18 June 2014

Ashar 4, 1421 Shaaban 19, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 78

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages plus 8-page Treehouse children’s supplement | Price: Tk12 Jun 18, 2014 10PM Australia vs Netherlands Jun 19, 2014 1AM Spain vs Chile 4AM Cameroon vs Croatia 10PM Colombia vs Ivory coast

Treehouse | TROPHY

7 | SEX VS GENDER

11 | THE BEAUTIFUL GAME

WORLD CUP MATCHES

Plaintiffs do not know about case details

Mewing Tigers suffer shocking defeat n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Police allegedly filled in blank papers after having signs from Kurmitola Bihari camp members Jamil Khan and n Mohammad Ashif Islam Shaon The details of case statements in at least two cases regarding the recent attack on Biharis in Kurmitola had been filled in without the knowledge of the plaintiffs, the Dhaka Tribune has learnt.

One of the plaintiffs claimed that the police themselves had written the case statement after collecting his signature on a white paper. Another plaintiff said he did not know about the inclusion of six Biharis’ names in the case that he filed, as his original statement had not mentioned any name.

P3

DAUGHTER UNAWARE OF PARENTS’ KILLING

In at least five of the six cases that had been filed following the incident, which claimed the lives of 10 people from the local Bihari community, other Bihari residents of the camp have been named as accused.

Although all the cases filed with the Pallabi police station – which have accused a total of 1,754 unnamed people – have been transferred to the Detective Branch, the police are yet to make a single arrest in connection with the attack.

DB Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Nazmul Alam, however, claimed significant progress in the investigation, saying they would be able to reach a conclusion soon.

Two cases, including one for murder, were primarily filed by the police on Sunday, who also told journalists at the time that local Biharis had filed four more cases. However, the Dhaka Trib-

une has learnt that law enforcers had handpicked people to become plaintiffs of the cases.

Mobarak Hossain, plaintiff of one of the cases, yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that he did not know about the case as the police had taken his signature on a white paper and written the case statement later. Mobarak added that he did not know the names of the accused or the narration of the incident mentioned in the statement.

In the case filed under the name of Mobarak, who is the committee president of a local mosque that was vandalised during the violence, the plaintiff ’s profession has been mentioned as businessman. The case also accused six Biharis – Azad, Arif, Jewel, Sabbir, Nasim and Likhon – who Mobarak claimed he did not know.

Mobarak said he had initially gone to the police station to secure the release of the mosque’s treasurer who was detained by police after suffering a bullet wound during the clash. There, the police asked him to be a plaintiff for a case against the Biharis; a request which he denied.

“However, I wanted to file a case against unnamed people as attackers vandalised the mosque. I could not go to the police station on the following day as I was ill, so they [police] came to my place and took my signature on a white paper where they later wrote the case statement,” he said.

Mobarak said he did not think that Biharis had attacked the mosque.

The same six Biharis had also been  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Brazil forward Neymar (R) shoots as Mexico defender Miguel Layun (C) defends during their Group A match in the Castelao Stadium in Fortaleza yesterday AFP

Ochoa stars as Mexico hold Brazil n AFP, Fortaleza Goalkeeper Guillermo Ochoa produced an inspired performance as Mexico held World Cup hosts Brazil to a frustrating 0-0 draw in Group A in Fortaleza on Tuesday.

Ochoa twice made decisive interventions to deny Neymar before coming up with a stunning save to keep out a Thiago Silva header from point-blank range four minutes from the end of a scrappy encounter in the steaming heat of the Castelao Stadium.

Always eager to attack themselves, Mexico were well worthy of a draw which leaves both sides level on four points in the group and, even with Croatia and Cameroon set to meet each other in Manaus on Wednesday, ensured that the section will not be decided until the final round of games on June 23.

‘Journalist’ rape college student in Mirpur n Abid Azad A college student was raped in a style that even surpassed the villainous actions in Bangla melodramatic movies in the capital yesterday.

The rapist claimed himself to be journalist while attempt to violate the girl by his other cohorts was foiled after locals came to the victim’s rescue.

Six arrested after rape attempt by others of the gang was foiled The incident took place at the house of the 19-year old victim’s aunt Amina (not her real name) in Ansar Camp area in Mirpur.

Police managed to arrest six persons including a woman from the scene while about three to four other members of the gang also identifying themselves as journalists managed to flee the scene, said Officerin-Charge of Mirpur Model police station Md

Salahuddin Khan.

The perpetrators reportedly entered the house of Amina where the victim was tutoring Amina’s child.

The Dhaka Tribune has obtained a video clip of the primary interrogation during which the culprits including the alleged rapist Mahbub Ahad claimed themselves to be journalists while the victim veiled in a scarf described the incident after receiving medical treatment from the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

“He [pointing at Mahbub] first raped me while some more men came later and started to record video footage and tortured me in their attempt to rape me as well,” the victim said.

“They also demanded extortion from my aunt saying they would otherwise air the photos and video on the internet,” she added.

The victim later filed a rape and extortion case with the police station, the OC said, adding that the arrestees were sent to jail after being produced before a court.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

INSIDE B1 | Business 15

The government is likely to include the facility of legalising undisclosed money in the FY201415 budget bowing to the pressure of influential black money owners, official sources said.

5 | Nation

Shyamoli Shishu Park, a state-run children park in the capital, continues to deplete day-by-day as authority concerned took no measures to upgrade or repair the recreational centre after its establishment.

8 | World

Jun 20, 2014 1AM Uruguay vs England 4AM Japan vs Greece 10PM Italy vs Costa Rica Jun 21, 2014 1am: Switzerland vs France 4am: Honduras vs Ecuador 10pm: Argentina vs Iran

Militants pushed a weeklong offensive that has overrun swathes of Iraq to within 60 kilometres (37 miles) of Baghdad yesterday, as the UN warned the country’s very existence was under threat.

The enormity of the occasion clearly got to some of the Brazil players, with Neymar breaking down in tears at the end of a rousing version of the national

MATCH STATS Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession

Brazil 0 14 8 5 4 13 2 0 53 pct

Mexico 0 13 3 3 0 18 2 0 47 pct

anthem, and the home side struggled to settle in the early stages of the match.

Passes were wayward and challenges were mis-timed as the nervous energy of the crowd inside the 60,342-capacity stadium made for a frantic start

to the game.

Indeed, Mexico, backed by a colourful and vociferous support of their own, initially looked the better team and had the first real chance of the afternoon, a rising strike from just outside the area

by Hector Herrera that was turned over the bar by Julio Cesar in the home goal, although no corner was given.

While Mexico were unchanged from their 1-0 victory against Cameroon last Friday, Brazil coach Luiz Felipe Scolari made one alteration from the side that defeated Croatia 3-1 in their opening game in Sao Paulo last Thursday, with Ramires replacing Hulk, who failed to fully shake off a niggling hamstring problem in time to start.

That meant Oscar was moved from the right flank, where he had been outstanding against Croatia, to the left.

But it was from the right that the home side created their first opening,  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

Bangladesh pacer Taskin Ahmed’s heroic effort on his memorable ODI debut was made even more memorable, credit to his colleagues with the bat who failed to chase a paltry 106 runs and hence succumbed to an appalling 47 run defeat against an untested and young India team at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

The result also means India has sealed the series with a game to spare.

Bangladesh repeated the shame of being shot-out for 58 runs, their lowest total in ODI history. Bangladesh posted the identical total against West Indies in ICC World Cup 2011 in Dhaka. However, that was when they batted first. India’s 105 was their lowest total against Bangladesh in ODIs and this meant the hosts had a glorious opportunity to break their 8 game losing streak.

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Next best thing to a live game!

RAIHAN MAHMOOD

from Sao Paulo, Brazil

Enjoy football matches in a different way and feel the heat without even being present inside the stadium is the main theme of the “Fifa Fan Festival” at the famous Copacabana beach of Rio de Janeiro as the USA supporters danced and exploded into wild celebrations yesterday.

The crowd remained animated throughout the entirety of the game between the Americans and Ghana and the occasion burst into life when Clint Dempsey scored the fastest goal by an American in World Cup history and the sixth-quickest ever, putting the United States ahead after just 32 seconds into the game.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Mahbubey backs RPO provision, slams petitioner n Nazmus Sakib Attorney General Mahbubey Alam yesterday told the High Court that if the RPO provision of declaring lone candidates elected unopposed was held illegal, all the 154 lawmakers of current parliament would lose validity in the eyes of law.

“But the provision is not illegal or unconstitutional,” he said adding that even two US presidents had been elected uncontested.

Mahbubey Alam, assisted by deputy attorney generals Ekramul Hoque and Al-Amin Sarker, placed his arguments on behalf of the government replying to the High Court ruling questioning the Representation of the People Order, 1972 provision.

The top law officer of the country also questioned the maintainability of the writ petition filed by Jatiya Party Vice-Chairman Khandker Abdul Salam.

He said though the posts of 154 MPs were challenged, the lawmakers had not been made respondents. At that time, the bench of Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Khurshid Alam Sarkar told him that the RPO provision had been questioned in the petition.

In reply, the attorney general said a vacuum would be created if the provision was declared illegal by the court.

He said such provision was present in many countries of the world.

The petition was not a public interest litigation rather filed to serve a malafide intention, he claimed.

Mahbubey drew the attention of the court on the destructive movement of the BNP-Jamaat alliances ahead of the January 5 election and on the election day.

He mentioned that amicus curie Rokanuddin Mahmud had rightly point-

ed out that an unconstitutional force would have assumed the power had the election not been held on January 5.

The attorney general said: “The provision in no way contrary to the constitution. If someone does not want to be a candidate, he cannot be forced to do so. The court did not declare the 1986 general election illegal, though it was not accepted by the people. Later, election again took place in 1988. The election held on February 15, 1996 was also not accepted for which another election was held the same year. But the February 15 election cannot be declared illegal.”

In his written reply, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said as some political parties had utterly failed to frustrate the 10th parliamentary election through their subversive activities, “they now have set up a devise to frustrate the result of the election by filing the writ petition.”

Musharraf said the political parties who did not participate in the election were to be blamed, not the government, for depriving the voters from exercising their right.

He said the election was held for keeping the constitutional continuity in running the country and to prevent any unconstitutional power from entering the political scenario.

Additional Attorney General Murad Reza, aided by Assistant Attorney General SK Shaifuzzaman, stood for the Law Ministry.

He said the petition had not been maintainable as it did not challenge the gazette notification of declaring the 154 candidates elected. Murad suggested the petitioner to go to his party leader Rawshan Ershad to raise concern in parliament. l

News

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Cambodia to support Dhaka’s Mekong-Ganga membership n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen said he would extend his country’s support to Bangladesh effort to become a member of the Mekong Ganga Cooperation.

“The Cambodian prime minister supported the request of Bangladesh to join the cooperation,” said a senior official of the foreign ministry.

Hun Sen arrived in city Monday at the invitation of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and they had their official talks after a tête-à-tête yesterday.

“In the official talks, the Cambodian prime minister also said he would persuade other members to support the case of Bangladesh,” the official said.

The Mekong-Ganga Cooperation (MGC) is an initiative by six countries – India and five ASEAN countries, namely Cambodia, Lao PDR, Myanmar, Thailand and Vietnam launched in 2000 in Lao PDR, for cooperation in tourism, culture, education, as well as transport and communications.

“The Cambodian prime minister also supported Bangladesh’s request to become Asean dialogue partner,” the

official said.

Bangladesh applied to become a dialogue partner of Asean but there is moratorium of expansion of dialogue till 2016 and Bangladesh proposal will be considered after that. China, Japan and India are the dialogue partners of 10-member Asean, a major regional trade bloc in the whole world.

In a joint statement issued after the official talks, it said: “The prime minister of Cambodia welcomed Bangladesh’s close cooperation and engagement with ASEAN member states and acknowledged Bangladesh’s deep interest in elevating the relationship to a level of dialogue partnership in ASEAN.” It also said the Cambodian prime minister acknowledged the request of Bangladesh to accord a favourable consideration to Bangladesh’s joining the Mekong-Ganga Cooperation.

During the official talks both the prime ministers agreed to establish a Joint Trade Council to be co-chaired by commerce ministers of the two countries to widen economic cooperation and broaden trade relations between the countries.

“The prime minister of Cambodia welcomed Bangladesh’s intention to hold a Single Country Fair in Cambodia in 2015,” the statement said.

Sheikh Hasina thanked Hun Sen for his country’s support towards Bangladesh’s membership in ASEM. Both the prime ministers agreed that there is an urgent need to narrow the development gaps between the rich and the poor.

“In this regard, they supported the call to the developed countries to grant duty-free quota-free market access to all products and services of the least developed countries to ensure sustainable development,” it said.

Four deals were signed after the official talks between the two countries. These are – agreement to establish of a Joint Commission, agreement for the promotion and reciprocal protection of investments, and agreement on cultural cooperation.

A memorandum of understanding on scientific and technical cooperation in the field of agriculture was also signed. Hun Sen is scheduled to leave Dhaka today. l

n

The administrative probe committee formed to investigate Narayanganj seven murders under a directive of the High Court wants to quiz the main accused of the case Nur Hossain before submitting its report to the court.

According to the directive of the court, the probe committee led by Public Administration Ministry’s Additional Secretary Shahjahan Ali Mollah must submit its re-

port to the court by next July 9.

The committee, however, thinks that it would not be possible for the government to bring Nur Hossain back home from India where he was detained for illegal entry to the country, committee chief Shahjahan told reporters at his ministry office yesterday.

“We will wait for the government’s initiative to bring him back in the country to quiz him, otherwise we can do this by going to India,” he said. l

Tigers suffer shocking defeat  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Rahim won an important toss to utilise the favorable bowling condition and his bowlers responded perfectly as veteran pacer Mashrafe Bin Morataza and debutant Taskin Ahmed started wrecking havoc in the middle which made life uneasy for the Indian batsmen. The pitch used yesterday wasn’t a typical Mirpur pitch favoring the batsmen as it offered pacers bounce, seam and swing which were intensified even more after the 2 hours and 34 minutes rain delay.

Taskin was in no mood to let nerves get the better of him as he kept bowling full and straight consistently with pace which ultimately paid huge dividends for him.

Mashrafe set the tone early by bowling two swinging deliveries that could have resulted in both India openers being dismissed LBW. Robin Uthappa was lucky to survive the first ball but not the other opener Ajinkya Rahane who fell for a golden duck. Mashrafe continued with the same tone to make most of the movement on offer to trouble India’s batters whose inexperience against seam bowling was clearly exposed. It was all Taskin show afterwards as he announced his arrival in ODI cricket with a sharp bouncer to Indian opener Uthappa. He then got rid of Robin off a short ball who top-edged a pull to mid-off for 14 followed by the wicket of Ambati Rayudu lbw in his very next over to leave India in a spot of bother at 28/3.

Cheteshwar Pujara and make-shift Indian skipper Suresh Raina were watchful as they tried to repair the innings. But Taskin struck for his third wicket when he trapped Pujara in front of the stumps for an LBW and broke the ominous looking partnership. Taskin got one more LBW decision in his favor with Amit Mishra being the victim this time while Stuart Binny was caught by Mushfiqur following after a healthyedge. All-rounder Shakib Al Hasan dismissed the last Indian wicket of Umesh Yadav to get his only wicket in the game as the Indian innings folded for a mere 105 runs.

However, none could hardly imagine that Bangladesh would fail to chase such a small total as the delight of bowling India out soon turned into a nightmare. Only Tamim can explain what was going through his mind as he tried to smash Mohit Sharma out of the park after hitting a boundary off the previous delivery, but only managed to nick a thick edge to Saha to be dismissed for 4 after just 2 balls of Bangladesh’s reply. He was then soon followed by Anamul Haque who fell for a duck to Sharma.

Skipper Mushfiqur and Mithun Ali, the other debutant for the Tigers tried to consolidate slowly after the early hiccup as the pair survived few nervy moments to get to 39 for 2. However, as the pitch was still behaving the way it behaved during India’s innings, a cautious approach was the order of the day.

And it was no wonder that after Mohit’s initial brilliant spell, medium-pacer Stuart Binny stole the show as he conjured up figures of 6 for 4 through his gentle medium pace and swing.

Mushfiqur became Binny’s first victim in the 12th over which broke the 31 run partnership for the 3rd wicket. Two quick wickets soon followed as Mithun Ali and Mahmudullah were dismissed in succession with the Tigers in dire straits at 50-5. This eventually proved to be the beginning of a collapse from which the Tigers could not recover as they kept losing wickets to be bowled out for 58 runs. More than Binny’s bowling, it was actually the manner in which they got out which should be a cause of serious concern for all. If Tamim was guilty of an unnecessary charge down the wicket, more blame can be labeled on Ziaur Rahman who skied a catch off Mohit to square leg with his side reeling at 52-6.

Mithun’s 26 was the highest in the Tigers’ innings. Stuart Binny bagged six wickets leaking only four runs in his 4.4 overs magical spell to claim the top spot in the list of best bowling figures by an Indian in ODI. Mohit Sharma claimed four wickets in 8 overs conceding just 22 runs. l

The government yesterday signed a contract with a Chinese company to construct the core structure of the Padma bridge at a cost of Tk12,133 crore.

The contract was signed between Shafiqul Islam, project director of the bridge, and Lieu Ziming, chairman of China Major Bridge Engineering Limited, at Ruposhi Bangla Hotel.

The core structure of the country’s 6.15km-long bridge would be built in 48 months as per work order in the contract.

Communications Minister Obaidul Quader expressed hope that people could use the bridge in 2018.

On June 2, the China Major Bridge was given the work order of the Padma bridge. On May 11, 2010, the government floated its first tender for appointing the contractor of the Padma bridge in 2011.

However, the tender process was suspended in August 2011 following corruption allegations. The final tender was floated on June 26 last year and the Chinese company submitted its main financial offer on April 24 this year. l

Joynal Hazari: Nizam makes me insecure n Mohammad Jamil Khan

In a dramatic move, former Awami League lawmaker from Feni Joynal Hazari has filed a general diary (GD) against Feni 2 parliamentarian Nizam Uddin Hazari, saying that his life is in danger and he is suffering from insecurity because of Nizam.

Joynal filed the GD with Dhanmondi police station on Monday night. In the diary, he said he was apprehensive that Nizam was planning to kill him.

Joynal also mentioned that he could have been Nizam’s strongest opposition in the tenth national election but could not get the chance to contest it.

In a recent ruling, the High Court

sought explanation for why Nizam’s post as a lawmaker would not be declared vacant. There has been allegation against Nizam that he hid information and walked out of jail without serving the 34-month term.

The information was also presented before the court and it is now predicted that Nizam’s post would be declared unfilled.

Joynal in the GD said that Nizam might take action against him, and could even kill him, because he suspected that the information was disclosed by him [Joynal] to the court.

“I think Nizam is the mastermind of Fulgazi upazila chairman Ekramul Haque Ekram murder. He is also a notori-

ous criminal. In this situation, I am passing my days in insecurity and considering my life under threat,” the GD read.

Abu Siddique, officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi police station, told the Dhaka Tribune that investigation was underway in the context of the GD. Apart from filing the GD, Joynal has also run a story about it in the Daily Hazarika Pratidin, a newspaper he owns.

Mentioning Nizam’s current Saudi Arabi Hajj tour, the report said he went to the kingdom to hatch a conspiracy to kill Joynal.

“From Saudi Arabia, Nizam, along with his cronies including Sheikh Abdullah and three other Awami League leaders, will go to a different country

Probe body wants to quiz Nur ‘Journalist’ rape college student in Mirpur Mohosinul Karim

Deal for building core Padma bridge structure signed n Rabiul Islam

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

The six arrestees include the alleged rapist Mahbub Ahad, 50, along with his cohorts Md Alamgir Hossain Shuvo, 30, Abu Bakkar Siddique, 33, Md Anis Mahmud Limon, 31, Mocha Mia, 50, and Mahmuda Akter, 22.

Police said they all claimed to be from different online and newspapers including Aparadh Jogot, Dainik Anna Diganta, Shaptahik Annayer Chitra and Dainik Ain-Adesh-Adalat.

According to police and also the statements from the video footage of the primary interrogation Shuvo and Mahmuda posing as a married couple sought shelter for the night to gain entry to Amina’s house.

But Amina refused to let the couple stay the night as she did not know them.

However, as they were talking inside the house, Mahmuda darted to the door and opened it after there was a knock. The other members of the gang identifying themselves as journalists burst into the room and said they had come to investigate “illegal business”

being carried out by Amina and the victim.

Shuvo started taking photos and making video of Amina and her niece – the victim – as they persistently denied the allegation.

“They threatened me to air and publish my photos and video clips on the internet and in newspapers as a prostitute,” the victim said.

“Then a man [Mahbub] forcibly took me into a room and raped me… after him, some more men came to the room with the woman. They began to torture me as I shouted for help.”

The OC of Mirpur Model police station said other members of the gang also demanded Tk1 lakh from Amina by threatening to publish their photos for their involvement in sex business.

However, the police managed to arrest six members of the gang after being informed by locals who gathered at the scene hearing the victim’s cry for help.

Police said Abu Bakkar and Shuvo

Next best thing to a live game!  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Singers and performers entertained the audience before and after the Group G encounter as the local Michael Jackson of Rio de Janeiro had a great time enthralling the audience with some of his popular numbers. A mixture of Brazilian music combined with a few Michael Jackson hits formed a true festive atmosphere inside the venue. There are no seats in the festival zone - all just sit on top of the white sand and shout for their team. The majority of the audience were Americans and to tell the truth, the Americans are not very popular in Brazil.

There are a good number of pubs

to deliver the continuing chain of beer supply. Fifa sponsors Coca Cola has numerous booths for supplying 500ml glasses.

Different tricky-football games and roller-coaster chairs provide entertainment to the thousands of spectators when there is no football action. The fans were also seen enjoying the ropeway linked to the other end of the venue.

American residents Mike and Veronica were enjoying the action to the fullest. “It’s a great moment. We have travelled from New Jersey and enjoying World Cup football in Brazil is an exceptional experience. The breeze of Copacabana beach and the atmosphere

identified themselves as journalists of “Asian Journalists Charitable Society” where Abu Bakkar was the president and Alamgir was the secretary.

This organisation also reportedly had a government registration number: S-7797.

The arrestees produced document to police as evidence that they were journalists. Interestingly the document had a written permission dated June 11, 2014 which was signed by the deputy commissioner of police under Mirpur division.

It has also the signature of Mirpur Model police station OC Salahuddin and Sub-Inspector Rakibul Islam.

However, the OC denied providing any such written document to any journalist saying: “I have never heard any journalist asking for legal support and necessary cooperation in a written document in such a way from police.”

“Actually, they are extorting money and involved in criminal activities under the guise of journalists,” he added. l

is enormous. Brazil is like a football planet in the horizon,” said Mike.

All 64 matches of the World Cup, including the final match in Rio de Janeiro on July 13th, will be shown live with the exception of simultaneous games taking place at the same time. In those cases, one match will be broadcast later. Entry to the Fifa Fan Festival is free and entrance to the area is granted according to arrival.

Enjoying the football in the Fifa Fan Festival has a different appeal to it and is a must-have experience for the spectators in Brazil as nearly 20,000 football fans thronging to the festival zone everyday will testify. l

Plaintiffs do not know about case details  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

named accused in another case filed by Omar Farukh, a tea vendor.

When asked about the case, Farukh told the Dhaka Tribune that he had filed the case as some youths had attacked him on Kalshi Road during the clash, but added that he had not mentioned any name in his case statement, as he could not identify any attackers.

After he was informed that six names were mentioned in his case, Farukh said someone else had included the names in the statement.

The claims by both the plaintiffs were, however, denied by DMP Mirpur Division’s Deputy Commissioner Imtiaz Ahmed, who said: “Nowadays, people are not so foolish that police could be able to force them to sign a white

paper. I think a vested quarter has influenced them [plaintiffs] to lie.”

He said the police would welcome if Biharis wanted to file any case in connection with Saturday’s violence.

On the other hand, Md Munna Hossain, the general secretary of Stranded Pakistanis General Repatriation Committee’s Kurmitola Branch, alleged that police had refused to file cases when Biharis had gone to the Pallabi police station following the incident.

When asked, Officer-in-Charge of the police station Syed Ziauzzaman, however, denied Munna’s allegation and claimed that no Bihari had come to file any case.

Tension continues to prevail at the Kurmitola Bihari Camp in Mirpur, with most of the shops in the area staying

closed yesterday. Many local residents said they could not sleep at night fearing arrest and police harassment.

At least nine members of a family were burnt to death on Saturday when eight homes in the camp were torched following a clash between Biharis and law enforcers, who were also allegedly accompanied by locals.

Another person with rubber-bullet pellet injuries, reportedly from police firing, died of his wounds in hospital the same day.

The clash was reportedly triggered by the setting off of firecrackers on the night of Shab-e-Barat. However, local Biharis have been claiming that local MP Ilias Uddin Mollah was involved in inciting the violence; a claim which the lawmaker had denied. l

to make a foolproof plan to kill Joynal.

Nizam also had made a plan to kill Joynal before Ekram was killed,” according to the report.

The report said Nizam earlier went to Singapore with his wife and returned home after planning how Ekram would be killed. “This time he has again flown abroad and would be back after making plans for more disaster.”

Earlier on May 19, Hazarika Pratidin published news about Ekram’s killing and the following day the upazila chairman was shot and burnt to death at Academy road in the district.

Most of the miscreants taking part in the killing are believed to be close associates of Nizam. l

WHO warns of Mideast virus threat to pilgrims n AP, Geneva Efforts to prevent the spread of a dangerous virus need to be stepped up ahead of the start of the Muslim pilgrimage season, when millions of people from all over the world will travel to Saudi Arabia, the World Health Organisation said yesterday.

A recent surge, starting in April, and a belated admission by Saudi officials that they had undercounted the number of cases prompted concern about the kingdom’s ability to prevent and monitor the spread of infections.

Dr Keiji Fukuda, WHO’s assistant director-general, said the jump in cases appeared to have been caused by people mingling in hospitals before they were diagnosed and isolated, and has now ebbed thanks to better prevention efforts.

Fukuda said a WHO expert panel which conferred Monday concluded that “the situation continues to remain serious.” l

Ochoa stars as Mexico hold Brazil  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

a cross from Dani Alves being headed goalwards by Neymar at the back post, only for Ochoa to make a superb save flying low to his right.

Ochoa also did well to deny Paulinho after Silva had chested a Neymar free-kick into the Tottenham Hotspur player’s path, but otherwise the Mexican keeper was not seriously tested in a first period in which Brazil failed to stamp their authority on proceedings.

Midfielder Jose Vazquez also tried his luck from range for El Tri, while an agitated Scolari instructed Ramires and Oscar to change positions. Nevertheless, the latter was ineffective and, after picking up a yellow card for a foul on Paul Aguilar, did not reappear for the second half.

Diminutive Shakhtar Donetsk winger Bernard took his place and almost had an immediate impact, latching onto a Dani Alves ball over the top before delivering a cross that almost found Neymar at the back post.

The Mexican threat remained, and both Vazquez and Hector Herrera shot narrowly over, but the biggest problem for Brazil remained Ochoa.

He again came to his team’s rescue in the 69th minute, producing another decisive stop to deny Neymar, who had controlled the ball on his chest before volleying goalward.

But Ochoa remained the hero to the last, brilliantly intervening after Brazil captain Silva, unmarked six yards out, connected with Neymar’s free-kick delivery from the left. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

JS body brings allegation of plot against Husband sets wife on fire n Chittagong Port Authority chairman Ashif Islam Shaon

n Kamran Reza Chowdhury Sensing “irregularities” in a Tk435 crore project, the parliamentary watchdog on Shipping Ministry yesterday alleged that the chairman of the Chittagong Port Authority was conspiring to put the government into discomfort.

