message “in the strongest possible terms”. l

Rooney expects to be fit for Brazil Wayne Rooney expects to be in peak condition when he embarks on his third World Cup finals campaign next month and is excited by the potential of the young talent in the England squad.

The 28-year-old striker was rushed back from a metatarsal injury for the 2006 World Cup and carried an ankle injury into the 2010 tournament in South Africa, failing to produce anything like his best form as England flopped.

Despite missing the last three matches of a disappointing Manchester United season with a groin injury, Rooney is confident he will be fully fit when the tournament starts in Brazil on June 12. l

Injured Barcelona keeper Victor Valdes said goodbye to his club and fans Wednesday, bemoaning a “cruel” year.

But he still found time to offer his thanks to key figures in his career, including Pep Guardiola and the late Tito Vilanova, while making no mention of under-pressure coach Gerardo Martino.

Valdes, who was sidelined for seven months after surgery for a knee injury in March and had already announced plans to leave at the end of the season, wrote an open farewell letter sealing his departure.

“Unfortunately, I could not say goodbye playing football as I would have liked,” the 32-year-old Spain international said in the letter, which was published online on the Barcelona site.

“But that is life sometimes and this year has been cruel for me in that

sense,” the keeper said.

Valdes thanked former Barcelona coach Pep Guardiola, now with Bayern Munich, who led Barcelona to unparal-

Collina to propose drastic yellow card rule Uefa is to propose a new rule that would see players temporarily removed from the pitch if a foul they have committed injures another player, referees’ chief Pierluigi Collina said Wednesday.

Collina, speaking at a Uefa meeting in Turin ahead of the Europa League final between Sevilla and Benfica, said the change would be put forward to the International Football Association Board (IFAB) at the start of nextyear.

“We’re going to propose this new rule to IFAB, whereby the player who causes the injury temporarily leaves

the pitch as long as the injured player is being treated off the park,” said Collina.

If the injured player is replaced, the player who committed the foul would return to the pitch, the Italian added.

“The current system isn’t fair. The player who commits the foul is only cautioned and stays on the pitch while the team with the injured player is left a man down.

“It effectively gives an advantage to the other team.” Collina said the proposal only concerned fouls deemed “dangerous” and worthy of a yellow card.

Uefa plans to submit the proposal to the IFAB at their next meeting which is set between February and March 2015.l

lelled success from 2008-2012.

“Thanks Pep for having opened the door for me to play a game that I did not know, for being my guide on the journey one must take to seek success, which we found together.”

Valdes had a special word for the late Tito Vilanova, who died on April 25 after a long battle with cancer.

Vilanova was in charge of Barcelona for just one season after Guardiola’s departure but had to step down to pursue his treatment for cancer of the salivary gland.

“Thank you Tito! Wherever you are, I thank you for teaching us not only the way to win as a team but also the strength and character to confront life.”

The letter contained no mention of current coach Martino, who admitted to a disappointing season earlier this month when it seemed the team had no chance of winning the league. l

Hamburg face Fuerth with proud record at stake Hamburg host Greuther Fuerth on Thursday in the first of a two-legged Bundesliga relegation play-off with their proud record of never being relegated from Germany’s top flight at stake.

Hamburg are the last remaining side in Germany’s top tier to have never gone down and a clock at their Imtech Arena stadium proudly displays how long they have spent in the Bundesliga.

But the 1983 European Cup winners have just 180 minutes to maintain their 50-year stay. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Kolkata Knight Riders, Kings XI Punjab keep winning

QUICK BYTES Sadi emerge group champion in World Veteran TT Former Bangladesh national table tennis champion Saidul Haque Sadi emerged as the group champion in the 17th World Veteran Table Tennis Championships in Auckland, New Zealand yesterday. Sadi outplayed his opponents from Germany and Singapore in the group stage to qualify for the next round. It is for the first time that any player from Bangladesh is playing in this biennial international table tennis championship for the retired players only.

–RM

Robin Uthappa powered Kolkata Knight Riders to their third straight win beating Mumbai Indians with six-wicket in hand while Kings XI Punjab once again showed their batting might to chase down another 200-plus run target to comfortably beat Sunrisers Hyderabad by same margin in IPL yesterday.

Uthappa struck nine fours and three sixes after a disciplined KKR attack restricted Mumbai Indians to 141 for five on a pitch that was not the best for batting. Battling woeful form, Yusuf Pathan remained unbeaten on 20 and hit the winning boundary.

Thunder rally to put Clippers on brink of elimination

Russell Westbrook sank three clutch free throws with six seconds left as Oklahoma City rallied to beat the Los Angeles Clippers 105-104 in game five of their second round playoff series.

“I just try to take my time, take a deep breath and knock them down,” Westbrook said. “I slow down my breathing, slow my pace and clear my mind.”

Kevin Durant was breathing easier after finding his shot late in the game and finished with 27 points for the Thunder who lead the NBA’s Western Conference series three games to two.

The Thunder went on a 8-0 surge in the last 49 seconds to get the victory after being down by 13 points with four minutes left in the fourth quarter.

League MVP Durant hit five consecutive shots in the frantic final moments after struggling on offence for most of Tuesday’s game.

–AFP

S African judge orders psychiatric tests for Pistorius

A South African judge on Wednesday ordered that Oscar Pistorius undergo psychiatric tests to establish if he has “general anxiety disorder,” in what could be a pivotal development in his murder trial. Judge Thokozile Masipa said a “proper inquiry” was needed to test whether the sprinter had a disorder that meant he was not fully responsible for his actions in shooting his girlfriend Reeva Steenkamp last year. The prosecution had asked Masipa to have Pistorius committed, after defence psychiatrist Meryll Vorster claimed deep-seated anxiety stemming from the early amputation of Pistorius’s legs gave him a heightened fear of crime.

During two months of trial, Pistorius’s lawyers have sought to portray him as manically obsessed with safety after a difficult childhood in which his fearful mother abused alcohol and in the face of high crime levels in South Africa.

–AFP

Fifa official says fines for racism are ‘disrespectful’

Fifa’s anti-racism chief Jeffrey Webb has called on national soccer associations to start implementing tougher sanctions to rid the game of discrimination, describing the use of monetary fines as “disrespectful” and little more than a “slap on the wrist.” Jeffrey Webb, the chairman of FIFA’s Anti-Racism and Discrimination Task Force, said that while the world and regional bodies had introduced strict new laws to combat racism, some national leagues were ignoring the proposals and being too lenient.

–Reuters

Players didn’t give up on Moyes: Vidic Outgoing Manchester United captain Nemanja Vidic admitted on Wednesday that the players “lost belief” during the campaign that has just ended, but says they never deserted former manager David Moyes. “It was a bad time and the players could have done better. But everyone lost belief in the team,” Vidic, who has agreed to join Inter Milan, told BBC Sport. “People said we lost faith in David Moyes. We didn’t. We knew he was trying to build something.” Moyes endured a disastrous campaign after succeeding Alex Ferguson as manager last year and was sacked in April, with United going on to finish in seventh place in the Premier League and failing to qualify for Europe.

–AFP

BRIEF SCORE

KKR allrounder Shakib al Hasan is congratulated by his teammates on taking the wicket of Lendl Simmons (unseen) of Mumbai Indians during their IPL match at Cuttack yesterday

Brothers’ purple patch continues Brothers Union continued their excellent form in the second phase of the Bangladesh Premier League as the Oranges climbed to third place in the points table after beating Feni Soccer Club at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

In-form Haitian forward Augustine

Walson and Nigerian striker Kester Akon netted one goal apiece in the opening half which proved to be enough to earn Brothers their fourth consecutive victory in the premier league, their best run in recent years.

Yesterday’s victory saw the Gopibag outfits leapfrog Mohammedan to third place in the points table. They now have 25 points from 15 matches, two points ahead of the Black and Whites who, however, have played one game less.

Isinbayeva to come out of retirment for Rio: coach Russian’s double Olympic pole vault champion Yelena Isinbayeva plans to go for a third gold in Rio in 2016 after the birth of her first child, according to her coach Yevgeny Trofimov, local media reported Wednesday.

Isinbayeva, 31, who announced her retirmeent after her victory in the 2013 world champsionships in Moscow, is due to give birth in June and now plans to resume training as soon as possible.

“Yelena decided to return to sport after givivng birth to her child. She wants to compete at the 2016 Games at Rio de Janeiro,” Trofimov was quoted as saying by Allsport news agency.

Isinbayeva, who won two Olympic gold medals in Athens in 2004 and Beijing in 2008, has set 28 world records.

She has already taken a year off, following her failure at the indoor world championships in Doha in 2010.

Isinbayeva then returned to competition in February 2011 and took bronze at the 2012 London Olympics with 4.70m. l

Colombia coach Jose Pekerman maintained hopes that star striker Radamel Falcao could make the World Cup finals by naming him in his 30-man provisional squad on Tuesday. Falcao is recovering from surgery and has not played since late January.

Provisional Colombia squad

Goalkeepers: David Ospina (Nice/ FRA), Faryd Mondragon (Deportivo

Cali), Camilo Vargas (Santa Fe) Defenders: Pablo Armero (West Ham United/ENG), Camilo Zuñiga (Napoli/ ITA), Aquivaldo Mosquera (América/ MEX), Cristian Zapata (AC Milan/ITA), Luis Amaranto Perea (Cruz Azul/MEX), Eder Alvarez Balanta (River Plate/ARG), Mario Alberto Yepes (Atalanta/ITA), Carlos Valdés (San Lorenzo/ARG) Midfielders: Abel Aguilar (Toulouse/ ARG), Fredy Guarin (Inter Milan/ITA), Juan Guillermo Cuadrado (Fiorentina/ ITA), James Rodriguez (Monaco/FRA),

and fired the ball into the net with an angular shot.

