09 July 2014

Ashar 25, 1421 Ramadan 20, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 99

WEDNESDAY, JULY 9, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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FACTS AND FALLACIES

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TREEHOUSE | RULES OF THE GAME

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11 | BNP IS NOT THE WAY FORWARD

ISRAEL INTENSIFIES GAZA OFFENSIVE

Historic verdict ends 40-year dispute Bangladesh gets 19,467 sq-km out of 25,602 sq-km l Total sea area now 1,18,813 sq-km l Control over 10 hydrocarbon blocks l Sovereign rights up to 354 nautical miles from Chittagong coast

n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Bangladesh has gained a massive victory against India as Dhaka got 19,467 square kilometres of area out of total 25,602 sq-km of disputed area in the Bay of Bengal delimitation case.

“It is a victory for Bangladesh,” Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali told a press conference yesterday while disclosing the verdict of the case between Bangladesh and India.

He, however, congratulated the Indian government, saying it was the victory of friendship and a win-win situation for the people of the two neighbouring countries because the dispute had finally been resolved peacefully and according to international law.

“To achieve an equitable result, the tribunal awarded Bangladesh 19,467 sq-km area out of total disputed area of 25,602 sq-km,” the minister said.

Just after assuming office in 2009, the Awami League-led government made the political decision to resolve the maritime dispute with India

through an international court as Dhaka and New Delhi had failed to come to a solution in the past 40 years. It filed a case at the Permanent Court of Arbitration on October 8, 2009.

The court based in The Hague handed over the verdict on Monday and it was officially announced yesterday.

Bangladesh won more than 118,813 sq-km of waters altogether comprising territorial sea and an exclusive economic zone extending out to 200 nautical miles (370km), Mahmood said.

“Bangladesh also has undeniable sovereign rights in the seabed extending as far as 354 nautical miles [around 656km] from Chittagong coast in the Bay of Bengal with all the living and non-living resources,” he added.

Bangladesh won another case against Myanmar in 2012 following which it received over 111,000 sq-km of area, including the disputed 25,000 sq-km.

In both the cases, India and Myanmar stressed equidistance method whereas Bangladesh pressed for equity.

Germany’s Miroslav Klose consoles Brazil’s Oscar after the 2014 World Cup semi-finals between Brazil and Germany at the Mineirao stadium yesterday

Abject Brazil humiliated by Germany RAIHAN MAHMOOD

from Belo Horizonte, Brazil

Title contenders Germany inflicted a record 7-1 defeat on Brazil to storm into their eighth World Cup final after beating the hosts in a once in

n

Kamran Reza Chowdhury

A parliamentary watchdog yesterday vehemently opposed a proposal to empower deputy commissioners (DCs) to cancel the declaration of a newspaper for publishing anti-religious and anti-state reports.

The 10-member parliamentary standing committee on Information Ministry at its meeting unanimously agreed that authorising DCs to cancel newspapers’ declarations would not bode well for the government as well as democracy.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu, who is a member of the committee, told the meeting that the government believed in free press and had no agenda to close down newspapers.

Ahead of the three-day conference of deputy commissioners starting yesterday the DC of Pabna had sent a proposal suggesting that a newspaper’s declaration should be cancelled for printing “anti-religious and anti-state” items.

The DC asked the Cabinet Division to place his proposal to the conference.

If accepted in the DC conference, it  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Day Ramadan 10/July 9 Ramadan 11/July 10

Sehri – 3.46am

Iftar 6.53pm 6.53pm

a lifetime rout at the Stadium Mineirao on Wednesday.

In 1950 it was Maracanzo now in 2014 is Mineiraozo.

It proved to be Brazil’s biggest ever defeat surpassing their 6-0 loss to Uruguay in 1920. Germany also entered the record books as they inflicted the biggest win in the World Cup semifinals till date burning Brazil to ashes and

2nd Round

Details on page-15

surpassing the previous record of 6-1.

There were moments of madness in the Brazilian defence and a ruthless Germany effectively ended the game in the first 28 minutes when the stunned the world taking on the way to taking a

5-0 lead. What the Brazilian defence of David Luiz, Dante, Maicon and Marcelo were thinking would remain as mystery but they were clearly out of their depth against a red hot Germany.

They underestimated Germany and paid a toll. All of them were busy attacking, forgetting that Germany possess some of the the quickest runners  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

JS body against DCs’ control over press

SEHRI & IFTAR TIME

REUTERS

Uncle: Oishee not involved in parents’ murder n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu The plaintiff in the case filed for killing Special Branch police officer Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife yesterday said the couple’s daughter Oishee Rahman was not involved in the murders.

Oishee could not have murdered her parents, Moshiur Rahman Rubel, her uncle who filed the case, told the court during his deposition yesterday.

“I believe that my niece did not kill her parents. My brother investigated many cases, including political ones.

Some miscreants might have killed the couple over previous animosity,” he told Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Jahrul Haque.

“As my brother used to deal with political cases, he might have been the victim of conspiracy.”  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

INSIDE B4 | News

9 | World

6 | Nation

12 | Entertainment

“Knowledge first” is the corporate mantra of the company I work for – Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Among its knowledge-sharing initiatives, one brings senior leaders from corporate India to share their experiences.

Over 25,000 people from eight villages in Komol Nagar upazila, Lakshmipur have been spending sleepless nights in fear of losing their villages to the Meghna River as the land erosion there has taken a turn for the worse.

The United States has warned it would withdraw financial and security support from Afghanistan if anyone tried to take power illegally, as supporters of a presidential candidate rallied in Kabul for a parallel government.

While the film actors are busy working in special teleplays for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr festival, Anisur Rahman Milon, who started his journey in the showbiz as a TV actor, is still busy with films.

DCs seek more power to ‘deliver services’ Karim, Rabiul Islam n Mohsinul and Emran Hossain Shaikh Deputy Commissioners (DCs) from across the country yesterday proposed widening their jurisdiction to ensure law and order in the country.

The DCs of 64 districts at a three-day annual conference also urged Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to specify their functions as they “face multifarious

problems in discharging their duties.”

Three DCs and one divisional commissioner spoke at the conference. They sought block allocation for the DCs and supply of formalin-checking kits.

While inaugurating the conference the prime minister did not respond to the proposals. She, however, agreed to supply formalin-checking kits.

“The prime minister gave us some instructions to follow,” a DC told the

Dhaka Tribune over phone. He, however, did not elaborate.

Khulna Divisional Commissioner Abdul Jalil urged the prime minister to form a commission to determine their functions and jurisdiction and the relation between police and general administration, form a judicial review committee and to formulate a civil servant act.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Hafiz: India’s dominance established in Bay

Government to make fresh PSC model

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

n Aminur Rahman Rasel

BNP Vice-Chairman Hafiz Uddin Ahmed yesterday said India’s dominance had been established over the economic zone in the Bay of Bengal through the verdict in the long-running maritime boundary dispute with the neighbouring country.

The party, however, did not make any formal statement on the verdict.

The Permanent Court of Arbitration at The Hague in the Netherlands has awarded Bangladesh 19,467 square kilometres out of total 25,602 sq-km disputed area in the Bay of Bengal.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali disclosed the verdict at a press conference, saying: “According to the verdict, Bangladesh has finally won more than 118,813 sq-km of waters comprising territorial sea and exclusive economic zone extending out to 200 nautical

miles across a sizable area.

“This is a victory of friendship between Bangladesh and India. The maritime dispute between the two countries has come to an end following the verdict.”

In his instant reaction over the verdict, Hafiz, who was the water resources minister during the BNP’s rule, expressed concern as Bangladesh could not gain control over the Talpatti Island.

“I have found some inconsistencies in the verdict. Bangladesh could not establish its supreme dominance over the exclusive economic zone in the Bay of Bengal,” he said.

“But India got the power to establish its dominance there.”

About the Talpatti Island, Hafiz said Bangladesh had claimed the island as its territory since the rule of Ziaur Rahman, but Bangladesh did not get it as per the verdict. l

UP chairman sued for assaulting member n Our Correspondent, Madaripur

A female member of Ampara union parishad in Rajoir upazila filed a case with the local police station against its chairman for physically assulting her after acusing her of stealing money.

The victim, Sarwasati Baroi, filed the case with Rajoir police station yesterday, where she accused Ampara union parishad chairman Zamir Uddin Khan. The had incident had occured on Friday. However on Sunday, Sarwasati admitted herself to Madaripur Sadar Hospital for treatment.

On the other hand, the chairman earlier filed a case against the UP member for stealing Tk1 lakh from him.

Local sources said Tk1 lakh was stolen from Zamir’s drawer on June 29 and he used the help of a local shaman to identify the thief who blamed Sarwasati for the theft.

Later, Zamir charged Sarwasati and physicall assulited her with a stick before other UP members when she denied the allegation.

When contacted, Zamir refuted the allegations of beating, saying his rivals in connivance with Sarwasati was blaming him intentionally to gain influence over the local politics.

Uttam Kumar Pal, additional police super of Madaripur, said they would take action against the real culprits after investigation. l

OFFSHORE HYDROCARBON

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali speaks at a press conference yesterday after the international court at The Hague delivered verdict in the maritime boundary dispute case with India. Former foreign minister Dipu Moni and State Minister Shahriar Alam also spoke at the press conference MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Khaleda: Government’s guns will backfire one day n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said the government came to office riding on “barrels of guns” that would one day backfire.

The former premier also reiterated her demand of holding elections soon after arranging dialogues with political parties to resolve the deadlock.

“This illegal government has been staying in the office by using the force of gun power. We will wage movement after Eid. I want to tell the government to take initiative for holding election under a non-partisan government, as it still has time in its hand,” she said while attending an iftar party at the capital’s Ladies Club, organised by the Liberal Democratic Party, a member of the BNP-led 20-party alliance.

Issuing a note of warning, Khaleda said: “It is not possible to stay in office for a long time using gun power. This gun power will backfire one day. So be careful before the time expires.”

The BNP chief said the law and order situation of the country was shattered as there was no legitimate government in the country.

“The level of repression, killing and abduction has been increasing with each passing day. Earlier, only politicians were being abducted, but now businessmen and journalists are not being spared.”

Khaleda alleged that ruling party goons and intelligence officials of RAB-police were involved with the killings and abductions.

“RAB is involved with the killings and abductions. They abducted many

people and then killed them. As long as RAB remains, killing and abduction will not be stooped. They are killing people like a serial killer in exchange of money.”

The BNP chief reiterated her call for the disbandment of the crime-busting elite force as it failed to ensure people’s security.

Calling upon other political parties to join the BNP-led alliance’s movement that is slated to be waged after Eid, Khaleda said: “Samyabadi Dal has joined with us and many others are contacting with us. I wish to say it is not the time to judge who is big or who is small. We have to be united to wage movement to oust the fascist government from office.”

LDP chief Oli Ahmed, and senior leaders from the BNP and other alliance members joined the iftar party. l

JS body against DCs’ control

Uncle: Oishee not involved in parents’ murder

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

would pressure the government to restore the anti-press provision contained in the Special Powers Act 1974.

The interim government of Justice Shahbuddin Ahmed, who took over as president after HM Ershad’s fall in 1990, curtailed the government’s authority to cancel newspapers’ declarations.

Deletion of the section has ultimately seen a proliferation of newspapers in Bangladesh since 1991.

Coincided with the DCs’ conference, the standing committee discussed the issue raised by committee member Awami League’s Mrinal Kanti Das elected from Munshiganj 3 constituency.

The other attending members Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Sukumar Ranjan Ghosh, Simeen Hussain Rimi, Shaimum Sarwar Kamal and Tarana Halim supported his view on not retaining the power to the DCs. “One of our members raised the issue and we agreed that it must not be done. It will not bring any good to the country and democracy,” AKM Rahmatullah, the committee chairman

who presided over the meetingat the parliament building, told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.

Some members asked the minister if it was on the government’s table.

Mrinal Kanti Das told the Dhaka Tribune: “Newspapers are playing a good role. They are contributing to the forward march of democracy.”

Mrinal was an assistant office secretary of the Awami League, dealing with the press for years.

Hasanul Haq Inu told the meeting that his ministry had no information on moving such proposal.

“One DC sent a proposal to the Cabinet Division, not to the Information Ministry, for discussion at the DC conference. This is not the government’s position,” Inu told the meeting.

Simeen Hussain told the Dhaka Tribune that the standing committee also discussed illegal operation of local cable operators who run unauthorised programmes in different areas across the country.

“We have recommended legal measures against such practices,” she said. l

DCs seek more power  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Addressing the DCs, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina directed them to perform lawful responsibility rising above fear and temptation and remain active in protecting people’s interests.

“We need continuity of the development. We need your views in taking forward the projects taken up during the past tenure and new projects,” she said.

Hasina gave a 24-point directive to the DCs. She asked them to work in harmony with public representatives, rein in the prices of daily essentials, curb Islamist militancy and drug uses.

Talking about the January 5 election, she said people through their mandate had given them the opportunity to build a country free from hunger, poverty, terrorism and communism with the spirit of the Liberation War. “This is the first time in the country that power had been handed over from an elected government to another,” she said, thanking the DCs for successfully holding the January 5 election despite various adversities.

Hasina said her government was working ceaselessly to ensure overall welfare of the people by implementing various development programmes.

Referring to the context of the January 5 election at the conference, Khulna Divisional Commissioner Md Abdul Jalil said the election-time violence in Khulna division was a great example of sabotage.

He said the cut in magistracy power

and power to take cases into cognisance and decentralisation of administrative power had limited their authority.

Deputy Commissioner of Rangamati Mostafa Kamal too strongly spoke about widening the jurisdiction of the DCs. Madaripur DC GSM Zafarullah suggested that the government should supply formalin-checking kits and equipment to local administration.

The premier in her address urged the government officials to serve the nation like patriots.

“I hope that not only as public servants you would dedicate yourselves to the public welfare as patriotic citizens and also encourage your colleagues to this end,” she said.

The prime minister said universities would be established in every district under public and private initiatives to make higher education available at the local level.

Putting emphasis on keeping the prices of the essentials within the capacity of the common people, Hasina asked the DCs to strongly prevent any ill attempts of price hike through artificial crisis during Ramadan.

During an open discussion at the Prime Minister’s Office, 22 DCs participated in the discussion.

The DCs proposed forming a separate police unit under them, saying they often faced problems in maintaining law and order as they did not get support from district police. l

After his deposition the defence counsel cross-examined the witness.

The court fixed August 11 for the cross-examination of Oishee’s friends Mizanur Rahman Rony and Mahfuzur Rahman Jony.

Oishee and her friends Rony and Jony were present in the court during the deposition.

On May 6, the court framed charges against Oishee and her two friends.

On March 9, Abu Al Khair Matubbar, Detective Branch inspector who was investigating the case, submitted two charge sheets – one against Oishee and her friends, and another against housemaid Sumi, 15 – to the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

The bodies of SB officer Mahfuzur

Rahman and his wife were recovered from their rented residence at Chamelibagh in the capital on August 16 last year. The couple lived there with their two children Oishee and Oihee along with their domestic help Sumi.

Twenty-two hours after the incident, Oishee turned up at Paltan police station. The same day, detectives also

Historic verdict ends 40-year dispute  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

The minister said the judgement would ultimately help both the countries to move forward as the issue had been pending for about four decades. “The verdict enables both sides to move forward confidently into a new future and build a new era of understanding and cooperation in the maritime sector,” he said.

Exploration blocks

Secretary of the Maritime Affairs Unit M Khurshed Alam said India had claimed 10 exploration blocks in the Bay but the judges ruled that all the blocks would be retained by Bangladesh.

In 2005, the government took the initiative to award 28 blocks in the Bay. But Myanmar claimed that 17 blocks had fallen inside its territory while India claimed 10.

“According to the verdict, Bangladesh will lose a very small portion of the blocks in the west side of the Bay of Bengal,” he said.

The unresolved maritime boundary created severe obstacles to exploration and exploitation of natural resources, affected deep-sea fishing and the Bangladesh Navy and the Coast Guard experienced severe problems in exercising sovereign rights in the maritime areas.

South Talpatti

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said now there was no existence of South Talpatti in the Bay as the island had been washed away two decades back.

According to the border demarcation map by Radcliffe Line in 1947, South Talpatti was never a part of Bangladesh. Formed after 1970, the island was washed away after 1989.

“We claimed Talpatti before 1980 but we could never prove in any of our maps that Talpatti was a part of Bangladesh,” the minister added.

Former foreign minister and agent in the case Dipu Moni said Bangladesh never had an ideal map and almost all the maps showed Talpatti in Indian territory.

The Radcliffe Line in 1947 demarcated India and the then East Pakistan in such a manner that the location of South Talpatti fell into the territory of India.

Note of dissent

Out of the five members of the Tribunal, Judge Pemmaraju Sreenivasa Rao dissented in part with the decision reached by the majority of the Tribunal.

Rao agreed with the majority on the location of the land boundary terminus, the delimitation of the territorial sea and the identification of base points

for the construction of a provisional equidistance line in the exclusive economic zone and the continental shelf.

He, however, disagreed with the majority on the considerations that govern the adjustment of the provisional equidistance line.

He also disagreed – both as a matter of law and policy – with the creation of a “grey area” as a result of the adjustment the majority made to the provisional equidistance line.

Khurshed said: “The verdict was passed by 4-1 vote and [Rao’s] objection to some of the issues will not have any impact on implementing it.”

The verdict of the Permanent Court of Arbitration is binding to all parties and there is no option to file an appeal against it.

Grey area

The Tribunal noted that the delimitation line gave rise to an area that lies beyond 200 nautical miles from the coast of Bangladesh and within 200 nautical miles from the coast of India.

Within this grey area, the Tribunal noted: “Bangladesh has a potential entitlement with respect to the continental shelf, but not an exclusive economic zone, while India is potentially entitled to both zones.”

Khurshed said the area was about 50 sq-km and the water resources of the

Abject Brazil humiliated by Germany  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

in the field. It was agony to see the all German scorers unmarked. With the absence of Thiago Sliva, Dante was inserted in central defender, but David Luiz looked more like a forward than a defender. Their attacking approach saw them concede five goals in 28 minutes leaving them with nothing but pride to play for..

The mauling started in the 11th minute when Thomas Mueller duly anticipated a curved corner of Tony Kroos and enjoyed all the free space to sidefoot the ball into the near post. He was totally un-

marked and the goal was an easy one.

Then it was Miroslav Klose’s moment of glory in the 23rd minute. Tony Kroos laid the ball to Klose whose first attempt was saved by Caesar but the rebound was taken by Klose as he tapped home from a close range. It was 16th World Cup goal and he ascended the all time leading scorers throne overlapping Ronaldo who had 15.

Brazil and about 50 thousand fans in the Mineirao Stadium could not even imagine what would happen in the next four minutes. In the 24th, Philip Lahm, the coolest crosser of the world cut a low

cross to Tony Kroos, again unmarked and with a quick swing he put the ball into right hand post of Julio Caesar who was still to absorb the shock.

Two minutes later Sammy Khedira and Tony Kroos played one two and Kroos taped home his second in two minutes tapping the square pass in.

Germany sat on a four goal cushion.

Maybe any other team in the world would have taken their foot off the gas after surging to a four goal lead but the German ruthlessness and professionalism were evident when Sammy Khedira was set up by Mesut Ozil at the top

After a two-year recess, the government is set to formulate a fresh production sharing contract (PSC) model for awarding offshore hydrocarbon blocks in the Bay of Bengal.

The verdict on the maritime boundary dispute with India has prompted the Bangladesh government to take the initiative, State Minister for Energy Nasrul Hamid told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“We will soon float the fifth round of tender for shallow and deep sea blocks,” he informed.

The previous four rounds were floated in 2012, 2008, 1993 and 1974.

At a press conference yesterday, Md Khurshed Alam, secretary of the Foreign Ministry’s Maritime Affairs Unit, said India had claimed 10 blocks that fell inside the disputed territory but the verdict awarded all those blocks to Bangladesh.

He also said Bangladesh had lost small portions from some of the blocks.

Petrobangla Chairman Hossain Monsur said: “We are planning to fix higher purchase price for gas to attract international oil and gas companies.”

He also said they would hold talks with the Foreign Ministry to finalise a fresh maritime boundary map of hydrocarbon blocks.

He hinted that the fifth round of tender might be held towards the end of this year.

In 2012, Bangladesh won a few other offshore blocks from Myanmar following a verdict by another international court. Bangladesh now has 23 hydrocarbon blocks in the bay.

In 2011, a PSC was signed between ConocoPhillips and Petrobangla for exploring two offshore blocks. That was the country’s first ever deep-water hydrocarbon hunt. l

arrested Rony, Jony and domestic help Sumi.

Oishee, Jony and Rony are now in jail while domestic help Sumi is on bail.

On August 24 last year, Oishee and Sumi gave confessional statements before a magistrate.

Mahfuz’s brother Moshiur Rahman filed the murder case with Paltan police station against some unnamed people. l

area would be enjoyed by India while Bangladesh would enjoy the resources under the seabed.

Resources acquiring

Khurshed said every year about 60 lakh tonnes of fish are caught in the Bay of Bengal while Bangladesh catches only 2.9 lakh tonnes.

“We have about 50,000 wooden boats and 150 trawlers which catch fish up to 50 nautical miles of the Bay,” he said.

After the verdict, Bangladesh has sovereign right over the resources of 354 nautical miles in the sea.

‘India respects verdict’

Meanwhile, in response to a question on the awarding, the official spokesperson of the Indian Foreign Ministry said: “We respect the verdict of the Tribunal and are in the process of studying the award and its full implications.

“We believe that the settlement of the maritime boundary will further enhance mutual understanding and goodwill between India and Bangladesh by bringing to closure a long-pending issue.”

He expressed hope that the verdict paved the way for the economic development of this part of the Bay of Bengal, which would be beneficial to both countries. l

of the box, Khedira drilled a low shot past a diving Caesar.

The scoreline remained unchanged before the half time when a team concedes five goals the second half becomes ordinary. But it was against illuminated by substitute forward Andre Schuerrle. As Brazlian attackers went ahead in pursuit of a goal the quick footed forward added another two in 69 and 79th minute.

Oscar pulled back a consolation goal in the last minute of the match for Brazil. Truth be told it is was no consolation at all. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

NARAYANGANJ SEVEN MURDERS

CID ‘takes probe progress report back’ n Nazmus Sakib The CID has claimed that it was facing problems in making headway in the Narayanganj seven-murder investigation as the lower court had not provide them copies of the confessional statements of three former RAB officials.

The Criminal Investigation Department of police reportedly made the claim in its progress report which was recently submitted to the Attorney General’s Office. However, the report was brought back to the CID from the Attorney General’s Office yesterday, CID Additional Deputy Inspector general Mokhlesur

Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.

Replying to a query on why the progress report was taken back, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said it was their internal matter, adding that he had advised the CID on how a report should be made.

“A report should not be made in a way which is not acceptable to the court. I instruct CID in this regard. It is not a matter of correction,” he said.

However, sources said the report was sent back as there was “inconsistency” in the report; however they did not disclose what the inconsistency was.

Mahbubey said he would place the

CID progress report along with three other update reports today before the High Court bench of Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore.

CID official Mokhlesur said they would be able to determine the course of their probe if they received the confessional statements.

“We interrogated the RAB trio. But we need the confessional statements to verify whether the RAB former officials gave information similar to the interrogation.”

On Monday, the seven-member government probe committee and the IGP submitted their progress reports to the

Attorney General’s Office while on Sunday, RAB presented its departmental inspection report on progress regarding the Narayanganj seven-murder case.

Without revealing details, Mizanur Rahman Khan, a member of the seven-member committee, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had identified some suspects who might have been involved in committing the abductions and murders of seven people He, however, said they have not mentioned the information in the progress report. The committee has sought four more weeks to dig out the motive behind the murder, said Mizan. l

51 Bangladeshis back home from war-rife Iraq n Rabiul Islam A total of 51 Bangladeshi nationals returned home yesterday from war-riddled Iraq.

They landed at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport on a Qatar Airways flight around 5:30am.

Md Shariful Islam, one of the returnees, told the Dhaka Tribune they were serving as construction workers at Hanowa, a South Korean company.

The workplace was 10 kilometers from Baghdad.

“We have returned home on our own cost after resigning from the company for fear of losing our lives in the ongoing strife in the Middle Eastern country,” he said.

An expatriate ministry official had said there were around 25,000 Bangladeshi migrant workers in Iraq, of whom 1,500 were living in Mosul in a vulnerable state.

In mid-June last year, the government stopped sending Bangladeshis to Iraq because of the escalation of violence the country that is now reportedly teetering on the brink of civil war.

Several thousands of Bangladeshis are now waiting to be recuited for jobs in the Middle Eastern country. l

War crimes suspect Jabbar to be tried in absentia n Udisa Islam

The International Crimes Tribunal 1 has decided to commence the trial of war crimes accused engineer Abdul Jabbar in absentia and set July 20 for a hearing on charge framing.

The tribunal yesterday appointed Mohammad Abul Hassan as counsel to defend the fugitive accused.

On May 12, the tribunal issued arrest warrant against Jabbar, a former Jatiya Party MP, after taking the charges into cognisance. Before placing the charges, the prosecution claimed that the accused had been under their observation. But he is yet to be arrested.

After getting police report about the accused, the prosecution submitted that Jabbar was still fugitive. The tribunal ordered to publish advertisement in two newspapers asking Jabbar to appear before it on July 6.

The prosecution on May 11 brought five charges of crimes against humanity including murder, genocide and forced conversion against Jabbar, who had played a key role in forming razakar force in Mothbaria of Pirojpur.

The investigation agency handed over the probe report against Jabbar to the prosecution on April 29. l

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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

An SUV carrying the Anti-Corruption Commission chairman cruises on the wrong side of the road in front of the capital’s Ruposhi Bangla intersection yesterday as rows of cars wait in a long queue on the proper side of the road SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

RAB: Political aides planned attack on AL leader Shamim n Ashif Islam Shaon

Business-related feud prompted political associates to plot the murder attempt on Awami League leader Enamul Haq Shamim, RAB claims.

Addressing a press conference yesterday, RAB officials said leaders from several associate bodies of Awami League wanted Shamim – a member of the central committee of the Awami League – dead, while the mastermind behind the scheme was one of Shamim’s business partner. However, RAB did not disclose details on the plotters as investigation was still going on.

Members of the elite force also produced four arrested men – Monir Hossain, Md Harun, Mehedi Hasan and Nazrul Islam Jewel – in front of the media at the RAB headquarters. RAB said Monir and Jewel were involved with the planning of the attack, while the others worked as hired guns; all of them were arrested from different parts of the country.

Shamim, also a former president of Bangladesh Chhatra League, survived a drive-by shooting on June 19 at Dhanmondi, suffering two gunshot wounds on his hand.

RAB Spokesperson Wing Commander ATM Habibur Rahman said: “We arrested Monir from Rajbari’s Pangsha.

According to information extracted from him, we then nabbed Harun from Munshiganj, and Mehedi and Nazrul from Tejturibazar slum in the capital early today [Tuesday] and yesterday [Monday].”

He said Monir is an associate of Karwan Bazar’s notorious criminal Ashique and also an accused in the Faruk murder case. On the other hand, Mehedi is the prime accused in the murder of Rafique at Tejkunipara in 2006.

“We are not telling the name of the mastermind for the sake of investigation. The person is a business partner of

Shamim,” Habibur told reporters at the beginning of the briefing. However, after he started narrating RAB’s findings, he mentioned “Jasim” as a planner.