The parliamentary standing committee on Shipping Ministry, which formed a subcommittee to investigate the causes of the delay in starting the New Mooring Container Terminal in Chittagong Port, unanimously concluded that Chairman Rear Admiral Nizam Uddin Ahmed had violated the terms of service by giving an interview with newspapers.

The committee observed that the chairman’s interview was apparently aimed at obstructing its move to inquire into the irregularities in the construction of the container terminal.

In his interview with a few newspapers, Nizam alleged that there was a “serious conspiracy plot” over the Chittagong port, saying the port would face

container congestion unless the New Mooring Container Terminal could start operation soon. He also said there could be a negative impact on the export-import trade.

Taking the interview seriously, the committee had a special meeting yesterday and said the CPA attempted to hurriedly start the function of the container terminal allegedly to hamper the inquiry of the parliamentary subcommittee.

“The chairman is hatching a conspiracy to put the government into uncomfortable situation [through his statement],” Abdul Hye, a member of the standing committee, told reporters after the meeting at the parliament building.

“His accountability lies with the government; but the way he talked has frustrated us,” said Hye flanked by committee chairman Major (retd) Rafiqul Islam, a former home minister.

The standing committee members on June 1 and 2 visited the Chittagong Port and expressed anger at the operation of the country’s main port.

“We will examine whether the chairman has made such statement for our visit to the port. He talked about the New Mooring Container Terminal; we also want the container terminal to operate,” said Hye. The BNP-Jamaat government in 2004 started the construction that was completed in 2007. But the terminal is yet to go into operation.

“There are of course hidden reasons for which he has been trying to start the operation of the container terminal hurriedly”.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan who was supposed to answer to the questions of the MPs did not attend the meeting as he was on an overseas tour.

“The statement the port chairman had given is a violation of his terms in service. Being a public servant under the ministry, he cannot give any interview with media without prior permission from the ministry,” Rafiqul Islam told reporters.

“He has been trying to confuse the people by propagating negative state-

ments,” he said.

The chairman said the government had been trying to increase export-import trade, but the chairman talked negative.

“The committee has censured the port chairman. He has been making such statements as the parliamentary committee has been inquiring into the activities of the Chittagong Port,” Abdul Latif, a committee member elected from port area, told media. He said the port chairman had talked about implementing ‘his vision’ about the port.

“The prime minister and the government are the authorities for plans; public servants’ duty is to execute the plans.

The port chairman has bypassed the prime minister and the government.”

Replying to a question on whether the watchdog would summon the port chairman, Rafiqul told reporters: “We will not summon him; he is a public servant under the ministry. We will seek clarification from the ministry in this regard.” l

Four years ago, Laboni Akhter’s parents married her off with the promise that her in-laws would continue her education. That promise turned out to be empty.

When her in-laws did not keep their word to support her education, a desperate Laboni, 19, an HSC examinee, left her house to appear in the examination.

Her passion for education brought her husband’s wrath upon her. He set her on fire on Saturday which burnt 36% of her body. Laboni is now under treatment at the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) in a critical condition, according to the attending doctors.

“She was in HSC first year when we married her off to Hazrat Ali Sheikh of Pangsha in Rajbari. Hazrat is a mason and earned enough. We accepted their marriage proposal for my daughter as they vowed to continue her studies,” said Alam Sarder, Laboni’s father, from Rajbari Sadar.

However, Laboni’s in-laws stopped supporting her studies six months into

the marriage, after she finished her first year at a local madrassa. When Laboni and her parents insisted on continuing her education, they started torturing her.

“Hazrat could not finish primary school. So, he did not want his wife to be educated,” alleged Laboni’s father.

After one year, Laboni moved to her parents’ house to sit in the HSC examination. Her parents decided not to send her back to her in-laws’ as they wanted her to pursue higher studies.

On Saturday, when Hazrat asked Laboni over phone to go back to him, she refused. Looking for revenge, Hazrat entered his in-law’s house that night by cutting a wall when everyone was asleep.

“He poured kerosene on my daughter and set her on fire. She woke up screaming. By the time we all woke up, Hazrat had fled,” her father said.

She was rushed to a local hospital at first, but was transferred to the DMCH on Monday morning as her condition deteriorated.

No case has been filed with police in this regard. l

BIHARI CAMP ARSON

Daughter still unaware of family members’ killing n Mohammad Jamil Khan A teenage girl still does not know that all members of her family including her parents were killed in the arson attack at Kurmitola Bihari Camp in Kalshi last Saturday.

Sixteen-year-old girl Farzana Akter is the sole survivor of the arson attack.

She is now undergoing treatment with 17% burn injury at the Burn and Plastic Surgery Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH).

Two of her paternal aunts are attending her at the hospital.

When asked about her family Farzana yesterday said her father, mother and other members were busy rebuilding their house burnt to ashes in the fire on the night of Shab-e-Barat.

“I don’t know who set the house on fire but I can only recall that all my family members including my father Yeasin Ali, mother Beby Begum, sisters Sahana, Afsana and Roksana, brothers Asiq, Lalu and Bulu, my brother’s wife Shikha and sister Sahana’s son Maruf were at home.

“My brothers were having fun in front of our house after prayer but suddenly some people in presence of police attacked our place and in no time I found our house on fire,” said Farzana in a frightening voice.

After a portion of wall of their tinshed house collapsed she bolted out of

the house from where locals took her to hospital.

She believed that other family members received injury but they are all right and can not squeeze out time to visit her as they are busy rebuilding their burnt house.

A student of Class V of UCEF School Farzana wants to achieve some technical skill beside her education. “I do not know how I will continue with my education as all of my books were burnt in the fire.

Shairun Akther, a paternal aunt of Farzana who was attending her at the hospital said doctors told her not to disclose the news of deaths of Farzana’s other family members as it might disturb her psychologically and delay her recovery.

“We will let her know everything after her recovery. We are now more concerned about her burnt face. If her face does not return to its normal state it will be a hard job to marry her off and there is nobody left to look after this girl.

Partha Shankar Pal, Residential Surgeon of the DMCH Burn Unit, yesterday said the girl is improving day by day and we are providing her better treatment.

Earlier, last Saturday at least 10 people including nine members of a family were killed in a series of clashes between Urudu speaking people of Kurmitola Bihari camp, police and locals over explosion of fire crackers in Mirpur in the capital. l

A relative tries to console Farzana, 15, as she burst into tears from agonising pain at the Burn Unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday. Farzana’s residence at the Kurmitola Bihari Camp was set ablaze on Saturday night, where all of her family members died MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

JS body probe in limbo as ministry already filed case in crest scam n Kamran Reza Chowdhury The Liberation War Affairs Ministry’s filing of a case against the contractors, on charge of supplying sub-standard gold crests for foreign friends, would stand in the way of its parliamentary watchdog’s inquiry into the scam.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee, which on April 24 formed a three-member sub-committee to look into the matter that apparently tarnished the country’s image, met yesterday to discuss the issue. The committee members expressed frustration over filing of the case in the halfway of the investigation.

The Rules of Procedure of parliament does not allow the parliamentary watchdogs to inquire into an issue that awaits disposal in the judiciary.

“We have formally and informally contacted the supplier to turn up at the committee meeting to face questions, but

they have rebuffed,” Iqbalur Rahim, one of the members of the sub-committee, told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.

“As the government has filed a case, let it be settled at the court. We do not need to go to the [parliamentary] committee,” Iqbal quoted the firm chief as saying. The Awami League MP said: “According to the papers we have seen, the chance of convicting the company is very slim.”

Yesterday’s meeting also stretched the deadline of the sub-committee, headed by former minister Afsarul Amin, by one and a half more months to submit its findings.

The ministry filed the case on June 10 against the suppliers in line with its report that blamed former state minister Capt (retd) AB Tajul Islam, now chairman of the 10-member Parliamentary Standing Committee.

The report also detected involvement of former secretary Mizanur Rah-

man, incumbent Secretary KH Masud Siddiqui and 13 officials in the scam.

Tajul presided over yesterday’s meeting which was also attended by Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque, and members Afsarul Amin, Nurun Nabi Chowdhury, Golam Dastagir Gazi, Asheque Ahmed Rafiq, Swapon Bhattachariya and Kamrul Laila Jolly.

The government filed the fraud case against Meer Daud Ahmed, the proprietor of the firm Amecon; and Mohsinul Hasan, owner of M/S Mohsinul Hasan.

The Awami League government in its previous term decided to honour the foreign nationals who had contributed to Bangladesh’s War of Independence in 1971. The government gave each of the foreign friends a gold-plated crest, which should have at least one bhori of gold and 30 bhori of silver. The BSTI examined the crests and found in it at best 25% gold and 351 grams of iron alloy, instead of silver. l

Three former railway officials indicted n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Chittagong court yesterday framed charges against three former officials of Bangladesh Railway’s east zone, including suspended General Manager Yusuf Ali Mridha, in separate cases regarding irregularities over recruitment for two positions.

The court of Chittagong Metropolitan Session Judge SM Mujibur Rahman framed charges against Mridha, former additional chief mechanical engineer Hafizur Rahman and former senior welfare officer Golam Kibria.

Apart from the three officials, four

candidates for the post of tool keeper and another for the post of ticket issuer were also indicted in the cases, as they allegedly tried to get the jobs illegally.

The court also fixed August 6 for recording deposition for the tool keeper recruitment case and August 7 for recording deposition in the ticket issuer recruitment irregularity case, said court sources.

The cases were lodged with Kotwali police station on September 13, 2012; while Anti-Corruption Commission Assistant Director SM Rashidur Reza submitted the charge sheets of the two

cases on April 2 this year, ACC counsel Mahmudul Haq Mahmud said.

Bangladesh Railway sources said the east zone issued seven advertisements in October and November of 2010 to fill up 3,419 vacancies in 38 categories.

On April 9, 2012, BGB personnel seized Tk70 lakh from a car of sacked APS Omar Faruk of then railway minister Suranjit Sengupta. Mridha and railway’s Dhaka Divisional Commandant Enamul Haque were also in the car. Suranjit resigned following the incident while Mridha and Enamul were also suspended in this connection. l

Witness: Qaisar killed four freedom fighters n Udisa Islam Daughter of a martyred freedom fighter yesterday said following the order of alleged war criminal Syed Mohammad Qaisar, the Pakistani Army had captured her father along with three of his fellows and killed them near the bank of Sonai River in Habiganj during the 1971 Liberation War. Mazeda Khatun alias Jomila Khatun, 74, daughter of Akkas Ali from Mouzpur of Madhabpur in Habiganj, suspected that his father was killed since he had refused to support Qaisar in the election of 1970.

“When the accused came to seek votes in 1970, we told him that we will go for the Awami League. Qaisar was defeated in that election. This is why he killed my father,” she told the International Crimes Tribunal 2.

The 26th prosecution witness said after his confinement, the family had pleaded to Qaisar to spare Akkas Ali, but the accused denied.

In her deposition, Mazeda said: “On the 12th of Ashwin [sixth month of Bangla calendar], my father was at Siraj’s house with several other freedom fighters.

The Pakistani Army men entered the house after Fajar prayers. Our neighbours Rawshan Ali and Alauddin from Sultanpur were with the army at that time. Qaisar in white dress led them with a pistol.”

After capturing four including her father, the army and their local collaborators had taken them to Jagadishpur Army Camp and confined them. “We followed them and found Siraj Mia, Wahed Ali, Sattar and my

father tied. The razakars and the army personnel were torturing them.”

When requested to free them, Qaisar had refused to do so, Mazeda said. Following Qaisar’s order, the troops had taken the freedom fighters near the Sonai River and shot them dead by gunshots.

After the deposition, defence counsel SM Shahjahan questioned her for half an hour.

Earlier in the day, 25th prosecution witness Amai Ullah, 77, placed his deposition corroborating with the 24th witness.

The defence did not cross examine him. Amai, hailing from Norpoti village of Chunarughat in Habiganj, is a farmer and placed deposition over the atrocities that had taken place in his village in 1971.

Meanwhile, Mizanul Islam, counsel for Jamaat-e-Islami leader Maulana Abdus Subhan, concluded crossexamination of the 13th prosecution witness at the same tribunal. The trial was later adjourned until today. l

Defence submits testimonies in Kamaruzzaman appeal case

n Nazmus Sakib

The defence of death row convict Mohammad Kamaruzzaman yesterday completed reading out testimonies of the prosecution witnesses.

They will start reading out the depositions of defence witnesses today at the four-member Appellate Division bench led by Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha.

Defence lawyers Joynul Abedin, Khandker Mahbub Hossain and Nazrul Islam stood for Kamaruzzaman while Attorney General Mahbubey Alam represented the government.

The Jamaat-e-Islami leader was sentenced to death on May 9 last year in two war crimes charges. He received life imprisonment in two other charges and 10 years’ imprisonment in another while got acquittal from two other charges.

Kamaruzzaman lodged an appeal with the top court challenging the judgement on June 6 last year while the hearing began on June 5 this year.

It is the third war crimes case dealt with by the top court. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

CPD: Make proper rules for GI Act to function

It says the existing act lacks provisions to protect rights of Bangladeshi GI products and market those with GI sign. n Abu Bakar Siddique According to India’s Geographical The government should formulate proper rules immediately to make the Geographical Indicative Products (registration and protection) Act functional, so that the law can establish the rights of products like Jamdani, speakers at a discussion said yesterday.

They also claimed that the existing act – which was passed in the parliament last year – lacked adequate provision to protect the rights of the country’s geographical indicative (GI) products.

The comments were made at a dialogue titled “Protecting Geographical Indication Products in the Context of Bangladesh and the Way Forward,” organised jointly by Centre for Policy Dialogue (CPD) and National Crafts Council of Bangladesh at the city’s Cirdap auditorium.

According to the existing act, GI is a sign which defines the source and contains the goodwill of a product that originated in a particular area, like Hilsa from Padma River, Chamcham from Tangail and Kanchagolla from Natore.

Registering a particular product like Jamdani with GI sign would benefit producers by giving them more financial and business opportunities due to its goodwill, said CPD Distinguished Fellow Dr Debapriya Bhattacharya.

“The country has already lost its famous products like Jamdani, Nakshi Kantha and Fazli mango because of not having the act in due time which could have identified and registered the GI products,” said Shukla Sarwat Siraj, a supreme court lawyer who works on Intellectual Property rights.

Regarding the GI products that India has already registered as their own, she said Bangladesh could also register those products because of their origin

Indications Registry, Nakshi Kantha was registered as a GI product of the country in 2008, and Fazli Mango and Jamdani Saree in 2009.

The registry mentions Jamdani Saree as “Uppada Jamdani Saree” – a handicraft item produced in its Andhra Pradesh state, Nakshi Kantha produced in West Bengal and Fazli mango grown in the Malda district of West Bengal state.

Referring to a report published in the Dhaka Tribune last November, Shukla said a comment by the then registrar of the Department of Patents, Designs and Trademarks, which claimed that the government planned to register Jamdani saree as Dhakai Jamdani, was ridiculous.

Other speakers at the programme also echoed Shukla, demanding that Jamdani be registered under its original name, as the origin of the fabric was historically in Dhaka.

Shukla also claimed that only after registering products like Jamdani, Nakshi Kantha and Fazli mango as Bangladeshi GI products, the country could approach the World Trade Organisation for gaining the intellectual property rights of those products.

Earlier, Bangladesh formulated an ordinance named Geographical Indications of Goods (registration and protection) Ordinance 2008, which identified 66 products as the country’s GI products.

Of them, three were fisheries, eight vegetables, 14 agricultural products, 48 food items and 18 other products including Jamdani Saree, Fazli mango and Nakshi Kantha.

The government has formulated the GI act in line with the agreement made between Bangladesh and the Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPS) on January 1, 1995. l

Khaleda: Movement after Eid n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Youth picked up by BSF Vocational Education Week begins today along Thakurgaon border n

BNP Chairperosn Khaleda Zia yesterday said movement would be waged after Eid to oust the government.

Speaking to party-backed upazila chairmen and vice-chairmen at her Gulshan office, the BNP chairperson said:“I know you have been clamouring for a movement.”

“We will announce a programme right after Eid,” she said.

She called upon the party leaders and activists to get ready to wage the movement. However, Khaleda did not make it clear whether movement would be waged after Eid-ul-Fitr or Eid-ul-Adha.

The BNP chief said they could not observe programmes in many places before January 5 election due to the Rab and the criminals of Awami League.

“If the people stand united, police and RAB won’t be able to hurt them,” she said.

Congratulating the elected upazila chairmen and vice-chairmen, Khaleda said: “The incumbent government does not represent people. You are the truly elected people. So be always with the people of your area and work for them— it is our expectations.” In Barisal by-polls, people did not go to the polling centers to cast their votes but the ballot boxes were full, the former premier alleged. l

n

Myanmar returns 32 Bangladeshis n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar A total of 32 Bangladeshis were returned by Myanmar’s Border Guard Police (BGP) after different terms of imprisonment yesterday.

Following a meeting between the Border Guarder Bangladesh and the BGP yesterday morning, the arrestees were returned.

Sources said all of them were detained by the Myanmar Navy while fishing in Myanmar’s sea area and illegally travelling to Malaysia. They were given different terms of imprisonment following the arrests.

Acting commander of BGB 42 Battalion Nazmus Sadat said the returned Bangladeshis were handed over to Teknaf police station.

Teknaf model police station Officer-in-Charge Moktar Hossain said they would be handed over to their relatives after scrutiny. l

City corporation workers repair street lamp by blocking vehicular movement on one side of the road in front of the Radison yesterday, creating traffic congestion

Cuet closed sine die after BCL infighting n CU Correspondent, Chittagong The authorities of the Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology (Cuet) yesterday closed the university for an indefinite period following a clash between two groups of Bangladesh Chhatra League on the campus.

The authorities had asked the male students to vacate the dormitories by 12pm and female students by 5pm yesterday. The decision was made at an emergency meeting participated by Vice-Chancellor Dr Jahangir Alam, the registrar, all faculty deans, heads of departments, directors of institutes and provosts on Monday night.

Cuet VC Dr Jahangir told the Dhaka Tribune: “To avert further clash between the two groups of Chhatra League, all the BSc classes and examinations have been suspended until further notice. However, MSc, PhD and Mphill classes and examinations will be continued.”

Earlier, Shameem Talha Jim, a fourth year student of mechanical department, also joint convener of Cuet unit Chhatra League was hacked by his rival men in Pukurpar area near Bangabandhu Hall on the campus, leaving him critically injured around 8pm on Monday.

Rakhal Chandra Barua, assistant registrar of neuron surgical department of

Mushfique Wadud

Tribune Report

Members of Indian Border Security Force (BSF) picked up a Bangladeshi national along Dharmagarh border in Ranishankoil upazila of Thakurgaon in the early hours of yesterday.

Sources at Bangladesh Border Guards said the BSF troops from Sripur camp had picked up Abdur Rahim, 17, son of Mohammad Durul of Maradhara village in Haripur upazila, when he entered Indian terrority through the pillar No 373 with phensidyl around 4am.

Confirming the matter, Major Touhid of Thakurgaon BGB Battalion 30 said a letter has been sent to BSF in this connection.

Earlier, the BSF members picked up a Bangladeshi youth from the same bordering area on June 12.

Meanwhile, a Bangladeshi was held by the BSF along with 27 pieces of gold bars weighed 2.5 kilograms from no man’s land area on the other side of Benapole land port yesterday.

Monir Hossain, officer in-charge, Benapole immigration police and port sources said M Apu, son of Shahjahan Ali of Rajnagar village under Sharsha police station, was rounded up the BSF from the no man’s land on the other side of Benapole land port while he was going to India without a passport around 10am on Tuesday.

The BSF recovered 27 gold bars when searching his body.

The arrested is a gold smuggler. The BSF handed him to Bangaon police, India after questioning. A case was filed with the police in this connection, the OC added. l

Enrolment in Technical and Vocation Education Training is still low despite government efforts to increase it.

A study shows that in Bangladesh, participation in this system was lower than other Asian countries.

The report conducted by Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE) finds that enrolment in the TVET is 1.1%, compared to that of the secondary education.

Again, compared to average TVET enrolment in other Asian countries, it is half in Bangladesh. Against this backdrop, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will inaugurate Technical and Vocational Education and Training Week today at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

The CAMPE report says high education cost is one of the reasons for low enrollment in technical and vocational education. It also says education cost in TVET is even higher than general education. Monthly average household

Ex-customs official jailed n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A Chittagong court yesterday sentenced a former Chittagong Customs House official to six-month imprisonment for amassing wealth out of his known sources of income.

It also fined him Tk2,000 in default to serve one more month in prison. The convict is Ayub Rana, also a

freedom fighter, court sources said.

Special Judge of the Chittagong Divisional court SM Ataur Rahman handed down the verdict in presence of the accused.

The court meted out light punishment and granted his bail prayer considering that the accused is a freedom fighter, he added.

According to the case docu-

ment, the ACC on August 4, 2009 lodged a case with Double Mooring police station against the accused who was the then appraiser of Chittagong Customs House.

After completing investigation, police submitted charge sheet to the court on September 28, 2010 and the court framed charges on August 23, 2012. l

NSU holds training courses on hospital management n Tribune Report Though the physicians were well aware of medical treatment and their routine duties, they were not that much concern about hospital management and health economics so far.

Speakers at a certificate awarding ceremony of training courses on health economics, hospital and human resources management at the North South University on June 15 made the comment.

The department of public health, NSU in collaboration with Apollo Hospital, Dhaka, arranged the programme where top management personnel of both organisations were present.

The ceremony was presided over

by Professor GU Ahsan, chairman of the public health department, while Professor ANM Meshquat Uddin, the NSU vice-chancellor, was present as the chief guest.

Professor SI Khan, dean of NSU School of Health & Life Sciences, attended the program as the special

guest and among others Dr Prasad R Muglikar, director of medical services, Sarat N Jayasinghe, director of human resources, Md Shofiqul Islam, general manager of hospital service, Apollo Hospital, Dhaka addressed the programme. At the end of the programme, certificates were handed over to the participants. l

the CMCH, said Jim was out of danger.

Injured Jim told reporters that a group of 10-12 supporters of another Chhatra League Joint Convener Mosleh Uddin swooped on him over previous political rivalry while he was going to his dormitory.

Following the attack on Jim, both the groups took position on the campus with lethal weapons. Later the authorities called the emergency meeting and made the decision to suspend BSc classes and examination sine die.

According to campus sources, rivalry ensued between the two groups following the formation of Cuet unit convener committee on June 10. l

cost per participant for general education is Tk1,257 and for TVET Tk2,577.

Data collected from Directorate of Technical Education shows that government-run polytechnic institutes do not have enough number of seats and so a number of students fail to get enrolled.

In 2013, a total of 98,385 students applied against 12,336 seats in 49 government-run polytechnic institutes.

Number of vocational institutions is also inadequate to meet the demand.

The CAMPE report says the number of TVET institutes is five times up from that –over 25000- of secondary level education institutes. Teachers and students say there is yet another reason behind the low enrolment in the vocational education system and that is people’s attitude towards this education. They look down on this system.

It is still rooted among people that those who score bad in the general education system or drop out from general education system do switch to the

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

EC to provide voter info of Narayanganj 5 through website n Mohammad Zakaria The Election Commission decided to provide voter numbers through its website for the upcoming Narayanganj 5 bypoll scheduled to be held on June 26.

The EC yesterday made the decision at a meeting, EC Md Shah Newaz told reporters. The commission earlier provided voter number and polling centre’s name to voters through mobile SMS for the Barisal 5 by-elections. EC officials said voters of Narayanganj 5 will get the facilities from next week. l

general education system.

A fresh polytechnic student named Kamal Hossain says, “When my patents tell our relatives that I have been admitted to polytechnic institute, they ask if I have scored bad in general education examination. They speak as if a good student cannot be admitted to vocational education institute.”

CAMPE Executive Director Rasheda K Choudhury says the government has lots of things to do to increase enrollment in the TVET. She says budgetary allocation in the Technical and vocational education system also matters and so it should be increased for it.

Rasheda says it is good that the government has formulated a Skill Development Policy but there should be a roadmap to implement that policy.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid however says the government wants to increase TVET enrollment to 20 % by 2020 and 30 % by 2030. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

DNCC turns a blind eye to Shyamoli Shishu Park n Abu Hayat Mahmud Shyamoli Shishu Park, a state-run children park in the capital, continues to deplete day-by-day as authority concerned took no measures to upgrade or repair the recreational centre after its establishment.

Although the park is one of the few places in North Dhaka for children to spend some time in recreational activities, the venue has become an undesirable place for the city dwellers as it fails to meet the standards due to Dhaka North City Corporation’s negligence.

Residents of the area claimed that the city corporation had not upgraded the children’s park for a long time and the venue becomes a safe haven for drug addicts, sex workers, muggers and petty criminals after nightfall.

“The children are being deprived from using the park properly. Most of the slides and swings inside the park have broken down and locals refrain from entering the park due to irregularities and antisocial activities,” said Aminur Rahman, a resident of Ring Road.

He also blamed the city corporation for the bad shape of the park.

Aminur also said many would not choose to visit the park after sunset as they believe the park becomes an unsafe place as there are no lamp posts or lights.

“I knew little about the present atmosphere of the park, but never imagined that this sort of social activities talk place here,” he added.

Another resident, Habib said, “The environment of the park is very dirty and unhygienic. If this situation continues to be like this, I fear it will become like many other parks in the capital where people hardly visit,” he added.

During a recent visit to Shyamoli Shishu Park, this correspondent found only few broken remains of slides and swings for children. The northern part of the park seemed to be a dumping station while the rest of the park ground remains grassless with water-filled pot holes in many places.

Several children, who were seen playing football at the park, said they cannot play in the park during the monsoon as water logs most of its area.

Rimon, 11, said: “As there nothing for us in this park, therefore we can only play football or cricket here. We mostly visit the Shishu Mela in our area.”

Shishu Mela is a privately-owned amusement park in Shyamoli, where visitors need to buy tickets to enter.

“If it [Shyamoli Shishu Park] had few rides, we could enjoy it very much,” he added.

When contacted, DNCC Chief Executive Officer BM Enamul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune: “I am not aware of this matter.”

“I have directed the concerned officials; if the park has such problem we will take immediate step to overcome the problem,” he said.

The Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) has allocated Tk4 crore in this fiscal for development of all the of the corporation’s parks and playgrounds. l

The rides of the Shyamoly Shishu Park are falling apart due to lack of renovation and negligence on part of Dhaka North City Corporation authorities

Half day hartal in Rajshahi passes off peacefully n

Our Correspondent, Rajshahi

The half day hartal enforced by the Islamic Chhatra Shibir protesting the attack on a Shibir leader of Rajshahi University (RU) unit passed off peacefully in Rajshahi, Chapainawabganj and Natore yesterday.

Police picked up 13 Shibir men from different parts of Rajshahi city.

CNG-run three wheelers, tempos were seen plying on the city streets while rickshaws and three-wheelers have dominated the roads.

But no long-route buses were seen to enter or leave the city.

Local sources said Shibir men tried to put up barricade on road setting fire in Aktroy area around 10:30am, but they left the place sensing the presence of law enforcers.

Police prevented hartal supporters from bringing out a procession in Debisingpara area around 6am.

Most of the shops, shopping malls, business and educational institutes were open.

Train movement was normal and Dhaka-bound Silkcity and Khulna-bound Kapotaksha inter-city trains

left Rajshahi railway station on scheduled time.

No classes and examinations were held at the University while a tense situation was prevailing among the students followed by the Monday’s incident.

Tanvir Haidar Chowdhury, deputy commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, said additional law enforcers had been deployed at the key points of the city to avoid any untoward incident.

Earlier on Monday, Shibir called the hartal in three districts, protesting the attack on Russell Mahmud, secretary of RU Nawab Abdul Latif Hall unit of Shibir and a 4th year student of Finance and Banking Department of the university.

Russell Mahmud was allegedly shot

by Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) men after chopping off one of his legs on the campus.

But police are yet to arrest anyone in this connection.

Officer-in-Charge of Motihar police station Alamgir Hossain told Dhaka Tribune that people who attacked Rasel were yet to be identified and no case

had been filed over the incident.