Ali Hasan pulled one back for Feni Soccer Club in the 61st minute after a Chuka Charles cross from the right flank found him unmarked in the middle of the box and the midfielder buried home into an empty net. However, Brothers can consider themselves a bit unlucky for not winning 3-1 as Nigerian midfielder Simon Ezeodika hit the sidebar in the 89th minute with an angular shot from a Jewel Rana pass. l

Brazilian artist Clecio Regis puts the final touches on a sculpture to commemorate Thomas Donohoe, a late football player from Scotland and one of the founders of Bangu football club, in Rio de Janeiro on Tuesday. According to local media, researchers are trying to find out if soccer was first introduced to Brazil in September 1894 by Donohoe, first played at a textile factory where he worked, contrary to widespread belief that it was a Brazilian man named Charles Muller. The completed statue will be placed outside a shopping mall which used to be the site of the textile factory REUTERS

Hyderabad 205/5 (20 ov) NV Ojha 79, S Dhawan 45, Warner 42 Punjab 211/4 (18.4 ov) WP Saha 54, Vohra 47, Maxwell 43 Punjab won by 6 wickets Coming in for Jacques Kallis to strengthen the KKR spin department, Bangladesh all-rounder Shakib Al Hasan bowled an economical spell where he conceded only 21 runs and took an important wicket of Mumbai opener Lendl Simmons with an armball that kept low. The wicket ensured the Bangladesh left-arm spinner made up for a drop catch in the previous over.

Shakib scored 9 runs off 8 balls before getting out in the penultimate ball of the match while he went for a big finish.

Meanwhile, Chasing 206 for victory, the Punjab top-order pulled off another run feast – their second 200-plus run chase in this IPL – to canter to their target in 18.4 overs at the Rajiv Gandhi International Stadium. l

Federer loses to Chardy in Rome Jeremy Chardy caught new father Roger Federer on the hop at a wind-blown ATP-WTA Rome Masters on Wednesday, winning their second round tie 1-6, 6-3, 7-6 (8-6).

The upset loss, in just over two hours, came barely a week after the 32-year-old Federer became father to his second set of twins.

The fourth-seeded Swiss, who has never won the Rome title, decided to come and have a go on the clay of the Foro Italico anyway after consulting with wife Mirka and his team. With him in Rome was part-time coaching consultant Stefan Edberg.

Conditions were brutal for a match played amid great bursts of red clay blowing regularly through the air.

Federer swept the opening set but began to fade in the second as a charged-up Chardy made his move.

In other play, Andy Murray took revenge for a loss a year ago as he defeat-

Aldo Leao Ramirez (Morelia/MEX), Carlos Sanchez (Elche/ESP), Macnelly Torres (Al-Shabab/KSA), Santiago Arias (PSV Eindhoven/NED), Edwin Valencia (Fluminense/BRA), Alexander Mejia (Atlético Nacional), Juan Fernando Quintero (Porto/POR), Elkin Soto (Mainz/GER).

Forwards: Radamel Falcao (Monaco/ FRA) Luis Fernando Muriel (Udinese/ITA), Jackson Martinez (Porto/POR), Carlos Bacca (Sevilla/ESP), Teofilo Gutierrez (River Plate/ARG), Adrian Ramos (Hertha Berlin/ GER), Victor Ibarbo (Cagliari/ITA).l

Jeremy Chardy of France reacts after defeating Roger Federer during the Rome’s ATP tennis Masters at the Foro Italico in Rome yesterday AFP ed Marcel Granollers to open with a 6-2, 7-5 victory into the third round.

The Spaniard had benefitted in 2013 when the Scot had to quit their second-round contest with the back pains

Germany kicked-off their World Cup finals preparations with their youngest-ever side holding Poland to a goalless draw on Tuesday with the Hamburg crowd jeering the result after the final whistle.

With 13 of his squad involved in Saturday’s German Cup final when Bayern Munich play Borussia Dortmund, Germany coach Joachim Loew named eight debutants in his starting eleven, which had a combined total of just 13 caps.

“That was fun, we had a crazy amount of debutants in the team, but

which eventually drove him to surgery last autumn.

The match was also played in swirling dustbowl conditions which bothered both players throughout.l

Bagerhat reach final round Bagerhat qualified for the final round of the KFC Women’s National Football by beating Narail 8-0 in the zonal final at the Bagerhat stadium yesrerday.

Rizia scored five goals for the winners while Mirona netted brace and the other goal was scored by Mita. The qualification of Bagerhat meant the

Youngest-ever Germany hold Poland in warm-up

Sony Six

NBA Play-Off 2013-14, CONF SF 5:00AM Miami v Brooklyn 7:30AM San Antonio v Portland

Augustine Walson scored in his third successive match as he put Brothers ahead in the 16th minute with a solo effort. Collecting a misplaced pass from almost halfway line, the Haitian broke the offside trap to drift past a defender and calmly slotted home past Feni keeper Md Nehal.

Kester Akon, who slammed a hattrick in the previous match, doubled Brothers’ lead in the 40th minute as the Nigerian striker dribbled past a defender to break into the penalty area

Ailing Falcao included in Colombia squad

DAY’S WATCH 8:30PM Indian Premier League Rajasthan v Delhi

15

Thursday, May 15, 2014

they did their jobs very well,” enthused Loew as a toal of 12 players ultimately made their debuts after substitutions.

“We were well organised and played well going forward. Even without the goals it was a fun game.”

It was the youngest side ever named -- with an average aged of 21.45 -- in the 106-year history of German Football Association (DFB) internationals, beating the previous record of 21.5 for a 1908 international against Switzerland.

Several youngsters did enough to impress the coach in the first of three preWorld Cup friendlies with matches against Cameroon and Armenia to come. l

eighth team’s slot for the final round was filled up.

The teams of the final round are - Ansar & VDP (Defending Champions), Jessore (Final Round Host), Rangpur, (Dinajpur venue champion) Mymensigh (Rajshahi venue champion), Narayanganj (Laxmipur venue champion), Team BJMC (Dhaka venue champion), Bagerhat (Bagerhat venue champion) and Kushtia (Kushtia Venue Champion). The date for the final round’s matches will be announced later. l

Cook sets up Essex win over Sri Lanka Alastair Cook’s quickfire knock helped ensure Sri Lanka’s first match in England this season ended in defeat.

England captain Cook struck 71 as his county, Essex, made 161 for five in a one-day match reduced by rain to 21 overs per side at Chelmsford on Tuesday.

In reply Sri Lanka, the recently crowned World Twenty20 champions, were restricted to 146 for nine in pursuit of a Duckworth/Lewis adjusted target of 169, with seamer Oliver Newby taking three wickets for 36 runs in his five overs. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Doctors ‘withdraw’ strike, yet patients suffer n Moniruzzaman Uzzal Although doctors had called off the strike in protest at the assault on their fellows, there have been allegations that patients are still being denied admission at the public hospitals.

Momena Khatun, 45, a resident of Mirpur, is one such patient who went to three public hospitals yesterday but could not get admitted to any. Every time she asked for admission, she was advised to go elsewhere.

Momena’s son Zillur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that he and his father took her mother to the National Institute of Kidney Diseases and Urology as she had been suffering from kidney and liver complications.

“Following primary check-up, doctors referred her to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). There she underwent check-up at the emergency department again but was referred to the medicine ward (no 801) of DMCH 2. Oddly enough, the duty doctor there told her to go to Mitford Hospital,” said Zillur.

Momena’s son said the doctor had told him that they were on strike and would not admit any patient without their leader’s advice. Zillur tried to per-

suade the doctor but to no avail.

Seeking anonymity, a top DMCH official told the Dhaka Tribune that not all the patients were being refused admission.

“The doctors said they issued a 48hour ultimatum to arrest the culprits who left their fellows injured but none of them has so far been arrested,” he said.

Zillur said doctors at Mitford Hospital did not agree to admit his mother either, citing seat shortage.

“My father and I requested the doctor repeatedly to admit my mother but nothing worked. Rather, he became angry and ordered the ward boy to eject us from the hospital,” he said.

In general, more than 350 new patients are admitted at DMCH in every 24 hours. In the last two days, however, the number dropped to less than half.

DMCH Director Brigadier General Mustafizur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that the doctors did not agree to admit all the patients arrived in the morning and some of them were referred elsewhere.

“Everything, however, returned to normalcy in the afternoon when all the doctors joined work and began admitting patients,” he added. l

Bogra unit BMA forms a human chain on the local medical college hospital premises protesting what they say were false cases and propaganda against them and demanding promulgation of hospital safety act DHAKA TRIBUNE

Bureaucrats asked to ensure use of Bangla n Mohosinul Karim All ministries, divisions and public offices were asked to ensure implementation of the High Court order on the use of Bangla language in every sphere of life.

The secretaries and top officials of the public offices were instructed to inform the public administration ministry about progress made in this regard in 15 days.

The instruction was given in a ministerial coordination meeting of the Public Administration Ministry Senior Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury in the chair.

Kamal told reporters that all secretaries and high officials of the government were asked to implement the court order.

“They will also inform us about their problems to implement the order, if they have any. The progress report will be forwarded to the court as per its direction,” he added.

“The direction was given to execute the Bangla BhashaProcholon Ain (Bengali Language Implementation Act)enacted in 1987.

It was mandatory to implement the law. But it has not yet been implemented,” he said adding: “We will also ask private organisations to follow the order of the court.”

Requesting the media to stop using English or mixed language in programmes or advertisements, Kamal Chowdhury said: “The information ministry has already discussed with

the media bosses in this regard. They will sit again with them and take initiative to execute the court’s order.”

The city corporations and local government institutions will take necessary steps to ensure use of Bangla on billboards and name plates of different public or private or business offices in their areas, he said.

The High Court on February 17 issued a ruling asking the government to take steps to implement and ensure the use of Bangla in every sphere of life as per the Bengali Language Implementation Act. The court also ruled that all signboards, number plates of vehicles and the names of mass media should be written in Bangla everywhere. l

Historical artefacts collecting dust in warehouses

n Our Correspondent, Bogra Hundreds of historical artefacts, including Gettysburg Address, the historic speech by Abraham Lincoln, and manuscripts of Rabindranath Tagore’s biography, in several archaeological stores in northern Bangladesh for the lack of museum space.