“Jasim prepared to spend Tk1 lakh to kill Shamim. He assigned Monir to make arrangements. Monir asked Jewel to hire shooters and select the place of attack.”

The criminals rented motorcycle and two pistols from Tejgaon’s arms dealer Sayeed, as well as hiring “professional killers” Harun and Mehedi to murder Shamim, the founder and president of Board of Trustees at Stamford University and vice-chairman of Port City International University in Chittagong.

On June 17, the shooters made their first attempt to kill Shamim in front of Stamford University’s Siddeshwari campus; but they were unsuccessful as the gun did not fire. Shamim did not realise at the time that he had been targeted.

Speaking in front of reporters, Mehedi admitted carrying out the attack on June 19, saying he and Harun had shot Shamim with Rana driving the motorbike.

“Rana told me that someone has suspended his big brother Jasim from Stamford University. For this they will need to shoot a teacher; not to kill, but to intimidate him. So, Rana bhai, Harun bhai and I went to Dhanmondi on June 19.

“Someone called Rana bhai on phone and said a car was coming. So, we also moved forward...I shot thrice from the left side of Shamim’s car. Harun bhai shot once, but his pistol got stuck and was not working,” Mehedi said.

“We were supposed to get Tk20,000 each. I got Tk5,000 and Harun bhai received Tk9,000 through bKash after some days. Jewel returned the arms to Sayeed after a day,” he added.

Both Mehedi and Harun claimed that Rana is a leader of the BCL’s Tejgaon thana ward number 48 unit. Jewel is also involved with the BCL and Sayeed with Swechchhasebak League, they added. l

Police: Allegation against NUB teacher unauthentic

CHTC: Arrest attackers, punish them

n Tribune Report

There is no freedom of expression or security in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) region for those working to learn about the complaints of the indigenous people, the CHT Commission claims.

At a press briefing at the National Press Club yesterday, the commission members also claimed that activists of some so-called organisations working to protect the rights of Bangalees in Rangamati had not stepped back despite the presence of the law enforcers.

Rather, they had expressed aggression toward the commission members.

CHTC Member Dr Iftekharuzzaman, also the executive director of the TIB, read out a written statement at the event. Co-Chairman of the commission Sultana Kamal also attended the press conference where they presented their report and recommendations from their visit to the CHT area during July 2-5. This was the commission’s seventh visit to the CHT area since 2008.

Iftekharuzzaman said they had successfully completed their mission in Khagrachhari on July 2. But after reaching Rangamati on July 4, the commission

Police have found no authenticity in the accusation against Rajib Hasnat Shakil, the lecturer at Northern University Bangladesh who was arrested for allegedly making derogatory remarks about Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. The police submitted the final investigation report to a Khulna court on July 6.

In the report, Maruf Ahmed, officerin-charge of Sonadanga police station and the investigation officer of the case, said: “We did not find any specific proof against the teacher during the investigation. We find the allegation baseless and unauthentic.

“We have made the final report on the basis of a written statement of an expelled student, Md Nayeem, where he said he was repentant for bringing such allegation against the lecturer.”

He further said: “After receiving the copy of the statement, we tried to contact Nayeem several times, but he was not available on phone. Later, we recommended to acquit the teacher

from the charges.” On July 3, Rajib was arrested at the university campus at Shibbari, Khulna.

Md Nasir Uddin Zobayer, assistant commissioner of Sonadanga zone police, said police filed a case against the teacher under special provision.

Rajib allegedly made the derogatory comments about Bangabandhu, President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during a lecture in his class in January.

Nayeem, a student in his class, opposed his remarks and protested the issue. Later, the university authorities expelled him following the protest.

Nayeem called a press conference in Khulna Press Club on June 29, and the Daily Janakhantha published a report on it on June 30. On that basis, Abdul Malek alias Moshiur Malek, president of Bangabandhu Foundation, filed a defamation case against Rajib and Dr Anwarul Karim, in-charge of the Khulna campus. Dr Karim was taken to Sonadanga police station and released after primary interrogation, said the assistant commissioner. l

n Abid Azad

members were attacked the next day by activists from some of the organisations.

For this, they had to postpone their visit to Bandarban and return to Dhaka.

Sultana said: “We visited the CHT areas to trace the reasons behind land grabbing and the violation of human rights. We also wanted to see the progress of the execution of the [1997] Peace Accord, to find out whether the CHT people are getting the benefits of the agreement and what the barriers are to its full implementation.”

In Rangamati, three members of the commission and the OC of sadar police station were injured in the attack that was carried out near the local DGFI office in the town around 2pm on July 5.

Earlier in the day, they protested outside the Parjatan Motel where the CHTC members were staying.

“Surprisingly, the police did not arrest anyone after the attack even though the incident took place in front of their eyes,” Sultana said. “The agitators attacked us in front of Sub-Inspector Yusuf and his subordinate members. But they did not make any attempt to prevent the attackers,” she said demanding the immediate arrest and punishment of the perpetrators.

DCs allege MPs’ interference in teachers’ recruitment n Rabiul Islam Deputy commissioners have alleged that local MPs interfere in recruitment of teachers and other related issues.

They made the allegation at a meeting with the education minister and primary and mass education minister at the conference room of the cabinet division. The meeting was part of a three-day deputy commissioners’

conference that started in Dhaka yesterday.

After the meeting, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid told reporters that the deputy commissioners had pointed out the interference of MPs in teachers’ recruitment and other issues.

“I have told them that we have taken steps to recruit qualified teachers,” he said, adding that no one would be

recruited without a National Teachers’ Recruitment Certificate (NTRC).

Nahid also said an MP can be the president of four colleges’ governing bodies. “We have set up a private commission for the recruitment of teachers and we will centrally recruit teachers,” he explained.

“As per the proposal made by the DCs, a committee headed by an additional deputy commissioner will be

formed to work for overall education,” he said.

The deputy commissioners also raised the issue of the shortage of teachers, the minister said. “It is true that there is a shortage of teachers,” he concurred.

He added: “We have recruited 150 headmasters in government schools and the recruitment of 50 principals for government colleges is in process.” l

She said before the visit, the commission had informed the administration, the police and several organisations. “But the police later claimed that they were not informed, which is totally false and baseless.”

When asked whether the agitating Bangalee Somo Odhikar Andolon members were involved in the attack, Sultana said they had no idea.

However, at a press conference in Chittagong after the attack, Sultana said: “A number of local people, inspired by Nurjahan, gathered around our [Parjatan] hotel and hurled abuse at us.”

On Monday, the commission filed a case against the leaders of Bangalee Somo Odhikar Andolon Nurjahan and Hiru Talukder and 20-25 unnamed others.

The commission suggested that the government should express their decisions on land acquisitions openly, considering public concerns over the previous incidents and should pay compensation to the affected people regardless of their identities.

The CHTC also demanded immediate withdrawal of the “false case” filed against the indigenous people for protesting the land acquisition by the BGB in Khagrachhari. l

DCs asked to open income tax offices n Tribune Report State Minister for Finance MA Mannan yesterday directed the DCs to open income tax offices.

At the DC conference, he said: “The government initiative to open income tax offices in districts and upazilas will increase the collection of income taxes.” l

Argument on Victim’s nephew testifies Hearing on Bergman’s contempt deferred Kamaruzzaman The tribunal issued a notice ask- and initiated the contempt proceedings n Udisa Islam against him on April 17. ing Bergman to explain why contempt appeal starts today against Maulana Subhan On June 15, following the hearing of and helped the freedom fighters at One of the International Crimes Tribu- charges should not be brought against Udisa Islam n that time. Everybody knew that. A nals fixed yet another date yesterday for him for the remarks made in his blog. Bergman’s reply, as Mizan Syed, then n Nazmus Sakib Bergman replied on March 18; but the acting on behalf of the petitioner, had day after he was captured by Subhan the hearing on the contempt allegations A prosecution witness yesterday said The Appellate Division yesterday fixed today to begin an argument over the war crimes appeal filed by death row convict Mohammad Kamaruzzaman.

A four-member bench, headed by Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, set the date after the defence completed reading out the 215-page verdict delivered by the International Crimes Tribunal 2 against the Jamaat-e-Islami assistant secretary general.

Earlier, hearing on the appeal started on June 4 this year. On May 9 last year, the tribunal sentenced Kamaruzzaman to death for committing crimes during the wartime. On June 6 last year, he filed the appeal with the Appellate Division, seeking acquittal. l

war crimes accused Maulana Abdus Subhan and his accomplices had confined and killed his uncle after severely torturing him for helping pro-liberation people during the Liberation War. Nizamuddin Khan, 61, the nephew of martyr Kolimuddin Khan, testified at the International Crimes Tribunal 2 as the 19th prosecution witness. He is from village Char Tarapur Tatipara under Pabna sadar police station.

Nizam said Subhan used to visit the razakar camp at Dublia Bazar in Sadulyapur union. The collaborators used to loot the houses of Hindu people of Dublia village. “My uncle Kolimuddin Khan, a retired army member, had tried to protect those Hindus

and other razakars, another uncle Noimuddin Khan and I went out to look for him and reached Kuchiamara Kali temple.

“There we heard the noise of a white jeep. Hiding in a bush, we saw Subhan and other razakars taking my uncle inside the temple. Some moments later, we heard gunshots and they left the temple. When we went inside, we found my uncle’s dead body.”

Nizam said his uncle had been abducted in the first week of September, 1971 from Dublia Bazar while he was having tea at a tea stall. Subhan and some armed razakars, including camp commander Samad, had abducted him. l

against David Bergman, raising questions about the sincerity of the petitioner.

The three-member tribunal 2 passed the order as the petitioner’s lawyer failed to appear while his replacement sought more time.

New lawyer Moksedul Islam said Mizan Syed, the conducting counsel of the petitioner, could not appear because of illness. In reply, the tribunal said: “Are you at all sincere about the contempt petition or have you just filed it?”

On February 18, Supreme Court practitioner Abul Kalam Azad filed a contempt of court petition against Bangladesh-based British journalist David Bergman for his “derogatory” remarks made about the tribunal in a blog post.

court was not satisfied with the reply

sought more time for preparation. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Motorbike-stealing gang nabbed n Tazlina Zamila Khan

Hearing on radarpurchase graft case set for August 20 n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

The police have arrested around 15 members of a Mirpur-based gang that was involved in stealing motorbikes and later selling them after fabricating ownership documents.

A four-member team from the capital’s Mirpur police station arrested members of the “Sadek-Ashik gang” over the past three days from different parts of the country and seized a large number of motorbikes from their possession.

The motorbikes were mostly recovered from different areas in Jessore's Kotwali upazila and Satkhira district.

Mohammad Russel, the sub-inspector of Mirpur police station who led the drive, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The police have recovered 225 motorbikes, a large number of motor parts and fake documents. Those motorbikes were mostly stolen from the capital’s Mirpur area.”

Although the drive had begun eight days ago, the police only managed to recover the stolen motorbikes during the last three days, Russel said.

The Mirpur SI added: “The gang stole around five motorbikes a day.

Usually five members of the gang do the stealing.”

The detained 15 gang members – including a woman – are: Sadek, Ashik, Munira, Mostafiz, Bhanu, Mokbul, Harun, Sorob Dalal, Milon, Tarikul Islam, Anwar Hossain, Rashed, Rana, Shahjahan and Nur Mohammad.

The sub-inspector said the Sadek-Ashik gang worked in separate groups and used a special key to unlock and start the engine of any motorbike.

Once the vehicle was picked up, it was driven towards the Aricha ferry terminal where two other gang members crossed the river on a ferry with the motorbike for Tk500.

A Dhaka court yesterday fixed August 20 for the start of the hearing argument in the radar-purchase corruption case against Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad and three others.

Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Jahrul Haque also ordered a transfer of the case to the previous District and Sessions Judge’s Court of Dhaka, which sent it to the court for its disposal in 1994.

On June 11, Judge Abdur Rashid of the Special Court for Dhaka Division expressed his reluctance to proceed with the radar purchase graft case trial.

Ershad, also special envoy to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, former chiefs of air staff Sultan Mahmud and Momtaj Uddin Ahmed and Director of United Traders AKM Musa had been accused in the graft case.

Of them, Musa has been absconding since the beginning of the trial process while the other two are out on bail.

On April 24, the court completed the recording of the depositions made by prosecution witnesses.

The court has so far recorded the depositions of 12 out of 38 prosecution witnesses in the case.

Assistant Superintendent of the then Anti-Corruption Bureau Md Ali Haider filed the case with Cantonment Police Station against five accused on April 4, 1992.

On October 27, 1994, investigation officers Manjur Ahmed and Abdus Sattar Sarker submitted the charge sheet against the four accused and the court framed the charge against them on August 12, 1995.

The complainant alleged that Ershad, in collusion with the others, purchased radars for Bangladesh Air Force (BAF) and caused the state a loss of Tk640.4 million. l

Hearing of Khaleda’s pleas on July 13 n Nazmus Sakib The Supreme Court yesterday set July 13 for the hearing of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s petitions which question High Court rulings, clearing a way for her trial in two graft cases.

Chamber Judge Justice Hasan Foez Siddique fixed the date, sending the two stay petitions to the full bench of the Appellate Division for hearing.

Anti-Corruption Commission Counsel Khurshid Alam Khan said there was no legal bar to starting the trial of Khaleda as the top court did not stay the High Court rulings.

However, defence counsel Md Asaduzzaman said because a date had been fixed for the hearing of the pleas by the apex court, the lower court could not start a trial of the former premier.

On June 19, trial court Judge Basudev Roy, who indicted her in the cases, scheduled the recording of testimonies against Khaleda for today, after the High Court rejected petitions disputing the appointment of the judge.

On Monday, Khaleda filed petitions with the Appellate Division seeking a stay over her trial and the High Court rulings. l

More than 200 stolen motorcycles, recoverd by law enforcers from different areas of the capital, are seen parked inside Mirpur police station yesterday On the other side of the river, it was Ashik, Sadek, Milon, Rana and Mostafiz who transported the motorbikes to Satkhira or Jessore on a truck. The motorbikes were later kept at the home of Mostafiz where the vehicles were modified, while Milon and his wife Munira

worked on creating fake documents.

The stolen motorbikes were sold for around Tk20,000-Tk30,000; with Munira getting Tk1,000-Tk2,000 for her work, while Ashik, Milon, Rana, Mostafiz and Sadek getting Tk5,000 each.

Russel said: “The tendency of steal-

Charge framed against two in Ctg mother, daughter murder case n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Chittagong court yesterday framed charges against two in connection with the gruesome murder of Saima Naznin and her mother Rizia Khatun at their residence in Chittagong city on March 24 this year.

“Chittagong Metropolitan Session Judge, SM Mojibur Rahman indicted Abu Raihan alias Arju, 21, victim Saima’s friend, and his associate Mohammad Shahid, 25, an alleged hitman,” said Omar Fuad, bench assistant of the court.

The court also fixed August 4 for starting the deposition recording in the case, he said.

On May 25, Sub-Inspector Mainuddin of Double Mooring Police Station, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet before the General Registry Office of Chittagong Metropolitan Court naming the two accused.

In the eight-page charge sheet, the investigation officer said the ac-

cused killed victim Saima, a Secondary School Certificate (SSC) candidate, and her mother after being rejected by Saima for a love affair.

On March 24, Rizia and Saima were killed in their residence in the port city’s CDA Residential area allegedly by Raihan while Saif Reza, elder brother of Saima, claimed Raihan, a local boy, used to harass Saima for a long after being rejected for a love affair.

Rezaul Karim, husband of Rizia, lodged a case with Double Mooring Police Station accusing Raihan and some unidentified persons in this connection.

On early March 26, police nabbed Raihan from Malibag area of the capital while Shahid was arrested from Khulshi in the port city a day before.

Both the arrestees confessed before the law enforcing agencies about their involvement with the murder while Raihan gave his confessional statement before a Chittagong court under section 164 of Criminal Procedure Code on March 27. l

ing motorbikes has risen in the capital. Dhaka Metropolitan Police has launched many drives to arrest the culprits.”

Speaking about the trade of selling stolen motorbikes, DMP Mirpur zone Deputy Commissioner Imtiaz Ahmed

said: “Motorbikes are usually mostly stolen from Dhaka and Chittagong, and are later sent to Faridpur, Manikganj, Jessore and Satkhira. There are also motorbikes that are stolen from other districts as well, which are then sent to Dhaka, Chittagong and Sylhet.” l

81 gold bars seized at airport, 2 held n Tribune Report

Ex-CU officials get three-year sentence

Customs Intelligence and Investigation Directorate (CIID) and Armed Police Battalion arrested two persons with 81 gold bars in two separate drives yesterday at the capital's Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport.

The detained are Alauddin and Shahin from Noakhali and Chittagong, respectively.

The seized gold bars, weighing 10kg, are worth around Tk5 crore, confirmed Deputy Director of Airport Customs Intelligence Mostafizur Rahman.

He said Alauddin came to Dhaka from Doha on a Qatar Airways flight around 5:45am. On being tipped off, custom officials searched his body and luggage and seized 64 gold bars weighing around 7kg and worth around Tk3.74 crore.

In another drive, APBn arrested Shahin with 17 gold bars.

Shahin arrived in Dhaka on a United Arab Emirates Airlines flight around 7:30am.

The 3kg of gold bars are worth Tk1.11 crore.

Two separate cases were lodged with Airport Police Station in this regard. l

Workshop held at ASAUB n Tribune Report

Intra-NSU Model UN Conference held n Tribune Report North South University’s Model United Nations Club (NSU MUN Club) recently organised Intra-NSU MUN Conference at the university.

The conference aimed at giving a glimpse of the UN’s operations, while preparing a training module for the NSU students. Inaugurated by Professor M Emdadul Haque, club coordinator of NSU, the programme was addressed

by Dr AQMA Rahman Bhuiyan, faculty adviser. Towkir Islam Khan, co-founder and current president of the club, and Zunayeed N Alam, co-founder and secretary-general of the club, were also present at the event.

The conference’s theme was UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). It consisted of four com-

mittees: the General Assembly Third Committee (GA3), the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) and the United Nations Security Council (UNSC).

Around 170 students from all departments of the university participated in the day-long workshop that led to the two-day conference. The workshop was held to make the delegates aware of the rules and procedures of the conference.

The closing ceremony was attended

by Professor Amin U Sarkar, the university’s vice-chancellor. Professor Haq and Dr Bhuiyan, as well as special guests Md Moniruzzaman, officer-in-charge of the United Nations Information Center, and Faiyaz Murshed Kazi, director of United Nations Desk at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, addressed the closing ceremony. l

A workshop on personal grooming, CV writing and presentation skill development was recently organised by ASAUB Language Club at ASA University Bangladesh. Md Sadrul Asrar, CEO of Aspire Consulting, was the key note speaker at the event.

The prize giving ceremony of Aptis and British Council Book Reading com-

petition also took place at the event.

Professor Dr Dalem Chandra Barman, vice-chancellor of the university, presented the prizes among the winners.

Under the supervision of the convener Diana Ansarey, assistant professor at the department of English in the university, ASAUB Language Club organises competitions and workshops every semester with the vision of promoting self-development. l

Leadership programme held at Brac University n Tribune Report The Career Services Office (CSO) of Brac University recently hosted “Unilever Leadership Internship Program” at the university auditorium, aiming to bridge the gap between academia and industry.

Mononita Syed Haq, director of human resources at Unilever Bangladesh Ltd, Taslima H Jaigirder, leadership development manager at Unilever Ban-

DHAKA TRIBUNE

gladesh Ltd, and Mr Khan AN Murshid, director of CSO, shared their insights on the importance of leadership.

Mononita said: “Be a sponge, never be a rock. If you are a sponge, you can absorb and grow. An inflexible mind will prevent you from consuming knowledge and thus excelling.”

The event also short-listed students through aptitude, numerical, analytical and English proficiency tests to seek out potential leaders for training. l

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Chittagong court sentenced three former officials, including a former exam controller, of Chittagong University with three years of imprisonment in two separate cases yesterday.

The court also fined each convict with Tk3,000, and if they failed to pay the fine, they would be served with an additional six-month imprisonment for each case, said court sources.

The verdict of the two cases would be implemented at the same time, they added.

Chittagong Divisional Special Judge SM Ataur Rahman gave the verdict in the presence of the three accused – former exam controller GM Latif, former deputy exam controller Habibur Rahman, and former section officer Nasir

Uddin, said Advocate Mezbah Uddin, counsel of the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC).

Nurul Huda Azad, then deputy director of ACC in Chittagong, filed the cases against the convicts with Hathajari police station on November 30, 1997, accusing them of forging results at the university’s law department in 1990 and 1993.

The convicts forged the five transcripts of a Master’s course in 1990, and 48 transcripts of the same course in 1993, to give pass marks to the students, according to the case documents.

The court framed charges against the accused on November 25, 2002 and gave the verdict after taking the testimony of eight witnesses, said the prosecutor. l

ABDUCTION OF BANGALI WORKERS

Combing rescue operation rolls into deep forest in Khagrachhari Correspondent, n Our Khagrachhari Security forces began raiding the forest to rescue four bridge construction workers who were abducted, allegedly for extortion, from Bangmara under Matiranga upazila in Khagrachhari on Sunday night.

“We have raided several spots deep in the forest in collaboration with the army over the last two days, but no one had been rescued by the afternoon [yesterday],” said Mohammad Mainuddin Khan, officer-in-charge at Matiranga police station.

“We have also engaged intelligence forces to find out clues regarding the whereabouts of the abducted workers,” he said, adding that no case had been filed with them yet.

Earlier, on Sunday night, bulldozer driver Faruq Ahmed, 25, helper Mohammad Hasan, 24, from Feni, helper Raju Ahmed, 22 from Mymensingh and Liakat Ali,

40, from Chittagong were abducted, allegedly by the cadres of United People's Democratic Front (UPDF) at gun point. They had then been taken deep into the forest in the hilly district.

UPDF Press Secretary Niron Chakma, however, denied their involvement in the abduction and said the UPDF believes in democracy, not in abductions.

Meanwhile yesterday, Joint Secretary of Parbattya Chattagram Bangali Chhatra Parishad (PBCP) Engineer Abdul Mazid condemned the abduction of the four Bangali workers and demanded their immediate release.

He also threatened the government with tougher movements, including road blockades and hartals if Bangali workers are not released by today. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Dhaka-Barisal highway becomes risky for vehicles n Our Correspondent, Barisal Several portions of the Dhaka-Barisal highway have become risky for vehicles as many potholes and ditches on the thoroughfare have become hard to detect in the monsoon.

While talking to drivers who commute daily through the highway, it was learnt that the repair works at the Vurghata-Madaripur portion of the highway had been going on speedily, but the Barisal-Vurghata portion had been completely ignored.

“Vehicles have no other choice but to use the highway to transport commuters in the area, risking lives and causing damages to vehicles daily,” said Dipak Das, one of the leaders of Barisal bus owners association.

“Several deep potholes had formed on the 13-kilometers road from Barisal

to Rahamatpur and on 27-kilometers on Joyoshri-Vurghata parts,” said a truck driver while travelling through this route.

“Except for the eight-kilometer road at the Bir Shrestha Mustafa Kamal Bridge at Doarika and Major MA Jalil Bridge at Shikarpur, all other portions in this route are in a depleted condition, making it risky for both vehicles and passengers,” said Aftab Hossain, another leader of the road transport owners.

However, Khalid Shahed, executive engineer for road and highways at Barisal office, claimed the repair works of the portion under Barisal road division had already begun where initially the potholes will be repaired.

He also said after completing the filling and repairing of holes and pitches, bitumen carpeting would be done later as rain may affect the work. l

5

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Two killed in city road accidents n Tribune Report

Travellers have to suffer immensely because of the dilapidated condition of the Dhaka-Barishal Highway which has multiplied during the ongoing monsoon. The photo was taken from Bashipur area of Barisal yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

CHITTAGONG BUSINESSMAN'S DEATH IN POLICE CUSTODY

Two people were killed yesterday in separate road accidents in the capital.

Around 3pm, a bus hit a woman in the capital’s Rayerbag area in Old Dhaka.

The victim was Anarkali, 55, from Shafipur village of Shariyatpur district.

Her husband Hazrat Ali is a private car driver.

Her elder daughter Beauty said: “My mother and I went to Rajdhani Super market to do some shopping for Eid. After getting off from the bus at Rayerbag bus stand, we were crossing the road when a bus hit my mother. Later, I took her to Dhaka Medical Collage Hospital where the duty doctors declared her dead.”

In another incident, a local bus hit Monwara Begum Halima, 35, around 6am in front of Engineers Institute.

The deceased’s husband Zakir Hossain said: “I cannot walk, so my wife and I beg for a living. Yesterday morning a local bus hit my wife and left her spot dead.”

The couple reside in front of the High Court Mazar in the capital and are originally from Rupganj upazila, Narayanganj. l

DOCTORS’ STRIKE CONTINUES

Five more policemen suspended, two sent to jail Health services come n to a halt in Khulna Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) yesterday suspended four policemen and a Bangladesh Ansar member in connection with the death of a businessman while in police custody. The victim was accused in a rape case.

Meanwhile, a Chittagong court sent two suspended police officials – Sub Inspector (SI) Amir Hossain and Constable Moslem Uddin of Panchlaish Police Station – to jail in relation to the custodial death, CMP and court sources said.

The suspended law enforcers are Assistant Sub Inspector (ASI) Enayet Hossain of Bakalia Police Station, Constables Mizanur Rahman, Akbar and Khokon Mia, and Ansar Constable Shahinur Alam of Panchlaish Police Station, CMP Additional Commissioner

(Admin, Finance and Traffic) AKM Shahidur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.

On June 19, Md Rokunuzzaman, 45, a local housing businessman, died in police custody after a police team picked him up from his residence on Syed Shah Road in the Bakalia area of Chittagong City.

“According to the autopsy report, Rokunuzzaman had been beaten before his death. The CMP suspended five more policemen after initially suspending the first two. Police later arrested two of them after the victim’s wife sued them,” Shahidur said.

CMP Additional Deputy Commissioner (Prosecution) Md Rezaul Masud said the court of Metropolitan Magistrate Rahmat Ali sent the two previously suspended and arrested policemen, SI Amir and Constable Moslem, to jail.

Family members alleged that a police team led by SI Amir picked Rokunuzzaman up from his residence saying that he had been accused in a rape case lodged on June 5 with Panchlaish Police Station.

Shimu Akhter, the deceased’s wife, claimed that police beat her husband to death on board the police vehicle.

Harunur Rashid, a cousin of the deceased, said the police team kicked Rokunuzzaman in the chest after entering his residence and that police informer Jamal beat him, making him sicker.

The police refuted the allegation, saying Rokunuzzaman died of cardiac arrest or that he had become hypoglycemic.

An unnatural death case was lodged with Panchlaish Police Station and

police source Jamal was taken into custody.

On June 25, Shimu lodged a murder case before a Chittagong court naming SI Amir, ASI Enayet, Constable Mizanur, Moslem, Akbar and Khokon Mia, Ansar Constable Shahinur, police sources Md Jamal and Humayun Kabir and a local man named Harunur Rashid Duke.

Taking the allegation into cognizance, the court ordered the Deputy Commissioner of Detective Branch (DB) of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) to investigate the matter and submit a report by July 23.