Police was trying to nab the people involved in the incident.

Rasel was shown arrest in two cases filed by BCL RU unit followed by the attack on two BCL leaders Togar Mohammad Saleh and Abdullah Al Masud on May 29 this year, said the OC, adding Rasel was undergoing treatment at Rajshahi Medical College and Hospital under police custody.

Organising Secretary RU unit Shibir Shoyeb Shahria alleged that though BCL men attacked Rasel and cut off his leg in presence of police and huge witnesses, police were yet to take action against the fugitive BCL men.

He demanded arrest of attackers without any delay.

However, the Bangladesh Chhatra Federation RU unit in press release condemned the attack of Chhatra league. They also said, the students of the university now are not safe for the criminal activities of BCL activists and they urged the university authorities to take stern action against the responsible BCL men and to take necessary measures to ensure safety of the general students. l

Battery-run rickshaw owners cordon off BCC n Our Correspondent, Barisal Owners and workers of battery-operated rickshaws yesterday held an agitation rally and cordoned off Barisal City Corporation (BCC) office, to press home their 4-point demands.

They also handed over a memorandum to BCC authority demanding legalisations of their vehicles.

The demands included issuing owners and driver’s licenses of battery-operated rickshaws, stopping lodging cases, harassment and detention of their vehicles, and giving registrations to the associations. The rally was addressed

by Trade Union Central Vice President Center Advocate AK Azadand other leaders of the associations.

The protesters alleged that BCC had been following a double standard policy as it had already issued licences to 2,100 battery-operated three-wheelers, popularly known as “easy-bike,” but had denied the licence for battery-operated rickshaws.

“When more than 4,000 easy-bikes are already roaming in different streets of the city, there should not be any cause for which the city corporation may refuse to award licences to bat-

THUNDERSHOWER WITH RAIN

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:48PM SUN RISES 5:11AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 36°

28°

Chittagong

32°

27°

Rajshahi

36°

29°

Rangpur

36°

28°

Khulna

35°

27°

Barisal

35°

28°

Sylhet

36°

26°

Cox’s Bazar

32°

27°

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

37.0ºC Satkhira

24.3ºC Chittagong

Kidnapped girl rescued in Chittagong; one held n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Members of Rapid Action Battalion yesterday evening rescued a girl from the port city’s Bayezid area after ten days of her abduction from Benapole of Jessore.

The girl was identified as Mehrin Tamanna, 17, a resident at Bhoberhat in Benapole, said a press release of RAB-7.

On charge of having connection with the incident, RAB arrested a man named Jashim Uddin, 25, son of Alim Uddin, hailing from Kajirhat area of Barisal.

Being tipped-off, a team from RAB7 conducted a drive at a residence owned by Jahir at Amin Jute Mill area in Bayezid Police Station around 11:30pm and rescued the girl who was kidnapped by miscreants on June 7.

During the drive, the team nabbed Jashim from the area in connection with the abduction.

Both of them were handed over to Bayezid Police Station, the release added. l

Hillside dwellers to be evicted before Ramadan

WEATHER

Dhaka

tery-operated rickshaws,” the agitated speakers said.

After the agitation rally, the protesters handed over a memorandum to Barisal City Corporation Chief Executive Officer Nikhil Chandra Das. Recently, the local government ministry had issued a letter asking the BCC not to issue anymore licences for battery-run vehicles to save the environment and electricity,” he said while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.

Following the order, BCC authorities made an announcement using loud speakers in the city where it asked all to stop plying of all unlicensed battery-run vehicles and law enforcement agencies began drives against these vehicles, the BCC chief added.

Shamsul Alam, traffic inspector of Barisal Metropolitan Police, said police seized batteries from 25 motorised rickshaws and cautioned more than hundred others to stop plying immediately.

Abu Saleh Md Raihan, deputy commissioner (north and traffic) for Barisal Metropolitan Police, denying allegations of police harassment and added that drives against the unlicensed battery-run vehicles was being conducted to maintain traffic discipline in the city. l

ABU HAYAT MAHMUD

Agriculture Ministry employees stage 'Gambhira' (a traditional folk performance popular in the northern region) on a truck to promote general mess for planting fruit-bearing trees marking 'Fruit-bearing Tree Plantation Fortnight, 2014' SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Chittagong district administration had decided to conduct eviction drives at the risky hills of Chittagong before Ramadan.

The decision came yesterday after a preparatory meeting of the Hill Management Committee held at the Chittagong deputy commissioner’s conference room.

Chittagong district Deputy Commissioner Mesbah Uddin said the Hill Management Committee had already identified 30 risky hills.

“Of the 30 risky hills, 666 families are living vulnerably in 11 hills illegally.

We are going to evict those people before Ramadan,” he said.

Asking to remove all the illegal connection, the DC said they were going to

conduct eviction drives after disconnecting the illegal gas, power and water connections.

Additional Deputy Commissioner (revenue) SM Abdul Quader said each eviction team would comprise three representatives.

Replying to a query, the DC said they were going to take legal actions against those who were colluding with erecting illegal houses in the hills.

The 14th Hill Management Committee meeting was attended by officials from Chittagong City Corporation, Chittagong Development Authority, Housing and Public Works, Fire Service and Civil Defence, Power Development Board, Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority, Karnaphuli Gas Distribution Company Ltd and Chittagong Metropolitan Police, among others. l

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

3:43am 5:10am 12:00am 4:40pm 6:48pm 8:16pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Septuagenarian’s body recovered in Chittagong

RMG worker beaten dead by colleagues; 10 held

n FM Mizanur Rahaman

A readymade garment worker was beaten to death by allegedly some of his fellows Anandapur Mahalla area in Savar yesterday.

The deceased, Shahjahan Swapan, 38, son Siraj Miah, hails from Mirwarishpur area of Noakhali.

Witness sources said the incident took place around 10:30am and police

Government Railway Police (GRP) recovered the body of an elderly man from an abandoned railway wagon in the port city’s Sholashahar railway station yesterday.

Kamal Hossain, SI of Chittagong GRP outpost said locals spotted the body

wearing lungi and Panjabi inside an abandoned rail bogie around 8:30am and informed police.

The old man might have been a beggar, the SI opined.

Later, GRP police recovered the body wearing a white Panjabi and lungi and sent it to Chittagong Medical College Hospital morgue for autopsy. l

n Our Correspondent, Savar

arrested ten fellow workers of Shahjahan who was a sample supervisor of an apparel factory situated in Ulaul area of Savar.

About 25-30 workers of Dynamic Dhaka Sweater factory beat up Shahjahan mercilessly, leaving him critically injured.

He was whisked off to Savar Enam Medical College Hospital where duty doctors declared him dead.

Mostafizor Rahman, Director of Savar industrial police, said the incident occurred due to the unrest prevailed at the factory Savar model police station OC said the owner of the factory quelled the protest there with the connivance of Shahjahan, which infuriated the workers and they later killed him by beating.

Higher police officials visited the spot. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

120 RHD workers dropped from regularisation process Workers allege that CBA leaders did the scam in exchange for bribe Correspondent, n Our Gopalganj About 120 work-charged workers of Roads and Highways Department across the country have been dropped out from the regularisation list and equal number of fake workers was also included there.

Consequently, the workers, who had been working for about 30 years there, have been passing their days amid a great uncertainty of losing job.

On the other hand, the deprivedworkers alleged that some collective bargaining agent (CBA) leaders did the scam in exchange of huge amount of bride from the fake workers.

There are 7,059 work and pay basis workers at RHD, to who is called charged-workers and they have long been on protests demanding regularisation of their jobs.

In this circumstance, Communications Ministry sought the names of the workers from the RHD units concerned across the country and it received 7179 names.

However, the ministry later returned back the list and directed the authorities concerned to emend it limiting number of workers at original level.

Afterwards, a vested quarter at RHD office pushed into the names of 120 fake workers excluding the real workers, who knew the irregularities on May and they urged the authorities to include their names.

Gopalganj district Roads and Highways Department Sramik and Karmachari Union president SM Masiur Rahman, whose name was also dropped along with the four workers of the district, blamed some collective bargaining agent (CBA) lead-

Man, 2 daughters found dead n Our Correspondent, Chapainawabganj

Police recovered the bodies of a man and his two daughters at Durlobhpur village of Gomastapur upazila in Chapainawabganj yesterday morning.

The bodies were those of Moshidul Haq Abujh, 32, his two daughters Opi, 10 and Omi, 6, of the village.

Quoting the victims’ relatives, police said the incident might have been a result of a family feud between Mushidul and his wife Parashmoni.

After learning about the family feud, police arrested Parashmoni for interrogation over the incident.

Assistant Superintendent of Police Abbas Uddin said they assumed that Moshidul might have hanged himself after hanging his two daughters following a quarrel with his wife. l

ers for the misdeed in exchange of bribe.

“Despite repeated urging, the chief engineer is not paying any heed to the allegation. I am apprehending of losing the job.” Masiur stated.

Tamij Uddin Talukder, worker of Gopalganj RHD whose name was also dropped, echoed the voice of Masiur.

He urged upon the authorities concerned to scrutinise workcharged orders of engineers to identify the anomalies.

Contacted, Roads and Highways Department Sramik and Karmachari Union general secretary Khondaker Kamal Uddin denied the allegation, telling that the workers’ names were dropped because of having anomaly in the papers. “In this situation, some fake workers were included to the list.”

Confirming the dropout of the four workers, Gopalganj RHD Executive Engineer Samiran Rai said he was amazed in the incident.

“A vested quarter at chief engineer office could be mastermind behind the dropout. I have sent a recommendation letter to the higher authorities to re-include them into the regularisation list.

More than 100 workers were dropped out from the list like the four,” Samiran stated.

RHD chief engineer Md Mafijul Islam Raj Khan said he received complaint from the deprived workers and he has already taken necessary steps to solve the problem.

“After investigating into the forgery, departmental action will be taken against those who are involved in it,” the engineer continued. l

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Road blockade ends peacefully in Khagrachhari n Our Correspondent, Khagrachhari The daylong road blockade imposed by Parbattya Bangali Chhatra Parishad protesting the arrest of its Khagrachhari district unit General Secretary SM Masum Rana was ended peacefully yesterday.

Assistant Superintendent of Police (Sadar circle) Sarwar Alam said no picketing was held in the district during the blockade.

Not a single bus or trucks was able to leave Khagrachhari but some battery run auto-rickshaw were in operation in the streets.

Additional police were deployed at all important places in the district to avoid untoward incidents, he added.

Thousands of people suffered immensely as no long distance or inter-district buses, trucks, lorries and covered-vans were seen on the roads during the strike.

Office-goers and students were seen going to their destinations on foot.

Earlier, leaders of Parbattya Bangali Chhatra

Parishad (PBCP) imposed daylong road blockade on Tuesday as authority not released its Khagrachhari district unit General Secretary SM Masum Rana by Monday evening.

Investigating Officer (IO) and Sadar police station Officer-in-charge Md Mizanur Rahman said police arrested SM Masum Rana from a private business centre in Narikel Bagan area in the hill town on last June 12 following an extortion case filed by a constructor Zunan Chakma on June 8.

According to the case, Zunan Chakma mentioned that SM Masum Rana and some of his cohorts stopped his under construction work at upazila area in the hill town demanding Tk3 lakh as extortion on June 6.

Earlier, United Peoples Democratic Front (UPDF), Pahari Chhatra Sangram Parishad, Gonatantrik Jubo Forum and Hill Women’s Federation observed strike on Sunday protesting attack on indigenous people by members of Bangladesh Border Guards and land grabbing by newly established BGB members. l

Citizens protest land grabbing in Gazipur Correspondent, n Our Gazipur Citizens yesterday formed a human chain to free the illegally occupied lands of historic Bhawal Garh in Gazipur.

A local body named “Save Bhawal Garh” organised the human chain and staged the protest rally for one and a half hours yesterday from around 11am to 12:30pm in front of the deputy commissioner’s office in Gazipur.

The speakers alleged that around 12,000 acres of Bhawal Garh land have been illegally grabbed by the ruling party men for vested interest. The or-

Locals form a human chain in Gazipur yesterday, demanding measures to free a portion of Bhawal Garh from illegal occupation DHAKA TRIBUNE ganisers also distributed handbills among the locals citing their 13-point demand, witnesses said.

The protest pro-

gramme was presided over

by SM Mujibur Rahman, chairman of “Save Bhawal Garh” movement and deputy commander of Muk-

tijoddha Sangsad district unit. The welcome speech was given by AKM Ripon Ansari, secretary general of the organisation. l

7 get death penalty for killing n Our Correspondent, Nilphamari

At least seven people were sentenced to death in Nilphamari on Monday.

Our Nilphamari correspondent said a court had ordered the jail authorities in the district to hang seven people for the killing of a farmer.

The convicts areRafiqul Islam, son of Ghauya Mamud, Tulab Hossain, son of Amin Hossain of Dangpara village under Kishoriganj upazila, Atahar Ali, son of Joban Ali of Khata Madhupur village under Syedpur upazila, Mahsin Ali, son of late Omar Ali of Kazirhat village under Jaldhaka upazila in Nilphamari district, Mahubar Rahman son of late Mahtab Uddin, Ganga Chora village, Mintu Mia, son of Shohidar Rahman, Sadar upazila in Rangpur district and Abdur Razzaque son of Majibur Rahman of Uttar durakuthi village under Kishoriganj upazila in Nilphamari district.

The court also gave life sentences to two accused.

They are- Rafiqul Islam alias Mamun and his brother Afsar Rahman of village Khata Madhupur of Syedpur upazila.

According to the prosecution, the convicts abucted farmer Abdul Jabbar at Dangapara village in Nitai union under Kishoreganj upazila on July 27, 2008 due to internal conflict.

Later, they slaughtered him to death.

Abdul Jabbar’s son Abdus Salam filed a murder case with Kishoreganj police station in connection with the murder.

Nilphamari Additional District and Sessions Judge Court magistrate Reza Md Alamgir pronounced the verdict. All the convicted are absconding. l

Bangladesh Telecommunications Company Limited Office of The Director Procurement Telephone Revenue Bhaban, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar Dhaka-1207

No:DP/L-17/BTCL/CW/Project/2013-14(7)/7

Date: 16-06-2014 AD

Invitation for Local Tenders 1

Ministry/Division

Ministry of Posts, Telecommunications and Information Technology.

2

Agency

Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited.

3

Procuring Entity Name

Managing Director, BTCL.

4

Procuring Entity Code

--------

5

Procuring Entity District

Dhaka.

6

Invitation for

Tender

7

Invitation Ref No.

DP/L-17/BTCL/CW/Project/2013-14(7)/7

8

Date

16-06-2014 AD

Works

Four Lots

KEY INFORMATION 9

Procurement Method

OTM (National)

FUNDING INFORMATION 10

Budget and Source of Funds

GoB

11

Development Partners (If Applicable)

None

PARTICULAR INFORMATION 12

Project/ Programme Code

--------

13

Project/ Programme Name

Optical Fiber Cable Network Development at Upazila Level.

14

Tender Package No.

OFCNDUL/OSP/01

15

Tender Package Name

Supply, Installation, Testing and Commissioning of Optical Fiber OSP for Optical Fiber Cable Network Development at Upazila Level (290 Upazilas under 7 Division).

16

Tender Publication Date

17-06-2014 AD

17

Tender Last Selling Date

16-07-2014 AD up to 03:00 AM

18

Tender Closing Date and Time

17-07-2014 AD @ 11:30 AM

19

Tender Opening Date and Time

17-07-2014 AD @ 02:30 PM

20

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

Office of the Director (Procurement), BTCL, Telephone Revenue Building, 2nd Floor, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.

-Selling Tender Document (Other)

Not Applicable.

-Receiving Tender Document

i) ii) iii)

Office of the Director (Procurement), BTCL, Telephone Revenue Building, 2nd Floor, Room# 318, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.

Office of the Project Director, Optical Fiber Cable Network Development at Upazila Level, 6th Floor, Telejogajog Bhaban, 37/E Eskaton Garden, Dhaka-1000.

Office of the Divisional Commissioner, Dhaka Division, 1st 12 Storied Building, Segun Bagicha, Dhaka.

-Opening Tender Document 21

Place

Office of the Director (Procurement), BTCL, Telephone Revenue Building, 2nd Floor, Room# 318, Sher-e Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.

Pre-Tender Meeting

Date: 29-06-2014 AD, Time: 11:00 AM, Venue: conference Room of BTCL, Telejogajog Bhaban, 2nd Floor, 37/E Eskaton Garden, Dhaka.

INFORMATION FOR TENDERER 22

Eligibility of Tenderer

All national Eligible bidders having experience and other requirements as per conditions of tender document.

23

Brief Description of goods or Works

Trence cutting (open/HDD), HDPE and OFC laying, construction of handhole/manhole, OFC splicing/termination etc.

24

Brief Description of related Services

Related Services of Supply, Installation, Testing and Commissioning of Optical Fiber OSP for OFC Network Development at Upazila Level.

25

Price of Tender Document (Tk)

Tk. 20,000/- (Taka Twenty Thousand only) (Non-refundable).

26

Lot No

Identification of Lot

Location

Tender Security Amount (Tk)

Completion Time (Months)

1

Lot-1

Total 67 Upazilas of Dhaka Division

1,50,00,000/- (One Crore Fifty Lakh Only)

12 (Twelve)

2

Lot-2

Total 80 Upazilas of Rajshahi & Rangpur Divisions.

1,70,00,000/- (One Crore Seventy Lakh only)

12 (Twelve)

3

Lot-3

Total 85 Upazilas of Chittagong and Sylhet Divisions.

2,00,00,000/- (Two Crore only)

12 (Twelve)

4

Lot-4

Total 58 Upazilas of Khulna and Barisal Divisions.

1,40,00,000/- (One Crore Forty Lakh only)

12 (Twelve)

PROCURING ENTITY DETAILS 27

Name of Official Inviting Tender

Md. Makhsudur Rahman Akhud

28

Designation of Official Inviting Tender

Director (Procurement)

29

Address of Official Inviting Tender

Office of the Director (Procurement), BTCL, Telephone Revenue Building, 2nd Floor, Sher-e-Bangla Nagar, Dhaka.

30

Contact details of Official Inviting Tender

8150500

31

The procuring entity reserves the right to accept or reject all tenders.

DG-123/14 (8×3)

8150511

E-mail: ddlclpct@btcl.net.bd, Web: http://www.btcl.gov.bd

Md. Makhsudur Rahman Akhund Director (Procurement)

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

7

Sex vs gender: Deconstructing discrimination

In desperation, mothers will go to extraordinary lengths to feed their families

Galbraith, Marie Sophie n Kira Pettersson and Phoebe Beedell

T

he first question always asked after a baby is born is if it’s a girl or a boy. And there begins a way of life that is either feminine or masculine. Each of the path has very different milestones and destinations.

Discrimination by gender begins very early and has profound and detrimental impacts on the physical, mental and economic wellbeing of girls and women. We may be so accustomed to this oppression that we think it is “natural.”

If we examine the mental images we carry with us, men and boys are perceived as heads of the family, breadwinners, decision-makers, powerful, logical, rational, strong, leaders; while women are often portrayed as emotional, irrational, hysterical, housewives, caretakers and servants or wicked seductresses. But these gender norms are not genetic or biologically essential to being “male” or “female” and mostly do not reflect reality.

showed that one-third of all parents believe that boys are more important than girls in relation to food and education, while the rest believe they are equally important. The perceived secondary importance of girls and women happens even if they are also breadwinners.

A mother will often feed her husband and sons larger, more nutritious portions before she eats herself, thus passing on the protein, minerals and vitamins she desperately needs to stay healthy. This deprivation can be seriously debilitating if she’s pregnant, lactating or still only an adolescent girl. With this kind of vicious cycle, it is no wonder that Bangladesh has the most undernourished women in Asia (Finucane, et al., 2011).

Beyond health and nutrition, a girl child faces life-limiting struggles, prejudices and abuse. Once they reach puberty they are at the centre of the storm. Adolescent girls are likely to face day-to-day verbal harassment from young men as they walk to and from school or work. This is often referred to as “eve teasing”, but this term takes away the seriousness of the

A mother will often feed her husband and sons larger, more nutritious portions before she eats herself

Let’s not confuse sex with gender. Sex is the physical reproductive capacity one is born with. Gender is the accumulation of socially-constructed norms and customs, unwritten rules and cultural constraints – to which our innocent infants will be subjected throughout their entire lives.

These gender roles are changeable.

However, since they are rooted in patriarchal traditions, old beliefs and superstitions passed on through generations, they are also often unchallenged. Tragically, gender stereotypes have fatal consequences for the opportunities and rights of men and women in the family and in society today.

A baseline survey conducted by Shiree, a livelihood programme funded by DFID and SDC in partnership with the Government of Bangladesh, working with over 300,000 extremely poor households across the country,

matter. Harassment, often escalating into further abuse, abduction and rape, has led to a very high number of suicides among adolescent girls.

If a girl feels unsafe in her own town, she likely has no one to talk to. In society sexual harassment and violence is often considered “normal” male behaviour and not treated with the same seriousness as other criminal offences. Abuses often become the “fault” of the girl or woman, and lacking access to justice, she is victimised not once but twice.

Another violation is the shockingly high number of child marriage incidents – despite legislation, twothirds of women aged 20-24 are still married before the age of 18 (Plan, 2013). Poverty combined with gender discrimination against girls produces a scenario where, with the pressure of dowry hovering, “the problem” is

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

“solved” by marrying a girl off early.

Girl brides are very likely to become pregnant early, which risks creating a number of severe maternal and child health problems.

Once a girl is a wife and mother, she will likely never return to school or the job market. She becomes confined to the walls of her home with no mobility beyond her village, unskilled and poorly educated. Consequently, her child is likely to become malnourished, increasing the likelihood of passing poverty and vulnerability from one generation to another.

Furthermore, extreme poor women often face abandonment from their husbands. The Shiree baseline survey showed that 30% of extremely poor families are female-headed, 22% of these include abandoned or divorced women. The men often leave their wives and children either to be with another wife, or simply from the stress of poverty and incapacity to provide for his family.

Yet, all their lives, women are socialised into depending on male breadwinners and guardians. A woman we talked to in Korail slum explained: “My husband is my world, he’s the tree of life, the pillars of our home, the head of the family, without him we are nothing.”

Thus, when women are left behind as sole providers for their children, they suffer particular distress. In desperation, mothers will go to extraordinary lengths to feed their families: they turn to the informal sector, work as domestic maids, beggars, sex workers, or sell their bodies to traffickers, since there is very little decent work available in the formal sector for unskilled, illiterate women and girls. In the Shiree baseline survey, two thirds of the female household heads had no schooling and their average monthly income levels were around 1,000 taka ($12 USD) less than in male headed households.

These fractured families are under enormous pressure to pull their children out of school and engage their sons and daughters in informal work too. On top of that, these widowed or abandoned women face severe discrimination, stigma and isolation from neighbours and their communities.

If a woman does find employment outside the house, she will also face inequalities. Women, particularly poor women working as day labourers, receive lower wages for the same work as men, sometimes as much as 50% less than their male counterparts for the same job.

But it goes further than wage disparities. Often women will have next to no say in any household deci-

sion-making, especially in spending decisions. If a married woman objects to her situation or tries to hold on to her own wages, she can become a victim of domestic violence.

A recent survey (BBS and UNFPA 2011) revealed a series of horrifying statistics – nearly 9 out of 10 (87 %) husbands abuse their wives in Bangladesh, and around one-third of the married women reported having been raped by their husbands. 126 women in the sample of 12,600 claimed to have had a family member who had committed suicide due to domestic violence.

Despite managing to tick the box of the ‘Millennium Development Goal’ on gender equality, gender discrimination and women’s suffering is widespread in Bangladesh. While gender discrimination is often exacerbated by poverty, it persists even as families and nations become richer. The striking thing when you start talking about gender inequality is that the list of discriminations goes on and on. It happens in all areas of our lives.

How do we make sure that the potential of half of the population is not wasted, neglected, harassed, abused and exploited? Having two female political leaders (who are both surrounded by and dependent on large groups of powerful men) has certainly not solved the problems of Bangladeshi women lower down on the socio-economic scale.

All their lives, women are socialised into depending on male breadwinners and guardians. A woman in Korail slum explained: ‘My husband is my world, he’s the tree of life, the pillars of our home, the head of the family, without him we are nothing’

Raising awareness through education, as well as engaging with men and power brokers, is central to ending gender inequality by changing attitudes and mindsets. Together we can move towards a society where our beloved babies can grow up to fulfill their dreams, regardless of the sex they were born with. l Kira Galbraith is Research and Advocacy Manager and Marie Sophie Pettersson is Gender Adviser and Programme Analyst at Shiree. Phoebe Beedell is Activist Scholar.

Discrimination by gender begins very early and has profound and detrimental impacts on the physical, mental and economic wellbeing of girls and women SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

44 detainees killed northeast of Baghdad

IRAQ CRISIS

Fighting nears Baghdad as UN rings alarm n AFP, Baghdad Militants pushed a weeklong offensive that has overrun swathes of Iraq to within 60 kilometres (37 miles) of Baghdad yesterday, as the UN warned the country’s very existence was under threat.

Iraqi officials have insisted they are making progress in repelling the fighters, who are led by the powerful Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) jihadist group, but have continued to lose ground.

The crisis has displaced hundreds of thousands of people and sparked fears that the violence could impact the country’s vast oil production, along with concerns that security forces won’t be able to halt the insurgents’ march on the capital.

Officials said yesterday that the fighters briefly held areas of Baquba, a short drive from Baghdad, and took control of most of Tal Afar, a strategic Shiite-majority town in north Iraq that lies along a crucial corridor to Syria.

The overnight attack on Baquba, which was pushed back by security forces, marked the closest that fighting has come to the capital as part of a lightning offensive in which jihadists have said they intend to march on Baghdad and the southern Shiite holy city of Karbala.

In Tal Afar, militants were controlling most of the town but pockets of resistance remained, and soldiers, policemen and armed residents held on to parts of its airport, according to Nineveh provincial council deputy

chief Nureddin Qabalan.

The swift advance of the militants has sparked international alarm, with UN envoy to Baghdad Nickolay Mladenov warning that Iraq’s sovereignty is at stake.

“Right now, it’s life-threatening for Iraq but it poses a serious danger to the region,” Mladenov told AFP. “Iraq faces the biggest threat to its sovereignty and territorial integrity” in years, he added.

Another sombre warning came from the prime minister of Iraq’s autonomous Kurdistan region, who told the BBC it would be “almost impossible” for the country to return to how it was before the offensive was launched on June 9.

Nechirvan Barzani said it would be difficult to find a resolution with Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki in power and recommended an autonomous region for Sunnis as a potential solution.

“Now we have to sit down and find a solution, find how to live together... but if we expect, if we think that Iraq will go back like before Mosul, I don’t think so, it’s almost impossible.”

Alarmed by the militant advance against an Iraqi army that has largely wilted in the face of the onslaught, foreign governments have begun evacuating their nationals and pulling out diplomatic staff.

The jihadists are said to have killed scores of Iraqi soldiers as they pushed their advance, including in a “horrifying” massacre in Salaheddin province that has drawn international condemnation. l

n AP, Baghdad

Iraqi men flash victory signs as they leave the main recruiting center to join the Iraqi army in Baghdad, June 17, after authorities urged Iraqis to help battle insurgents AFP

US forces move into Iraq with security mission n AP, Washington Nearly 300 armed American forces are being positioned in and around Iraq to help secure US assets as President Barack Obama nears a decision on an array of options for combating fast-moving Islamic insurgents, including airstrikes or a contingent of special forces.

The US and Iran also held an initial discussion on how the longtime foes might cooperate to ease the threat from the al-Qaida-linked militants that have swept through Iraq. Still, the White House ruled out the possibility that Washington and Tehran might coordinate military operations in Iraq.

