22 May 2014

Joishthya 8, 1421 Rajab 22, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 52

THURSDAY, MAY 22, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

B1 | RULES TO CUT IPO EXPENSES TO 30%

7 | DHAKA’S OBLIGATION TO REFUGEES

20 pages | Price: Tk10

8 | BLASTS KILL AT LEAST 118 IN NIGERIA

14 | BRAZIL’S LUIZ’S SLEEPLESS NIGHTS

Was it intra- or inter-party feud?

Padma bridge cost increases

by Tk3,000cr n Asif Showkat Kallol

Minar and 34 other unidentified people of the murder, said OC Morshed.

The OC said Minar, a BNP-backed chairman candidate who lost to Ekramul in the recent upazila poll, was made the prime accused.

Soon after the case was filed, police started massive raids in different parts of the district and detained 23 people for their alleged involvement in the killing.

When asked about the identities of the detainees, Morshed refused to divulge their names for the sake of

A Chinese firm is set to get the contract for constructing the Padma bridge with the project cost having increased by Tk3,000 crore following three years’ delay and complexity in the tender process.

Bridges Division Secretary Khandokar Anwarul Islam yesterday sent the proposal to the Cabinet Division for appointing the China Major Bridge Engineering Co Ltd as the construction consultant.

The proposal will be placed today at a meeting of the cabinet committee on public purchase presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, an official of the Cabinet Division said.

The proposal says the Communication Ministry did not entertain the request placed by the joint venture of two South Korean firms – the Samsung C&T Corporation and the DAELIM-Larsen and Toubro Limited – for extending the time of its financial offer by 10 and 12 weeks.

On May 11, 2010, the government floated the first tender for appointing the constructor of the Padma bridge in 2011. At that time, the project cost was Tk9,127.17 crore.

However, the tender process was suspended in August 2011 following allegations of corruption conspiracy raised by the World Bank.

The final tender was floated on June 26 last year and the China Major Bridge submitted its main financial offer on April 24 this year.

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A Feni weekly predicted a similar political murder a day before n Mohammad Jamil Khan, from Feni Law enforcers might be in the dark about the killers of Fulgazi upazila chairman Ekramul Haque, but it appears that a local weekly newspaper, owned by an expelled ruling party leader, predicted it only a day before the gruesome murder.

According to a report published in Shaptahik Hazarika, its owner former Awami League MP Joynal Hazari, Ekram along with Prime Minister’s Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury and some other local leaders might be abducted or killed anytime.

Slain Ekram could not ignore the report and soon after reading it installed two CCTV cameras at his Mastarbari residence in Feni town.

He also told his brother Rezaul Haque Jasim about his fears.

In conversation with the Dhaka Tribune, Jasim said: “On Tuesday night, Ekram was saying that he might be killed somewhere near his residence.

Out of fear, he installed two CCTV cameras at home. Ironically, his statement

ACC to bring 3 sacked RAB officers, Nur under scanner

n Tribune Report The Anti-Corruption Commission will look into the wealth of the three dismissed Rapid Action Battalion officers and Narayanganj City Ward 4 Councillor Nur Hossain, the prime accused in Narayanganj seven-murder case.

“We are collecting all possible information and documents related to the wealth of Nur Hossain. We are also inquiring into the wealth of the three RAB officials which will enable us to track if any financial transaction was made before the seven murders,” ACC Secretary Faizur Rahman Chowdhury said.

He made the disclosure while responding to reporters’ questions at the  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

came true in just a couple of hours – he was killed at a place only five minutes from home.”

When asked about who could be the possible killer, he said: “It may be a result of intra-party conflict. But he also had an open conflict with BNP leader Mahtab Uddin Minar. He lost to Ekram in the upazila election.”

After the murder, Jashim early yesterday filed a case with Feni model police station accusing Minar and 34 other unnamed people.

“Minar’s name was included because he earlier tried to kill Ekram twice during the upazila elections,” Jasim said. The real story might come out if the law enforcers talked to the witnesses and the local businessmen.

Police have so far arrested around 23 people in connection with the murder case. Minar is not one of them.

Feni Superintendent of Police Paritosh Ghosh said: “Media can publish whatever they want. But we will conduct investigation as per the complaints filed by the victim’s family.”  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Protesting the death of their leader, supporters of slain Fulgazi upazila chairman Ekramul Haque cut off road communication with Parshuram upazila by prying off the planks of a bailey bridge near Feni’s Bandua area yesterday BANGLAR CHOKH

23 detained in Ekramul murder case Jamil Khan, from n Mohammad Feni and Tarek Mahmud, from Chittagong In a special drive yesterday, police detained around 23 people for their involvement with the murder of Ekramul Haque, chairman of the Fulgazi upazila in Feni.

“Law enforcers also seized a private car and two motorbikes suspecting that those were used during the arson attack that left the chairman dead,” Mahbub Morshed, officer-in-charge of the Feni Model Police Station, said.

BTRC lying to government about tariff cut proposal n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The telecom regulator has reportedly provided false information to the government about the volume of legal international incoming calls, in an attempt to show that a proposed reduction of termination rate would not affect government income from the sector.

Termination rate is when one telecom operator charges another for terminating calls on its network.

Although a previous BTRC estimation, prepared seven months ago when the reduction was first proposed, had showed that the cuts would cost around Tk1,073 crore worth of losses, a fresh proposal by the watchdog claimed that the government will earn

an additional Tk162 crore if the change is implemented.

The Dhaka Tribune has obtained both the recommendations by the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Seeking anonymity, several BTRC senior executives admitted to the Dhaka Tribune that they fabricated only one number which changed the whole scenario; however, the telecom watchdog refused to give any official comment on the issue.

This correspondent waited two hours at the BTRC chairman’s office on Tuesday for his comments and also tried yesterday, but there was no response.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE B4 | Business

Daunting political and fiscal traps lie in wait that could ensnare new centre-right leader Modi as he embarks on the gargantuan task of fulfilling India’s undoubted economic potential.

9 | World

3 | News

Leader of the Opposition Rawshan Ershad yesterday lost her temper in the face of a volley of questions from the media.

5 The government is likely to revive the financial system of the UZs by amending the local government act to empower them financially to enhance their domination on the public servants.

Narendra Modi has invited Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as well as other South Asian leaders to his swearing-in ceremony.

11 | Op-Ed

Ask anyone in their 30s or 40s. They all are concerned about their children’s health and education. In their 50s and 60s, they are concerned about their own health.

12 | Entertainment

6 | Nation

Around 3,666 hectares of agricultural land and 485 hectares of land taken up by settlements along the banks of the Jamuna, Ganges, Padma and lower Meghna Rivers will disappear due to erosion, this year.

Noted artists in the country expressed their reverence towards the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore through their fascinating artwork.

Earlier on Tuesday, Ekramul, also president of the Fulgazi upazila Awami League, was shot and then burnt alive

Demonstrators called a daylong hartal for today in Fulgazi upazila in his car by some unidentified assailants in broad daylight.

The victim’s elder brother Rezaul Haque Jasim filed a case with the Feni Model Police Station at 1am yesterday, accusing BNP leader Mahatab Uddin

2

Ekram was killed due to AL internal feud, claims BNP n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The Bangladesh Nationalist Party has alleged that the Fulgazi upazila Chairman Ekramul Haque was killed due to an internal feud within the ruling Awami League.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the claim at a press briefing at the party’s Naya Paltan headquarters in the capital, yesterday.

'The country has turned into a death valley.

The killing in Fulgazi took place under the nose of the local administration, which shows the poor state of law and order' Mirza Fakhrul also alleged that the Prime Minister’s Office tried to blame the killing on the erstwhile opposition party by issuing a statement before conducting any investigation.

“The prime minister has been trying to put the blame of Ekramul’s killing [on BNP] to conceal the intra-party feud. After the incident, without any investigation, the PMO tried to accuse a specific person and attempted to use the killing to serve

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

their political purpose,” the BNP spokesperson said.

Referring to various newspaper reports, Fakhrul said: “It has become clear that the killing occurred because of an intra-party feud of the ruling party.”

Ekramul Hoque Ekram, 47, a twice elected chairman of the Fulgazi upazila, was shot and burnt to death by unidentified attackers in Feni town on Tuesday.

Ekram was also president of the AL’s Fulgazi upazila unit and a member of former AL lawmaker Joynal Hazari’s steering committee. There was a longstanding dispute between Ekram and Nizamuddin Hazari, Feni district AL general secretary, over local politics.

Expressing concerns over the prevailing law and order in the country, Fakhrul said the whole nation has become worried after the Narayanganj and Fulgazi killings.

“The country has turned into a death valley. The killing in Fulgazi took place under the nose of the local administration, which shows the poor state of law and order,” Fakhrul said.

“You [government] tried heart and soul to conceal the involvement of AL men in the Narayanganj killings, but you failed. Your efforts to hide the Fulgazi killing incident will also be in vain,” he added.

The BNP leader also demanded the immediate arrest of Ekramul’s killers. l

Hanif suggests BNP’s involvement in Ekramul killing n Tribune Report Awami League Joint General Secretary Mahbubul Alam Hanif yesterday hinted possible complicity of BNP in the killing of Fulgazi Upazila Chairman Ekramul Haque.

“The killers of 1971 are still active.

Now they are with a party named BNP. They are plotting conspiracies. A few days back, they threatened to carry out secret attack and it took place in Feni.

Ekramul Haque, a popular leader of Feni, was subjected to a secret attack,” he said.

Hanif was talking to reporters while visiting a book fair at Shilpakala Academy in the city.

The Awami League leader claimed that the general people of the country believe the BNP is involved in the incident because it happened after they threatened with secret attacks. He said BNP is blaming Awami League for the Feni murder because it wants to hide its complicity in the incident.

Following Ekramul’s killing, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir alleged it was the result of an intra-party clash of Awami League.

“Masked criminals attacked Ekramul and investigators are yet to reveal their identities. So what made him [Fakhrul] think that the murder stemmed from Awami League’s internal clash? It means the party is certainly involved in it,” Hanif said.

“Now the BNP men are blaming us for the killing to divert people’s attention and to avoid their responsibilities,” he added. l

BTRC lying to government about tariff cut proposal  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

However, more than a dozen senior officials confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune that there was no truth in the claims of potential government profit, adding that they manipulated the numbers as per their boss’ demand.

The false estimations were reportedly prepared to favour the cause of international gateway (IGW) operators.

According to the fresh proposal, the telecom watchdog claimed that the existing daily 3.5 crore minutes of incoming international calls volume will cross 9 crore minutes if the termination rate is halved from the existing 3 US cents ($0.03) per minute.

The Telecom Ministry is now scrutinising the proposal after receiving it from the BTRC last week, and it might be forwarded to the Finance ministry for approval today.

The latest move comes only months after the government also cut the annual licence fee in half for the IGW operators.

Both proposals from the BTRC claimed that the government is now annually earning around Tk1,851.1 crore from this sector, with a daily average of 3.5 crore minutes of incoming calls.

Although the regulator previously claimed that the government would be able to earn only Tk777.99 crore every year if the rate was reduced to 1.5 US cents per minute, it is now claiming that the earning will be Tk2,012.72 crore as the call volume has increased.

The regulator’s claim of an average 3.5 crore minutes of daily calls was also found to be false, as BTRC figures show that the daily call volume has not gone below four crore minutes in any month over the past year.

The Dhaka Tribune also found that the current volume of daily incoming international calls is six crore minutes, while the average for the past year was 5.04 crore minutes.

BTRC statistics showed that during February, total incoming calls were 153.7 crore minute and the daily average was 5.5 crore minutes. In March it was 5.9 crore minutes per day and in April it was 5.7 crore minutes every day on an average.

BTRC BLUFF ON INTERNATIONAL CALL TERMINATION RATE KEY POINTERS Profit/loss projection Revenue sharing International call volume

Earlier figures

- Tk1,073cr

New figures

Tk162cr

(loss) Government’s existing share

(profit) BTRC-proposed government share

BTRC claims crore minutes per day

DT finding shows crore minutes per day

51.75% 3.5

40%

5.04

S LATIF/DT INFOGRAPHIC

There were also some days when call termination had reached 12 crore minutes in a single day.

“As the current call termination volume is around six crore minutes, there is no need to reduce the rate,” a former senior officer of the BTRC, who was involved with the process for a long time, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He estimated that if call volume increased up to 9 crore minutes after the termination rate was cut in half, the government would have to suffer losses worth hundreds of crore of taka.

The Telecom Ministry has also reportedly raised questions about the issue, before passing it forward to the Finance Ministry for approval.

BTRC’s recommendation also claimed that neighbouring countries’ call termination rate is much lower than Bangladesh, which sources said is also a lie.

The VoIP Service Providers Association (VSPA) said the call termination rates in neighbouring countries are three to eight times higher than Bangladesh.

“The per minute international call termination rate in Sri Lanka is 9 US cents, 9.5 cents in Nepal, 8.8 cents in Pakistan and 25 cents in Maldives, which is the highest,” said VSPA Convener Rabiul Karim.

Only the Indian termination rate is lower than in Bangladesh, but their termination pattern is different than Bangladesh’s, sources said.

Apart from its proposal for reducing the termination rate, the BTRC also recommended changing the revenue sharing structure, proposing a reduction of the government’s share from the existing 51.75% to 40%, as well as increasing shares for the IGWs and other operators.

Legal specialists, however, said the government cannot arbitrarily change the structure as the rate was fixed by an open auction.

“The revenue sharing structure had been fixed through a public auction in 2008 and the BTRC cannot change it,” said Barrister Aneek R Haque, a Supreme Court lawyer.

Telecommunication Infrastructure Operators of Bangladesh (TOIB), a platform of the IGW operators, however wants to see strong monitoring over illegal call terminations.

“We know that the overall situation will not improve even after the rate is cut. Rather, the BTRC should become more worried about the illegal call terminations and initiate more policing on it,” Mir Nasir Hossain, president of the TOIB told the Dhaka Tribune. l

Padma bridge cost increases by Tk3,000cr  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

The Bridges Division proposal says the Chinese company offered to build the Padma bridge at a cost of Tk12,133.39 crore – an increase of Tk3,006.22 crore from earlier.

Padma Bridge Project Director M Shafiqul Islam said the increase was normal because of the delay and re-tendering.

“But China Major Bridge has offered 12.62% [Tk1,752 crore] less cost than the estimated Tk13,885.85 crore as mentioned in the tender,” he said.

Economist AB Mirza Azizul Islam yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that the main tender of the Padma bridge would have been competitive and the construction cost of the Padma bridge

would have been lower if the two South Korean firms had participated.

He said the Communication Ministry had made the decision as the Bridges Division had not entertained the request of the Korean firms.

Mentioning that the upgrading work of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway to a four-lane one by a Chinese firm was yet to finish in around four years, the former adviser to a caretaker government said Chinese companies had a bad reputation in the field.

The Bridges Division proposal has not yet fixed the performance security for the constructor, saying it will be settled according to the pre-contract negotiation with the firm.

Ten firms participated in the tender

Thursday, May 22, 2014

of pre-qualification process and the evaluation committee selected five of them. The government cancelled the China Communication Construction Company’s tender as the World Bank had black-listed it.

According to the Bridges Division proposal, the government will pay 25.6% or Tk3,106 crore in local currency and the rest worth Tk9,027.24 crore in foreign currency, mainly US dollar.

The construction work of Jajira and Mawa connecting roads and service area 2 has already started under the project. A joint venture of Bangladesh and Malaysia named AML-HCM is carrying out the job with consultancy from the Bangladesh Army and Bangladesh University of Engineering and

Pro-BNP lawyers come out from a special court in the capital's Lalbagh yesterday after submitting a time petition on behalf of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia in the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

ACC to bring 3 sacked RAB officers  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

monthly briefing of the anti-graft body at its headquarters in Shegunbagicha.

The three accused officers are former RAB-11 commanding officer Lieutenant Colonel Tareque Sayeed Muhammad, retired army Major Arif Hossain and retired navy Lieutenant Commander Masud Rana.

ACC sources said that they had al-

ready started collecting necessary clippings and preparing to bring the RAB officers under scrutiny as allegations were made against them that they were involved in the murders of the seven in exchange for money.

When contacted, ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman said the anti-graft body would enquire into the source of income of the officers to find out if

there was any inconsistency between their regular incomes or if any major changes were made to their financial accounts prior to the killing of the seven people in Narayanganj.

Earlier father-in-law of Nazrul Islam, who along with six others were abducted on April 27, alleged that those three RAB officers killed the seven persons in exchange for Tk6 crore. l

23 detained in Ekramul murder case  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

“proper investigation.” He, however, said no key accused in the case was detained.

About the vehicle, he said that they recovered a private car and two motorbikes.

They were found abandoned in the Birinchi area in Feni. “We suspect that the miscreants carried out their mission using those vehicles,” he said.

Meanwhile, Ekramul’s first namaze-janaza was held at Mizan Maidan in the town at around 9am while the second one was held on the Fulgazi Pilot High School grounds.

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader, local lawmaker and Awami League district unit General Secretary Nizam Uddin Hazari and lawmaker Shirin Sultana were among the many who attended the janazas.

After the Janaza, Obaidul Quader told reporters that it was a planned murder since Ekram’s car was set on fire by using gunpowder and petrol.

Ekramul Haque was buried in his family graveyard after the last janaza at his Banduya Daulatpur village of the upazila, said Rezaul Haque, Ekram’s elder brother.

Meanwhile, Fulgazi locals staged demonstrations yesterday and put barricades on the Porshuram Road of the upazila, demanding punishment of Ekram’s killers. The blockade suspended traffic movement in the area from 1:30pm to 8pm.

“The demonstrators announced a daylong hartal in Fulgazi today,” Abdul Alim, general secretary of the Fulgazi Awami League unit, told the Dhaka Tribune.

The medical team of the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) has collected Ekram’s DNA samples for forensic tests.

Dr Pradip Kumar Nath of the CMCH Forensic Department carried out a post mortem on the dead body in the CMCH Morgue on Tuesday at around |5.30pm.

He told the Dhaka Tribune that they collected DNA samples from Ekramul’s teeth and bones and forwarded those to the One-stop Crisis Centre (OCC) of the CMCH while sources of the OCC said that the samples were further forward to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

“Generally it takes about a month to get the results of DNA tests, but in case of emergencies, it can be done in 15 days,” the doctor said.

Abu Jafor Mohammad Omar Faruk, officer-in-charge of the Panchlaish Police Station in Chittagong city who was present during the post-mortem, said Ekram’s entire body was burnt.

“A bullet wound was found on his back which indicates that he was also shot, apart from being burnt,” he said.

A special police team from Chittagong visited Feni to determine the motive behind the attack and help the on-going investigation, said Paritosh Ghosh, the SP of Feni. l

Was it intra - or inter-party feud?  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

The Dhaka Tribune has also contacted Joynal Hazari about the report published in his weekly.

He said: “It [the allegation about forced disappearances] is an open secret but nobody has the courage to bring it out to people.”

He then told this correspondent to find out more clues about the murder.

According to sources, Ekram was known as the right-hand man of Joynal Hazari in the 1990s.

He was also a party of the “steering committee,” formed by the former lawmaker that used to collect tolls, extort, mug, manipulate tenders and carry out other criminal activities.

After the BNP came to power in 2001, both Ekram and Joynal left Fulgazi.

After they came back, Ekram defeated Joynal become the upazila chairman in the 2009 elections. Soon after be-

coming the chairman, he established his own den in the area and took control over all tenders and government projects that were implemented there.

He came to be known as the “tender emperor” of Feni.

The Dhaka Tribune has learnt from some former local politicians that Nizam Hazari, the current MP of the area who emerged in the scene only in 2001, won in the national election taking advantage of the rivalry between the duo.

Awami League leader Nizam’s name was also mentioned in the Shaptahik Hazarika report.

Things began to pacify between Ekram and Joynal after a clash of interest developed between Nizam and Ekram.

Nizam, as the local MP, wanted to control the local tenders, but Ekram would not give up his hold. Last year, Ekram was attacked by a group of Nizam’s men centring tenders of the

district diabetic hospital.

Recently, Joynal, angered by Nizam becoming MP from the Awami League, started supporting Ekram.

Local political leaders believe that with the death of Ekram, the Awami League will lose its footing in the upazila because now there is nobody to contest against BNP leader Minar.

Abdur Rahman, the Feni unit Awami League president, told the Dhaka Tribune that Ekram might have been killed because of conflicts created during the upazila election, held on March 15.

He, however, refused giving any detail saying it would not be a good idea.

MP Nizam, also secretary of the district unit Awami League, snubbed out allegations that Ekram had been killed over intra-party conflict.

Claiming that the stories of his conflict with Ekram were “baseless,” he demanded exemplary punishment for the killers. l

Technology (Buet). The army is looking after the security of the project.

The mega project of the 6.15km Padma bridge, which will connect 21 southern districts with the capital, is expected to complete by the end of 2017 or early 2018.

The World Bank, which pledged $1.2 billion loan for the project, halted its fund, raising corruption allegations in 2012.

Communication Minister Obaidul Quader on Monday disclosed that the China Major Bridge had got the construction work of the Padma Multipurpose Bridge.

Speaking at a discussion in the capital, he said it would take two more weeks to complete all the procedures

and the Chinese company might be given the work order within the next three weeks if the cabinet committee approves the financial proposal.

“The work order for river training of the Padma will be given by next August. The construction of the main Padma bridge will be completed by the end of 2017 or the beginning of 2018,” the minister added.

China Major Bridge Engineering Co Ltd was established on November 01, 2004 under the sponsorship of China Zhongtie Major Bridge Engineering Group Co Ltd in association with Wuhan Iron and Steel (Group) Corporation, China Railway Tunnel Group Co Ltd, China Railway Shanhaiguan Bridge Group Co Ltd and China Acad-

emy of Railway Sciences after restructuring and merging the assets in bridge, road and railway construction and other civil work owned by China Zhongtie.

As per data up to June 2006, with a total asset of $851.48 million, six subsidiary companies, nine sub-companies and a lot of offices both at home and abroad, the China Major Bridge possesses 2,434 sets of construction equipment and plants and various cranes ranging from 5t to 3,000t with a value of $70.06 million and advanced computerised design, construction and management systems. With a fleet of 12,000 employees, including 5,800 engineers and technicians, the annual revenue earning of the China Major Bridge is $2 billion. l

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Thursday, May 22, 2014

Bombarded with questions, Rawshan Graft cases against 3 BNP leaders to continue Ershad loses her temper n Nazmus Sakib

n Manik Miazee Leader of the Opposition Rawshan Ershad yesterday lost her temper in the face of a volley of questions from the media.

It was a views-exchange meeting with journalists on the parliament premises. She talked to journalists for about 40 minutes but she never gave a direct answer.

When journalists said the Jatiya Party was a “pet” opposition party in the public perception, Rawshan Ershad snapped back.

“Is it because we do not fight, we do not throw files and boycott parliament sessions that you people label us with such a name?” she snarled. “People have never seen an opposition like us.”

“The responsibility of the opposition is to help the government run its state affairs smoothly for five years and that is the role we are playing in the parliament.”

In response to a question she said the January 5 election was a must for the constitution and democracy.

When asked if they will demand any mid-term election she said: “If people want, then there can be another election but the Jatiya Party is not taking any initiative to this end right now.”

About the seven murders in Narayanganj, Rawshan said it was an isolated incident. “We formed a human chain there but I could not visit Narayanganj as I was ill.”

Opposition Leader Rawshan Ershad speaks at a views-exchange meeting with journalists on parliament premises She denied answering to the questions of Narayanganj murders any further saying: “It is a subjudice matter and the case is under investigation.”

On May 16, the JaPa leader said: “About 16 crore people live in Bangladesh. In a densely populated country,

such type of abductions and killings are isolated incidents and everyone cannot be blamed for it.”

However, in the yesterday’s programme, she avoided commenting on the issue saying that the government should decentralise the capital to curb

DHAKA TRIBUNE

such crimes.

Responding to the question on Indian election, Rawshan said no comparison should be made between the election of India and Bangladesh.

“Bangladesh has so many things to learn from India.” l

The top court yesterday paved the way for continuing trial proceedings against BNP Standing Committee members Moudud Ahmed and Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain, and Partex Group Chairman MA Hashem, also a former BNP lawmaker, in separate corruption cases.

On the other hand, the apex court upheld the acquittal of Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir MP, currently a member of Awami League Advisory Council, in another corruption case.

A four-member Appellate Division bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain delivered the judgements in separate cases.

The case against Moudud was filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission on September 16, 2007 for acquiring illegally property worth around Tk7.4 crore as well as concealing an amount of around Tk4.4 crore as his income.

Later, the former BNP minister filed a petition under the Code of Criminal Procedure seeking annulment of the case which was turned down by the High Court on October 7, 2012.

Gulshan police submitted the charge sheet on May 14, 2008.

Khandaker Mosharraf is facing a corruption case of Tk15 crore filed on January 10, 2008. Charge sheet in the case was submitted on September 17 the same year. The BNP leader later lodged a plea seeking cancellation of the case which was rejected by the High court

on October 16, 2012.

ACC counsel Khurshid Alam Khan told the Dhaka Tribune that the two former ministers had obtained stay orders over the High Court judgements.

But the Appellate Division yesterday dismissed their appeals.

The ACC on December 5, 2007 filed a corruption case against MA Hashem and submitted the charge sheet on September 30, 2008. On January 19, 2012, the High Court quashed the case following a petition of the former BNP lawmaker.

The apex court yesterday set aside the High Court judgement allowing an appeal of the ACC. Former home minister MK Alamgir’s acquittal in a corruption case was upheld yesterday by the top court.

The ACC filed the case on March 6, 2007 for illegally amassing wealth worth Tk3.27 crore. A lower court on July 26 the same year jailed him for 13 years.

However, the High Court on July 23, 2009 cancelled his punishment following an appeal filed by the Awami League leader.

On July 4, 2010, the Appellate Division upheld the High Court judgement dismissing an appeal of the ACC. Later, the commission filed a petition seeking review of the verdict which was disposed of with observation yesterday. But the court did not disclose the observation which will be available after the release of full text of the judgement. l

Moudud to be charged for grabbing Zia trust cases deferred till June 19 n Tk300cr government property Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

n Tribune Report The Anti-Corruption Commission will soon submit a charge sheet against BNP Standing Committee member Moudud Ahmed and his brother on charge of grabbing a government land worth about Tk300 crore.

Following a five-month-long investigation, the ACC has found Moudud Ahmed and his brother Manzur Ahmed, now living in London, responsible for occupying the government property valued Tk300 crore since 1978 through

different fake documents and abusing power, an official said.

The charge sheet was approved at a regular meeting of the ACC yesterday.

On December 17 last year, the ACC filed a case against the duo in this regard.

The case says the house in the capital’s Gulshan area belongs to Mohammad Ehsan and his wife Inze Maria Flatz, two Pakistani nationals who left the country before the 1971 Liberation War. Following their departure, the house on 1.13bigha (0.374 acre) land on Gulshan Avenue was included in the list of

Prosecution in Mobarak case stumbles n Udisa Islam At the end of the argument session in the trial of Mobarak Hossain alias Mobarak Ali, the prosecution yesterday failed to give explanations to many questions posed by the International Crimes Tribunal.

Later the tribunal set May 27 for further presentation of arguments in the trial and asked the prosecution to appear with the replies to their questions.

Yesterday was set for submitting the defence argument and rebuttal of the prosecution. According to the usual procedure, the case was supposed to be kept for verdict after the rebuttal.

Defence counsel Tajul Islam submitted on legal points. He claimed that the prosecution wanted to convict Mobarak but they could not decide how they could do so and therefore they became confused. “This situation has blurred the case.” He said the case was nothing but an evil attempt to convict his client who is a “victim of the conspiracy.”

Tajul claimed that the documents in which the prosecution had relied upon were not authentic and the accused could not be convicted on the basis of that. He also brushed aside the prosecution’s suggestion that Mobarak had been a razakar commander of Akhaura during the 1971 Liberation War. Later, prosecutor Md Shahidur Rahman stood for giving his rebuttal. There he faced too many questions to which he failed to give any answers.

Justice M Enayetur Rahim, chair-

man of the three-member panel, at first drew the attention of the prosecutor to the fact that he had submitted documents of around 170 pages, but referred to only 10 or 15 pages before the court.

“It seems that the investigation agency handed over the documents to you and you just rendered it before the tribunal.”

Couple of days ago, the tribunal asked the prosecutor to make sure that the list of razakars was collected from the deputy commissioner of Brahmanbaria.

And at the final stage, when the tribunal reminded the prosecutor about it, Shahidur could not answer sufficiently.

Justice Rahim also showed how the investigation officer had left a footnote on a page of the prosecution documents and the prosecutor produced the documents to the tribunal including that page even without erasing the footnote.

The footnote mentioned that the document was photocopied and not attested.

When Shahidur pointed out on a “clerical mistake” where there were two versions of time (am and pm) in the formal charge, the tribunal said: “We cannot change any court record on your verbal submission.”

Shahidur with the help of his senior colleague Syed Haider Ali faced the tribunal and concluded promising that they would submit a petition for making the necessary corrections.

Defence lawyer Tajul opposed it saying in that case, they would need to cross examine the witnesses. The tribunal then said: “You will get time for hearing on this petition.” l

government’s abandoned property on January 21, 1972.