Officials at the Department of Archaeology Bangladesh admitted that a huge collection of valuable artefacts were stored in storerooms due to space shortage in the museums and as well as security issues.

Md Sadequezzman, curator of Mahasthangarh Archaeological Museum in Bogra, reiterated the statement, adding that the department had been keeping the artefacts in the storerooms for a long time.

“More than 50% of the total collection have yet to be displayed in the museums,” he said.

The Gettysburg Address was collected by late Professor Abdul Hamid a long time ago.

Md Mahbubul Alam, custodian of Paharpur Museum in Naogaon said about 25% of their artefacts were on display in the museums.

“The rest, including the statues, are still in the storeroom,” he said.

Md Mojibur Rahman, curator of Rabindra Memorial Muse-

2% sponsor-director rule declared illegal n Kayes Sohel and Nazmus Sakib The High Court has declared to be illegal the stipulation that sponsor-directors of listed companies must hold at least 2% of shares, and together, should own at least 30%.

In the wake of the late 2010 stock market scam, in November 2011, the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) issued a notification specifying these two rules to boost up the then bear market.

According to the notification, in case any sponsor-director failed to keep his seat on the board, someone owning at least 5% of the floated shares could fill in for the “casual vacancy.” Yesterday, the HC declared that rule to be illegal as well.

Before the SEC issued the rule, there was no hard and fast stipulation for shareholding in order to become a director. The stock market regulator issued the notification so that directors became more interested in acquiring greater ownership and thus developed a greater sense of responsibility toward the company.

The High Court bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain delivered the ruling upon hearing a writ petition filed by Mustafizur Rahman, a sponsor-director of the National Credit and Commerce Bank, after the SEC issued the notification.

In December 2012, based on that petition, the HC issued a rule asking the SEC why the notification should not be declared illegal. The SEC answered the rule and the court held several hearings on the issue over the past one and a half years.

After the SEC issued the notification, the sponsor-directors of listed companies who owned less than 2% shares had to acquire more shares from the bourse in order to keep their directorship.

Some major stock market players, who owned bulk shares of top listed companies, allegedly wanted to take advantage of the situation by raising the prices of the shares that they

owned.

Supreme Court lawyer Shah Md Ahsanur Rahman, attorney of the petitioner, told the Dhaka Tribune that the court had declared the SEC rule illegal because it was discriminatory.

Ahsanur said he had told the court that the notification was discriminatory because there were two different provisions governing sponsor-directorship.

“Moreover, the NCC Bank had 49 sponsor-directors and it would not have been possible for each of them to own 2% of shares because at least 50% of shares must be issued to the public,” he explained.

Mirza Azizul Islam, former adviser to a

In December 2012, based on a petition, the HC issued a rule asking the SEC why the notification should not be declared illegal.

The SEC answered the rule and the court held several hearings on the matter caretaker government, told the Dhaka Tribune: “What will happen now is that no matter how much share one owns, they will not care for their company.

Things will go back to what they were before.”

“The High Court order should not impact the decision-making of the investors. They should rather consider the fundamentals of the company while investing their money,” said Aziz, also a former SEC chairman.

Faruq Ahmed Siddique, another former SEC chair, said: “I opposed the move when it was made. It did not turn out to be successful. Even now, I do not believe that scrapping the rule will have any impact on the stock market.” l

Protecting plurality in Kerala an issue as BJP advances n Zeeshan Khan, from Kochi, India India has stopped voting, and as expected, the exit polls predict a sweep for the BJP. However, some people believe that exit polls do not always get it right.

Congress Minister Jairam Ramesh says the BJP will do much worse than expected and that the polls were wrong both in 2004 and 2009. But Narendra Modi’s indisputable appeal has been experienced across the land.

Not everyone in India enjoys the sensation though, and in far-flung Kochi, which, with its coconut trees and churches looks more like Central America than India, the minority Christian community is particularly disapproving of it.

Kochi is the centre of the Christian part of Kerala, a state that has a healthy amount of diversity and a minority population which almost numbers a half of the state. With Muslims around 25% and Christians about 22%, Hindutva has very little appeal here, a fact evidenced by the conspicuous absence of any BJP paraphernalia even during a campaign that featured hologrammed speeches.

Kerala does the Bangladeshi thing of rotating parties – voting for the Communist Party one term and the Congress another. This year, however, the communists are looking so unpopular that they have fielded party men as independent candidates.

This means the strongest horse in the race is Congress, which is likely to be voted back into power. This will stave off a rising tide of an Indian version of political Islam-like monochromic religious nationalism, at least for the moment.

But the RSS is interested in making inroads into this bastion of communal harmony, and has more Sakhah’s in Kerala than in any other state in the country, according to residents.

In what threatens to upset the apple cart, the introduction of Hindutva influence, iconography and political narratives could polarise the place that accommodates three cultures – Muslim, Hindu and Christian. These cultures are all Malayali in language and orientation, and are syncretised to a similar degree to cultures in Bengal.

Also like Bengal, a large part of its economy depends on foreign workers in the Middle East, meaning relations with Muslim countries to its west are of considerable importance.

Christians in India, at least from Kochi, are high in different key positions of the government and the administration. They are well represented in Congress as well as among communists, and are a vital part of the political fabric of the Republic.

But attacks on Christians are not unheard of; in fact, there have been a number across the country perpetrated

by Hindu nationalists throughout BJPled terms.

The Sangh Parivar has tried to explain these away as expressions of “spontaneous anger” by tribal people against conversions were undertaken by missionaries. Resentment against missionary activity remains alive, and like Islam, is viewed with suspicion and scorn.

Modi’s comments on so-called illegal migrants in Bengal and Assam have already left nearly 40 people dead in communal riots since May 1, while communal violence in Uttarkhand left one dead and several injured on Tuesday.

The power of divisive influences is well known in India and Kerala, for one, is still not having any of it. l

PSC mulls increasing BCS prelim marks n Mushfique Wadud um in Shahzadpur, Sirajganj, said many Tagore memorabilia in their collection had not been displayed yet.

“We could not accommodate all the memorabilia in the museum as there is not enough space,” he said.

Md Badrul Alam, regional director of the Department of Archaeology in Bogra, said several hundred artefacts from several dynasties, including pre-Mauryan period, were collecting dust in their storeroom.

“There is a plan to construct a modern museum in Mahasthangarh area, under the South Asia Tourism Infrastructure Development project,” said Md Badrul Alam. l

Bangladesh Public Service Commission is pondering over raising the marks and the duration of the Bangladesh Civil Service preliminary examinations, a senior PSC official told the Dhaka Tribune, yesterday.

Officials, however, said it has yet to be finalised whether the upcoming 35th BCS preliminary exam will be held according to the new mark and time distribution, though they are trying to implement it.

They said there will be reforms in the question pattern as well.

“The issue is still under discussion but nothing has been finalised as yet,” PSC member Main Uddin Khandakar told the Dhaka Tribune. He, however, could not confirm whether the new system will be introduced in the 35th BCS exam.

According to the proposal, total marks for the preliminary examina-

tion is likely to be increased from 100 to 200, while the duration will change from an hour to two hours.

Officials said the PSC came up with the proposal for a reform in BCS exam in view of the large number of candidates passing the tests every time. This makes it difficult to take the next step in the overall selection process.

They said if the total marks and duration can be extended, fewer candidates will qualify, making it easy for them to conduct the examination.

In the 34th BCS preliminary examination, a total of 221,575 candidates sat for the test while 46,250 qualified for the written exam.

Senior Secretary of the Public Administration Ministry Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune that the PSC has tabled a proposal for raising the total marks as well as the duration of BCS preliminary examina-

tion and the ministry is working on it.

He, however, did not disclose any further.

Meanwhile, a mixed reaction was observed among the candidates over the proposed changes.

Maksudul Haque studies statistics at Dhaka University and is preparing for the upcoming BCS examination. Reacting negatively to the possible reforms, he said he has been taking preparations according to the existing system for quite some time and the new one would prove unfavourable for him.

Masum Hossain, a student of the Anthropology department at Jahangirnagar University, however, expressed a different view, saying he welcomes any changes.

“I believe the additional marks and duration will help candidates with real talent and merit. It will also help curb corruption in the selection process,” he added. l

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B3 China growth target

vulnerable as economy’s momentum fades

B4 Evaporating inflation

may have taken pricy debt too far

THURSDAY, MAY 15, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Muhith: Khaleda responsible for economic slowdown n Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday blamed opposition party for the country’s economic slowdown, as they what he claimed adopted political violence across the country in the run up to the general election of January 5.

He said other factors, including power crisis and infrastructure constraints, also contributed to the holding back of the economy.

However, Muhith last week in a meeting with Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) said he had no idea why local private financiers had not been investing in the country whereas foreign investors were coming in big after the political turmoil eased.

“Hartal is something you can tolerate, but not the killing. All were confined at homes,” said Muhith while inaugurating a workshop organised by Economic Reporters Forum (ERF) and World Bank in Dhaka. He said investment shies away due to security conditions as killing, cocktail bombing on innocent people have taken place. “The ‘foolish’ policy of killing people has posed the serious setback on economic development of Bangladesh,” he said.

Holding the BNP Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia responsible for the current economic slowdown, he said: “That’s absolutely Khaleda Zia’s responsibility.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith speaks at a workshop for economic reporters at Pan Pacific Sonargaon, Dhaka yesterday. Economic Reporters Forum and World Bank jointly organised the event ERF It’s squarely based on her shoulder.”

The then opposition BNP had enforced countrywide shutdowns for months at the end of last year before the January 5 general election over a dispute with the ruling alliance over the composition of election-time government.

The minister said now the government has to face challenges for bringing back investor confidence from the brink. “But we improved public in-

vestment. In the private investment, the government has not been successful so far,” he said.