In addition to the regular investigation, the court also ordered the Deputy Commissioner of DB to seize the evidence, record witness statements and, if necessary, to conduct a post mortem. l

Most Sreepur public lakes being filled up n Our Correspondent, Gazipur More than 50 government water-bodies in Sreepur upazila of the district are being illegally filled by some imprudent locals who took them on lease for fish farming.

Consequently, the biodiversity of the upazila has become imbalanced and fish collection from natural sources has become minimal.

Sources at Sreepur fisheries office said there are 191 water-bodies in the upazila and some influential local people took half of them on lease from the local administration for one year, although the water-bodies were sup-

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WEDNESDAY, JULY 9 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:50PM SUN RISES 5:18AM FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

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Rangpur

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Khulna

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Barisal

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Sylhet

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PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

olation of the terms and conditions.

Akin to the aforesaid incident, a public lake had already been filled by a lessee near Gararan Madrasa in Barmi, erasing all traces of any water-body from there.

The filling of one water-body near Mizanur Rahman Degree College in Sreepur municipality was at full swing while another such case was seen at Ananda bazar in Gazipur Union.

In this way, the injudicious lessees have been gradually encroaching on the public water-bodies.

A fish cultivator Akter Hossain from Barmi union alleged that indigenous fish from the local lakes have become rare in

the bazars and they have to import these species from elsewhere in the country for cultivation. Incessant filling of water-bodies by the unscrupulous lessees has caused this problem, he alleged.

Sreepur Assistant Commissioner (land) Nazmul Islam Bhuiyan said they have cancelled the leases of most of the water-bodies on charges of earth filling.

Regarding the Standard Group boundary wall, the commissioner said they were taking preparations to recover the lake.

Sreepur Senior Fisheries official Mohammad Emdadul Hoque assured that actions would be taken against the wrongdoers. l

Health services has virtually come to a halt in Khulna as doctors of government and non-government hospitals have been observing work abstention since Saturday.

Several doctors’ associations – Bangladesh Medical Association, Bangladesh Private Medical Practitioners Association and Bangladesh Private Clinic and Diagnostic Owners’ Association went on the strike on Sunday morning, protesting vandalism and abduction of an intern doctor by fellow students.

Hundreds of patients were compelled to returned back to home without treatment A student of Khulna University was injured in a road accident on June 2. He was taken to Gazi Medical College and Hospital from where he was referred to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Later, he died on the way there.

As soon the news of Amit Roy’s death, spread his friends rushed to the hospital and ransacked it. He was a first year student of Fine Arts Institute of the KU. His friends alleged that medical negligence was the cause of his death.

They also allegedly abducted an intern doctor.

In Khulna, a total of 108 private-

ly owned and state-owned hospitals, clinics and diagnostics centres have remained under lock and key for the strike.

Agitators threatened that they would continue the strike until students, who were involved in the vandalism, are arrested.

Yesterday, doctors of 10 hospitals joined the movement.

Visiting different clinics and hospitals in Khulna this correspondent found that hundreds of patients were compelled to returned home without treatment.

Tanu Roy, a resident of Dumuria upazila came to Ad-Din Hospital with abdomen aches, but she returned home without any assistance from doctors.

She said, “I do not know when the hospital will open? I do not have any opportunity to come again for financial problems.”

The striking doctors have submitted a memorandum to KMP commissioner urging him to arrest the vandalisers and abductors.

Meanwhile, hundreds of students of the KU formed a human chain on campus demanding compensation for the family of Amit and the withdrawal of the case filed against students.

Leaders of Khulna Awami Legue have asked doctors to immediately withdraw their strike.

They said this crisis could be resolved through friendly discussions between the authorities of KU and leaders of the BMA and the BPCDOA. l

Protests against no-break exams proposal across the country

WEATHER

36.2ºC Khulna

posed to go to land-less people.

The lessees renew their leases regularly and have been filling the lakes while running their businesses so that the authorities concerned could not identify their misdeed easily.

While visiting, this correspondent found that one company named Standard Industrial Group erected a boundary wall around the three-acre water-body they had leased in Mulaid area of Telihati union a couple of years ago and filled it.

Afterwards, the company alleged that they had renewed the lease earlier, and started illegally building establishments on the public land, which was a gross vi-

n Our Correspondent, Khulna

3:50am 5:16am 12:04am 4:44pm 6:50pm 8:17pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

n Tribune Report

Students, especially candidates of Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC) examination next year, staged protests across the country against the education minister’s proposal to hold all public examinations without any break in the schedule in order to avert question paper leakage.

In the capital, several hundred students from different colleges came together to form a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday in protest of the proposal.

They claimed they would face difficulties in preparing properly for the exams if there were no gaps in the schedule.

Blaming the administration for the question paper leakage, they said students should not have to suffer for the irresponsible behaviour of the administration.

The students carried placards, posters and banners that demanded punishment for those responsible for the question leaks.

In Chittagong, around 1,000 students from colleges like Government Hazi Mohammad Mohsin College, Chittagong Government College, Ispahani Public School and College, and other formed a human chain on the Chittagong Press Club premises yesterday morning.

Carrying festoons and placards, the students said the decision would cause severe mental pressure on them during the examination as there would be no gap between two exams.

Demanding immediate withdrawal of the proposal, they also questioned the Education Ministry role and asked why the students should bear the responsibility of question paper leakage.

They also urged the ministry to chalk out the routine considering at least two- or three-day gap in the examination schedule.

The protesters said they would hand over a memorandum to the deputy commissioner of Chittagong district today.

In Kishoreganj, hundreds of students, under the banner of Sushil Chhatra Somaj, took part in a human chain in protest of the proposal.

The human chain was addressed by college students Moinul Hasan Omi, Tasnim Islam Anam, Safat Ahmed Utsha, Osman Habib, Abedin Sulaiman, Jahan Hasan, Shafiqul Islam Shakil, Akif Aksar Mayas, Farhana Rashid and Ratree Shikdar.

The speakers said students were not responsible for question paper leakage but suffered the worst in the situation.

They also demanded strict punishment for the culprits involved in question paper leakage.

Condemning the proposal to conduct public examinations without interval, they said if the Education Ministry did not put intervals in the exam schedule, students would not get expected results.

Meanwhile, students under the banner Chhatra Somaj and Udvas Chhatra Shangathan held a protest rally in Kishoreganj district town yesterday, demanding cancellation of the proposal.

Students form a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding punishment to the people involved in question paper leakage and withdrawal of the decesion to hold public examinations without interval MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU The students took position at Doyamoyi intersection in the town at 11am for an hour for the demonstration.

On July 2, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said the ministry was planning to reform public examination system and there would be no gap between examinations, except for public holidays.

“It is not possible to conduct examinations for one and a half month … the examination system must be reformed,” Nahid said while speaking at a press briefing at the secretariat that day.

At present, there is one-, two- or three-day break before examinations of more difficult subjects. Due to these

breaks, the entire examination takes at least 30-45 days to finish.

The education minister made the statement as a probe committee formed to investigate question paper leakage suggested that there should not be any gap between exams and, if possible, two examinations could be held on a single day. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

River erosion creates havoc in eight villages of Lakshmipur Many houses, roads, culverts and various government and nongovernment installations have been eroded into the river

n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur Over 25,000 people from eight villages in Komol Nagar upazila, Lakshmipur have been spending sleepless nights in fear of losing their villages to the Meghna River as the land erosion there has taken a turn for the worse.

The affected villages are Charkalkini Union Parishad’s Charshamsuddin, Matirhat, Taltoli, Hajiganj, Kadirpanditerhat, Charjagbandhu villages and Chaffalkan Union Parishad’s DS Falkan and Ludhua Falkan.

This correspondent visited the affected areas and riverside villages and found that the land, with houses, roads, culverts and various government and non-government installations, had been eroding into the river.

Nine villages, including Charkakra, Shaheberhat and Batirghat of Charkalkini Union Parishad, Charkotoria, Charkhrishnapur and Pashchim Charfolkon of Charfolkon Union Parishad, have so far fully eroded into the river over the last four decades.

Due to that, around 35,000 people have become homeless. Most of them are now living in their makeshift houses at Sadar and Suborno Char upazilas in Noakhali and at Sadar and Komol Nagar upazilas in Lakshmipur.

Local people say no effective measures have been taken as yet to stop the erosion Others have taken shelter on the Water Development Board embankment at Komol Nagar upazila of Lakshmipur and are making ends meet with difficulty.

A local NGO says about 10,000 acres of cropland, 10 government and non-government educational institutions, five flood shelter centre colonies, 20 kilometres of embankments and many other installations have sunk into the river over the last 40 years.

Even after so many incidents, local people say no effective measures have

been taken as yet to stop the erosion.

They say they have written to the local administration, submitted a memorandum to the prime minister and held a long march, but their sufferings have yet to be recognised by the relevant authorities.

Charfolkon Union Parishad Chairman ANM Ashraf Uddin says hundreds of people have become homeless thus far as around 8 square kilometres of his union area sank into the river.

He says over 10,000 people of DS Falkan and Ludhua Falkan villages are now living in fear of losing their lands and homesteads to the river at any time in this season.

Executive Engineer at Water Development Board, Lakshmipur ATM Khalequzzaman, however, says there is no project now to prevent such erosion in the upazila. However, a Tk198 crore development project will soon be started here to prevent the erosion.

He says the project may be approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council within a few weeks. l

Row over freedom fighter status Annual allowance of 22 people, whose freedom fighter status is disputed, in Belkuchi of Sirajganj has been suspended as they were said to have been falsely included in the list of freedom fighters.

They are Md Fazlul Haque Sarkar, Moazzem Hossain, Khadija Begum, Iqbal Ahmedul Kabir, Sanwar Hossain, Asma Khatun, Abdur Razzak, Jahanara Begum, Joynal Abedin, Saidur Rahman, Halima Begum, Abdul Jalil Mondol, Abdur Bari Mia, Hamidul Islam, Lutfar Rahman, Shahjahan Ali, Mozammel Haque, Abdur Rashid, Sanwar Mondol, Afsar Ali, Jahura Bewa and Aloa Begum.

The deputy commissioner of the area suspended the allowance in response to a written complaint submitted by Abdul Hamid Sarkar, former freedom fighter commander of Belkuchi, to the Ministry of Liberation

War Affairs.

Complainant Abdul Hamid said incumbent Freedom Fighter Commander Shahidur Reza, the upazila nirbahi officer and the social welfare official drew up a list of 69 people in addition to the previous list containing 253 names.

Of the 69, 22 are not freedom fighters which is why their allowance was put on hold when a complaint was submitted to the Liberation War Affairs Ministry, he claimed.

Apart from this, a person named Nazrul was said to have falsely been provided with a freedom fighter certificate back in 2011. Two of Nazrul’s sons secured jobs in the police department using the certificate but a probe into the alleged malpractice is currently underway as the matter was exposed three years later.

Shahidur Reza, also an official of Sohagpur branch of Sonali Bank, said former commander Abdul Hamid was also

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Azizul Haque College beset with multifarious problems

Allowance of 22 suspended in Sirajganj

n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj

A portion of the house located at Matirhat village in Jamalpur has been eroded by the Meghna River. The photo was taken yesterday

a signatory to the list of people selected for allowance.

“However, as he lost to me in the polls, he mentioned 22 of his fellow freedom fighters, whose names also appeared in the gazette, as fake and complained against them to the ministry. Besides, I did not issue Nazrul the freedom fighter certificate. Bashar, a freedom fighter in Shahjadpur, issued it,” he added.

Deputy Commissioner Md Bilal Hossain said there was no problem with those who had been receiving allowance in Belkuchi since the past.

“As for the new ones, allowance of 22 has been suspended till the allegation against them is resolved,” he said.

Police Super SM Emran Hossain said departmental probe into Nazrul’s sons was underway as allegations were raised against them, who were given job in the police department under the freedom fighter quota. l

n Hasibur Rahman Bilu, Bogra

Educational activities around 45,000 students of Azizul Haque College in Bogra are being hampered as the college is beset with multifold problems, including shortage of classrooms, teachers and accommodation.

“Most of the times we have to leave the classroom before the scheduled time as the teachers have to shorten their lectures to free the rooms for other classes,” said Kaushick Hembrom, a final student of English Department.

Sometime authority suspends classes for shortage of teachers and classrooms. he added.

“Over 700 girls are staying at Begum Rokeya Hall that has accommodation capacity for only 300 residents” said Munjila, a third year student of Philosophy department.

She said even they had to share a table with two to three roommates.

“We are not happy with dining and

25 injured in AL-BNP clash n Our Correspondent, Magura At least 25 people were injured in a clash between AL and BNP men at Kajori village in Sadar upazila yesterday.

Shah Md Awlad Hossen , officer-incharge of Sreepur police station said supporters of the local AL leader Harun-ur-Rashid and BNP leader Abdul Hai got into an altercation over the supremacy in the area. At least 25 men were injured during the hour-long clash.

On information, police went to the spot and brought the situation under control.

Of the injured, Atiar 45, Bakul 50, Saroar, 45, Sharmin ,25 , Mukadesh ,35 , Thandu ,30, and Bashir Biswas, 45, were admitted to Magura Sadar Hospital in critical condition.

Additional police forces were deployed in the area to avoid untoward situation. l

Expatriate killed n Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah An expatriate was killed at Gabla village in Sailkupa upazila yesterday.

According to sources, miscreants hacked Faruque Hossain, 37, son of Makbul Hossain under Sailkupa Hall Market in the municipality area to death. Faruque returned to Bangladesh from a Middle Eastern country a few months back.

Sailkupa police station Officer- inCharge Iqbal Bahar Chowdhury said on information, police recovered the body and sent it to Jhenaidah Sadar Hospital morgue for autopsy. l

Students hold a protest rally in Jamalpur district town yesterday, protesting government’s move to hold public examinations without any interval DHAKA TRIBUNE

NEWS IN BRIEF PBCP man held A Purba Bangla Communist Party (PBCP) activist was arrested yesterday in Harianakundu upazila under the district. OC Ershadul Kabir Chowdhury said acting on a tip off, police had raided the village and arrested Farooque Hossain, 38, the son of Afsar Ali Sarder of Poltadanga village. He was wanted in eight cases including seven murders.

– Our Correspondent, Jhenaidah

Child killed in road accident A child was killed in a road accident yesterday at Bihari Colony area in the district. According to sources, a battery run auto-rickshaw ran over Aklima, 8, when she was returning home after buying bananas from a nearby shop, leaving her dead on the spot. – Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Four injured in robbery At least four people were injured in a robbery yesterday at Charbatia village in Sariakandi upazila of the district.

According to sources, a gang of 40-45

robbers came in on two boats at night and looted 30 cows. When the villagers protested, they attacked them, leaving four injured. OC Ohiduzzaman confirmed the incident. – Our Correspondent, Bogra

Three drug traders fined A mobile court fined three drug traders Tk55,000 yesterday at Nalitabari upazila in the district for selling expired medicine. According to sources, a court led by magistrate Sharmin Akter conducted a drive in the area and fined Gourhari Medical Tk30,000, Luchky Medical Tk5,000 and Al Falah agency Tk20,000. A case was filed in this regard. – Our Correspondent, Sherpur

Man kills grandmother over family feud A man killed his grandmother in Poratena village of Bakerganj upazila in Barisal district yesterday, following a family feud. The victim was Setara Begum, 60, wife of Ismail Sharif of the village. Sub-Inspector of Bakerganj police station Mosharraf Hossain said Su-

jan, 18, son of Setara’s daughter Parvin Begum, engaged in an altercation over family matters in the morning yesterday. At one stage, Sujan stabbed Setara with a kitchen knife around 9am and fled the scene. Severely injured, Setara was admitted to Bakerganj Upazila Health Complex by local people where she died around 11:30am, police said.

Her body was sent to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital, Barisal for autopsy. Process of filing a murder case in this connection was on and police was trying to nab Sujan, said the SI. – Our Correspondent, Barisal

Housewife electrocuted A housewife was electrocuted yesterday at Laxmi Chap village under Sadar upazila. According to sources, Shita Rani, 40, the wife of Jitendra Nath Roy, came in contact with a live electric wire while she was working in her bedroom.

She was admitted to Nilphamari Adhunik Sadar Hospital where she died.

When contacted, Aminur Rahman, chairman of Laxmi Chap Union Council, confirmed the incident. – Our Correspondent, Nilphamari

cafeteria facilities,” she added.

“Most of the toilets in the halls have remained with broken doors for long,” said Zakia Sultana, a third year student of Statistics department.

There are only 670 seats in four students’ hostels in the college which were closed long ago because of students’ clash, sources said.

Approximately 20,000 students of the college have to accommodate themselves in about 500 private-run messes as the college authority fails to provide them accommodation facilities.

“I have to pay on an average Tk2,500 per month as mess charge whereas per person hostel charge at the government college is around Tk1,000, including meals,” said Faria Tarin, a third year student of Philosophy department.

Transport is yet another problem.

Five 52-seat buses are too inadequate to carry over 20,000 students from different areas of the district, college

sources said, adding that at least four more buses are needed for the purpose.

Acknowledging problems, Principal of the college Dr Dipkendra Nath Das said the government had taken proper initiative to solve the problems gradually.

“We have only 35 classrooms, against the need of 150 room for 23 honours course and 19 at masters’ level, while only 168 teachers are working against the requirement of 276 teachers “ said Dr Dipkendra Nath.

According to the college administration, not a single department has fullfledged educational facilities “Meanwhile government has started construction work on a multi-storied building to solve the classroom shortage,” said Dr Dipkendra Nath.

The college was established in July 1939 and declared a government institution in 1968. The college was named the college after Sir Azizul Haque, who was Vice- Chancellor of Calcutta University during that time. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Facts and fallacies The trend of engineering information by responsible individuals must be rectified

W n Ali Nawshad

inston Churchill once said that the best argument against democracy is a five-minute conversation with the average voter, and I often wonder if this will ever cease to be the case. Hence, the importance as well as logical expectation from the learned, knowledgeable, educated scholars/experts is to be the “guardian” against political proselytisation.

In “Freedom and the Colleges,” Bertrand Russell said: “Against the danger of democratic abuse of power, the chief protection is a sound education designed to combat the tendency to irrational eruptions of collective hate.” We need our intellectuals and civil society to contribute in a manner that encourages population that is rational enough and critical enough and well-enough informed, so that politicians will leave a five-minute conversation with the average voter feeling neither complacent nor depressed, but challenged.

As literacy, education, and the intensity of public discourse increase, people are encouraged to think more abstractly and more universally, and that will inevitably push in the direction of a reduction of political rhetoric. People will be tempted to rise above their parochial vantage point, making it harder to privilege their own interests over others.

Reason leads to the replacement of authoritative rules with fair and universal rules. And it encourages people to recognise the futility of political agendas, and to see politicians as a problem to be solved rather than as a contest to be won. I think the final and perhaps the most profound pacifying force is an “escalator of reason” that will not only demand “fairness” but mandate in all spheres of our lives. Rational thinking allows progressive minds to combat centuries-long erosion of family, tribe, tradition and religion by the forces of individualism, cosmopolitanism, reason and science as well as less ignorance and superstition.

But there is a widespread idealistic movement that questions the price, particularly when giving a voice to your fierce opponent. By muting your adversary, current government can secure absolute monopoly of its propaganda.

Is it really worth having a few years of “renaissance of reason” if the price is muggings, terrorism, goom (abduction), extra judicial killing, insecurity? I argue that despite impressions, the long-term trend, though certainly halting and incomplete, is that violence of all kinds will decrease. This calls for a rehabilitation of a concept of modernity and progress, and for a sense of gratitude for the institutions of civilisation and enlightenment that have made it possible.

As we continue to see suffocation of impartial information in public domain, we rely heavily upon our TV talk shows as an outlet of evidence.

But regretfully, the TV channel owners (as well as other media outlets) often serve political agendas and are reluctant to deviate from their allegiance to the political parties for mutual benefit.

Our talk shows are infested with blatant and deliberate fabrication of facts by both the guests and the hosts. And more chillingly, there is no “check and balance” or “fact finder” of these “invention.” Anybody can get away by saying anything at his or her discretion. There are abundant examples of distortions from both sides of political clusters and the degree of falsehood has no limit.

A case study for the new generation would be “fact check” in Talk shows in Bangladesh. In a recent TV talk show Tritiomatra, Channel I, episode 3931 and 3932 dated May 11 and 12, 2014, an academic (Dr Muhammad A Arafat) stated that in 1997 New York city had 9000 murders (correct number is # 787), while Subas Singho Roy, chief editor, ABNews24.com, stated that Bangladesh is the 2nd largest wheat (bhutta) producing country (correct ranking is #54) followed by a statement saying there are 2300 murders every day in New York city (correct number is little over 1.1 homicide/day; 417 murder in 365 days in 2013). Sometimes, even if the information is correct but if the source is biased, that data also becomes null and void.

Recently, in Independent TV talk show, Ajker Bangladesh, as an executive president of Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, Shahriar Kabir,

claimed that their inquiry commission investigated the number, 39, dead during May 5, 2013 protest by Hefazatul Islam at Shapla Chottor is correct, and others Odhikar (61) are not. But simply because he (Mr Kabir), vis-a-vis Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, in the past as well in that show, took a personal position against the activities of Hefazat-e-Islam as a political group, even if his number is absolutely correct, it still cannot be “statistically significant,” therefore not acceptable, only because of his personal standing against the group he was investigating.

He should have been excused from this inquiry commission. It is alarming to see an academic with higher moral and ethical values misrepresent numbers with such magnitude. Similarly, an editor with tremendous responsibility to be fair and just would give false data. This trend of engineering numbers/data by responsible individuals of our society must be rectified by civil society.

Why scientific evidence is important Is it impossible to obtain reliable information about the socio-political dispersion of Bangladesh?

I’ll begin the first part of the topic with the fallacy of appealing to authority: “Einstein was a genius, so whatever he said must be so;” “Democracy is the best form of government, because that’s what they taught us in school.”

The truth or falsity of a claim is not affected by the authority of the claimant; even Einstein made mistakes.

So far, then, we’ve seen that our

In talk shows wrong information are often presented by both the guests and the hosts. Moreover, there is no ‘check and balance’ or ‘fact finder’ of these ‘inventions’ authority, it’s important to point out the difference between authority and expertise.

While the statement “90% of mathematicians recommend Pepsodent toothpaste” does not carry any special weight, the statement “90% of dentists recommend Pepsodent toothpaste” does. When we, provisionally, accept the consensus of experts on matters of fact in their field of expertise, we are not doing so merely on the basis of their authority: we are relying on the scientific method itself, which includes all the self-correcting and error-minimising mechanisms mentioned above.

The strongest argument in favour of the scientific method is that it gets

The truth or falsity of a claim is not affected by the authority of the claimant

senses can deceive us; our intuitions are often wrong; we are prone to logical fallacies and cognitive biases; it’s difficult for us to be objective; and even smart people can be mistaken.

Enter the scientific method. I’ll present the basic model of gathering evidence, offering a hypothesis to explain the observed phenomenon, making predictions based on the hypothesis, testing those predictions, and revising the hypothesis based on new data.

This method is not infallible, of course, but science makes use of many mechanisms for minimising errors and correcting them: transparency, documentation, reproducibility, peer review, etc. So the point is we need to be extremely judgemental and critical about the methods employed for conclusion or even a statement that may have long lasting implication in our social-political metamorphosis.

One example of such is the controversy with the number of people died during our liberation war. The numerical values of 300,000 or 3 million will not change the heinous atrocity and brutality of the Pakistan army in 1971.

And irrespective of its numerical value, it will always remain as a major “genocide” of the last century.

There is no statistically significant research data in support of that “constant” number of 3 million. Most studies, although in limited capacity, apparently dispute that number.

Despite having the best-kept tally of Holocaust, historians are continually assessing and reassessing numbers relating to those who were killed in World War II and still have low/high estimate numbers. As I said accuracy in number is irrelevant, it will not heal the laceration and wound inflicted by the Pakistani butchers. However, seeking accuracy based on scientific evidence should be encouraged and refer the number of death as an “estimated,” not a decree from God. More practical importance of making a “wrong” right is its consequence in future references, allowing a fallacy or even a controversial fact to have any footing in “reference” has extremely disturbing connotation as a historical fact.

Why sources are important?

Having previously rejected appeals to

amazing results. Despite employing scientific data with sound statistics can potential generate a proposition, but it is also important evaluate the process data is generated. Sample size, variability, proper control and diversity – all are important benchmark for a definite conclusion.

A research data from 10 patients showing smoking causes lung cancer carries lesser authority when compared to 1000 patients with multiple variable (age, sex, dose etc.), but both are scientifically proven data. We, therefore, need to search for high impact journals (like Nature, Science, Cell, and PNAS) which have internal “check and balance” to validate strongest data that represent a “fact” with certainty. If one studies the number of people shops at the Bashundhara mall and collects data only the day before the Eid day, that will surely give bias in sampling process, therefore not acceptable.

This is a good place to give our future generation a chance to practice their own critical thinking skills on real-world examples, like the assertions of faith-healers, voodoos or astrologers.

What questions should we ask before accepting such claims? Are there any fallacies or biases that may be getting in the way? What data support these hypotheses, and are there more parsimonious ways of explaining them? What experiments could we perform to help us decide?

It’s essential to evaluate all ideas critically. The smartest people we know could be wrong; we should never accept something just because someone said so, or because it’s tradition, or because it feels right intuitively. Our level of confidence in a proposition ought to scale with the level of available evidence in its support. Being skeptical of extraordinary claims is a good default position — but we must also make sure to keep an open mind and be willing to consider strange and unintuitive ideas.

We must recognise that there are many things we do not know, and that some of what we think we know may be mistaken. It is possible, however, to expand our knowledge of the world, and to correct previous mistakes, using the scientific method.

We all, particularly our young generation, should be natural-born scientists – curious, intellectually vigorous,

although heavy on the wonder side and light on skepticism. We should exhibit enormous enthusiasm so that provocative questions bubble out of us. There are naive questions, tedious questions, ill-phrased questions, questions put after inadequate self-criticism. But every question is a cry to understand the world. And there never is notion of a “dumb question.”

Curious minds are a national and world resource. They need to be cared for, cherished, and encouraged. But mere encouragement isn’t enough.

We must also give them the essential tools to think with. Otherwise, for a young mind that cannot judge what is allegorical and what is literal; anything that he/she receives into his/her mind at that age is likely to become indelible and unalterable; and therefore it is most important that the information that the young first hear should be models of virtuous thoughts through scientific evidence. Primary among those failed alternatives are foolish thinking and dogmatic adherence to political ritual that encourage people to accept bad arguments.

In his 1962 Yale University Commencement address, former US President Kennedy discussed how myths distract us from reality, how our dialog is “clogged by illusion and platitude:” “As every past generation has had to disenthrall itself from an inheritance of truisms and stereotypes, so in our own time we must move on from the reassuring repetition of stale phrases to a new, difficult, but essential confrontation with reality. For the great enemy of truth is very often not the lie — deliberate, contrived and dishonest — but the myth — persistent, persuasive, and unrealistic. Too often we hold fast to the clichés of our forebears. We subject all facts to a prefabricated set of interpretations. We enjoy the comfort of opinion

tegrity and honesty,” as lesser pieces, which ultimately wins the game, even if we lose the queen.