On August 2, 1973, Moudud prepared a fake power of attorney of Maria Flatz to grab the land and used it to gain his own interest. Since then, he had been living in the house showing himself as a tenant of Maria Flatz, the case document says.

While holding different posts as minister during 1978-2006, Moudud tried to grab the house misusing his power. He made the fake documents in the name of his expatriate brother Manzur Ahmed. l

Victim’s wife testifies against Qaisar n Udisa Islam A new prosecution witness in the case against former Jatiya Party state minister Syed Mohammad Qaisar said yesterday that the accused and his cohorts had burnt their house and abducted her husband after torturing him in front of her eyes in Habiganj during the 1971 Liberation War. Nisamon, 71, claimed that to get back her husband, she paid Qaisar Tk8,000, when the accused demanded Tk10,000. The witness, Golam Rouf Master’s wife, said she had known the accused since Qaisar’s uncle was her grandfather’s neighbour.

In her statement, Nisamon said the accused and members of the Qaisar Bahini had surrounded their house on eighth Ashar (third month of Bangla calendar) of 1971, seeking her brotherin-law Golam Noor.

“When my husband tried to flee, Qaisar chased and caught him and started to beat him brutally. Qaisar continuously asked him about Noor and my husband answered in the negative.

When my father-in-law came to rescue my husband, they started to beat him too,” she stated.

She said: “My father-in-law died just 16 days after the torture.”

The accused and his men then burnt the house. “They took my husband, blindfolded with his hands tied behind his back. Following this, we went here and there to find him but failed. My father went to Qaisar to find out the whereabouts of my husband and the accused refused to do anything,” she said.

At the end of deposition, she claimed that the accused had demanded Tk10,000 to free her husband. Golam Rouf was freed after the family paid Qaisar Tk8,000.

Defence counsel SM Shahjahan cross examined her. At the end of the questioning, the tribunal 2 adjourned the trial until Sunday.

Meanwhile, defence counsel Mizanul Islam ended the crossexamination of the prosecution’s seventh witness in the case against Maulana Abdus Subhan. l

A Dhaka court yesterday deferred for the second time the recording of testimonies in Zia Charitable Trust and Zia Orphanage Trust corruption cases.

Judge Basudev Roy of the Third Special Judge’s Court fixed June 19 following a defence petition.

On April 21, the witness deposition was deferred until yesterday following

another defence petition.

Defence lawyer Sanaullah Miah said the time plea had been lodged since two petitions regarding appointment of Judge Basudev Roy were pending with the High Court. The hearing will be held on May 25.

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia filed the petitions on May 12 seeking a rule upon the authorities concerned asking why the judge’s appointment should not be

declared illegal as no official gazette notification had been published following his appointment. The petition also sought a stay order on the cases’ trial proceedings.

The former prime minister, her son Tarique Rahman and others were indicted on March 19 in the two cases.

On April 13, Khaleda filed two petitions with the High Court to annul the lower court order. The court rejected the petitions on April 23. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, May 22, 2014

More engagement in place to solve Rohingya issue Foreign secretary terms ‘deficit of trust’ the main problem between the countries

n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Bangladesh and Myanmar will be more engaged with each other in an attempt to solve the Rohingya issue in the border areas.

“I am told that the Myanmar president has given an indication that we should move in that direction. We have submitted an MoU [on security dialogue]. Hopefully that will be signed this time around and we will have focused discussions on security issues that are hurting the relationship between us and them, including the issue of the movement of the people in that area,” said Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Huq. He was speaking at a seminar titled “Contemporary Thoughts on Enhancing Bangladesh-Myanmar Relations” organised by the Bangladesh Institute of International and Strategic Studies in the city, yesterday.

A delegation from the Myanmar Institute of Strategic and International Studies (MISIS) also attended the programme.

Last year, Shahidul had proposed having the security dialogue during the foreign secretary-level meeting between Bangladesh and Myanmar in Dhaka. The Myanmar deputy foreign minister will come to Dhaka to have a foreign office consultation on June 18.

The foreign secretary said the Rohingya issue is a problem in the bilateral relationship and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, during her meeting with Myanmar President U Thein Sein, had formally offered Bangladesh’s assistance in solving it.

Hasina also offered economic as-

Noorjehan Murshid’s birth anniversary today n Tribune Report The 89th birth anniversary of Noorjehan Murshid; a leading political figure, educationist, social reformer and writer, will be observed today.

Noorjehan, who was born on May 22 in 1925, who worked towards establishing a democratic and secular society.

She actively took part in the movement against the British colonial rule in this sub-continent and also against the Pakistani military rule. Her speech delivered at a joint session of Loksava and Rajyasava of India in 1971, as a special representative of the Bangladesh government in exile, facilitated India’s all-out support for the liberation of Bangladesh.

A distinguished activist for women’s empowerment, Noorjehan was elected a member of the then East Pakistan provincial legislative assembly and became first state minister for health and social welfare affairs of independent Bangladesh in 1972.

Throughout her life, Noorjehan had complete conviction in progressive ideals for a modern and democratic Bangladesh, clean politics, a just society and equal rights. l

sistance and expertise, if needed, to improve the situation in the Rakhine state, Shahidul said. “For the past year, the foreign office has tried to create a space to have a dialogue to build the trust,” he added.

Shahidul said the main problem between the two countries is a deficit of trust, stating, “That is the main issue...

The most important thing is to change the mindset.”

Bangladesh has shown all kinds of positive gestures as the prime minister has directed everyone “to create the most and best possible relationship with Myanmar,” said the foreign secretary.

Chiefs of three forces – army, navy and air – visited Myanmar while the Myanmar naval chief already visited Dhaka and the air force chief will be visiting Bangladesh, he said.

Director General of the Border Guard of Bangladesh will be going to Myanmar next month after a gap of five or six years to increase engagement between the countries in order to secure the border, he added.

For the first time in 42 years, a Myanmar Frigate was allowed to cross the Naf River into Bangladesh and it is expected that Naypyidaw will reciprocate such a positive gesture, Shahidul said.

A member of the MISIS, Ambassador U Wynn Lwin said Bangladesh, Myanmar and the UNHCR have agreed that after verification, Rohingyas in Bangladesh will be accepted by the Myanmar side and the process to give them citizenship will begin.

He said many Rohingyas have rejected the recent census in which they should have been accepted. l

Litchi growers in Gazipur has got a bumper production this year. They gathered at the Raniganj Bazar to sell their produces yesterday

MPO still uncertain for new schools Showkat Kallol and n Asif Mushfique Wadud

Uncertainty surrounding the fate of the Monthly Payment Order (MPO) continues, with the Finance Ministry and Education Ministry at loggerheads with each other on whether to allocate funds in the next budget to bring in new non-government educational institutions under the scheme.

At a meeting chaired by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office on Saturday, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said there will be no fund allocated in the next national budget for the MPO scheme; a remark that was opposed by several ministers, including Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid.

A Finance Division official who attended Saturday’s meeting quoted Muhith as saying the decision against the MPO was made as many lawmakers

are misusing MPO funds to acquire illegal financial benefits.

Although there have been many graft allegations surrounding the MPO scheme, many lawmakers and bureaucrats have been demanding that new educational institutions be included under the scheme; a demand which has also been raised by teachers since the inclusion of new institutions was suspended in 2010-11.

Sources said the prime minister also directed Muhith to solve the MPO dilemma, as many lawmakers and different ministries are urging for it.

Even though Muhith had previously been vocal against the MPO scheme, the minister recently backtracked from his stance on the inclusion of educational institutions in the MPO, reportedly in the face of mounting pressures from the lawmakers.

At a pre-budget meeting with the

parliamentary standing committees last week, Muhith said he will restart the MPO scheme, adding that he seeks to carry out reforms to ensure that the scheme will not be exploited.

Sources in the Finance Division also hinted that the budget for the next fiscal – which is scheduled to be announced on June 5 – might elaborate on including new institutions under the MPO. When asked about the issue, Major (retd) Rafikul Islam (Bir Uttam), a member of the parliamentary body on the Planning Ministry, said lawmakers will not be able to face their electorates if special allocation is not given under the MPO. The discrimination in selecting institutes under the MPO scheme should also be abolished, he added.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said: “We are hoping the problem surrounding the MPO scheme will be solved soon as Prime Minister Sheikh

Elections to three upazila parishads – Madaripur sadar, Nokla in Sherpur and Banchharampur in Brahmanbaria – will be held on June 26.

The Election Commission announced the polls schedule of these three upazila parishads yesterday. The commission has also fixed the date for the polls of the postponed Narayanganj Bandar upazila parishad which had been stayed by the High Court. The election for the Narayanganj Bandar was supposed to be held on May 19.

Deputy Secretary of the EC Mihir Sarwar Morshed said the last date for filing the nomination paper is May 29 and the nominations will be scrutinised on June 3 as per the schedule.

Hasina is looking into the matter.”

Claiming that a large number of schools and colleges should be under the MPO system, the minister however, admitted that the government has its financial constraints.

Although there were allegations of misusing MPO funds, there was tremendous pressure from difference quarters for the inclusion of new institutions under the MPO scheme, Nahid added.

According to the Education Ministry, over 6,000 schools and colleges are eligible to be included under the MPO. The government brought 1,624 schools and colleges under the MPO system and allocated Tk31 crore in the budget for the 2010-11 fiscal, before suspending the scheme for new institutions.

The country currently has 352,661 teachers, at 25,894 educational institutions, who are enjoying benefits under the MPO scheme. l

134 private hajj agencies fined Tk77 crore JU student dies in road n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

The Ministry of Religious Affairs has fined 134 private hajj agencies Tk77 crore for their involvement in irregularities and mismanagement, including human trafficking and providing substandard services for last year’s hajj pilgrims.

The committee is said to have recommended cancellation of licences of eight agencies and suspension of 22 while clearing seven companies of the charges. The other agencies were fined different amounts, the highest being Tk1.82 crore and the lowest Tk75,000.

A three-member review committee, headed by Religious Affairs Secretary Chowdhury Md Babul Hasan, reviewed the allegations against the agencies and unanimously took the decision to fine those. The other two members of the committee are Md Shahiduzzaman, joint secretary (administration), and Md Abdus Sakur, joint secretary (planning) of the same ministry.

Of the agencies that were penalised, United International Travels was fined Tk1.48 crore, Cascades Travels and Tours Tk1.82 crore, Janus Travels and Tours Tk1.04 crore, and Munira Travels and Tours Tk80 lakh.

Agencies that have had their licences suspended are Bright Travels, Chittagong Royal Air Services, Chittagong Air International, Sincere Trade and Tourism, Air Connections Travel and

Tours, Al Hazi Travels and Tours, Irana Air International, Fiza Air Travels and Tours, Ahsania Malaysia Hajj Mission, Shamima Travels, Kibla Travels Limited, Anjum Overseas, Nayem International Travels and Tours, Al Habib Hajj Group, Fahmid Travel and Tours, First One International, Imam Travels, MS Grand Sikder Air Travels, Mabruran Hajj Agency, Makka Babe Jannat Travels & Tours, S Ahmed Tours and Travels, and Ullash Tours and Travels.

A committee of the Religious Affairs Ministry recommends cancellation of licences of eight agencies and suspension of 22 others Licences of United International Travels, Cascades Travels and Tours, Humayera Hajj Travels, Janus Travels and Tours, Jiarot E-Kaba Tours and Travels, Al Zia Travels, Salam Trading International, and Munira Travels and Tours were recommended to be cancelled.

Meanwhile, agencies that were relieved from the charges include Sadek Travels, Al-Qibla Hajj Tours and Travels, Good Way Aviation & Tourism, Mymensingh Travels Agency, Saad Uswah Travels and Tours, Sajid Hajj Travels and Tours, and South Asian Air Bangladesh.

The measures were taken following investigation into allegations of human trafficking in the name of hajj, violation of commitment to providing comfortable accommodation, inadequate transport arrangement, supply of substandard food, and inadequate arrangement of tour guides.

Jahangir Alam, deputy secretary (hajj), told the Dhaka Tribune a committee was supposed to be formed earlier to take punitive measures against 193 private hajj agencies but later on, the review committee was formed to hear from the accused hajj agencies.

The Ministry of Religious Affairs, in a circular on May 18, directed all agencies to deposit the fines in the government treasury through chalan (consignment receipt) code number (13501-0001-1901) and asked those to inform the ministry by submitting copies of the chalan.

If an agency fails to pay the fine by June 1, it will not be allowed to send pilgrims.

A total of 87,854 pilgrims performed hajj in October last year. Of them, 262 have not returned from Saudi Arabia.

Jahangir Alam said the punitive actions had been taken upon recommendations from both Bangladesh and Saudi Arabia officials.

The move will be a warning for other agencies so that they do not involve in any illegal practice, he added. l

crash, students torch four vehicles n JU Correspondent The students of Jahangirnagar University torched and vandalised several vehicles on the Dhaka-Aricha highway yesterday, after a JU student was crushed to death by a pick-up van in front of the university’s Dairy Farm gate.

The deceased, Fatema Akhter, was the daughter of Afsar Alim of the Sholabaria area under the Ataikula police station in Pabna. She was a residential student of the Pritilata Hall of the university and a third year student of the JU Anthropology Department, sources said.

Witness said Fatema and some other passengers were waiting for a bus at around 4:45pm in front of the Dairy Farm gate, in order to return to Dhaka.

At this moment, a pick-up van driver lost control, and hit Fatema and two others, sources said. Critically injured, they were rushed to a private clinic in Savar, the Super Clinic, where the on-duty doctor declared Fatema dead.

Hundreds of JU students demon-

Three upazila parishad polls on June 26 n Mohammad Zakaria

BANGLAR CHOKH

The last day for withdrawing nominations is June 8, he added.

June 9 has been fixed as the date of the Narayanganj Bandar upazila parishad polls.

Meanwhile, the EC has so far held elections for 471 upazilas out of 487.

The first phase of polls in 97 upazilas was held on February 19, the second phase in 116 upazilas was held on February 27, the third phase in 81 upazilas was held on March 15, the fourth phase in 91 upazilas was held on March 23 and the fifth phase in 73 upazilas was held on March 31.

Earlier, the commission announced that polls for the newly formed Noldanga upazila in Natore and Rangabali in Patuakhali will be held on June 9 and 19, respectively. l

strated on the Dhaka-Aricha highway and put a blockade on the highway after they learned about the incident.

The blockade resulted in huge traffic congestion on the both sides of the road. Agitated students also torched four passenger buses and vandalised at least 25 vehicles on the road at around 8pm, sources said.

Meanwhile, the injured Rehana Akter and Nurul Islam were shifted to the Dhaka Medical College Hospital when their conditions deteriorated, sources added.

Confirming the incident, JU Proctor Professor Dr Tapan Kumar Saha told the Dhaka Tribune: “A pick-up van crashed into Fatema and two other people. Fatema died on the spot. The driver and the vehicle were detained by the Savar police.”

The JU proctor said the authorities held a meeting after the accident and they are trying to pacify the agitated students. They also assured the students that they will take all possible steps regarding the accident, he added.

Officer-in-Charge of the Ashulia police station Badrul Alam was not available to comment. l

Court summons 225 in arson case n Hasibur Rahman Bilu

Japanese Ambassador Shiro Sadoshima addresses a press conference at the National Press Club yesterday

NASHIRUL ISLAM

A Bogra court yesterday summoned 225 accused, including Nandigram upazila parishad chairman, in the Nandigram Upazila Parishad Complex arson case.

All the accused were ordered to appear before the court today.

Nandigram OC Md Shahjahan Ali said the case was filed after several hundred BNP-Jamaat activists led by Bogra district BNP’s Religious Affairs Secretary Fazle Rabbi Toha and upazila unit Jamaat Secretary Monjurul Rahman torched the upazila parishad complex. The incident occurred surrounding the rumour that the image of former Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayedee appeared on the moon.

The summon order was passed after police filed charge sheet against 225 people, including newly elected Nandigram UP Chairman Nurul Islam Mandal. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Government to empower upazila parishads financially n

Impasse at Hili land port results in loss of Tk20cr

n Mohosinul Karim The government is likely to revive the financial system of the upazila parishads by amending the local government act to empower them financially to enhance their domination on the public servants.

The initiative was taken considering the demands of the upazila parishad chairmen and following a recommendation of the national committee for reviewing the inconsistencies in the upazila parishad law.

The local government ministry has prepared a proposal for amending the law in the light of the recommendations put forward by the national committee led by Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan.

It would be sent to the prime minister first and then to the cabinet, ministry officials told the Dhaka Tribune.

However, Monzur Hossain, senior

secretary of the Local Government Ministry, refused to make any comment in this regard.

Deputy Secretary Sobur Hossain told the Dhaka Tribunethat the initiative was at its primary stages.“It is not yet finalised. The ministry is considering the recommendations of the national committee,” he said.

Officials said the national committee had recently approved the recommendations of a sub-committee led by Local Government Department’s Additional Secretary Shah Kamal.

The sub-committee proposed the government to revive the 1984 upazila parishad financial system to empower the local government bodies.

According to the proposal, the ministries and divisions will hand over the funds to the local government division.

The division will disburse the fund in favour of the upazilaparishads.

According to ministry officials, financial authority of the parishadswill eliminate the conflict between the upazila level government high officials and the upazila chairmen.

The leaders of the upazila parishad chairmen’s association also agreed to the government’s thought.

Harun-or-Rashid Hawlader, a leader of the association, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The initiative is very positive. It will establish the parishad’s authority over the public servants, if the law is amended in line with the decision.”

He also suggested the government to amend the provision that governed the nomination process of the members of the upazilaparishad.

“The chairmen of union parishad dominatethe process of nominating members for the upazila bodies even though they are not elected members,” he added. l

Our Correspondent, Dinajpur

The continued strike at the Hili port, the second largest land port of the country, has caused losses worth Tk20 crore over the last eight days.

SM Maniruzzaman Chowdhury, revenue officer (customs) of the port, said importers and exporters operating at the port have incurred losses amounting Tk12 crore over the last eight days due to the continued strike at the Hili port.

The government was also deprived of about Tk8 crore, which would have been raised in taxes.

Hili Customs C&F Association, Kuli Sramik Samannoi Committee, Truck Sramik Samannoi Parishad and Truck Owners’ Association called the strike, making a three-point demand, including an end to their alleged harassment by the BGB. Yesterday was the eighth day of the strike.

Hili C&F Agent Association Secretary Shahinur Islam Shahin said about 150 Indian trucks, carrying imported products, enter Bangladesh daily. “Over

1,500 such trucks are stuck on the Indian side of the border. As a result, perishable products like onion, fish and fruits have gone bad,” he added.

On the Bangladesh side of the border, about 110 trucks have also been waiting to enter India.

SM Hayder, assistant manager of the port’s private operator Panama Port Ltd, said: “We are incurring losses worth Tk50 lakh daily and the porters who are dependent on the port activities are miserable because they are currently jobless.”

Harun-ur Rashid, the leader of the Hili Land Port Importers’ Association, blamed the Border Guard Bangladesh 3 battalion for the strike, because the local importers are protesting the system the BGB adopted on April 27 of issuing a pass card, the “Manifesto Card” (the card states production place and date of products), to the Indian trucks, claiming it to be a time consuming system.

Harun also threatened to go for tougher movement unless their demands were met. l

European Union and Oxfam organise human rights fair n Tribune Report

Oxfam and the European Union jointly organised a human rights fair in Sylhet with a festive inauguration to celebrate the World Day for Cultural Diversity for Dialogue and Development, yesterday.

Four journalists were honoured at the event for their courageous reporting on the rights of the indigenous people.

European Union Delegation Chief William Hanna, Oxfam Country Director Snehal Soneji, Ethnic Community Development Organisation Executive Director Lakshimkanta Singh and many other representatives from civil society, media and local administration made speeches at the inauguration programme. Human rights activist Sultana Kamal was the chief guest.

William Hanna said: “Bangladesh has a rich culture with diverse communities of ethnic minorities and indigenous peoples, but they often suffer because their rights are violated. To protect their rights, the whole society must stand together.

“Here in Sylhet, we have also seen the important role the media plays in protecting the rights of the most vulnerable.”

The Human Rights Fair was organized under the project “Strengthening the Voice of Human Rights Defenders to Protect the Rights and Entitlements of Ethnic Minorities.”

Total funding for the project, under the European Initiative for Democracy and Human Rights (EIDHR), amounts to €375,000. Currently, the EIDHR is funding more than 1200 projects in over 100 countries. l

WEATHER THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

THURSDAY, MAY 22 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:37PM SUN RISES 5:13AM FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

39

28

Chittagong

34

27

Rajshahi

43

29

Rangpur

40

26

Khulna

40

27

Barisal

38

28

Sylhet

37

24

Cox’s Bazar

34

27

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

43.2ºC Chuadanga

25.0ºC Sylhet

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

3:48am 5:13am 11:55am 4:35pm 6:37pm 8:02pm Source: IslamicFinder.org

Transport workers in Rajshahi barricade the Rajshahi bus stand intersection as part of their strike, demanding withdrawal of Nosimon, Korimon and other illegal human hauliers from the highways DHAKA TRIBUNE

Guidelines for examination of rape victims near completion n Moniruzzman Uzzal The Health Ministry is set to finalise a comprehensive guideline for how to examine rape victims and submit it to the High Court.

Dr Habibuzzaman Chowdhury, member secretary of the 10-member committee that is preparing the guideline, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that a comprehensive guideline is almost finalised; at the most recent committee meeting on May 12.

Another meeting would be held tomorrow to make any final adjustment to the guideline if needed, then submitted before the court soon, said Habibuzzaman, also the head of forensic medicine department of Dhaka Medical College.

According to the guideline, a copy of which has been acquired by the Dhaka Tribune, the police station would have to

record the rape case within three hours of primary investigation and proceed with sensitivity when handling the victim.

The victim would have to be sent quickly to a nearby hospital or health

Dr Habibuzzaman says a meeting will be held tomorrow to make any final adjustment to the guidelines if needed complex, where her medicolegal examination would be carried out by the emergency department. The examination must be done with the victim’s consent and in the presence of an NGO worker or female police personnel.

The guideline also reads that no male doctors will be allowed to be present

5

Thursday, May 22, 2014

during the examination, while recommending that female doctors and nurses must be appointed in every concerned health facilities that are carrying out the medicolegal examination of rape victims.

With the exception of emergencies, doctors will not be allowed to conduct a two-finger test, while strict confidentiality will have to be maintained throughout the medicolegal process.

The court will also have to be sensitive while recording the statement of the victim, while the victim is in safe custody by the magistrate court. The judge concerned will also have to finish the proceedings of the case as soon as possible.

On October 9 last year, Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Khurshid Alam Sarkar of the High Court Division Bench issued a ruling, directing the Health Ministry to prepare a comprehensive guideline for the examination of rape victims. l

Temperature crosses 42 degrees in Rajshahi n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi As the ongoing heat wave continues to loom over the entire nation, residents of Rajshahi yesterday experienced the highest temperature recorded this year.

Temperature in the district had been on the rise for the past few days, and yesterday it was recorded at 42.1 degree Celsius. Anowara Begum, senior observer at the district’s met office, told the Dhaka Tribune that it was not only the highest temperature this year, but in the past 14 years.

“The last time the temperature crossed 42 degree Celsius in Rajshahi was in 2000,” she said. The scorching heat has made life miserable for the Rajshahi residents. The frequent power cuts caused by the increased power consumption has only worsened the situation. l

ACC questions Muktijoddha Council officials n Tribune Report The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday questioned a deputy secretary and five officials from Jatiya Muktijoddha Council with regard to its probe against six secretaries who had allegedly forged freedom fighter certificates to extend their retirement age.

Liberation War Affairs Ministry Deputy Secretary M Nur Alam, Council’s Director General Syed Mahbub Ahsan, directors AKM Khairul Alam and AKM Ali Ahad Khan, Deputy Director Masudul Haque and its Office Secretary Menhaz were questioned at the ACC headquarters.

The ACC is currently conducting inquiries on how the six secretaries had obtained freedom fighter certificates prior to their retirement.

According to a circular, one has to declare himself as a freedom fighter at the time of joining any service to avail the benefits allotted to the freedom fighters.

Such claims may not be considered later.

The six secretaries, who are under the ACC scrutiny, are Health Secretary Niaz Uddin, Liberation War Affairs Secretary KH Masud Siddiqui, Science and Technology Affairs Secretary AKM Amir Hossain, Housing and Public Works Secretary Khandaker Shawkat Hossain, Prime Minister’s former secretary Mollah Waheduzzaman, and Liberation War Affairs Joint Secretary Abul Kashem Talukder. l

Transport strike causes sufferings n Our Correspondent, Rajshahi The Rajshahi Bus Truck Malik Shromik Oikya Parishad held a protest rally at the city’s bus terminal yesterday to bring attention to their six-point demand.

Due to the strike, no vehicle left Rajshahi causing immense sufferings to the commuters. The rally was held at the Shaheed AHM Kamruzzaman Bus Terminal around 4pm.

The bus owners and transport workers called the strike despite knowing that their decision would cause suffering to people, said a commuter.

Suvomita Choudhury, a master’s student of Rajshahi University, who was also waiting for a bus for two hours in rail gate area, finally started walking towards the railway station to catch a train.

She told the Dhaka Tribune that the transport workers in Bangladesh call

strike now and then for their own interest without considering the plight of the commuters. Sources say the association’s primary demand is stopping of extortion by highway police. Their other demands include stopping the movement of three-wheelers (popularly known as nasimon, karimon), cancellation of road permits for CNG-run auto rickshaws, reduction of renewal fees for vehicles, and to discontinue the BRTC bus services at upazila levels.

Rajshahi Road Transport Group President Enamul Haque, General Secretary Munjur Rahman Pitar, among others, spoke at the rally.

Rajshahi Deputy Commissioner Mezbah Uddin Ahmed, however, said he would convene a meeting immediately with the bus owners, workers, and the officials concerned as soon as possible to resolve the issue. l

Benapole mayor denies abduction allegation n Our Correspondent, Jessore Benapole municipality Mayor Ashraful Alam Liton has denied his involvement in the alleged kidnapping of Tariqul Alam Tuhin, panel mayor of the municipality.

“Tuhin was my best friend. He was my political fellow for 22 years. I am not involved in his abduction,” said Liton while addressing a press conference at Jessore Press Club yesterday.

“Some vested quarters are spreading the propaganda against me,” he observed.

Tuhin is also the former president of Sharsha upazila unit of Chhatra League. On May 18, his wife Salma Akhter claimed at a press briefing that her husband was abducted by RAB on March 7 last year from the capital.

She also alleged Liton played a

role in her husband’s abduction as he (Tuhin) would protest against Liton’s wrongdoings.

“Tuhin disappeared on March 7 last year after he went out of the NAM flat of lawmaker Sheikh Afil Uddin around 11:30am. The last conversation we had was around 9:17am. He has not returned since then,” said Salma.

“I think RAB abducted him as he was on his way to Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport because their activities raised my suspicion,” she further said.

In charge of Jessore camp of RAB 6, Major Md Masudur Rahman said allegations against RAB officials suddenly rose in the wake of some incidents in the recent past.

“RAB was not involved in the act. I do not know what happened back then because no complaint was lodged at the time,” he added. l

Mango traders display their produces at Baneshwar Haat in Rajshahi yesterday. Whole sellers and retailers of mango gather at Baneshwar Haat to buy mangoes from the farmers DHAKA TRIBUNE

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Thursday, May 22, 2014

20km Sirajganj road project in uncertainty n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj A cloud of uncertainty shrouds a 20-kilometre by-lane road construction project in Sirajganj as it is yet to be finished, even though its deadline expired in April 2012.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina unveiled the Soydabad-Belkuchi-Enayetpur road project on April 9, 2011 after roadwork on it had begun in October 2010.

Officials at the Roads and Highways Department said they can neither replace National Civil Engineering Construction Limited with another contracting firm nor can they have the project fast-tracked.

There is a risk that the project will be delaying further or that it may be scrapped for an uncertain period of time in case the present contractors cannot be replaced with another firm, they explained.

Meanwhile, allegations have also been raised against the firm for not using the right measures of bitumen and sand and for using low-quality brick chips to the construct part of the road.

On Saturday, Joint Secretary of the Communication Ministry Mahbubur Rahman visited the project and expressed his dissatisfaction with the construction work done on the road.

He said lower proportions of sand and bitumen have been used under and above the road, respectively, and warned the Roads and Highways engineers to monitor the project properly.

This correspondent visited the half of the road that has thus far been completed and found cracks and potholes.

He also found the road had collapsed in the recent rainfall because slopes had not been made on both sides of the road.

When questioned, former Fisheries and Livestock Minister Abdul Latif

Biswas said he knew about all this and had complained to the Communications Ministry about it quite a number of times.

Sub-Assistant Engineer Iqbal Hossain said, “We are embarrassed about the project.”

“A team from the Communication Ministry, led by its Joint Secretary Mahbubur Rahman, visited the project on Saturday and found irregularities in the amount of sand used in some areas of the constructed part of the road,” he added.

“The joint secretary suggested setting that right as soon as possible,” he said.

Sub-Divisional Engineer-1 Ashraful Islam frankly admitted that irregularities, slowness and delays have hampered the project.

“The deadline for the project expired two years ago. The road construction cost was estimated in 2008 and so it is not possible to have the work done well now,” he said.

“We cannot fine the contractors or post a new tender because it may further delay the project for an uncertain period of time and so we are having the project completed by the present contractors as best as we can,” he explained.