He also mentioned other difficulties for declining investment, including power crisis and transport constraint.

Speaking at the inaugural session, WB country director Christine Kimes said Bangladesh should identify its development priorities and major impediments to foster its economic growth.

Mentioning that the WB has so far provided Bangladesh with US$18bn in support and another $2.7bn funding from the lender is now in the pipeline, she said adding the agreement to this effect would be signed shortly.

The workshop followed by three working sessions on Bangladesh Development priorities, external financing and ADP implementation and budget reporting. l

IDLC reports Tk4.5cr in quarterly loss n Tahmidur Rahman

IDLC Finance Limited yesterday turned out to be the top loser at Dhaka Stock Exchange – clearly a sharp response by the investors to its two price sensitive corporate disclosures.

The company’s share price lost its value by 9.8% to close at Tk46.8 each, making up a total of Tk3.27cr worth of shares traded.

The non-banking financial institution has reported a net loss of Tk4.49 crore during the first quarter of the current year against a profit of Tk10.27crore during the same period last year.

The quarterly reports show specific provisioning to be weighing down profitability despite showing a significant growth in its core business, net interest income.

Specific provision for the first quarter increased to Tk21.2 crore from Tk2.3 crore last year.

“Due to regulatory requirement, we had no option to divide the provisioning into four quarters of a year, but to report in the last quarter that ate up most of our profits,” said Md Moniruzzaman, managing director of IDLC Investments Ltd, a wholly-owned subsidiary of IDLC Finance Ltd. He mentioned that the up coming quarters will not see such provisioning, which would directly result in a surge of the company’s profits.

The company’s operating expenses showed a growth of around 5% while

operating income surged by 50%.

The reports show abnormal specific provision figures that would make the company to report losses even if the provision amount was broken down to four quarters of the year.

Md Moniruzzaman added: “In the future, additional provisioning will not be required unless the loan portfolio does not deteriorate.”

Specific provisioning to be weighing down profitability despite showing a significant growth in its core business, net interest income Analysts suggest poor business environment and loan quality in the past years might have played a part in such high provisions.

The company in its other corporate disclosure, has also informed that its board of directors’ decision to purchase a commercial floor space on the fifth floor of World Trade Centre Agrabad C/A, Chittagong measuring around 7,871.40 square feet along with eight car parking spaces.

The purchase will be used for its business purposes costing the company Tk14.64852cr, said the disclosure. l

Commerce ministry seeks Rooppur nuke power plant cost may go up Tk259cr to revitalise TCB n Asif Showkat Kallol

n Asif Showkat Kallol The commerce ministry has sought Tk259 crore for Trading Corporation of Bangladesh (TCB) to prepare the state trading agency ahead of Ramadan so it could play a role in stabilising the essentials market.

The endowment fund will be used to enhance the capacity of TCB through procuring trucks and expending the capacity of godowns The commerce ministry wants to help revive the corporation with government finance support, Joint Secretary Monoj Kumar Roy told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said they have no option but to

seek the government finance to stabilise the price of essentials ahead of the holy month of Ramada.

Last week, the commerce ministry sought Tk200 crore endowment fund from the finance division and Tk59 crore to meet the gap between the high price of buying essentials from the market and lower selling price at consumers’ level during the month of Ramada.

The endowment fund will be used to enhance the capacity of TCB through procuring trucks and expending the capacity of godowns.

The government has already amended the TCB order 1972 in bid to empower the state-owned trading agency as a tool to intervene in the basic commodity market.

Earlier, the TCB sought Tk1,000 crore to enhance the capacity of TCB but the finance division rejected the proposal.

The government provided Tk58 crore to TCB in 2012-13 fiscal year, in 2011-12 fiscal year Tk77.6 crore, in 201011 fiscal year Tk69 crore. l

The government will have to pay an additional amount of Tk144crore as advance by June 30 to the Russian state-run firm Atomstroyexport in line with the third payment contract for the construction of Bangladesh’s first-ever nuclear power plant in Rooppur.

This money might come from the revised budget which, however,has already been fixed at Tk246 crore, said a senior official of the finance division.

Science and technology ministry has sought Tk144 crorefrom the finance minister to make the advance payment.

“It is not possible to increase the revised budget amount at the end of the fiscal year,” said the official.

Another official saidcost of the project will go up if the government gives extra fund to the science ministry.

Science and technology ministry in a recent letter to Finance Secretary Fazle Kabir noted that the government had signed an agreement with the Russian Federation to construct the country’s first nuclear power plant in Rooppur with an involvement of $500m state-ex-

port credit from Russia under the country’s first track development project.

The letter signed by science and technology secretary Khandoker Assaduzzam reads: “We need your personal influence and attention in this regard.”

He, however, expressed his dissatisfaction at the finance secretary for not allocating extra funds for the project in the revised budget.

“The proposal of the science and technology ministry was not considered in the revised budget although the ministry had sought an extra Tk92 crore. Finance division did not allocate that outlay although it had earlier allocated an amount worth Tk246 crore,” reads the letter.

As per the contract, the government will have to pay 10% from the government fund to the Russian counterpart after the contracting the sign within 60 days.

National Atomic Energy Commission under science and technology ministry is now under a negotiation with the Russian firm to sign the third contract.

As per the third contract, the commission will sign a contract for the amount of $180m while 10% or $18m

will be given to Russian firm Atomstroyexport in advance within 60 days from the signing the contract .

In the second contract, the ministry gave $26.50m to the Russain firm Atomstroyexport as per the signed contract with the involvement of $265 million.

As a result, the government’s contribution has been reduced to Tk207.76 crore from the allocated Tk246 crore in the outgoing fiscal year.

However, the science and technology ministry has sought for increasing the allocation in next fiscal budget for Rooppur nuclear power plant to pay contract advances to the Russian firm and staff salaries.

The science and technology ministry in a letter also proposed for an allocation of Tk2,040crore as the mid-term budgetary framework had fixed the amount at Tk1,284.93 crore.

Of the amount, a total of Tk1,284 crore will come as project assistance and the remaining part will be collected from local resources, according to the letter of science and technology ministry.

The Executive Committee of National Economic Council on April 2, 2013 approved the country’s first nu-

Refinance fund IDRA fines 2 insurance cos n for marginal farmers Tribune Report

Muhith: Corporate tax to see changes in next budget n Syed Samiul Basher Anik Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said the tax rate for the corporate companies would be reviewed in the budget for the fiscal year 2014-15.

“Corporate tax would be reviewed in the coming budget and we are working on it,” he told reporters at the National Board of Revenue headquarters in Dhaka. He did not, however, elaborate the possible changes.

Meanwhile, the NBR Chairman Md. Ghulam Hussain said the decision for making the changes has not been taken yet as assessments are going on in this regard.

Different trade bodies have long been urging the government to reduce the corporate tax for both publicly listed and non-listed companies, and the government has already dropped a broader hint that it would reduce the rate to stimulate investment in the country as a strategy to boost economy.

The indication emerged after the businessmen proposing for the exemption to recover from the setback they suffered due to political

turmoil before the January 5 national election.

Attending the pre-budget discussions with NBR, business leaders have urged the NBR to reduce the corporate tax rate claiming that the rate is highest among the South Asian countries.

Slashing down corporate tax rate, which generates around 65% of the revenue for the country, will create a revenue loss of at least Tk6,000 crore in a financial year According to a KPMG conducted “Corporate and Indirect Tax Rate Survey 2014,” the corporate tax rate in some South Asian countries are 20% in Afghanistan, 27.5% in Bangladesh, 28% in Sri Lanka, 33.99% in India and 34% in Pakistan.

Currently, the tax rate for the corporate companies in Bangladesh now varies between 27.5% and 45%.

Addressing a press briefing earlier, NBR Chairman Md. Ghulam Hussain has said the government will gradually lower the corporate tax rate from the existing 37.5% and bring it to the level of individual tax rate of 25% in the coming five years.

Commenting on the matter, a high official of NBR told the Dhaka Tribune: “Slashing down corporate tax rate, which generates around 65% of the revenue for the country, will create a revenue loss of at least Tk6,000 crore in a financial year.”

Former NBR Chairman Muhammad Abdul Mazid has opined that the government should opt for alternative methods to cover up the revenue losses by expanding the tax net.

“Before lowering the tax rate for corporate companies, NBR has to ensure that the revenue losses to be incurred would be compensated through taking effective measures like plugging of loopholes in the tax system, and expansion of the income tax base,” he said. l

clear power plant project (first phase) involving Tk5,242 crore ($655m). Under the first phase, the government will design the Rooppur Nuclear Power Station and complete other preparatory works before installing the reactors.

After completion of the first phase of the project by June, 2017, the BAEC will undertake the work on second phase where two nuclear reactors each of 1000-megawattcapacity will be set up.

The state-run BAEC is executing the first phase of the nuclear power plant project, where the Russian government will provide Tk4,000crore as loan and the rest Tk1,242 crore will be borne by Bangladesh government.

The third contract between Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission and Russian firm Atomstroyexport will be signed after May 20 because a delegation from the Russian firm will come to Bangladesh in the third week of May, state minister for science and technology Yeafesh Osman told Dhaka Tribune As asked, the state minister, however, ruled out any such possibilities as saying “Still we are yet to reach such a stage to increase the project cost of Rooppur nuclear power plant project.” l

n Tribune Report Bangladesh Bank has formed a Tk200 crore revolving refinance scheme to provide loans on easy terms to landless and marginal farmers.

Besides, small traders and low income professionals affected by the natural disasters will also get the facility, said a Bangladesh Bank circular yesterday.

The borrowers will have to open a bank account with Tk10 initial deposit.

Under the scheme, a borrower can take up to Tk50,000 loan at 12% interest rate from banks who will borrow the money at 5% from Bangladesh Bank.

Microfinance institutions (MFIs) can also provide loans to their clients taking money from banks under the scheme. MFIs will charge 19% interest from the clients.