Obama met with his national security team Monday evening to discuss options

Egypt cabinet sworn in, with most ministers retained n AFP, Cairo An Egyptian cabinet led by Ibrahim Mahlab was sworn in yesterday, with most positions from the previous military-installed government retained but the foreign minister replaced and an investment minister appointed.

The ministers took the oath of office before newly installed President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi in an early morning ceremony broadcast live on state television.

Sisi, who led last year’s ouster by the army of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi, had tasked Prime Minister Mahlab with forming a new cabinet after his inauguration on June 8.

The new 34-member cabinet has 13 new ministers including Sameh

Shoukri, a former ambassador to Washington, as the foreign minister.

He replaces Nabil Fahmy, who leaves the role despite having made a high-profile visit to the United States in April.

“The president must have had a say in choosing the new foreign minister as usually he chooses ministers of interior, foreign, defence and justice,” said Mustapha Kamel al-Sayyid, political science professor at Cairo University.

The cabinet retains Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim, who has overseen a massive police crackdown on Morsi’s supporters that has left 1,400 people dead and seen more than 15,000 jailed.

General Sedki Sobhi, who is the army chief, also stays on as defence

minister.

The post of investment minister has been created in an apparent attempt to bolster an economy roiled by turmoil since the 2011 popular uprising that forced out long-time autocratic president Hosni Mubarak.

It was filled by Ashraf Salman, a former prominent investment banker.

Sisi, who won nearly 97 percent of the vote in last month’s presidential election, faces a tough task to restore stability to Egypt, and to revive its economy.

The International Monetary Fund said in April that growth in Egypt’s economy is expected to remain sluggish this year as uncertainty keeps tourists and foreign investors away. l

DUBAI CREEK, HEART OF A CHANGED CITY

Sunni insurgents pushed further into a province northeast of Baghdad, laid siege to a police station and battled pro-government Shiite militiamen in overnight clashes that left at least 44 detainees dead, Iraqi officials said yesterday.

There were conflicting reports on details of the fighting in the al-Kattoun district near Baqouba, the capital of Diyala province.

Three police officers said the police station, which has a small jail, came under attack on Monday night by Islamic militants who tried to free the detainees, all suspected Sunni militants.

The three said Shiite militiamen, who rushed to defend the facility, killed the detainees at close range. A morgue official in the provincial capital of Baqouba said many of the slain detainees had bullet wounds to the head and chest. All four officials spoke on condition of anonymity fearing for their own safety.

However, Iraq’s chief military spokesman Lt. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi told The Associated Press that 52 detainees who were held at the station in al-Kattoun died when the attackers shelled it with mortar rounds.

Al-Moussawi said the attackers belonged to the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, an al-Qaida-inspired group that last week captured a large swath of territory in a lightning offensive in northern Iraq. The group is known to be active in Diyala, where Shiite militiamen are deployed alongside government forces.

Nine of the attackers were killed, said al-Moussawi. The Islamic State has vowed to march to Baghdad, Karbala and Najaf in the worst threat to Iraq’s stability since US troops left in 2011. Their push has largely been unchecked as Iraqi troops and police melted away and surrendered in the militants’ onslaught on the city of Mosul and Trikrit. l

for stopping the militants known as the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant. Officials said the president has made no final decisions on how aggressively the US might get involved in Iraq, though the White House continued to emphasize that any military engagement remained contingent on the government in Baghdad making political reforms.

Still, there were unmistakable signs of Americans returning to a country from which the US military fully withdrew more than two years ago. Obama notified Congress that up to 275 troops would be sent to Iraq to provide support and security for US personnel and the American Embassy in Baghdad.

The soldiers — 170 of which have already arrived in Iraq — were armed for

combat, though Obama has insisted he does not intend for US forces to be engaged in direct fighting.

“We are hard-wired into their system,” the fledgling democracy that America helped institute, said Ryan Crocker, a former US ambassador to Baghdad. “We can’t walk away from it.”

About 100 additional forces are being put on standby, most likely in Kuwait, and could be used for airfield management, security and logistics support, officials said. Separately, three US officials said the White House was considering sending a contingent of special forces soldiers to Iraq. Their limited mission — which has not yet been approved — would focus on training and advising beleaguered Iraqi troops. l

9 killed in another extremist attack in Kenya n AP, Nairobi

Israel aims to break Hamas as hunt for teens intensifies

Extremists attacked a coastal area of Kenya for the second night in a row, killing at least nine people a day after the deaths of nearly 50, an official said yesterday. Police spokesman Masoud Mwinyi said that al-Shabab militants attacked Majembeni village. The Somali militant group also claimed responsibility for the Sunday night attack in nearby Mpeketoni that killed 48 people.

The back-to-back attacks underscore the weak security around the Lamu area, which lies just south of the Somali border. Lamu once attracted swarms of foreign visitors but its tourist sector has been suffering in recent years because of increasing violence. l

n AFP, Jerusalem

Israel stepped up efforts to crush Hamas in the West Bank yesterday as the hunt for three Israeli teenagers believed kidnapped by the Islamist movement entered its fifth day.

Thousands of Israel troops engaged in the search for the youths turned their attention during the night to the northern West Bank city of Nablus and surrounding area, arresting 41 Palestinians, the army said.

So far, Israel has arrested around 200 Palestinians, most of them Hamas members, as it conducts a vast search operation for the students, two of them minors. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused militants from the Islamist movement of kidnapping the youths last week.

“We are here in the midst of a complex operation. We need to be prepared for the possibility that it may take time.

This is a serious event and there will be serious consequences,” Netanyahu said on Monday evening.

Israel has said it holds Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas responsible for the safe return of the three, with Netanyahu phoning him to demand his help in the search efforts in what was their first direct political contact since 2012.

At a meeting of the Israeli security cabinet on Monday, ministers decided to expand moves against Hamas in order to smash its political and social infrastructure in the West Bank, officials said.

“As long as our boys remain abducted, Hamas will feel pursued, paralysed and threatened,” said Lieutenant Peter Lerner, the military’s official spokesman. l

UK conducts mass cyber-snooping n AP, London

Britain’s top counterterrorism official says the country’s espionage rules allow its electronic spy agency to routinely intercept online communications between Britons who use US-based platforms such as Facebook, Twitter and Google.

A witness statement by Office for Security and Counterterrorism chief Charles Farr, made public yesterday, said data sent on those services is classed as “external” rather than “internal” communications because the companies are based outside Britain.

Britain’s Home Office confirmed the document was genuine. It was written in response to a legal action by civil lib-

erties groups who are seeking to curb cyber-spying, and was published by the groups on Tuesday.

Britain’s electronic intelligence agency, GCHQ, has broad powers to intercept communications outside the country, but needs a warrant and suspicion of wrongdoing to monitor Britons.

In the document, Farr said some internal communications are intercepted under the external rules, but they “cannot be read, looked at or listened to” except in strictly limited circumstances. He said that was a “significant distinction.”

Civil liberties organizations say the rules are too vague and allow for mass surveillance. “The security ser-

vices consider that they’re entitled to read, listen and analyze all our communications on Facebook, Google and other US-based platforms,” said James Welch, legal director of Liberty — one of the groups involved in the legal action.

“If there was any remaining doubt that our snooping laws need a radical overhaul there can be no longer.”

Farr said that emails sent between two people in Britain would usually be classed as internal even if they traveled by route outside the country. But Facebook and Twitter posts or Google searches that went to data centers outside the British Isles would fall under the external category.

GCHQ did not immediately respond to a request for comment. l

UK to reopen embassy in Iran

n AP, London

Clockwise from top left: Tourists and residents cross the creek waters which cut through the heart of the city, on a traditional taxi boat, in Dubai. With skyscrapers along the Sheikh Zayed highway, at background, pink flamingos look for food by the creek, at the Ras Al Khor Wildlife Sanctuary. Trading dhows for uploading goods are docked at the creek AP

British Foreign Secretary William Hague said yesterday that “circumstances are right” to reopen Britain’s embassy in Iran, which was closed in 2011 after hard-liners overran the building and ransacked it.

The announcement represents another step in the thaw in recent days between Iran and the West. American officials are also looking for common ground with Iran as they seek ways to quell mounting violence in Iraq.

Hague told Parliament in a written statement he is satisfied that British embassy personnel would be safe in the Iranian capital, Tehran, and that diplo-

mats would be allowed to work without hindrance.

He said “a range of practical issues” have to be resolved before the embassy can begin operations again and full consular services would not be offered at first.

“It is our intention to re-open the embassy in Tehran with a small initial presence as soon as these practical arrangements have been made,” he said.

“Inevitably, the initial embassy presence will only able to offer a limited range of services at first. For the time being, Iranians will still need to apply in Abu Dhabi or Istanbul for visas for travel to the U.K. “ Britain and Iran have been in contact

in recent days because of shared concerns over mounting violence in Iraq.

Iran has sent military officers to Iraq to help coordinate defenses. Britain is sending humanitarian aid to refugees.

Hague said he spoke with Iran’s foreign minister Saturday about taking more steps to improve relations.

Hague’s announcement is part of a gradual improvement in relations between the two countries since moderate Iranian President Hassan Rouhani came to power in August.

In February, Iran partially reopened its embassy in Britain, offering consular services only. Hague said he expects Iran’s government to “take steps” to expand its embassy operation in London. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Deadly riots flare in Sri Lanka resort n AFP, Alutgama More deadly violence flared in a Sri Lankan coastal resort where Buddhist hardliners set shops and homes alight for a second night running in defiance of a curfew, police and residents said yesterday.

Amid mounting international concern at the unrest, residents of a town which has borne the brunt said an unarmed security guard was killed in an attack outside a Muslim-owned farm, raising the overall death toll to four.

“More than a dozen houses and shops have been burnt overnight,” a police source told AFP from the mainly Muslim town of Alutgama after another night of mob violence by followers of the extremist Buddhist Force.

Western embassies in Colombo advised their nationals holidaying in the area to stay indoors, while other foreigners were urged to avoid crowded areas and respect the curfew.

In Welipanna, a suburb of Alutgama, residents said nine houses and 26 shops were destroyed overnight by a mob of 50 to 60 men armed with guns, petrol bombs and knives.

Local school principal, A. R. M. Nahuman, said residents had pleaded with authorities to provide more police protection but to little avail.

“There were only three constables and they were quite helpless in the face of the big mob,” Nahuman told AFP, while showing the destruction.

Service station owner Abdul Kafar, 60, said the attackers fire-bombed his business as well as his home.

“We have lost everything. We lived here for 25 years, but never experienced anything like this before,” said

9

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

After Google, Facebook tracks users across the Internet n Agencies

A Sri Lankan resident surveys the damage to a charred Muslim-owned home following clashes between Muslims and an extremist Buddhist group in the town of Alutgama on June 17 AFP Kahar as he stood among the charred remains of his home.

Chicken farm owner Hijasin Mustapha, 31, said attackers set fire to his warehouse after stabbing an elderly unarmed security guard. “They first stabbed our watcher and another worker and then set fire to the stores.”

The attacks are the latest in a series of religious clashes to hit the island following unrest in January and also last year when Buddhist mobs attacked a mosque in the capital Colombo.

Muslims make up about 10% of the 20 million population, but are accused by nationalists of having undue influence. As armed troops and police guarded the area yesterday, residents huddled in some of the homes spared from the overnight violence.

Hundreds of soldiers have been deployed to help police contain the violence. Although the unrest on Monday was not as widespread as the previous night, it came despite the announcement of an indefinite curfew.

Vehicles torched

Residents said several vehicles had also been set alight in Alutgama. While sporadic attacks were reported in several neighbourhoods on Tuesday morning, police said the situation was under control by afternoon.

The authorities say nearly 80 people have so far been seriously injured in clashes while many more have suffered minor injuries. Dozens of homes, shops and mosques have been partially or completely destroyed. l

Afghan officials reject vote-fraud claims n Agencies

General: US hikes surveillance on Pakistan border

Afghanistan’s election authorities have strongly denied that top officials were guilty of fraud after front-running presidential candidate Abdullah Abdullah made allegations that could upset a smooth transition of power.

Abdullah’s fraud claims put him in direct conflict with the Independent Election Commission (IEC), raising fears of political instability as the bulk of US-led troops withdraw from Afghanistan by the end of the year.

Abdullah demanded the dismissal of Zia-ul-Haq Amarkhail, head of the IEC secretariat, over Amarkhail’s alleged attempt to remove unused ballots from its headquarters in Kabul on the polling day.

However, AFP news agency quoted Ahmad Yousuf Nuristani, IEC chairman, on Monday as rejecting the accusations against Amarkhail, and stating that the turnout figure was an early estimate that might be adjusted.

Abdullah has also said the IEC’s turnout figure of seven million voters in Saturday’s run-off election was probably false.

“I strongly reject these allegations,” Nuristani said, adding that Amarkhail was stopped by police when he was overseeing the delivery of extra ballot papers to polling stations that had run out.

“It was a misunderstanding between police and our staff,” Nuristani said. l

The top US military commander in Afghanistan says the US has increased its surveillance over the Afghan-Pakistani border since Pakistan began pounding a militant stronghold with airstrikes, but so far officials have not seen any militants fleeing the latest offensive.

Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford told The Associated Press in an interview that the US was not coordinating military operations with Pakistan along the border, but officials have increased the amount of intelligence-sharing with the Afghans. He said the Afghan troops and US forces in that region were ready for any effects of the strikes, including extremists seeking refuge in Afghanistan.

The US has long pressed Pakistan to root out Taliban militants who have found safe haven in the lawless tribal region of North Waziristan, along the Afghan border, and used it as a staging area to launch attacks against Afghan and NATO forces in Afghanistan.

Dunford said officials have seen Pakistani families crossing the border to escape the military airstrikes that have pounded the country’s northwest since Sunday.

“The Afghan forces as well as our forces are fully prepared to deal with the second-order effects of the Pakistani operations in North Waziristan,”

n AP, Washington

Dunford said in an interview from Afghanistan. He added that officials were still trying to determine how many Pakistani families have fled into Afghanistan to escape the violence, but it was difficult because many relocate to families in the southeast and northeast.

‘The Afghan forces as well as our forces are fully prepared to deal with the second-order effects of the Pakistani operations in North Waziristan’ More broadly, Dunford expressed increased confidence in the Afghan security forces, and said he did not believe that the military collapse playing out in Iraq would occur in Afghanistan once US combat troops leave.

He said the US fully expects to get a bilateral security agreement with Afghanistan’s government that will allow up to 14,000 US and NATO troops to remain in the country next year to advise the Afghans and conduct counterterrorism missions. The US left Iraq after the government in Baghdad refused to agree on a security arrangement.

“I don’t see, at least today, the divi-

sive politics that obviously resulted in the situation in Iraq playing out here in Afghanistan,” said Dunford. “We’re encouraged by the fact that we will have a bilateral security agreement. I’m encouraged by the fact that we have multiethnic (presidential) tickets.”

Sunni militants are advancing across Iraq, taking control of several cities in the north and moving toward Baghdad, while roiling Sunni-Shiite ethnic tensions. In the face of the brutal alQaida-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, some Iraqi security forces have fled.

The failure of the Iraqi troops to hold off the ISIL, just three years after American troops left the country after eight years or war, has led some US leaders to question whether the same slide into chaos and insurgent control will happen in Afghanistan.

Dunford said that while Afghan military leaders at times expressed frustration with President Hamid Karzai, including his decisions to limit close air support missions or other partnered operations with NATO troops, “not once was there a hint that they wouldn’t follow his direction.”

Noting the deteriorating situation in Iraq, Republican Sen. John McCain said President Barack Obama was “about to make the same mistake in Afghanistan he made in Iraq.” l

Facebook users beware: The company has officially declared that it will be tracking your online consumption and behaviour on Facebook, and off Facebook too. Like Google, Facebook wants to leverage its understanding of your user behaviour to serve you more targeted ads.

Facebook has been using your likes and posts on Facebook to target ads to you already. Now, though, Facebook will track you across any website you visit, as long as the site has a ‘like’ button, a Facebook login, or any Facebook code. And Facebook will track your reading habits, even if you don’t login via Facebook or click on ‘like’ button on the site.

You may not be aware of this, but Facebook has managed this via an automatic-opt-in feature — albeit one which you can opt out of. However, activists and analysts point out that companies like Facebook, Google etc should only be allowed to use your data by turning it on through your explicit permission (manual opt-in instead of automatic opt-in) — and not by having to turn it off through an opt-out.

For advertisers, Facebook is aiming to build a bank of data to help target advertising better. The raw data is processed by big data brokers like Acxiom and Datalogix to develop profiles of users, which are then made available to advertisers.

Suppose you regularly surf sites that discuss fashion and accessories. You will be profiled as a fashion geek, and advertisers interested in fashion geeks will be able to serve ads to you on Facebook.

This can be big business for Facebook.

Google earned as much as $13 billion off of

data-based targeting. Facebook is looking to take a larger piece of this growing market.

For consumers, this is the hidden cost of Facebook: your data. Facebook doesn’t charge users because it makes money by selling access to demographics of users. This often results in advertising that seems to “follow you around,” which can feel intrusive.

The major issue is that users are not asked if they consent to being tracked, ie, there is an automatic opt-in process, instead of this being a manual opt-in process where users can choose to allow this to happen or not. Instead, all that Facebook gives users, is the option to ‘opt-out’ —but the problem is that experts know that less than 2% of users actively go through the opt-out process.

Regulators worldwide are starting to take action. The European Commission for the Digital Agenda is overseeing new rules that will govern privacy policies, and is evaluating a mandatory opt-in requirement for consumers to be tracked. Other countries are working on methods so as not to allow internet companies to track users’ behaviour on third party sites. l

China executes 13 at one go for terrorism in Xinjiang n Agencies

China has executed 13 persons indicted on terrorism charges in the restive Xinjiang region, state media reported, adding that they were charged with killing police officers and civilians, arson and making explosives.

Not all of those executed were identified by the authorities but they were believed to be from the Muslim Uyghur community, one of the largest minorities in the country and the second largest community in the Xinjiang Uyghur Autonomous Region (XUAR) in China’s far west.

The region has been rocked by violence in the recent months and members from the Uyghur community have also been blamed for deadly knife attacks carried out in other parts of China.

In March, 29 people were killed and more than 140 injured when men armed with long knives stormed a train station in a night attack in Kunming in southern China. And, in May, an attack on a train station in Urumqi, Xinjiang’s capital, left three dead, including the attackers, and an attack on an Urumqi market in May killed at least 39.

The government had subsequently launched a year-long crackdown on terrorism, calling Xinjiang the “major battleground” against terror attacks.

In late May, 55 persons suspected of terrorism were sentenced in a controversial mass trial held inside a sports

stadium packed with people in Xinjiang.

Photographs showed the suspects crouching with their heads forced down by armed soldiers behind them.

“The 13 planned attacks and killed police officers, government officials and civilians. They took innocent lives, caused huge property losses, and seriously endangered public security,” local Xinjiang courts were quoted by the official Xinhua news agency as saying.

“In one case, three defendants -- Ehmetniyaz Sidiq, Abdulla Srepli and Gulam Eli-- were convicted of organising and leading terrorist attacks on a police station, hotel, government office building and other venues, killing 24 police officers and civilians and injuring 23 others at Lukqun Township in Shanshan County of Turpan Prefecture on June 26 last year,” the report said.

“The execution of criminals involved in terrorist attacks and violent crimes answers the calls of all ethnic groups, deters criminal activities, and demonstrates the resolve of the Communist Party of China and the government in cracking down on terrorism,” a spokesperson of the Xinjiang regional higher people’s court said.

Meanwhile, three were sentenced to death and five others were jailed on Monday by a Xinjiang court over a terror attack near Beijing’s Tiananmen Square in October 2013. Jail terms varied between five and 20 years. l

8 killed as police, protesters clash in Pakistan n AP, Lahore Police clashed yesterday with followers of an anti-Taliban cleric critical of Pakistan’s government in the eastern city of Lahore, violence that killed eight people, officials said.

The cleric, Tahir-ul-Qadri, is based in Canada but has a network of mosques and religious centers across Pakistan.

Qadri led a rally of tens of thousands of his supporters that shut down the capital last year, calling for a delay in elections to prevent electoral fraud.

His plan to return to Pakistan on June 23 and rally against the government of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif has once again put him in the limelight.

Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif said the clashes killed eight people.

The head of Jinnah Hospital, Dr. Abdur Raof, said the hospital received 80 wounded.

The clashes started when authorities came to Qadri’s house and seminary complex to remove security barriers that they said had turned the entire vicinity into a no-go area.

“The police were heavily fired upon from inside the ... center,” said Gujjar,

speaking on Pakistani television. Gujjar said that gunfire killed the protesters, not police.

A spokesman for Qadri, Shahid Mursaleem, said the police first shot tear gas to disperse the protesters, then opened fire on them.

Mursaleem said police arrested 40 to 50 of the cleric’s followers. He said the government is worried about Qadri’s return and is trying to quiet him.

Qadri on Twitter accused the government of trying to divert attention away from the army operations in North Waziristan, which Qadri has supported. Pakistan launched a major offensive Sunday against militants there after Sharif’s push for peace talks failed to produce results.

Qadri struck a chord with people last year by attacking the state’s inability to solve problems such as electricity and unemployment.

But his demand that the government be dissolved and replaced by a military-backed caretaker administration raised concerns that he was being used by the nation’s powerful army to delay parliamentary elections. Qadri denied having any connection to the army. l

Supporters of an anti-Taliban cleric hurl stones toward policemen during clashes in Lahore, Pakistan, June 17. Police clashed yesterday with followers of an anti-Taliban cleric critical of Pakistan’s government in the eastern city of Lahore, violence that killed at least eight people, officials said AP

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Cut the cord on mobile phone tax

T

he proposed budget for this fiscal year looks to impose an increased value added tax and an advance income tax on handset imports.

For a country that depends solely on the import of mobile phones, increased taxes on the product will cripple many businesses which rely heavily on mobile phone relay to operate, especially those based in the more remote corners of Bangladesh. Such entities often lack access to other infrastructure, and hence, are totally reliant on their mobile phones for business.

According to the proposed budget, value added tax (Vat) for imported handsets will be increased to 15%, alongside an imposed 5% advance income tax (AIT). This reduces the affordability of the product for Bangladesh’s lower income demographic, as well as potentially giving smugglers a new avenue to pursue. staggering 95% of all handsets were imported illegally in 2001-02. The number of illegal imports is now a barely noticeable fraction of that. Higher taxes carry with them the risk of tipping these numbers back in favour of illegal trade.

It is fair to say then, that this will have a direct, negative impact on our country’s economy. Increased taxes on the import of mobile phones and on SIM cards are a bad idea. They directly contradict the incumbent government’s vision of a “digital Bangladesh.”

The potentially negative repercussions these taxes will bring forth on our economy outweigh any of the short-term gains that the finance ministry hopes to achieve out of them.

Increased taxes will cripple many businesses which rely heavily on mobile phone relay to operate

No offence in flags

T

he recent fuss in Jessore regarding the hoisting of foreign flags during the FIFA world cup is unnecessary, and reflects a smallness of spirit that dampens the enthusiasm with which the games are being enjoyed across the country.

While the Jessore district administration has insisted that it is a request and not a directive, a ban on Bangladeshi nationals flying foreign flags during the recent ICC T20 Cricket World Cup in Dhaka shows that it doesn’t take much for requests like these to become officially enforced.

The district administration has cited the Bangladesh flag rules, which states “the flag of a Foreign State shall not be flown on any car or building in Bangladesh without the specific permission of the Government of the People’s Republic of Bangladesh” as reason for the request.

But it may be looking too closely at the letter of the law and missing the spirit of it, which is intended to protect national sovereignty and the dignity of the flags of other nations, neither of which are at risk in this instance.

The festive mood of the World Cup is significantly enhanced by the flying of colourful flags that transform the country into an international arena, much like the World Cup itself. It is all done in good spirits, so there is no need to take offence where none is intended.

The festive mood of the World Cup is significantly enhanced by the flying of colourful flags

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

Law suggested to prevent question paper leaks

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 6 represents P so fill P every time the figure 6 appears.

You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter 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 the 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.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

June 11 every alternate year papers or suggestions. Make it Akhtar Shah like the O and A Level system, where every year has This is ridiculous beyond belief! The country now a different set of questions. Make sure your papers needs laws to stop exam papers being leaked?! Is are released. there nothing sacred anymore? What next??

Make Bengali-medium kids apply what they BD is becoming a banana republic. Ability to work out right from wrong has taken a permanent learn, and don’t make them memorise and regurgitate. Oh, most importantly, the entire country holiday or is well dead! needs a good lesson of respect for education and books! People have lost all moral respect for things Briarose such as these.

Honestly, stop making sets, and stop referring to

Negative tourist environment June 12

SAM A pragmatic presentation and rather soft evaluation of our somewhat negative tourism environment was published on June 7. Possibly it is our shyness and the lack of language access with tourists that add to the problems faced by tourists in Bangladesh. Unfortunately, tourism authorities, apart from being modest hoteliers, cannot do much about our people’s attitude.

Although we have about a dozen tourist spots, the reality remains the environment overall is not so tourist-friendly!

Starting from the airports, where overseas tourists arrive, arranging transport is a hassle, and the taxi fares to the city centre are prohibitive for most budget tourists who are, by and large, the bulk of tourists coming here.

Traveling on our inter-city buses, both public and privately-operated, leaves much to be desired. Firstly, there is no provision for taking accompanied luggage onto buses, except for those operated by the few tourist organisations.

Also, seating in public road buses is cramped, and the buses are utterly non-air- conditioned, the journey turns out to be a long, hot, and tiring exercise. And no reasonable restaurant or drinking water is available throughout the journey!

Traveling by launch or steamer, whether public or private, is also an exhausting experience. And the less said about the on-board food, the better.

Even getting on board a private launch, by the rickety planks, from the deck to the muddy and slippery river bank, is a dangerous experience!

A similar scenario covers eating out. Most towns in Bangladesh, except for Dhaka and a few in Chittagong, have practically no clean and presentable restaurant where one can have a meal.

Given all this reality, Bangladesh is not a nice place to come to for overseas tourists out on a budget holiday trip. This more or less sums up the major disadvantages a tourist faces when touring Bangladesh. Disadvantages that need to be flipped on their head, and the situation improved to improve tourism in this country.

China’s $1.2bn investment in RMG June 12

Imzy I support China, a true friend of Bangladesh.

Locals quiz RAB men for suspicious movement June 12

Jahangir Kabir Bappi We need to reform our elite force, RAB.

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.

aksha Is it (the questioning) not supposed to be other way round? Has RAB now become a rudderless ship?

PM’s artwork goes viral on Facebook June 11

Nadia Olsen Let it be drawn by a skilled artist. Then put your name and date on it. Okay, done.

Half a million flee unrest in Mosul June 12

Vikram Khan Thousands of Muslims on the run, because of Muslims. Shame!

Seven crores for Bangladesh?

June 13

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Visible traces (5) 6 Choler (3) 7 Region (5) 10 Raised platform (5) 12 Male deer (4) 13 Minor ailments (5) 15 Story (4) 16 Insect (3) 18 Word of acceptance (3) 20 Snakes (4) 22 Move furtively (5) 23 Peruvian capital (4) 25 Scoffs (5) 27 Dogma (5) 28 Fish eggs (3) 29 Oozes (5)

DOWN 1 Misplace (6) 2 Craft (3) 3 Responds (6) 4 Starry (7) 5 Perform (3) 8 Donkey (3) 9 Mountain lake (4) 11 Former Portuguese colony in India (3) 14 Barren places (7) 16 Be eager (6) 17 Essays on themes (6) 19 Way out (4) 21 Vegetable (3) 22 Is able (3) 24 Gull (3) 26 Cut off the top (3)

Sammy Considering the very passionately-felt political leanings of the author (which he revealed sincerely in his last column), I was expecting an accusation of BNP involvement in this heist. After all, we all know that all patriotism resides in those who are on the “chetona”-Baksal side, lol. Pleasantly surprised to see that I was wrong in this instance and the author actually seems to blame someone in the faceless bureaucracy!