Executive Engineer at the Roads and Highways Department Moniruzzaman said, “We appointed Dhaka’s National Civil Engineering Construction Limited in two agreements for the implementation of the project.”

“The first part of the project is almost finished. The second part Belkuchi to Enayetpur – of the project will begin in the next fiscal year. If the current contracting firm cannot do that, we will find an alternative,” he added.

National Civil Engineering Construction Limited’s Project Manager Yusuf Haidar Sujon Ahmed could not be contacted over the phone. l

The Jamuna River is eroding the bank near Chandanbaish area in Sariakandi upazila of Bogra district

50 including UP chairman injured in clash n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj At least 50 people including UP charman and women were injured yesterday in a clash between two rival groups over previous enmity in Tarail upazila of the district.

According to police and local sources, two groups led by Azizul Haque and Hadis Mia of Gojaria village in the upazila were locked a firece clash with homemade lethal weapons over previous enmity around 10:30am at Gojaria area, leving 50 injured including Damiha Union Parishad Chairman Mainuzzaman Nobab.

Of them, 30 were admitted to Kishoreganj Adhunik Sadar Hospital and Tarail Upazila Health Complex while others were given first aid.

The UP chairman was injured as he went to stop the clash. l

Erosion devouring arable land, establishments on 4 riverbanks n Our Correspondent, Bogra

n Our Correspondent, Kushtia At least two people were murdered in the district yesterday in two separate incidents.

According to sources, a young man, Esha Khan, 35, was allegedly killed by his relatives over an altercation regarding land ownership in the Kunthiar Char area of the Mirpur upazila.

Sources said Esha was given ownership of a piece of land by his father few days ago. The incident made his

Outlaw hacked to death by rivals in Pabna n Our Correspondent, Pabna Rivals murdered a member of the outlawed Purba Banglar Communist Party in the Sathia upazila of the district, yesterday.

SM Faruque Hossain, officer-incharge of the Sathia police station said, Chand Ali Mollah, 45, a member of the banned extremist group Purba Banglar Communist Party [Lal Pataka] and the

son of late Abed Ali of Madhpur village, left his house at around midnight yesterday, because the miscreants had called him out.

They then slashed at Ali mercilessly, and left his body in nearby jute field, said Faruque.

On receiving this information, the police recovered the body.

The police said he might have been killed because of an internal conflict. l

Journalist found dead in Chuadanga n Our Correspondent, Chuadanga Police recovered the body of a local journalist from the Mominpur Railway Station area of the district, yesterday.

According to the deceased family members, Sadrul Alam Nipul, 38, a correspondent of the Dainik Mathabhanga, a local daily, and the son of late Nur Mohammad, had gone out the night before after receiving a call from an unknown number on his mobile phone.

He did not return home.

SI Khorshed Alam of the GRP said locals spotted Nipul’s body lying on the rail line and informed the police.

On receiving this information, police recovered the body and sent it to the Chuadanga Sadar Hospital morgue.

Local UP Chairman Golam Faruk Joardhar said miscreants had killed Nipul somewhere else and had later dumped his body at the station.

Munshi Asaduzzaman, officer-incharge of the Sadar police station said the motive for this murder can only be known after an investigation.

A case was filed. l

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establishments including 64 educational institutions, eight government offices and 41 mosques of 21 districts located along the banks of those four rivers will disappear.

Around 55 educational institutions of seven districts on either side of the Jamuna River, including Bogra, will go under water.

The BWDB Bogra Circle Office sources said the department identified several vulnerable points including Chandanvaisha in the Shariakand upazila, Bogra and Bahoka Simla in the Sirajganj Sadar upazila.

AKM Momtaz Uddin, an engineer with the BDWD, Bogra said: “The Jamuna River erosion threatens around 4 kilometres of embankment along the right bank in the Chandanvaisha area.”

Around 3,666 hectares of agricultural land and 485 hectares of land taken up by settlements along the banks of the Jamuna, Ganges, Padma and lower Meghna Rivers will disappear due to erosion, this year.

The river erosion will also render about 35 thousand people, landless.

In 2013 the Jamuna, Ganges and Padma eroded away about 3190 hectares of agricultural land.

The Bangladesh Water Development Board (BWDB) and Centre for Environmental and Geographic Information Services (CEGIS) have prepared a prediction report in April through the analysis of satellite images.

According to the report, around 137

Two murdered in Kushtia brother Molakka and sister Delwara very unhappy.

Subsequently, Molakka and Delwara attacked him at night, slashing up his body, and leaving him critically injured.

Other family members rescued him and got him admitted to the Kushtia Medical College and Hospital where on-duty doctors declared him dead.

Police later arrested Molakka and Delwara.

Bheramara Circle Additional Superintendent of police Ashik Bin Hassan

DHAKA TRIBUNE

“We have posted tenders for 25000 Geo-textile bags to protect from river erosion in Bogra,” said Momtaz Uddin.

BWDB and CEGIS sources said at least 1,79,257 hectares of agricultural land has been eroded between 1974 and 2014.

They predicted that around 8,596 meters of road will be completely destroyed this year.

According to the previous publication of the CEGIS, the rate of erosion by the Jamuna River was 5,000 hectares a year in the 1980s in Kurigram, Gaibandha, Jamalpur, Bogra, Sirajgang, Tangail and Manikganj.

In the 1990s, erosion by the Padma River was 2,300 hectares a year in Faridpur, Shariatpur, Dhaka, Madaripur and Manikganj. l

BANGLADESH BANK confirmed the incident.

In the Gangarampur area of the Daulatpur upazila, a young man, Mujibar, 22, was hacked to death for allegedly plucking mangoes from an orchard.

Police sources said Mujibar was plucking mangoes in Imtiaz’s orchard in the morning. They got into a fight over the incident and at one stage, Imtiaz hacked Mujibar to death.

On receiving this information, police recovered the body and sent it to a hospital morgue. A case was filed. l

Husband beats female schoolteacher to death n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj A female schoolteacher was allegedly beaten to death by her husband and in-laws over a family feud in the Mulkandi village of the Chauhali upazila on Tuesday.

Locals said Hafiza Khatun, 25, assistant teacher of a local primary school, was beaten to death by her husband Shamim Hossain over a triviality.

Later, Shamim and his family members fled the scene, leaving the body at home.

On receiving information about this, police recovered the body and sent it to the hospital for an autopsy.

Waheduzzaman, officer-in-charge of the Enayetpur police station, said the body bore several injury marks.

A case was filed. l

Indian national detained n Our Correspondent, Thakurgaon An Indian national was detained by the Border Guard Bangladesh in the Kochol frontier area of the Pirganj upazila, yesterday.

According to sources, Bashonta Roy, 45, of the Kourisingjat village in Darjeeling, West Bengal, had entered Bangladesh a month ago illegally.

He was arrested when he was trying to cross the border into India and was sent to jail.

Mohammad Ishtiak, officer-incharge of the Pirganj police station, confirmed the incident. l

Common Services Department-1 (Equipment Section) Head Office Dhaka-1000.

Website: www.bb.org.bd

Tender Notice (Local) Open Tenders are invited through e-tendering system from bonafide local Agents/Suppliers/Dealers/Distributors/Retailers and Manufacturer for Supply and Installation of 1000 (One thousand) Client Access License of Microsoft Exchange 2013 for Bangladesh Bank, Head Office, Dhaka. Necessary Information is given below: Sl. Procuring Entity Name No. 1 Ministry/ Division 2 Agency 3 Procuring Entity Name 4 Procuring Entity Code 5 Procuring Entity District 6 Invitation For 7 Invitation Ref. No. 8 Date KEY INFORMATION 9 Procurement Method FUNDING INFORMATION 10 Budget and source of funds 11 Development Partners (If applicable)

Bangladesh Bank Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Bangladesh Bank.

Not used at present.

Dhaka.

The Procurement of IT Equipment.

CSD-1(EQUIPMENT)69(3)Tender-65/2014 21/05/2014 Open Tendering Method Bangladesh Bank.

Not applicable.

PARTICULAR INFORMATION 12 13 14 15 16 17 18 19

Project/ Program Code (If applicable) Project/ Program Name (If applicable) Tender Package No. Tender Package Name Tender Publication Date Tender Closing Date & Time Tender Opening Date & Time Name & Address of the Office(s)

-Receiving Tender Document -Opening Tender Document

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

Not applicable.

22/05/2014 11/06/2014 up to 11.30 AM 11/06/2014 at 11.45 AM Deputy General Manager’s office Chamber, Common Services Department-1, (6th Floor of 30- Storied Building), Bangladesh Bank, Head Office, Motijheel C/A, Dhaka-1000, Bangladesh.

Bangladesh Bank Website, http://www.bb.org.bd Common Services Department-1, 6th Floor, Annex-2 Building, Bangladesh Bank, Head Office, Dhaka.

INFORMATION FOR TENDERER 20 Eligibility for Tendering

Tenderers having 05 years overall business experience and 03 years specific experience in successful Supply and Installation of proposed goods in any Govt./Semi-Govt./ Autonomous Organizations or Multinational Registered Companies in Bangladesh.

21 Brief Description of Goods or Works Supply and Installation of 1000 (One thousand) Client Access License of Microsoft Exchange 2013 for Bangladesh Bank, Head Office.

22 Brief Description of Related Services N/A 23 Lot Identification of Lot Location Tender Security Completion Time in Weeks/Months No Amount (Tk) 1 Lot-1: 1,000 (One thousand) CSD-1 1,00,000/14days Client Access License of Microsoft Exchange 2013.

PROCURING ENTITY DETAILS 24 Name of Official Inviting Tender K.M. Gousuzzaman 25 Designation of Official Inviting Tender General Manager.

26 Address of Official Inviting Tender Common Services Department-1, Bangladesh Bank, Head Office, Dhaka.

27 Contact Details of Official Inviting Tel: 9530148 Fax: 9564117 E-mail: km.gousuzzaman@bb.org.bd Tender 28 The Procuring entity reserves the right to accept or reject any or all the tender without assigning any reason whatsoever.

DCP: 48/2014-1678, Date: 21/05/2014

DG-99/14 (10×4)

K.M. Gousuzzaman

General Manager

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Juris

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Bangladesh’s obligation towards refugees

Consequences of non-appearance of parties in civil litigations n Raisul Islam Sourav

A

ppearance and non-appearance of parties during trial before the court is a crucial issue to resolve civil dispute. Because, mere appearance or non- appearance can determine the ultimate result of a civil litigation. The provisions of the Code of Civil Procedure (CPC), 1908 are based on a general principle that, as far as possible, no proceeding in a court of law should be conducted to the detriment of any party in his/ her absence. Also it is the duty of the concern party to be aware of his rights, show vigilance towards the court and establish his/her claim by taking proper measures.

In law, appearance means appearance in person or through advocate for conducting a case.

However, appearance by a pleader within the meaning of CPC does not mean mere presence in the court; it means “appearance by a pleader” duly instructed and able to answer all material questions relating to the suit.

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

A

n ABM Imdadul Haque Khan cording to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), 1948, all persons are guaranteed the right to life, liberty and security of person, freedom from slavery, freedom from torture and cruel, inhuman or degrading punishment, the right to be recognised as a person before law, and equality before the law.

Obligation under international instruments Bangladesh is not a party to the 1951 Refugee Convention or the UNHCR Statute. However, Bangladesh has ratified a number of major international human rights instruments. Among them the significant ones are the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), Four Geneva Convention of 1949 and their two Additional Protocols of 1977, International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR), International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR), Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC), Convention on Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), Convention Against Torture (CAT) etc. All of these instruments have a bearing upon Bangladesh’s obligation to protect refugees.

Even though the refugees are foreigners in the country of asylum, by virtue of Article 2 of the ICCPR, 1966, they could enjoy the same fundamental rights and freedoms as nationals. The right to equality before the law, equal protection of the law and non-discrimination which form a cornerstone of international human rights laws call for banning discrimination against refugees based on their status as such.

The Declaration and Programme of Action of the World Conference on Human Rights also reaffirmed the right of every person to seek and enjoy asylum.

Furthermore, the CRC also obliges the state parties to take care of the interest and rights of the refugee children including their birth registration.

In addition to the above

instruments, Bangladesh voted for the United Nations Declaration on Territorial Asylum in the General Assembly, which strengthens its obligations of protection, asylum and non-refoulment. Bangladesh is also a party to the International Labour Organization’s Convention Number 118, which provides for social security to refugees and stateless persons living in the territory of the signatory state.

Additionally, Bangladesh has been a member of the Executive Committee of the High Commissioner’s Programme (EXCOM) since 1995. EXCOM, a body composed of 94 governments, oversees UNHCR’s budgets and advises on refugee protection. Bangladesh’s membership in the EXCOM is certainly indicative of its particular interest and greater commitment to refugee matters.

Obligation under constitutional framework The constitution of Bangladesh upholds the right to life and liberty of all individual. Not only is the life of a citizen of Bangladesh guaranteed, but also everyone who inhabits the terrain of this country is assured of protection in respect of life and liberty.

The fundamental principles of state policy as mentioned in the constitution essentially reflect international law and the principles enunciated in the UN Charter. Article 25 of the Constitution provides that “the State shall base its international relations on the principles of respect for ... international law and the principles enunciated in the United Nations Charter.”

The UN Charter, in its preamble, specifically refers to the reaffirmation of “faith in fundamental rights, in the dignity and worth of the human person, in the equal rights of men and women and of nations large and small.

The Charter in its articles of 1, 55 and 62 reiterates the observance of human rights for all peoples of the world.

Part III of the Constitution guarantees a series of fundamental human rights, drawing heavily from the international human rights discourse. For example Article 27 of the Constitution provides equal protection of law for all. Article 31 provides that

not only the citizens are entitled to have the protection of law but the foreigners (non-citizen) who stay in the country for the time being are also entitled to have so. Furthermore, Article 32 states that “no person shall be deprived of life and liberty save in accordance with law.”

It is to be noted that the word ‘person’ and not ‘citizen’ has been used in the Articles and therefore it is argued that no person, irrespective of whether she/he is a citizen of Bangladesh, can be deprived of her/his life or liberty once that person is on the soil of Bangladesh.

The Constitution also guarantees right to life and personal liberty; safeguards from arbitrary arrest and detention; prohibition of forced labour; right of fair trial; freedom of movement, assembly, association, freedom of expression, profession or occupation, religion; right to property, etc.

However, for the translation and execution of these constitutional provisions in the interest of the refugees, needs comprehensive legal interpretations and pro-active initiatives from the government. Till now, there is no significant indication in this regard.

In regards to statutory framework, there is no domestic law or specific national policy governing the protection of refugees in Bangladesh.

In practice, foreigners, irrespective of asylum seekers or simply visitors are treated here under the purview of aged old laws which are inadequate to meet the need of the time.

The inadequate statutory framework dealing with refugees in Bangladesh offers a stark contrast to the fundamental rights in the Constitution and increasingly evolved norms and principles under international refugee law. The statutory framework does not even acknowledge refugees as a separate class of people deserving separate treatment.

However, the relative success of Bangladesh’s policy of dealing with refugees in an ad hoc manner without committing itself to a general statutory framework has silenced demands for a legislation concerning refugees as a separate class. To understand the law governing refugees, it would be useful

to examine the respective regulatory framework to deal with refugees.

Legislations dealing with refugees • • • • • • • • • • • • • •

Foreigners Act, 1946 Foreigners Order, 1951 Registration of Foreigners Act, 1939, Registration of Foreigners Rules, 1966 Passports Act, 1920 Passport Rules, 1955 Bangladesh Passport Order, 1973 Citizenship Act, 1951 Bangladesh Citizenship (Temporary Provisions) Order, 1972, Bangladesh Control of Entry Act, 1952 Extradition Act, 1974 Naturalization Act, 1926 Code of Civil Procedure, 1908 Children Act, 2013

These laws make no distinction between refugees and other foreigners. Using the wide discretionary powers derived from Section 3 of the Foreigners Act of 1946, the Ministry of Home Affairs may issue residential permits to any foreigner, and it is on this basis that a large number of UNHCR-recognised mandate refugees have been able to secure “stay” facilities which are issued to mandate refugees on the basis of an informal recognition of the UNHCR-issued refugee certificates.

However, the constitutional laws and ordinary laws through judicial process alone are not sufficient and adequate to deal with the refugee problem in Bangladesh. Arguably, these laws are not made for such specific purposes. Hence, specific legislation relating to the treatment and welfare of refugees is necessary.

Considering the huge size of refugee population inside Bangladesh and recurrent history of refugee phenomenon in the South Asian region due to a number of reasons, it is also necessary to enact a national law which would provide specific guidelines to the implementing agencies to uphold the refugee cause. The need of the hour is to have a well-defined national refugee law. l ABM Imdadul Haque Khan is a Lecturer, Southeast University, Dhaka.

JURIS QUOTE There is no crueler tyranny than that which is perpetuated under the shield of law and in the name of justice.

Charles de Montesquieu (1689 – 1755) French social commentator and political thinker

Effect of non-appearance of the plaintiff On the first day of a trial, if it is found that the summons which need to be served upon the defendant has not been served properly in consequence of the failure of the plaintiff to pay the court-fee or postal charges payable for such service, the court may dismiss the suit for the default of the plaintiff.

Again, on the date of peremptory hearing, if the plaintiff does not show up but the defendant appears before the court, the suit will be dismissed accordingly unless the defendant admits the whole claim or any part of it. In the latter case the court shall pass a decree against the defendant upon such admission, and, shall dismiss the part of the claim not admitted.

Remedies against such dismissal If a suit is dismissed for non-appearance of the claimant, the plaintiff has two-

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the court at that day, only for nonappearance of the defendant and the plaintiff will get an ex parte decree from the court.

Further, on the date of peremptory hearing, if the plaintiff is present but the defendant is not then the suit will also be decreed ex-parte on the basis of plaintiff ’s claim. However, the defendant has an opportunity to adjourn the hearing by showing proper reason for his/her absence. However, to avail this opportunity, he/she needs to pursue his/her suit by appearing in person before the court.

Remedies against such ex parte decree If an ex parte decree has been passed against the defendant then the defendant has to take any of the following five actions against such decision: 1. The defendant may file a petition by swearing an affidavit within 30 days from the decision of the trial court to set aside the decree with a fine of not more than Tk3,000 and the defendant can get this opportunity once in a suit according to the provision of the Code of Civil Procedure.

2. The defendant may apply for setting aside the ex parte decree after showing sufficient cause and substantial reason for not appearing before the court. However, the term “sufficient cause” has not been defined anywhere in the Code, it is a question of fact and it will be determined considering the fact and circumstances of each case.

3. The defendant may file an appeal under section 96 of the CPC to reverse the decision of the trial court.

4. The defendant may file a review petition before the same decision making trial court to set aside its former decision.

5. The affected party may file an independent suit for cancellation of the decree under the Specific Relief Act, 1887.

BIG STOCK

fold options to revive his/her case.

However, where concurrent remedies are available at the same time it is the duty of the concerned lawyer to choose the best one for the protection of the rights of his/her client. In that case the remedies are: a) Filing a fresh suit on the same cause of action before the competent court b) The plaintiff may file a petition to set the dismissal order aside. The petitioner shall have 30 days to file the petition from the date of cancellation of such suit. After the expiry of that 30 days the petitioner has another chance to file the petition by virtue of Section 5 of the Limitation Act. Apart from these, in case of dismissal of suit for non-attendance, the defaulter may file an application to set aside the dismissal order by swearing an affidavit to the concerned court within 30 days from the date of such dismissal order, along with a fee of not more than Tk1,000.

Effect of non-appearance of the defendant

Consult you counsel

7

After the service of summons, the defendant has to appear before the court in person or represented by a pleader on such date stipulated in the summons. If the defendant is not ready to defend his/her case at that day, he/she may take further time to answer after getting permission from the court. If the party does not appear in person or through his/her lawyer, the suit will be determined finally by

It is the duty of both the parties to appear before the learned court at appropriate time and to cooperate with the court to settle the dispute effectively Consequences of non-appearance of both the parties If both the contesting parties (plaintiff and defendant) remain absent from the hearing on the date of peremptory or final hearing, the suit may be dismissed by the court. In that case, both the parties have the same remedy that a claimant has against an order of dismissal for non-appearance.

Finally, non-appearance of parties in a civil litigation has a great impact upon the whole proceedings of the case.

It is the duty of both the parties to appear before the learned court at appropriate time and to cooperate with the court to settle the dispute effectively. l Raisul Islam Sourav is a Senior Lecturer and Coordinator, Department of Law at Dhaka International University (DIU).

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Thursday, May 22, 2014

With Ukraine, Russia drives wedge between EU, US n AP, Washington

Rescuers and residents gather at the charred scene following a bomb blast at Terminus market in the central city of Jos

AFP

Blasts kill at least 118 in Nigeria n

Reuters, Jos, Nigeria

Back-to-back bomb blasts killed at least 118 people and wounded 45 in the crowded business district of the central Nigerian city of Jos on Tuesday, emergency services said, in an attack that appeared to bear the hallmarks of the Boko Haram insurgents.

There was no immediate claim of responsibility. But the militant group Boko Haram, which has set off bombs across the north and center of Nigeria in an increasingly bloody campaign for an Islamic state, was likely to be the prime suspect in what would rank among their deadliest single attacks in five years of insurrection.

Boko Haram grabbed world headlines by abducting more than 200 schoolgirls on April 14 from the northeastern village of Chibok. Britain, the United States and France have pledged to help rescue them.

If the Jos attack was the handiwork of Boko Haram, it would show their growing reach in Africa’s top oil producing and most populous country, striking out beyond their heartland in Nigeria’s semi-arid and weakly governed northeast. Several bombs have exploded outside that region over the past month.

It was also likely calculated to stoke civil strife in Nigeria’s most combustible ethnic and sectarian tinder box. Jos and the surrounding Plateau state have seen thousands killed in tit-for-tat violence between largely Christian Berom farmers and Muslim Fulani cattle herders over the past decade.

A Reuters reporter saw 10 bodies burned beyond recognition at the bomb site opposite a hospital at Terminus, the downtown area of Jos which houses shops, some offices and a market.

“We’ve now recovered 118 bodies

from the rubble,” said Mohammed Abdulsalam, coordinator of the National Emergency Management Agency in Jos. “This could rise by morning, as there is still some rubble we haven’t yet shifted.”

Plateau state Police Commissioner Chris Olakpe earlier confirmed a death toll of 46, adding that other wounded had been taken to hospital.

“The first explosive went off around 3 p.m. The second was about 3:30 while people gathered to help the victims,” he said by telephone. “This is a very busy area of Jos metropolis.”

The back-to-back blast tactic, whose aim is to maximize civilian casualties, has also been used by militants in Iraq and other places.

Jos has been relatively free of attacks by Boko Haram, but it claimed responsibility for a bomb in a church in the highland city, as well as two other places, on Christmas Day in 2011. l

The crisis in Ukraine is giving Russia an opening to drive a wedge between the United States and Europe just as Western powers try to repair a struggling trade deal and decide how to bolster a cash-strapped Nato.

For years, the West has frustrated Moscow by offering former Soviet states membership into economic and military alliances, undercutting Russian President Vladimir Putin’s ambitions to build a regional economic powerhouse to rival the European Union and expand his military reach throughout the old Eastern Bloc.

But sharp divisions between the US and EU over how severely to punish Russia for intervening in Ukraine have given Moscow the chance to upend Western unity on other key geopolitical and long-term strategic issues. At the same time, with the West rejecting his approach to world affairs, Putin was in Beijing this week getting support from Chinese President Xi Jinping.

In an interview last week, Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the EU is kept on “a short leash” by the United States.

“The real aim of the United States is not to let Europeans to go on their own,” Lavrov told Bloomberg Television in Moscow.

Officials in Washington and Brussels insist they generally agree on how to limit Russia’s alleged meddling in Ukraine. Late last week, the top US and British diplomats announced a new threat to sanction Russian business, financial, energy and mining sectors if Moscow disrupts Sunday’s presidential election in Ukraine.

“It’s always a temptation to divide, to create this between the EU and US,” said Joao Vale de Almeida, the EU’s ambassador to the United States. “Our job is to prevent that from happening and to stay united and stay focused on what we share. ... We want to preserve Ukraine’s territorial integrity, its sovereignty; we want to help Ukraine become a full,

prosperous country; we want to create a diplomatic solution. I don’t think anybody can divide us on this.” Still, simmering tensions between the US and EU have been evident for months.

Germany and France have shunned sectorial sanctions without first trying again to broker a dialogue between Ukraine’s government and pro-Russian separatists in the country’s east — a step that garnered only lukewarm US support. The EU can only impose sanctions by unanimous agreement from all 28 of its member states, and the Obama administration for months has pushed Europe to embrace US plans for tougher penalties against Moscow.

Europe is Russia’s largest trading partner and therefore has huge sway over Russia’s shaky economy The strain became clear in February, shortly after the Ukraine unrest peaked and the government in Kiev was overturned. A bugged phone call posted on YouTube with Russian subtitles captured Assistant Secretary of State Victoria Nuland dismissing the EU with a common expletive in frustration over Europe’s pace in helping Ukraine. Nuland later apologized, and the State Department described the incident as “a new low in Russian tradecraft.”

The EU has been far more cautious about sanctioning Russia’s economic and energy sectors, in part because of longstanding trade between Moscow and European nations.

Europe is Russia’s largest trading partner and therefore has huge sway over Russia’s shaky economy. Yet some European nations are reluctant to undercut their own financial stability and endanger their main source of energy by imposing harsh penalties against Moscow. l

Prince Charles ‘compares Egypt court sentences Mubarak to three years in jail for graft Putin to Hitler’ n AFP, London Prince Charles was mired in controversy yesterday after he reportedly compared the actions of Russian President Vladimir Putin in Ukraine to those of Adolf Hitler.

The heir to the throne made the apparently unguarded comment during a trip to a museum in Canada, in conversation with a Polish-born woman who had fled the Nazis as a child.

“I had finished showing him the exhibit and talked with him about my own family background and how I came to Canada,” Marienne Ferguson told Britain’s Daily Mail newspaper.

“The prince then said: ‘And now Putin is doing just about the same as Hitler’.”

Ferguson, now 78, moved to Canada with her Jewish family when she was 13.

She lost relatives in the Holocaust.

“I must say that I agree with him and am sure a lot of people do,” she told the newspaper.

But she added: “I was very surprised that he made the comment as I know they (the royal family) aren’t meant to say these things, but it was very heartfelt and honest.”

The remark made headlines around the world, and Russian media said it threatened to further “complicate” relations between Britain and Moscow.

The future king and Putin are both attending commemorations marking the 70th anniversary of D-Day on June 6th, although royal aides said no formal meeting was scheduled.

The prince’s office would not confirm his remarks but said he would not have intended to make a political statement.

Members of the royal family by convention do not comment on political affairs, and Queen Elizabeth II is famous for keeping her own counsel.

However, her 65-year-old son Charles has come under criticism in the past for his outspoken remarks about everything from genetically modified food to architecture.

Opposition Labour lawmaker Mike Gapes, a member of the House of Commons foreign affairs committee, said the royals “should be seen and not heard.”

“If Prince Charles wants to make controversial statements on national or international issues, he should abdicate and stand for election,” he said on Twitter. l

n AFP, Cairo An Egyptian court yesterday sentenced deposed president Hosni Mubarak to three years in prison on corruption charges, in one of two trials after the 2011 uprising that ended his rule.

His sons Alaa and Gamal each received four-year jail terms, and four other defendants were acquitted.

They were accused of embezzling more than one hundred million Egyptian pounds (about $14m, 10m euros) earmarked for the maintenance of presidential palaces.

Mubarak, 86, wearing a grey suit, sat on a wheelchair in the caged dock for the verdict. His sons, in white prison issue clothing, stood beside him.

Mubarak had technically been a free man after a court ordered his release last year following the end of the permitted detention period, but has since remained out of sight in a military hospital.

He is now likely to be returned to prison.

“The owners of public property are the people,” said judge Osama Shaheen

before reading out the verdict.

“We will appeal,” Mostafa Ali As, one of Mubarak’s lawyers, told AFP after the ruling.

Mubarak was sentenced to life in prison in 2012 over the killings of protesters during the 18-day uprising that ended his three-decade rule.

A court overturned that verdict on technical grounds, and he is now being retried along with seven police commanders.

He also faces corruption charges in that trial, along with his sons and a businessman who fled the country.

Mubarak’s trial was a key demand of protesters in the months after his overthrow, prompting the then ruling military to arrest him in a resort villa and move him to a Cairo prison.

The country has moved on since, with the rehabilitation of many Mubarak era officials and his once despised police forces following the overthrow of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi last July.

Former military chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi, who had served as Mubarak’s

military intelligence chief, is expected to sweep to victory in a presidential election next week.

Sisi has promised that there will be no return to Mubarak’s venal regime.

But he will keep on interim prime minister Ibrahim Mahlab, once a senior member of Mubarak’s National Democratic Party.

The party itself is still banned, and a court has issued a ruling banning former senior party members from standing in parliamentary elections scheduled for later this year.

The police too enjoy new levels of popularity, despite a brutal crackdown that has killed more than 1,400 people, mostly Islamists, in the months following Morsi’s overthrow.

Many now blame Morsi’s Muslim Brotherhood, not the police, for violence during the anti-Mubarak rebellion.