A farmer who has a total land of 2.47 acres or less will be able to take loans from the revolving scheme.

The distributor banks will take the responsibly of loans recovery, the circular added. l

Insurance Development and Regulatory Authority (IDRA) has fined two insurance companies for their involvement in irregularities.

The two insurance companies are Asia Pacific General Insurance and Padma Islami Life Insurance.

Asia Pacific Company was fined Tk300,000 due to full credit business while two other officials of Padma Islami Life were fined Tk50,000 for not paying their client’s death claim by IDRA, says an IDRA statement issued yesterday.

An IDRA inspection team visited the Motijheel branch of Asia Pacific on January 14 last year. The team found the evidence of running the insurance business with full credits after examining their money receipts and bank statements.

Two separate hearing were held yesterday on the two accused insurance companies at the IDRA headquarters in the capital.

After the hearing, Asia Pacific General Insurance was fined Tk2 lakh while its Motijheel branch Manager A S Mahbub was asked to pay individually Tk1 lakh as fine for his negligence in his duties.

Following another hearing on an application of a death claim against Padma Islami Life Insurance, the insurance regulatory authority asked the company to pay the death claim of Tk3 lakh to the client.

Apart from that, IDRA fined Tk25,000 to the general manager S.M Rokon Uddin and Tk25,000 to the senior manager Gopal Chandra Karmokar of the Padma Life insurance for their negligence in paying the death claim. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

341% to Tk47 on its offer value of Tk10 a share and shares worth almost Tk30 crore changing hands, making it top turnover leader.

Another newcomer Wata Chemicals – previously traded in the OTC market – also made debut at the DSE main market. Its share prices opened at Tk49.5 and hit upper limit circuit breaker as there were no sellers and not a single share was traded.

Almost all the sectors dived with tannery stocks lost the most by over 2.5%, ceramic 2.2%, non-banking financial institutions 1.8%, telecommunications 1.2%, pharmaceuticals 1% and, food and allied 0.7%.

Lanka Bangla Securities, in its market analysis, said market extended losses on further profit booking in bank and multinational companies stocks.

It said overall market was under pressure amid negative market breadth while market turnover was down.

After Hwa Well, Grameenphone, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd, Square Pharmaceuticals, Matin Spinning, Golden Son and Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd were other most traded stocks. l

The benchmark index DSEX lost 39 points or 0.9% to close at 4,457.

Shariah Index DSES was down 8 points or 0.8% to 996. The bluechip comprising DS30 fell 15 points or 1% to 1,622.

Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, shed 80 points to 8,569.

Participants in trading remained mostly passive with DSE turnover standing at Tk377 crore, which was 4.2% lower over the previous session’s turnover.

Hwa Well Textile in its first trad-

94,552,661 94,340

Traded Issues

288

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

88

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

197

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,292.26

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.78

CSE key features May 14, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

355.96

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights DSE Broad Index :

3,776.00

Number of Contract

Stocks fall amid dull trading ing day topped both the gainer and n Tribune Report turnover charts. Its shares gained

'Overall market was under pressure amid negative market breadth while market turnover was down'

Company

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

10,249,481

Number of Contract

13,631

4457.49435

(-) 0.88%

▼

Traded Issues

213

996.71912

(-) 0.80%

▼

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

64

DSE - 30 Index :

1622.58893

(-) 0.93%

▼

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

140

CSE All Share Index:

13756.0326

(-) 0.89%

▼

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

8

CSE - 30 Index :

11306.3070

(-) 1.05%

▼

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,192.93

8569.3516

(-) 0.93%

▼

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.58

DSE Shariah Index :

CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS Company

Closing (% change)

Renata Ltd. -A Bay Leasing.-A ACI Limited- A G Next Fashions-A BD Finance-A IDLC Finance -A Islami Ins.BD-A Libra Infusions-A

-19.95 -17.89 -17.39 -15.46 -14.10 -9.83 -9.64 -6.50

Average (% change) -18.95 -14.52 -16.70 -14.58 -12.54 -8.63 -8.88 -6.46

Prime Insur -A LankaBangla Fin. -A

-5.39 -4.72

-3.63 -1.79

CSE LOSERS Company

Closing (% change)

Bay Leasing.-A ACI Limited- A G Next Fashions-A BD Finance-A GreenDeltaInsu -A Janata Insur -A Aziz PipesZ IDLC Finance -A

-17.65 -16.99 -14.95 -13.84 -10.00 -8.94 -7.69 -7.59

Average (% change) -15.92 -15.97 -13.76 -12.22 -10.00 -8.44 -7.99 -7.69

-7.58 -7.22

-6.40 -7.25

Padma Islami Life*-N Prime Islami Life -A

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 431.00 181.92 94.76 327.49 234.59 275.87 1.10 736.60 603.58 0.34 55.78 51.88 15.46 163.26 23.68 58.09 66.66 339.83 25.04 89.03 0.06

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

Latest PE

909.56 29.02 205.13 16.64 13.81 47.35 25.35 375.56

895.50 28.00 204.70 16.40 13.40 46.80 25.30 375.40

949.00 31.50 208.00 18.00 14.40 51.00 25.60 401.00

890.00 27.70 195.00 15.20 13.40 46.80 21.90 367.00

32.153 8.205 33.398 51.576 9.597 32.766 0.665 1.352

36.56 1.05 5.28 1.87 1.22 -0.88 1.68 4.20

24.9 27.6 38.9 8.9 11.3 -ve 15.1 89.4

23.13 47.15

22.80 46.40

23.80 48.50

22.60 44.00

3.493 55.165

0.92 1.24

25.1 38.0

Closing average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

JMI Syringes MDL-A Rahima Food -Z Kohinoor Chem -A 7th ICB M F-A Beximco Syn.-Z Standard Ceramic -A Legacy Footwear -A Dulamia CottonZ Reliance Insur -A Federal Insu.-A

28.00 206.20 16.50 13.70 85.50 21.40 15.60 47.50

29.20 217.00 17.20 14.50 85.50 21.50 15.80 50.00

27.50 200.10 16.10 13.50 85.50 21.30 15.30 46.60

0.642 2.036 6.513 0.772 0.009 0.034 0.031 2.544

1.05 5.28 1.87 1.22 3.00 0.59 0.68 -0.88

27.2 38.7 8.9 11.4 28.5 36.4 22.9 -ve

68.33 99.00

68.30 99.00

70.00 99.00

66.60 99.00

0.137 0.005

1.10 4.95

62.1 20.0

Market extended losses on further profit booking in bank and multinational companies stocks

% change 11.41 4.82 2.51 8.67 6.21 7.31 0.03 19.51 15.98 0.01 1.48 1.37 0.41 4.32 0.63 1.54 1.77 9.00 0.66 2.36 0.00

Million Taka 54.76 14.75 3.46 23.87 21.51 25.28 122.79 37.05 25.94 2.35 28.36 1.30 20.49 1.72 0.46 3.55 32.48 5.01 8.62 0.01

% change 12.62 3.40 0.80 5.50 4.96 5.83 0.00 28.31 8.54 5.98 0.54 6.54 0.30 4.72 0.40 0.11 0.82 7.49 1.16 1.99 0.00

Million Taka 485.76 196.67 98.22 351.37 256.10 301.15 1.10 859.40 640.63 26.28 58.12 80.24 16.76 183.75 25.40 58.55 70.21 372.30 30.05 97.64 0.08

Total

9.88 9.49 8.53 6.43 6.38 4.74 4.53 4.29 4.24 3.78

CSE GAINERS Company Midas Financing-Z JMI Syringes MDL-A Rahima Food -Z City G Insu.-A Standard Ceramic -A Aramit -A Legacy Footwear -A Beximco Syn.-Z Ambee Pharma -A MJL BD Ltd.-A

Closing (% change) 10.00 9.54 8.77 6.07 6.06 4.98 4.51 4.26 3.20 3.04

Average (% change) 8.14 8.23 8.83 6.43 4.94 4.61 4.49 6.23 4.61 0.67 Average (% change) 10.00 7.67 10.99 6.22 6.04 4.95 3.73 2.83 4.14 3.06

Closing average 172.79 51.14 393.00 96.00 9.99 42.00 27.45 7.50 68.96 24.04

Closing average 23.10 173.55 52.10 22.70 41.99 301.25 27.54 9.82 299.14 76.86

Closing 179.00 51.90 393.00 96.00 10.00 42.00 27.70 7.30 68.80 24.70

Closing 23.10 177.90 52.10 22.70 42.00 301.30 27.80 9.80 296.50 78.00

Daily high 179.10 52.10 393.00 96.00 10.30 43.60 27.70 7.70 69.60 25.00

Daily high 23.10 178.60 52.60 22.70 42.00 310.00 27.80 9.90 308.00 78.00

Daily low 161.90 48.00 393.00 96.00 9.60 41.80 26.50 7.30 67.50 22.90

Daily low 23.10 164.50 49.90 22.70 41.90 295.00 26.50 10.00 295.00 68.20

Turnover in million 43.457 9.103 0.786 0.048 5.408 0.378 2.882 0.018 0.931 2.730

Turnover in million 0.012 4.773 0.834 0.011 0.231 0.060 1.666 0.575 1.914 1.113

Latest EPS 2.08 -1.01 9.37 12.01 -0.40 1.32 0.62 -4.13 5.84 1.36

Latest EPS -6.91 2.08 -1.01 1.84 1.32 12.56 0.62 -0.40 5.01 4.72

Latest PE 83.1 -ve 41.9 8.0 -ve 31.8 44.3 -ve 11.8 17.7

Latest PE -ve 83.4 -ve 12.3 31.8 24.0 44.4 -ve 59.7 16.3

News from trade server ICBIBANK: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. (184.09) million with EPS of Tk. (0.28) as against Tk. (3.84) million and Tk. (0.006) respectively.

Accumulated profit/(loss) of the Company was Tk. (16,806.56) million as on 31.03.2014 resulting total shareholders' equity stands at Tk. (9,526.77) million.