Intellectual ideas and scholarly mindset depend on our academics, judges, civil society, journalists and all inquisitive minds. In “The Treason of the Intellectuals” translated from the original “La trahison des clercs”

by French philosopher and novelistJulien Benda, describes eloquently what happens when the intelligentsias compromise their intellectual honesty for political reasons.

Benda argues, “It is only when we are not in pursuit of practical aims or material advantages that we can serve as a conscience and a corrective.

Those who transfer their allegiance to the practical aims of power and material advantage emasculate themselves intellectually and morally.” In short, Benda asserted that once the intellectuals began to “play the game of political passions,” those who had “acted as a check on the realism of the people began to act as its simulators.”

But systematic suffocation and erosion of their moral and ethical values that shield scholarly aptitude derail creativity and promote mediocrity. And that is bound to thrust us into a cataclysmic future, a dark age from which there will be no light in the horizon.

We have irreversibly contaminated our academic institutions, and by doing so, have handicapped not only progressive minds but also the immune next generation. And that alone qualifies “treason” with our future generations, who are rightfully entitled for a better future.

Remorsefully, today, our academicians – the trusty of morality – under the blanket of political protections, have abused and misused academic freedom. But academic freedom is tied with “responsibility” that sprouts out of loyalty to moral and ethical

Every question is a cry to understand the world.

And there never is the notion of a ‘dumb question’

without the discomfort of thought.”

In other words he advocated that we must take gratifications of complete intellectual freedom. Being able to discuss without any repercussion the most pungent and controversial topic freely is not only appropriate but also laudable.

The role of our civil society “In chess, it’s generally a good idea to sacrifice a knight in order to capture an opposing rook, or to sacrifice a rook in order to capture the opponent’s queen. The pieces’ standard valuations are useful for guiding basic strategic decisions – but there are exceptions.

Sometimes, sacrificing your queen for a lesser piece is actually your best option, and will save you from defeat or even lead you to victory.

The relative valuation of the pieces is just a heuristic – a “rule of thumb” – providing a useful simplification that often leads to good results. But in the end, all that matters is winning the game. A smart player knows to disregard a heuristic in situations where it would not actually further the ultimate goal” as quoted by Ezra Resnick.

Here I am referring to “Intellectual in-

standards. As a responsible faculty of the civil society, academicians are compelled to go by “evidences and facts” alone, based on scientifically gathered statistically significant data and substance, not rhetoric, speculative opinion or vociferous oratory.

It is essential to evaluate all ideas critically. Ezra Resnick also stated that: “Our level of confidence in a proposition ought to scale with the level of available evidence in its support.

Being sceptical of extraordinary claims is a good default position and we must be wary of turning faux-scholarly opinions, and their useful heuristics into infallible dogmas to be followed blindly regardless of the actual consequences on mass population.

As literacy, education, and the intensity of public discourse increase, people are encouraged to think more abstractly and more universally, and that will inevitably push in the direction of a reduction of political rhetoric. People will be tempted to rise above their parochial vantage point, making it harder to privilege their own interests over others. Reason leads to the replacement of authoritative rules with fair and universal rules. And it

BIGSTOCK

encourages people to recognise the futility of political agendas, and to see politicians as a problem to be solved rather than as a contest to be won.”

Final thoughts The “true” intellectuals with traditional panoply of enlightened scholarly ideals of collective magnanimity should stand up in crisis moment to tell the truth no matter how unpopular it is. Otherwise, only the most vociferous self-proclaimed intellectuals or the judges/journalists with price tags or the imprudent community those have abandoned their attachment to fairness will fill the vacancy with deliberate fabrications and deceptions that will remain permanently imprinted on our social drapery! And “Truth” will always remain forever hidden if we let these “faux” intellectuals and their symbiotic cronies any importance.

We need to mute them all and challenge them with argument based on facts. Regretfully, our future generations will not hold the “Politicians and Co. Inc.” responsible but the “intellectuals” who hold the “custody” of social justice, moral and virtuous values. If slightest conscious is still left in their ethical landscape they should remember a pertinent poem, “Apolitical intellectuals” by famous Guatemalan poet Otto René Castillo: “One day the apolitical intellectuals of my country will be interrogated by the simplest of our people. A vulture of silence, will eat your gut, your own misery will pick at your soul. And you will be mute in your shame.” And if the civil society do not stance against lies and deceptions, the “hatred of culture becomes itself a part of culture, the life of the mind loses all meaning,” as articulated by French essayist Alain Finkielkraut.

While democracy depends on an informed citizenry, political indoctrination depends on ignorance.

Therefore, we must encourage our next generation to have opinions on logical thinking, honest evaluation and the best evidence in reasonable and rationale way; “emotion” should play almost no role.

But I don’t insist that everything in life ought to be approached in a reasonable manner, as it’s impossible to be “too reasonable.” What kind of country would we live in, if everyone were constantly expected to provide good reasons for their beliefs and reasonable justification for their actions? If everything were open for discussion and reevaluation based on evidence and argument?

Our future generation ought to be “respectable reasonablists” and need to understand that some people are deeply attached to so-called “non-reasonable” doctrines. But future generation ought to proclaim the value of logical consistency and intellectual honesty, although others are free to define “reasonable” however they want: following ancestral tradition, religious belief, as long as such “practice” does not promote hatred, bigotry, prejudice and injustice - who are we to judge?

As insistence on being undogmatic is just another dogma; and rejection of blind faith is itself a form of blind faith.

As famous French author Aime Cesaire implied that “No single opinion possesses the monopoly and is, therefore, absolute; there is a place for all opinions at the rendezvous of victory!” l Ali Nawshad is an associate professor at the University of Nebraska Medical Center.

Parts of the text have been modified from original writings of Ezra Resnick.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

UN MDGs: World cuts extreme poverty in half n Agencies For those who see little reason for optimism about global poverty and social trends, here’s something to cheer about: The world has made impressive progress towards meeting a set of development goals set by world leaders in 2000. One stand-out example: The goal of cutting global extreme poverty in half by 2015 has already been met.

Want more evidence? Many developing countries have made huge strides in reducing the gap between boys and girls attending primary school. Malaria mortality has plunged by almost half.

And the world managed to cut in half the number of people living without improved water sources a half-decade ahead of schedule.

That encouraging picture was painted by United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon Monday as he delivered his annual report on the Millennium Development Goals, or MDGs, that the international community pledged in 2000 to reach by 2015.

Noting that the world has just over 500 days to reach the nine MDGs the UN set for itself, Mr. Ban said the goals that have already been met offer proof of the efficacy of international collective action – while new tools the world is constantly developing offer hope that more progress can be made on unmet goals.

“These achievements [on the MDGs] show that the combined action of governments, the international community, civil society and the private sector can make a difference,” Ban said in issuing what he called a “global scorecard” on the key development goals.

And while further progress by the end of next year will be “daunting,” he added that “we have many more tools at our disposal than at the turn of the Millennium: the expanding reach of technology, the deepening of partnerships, the growing understanding of how to achieve results.”

Ban’s upbeat words are not just sugar-coating on an otherwise dull bureaucratic exercise, development experts say: The progress highlighted in the MDGs annual report in real.

But they add a few notes of caution – all of which are acknowledged

by UN officials. For one thing, meeting the goal ahead of schedule of cutting extreme poverty in half was due in no small measure to the tremendous economic gains made by just two populous countries, China and India.

“Meeting that goal as a result of a huge effort in a few populous countries to reduce the numbers in absolute poverty doesn’t rule out that some countries in a few regions might actually have gone backwards,” says Farhan Haq, the secretary general’s deputy spokesman.

Another disappointment that stands out in the MDGs “scorecard” is that several of the goals that almost certainly won’t be met specifically target women and children. Declines in maternal and infant mortality are too far off the mark to meet the goals set for the end of next year, just as a goal of global universal primary education is equally unattainable.

Ban’s annual report offers evidence that the progress the world has made on many of the MDGs is lopsided when evaluated by region. In other words, despite considerable progress in some sub-Saharan African countries, many of the major strides in development since 2000 have occurred in Asia and South America.

Still, the degree of progress underscored in the report can act as a catalyst for further strides in several ways, UN officials say. Not only do countries that are lagging behind see that progress is possible, they say, but the hard statistics behind that progress help convince doubters that efforts like global goal-setting actually work.

“There’s a quantifiable impact to what’s been achieved since 2000,” says Mr. Haq. “That helps convince people that it makes sense to continue with these” goals, he adds.

Indeed, UN member countries are already working on the next such project: a set of Sustainable Development Goals, or SDGs, that the world body will adopt next year for the period 20162030. l

In al Qaeda camp, notes on an Islamic caliphate n Reuters, Al-mahfad At first glance, the neat handwriting in blue ink could be from a school notebook.

Prise apart the pages - stuck together by sand and water - and it becomes clear that the book belonged to a militant from al Qaeda. Discarded in shrubbery in the mountains of southern Yemen, it covers everything from the principles of a raid “Surprise, firepower, a sacrificial spirit, quick performance” - to the ultimate goal: “Establishing an Islamic state that rules by Islamic Sharia law.”

The notebook, with the name Abu alDahdah al-Taazi in red calligraphy on the first page, is one relic of what a local Yemeni governor called a leadership camp for al Qaeda in the Arab Peninsula (AQAP). The camp, now abandoned, was visited by Reuters reporters in May. Locals in the nearby town of al-Mahfad described how they had tolerated hundreds of militants for three years. Then in April, after the militants posted online a video boasting of their presence, US drones and the Yemeni army attacked encampments in the region. The villagers say it was then that they asked the fighters to leave.

The story of the camp shows how deeply embedded al Qaeda fighters had become in the country’s remote, destitute south.

“We didn’t realise they were that many until the night they all left. That last night when they withdrew, we saw all these people, with families, more than 60, 70 cars,” said tribal leader Sheikh Nasser al-Shamee in al-Mahfad.

The ‘emir’ of AQAP’s al-Mahfad cell was a local man called Ali bin Lakraa,’ say Yemeni officials. He later died of wounds inflicted during the strikes, according to one official, who described the cell as AQAP’s most active, responsible for multiple operations against military and oil and gas facilities.

Last month the Yemeni army said 500 militants and 40 soldiers have been killed since it launched the offensive against the group in April.

Jane Marriott, Britain’s ambassador to Yemen, said the Yemeni government should be applauded for going after AQAP; but warned that the campaign had to be conducted “in the right way to be sustainable.”

Toothpaste and tablets The Saudi and Yemeni branches of al Qaeda merged in early 2009 to form al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. Funding itself partly through kidnappings - the group received almost $20m in ransom payments between 2011 and 2013, Britain said last year - AQAP has masterminded at least two failed plots on US targets. President Barack Obama has said it is the group most actively plotting attacks against the United States. Last week US national security sources said AQAP was part of a plot to develop explosives that could avoid detection in airports.

The story of Al-Mahfad shows how the group is able to live alongside local communities. Home to around 10,000 people, the town is more than 400 miles from the capital, Sana’a and a gruelling five-hour drive from the southern port city of Aden through stark mountains, acacia trees and volcanic rock.

The manual The abandoned notebook features notes on weapons maintenance, topography, and elaborate diagrams for creating different ambushes. It also identifies the three stages of guerrilla warfare needed to create an Islamic state - a similar blueprint to the one ISIL seems to be following in Iraq and Syria.

The first is the “exhaustion phase,” categorised by hit-and-run attacks, especially on supply routes. “The aim is to disperse the enemy, not kill its men,” say the notes.

The enemy may come forward with “secret negotiations for some mujahideen,” before urging “No military truce... No negotiations.”

In the “equilibrium phase,” the mujahideen should focus on creating semi-official forces that can impose security and “launch political campaigns...to clarify the features of the struggle.” The mujahideen should also “send diplomatic messages either through political language, or the language of blood,” to warn people whose governments support the “enemy” that they are a “legitimate target.”

“If negotiations are necessary then so be it, but only on the condition that we look for conditions for the enemy’s surrender because that will destroy their morale. It should be noted that the enemy will try to offer the mujahideen a chance to participate in power.

This is completely and utterly rejected.” l

Israeli soldiers sit on haystacks they slept on outside the central Gaza Strip July 8. Israel launched an offensive against Islamist Hamas in the Gaza Strip yesterday, bombing some 50 targets, including homes, in a campaign meant to end Palestinian rocket fire into the Jewish state REUTERS

Israel intensifies Gaza offensive n Reuters, Gaza/Jerusalem Israel bombarded dozens of targets in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, stepping up what it said might become a long-term offensive against Islamist Hamas after a surge in Palestinian rocket attacks on Israeli towns.

Following the worst outbreak of violence along the Gaza frontier since an eight-day war in 2012, the Israeli military said a ground invasion of the enclave was possible, though not imminent, and urged citizens within a range of 40 km (24 miles) of the coastal territory to stay close to bomb shelters.

“We are preparing for a battle against Hamas which will not end within a few days,” Defence Minister Moshe Yaalon said in a statement. “We will not tolerate missiles being fired at Israeli towns

and we are prepared to extend the operations with all means at our disposal in order to keep hitting Hamas.”

A source in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office quoted the Israeli leader as saying: “The IDF (Israel Defense Forces) must be ready to go all the way. All options are on the table, including a ground invasion.”

The Israel-Gaza border heated up last month after Israel’s arrest of hundreds of Hamas activists in the occupied West Bank, where three Israeli youths went missing on June 12. More than 200 rockets have been launched at Israel from the Gaza Strip, the military said, since Israel mounted the dragnet while searching for the teens, who were found dead last week.

Israel has accused Hamas militants of killing them. In a suspected revenge

attack, a Palestinian teen was abducted in East Jerusalem last Wednesday. His charred body was found in a forest and six Israeli suspects have been arrested.

In the Gaza fighting, a Hamas fighter was killed in an air strike in Nusseirat refugee camp, Palestinian medical officials said. Palestinian officials said targets included militants’ training facilities while six homes were bombed in the Gaza Strip and 30 people were also wounded.

The Israeli military said that in the past 24 hours, more than 100 rockets had been fired at Israel, a sharp increase. Some were intercepted by the Iron Dome anti-missile system, but two people were wounded by shrapnel.

Some 1,500 Israeli reservists had been mobilised and more could be called up, the military said. Explosions

All at sea: Is Australia’s fast-tracked asylum screening policy fair? n Reuters, Sydney At the heart of an unprecedented legal challenge to the return by Australia of asylum seekers to Sri Lanka is Australia’s controversial testing of their claims in a brief interview on the high seas.

Lawyers said the so-called “enhanced screening” process involves asylum seekers being asked just four or five questions via Skype or teleconference on a boat with no access to independent legal representation.

If the detainee does not raise a red flag by saying they want to seek asylum because they fear persecution, or if the interviewing officer does not believe their story, they are immediately screened “out.”

Human rights lawyers have denounced the fast-tracked process at sea as illegal under international law.

The government has repeatedly declined to comment on the process in detail, leaving lawyers to piece it together based on reports from those who have been subjected to the process and returned.

“These people, potentially in fear of their lives, are being picked up by armed naval personnel on the high seas and being submitted to a quick interview, with little privacy, over Skype or teleconference,” said Mary Crock, a professor of public law at the University of Sydney.

“It’s gobsmackingly bad international legal practice,” she said. “You can’t possibly be satisfied that everybody on the boat wasn’t a refugee.”

Controversially, rather than a lengthy, detailed interview to assess a person’s claim for asylum, it is effectively a triaging method to gauge whether the immigration depart-

ment thinks the person may have a valid claim.

The four or five questions are believed to involve basics on name, age, birthplace and the reason for the asylum seeker’s attempt to travel to Australia, lawyers said.

On the boat of 41 Sinhalese and Tamil asylum seekers handed over by Australia to Sri Lanka on the weekend, only one, a Sinhalese woman, was deemed to require further assessment of her claim.

Immigration Minister Scott Morrison said she was offered transportation to an offshore detention centre but she elected to return to Sri Lanka with her travel companions, rather than proceed alone.

“If the only option is ‘we’ll send you to Manus or Nauru by yourself’ then that is surely coercion,” said the University of Sydney’s Crock. l

echoed across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, shaking buildings and sending smoke rising from targets hit by Israeli fire. In residential areas, the sounds of crying children could be heard as ambulance sirens wailed. Some people took to rooftops to watch for Israeli aircraft and rockets streaking toward Israel.

In the Israeli port city of Ashdod, motorists scrambled out of their vehicles and raced for the relative safety of apartment house entrances as a siren sounded. The scene was repeated in other towns near the Gaza Strip.

Hamas’ armed wing, the dominant force in the enclave, threatened an “earthquake” in response to Israel’s attacks. But a Palestinian source close to the group said it was ready to restore calm if Israel met conditions, including a prisoner release. l

NEWS BITES

Moscow accuses US of ‘kidnapping’ Russian hacker

n Reuters, Washington/Moscow Russia has accused the United States of violating a bilateral treaty and “kidnapping” a Russian accused of hacking into US retailers’ computer systems to steal credit card data.

The US Department of Homeland Security said on Monday the Secret Service had arrested Roman Valerevich Seleznev, 30, on July 5 for actions carried out from 2009 to 2011. Russian media carried reports that the man arrested may be the son of a member of parliament, Valery Seleznev. The deputy told Russia’s ItarTass news agency he had not been able to speak to his son but added: “This is a monstrous lie and a provocative act.”

The man was apprehended in an airport in the Maldives, the Russian Foreign Ministry said. “We consider this as the latest unfriendly move from Washington,” it said in a statement on its website. l

killed, dozens hurt Iraq parliament Ukraine signals commitment 14 in Chicago shootings delayed for five to offensive as rebels regroup n AP, Chicago weeks, general a siege. We are preparing ourselves Extra police officers on Chicago’s streets for action,” Alexander Borodai, prime were not enough to quell a long weekkilled near Baghdad n Reuters, Kiev end of violence that ended with 14 Ukraine’s government signalled its in- minister of the self-proclaimed Dopeople shot to death and dozens more tention to press on with its campaign netsk People’s Republic, told a Russian Reuters, Baghdad n injured. During a Monday news conferagainst pro-Russian rebels on Tuesday online newspaper during a visit to the iraq’s new parliament has put off its next session for five weeks, extending the country’s political paralysis amid a Sunni Islamist insurgency that claimed the life of an army general near Baghdad.

Citing the politicians’ failure to reach “understanding and agreement” on nominations for the top three posts in government, the office of acting speaker Mehdi al-Hafidh said parliament would not meet again until Aug. 12.

Putting off the work of reaching consensus is a slap in the face to efforts

by Iraq’s Shi’ite clergy, the United States, the United Nations and Iran, who have all urged the swift formation of an inclusive government to hold the country together. l

and the militants, regrouping after losing their stronghold, said they were preparing to fight back.

President Petro Poroshenko, drawing confidence from the fall of the rebel bastion of Slaviansk at the weekend, named a new chief of military operations in the east following his appointment of an aggressive new defence minister who ruled out negotiations until the separatists lay down their arms.

One rebel leader played down the loss of Slaviansk as a military expedient and said the hundreds of fighters who were able to move from the town to the regional capital Donetsk were preparing a command structure to defend that city and hit back: “We’re not preparing ourselves for

Russian capital.

Sporadic shooting was heard from various parts of Donetsk overnight though no specific incidents were reported. But in Luhansk, a city on the border with Russia where rebels also control key buildings, two people in a minibus were killed by a shell that exploded nearby, a municipal official said.

“There is an exchange of fire among the separatists. They are shooting at each other,” Iryna Verigina told a Ukrainian television station by telephone from Luhansk.

Poroshenko, installed in office just a month ago, named Vasyl Grytsak to head the “anti-terrorist centre,” making him operational chief in the drive to crush the rebels. l

ence, just hours after two more people were shot to death earlier in the day, police superintendent Garry McCarthy said his department’s best efforts could not prevent the bloodshed that spiked dramatically on Sunday.

Chicago’s total of 53 shooting incidents for the holiday weekend easily eclipsed Detroit and New York combined, which had a total of 46 shooting incidents, 10 of which were fatal. “Going into the holiday weekend we had a plan, including putting hundreds more officers on the streets and what were the results?” McCarthy asked. “The results were a lot of shootings, a lot of murders, unfortunately.” The shootings over the Fourth of July holiday weekend included eight incidents that involved police. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Analysis: Why India has a separate rail budget

World

9

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Kerry warns Afghanistan as thousands rally in support of Abdullah Preliminary results show Ghani winner, rival Abdullah rejects outcome down a large portrait of the outgoing n Reuters, Kabul leader and replacing it with an image of Rivals for the Afghan presidency Abdullah.

The United States has warned it would

n Tribune Desk Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new government yesterday presented its first Rail Budget, promising to seek increased foreign and domestic private investment to fund modernisation of the country’s huge but badly stretched network. The state-owned railway has suffered from years of low investment and populist policies to subsidise fares. These have reduced the system to a slow, congested network that crimps economic growth. Here are some facts about India’s railway budget and the network: uu The tradition of presenting a separate railway budget started in 1924 during the British era, when the network was the country’s largest industrial asset.

Currently, the government unveils the railway budget days ahead of its annual federal budget. uu With 1.3 million employees, the Indian Railways is among the world’s largest employers. It has added about 260,000 staff in the past five years. uu Critics have long argued that India should abolish a separate budget for railways, given that it now accounts for a small share of the overall budget of Asia’s third-largest economy. uu Lack of timely reforms and investment have hurt growth. Experts say railways

Gandhi statue to be erected opposite Houses of Parliament n Reuters, London A statue of Mahatma Gandhi, the Indian civil rights leader who led the fight for independence from Britain, is to be erected opposite the Houses of Parliament.

The announcement was made by Foreign Secretary William Hague and Chancellor George Osborne who are visiting India to seek stronger trade and investment links with Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s new government.

“As the father of the largest democracy in the world, it’s time for Gandhi to take his place in front of the mother of Parliaments,” Osborne said during a visit to the Gandhi Memorial in Delhi.

“He is a figure of inspiration, not just in Britain and India, but around the world.”

Gandhi, who studied at the University of London, is internationally celebrated as a proponent of non-violent protest and religious tolerance. He was assassinated in 1948, just months after India secured independence. l

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need 20 trillion rupees ($334bn) of investment by 2020. To date, there has been little private sector participation.

For the five years ended April 2012, when there was a $16bn investment target, public-private partnerships accounted for only 4 percent of the total.

Growth in the route network has been slow. There were 53,996 kilometers (33,540 miles) of routes in 1947 when India became independent, and rail tracks now cover 65,000 km. That’s an addition of around 11,000 km in 67 years, or 164 km annually.

India has the world’s fourth-longest route network after the United States, Russia and China. In 1980, however, India had more route coverage than China, before rapid modernization in China changed the picture.

India added 1,750 km in railway tracks between 2006 and 2011, according to report from consulting firm EY. In comparison, China added 14,000 kms during the same period, the firm said.

Passenger fares are highly subsidized for the 23 million Indians that travel daily by rail.

Railways handled most of the country’s cargo in 1950 but now account for only about one-third because of the congested network and slow train speeds. l

Cyber offences may appear to be an urban phenomenon, but in an indication of how deeply internet has penetrated India, government data show a majority of hacking and obscene posts on the internet having been reported from rural areas and small towns. According to National Crime Records Bureau (NCRB) data for 2013, the year saw a jump of 122.5% in cyber offences over 2012.

But most interestingly, hacking formed close to 60% of all cyber offences (under IT Act) in India followed closely by obscene or derogatory posts (28%).

Of these, 45% of all hacking cases were reported from the 88 cities covered. Rest all came from small towns or rural areas. Even in the case of obscene/ derogatory posts rural areas and small towns reported 60% of cases. Of the 2516 cases of hacking, 1382 were reported from small towns and rural areas. Similarly, of 1203 obscene/derogatory posts on social media and other websites, only 483 were reported from cities.

Sexual harassment and economic fraud have turned out to be prime motives behind over 40% of all cyber offences. While, most hacking cases are reported from Karnataka (429) fol-

Abdullah Abdullah Age: 53 Has claimed victory, citing fraud in 2nd round votes

First round April 5 % of votes won

45

Ashraf Ghani 64

31.6

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

Won the 2nd round, according to preliminary results Finance minister in 2002-2004 and later led the national security transition commission

Second round June 14

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

43.5

Came fourth in 2009 with less than three percent of vote, but has performed well in the recent campaign Ethnically Pashtun

Born to Pashtun and Tajik parents the lion’s share of all international aid.

Observers fear that a standoff between Abdullah and Ghani could plunge Afghanistan into disorder, with no clear leader in a country already beset by deep-rooted ethnic divisions.

Abdullah has accused President Hamid Karzai, who is stepping down after 12 years in power, of helping rig the vote in favour of Ghani, describing it as a “coup” against the people.

The standoff over the vote has quashed hopes for a smooth transition

of power in Afghanistan, a concern for the West as most US-led forces withdraw from the country this year.

Tense protest

There are concerns however about how much Abdullah, who is popular among the powerful Tajik community in the north, would be able to control his supporters if the crisis escalated.

Thousands of his supporters vented their anger in central Kabul on Tuesday, chanting “Death to Karzai,” tearing

n Reuters, Tokyo

A Chinese citizen (L) shows a full-page advertisement under the title ‘Japan wants a war again’ on local newspaper, the Chongqing Youth Daily, in southwest China’s Chongqing on July 8. The Chinese newspaper published a map of Japan with mushroom clouds rising above Hiroshima and Nagasaki, provoking outrage from Tokyo’s foreign minister, who is from the first of the cities to be obliterated AFP

lowed by Andhra Pradesh (346), most obscenity cases are reported from Andhra Pradesh (234) and Kerala (177).

Curiously, Mumbai has reported no hacking cases and only one obscenity case, even as Maharashtra tops the chart of offences in which sexual harassment is the motive.

The latest data on cyber offences released by NCRB show that a total of 5,693 offences were registered across the country in 2013 notching a rise of 122.5% over 2012. Almost 76% (4,356) of these were registered under the Information Technology (IT) Act that deals with hacking and obscene/derogatory posts. In hacking cases, Maharashtra, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan were other three states in top five. Uttar Pradesh, Maharashtra and Assam are other three states with over 100 cases making to top five in obscenity cases.

In a reflection of how virtual medium is rampantly used to harass women, the data show 20% (1116) of all cyber offences as having sexual harassment as the motive. The motive of ‘fraud/illegal gains’ is behind 21% of all cases. Maharashtra has got the dubious distinction of being the state with maximum sexual harassment motive cases (233), followed

by Andhra Pradesh with 225 cases. l

At the rally, Abdullah, visibly flustered by the size of the gathering, faced a roar of slogans demanding he immediately announce his own cabinet, telling supporters to be patient.

“We are the winner of this round of elections without any doubt,” he told the flag-waving and whistling crowd.

“The people of Afghanistan call on me to announce my government today. This was and is a demand from the people of Afghanistan... We cannot ignore this call. ... Once again I ask you to give me a few days days to consult and speak.”

The apparent softening of his tone comes after speaking with by telephone with Kerry and US President Barack Obama.

“The main point in both US Secretary of State’s and the President’s discussions was that John Kerry will come to Afghanistan on Friday and their promise was that they will be next to the people of Afghanistan in defending justice, fighting against fraud and revealing fraud,” Abdullah said.

US officials were not immediately available for comment.

Away from the city’s centre, dozens of Abdullah supporters tore down another Karzai portrait at Kabul’s international airport.

The Independent Election Commission announced on Monday that Ghani won the second round with 56.44 percent of the vote, according to preliminary results. The tally might change when the final official numbers come out on July 22.