The Islamist Morsi is himself now on trial on charges relating to violence during the anti-Mubarak uprising, and also later involvement in the killings of opposition protesters during his sole year in power. l

China and Russia sign huge gas supply deal n Reuters, Shanghai China and Russia signed a $400bn gas supply deal yesterday, securing the world’s top energy user a major source of cleaner fuel and opening up a new market for Moscow as it risks losing European customers over the Ukraine crisis.

The long-awaited agreement is a political triumph for Russian President Vladimir Putin, who is courting partners in Asia as those in Europe and the United States seek to isolate him over Moscow’s annexation of the Crimean peninsula.

Commercially, much depends on the price and other terms of the contract, which has been more than a decade in the making. China had the upper hand as negotiations entered their final phase, aware of Putin’s face-off with the West.

“This is the biggest contract in the history of the gas sector of the former USSR,” said Putin, after the agreement was signed in Shanghai between state-controlled entities Gazprom and China National Petroleum Corp (CNPC).

“Our Chinese friends are difficult, hard negotiators,” he said, noting that talks went on until 4 a.m.

“Through mutual compromise we managed to reach not only acceptable, but rather satisfactory, terms on this contract for both sides. Both sides were in the end pleased by the compromise reached on price and other terms,” the president said.

Putin and Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping applauded as they witnessed the deal being signed, just hours before the Russian leader was due to leave Shanghai at the end of a two-day visit.

The gas deal came in time for a major economic summit in the northern Russian city of St. Petersburg starting Thursday.

Around a dozen chief executives and chairmen of major U.S. and European corporations have withdrawn from the forum over the Ukraine crisis. l

Video shows fatal shooting of Palestinians n Agencies A human rights group has released footage that it says shows Israeli security forces shooting dead two apparently unarmed Palestinian teenagers.

The video released on Tuesday allegedly showed the teenagers, who posed no danger, being shot during a protest last week on Nakba Day , when the Palestinians marked the loss of their homes in the 1948 war that resulted in the creation of the state of Israel and the flight of hundreds of thousands of Palestinians.

Defence for Children International (DCI) posted the two-minute video on YouTube, which it said was edited from six hours of surveillance footage from fixed security cameras at a Palestinian-owned business that overlooked the scene. The group said the video showed that troops had committed “unlawful killings where neither child presented a direct and immediate threat to life at the time of their shooting.”

The Israeli rights group B’Tselem said the images back its findings that troops killed the teens by firing live rounds from more than 200 metres away. l

Christian exodus shadows papal visit to Holy Land n AP, Bethlehem Pope Francis will arrive this weekend in the land where Christianity was born — and where Christians are disappearing.

This ancient community has dwindled to around 2% of the region’s population as economic hardship, violence and the bitter realities of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict have sent Christians searching for better opportunities overseas.

The Christian exodus, underway for decades, has reached critical levels in recent years. Emigration is a central concern to local Vatican officials, who are trying to stave off the flight with offers of jobs, housing and scholarships.

“I am sad to think that maybe the time will come in which Christianity will disappear from this land,” said the Rev. Juan Solana, a Vatican envoy who oversees the Notre Dame center, a Jerusalem hotel for pilgrims that employs 150 locals, mostly Christians.

Solana said he employs Christians to encourage them “to stay here, to love this land, to be aware of their particular vocation to be the witnesses

of Christianity in this land.”

The Christian exodus is taking place across the Middle East. Jordan, where Pope Francis will begin his three-day trip Saturday, has thousands of Christian refugees from war-torn Syria and Iraq.

For the Church, the phenomenon is particularly heartbreaking in the cradle of Christianity. According to Christian tradition, Jesus was born in the West Bank town of Bethlehem, spent much of his life in Nazareth and the northern Galilee region of Israel, and was crucified and resurrected in Jerusalem.

The pope said in a November speech that “we will not be resigned to think about the Middle East without Christians,” lamenting that they “suffer particularly from the consequences of the tensions and conflicts underway” across the region.

Christians in the Holy Land have dwindled from over 10% of the population on the eve of Israel’s founding to between 2 and 3% today, according to the local Roman Catholic church.

The decline began with high Jewish immigration and Christian emigration after the 1948 war surrounding Israel’s

establishment, and has been abetted by continued emigration and a low birthrate among Christians who stay.

Israeli restrictions in the occupied West Bank have also persuaded Christians to leave.

The concrete and fence barrier Israel built to keep out Palestinian attackers has choked cities like Bethlehem and separated Palestinians from their farmlands. Many Palestinian Christians are prohibited from entering Jerusalem except during holidays.

Israeli-Palestinian violence has also pushed people to leave, and instances of Islamic extremism, particularly in the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, have made some Christians feel unwelcome in some cases, though relations between Palestinian Christians and Muslims are generally friendly.

West Bank Christians are preparing to share some of these grievances with Pope Francis, and artisans are fashioning a cross with cement pieces of Israel’s barrier for the Palestinian president to give the pope.

Sources say an estimated 80% of Christian Palestinians live abroad. l

In this photo taken on May 19, a welcome banner for Pope Francis with his picture hangs on a building, in the West Bank city of Bethlehem.

Pope Francis will be arriving this weekend to the land where Christianity was born, and where Christians are disappearing AP

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Talks to end Thai crisis inconclusive n Reuters, Bangkok

Thailand: the road to martial law 2013 Oct

Thousands of demonstrators join daily rallies in Bangkok to protest an amnesty bill that opponents fear would allow exiled former PM Thaksin Shinawatra to return

Nov 1

Lower house passes political amnesty bill, triggering protests, upper house later rejects it

Nov 24

Up to 180,000 people join opposition protests in Bangkok

Nov 25-27

Opposition protesters besiege ministries in a bid to topple the government

Nov 28 Nov 29Dec 3

PM Yingluck Shinawatra survives parliamentary no-confidence vote Protests escalate, several killed and over 200 injured

Feb 2 2014

Snap elections called by Yingluck in December.

Opposition demonstrators block voting at 10,000 polling stations

May 7

Constitutional Court dismisses Yingluck and nine ministers from office for abuse of power Cabinet appoints new caretaker premier Niwattumrong Boonsongpaisan

May 20

Anti-government protester, Bangkok, April 1

The army declares martial law across the kingdom

Thailand’s rival political factions would not agree yesterday to stop their protests at crisis talks aimed at ending confrontation a day after the army declared martial law, a pro-government activist said.

Although the military denied Tuesday’s surprise intervention amounted to a coup, army chief General Prayuth Chanocha appeared to be setting the agenda by forcing groups and organizations with a central role in the crisis to talk.

Issues raised during the meeting included how to reform the political system - a demand made by anti-government protesters - and ending the demonstrations that have sparked violence, disrupted business and scared off tourists.

“When asked whether each group can stop protesting, there was no commitment from either side,” Thida Thawornseth, a leader of the pro-government “red shirt” political group, told Reuters. “There was no clear conclusion.”

Puchong Nutrawong, secretary-general of the Election Commission, who was also at the talks, said all sides would meet again on Thursday.

“The army chief asked us to go back home and think about the things we discussed in order to find a solution for the country,” Puchong told Reuters.

Thailand has been riven by rivalry between populist former Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra and the royalist establishment for nearly 10 years.

Thaksin, a former telecommunications billionaire who won the loyalty of the rural and urban poor, has lived in self-exile since 2008 but

Kejriwal taken into custody after refusing to seek bail n Agencies Former Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal was yesterday sent to two-day judicial custody by a court after he refused to furnish a personal bail bond in a defamation case filed by BJP leader Nitin Gadkari, the Hindustan Times reported.

Metropolitan magistrate Gomati Manocha fixed Friday as the next date of hearing. Manocha had asked him to furnish a bail bond of Rs. 10,000 but the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) leader refused.

Kejriwal was summoned by the

court for describing former Bharatiya Janata Party president as a “corrupt” person.

“It is not necessary to furnish bail bond. On four earlier occasions, we did not take bail but filed only undertaking,” the AAP’s official Twitter handle quoted Prashant Bhushan as saying after Kejriwal was taken into lock up in court premises. “Based on his values and principles, Arvind Kejriwal denied taking bail,” Bhushan added.

Former Delhi law minister and AAP leader Somnath Bharti took an indirect dig at the BJP by tweeting: “First victim of acchhe din @ArvindKejriwal arrest-

ed in defamation case by Sri gadkari.

Strange manifestation of acchhe din.”

The BJP’s Harsh Varshan attacked the AAP convener for his statements against Gadkari: “Kejriwal put wrong allegations against Nitin Gadkari and the latter gave him a fitting reply by filing a case against him.”

Earlier, Kejriwal told the court he would not furnish a bail bond as the case was a political one. Instead, he promised to give an undertaking to appear before the court at every hearing.

“I am fighting against corruption.

I will not seek bail as I have not done anything wrong,” he said. l

Kejriwal regrets quitting Delhi job, seeks fresh polls n AP, New Delhi An Indian anti-corruption campaigner who quit as New Delhi’s top elected official just 49 days into the job apologized for the mistake yesterday, after his upstart party fizzled nationally.

“Today I would like to apologize to the people of Delhi and the people of this country. We have made a mistake and I apologize for our mistake,” Arvind Kejriwal said at a news conference, adding that his exit made people think they were running away from responsibility.

Pakistani airstrikes kill 60 militants n AP, Islamabad Pakistani military jet fighters and helicopter gunships pounded militant hideouts near the Afghan border yesterday, killing 60 militants, the army said.

The airstrikes mainly targeted Mir Ali, a town in the lawless tribal region of North Waziristan, the army said in a statement.

It said 60 terrorists, including some of the important commanders and foreigners were also killed in the strikes, which also wounded another 30.

One resident, who identified himself as Saeedullah Khan, said the army had also been using artillery fire since early morning. “We heard big bangs,” he said. “I saw some houses flattened.”

The army didn’t give more details on the important commanders or the foreign who were killed.

The claims could not be independently verified. The lawless tribal area is off limits to foreign journalists.

The army said investigation into recent attacks against civilians and security forces had led it to the militant hideouts that were targeted. l

Kejriwal’s Aam Aadmi, or Common Man’s, Party was formed on the back of hugely popular street protests that galvanized India’s middle class against the culture of corruption that is endemic in this nation of 1.2 billion. The election for the Delhi state legislature was the party’s first outing, and even its members were surprised they won 27 out of 70 seats in Delhi’s assembly in December.

But the minority government resigned in February after Congress party voted with the opposition to block a bill to create a strong ombudsman in the capital. Rooting out graft and creating

the ombudsman position were the party’s key aims, and Kejriwal said the party members left government because they did not want to compromise their principles.

Their detractors said Kejriwal and his party quit because they were eager to parlay their initial success into nationwide prominence.

But in the recent national election, the party won only four seats in India’s 543-member lower house of Parliament.

Kejriwal himself lost by a wide margin to the man who will become India’s next prime minister, Narendra Modi. l

still exerts a huge influence, most recently through a government run by his sister, Yingluck Shinawatra.

Yingluck was forced to step down as premier by a court two weeks ago, but her caretaker government remains in power, despite the declaration of martial law and six months of sometimes violent protests aimed at ousting it.

The turmoil has driven the country to the brink of recession and even raised fears of civil war.

‘Homework handed out’

The anti-government protesters are opposed to an election, which Thaksin’s loyalist would be likely to win.

They want a “neutral” prime minister installed to oversee electoral reforms aimed at ending Thaksin’s influence.

The government, on the other hand, sees a general election as the best way forward and has proposed a new vote on August 3. The anti-government protesters disrupted an election in February that was later annulled, and they have vowed to do so again.

Whether all sides could accept an interim prime minister and what reforms could be implemented were also raised at the talks, Thida said.

An army spokesman said all sides would go away to think.

“There was no conclusion. It is as though homework was handed out for each side to work on,” deputy army spokesman Winthai Suvaree told reporters.

Military sources say Prayuth is believed to favor the appointment of an interim prime minister by the Senate, who would then shepherd through reforms. l

The two candidates who will face-off in the June 14 run-off vote Official result of April 5 election % of votes won

45 Abdullah Abdullah Age: 53

31.6

Ashraf Ghani 64

Foreign minister in in the post-2001 transitional government under Hamid Karzai, until sacked in 2006

Finance minister in 2002-2004 and later led the national security transition commission

Came second in the 2009 presidential election, withdrew from run-off amid allegations that Karzai supporters were involved in fraud

Came fourth in 2009 with less than 3 percent of vote, but has performed strongly in the current campaign

Born to Pashtun and Tajik parents Qualified eye surgeon

A run-off is required because no candidates won more than 50 percent in the first round

Ethnically Pashtun Former World Bank worker and academic

Indonesian election presents US with Modistyle visa headache n Reuters, Washington The emergence of Prabowo Subianto as a serious contender in Indonesia’s election this week means the United States faces the awkward possibility of having to welcome another Asian leader it had denied entry to because of alleged links to mass killings.

The situation has arisen days after Washington found itself having to change course and promise a visa to Indian Prime Minister-Elect Narendra Modi after his landslide election win. Modi was barred from the United States in 2005.

The possibility of another Washington U-turn became apparent after Indonesia’s second-largest party on Monday suddenly switched its support to Prabowo from frontrunner Joko “Jokowi” Widodo ahead of July 9 presidential polls.

Prabowo was once one of Indonesia’s most reviled men, accused of kidnapping, human rights abuses and a coup attempt after the 1998 overthrow of his former father-in-law, the late President Suharto.

A New York Times report in March said that in 2000 the US State Department denied the former general a visa to attend his son’s university graduation in Boston, but has never said why.

Prabowo told Reuters in 2012 he was still refused a US visa due to allegations that he instigated riots that killed hundreds after Suharto’s overthrow. He has

denied wrongdoing.

India’s Modi was denied a US visa in 2005 under the terms of a 1998 US law which bars entry to foreigners who have committed “particularly severe violations of religious freedom.”

However, after Modi’s party swept to victory in elections last week, US President Barack Obama was quick to telephone his congratulations and invite the new leader of a country he has declared a vital strategic partner to the White House.

The State Department said Modi would be granted an A-1 visa accorded to heads of state. Modi has also has denied any wrongdoing and has never been prosecuted in India.

Asked if Prabowo would be treated the same as Modi if he won Indonesia’s election, a State Department official responded with statements similar to those before India’s poll result - saying the department did not discuss individual visa cases.

“Applicants traveling on official business on behalf of their government are subject to limited grounds of ineligibility under US immigration law. However, we cannot speculate on the outcome of any visa application,” he said.

The official added that the United States remained “committed to close relations with Indonesia and expect that relationship to continue.”

Analysts believe that Prabowo, like Modi, would be granted a visa if he wins the election. l

Nawaz Sharif, other heads of state invited for Modi’s swearing-in ceremony n AFP, New Delhi Prime minister-elect Narendra Modi has invited Pakistan’s Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif as well as other South Asian leaders to his swearing-in ceremony next Monday, a spokeswoman for his party told AFP. Nirmala Sitharaman, from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said all heads of government from the South Asian Association for Regional Cooperation (Saarc) “have been given invitations to be present at Modi’s swearing in.”

Modi is to take the oath as Prime Minister on May 26, ten days after a landslide win for the BJP which secured the first majority by a single party in 30 years.

A senior official from the foreign ministry confirmed that it was examining a proposal to welcome foreign heads of governments, but said that invites had not yet been sent.

“We have not sent any invite yet.

There is a proposal but we can’t share the details yet,” the official told AFP. Sharif has hailed Modi’s “impressive victory” with many diplomats hoping the two men can engineer a thaw in ties between the nuclear-armed neighbours.

In 1999 during Sharif’s second term in power, Vajpayee rode a bus to Lahore to sign a peace accord, raising the prospect of normaliszd ties.

Three months later, however, the countries embarked on the Kargil conflict in Jammu and Kashmir. l

Afghan EC sacks thousands over fraud Afghanistan presidential contenders

9

n Reuters, Kabul Afghanistan’s election commission said yesterday it had fired more than 3,000 staff accused of fraud in the first round of the country’s presidential election, as it sought to quell fears that it might fail to deliver a legitimate outcome.

Afghans voted on April 5 in the first round of the election to pick a successor to President Hamid Karzai, who is barred by the constitution from standing for a third term after more than a decade in power.

The winner will take charge at a crucial time, with most foreign troops due to withdraw by the end of the year, the Taliban insurgency still raging and a pact with Washington permitting some US forces to stay hanging in the balance.

Spokesman Noor Mohammad Noor said the Independent Election Commission had blacklisted the fired staff, so that they would not be hired in the second round.

“Some fraud was reported from those polling stations,” he added, referring to the sites where the fired staff had worked. l

Firecrackers and colourful lighting are seen on the building of the BJP office in Ahmedabad yesterday AFP

China issues warning to Asia over military alliances n Reuters, Shanghai Chinese President Xi Jinping appeared to warn some Asian nations yesterday about strengthening military alliances to counter China, saying this would not benefit regional security.

But he also pledged to peacefully resolve China’s disputes over territory, which have intensified in recent years, especially in the South and East China Seas.

“To beef up military alliances targeted at a third party is not conducive to maintaining common security in the region,” Xi said in a speech, following a period when some Asian countries have sought to reaffirm their security ties with Washington.

During a visit to Asia last month, US President Barack Obama also sought to reassure allies such as Japan and the Philippines that his long-promised strategic shift towards Asia and the Pacific, widely seen as aimed at countering China’s rising influence, was real.

Xi made his remarks at a regional conference in Shanghai in front of

Vietnamese Vice President Nguyen Thi Doan, as well as representatives from the Philippines, Japan and more than 40 other countries and organizations.

He did not mention the United States.

China is embroiled in bitter disputes with Vietnam and the Philippines over maritime boundaries in the South China Sea. Beijing and Tokyo are also at loggerheads over disputed islands in the East China Sea. Anti-Chinese violence flared in Vietnam last week after Chinese state oil company CNOOC deployed an oil rig 240 km (150 miles) off the coast of Vietnam in waters also claimed by Hanoi.

The rig was towed there just days after Obama left the region.

The move was the latest in a series of confrontations between China and some of its neighbors over the potentially oil-and-gas rich South China Sea. Washington has responded with sharpened rhetoric toward Beijing, describing a pattern of “provocative” actions

by China. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Thursday, May 22, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Invest for green growth

W

e welcome Bangladesh Bank’s addition of 26 new products to its portfolio of green finance initiatives.

The central bank which has supported schemes to encourage solar panels, bio-gas and industrial effluent treatment plants since 2009, is expanding the range of products covered to include among other items, solar driven cold storage, bio-energy driven power generation, recyclable non-oven polypropylene yarn and compost generation from municipal waste.

New avenues of finance to help reduce pollution and increase renewable power generation need to be an urgent priority.

It is encouraging to note that the largest ever Nordic trade delegation which is visiting the country this week, is focusing on seeking partnerships through technology and resource sharing to encourage the efficient use of energy. The Nordic team which consists of 21 Danish and Swedish companies and a major investment fund, has received a positive response from local firms and government.

This interest is particularly valuable in areas where specialist technical expertise can be shared such as wind power. Danish investors are contributing $50m towards the $120m deal that was signed this week to set up a 60MW wind-turbine plant.

Such deals are important if the country is to reach its target of securing 10% of total energy generation from renewable sources by 2020. Sustainablity has to be a central component of future economic growth and energy security.

It also helps to build resilience. Lifting more people out of poverty in a sustainable manner is vital to increase the country’s ability to withstand the negative impacts of climate change.

New finance to reduce pollution and increase renewable power need to be an urgent priority

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

Still lagging behind

B

iman Bangladesh Airlines is taking a variety of measures to reduce losses, by suspending routes and raising prices.

These patchwork solutions to bring the loss-making state airline back to health may be too little too late.

In the first eight months of the current fiscal year Biman incurred a loss of over Tk118 crore. Even flights to popular destinations such as Delhi and Bangkok are now being considered for suspension due to heavy losses.

Uncertainty following the departure of CEO Kevin Steele gives little cause for optimism that the airline can attain profitability. In a very competitive market with many better-funded airlines providing services, it is hard to imagine that raising rates will help much.

Political interference and internal resistance to strong leadership make it doubtful that the inefficiency and corruption that plagues Biman can be rooted out anytime soon.

Band-aid solutions to keep propping up this drain on the public coffers are no longer acceptable. Especially since public funds can be spent on much more useful things such as improving airport hubs and training more flight engineers and pilots within the country.

The government should by now recognise that the most feasible way to turn Biman around into profit is for the government to take the next logical step and privatise Biman.

This would both give the management more scope to make improvements and free up taxpayer funds so that they can be used to improve airline safety, training, and infrastructure.

Free taxpayer funds to improve airline safety, training, and infrastructure

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 16 maksud You people wear sunglasses and don’t see the little things under the radiant sun. You people always say so many things about violence against women and equal rights for women, but never see how many women are deprived from very basic things that all human beings need, like food, shelter, clean water, and medicine.

Most beggars who knock on your doors are women. They don’t even have enough courage to push the calling bell switch in your apartment (that is, if they are able to make it as far as your front door, as you have dogs and guards to stop them).

In posh areas, like Gulshan, Banani, Baridhara, and Dhanmondi, many people always complain about how many girls are deprived from access to modern things, but they never seem to bother about the beggars, because they never interact with

India election: BJP to take 335 seats

Take Biman off life-support

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.

May 17

Bharat Patel The only true, straight, reported results. No bias, not for or against winners or losers. Well done.

Unreal city May 17

Jiminy The government needs to give more importance to developing other cities so that people have more of an incentive to move there, or stay there.

Sheikh Hasina’s homecoming day today May 17

Vox Populi What’s the big deal about this day? Is it so significant in people’s life? There is nothing to celebrate.

Government wants hybrid cars to dominate streets May 17

Delinthedesh Will any in the government, such as ministers, drive a hybrid? I doubt it. They should try building roads and infrastructure suitable for modern cars first, before the batteries start falling out of hybrid cars. They’ll be wanting hybrid buses next.

Survivors blame negligence of captains, master May 17

vihan Such tragic accidents will happen again, and again and again, until ministers, authorities, and officials will be held accountable for their negligence and corruption.

them. So, you tell me, how can their complaints have any substance?

I study economics, and think that’s why I always look at matters in this way, where I see much violence against women activists, and activists of groups such as One Billion Rising Organisers Forum!, One Billion Rising, Jaago, among others think in a right-based approach. To me, “rights can never be higher than the economic structure of society,” as Karl Marx has said. nds Please stop this boring and idiotic discourse on progress, which is a dead idea from this post-modern world. Please don’t irritate us with this nonsensical repetition of garbage-valued narratives. We don’t want any further progress. Enough is enough. Now allow us to die in peace.

Rawshan: Narayanganj 7-murder a stray incident May 16

A Rashid Why does the media give any prominence to someone like Rawshan who everyone in the country knows her to be lacking any semblance of intelligence? She and her husband have shown themselves to be a disgrace to themselves as well as the whole nation! I hope to never see their comments being published in future. If the media does follow this, it will doing a great service to the national Interest Rawshan has reminded us once again, not that we need reminding, that the political sector in Bangladesh is Infested by people with no qualification, no common sense, or of self-respect. So, I ask you, how can we ever establish a government which citizens can be proud of??

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Cowardly (6) 5 Melody (3) 7 Edge (3) 8 Picturesque (6) 11 Laundry item (3) 12 Vestige (5) 14 Oven for baking bricks (4) 16 Trunk (5) 18 Zodiac sign (5) 20 Illuminated sign (4) 21 Long lock (5) 23 Drunkard (3) 24 Escapes artfully (6) 27 Friend (Fr) (3) 28 Prosecute (3) 29 Swift (6)

DOWN 1 Long-leaved lettuce (3) 2 Land measure (3) 3 Wine merchant (7) 4 Eastern ruler (4) 5 Electrical unit (6) 6 Area (6) 9 Coconut husk fibre (4) 10 Domestic animal (3) 13 Eat (7) 14 American state (6) 15 Small (6) 17 Part of a shoe (4) 19 Observe (3) 22 Strike with open hand (4) 25 Pass away (3) 26 Secret agent (3)

Ronnie Just as this woman happens to be the “stray” member of parliament and a fictional “leader of the opposition.” Rawshan Ershad never seems to tire of plumbing the depths of intellectual depravity and absence of self-esteem.

‘Non-stop hartal if RAB men not arrested’ May 16

Dr Ahsan Habib I have one comment for the current commander of RAB 11: How can you claim Shahid’s allegations are baseless and, at the same time, promise to investigate? Such a statement proves to me that your comment itself has no basis.

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.

Modi on the brink of power May 16

NS If BJP wins an absolute majority, it would be a disaster for India.

Development in secondary education without spending a single taka

CALVIN AND HOBBES

May 16

PEANUTS

Mawduda Hasnin Many schools have more students than they can hold. Some of their classes have more than 70 students, and some less than 15 students.

Recently, I saw a list of schools participating in the JSC examination with less than 10 students.

The list was quite long.

Only a simple circular from the ministry of education can bring change and help ensure quality education. A school cannot run a section/class with less than 20 students or for more than 40 students.

The government should open new schools in other divisional and district towns to even out the load.

Schools have to conduct a certain number of classes, and are awarded on the basis of SSC results, and also on how many classes were held, and what other activities they offer, like games and co-curricular activities, including debate. All class tests should be taken according to the curriculum.

Teachers’ salaries are not high, so many have taken up private tuition to survive, and find they can make a sizeable profit from it. Emphasis should be on teaching, not tuition, and the government should take proper initiatives so that teachers go back to taking classes. A list of teachers, along with their designation should be hanged on a board in the head teacher’s room so as to make sure that unqualified teachers, without a professional degree or qualifying NCRTA are not allowed to teach in any educational institution.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

Thursday, May 22, 2014

11

Ways of being human n Garga Chatterjee

A

We need to invest in a healthy population

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H

I

BIGSTOCK

R

D

E

Y

E

Our greatest wealth

A

n Mamun Rashid sk anyone in their 30s or 40s. They all are concerned about their children’s health and education. In their 50s and 60s, they are concerned about their own health. They want to stay away from doctors – few can afford the costs. Health expenditure is increasing every day in Bangladesh. Very few have access to good medical care and most people with meager incomes do not.

The common people of Bangladesh are being deprived of free or low cost healthcare services as the health budget is shrinking every year. Though few in the large cities, mainly the capital and port cities, now have access to good healthcare, the entire rural population is dependent on the public health infrastructure, where even increasing kitty could not bring much of a change. The death toll of mothers during childbirth has not reduced significantly, malpractice by doctors or in their absence by nurses is also rampant in rural places.

Though budgetary allocation for the health sector has increased over the years, the percentage in the total budget outlay is actually decreasing.

Bangladesh reportedly has the lowest per capita health expenditure in South and Southeast Asia, which makes it more challenging for the public health sector to offer full-fledged, free, and

more importantly, effective medical care to the common people. Our government has been failing to spend even half of what the World Health Organisation (WHO) has set as the minimum per capita health expenditure, leaving the ailing people to be ripped off by expensive private hospitals and clinics now available even in remote rural places.

People of Bangladesh are being deprived of healthcare as the health budget is shrinking every year As per the recommendation of the WHO, minimum per capita health spending by the government should be $44. It is only $27 in Bangladesh, while India is spending $59, Nepal $33, Sri Lanka $97, Pakistan $30, Indonesia $95, and Vietnam is spending $96 as per capita health expenditure. No doubt, low per capita health expenditure in Bangladesh creates obstacles to render proper healthcare services to the poor and destitute.

Our health budget is shrinking every year though around 2 million people are being added to our

population, for which more budgetary allocation is needed to meet the ever-growing healthcare needs.

The size of the national budget gets bigger every fiscal, but allocation for the health sector has been shrinking in terms of its proportion to the total budget. This creates a problem for public healthcare institutions to provide proper medical services to the poor at primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. The price of medicine is another factor that has made medical treatment too expensive for the poor.

Pharmaceutical firms in the country are now producing some 23,000 categories of medicines, but some medicines are very expensive and beyond the reach of the poor people.

Pharmaceutical companies are more interested in producing medicine which do not have compulsory price tags or are beyond the 117 restricted price list.

More shockingly, those who are producing at the prescribed price, on the other hand, are compromising quality. Budgetary allocation in the health sector therefore needs to be increased to provide medicine to the poor, free of cost. Most in rural Bangladesh are either not treated well or wrongly treated by the doctors and medical assistants. Nurses are small in number and not trained well. Many public hospital nurses are more interested in working for private hospitals than paying minimum attention to

their core public hospital jobs. The number of casualties due to wrong treatment is increasing.

A nation needs to invest continuously in its health sector to get a healthy population. Access to health services for the poor is a must for any developing country. At the same time, we need to ensure availability of good hospitals, good doctors attending to the patients on time, trained nurses treating distressed patients with care, and more importantly, effective medicine. Ensuring all of these not only requires more money to be put on the table, it also warrants good governance in the health sector, accountability, and political commitment.

The drug administration launched a drive against adulterated and smuggled medicine at medicine hub Mitford in Dhaka during the third quarter of last year. Local medicine sellers went to the local legislator to stop the administrator. The local legislator took this personally, as a threat to himself, and his party’s popularity in view of the upcoming election.

It was unfortunate for the drug administrator who came from a politically wrong district in the country’s northern region. The entire drive had to be put on hold. A better health budget thus also warrants a better health administration, with the right medicine for the right patient. l Mamun Rashid is a business professor and financial sector entrepreneur.