IDLC: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. (44.94) million with consolidated EPS of Tk. (0.22) as against Tk. 102.67 million and Tk. 0.51 respectively.

EBL: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 719.68 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.18 as against Tk. 149.32 million and Tk. 0.24 respectively.

ALARABANK: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 488.32 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.52 as against Tk. (251.21) million and Tk. (0.27) respectively.

DHAKABANK: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 282.05 million with consolidated basic EPS of Tk. 0.52 (restated 0.50) as against Tk. 198.23 million and Tk. 0.37 (0.35) respectively.

BANKASIA: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 334.81 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.44 as against Tk. 109.72 million and Tk. 0.14 respectively.

PLFSL: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 70.97 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.30 (0.27 restated) as against Tk. 60.63 million and Tk. 0.26 (0.23)

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Hwa Well Textiles-N Grameenphone-A BD Submarine Cable-A Square Pharma -A Matin Spinning-N Golden Son -A LafargeS Cement-Z

CSE

Closing (% change)

respectively.

BRACBANK: (Q1): NPAT= of Tk. 446.58 million with consolidated basic EPS of Tk. 1.01 (restated 0.92) as against Tk. 530.34 million and Tk. 1.20 (1.09) respectively.

SQUARETEXT: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 243.29 million with consolidated basic EPS of Tk. 1.81 (restated 1.65) as against Tk. 216.51 million and Tk. 1.61 (1.46) respectively.

BXPHARMA: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 329.78 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.94 (restated 0.90) as against Tk. 282.93 million and Tk. 0.81 (0.77) respectively.

ACTIVEFINE: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 76.91 million with basic EPS of Tk. 1.11 (restated 0.93) as against Tk. 90.54 million and Tk. 1.31 (1.09) respectively.

RAKCERAMIC: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 176.47 million with consolidated basic EPS of Tk. 0.58 (restated 0.52) as against Tk. 174.85 million and Tk. 0.57 (0.52) respectively.

BGIC: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 43.51 million with EPS of Tk. 0.81 as against Tk. 39.89 million and Tk. 0.74 respectively.

KARNAPHULI: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 13.63 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.37 (restated 0.35) as against Tk. 9.67 million and Tk. 0.26

(0.25) respectively.

CITYGENINS: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 23.50 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.50 (restated 0.46) as against Tk. 21.52 million and Tk. 0.46 (0.42) respectively.

EASTLAND: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 57.21 million with basic EPS of Tk. 1.16 (1.06) as against Tk. 40.35 million and Tk. 0.82 (0.75) respectively.

PRIMEINSUR: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 8.77 million with EPS of Tk. 0.23 as against Tk. 14.07 million and Tk. 0.36 (restated) respectively.

HWAWELLTEX: (H/Y): NPAT= was Tk. 88.34 million and basic EPS was Tk. 2.47 (IPO Restated 1.58) as against profit after tax of Tk. 75.24 million and basic EPS of Tk. 2.15 for the same period of the previous year.

Restated NAV would be Tk. 23.31 as on 31 December 2013.

TRUSTBANK: Credit Rating Agency of Bangladesh Limited (CRAB) has announced the surveillance rating of the Company as "AA3" in the long term and "ST-2" in the short term based on audited financial statements of the Company up to 31 December 2013 and other relevant quantitative as well as qualitative information up to the date of rating declaration.

Latest PE

28.51 204.58 16.73 13.94 85.50 21.48 15.55 47.51

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Daily high

Thursday, May 15, 2014

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features May 14, 2014

Debutant Hwa Well gains 341%, Wata sees no seller Stocks fall amid dull trading yesterday, after ending flat in the previous session.

The market opened higher for a brief period and continued to decline till close of the trade as investors released their shares to buy new stocks.

Stock

% change 11.54 4.67 2.33 8.35 6.08 7.15 0.03 20.41 15.22 0.62 1.38 1.91 0.40 4.36 0.60 1.39 1.67 8.84 0.71 2.32 0.00

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

Meghna Petroleum -A Emerald Oil Ind. -N City Bank - A

Active Fine Chem.-A Salvo Chemicals-B LankaBangla Fin. -A Olympic Ind. -A Eastern Housing -A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Hwa Well Textiles-N

City Bank - A BD Submarine Cable-A HeidelbergCement -A Matin Spinning-N Grameenphone-A Golden Son -A Appollo Ispat CL -N Salvo Chemicals-B G Next Fashions-A LankaBangla Fin. -A Square Pharma -A LafargeS Cement-Z JMI Syringes MDL-A UNITED AIR-A

Volume shares 6,993,000 741,156 715,453 493,026 2,530,000 2,125,094 1,652,500 311,505 1,419,500 3,966,067

1,021,787 2,530,889 1,169,888 225,984 816,905

Volume shares

1,720,500 2,060,755 109,110 24,850 265,000 41,200 146,500 288,200 285,711 389,400 115,000 19,600 77,500 27,500 389,088

Value in million 299.00 199.26 140.56 135.31 122.06 121.65 112.60 87.75 73.57 68.10

67.31 61.96 55.17 53.41 51.68

Value in million

73.25 35.34 21.43 13.38 12.72 11.04 8.38 8.04 7.03 6.51 5.42 5.37 5.27 4.77 4.57

% of total turnover 7.92 5.28 3.72 3.58 3.23 3.22 2.98 2.32 1.95 1.80

1.78 1.64 1.46 1.41 1.37

% of total turnover

21.36 10.30 6.25 3.90 3.71 3.22 2.44 2.34 2.05 1.90 1.58 1.57 1.54 1.39 1.33

Daily closing 44.10 267.00 194.40 272.80 48.00 57.40 67.80 280.70 51.70 16.90

65.20 23.80 46.40 235.60 63.70

Daily closing

44.20 17.00 194.20 516.70 47.90 267.00 57.30 27.70 24.00 16.50 46.70 272.60 67.90 177.90 11.70

Price change 0.00 -1.29 0.00 -1.45 -0.21 1.77 -1.02 -1.58 0.98 -3.43

Daily opening 0.00 270.50 194.40 276.80 48.10 56.40 68.50 285.20 51.20 17.50

Price change

Daily opening

-3.41 1.28 -4.72 -1.05 1.92

0.00 -2.30 0.10 -2.75 0.00 -1.44 1.42 -2.46 0.84 -14.95 -4.30 -1.41 -0.29 9.54 -1.68

67.50 23.50 48.70 238.10 62.50

0.00 17.40 194.00 531.30 47.90 270.90 56.50 28.40 23.80 19.40 48.80 276.50 68.10 162.40 11.90

Daily high 45.80 271.00 201.90 277.80 49.70 57.80 68.70 286.80 52.80 17.50

67.50 25.40 48.50 238.90 64.00

Daily low 35.00 260.00 180.00 253.00 47.20 54.00 67.60 261.00 50.50 15.80

61.00 21.20 44.00 225.00 56.50

Daily average 42.76 268.85 196.47 274.45 48.24 57.24 68.14 281.71 51.83 17.17

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

45.60 17.30 200.00 544.70 49.90 270.00 57.70 28.50 25.30 17.20 49.30 276.50 68.40 178.60 12.00

36.10 15.70 192.00 516.10 47.00 266.30 56.60 27.50 23.80 16.10 46.50 272.10 67.80 164.50 11.60

65.87 24.48 47.15 236.34 63.27

42.57 17.15 196.43 538.39 47.99 268.03 57.22 27.88 24.60 16.73 47.09 274.19 68.03 173.55 11.75

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

China growth target vulnerable as economy’s momentum fades n Reuters, Beijing China might miss its economic growth target for the first time in 15 years as data points to a sharper-than-expected loss of momentum and top leaders are talking about a “new normal” of slower growth.

The government has already given itself some room on its growth target, refining it to about 7.5% and saying a couple of percentage points either side of that was acceptable.

But after annual economic growth slowed to an 18-month low of 7.4% in the first quarter, data for April has raised the possibility it could slow further.

“We maintain our view that GDP growth is on a downtrend and continue to expect it to slow to 7.1% in the second quarter,” Zhang Zhiwei, an economist at Nomura, said in a report.

Financial markets hardly seem concerned. The expectation is that despite the rhetoric of accepting slower growth, authorities will step in to safeguard the target with some sort of stimulus measures, as they did in 2013.

A cut in the official target, which would require parliamentary approval, would be unprecedented.

“To stop growth from sliding out of a “reasonable range”, Beijing needs to ease policy a little more in the coming months, if not weeks,” HSBC economists said in a report, forecasting more supportive monetary and fiscal policy.

“Policymakers have ample ammunition on both fronts though, and we think they are likely to deploy these in a more active manner in the coming months if not weeks to prevent a further deterioration in the real economy.”

New normal

If the economy just meets its target for 2014, it will still be the slowest growth

Sony vows deeper restructuring, warns of another loss this year n Reuters, Tokyo Sony Corp said it would step up a broad restructuring this year to tackle bloated costs and exit some unprofitable businesses, hoping to put behind it years of persistent losses.

The Japanese consumer electronics giant, which warned on Wednesday of a second consecutive net loss for this financial year, is struggling to recover after being undercut by nimbler Asian rivals in its key markets. Domestic peer Panasonic Corp, by contrast, has turned around its business by embracing industrial products and pursuing more corporate clients rather than consumers.

Sony said it would spend 135bn yen ($1.32bn) on restructuring in the year to March 31, adding to the 177.4bn yen it spent in the previous year, as it sells off its loss-making Vaio PC and disc storage businesses. l

B3

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Euro recovers in Asia after weak German investment survey n AFP, Tokyo

Labourers work on lifts at a construction site of a new railway station in Hefei, Anhui province since 1990. If it comes in below that, it will be the first time the target has not been met since 1999, when the economy grew 7.6% compared with a goal of 8%.

China’s leaders have been at the forefront of lowering expectations, talking of the need to accept slower but more sustainable growth as they try to remake the economy to be driven more by consumption rather than the traditional engines of exports and investment.