CALVIN AND HOBBES

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER Meet the last man-eaters June 12

vihan And our own prime minister will donate two of these majestic, endangered tigers to Japan, as a sign of cultural exchange, is that not the case?

CROSSWORD

PEANUTS Traffickers kill 6 illegal migrants in Bay of Bengal June 12

VK Human trafficking exists because of the total lack of interest of governments (worldwide) to fight this utterly disgusting “trade.” An additional problem is corruption; police and border guards are paid by the traffickers to keep their eyes and mouths closed. Our government should give an international signal that they take matters seriously by hanging criminals involved in human trafficking.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

The beautiful game

The tyranny of outlaws n Mohammad Ali Sattar

T

In spite of all the money involved, football still belongs to the people

A

n Zeeshan Khan resounding roar erupts across the lake in Shahjadpur. It’s after 4am and characteristically calm, with nothing to break the silence except the calls of frogs and crickets – and the sound of football.

Argentina has scored and all is right with the world of Argentina fans. And there are heaps of them, all along the way from Dhaka to Chittagong, the roads, rooftops, and cars are covered in Argentine flags, but also Brazil, Germany, France, South Korea, Italy, Portugal, Spain, Iran, England, and Japan – I’ve even seen Switzerland.

Personally, I love it.

Bangladesh is World Cup mad. The appetite for it here is insatiable and it’s wonderful because it’s not just the football that gets us, but also the internationality of the whole affair. We love that it’s all about national colours and flags. It’s the World Game, the world’s game.

Sure, there are other international sporting meets, the Olympics for example, which in fact brings together the entire family of nations (and even features football), but nothing works quite as well as the FIFA World cup – the last final of which had more than 800 million viewers, making it the most watched sporting event in human history. To put that into perspective, consider these – the largest human congregation was 60 million people at the Maha Kumbha Mela in 2001, and the largest Hajj gathering was 3 million people. Clearly, football is a major world religion.

But the World Cup is more than just football. It’s politics, it’s war, it’s international relations, it’s nationalism, it’s hopes, it’s dreams, it’s music, it’s passion, it’s pride, it’s rivalry, and when you consider the hairstyles, the uniforms, and the fan get-ups, it’s even fashion.

An Iran-US game invokes the ghosts of embassies past, Brazil versus Portugal is a colonial score settling, Africans see it is as an opportunity to show the world what their underestimated continent is capable of, and Asia, well Asia is all for throwing it back in the face of those who once humiliated it.

But that’s the undercurrent. On the field, the event is about the sport’s own entrenched rivalries – between Europe and South America, Brazil and Argentina, Italy and France, England and Germany. It’s also about the players. Football players are superstars.

MUMIT M

make a handsome living and become one of the most recognised names in the world through football is incredibly inspiring, and speaks volumes about the game’s relevance and potential.

Football, like other sports, can also be a potent tool for development.

When I heard that the Ivorian Didier Drogba had donated millions of dollars to establish a hospital and a school in his hometown, I wasn’t the least bit surprised. He was simply following in Pele’s footsteps, whose philanthropy is legendary.

Numerous other athletes and foot-

It’s a great leveller, and manages to transcend rigid class hierarchies to present us with a world where all that really matters is how well you play In a most gladiatorial sense, they are their nation’s prize-fighters, and they put on a spectacular show replete with skill, sex appeal, machismo, and class.

And they love it, and we love them. We love them so much that we pay them pots of money to play the beautiful game, ever so beautifully.

But in spite of all the money thrown around, football, probably more than most other sports, is still a people’s pursuit. It’s a great leveller, and manages to transcend rigid class hierarchies to present us with a world where all that really matters is how well you play. Being accessible to so many of the world’s poorest for its sheer simplicity, it is one of the more straightforward ways for an aspiring star to make their mark on the world scene.

The game is filled with examples of this – Pele being the most celebrated one. Primary school textbooks carried his story when I was a child because the fact that a poor boy from Brazil can

ball players have given considerable amounts of their substantial earnings back to their communities. This is the multiplier effect that is set into motion when a child from a small village or town manages to break into the international arena. He or she will of course benefit personally, as will their families, but the spill-over will also benefit their communities and anyone else who is inspired by their success in ways that have a perpetual quality.

And it doesn’t end there. Developing a footballer to be world class also means that international clubs – always on the lookout for fresh talent – will pay good money to the local club that he or she may currently be playing for, as well as, of course, paying the player an international footballer’s salary.

All of this leads to an inward flow of global capital, which can bolster a local or even a national economy.

Transfer fees are big business. Football is big business, a fact that we are yet to

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Wednesday, June 18, 2014

appreciate here in Bangladesh.

Quality football requires investment.

This might sound like a contradiction of the previous paragraphs, but it’s not. Football still remains a grassroots game but that’s as far as recruitment is concerned. It’s egalitarian because you don’t have to come from the “right” families, go to the “right” schools, and belong to the “right” social background to be in contention, but that doesn’t mean that there isn’t a need for proper training and development.

Some might say that a football academy isn’t much different from a private school, and they are probably right. But the difference is evident when you consider that only raw talent is needed to produce a world class player, in contrast to the type of schooling and social orientation that is required to create a white collar professional. And anyway, many great players have never needed to see the inside of an expensive football academy.

But before we can develop football talent, we need to develop the football infrastructure and the links that connect fans to teams, teams to tournaments, tournaments to international exposure, and international exposure to international teams. In Bangladesh, football is still only seen as a sport and its potential as a business, as a profession, and as means to fulfil a social responsibility remains as yet, untapped.

But all that will change. Once the connection between football and business, and football and development becomes indelibly clear, there will be an unstoppable upsurge of interest followed by a torrential outpouring of investment. And when that happens, the World Cup roar outside my window will not be for Argentina or for Brazil, but for our very own Bangladesh. l Zeeshan Khan is a journalist at the Dhaka Tribune.

hey were forced into death’s lap in the holy night. There was supposed to be peace in the surroundings. In the tranquil darkness when many were engaged in calling the Almighty for peace, prosperity, and pardon, while others dozed off to slumber after meditation, the monsters in human form appeared from nowhere and swooped on the members of a family, locked them up in a shack, and set it on fire. The raging fury filled the dawn with atomic fear.

Neighbours stood right in the middle of a nightmare.

All nine inside were baked to death, mostly women and children. What could be more tragic than the image of the young and worn-out father clinging to the charred remains of his little playful kid? What could be left of his world is anybody’s guess. Humanity stands unmoved.

The Mirpur mayhem, or the Shab-eBarat arson that took place right under the muzzle of the public and powerful quarters, is yet another instance of the ferocity of vengeance that is alive in some people.

Reports say the local ruling party activists went to the Bihari camp and asked for an illegal power line connection for a slum nearby which housed Bengalis. The slum in question was run by the influential quarters of the area.

When the Biharis refused to abide by their request, all hell broke loose.

In the follow-up of the heated exchanges and threats trade, the grisly acts took place. Nine members of a family had to die a painful death vanishing in the flame. It wasn’t a peaceful death for anyone.

The Biharis blamed the local MP for the murder. They accused the lawmaker of his complicity in the killings and violence. They even refused to receive his aid. He had to run from the scene to escape their wrath.

Most astonishing was the noticeable absence of state officials after such a gruesome act. When the news spread like wildfire, the nation was informed about another dreadful killing, this time, of entirely different nature and cause.

The Mirpur mayhem is yet another instance of the ferocity of vengeance that is alive in some people Most shocking and beyond comprehension was how this killing was planned and carried out. The victims who were seared alive in the flames had nothing to do with the earlier event. These hapless victims were nowhere near the deal or bargain of the conflicting parties.

As expected, the ministers concerned, government officials, and the police officials should have visited the place, if for nothing, at least to console

the grieving ones, who had to part with their dear ones so brutally.

Whether the “request” or demand for the power line from the Bihari camp was legitimate or not is another matter.

Whether they should have been given the connection is an issue that needs a query. In order to make things happen in a peaceful manner, the local leaders and concerned persons could have attempted a peaceful deal. Law enforcing members should have been brought in to work out a formula.

Outlaws, big and small, must be reined in from every tier of the society

We know these killings will have no answer. We are used to see things heating up and suddenly the fever coming down, only to be forgotten soon. The law will take up the matter however slow the proceedings might be.

There will be the usual demand for the nabbing of the culprits. There might be one or two arrests. And it will soon be business as usual till the next bomb is dropped elsewhere and the nation’s focus is shifted.

Away in India, Nur Hossain was reportedly arrested by the Kolkata police and now under the process of law of the land. We understand that he has been picked up along with his two accomplices.

Look at the pictures splashed across our dailies. The prime accused of the seven murders in Narayanganj is all smiles, as though mocking us over his successful escape.

We don’t know what his fate would be. We want him to be brought back from India and put on trial and meted out the appropriate penalty he deserves.

And then we have the serpents of the formalin world, another dark chamber of the gangland dons. The formalin mafias are so strong that it appears impossible for anyone to spot or catch them. They operate in darkness, under protection of the more powerful.

Kings of ruination have been flourishing, reaching the farthest corner of the country. They have their “formalin agents” and “selling outlets” both handy and effective. Such is the permeation. They revel every second of their success in destroying the human body and mind.

We are in a virtual grip of the outlaws of the land. The desperation and lust for wealth and power has reached such a peak that utterly mindless, perverted, and sinful acts have become their normal mode of operation and code of conduct.

The outlaws, big and small, must be reined in from every tier of the society. People’s authority shall make it possible. The tyranny of outlaws should go. l Mohammad Ali Sattar is a DT columnist.

Money across the border n Satish Vangal

T

here have recently been a couple of references in this and other media outlets in the region, and on social media, about a recent report by an Indian organisation (Silicon India) that listed Bangladesh as the fifth largest source of inward remittances into India, with around 500,000 workers contributing $3.7bn.

In the telling and re-telling of this tale in various media outlets in the region, there appears to have been little or no additional analysis of these numbers, and all these workers have been assumed to be illegal migrants taking away jobs from the local population.

It is obviously a tempting statistic to use to counter India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s election campaign statements regarding illegal migrants from Bangladesh into neighbouring Indian states.

The goal of this article is not to debate those statements, but rather to examine the implications of the quoted numbers of Indian workers in Bangladesh a little more closely. The conclusions one arrives at are: a) The numbers are likely to be inaccurate, or

b) if they are correct, then the impact is actually quite beneficial to the Bangladeshi economy.

I have the luxury of writing this from the picturesque hill station of Coonoor in the state of Tamil Nadu in South India, away from the summer heat of the plains, the tumult, the noise, and the distractions of a big city.

Who will replace all those skilled workers until enough local talent is available?

As a result, tasks like simple arithmetic become a lot easier. If we divide $3.7bn by 500,000 (workers), we arrive at an average remittance figure of $7,400 per person.

Presumably this is an annual statistic, although this is not explicitly clear

from the quoted article. Let’s assume that each worker, on average, sends half of his or her annual earnings home to India (a not unreasonable assumption). By this estimate, his or her monthly income computes to around $1,200.

In other words, each of these alleged illegal Indian workers in Bangladesh is earning Tk90,000 a month!

By comparison, the average worker in a garments factory floor now makes around Tk5,000 a month, thanks to salary hikes recently authorised by the government.

Who do you know who makes Tk90,000 a month? Or even Tk55,000 a month (the number that one would arrive at if one assumed an 80% conversion rate of salary into remittances)? I’m willing to bet they’re not unskilled jobs of the kind normally taken by illegal immigrants in any country. More specifically, it is highly unlikely that the majority of these alleged 500,000 Indian workers in Bangladesh are taking away garment worker jobs from locals. The math just doesn’t compute, although I’m perfectly happy to hear what others might have to say to dispute my armchair

and its findings.

The more logical conclusion of course is that, if the numbers are accurate, then these workers are in higher wage jobs, where local expertise is likely lacking. And rather than being a drain on the Bangladeshi economy, they are obviously positively contributing to it like skilled labour anywhere, by generating benefits to their employers to justify paying them a middle to upper-middle class salary

by Bangladeshi standards.

Middle class spending anywhere is a key engine of the economy, and if these workers sent 50% or $3.7bn home, then they also spent that much on goods and services within Bangladesh.

Hopefully I’ve made my point!

But let us assume for argument’s sake that these 500,000 Indians are in fact illegally in the country. Let us track them down in their Gulshan and Banani hideaways and send them home (which will free up housing stock for Dhaka’s own upwardly mobile population). Let us confront them as they sip their scotches behind the walls of the International Club and serve them notice that their time here

is up. What next?

Who will replace all those skilled workers until enough local talent is available? Where will they come from?

Very simple. Bangladesh doesn’t need anyone from anywhere else. You have enough sons and daughters all over the world who have, to use the cliché, done their country proud, in fields ranging from the arts and sciences to finance to academia.

I know who has come home and is making a positive difference, I know another who gave up in frustration, and went back. So, what will it take for the others who have done well abroad to come home?

It doesn’t have to be forever. A lot can be done with, for example, a three or four-year commitment. But you won’t know till you try. And you’ll never regret having tried. And most

It is highly unlikely that the majority of these alleged 500,000 Indian workers in Bangladesh are taking away garment worker jobs from locals And who have the potential to effect long-lasting positive change in the country of their origins. During my two years in Bangladesh, I met several inspiring individuals who had done just that, and taken the leap of returning home. It obviously won’t be easy.

Here in India, for every person

importantly, each Bangladeshi who brings home their skills or expertise with a larger purpose than just their careers and/or personal gain in mind will inspire a thousand others in a way that none of those 500,000 Indians and other foreigners can. l Satish Vangal is a freelance contributor.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Showcase for young talent

SADIA MARIUM

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak

An art installation titled Auto Biography of an Incomplete Man by Mohammad Mojahidur Rahman Sarker

Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy has organised the 19th Young Artist Art Exhibition at National Art Gallery. The exhibition opened on June 11.

This year, Anisuzzaman won the young artists award. Rupam Roy won the Best Award in Sculpture and Palash Baran Biswas received the Best Award in Printmaking. Mohammad Mojahidur Rahman Sarker won the Best Award in Installation for his work “Auto Biography of an Incomplete Man.” Four honourary award winners are – Khokan Chandra Sarkar, Sayed Fida Hossain, Ruhul Amin Tarek and Sumona Akter.

The exhibition features 197 artworks – 145 paintings, 30 sculptures, 12 prints and 10 installations. The display features watercolour, oil, acrylic, mixed media, graphics, tapestry, linocut, screen print, ceramics, wood, metal, machinery, glass, paper, cement and stone.

Spectators, artists and art pundits received a glimpse of experimental art at the event. Utilising the aforementioned materials, the artists represented their perceptions and sentiments about contemporary society and national and global affairs.

The legacy of creation is endures in psyche of the artwork; where on one hand of the established artistes displayed their skill and experience, the newer artists showed a youthful exuberance as they tried to break all established practices to create something new from the old. In reality, the exhibition is the renewal of youth and guidelines for future art.

A selection committee consisted of six artists, including Hasan Mahmud, Shamal Chowdhury, Fareha Zeba, Aloptogeen Tusher, primarily selected 197 artworks by 166 artists.

The jury – seasoned artistes Shamsuddoha, Sheikh Afzal Hossain, Khalid Mahmud Mithu and Anisuzzaman – selected the award winning artworks and the works to be displayed at the exhibition.

The Fine Arts Department of BSA has been organising exhibitions biennially featuring talented young artists since 1975. The exhibition ends on June 25. l

Asia’s Next Top Model

n Entertainment Desk Watch out for the reality show where beauties from entire Far East region, including South Asia subcontinent compete for the title of “Asia’s Next Top Model” and a chance to start their career in the modeling industry. The show will be telecast on Fox Traveller HD today at 11:30pm.

Hosted by Nadya Hutagalung and created by Tyra Banks, the judging panel of the show is made up of fashion director Daniel Boey, fashion photographer Todd Anthony Tyler, and model Joey Mead King.

For this episode, the girls are taken to the beautiful Malaysian state – Sabah, for a movie style couture dress shoot on a private beach. l

TODAY IN DHAKA Film

X-Men: Days of Future Past The Amazing Spider-Man 2 (3D) Pompeii 300 Rise of an Empire Tarkata Time: 10am – 10pm Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City

Theatre

Nakshi Kathar Math Time: 6:30pm – 8:00pm Experimental Theatre Hall Shilpakala Academy

Exhibition

Eighteen

By Shahidul Alam, Drik Time: 3pm – 8pm

Drik Gallery, Road No. 8A Artistic Musings of Great Collector Nasir Ali Mamun Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts, Road No 16, Dhanmondi Second Sight Time: 12pm – 8pm The Daily Star Centre, 64-65, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue

Tahsan-Mehazabien’s ‘Return’ n Entertainment Desk Once again viewers will be able to enjoy the pairing of Tahsan and Mehazabien on the small screen during Eid. Last year, the duo paired up for the Eid special “Moner Moto Mon” and this year they are returning with single episode play “Return” which will be aired on Channel i. Tahsan, a faculty member of a private university,

seems to hammer his role as a teacher in the drama “Return.” About working with Mehazabien, Tahsan said: “Mehazabien is gradually improving her acting. Our effort will be to make the drama as lively as possible.” A fan of Tahsan, Mehazabien is impressed by Tahsan’s skill as a singer as well as an actor.

Produced by Impress Telefilm, the drama will be directed by Mostafa Kamal Raj. l

n Shadma Malik Honouring thespian Ataur Rahman on his 73rd birthday, a seven day theatre festival titled “Jogotey Anando Jogge Amar Nimantran” begins at 7pm today at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA).

The event will open with the staging of “Roktokorobi.” The play takes place in a kingdom called Jaggapuri (sacrificial ground) where humanity has never set foot. People are forced to work in the mines so that the king Makar-Raj can become wealthier, a trend that can be observed in our society.

Veteran theatre activist Ataur Rahman is the director of the play. Ataur will be playing Makar-Raj, while Nandini will be played by Naila Tarannum.

In addition, an audio CD titled “Gitanjali” presenting Tagore’s poems recited by Ataur Rahman himself and Syed Shamsul Haque, will be unveiled at the event.

“Rudro Robi O Jaliwanwalabagh,” “Banglar Mati Banglar Jol,” “Waiting for Godot,” “Opekkhoman,” and “Narigon” will be staged on consecutive days of the festival. The staging of the productions will be held at the Studio Theatre Hall and the Experimental Theatre Hall of BSA. At the concluding ceremony, a documentary will be screened on the life and works of Ataur Rahman.

Additionally, several sequences from Ataur’s acclaimed plays will be presented through a collage of acts by Ataur Rahman himself.

The event has been organised by Moncho Sharothi Ataur Rahman Kormo Udjapan Parishad and BSA. Dhaka Tribune had the opportunity to catch up with the theatre personality and learn about his theatre journey and more: “I got involved with theatre just after the Liberation War. For me, life means pleasure, happiness, and the struggle for achievement. At this age, life seems wonderful to me. It’s all about celebrating life.

In my plays, I search for inner feelings and a deeper meaning which are abstract to people or are surreal for the audience. I love challenges and by far, ‘Irsha’ is one of the most challenging plays I have come across. It gained popularity in both home and abroad.”

Talking about his favourite plays, the versatile artiste said: “I consider ‘Roktokorobi,’ ‘Life Of Galleri’ and ‘Waiting for Godot’ as some of my landmark works.”

However, Rahman is anxious about the economic realities of theatre. “We are glad that young people are interested in theatre. But, the art will sustain only with proper economic support from the government,” he said.

Ataur Rahman is not only the founder of Nagorik Natya Sampradaya, but has also been involved with numerous theatre troupes and is teaching theatre arts in public and private universities. l

Leo, living it up with the ladies in Brazil

Is Jacqueline the new girl in Salman’s life? n Entertainment Desk

Looks like Salman Khan and his “Kick” co-star Jacqueline Fernandez have gotten to be more than just good friends.

The duo, who apparently hit it off while shooting for the film, were seen looking extremely comfortable with each other at the recent trailer launch of action flick “Kick.” Regardless of the cameras snapping away, Jacqueline and Salman giggled away while whispering to each other.

Upon her arrival at the venue, Jacqueline also greeted the actor with a kiss. Salman, too, looked very comfortable and was busy chatting away with her.

Salman Khan has a big history of romancing Bollywood beauties including Sangeeta Bijlani, Aishwarya Rai, Sneha Ullal and Katrina Kaif to name a few. His latest rumoured flame is Romanian actor Iulia Vantur. The anchor-actor has been spotted with Salman Khan in India.

Salman too have made a trip to Romania to visit her.

Jacqueline was earlier dating director Sajid Khan after they met on the sets of “Housefull 2.” However, the duo parted after three years of being together. l

Celebrating Ataur Rahman’s 73rd birthday

n Entertainment Desk

Family politics portrayed in Daag n Entertainment Desk A new TV series “Daag” is airing on ATN Bangla on Wednesdays and Thursdays at 8:40pm. Co-directed by Sabur Khan and Mostafa Wahid, the play is written by Ferdous Hasan.

All his life, Hasan has worked towards achieving success and shared it with his family. But now, when the time has come for the members of his flock to support him, all of them begin to back off.

Hasan needs a kidney donor as soon as possible as it becomes a pressing issue for his survival and his daughter Lithi steps up for the deed. Her boyfriend Tapan opposes her decision assuming that in future, she will be unable to have a child.

In the meantime, Hasan’s siblings demand their share of the family property before his death as they do not trust his wife, who conspires with her son to take over the family business instead of taking care of her ailing husband. The story moves forward with Hasan fighting for his life with his loving daughter and mother beside him.

Dilara Zaman, Raisul Islam Asad, Apurbo, Nadia, Jenny, Said Babu, Nafiza, Afroza Banu, Abdul Kader, Momena Chowdhury, KS Firoz and others form the cast of the serial. l

The “Wolf of Wall” Street actor – who is in South America watching soccer’s World Cup tournament – reportedly hired out the Pacha nightclub in Buzios on Thursday, where he was joined by 30 females who were flown in and given accommodation at his expense, and another 50 ladies who live in the wealthy tourist resort.

“Leo had bottles and bottles of Dom Perignon champagne going around. He really had gone all out on it and spared no expense. It was a really lavish party,” a source said.

“Some of the girls taught him a dance to Valesca Popozuda’s hit Bejinho no Ombro – Little Kiss on the Shoulder – and he loved it so much he kept asking the DJ to play it again and again.”

Serial dater Leo, most recently linked to 21-year-old Victoria’s Secret model Toni Garrn, reportedly continued the party into the early hours on his borrowed €500 million yacht.

But the “Wolf of Wall Street” star is not one to pull all his eggs in one basket, and apparently wasn’t seen getting close to any lucky lady.

“He was really sociable and kept wandering from one woman to the next. He seemed keen to have a good time with all of them.

They were still partying at 6pm on Saturday evening,” the insider revealed.

Leo and German model Toni were first romantically linked in May of last year, and subsequently attended the Golden Globe Awards together.

The model is reportedly the fourth of the lingerie brand’s Angels that Leonardo has dated. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

13

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

SCORECARD India R. Uthappa c Ziaur b Taskin A. Rahane lbw b Mortaza C. Pujara lbw b Taskin A. Rayudu lbw b Taskin S. Raina run out W. Saha lbw b Mortaza S. Binny c Mushfiqur b Taskin A. Patel b Al-Amin A. Mishra lbw b Taskin M. Sharma not out U. Yadav c Nasir Hossain b Shakib Extras: (lb6, w5) Total: (for all out, 25.3 overs)

14 0 11 1 27 5 3 8 4 4 17 11 105

FoW: 1-1, 2-26, 3-28, 4-55, 5-65, 6-66, 7-75, 8-81, 9-86, 10-105 Bowling Mortaza 9-1-35-2, Al-Amin Hossain 5-1-26-1, Taskin Ahmed 8-0-28-5, Ziaur Rahman 1-0-2-0, Shakib 2.3-0-8-1 Bangladesh Tamim Iqbal c Saha b Sharma 4 Anamul Haque c Rahane b Sharma 0 Mithun Ali c Patel b Binny 26 Mushfiqur Rahim c Saha b Binny 11 Shakib Al Hasan c Saha b Sharma 4 Mahmudullah c Rayudu b Binny 0 Nasir Hossain b Binny 5 Ziaur Rahman c Patel b Sharma 0 Mashrafe Mortaza c Saha b Binny 2 Taskin Ahmed not out 0 Al-Amin Hossain b Binny 0 Extras: (w6) 6 Total (all out; 17.4 overs) 58 FoW: 1-4, 2-13, 3-44, 4-50, 5-50, 6-52, 7-52, 8-56, 9-58, 10-58

The Indian players celebrate the fall of the last Bangladeshi wicket in the second ODI at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday

Tribunal to sanction judgment today The Bangladesh Premier League (BPL) tribunal will hold the sanction judgment today. The three-member tribunal headed by former Justice Khademul Islam will declare the punishments of the four individuals found guilty of match fixing in BPL 2.

Among the 10 individuals charged with corruption by the International Cricket Council’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit, six were acquitted by the tribunal on February 26. However, former Bangladesh cricketer Mohammed Ashraful, former New Zealand cricketer Lou Vincent, Sri Lankan cricketer Kaushal Lokuarachchi and Dhaka Gladiators managing director Shihab Chowdhury were found guilty.

Shihab was found guilty of making an attempt to fix the Gladiators’ match against the Chittagong Kings in February last year. He later faced a hearing before the tribunal after which his punishment was determined. Ashraful, Lokuarachchi and Vincent, who were later included in the trial process, pleaded guilty and filed a mercy petition and asked for clemency, to which they are legally entitled.

The tribunal will close down its activities following the sanction judgment. Those who want to appeal against the tribunal’s decision will be given a 15-day window to submit their appeal. l

Taskin’s dream debut ends in nightmare It was a dream debut for young fast bowler Taskin Ahmed who scalped five wickets giving away just 28 runs in eight overs against India in the second one-day international at Mirpur yesterday and thus became the first ever Bangladeshi cricketer to pick up a five-wicket haul in ODIs on debut. Taskin’s 5/28 was also the fifth-best bowling figures by a debutante in ODIs. The 19-year old right-arm paceman surprised the Indian batsmen with his sheer pace and bounce along with his deadly in-swinging deliveries to record his maiden five-for on debut with the previous best bowling figures by a Bangladeshi cricketer belonging to off-spinner Sohag Gazi who took 4/29 on debut against West Indies in 2012 at home.

Taskin was impressive earlier this year during his Twenty20 debut against Australia in the fifth edition of the World T20. En route to registering figures of 1/24 in four overs, Taskin showed his ability to bowl fast whilst also maintaining an accurate line and length and in the process caught the se-

lectors’ attention as the next fast-bowling sensation.

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim won the toss and immediately decided to bowl first as the overcast conditions prompted the think-tank to select three genuine fast bowlers in the line-up - Taskin, Mashrafe bin Mor-

BEST FIGURES IN ODI DEBUT Player Edwards Dodemaide Karnain Codrington Taskin Donald Vitori Fernando

Team WI Aus SL Can BD SA Zim SL

Runs 22 21 26 27 28 29 30 67

taza and Al Amin - along with seaming all-rounder Ziaur Rahman and the decision paid rich dividends as the Bangladeshi pace bowlers took eight of the 10 Indian wickets to fall.

The debutante came on to bowl the sixth over of the innings following a brief rain interruption and the youngster got his first wicket in his second

Versatile Milutinovic roots for South American giants I was standing at the left side of the entrance when I noticed a small crowd of a dozen journalists surrounding a solitary individual to my right and I couldn’t help but walk to the spot to feed my curiosity. But what I discovered was a slice of joy from heaven as the person who kept the journalists interested was none other than Bora Milutinovic, the journeyman coach of the modern football era.