Tensions on the fault line n Nicholas Farrelly

“W

ho did this?” I asked the monk on a recent afternoon in Ramu, southeastern Bangladesh. “It was the Islamists,” he replied. He pointed to the marks beneath the glistening new paint where a Buddha’s head had been cleaved asunder. When asked about the culprits – “miscreants” in the local application of English – he gave me a glimpse of monastic resignation.

“I don’t know. They are people who don’t understand.”

While many people have rightfully focused on the plight of Muslim Rohingya in Myanmar’s Rakhine State, an adjacent and similarly messy conflict erupted in September 2012 on Bangladesh’s southeastern extremity – Cox’s Bazar.

Sparked by an anti-Islam Facebook post of ambiguous provenance, 22 Buddhist temples were torn down and set ablaze, with dozens of Buddhist-owned houses destroyed. The Bangladesh government, acutely aware of the sensitivities, quickly sought to dampen the anti-Buddhist fury.

With reports that thousands or even tens of thousands of Muslims marched against the perceived blasphemy, it’s hard to apportion blame. The attacks on the country’s longstanding Theravada Buddhist minority – a group with a large, settled presence for centuries – were a slap in the face to Bangladesh’s tolerant and inclusive self-image.

What is most remarkable about the official response to this violence is its rapid and overwhelming implementation. Instead of leaving charred neighbourhoods and demolished pagodas, the government’s security and construction arms got down to work fast.

At Buddhist pagodas all over Ramu, gleaming compounds have risen from the ashes. In some cases, parts of the

old structures survived, or have been salvaged in renovated form.

In these rebuilt compounds, piles of carefully curated Buddha fragments are a stark reminder of the damage done. They sit reverently next to the new Buddha statues donated from across the world.

Thais have been particularly committed to re-seeding Buddhism in Ramu. In one of the re-built buildings hangs a portrait of King Bhumibol Adulyadej from when he was a young man. In another, a Buddha image gifted by a Thai organisation proclaims that “the body of Dharma sits inside every human being.” One other is an exquisite, shiny, golden figure inscribed with the name of its donor, a Thai police colonel.

Across Ramu, other recently installed signs announce the work of Bangladesh’s security forces in rehabilitating the region’s Buddhist sites. Pictures of heavy machinery are pinned to new fences, while posters thank the government and army for its support. Indeed, it was a huge effort to suture these wounds. In a country where construction is often slow and inadequately budgeted, it is remarkable to see what has been done in less than two short years.

Buddha images, decapitated, have been fashioned back together. Fresh paint hides other scars. Multi-storey pagodas have risen from the rubble, with new gardens planted and monastic accommodation built. There are well-funded programs for Buddhist education too.

The government has taken charge of these efforts. It is embarrassed by the violence, but also hoping to prove a point about its own inclusive and secular credentials.

Asking the locals about who was responsible for the violence draws a mixed response. There are those who

point the finger at some of Bangladesh’s political parties, especially those with a nationalist and Islamic bent. These are the groups locked in a deadly and disreputable stoush with the incumbent regime of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. There are few saints in Bangladesh’s rough-and-tumble national life, and some will assert that the prime minister’s own party activists were also involved.

The attacks on Buddhists around Cox’s Bazar happened when turmoil in Myanmar’s adjacent Rakhine State was at its hottest. Much has been made of the Myanmar government’s lacklustre response to this violence, with widespread dismay at the dearth of resolute efforts to stamp out hard-line Buddhist factions.

Back in Ramu, the wounds are yet to heal and there is trepidation among those Buddhists who have chosen to stay Even Daw Aung San Suu Kyi, so often deemed beyond reproach, has weathered criticism. On the Bangladesh side of the border, many people fail to hide their bewilderment at what they perceive to be her weak response to Myanmar’s communal conflicts.

For now, the rebuilding of Bangladesh’s Buddhist monuments and the neighbourhoods that support them has left a stark contrast. The Bangladesh government has sought to make amends, while in Myanmar there is lingering resentment that senior leaders are unwilling to condemn anti-Muslim pogroms.

On the ground in Rakhine State,

mosques remain in ruins. Muslims who have been displaced from their homes are left in squalid camps, a tragic purgatory seemingly designed to encourage them to leave for good.

Back in Ramu, the wounds are yet to heal and there is trepidation among those Buddhists who have chosen to stay among the Muslim majority.

Women in burkas and men with long beards are common on the streets in this part of Bangladesh. It is this imagery, and the politics it represents that so worries Myanmar’s Buddhist nationalists – it is the future they are seeking to avert.

Along this Muslim-Buddhist fault line, among the people of Ramu, resentment still simmers close to the surface. Even monks speak through clenched teeth. In Bangladesh, the precarious status of Buddhists has hardly changed, even after all of the government’s re-construction efforts and largesse. For these minorities the nightmare is a future where the government is less inclined to support their presence – one where Islamist strains dictate the national mood.

From this edge, there looks to be no end to the reincarnation of conflict.

When I asked whether such violence could happen again, the monk in Ramu hesitated. His answer was resigned, uncommitted, impermanent.

He said that there was no way to know, and that Buddhists must carry on in any case. The future, in his words, “is not ours to control.” l Nicholas Farrelly is a Research Fellow in the College of Asia and the Pacific at the Australian National University, Canberra, and is currently based in Myanmar. Dr Farrelly visited Bangladesh as part of his ongoing Australian Research Council-funded research on Southeast Asian political cultures. This article was originally published in The Myanmar Times.

t the very outset, I should make my position on certain things very clear. I believe that there are many, many ways of being human – none of them being “better” or “worse,” “progressive” or “regressive,” “forward” or “backward” than others.

There is no rank order of “civilisations,” cultures, millenia and the like.

For that matter, I am not sure what “civilisation” means, unless you define it by a set of arbitrary parameters and ascribe those parameters some kind of inherently positive value, just because you fancy them.

This line of thought may be particularly irritating to those who, after their unfortunate birth in brown-land, were born-again when exposed to White people’s worldviews. But the irritation of such dwijas (twice born) is irrelevant. They would have been altogether irrelevant if a deep democracy were able to function in the subcontinent.

I hope such a time comes soon, before the dwijas are able to stamp out all diversity and cultural rootedness from this world. I hope they are soon kicked off the centre-stage that they have occupied for too long, by keeping the people out by sheer power. Till such time, before the story of the hunt is rewritten and the lions still lurk, some will continue to make hay. But let me get back to the many, many ways to being human.

Now that we have the clap-trap about “higher” and “lower” humans out of the way, let me come to the elections to the Indian Union parliament. Using the principle of one-man one-vote, this exercise seeks to present an opportunity to the people to determine and influence the nature of the power that will rule over them.

But that is not all. This exercise also re-legitimises (kind of like license renewal) the structure and apparatus that imposes itself on the people. Thus power structures seek legitimacy by offering a pre-determined amount of decision-making power. It does not give all powers to the people. For example, the people who are supposedly the only sovereign in this schema cannot alter the “basic structure” of the Indian Union constitution, even when fundamental rights of the individual are protected.

The crucial part of such schemes is that they are all-pervasive. The intense focus of resources and energy by modern nation-states on maintaining and defining territorial limits is not accidental. Within that zone, it is supreme. Which is precisely why territories where such monarchic supremacy is not established are sources of unending paranoia for the powersto-be.

The smokescreen of people’s welfare is used to unleash the non-pretentious forces of a nation-state – money and military. In places where people don’t live, powers dangle the notion of “strategic importance.”

We are as human as anyone else. This is before there is consciousness of the state, Gandhi, Nehru, New Delhi We are born from our mother’s womb.

We are born where our mother lay pregnant with us. When we are born, we are as human as anyone else. This is before there is consciousness of the state, constitution, Gandhi, Nehru, tricolour, New Delhi, etc. Is it a pre-condition of being human that these notions have to be built up within our heads for an individual to be considered fully human?

Clearly not. Our bloodlines and human consciousness predates all flags and constitutions and gods willing, will outlive them too. So, one

has a right to be fully human and not be impinged upon, counted, exercised power upon, demanded loyalty from by institutions like the nation.

The distance from birth-rights to fullcitizenship is a journey that requires surrender of rights One has a right to exist in the land one was born upon, to mingle in the society into which one is born or welcomed, live a glorious life among one’s kins and so on. Institutions that place themselves as mediators of these rights, without being called to mediate, are inhuman and anti-social in a very fundamental sense. They may well be legal, depending on how many guns back up the self-imposed mediator. Legality is different from justness – only the people can create the latter. No paper document written in their name can.

Whether one votes or not votes or boycotts it, all of these positions are vis-à-vis the voting process and the state that sponsors it. The all-pervasiveness of such schemes means that you will be counted, not matter what – you will be classified, even if you don’t belong. Lack of “consciousness” is not an option and in any case, irrelevant.

Institutions that intensively survey uninhabited islands, wrap the remains of the dead in distinct flags, “teach” loyalty through school syllabi do face a problem when they face people who regard the state as alien. Some of the indigenous peoples of Andaman and Nicobar Islands like the Shompen are such aliens. But they are “Indian” citizens, irrespective.

Are they proud of Gandhi? Do they respect the tricolour? Do they have a stake in Siachen and Sir Creek, given what happens there is done in their name too? Do they believe in unity in diversity – given that their numbers have sharply dwindled ever since they were “claimed” as “Indians”? It is from the perspective of the Shompen people of the Great Nicobar island that the all-pervasive state starts looking not so pervasive – a hint that there is an outside, even when high resolution maps and detailed anthropological surveys have been done.

This “outside” consciousness is an extremely dangerous thing. Hence, when the Shompen people voted in Indian Union elections for the first time, whatever that act means, there was a sigh of relief at the deepest heart of the state. A portal to an outside, however small, was technically sealed.

There is an outside and there will always be an outside. It comes with every child who is born.

Hence, there is a persistent and dangerous glimmer. To live without certain indoctrinations makes a dynamite of a people, even if they don’t know it. The distance from birth-rights to full-citizenship is a journey that requires surrender of rights, without consent or with indoctrination that there is no outside.

I remember a four-panel cartoon.

At first, a bear stands in a jungle. Then some trees are cleared, encroachers arrive. The bear looks on. Finally, everything is “clean” and someone is taken aback that there is a bear in the midst of civilization and asks where it came from. The bear was always there.

I am sure they created a sanctuary for the bear thereafter.

Maybe it will start speaking Hindi and English and straighten up its spine when the band plays Jana-Gana-Mana.

With enough aspiration, it might go on to sing “The world will live as one.”

There won’t be any bears left anymore.

Such is progress in a world without outsides. l Garga Chatterjee is a freelance contributor.

He can be followed on twitter @gargac.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Tagore re-imagined n

SADIA MARIUM

Chompaboti to be staged today

SADIA MARIUM

Shadma Malik

Noted artists in the country expressed their reverence towards the Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore through their fascinating artwork. An eight-day exhibition featuring the works and replicas of Tagore’s paintings is being held at the National Art Gallery of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

To mark the legend’s 153rd birth anniversary, BSA has organised the exhibition which showcases a total of 45 replicas and 80 artworks by 40 renowned artists.

The replicas of Tagore’s paintings were commissioned by the Indian government and gifted to Shilpakala by the Indira Gandhi Cultural Centre in Dhaka .

Among the works of the prominent artists, Qayyum Chowdhury ‘s “Rabindranath” contrasted Tagore in his aristocracy finery in vibrant colours, alongside a brilliant backdrop of rural Bangla. The composition depicts blue sky with birds, green fields and floating boats are showcased. A visual representation of Tagore’s popular poem “Shonar Tori” has also been depicted in Qayyum’s canvas, as golden fibers on a golden boat against the backdrop of a black sky.

Artist Hashem Khan’s painting is inspired by Tagore’s popular song “Eidin Aji Kon Ghore Go Khule Dilo Daar.” His canvas of the same title narrates the tale of rural Bangalee women who, in harmony, cultivate crops that generate new hopes in life.

Rafiqun Nabi’s artworks show Tagore sitting in an arm chair with a pen and a notebook and images of butterfly, people and trees are revolving around his head.

Sculptor Hamiduzzaman “Jocchna Rate Padma Boat” and “Thakur Bari” unfold the moments he spent here in Bangladesh. The paintings aim to help the viewers understand the way Tagore has experienced the beauty of Bangladesh.

Mohammed Yunus’ “Onek Robir Alok Dharai” portrays Tagore’s face-- in different ages from young to veteran-- showcases the versatile genius who developed an acute sensibility towards literature, poetry, dance and music, painter. l

n Entertainment Desk Shadhona’s experimental production “Chompaboti” is based on poet Jashimuddin’s play “Beder Meye” and has been adapted into a dance drama by the renowned playwright Syed Shamsul Haq. Watch out for the production, which gives newlife to the age-old narrative, this evening at the Shilpakala Academy in the capital.

Choreographed by Shabbir Ahmed Khan Biju, the recital is an entertaining folk dance presentation drawn from our traditional game lathi-khela and different folk dance genres of the subcontinent such as “jhumur,” “raibeshe,” “chhau,” “mayurbhanj,” and “kalaripayettu.”

Celebrated artists like Anusheh Anadil, Shafi Mondol and Kangalini Sufia lent their voice in various folk songs that makes this dance-drama unique.

The story is about the interactions between the wandering “bede” community and the villagers of Bengal. It portrays the conflicting ways of life within the same society through the stories of three women named Chompa, Maleka and Asmani. Chompa is known for her skills in faithhealing and snake-charming, Maleka is the wife of the village head who is bullied by her abusive husband, and, Asmani is the wife of Champa’s ex-paramour Goya. l

Citycell Taroka Kathon turns 11 n Entertainment Desk Citycell Taroka Kathon, a popular TV show on Channel i, step into 11 years yesterday as the programme was first aired on May 21 in 2004.

A press conference and a celebration programme was arranged at the Channel i premises where noted personalities including Shykh Seraj, director and head of news of Channel i, Taslim Ahmed, head of marketing and communications of Citycell, Mamunur Rashid, renowned actor and theatre activist, Asif Akbar, famed singer and the guest of the first episode of this show in 2004,

Shimul Mustafa, reciter, Sohana Saba, actor, Shibli Mohammad, dancer, Aminul Haque, the football star, Shams Sumon, actor, Murad Parvez, actor and model Suzana were present and celebrated the eleven years of journey expressing their thought about the programme and cutting a cake.

Citycell Taroka Kathon, a talk-and-interview TV show and call-in show which takes live phone calls from callers listening at home and sometimes presented celebrity shows performance upon request. Not only in the studio, Citycell Taroka Kathon team went elsewhere where it needed to communicate with the viewers. Though duration of the programme is 30 minutes, but in case of any renowned person its time is extended. Yesterday the programme aired its 2906 episode. l

Mehajabien two timing in Ekti Anakankhito Premer Golpo

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition

Mukh O Mukhosh 5 Time: 11am – 8pm Galleri Kaya, Sector- 4, Uttara

EMK Center, 9th floor, Midas Center, House 5, Road 27 Dhanmond

Theatre

Film

Exhibition on Rabindranath Tagore Time: 11am-7pm National Art Gallery Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Dog, Woman, Man Time: 7pm – 9pm Goethe Institut Bangladesh Road 9(new) House 10 Dhanmondi

Trailing the Root: One Step Ahead Dhaka Art Center House 60, Road 7/A, Dhanmondi

Eminent singer Fatema Tuz Zohra will perform at live musical show Tomay Gaan Shonabo to be aired on 12:02am tomorrow

Bornil Pandulipi Time: 12pm – 8pm Shilpangon Gallery

Goodnight Ma Time: 7:30pm – 9:00pm

Model-turned-actor Mehajabien will be seen dating two men simultaneously in a TV play titled “Ekti Onakankhito Premer Golpo,” The plot revolves around Anna and her two friends, Sadiq and Ratul. All of them are very good friends and both men have feelings for the beautiful Anna.

Anna also enjoys their company and dates both of them. They freak out, when they discover that Anna’s two timing. Anna struggles to under-

stand her own desires and tries to reconcile her friendship with both of them.

Winner of the Lux Channel i Superstar, Mehajabien said: “I have never come across such a story. To portray my feelings for two men was really challenging.

But I gave it my best. Now a days I am focusing on enhancing my acting skills. I want to establish myself as a prominent actor.”

Written by Sajal Ahmed and directed by BU Shuvo, the play will be aired on a satellite channel during Eid. l

Shah Rukh Khan second richest actor in the world

Ranbir Kapoor takes up boxing lessons

n Entertainment Desk

Boxing seems to be the flavour of the season in Bollywood. And actors seem rather keen on picking up the gloves as part of their training for a role. On the list are Priyanka Chopra and Sonakshi Sinha who have received boxing training for their upcoming films.

The latest entry in the ring is Ranbir Kapoor. It has been reported earlier that Ranbir has been learning Mixed Martial Arts for his upcoming Anurag Kashyap directorial “Bombay Velvet.”

A trainer was flown in from Kenya for the actor and they worked together for roughly four months.

The actor reportedly had trouble maintaining his lean physique in spite of the heavy physical training which led to him going on a strict diet.

“Bombay Velvet” is a neo-noir film where Ranbir plays a street fighter.

“I haven’t worked on my physique for a film so far, but ‘Bombay Velvet’ demands it. And I have always maintained that I would make the effort for the right film,” he told a leading newspaper. l

I, Frankenstein Children of War The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3D) The Secret Life of Walter Mitty Captain America: The Winter Soldier (3D) STAR Cineplex Level 8, Bashundhara City 13/3 Ka, Panthopath

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk

GODZILLA at Blockbuster Cinemas n Entertainment Desk Grameenphone is going to release Hollywood flick Godzilla tomorrow at Blockbuster Cinemas in Jamuna Future Park.

The 2014 American science fiction monster film is a reboot of the “Godzilla” film franchise. It retells the origins of Godzilla in contemporary times as a “terrifying force of nature.”

The highly anticipated movie released in USA on May 16.

STAR customers of Grameenphone will have exclusive rights to the screening of the movie for the first 10 days from May 23. After that, the screenings become available to the general public. Grameenphone’s customers will get free popcorn facilities by sending an SMS to a certain number using a certain key word.

Grameenphone is in agreement to release a total of 4 movies this year for its valued customers at Blockbuster Cinemas. l

Wealth-X’s Hollywood and Bollywood Rich List released on Wednesday puts comedian Jerry Seinfeld right on top of the list of wealthy entertainers. With an estimated net worth of $820 million, the 60-year-old comedian emerged as the wealthiest actor.

Shah Rukh Khan, was the only Indian actor in the top 10 combined rich list of Bollywood and Hollywood stars. Khan was found to be richer than Hollywood giants like Tom Cruise, Tom Hanks, Clint Eastwood or Adam Sandler.

Wealth X said “Khan is estimated to be worth $600 million. Immensely popular around the globe as well as in his home country, India, Khan is also a producer, TV host, co-owner of an Indian cricket club and a philanthropist.

He has appeared in more than 50 Bollywood films and is a regular at the annual Cannes Film Festival.”

Tom Cruise is the third richest actor worth $480 million followed by Johny Depp and Tyler Perry both tied at $450 million.

Several Academy Award winners are featured on the list, including threetime Oscar winner Jack Nicholson, who

has a net worth of $400 million, which puts the 77-year-old actor in 7th spot.

Tom Hanks, who won best actor Oscars for Philadelphia and Forrest Gump, is in 8th place with a personal fortune of $390 million.

Clint Eastwood, who at 84 is the

oldest actor in the Rich List, has an estimated personal fortune of $370 million, making him the 9th wealthiest actor on the list.

Bill Cosby stands 8th in the list with $ 380 million while Adam Sandler is 10th being worth $ 340 million. l

Did you know?

England have failed to win any of their last 4 bilateral T20I series (L3 D1) after being unbeaten in the preceding 8 (W5 D3)

Sport

Thursday, May 22, 2014

14 Prandelli plays

down racist taunt aimed at Balotelli

14 Pakistan ball

maker to fulfill World Cup dream

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 McIlroy breaks

off engagement to Wozniacki

Naveed demands professional hockey set-up n Naveed Alam, the head coach of Bangladesh national hockey team has urged the hockey federation to ensure his as well as the players’ mental peace in order to produce a satisfactory result in the upcoming Asian Games which is scheduled to be held at Incheon, Korea in September next.

Naveed, whose current contract expires on June 30 this year and is set to renew his contract with Bangladesh Hockey Federation, has also placed a number of demands to the federation.

“First of all, I made it clear that the level of competition in the Asian Games are far higher than the qualifiers and I would take all the responsibility of the success and failure if a number of demands are met,” said Naveed.

“The federation must form a panel of coaches who will work with specific sections. The formation of the national team also goes through some changes.

The team also needs a good video analyst, the plan of preparation including the tours and the warm-up matches,

Farashganj eye BPL promotion n

Farashganj Sporting Club moved one step closer to returning to the top flight football after they came from behind to beat Wari Club 3-2 in the Premier Bank Bangladesh Championship League at the Kamalapur Stadium yesterday.

Palash put Wari ahead in the 4th minute before Shakib doubled the lead in the 43rd minute. Farashganj never gave up and made a spectacular comeback in the last half hour with Babu reducing the margin in the 60th minute while Biplob scored the equalizer seven minutes later. However, it was Gafur who completed the stunning comeback as his goal sealed the victory in the 74th minute to put his side in the second place.

Apart from table leaders Rahmatganj there will be another club from the second tier and it now seems most likely that Farashganj will grab that vacant slot as they are in an advantageous position with two points ahead of third-placed Agrani Bank with one game in hand. l

and the peace of mind of the players and the coaches above all. In short, I asked the federation to ensure a fully professional set up,” added Naveed.

Naveed further added that he had asked the federation to increase his salary also. “Bangladesh Hockey Federation has provided 3500 US dollars per month to me. I asked them to increase the amount. However, I did not specifically say what the amount will be and it’s up to the federation to decide.

I want to say that I am committed to my work and I believe Bangladesh has the potential in hockey.”

Naveed said that he had talked with some provincial hockey teams of Pakistan during his vacation and among them, Punjab has agreed to play practice matches against Bangladesh. “It can be here or in Pakistan and the reason why I chose them was they have a number of Pakistan national team players. So it would be a good warm-up for the team before the Asian Games,” Naveed revealed.

Naveed said that he is all set to start the Asian Games camp with 35 players from June 1. l

England’s Jack Wilshere (2L), Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain (C), Frank Lampard (2R), Ross Barkley (R) attend a training session in Vale do Lobo, near Almancil, southern Portugal, yesterday.

England will play the World Cup in Brazil in Group D with Uruguay, Costa Rica and Italy AP

ULAB, AIUB in final n

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) has made it to the finals of the Walton Refrigerator University Challenge Cup 2014. They registered a convincing nine-wicket victory over Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) in the first semifinal of the tournament at BKSP yesterday.

ULAB will face American International University Bangladesh (AIUB) in the final today at the same venue.

AIUB emerged as the other finalist after defeating Rajshahi University by nine wickets.

BAU won the toss and opted to bat first but could only manage 89 runs losing all of their wickets due to a top-order failure. Utsho’s 30-ball 20 was the highest in the BAU innings. Ratul and Shuvrato scored 18 runs each.

Morsalin Bin Mortaja scalped four wickets for ULAB and was later adjudged player of the match. Anjam Ahmed and Avishek Mitra took two

wickets each.

In reply, ULAB chased down the target in 7.5 overs with nine wickets to spare. Skipper Hasanuzzaman’s 26ball 49 upfront propelled the chase. He hammered six fours and two sixes and added 83 runs with Avishek Mitra for the opening stand.

Avishek was unbeaten on 30 off 20 balls. His innings included three boundaries and a six. Oni picked up the only wicket for BAU. In the other semifinal, Rajshahi batted first and garnered only 83 runs.

Wicketkeeper-batsman Himel scored the highest, 16. Towfiqul Haq grabbed four wickets for AIUB while Tanvir Haider took two.

Chasing the target, AIUB reached the target in 9.2 overs despite an early hiccup, that of opening batsman Mehrab Hossain Jr who departed in the third ball of the innings.

Anamul Haque guided the chase with authority scoring an unbeaten 37ball 70. He hammered eight boundaries and five sixes. Tanvir was unbeaten at the other end on 10 runs. l

Jewel Rana set to become MSC coach n Tribune Desk Jewel Rana is set to become the new head coach of Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited after the sudden departure of Portuguese head coach Rui Jose Capela Batista. The former national striker, who also played for Mohammedan, is likely to be seen in the dugout during Mohammedan’s today’s Bangladesh Premier League match against Brothers Union.

Batista left the club on May 11 following Mohammedan’s match against Abahani and the club informed that the Portuguese coach had to leave immediately due to his wife’s sickness. Jewel Rana’s salary will be fixed in the next two weeks. l

University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh players celebrate winning the Walton Refrigerator University Challenge Cup 2014 semifinal against Bangladesh Agricultural University at BKSP yesterday COURTESY

Australia team is corruption free: Clarke n Australia captain Michael Clarke is disappointed at the alleged involvement of international cricketers in matchfixing but was “happy, satisfied and confident” that his own team were not corrupt, he said on Wednesday.

Testimony from an ongoing International Cricket Council probe into corruption leaked to a British newspaper this week has detailed alleged matchfixing in cricket involving at least two former international players from New Zealand.

Clarke, who has led his team back to the top of the ICC test rankings over the

last year, said any kind of corruption in the “greatest sport in the world” was unwelcome but did not think it was a problem in Australia.

“As an Australian cricketer, I’m very proud of what this current team has done and achieved and I think we are educated very well in what is right and what is wrong,” he told reporters on Wednesday.

“I’m extremely confident about the players I’m playing with, this Australian team, all know very clearly that there’s no room for corruption in our team.

“A big part of our job is to uphold the integrity of our sport and I think we do that well.”

Although Australians have not been involved in any of the string of scandals that have emerged over the last two decades, the country’s cricketing authorities were condemned for covering up the “Bookmaker John” case in 1995.

Two of Australia’s greatest cricketers, Shane Warne and Mark Waugh, were privately fined for accepting thousands of dollars from an Indian bookmaker to give weather and pitch information – punishments that were not revealed until 1998. Clarke said he thought Cricket Australia’s current system of educating players had helped keep the sport free of the taint of corruption Down Under. l

Women’s cricket league by-laws yet to be prepared n The women’s cricket league titled the ‘Metropolitan Women’s Cricket League’, scheduled to get underway in less than a week, will be following the same by-laws as the men’s Dhaka Premier League. However, with less than a week remaining to the start of the league, the clubs are yet to know the bylaws.

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) women’s wing chairman Abdul Awal Chowdhury Bulu though informed that the bylaws will be prepared within the next two days. “We have made a huge change in the bylaws but we are yet to complete the new bylaws. I am hopeful about finishing it by one or two days and then I will forward it to the clubs,” said Bulu.

The women’s cricket league was originally set to begin from May 25 but it was pushed back by two days as BCB president Nazmul Hasan is not in the

country at the moment. “Our president is outside the country and is expected to return soon and we will be starting the tournament within May 27,” informed Bulu.

As per the foreign players’ quota each club can enroll four cricketers in their squad with two players permitted to play in the eleven A total of 14 teams will participate in the tournament with the players’ transfer already taking place on Tuesday.

The clubs had to pay Tk10,000 as entry fee for the competition and according to the latest bylaws, each club can

register a maximum of 24 cricketers in their side.

As per the foreign players’ quota which was introduced last year, each club can enroll four cricketers in their squad with two players permitted to play in the eleven.

Bulu also notified that the Super League phase might be introduced from this season. “We are going to introduce the Super League phase from this season and in order to improve the quality of the tournament we are going to start the first division league as only the top sides could participate in this league,” said Bulu.

The chairman of the women’s wing also informed that the board is going to increase the financial aid for the clubs from Tk1,20,000 to Tk1,50,000 and he also added that the board is planning to provide match fees for the cricketers from this season. l

Nuns, backed by pope, warn of human trafficking n

Cute Premier Handball begins tomorrow

Roman Catholic nuns backed by Pope Francis on Tuesday raised the alarm over increased risks of human trafficking, exploitation of workers, forced prostitution and sexual tourism at the soccer World Cup in Brazil next month.

The nuns, whose campaign is also backed by the U.S. embassy to the Vatican, announced an international campaign called “Play in Favour of Life - Denounce Human Trafficking,” on the risks they say will be associated with the June 12 - July 13 tournament.

“We need to make people conscious of what happens on the margins of big world events such as the FIFA World Cup and the suffering of those who are trafficked,” said Sister Carmen Sammut, a Maltese nun and one of the campaign organisers.

“Without this awareness, without acting together in favour of human dignity, the World Cup finals may turn out to be a terrible shame instead of a feast for humanity,” she told a news conference at the Vatican.

Sammut said the initiative had the full backing of Pope Francis, an avid Argentine soccer fan who has called several conferences at the Vatican to study ways of combating human trafficking. l

The nine-team Cute Premier Division Handball League will roll at the Shahid Captain M Monsur Ali National Handball Stadium tomorrow.

Apart from defending champions Menzis Krira Chakra and runnes-up Narinda Pragati Boy’s Club the other participants are Surjodoy Krira Chakra, Dhaka Mariner Young’s Club, Old Ideals, Bhatritta Samaj Kalyan Sanghstha, Victoria Sporting Club, Prime Sporting Club and Arambagh Krira Sangha.