“We must adapt ourselves to a new normal of economic growth,” President Xi Jinping said at the weekend.

To that end, authorities have ruled out major stimulus to accelerate

growth. However, they are expected to put a floor under activity and head off any surge in unemployment that could be seen as a threat to social stability.

Premier Li Keqiang has said the economy has to grow by around 7.2% each year to create enough jobs.

Another potential concern is the uneven growth patterns in the country as the reforms are pushed through, with data showing growth slowing markedly in some provinces.

People’s Bank of China (PBOC) Governor Zhou Xiaochuan said at the weekend the central bank would only fine-tune its policy to counter economic cycles and would not be taking any large-scale steps to boost activity.

REUTERS

Small steps

This week, the central bank told banks to improve the efficiency of mortgage lending, as a flagging property market becomes a major risk factor.

Some Chinese cities are relaxing property controls after near five years of national government efforts to restrain house prices.

On the fiscal side, measures have been targeted, such as tax cut for small firms and faster construction of railway lines.

“For the time being, China will continue to walk a fine line between growth slipping further due to negative sentiments or financial risk versus accelerating from stimulus,” IHS China economist Brian Jackson said. l

ECB readies package of rate cuts and targeted measures n Reuters, Frankfurt The European Central Bank is preparing a package of policy options for its June meeting, including cuts in all its interest rates and targeted measures aimed at boosting lending to small- and mid-sized firms (SMEs).

Five people familiar with the measures being prepared detailed plans involving a potential rate cut, including the ECB’s deposit rate going negative for the first time, along with the targeted measures SME measures.

The package offers some stimulus for the euro zone economy but falls short of the large-scale effect the ECB could unleash with a major program of quantitative easing (QE) - money printing to buy assets. Such a QE plan is still some way off.

A June rate cut is “more or less a done deal”, said one of the five sources who spoke to Reuters on condition of anonymity.

A second source echoed that senti-

Jamuna Bank Limited held its 13th annual general meeting on May 08 at a convention hall in Dhaka. The shareholders unanimously approved 15% stock dividend for the year ended December 31, 2013. The bank’s chair Shaheen Mahmud along with other board members were present at the meeting

NRB Commercial Bank Limited’s 14th branch at Panchabati, Narayanganj was inaugurated by the bank’s chair, Mohammed Adnan Imam on Monday

ment, and added: “This will be the first major central bank to move to a negative deposit rate. That would move the exchange rate.”

ECB Executive Board member Peter Praet also told German weekly newspaper Die Zeit the central bank could cut its deposit rate into negative territory as part of a package of policy measures that could also include a targeted longterm refinancing operation (LTRO).

The latter is a method of boosting bank liquidity in the euro zone with an eye to increasing lending.

The first two sources spoke to Reuters of a cut of 10-20 basis points, probably in all three ECB rates. The main refinancing rate is currently at 0.25%.

Both sources expected the move to bring down the currency exchange rate but said the ECB had made no calculation of how much it was likely to fall by, and had no target for the euro.

The ECB declined to comment when asked about the plans.

ECB President Mario Draghi said

last week the Governing Council was “comfortable with acting next time” its June 5 policy meeting - but wanted to see updated economic projections from the bank’s staff first.

“Negative deposit rates are a possible part of a combination of measures,” Praet told Die Zeit. “We are preparing a range of things. We could again lend banks money for a longer time frame, possibly with conditions attached.”

Praet did not see the ECB embarking on U.S.-style QE unless economic conditions deteriorated: “I think it will only come to that if the euro zone economy and inflation develop significantly worse than we expect,” he said.

Danger zone

The ECB’s deposit rate already stands at zero and a cut into negative territory would see it essentially charge banks for holding their money overnight - a move that could spur more lending, though analysts are unsure how banks would react. l

Ishwardi branch of Pubali Bank Limited was recently shifted to new premises that have online facilities with a view to providing best and modern banking services. The bank’s director Ahmed Shafi Choudhury inaugurated the shifted branch as chief guest

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed on Saturday inaugurated the commercial production of electronic products of Jamuna Electronics & Automobiles Ltd at the factory premise in Sinabo, Gazipur. Information Minister Hasanul Haq In and Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque also attended the programme as guests of honour

The euro was slightly firmer in Asia yesterday after taking a hit from a drop in German investor confidence, which raised more questions about the state of the eurozone economy.

The single currency bought $1.3717 in afternoon Tokyo trade, against $1.3701 in New York where it had briefly fallen below the $1.3700 level for the first time since late February.

It also fetched 140.14 yen, against 140.12 yen in New York, while the dollar dipped to 102.15 yen from 102.26 yen.

A survey Tuesday showed investment sentiment in Germany fell to the lowest level for nearly 18 months in May, adding to growing fears that Europe’s top economy is losing momentum.

The widely watched ZEW institute investor confidence index fell for the fifth straight month, losing 10.1 points to 33.1, and will add to fresh speculation that the European Central Bank is ready to ease monetary policy soon.

“Pressure on the euro... continues as the single currency lost more ground after reports that the Bundesbank is willing to support a range of easing measures in June depending on the updated staff forecasts that the ECB members will have in their June meeting,” Credit Agricole said.

The dollar was under pressure after US data showed retail and food servic-

es sales rose a mere 0.1 percent in April, softer than the 0.3% gain expected by analysts. However, the March increase was upwardly revised to 1.5% from the prior estimate of 1.2%.

The dollar was also mostly lower against Asia-Pacific currencies other than the yen on Wednesday afternoon.

The greenback fell to Sg$1.2494 from Sg$1.2522, to 43.62 Philippine pe-

'Investment sentiment in Germany fell to the lowest level for nearly 18 months in May, adding to growing fears that Europe’s top economy is losing momentum' sos from 43.79 pesos, to 11,470 Indonesian rupiah from 11,530 rupiah and to 32.49 Thai baht from 32.61 baht.

The greenback was at Tw$30.17 against Tw$30.18 while rising to 1,026.46 South Korean won from 1,022.93 won.

The Australian dollar rose to 93.96 US cents from 93.55 cents while the Chinese yuan fetched 16.37 yen against 16.36 yen. l

Oil prices up on hints of US crude exports n AFP, Singapore Oil prices extended gains in Asian trade yesterday following comments by a top US energy official that the world’s biggest crude consumer is considering lifting a longstanding ban on exports.

New York’s main contract, West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for June delivery, was up 38 cents to $102.08 in afternoon trade while Brent North Sea crude for June gained 21 cents to $109.45 per barrel.

Prices were well-supported following “news that the US government is re-examining its crude-oil exports ban in light of growing domestic oil production,” Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said in a note.

Secretary of Energy Ernest Moniz said Tuesday the US is reviewing its ban on crude exports, but did not specify what options are being weighed.

“A driver for this consideration is that the nature of the oil we’re producing may not be well matched to our current refinery capacity,” he told reporters in South Korea.

WTI rose $1.11 in New York trade after his comments, while Brent gained 83 cents in London.

Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, said the

news was cheered by US producers clamouring for the export ban to be lifted as local stockpiles remain at record levels.

But less-than-satisfactory transportation links could still hinder the outflow of supplies from storage hubs after the ban is lifted, he said.

“Within the US they still have concerns regarding the expansion of the Keystone XL pipeline,” he said, referring to the controversial US-toCanada pipeline.

“Transportation is the main hindrance due to the development of pipelines in different regions and jurisdiction,” he told AFP. The Keystone project has pitted environmental groups against the oil industry, which has argued that it will bring much-needed jobs to the United States and help fulfill the US goal of energy self-sufficiency.

Dealers, meanwhile, are awaiting key US stockpiles data for clues about demand ahead of the busy summer driving season.

The Department of Energy’s weekly report on crude supplies to be released later Wednesday is expected to show stockpile levels unchanged at 397.6 million barrels for the week to May 9, according to analysts polled by the Wall Street Journal. l

Golam Hafiz Ahmed, managing director of NCC Bank is seen handing over a cheque worth Tk 40 lakh to Raquibuddin Ahmed, president of Dhaka University Alumni Association for constructing a gate named ‘Freedom and Democracy’ at the Nilkhet entrance of the university

Md Touhidul Alam Khan has recently joined Modhumoti Bank Limited as deputy managing director. Prior to the joining, he was senior executive vice president and head of corporate banking in Bank Asia Limited.

Khan is a multifaceted management professional with 21 years of diversified experience in corporate and investment banking.

Touhidul Alam Khan started his banking career as senior officer with Agrani Bank Limited in September 1993

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Thursday, May 15, 2014

Evaporating inflation may have taken pricy debt too far n Reuters, London The prospect of years of so-called ‘lowflation’ has become so ingrained in western financial markets this year that even a hint of creeping prices could deliver quite a shock.

One of the investment surprises of 2014 so far has been the rebound in government bonds as equities and emerging markets wobbled and Ukraine-related geopolitics conjured up a safety bid in core debt holdings such as US Treasuries and German bunds.

The move wrong footed many. Historically expensive government bonds, with record low yields, had been labelled ‘toxic’ by some strategists as they eyed recovering economies, waning systemic threats and a renewed appetite for equity.

But the big driving force this year has been subdued or even evaporating headline inflation that has sustained or even enhanced inflation-adjusted returns on fixed income securities, even as the recovery of underlying economies continued apace.

As euro zone inflation sank below 1%, European government bonds across the core and periphery of the bloc pushed higher and were then supercharged by signals from the European Central Bank it might cut interest

rates or even embark on some form of asset purchase scheme as soon as next month.

Take Ireland as an example.

Economists at Brown Brothers Harriman point out that annual inflation fell to just 0.4% last month from a peak of 2.6% in August 2012. That’s a decline some 80 basis points bigger than the 140 bp drop in Ireland’s 10-year bond yield over the same period - leaving real yields higher than two years ago.

“As fast as bond yields have been falling, so too has inflation, meaning that real yields have maintained their value,” said Tanguy Le Saout, Head of European Fixed Income, Pioneer Investments.