Ghani, who is due to address reporters later in the day, is backed mainly by Pashtun tribes in the south and east of the country. l

One dead as typhoon hits Japan’s Okinawa

‘J A PA N W A N T S A W A R A G A I N ’

Small-town India turns out to be hub of cybercrime n Agencies

withdraw financial and security support from Afghanistan if anyone tried to take power illegally, as supporters of a presidential candidate rallied in Kabul for a parallel government.

Preliminary results announced on Monday showed that Ashraf Ghani, a former World Bank official, won the June 14 second round, but his rival Abdullah Abdullah immediately rejected the outcome, saying the vote was marred by widespread fraud.

Underscoring the magnitude of the crisis, Abdullah said US Secretary of State John Kerry would visit Kabul on Friday. Kerry arrived in Beijing on Tuesday for the annual Strategic and Economic Dialogue. The US-China talks finish on Thursday.

Thousands of Abdullah supporters gathered in the capital on Tuesday, demanding their leader form a parallel cabinet and unilaterally assert his own rule - a dangerous move that would further fracture the fragile country.

In a sharp warning, US Secretary of State John Kerry said there was no justification for violence or “extra-constitutional measures.”

“I have noted reports of protests in Afghanistan and of suggestions of a ‘parallel government’ with the gravest concern,” he said in a statement issued by the US embassy in Kabul.

“Any action to take power by extra-legal means will cost Afghanistan the financial and security support of the United States and the international community.”

Afghanistan is heavily reliant on foreign donors to fund everything from building roads and paying school teachers to security. The United States pays

One man died, more than 500,000 people were urged to evacuate and hundreds of flights were canceled in Japan as a strong typhoon brought torrential rain and high winds to its southwestern islands and could bring heavy rain to Tokyo later this week.

Typhoon Neoguri weakened from its original status as a super typhoon but remained intense, with gusts of more than 250 km per hour (155 mph).

It was powering through the Okinawa island chain where emergency rain and high-seas warnings were in effect.

The storm was at its most powerful when passing Okinawa, some 1,600 km (1,000 miles) southwest of Tokyo on Tuesday, but the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) warned of heavy rains and potential flooding in Kyushu, the westernmost of Japan’s main islands, as well as heavy rain in the rest of the nation as the storm turns east later in the week.

“People must take the utmost caution,” Keiji Furuya, state minister in charge of disaster management, told a

news conference.

One man died after his boat was swamped by high waves, NHK national television said. Several people suffered minor injuries from falls.

More than 50,000 households in Okinawa lost power and an oil refinery halted operations. Television footage showed a collapsed roof of a shopping arcade, street lights rocking in high winds and branches being blown down largely deserted streets.

There are no nuclear plants on Okinawa, but there are two on Kyushu, which lies in the area through which the typhoon is likely to pass after hitting Okinawa. There is another on Shikoku island, which borders Kyushu and could also be affected. All are shut down due to national policy and the Fukushima Daiichi nuclear plant, which was wrecked by an earthquake and tsunami in March 2011, is on the other side of the country.

“When the wind blows most strongly, it’s impossible to stand. You have to hold on to something,” said Kei Shima, a self-employed Okinawa resident in her 30s. l

Indonesia divided in close presidential race n AP, Jakarta As the world’s third-largest democracy prepares to elect a new president today, Indonesians are divided between two very different choices: a one-time furniture maker and a wealthy ex-army general with close links to former dictator Suharto. Just a few months ago, the election was considered firmly in favor of Joko Widodo, who rose from humble beginnings to become the governor of Jakarta with a squeaky clean political record.

But the race is now too close to call after a late surge by Prabowo Subianto, who has wooed legions of supporters with his calls for nationalism despite allegations of widespread human rights abuses during his military career and his connection with Suharto — his former father-in-law.

When the polls open to around 190 million eligible voters today, analysts say those who are undecided will determine the winner.

The two candidates are vastly different in their policies and styles. Widodo, known by his nickname Jokowi, is a soft-spoken man who likes to wear sneakers and casual plaid shirts, listen to heavy metal music and make impromptu visits to the slums. Seen as a man of the people who wants to advance demo-

cratic reform even though he lacks experience in national politics, he represents a break from the past as the first candidate in direct elections with no connection to Suharto-era politics.

Subianto is known for his thundering campaign speeches, a penchant for luxury cars and having trotted up to one rally on an expensive horse. He has the support of the most hardline Islamic parties and has sparked concern among foreign investors worried about protectionism and a possible return to more authoritative policies.

“Many Indonesian Muslims prefer Prabowo’s strong and dynamic character, which can stand up in facing the foreign policies of neighboring countries and the U.S,” said Ikrar Nusabhakti, a political analyst from the Indonesia Institute of Science. “While other people are responding positively to Jokowi’s caring and earthy traits.”

Black campaigns, as smear tactics are known here, have surfaced in both camps. But Widodo, 53, has blamed his fall in opinion polls — from a lead of more than 12 percentage points in May to just around 3.5 points now — on character assaults that accused him, among other things, of not being a follower of Islam. He has denounced the charges as lies, but says it’s hard to undo the

This combo of two photos shows Indonesian presidential candidates former special forces commander Prabowo Subianto, left, and Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo AP damage it caused in the world’s most populous Muslim nation.

“I think these black campaigns were effective enough to convince communities,” said Hamdi Muluk, a political analyst from the University of Indonesia. “And that has directly ruined Widodo’s image.” But he added that Subianto’s past, including ordering the kidnappings of pro-democracy activists prior to Suharto’s fall in 1998, have not gone unnoticed.

“Considering the role models and

figures behind Widodo’s team, I believe many new voters tend to support Jokowi,” Muluk said. “A return to the New Order is not popular among youngsters or new voters. They are interested more in change.”

The race is the country’s third direct presidential election, and has played out with fury in the social-media crazed country of around 240 million people.

There has been a frenzy of “unfriending” on Facebook pages belonging to users who support different camps. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Time to go green

B

angladesh needs to recognise that it is one of the countries most likely to suffer from the adverse effects of climate change.

Melting polar ice could raise sea levels and permanently inundate the southern districts of Bangadesh, making millions of our citizens homeless and landless.

Fortunately, there is a way out. Renewable energy technologies like solar, wind, and biogas have made leaps forward in recent years. Germany generated half of its energy from solar on June 9, a historic event on the path towards sustainability.

Such progress has only been possible because European countries are subsidising renewable energy.

In Bangladesh, we are doing the opposite; we are subsidising fossil fuels (like diesel, natural gas, and coal) which are sold at lower prices here than in neighbouring countries. This should change. The prices of fossil fuels should be raised, and some of the revenue thus raised should be used to subsidise renewable energy.

Promoting the expansion of green energy sources is indispensible for our future as subsidies offered to fossil fuels have outlived their worth. Renewable energy technologies have advanced enough to be able to compete with other energy sources.

It is now necessary for our country to invest in alternative energy sources that do not pose such threats to our environment. We have the essential technology to accomplish this task. What we require is the political will. The government must start thinking long term and take the necessary steps to decrease our reliance on fossil fuels.

It is now necessary for our country to invest in alternative energy sources

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

Forest management ignored July 4

SAM When it comes to our vast Sundarbans, ill-trained and ill-armed temporary guards are no barrier to the open robbing of the trees, our valuable resource and wealth! The principle of “easy come, easy go” seems to be the order of the day. We cannot allow things like this to go on, and fulfill the greed of illegal wood-loggers and poachers. It has to stop, and the sooner the better.

Can our government do this? Can it protect our valuable natural resources from being openly robbed, and regularly? This important work must get top priority at all stages! Saving our Sundarbans is not something on which we simply pass some resolutions and then ignore. We

R

We strongly condemn this abhorrent act of violence towards such a peace-seeking organisation

are killing and destroying young trees to sell as fuel and also in the building of homes, as doors, windows, and other wooden fittings. This illegal trade of tree cutting and sawing has to stop.

The Forest Development Corporation, a rather unknown body, needs to be manned and equipped to do this important task effectively. The matter in question needs close monitoring and follow-up.

Are the members of the parliament aware? They must, if needed, discuss the matter wholly with all authorities concerned. They must not ignore the illegal wastage of our valuable natural resources that are frittered away by unscrupulous armed forest robbers. We must stop this careless and wayward destruction of our valuable gift of nature.

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.

July 4

ecently, a motorcade carrying officials of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Commission (CHTC) and a police officer were attacked in Rangamati, allegedly by the Bangalee settlers in the region.

We strongly condemn this abhorrent act of violence towards such a peace-seeking organisation, and urge the administration and our law enforcement to thoroughly look into the matter, as we wish to see the perpetrators behind bars sooner rather than later.

The CHTC has been operating since 2008, with an aim to preserve the basic rights of those who call the Chittagong Hill Tracts home.

This is why it is all the more saddening to see any form of violence being perpetrated against them.

The committee, which has been working towards peace in the region, has faced heated criticism from Bangalee settlers.

In addition to making sure that the rights of the CHT people are respected, the commission has been trying to see the CHT Peace Accord of 1997 implemented. It is highly unfortunate to see such noble goals being resisted.

The Chittagong Hill Tracts are already mired in instances of objectionable communal violence, land-grabbing, and amassing of wealth by vested quarters, all of which work against the well-being of the region’s minorities. To hear of such a direct instance of violence is not only a blow to their safety and welfare, but to human decency as well.

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

SUDOKU

Tofail vents anger over US GSP decision

Violence on CHTC unacceptable

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

Fareed Wakil Look within thyself first, commerce minister, before spewing out nonsense. Heal thyself first, physician, and the rest will follow.

Dr Ahsan Habib Fareed Wakil: Lawmakers such as this keep showing fake anger, while under the table they are making millions by stealing the wealth of the country and money from the banks. They are a disgrace to the country. khanadil Mr Tofail should know better, that his government’s record on human rights and labour rights pales in comparison to those of Idi Amin’s.

While US’s negative decision on GSP is regrettable, because in the end the poor will suffer, Mr Ahmed has no face to protest or decry Obama’s position.

Bangladesh’s only recourse is to get rid of this illegitimate government at the soonest possible, and restore true democracy and dignity that the country badly needs.

Mortuza Huq While the people of Bangladesh and all over the world know that it was a most farcical election, the current PM seems to be a great fan of the January 5 election. Maybe she knows that this type of election was the only way the AL could grab power, and use force to stay in power, against the people’s will.

If an election were to be held today, voters in Bangladesh would wipe out the AL and its allies from the nation’s political landscape.

This is the greatest defeat of AL in its political history.

However, if AL refuses to show any regard for the voters, and fails to start dialogue to find ways of holding a credible election, BNP, Jamaat and other democratic forces will have to forcefully achieve their demand. Impotence will not be an option.

Leaders of tomorrow, today July 4 Panuel Prince Good read, indeed!

Sagor Ajoj Very timely!!

Muhith: ‘Renowned banker to be new BASIC Bank chief’ July 5

deep purple blue Well, if that is so, then the powers that be will surely also ensure that the head of the new board is a relative of some high government official, or a member of the ruling party, to make the destruction of the banking sector “total and complete.”

Anything less would be a surprise.

Khaleda hosts iftar for diplomats July 5

Vikram Khan Hotel Westin?! Not bad at all! Who pays for this extravagance?! Maybe the money would have been better used to provide iftar to the extreme poor who are working extremely hard, but can never afford a good iftar meal!

Militancy strikes back July 6

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Box (4) 5 Whirl (4) 10 Summit (4) 11 United (3) 12 Dissolves (5) 13 First woman (3) 14 Hackneyed (5) 16 Country (6) 18 Calls on (6) 21 Rescued (5) 23 Offer (3) 24 Dodge (5) 26 Also (3) 27 Steep rugged rock (4) 28 Examine (4) 29 Cobbler (4)

DOWN 2 Trees (5) 3 Liable (3) 4 Refractory (7) 6 Writer of verse (4) 7 Originate (6) 8 Born (3) 9 Eastern ruler (4) 15 Attackers (7) 17 Bearlike (6) 19 Adult insect (5) 20 Prophet (4) 22 Says further (4) 23 Sporting item (3) 25 Forefront (3)

Zero-Agenda Terrorism and militancy are a combination that should not be.

As crazy as we get July 4

VHS It is true. Give Bangalis the punch bowl and they get drunk quick.

CALVIN AND HOBBES Sister abducted after brother killed July 5

vihan It’s all about education; it’s high time that parents and teachers in Bangladesh teach boys to treat women and girls not as disposable property, but as people who deserve respect and equal rights!

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD Don’t go Selecao July 5

PEANUTS

saad An excellent football article!

Boards of state-owned banks to be reshuffled July 5

indigo No, Mr Minister, please wait until all other state-owned banks are utterly ruined by relatives of high government officials and ruling party leaders. After all, according to our financial minister, Tk4,500 crore is nothing for such a large economy as that of Bangladesh.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

11

The new cold war n Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

T

BNP is not the way forward

S

n Ashikur Rahman

ushma Swaraj’s recent visit to Bangladesh brings to attention an interesting change within BNP’s political compass. The fact that the party convinced its chairperson, a former prime minster, to call upon a visiting foreign minister of India, explicitly indicates that they are ready go an extra mile to convince our neighbour that it will no longer harness the anti-Indian political equation it often advocates.

This, to an extent, is a blatant attempt to convince India that BNP is not a hostile alternative for its interest within the Bangladeshi political landscape.

Moreover, given that the acting general secretary of BNP has threatened a tough political movement in August, the changing political dynamic provokes us to ask a pertinent question: Is BNP the way forward for Bangladesh?

Before I indulge further to evaluate the issue, it is essential to highlight the central challenges I have faced while articulating this piece. Mark Twain, the prominent American author from the 19th century, once said: “The very ink with which all history is written is merely fluid prejudice.” This novel judgement, in essence, identifies the fundamental challenge that any political analyst or historian encounters. That is, how do we articulate an objective assessment of any socio-political phenomenon without deriving the logic from our personal biases?

Of course, this is only a concern when individual opinion or preference motivates one to deduce an argument that cannot be supported through evidence. Thus, while articulating this piece, I have faced a similar challenge of not influencing my logic with what I feel due to my ideological position.

Rather, the aim is to argue why people, who do not necessarily agree with my ideological position, should also not

endorse BNP in its present form.

I believe, in a secular Bangladesh, BNP is not ready to deliver. But that is not the core of my reasoning. In any free society, it is an inherent inalienable right of individuals to converge to an ideological position that they seem fit. Hence, their choice of any political party is influenced both by their ideological position and their expectation of the future. Consequently, it is that pursuit of a socially acceptable future that has motivated this article, since political parties remain the most pivotal vessel in any democratic arrangement on which societies drift towards unexplored shores.

is the attempt by the BNP to articulate a farce investigation to establish that Awami League was the principal organisation behind such an attack.

This, to a large extent, raised grave suspicions that BNP had much to hide and fear from the results of a genuine scrutiny of the incident.

Second, the institutional arrangement that was conceptualised for upholding free, fair, and credible elections, ie the caretaker government, received a major blow when BNP started to develop a flawed voter list and alter the retirement age of chief justice to ensure their preferred individual becomes the premier of an

Their sole strategy so far has been to bank on the anti-incumbency sentiments

Hence, what is wrong with BNP being that vessel of change? The issue is that the political deadlock we presently experience is largely influenced by events that took place between 2001 and 2006, and there is no indication that the future will be any different if BNP ever receives the mandate to govern.

Three issues are important to highlight here. First, political parties will always fail to find a common ground if politics remain a zero-sum affair, especially when it means that the losing side can face extermination. In that context, the August 21 grenade attack in 2004 on then opposition leader Sheikh Hasina, essentially meant that the thin thread of trust between the two dominant parties developed during 1983 and 2001 was severed. The event that appeared more malicious

interim government. More importantly, if the neutrality and effectiveness of any institutional arrangement is, in part, shaped by its design, it is also largely influenced by the intentions of its leadership.

Accordingly, when BNP interfered with the selection of an acceptable head of the caretaker government, it instrumentally raised question of the institution’s future relevance. This, overall, was an uncalled-for act as it conceptually nullified the only common ground the major political parties achieved in 1996 through intense political turmoil.

Third, although AL demonstrated considerable success in containing Islamic fundamentalism, attaining macro-economic stability, and mobilising substantial investments in

infrastructure, there were, nonetheless, significant weaknesses in its capacity to articulate institutional reforms needed to improve the state of governance in Bangladesh. This issue is even acknowledged by some AL stalwarts such as Finance Minister AMA Muhith, who often publicly displays his frustration with the various malpractices in stateowned banks. Yet, the question of interest here is, can the BNP-led alliance deliver anything new on this front? If one reconciles with past experiences and the quality of leadership it has promoted in recent years, the prospects of BNP having any capacity to improve the state of governance is uninviting.

Even if one evaluates the political rhetoric of its leaders, it is clear that while they leave no stone unturned to mock and demean the “Digital Bangladesh Vision,” over the last six years, BNP has failed to conceptualise a comprehensive development agenda for the future. Hence, their sole strategy so far, has been to bank on the anti-incumbency sentiments that generally accumulate in the South Asian political space, without highlighting any new direction that our society needs.

On the whole, Chanakya, the noted Indian philosopher from 4th century BC, argued that: “Learn from the mistakes of others ... you can’t live long enough to make them all yourselves.”

Unfortunately, BNP over the years have failed to project itself as a credible vessel of positive change, since there is no evidence indicating that it has learned from its past mistakes, or has the necessary capacity or leadership to learn from the mistakes of AL. Therefore, in contemporary Bangladeshi politics, there is no reason to believe or advocate that BNP is a valid alternative to the current government of our polity. l Ashikur Rahman is Senior Economist at Policy Research Institute.

When wrong turns right n Mohammad Ali Sattar

I

f you look closely, we in Bangladesh are religiously focused on profit-making mechanisms in this holy month. The fact is, we have graduated further and further into money-making schemes.

Interestingly, a great number of people are absorbed with the greatest show on earth (the football World Cup), while another majority is busy counting undue profits by way of carrying out illegal trade and sale of adulterated food.

The perturbing point is, these illegal traders have now teamed up and find themselves sturdy enough to challenge law enforcers and the bona fide government officials who challenge them in accordance with the law of the land.

Scenario one: TV channels were airing a scene of the roving magistrates checking food at the iftar stalls of the city. Most of the food items were found to be prepared with oil gone bad and musty edibles.

They were fined instantly, and the owners happily paid off the bills in cash. There was not a sign of remorse on their smiling faces for they knew business will go on as usual once these

government elements left the place.

So frustrating was the situation in these selling outlets that a lady magistrate was heard commenting that “only small fines are not enough to arrest the trend of immoral trade, there should be a harsher penalty for this …”

Scenario two: In a narrow alley of an old building in the city, fftar items were being sold. The stinky passageway and the visibly sickening surroundings of the makeshift shop were simply inconceivable for a normal mind. No one would even think of using that dark passage as a toilet.

When challenged by the mobile teams of BSTI and magistrates, the shop owners challenged them openly, saying that it was not the job of the BSTI and magistrates to challenge us, that they were working with the permission of the police. God save this nation.

Scenario three: Look at the state of traffic and the roads in the city. See the rain-clogged lanes and dangerous pot holes, the water-logged surfaces we call “roads.” Add to the misery by watching the sweating and dehydrated commuters huddled inside a vehicle, waiting to reach their destination.

Scenario four: In the midst of the

unbearable traffic and broken roads, the pavements of the city have come under the full control of small traders and motor-bike riders, and are sometimes even convenient public toilets.

You can’t challenge the motorbike riders because they think they have the legal right to plough through the pavements. Rather, pedestrians have to give way to them while they honk their horns with great agitation.

Scenario five: The education minister and his colleagues have a go at Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). TIB was at fault for bringing up the irregularities of the private universities registration, their operations, selling of certificates, and many other areas of dissipated practices.

Even before the TIB could come up with such reports, I believe we all knew what is happening in the majority of the private (so-called) universities. The minister, the VCs of the universities, and other vested quarters have teamed up and challenged the TIB to prove its survey report or apologise.

So you can’t say anything against the law breakers. Strange isn’t it?

Scenario six: The banks are at it endlessly. The branches, regional offices, and HQs are all hit by the gang of

predators from inside their own ranks.

The directors are now quite valourously involved in the fray of minting money. A director of a bank in Chittagong was allegedly caught stealing only Tk140cr. He was quite at ease when he was being taken away by the police from his office. Shame and morale have long left these souls.

We are likely to be fed up with news of such scams in banks, NGOs, ministries, and any public or private enterprise. On the one hand the government is absolutely impatient and intolerant to any type of criticism, local or global, and on the other, the people are also becoming self-declared community leaders who do they wish.

So the nation is wedged between the claws of thieves and murderers.

Whether you steal money or life, you still manage to get away.

When rulers rule with a totalitarian mindset, all wrong becomes right.

When society is taken for a ride, the eventual outcome is always disastrous.

In the process, we are either dying a slow death or becoming inhabitants of a dead community with cold minds and lukewarm bodies. l Mohammad Ali Sattar is a journalist and a DT columnist.

he mutual belligerence among the major powers with respect to the crisis in the Caucasus, Syria, and recently in Ukraine, raises questions whether the cold war symptoms are truly gone forever. Over the last one and half decades, a clear pattern of competition between the Western powers and Russia can be recognised.

The same can be said about the China and the US in case of East and South China Sea stretching up to the crucial Indian Ocean region.

There are natural quests about the post-communist polarisation; especially why there are still serious issues between the West and Russia. The China vs the West and allies (led by the US) tension, almost perpetual, regardless of China’s gradual embracing of capitalism and free market and some grassroot level electoral practices is also an issue worth examining .

During the fall of communism, Russia became somewhat democratic and progressively opened its market.

Capital became largely free of state control, in a way. After the fall of Soviet Russia, the overwhelmingly biggest member of the abolished union inherited the superpower legacy of the erstwhile communist confederation, although practically it became more of a Eurasian regional power as most of its global clout diminished.

A couple of decades has passed since, but even today there is a consistent detachment between core Europe and Russia, and also a bitter rift between the US and the latter. Russia, very much a European nation, by most measures, isn’t welcomed in Europe or in its union.

No one has even ever talked about the latter, despite periphery countries like Turkey, Romania, Bulgaria – serious contenders in the pipeline. The EU is expanding rapidly in the Slavic east but never cast their eye with any good demeanor on the perpetual big brother of the Slavs – the Russians.

There are some explanations in favour of the European scepticism about Russia notwithstanding Russia’s transformation from socialism. Russia is not a proper democracy as per Western measures. It holds elections regularly and perhaps without direct rigging, yet the nation hasn’t so far embraced the ideals of liberty that prevails in Western Europe and North America.

There seems to be a shadow state inside the visible edifice of body politik and a strongman in the person of Vladimir Putin rules with an iron fist.

He calls the shots almost singularly on all important matters and often political institutions, civil society, media – all these instruments of modern checks and balances seem immaterial.

His grip over his party, the state establishment, and so on is so strong that when he had to vacate the position of the president for a term due to constitutional obligations, after his initial two terms, he took over as prime minister and everyone knew where the power centre lied.

Interestingly, the Russians themselves don’t seem too dissatisfied with the state of affair of their political system and the unquestionable clout of the modern era czar Putin. To grasp a correct picture, one needs to understand that Russia was in turmoil after the collapse of the Soviet Union.

In those years, there was no stable political order, nor any established party system – essential for modern democracy.

There were infightings between the presidency and the Duma, the Russian parliament, and bloody secessionist struggles in the Caucasus. The Russians, already depressed with the dismemberment of the Soviet Union and their relegation from the status of a global superpower, were terrified about the prospect of further tearing up their vast federation. Also, the economy was in shambles, and life for ordinary citizens became real hard.

Putin, the former KGB operative, after taking over the presidency,

A new type of czar

gradually brought things back in order, to some extent, at the cost of liberal democracy. That’s where his acceptability within Russia and unacceptability in the West lurks. Russia hasn’t become part of the new world system sufficiently. Both politically and economically and still retain some strategic free play.

This new cold war lacks the intensity and pervasiveness of the old one

Again, Russia still has disproportionate sums of strategic arsenals and a correspondingly strong military mostly due to its Soviet legacy and the aspiration for restoring lost pride. She may not be a global superpower in the old way, but certainly a Eurasian power with considerable strategic clout. That’s another source of unease of the West.

Also, there is no great urge amongst Russian people to be a part of Europe – unlike their many other smaller Slavic brothers. Many Russians consider they are rather a competitor of the EU in that continent. Watching the ever-expanding Nato in its own Western frontiers, the Russian Bear thus wants to retain some essential bit of strategic space.

Nato on the other hand aims to secure as many East European countries as possible by bringing them in the fold of Western Bloc/Free World. All these together explain the genesis of the new cold war. Conflicts in Abkhazia, South Ossetia, Ukraine, etc, seem to the proxies of that.

But this is a much-regionalised cold war – sometimes spilling out of the region in a limited way like in Syria’s case. The new cold war isn’t a globally harmonised one like its precursor in the communist era. But there is one more regionalised cold war too. That’s in Asia Pacific Indian Ocean trans-region and it’s between the US and its core and strategic allies in one hand and China on the other.

India holds a key balance in this context though, and has its own aspirations outside the US designs, adding new dynamics to the twist. There are some similarities between China and Russia in the question of democratisation and getting attached with the world system. But militarily, China’s case is in reverse. It’s the second largest economy of the world, but with a disproportionately weaker military.

China’s crucial trade and energy routes are still at the mercy of the US navy. But as China strives to enhance militarily, that evokes another kind of worry among the US and its democratic allies of Asia. Both the camps exercise a degree of caution in their steps, yet the undercurrent of another brewing cold war can be felt.

The good thing is, this new cold war lacks the intensity and pervasiveness of the old one – largely due to the end of the ideological battle between capitalism and communism. The concept of a capitalist welfare state has negated the misplaced romanticism around socialism for the foreseeable future at the least.

Whatever else China might be, it’s certainly not a communist country anymore. The domains of this cold war are regional or trans-regional at the best; certainly not global. Whatever may be the course of this new cold war, it is projected and expected that humanity won’t revert to those insane days of the erstwhile cold war that nearly brought the world on the verge of a third world war. l Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury is the Head of Operations, Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), Brac University, Dhaka.

He is also a member of the Regional Studies Research Cluster in the same Institute.

REUTERS

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

third album in the pipeline Anisur Rahman Chirkutt's n Milon busy Shadma Malik

with films n Rezaul Karim

While the film actors are busy working in special teleplays for the upcoming Eid-ul-Fitr festival, Anisur Rahman Milon, who started his journey in the showbiz as a TV actor, is still busy with films. With a number of movies in the pipeline, this week he signed for a new film titled “Target,” directed by Saif Chandan. Here he will be seen opposite to newbie Ireen.

“Besides this project, I am working in Shah Alam Mandal’s ‘Bhalobasha Shimahin’ and Ananya Mamun’s ‘Friendship.’ My latest film “One Way” by Iftakar Chowdhury will hit the theatres anytime soon.”

Milon who is a popular actor in both the mediums will not deprive his fans this Eid. “I can’t exactly say how many of my teleplays will be aired this Eid, but the number wouldn’t be less than five,” he said.