To boost this year’s campaign Narinda has flew in two Indian players as they look to clinch the title of the league that will conclude on June 2.

n

Cute has been sponsoring the league since 1984 and the cosmetics and the toiletries producers pledged to continue their support in a press conference held at the Bangladesh Olympic Association auditorium yesterday. Kazi Rajivuddin Ahmed Chapal, the director of Mousumi Industries and the head of Marketing and Sales Kazi Niaz ibne Mahtab said their long relation with handball is surrounded by the vision of raising the standards.

Sheikh Md Maruf Hasan, the chairman of the organising committee, handball federation general secretary Asaduzzman Kohinoor and the tournament secretary Md Jahangir Alam were also present on the occasion. l

Sheikh Md Maruf Hasan (C), the chairman of the Cute Primer Handball organising committee, speaks at a press conference at BOA auditorium yesterday COURTESY

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Colombia pray for Falcao miracle

Ribery says this is his last World Cup

FIFA launch ‘Favela World Cup’ in Brazil

Radamel Falcao, Colombia’s big hope for the World Cup, but also a major injury doubt, will join their squad in Buenos Aires in preparation for the tournament in Brazil, the Colombian Football Federation (FCF) said on Tuesday. That ended rumours that the striker was set to travel to Bogota to announce that he would not be going to Brazil, having failed to fully recover from knee ligament surgery.

“Radamel Falcao Garcia will join his team mates in Buenos Aires. At present, the forward is continuing with his physical work at his club Monaco,” the FCF said in a statement.

–Reuters

France star Franck Ribery declared on Wednesday that the 2014 World Cup finals would be his last but the Bayern Munich forward left the door open to compete at Euro 2016. Ribery, 31, who burst on to the international scene at the 2006 World Cup in Germany, told broadcaster RTL: “This will be my final World Cup.” Assessing his chances of leaving the World Cup stage on a high in Brazil the European footballer of the Year said: “We have to go there to achieve something, to try to win the World Cup, quite simply.” French football chief Noel Le Graet said Ribery was jumping the gun announcing his World Cup retirement.

–AFP

FIFA secretary general Jerome Valcke took to the pitch Tuesday with Brazilian great Ronaldo in a Rio de Janeiro favela to launch a project promoting sporting opportunities for disadvantaged youths during the World Cup. Valcke, best known in Brazil for haranguing local World Cup organizers to pay more attention to deadlines, showed a lighter side as he kicked the ball around a small pitch with Brazilian Sports Minister Aldo Rebelo, two-time World Cup winner Ronaldo and a group of children and teens at the “Football for Hope” launch event.

–AFP

Prandelli plays down racist taunt aimed at Balotelli n Italy coach Cesare Prandelli played down a racist incident aimed at striker Mario Balotelli at a pre-World Cup training camp but striker Ciro Immobile said players have to help stamp out the scourge.

AC Milan striker Balotelli was believed to be the target of a racist insult from a youth as players were put through their paces during the second day of a 10-day training camp at Coverciano in Florence.

When asked about the incident, Prandelli said: “I didn’t hear what was said. All I heard were pleasantries.”

Police stationed at the national team

Costa gets horse placenta for CL race n Atletico Madrid sent star striker Diego Costa to Serbia for special horse placenta treatment in a bid to get him ready for Saturday’s Champions League final, media reports said.

Costa, who will also be a key player in Spain’s World Cup squad, is a major doubt for the Lisbon final against Real Madrid because of a right hamstring injury.

Manager Diego Simeone said he will give Costa every chance to be ready for the match. And Atletico sent him on a private plane to Belgrade for treatment

by Marijana Kovacevic, AS newspaper and other media reported. l

centre intervened and although the incident did not appear to faze Balotelli the striker hit out afterwards.

“Only in Rome or in Florence do you here these kinds of things,” said Balotelli, who has been subjected to racist taunts sporadically during his Serie A career.

Italian football federation (FIGC) president Giancarlo Abete called the incident “unacceptable”.

“It was an isolated incident from someone who should not even have been there, but it’s unacceptable,” said Abete, speaking from Milan.

Immobile, one of seven strikers at the 30-strong training camp and hoping to make Prandelli’s final 23-man squad, said the incident was symptomatic of widespread racism and discrimination in the country.

The Torino forward, who with 22 goals finished the season as Serie A’s top striker, is from Napoli, a city which sits in the shadow of the Mount Vesuvius volcano and whose fans are regularly taunted by rival fans.

Asked if he bearing witness to such an incident made him feel ashamed to be Italian, Immobile said: “No I’m not ashamed to be Italian when I hear things like this being said.

“But it saddens me. We’re in 2014 and to be hearing racist insults from people, whether you’re yellow, black or white is just unacceptable.

“I’m from Napoli and to hear fans shouting, ‘wash them with the lava from Mount Vesuvius’ isn’t very pleasant.

“Fortunately, Mario let it pass over him and he got on with his training. But we as players should do more to help stamp this out.” l

Banners of the Real Madrid and Atletico de Madrid football clubs hang on the facade of the Madrid City Hall on Tuesday. The two football teams of Madrid will play the Uefa Champions League final in Lisbon on May 24 AFP

Atletico inspired by spirit of Aragones n

Atletico Madrid face Real Madrid in the Champions League final on Saturday attempting to put to bed one of the club’s most painful nights.

Los Rojiblancos missed out on the European Cup by a matter of seconds to what became an all-conquering Bayern Munich side 40 years ago.

Bayern, featuring Franz Beckenbauer and Gerd Mueller, went on to win three European Cups in a row, and yet they almost never won the first, as they went into the final minute of extra time

Eto’o calls Mourinho ‘puppet’ n Chelsea striker Samuel Eto’o has had another dig at his manager, Jose Mourinho, calling him a “puppet” in a Confederation of African Football (CAF) website interview on Tuesday.

Mourinho suggested in a private conversation last March that the 33-year-old Cameroonian might be older than he claimed.

Record four-time African Footballer of the Year Eto’o branded the Portuguese manager a “fool” during a visit to the Ivory Coast last week.

And in the CAF interview, the star who will captain Cameroon at the World Cup in Brazil during June criticised his boss again.

Asked about the nature of his relationship with Mourinho, Eto’o,

who is out of contract next month, replied: “Contrary to what a puppet says about my age, I am still physically fit.

At 33, I feel real good. I have proven that I can do better than youths. “... I am not going to the United States or to the Middle East. I will continue at the top level. I will continue to play the Champions League.

“My romance with this competition is far from over. I will not tell you where, but I will be at the top level.

“I am 33 and I have two World Cups to play. Before me there are other players who went on until the age of 41.

So I can continue.”

Cameroon legend Roger Milla was 42 when he scored during a 6-1 loss to Russia at the 1994 World Cup in the United States. l

1-0 down.

The goal had been scored by Atletico’s greatest player of all-time, Luis Aragones, just six minutes from the end of extra time, but the Spaniards were denied when Miguel Reina -- father of current Napoli goalkeeper Pepe Reina -- let Hans-Georg Schwarzenbeck’s hopeful effort slip through his grasp.

In the days before penalty shootouts, Bayern went on to win 4-0 in the replay in Brussels just two days later.

On Sunday an estimated 200,000 Atletico Madrid fans crowded round

It was when he felt the roar of the crowd at the 2006 World Cup in Germany that Pakistani factory owner Khawaja Akhtar first dreamt up a goal of his own: to manufacture the ball for the biggest soccer tournament on the planet.

“The people were chanting all around me. I just thought, ‘This is the real thing’,” Akhtar told Reuters. “I was part of the crowd. I never had that kind of feeling before.”

His factory in eastern Pakistan had made balls for the German Bundesliga, French league and Champions League, but he had never snagged a World Cup contract.

Last year he finally got his chance - but only 33 days to make it happen.

When Akhtar heard last autumn that Adidas’ Chinese supplier for the World Cup couldn’t keep up with demand, he immediately invited executives to his plant in Sialkot, a wealthy Pakistani manufacturing town with a long history of leatherwork.

Their first visit was not a success.

“They said ‘You have Stone Age equipment,” said his oldest son, Hassan Masood Khawaja, laughing. “After they left, my father called a meeting and said: ‘This is our only chance. If we show them we can’t do it, we’ll never get another chance again.’”

An employee adjusts outer panels on a football inside the factory that produces official match balls for 2014 World Cup in Brazil, in Sialkot, Punjab province on Friday REAUTERS It usually takes six months to set up a production line, but the factory only had a month - Adidas, the German sports equipment maker, was in a hurry. So Khawaja designed, made and moved the equipment into place within 33 days. Everything had to be done from scratch.

But it was a success, and the firm’s previous investment in thermal bonding technology paid off. Only thermally bonded balls - made using a glue that reacts with heat - are round enough

for the World Cup’s strict standards.

Local legend tells of a poor cobbler who made his fortune by repairing the punctured footballs of colonial-era British soldiers, then studying how to make them himself.

He was so successful that soldiers all over the region started buying from him. Business blossomed - but so did child labour.

A series of scandals, and changing technology, forced many factories to close. Others

ration for arguably the most successful season in Atletico’s 111-year history.

A picture of Aragones adorned the plane that took the players to the away leg of their Champions League last-16 tie against AC Milan.

- ‘Win, win and win again’ Once the seven-time European champions had been easily disposed of 5-1 on aggregate, it was one of Aragones’ famous decrees “win, win and win again” that met the players in a spectacular display by the Vicente Calderon crowd as they hosted Barcelona in the last eight. l

Beckham suffers fresh blow to Miami stadium plans n David Beckham’s hopes of seeing his new Miami football team play at a prime spot at the port of Miami were Tuesday all but blown out of the water in a major setback for the former Manchester United idol.

The ex-Real Madrid and England midfielder wants to build a $250 million state-of-the-art open-air stadium with 25,000 seats for his recently acquired MLS team. His preferred site, at PortMiami, would have spectacular sweeping views of Biscayne Bay and downtown Miami. But shipping interests and local authorities have opposed the proposal, fearing it will disrupt port operations. l

Pakistan ball maker to fulfill World Cup dream n

the Neptuno fountain and surrounding streets in the centre of the Spanish capital to celebrate their side’s first La Liga title in 18 years.

However, amongst chorus upon chorus of chanting, it wasn’t inspirational manager Diego Simeone or top scorer Diego Costa who was the most prominent name, but that of Aragones.

The man who also coached Spain to the first of three successive major tournament victories at the European Championship in 2008, died on February 1 this year aged 75.

Since then he has become an inspi-

had to clean up their acts. These days foreign brands frequently inspect Sialkot factories that make their footballs. Large signs on Akhtar’s factory walls sternly proclaim that child labour is forbidden and unions are allowed.

Workers that Reuters spoke to privately confirmed that conditions were good - the salary was mostly minimum wage, around $100 a month, but social security, life insurance and transport were extra benefits. A small government hospital sits on the premises. In the past 40 years, Akhtar’s own family business, called Forward, has grown from 50 men to 1,400 employees. Unusually for Pakistan, nearly a quarter of them are women.

Some wear the niqab, a long black covering that leaves only a pair of brown eyes exposed.

Others flaunt bright sandals with imitation jewels and wear robes the colour of tropical birds.

Almost all say they are the first woman in their family to work.

Shakila Ashrafi, a 38-year-old mother whose long beige coat reached down to her ankles, said one of her first purchases was a television.

When the World Cup kicks off in Brazil on June 12, they plan to invite their neighbours - all avid cricket supporters - to come and watch the strange foreign game being played half a world away. l

Brazil football players David Luiz (R) and Paulinho shave their beards during a promotional event in Sao Paulo on Tuesday REUTERS

World Cup pressure giving Brazil’s Luiz sleepless nights n Brazil defender David Luiz says he is having sleepless nights worrying about the World Cup, while his team mate Dani Alves describes the intense pressure of being tournament hosts as “delicious”.

“We are anxious, I wish it was starting tomorrow,” Luiz said at a commercial event in Sao Paulo on Tuesday.

“Some nights we don’t sleep. But that’s all part and parcel. It is a great chance and we are privileged to play a World Cup in front of our own fans. I can’t wait for it to start.”

The articulate Chelsea defender said the atmosphere in the Brazil squad was the best he has experienced in more than a decade as a professional player.

He added that their unity of purpose would help them to cope with the pressure of playing a home World Cup. “We have to find a balance,” the 27-year-old Luiz told reporters. “Up to a certain point (anxiety) is good, it gets you thinking about the game. But too much is harmful so we’ll have to work on that and that is easier to do as a group.

“This group is very open, everyone has the right to give their opinion, and everyone is going to help each other.”

He added: “We really want this, our group is true in all we do, there is a great atmosphere.

“We are happy, anxious and we have two more games in which we’ll make last-minute adjustments and be ready to start with maximum force.”

Brazil kick off the World Cup against Croatia on June 12 in Sao Paulo and then face Mexico and Cameroon in their other Group A games.

They play two warm-up matches against Panama in Goiania on June 3 and then Serbia in Sao Paulo on June 6.

The host nation are favourites to lift a record-extending sixth World Cup, but they will come under pressure from their often fickle fans.

Barcelona’s Alves said that although Brazil’s 23-man squad might not have much World Cup experience they have all played at the highest levels and will not be fazed.

“It’s a delicious pressure, it’s pressure we like to feel,” he told reporters. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

QUICK BYTES

Brazil installs jersey vending machines Fans in Brazil can now buy World Cup shirts while waiting for the metro after a major online retailer installed special vending machines in stations.

Netshoes has supplied machines similar to those used to sell soft drinks and snacks for two metro stations and two private universities in Brazil’s biggest city, Sao Paulo. The machines, which will also have instructions in English for fans attending next month’s World Cup, sell Brazil’s traditional yellow shirt for just over $100. “Our delivery was super-quick, now it’s instantaneous,” said Juliano Tubino, Netshoes’ chief marketing officer.

– Reuters

Ex-Bremen coach Schaaf takes over at Frankfurt

Former Werder Bremen coach Thomas Schaaf has taken over as Eintracht Frankfurt boss after signing a two-year contract, his new Bundesliga club confirmed on Wednesday. “The anticipation is enormous, I have had a long break, so now I am excited,” said Schaaf having been out of coaching for a year. “I am hoping for a good season, but there is some work to do.” The 53-year-old replaces Armin Veh, who stepped down as Frankfurt coach at the end of the season to take over at VfB Stuttgart after the Hessen giants finished 13th in the Bundesliga table. Schaaf is one of the longest-serving bosses in the Bundesliga. He coached Bremen from 1999 until 2013 after joining the north German club in 1978 as a defender and spent his whole career with Werder until stepping down in May 2013.

– AFP

Heat re-group to snuff out Pacers

Cairns denies being ‘Player X’, Tuffey says he is clean

n The International Cricket Council will investigate how evidence given to a matchfixing probe had been leaked to the media and take action against anyone employed by them if involved, chief executive Dave Richardson said on Wednesday.

The latest matchfixing scandal broke last December when New Zealand media reported that three former international cricketers had been linked to an investigation by the ICC’s Anti-Corruption Security Unit (ACSU) into alleged matchfixing.

Last week, British newspapers published excerpts of confidential statements from former New Zealand batsman Lou Vincent, who had earlier said he was co-operating with the ACSU, and current captain Brendon McCullum.

Richardson said the ICC “deeply regretted” the leaks and re-iterated that McCullum was not under investigation.

“We are taking all steps available to us to urgently investigate how certain information in the form of statements has come to find its way into the media,” he said in a statement.

n

Alonso tips Red Bull to challenge in Monaco

An emotional Rory McIlroy on Wednesday announced he had broken off his engagement and split with Danish tennis player Caroline Wozniacki only days after sending out the wedding invitations.

The 25-year-old Northern Irishman and two-time major champion said the issuing of the invitations had made him aware that he was not ready for marriage.

“There is no right way to end a relationship that has been so important to two people,” he explained through a statement issued by his Dublin-based communications consultants.

“The problem is mine,” McIlroy said.

“The wedding invitations issued at the weekend made me realise that I wasn’t ready for all that marriage entails.

“I wish Caroline all the happiness she deserves and thank her for the great times we’ve had. I will not be saying anything more about our relation-

DAY’S WATCH Indian Premier League 4:30PM Kolkata v Bangalore 8:30PM Chennai v Hyderabad 7:00AM NBA Play Off 2013-14: Conf Final San Antonio v Oklahoma City Star Sports 1 12:30PM, 6:00PM Badminton Li-Wing Thomas and Uber Cups 2014 Star Sports 2 2:00PM F1: Monaco GP Practice Sessions 6:00PM England v Sri Lanka 1st ODI

“Of course, we recognise that this is a deeply concerning development for the stakeholders in the fight against corruption in the sport of cricket, and we wish to emphasise that Brendon McCullum is not under investigation in this matter.”

New Zealand Cricket said earlier this week they were disappointed that McCullum’s statements had been made public and would ask the world governing body to investigate the source of the leaks.

Richardson told Radio New Zealand on Wednesday that the investigation into the leaks had already been launched but said it was premature to suggest they had come from within the ICC. “This is an investigation that crosses three or four jurisdictions and involves liaison with other stakeholders, law enforcement agencies, players who have been interviewed,” Richardson said.

“Of course we are devastated with these leaks, but it is premature to say exactly where that leak came from and whether anyone involved in the ACSU was involved.

“But certainly if we are able to find

Malinga leads SL to 9-run T20 win over England World champions Sri Lanka held off an England fightback to win by nine runs in a Twenty20 international at the Oval on Tuesday helped by an explosive innings from Thisara Perera and superb bowling from Lasith Malinga.

Perera’s quick-fire 49 runs from 20 balls, having survived a dropped catch by Michael Carberry, enabled the tourists to post a total of 183-7 from their 20 overs while Malinga’s figures of 3-28 kept England at bay in response.

“The last couple of years I’ve been used to bowling in pressure situations, I’m used to it and I work hard in those situations,” Sri Lanka captain Malinga told Sky Sports.

Sony Six

15

Thursday, May 22, 2014

‘Devastated’ ICC to probe fixing leaks

LeBron James and Dwyane Wade combined for 45 points as the Miami Heat rallied to beat the Indiana Pacers 87-83 on Tuesday and even their NBA playoff series at 1-1. James and Wade scored or assisted on the last 33 points for the Heat who re-grouped from an embarrassing 107-96 loss in Sunday’s game one of the best-of-seven Eastern Conference final series. Wade said he had great chemistry with James on Tuesday night. “What we envisioned coming in here is having two guys who are able to be dynamic. We just make plays that feel right,” Wade said. “I always know where number six is on the floor. Him touching the ball, or me touching the ball, is the best thing for our team,” Wade said.

Wade shot 10-for-16 en route to a teamhigh 23 points, while James tallied 22 with seven rebounds, six assists and three blocked shots. Norris Cole came off the bench to score 11 points.

– AFP

Fernando Alonso may hold few hopes of winning this weekend’s Monaco Grand Prix for Ferrari, but he does believe that champions Red Bull can mount a challenge to runaway leaders Mercedes.

“This year,” he said, after the recent Spanish Grand Prix, “I think Monte Carlo will be one of the few possibilities to challenge Mercedes -- especially for Red Bull. It is a chance, but not I think for us.”

The 32-year-old Spaniard has not won in the principality since the second of his two successive victories in 2007, in a race that ended amid controversy as he led his then-Mercedes team-mate Lewis Hamilton home. Hamilton, then a rookie, claimed he should have won because he was faster than Alonso, but was told to obey instructions and hold position. A post-race inquiry vindicated the team’s position in controlling their drivers as they claimed a crushing one-two victory.

– AFP

Sport

BRIEF SCORE Sri Lanka 183/7 (20 ov) Thisara 49, Thirimanne 40, Vithanage 38, England 174/7 (20 ov) Hales 66, Bopara 28*, Malinga 3/28 Result: Sri Lanka won by 9 runs MoM: Thisara Perera (SRI) “I really enjoy it, it doesn’t matter, I used to say to captains to give me the ball.”

Sri Lanka’s innings had been ticking along at a steady pace with Kithuruwan Vithanage’s 38 runs from 26 balls and Lahiru Thirimanne, who was eventually dismissed for 40, helping them to 122-5 when Perera came to the crease. l

out where the leak came from that person will be removed from the situation.”

The statements by Vincent and McCullum detailed being approached by a former international player about the possibility of matchfixing. The excerpts of McCullum’s statements identified the former international as ‘Player X’.

The New Zealand Herald newspaper then identified ‘Player X’ as former New Zealand all-rounder Chris Cairns, who has consistently denied being involved in any matchfixing.

“I am aware that former cricketer Lou Vincent and current New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum have made a range of allegations against a cricketer dubbed Player X,” Cairns said in a statement to Fairfax Media.

“It is well known that the ICC/ACSU has been investigating allegations of corruption and my name has been linked by others to these allegations. I am being asked whether I am Player X. “Based on the limited information I have received during this investigation, I believe it is being alleged that I am that player. These allegations against me are a complete lie.” l

England captain Alastair Cook (L) and Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews pose for a picture with the ODI series trophy at the Oval cricket ground in London yesterday AFP

‘Cook under pressure as never before ‘ n

England captain Alastair Cook will be under pressure as never before when he tries to return the team to winning ways this season, according to former skipper Michael Vaughan.

Despite leading the side in their 5-0 Ashes rout by Australia and enduring a loss of form as well, Essex opener Cook has retained his position as Test and one-day captain. But the fall-out from a wretched tour programme has seen Andy Flower step down as coach and be replaced by Peter Moores, now in his second spell in the job.

Significantly, Cook was also involved in the decisions to end the international career of Kevin Pietersen, England’s all-time leading run-scorer, and ditch his Essex mentor Graham Gooch as the team’s batting coach.

In the circumstances, Vaughan believes Cook will be desperate for a successful series against Sri Lanka and India, England’s opponents in their home international programme this season.

“The pressure is on him. Any failure, any disappointment will be jumped on by a lot of people,” Vaughan, who led England in 51 Tests from 2003 until 2008, told BBC Sport.

“Even though he’s won an Ashes and won in India, Cook will probably feel like this is a fresh start, what he’s going to be judged on as an England captain.

“He has made some tough calls.

He has got rid of his best pal -- batting coach Graham Gooch -- although I believe it was a management decision and a Peter Moores coaching decision as much as Alastair Cook’s.

“He has got rid of the man who has scored more runs for England than

McIlroy breaks off engagement to Wozniacki n

ship in any setting.”

The golden sporting couple’s high profile break-up came on the eve of McIlroy’s appearance at the European PGA Championship.

He later told a Wentworth press conference that he had never considered pulling out of the European Tour’s flag ship event.

Amla example inspires Saracens’ Hargreaves n Alistair Hargreaves will hope to follow the “quiet, humble” approach of former schoolboy cricket team-mate turned South Africa run-machine Hashim Amla should he play for Saracens in this weekend’s European Cup final.

Saracens captain Steve Borthwick’s chest injury problems are threatening to sideline the former England skipper from what could be a memorable finish to his 16-year playing career by ruling him out of both Saturday’s match against defending European champions Toulon in Cardiff and next weekend’s English Premiership final with Northampton at Twickenham.

Borthwick now has to prove his fitness during a Thursday training session if he is to face Toulon at the Millennium Stadium, with four-times capped Springbok lock Hargreaves standing by

to take his place in the second row if he fails to make the grade.

Locks are generally known for their physicality and aggression but former Natal Sharks forward Hargreaves insisted playing cricket alongside the reserved Amla at Durban High School had made a big impression on him.

“We had a proud cricketing history and I enjoyed being a bit of an all-rounder,” Hargreaves said.

“I was selected for South African schools and made the decision to choose rugby and that’s been the story ever since.

“Bowling at Hashim in the nets wasn’t fun! His average was in something like the 90s as a schoolboy, and that’s incredible.

“He’s very quiet, humble, a very respectful guy and a hard worker. He’s everything you’d want in a world-class sportsman. l

“I just want to get my head into golf and concentrate on the tournament and try and do well,” the Irishman told reporters.

“I want to drive straight into it and keep myself busy.

“I am not going to lie - it is going to be very difficult but at least when I get inside the ropes I can try and concen-

trate on the shots at hand.

“I didn’t think there was any reason to pull out.

“There is no good time to end a relationship - I had made a commitment to be here. This is the European Tour’s flag ship event and I am very proud to be part of the European Tour.

“The Tour has been very good to me over the last number of years and I thought it was my duty to come back and play in this event. Once I gave my word I was never going to go back on it.

“My schedule is here, Memorial, US Open, Irish Open, Scottish Open and British Open and I don’t think that is going to change.

“It is no different to anyone else.

Everyone has been through break-ups and I want to concentrate this week on answering questions on golf.”

McIlroy and Wozniacki met nearly three years ago in Munich at a boxing match between David Haye and Wladimir Klitschko and the relationship has been in the news pages ever since. l

anyone else in Kevin Pietersen so, although the public will be behind him, there will also be more pressure on the England side.”

Cook is set to lead England in the first one-day international against Sri Lanka at The Oval on Thursday and former off-spinner Graeme Swann, who dramatically retired during the Ashes, said an early win would do wonders for the morale of both players and fans alike.

“Alastair Cook will be desperate for a couple of new heroes to emerge and really stamp their names on proceedings for the summer and become the new faces of English cricket,” Swann told BBC Radio Five.

“We need to play in front of full houses, we need to play exciting cricket, but most importantly we just need to win.

“Three or four wins at the start of this summer and all will be forgotten.” l

Supreme court restores Sethi n

The Supreme Court on Wednesday restored Najam Sethi as chairman of the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) just four days after the Islamabad High Court (IHC) had reinstated his predecessor, Zaka Ashraf, as head of the organisation.

A three member bench of the apex court, while hearing a petition filed by the government’s Ministry of Inter-Provincial Coordination against the reinstatement of Ashraf last Saturday, annulled the lower court’s order but set May 27 as the next date of hearing for the case.

“It is not a decision but a stay order and we will be vigorously pursuing this case because I am the legally elected chairman of the board,” Ashraf told.

Ashraf, who was restored as PCB chief for the third time in a year last Saturday, said he would personally state the facts before the apex court, adding that Pakistan cricket needed stability and a clear direction. l

Bulls injure three matadors, halting Madrid bullfight n

Half-tonne fighting bulls skewered or trampled all three matadors in an extraordinary upset at Madrid’s prestigious Las Ventas bullring, forcing the entire spectacle to be cancelled.

For the first time in 35 years, the San Isidro festival, which opens the bull-fighting season in Spain, had to be suspended on Tuesday evening because all the matadors had been injured.

“Drama in Las Ventas” ran the front page headline of conservative daily ABC over a full-page photograph of a huge bull plunging its right horn into the side of the most seriously injured matador, David Mora, before he fell to the ground.

Spanish media devoted broad coverage to the bloody turning of the tables in Las Ventas, reputed to be the most important bullring in the world. l

Barcelona’s new coach Luis Enrique (R) pose with club president Josep Maria Bartomeu after signing his contract at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona yesterday AFP

16

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Thursday, May 22, 2014

It was mango mealybug, not giant Bangladeshi scientists do not agree with the USDA finding n Kamran Reza Chowdhury US scientists have said the alien insect that Bangladeshi professionals have identified as the dangerous giant mealybug is actually a mango mealybug.

A swarm of the insect, said to have originated in Africa, recently scared the students of a college in Dhaka, forcing authorities to shut the it down for a while. Before that, a large number of these insects were first reported at a naval base in the city.

We talk on the basis of expert opinion. The USDA is the world leader in this area; so I think their report is right Entomologists from the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), Sher-e-Bangla Agricultural University and the government’s Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) identified the insect as giant mealybug and said it was alien to Bangladesh. They said the insect might have travelled here with the baggage of the Bangladeshi soldiers returning from UN peacekeeping missions in the African countries.

The quarantine section of the Bangladesh government’s plant protection wing recently sent samples to the agricultural research services of the US Department of Agriculture (USDA).

On May 9, the US service said in a report that the scientific name of the insect was Drosicha mangifera, commonly known as the mango mealybug.

The Dhaka Tribune has obtained a copy of the letter that the US scientists have sent to the Bangladesh government.

Joe Floyd, a domestic diagnostics coordinator of the USDA in Maryland, sent the letter to MonzurulHoque, an entomologist posted at the quarantine wing of the Dhaka airport. Monzurul sent the samples in March.

Ahsan Ullah, a quarantine entomologist of the DAE, told the Dhaka Tribune that initially, the Bangladeshi scientists thought it was the giant mealybug, but the US report said something different.

“We talk on the basis of expert opinion. The USDA is the world leader in this area; so I think their report is right,” he said.

Debashish Sarker, a BARI entomologist who was part of the team that detected the insect as giant mealybug, told the Dhaka Tribune that he had no idea about the USDA report.

He has also been involved with controlling the pest that has recently attacked the Jatiya Sangsad premises.

“Mango mealybug and giant mealybug belong to the same family,” he said.

When asked why they had said it was giant mealybug, Debashish said the BARI had sent a sample to the commonwealth agricultural wing to know more about it.

“Let the report come,” he said. l

A bird’s eye view shows a boat plying on Buriganga water that has turned pitch-black from years of pollution. The photo was taken recently in the city’s Babubazar

Uncertainty grips Fifa World Cup broadcast n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

A status quo order delivered by a Dhaka court has thrown live transmission of the 2014 Fifa World Cup in the country into uncertainty.