Despite more brisk underlying recoveries, U.S. and British inflation rates too have fallen below or remained well under the stated or notional 2% central bank targets.

For many, this inflation story is no fluke and frames the world economic and investment outlook for years to come.

The latest 3-5 year outlook sketched by the world’s biggest bond manager Pimco tweaked the firm’s long-standing ‘New Normal’ view of slow growth and low returns into a ‘New Neutral’ period of “exceedingly low” official interest rates over time.

expect; an end to bull markets as we’ve known them, but no perceptible growling from bears.”

Creeping prices?

A woman counts her US dollar bills at a money changer in Jakarta The gist, and one that echoes former US Treasury chief Larry Summers’ idea of ‘secular stagnation’, is that official interest rates will not return to pre-crisis norms in a way that financial markets still assume they will over the coming years.

Zero percent neutral real policy rates

REUTERS

for many developed and even some emerging countries will be the investment outcome.

“If the future resembles those neutral policy rates, then the investment implications are striking,” Pimco’s Bill Gross told clients. “Low returns yet less downside risk than investors currently

The view catches the zeitgeist of 2014 so far, even if you might expect a bondfriendly view from a bond fund manager that had investors pull $82bn from its funds since last June.

But after a torrid 2013, all bond categories have rallied.

Year-to-date returns on everything from 10-year US Treasuries to German bunds, global high-grade and junk corporate debt or even hard currency emerging market bonds are between 4 and 7 percent. Italian government bonds are up 10%.

And all outperformed the 3.4% gain on the S&P500 of leading Wall St stocks.

So is inflation really as dead as that appears to suggest?

There’s certainly been no sign of the galloping price rises that some feared would be stoked by successive bouts of money printing. Still substantial slack in labour markets and spare capacity in economies at large suggests little pressure by way of wage inflation.

But with bonds priced for such extraordinarily low inflation for years to come, the risk is then just a return to normal.

And with US consumer price inflation expected to have topped 2% last month for the first time in 18 months, there’s more than a murmur to worry buoyant bonds.

State Street’s proprietary PriceStats survey of US online prices also shows inflation at a brisk monthly clip of 0.35% in May. “The weakness of Q1 GDP will cast doubt over the strength of the recovery, but online retailers do not seem to have such doubts,” it said.

“Their pricing remains consistent with solid demand conditions.”

A debate about the speed of wage rises is also heating up.

Barclays economist Dean Maki said growth in US average hourly earnings for production and non-supervisory workers rose 2.3% in the year to April, up from a trough of 1.3% in October and at a level in prior cycles that equated to a jobless rate of 5.4% - not the current 6.3%.

And in Europe too, the inflation swoon could well have run its course.

Pioneer’s Le Saout said inflation forecasts for the remainder of 2014 show slow rises towards 1% and above and core inflation is already at that level.

“Inflation is low but has probably rock-bottomed,” said Marion Le Morhedec, senior portfolio manager at AXA Investment Managers. l

Google self-driving car coming around the corner n AFP, Mountain View A white Lexus cruised along a road near the Google campus, braking for pedestrians and scooting over in its lane to give bicyclists ample space.

The car eased into a turn lane, waited for a green light and a break in traffic, then continued on its way in the Silicon Valley city of Mountain View.

It even avoided stopping on train tracks.

But there was nobody holding the wheel. What looked like the work of a conscientious driver was a Google car making all the moves - with an AFP reporter in the back seat.

'They don’t need to stop messing with the radio to see what is happening, or even take time to move a foot from the gas pedal to the brake' Google used machine learning to teach cars how people drive and, from there, to anticipate what motorists in surrounding traffic are likely to do.

Computer-fast reflexes

“Computers have really good reaction times. They don’t get distracted, drowsy, fall asleep, and they don’t drive drunk,” Google self-driving car software team lead Dmitri Dolgov told reporters getting an intimate look at prototypes at the Computer History Museum.

“They don’t need to stop messing with the radio to see what is happening, or even take time to move a foot from the gas pedal to the brake.”

The bustling street crowd paid little heed to the self-driving car, which sported a whirling gadget on top about the size and shape of a large coffee can.

The roof-top device used radar and lasers to track everything around it.

A camera peeking out from the Lexus front grill watched what was ahead.

Data is processed by onboard computers programmed to simulate what a careful driver would do, but at superhuman speeds. And, naturally, the Google autonomous car was connected to the Internet.

A “Googler” from the technology titan’s test driving team had a laptop computer that showed what the car “saw” - everything from cyclists and traffic signals to orange cones and painted lines in the street.

Another Googler was in the driver’s seat, ready to take over in the unlikely chance a human was needed to make a driving decision.

A red button could be hit to grab control from the computer. A tap of the brake would do the same.

Real driving a drag

Development of the self-driving car began five years ago, part of a special project headed by Google co-founder Sergey Brin.

“If you are in a car commercial, that is driving we enjoy,” said project director Chris Urmson.

“If you are commuting to work, that is not fun.”

While most people have cars that boast seating for four or more people and that can achieve racing speeds, statistics show that much road time is clocked by solo drivers going closer to 30 miles (48 kilometers) per hour.

Google cars navigate using detailed digital maps showing what streets are supposed to look like, then concentrate processing power on assessing realworld variables such as traffic.

The cars can’t drive places where

Google hasn’t mapped roadways down to implied speed limits, elevations of traffic signals, and curb heights, according to mapping team lead Andrew Chatham.

“It tells the car what the world looks like empty, then the job of the software is to figure out what is going on,” Chatham said.

Have no fear

Prototype Google cars have driven more than 100,000 miles on public roads, always with someone ready to take the wheel.

There have been two accidents while cars were on auto-pilot. Both times, vehicles were rear-ended while stopped at traffic signals, according to Urmson.

“We are at the point where we are really convinced we have cracked this and can make it work,” Urmson said of self-driving cars being trusted on roads.

Urmson sidestepped predicting when Google self-driving cars might hit the market, but said he is determined to make it happen by the time his sixyear-old son reaches driving age.

Brin has publicly stated the even more ambitious goal of having the cars ready less than four years from now.

A panel of urban development and transportation specialists that took part in the event billed the self-driving car as a quantum leap in safety that could prevent many of the approximately 33,000 roadway deaths in the US each year.

Instead of owning cars, people could summon them when needed and be chauffeured places while they text, chat on phones, put on make-up or do other distracting tasks some motorists attempt while driving.

“This is not a science project, this is reality,” said former General Motors vice president Larry Burns.

“It is something you need to embrace; there is nothing to fear.” l

Japan's mobile communication giant NTT Docomo president Kaoru Kato announces the company will launch Japan's first service of voice-over LTE (VoLTE), for high quality voice and video calls using LTE high speed data communication network, at a press conference in Tokyo. Docomo unveiled five models of the VoLTE enabled new smartphones AFP

Toshiba, SanDisk to mass produce high-power ‘3D’ memory n AFP, Tokyo Japan’s Toshiba is teaming up with US chip giant SanDisk to produce a “3D” memory chip they hope will allow users to save up to 50 hours of ultra-high definition video.

In a deal worth a reported 500bn yen ($4.84bn) the companies will build a factory to make flash memory consisting of several layers of semiconductors stacked together to give as much as a terabyte - 1,000 gigabytes - of storage.

That is around 16 times bigger than the largest 64-gigabyte Toshiba memory currently available in smart phones and tablet devices. Toshiba will demolish its existing plant in Japan to build a new facility that will house production apparatus using technologies from both

firms and which the firms hope will start operating in 2016, a statement said.

“In about five years (from the planned start of the factory), we would like to produce one-terabyte products,” said a Toshiba spokeswoman.

The plan comes at a time of increasing competition among the world’s technology firms to meet demand for ever-higher capacity memory chips for consumers increasingly using mobile devices such as smart phones, tablet computers and wearable gadgets.

The spread of high-definition video, with so-called 4K screens at the leading edge, is boosting demand for computing memory to store content.

“Small, high-capacity memories can of course be applied to smartphones, but they could also be used for wearable de-

vices,” the Toshiba spokeswoman said.

Manufacturers have traditionally competed with regular chips by trying to make the physical object smaller.

Toshiba, along with major rivals such as Samsung, believe they are reaching the physical limit, and are shifting toward 3D memories, where layering - effectively a third dimension - is used to boost the capacity of objects the same size.

Yasuo Naruke, Toshiba senior vice president, said in a statement: “Our determination to develop advanced technologies underlines our commitment to respond to continued demand (for) flash memory.”

SanDisk president and chief executive Sanjay Mehrotra said the plant “will advance our leadership in memory technology into the 3D... era”. l

Microsoft to offer Kinect-less Xbox at lower price n AFP, New York Microsoft said yesterday it would sell a reduced-price version of its Xbox One console without the Kinect motion detection system.

The move comes with Microsoft locked in a tough battle with Sony, which has been leading the game console market with its next-generation PlayStation 4. The Xbox One without Kinect will be sold starting June 9 for $399, the same price as the PS4, according to a blog post by Phil Spencer, head

DILBERT

A Google self-driving vehicle drives around the parking lot at the Computer History Museum after a presentation in Mountain View, California REUTERS

of the Xbox division.

“Your feedback matters to us and it shapes the products and services we build,” Spender said, adding that the console will still “deliver access to the best blockbuster games” and a range of other content.

Microsoft said in April it had sold five million of the Xbox One consoles since last year’s launch, well below the seven million PS4s sold by Sony.

One of the reasons cited by analysts was the $100 price difference between the two devices. The Xbox One with

the Kinect voice control and motion detection will remain at $499.

“We’ve heard that you want more choices from Xbox One,” Spender said.

“You want a wide variety of options in your games and entertainment experiences and you also want options in your hardware selection.”

Spender said the company will offer the Kinect sensor as an add-on for buyers who decide they want that option later.

The Xbox One is being sold in 39 countries and is set to launch in China later this year. l