Bora had coached eight different national teams in his nomadic career and taken a record five different teams to five different editions of Fifa World Cup - Mexico (1986), Costa Rica (1990), the USA (1994), Nigeria (1998) and China (2002). Now 70, Bora lives in Qatar and served as a “bid ambassador” for its successful campaign to host the 2022 World Cup. The Serbian never misses any big football tournament and I remember he was surrounded by hundreds of journalists before the 2nd round match between Brazil and Argentina in 1990 World Cup. A modest and ever smiling personality, Bora possesses patience, a rare quality these days, of talking with al-

most everyone who approaches him.

The most interesting fact about him is he can speak five languages fluently and answered the questions right to the point and one by one. Just after finishing a flash interview with a Mexican lady journalist, Bora stared at me and seemed to enjoy the name Bangladesh. He said with a faint smile that Argentina coach Sabella was lucky to escape with a draw and that too much dependence on Messi was not the ideal

over removing an in-form Robin Uthappa when the opener tried to pull only to be beaten for pace and bounce and present a straightforward catch to Ziaur Rahman who was stationed at midoff.

Taskin picked up another wicket in the first ball of his third over when Ambati Rayudu was adjudged leg-before-wick-

formula of success. “I think Argentina were lucky and I don’t like to be dependent on one individual. Messi is a great player but as a coach I rather expect my team will perform,” said Milutinovic.

Bora was shocked to see defending World champions Spain crash like a house of cards against Holland. “I was shocked to see Spain fall like a house of cards. I thought the World champions would be a potent force now. I think they now have to show a great deal after that big defeat. However, I am not writing them off. Spain had a bad day but it is not that they don’t have a chance to change their fate. They have to come back. It will be interesting,” said Milutinovic.

Asked about his favorite picks to win this World Cup, the veteran coach replied, “Brazil, Argentina and Netherlands are the potent force to win the title. I liked the control and pace of the Netherlands against Spain. Brazil also did well,” added the Serbian.

But among all these, he still had time to express his gratitude to Costa Rica, a nation he took to the finals in 1990. He was delighted to see his former team beat Uruguay. “I hoped they would do well. I am not surprised by Costa Rica’s win over Uruguay. It is a result of what we set in motion back in 1990. I still remember the occasion when Costa Rica qualified for the Word Cup, they respected me.” said Milutinovic. l

Wickets 6 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Opp Zim SL NZ BD Ind Ind BD Zim

Ground Harare Perth Moratuwa Durban Dhaka Kolkata Harare Sharjah

Year 2003 1988 1984 2003 2014 1991 2011 2001

et to an incoming delivery.

Taskin was on fire and bent his back regularly to generate swing along with the odd bouncer as the Indian batsmen eventually conceded their wickets to the newest fast-bowling sensation. He went on to remove Cheteshwar Pujara, trapping him LBW and later induced an edge from Stuart Binny on its way to the

MUMIT M

wicket-keeper.

The youngster was hungry for more and duly completed his five-wicket haul when he dismissed Amit Mishra leg-before-wicket to help his side bundle out India for 105, their lowest ever ODI total against the Tigers. India’s previous lowest total against Bangladesh was 192 in the 2007 ICC World Cup which the Tigers famously won by five wickets.

Despite the brilliant performance by the Bangladeshi debutante, the home side were not able to chase down the meagre total and were eventually skittled out for 58, losing by 47 runs and repeating their disastrous display in the 2011 ICC World Cup when they were also dismissed for 58 by the West Indies. l

Mushfiq apologises to nation for pathetic show Bangladesh c a p t a i n Mushfiqur Rahim apologised to the whole nation after going down to India for their lowest ever total in ODIs yesterday. India won by 47 runs (D/L method) despite being bundled out for their lowest ever total against Bangladesh (105).

The defeat secured the three-match series for the visitors, but more than the result it was their batting debacle, getting all out for 58, that left the skipper with no explanation.

“I don’t have an explanation for this.

All I can say is that we had a very good opportunity. There cannot be anything more shameful, so I apologise to the nation on behalf of the team. We all saw what happened out there. 106 runs is chasable in any wicket but our batsmen failed,” said Mushfiq.

“There can be a lot of questions. We were set in the crease but we couldn’t finish the game. We had to try as hard as we usually do but our batsmen didn’t show the mental toughness required in the middle. When they bowled two or three good overs, we played the wrong shots, which caused the defeat,” added the 25-year-old.

The humiliation left Musfhiq very angry which made him say even the second string national team would have played

Bowling Sharma 8-2-22-4(1w), Yadav 5-0-32-0 (5w), Binny 4.4-2-4-6 India won by 47 runs

better cricket than his side yesterday.

Meanwhile, Tamim Iqbal continued his disastrous batting streak as an irresponsible and careless approach from the left-handed cost him his wicket in only the second ball of their run chase.

However, Mushfiq backed his teammate and said, “It might be wrong to say that he needs a long break. He was unlucky in the first match and today (yesterday) his dismissal was ugly. It did push us to the backfoot, but we came back and then we gave it away. So it wouldn’t be fair to blame one player.”

The skipper had earlier fought for his players and expressed to set a squad according to his plans, but the humiliation forced him to say that now it’s up to the management if they want to make changes to bring out a better balanced side.

On the other hand, Stuart Binny’s six for four runs enabled India to register the record of defending their lowest ever total against Bangladesh in ODIs. The bowling figure was also the best by an Indian beating Anil Kumble’s 12/6.

“I wouldn’t say I surprised myself with my bowling. My strength is to bowl wicket-to-wicket and swing the ball.

The conditions were ideal to bowl so I don’t think I surprised myself, but to be on the top 10 in the world is surprising.

“When we went into the break we were disappointed. Because the wicket was doing something and I think it was going to be difficult for them as well,” said Binny. l

MUMIT M

AFC WOMEN’S U-16 QUALIFIERS

Bangladesh pitted with India and Iran

The Bangladesh women’s football team were placed in Group B alongside the likes of India and Iran in the AFC Under-16 Women’s Championship 2015 Qualifiers which will begin from October 4. The official draw was held at the AFC office in Kuala Lumpur yesterday.

Bangladesh were grouped with Iran, Jordan, India, the United Arab Emirates and Qatar in the West Zone. Bangladesh

GROUP B Bangladesh, Iran, Jordan, India, United Arab Emirates and Qatar will play their opening game against Jordan on October 14 before taking on UAE two days later.

The top four teams of the AFC U-16 Women’s Championship China 2013 - Japan, DPR Korea, China PR and Thailand - were set aside from the qualifiers and received direct qualification for the finals.

The remaining 21 teams - 12 from West and South/Central Asia and nine from East Asia and ASEAN - were divided into two zones - East and West zones - during the draw with seedings based on the rankings of the 2013 edition.l

14

Sp rt DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Third time lucky for Dempsey and US

FASTEST WC GOALS 1.

2.

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6.

7.

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Player Hakan Sukur Vaclav Masek Ernst Lehner Bryan Robson Clint Dempsey Emile Veinante Arne Nyberg Bernard Lacombe Florian Albert Adalbert Desu

Country Opponent Turkey South Korea Czechoslovakia Mexico Germany Austria England France US Ghana France Belgium Sweden Hungary France Italy Hungary Bulgaria Romania Peru

Year 2002 1962 1934 1982 2014 1938 1938 1978 1962 1930

Time 11 seconds 16 seconds 25 seconds 27 seconds 29 seconds 35 seconds 35 seconds 37 seconds 50 seconds 50 seconds

A 2-1 win against a Ghana side that knocked the United States out of the last two World Cups will mean nothing if the Americans falter in their remaining Group G games, captain Clint Dempsey said on Monday.

The U.S. were beaten by Ghana in their final group stage game in 2006 and in the last 16 four years later.

“It just so happened we had history with Ghana,” said Dempsey, who scored after 29 seconds on Monday but also suffered a broken nose.

“They pretty much knocked us out of the last two World Cups but this win means nothing unless we build on it.”

A first step was finally beating Ghana and Dempsey’s goal also marked sweet vindication for a player who helped lead the American attack in the two previous defeats against the Black Stars.

In 2006, the U.S. equalised when Dempsey scored late in the first half only for Ghana to convert a penalty minutes later to take a 2-1 lead that would send them through to the knockout rounds and the Americans home.

The Americans again fell behind in their last 16 match in South Africa in 2010 before Landon Donovan equalised from the penalty spot - only for Asamoah Gyan to split the U.S. defence in extra time and lash the winner past Tim Howard. l

Germany’s Loew praises disciplined defence Germany coach Joachim Loew was just as pleased with his team’s defensive effort in shutting down world player of the year Cristiano Ronaldo as he was with his forwards in their 4-0 opening World Cup win over Portugal on Monday.

“Naturally it was an excellent first match, we had no option but to win,” Loew told a news conference.

“The team showed the spirit we expect. We dominated the first half in the midfield with fast through balls to the strikers. We were clinical in finishing our chances, we had four goals from about six chances.”

Loew said his players did well to keep tabs on Portuguese forwards Ronaldo and Nani in the Group G match.

“The team played well and didn’t let Portugal have many chances,” he said.

“We played at high pace in the first half to get our chances. It’s important to prevent Ronaldo from getting a run going because he’s very dangerous then.”

Defender Jerome Boateng was assigned to mark Ronaldo.

“Our goal was to disrupt him as soon as he got the ball and Boateng did that very, very well,” Loew said.

“It was a different match in the second half and the aim was to play eco-

MATCH STATS Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession

Germany Portugal 4 0 13 14 9 9 4 6 2 1 8 11 0 1 0 1 54% 46%

nomically and keep control of the ball,” Loew said.

“We knew it was going to be hot and it might be even hotter in the next two matches. It’s very difficult to run and run

Queiroz delighted with dour Iran draw Iran’s ugly 0-0 draw with Nigeria was met by jeers from disapproving Brazilian fans in the crowd but coach Carlos Queiroz only saw beauty in the fight, determination and discipline shown by his unheralded players.

MATCH STATS Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession

Iran 0 7 3 2 1 18 1 0 36%

Nigeria 0 10 6 7 0 16 0 0 64%

The African champions dominated the Group F contest at the Baixada arena in Curitiba for long periods but struggled to find a way through the defensively-sound Asians as the World Cup goal-fest ground to a halt.

Queiroz made no apologies for his tactics and defended his players for celebrating the point, only the sixth Iran have claimed in four World Cup appearances, earned with their first clean

sheet since their debut in 1978.

“Football sometimes when you play with great attitude, with commitment, with soul, emotions, tensions can also be an attractive game,” the Mozambique-born coach told reporters.

“Of course people you prefer to see four or five goals, I understand that, but for us we prefer to go home with one point.

“We don’t have players from Liverpool, Chelsea and Lazio in our team.

My players they celebrated their hard work, the concentration, the attitude.

They deserved to celebrate.”

Despite topping their Asian qualifying group and being the continent’s best ranked side at 43rd in the world, Iran have struggled under the political and economic sanctions placed on the country.

Team Melli only managed to arrange one home friendly, which they lost 2-1 to Guinea in March, since qualifying for the World Cup last year.

“We are one nation that comes here without the same conditions as other nations because we can’t even play friendly matches because of the economic restrictions,” Queiroz said.

“My players they deserve sympathy and respect for the things they have been doing. We have problems to have a friendly game.” l

under these conditions. It only works when you defend together. We needed everyone to work hard together today and to dig deep to overcome the pain.”

Loew said the injury sustained by defender Mats Hummels did not appear to be as severe as it initially appeared.

“He got a blow to the thigh but nothing was torn,” said Loew. “I assume it’s nothing dramatic.”

Germany captain Phillip Lahm also lauded the collective defensive effort following concerns about the backline going into the tournament.

“We knew we were ready and everyone worked really hard together,” Lahm said.

“Portugal is a super team, ranked fourth in the world. They’ve always gone far in tournaments in the past and they’ve got a really good team. But we worked really hard. It was incredibly hot on the pitch. It’s nice to get a great win like this today but we’ve still got a long way to go.” l

The Bayern Munich striker, 24, was the top scorer at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa with five goals from six games. He was also named best young player of the tournament as Germany finished third.

He has now scored 20 goals in 50 internationals for Germany, including in the 4-1 defeat of England at the 2010 World Cup and the opener in the 4-0 victory over Argentina one round later.

Mueller has just signed a new contract that will keep him at Bayern Munich until 2019, despite interest from a host of European rivals, including Barcelona, Manchester United and Liverpool, ready to pay a 40 million euro ($54m) transfer fee.

Mueller’s father is called Gerhard but he is no relation to namesake German international Gerd Mueller, the renowned ‘Der Bomber’ who terrorised World Cup defences in the 1970s.

The two have starred in an advertising campaign together, however, and Gerd has publicly declared himself an admirer of Thomas’s talents.

Mueller calls himself the “ramdeuter”, or ‘space investigator’, explaining that his strength as an attacker is not dribbling, passing or shooting but in finding space. German coach Joachim Loew says that the striker is “impervious to pressure.”

Bento accuses referee of favouring Germany

Guts and glory from Klinsmann’s brave troops

Portugal coach Paulo Bento suggested the referee was biased in favour of Germany after his side had a penalty awarded against them and a player sent off in their 4-0 World Cup defeat on Monday.

“These were the two things that seemed to show bias and they were both decisive,” he told a news conference of the penalty decision after 12 minutes and the 37th-minute sending-off of defender Pepe in the Group G opener.

Pepe was sent off for shoving his forehead into Mueller’s before the end of the first half.

“The penalty was forced,” added Bento, seemingly suggesting that Mueller, who was sitting on the turf when an incensed Pepe came back to accost him, was guilty of instigating the situation that had the Portugal defender red carded by Milorad Mazic of Serbia.

“I don’t know if he was sent off because of his reputation,” said the coach.

“I’m not saying it was the referee’s fault only,” he added. “We did make mistakes, not only in our defence but also in the sharpness of our attack. l

had Clint Dempsey playing with a broken and bloodied nose and conceded an equaliser with eight minutes to go.

But four minutes later, defender John Brooks, forced into action after Matt Besler limped off at halftime, headed in the winner from a corner and German coach Klinsmann’s side hung on for the three points.

With Portugal and Germany next in a tough Group D, those three points were essential to any hope of progressing to the last 16 and it showed as the Americans celebrated wildly at the end.

The fulltime whistle had blown with the indefatigable Jermaine Jones charging alone with the ball into Ghana’s half and the German-born midfielder symbolised the entire display.

Jones won countless midfield challenges, in the air and on the ground, and covered every corner of the field with his defensive pressing and forward support.

Jozy Altidore, the only orthodox target-man forward in the U.S. squad was carried off on a stretcher with a hamstring injury in the 23rd minute with Aron Johannsson thrust into the attack.l

For all the emphasis on formations, tactics and philosophy since Juergen Klinsmann became United States coach, Monday’s 2-1 win over Ghana

MATCH STATS Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession

Ghana 1 21 8 7 5 10 2 0 59%

USA 2 8 7 3 1 12 0 0 41%

was earned by the traditional American soccer virtues of hard work, discipline and fighting spirit.

Forget the ‘midfield diamond’, it was sweat, bruises and guts that ended the U.S’s jinx with Ghana, who had eliminated them from the last two World Cups. Plenty went wrong - the Americans lost two key players to injuries,

Mueller just keeps on scoring Germany’s Thomas Mueller picked up where he left off at the last World Cup by claiming the first hat-trick of Brazil 2014 in Monday’s 4-0 rout of Portugal.

Mueller’s haul overshadowed World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo, who suffered his fourth straight defeat against Germany in the key Group G clash.

The 24-year-old Mueller made his breakthrough at the 2010 World Cup when he finished as joint top-scorer with five goals in South Africa to win both the Golden Boot and young player award.

Four years on, he converted a firsthalf penalty against Portugal, then fired home his second to give Germany a 3-0 half-time lead before wrapping up his hat-trick with a scrappy third in the closing stages.

“That doesn’t happen everyday, but I have had a good run at World Cups and I wanted to pick up where I left off,” he said after picking up the manof-the-match award.

“I am known for giving my utmost, but no one could have assumed that would happen and I can’t say that will happen again in the next match, but I’ll certainly try.”

Normally a winger or attacking midfielder for Bayern Munich, Mueller was given a rare start as striker, keeping veteran Miroslav Klose, 36, on the bench.

With eight World Cup goals now to his credit, Mueller is rapidly approaching Klose’s joint German record of 14 World Cup goals, shared with 1970s legend Gerd Mueller.

But he insists winning the World Cup is his top priority when asked if he wanted to claim ex-Brazil star Ronaldo’s all-time record of 15 goals at World Cup finals.

“Let’s remain objective here, this was just the first match,” he said.

“We just want to be world champions and if we do that, records may

or may not come, but we have other things to focus on.”

After the Netherlands’ 5-1 hammering of holders Spain on Friday, the Germans threw down another strong World Cup marker at the same Arena Forte Nova stadium.

“We made a good start and the entire 90 minutes went well for us, we took our chances well,” said Mueller.

“The second was a set-piece goal which gave us a comfortable margin and even though the match wasn’t over, we knew Portugal had an uphill struggle.” l

Sp rt DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Bloodied Spain peer into abyss After their 5-1 annihilation by Holland, the spectre of a humiliating World Cup group-stage exit hangs over champions Spain ahead of Wednesday’s game with Chile in Rio de Janeiro.

While the nation is still reeling from Spain’s heaviest defeat in 51 years -- a result branded “a catastrophe” by the Spanish media – there could be worse to follow at the iconic Maracana.

If Spain lose again and Holland avoid defeat against Australia in Wednesday’s other Group B game, Vicente del

THE BIG MATCH

V Spain

Chile

Maracanã - Rio De Janeiro (BRA) 18 Jun 2014 - 16:00 Local time (1:00AM BST) Bosque’s side will join Brazil (1966), France (2002) and Italy (2010) in the list of defending champions to have fallen at the first hurdle.

The same set of results would take Chile through, and Jorge Sampaoli’s aggressive, hard-working team, who go into the game on the back of a 3-1 win over Australia, have lost only twice in their last 16 outings.

Spain midfielder Cesc Fabregas has

described the fixture as “life or death”, but Del Bosque -- architect of the triumphs at the 2010 World Cup and Euro 2012 -- says there is no need to panic.

“The hours go by and the mood gets better,” the Spain coach told Spanish television channel Cuatro.

“We have the challenge of winning our next two matches. It won’t be easy, but it is possible. We are trying to prepare as well as possible and not be too sad.

“The first half against Holland was good. The problem was the second half. Now people are more optimistic.

We need to remember that it is a game and we need to enjoy ourselves.”

Del Bosque has suggested that he will make “two or three changes”, with goalkeeper Iker Casillas’s position under particular scrutiny after an error-strewn display in the capitulation to the Dutch.

Pepe Reina, the Liverpool goalkeeper who spent last season on loan at Napoli, is in line to step in, but third-choice goalkeeper David de Gea is struggling with a muscle problem.

Pedro Rodriguez and Juan Mata could also come into the starting XI and the Barcelona forward is eager to erase the memory of Spain’s last trip to the Maracana, when they crashed 3-0 to Brazil in last year’s Confederations Cup final.

“It is a mythical ground,” said Pedro.

“Every player would love to play there because of its history. It is a big pitch and that could help us with our style of play."l

15

FACT BOX Referee: Mark Geiger (United States) Probable teams: Spain

1-Iker Casillas; 22-Cesar Azpilicueta, 15-Sergio Ramos, 4-Javi Martinez, 18-Jordi Alba; 14-Xabi Alonso, 16-Sergio Busquets; 20-Santi Cazorla, 8-Xavi, 6-Andres Iniesta, 10-Cesc Fabregas Chile

1-Claudio Bravo; 4-Mauricio Isla, 17-Gary Medel, 18-Gonzalo Jara, 2-Eugenio Mena; 21-Marcelo Diaz; 20-Charles Aranguiz, 10-Jorge Valdivia, 8-Arturo Vidal; 7-Alexis Sanchez, 11-Eduardo Vargas Key Stats:

Spain, still reeling from Friday’s 5-1 defeat to Netherlands, have never lost two games in a row under coach Vicente del Bosque since he took over after Euro 2008 Spain and Chile have met 10 times, with Spain winning eight and two draws The last time the teams met, in a friendly in Geneva in September last year, Spain needed a Jesus Navas goal in stoppage time to rescue a 2-2 draw When Spain and Chile met in their final game of the group stage at the 2010 World Cup in South Africa, Spain won 2-1 and both teams went through to the last 16 ahead of Swizerland and Honduras

Spain’s players take part in a training session on Sunday, at CT do Caju in Curitiba during the 2014 Fifa Football World Cup in Brazil

AFP

A host of Chile’s key players play for Spanish clubs, including goalkeeper Claudio Bravo (Real Sociedad) and forwards Alexis Sanchez (Barcelona) and Eduardo Vargas (Valencia)

Australia aim to shock Netherlands Bappi Lahiri and Ronaldo Australia forward Mathew Leckie believes his side can become the latest to cause an upset at the World Cup on Wednesday when they face a Netherlands team fresh from hammering defending champions Spain 5-1.

The Socceroos desperately need to take something from the game if they are to match their run to the last 16 from 2006 after going down 3-1 to Chile in their opening game.

However, Leckie thinks they showed enough in that game after going down 2-0 inside the first 15 minutes to suggest they can cause the Dutch problems.

“I’m sure Chile didn’t expect such a hard game as what they got and Holland, obviously they’ve now seen that game and they’ll probably review it as well.

“But we’ll definitely hit them in areas they won’t expect and hopefully we can be clinical in the opportunities that we get and we can put a few goals away.

“We’ll go out there with our game plan and hopefully we can play as well as we did for that 70 minutes against Chile and I think we’ll definitely have our opportunities to win.”

Australia’s most potent weapon in attack against Chile was from cross-

Umpire and scorer Hafiz passes away The Bangladesh Cricket Board condoles the death of Md. Hafiz Khan, a former umpire and scorer who breathed his last in Dhaka yesterday after suffering a cardiac arrest. He was 59. The board extended the deepest of sympathies to the family of the deceased.

The late Hafiz Khan started his career as an umpire and scorer in the 197475 season when cricket in Bangladesh re-started following independence.

Apart from domestic competitions, he also officiated in several home series involving international teams like Sri Lanka and the Marylebone Cricket Club in the late 70s.

His Namaz-e-janaza was held after Asr prayers at the Gulshan Azad Mosque yesterday. l

V Australia

Netherlands

Estadio Beira-RioPorto Alegre (BRA) 18 Jun 2014 - 13:00 Local time (10:00PM BST)

KEY FACTS The Netherlands were World Cup runners-up in 1974, 1978 and 2010 but have never won the tournament.

Australia are playing in their third consecutive World Cup and also competed in 1978. They reached the Round of 16 in 2006.

Previous meetings: The two sides have drawn twice and Australia have won once.

Australia coach Ange Postecoglou took over the Socceroos in October following a string of bad results after they had qualified for Brazil cost Holger Osieck his job.

Netherlands coach Louis Van Gaal has coached Ajax, Barcelona, AZ and Bayern Munich and took on the national job in July 2012. He will take charge of Manchester United after the tournament.

es towards Tim Cahill, who became just the eighth player to score in three World Cups with a fine header to bring his side back into the game at 2-1.

And Leckie believes the New York Red Bulls frontman will be key again if they are to trouble the Dutch.

“We exposed Chile a lot on the wings, we have a lot of speed on the sides and we have Timmy who is one of the best headers in the game, so if we can get into wide areas and get some good crosses in, I think it’s going to be tough for any side to stop us.”

The Netherlands, though, will be full of confidence after humiliating Spain to avenge their defeat from the final four years ago.

Star duo Robin van Persie and Arjen Robben were both on target twice as Louis van Gaal’s men ran riot in Salvador, but captain Van Persie said experience has taught him not to get ahead of themselves.

“The tournament has barely started yet,” he told FIFA.com.

“We achieved an impressive result but we have a long way to go to win this tournament. This is my fifth tournament and I know how these things work: the euphoria vanishes just as quickly as it appears.

“So we have to make sure that we hold on to it, not only for the people and fans, but also for ourselves.” l

Unlikely yet oh so beautiful together

Heartfelt gratitude to my colleague, Nader, for introducing me to Bappi Lahiri’s World Cup song. I have really nothing more to write for the day. There really should not be anything else written or said today. We should all recognize the pinnacle of artistic achievement, accept that we are hopeless placentas, and just shut the foochka up.

Oh wait, what’s that you say Zafar?

Minimum of 300 words for the moolah to come through? What a spoilsport you are.

But I suppose that that is the nature of an editorial job. Kill creativity and stymie all sources of artistic inspiration. I pity you Mr.

Cameroon, Croatia in bid for WC rescue Cameroon and Croatia clash in Manaus on Wednesday looking to put their troubles behind them and keep alive their hopes of making the World Cup knock-out rounds.

Having both lost their opening match, a victory would be fundamental in staying alive in a tough Group A

V Cameroon

Croatia

Arena AmazoniaManaus (BRA) 18 Jun 2014 - 18:00 Local time (4:00AM BST) including hosts Brazil and Mexico.

But a win would also allow each side to forget off-field troubles that have threatened to disrupt their preparation.

In the case of the Africans it is the near certain absence of talismanic striker Samuel Eto’o due to a knee injury.

“I am hoping the gods grant me a miracle and that I am able to defend my dear, beautiful country,” Eto’o told Cameroon Radio-Television (CRTV). l

WORLD CUP IN BANGLADESH PHOTOGRAPHY CONTEST Send us your photographs to WorldCupBD@dhakatribune.com

DAY’S WATCH BTV, Gazi TV, Maasranga TV 2014 FIFA World Cup 10:00PM Australia v Netherlands 1:00AM Spain v Chile 4:00AM Cameroon v Croatia Ten Cricket 7:45PM New Zealand Tour of West Indies 2nd Test, Day 3

Occupation: Sr Assistant Officer, Internal Audit Cell at Kingshuk Co-Operative Society Ltd

For more info visit our FB event page ‘World Cup in Bangladesh’ Photography Contest

Sobhan. How I pity you.

Anyway, since I must write, and all my apologies to Mr Lahiri for having the temerity to address the World Cup after what ideally should have been HIS last word, I will write about hair. Particularly about dandruff.

Being a generally disorganized person I often find myself in adverse deadline driven situations, where I am forced to concentrate on playing catch up. I find that in these situations, having a healthy amount of dandruff helps. When you are stressed, the dandruff army feels like it’s their job to turn up the itch. Between that and the job at hand one can concentrate on little else. Scratch scratch type type scratch type scratch. You get the idea.

Why I am writing about this particularly disgusting facet of mine is because I feel the lack of dandruff has robbed us of a potentially wonderful game this World Cup. I am of course referring to the Germany-Portugal encounter. I am convinced that had Cristiano Ronaldo had worse hair he would have concentrated more on the game.

Seriously though, this is not the first time I have been dismayed by his lack of effort once he perceives that his side is involved in a lost cause. If he looked less like Adonis

his mind would not drift to the finer things and stay on the game for that is all would have mattered. That and the dandruff.

I don’t mind Ronaldo having a bad game, but what I find his apparent lack of exertion offensive. Compare his efforts to that of a less gracefully coiffured gentleman like Coentrao and you will see that I have an absurd point to make. It truly is an absurd discourse, but after the shoddy play of yesterday I am sure no one is utilizing their high resolution tablets to check for CR7’s flakes.

While I write this rather ridiculous piece on the world’s greatest party, I am being visited by a strongly sobering realization.

While the world cup is abundantly entertaining, my country is not part of it. Instead the Bangladesh national cricket team is playing a second fiddle Indian eleven, and getting their backsides handily handed to them. Should all of tonight’s games turn out to be the greatest football spectacles played out by 22 men in the history of the sport, the sickening feeling in my stomach would not be lessened one bit. I will wake up tomorrow not celebrating the sublime touch of Neymar but with the score Bangladesh 58 all out etched cruelly in my heart and mind. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, June 18, 2014 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, June 16, 2014

13 Taskin’s dream debut ends in nightmare

Rooney asked to train with substitutes: FA The Football Association has reacted to speculation about striker Wayne Rooney’s place in the England team by explaining that he trained with back-up players at his own request on Monday.