The order was delivered by the Dhaka District Court on Tuesday as the consortium Total Sports Marketing (TSM) and Seven3Sports, an appointed agency of Sony Television which has won the transmission right for this region, were locked in a legal tangle over the transmission, barrister Aneek R

A group of young boys takes a dip in Padma River to get relief from a scorching 42.1 degrees Celsius temperature recorded in Rajshahi yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

A seven-member delegation from the Maldives yesterday alleged that a large number of undocumented Bangladeshi migrant workers were in the island country.

The delegation expressed its concern at a meeting with the representatives of the Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies (Baira).

Alia Hirji, programme manager of the IOM Maldives, said there were 100,000 migrant workers in the country and most of them were Bangladeshis.

Hassan Khaled, chief principal immigration officer of the Maldives, claimed a large number of undocumented Bangladeshis were staying in the country.

However, Baira Senior Vice-President Ali Haider Chowdhury said people from villages could not differentiate between recruiting agencies and travel agencies.

With the assistance of travel agencies, innocent people went to the Maldives using visitor visas and tourist visas, he noted.

The Maldives delegation also held a meeting with the officials of the Bureau of Manpower, Employment and Training (BMET). l

Status quo on drive against vehicles with tinted glasses n Nazmus Sakib The High Court yesterday in a directive asked the government to maintain status quo for two weeks on its drive to free vehicles from tinted glass excepting microbuses.

The bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Khurshid Alam Sarkar passed the order in response to a writ petition filed by two lawyers.

Following the recent abduction spree, the Home Ministry issued a press release on April 30 asking owners to remove black or tinted glass from their vehicles.

The government decided that other than built-in tinted or coloured glasses, such types of glasses should be removed from all vehicles by May 10 otherwise the law enforcement agencies will take appropriate legal action.

On May 11, the law enforcers launched the drive and fined many people.

On May 14, two lawyers of the Supreme Court – Asaduzzaman Siddiqui and Aklas Uddin Bhuiyan – lodged a petition challenging the government order.

Their lawyer Manzill Murshid told the court that as per relevant laws the home ministry had no authority to slap a ban on glasses. The authority to do so lies with the BRTA.

He said using black glasses in private car protect people from severe heat, provide security to women as well as children and ensure safety of citizens with many other advantages.

So, the prohibition contradicts with the constitution that guarantees protection of right to life, personal liberty and freedom of movement, he said.

The government banned black glasses on excuse that abductions were taken place by the perpetrators who used black glasses in microbuses, Manzill said.

But the government did not proscribe use of knife and rope though seven people in Narayanganj were slaughtered with knife and later corpses of the deceased were tied with ropes.

Assisted by Deputy Attorney General Al-Amin Sarker, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said those who need dark glasses in private cars could seek permission from the government and the BRTA. The court also issued a rule asking the government why the prohibition should not be declared without lawful authority and of no legal effect.

The home secretary, IGP, DMP commissioner, joint commissioner (traffic) and home deputy secretary were asked to respond to the rule within four weeks. l

25 days to respond.

The TSM declined to comment as it is a sub-judice issue.

The consortium sources said they would involve Bangladesh Football Federation in the process and would approach Fifa authorities as well if necessary.

Another source said every stateowned TV channel reserves priority to broadcast Fifa World Cup with a concessional rate and BTV could have it as private channels are locked in legal battle. l

Haque, lawyer of the consortium, told the Dhaka Tribune.

The TSM, which has Gazi TV as its partner, signed a $1.41 million primary deal with Seven3Sports on March 25 and half the money was paid immediately. Seven3Sports also gave the nod to start promotional activities in the first half of April.

In an email, Abhishek Saklani, a senior executive at Seven3Sports, told the TSM: “Please go ahead and float your sales or marketing packages in the Bangladeshi market.”

Meanwhile, Seven3Sports sent another email to Gazi TV and the TSM, saying the deal was terminated based on mutual consent. However, Gazi TV and TSM said it was a false claim.

Gazi TV and TSM officials went to court and on Thursday the court issued a ruling, asking why the defendants shall not be restrained from termination of the agreement and entering into any agreement with any third party relating to broadcast of the 2014 Fifa World Cup in Bangladesh territory. The respondents were given

Meghalaya HC: Pre-1971 Bangladeshi settlers are Indians and can vote

Where have the Tk1 coins gone?

n Tribune Report

Maldives concerned about undocumented Bangladeshis n Rabiul Islam

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

In a historic judgement, the Meghalaya high court said Bangladesh nationals who have settled in this northeastern state before March 24, 1971 should be treated as Indians and be enrolled on the voters’ list, Press Trust of India reported.

The judgement was based on a petition by more than 40 refugees originally from Bangladesh, who were denied enrolment in the electoral roll by the district administration citing their citizenship as doubtful.

The refugees, from Amjong village near the Assam-Meghalaya border in Meghalaya’s Ri-Bhoi district, went to the Indian court after their citizenship certificates were seized by the deputy commissioner.

The Indian court said there was no scope for the deportation and issued directive for their rehabilitation Justice SR Sen, in his May 15 order, directed the district deputy commissioner Pooja Pandey to return the seized certificates to the petitioners and enrol them on the voters’ list before the next elections.

Justice Sen said there was an understanding between the two countries as to who should be allowed to stay and who should be deported back to Bangladesh.

“It is clearly understood that the forefathers of the petitioners entered India much before March 24, 1971. As such, there is no question of deporting them at this stage when they have acquired the right of permanent rehabilitation in Amjong village,” he said.

Ruling out the contention that they were Bangladeshi citizens, the court said there was no scope for their deportation and directed the state government and the Centre not to disturb them, but to provide them with proper rehabilitation.

The state government had earlier argued that the petitioners and their forefathers were not permanent citizens and were rehabilitated temporarily by the autonomous district council. l

n Hitler A Halim When has one last seen a Tk1 coin?

Although, one of the DGs of the central bank says they have a huge stock of metal coins, people who need them every day say the coins cannot be found anywhere.

With allegations rife that these coins, made of a metal alloy, are being smuggled across the borders, economists say the absence is hurting people’s micro savings habit, which may end up damaging the country’s economy in the long run.

The journey from the capital’s Farmgate to Paltan intersection on a “local bus” costs a commuter around Tk6. If the commuter gives the conductor of the bus Tk7, the conductor will not return the change.

He will say: “I do not have Tk1 change.”

If one buys a product for Tk7 from a local grocery and gives a Tk10 bill, the shopkeeper would inevitably give him a Tk2 note and a Tk1 candy in return. His reason is the same as the bus conductor.

Even about a year or so ago, small vendors could be seen selling coins in small sacks in the capital’s Mirpur, Farmgate, Gulistan and Motijheel areas. Their main customers were the bus conductors.

However, these “coin sellers” are hardly seen these days.

Jasimu Uddin, the conductor of a bus that runs on the Banani-Motijheel route, told the Dhaka Tribune: “There was a time when our pockets used to overflow with coins. Now you see, I do not have a single coin in my pockets.

When we go to the banks, they say they do not have them.”

Md Saiful Islam Khan, a director general of the Bangladesh Bank, said: “We have sufficient coins in stock and can entertain demands of any amount...

We have seen in our investigation of banks that they need separate counters for dealing with coins.

But, because the commercial banks have limited space and manpower, they are reluctant to exchange coins.”

Sources said at present, the central bank has a stock of 4.47 crore

Tk1 coins. The bank has plans to release 15 crore more by the end of June.

The central bank has approved a number of branches of three state-owned and six private banks for selling coins.

But sources say because these branches do not have enough space in their vaults, they cannot store enough at once.

An official of the Gulshan branch of the Standard Bank told this correspondent: “We have boxes full of coins.

But nobody wants them.”

Economists say common people are used to getting change in return when they shop or ride a bus. That is why they do not go to banks to collect coins.

The Dhaka Tribune has learnt that a syndicate of “coin collectors,” who allegedly amass the coins from bus conductors and grocery shops, are smuggling them through the western districts such as Kushtia, Meherpur, Jhenaidah and Chuadanga.

Hebul Mia, a resident of the Harimpur village in Meherpur near the Indian border, said: “A lot of coins have been smuggled through this area in the last one and a half years. The old Tk1 coins, which are made of copper and are golden in colour, are in high demand.”

However, he could not explain what was done with the smuggled coins.

Economist Anu Muhammad said: “If coins have any value other than their monetary value, then there is a chance that they may be used for unusual purposes.”

Others said another reason could be the reduced number of “counter bus services” in the city.

Khandakar Enayetullah, secretary general of a bus owners’ association, said: “Getting the coins and keeping them – both involve lots of hassle.

That is why the conductors say they do not have change.” l

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Rules to cut IPO expenses to 30% Kamal: FY14 GDP growth to stand at 6.2%

n Kayes Sohel A company could now save a substantial amount of money on the expenses for initial public offering (IPO), following introduction of the new subscription system for public shares.

Presently, the IPO expense eats up on an average 4% to 6% of the total issue depending on the IPO size, shrinking available fund for investment, according to industry people.

“Our best estimates suggest the IPO expenses will come down to 30% of the present expenditure once the new system becomes effective,” said MA Hafiz, a director of AAA consultant – a leading issue manager.

He said bigger IPOs cost less and smaller ones higher.

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) will make new application process for IPO subscription effective from July 15 next.

Under the new system, retail investors will have to apply for IPO shares allotment through their respective brokerage firms and merchant banks, and deposit money to their beneficiary owner’s (BO) accounts.

The money will be transferred from the investor’s account to the issuer company’s escrow account if the investor gets share allotment after IPO lottery.

As per the present procedures, investors need to submit money with their applications for IPO shares to their bank accounts where hours wasted standing in queues.

“The new system will substantially reduce post-IPO management cost

Kay Telecom vanished with Tk125cr dues n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The telecom regulator has found no existence of IGW operator Kay Telecommunications Ltd in its registered address.

The International Gateway (IGW) company owes Tk91.5 crore to Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Communication (BTRC) and around Tk35 crore to different mobile phone and Interconnection exchange (ICX) operators.

Ruling party lawmaker of Narayanganj Shamim Osman owned the company before the recent sale of his stock to another person. He, however, claimed all dues were paid before selling the company.

Shamim Osman got the IGW licence in 2012 and launched Kay Telecommunications at the end of that yea.

BTRC blocked the firm last year as its outstanding bills increased to nearly Tk100 crore. But the IGW operator paid only Tk9 crore to the regulator, said official sources.

BTRC recently sent a notice to Kay Telecommunications’ official address as registered. But the office was not found in the address.

The telecom watchdog has now decided to publish a notice on newspapers before taking any legal action against the company.

Shamim Osman reportedly transferred his shares in the company to another person few months back.

As per the current document, he has no stock in the Kay Telecommunications. “This is not my concern anymore as I have sold all the shares last year,” Shamim Osman told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday evening.

The MP said he sold the company with a huge loss and paid all dues to BTRC. BTRC, however, didn’t send any notice in this regard to Shamim Osman’s Narayanganj address.

According to telecom sources, the vanished company owes Grameenphone Tk15.48 crore, around Tk15 core to other mobile phone operators and a few crores to ICX operators. l

n Tribune Report

Investors are seen trading at a broker house in the capital amid a debudant stock in the country's two bourses after its initial public offerings recently TAHMIDUR RAHMAN that is bigger than any other charges or fees,” said MD Muniruzzaman, managing director of IDLC Investments.

He said some Tk3 or Tk4 per application is charged from lottery draw to refund warrant.

Now-a-days, people prefer to apply in the primary market rather than secondary market, leading to increased IPO applications and thus shooting up

post-IPO expenses, he said.

Union Capital managing director Akter H Sannamat said: “Fees fell a lot, making it harder to be profitable.”

He said the overall IPO expenses came down today than few years ago, as many players came in, making business competitive. Another fact is that since the regulator fixes fees for mangers to the issue, IPO expenses fell, he

said. The regulator has fixed the charge at maximum Tk20 lakh. “This fee should not be fixed as quality of service of all issue mangers is not equal.”

IPO expenses include listing fee, underwriter commission, prospectus submission fee to stock exchange, application fee to the regulator, consent fee, bankers to the Issue commission and CDBL fee. l

No consensus yet to avert RMG factory inspection twice n Tribune Report The Accord and the Alliance have not yet come to a consensus on factory inspection to decide whether both the platforms of the global retailers would inspect the same factories.

“We stick to our plan to inspect all the 1,600 factories,” said Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector of Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh.

The factories have been identified for inspection as the global brands source apparel items from the units.

“As there is no agreement between the Accord and Alliance, duplication in inspection can take place,” Brad said, after a meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat in Dhaka yesterday.

Officials of the ministries of commerce, labour and employment and foreign affairs, and ambassadors of Canada, US and Netherlands, and representatives of European Union were present.

The meeting, chaired by Canadian ambassador Heather Cruden, was to discuss the report of factory inspection done by the Accord and Alliance on fire, electrical and building structure.

At a meeting on March 27, the Accord and the Alliance had agreed not to

inspect a factory twice – once done by anyone to avert double-inspection.

“We do not want to inspect factories again, which has already been inspected by the Accord. But the Accord wants to inspect the factories again after being inspected by us,” M Rabin, managing director of Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Labour and Employment Secretary Mikail Shipar said the meeting discussed about the report of factory inspection and the factory closures, and the condition of workers of the closed factories.

“We urged the Accord to pay workers salaries for the period when the factories remain closed for remedial works,” he said, adding that the Accord gave no decision.

“The meeting also talked over concrete strength and the Accord agreed to follow the PSI at 2050 for brickmade structure and 2350 for stonemade structure for buildings which have been built after 2005. But it did not take decision on buildings which were built before 2005,” said a meeting source, seeking anonymity.

A total of 12 factories have so far been closed through conducting inspection. l

Spanish envoy happy with Siddhirganj plant progress n Aminur Rahman Rasel

Spanish Ambassador in Bangladesh Luis Tejada has expressed satisfaction over the progress of construction works of 335 megawatt gas-based combined cycle power plant at Siddhirganj in Narayangaj.

“I am happy to see the progress of the project. Once completed, the national grid will get power from the plant,” he told journalists during a visit to the project site yesterday.

After one year delay, the power plant  B3 COLUMN 5

Spanish Ambassador Luis Tejada

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday said the country’s economic growth would stand at 6.2% in the current fiscal year.

The figure announced more than one month ahead of ending the fiscal on June 30 beats the forecasts earlier made by the economists and donor agencies.

They predicted growth will be below 6% due to political unrest in the run up to the January 5 general election.

The planning minister said per capita income would increase from $1,044 to US$1,180 in the fiscal 2013-14.

He declared the GDP growth figure while briefing the outcome of the meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) in Dhaka.

The minister’s declaration is higher than Bangladesh Bank’s projection of around 6%, the World Bank’s 5.7%, ADB’s 5.6% and International Monetary Fund’s 6%.

About the implementation of the annual development programme (ADP), Kamal said the rate of implementation for the current fiscal year is 55%.

At the Ecnec meeting, the government approved expansion of power distribution network through 39 Palli Bidyut Samities across the country.

The project titled “Strengthening the Distribution System of Rural Electrification” will cost over Tk5,198 crore.

With this enhancement of electricity transmission network in the rural areas, a total of four development

projects worth Tk6,386 crore were approved at the meeting, with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

“Under the power distribution network project, system loss during power distribution would be reduced by 2.5% through strengthening the distribution network in Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet divisions,” Kamal told newsmen after the meeting.

He said distribution network of 39 Palli Bidyut Samities would be strengthened through increasing their capacities by 1840 MVA (mega volt ampere).

The distribution system of rural electrification would require a cost of Tk5,198.33 crore, of which, the government will provide Tk1,293.33 crore and Tk3,705 crore will come as project assistance and concerned organisations will contribute Tk200 crore. Rural Electrification Board (REB) will implement the project scheduled by June, 2020.

Of the total outlay of four projects, the government will provide Tk1,843.47 crore from the national exchequer while Tk4,317.15 crore will come as project assistance and concerned organisations will contribute Tk225.45 crore from own sources, according to the minister.

The ECNEC approved another project titled “Installation of Wireless Broadband Network for Digital Bangladesh” involving Tk956.84 crore to ensure broadband internet at a cheaper rate for all.

Government will provide Tk344.69 crore from the national exchequer and rest Tk612.15 crore would come as project assistance.  B3 COLUMN 6

Demand for removing SIM tax ‘illogical’

n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The mobile phone operators’ demand for complete removal of SIM tax is not logical, said Post and Telecommunication Secretary Abu Bakar Siddique.

“SIM tax was reduced half previously, now the operators want it be eliminated completely. It’s not a rational demand at all,” he said.

In the current fiscal year, the government reduced tax on the purchase a SIM to Tk300 from Tk600.

The telecom operators have demanded reducing tax to zero in the upcoming fiscal year as they have to “pay it from their own pockets.”

“Mobile operators pay the tax (on behalf of subscribers). If it is withdrawn, we can contribute more to the national exchequer,” said TIM Nurul Kabir, secretary general of Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (AMTOB).

But the secretary said the mobile operators only look at their benefits and never think of how the government would collect its expected revenue.

He suggested the tax should continue for more one or two years as there was a 50% reduction in the current fiscal year.

“After 1-2 years, we will consider if the tax should be in effect or not, but not now.

Former finance adviser of a caretaker government AB Mirza Azizul Islam suggested following international standard rate of tax on mobile SIM cards.

“As the VAT on SIM card could be subjected to a universal VAT structure, we should analyse the rates of other countries.”

At different meetings and press conferences recently, the telecom operators urged the National Board of Revenue (NBR) to cut Tk300 tax on SIM saying the tax is against the growth of mobile penetration.

It contradicts the government’s vision of building Digital Bangladesh, they said.

At present, the operators pay a total of Tk300 tax for a SIM card sale, which includes Tk109.96 value added

tax (VAT) and Tk190.05 supplementary duty.

Industry insiders said the mobile operators have been left with no choice other than paying the tax from their fund considering the economic conditions of subscribers in Bangladesh and market competitiveness.

They claimed the SIM tax withdrawal will widen mobile connectivity and contribute to taking the penetration to more than 80% of the population by 2015.

Industry people said the government income will increase at least 20% after SIM tax is lifted.

In the FY2005-06, the government introduced Tk800 SIM tax. It was reduced to Tk600 in FY2010-11 and Tk300 in FY13-14.

During years since 2010, the industry witnessed a modest average growth of 18%.

The subscribers increased 23.6% in FY2010-11, 20% in 2011-12 and 10.9% in 2012-13. The subscribers’ growth rate was only 9% during the current fiscal year when the tax was cut by half. l

Tofail urges WTO to help ease manpower export n Tribune Business Desk Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has called upon the World Trade Organisation to take effective steps in easing visa procedure as well as improving connectivity to facilitate expansion of world trade.

“Complexities in issuing visa have created a roadblock to trade in services in the form of exporting human resources,” he told a conference ti-

tled “World Economic Forum on East Asia” of commerce ministers from different countries in Manila, Philippines yesterday.

The minister also called upon the WTO to remove all the barriers to facilitate free trade for the least developed countries like Bangladesh as agreed in the ninth WTO ministerial conference in Bali, Indonesia in December last year.

“We want implementation of the decision adopted in Bali.”

He said Bangladesh is gradually becoming economically stronger with its exports reaching to around US$30bn at present and accumulating around US$20bn of foreign exchange reserve, mainly aided by a robust remittance inflow of around $15bn annually.

“Bangladesh would do even better, subject to getting enhanced access to international trade,” he said.

Tofail said the country is making

efforts to diversify its export items as well as export market in one hand, and trying to sign free trade agreements with different countries to boost exports.

He said Bangladesh is making progress in a planned manner to achieve a strong footing in its export trade and expected the WTO would take effective measures to implement the Bali Package to act as a catalyst in the country’s endeavour. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

61,160,829 66,582

Traded Issues

288

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

212

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

68

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

8

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,261.07

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.41

CSE key features May 21, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

235.88

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights DSE Broad Index :

2,713.52

Number of Contract

creased substantiality, turnover still remained low. The DSE turnover stood at Tk271 crore, a sharp increase of nearly 38% over the previous session.

Lanka Bangla Securities, in its market analysis, said market made an impulse bounce-back, as economic data exhibited some improvement.

On the economic front, the import of capital machinery has increased by 19.7% in the first nine months of FY14. Industrial raw material import rose by 10.7% during the July-March period of FY 14.

“This higher import is indicating higher business activity as there is stability in the economy,” said Lanka Bangla.

Zenith Investments said market showed signs of recovery as enormous buying activity took place in almost all sectors after heavy downfall for the past couple of days. “All the three indices began the day’s proceedings on a firm note, and later pared gains and elevated above, from negative positions.”

Square Pharmaceuticals was the most traded stock of the session with turnover of Tk20 crore, followed by Lafarge Surma Cement, Meghna Petroleum, Hwa Well Textiles, BSRM Steel and Grameenphone. l

Stocks rebounded yesterday after eight days of losses in a row thanks to the buying binge mainly on power, bank and textile stocks.

The benchmark index DSEX gained 47 points or 1% to cross over 4,400 level and settle at 4,410, recovering from its previous session’s seven-month low.

Shariah Index DSES rose 11 points or 1% to 982. The blue-chip comprising DS30 was up 14 points or almost 1% to 1,604.

Chittagong Stock Exchange Selective Category Index, CSCX, surged 70 points to 8,472.

“After long correction and profit-taking, the market was back to the green naturally, which is inevitable,” said a leading stock broker.

Almost every sectors close positive except telecommunication which edged lower. Among the major sectors, power, bank, cement, textile and, fuel and power were in strong buying interest which revolved the market breadth remarkably after a straight eight days of sluggish movement in the market.

Textile sector rallied 0.8% on the news of 25% growth in exports of denim products to the US and EU markets in 2013.

Though trading activities in-

Company

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

5,884,956

Number of Contract

8,373

4410.63295

(+) 1.08%

▲

Traded Issues

212

982.64411

(+) 1.11%

▲

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

157

1604.61517

(+) 0.93%

▲

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

49

CSE All Share Index:

13615.13450

(+) 0.95%

▲

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

CSE - 30 Index :

11179.46010

(+) 0.83%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,166.27

8472.38960

(+) 0.84%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.26

DSE Shariah Index : DSE - 30 Index :

CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS

Square Textile -A GeminiSeaFood-Z Imam Button -Z Midas Financing-Z Progressive Life-A Reliance Insur -A Standard Ceramic -A Apex Footwear-A

-10.58 -6.55 -4.94 -4.88 -4.11 -3.28 -2.94 -2.80

Average (% change) -11.97 -6.55 0.00 -4.68 -4.14 -3.36 -2.91 -1.18

ICB Islamic Bank-Z National Bank - B

-2.22 -1.79

-1.11 -0.89

Company

Closing (% change)

CSE LOSERS

Apex Footwear-A Popular Life Insu. -A Square Textile -A Midas Financing-Z Nitol Insurance -A Peoples Insur -A Mercantile Insur -A BGIC -A

-27.01 -18.13 -11.23 -9.96 -7.79 -7.41 -7.27 -6.02

Average (% change) -27.02 -18.12 -11.88 -9.96 -7.79 -7.41 -7.27 -6.02

Delta Brac HFCL-A GreenDeltaInsu -A

-4.44 -4.14

-4.37 -0.82

Company

Closing (% change)

ANALYST

Closing average

Closing

Bank NBFI Investment Engineering Food & Allied Fuel & Power Jute Textile Pharma & Chemical Paper & Packaging Service Leather Ceramic Cement Information Technology General Insurance Life Insurance Telecom Travel & Leisure Miscellaneous Debenture

DSE Million Taka 257.52 63.87 56.84 325.74 138.66 282.06 0.89 359.47 513.33 0.87 68.75 35.31 11.18 335.27 14.85 30.77 47.88 107.91 16.92 45.39 0.06

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

Latest PE

87.17 135.50 8.00 19.54 114.33 64.76 43.00 343.26

87.90 135.50 7.70 19.50 114.30 64.80 42.90 339.80

88.20 135.50 7.80 20.50 116.50 65.00 44.90 359.00

84.00 135.50 7.70 19.00 112.10 61.00 42.40 337.10

14.548 0.108 0.016 0.127 0.343 0.327 0.215 16.957

6.60 -11.90 -1.85 -6.91 2.30 5.84 1.32 -11.44

13.2 -ve -ve -ve 49.7 11.1 32.6 -ve

4.46 11.13

4.40 11.00

4.70 11.30

4.10 10.20

1.401 21.207

-1.12 0.92

-ve 12.1

Closing average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

S. Alam CR Steel -A BSRM Steels-A GPH Ispat Ltd-A Premier Cement-A MeghnaCement -A Appollo Ispat CL -N ConfidenceCement A AramitCementA SummitAlliancePort.-A Global Heavy Chemicals-N

332.10 203.20 87.70 20.80 29.60 25.00 20.40 23.40

345.00 205.00 87.70 20.80 29.60 25.00 20.40 23.50

319.10 201.10 86.20 20.80 29.60 25.00 20.40 23.00

0.133 1.016 2.105 0.010 0.030 0.010 0.010 0.043

-11.44 17.00 6.60 -6.91 3.24 2.28 2.40 1.36

-ve 12.0 13.2 -ve 9.1 11.0 8.5 17.2

60.34 81.08

60.30 81.10

63.00 81.10

60.00 81.00

0.272 0.105

5.05 3.00

11.9 27.0

Market made an impulse bounceback, as economic data exhibited some improvement

% change 9.49 2.35 2.09 12.00 5.11 10.39 0.03 13.25 18.92 0.03 2.53 1.30 0.41 12.36 0.55 1.13 1.76 3.98 0.62 1.67 0.00

Million Taka 22.45 6.58 2.51 28.83 10.17 20.45 39.44 62.55 12.11 3.25 12.84 1.41 22.57 1.32 0.78 3.41 11.83 3.26 6.14 0.00

% change 8.26 2.42 0.92 10.60 3.74 7.52 0.00 14.50 23.00 4.45 1.20 4.72 0.52 8.30 0.49 0.29 1.25 4.35 1.20 2.26 0.00

Million Taka 279.98 70.46 59.34 354.56 148.83 302.51 0.89 398.90 575.88 12.98 72.00 48.15 12.59 357.84 16.17 31.55 51.29 119.74 20.18 51.52 0.06

Total

9.80 9.34 8.44 7.10 6.75 6.13 5.95 5.83 5.45 5.10

CSE GAINERS Company MeghnaCement -A S. Alam CR Steel -A BSRM Steels-A Global Heavy Chemicals-N GPH Ispat Ltd-A ConfidenceCement A Argon Denims Limited-A AramitCementA SummitAlliancePort.-A Appollo Ispat CL -N

Closing (% change) 10.00 10.00 9.86 7.35 7.17 6.61 6.42 6.08 5.94 5.30

Average (% change) 7.80 7.56 7.21 4.89 5.70 4.39 4.16 4.92 4.74 5.00 Average (% change) 8.72 8.97 7.60 5.94 4.28 4.89 3.13 5.04 4.24 3.76

Closing average 32.05 70.71 47.86 87.35 127.08 27.37 126.04 43.08 23.00 44.92

Closing average 128.29 32.55 70.61 44.75 47.97 126.89 55.39 43.17 22.87 27.31

Closing 32.50 72.60 48.80 89.00 128.10 27.70 128.30 43.60 23.20 45.30

Closing 129.80 33.00 72.40 45.30 49.30 129.10 58.00 43.60 23.20 27.80

Daily high 32.50 73.00 49.50 89.90 131.40 28.20 129.40 44.00 23.50 46.00

Daily high 129.80 33.00 72.40 45.90 50.00 130.00 58.00 43.90 23.30 28.20

Daily low 28.00 66.00 45.00 84.90 122.40 26.20 112.00 38.00 20.00 43.70

Daily low 125.00 29.90 62.00 44.00 46.00 122.50 50.00 41.60 21.80 26.50

Turnover in million 14.681 91.263 33.350 8.683 21.540 44.826 23.691 9.942 7.446 25.831

Turnover in million 0.513 1.745 6.632 1.163 1.241 1.690 0.028 1.382 1.580 10.307

Latest EPS 1.90 4.72 2.42 3.67 7.00 1.69 8.52 0.68 1.08 2.48

Latest EPS 7.00 1.90 4.72 2.48 2.42 8.52 4.04 0.68 1.08 1.69

Latest PE 16.9 15.0 19.8 23.8 18.2 16.2 14.8 63.4 21.3 18.1

Latest PE 18.3 17.1 15.0 18.0 19.8 14.9 13.7 63.5 21.2 16.2

News from trade server IDLC: Emerging Credit Rating Limited (ECRL) has assigned the surveillance rating of the Company as "AAA" in the long term and ECRL-1 in the short term along with a stable outlook to the Company based on financials of the Company up to December 31, 2013 and other relevant qualitative information up to the date of rating.

ASIAPACINS: (Audit Opinion): The auditor of the company has given the following Audit Opinion in the audit report of the company for the year ended on 31 December 2013: Opinion: IFRS-9 requires all gains or loss on the financial assets measured at fair value to change in the statement of comprehensive income.

The loss or gain will be charged in the comprehensive income only when the (i) instrument is part of hedging relationship or (ii) the equity instrument is designated as held for trading. The only provided BDT 16,079,615 as loss on financial asset measured at fair value, which is only 20% of the actual loss.