“Still I have done a few good numbers this Eid. One such character is about a book worm in Al-Hajen’s single-episode play “Boi Pagol,” informs Milon, who further shared that the role is quite a unique one. “He is a man who does nothing but reads. He always gives quotes and logics from the books,” said Milon, who always looks for challenging roles.

“I always want to do roles that are not like what I am in real life. That means, the roles offer me to do something that has no similarity with my personality,” Milon said.

Besides acting, Milon, who is also a great fan of football, is a supporter of Germany and tries to watch World Cup matches by managing his tight schedules. “Unfortunately I don’t get much time to watch football matches despite trying not to miss one. However, on this World Cup, I have watched few matches on shooting spot with my crew members and those were really enjoyable experiences,” said Milon, who also shared about his Eid plans.

He said: “I try to be with my family on Eid days and we generally celebrate Eid in Dhaka.” He further added: “I don’t shop much and my wife generally does all the shopping for me. Still on the evening before Eid day I try to visit a few shopping centres and buy some gifts for my family.” l

Chirkutt’s third album “Laley Lal” has been dedicated to Hazrat Shah Jalal, the most revered legendary Islamic hero of Bangladesh.

In conversation with the Dhaka Tribune, Pinto Ghosh said: “I am from Sylhet, hence I wanted to release an album which will be dedicated to Baba Shah Jalal. I shared my ideas with the band and they all agreed to launch the project.”

“The album explores Sufism, along with love songs and tracks for children.”

This is their third album which is being released after a year, during the Eidul-Adha. About their frequent releases, Pintu said: “We received immense response to our last album. The members were satisfied with their performance and were ready to go for another project. Few unreleased tracks during the making of our previous album are incorporated in 'Laley Lal.' Besides, Chirkutt

FROM AKHRA TO FUSION: TRANSFORMATION OF BAUL MUSIC (PART-8)

From Akhara to Palli Geeti and Baul pretenders n Maqsoodul Haque The inclusion of newer instruments and artist saw the Baul music genre getting enlarged and well defined engaging and captivating larger audience numbers across a very wide spectrum, as well as connecting urban listeners to their nostalgic roots. The trend led on to the creation of versatile musicians as well as performers that not only enriched the form in a complex and highly competitive musical environment, guaranteeing Baul music’s survival for posterity. By late eighteenth century the invention of microphone and “chonga mike” (improvised bull horn speakers) and amplifications meant that by early 19th century, Baul music had effectively moved out of village Akharas to thanas and district towns and to urban city centers including Kolkata, with Dhaka emerging in importance much later.

As a genre it was quickly lapped up in particular by aficionados who were not Bauls in any way but shilpis.

These were vocal artists with no understanding about the deep spirituality associated with Baul music. Singing and performances by “shokher Baul” such as Baul pretenders as they were condescendingly referred to by Shadhus and Fakirs have since times post the transition of Lalon been the bone of contentions and many a sore debates. Since Baul music was by now open source and available aplenty in the national heritage, it was natural that many artists as well as vested interest staked a claim. The debate around the times centered on why one has to undergo the rigor of Baul life just to be able to sing the songs of Lalon? The Shadus and Fakirs are the legitimate stakeholder’s insisted that this was just not music but an ancient tradition, and wanted its authenticity retained under any circumstances.

The above debate continues as until today and it will be no error of judgment to state that the Sadhus and Fakirs arguments merit understanding and appreciation. For one, by 1920 Baul pretenders had in more ways than one usurped the tradition, and distortions became rampant and routine. Despite the many vagaries of the times, and the hazards advancements in technologies brings with it in society, the ancient Akhara institutions as this series of articles has repeatedly pointed, prevailed. It has painstak-

ingly preserved and continues to nurture all aspects of Baul music. It is in recognition to the continuity of the tradition and maintaining consistent criteria’s both in music and spirituality, that on the 26th November, 2005, UNESCO is Paris, declared Baul Music as “Masterpieces of the Oral and Intangible Heritage of Humanity.”

However historical records indicate that differences of opinion into holding on to Akhara authenticity start-

to perform yeomen service to our culture and ancient traditions.

Bauls have always been a marginalized and ostracized community given their unorthodox lifestyle and belief system, they challenged sensibilities of the dominant Kolkata based Brahmin and Muslim elite, who considered them no more than a “subordinate class of riffraff ’s.” It was Khoda Buksh Shah Sr, who saw the strides folk music other than Baul was making among the

Members of Chirkutt ular for their experimentation of various genres of music and unique fusion numbers has also contributed the title song in Shahin Kobir's film “Gollachut.” l

has its own studio, and the members of the band have their own individual studio, so we are blessed with proper working environments.” Chirkutt, pop-

TODAY IN DHAKA Film

X-Men: Days of Future Past 3D NonStop(2D) Walking with Dinosaurs Transformers: Age of Extinction3D Time: 10am – 10pm Star Cineplex Bashundhara City

Exhibition Prachyanat's acclaimed play ‘Kinu Kahare Thetar’ staged on July 7 at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy. Written by Manoj Mitra and directed by Kaji Taufiqul Islam Imon, the play revolves around an imaginary country named Putna, ruled by a deceitful king. A comedy, the play moves forward with several humorous incidents that ultimately unveils a crucial truth PRAJNA TASNUVA RUBAYYAT

Second Sight Time: 12pm – 8pm The Daily Star Centre 64-65, Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue

Bob Blumer’s search for weird restaurants n Entertainment Desk Join host, Bob Blumer, on his madcap quest to find the world’s wildest and wackiest restaurants tonight on TLC at 10pm. “World’s Weirdest Restaurants” is a global extravaganza of offthe-wall eateries, crazy characters and extreme cuisine - all served up with side order of “weird.”

Wanna get served beer by a monkey in a Japanese tavern, or dine naked in New York? How about eating curry out of a mini toilet bowl in Taiwan? Well, hang on to your napkin, we’ve got it all.

Got a hankering for a four-pound burger and a 2 litre beer, or maybe Asian fusion served up by Ninjas? If that’s not weird enough, there’s always a restaurant just for dogs. On “World’s Weirdest Restaurants,” it’s all just another night on the town.

Each episode of World’s Weirdest Restaurants showcases four of the planet’s most eccentric, extraordinary,

Sir Paul McCartney jams with Johnny Depp

eclectic restaurants. This fast-paced, colourful show is a wild ride that’ll leave you begging for seconds. l

Live Kitchen airs today n Entertainment Desk A cookery show “Live Kitchen” will be aired today at 4:30pm on Jamuna TV. Produced by Tavir Hossain and anchored by Sharmin Yusuf Shurobhi, today's special dish is “Cream of Broccoli Soup with Garlic Bread.” The show is being aired live every Sunday to Thursday.

“Live Kitchen” is a Ramadan special and the programme brings new recipe for iftar to the audience. l

Inclusion of newer instruments and artist saw the Baul music genre getting enlarged ERSHADUL HAQUE TINKU

ed immediately after the transition of Lalon. Disputes raging for several years among disciples on possession of the Lalon Shrine in Seuria, greatly divided and weakened the Baul community. The important shift to assimilation of Baul music with Palli Geeti (general folk music) is believed to have been started in 1920 by Khoda Buksh Shah, Sr, who was a living, walking archive. He had consigned most of the estimated 1200 verses of Lalon into memory and was also a famed vocalist. His real talent lay elsewhere, and it was in his deep understanding of the class division in society and evolving a strategy as how best to ensure transmission of Lalon’s songs. He went on

elite and had become acceptable from fairs, to markets to the sitting rooms of the affluent. Buksh Sr, looked at working on a critical mix of talent, trend and evolving technologies, without in anyway compromising with the Akhara tradition. Baul music’s entrance into Bengali folk music was not an accident. It was an exercise in subterfuge, a planned and calculated interventionist maneuvering. “Fusion” as we know it today became institutionalised in Baul music at this point. l Maqsoodul Haque is a jazz-rock fusion musician and cultural researcher who is writing a series on the transformation of Baul music.

n Entertainment Desk Sir Paul McCartney jams with Johnny Depp in his new music video.

The iconic rocker has paired up with the “Alice in Wonderland” actor for his latest promo clip for his latest single “Early Days,” and director Vincent Haycock described it as an “incredibly fun” shoot.

He said: “Paul’s scene was incredibly fun to create. It was just him, some blues players and Johnny Depp jamming on set all day.

“Patti Smith also turned up on set and hung out, which made the crew very happy! One of my favourite days of filming ever.”

The video is said to be a tribute to the “Hey Jude” hitmaker’s partnership with the late John Lennon - and their early beginnings as songwriters.

Vincent added: “Their story at its core is a universal one, two young kids who bond over their passion for music and form a band and friendship.

“This video is about them, and every band, and every kid who has suffered the ups and downs of starting a band, whether or not they became successful.”

It’s not the first time Johnny has appeared in video for Paul McCartney, after he most recently starred in the clip for “Queenie Eye” in 2013. l

Sp rt

13

DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Security measures beefed up for 2nd semifinal To contain the ‘Barras Bravas’ or the passionate Argentine football fans, who invaded the Arena de Sao Paulo for the second time in a week and who might again cause trouble during Argentina’s semifinal clash against the Netherlands today, there will be extra security measures and a more aggressive approach form the law and security enforcers.

Currently Brazil have six section of polices in each of its 27 states and the Military Police are the most scrutinizing one among them. The other five include the Federal Police, the Federal Highway Police, the Railway Federal Police, the Civil Police and the Military Fireman Corporations. The Sao Paulo Military Police is the largest police force in Brazil and one of the largest in the world with over 138000 personnel. The SPMP comprises of more than 28000 radio users across the state of Sao Paulo.

Without disclosing the absolute numbers, the Military Police said in a statement on last Wednesday that for a match of such high magnitude, there would be a 30% increase in security personnel in and around the Arena de Sao Paulo than it had for the World Cup opening ceremony.

The game is being considered a high risk encounter, especially after the 1-0

n Iresh Zaker While football fans are fond of conspiracy theories in general, the World Cup is when our individual and collective imagination takes special wing. It is tempting for a regular fan to get distracted by unimportant if sensational stories such as the relative lack of fouls and cautions given against Brazilian, Messi getting three less chicken nuggets for dinner than Fred, Van Gaal wearing an orange tie to distract Herrera, etc.

That is where a reasonable pundit such as myself has to step in and keep things real. We as football fans must focus on important conspiracies. We must protest the real wrongs. We must keep football and sports clean. We must, therefore, vehemently counter UEFA’s insidious campaign to get Shakib al Hasan banned.

Everyone knows from before the World Cup began that Shakib is a

victory of Argentina over Belgium in the quarter-finals. There were occasions when the police were working to contain the overflowing euphoria of fans around the stadium, especially during several outbreaks of disagreement with Brazilians regarding exchange of teases and the sale of alcohol, which have become the chief causes of concern for the security enforcers.

The Military Police will have the support of the Federal Police to control access of the crowd and to contain the violent behavior of the ‘Barras Bravas’.

In the match between Argentina vs Belgium in Brasilia, 400 federal police officers patrolled in the stadium, airport and ground access. Inside the Arena Corinthians, the number of ‘stewards’ (private security guards who work in the arenas) will be virtually the same as the other games, 900 to 950. All the stewards, however, were instructed to pay special attention to areas with greater division between Argentines and Brazilians.

The Local Organizing Committee (LOC) noted several untoward incidents between fans of the two South American rivals during the second round against Switzerland and the majority were resolved by the stewards themselves, without the need for referral to the police. However, a total of 282 broken seats were found after the match and now have been reset, and will be okay to use in the semifinals. l

n

Bangladesh are likely to play 64 Test matches in the period between October this year and December 2022, according to the latest version of the 2015-2023 FTP which is available with ESPNcricinfo. The list includes eight three-Test series against Zimbabwe and New Zealand. They are also likely to play 90-plus ODIs and 27 T20s in bilateral series, apart from various triseries and ICC tournaments.

UPCOMING SERIES

v Zim home October/November 2014 v Zim home January/February 2016 v Zim home January/February 2019 v NZ away February/March 2019 v NZ home September/October 2019 v Zim home April/May 2020 v Zim away March/April 2021 v Zim away March 2022 The BCB are quietly satisfied with the latest version of the FTP, though more series can be added after they sign the bilateral agreements in the next ICC Board meeting in October this year. When the deals are completed, it should assuage the Bangladesh cricketers who were worried about their Test future last January.

Bangladesh’s maiden tour to India has been slated for August 2016 while India are likely to visit in

RAIHAN MAHMOOD

Giving credit where credit is due

BCB has attitude problems too: Alamgir

Cricket and the World Cup at cross purposes

n Minhaz Uddin Khan

passionate Selecao fan. While Argentine supporters in Bangladesh will readily jump on and savagely eat anything that remotely smells like Brazilian support, Shakib is beyond such contention. He is the one person who can shine a positive light on both the Samba and Albeceleste fandoms in Bangladesh. THAT is what has turned UEFA against him.

See the governing body for European football has long been disturbed by the fact that their teams do not enjoy nearly as much global support across as their Latin American counterparts do. They have countered this with the age-old colonialist tactic of divide and conquer. By setting Argentina and Brazil fans against each other, UEFA has made sure that if no one is going to support the boys from Europe, then no one will have any fun either.

This is why we, instead of excitedly anticipating a Brazil Argentina final, are apprehensive about the potential encounter. The wise amongst us know that there is no accounting of the sheer hatred and violence that will ensue as a result of the two favorites clawing for the ultimate prize. Where footballing frenzy could have

New FTP eases Bangladesh concerns Cricinfo

The Argentine fan carrrier bus with a loud speakar on the roof

2015 and 2020. Australia could tour Bangladesh to play Tests in October 2015 and February 2020 while they are likely to host them in two Tests and three ODIs in August 2017. However, only England are not pencilled to host Bangladesh during this period although they are scheduled to tour Bangladesh four times. BCB president Nazmul Hasan had earlier in February confirmed many of these tours, having signed agreements with these three boards.

Among the three-Test tours, five will be at home, two in Zimbabwe and one in New Zealand. So far in their Test history, Bangladesh have played only two three-match Test series - against Pakistan in 2003 and Sri Lanka in 2007.

The first of these three-match series is to be held later this year when Bangladesh host Zimbabwe in October and November. In total, Bangladesh will play Zimbabwe in six such series but the most number of series are against New Zealand - seven.

Bangladesh will host New Zealand three times while they are scheduled to tour New Zealand in 2016-17, 2019, 2021 and 2022-23.

The least number of series are against South Africa and Pakistan, with Bangladesh playing them twice each during this cycle.

Bangladesh have played 83 Tests so far, hosting slightly more than half of those. l

brought us unmitigated joy, it now brings us unending worry.

For all UEFA’s chicanery, their machinations could have been undone by one man. Shakib al Hasan. He could have made sure that Brazilian fans and Argentine fans loved each other, and that, regardless of who won, football would emerge as the victor from a World Cup final between these two nations. And thus UEFA went to work.

They bribed cameramen to repeatedly focus on Shakib during cricket games until he was forced to respond with obscene gestures. UEFA made Bangladeshi fans, never known for questioning their cricketers, criticize their heroes, and Shakib HAD to question their loyalty in return.

Then they took Shakib to London, and in a jet- lagged haze made him tell his national coach that he would not be attending team training, and would quit the national team if he was forced to do so. I also suspect that the kids who got into an altercation with Shakib’s better half were paid UEFA agents.

Still all this could have been for naught, and Shakib could have continued to make

Bangladeshis happy, BUT for UEFA’s masterful administrative coup de tat. The “august” European body ensured that the Bangladeshi Board was manned with men who possessed neither nicety nor nous when it came to man management. The warning signs about Shakib’s behavior have long been evident. Yet BCB, motivated by Platini and Co., refused to step in and provide any kind of counseling to their young and most gifted player.

Once the feces had hit the fan, BCB could have tried to deal with the affair in a wise and mature manner, and shown a united front for the sake of the national team and its fans. Instead, UEFA instructed Papon and Co. to drag the whole issue through the mud as loudly and painfully as possible, dividing players, administrators, and fans for as long as possible. We have little realistic hope of coming out of this mess anytime soon.

When Bangladeshi cricket fans, united as they are, can be divided, what hope do we have for a peaceful resolution between Bangladeshi Brazil and Argentina supporters? Well done UEFA! Well done indeed! l

Former Bangladesh Cricket Board director and chairman of the disciplinary committee Sirajuddin Alamgir thinks the board’s decision to suspend Shakib al Hasan is logical, but at the same time the board should also bring its activities on track.

Shakib, on disciplinary grounds, was handed a suspension of six months from international cricket while one and a half years from domestic cricket outside Bangladesh.

“The board reasoned Shakib’s attitude problem as the issue but I think the board itself also has attitude problem,” Alamgir told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

“The way the BCB president [Nazmul Hasan] spoke to the media briefing itself looked odd. It seemed that the board has personal issues with that cricketer.

“The board has a CEO (Chief Executive Officer) and media manager, why doesn’t the president use them to deliver this kind of decision,” Alamgir added.

“The board said that they had to be harsh because of Shakib’s series of offences and because he was charged for

ICC president echoes BCB’s words n Mazhar Uddin

Although the 6 month ban slapped

by BCB on country’s darling cricketer Shakib Al Hasan has not gone well with a large quarter of fans from across the country and beyond, ICC president AHM Mostofa Kamal thinks the punishment was fair enough as there should always be zero tolerance for indiscipline and corruption.

“He came to meet me on Monday and I said what I should say. There should be zero tolerance regarding issues related to indiscipline and corruption. Like we need our cricket board, we also need Shakib and it’s now his turn to help the cricket board. I hope

everything will be fine,” said Kamal while talking to the media yesterday.

Meanwhile, there have been heated debates and arguments among fans all over the country, and in social networks too where many of Shakib’s fans voiced their opinion against the severe punishment. Some others, however, thought Shakib deserved it.

Shakib has a lifeline though as he can appeal against BCB’s verdict, but there has been no sign of any appeal from the 27 year old all-rounder. His only notable reaction since the announcement of the verdict have come through his official Facebook page where he has asked his fans to support him and pray for him on.

For our valued readers, here is the post: “Dear Fans, Ramadan Mubarak! I am truly overwhelmed by all the love and support I have received from you in the past and even more so now. In this moment of truth, please know from the very bottom of my heart that I am who I am because of your undying love and support and the colors of our flag. I play every moment keeping this love and emotion with me. My country means more than anything else to me and I intend to fight for my country and my fellow countrymen at every opportunity I get...please keep me in your thoughts and prayers as I always do for you...Love you all: Shakib” l

England captain Alastair Cook (L) and India captain MS Dhoni pose with the trophy following team practice sessions at Trent Bridge in Nottingham in central England, yesterdfay ahead of the first Test beginning today at Trent Bridge AFP

his actions in the past.

“But if you look into the past, Shakib had already been punished several times. He lost his post as the captain in 2011, there were times when he was fined and if see the latest was the three-match suspension,” said Alamgir.

Alamgir also questioned if the board has properly followed the “Code of Conduct” in determining Shakib’s punishment. “You see we don’t have several Shakibs or Tamims.

We have very limited talent in the team and we should always think of the ways to use them is the best way possible. Imposing a six-month ban and keeping him off the game doesn’t make full sense,” said Alamgir who is sceptical that such actions from the board will affect the team’s morale in the games to come and eventually in the ICC World Cup 2015 which is only around five months from now.

However, though he thought of Shakib as a cricketer of highest caliber and an asset for Bangladesh, he also opined that Shakib should have been more careful with his gestures and actions. Alamgir believes the cricketers will now take lesson from BCB’s decision. l

Fahad crawls closer to title n Tribune Desk National sub junior chess champion Mohammad Fahad Rahman continued his winning streak and inched closer to the title of the Union Insurance 34th National Junior (Under-20) Chess Championship 2014 after beating Swarnavo Chowdhury yesterday.

It was Fahad’s eighth consecutive victory in the tournament and with only one round left a draw will be enough for the country’s youngest Fide Master to win the title. The youngster now has eight points after the end of the eighth round.

Ikramul Haque Siam of Narsingdi is a point behind Fahad at second position with seven points while Avik Sarkar of Mymensingh was third with 6.5 points.

Siam beat Protiva Talukder of Rajshahi and Avik drew with Akib Jawad of Chittagong at the Bnagladesh Chess Federation hall-room yesterday. l

Ziaur lose points in Spain after draw n Tribune Desk Bangladesh Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman conceded points for the first time in the 34th Open International Villa De Benasque in Spain as he drew with local hope Bellosta Lopez Pablo in the fourth round yesterday.

Ziaur earned 3.5 points after the end of the fourth round in Benasque, Spain. With the draw the Bangladesh GM moved down from the top of the points table to second position along with other 18 players. l

14

Sp rt DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Dutch, Argentines stoke memories of 1978 final n AFP, Sao Paulo Argentina and the Netherlands prepare to meet again on South American soil in Wednesday’s second World Cup semi-final, 36 years on from their encounter in the final of the controversial 1978 tournament in Buenos Aires.

A World Cup played out uneasily in a country under the grip of a brutal military dictatorship culminated in the hosts beating the Dutch 3-1 after extra time in the hostile environment of the Monumental Stadium, with Mario Kempes scoring twice.

For the Dutch, it was a second consecutive final defeat, after their 2-1 loss to West Germany in 1974, but no European side has come so close to winning the World Cup in South America.

The Dutch squad was missing Johan Cruyff but otherwise it was much the same as that of four years earlier, with seven players starting both finals, including captain Ruud Krol and Rob Rensenbrink.

Kempes put Argentina ahead, but substitute Dick Nanninga equalised and Rensenbrink then hit the post in the dying seconds for the Dutch.

It was an agonising miss, and Argentina took full advantage to secure their first World Cup in extra time as tournament top scorer Kempes netted again before Daniel Bertoni added another.

The result left a bitter taste in the visitors’ mouth, as they claimed they were unsettled when the Argentines stalled the start of the match by complaining about a plaster cast on Rene van de Kerkhof’s wrist.

“I am sure they prepared everything beforehand. They made us wait and the referee did nothing,” said Krol later in David Winner’s book Brilliant Orange.

Krol also said the Argentines had pressured FIFA into selecting Italy’s Sergio Gonella to referee the match.

NETHERLANDS

And that was not the only claim made that the hosts, perhaps with the influence of dictator Jorge Videla’s military government, had manipulated their way to final victory.

Indeed, in their final game of the second group stage, Argentina knew they needed to beat Peru by four clear goals to pip Brazil to a place in the final.

In the end, they put six unanswered goals past Peru’s Argentine-born goalkeeper Ramon Quiroga.

Come the final itself, the intimidating atmosphere left its mark on the Dutch, with Rensenbrink left to wonder how they might have made it out of the stadium had his last-minute shot gone in.

“If it had gone in, we would have won. We would have been World Champions in Argentina. It’s a pity,” he said in Brilliant Orange.

“Though they were pretty crazy, those Argentinians. If we’d won, going back to the hotel would have been a dangerous trip.”

It took Cruyff 30 years to dispel suggestions that he had refused to travel to Argentina because of his opposition to the dictatorship when in 2008 he told Catalunya Radio that he wanted to stay with his family after they were subjected to a kidnap attempt in Barcelona.

But the spectre of Videla’s government hung over the competition, and the Dutch even led calls for a boycott before it started.

Argentina were awarded the right to host the finals in 1966, before Videla came to power in a coup d’etat.

The brutal ‘Dirty War’ followed, in which his regime committed many horrific crimes, including the forced disappearance of thousands of opponents.

Some were held and tortured at the notorious Naval Mechanics School, from where the cheers from the nearby Monumental Stadium could be heard on June 25, 1978. l

Robin van Persie v Martin Demichelis

“It worked out. That was beautiful.”

Coach Louis van Gaal basking in getting it right after daringly switching keepers and bringing on Newcastle’s Tim Krul for the penalty shoot out win against Costa Rica on Saturday.

“Compared with the atmosphere at Euro 2012, it’s night and day.”

Wesley Sneijder talking about the lovey dovey atmosphere in the Dutch camp in Brazil, unlike the rift-ridden campaigns of years gone by.

“I really have to say and at the same time apologise in the first half I took a dive and I really shouldn’t do that.”

Serial diving offender Arjen Robben’s mea culpa after taking a plunge against Mexico.

Manchester United striker Van Persie will be eager to finally end his record of never having scored in the knockout stages of a major international tournament, and will find himself up against an Argentina defence that could be marshalled by Manchester City man Demichelis.

Argentina coach Alejandro Sabella could yet spring a surprise and play with three centre-backs in Sao Paulo, although Demichelis will hope to keep his place regardless.

Dirk Kuyt on Van Gaal, after playing in three different positions in the quarter-final.

Robin van Persie, after the stunning carpet-bagging of defending champions Spain in the opening first round game.

V NETHERLANDS

Now 30, Robben remains one of the most dangerous wingers in the game, the Bayern Munich man having always maintained his terrifying pace on the ball.

Robben loves to cut inside from the right flank onto his left foot, a move that

5

ARGENTINA

Arena de Sao Paulo, Sao Paulo 09 JUL 2014 - 17:00 Local (2:00AM BST)

FACT BOX Probable teams

Netherlands 1-Jasper Cillessen; 3-Stefan de Vrij, 2-Ron Vlaar, 4-Bruno Martins Indi, 15-Dirk Kuyt, 5-Daley Blind; 11-Arjen Robben, 20-Georginio Wijnaldum, 10-Wesley Sneijder; 9-Robin van Persie, 21-Memphis Depay Argentina 1-Sergio Romero; 4-Pablo Zabaleta, 15-Martin Demichelis, 2-Ezequiel Garay, 16-Marcos Rojo; 14-Javier Mascherano, 6-Lucas Biglia, 8-Enzo Perez; 22-Ezequiel Lavezzi, 9-Gonzalo Higuain, 10-Lionel Messi Key stats:

While Argentina have won the World Cup twice (1978, 1986), the Dutch are perennial underachievers in the tournament having reached three finals but coming away empty-handed each time (1974, 1978, 2010).

The teams met in the controversial 1978 final, which kicked off late after hosts Argentina objected to a plaster cast on the forearm of Dutch player Rene van de Kerkhof. Argentina won the final 3-1 after extra time.

There have been four previous meetings at the World Cup between the sides - the Netherlands winning two, Argentina one - in the ‘78 final - and one draw.

Argentina’s forward Sergio Aguero (C) takes part in a training session at “Cidade do Galo”, their base camp in Vespasiano, near Belo Horizonte on Sunday AFP

The Netherlands, with 12 goals, are joint top scorers in the 2014 tournament with Colombia, who have already been eliminated.

Lionel Messi has scored four of Argentina’s eight goals, while Dutch forwards Arjen Robben and Robin van Persie have each notched three.

THE KEY BATTLES has seen him score countless important goals throughout his career. FIFA’s statistics show that he has made a total of 17 solo dribbles into the opposition area, nine more than any other player.

Rojo has been arguably Argentina’s best defender at the competition so far, but he has not yet come up against an opponent of Robben’s quality.

fence. While his passing ability should not be underestimated, he adds the grit in the middle of the park and will look to stop Sneijder from playing.

The Dutch defence v Lionel Messi

Coming into the World Cup, Sneijder’s place in the Dutch side was the subject of some doubt. But he has been a prominent player in Louis van Gaal’s midfield thanks to his creativity as well as his willingness to go for goal himself.

Only Robben has had more attempts on goal than the Galatasaray man, who is also one of just two players to have been denied by the woodwork on two separate occasions. The other is France midfielder Yohan Cabaye.