Playing in an unfavoured left-sided role, Rooney produced a subdued display as England lost 2-1 to Italy in their opening World Cup game in Manaus on Saturday.

He trained alongside the substitutes from that match at England’s Rio de Janeiro training base on Monday, prompting reports in the British media that he may be dropped for his side’s second Group D game against Uruguay on Thursday.

But in a statement on Twitter, the FA said that the Manchester United striker was merely eager to maintain peak fitness between matches.

“Contrary to reports, @WayneRooney requested additional training and worked with a wider group of players on Monday,” it said.

“Following a recovery session on Sunday a number of players continued two-day post-match recovery on Monday. Rooney was not in that group.”

England coach Gary Neville has praised Rooney’s willingness to play on the left and declared that manager Roy Hodgson’s back-room staff were more than happy with his performance against Italy.

“He’s a team player. He will sacrifice himself for the team. In terms of performance, not one of the coaching staff came off thinking that Rooney had played badly at all.” l

14 Mueller just keeps on scoring

Sport

15 Bloodied Spain peer into abyss

Nervy Belgium sweat for win over Algeria n Reuters, Belo Horizonte

Much-fancied Belgium fought back from a goal down to score twice in the final 20 minutes and earn a hard-fought 2-1 victory over gutsy Algeria in their World Cup Group H opener on Tuesday.

Goals from substitutes Marouane Fellaini and Dries Mertens turned the game around after Algeria playmaker Sofiane Feghouli had given them a 25th minute lead with a penalty at the Mineirao stadium.

“It was a tough match but we were patient throughout and at the end we were rewarded,” said Belgium coach Marc Wilmots.

Golascorer Mertens added: “I had my family in the stands. It was great to score for them and for the whole of Belgium.

“We got the three points and it is important to start with a victory. Now we have to go and win the second match as well.”

Belgium, back at the World Cup after a 12-year absence, enjoyed the majority of possession but struggled to break down a disciplined two-line Algerian defence which kept Eden Hazard and forward Romelu Lukaku well in check.

The Algerians, with El Arabi Soudani surprisingly in the starting lineup for key forward Islam Slimani, posed little threat up front with winger Riyad Mahrez firing well wide in their only foray in the Belgian box early in the game.

They were far more successful the second time they ventured forward when left back Jan Vertonghen brought down Feghouli after a fine cross from

Belgium’s Dries Mertens (R) shoots to score the winning goal against Algeria in their World Cup Group H encounter at the Mineirao stadium in Belo Horizonte yesterday REUTERS Faouzi Ghoulam. Feghouli calmly fired past keeper Thibaut Courtois to end his country’s 28-year wait for a World Cup goal and send the green-white-clad Algerian fans delirious.

Belgium’s Axel Witsel tried his luck with a couple of long-range shots but the Red Devils looked nothing like the menacing team that qualified unbeaten for the tournament.

Coach Marc Wilmots, the last Belgium player to score in a World Cup before Tuesday, took off lacklustre Lu-

kaku early in the second half, bringing on teenager Divock Origi in the hope of breathing new life into his team.

It almost paid off instantly when the 19-year-old raced clear but failed to beat keeper Rais Mbohli with Algeria firmly on the backfoot.

It was Wilmots’ other substitute, Fellaini, who delivered when he rose high to meet a Kevin De Bruyne cross and drill his header off the bar and into goal on 70 minutes.

The Desert Foxes, who had hardly put

a foot wrong in defence, were caught napping 10 minutes later when Hazard raced down the left wing, and cut back perfectly for subsititute Mertens to fire in for the win.

“It’s a major disappointment,” said Algeria coach Vahid Halilhodzic.

“We are sorry. I deeply regret the result. We missed a great opportunity here. But in the second half it was a bit tough. We left too much space to the Belgian team and the two goals scored against us were to be expected.” l

MATCH STATS Goals scored Total shots Shots on target Corners Offsides Fouls committed Yellow cards Red cards Ball possession

Belgium Algeria 2 1 16 3 10 1 7 2 3 0 21 18 1 1 0 0 65 pct 35 pct

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B3 Russia cuts Ukraine’s gas after talks fail

B4 Amazon could shake up

sector with smartphone

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 18, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Muhith may bow to black money owners Showkat Kallol and Syed n Asif Samiul Basher Anik The government is likely to include the facility of legalising undisclosed money in the FY2014-15 budget bowing to the pressure of influential black money owners, official sources said.

The proposed budget which awaits parliamentary passage this month might add that the black money can be whitened paying different taxes including 10% penalty and invested in any productive sector.

In last two years, nothing much was invested availing of the opportunity Besides, a provision in the current budget about investing black money on three specific sectors may be discontinued, according to the Finance Division officials.

The provision states the undisclosed money can be invested in three sectors - real estate and housing, treasury bonds and any productive sector - paying 10% penalty tax. No other additional taxes need not to be paid.

In the post-budget press conference, Finance Minister AMA Muhith, however, categorically ruled out the possibility of keeping the whitening facility in next fiscal.

“The whitened money did not have that much impact on the economy as only a little amount of Tk340 crore was legalised in FY2012-13,” he said.

“In last two years, nothing much was invested availing of the oppor-

tunity. In the last fiscal year, the government received Tk34 crore as tax on the money whitened,” he said, adding the opportunity will not be continued from the fiscal year.

The minister, in his budget speech and the finance bill 2014, did not mention anything about whether the opportunity will continue or not.

“As it was not mentioned in the documents, it will not continue. I will incorporate the matter with law,” he said at the press conference.

Article 19E of the income tax ordinance said the untaxed money can be invested in income generating sectors such as industrial enterprises, balancing, modernisation, renovation and extension of an existing industry, building, apartment, land, securities listed with stock exchanges and any trade, commercial and industrial venture engaged in production of goods and services.

According to the Global Financial Integrity Report 2013, during 20092013, more than Tk2,098 crore was whitened in Bangladesh, against which the National Board of Revenue (NBR) received only Tk279 crore in taxes.

During the July-April period of the current fiscal year, Tk234 crore was whitened in different income generating sectors, according to data compiled by the NBR. The minister also said there are other ways to trace how people generated black money.

“Land is the largest source of investing black money as a huge amount of money every year is being invested here. We need to think on how to remove the money and that will need discussion,” he said. l

Former Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed addresses a budget discussion in Dhaka yesterday. Former adviser to the caretaker government Mirza Azizul Islam (left) and Distinguished Fellow of Centre for Policy Dialogue Debapriya Bhattacharya (centre) also spoke at the event NASHIRUL ISLAM

Economists for performance-based budget

They suggest getting out of traditional one that allocates fund without considering performance

n Tribune Report Former Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Salehuddin Ahmed yesterday stressed the need for introducing performance-based budget instead of traditional incremental one for effective implementation of the budgetary measures.

As the time has come to get out from the traditional incremental budget, the government should now focus on performance-based budget for effective implementation of budgetary measures, he told a panel discussion on budget for the fiscal year 2014-15 at BRAC University auditorium in the capital.

BRAC University Economics Club organised the discussion while the club’s adviser and chairman of the BRACU economics and social science department Syed M Hashemi presided over the discussion.

Ecnec approves Tk2,007cr projects n Tribune Report

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) yesterday approved five development projects involving Tk2,007.68 crore.

The projects include an allocation of Tk828.56 crore for food and riverbank management. Of which, the government will bear Tk186.16 crore and Tk642.40 crore will come as project assistance.

The approval came at a meeting of the government’s highest policy-making body at the NEC conference room in the capital with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Bangladesh Water Development Board has been entrusted with the implementation of the project titled Flood and Riverbank Erosion Risk Management Investment Programme (Tranche-I) by December, 2018.

“The project mainly aims to protect the mass people and strategic points from river erosion,” Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal told reporters af-

Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal ter the meeting.

Of the total project cost, the government will provide Tk997.28 crore from the national exchequer and Tk1,010.40 crore will come as project assistance Another project approved by the Ecnec is Irrigation Management Improve-

ment (IMIP) for Muhuri Irrigation Project involving Tk457.36 crore.

Bangladesh Water Development Board will implement the project by June, 2019.

The meeting also gave nod to ‘Comprehensive Water Management for West Gopalganj’ project with a total cost of Tk122.14 crore.

Bangladesh Water Development Board will implement the project by June, 2016.

Construction of postal department’s headquarters was also approved by the Ecnec with an outlay of Tk54.72 crore.

Department of Postal is scheduled to implement the project by June, 2017.

In addition, the Ecnec also approved two revised projects “Construction of Cox’s Bazar-Teknaf Marine Drive” and “Construction of PC Girder Bridge on River Sanghu on Chimbuk-Ruma Road” aimed at boosting tourism.

The planning minister said the government has taken the projects to promote the country’s tourism sector. l

Tourism fair begins tomorrow n Tribune Report

A three-day “Bangladesh International Tourism Fair (BITF)-2014” begins tomorrow in the capital to build tourism linkage among the South-East Asian countries.

Civil Aviation and Tourism Minister Rashed Khan Menon is scheduled to inaugurate the fair as chief guest, while FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed will attend as special guest.

Rezaul Ekram, executive director of Bangladesh Foundation for Tourism Development (BFTD), made the announcement at a press conference held at a city hotel yesterday.

The press conference was attended, among others, by HM Hakim Ali, president of BFTD, MA Motin, chairman of Hotel Holiday Villa, and Suman Talukder, senior vice president of Inbound Tour Operators Association.

BFTD and Association of Travel Agents of Bangladesh (ATAB) in collaboration with Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry, Bangladesh Tour-

ism Board, Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry (FBCCI), Bangladesh Inbound Tour Operators Association and Bangladesh International Hotels Association will

bodia will take part in this expo for the first time.

Participants include travel agents, tour operators, hotels and resorts, card sellers, hospitals, institutions, National

Participants include travel agents, tour operators, hotels and resorts, card sellers, hospitals, institutions, National Tourism Organisations (NTOs), airlines, financial institutions, online sellers and other tourism service providers organise the expo at Bangabandhu International Conference Centre (BICC) in the city.

The fair will remain open for the visitors from 10am to 8pm during the fair with an entry fee of Tk20 per person.

In the expo, there will have 140 stalls where participants from India, Nepal, Bhutan, Malaysia, Singapore, Thailand, Cambodia, Indonesia and Myanmar will participate along with the host Bangladesh. Cam-

Tourism Organisations (NTOs), airlines, financial institutions, online sellers and other tourism service providers.

A seminar on “Sub-regional tourism circuit, linking South East Asia” will also be held to focus on the prospects of the tourism sector of this region.

Representatives from Bhutan, Malaysia, Myanmar, Cambodia and Indian states of Meghalaya, Asam and Tripura will attend the seminar to exchange their views on the bright prospect of tourism. l

think the people, who have acquired black money will not let the issue scrapped so easily.’’

The economist also stressed the need for formulating Local Government Financing Commission, Public Expenditure Review Commission, Independent Statistical Commission, and Agricultural Price Commission to achieve 7.3% proposed GDP growth rate.

Former adviser to the caretaker government Mirza Azizul Islam said the projected 7.3% growth for the fiscal year 2014-15 was a difficult target to achieve as it needs 33% investment of the GDP ratio.

Regarding private sector investments, he said the fiscal incentives like extension of tax holiday, reduction of tax rate for the non-listed companies and increased tax-free limit for dividend income, will not work until the basic preconditions such as infrastructural facilities are developed. l

Regarding the budgetary allocations, Salehuddin noted that the allocations for the different ministries are now made without considering their performances, so the allocations, in most cases, failed to serve the purposes.

Citing an example, Ahmed said: If a ministry gets Tk10 crore in a fiscal year, it will get Tk12 crore for the next fiscal, no matter what the ministry was performed. The measures will only work if the allocations are made on the basis of the performances of the ministries.

He also stressed on initiating performance-based allocations for some sectors that are performing well including communication and information technology.

“The difference between personal income and regional income has already widened and it will increase further if the budget cannot ensure balanced development, which is the core

aim of a budget plan,” he added.

Centre for Policy Dialogue distinguished fellow Debapriya Bhattacharya said the tax measures should be taken considering how the measures will be implemented.

“The government has proposed imposing highest slab for income tax at 30% which will help towards lessening the income discrimination, whereas the corporate tax is now at 27.5%. There is risks that people can now open up companies for paying less taxes as the tax rate is lower compared to the personal income tax. There will be problems in the coming days if both of the taxes are not being coordinated properly,” he added.

Regarding the black money whitening provision, which the finance minister AMA Muhith has proposed to be scrapped, Debapriya said, “The minister is waiting for the amendment of law to scrap the provision. I do not

Merchant bankers want equity in corporate tax

Entrepreneur festival begins in Chittagong tomorrow

n Tribune Report Bangladesh Merchant Bankers Association (BMBA) urged the government to remove corporate tax disparity between non-listed companies and merchant banks.

In the proposed budget for next fiscal year beginning from July, Finance Minister AMA Muhith has proposed to reduce corporate tax for non-listed companies to 35% from 37.5%.

But the tax rates for other types of companies including merchant banks remain unchanged. The tax rate for merchant banks is 37.5% and for banks, insurers and non-banking financial institutions is 42.5%.

“This is a gross disparity between merchant banks and non-listed companies although the merchant banks are also non-listed companies,” said BMBA Vice-President Akter H Sannamat.

He was speaking at a post-budget press conference in Dhaka yesterday.

BMBA President Tanjil Chowdhury and other members of the association also spoke on the occasion.

The association also demanded reducing corporate tax for banks and non-banking financial institutions taking the present situation into account.

“The merchant banks are suffering financial hardships now as market has been dull for a long time. Providing corporate tax facility to the merchant banks would, therefore, be a timely decision,” said Akter H Sannamat.

Showing disappointment at the proposed budgetary measures for the stock market, he alleged their proposals have not been taken into account in preparing the budget.

About the capital gain tax, the BMBA leaders asserted it is not a right time to impose tax on capital gain from selling shares in the stock market as the bourses are yet to recover from the 2010 debacle. l

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A three-day Entrepreneur Festival 2014 begins here tomorrow, aimed at assisting new entrepreneurs invest in a right manner.

The Chittagong chapter of Bangladesh Open Sources Network (BDOSN) – which runs a Facebookbased group “Chakri khujbo na chakri debo” – organized the festival for the second time, the organisers told a press conference at Chittagong Press Club yesterday.

Emran Harun, assistant convener of the organising committee of the festival, said around 30 stalls will be set up at MA Aziz Stadium Gymnasium in Chittagong city where the entrepreneurs will showcase their products and services.

Besides, workshops, seminars and discussion programmes will also be held over business communication, business networking, marketing, selling and financial management to grow knowledge and skill of new entrepreneurs.

They are arranging the festival for the new entrepreneurs to help them develop the business sector by investing in a right way, and to lessen the socio-financial crisis by engaging unemployed people in different productive works.

The festival will remain open for all from 10 am to 7 pm.

Arafatur Rahman, Sharmin Rabeya, Ali Haider Tanshir and Sajjadul Islam of the organisation were, among others, present at the press conference. l

BSEC fines 3 companies for IPO rules violation n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) fined three companies a total of Tk15 lakh for breaching initial public offering (IPO) rules.

Issuer company Aman Cotton Fibrous Ltd and two issue mangers Lanka Bangla Investments and Unicap

Investments – faced Tk5 lakh each as fines.

The companies had submitted false documents to seek IPO approval, said A BSEC statement said yesterday.

The two issue mangers paid the price as they did not submit the IPO prospectus of the issuer with due diligence, the stock regulator said. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

DSEX slips to 5-month low n Tribune Report

Dragged by profit booking on selected stocks of banks, FIs and power sectors over consistent low market participation, index has reached to its five-month low The DSEX lost 20 points or 0.5% to close at 4,339 – lowest since January 7 this year.

The Shariah index DSES dropped nearly 9 points or 0.8% to 1,001.

The comprising blue chips DS30 fell 12 points or 0.8% to close at 1,605.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, was down 30 points to 8,260.

Turnover at DSE dipped below

Company

Turnover (Million Taka)

2,635.29

Turnover (Volume)

56,639,654

Number of Contract

69,780

Traded Issues

293

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

68

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

222

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,264.51

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.45

CSE key features June 17, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

205.77

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights

6,013,743

Number of Contract

9,880

DSE Broad Index :

4338.87131

(-) 0.46%

▼

Traded Issues

207

DSE Shariah Index :

1001.18418

(-) 0.85%

▲

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

53

DSE - 30 Index :

1605.46560

(-) 0.77%

▼

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

148 5

CSE All Share Index:

13408.10280

(-) 0.55%

▲

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

CSE - 30 Index :

11002.19700

(-) 0.30%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,184.94

8260.35310

(-) 0.37%

▼

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.48

CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS

PragatiLife Insu. -A Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z Rahima Food -Z Meghna Con. Milk -B Bangladesh Welding -Z Renwick Jajneswar-A Rupali Bank - A Jute SpinnersA

-6.30 -5.81 -5.27 -5.06 -4.27 -4.26 -4.15 -3.64

Average (% change) -6.60 -6.05 -3.80 -3.68 -2.73 -4.62 -1.13 -3.64

AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A LafargeS Cement-Z

-3.39 -3.12

-9.83 -1.32

Company

Closing (% change)

CSE LOSERS

Popular Life Insu. -A Asia Pasific Insu. -A Phoenix Insur -A Imam Button -Z Intl. Leasing-B City G Insu.-A Mercantile Insur -A I P D C -A

-8.68 -7.73 -6.88 -5.33 -5.00 -4.95 -4.74 -4.67

Average (% change) -8.70 -5.74 -6.88 -6.00 -4.85 -4.33 -4.74 -4.67

Power Grid Co. -A Anwar Galvanizing-B

-4.22 -4.17

-3.09 -4.17

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 270.14 58.98 30.33 309.79 91.21 200.79 4.62 218.10 301.44 0.13 54.58 29.52 8.80 468.13 14.96 26.01 74.37 243.62 100.32 128.74 0.75

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

Latest PE

137.42 8.08 45.34 7.59 11.42 255.93 60.51 53.00

136.80 8.10 44.90 7.50 11.20 253.70 60.10 53.00

138.40 8.30 48.60 7.70 11.70 265.20 62.70 53.00

136.30 8.10 44.70 7.50 11.10 251.00 58.00 53.00

5.016 0.021 2.698 0.110 0.377 3.084 0.816 0.005

2.38 -30.63 -1.01 -4.85 0.48 3.92 3.96 -43.81

57.7 -ve -ve -ve 23.8 65.3 15.3 -ve

5.78 87.98

5.70 86.90

5.90 91.70

5.70 82.00

0.613 347.996

1.49 2.16

3.9 40.7

Closing average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

Kohinoor Chem -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Berger Paints-A BD Fixed Income MF-A ICB AMCL IslamicMF-A Monno Stafllers -A Standard Insurance-A Reckitt Benckiser -A Fu-Wang Food A Wata Chemicals -A

197.70 20.30 32.50 7.10 11.40 19.20 18.10 14.30

197.70 21.00 33.50 7.10 11.40 19.20 18.10 14.30

197.60 20.20 31.50 7.00 11.30 19.20 18.10 14.30

0.198 0.062 0.026 0.014 0.040 0.015 0.009 0.014

17.00 2.48 3.00 -1.85 -1.28 1.84 2.40 0.64

11.6 8.3 10.8 -ve -ve 10.4 7.5 22.3

41.38 23.00

40.90 23.00

42.00 23.00

40.60 23.00

0.186 0.023

2.13 0.27

19.4 85.2

Currently 4,300 point is playing as psychological support level and market is testing this level

% change 10.25 2.24 1.15 11.76 3.46 7.62 0.18 8.28 11.44 0.00 2.07 1.12 0.33 17.76 0.57 0.99 2.82 9.24 3.81 4.89 0.03

Million Taka 25.61 5.09 1.23 22.53 7.67 14.00 18.42 11.09 7.89 3.70 8.33 0.93 34.48 1.35 0.97 4.73 16.13 19.37 25.90 0.01

% change 11.16 2.22 0.54 9.82 3.34 6.10 0.00 8.03 4.83 3.44 1.61 3.63 0.40 15.03 0.59 0.42 2.06 7.03 8.44 11.29 0.00

Million Taka 295.75 64.07 31.56 332.32 98.88 214.79 4.62 236.52 312.52 8.01 58.28 37.86 9.72 502.61 16.31 26.98 79.10 259.74 119.70 154.64 0.76

Total

8.51 7.88 5.37 5.26 4.52 3.56 3.16 2.51 2.29 2.27

CSE GAINERS Company BEXIMCO Ltd. -A The Ibn SinaA Meghna Life Ins. -A Rupali InsurA Beximco Syn.-Z ICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A AB Bank - A Apex Foods -A Northern G Insur-A National Polymer -A

Closing (% change) 8.30 5.73 3.64 3.20 3.19 3.09 2.75 2.52 2.31 2.21

Average (% change) 9.02 4.75 2.49 5.68 2.42 5.24 6.37 2.23 0.91 1.95 Average (% change) 4.29 5.53 3.68 2.79 0.63 2.88 2.69 1.74 5.67 2.01

Closing average 449.88 25.58 1,093.42 8.00 18.23 320.93 28.07 1,055.00 17.83 273.40

Closing average 25.52 101.31 114.00 22.51 9.55 10.00 25.93 105.04 34.87 59.99

Closing 450.00 26.00 1,116.60 8.00 18.50 319.80 29.40 1,056.10 17.90 270.10

Closing 26.10 101.50 114.00 22.60 9.70 10.00 26.20 105.80 35.40 60.00

Daily high 450.00 26.20 1,125.00 8.00 19.00 327.90 29.40 1,060.00 18.00 284.00

Daily high 26.30 102.00 114.00 22.60 9.90 10.00 26.50 106.90 36.00 60.40

Daily low 448.00 22.00 1,060.00 8.00 17.40 311.50 26.00 1,040.00 15.80 266.00

Daily low 24.00 100.90 114.00 22.00 9.10 10.00 25.20 103.00 34.00 58.50

Turnover in million 1.197 105.301 4.319 0.004 0.720 1.717 0.023 0.422 2.614 16.623

Turnover in million 22.539 0.162 0.080 0.124 0.210 0.005 5.093 0.483 0.141 0.318

Latest EPS 9.37 0.59 57.68 0.56 2.33 1.12 2.88 41.12 0.96 6.24

Latest EPS 0.59 3.12 6.45 2.40 0.76 1.40 3.12 3.01 6.40 2.11

Latest PE 48.0 43.4 19.0 14.3 7.8 286.5 9.7 25.7 18.6 43.8

Latest PE 43.3 32.5 17.7 9.4 12.6 7.1 8.3 34.9 5.4 28.4

News from trade server PHOENIXFIN: The Company has informed that it has disbursed cash dividend for the year 2013 to the respective shareholders' Bank Accounts through Bangladesh Electronic Fund Transfer Network (BEFTN) on June 15, 2014.

SINOBANGLA: The Company has requested the concerned shareholders to collect their Dividend Warrants for the year ended on October 31, 2013 from June 17 to June 19, 2014 between 10:00 AM to 4:00 PM (all working days) from its Corporate Office at Noor Tower, 4th Floor, 110 Bir Uttam C.R. Dutta Road, Dhaka MEGHNALIFE: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on June 19, 2014 at 4:00 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on December 31, 2013.

IPO Subscription: Far East Knitting & Dyeing Industries Limited subscription date 15-19 June 2014, NRB upto 28 June 2014. @ taka 27, face value taka 10 and market lot 200. Shurwid Industries Limited subscription date 08-12 June 2014, NRB upto 21

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company LafargeS Cement-Z Grameenphone-A BSRM Steels-A Square Pharma -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A HeidelbergCement -A The Peninsula CTG.-N

CSE

Closing (% change)

June 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Saif Powertec Limited subscription date 06-10 July 2014, NRB upto 19 July 2014. @ taka 30, face value taka 10 and market lot 200. Ratanpur Steel Re-Rolling Mills Limited subscription date 13-17 July 2014, NRB upto 26 July 2014. @ taka 40, face value taka 10 and market lot 200.

Dividend/AGM

DELTALIFE: 11% cash and 25% stock, AGM and EGM: 20.07.2014, Record date for AGM and EGM: 25.06.2014.

LAFSURCEML: 5% interim cash, Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 30.06.2014.

ASIAINS: 15% cash and 5% stock, AGM: 16.07.2014, Record Date: 19.06.2014.

WATACHEM: 30% stock, AGM: 27.06.2014, Record Date: 11.06.2014.

MBL1STMF: 3% cash, Record date: 02.06.2014.

AIBL1STIMF: 5.5% cash, Record date: 02.06.2014.

ORIONPHARM: 15% cash, AGM: 22.06.2014, Record Date: 21.05.2014.

PURABIGEN: 15% stock, AGM:

29.06.2014, Record date: 21.05.2014.

SALVOCHEM: 10% stock, AGM: 27.08.2014, Record date: 25.06.2014.

GOLDENSON: 25% stock, EGM and AGM: 21.06.2014, Record Date: 15.05.2014.

CMCKAMAL: 12.50% stock, AGM: 30.06.2014. Record Date: 29.05.2014.

RUPALIBANK: 15% stock, AGM: 31.05.2014, Record date: 14.05.2014.

LEGACYFOOT: 5% stock, AGM: 21.06.2014, Record Date: 12.05.2014.

BDTHAI: 5% stock, AGM: 21.06.2014, Record Date: 25.05.2014.

MEGHNACEM: 15% cash, AGM: 29.05.2014, Record Date: 14.05.2014.

MONNOSTAF: 10% cash, AGM: 26.06.2014, Record Date: 19.05.2014.

INTECH: 10% stock, AGM: 23.06.2014, Record Date: 15.05.2014.

ISLAMIINS: 15% stock, AGM: 09.07.2014, RD: 12.05.2014.

BXPHARMA: 10% cash & 5% stock, AGM: 21.06.2014, RD: 18.05.2014.

STANDARINS: 15% stock, AGM: 18.06.2014, RD: 15.05.2014.

BAYLEASING: 17% cash & 15% stock, AGM: 29.05.2014, RD: 12.05.2014.

Latest PE

197.65 20.52 32.50 7.05 11.39 19.20 18.10 14.30

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Daily high

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features June 17, 2014

Tk300 crore, slipping to two-week low. It stood at Tk260 crore, which was more than 17% over the previous session. Cement sector posted the highest contribution of over 17% of the total turnover.

All the major sectors closed red with pharmaceuticals losing the most 0.7%, followed by telecommunications 0.5%, food 0.4%, power 0.4% and banks 0.3%.

Losers took a lead over the gainers, as out of 292 issues traded, 102 closed positive, 145 negative and 45 remained unchanged.

Lanka Bangla Securities said repeated closing of index below the 10-day moving average is an indication that the short-term trend remains negative.

It said, currently 4,300 point is playing as psychological support level and market is testing this level.

Dragged by profit booking on selected stocks of banks, financial institutions and power sectors over consistent low market participation, index has reached to its fivemonth low.

Lafarge Surma Cement was the most traded stock of the session with turnover of nearly Tk35 crore, followed by Grameenphone, BSRM Steel, Square Pharmaceuticals, Beximco Ltd, Peninsula, Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd and Heidelberg Cement. l

Stocks extended losing streak for the fourth straight session yesterday with benchmark index DSEX slipping to more than five-month low.

The market opened positive in the morning for a while but selling pressure mainly on pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, energy and cement pulled down the market.