SUMITPOWER: (Basis of Qualified Opinion): The auditor of the company has given the following Basis of Qualified Opinion

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Square Pharma -A LafargeS Cement-Z Meghna Petroleum -A Hwa Well Textiles-N BSRM Steels-A Grameenphone-A Active Fine Chem.-A

CSE

Closing (% change)

in the audit report of the company for the year ended on 31 December 2013: "Basis of Qualified Opinion" The Bangladesh Labour (Amendments) Act 2013 has been enacted in July 2013, which requires 5% of the company's profits to be distributed each year to a workers' profit participation fund (WPPF). The subsidiaries of the company have not made WPPF provisions as per said Labour Act requirements. Management disclosure on the issue is given in Note-48 to the financial statements. Had this provision been made in the accounts the net profit for the year ended 31 December 2013 would have been decreased

by Tk. 17,983,009 for Summit Uttaranchol Power Company Limited, by Tk. 29,953,151 for Summit Purbanchol Power Company Limited and by Tk. 42,759,363 for Summit Narayanganj Power Company Limited.

Like the subsidiaries the company also has not made any provision in this regard, otherwise profit of the company (SPL) would decrease by Tk. 50,795,862.

SPPCL: (Basis for Qualified Opinion): The auditor of the company has given the following Basis for Qualified Opinion in

the audit report of the company for the year ended on 31 December 2013: "Basis for Qualified Opinion" The Bangladesh Labour (Amendments) Act 2013 has been enacted in July 2013, which requires 5% of the company's profits to be distributed each year to a workers' profit participation fund (WPPF). The company has not made WPPF provisions as per said Labour Act requirements. Management disclosure on the issue is given in Note-41 to the financial statements. Had this provision been made in the accounts the net profit for the year ended 31 December 2013 would have been decreased by Tk. 29,953,151.

SONARGAON: (Basis for Qualified Opinion): The auditor of the company has given the following Basis for Qualified Opinion in the audit report of the company for the year ended on 31 December 2013: "Basis for Qualified Opinion" We could not verify quantity, quality and existence of inventory balances of Tk. 831,567,976 as on 31 December 2013. However, we have relied up on the management's certification on quality, quantity existence and valuation of the inventories as on 31 December 2013.

Latest PE

332.05 203.23 87.18 20.80 29.60 25.00 20.40 23.40

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Daily high

Thursday, May 22, 2014

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features May 21, 2014

Stocks rebound on buying binge n Tribune Report

Stock

% change 9.38 2.36 1.99 11.88 4.99 10.13 0.03 13.36 19.29 0.43 2.41 1.61 0.42 11.99 0.54 1.06 1.72 4.01 0.68 1.73 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

HeidelbergCement -A Eastern Housing -A Matin Spinning-N

Mercantile Bank -A AFC AgroBiotech-N Appollo Ispat CL -N Jamuna Oil -A Emerald Oil Ind. -N

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Square Pharma -A

Hwa Well Textiles-N LafargeS Cement-Z Appollo Ispat CL -N BD Submarine Cable-A BSRM Steels-A Matin Spinning-N Grameenphone-A Meghna Petroleum -A HeidelbergCement -A Active Fine Chem.-A National Bank - B AFC AgroBiotech-N Mercantile Bank -A UNITED AIR-A

Volume shares 756,662 2,604,500 343,140 2,192,000 1,290,707 320,308 994,963 115,550 975,727 1,254,400

2,988,565 752,500 1,637,600 172,169 742,000

Volume shares

167,790 287,000 168,500 377,400 38,975 93,924 110,200 17,800 14,500 7,800 53,000 329,565 52,000 175,472 254,498

Value in million 199.10 178.18 97.85 96.51 91.26 83.66 69.85 59.52 59.26 58.83

50.92 44.84 44.83 37.69 36.66

Value in million

44.37 12.62 11.52 10.31 7.17 6.63 5.17 4.66 4.15 4.03 3.72 3.70 3.11 2.96 2.95

% of total turnover 7.34 6.57 3.61 3.56 3.36 3.08 2.57 2.19 2.18 2.17

1.88 1.65 1.65 1.39 1.35

% of total turnover

19.30 5.49 5.01 4.48 3.12 2.89 2.25 2.03 1.80 1.75 1.62 1.61 1.35 1.29 1.28

Daily closing 261.80 69.20 283.70 43.60 72.60 260.40 70.30 518.60 60.20 46.50

17.10 59.10 27.70 219.10 49.00

Daily closing

263.30 43.50 69.60 27.80 184.00 72.40 46.50 260.40 284.00 520.50 70.10 11.10 60.10 17.00 11.60

Price change -0.80 3.13 0.75 0.93 9.34 -0.34 2.63 3.70 -0.99 0.43

Daily opening 263.90 67.10 281.60 43.20 66.40 261.30 68.50 500.10 60.80 46.30

Price change

Daily opening

3.64 0.51 6.13 1.76 1.24

-0.34 1.16 4.66 5.30 1.15 9.86 1.09 -0.42 0.78 4.20 2.64 -0.89 1.69 3.66 0.00

16.50 58.80 26.10 215.30 48.40

264.20 43.00 66.50 26.40 181.90 65.90 46.00 261.50 281.80 499.50 68.30 11.20 59.10 16.40 11.60

Daily high 267.00 70.00 287.00 44.70 73.00 263.50 71.50 521.00 63.00 47.50

Daily low 258.00 67.10 260.00 43.20 66.00 240.00 63.50 504.00 57.10 46.20

Daily average 263.13 68.41 285.17 44.03 70.71 261.20 70.21 515.08 60.73 46.89

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

17.40 60.50 28.20 220.00 50.00

266.00 44.60 69.90 28.20 185.00 72.40 47.50 264.00 288.00 521.90 71.30 11.40 60.80 17.20 11.70

14.90 58.50 26.20 210.00 48.80

263.00 43.10 66.90 26.50 182.50 62.00 46.00 260.00 280.00 507.10 69.00 11.10 58.10 16.50 11.00

17.04 59.59 27.37 218.91 49.41

264.44 43.99 68.39 27.31 184.00 70.61 46.88 261.72 285.96 516.36 70.16 11.24 59.80 16.89 11.60

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Thursday, May 22, 2014

Obama discusses US investment with Yen rises in Asia after BoJ holds fi re on corporate executives easing measures n Reuters, Washington

President Barack Obama gathered executives from several major international companies on Tuesday, including Ford Motor Co and Deutshe Lufthansa AG, to discuss a White House initiative to encourage investment in the United States.

The White House says the program, SelectUSA, has assisted in winning more than $18bn in business investments in 17 states and territories.

Obama, Commerce Secretary Penny Pritzker and other economic advisers joined the executives in a discussion about their US investments.

“We have the most dynamic and creative and innovative economy in the world, but we don’t always do what it takes to go after business around the world and make sure that they know the benefits of investing in the largest market on Earth,” Obama said at the beginning of the meeting, addressing reporters.

“And we want to be more systematic about it. We want to make sure that the federal government is working in sync with state and local governments when it comes to locating businesses here in the United States.”

Companies represented at the meeting included Swedish telecom supplier Ericsson and Zurich NA, a subsidiary of Switzerland’s Zurich Insurance.

“These businesses have recognized

n AFP, Tokyo

US President Barack Obama talks to international business leaders at a meeting in the Roosevelt Room of the White House in Washington REUTERS

the many advantages of locating, growing and hiring in the United States,” said Jeff Zients, director of the White House National Economic Council, in a conference call with reporters on Monday.

SK Sur elected chairman of APRACA n Tribune Report Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury has been elected as chairman of Asia-Pacific Rural and Agricultural Credit Association (APRACA).

He has been elected for next two years at the 19th general assembly of APRACA held at a city hotel on Monday.

Under the sponsorship of FAO, APRACA promotes cooperation and facilitates mutual exchange of information and expertise in the field of rural finance among its members.

A total 68 rural finance and agricultural credit institutions from 21 countries of Asia-Pacific region are the

Lufthansa Chief Executive Carsten Spohr said low energy prices and infrastructure were good reasons for companies like his to invest in the country.

“I think the United States has dis-

Facebook to expand video ads to seven countries outside US n Reuters, San Francisco

members of the organisation.

The member organisations from Bangladesh are Bangladesh Bank, ASA, PKSF, MRA and BRAC. l

Sheikh Nahar Mahmud has been appointed as the managing director of Novartis Bangladesh and country head of Sandoz, a generic pharmaceuticals division of Novartis. Mahmud brings with him extensive experience of working in the pharmaceutical and fast-moving consumer products industry both within the country and internationally. Prior to the appointment, he worked in Sanofi Bangladesh as head of commercial effectiveness. Mahmud is succeeding Kuntal Baveja, who will be taking the responsibility of Sandoz Philippines as country hea

covered or re-discovered that industrial jobs are creating value, that you need to attract those investments into the country,” he told Reuters in an interview after the meeting. l

Facebook Inc is expanding its new video advertising service, allowing marketers to show the television-like spots to users of the social network in Britain, Brazil and five other countries, the company told Reuters.

The move marks a significant ramping up of one of Facebook’s most closely watched new advertising products, which analysts believe could help the Internet company capture a bigger slice of lucrative brand advertising budgets.

The 15-second video ads appear in users’ newsfeeds and play automatically with the sound muted until they are clicked on. Facebook began selling the ads in the United States in March to a small group of marketers including insurance company Progressive Corp and television broadcaster NBC, a unit of Comcast Corp.

Facebook said the performance of the initial group of video ads in the United States has been strong, but declined to elaborate.

As it did in the United States, Facebook is moving cautiously to roll out the autoplay video ads in its overseas markets to avoid annoying users. The company will initially work with a limited group of advertisers in France, Germany, Brazil, Japan, Canada, Australia and Britain starting next month. Each ad must pass

a quality-control test that Facebook administers in conjunction with video analytics firm Ace Metrix.

Most of the commercials in international markets will not appear on Facebook’s website until September, as the Internet company spends several months working closely with marketers to ensure that the spots meet its quality standards, a Facebook spokesman told Reuters.

But he said that companies whose commercials are deemed acceptable could begin airing them on Facebook in June, in time for the World Cup international soccer tournament, a popular event for brand advertisers.

Video ads, along with ads on the Facebook-owned Instagram photosharing app, are among the new businesses that analysts believe could turn into important money-makers for Facebook, though the company has said it does not expect video ads to contribute meaningfully to its business this year.

Facebook’s ad revenue grew 82% year-on-year to $2.27bn in the first quarter.

The price that marketers pay to run a video ad on Facebook is determined by the size of the audience as measured by measurement firm Nielsen. Marketers can choose specific times of day for their spots and can target ads according to age and gender. l

DHL, a logistics provider has provided its support to World Red Cross and Red Crescent Day in Bangladesh by organising an annual blood donation campaign as part of its annual Global Volunteer Day initiative. DHL Global Forwarding Bangladesh Country Manager Nooruddin Chowdhury was present on the occasion

Islami Bank Bangladesh Limited Bogra Zone recently organised a daylong workshop on women entrepreneurship development in Bogra. General manager of Bangladesh Bank, Mizanur Rahman Jodder inaugurated the workshop as chief guest while workshop was presided over by Md Mosharraf Hossain, Executive vice president and head of Islami Bank Bogra zone

Trust Bank Limited CEO and managing director, Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury seen attending a national seminar on international financial regulations at BIBM Auditorium in Dhaka. Md Abul Quasem, deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank was chief guest at the seminar

Modhumoti Bank Limited recently signed a participation agreement for the refinance scheme called “Brick Kiln Efficiency Improvement Project”. Abul Mansur Ahmed, general manager and project director of Green Banking and CSR department of Bangladesh Bank and Md Mizanur Rahman, MD and CEO of Modhumoti Bank signed the agreement

The yen rose against the dollar in Asia yesterday after the Bank of Japan (BoJ) held off fresh easing measures, saying the world’s number three economy was picking up pace.

The dollar was trading at 101.17 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade after the BoJ announcement, down from around the 101.30 mark before the news and 101.32 yen in New York on Tuesday afternoon.

The euro slipped to 138.65 yen from 138.82 yen in US trade while it bought $1.3701, unchanged from US trade.

Japan’s central bank policy board after a two-day meeting unanimously agreed to keep its stimulus drive unchanged and said the economy was gathering speed, despite fears that an April 1 sales tax rise will dent consumer spending.

Markets are now looking to comments from BoJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda at about 3:30 pm (0630 GMT) for clues about when the bank might introduce further measures.

“The optimistic tone of recent BoJ communication suggests that the chances of additional stimulus being announced as soon as July have shrunk substantially, but we still think that more easing will eventually be required,” said London-based Capital Economics.

Investors were also waiting for Wednesday’s release of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s last meeting. The

minutes cover a two-day Fed gathering that concluded on April 30 at which the Fed trimmed its stimulus programme by another $10bn to $45bn a month.

But the bank then repeated its view that benchmark interest rates would remain low for some time.

The minutes “will be closely scrutinised for any changes to forward guidance”, National Australia Bank said in a note.

Japan's economy was gathering speed, despite fears that an April 1 sales tax rise will dent consumer spending The dollar was higher against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It rose to 58.82 Indian rupees from 58.59, to 11,502.50 Indonesian rupiah from 11,446.30 and to 43.77 Philippine pesos from 43.69.

The greenback also climbed to 1,027.15 South Korean won from 1,021.94 won, to Sg$1.2531 from Sg$1.2508, and to Tw$30.17 from Tw$30.13.

The Australian dollar sank to 92.30 US cents from 92.93 cents and the Chinese yuan dropped to 16.19 yen from 16.24 yen. l

Spanish envoy happy  B1 COLUMN 3

is now expected to go into partial operation in July next year. The full operation has also been delayed by one year and is expected to begin in March 2016.

Officials said 60% works of the project have already been completed.

The joint venture of Isolux Ingenieria SA and Samsung C&T Corporation, a Spanish-Korean consortium, obtained the EPC (engineering, procurement and construction) contract and started work in August, 2012.

Isolux signed a contract with American General Electric in Dhaka to get equipment supply for the power plant.

But following the start of the work, when the contractor went to do the heavy piling work, it found a huge water body at a depth of just 12-15 meters beneath the construction site.

The state-owned Electricity Generation Company of Bangladesh (EGCB) is implementing the project with joint funding from World Bank and the government.

The fund is $339m for the power plant along with 230 KV S/S and 11 km 230 KV transmission line and 60 km Gas Pipe Line from Bakhrabad to Siddhirganj.

Earlier, the EGCB signed a contract with its EPC contractor on 28 May, 2012 to set up the gas-based combined cycle plant. About the EPC contractor, Isolux, the envoy said it’s already a well-established company in South Asia.

The company has signed a contract with the American General Electric for supply of equipment for the power station.

“Besides this Siddhirganj plant,

Isolux built a 150MW combined cycle power plant in Khulna, the third largest industrial city of Bangladesh,” said Luis Tejada.

He said Spain is the eleventh largest investor worldwide with a stock of foreign direct investment $640m, which accounts for 3% of global investment.

Spain is the fourth largest economy in the Euro zone, the fifth in the European Union and thirteenth in the world in terms of GDP. In Latin America, it is second largest investors after the United States, the ambassador said.

According to him, Spanish companies are world leaders in sectors with high added value and high growth potential, such as infrastructure management, electricity, renewable energy, high speed rails and water treatment. l

Kamal: FY14 GDP  B1 COLUMN 6

Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited (BTCL) will implement the project by June, 2017.

Under the project, two core networks will be set up in Dhaka while 300km optical fibre will be laid in seven divisional headquarters, districts and upazila levels with the installation of 670 base transceiver stations (BTSs).

The planning minister said the project will expand the ICT related services through ensuring high speed Internet.

The ECNEC also approved projects including “Construction of Divisional and District Shilpakala Academy” involving Tk193.97 crore and Uttara Lake Development Project at Tk37 crore. l

Gigabyte launched a new series of motherboard named as ‘9 Series’ at a press conference held yeaterday. Regional manager of Gigabyte’s Asia Pacific region, Alan Szu and General Manager of Smart Technologies (BD) Ltd Zafor Ahmed was present at the conference

National Bank Training Institute recently organised a foundation course for its 27 probationary officers. A K M Shafiqur Rahman, managing director and CEO of National Bank Limited inaugurated the course

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Thursday, May 22, 2014

India Inc bets big on Modi, but can he deliver? n AFP, New Delhi Daunting political and fiscal traps lie in wait that could ensnare new centre-right leader Narendra Modi as he embarks on the gargantuan task of fulfilling India’s undoubted economic potential, observers say.

The landslide election win by Modi’s Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) could be a game-changer, they say, but any economic transformation will take time in the emerging-market giant of 1.25 billion people where competing interests abound.

“Expectations have built up very quickly, too quickly,” Sidharth Birla, president of the Federation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FICCI).

Mumbai’s headline share index extended a heady rally on Tuesday to a new closing high and one of India’s top investors, Rakesh Jhunjhunwala, forecasts the “mother of all bull runs”.

The prime minister-elect has stoked the expectations by saying he could make the 21st century “India’s century” within 10 years.

But Modi “will need to exercise reality management” to temper investor and voter hopes, Birla said, as the 63-year-old finalises his ministerial team before taking office on Monday.

The BJP ousted the left-leaning Congress, riding a tide of public anger over tepid growth, high inflation, rampant graft and a sclerotic political system.

Modi oversaw double-digit annual growth in a dozen years as chief minister of Gujarat state, and campaigned for national leader on his “Modinomics” mantra of “less

Sacred cows

government, more governance”, pledging to spread his economic model nationwide.

Top of a 12-point business wish list issued by the FICCI is a call to sweep away the remainders of the so-called “Licence Raj”.

That refers to bureaucratic controls dating from British colonial rule that have stalled multi-billion-dollar projects as well as small investors wishing to start up businesses.

Analysts say India is also in dire need of more roads, ports and other infrastructure to boost productivity if it hopes to emulate rival China’s economic miracle, along with a simplified tax system and reform of a cumbersome land acquisition process for industrial projects.

Exporting ‘Modinomics’ In Gujarat, Modi centralised control and gained a reputation for browbeating India’s notoriously slow bureaucrats.

He was known as a tough taskmaster and reports say his office has already begun sounding out chief secretaries in various ministries asking them why stalled infrastructure or industrial projects have been held up.

But the challenge is greater on the national stage, where high consumer inflation has kept interest rates elevated, discouraging consumer spending and investment.

Meanwhile, a hefty fiscal deficit means the new BJP administration has no fiscal firepower to spur an economy growing at 4.9% - half the level notched up as recently as 2011.

Serious structural economic problems complete Modi’s difficult hand, as

highlighted in a new World Bank “Ease of Doing Business” survey that ranked India at a lowly 134th among 185 nations - below its BRICS peers Brazil, Russia, China and South Africa.

“We have got to change how India is perceived,” said Birla, citing years of project

clearance delays, graft and red tape which have tarnished India as an investment destination.

An average infrastructure project, for instance, needs approval from around 20 federal ministries. A convenience stores needs close to 30 licences to sell milk,

bread and other goods, the Retailers Association of India says.

“The lowest-hanging fruits (to improve the investment environment) are fasttracking of projects in the pipeline,” said Roopa Kudva, managing director of rating agency CRISIL.

Japan retailers target new big spenders, the tourists n Reuters, Tokyo

A Mikado drone of German Federal Armed Forces Bundeswehr is operated during the International Air Show ILA in Schoenefeld near Berlin. According to the organisers, 1,203 exhibitors from 40 countries will attend the aerospace trade show running until May 25, 2014 AFP

Driven by government tourism promotions and lately a weaker yen, the number of inbound travelers has quietly doubled in the past decade to top 10 million for the first time last year. In 2013, they spent $14bn on everything from powdered green tea to Prada handbags, to rare, red-coral rings.

With a doubling to 20 million visitors targeted by 2020, the year of the Tokyo Olympics, the growing flow of cash is welcome for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe as he seeks to nurse a recovery in consumer spending through a national sales tax hike. It’s also sending retailers scrambling to tap into the so-called “inbounds” windfall through marketing channels from social media to street signage.

“Until now, we’ve been rather passive with ‘inbounds’,” said Hideyuki Murakami, executive officer of department store operator Isetan Mitsukoshi Ltd. “But as their numbers surge, we’ll need to really step things up - whether it’s with language, facilities or product selection.”

Japan’s department stores association on Tuesday said duty-free spending at 46 stores across the country spiked 54% in April to 6.09bn yen ($60m) compared with the same month a year ago, while overall sales at 241 department stores nationwide slipped 12% to 417.2 billion yen. Visitors have

surged particularly from Thailand, which along with Malaysia received visa exemptions for short-term stays last July.

Many spend freely on their trips.

Yijia, a 16-year-old from Shanghai who asked to be identified only by her first name, showed off a 90,000 yen ($890) haul from Mitsukoshi’s swank Ginza store that included a pair of Kenzo designer shoes.

“I love coming to Japan to eat and shop,” said the high school student, on her third visit to Japan with her mother. “Everyone loves the food in Tokyo, including French cuisine.”

The 1.42 trillion yen ($14 billion) spent by “in-bounds” was up more than a third from 2012, according to the Japan Tourism Agency. That’s less than half a percent of Japan’s total private consumption, yet it still offers retailers welcome relief from the hangover of the April sales tax increase to 8% from 5%, now discouraging local shoppers.

Japan’s visitor numbers are dwarfed by the 83 million travelers that made France the world’s most popular tourist destination in 2012, the last year for which the United Nations World Tourism Organization has published estimates. Ranked 33rd by visitor numbers, Japan trailed Asia tourism destinations like Hong Kong, Macau and South Korea.

Yet their contribution to the economy will take on increasing importance

as Japan’s population dwindles - estimates suggest as Japan gets older its population will decrease by 10 million people by 2030. By then, the government hopes that further visa liberalization and a possible legalization of casino gambling will bring in 30 million visitors.

Politics of shopping

Though the weaker yen and its attractions appear set to drive Japan’s popularity as a destination, its ambition of moving up in the world rankings for inbound visitors has not been without hiccups beyond local retailers’ control.

Visitors from mainland China, by far the top spenders per head, fell 7.8 percent last year after Japan’s dispute with China over islands they both claim ignited anti-Japanese sentiment.

South Koreans were scared away towards the year-end by media reports highlighting radiation fears left over from the March 2011 nuclear disaster, which in turn caused a big drop in overall visitors that year.

“If you look at what’s happening now with Vietnam and China, things can take a turn overnight,” said Mitsukoshi Ginza’s Murakami, referring to the anti-Chinese riots in Vietnam this month, also over territorial issues.

“But if you take a really long view, ‘inbounds’ offer the biggest hope to fill the hole of Japan’s shrinking population.” l

But even with the BJP’s lower house majority, “the government won’t have everything its way since power is dispersed in India”, said Capital Economics analyst Mark Williams.

Many reforms, such as introducing the wish-list proposal of a simplified national tax, require state approval under the nation’s federal system, Williams noted.

The BJP and its allies control only eight of the 29 state governments. Congress remains in control of the upper house of parliament, which must sanction legislation.

Business leaders would also like India to relax strict hire-and-fire labour laws they say discourage industry from creating jobs for its youthful population, but this is not on the “to-do” list as easing job protection is seen as unpopular with voters.

Nervousness about jobs is also a reason the BJP says it will not allow foreign supermarkets into the lucrative retail market dominated by small convenience stores - overturning a Congress government policy.

Meanwhile Modi showed no sign on Tuesday of departing from some of the populist policies of the previous Congress government, emphasising how his administration aimed to serve India’s hundreds of millions of poor.

“To meet their aspirations and hopes, this is our responsibility because our weakest, poorest have sent us here,” he said, breaking down briefly in a rare display of emotion, as he faces up to fulfilling the sky-high expectations of the world’s biggest electorate. l

Yahoo! looking to buy video streaming startup n AFP, New York

Yahoo Inc, eager to strengthen its video streaming activities, is close to buying the Israeli startup firm RayV, the Wall Street Journal reported yesterday.

The paper, quoting people familiar with the deal, said negotiations are nearly complete. it did not say what the sale price might be.

Founded in 2006, video streaming start-up RayV has set up its headquarters in Los Angeles but has kept its research and development teams in Tel Aviv.

The company specializes in developing software for high definition video streaming over the Internet.

Acquiring RayV would be a boost for Yahoo! which has suffered several setbacks of late in its strategy of broadening its video offerings.

Bids to acquire the French video site Dailymotion and TV portal Hulu failed.

Yahoo this year launched negotiations with online video services Fullscreen Inc and News Distribution Network Inc., the Journal said.

The report came shortly after US online entertainment powerhouse Netflix announced what it called significant expansion into Europe, promising viewers in six countries online video by the end of the year. l

Microsoft takes aim at laptops with new Surface tablet Google overtakes Apple as n AFP, New York Microsoft on Tuesday unveiled a new Surface Pro tablet designed as a powerful all-purpose computer fit to replace a laptop.

Surface Pro 3 was touted as slimmer, bigger and more powerful than its predecessor and crafted for a world in which people want to work as well as play on tablets.

“We want products and technologies that enable people to dream and get stuff done,” Microsoft chief Satya Nadella said at a press event in New York.

Pro 3 has a high-resolution screen that is 12 inches (30.5 centimeters) measured diagonally, weighs approximately 28 ounces (800 grams) and is slightly more than a third an inch (0.9 centimeters) deep.

The tablet has the Surface trademark keyboard cover, but modified to let users tilt it as they wish and more securely anchor the device while being used, say, in a person’s lap.

It also comes with a “pen” that can be used to remotely activate Pro 3 with clicks or to write on it as though it were a notepad.

“We are super proud of Surface Pro 3,” Microsoft corporate vice president Panos Panay said while introducing the tablet at the event.

“I am sure that this is the tablet that can replace the laptop.”

Available mid-year

Surface Pro 3 will be available for preorder beginning Wednesday with a starting price of $799.

A version of Microsoft’s latest champion in the tablet war, powered by an Intel Core i5 chip, will hit the market in North American on June 20.

Additional models, including a top-end

“There is a lot of elegance in the device, but they have to prove they can communicate that,” Silver said at the unveiling event.

“If everything works as good as it looks, you are getting pretty close to a device that can replace a notebook computer for a high percentage of people.”

'The motivation is to create new categories; we want to build productivity experiences'

Pro 3 with an Intel Core i7 chip, will be available in the US and 26 other countries including France, China, Australia and Germany by the end of August, according to Microsoft.

Microsoft is being innovative and counterintuitive with the Pro 3, touting a large-screen tablet while rivals boast smaller, pocket-sized devices, according to Gartner analyst Mike Silver.

Much care and thought went into technical features of the Pro 3, and a challenge for Microsoft is to get that message to mainstream consumers who aren’t geeks.

Leave laptops behind

Pro 3 has the potential to strike chords with people who want to leave their laptops behind and just carry a tablet when they are on the move, according to the analyst.

Panay cited research indicating that more than 95% of laptop owners also have tablet computers. But Microsoft has barely made a dent in a tablet market dominated by Apple’s iPad and others using Google Android. Gartner surveyed showed the Microsoft operating system had just two percent of the global market in 2013.

Nadella stressed that Microsoft,

which built its software empire working with partners who make computing hardware, wants to pioneer a merging of laptops and tablets and not to compete with device manufacturers.

“We clearly are not interested in building refrigerators or toasters; we are not building hardware for hardware’s sake,” Nadella said.

“The motivation is to create new categories; we want to build productivity experiences.”

Microsoft in March released Office software tailored for iPads, and it soared to the top of the charts at Apple’s online App Store.

While Office applications for iPad are free, subscriptions to Microsoft’s online Office 365 service are needed to be able to create or edit documents, spreadsheets or presentations.

More than a billion people use Office, according to the Redmond, Washington-based technology titan.

The Pro 3 signals that Microsoft has decided to play into its strengths in business software and avoid going head-to-head with bargain-priced tablets powered by Google’s free Android software, according to analyst Jack Gold of J. Gold Associates.

“Further, Microsoft finally seems to understand it can not go head to head with Apple’s iPad,” Gold added in a research note, saying the Pro 3 is a “superior business device” for work. l

world’s top brand n AFP, Paris

US search engine Google has overtaken rival technology titan Apple as the world’s top brand in terms of value, global market research agency Millward Brown said yesterday.

Google’s brand value shot up 40% in a year to $158.84bn (115bn euros), Millward Brown said in its 2014 100 Top BrandZ report.

“Google has been extremely innovative this year with Google Glass, investments in artificial intelligence and a range of partnerships,” said Benoit Tranzer, the head of Millward Brown France.

Google Glass is Internet-linked eyewear for which the firm has joined hands with Luxottica, a frame giant behind Ray-Ban and other high-end brands, to sell the new product in the United States.

DILBERT

“All these activities send a very strong signal to consumers about the essence of Google,” Tranzer said.

Apple, which dominated the top position for three straight years, saw its brand value fall by 20% to $147.88bn.

The top 10 of the 100 slots were dominated by US firms. IBM was in third place at $107.54bn, a fall of 4%, followed by Microsoft at $90.19 billion - a 29% rise.

Fast food chain McDonald’s ranked next at $85.71bn, followed by Coca Cola ($80.68bn), it said. China led in the insurance sector with Ping An valued at $12.4bn and China Life ($12bn).

French luxury goods manufacturer Louis Vuitton ranked 30th overall but was the top luxury brand with a value of more than $25bn.

Brand value is calculated on the basis of the firms’ financial performance and their standing among consumers. l