In opposition to Sneijder, Mascherano patrols in front of the Argentina de-

With their 1-0 quarter-final win over Belgium, Argentina equalled their longest World Cup winning streak of five games. All five victories have been by one-goal margins.

ARGENTINA “It’s a catastrophe, nothing more, nothing less. There’s nothing worse than getting injured at a World Cup when your dream of lifting the trophy is still alive.”

Sabella reflecting on Neymar injury.

“I understood his gesture as a positive gesture.”

Sabella commenting on Lavezzi splashing him with water while he was giving him instructions on the touchline during the group game with Nigeria.

Wesley Sneijder v Javier Mascherano

Arjen Robben v Marcos Rojo

“He’s maybe the best tactically there is in the world.”

“It was five, but it could have been six, seven or eight goals, in my opinion.”

SEMI-FINAL

The injury suffered by Angel di Maria in the win over Belgium is a big blow to Argentina, who will miss his threat coming forward from midfield. Nevertheless, as long as Messi is available, Sabella’s side should not need to worry too much.

Van Gaal has favoured a three-man central defence so far, and if he sticks with that system the Dutch should have the numbers to cope with Messi as well as Gonzalo Higuain and whoever else lines up in attack for Argentina.

However, they lack a world class centre-back, and the absence of the injured Nigel de Jong deprives the Dutch of much-needed bite deep in midfield. Martins Indi could step forward into that role, or Daley Blind could play there. Whoever it is will have their hands full with Messi. l

“He’s the water in the desert. He finds solutions when we think there aren’t any.”

Sabella after the QF win over Belgium and on what his the 4-time world player of the year Messi brings to the team.

“Suffering, suffering that’s what I felt but now we know we can go through times like this.”

Messi after Argentina beat the Swiss in the last 16 in the extra-time.

“Argentina have gone a long time without doing this, and it was us who crossed the frontier.”

Messi on what it meant to have been part of the team that ended the 24 year drought at the finals by reaching the semis.

Previous meetings

The teams have played each other eight times overall, with the Netherlands winning four, Argentina one and three draws. World Cup meetings: 1974 Second round: Netherlands 4 Argentina 0 1978 Final: Argentina 3 Netherlands 1 1998 Quarter-finals: Netherlands 2 Argentina 1 2006 Group stage: Argentina 0 Netherlands 0 Results so far at the 2014 World Cup

Netherlands Opened their campaign with a 5-1 mauling of defending champions Spain before beating Australia 3-2 and Chile 2-0 to top Group B. They staged an astonishing fightback to beat Mexico 2-1 in the last 16, equalising with two minutes left on the clock before getting the winner via the penalty spot in stoppage time. Despite dominating Costa Rica in Saturday’s quarter-final, the Netherlands needed a penalty shootout to secure a place in the semi-finals.

Argentina Laboured to a 2-1 win over Bosnia in their opening game, scraped a 1-0 win over Iran in stoppage time and beat Nigeria 3-2 to finish top of Group F. Needed an extra-time goal in their last 16 match to beat Switzerland 1-0, then wrapped up their quarter-final against Belgium by the same scoreline.

POTENTIAL REPLACEMENTS FOR DI MARIA

ENZO PEREZ

MAXI RODRIGUEZ

RICARDO ALVAREZ

FERNANDO GAGO

AUGUSTO FERNANDEZ

It was Perez who came on when Di Maria injured himself against Belgium in the quarter-finals and the 28-year-old midfielder is the favourite to reprise the role against Holland. While he possesses neither Di Maria’s speed nor audacity with the ball, he is a technically accomplished player who enjoyed a fine 2013-14 campaign with Benfica, being elected Portugal’s Player of the Year. Perez also benefits from Sabella’s trust, having spent two years playing under him at Estudiantes, where the two men enjoyed Copa Libertadores success in 2009.

Rodriguez has not played since being taken off at half-time of Argentina’s opening game, a 2-1 win over Bosnia-Hercegovina in Rio de Janeiro. But the 33-year-old former Liverpool player is the most experienced of Di Maria’s potential replacements and offers defensive industry as well as guile on either flank. The Newell’s Old Boys player also possesses World Cup pedigree, having scored three goals -- including a sensational match-winning volley against Mexico -- at the 2006 tournament in Germany. He also played at the 2010 competition in South Africa.

A creative, left-footed midfielder, 26-year-old Alvarez is the closest thing Sabella has to a like-for-like replacement for Di Maria, but he has played for only 27 minutes at the tournament so far, as a substitute in the 3-2 win over Nigeria. The Inter Milan playmaker is not renowned for his physical robustness, but his inclusion would give Argentina more natural width in midfield.

Gago was a virtual ever-present for Argentina in qualifying, but having been brought back into the team after starting the opener against Bosnia on the bench, he was dropped for the quarter-final win over Belgium. With Javier Mascherano and Lucas Biglia expected to start, Gago’s inclusion would leave Argentina with precious little attacking dynamism in central midfield, although they would look formidable defensively. The Boca Juniors midfielder’s poor form in Brazil counts again him.

The left-field choice. Celta Vigo winger Fernandez, 28, has not yet made it onto the pitch in Brazil and has only nine caps to his name. But as a defensive-minded player, he would offer Argentina protection against the threat posed by Holland’s dangerous left-wing-back Daley Blind.

Sp rt DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, July 9, 2014

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Spaniards mourn Don Di Stefano n AFP, Madrid

Spaniards flocked to pay homage on Tuesday to Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano, one of the world’s greatest footballers who inspired millions of fans during the isolation of the Franco era.

Hundreds of people queued around the block by the towering walls of the club’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium where Di Stefano’s body lay in state, a day after he died following a heart attack, aged 88.

Inside, mourners bowed and crossed themselves as they passed in front of his coffin, which was draped with a white Real Madrid flag.

The numerous silver trophies he helped the team win were lined up nearby.

Among Tuesday’s mourners, Real Madrid’s captain Iker Casillas embraced members of the former player’s family, who sat dressed in black in front of big garlands of white flowers.

Known as “the Blonde Arrow”, Di Stefano was a hero of the all-conquering Real sides of the 1950s and 1960s.

Following tributes from sportsmen around the world as well as the Spanish government and royal family, the press called him a “genius”, a “legend” and a “complete player”.

Fans fondly remembered the man who transformed their club into one of the most successful sides in the world.

“I feel cut up. He was the greatest,” said Javier Lopez, 28, waiting in the queue at the stadium in a white Real Madrid shirt, with a tattoo of the club’s shield on his arm.

“If it wasn’t for this man, Real Madrid would be nothing. He defended, he directed play and he scored goals.”

Di Stefano had gone into a coma after suffering a heart attack on Saturday.

He died on Monday at 5:15 pm (1515 GMT) at the Gregorio Maranon hospital, Real Madrid said in a statement.

“He has left us, but his legend will live forever,” Real Madrid chairman Florentino Perez told a news conference on Monday evening.

On Tuesday, leading Madrid sports daily Marca left its cover all white except for a small black-and-white photograph showing the back of a departing Di Stefano wearing his number 9 shirt, his hand waving.

It urged Real Madrid to withdraw the number 9 shirt in Di Stefano’s “eternal honour”.

The director of rival sports daily AS, Alfredo Relano, said Di Stefano’s exploits on foreign football fields gave Spain pride in the 1950s, during the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco.l

Relatives of former Real Madrid player Alfredo Di Stefano attend his wake at Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid yesterday

Real Madrid’s ‘Blonde Arrow’ WORLD-CLASS, NO WORLD CUP Di Stefano scored six goals in seven matches for his native Argentina and 31 goals in 23 matches for his adopted Spain, but never got to play in the finals of a World Cup. Argentina did not play in the 1950 and 1954 finals. Spain failed to qualify in 1958 and in 1962 Di Stefano was injured.

TROPHIES AND TITLES Among other titles, he won five consecutive European Cups with Real Madrid – in 1956, 1957, 1958, 1959 and 1960 – and eight Spanish league titles between 1954 and 1964. Earlier in Argentina he had won two league titles (1945 and 1947) with River Plate and then three in Colombia with Millonarios (1949, 1951 and 1952).

INDIVIDUAL HONOURS He was the European Football of the Year in 1957 and 1959 and was top scorer in the Spanish league five times, first in 1954 and then each consecutive year from 1956 to 1959.

COACHING After retiring as a player he coached 12 sides including Sporting Lisbon, Valencia, River Plate and his beloved Real Madrid. Among his achievements as a coach were two Argentine league titles – with Boca Juniors in 1969 and River Plate in 1981 – and one Spanish league title with Valencia in 1980.

Nike to end deal with Man Utd n Reuters, London

n AFP, Madrid Alfredo Di Stefano, who died Monday at the age of 88, was one of the greatest footballers ever to grace the earth, held in the same esteemed regard as Pele, Diego Maradona and Johan Cruyff, and will forever be known as the “Blonde Arrow” of the all-conquering Real Madrid sides of the 1950s and 1960s.

Di Stefano died in Madrid’s Gregorio Maranon hospital where he had lain in a coma after suffering a heart attack. He was struck down after having lunch at a restaurant with his family on Saturday, not far from his beloved club’s Santiago Bernabeu stadium.

Di Stefano had been hospitalised seven times for similar episodes, and underwent emergency quadruple heart by-pass surgery after suffering a major heart attack in 2005 just after the death

of his wife Sara.

A complete player capable of disorienting dribbles, pinpoint passes and a lethal threat in front of goal, Di Stefano combined exquisite technical ability with tactical nous and an irrepressible spirit.

Born in 1926 in Buenos Aires to a modest family, Di Stefano joined River Plate, one of Argentina’s most storied clubs, as a teenager.

He made his debut for them in 1945 at the age of 19 against Huracan, the outfit with whom he would spend the following season on loan before returning to his parent club.

Upon his return Di Stefano would form part of a much-vaunted attacking trio alongside Jose Manuel Moreno and Angel Labruna.

- Short-lived Argentina career 1947 was a pivotal year for Di Stefano as he helped River Plate to the

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US sportswear company Nike will not renew a long-running kit supply deal with English soccer club Manchester United because of the cost of a new contract, a source with knowledge of the negotiations said.

Nike has been supplying United’s famous red shirts since 2002 but the current agreement expires next year. Its withdrawal is expected to clear the way for the club to sign a lucrative new deal with German sportswear company Adidas.

“Clearly Nike’s football business is booming and they could easily afford to do this. They had the right to match any other offer but looking at the deal on the table, they will walk away as it doesn’t make sense,” the source said. l

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REACTION TO DI STEFANO league title before netting six goals in his country’s triumphant Copa America campaign, which would mark both the beginning and end of his short-lived Argentina career.

A player strike prompted the Argentine championship to grind to a halt the following season, resulting in a mass player exodus that saw Di Stefano pack his bags and head for Colombia’s Millonarios.

He won the Colombian title in his first season before adding the 1951 and 1952 titles to his list of honours and his individual displays prompted a host of bigname European suitors to come calling.

After a long, complicated transfer wrangle with bitter rivals Barcelona, it was ultimately Real Madrid, thanks in large part to then president Santiago Bernabeu, who won the race for Di Stefano’s signature.

Di Stefano immediately flourished in the Spanish capital as he helped Madrid end a 21-year wait for the league title in his first season before collecting a further seven league crowns during his time at the club, during which he formed formidable partnerships with the likes of Ferenc Puskas, Francisco Gento and Raymond Kopa.

However, it was on the European stage that Di Stefano truly cemented his status as one of the game’s greats, helping Real win the first five editions of the European Cup between 1956 and 1960, a record that stands to this day.

He was also a two-time European Football of the Year in 1957 and 1959, but despite all the accolades a World Cup finals appearance was to elude him. l

Ashley Cole joins Roma n AFP, London Former Chelsea defender Ashley Cole joined Italian side Roma on a free transfer on Monday.

Cole had been linked with a host of Premier League clubs since being released by Chelsea at the end of last season, but the left back has opted to continue his career in Serie A. The 33-year-old signed a two-year contract with Roma, who confirmed the deal on their official website alongside a picture of Cole next to the club’s crest.

“AS Roma have acquired Ashley Cole’s playing registration on a twoyear deal which expires on June 30, 2016,” the statement read.

“The agreement also gives the club the right to extend the contract into a further season.”

Cole and his agent Jonathan Barnett had flown to Italy to discuss the move over the weekend and the defender underwent a medical before travelling to Roma’s Trigoria headquarters to sign a contract that will reportedly net him 4.6 million euros ($6.25m, £3.65 million) a year.

After starting only 15 Premier League matches last season, Cole hopes for a fresh start at Roma, who will compete in the Champions League next season after Rudi Garcia’s men finished runners-up behind Juventus in Serie A last term. l

“Today the openness between Latin American players and European clubs is very much due to the work of Alfredo Di Stefano. He was a trailblazer, and most of all, he was a legend of the game. God rest his soul.”

FORMER BRAZIL GREAT PELE ON TWITTER “We’re sad to hear #RealMadrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano has passed away. The thoughts of everybody at #mufc are with his family & the club.”

TRIPLE EUROPEAN CHAMPIONS MAN UNITED ON TWITTER “It’s a sad day. I want to remember Alfredo Di Stefano, one of the best players ever.”

FORMER ITALY DEFENDER FRANCO BARESI ON TWITTER “My condolences to the Di Stefano family, a great player whose name will remain in the world’s football history.”

FORMER BRAZIL DEFENDER CAFU ON TWITTER “Di Stefano was one of the greatest in my mind. He had fantastic balance and poise. He was always the focus of Real Madrid wherever they went. He had a fantastic life and I’m proud to have been associated with him in a small way.”

FORMER MAN UNITED MANAGER ALEX FERGUSON ON SKY SPORTS TELEVISION “This is a very sad day for football ... when we lose a special person like this. Alfredo was the best Real Madrid player in history.”

CHELSEA MANAGER JOSE MOURINHO ON THE LONDON CLUB’S WEBSITE “The footballing world has lost a great player and a great man ... I had never seen such a complete footballer.”

FORMER ENGLAND AND MAN UNITED PLAYER BOBBY CHARLTON ON CLUB WEBSITE “Saddened to hear that the Real Madrid legend Alfredo Di Stefano passed away earlier today. R.I.P.” FORMER ENGLAND STRIKER MICHAEL OWEN “Alfredo Di Stefano has died. One of the greatest players ever. Scored in 5 successive European Cup finals. A feat never to be matched.”

FORMER ENGLAND STRIKER GARY LINEKER

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, July 9, 2014 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, June 16, 2014

13 Security measures beefed up

14 2nd semi stokes memories of 1978

Sport

15 Spaniards mourn Don Di Stefano

All eyes on Messi and Robben with Rio in sight n Reuters, Sao Paulo The Netherlands are one win away from a second straight World Cup final while opponents Argentina head into Wednesday’s last-four clash looking to end their 24-year wait for a place in the biggest game of all.

Two teams with a rich tradition and an abundance of motivation should produce a close game, characterised by tight marking, disciplined defence and threats on the break as they bd to reach the July 13 final at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana.

Klose sets WC scoring record n Reuters

Germany striker Miroslav Klose became the World Cup’s all-time record scorer with his 16th goal during their semi-final against Brazil on Tuesday, eclipsing former Brazil striker Ronaldo in the record books with his 23rd minute strike.

The 36-year-old, playing in his fourth World Cup, had already equalled Ronaldo on 15 goals with his dramatic strike in Germany’s 2-2 draw against Ghana in the group stage before moving ahead on Tuesday in the match in Belo Horizonte.

The goal was his first in a World Cup semi-final and arguably one of his most important as it put Germany 2-0 up in the last four clash.

A humble man who plays for Lazio after earlier spells at Kaiserslautern, Werder Bremen and Bayern Munich, Klose is the best German striker of his generation whose tremendous sense of fair play has won him admirers in his homeland and in Italy.

The soft-spoken striker, who was born in Poland and spoke almost no German when he moved to Germany with his family as an eight-year-old in 1986, is the antithesis of flamboyant and the epitome of Germany’s star-less World Cup teams.

Standing 1.82 metres tall, Klose is almost unstoppable in the air and is known for his superb timing and leaping ability having worked hard to develop those skills.

He has been consistently lethal in front of goal in the last three World Cups and contributing to his record-breaking tally has been the fact he has played in 23 matches due to Germany having reached the final and semi-finals twice in that time. l

But for all the expectation, all the history and all the focus on the tactical approaches of Alejandro Sabella and Louis van Gaal, the clash at the Corinthians arena is likely to come down to how two individuals seize the moment.

With both teams set to pack the midfield, regardless of what

TEAM STATS

tacks.

Van Gaal’s side have cut it fine on the route to the semi-finals though - they needed penalties to get past Costa Rica in the quarter-finals having only beaten Mexico by a controversial last-minute penalty in the previous round.

They will need striker Robin van Persie to recapture his form from the group stage to give the Argentina defence something else to ponder apart from Robben’s direct threat. l

Ned Arg Games played 5 5 Goals scored 12 8 Fouls committed 91 54 Yellow cards 7 5 Red cards 0 0 Distance run per match 114.8km 109.6km Passes completed 2,031 2,438 Pass completion rate 80% 80% Player of the Year needs to take his country to a World Cup triumph to enter the list of the game’s true greats.

The absence of Angel Di Maria on the right through injury is a blow for Argentina because the Real Madrid winger has provided the other main attacking threat for Sabella’s team.

His Dutch counterpart Van Gaal has been willing to adjust his lineup and formation for each game, but the one constant is the reliance on Robben to terrorise defences with his high-speed dribbling.

Nothing but the Cup will satisfy Messi

OVERALL TOP SCORERS Players Goals Match Miroslav Klose (Germany) 16 23 Ronaldo (Brazil) 15 19 Gerd Müller (Germany) 14 13 Just Fontaine (France) 13 6 Pelé (Brazil) 12 14

While much attention has focused on the tricky winger’s tendency to go down easily in seeking penalties, that has distracted somewhat from the way his pace, directness and shooting have been the main focus of the Dutch at-

formal formation they field, Argentine Lionel Messi and Dutchman Arjen Robben will be charged with producing thrilling moments of skill that could decide who heads to Rio for the final.

The narrative around the 27-yearold Messi’s stature in the game has long suggested that the four-time World

He has probably won every possible individual award a footballer can achieve, but the only silverware missing from the trophy cabinet of Argen-

tine superstar Lionel Messi is the World Cup. Already a great player of this era, Messi will undoubtedly become a legend if he leads Argentina to their third World Cup glory.

Messi’s dream is not to become the highest scorer and take the golden boot, rather he wants to help his team lift the trophy and turn their dream into reality.

“As an individual player I have won all but winning the World Cup is the best, nothing can be compared to it,” said Messi during his interview at Argentina’s base camp at Belo Horizonte yesterday.

“It’s something you dream since childhood, and the dream never ends. I asked my fellow Barcelona teammates Xavi, Iniesta and Piqué how it feels lifting the World Cup, but they could not explain. We are trying hard to make this dream a reality.

“I concentrate on the team. We focus on tactics, so our game will give

the answer. If I follow with scoring goals and this would allow Argentina to reach the final, it will be the most important thing,” he said.

An all South America final will be very special as Messi said “The fans are full of passion and keeps the team going forward. Playing a World Cup final at the Maracana is the dream of every player,” but his main focus is on the Netherlands for they “have to win the semifinal first.”

“I’m feeling positive pressure. It is a great honor to be captain of Argentina and convert any extra pressure to good performances for my country. I want to return that trust placed in me to lead Argentina to conquer the World.”

A key Barcelona player in the La Liga, Messi shed lights on this World Cup of upsets as 2010 champions Spain were knocked out from this year’s group stage. “This World Cup is full of surprises and some great teams lost to lesser-known selections. Spain has

OFF-TRACK great players, who will again be stronger and return into the next tournament with full of actions.”

Messi, who is often compared to Diego Maradona, might have already appeared in two World Cups - in 2006 where he played mostly in a substitute role and in 2010 where he was a potential candidate for the Golden Ball – but this is probably the best time for him to guide Argentina to their third World title. Only once before had a South American nation brought the glory from Europe, led by Pele Brazil won in Sweden 1958, and with the next World Cup in four years time in Russia, Messi might also be just past his peak.

The signs have already been there as Argentina ended their 24-year drought of reaching a semi-final with Messi in sublime form and with the stage set, now is the probably the right time for him steal the show - the 2014 World Cup. l

Have we created our own Frankenstein? n Yousuf Rahman (Babu)

An individual, regardless of the sport he plays and the country he represents, at a given stage in his career reaches a point when he no longer belongs to himself.

He bears the flag or logo of the nation he represents on his chest, which becomes the single most important reason he pursues the sport at the highest level. What he does on the field affects millions of people and to so many, it either makes or breaks their day.

Once he has attained a level of accomplishment, what he does off the field reflects on his level of substance because he is in the public eye and is constantly being evaluated in the court of public opinion. You need character and substance to manage this.

In recent times, the public has been exposed to some unfortunate developments involving some of our cricket players and the Cricket Board, particularly incidents pertaining to several breaches of discipline by Shakib al Hasan, regarded to be the only player of some caliber. Apparently, Shakib has been repeatedly violating the player’s code of conduct as set by the BCB for the past few years.

My intention is not to look at Shakib’s actions through a microscope and pass judgment. I am sure there are many arm-chair Generals that are perfectly suited for this job. On the contrary, one should ask the simple question as to why Shakib or for that matter a few other leading players, are able to repeatedly violate this code so brashly only when they are

in Bangladesh. Are they able to exhibit similar behavior when they are playing abroad?

What is it that prevails in our cricketing environment that encourages these players to bring out their worst behavior that is not only crude, but vile and obnoxious? To understand this, one needs to look much deeper into our

cricketing system.

Since Bangladesh was granted Test Match status, the administration of the game has been similar to Bangladesh’s domestic club cricket that consisted of cliques, and political maneuvering. Nothing has changed since other than a major culture change in the

1980’s when the game gradually but surely shifted from the educated middle class to the half-educated or near illiterate class. By education, I mean both in terms of having a literal academic accomplishment as well as having some

education about the game itself covering both its history and tradition. Sadly, one or both have been lacking greatly at our administrative and player levels.

Almost all of Bangladesh’s cricket players current and those of the recent past, come from humble backgrounds. They are young, over enthusiastic, lack substance and way too wealthy for their age. If anyone needs proper education, it is these individuals. The BCB has failed to do this from the very beginning and on top of this; the media has turned them into superstars by highlighting their trade to a level that is based upon a false sense of accomplishment. I always felt that the rating system of players and teams is flawed and misleading.

Points should be based upon the opposition you play against and where you play. For example, if you play teams like Bangladesh, Zimbabwe and other Associate members that have ODI status, then the points should be lower than what one would get playing against the big boys. Similarly, home matches should carry fewer points than away matches. Had this point system plan been implemented then Shakib’s head would be in the right place today.

The single most significant reason why several of our cricket players exhibit such obnoxious mannerism in Bangladesh is because they have

no respect for the people who run it. Deep down they truly believe that the game is being controlled by individuals whose only qualification is that they are under the blessing of the ruling Party (regardless of the Party). Added to this reality is their awareness of the corruption that exists in our system. It is not that Shakib or Tamim thinks that they are above the law. Because they have been exposed to the International arena, they feel that playing for Bangladesh is secondary as lucrative financial benefits lie outside the shores of Bangladesh and they equate the nation with the people that control them, i.e., the BCB. All of these players need to understand that the benefits came their way because the nation has provided them with the opportunity to play the sport and that others have sacrificed much to create this environment for them.

Shakib and the likes of him need to understand that the game can be very cruel. It is all about respect. Respecting the game means respecting everything that come with it; the crowd, the opposition, the umpires, the ones that played before them etc. The game is greater than any individual.

All of them need to go to the beach and watch the waves roll in and realize that the waves roll in but they do end up crashing on the beach. The trick is to be able to ride the wave and avoid the crash landing. l The writer is a former Bangladesh national cricketer who currently lives in New York, USA.

James Rodriguez website hacked The official website of Colombian player James Rodriguez was hacked by a group who like to be known as SecInjection.

Hackers wanted to protest the injury against Neymar during the quarterfinal match between Brazil and Colombia.

Instead of the primary image of the website, the hacker put up a photo of Brazilian star Neymar receiving a knock in the knee from Juan Zuñiga. In place of the Colombian footballer, a gigantic Hulk-like animation was placed. The official page of the player suffered the attack on Monday. James and his team have not commented on the incident since then. According to the Spanish website El Mundo Deportivo, the hacker group is known for their raids and acts around the world, invading websites and social networking profiles.

Russian Football Union office in a mess The disappointment of being eliminated in the first phase of the World Cup resulted in protests that were subsequently followed by the “raining of condoms” in front of the headquarters of the Russian Football Union. The dissatisfaction of the crowd is mainly targeted towards coach Fabio Capello. Despite the first-round exit, the Italian coach’s contract runs till the next World Cup at home which is sandwiched by the European Championship to be held in France in 2016. Before the World Cup got underway, the Russian population was expecting great things from their team as they were pitted with Belgium, Algeria and South Korea in Group H. The Belgians and Algerians went through. It was reported that hundreds of condoms were thrown in front of the gate. The performance of experienced goalkeeper Igor Akinfeev, who failed at crucial moments, like the howler he committed in the opening game against South Korea, attracted severe flak.

Brazil’s Hexa bid gets momentum Chilean pornstar Marlen Doll has been causing a great stir in the World Cup! After promising sexual marathons provided the Chilean team win their round of 16 clash against Brazil, she changed her appearance at the World Cup as the hosts eventually progressed to the quarters. Now she has arrived with another promise.

Marlen promised a marathon six hours of sex if Brazil lift their sixth World Cup title.

–RAIHAN MAHMOOD

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NBR to impose 1% surcharge on mobile phone uses n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The government is going to impose 1% surcharge soon on the mobile phone uses, aims to create “Rural Education Fund.”

The process to fix the surcharge has already initiated and a SRO (Statutory Regulatory Order) would be issued as soon as the proposal gets the cabinet nod, according to officials of National Board of Revenue (NBR).

A meeting was held yesterday between the revenue authorities and mobile phone operators with NBR member (VAT policy) Barrister Jahangir Hossain in the chair to discuss the issue. Earlier on Monday, NBR officials also held another meeting with the finance ministry officials to settle the issue.

Mobile phone industry insiders fear that the use of mobile phones would be more expensive for the mobile users if the surcharge is introduced.

The government is going to introduce the surcharge in the name of creating ‘Rural Education Fund’ though it was earlier decided to introduce 1% surcharge in the name of collecting ‘Information and Communication Technology Development Fund’ from the price of the imported and locally manufactured mobile phone handsets just two weeks before the parliament had passed the national budget for the next fiscal.

Currently, users share 15% VAT on any uses of mobile phone services in-

FAR Chemical makes happy debut despite controversial disclosure n Tribune Report

FAR Chemical Industries, a dyeing chemical manufacturer, yesterday made happy debut at the bourses despite controversy over its disclosure in the IPO prospectus.

The share price rallied 426% to Tk51.9 on its offer value of Tk10 each.

The newcomer was the most traded stock of the session also with turnover of Tk27.7 crore changing hands.

It accounted for 12.6% of the total turnover of the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

FAR Chemical IPO subscription hit around 73 times, which indicated that investors showed interest in the company.