Stock

% change 10.32 2.24 1.10 11.60 3.45 7.50 0.16 8.26 10.91 0.28 2.03 1.32 0.34 17.54 0.57 0.94 2.76 9.07 4.18 5.40 0.03

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

BD Submarine Cable-A AB Bank - A MJL BD Ltd.-A

Eastern Housing -A Delta Life Insu. -A Mithun Knitting -A ACI Limited- A Meghna Petroleum -A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company LafargeS Cement-Z

BEXIMCO Ltd. -A The Peninsula CTG.-N Grameenphone-A BSRM Steels-A BD Submarine Cable-A AB Bank - A UCBL - A Delta Life Insu. -A One Bank -A UNITED AIR-A Square Pharma -A AramitCementA Appollo Ispat CL -N Meghna Petroleum -A

Volume shares 3,955,515 576,763 1,486,700 415,926 4,116,459 155,650 2,118,800 376,311 2,035,350 599,401

834,610 264,030 403,976 141,608 127,148

Volume shares

331,500 883,309 418,400 35,000 94,365 30,300 196,414 188,600 23,900 332,253 339,156 12,990 80,000 118,400 11,927

Value in million 348.00 175.15 139.17 115.91 105.30 81.21 74.20 68.47 52.73 51.76

51.49 47.75 43.83 34.13 33.71

Value in million

28.97 22.54 14.65 10.60 8.79 5.53 5.09 4.86 4.34 4.06 3.68 3.62 3.29 3.22 3.17

% of total turnover 13.21 6.65 5.28 4.40 4.00 3.08 2.82 2.60 2.00 1.96

1.95 1.81 1.66 1.30 1.28

% of total turnover

14.35 11.17 7.26 5.25 4.35 2.74 2.52 2.41 2.15 2.01 1.82 1.80 1.63 1.60 1.57

Daily closing 86.90 303.70 92.20 277.90 26.00 516.40 34.80 181.40 26.30 86.40

61.60 180.10 107.40 242.40 265.20

Daily closing

86.00 26.10 34.80 303.10 92.30 181.50 26.20 25.90 181.30 12.30 10.80 278.00 41.10 27.20 264.80

Price change -3.12 -0.56 -1.07 -2.01 7.88 -2.20 -0.57 0.78 1.54 -0.58

Daily opening 89.70 305.40 93.20 283.60 24.10 528.00 35.00 180.00 25.90 86.90

Price change

Daily opening

1.48 -2.28 -0.92 0.25 0.04

-4.02 8.30 -1.14 -0.56 -1.18 0.61 2.75 0.39 -2.37 1.65 -0.92 -1.97 -0.72 -0.73 -0.19

60.70 184.30 108.40 241.80 265.10

89.60 24.10 35.20 304.80 93.40 180.40 25.50 25.80 185.70 12.10 10.90 283.60 41.40 27.40 265.30

Daily high 91.70 306.90 95.00 283.00 26.20 530.00 35.90 184.00 26.70 90.00

66.30 186.00 111.50 250.00 267.00

Daily low 82.00 285.00 85.00 270.00 22.00 512.00 34.20 162.60 23.50 78.30

55.00 175.00 100.00 220.70 255.00

Daily average 87.98 303.67 93.61 278.69 25.58 521.72 35.02 181.95 25.91 86.35

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

91.90 26.30 35.60 310.00 95.00 184.10 26.50 26.00 186.00 12.30 11.00 282.00 41.50 27.80 268.00

85.00 24.00 34.40 299.30 92.00 181.10 25.20 25.60 180.00 12.10 10.80 277.50 41.00 27.00 264.20

61.69 180.86 108.48 241.01 265.16

87.39 25.52 35.00 302.73 93.11 182.50 25.93 25.78 181.64 12.21 10.84 278.95 41.19 27.20 265.49

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Russia cuts Ukraine’s gas after talks fail n AFP Russia cut the flow of gas to Ukraine on Monday after last-ditch talks failed to resolve a price dispute that threatens to disrupt supplies to Europe for the third time in a decade.

The failure of EU-mediated negotiations on gas prices only compounds the problems of Ukraine’s new pro-Western leaders as they battle an eastern insurgency that threatens the survival of the ex-Soviet state.

Kiev was dealt a further blow when dozens of Kalashnikov-wielding proRussian militia seized the central bank in the separatist stronghold city of Donetsk in a bid to win control over the economically vital region’s assets.

Russia’s state gas giant Gazprom said it had switched Ukraine to a prepayment system at 0600 GMT -- a move that effectively halts all shipments because Kiev has not forwarded any money for future gas deliveries to Moscow.

Ukraine’s Prime Minister Arseniy Yatsenyuk called the measure “another stage of Russia’s aggression against the Ukrainian state”, while Washington urged Moscow to resume negotiations with Kiev.

Gazprom said it had further notified Europe of possible gas disruptions and lodged a $4.5bn (3.3bn euro) lawsuit against Ukraine with an arbitration

Workers stand near pipes at a gas compressor station in the Ukrainian settlement of Orlovka, about 280km west of the Black Sea port of Odessa REUTERS court in Stockholm.

Kiev responded by lodging its own $6bn suit against Gazprom with the same Stockholm court to recover past “overpayment” for gas.

Gazprom chief Alexei Miller later told Russian television the firm may lodge a second lawsuit against Ukraine’s gas group Naftogaz seeking

Oil prices dip, losses capped by Iraq fears n AFP, London Global oil prices eased yesterday, but losses were limited as investors continued to fret over potential supply disruption due to the worsening sectarian violence in key crude producer Iraq.

Brent crude for August delivery fell 26 cents to $112.68 per barrel just after midday. US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for July delivery reversed 61 cents to $106.29 a barrel.

“Brent crude has begun to fall back towards levels seen before the insurgency incursion began in Iraq,” said analyst Dorian Lucas at energy consultancy Inenco.

“Gains previously seen have been driven by sentiment and fear of possible disruptions, which so far have not been realised.”

Brent had surged on Friday to $114.69 - last seen in September 2013 - on the back of spreading violence in Iraq.

At least 44 prisoners were killed in an overnight militant assault on a police station in the Iraqi city of Baquba, security and medical officials said on Tuesday.

Accounts differed as to who was responsible for the killings, with Iraq’s Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki’s security spokesman saying the prisoners were killed by insurgents carrying out the attack, and other officials saying they were killed by security forces as they tried to escape.

The crisis has a direct bearing on the oil market because Iraq is the secondbiggest crude exporter in the 12-nation Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) after cartel kingpin Saudi Arabia.

Risks of disruption to Iraq’s oil output will remain limited despite the

worsening crisis, BP chief executive Bob Dudley said Tuesday, while expressing alarm at the unrest.

“At the moment oil production isn’t affected,” Dudley said on the sidelines of an energy conference in Moscow.

“I don’t believe that this kind of difficulty and instability will spread all the way to the far south of Iraq” - home to the majority of the country’s oil operations.

“But we should all be very alarmed by what is happening,” Dudley told reporters at the World Petroleum Congress.

Iraqi security forces were carrying out a counter-offensive against militants who have captured a swathe of territory in an advance to Baghdad, as Washington weighed drone strikes against the jihadist fighters.

The lightning attack of Sunni extremists from the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant has taken territory in Iraq’s north, where a relatively small crude output had already been off the market since March due to violence.

There are now fears that the insurgency could spread to the south where most of Iraq’s oil infrastructure is located.

“The predominant oil supply in Iraq is based around the southernmost peninsular of the country and remains far removed from the violence,” added analyst Lucas.

“Significant (price) gains are expected with a realised disruption to oil exports, as Iraq is currently OPEC’s second largest exporter.”

Oil market investors will also be keeping an eye on a two-day meeting of the Federal Reserve’s key policy-making committee starting later yesterday.

The US central bank is widely expected to further scale down its massive monetary stimulus programme. l

$18bn in unpaid gas bills.

Analysts said Ukraine had been urgently filling up its gas storage tanks in anticipation of Russia’s decision and that no disruptions to Europe were likely until the winter heating season begins.

“The authorities estimate they have sufficient reserves to last until the end of this year,” London’s Capital Econom-

ics consultancy said.

Naftogaz said a delegation would travel today to Budapest to woo European firms into selling them gas, saying some offers have already come in.

The third “gas war” between Russia and Ukraine since 2006 flared when Moscow nearly doubled its rates in the wake of a winter uprising that pulled Kiev out

SanDisk to buy Fusion-io to boost flash storage business n Reuters SanDisk Corp said on Monday it will buy Fusion-io Inc for about $1.1bn to bolster its fast-growing business of providing flash storage drives to companies.

Fusion-io has struggled with losses since its initial public offering in 2011, but SanDisk sees its technology as a major component for its own lineup of storage products. SanDisk is using its NAND memory chips to build and sell its own solid-state drives. The flash drives offer higher margins than SanDisk’s traditional business of selling memory chips for smartphones and cameras. “(SanDisk) was already positioning the company as more of a enterprise storage company ... What the Fusion-io deal does is it enhances that significantly,” Cross Research analyst Steven Fox said.

The deal follows a trend toward vertical integration in the storage market, with chipmakers buying smaller companies with specialized technology.

Fusion-io does not buy chips from

SanDisk but it will after the deal is complete, SanDisk Chief Executive Officer Sanjay Mehrotra said in an interview.

“Vertical integration is really key to winning in the enterprise storage market,” Mehrotra said.

Solid-state drives, or SSDs, are faster than traditional hard-disk drives and while they are still more expensive than traditional drives, they are increasingly being built into laptop PCs. Flash drives are also being adopted by data centres, a market where SanDisk competes with rivals such as Western Digital Corp WDC.O. SanDisk’s offer of $11.25 per share represents a premium of 21% to Fusionio’s Friday close but is 40% less than Fusion-io’s IPO price of $19 in 2011.

Fusion-io’s shares were up 23% at $11.45 on Monday, suggesting that some investors expect a higher offer.

Nandury Summit Research Partners analyst Srini Nandury said rival bids were unlikely since other storage companies, including Western Digital and Toshiba

Pubali Bank Limited has recently inaugurated its principal office and a shifted branch in Sylhet. Ariful Haque Chowdhury, mayor of Sylhet City Corporation was present as chief guest while the bank’s chair Hafiz Ahmed Mazumder as honourable guest at the ceremony that was presided over by the bank’s managing director Helal Ahmed Chowdhury

Export Import Bank of Bangladesh Limited held its 15th annual general meeting in Dhaka yesterday. The bank’s chair Md Nazrul Islam Mazumder presided over the meeting where the stakeholders approved the proposed 11% stock dividend for the year ended on December 31, 2013 Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited recently held its 15th annual general meeting in Dhaka. The bank’s chair Md Yousuf Ali Howlader presided over the programme

Dettol and Bangladesh Private Medical Practitioners Association (BPMPA) have recently signed an agreement to continue working in partnership for the next three years. Dettol’s marketing director Mahbub Baset and BPMPA’s president Professor Dr Moniruzzaman Bhuiyan were present at the ceremony among others

of the Kremlin’s sphere of influence.

Ukraine receives half its gas from Russia and transports 15% of the fuel consumed in Europe - a reality that prompted EU Energy Commissioner Guenther Oettinger to urgently step in to try to resolve the feud.

Oettinger conceded in Vienna that Europe “would have a problem with a cold winter” if Ukraine ran out of storage supplies.

The European Commission said Oettinger had offered a compromise deal that would have seen Ukraine pay $385 per 1,000 cubic metres of gas - the price proposed by Russian President Vladimir Putin - in the winter and see its rate drop to $300 “or a few dollars more” during summer months.

“The Ukrainian side was ready to accept this, but for the moment the Russian partners were not,” the European Commission said in a statement.

Washington called the EU deal a “fair and a reasonable compromise” and urged Russia to “re-engage on this basis”, said US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Arriving in Serbia for a two-day visit, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said: “We said everything which must be said. The news can only come from the Ukrainian leadership, which has to stop the violence, which has to deal with the gas issue. All the cards are on that side of the table.” l

Bank Asia recently opened three agent booths in Noakhali and Laxmipur districts as a move towards financial inclusion of rural people. The chair of Bank Asia’s executive committee, Rumee A Hossain inaugurated two booths located at Teuri and Panpara Bazar of Ramgonj upazila, Laxmipur while Mohammed Lakiotulla, chairman of the bank’s audit committee inaugurated booth at Chasirhat of Sonaimuri Upazila in Noakhali

Corp, bought SSD makers last year.

SanDisk’s SSD business has been growing at a scorching pace. Revenue from SSDs jumped 61% in the first quarter, accounting for 28% of revenue.

Fusion-io, whose customers include Apple Inc and Facebook Inc, is SanDisk’s fifth acquisition in enterprise storage, the most recent being its $307m purchase of SMART Storage Systems last July.

Fusion-io, which employs Apple cofounder Steve Wozniak as chief scientist, has reported a loss for five quarters in a row. It helped pioneer high-end solid-state storage technology but struggled to find customers beyond a few large companies running cuttingedge data centres.

“It’s leading edge. It’s a question of someone being able to harness that ... and drive it to profitability,” said Fox of Cross Research. SanDisk expects the deal, likely to close in the third quarter, to add to its adjusted profit in the second half of 2015. SanDisk’s shares were up 3.70% at $102.11 on the Nasdaq on Monday. l

B3 Alibaba discloses powerful partners n Reuters, Beijing Alibaba Group Holding revealed the members of its powerful 27-person partnership and board on Monday, while disclosing that the Chinese e-commerce giant’s growth has slowed from the redhot pace of recent quarters.

In an updated prospectus for what could be the largest tech IPO in history, Alibaba said the partnership includes founder Jack Ma, Executive Vice Chairman Joseph Tsai and Chief Executive Officer Jonathan Lu. The group has the exclusive right to nominate a majority of Alibaba’s nine-member board, effectively ensuring control of the company rests in the hands of insiders.

Among four independent directors asked to join a post-IPO board were former Hong Kong Chief Executive Tung Chee Hwa, Yahoo Inc founder Jerry Yang, and J. Michael Evans, former vice chairman of Goldman Sachs Group Inc. Alibaba is expected to eclipse Facebook Inc’s $15bn initial share sale in 2012 when it debuts late this summer.

But investors and governance experts have raised questions about Alibaba’s scant disclosures, and Ma’s murky web of third-party transactions.

Tung’s inclusion may open doors for Alibaba, though his tenure was marked by controversy. He is the father-in-law of corporate finance chief Michael Yao. “His family relationship is a negative from a Western governance point of view, but probably a positive from an Asian” perspective, said Boston University School of Management professor James Post. “The board will be the place where ‘East meets West’ governance happens at Alibaba in the years to come.” l

Dollar firms in Asia on Japan pension overhaul plan n AFP, Tokyo The dollar and euro rose against the yen in Asia yesterday as investors bet Japan’s public pension fund, the world’s biggest, will start to shift some of its holdings into foreign assets.

In afternoon Tokyo trade, the greenback rose to 101.97 yen from 101.84 yen in New York, although its gains were capped ahead of a Federal Reserve policy meeting and owing to investor jitters over the growing unrest in Iraq, which has sent oil prices soaring. The euro also rose to 138.27 yen from 138.20 yen, while it weakened to $1.3560 from $1.3570 in New York.

Dealers said the dollar was gaining support from expectations that Japan’s $1.26 trillion public pension fund would soon shift more of its bondheavy assets. l

State Minister Mojibul Haque Chunnu, Secretary Mahbub Ahmed and other senior officials from the Ministry of Labour and Employment and the Ministry of Commerce are seen meeting with Gerd Müller, the German Federal Minister for Economic Cooperation and Development yesterday in Bonn, Germany

Modhumoti Bank Ltd has recently arranged a business conference for the year titled “Emerging Trend of Customer Relationship Management” for all its divisional heads and branch managers at the bank›s head office. The bank›s MD and CEO Md Mizanur Rahman attended the programme as chief guest

Major General Mohd Habibur Rahman Khan, executive chairperson of Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA) welcomed Samdech Akka Moha Sena Padei Techo Hun Sen, the Prime Minister of the Kingdom of Cambodia along with a 27-members delegation of high officials during a visit in Dhaka EPZ on June 16. The PM congratulated BEPZA for its contribution towards economic development of Bangladesh

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Amazon could shake up sector with smartphone n AFP, Washington Amazon’s mystery unveiling today is widely expected to be a smartphone, which if managed well could shake up the market and boost the US online giant as a device maker.

The company has given few hints, inviting a small group of media to the event to be hosted by Amazon founder and chief executive Jeff Bezos.

The announcement contained an image of what appeared to be the edge of a smartphone - a device long rumored to be in the works by the Seattle, Washington firm, which is a retailer of a multitude of goods and digital content.

“If it is a smartphone, Amazon would automatically be considered one of the top players before it even ships its first phone,” said Gerry Purdy, chief mobile analyst for Compass Intelligence.

Purdy said Amazon’s market clout, large customer base and willingness to sell devices at low profit margins gives the company an opportunity to get a foothold in this key segment.

“They have a lot of tools,” Purdy told AFP. “They can give free access to content, access to music, or they could credit your monthly phone bill if you spend enough with Amazon.”

Amazon has worked to keep customers close with its Amazon Prime subscription service, for $99 a year.

This gives consumers free delivery for goods, as well as access to Amazon’s streaming video service. Last week, the company added streaming music for no additional charge.

But Amazon still needs to deliver a high-quality handset and offer enough apps to compete with the popular devices from Apple and makers such as Samsung which use the Google Android platform.

Hints from Bezos

Several reports have said Amazon’s new phone would have 3D technology, making for a richer, multidimensional display that could differentiate it from rivals.

In a cryptic message to journalists at-

Gold premiums fall to four-month low on higher supplies n Reuters, Mumbai Gold premiums in India, the world’s second biggest buyer after China, fell to their lowest in four months after the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) allowed private companies to import gold.

Premiums fell to $25-30 an ounce on London prices, a level last seen in February, from $60 charged earlier in June.

Premiums hit a record of $160 an ounce in December last year.

India imposed curbs on bullion imports last year, including a record 10% duty on overseas purchases in a bid to control its ballooning current account deficit.

The government also introduced the so-called 80-20 rule that required a fifth of all imports to be exported.

The restrictions are likely to be eased by the new government led by Narendra Modi, industry officials had said in May. Modi has said any action on gold should take into account the interests of the public and traders, not just economics and policy.

The central bank eased some restrictions on gold imports earlier this month allowing “star trading houses”, private jewellery exporters which had been barred from importing gold since July 2013, to resume imports.

“Premiums have gradually come down because of there is no scarcity of gold in the market, demand is not robust as the wedding season is coming to an end,” said Bachhraj Bamalwa, director with All India Gems and Jewellery Trade Federation.

“We are expecting to relax imports curbs and reduce import duty by minimum of 4% in the coming budget,” said Bamalwa.

The budget session of the parliament will start from July 4. The wedding season, which started in April, will near an end in June. Seasonal demand slackness will continue till August due to monsoon.

“Everyone is expecting a duty, so no one is interested to hold gold now.

We expect good demand in September and October due to better availability,” said an official with a private importing bank in Mumbai, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

On June 11, trade secretary Rajeev Kher had said that India needs to rationalise its gold import duty after imports for May fell to 35 tonnes, about half of its normal average before the new import rules kicked in. l

Jeff Bezos, CEO of Amazon, speaks during a press conference in Santa Monica tending the event, Bezos sent copies of his favorite childhood book, “Mr. Pine’s Purple House,” which is about one house that stands out from the others.

Forrester Research analyst James McQuivey said Amazon is not interested in taking away a lot of Apple and Samsung market share, but in keeping its customers more engaged.

“Amazon wants to be in your pocket,” he told AFP. “It wants to be with you in your hand’s reach whenever you think about something you want to purchase.”

McQuivey sees Amazon following a course similar to what it has done with the Kindle tablets -- selling at low prices to drive the purchase of more Ama-

zon content, including books, electronics and streamed films or music.

“The Kindle Fire tablet has never gotten significant market share, but for the people who own them, it made them more connected to Amazon,” McQuivey said.

Mark Mahaney at RBC Capital Markets said Amazon’s strategy for Kindle devices appears to be working.

“Kindle device owners spend almost 30 percent more with Amazon than non-Kindle owners -- $457 per year vs. $361 per year -- (which provides) a bit of an explanation as to why Amazon may be shortly unveiling a smartphone,” Mahaney said in a note to clients.

AFP

An ‘uphill climb’

Still, some analysts say Amazon is taking a risk in a new, fiercely competitive, segment of the market.

“It’s going to be an uphill climb,” said Ramon Llamas, a mobile analyst for IDC. Llamas said a majority of US customers, and many in other parts of the world, already have a smartphone or have considered an iPhone or Android handset.

“Consumers are going to want to know how many applications there are,” he told AFP. Amazon uses a modified version of Android, which keeps its system separate from the main marketplace

China denies row to blame as May foreign investment down 6.7% n AFP, Beijing Foreign direct investment into China fell 6.7% year-on-year to $8.6bn in May, the government said yesterday, denying that a row with Vietnam was behind a slump in investment from southeast Asia.

For the first five months of the year, FDI - which excludes investment in financial sectors - was up 1.6% at $48.91bn, the commerce ministry said in a statement.

In April, FDI was $8.7bn.

“Investment from major countries and regions into China generally maintained a stable growth momentum,” the ministry said.

Over the January-May period, investment from the European Union dropped 22.1% to $2.58bn, with that from Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) countries falling 22.3% to $2.54bn. Funding from Japan China’s fifth-biggest investor - plunged 42.2%, the ministry said, without giving an amount.

China has multiple territorial disputes with its neighbours, and tensions with Vietnam are at a peak after Beijing deployed an oil rig in disputed waters, but ministry spokesman Shen Danyang denied the row was responsible for the

fall in ASEAN investment.

The statistics were based on specific projects and the comparison base also mattered, he told reporters.

“Generally China’s cooperation with ASEAN has not been affected by the current situation,” he said.

Beijing is also embroiled in a longrunning dispute with Tokyo over islands in the East China Sea and Shen added: “The continued strains in China-Japan political relations will make the environment for bilateral economic cooperation deteriorate and may cause economic and trade relations to regress and affect companies’ will to cooperate.”

“The responsibility is not China’s,” he added.

China’s top investors in the fivemonth period were Hong Kong, Taiwan, Singapore, South Korea and Japan, the ministry said.

Investment from South Korea and Britain jumped 87.9% and 62.2% respectively, while that from the United States dropped 9.3%, the ministry said, without providing values.

Foreign investment into China rebounded in 2013 to $117.59bn, though slowing growth in the world’s secondlargest economy could suppress inflows this year.

China’s economy expanded 7.7% in 2013, the same as 2012 - the worst pace since 7.6% in 1999. Beijing’s official growth target for this year is 7.5%, also the same as last year’s.

It grew 7.4% in the first three months of 2014, the worst pace since a similar 7.4% expansion in the third quarter of 2012. The commerce ministry also announced that China’s overseas investment in non-financial sectors in the first five months fell 10.2% year-onyear to $30.81bn.

Investment to the United States rose 144% year-on-year to $2.03bn, and that to the ASEAN countries increased 4.2% to $1.9bn, it said.

China’s investments into Hong Kong, the EU and Australia fell 32.6%, 9.2% and 3.2% respectively, it said.

But investment into Russia and Japan leapt by 105.7% and 141.9%”due to low comparison bases last year”, it said.

Beijing has encouraged Chinese companies to “go out” to seal supplies of crucial resources as well as make overseas acquisitions to gain market access and international experience.

China’s total outstanding overseas investment in non-financial sectors as of the end of May stood at $556.5bn, the ministry said. l

offered by Google.

It claims to have 240,000 apps, compared with over a million for iOS and Android, although some Android apps may work on Amazon devices.

Llamas said Amazon may have a hard time getting consumers to switch out of iOS or Android and could face similar troubles as Windows and BlackBerry, whose phones lack a broad ecosystem.

He added that some consumers might want to use an Amazon phone for shopping, but that consumers have a much deeper relationship with their phones.

“It’s not shopping all the time,” he said. l

Starbucks has announced that it will introduce a university education aid plan for its employees in a reflection of the skyrocketing cost of higher education in the United States.

The global chain of coffee shops said its full- and part-time US-based employees will be eligible for aid to complete a bachelor’s degree with Arizona State University (ASU), one of the country’s most active in providing online college degrees.

Nearly 70% of Starbucks US employees are college students or young people who want to go to college. It said that nearly half of Americans who begin college these days will not finish, largely because of high costs and difficulties in juggling jobs with the rest of their lives.

“Supporting our partners’ ambitions is the very best investment Starbucks can make,” the company said on its website. The cost of higher education is a red-hot topic today in America.

Universities have become so expensive - tens of thousands of dollars per year is a common figure even at non-elite schools - that students take out loans to get degrees and are saddled with huge debts they carry with them for years.

And economists warn these debts hinder the economy by preventing these young people from doing economy-stimulating things like starting families and buying big-ticket items like houses and cars.

Employees who join the program in their third or fourth year as per ASU’s admission requirements will earn full tuition reimbursement for each year of coursework they complete toward an undergraduate degree, Starbucks said.

First and second year students will receive a partial scholarship and needbased financial aid toward “the foundational work of completing their degree.

Partners will have no commitment to remain at Starbucks past graduation,” the company added. l

German investor confidence hits 18-month low n AFP, Frankfurt Investment sentiment in Germany fell to its lowest level for 18 months in June amid concern Europe’s top economy is losing momentum, a survey found yesterday.

The widely watched investor confidence index calculated by the ZEW economic institute fell by 3.3 points to 29.8 points in June, it said in a statement.

That was the lowest level since December 2012.

Analysts had been projecting a slight increase to around 35 points this month.

“The indicator has decreased for the sixth time in a row,” said ZEW president Clemens Fuest.

“The recent decrease, however, was notably less significant than the May decrease, when the indicator lost more than ten points.

“The German economy is currently in a very good shape, but further increases are becoming more difficult,” Fuest said.

“We had a strong first quarter in 2014 due to favourable weather conditions, but signs are that the second quarter will be weaker,” he said.

For the survey, ZEW questions analysts and institutional investors about their current assessment of the economic situation in Germany, as well as their expectations for the coming months.

The sub-index measuring financial market players’ view of the current economic situation in Germany rose by 5.6 points to 67.7 points in June its highest level since July 2011.

A frequent criticism of the ZEW index is that it can be volatile and is therefore not particularly reliable.

“There recently had been doubts and concerns about the strength of the German economy,” said ING DiBa economist Carsten Brzeski.

DILBERT

A man plays a football game during a sales promotion outside a store in Beijing on June 17. China is unlikely to resort to the kind of spending splurge that saw it through the 2008 financial crisis to deal with its slowing economy, analysts say, but recent moves to ramp up state support suggest it cannot wean itself completely off the stimulus drug AFP

Starbucks offers employees university aid n AFP, Washington

“Slowing emerging market economies, the economic weakness of Germany’s most important trading partner France and ongoing geopolitical conflicts close to Germany’s backyard looked set to take their toll on the German economy,” the expert said.

“However, fears of crash landing were overdone,” even if the fundamental risks had clearly not disappeared, Brzeski said.

Capital Economics economist Jennifer McKeown said investors had been unimpressed by the European Central Bank’s recent raft of monetary easing.

The ZEW reading “adds to signs that the German recovery is nearing a peak,” she said.

“Admittedly, the continued rise in the current conditions index is an encouraging sign that the recovery has continued for now,” McKeown noted.

Furthermore, the headline index was still above its long-term average.

“But the recent fall in this index, together with the softer tone of the business surveys lately, suggests that the Germany recovery might not gain much pace from here,” McKeown said.

Natixis economist Johannes Gareis similarly felt that “analysts don’t really believe in a positive impact of the ECB stimulus on the German economy.”

The renewed drop in the index “should also be seen against the background of still looming geopolitical risks,” Gareis said.

“Indeed, as the crisis in Ukraine is dominating the news again since the start of this week and Russia cut off gas supplies to Ukraine yesterday, it won’t be surprising to see an even lower ZEW headline index next month,” he said.

However, “although the German economy should slow down in the second quarter, simply due to the heightened level of activity given an exceptionally mild winter weather in Q1, the underlying cyclical upswing is likely to go on,” Gareis said. l