Despite ongoing low trade volume in the market, the newly introduced stock has registered a satisfactory trade volume compared to that of the last few debutants, said a broker.

Beginning of its share trading delayed, as Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) asked the company to publish its legal affairs issues in the newspapers.

The company did not include in its IPO prospectus about a criminal case filed by the BSEC against two of its directors for their involvement in forgery of rights issue of FAR Chemicals’ associated firm RN Spinning, a listed company, spurring controversy.

In first nine months (July 2013 to March 2014) of last fiscal year, the company made Tk26.73 crore profits against Tk23.2 crore a year earlier.

In the fiscal year 2013, the business generated a profit of TK39.6 crore while Tk21.3 crore in FY12 and Tk6.4 in FY11.

Revenue has increased due to rising demands of basic chemical products over the past few years in the international markets.

The company’s star product is softening agent, which contributed 30% of total turnover generated in 2013.

The chemical manufacturer has a yearly production capacity of 9 lakh kilograms while its utilisation capacity stands at 83.72%, according to IPO prospectus.

The stock listed in the pharmaceuticals and chemical sector at the bourses has shown consistent increase in profit after tax.

The chemical product maker has used the fixed price method to raise Tk12 crore from public, which the company will use to buy capital machinery and in turn increase the current capacity. l

A customer at a mobile handset showroom checking out features of a displayed mobile handset cluding voice, data, or any other value added services and it will be 16% soon after imposing the fresh surcharge.

As the annual size of the mobile phone operators’ market is now close to Tk23,000 crore, the government will earn Tk230 crore in a year just after imposing the new surcharge on the mobile phone uses.

The finance minister had also pro-

posed 2% surcharge on mobile phone uses in the budget proposal for 2012-13, but finally dropped his proposal amid huge criticism.

On 28 June, just before the passes of the Finance Bill 2014, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and Finance Minister AMA Muhith had created confusions over imposing surcharges through their contradictory remarks.

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

On that day, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in her speech said, “Finance Minister can impose surcharge on mobile phone uses. And the funds raised from this surcharge will be spent on education and health.”

But when finance minister had proposed to pass the finance bill, whip Md Shahiduzzaman Sarker proposed to impose 1% surcharge for creating an Infor-

mation and Communication Technology Development Fund, which was passed.

That’s why, even after imposing 1% surcharge on handsets, NBR now needs to impose 1% more surcharge on mobile phone users.

A senior executive of a mobile phone operator, who attended the meeting with NBR officials said: Although the NBR is very determined to implement its decision to impose a fresh surcharge on mobile phone uses, the process is yet to be finalised.

The NBR wants to introduce 1% surcharge on mobile operators’ gross revenue, but the operators proposed NBR to keep at least internet and other value added services out of the surcharge, according to meeting sources.

“We have told NBR that already we are already highly tax burdened sector and it will create troublesome on our growth,” Mahmood Hossain Chief Corporate Affairs Officer of Grameenphone told the Dhaka Tribune.

Since 2011 mobile phone operators contributed 1% of its gross revenue with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) under the name of Social Obligation Fund.

During the yesterday’s meeting, the operators also mentioned that the government could make good use of the deposited money from that fund as it remains fully unused instead of imposing a fresh 1% surcharge. NBR officials, however, did not respond to the proposal. l

Officials asked to release cash subsidy against RMG exports n Asif Showkat Kallol Readymade garment exporters have sought disbursement of cash subsidy within July 10 so they can pay the workers’ salary ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr and avert possible labour unrest.

BKMEA Acting President Hatem Ali sent a request letter to Finance Minister AMA Muhith last week, seeking immediate disbursement of the 5% cash subsidy on exports.

In response, the minister asked the officials to “take immediate action” in this regard.

According to the BKMEA letter, the garment factories are facing fund shortage ahead of eid due to payment of salaries at an increased rate.

Now, they want getting released the cash subsidy of around Tk300 crore remained due for the just out fiscal year.

For 2014-15 fiscal year , the government has allocated Tk2,950 crore for cash subsidy against exports by garment exporters as compared to Tk2,214 crore last fiscal year.

On July 17 last year, the government had last disbursed the cash subsidy.

In the first quarter of a financial year, the finance division usually disburses one fourth of allocation. l

Lending restriction on 3 BASIC Bank branches may go soon n Jebun Nesa Alo

After formation of a new board of the scam-hit BASIC Bank, the central bank would soon lift lending restriction on its three branches – Gulshan, Shantinagar and Dilkusha.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) would soon sign a MoU (Memorandum of Understanding) with the newly formed board to set the loan limit for those branches to Tk1,600 crore till December this year, a high official of Bangladesh Bank said.

“We have already made a policy decision to withdraw the lending restriction on the branches as the BASIC bank is going to be run by a fresh board soon,” he said. “The decision would be finalised as soon as the governor returns home from abroad.”

Bangladesh Bank imposed the restriction on May 26 as the earlier board of the bank was sanctioning loans through the branches despite the central bank’s warnings.

It had also asked the branches to take prior permission of the central bank before disbursement of any loans already granted.

Of the total 68 branches of the bank, the suspended three branches hold 61% loans of the total outstanding, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

The amount of total disbursed loan of BASIC Bank stood at Tk11,180 crore in March this year, of which Tk6,900 crore had been disbursed through the three branches.

The Bank and Financial Institutions Division under finance ministry on

Outbound passengers paying increased travel tax n Tribune Report Outbound passengers are paying extra while buying tickets for going abroad as the government has increased the travel tax in all the three means of ways air, land and river routes.

The government has increased the travel tax rates for the outgoing passengers for any destinations to further enhance the revenue collection during the ongoing fiscal year 2014-15.

From July 1, passengers are counting Tk4,000 for visiting North/South America, Europe, Africa, Australia, New Zealand and far-east. The rate increased by Tk1,000 from the previous tax.

The travel tax was raised to Tk1, 200 from existing Tk1, 000 for visiting the SAARC countries and the new rate for other countries is now set at Tk3, 000 from the existing Tk2,500.

Sakib Hasan, managing director of Al Fahad Air Ticketing and Medical Tourism Ltd, informed the Dhaka Tribune that all the ticket prices have already gone up since July 1.

“All the outbound passengers have to pay tax as per the new structures fixed for the FY14-15 and we have already started collecting the new tax from July 1,” he said.

For travelling through land routes, the rate was raised at Tk500 from the existing Tk300 while for river routes, the rate is now Tk800, which was earlier Tk500 in the just concluded FY2013-14.

The travel agencies usually collect the travel tax, on behalf of the government, while booking the tickets for the passengers and later on deposit the taxes in the government exchequer.

Currently, there is a travel tax waiver benefit for infants, cancer patients, physically challenged, foreign diplomats and their families, UN officials, cabin crews and the people going to perform hajj and umrah.

Regarding the recent travel tax hike, president of Bangladesh Association of International Recruiting Agencies Mohammed Abul Basher said: Around 5 lakh people are being migrated from Bangladesh to different countries annually and they should not be charged with the extra tax as they send a huge amount of remittance to the country.

“The new tax should be imposed only on those passengers with tourism purposes and it should not be imposed on the migrant workers,” he opined.

The government had received Tk492 crore as travel tax from July to April of FY13-14, according to NBR data. l

July 6, dissolved the board of directors of the bank and appointed Alauddin A Mojid as it chairman. The bank got new four directors on July 7.

Bangladesh Bank is also going to fix a set of conditions of the banking activities through signing a MoU with the new board.

According to the new MoU conditions, the loan growth of the bank will be 16% of an adjusted loan of Tk10,192 crore in December 2013. The new loan growth will be set for this year, till December 2014 although 6 months have already been passed.

The MoU was supposed to be signed in January this year, but it has been delayed as the action taking procedures against the Managing Director and other officials of the BASIC bank is still

underway, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank.

Though a set of new MoU proposals were sent to the previous board several months ago, but the board did not sign it, rather, the board had sent them back to the central bank with some observation on the bank activities, requesting for higher credit growth from the proposed 16% by BB, he said.

“The governor, however, did not accept their credit growth request, rather instructed us not to send any proposal further until the formation of new board.”

The classified loan recovery will be set at 20% for this year from the recovery status of December last year, according to a condition of the MoU. The total classified loan of the bank increased by 99% to Tk2,557 crore in

March, this year from Tk1,282 crore in December last year.

The default loans of BASIC Bank was growing abnormally fast in the previous months as loans the bank had disbursed through irregularities were getting matured.

The amount of new classified loan was Tk217 crore in December last and it rose to Tk344 crore in January, Tk404 crore in February and Tk1,539 crore in March, according to the latest statement (unaudited) of BASIC Bank submitted to Bangladesh Bank.

The amount of classified loan of the bank, however, growing fast but the recovery is very slow. The total loan recovery of the bank had increased only by 5% to Tk150 crore in March from Tk143 crore in December last year. l

Software exports see 24% growth in 11 months n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi Bangladesh’s software exports have seen over 24% rise to $114.90 million in the first 11 months of fiscal 2013-14 as compared to the same period of previous fiscal, thanks to internet backup system.

In July-May of the fiscal year 201213, Bangladesh earned $92.50 million exporting computer services.

In May 2014, the export earnings from computer services were $8.8 million, which were $6.93 million in May last year, according to preliminary estimate of Export Promotion Bureau (EPB).

“Export earnings from the computer services rose as Bangladesh has made its position in the global IT map.

It helped the country to get more work orders,” Syed Almas Kabir, senior vice president of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS), told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He said the country has been able to get internet backup system last year, which was not there in the previous year, and it worked as a catalyst to get more jobs.

Lack of infrastructure and skilled manpower are the big challenges for the IT industry while high prices of internet bandwidth is another barrier in the way of boosting the information technology sector.

BASIS has taken up a five-year project to train around one crore people to meet the demands on rise as the country lacks skilled manpower, said Kabir. On the other hand, the government also has taken programme to train 30,000 people for the sector, he added.

Industry insiders said Japan investors have recently visited Bangladesh and showed keen interest to place work orders here.

Bangladesh will be the next target for IT outsourcing destina-

tion by the global investors while we are going to connect with SEA-ME-WE 5, which would enable Bangladesh to work real time, said Kabir.

On March 8, the Bangladesh Submarine Cable Company Ltd (BSCCL) inked an agreement for the construction and maintenance of the cable with 14 foreign companies to get connected with the submarine cable SEA-ME-WE-5 by the first quarter of 2016.

EPB officials said the export figures would be higher if the earnings by freelancers are recorded as export earnings, which is most of the cases are calculated as remittance. Current-

ly, there are over 1.5 lakh freelancers in the country.

According to a rough estimate of BASIS, around 2.5 lakh workers are engaged in the sector.

The main destinations of Bangladeshi software products are the US, the UK, Canada, Australia, Denmark, Netherlands, Germany, India and Japan.

The government has set an export target of $154.45 million for the fiscal year-2013-14.

In the FY2012-13, the industry earned $101.63m from exports, registering 43.53% growth from the previous fiscal. l

B2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

52,114,006 60,974

Traded Issues

292

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

74

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

212

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,285.21

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.70

CSE key features July 8, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

233.07

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights DSE Broad Index :

2,187.81

Number of Contract

turnover of Tk27.7 crore changing hands.

Lanka Bangla Securities said after a hefty sell off in last few trading sessions, index is consolidating at the level of 4,370 to 4,400 points with improved turnover.

As stocks are being traded at a very low turnover value, market is assumed to exhaust the selling temper among the investors at this level, it said.

IDLC Investments said with mixed trading pattern, the market demonstrated a flat end.

Riding on the back of large cap, the bourse showcased cautious trading pattern of investors, it said.

Meanwhile, news of declined credit growth and increased investments in savings instruments left its sign in market, prompting investors’ expectation on upcoming monetary policy statement, it said.

Zenith Investments said taking the month of Ramadan into consideration, there is high chance for the market to move slowly for the upcoming days as well.

After Far Chemical, Grameenphone, Lafarge Surma Cement, Beximco Ltd, Olympic Industries, Square Pharmaceuticals and Apolo Ispat were the other top turnover leaders. l

Stocks closed flat with volatility yesterday, witnessing marginal rally in large cap stocks to offset losses by other sectors.

The benchmark DSEX witnessed fractional losses of 0.3 points to end at 4,376, extending its losses for the sixth straight session.

However, the Shariah index DSES inched 2 points or 0.3% higher to 994. The comprising blue chips DS30 closed at 1,606, rising 3 points or 0.2%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, fell 6 points to 8,338.

Trading activities improved but still remained poor with the DSE turnover standing at Tk218 crore, up 14% over the previous session.

Among the major sectors, telecommunications continued to go up with a rally of more than 1%.

Banks, cement, pharma and power also gained marginally while food and allied, pharmaceuticals and non-banking financial institutions declined.

Far Chemical Industries Limited in its debut trading day gained 426% to Tk51.9 on its offer value of Tk10 each.

The newcomer was the most traded stock of the session with

Company

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

6,715,374

Number of Contract

9,350

4376.52478

(-) 0.01%

▼

Traded Issues

204

994.14163

(+) 0.22%

▲

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

50

DSE - 30 Index :

1606.54367

(+) 0.19%

▲

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

146

CSE All Share Index:

13472.4188

(+) 0.06%

▲

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

CSE - 30 Index :

11152.4297

(+) 0.004%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,183.80

8338.8900

(-) 0.08%

▼

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.47

DSE Shariah Index :

CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS

Savar Refractories-Z Reckitt Benckiser -A EBL NRB M.F.-A Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z Stylecraft -A Federal Insu.-A Salvo Chemicals-B Appollo Ispat CL -N

-5.43 -5.35 -4.48 -3.70 -3.70 -3.57 -3.06 -3.06

Average (% change) -5.43 -4.86 -4.48 2.84 -3.77 -7.71 -2.79 -3.08

Meghna Life Ins. -A Wata Chemicals -A

-2.87 -2.56

-1.50 -1.94

Company

Closing (% change)

CSE LOSERS

National Life I -A Eastern InsurA Brac B.C. Bond-A NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A Meghna Life Ins. -A Wata Chemicals -A Janata Insur -A Alltex Industries -Z

-30.15 -8.52 -6.38 -5.97 -4.97 -4.76 -4.71 -4.41

Average (% change) -30.13 -8.52 -6.38 -5.26 -1.02 -6.72 -5.43 -3.97

Eastern Cables-A Union Capital -A

-3.94 -3.26

-3.94 -3.63

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 164.81 35.69 27.59 198.59 144.19 156.89 0.37 161.69 536.24 0.08 28.50 44.71 4.97 154.85 7.91 34.35 34.71 211.83 87.87 151.80 0.18

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

Latest PE

54.00 1050.23 6.40 8.33 1174.00 19.14 19.16 28.93

54.00 1049.60 6.40 7.80 1174.80 18.90 19.00 28.50

54.00 1108.90 6.70 8.50 1185.00 20.20 19.70 29.60

54.00 1046.00 6.30 7.50 1159.00 17.80 17.70 28.40

0.022 0.527 0.016 0.005 0.587 10.310 9.524 69.489

0.52 41.12 0.47 -30.63 26.16 1.36 1.16 1.69

103.8 25.5 13.6 -ve 44.9 14.1 16.5 17.1

102.89 239.24

101.60 236.10

105.00 251.20

94.50 222.00

1.600 6.768

6.45 6.24

16.0 38.3

Closing average

Closing

Daily high

Turnover in million

Daily low

Latest EPS

Midas Financing-Z Meghna PET Ind. -Z ACI Limited- A Legacy Footwear -A Rahima Food -Z Rupali Bank - A CVO PetroChem RL-A AramitCementA BD. Thai Alum -B BD Fixed Income MF-A

230.50 32.20 880.00 6.30 101.30 240.00 16.20 6.50

240.00 32.20 880.00 6.30 107.60 240.00 16.20 7.00

230.00 32.20 880.00 6.30 100.00 230.00 16.20 6.30

0.225 0.006 0.004 0.003 1.028 0.141 0.003 0.010

12.46 3.44 0.00 1.52 6.45 6.24 1.40 -1.24

19.0 9.4 4.1 16.4 37.7 11.6 -ve

122.00 20.70

122.00 20.80

122.00 20.80

122.00 20.40

0.037 0.041

2.03 2.08

60.1 10.0

After a hefty sell off in last few trading sessions, index is consolidating at the level of 4,370 to 4,400 points with improved turnover

% change 7.53 1.63 1.26 9.08 6.59 7.17 0.02 7.39 24.51 1.30 2.04 0.23 7.08 0.36 1.57 1.59 9.68 4.02 6.94 0.01

Million Taka 12.05 2.83 2.02 16.59 11.97 12.66 15.55 72.93 8.54 0.83 9.74 0.44 18.48 0.72 0.73 2.97 11.47 17.36 40.81 0.01

% change 4.66 1.09 0.78 6.41 4.63 4.90 0.00 6.01 28.19 3.30 0.32 3.77 0.17 7.14 0.28 0.28 1.15 4.43 6.71 15.78 0.00

Million Taka 176.85 38.51 29.61 215.18 156.16 169.55 0.37 177.24 609.18 8.61 29.33 54.45 5.41 173.33 8.64 35.07 37.68 223.29 105.23 192.61 0.18

Total

9.87 3.64 3.35 3.28 2.99 2.85 2.84 2.62 2.56 2.56

CSE GAINERS Company Savar Refractories-Z Reckitt Benckiser -A EBL NRB M.F.-A Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z Stylecraft -A Federal Insu.-A Salvo Chemicals-B Appollo Ispat CL -N Meghna Life Ins. -A Wata Chemicals -A

Closing (% change) -5.43 -5.35 -4.48 -3.70 -3.70 -3.57 -3.06 -3.06 -2.87 -2.56

Average (% change) 9.93 1.82 3.74 1.69 3.63 1.21 1.56 2.04 0.04 1.27 Average (% change) -5.43 -4.86 -4.48 2.84 -3.77 -7.71 -2.79 -3.08 -1.50 -1.94

Closing average 25.58 5.60 261.58 25.21 45.10 60.42 668.21 43.09 28.11 8.00

Closing average 54.00 1050.23 6.40 8.33 1174.00 19.14 19.16 28.93 102.89 239.24

Closing 25.60 5.70 262.00 25.20 44.80 61.30 677.00 43.10 28.00 8.00

Closing 54.00 1049.60 6.40 7.80 1174.80 18.90 19.00 28.50 101.60 236.10

Daily high 25.60 5.80 264.70 26.20 46.40 62.50 690.00 43.30 28.70 8.00

Daily high 54.00 1108.90 6.70 8.50 1185.00 20.20 19.70 29.60 105.00 251.20

Daily low 23.00 5.60 231.40 24.10 43.30 58.00 610.00 42.60 25.50 8.00

Daily low 54.00 1046.00 6.30 7.50 1159.00 17.80 17.70 28.40 94.50 222.00

Turnover in million 1.322 0.014 31.836 1.692 1.308 0.725 9.645 1.185 10.204 0.004

Turnover in million 0.022 0.527 0.016 0.005 0.587 10.310 9.524 69.489 1.600 6.768

Latest EPS -6.91 -1.33 5.28 0.20 -1.01 3.96 -3.16 0.68 0.84 0.56

Latest EPS 0.52 41.12 0.47 -30.63 26.16 1.36 1.16 1.69 6.45 6.24

Latest PE -ve -ve 49.5 126.1 -ve 15.3 -ve 63.4 33.5 14.3

Latest PE 103.8 25.5 13.6 -ve 44.9 14.1 16.5 17.1 16.0 38.3

News, analysis and recent disclosers FAR Chemical Industries Limited: (Q3): The Company has reported its profit after tax Tk. 60.63 million and basic EPS Tk. 0.77 for the 3 (three) months ended on 31 March 2014 (Jan 2014-March 2014) as against profit after tax of Tk. 71.96 million and basic EPS of Tk. 0.91 for the same period of the previous year. It is to be noted that basic EPS has been calculated based on weighted average Pre-IPO paid-up number of shares i.e. 79,031,565 shares for both years. However, considering Post-IPO 91,031,565 number of shares the Company's basic EPS for the 3 (three) months ended on 31 March 2014 would be Tk. 0.67.

For the period of 9 (nine) months (July 2013 to March 2014) ended on 31 March 2014 profit after tax was Tk. 267.30 million and basic EPS was Tk. 3.38 as against profit after tax of Tk. 231.81 million and basic EPS of Tk. 2.93 for the same period of the previous year. It is to be noted that the said EPS has been calculated based on weighted average Pre-IPO paid-up number of shares i.e. 79,031,565 shares for both years. However, considering Post-IPO 91,031,565 number of shares, Company's basic EPS would be Tk. 2.94 for 9 (nine)

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company FAR Chemical-N Grameenphone-A LafargeS Cement-Z BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Olympic Ind. -A Square Pharma -A Appollo Ispat CL -N

CSE

Closing (% change)

months ended on 31 March 2014 (July 2013 to March 2014) and NAV per share would be Tk. 17.75 as on 31 March 2014.

BANGAS: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved the following lease: Bangas Limited has acquired 1.1097 acre (110.97 decimal) land nearby the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway at Mulaid, Sreepur, Gazipur upon signing a long term lease contract of 25 years which is renewable for a further period of 25 years to facilitate its new biscuit manufacturing plant.

KARNAPHULI: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on December 31, 2013 to the respective shareholders' BO Accounts on July 07, 2014. The sale proceeds of fractional bonus shares will be distributed shortly along with cash dividend.

PLFSL: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on December 31, 2013 to the respective shareholders' BO Accounts on July 06, 2014.

BDFINANCE: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for

the year ended on December 31, 2013 to the respective shareholders' BO Accounts on July 07, 2014.

ISLAMIINS: The Company has further informed that due to unavoidable circumstances, the 14th AGM of the Company will now be held at 1:30 PM instead of 12:00 noon on July 09, 2014. Other information of the AGM will remain unchanged..

IPO Subscription: 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 1317 July 2014, NRB upto 26 July 2014. @ taka 40, face value taka 10 and market lot 200.

Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries Ltd. subscription date 24-28 August 2014, NRB upto 06 September 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Western Marine Shipyard Limited subscription date 10-14 August 2014, NRB upto 23 August 2014. @ taka 35, face value taka 10 and market lot 100.

Right Share: MIDASFIN: Subscription period for rights issue will be from 01.09.2014 to 30.09.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 03.08.2014.

Latest PE

236.47 32.20 880.00 6.30 105.46 235.07 16.20 6.53

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Daily high

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features July 8, 2014

Stocks close flat with volatility n Tribune Report

Stock

% change 7.23 1.57 1.21 8.80 6.38 6.93 0.02 7.24 24.90 0.35 1.20 2.23 0.22 7.08 0.35 1.43 1.54 9.13 4.30 7.87 0.01

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 The Peninsula CTG.-N Meghna Petroleum -A

Apex Footwear-A Beximco Pharma -A BSC-A ACI Limited- A UNITED AIR-A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company FAR Chemical-N

BEXIMCO Ltd. -A LafargeS Cement-Z UNITED AIR-A Appollo Ispat CL -N Grameenphone-A The Peninsula CTG.-N Square Pharma -A Generation Next-A BD Submarine Cable-A AramitCementA BSC-A Beximco Pharma -A Golden Harvest Agro-N Emerald Oil Ind. -N

Volume shares 5,463,000 539,178 1,553,000 3,514,891 438,966 304,936 2,401,600 288,501 1,421,600 148,378

114,200 821,819 61,990 121,708 2,610,282

Volume shares

1,104,500 1,142,993 180,000 870,416 322,200 23,400 184,000 21,990 283,120 25,215 91,500 6,780 77,498 105,963 13,500

Value in million 276.85 160.02 116.56 110.68 100.27 84.92 69.49 51.81 48.40 39.50

38.54 34.17 33.02 31.84 31.81

Value in million

55.70 36.61 13.62 10.67 9.34 6.92 6.26 6.12 5.11 4.54 3.95 3.60 3.25 3.14 3.09

% of total turnover 12.65 7.31 5.33 5.06 4.58 3.88 3.18 2.37 2.21 1.81

1.76 1.56 1.51 1.46 1.45

% of total turnover

24.34 16.00 5.95 4.67 4.08 3.03 2.73 2.68 2.23 1.98 1.73 1.57 1.42 1.37 1.35

Daily closing 0.00 297.90 77.20 31.60 228.90 277.30 28.50 179.20 33.90 266.00

339.30 41.20 532.50 262.00 12.10

Daily closing

52.00 31.60 77.80 12.20 28.70 296.50 33.90 277.30 18.00 180.20 43.50 529.30 41.40 29.60 228.50

Price change 0.00 1.57 2.52 -0.63 2.32 -0.47 -3.06 -0.72 -0.59 -0.11

Daily opening 0.00 293.30 75.30 31.80 223.70 278.60 29.40 180.50 34.10 266.30

Price change

Daily opening

0.38 -1.44 -0.05 3.35 -1.63

0.00 0.00 3.32 -0.81 -2.71 1.37 -0.59 -0.64 0.00 -0.61 1.87 -0.94 -0.72 -1.00 416.97

338.00 41.80 532.75 253.50 12.30

0.00 31.60 75.30 12.30 29.50 292.50 34.10 279.10 18.00 181.30 42.70 534.30 41.70 29.90 44.20

Daily high 54.50 299.30 78.00 33.90 231.40 280.20 29.60 180.60 34.40 267.50

342.90 43.00 542.00 264.70 12.40

Daily low 45.00 290.00 73.80 28.70 206.00 255.00 28.40 163.00 33.80 243.10

336.00 37.70 527.00 231.40 11.10

Daily average 50.68 296.78 75.05 31.49 228.42 278.47 28.93 179.58 34.05 266.23

Daily high

Daily low

Daily average

54.30 32.70 78.50 12.60 29.80 298.70 34.40 280.00 18.20 181.00 43.90 536.00 42.40 30.00 231.00

44.20 30.90 74.00 12.10 28.40 292.10 33.80 277.00 17.80 179.60 42.50 526.00 41.20 29.40 226.80

337.47 41.57 532.65 261.58 12.19

50.43 32.03 75.69 12.26 28.99 295.93 34.00 278.51 18.03 180.08 43.18 530.81 42.00 29.61 228.83

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Want euros in London? Don’t ask your bank n Reuters, London

From a small, white-washed basement close to London’s Liverpool Street station, Sakthi Ariaratnam is beating banks at what you would have thought was their own game - and it is relatively easy.

On a recent Tuesday morning in the heart of London's City financial district, Sakthi's firm Best FX would sell you 124 euros for 100 British pounds.

Less than 20 metres along the street, the world's third biggest trader of foreign currencies, Barclays, would only give you 118.

The difference is a familiar one: surveys show consumers tend to seek travel money from bureau de change booths in preference to banks because the rates are better and Best FX are rated by a number of consumer surveys as offering the UK's best deal.

But at a time when banks are seeking to defend themselves from charges they manipulated the $5tn a day currency market, the gap stands as a refutation of the lenders' claims that their foreign exchange market has become extremely efficient for everyone.

The exchange rates on the board are not even the best ones Sakthi and his colleagues give bigger or regular clients.

"If people from any one of the big firms we serve want a better rate, we give it to them," he says. "There is enough leeway there."

It is not an accident that four of Best's six London locations are in the financial district. Ask around in some of the City's major currency dealing rooms and traders say they use the company for money for business trips and holidays simply because they get more bang for their pound.

Sakthi lists clients from some of the world's biggest banks, US giants JP Morgan and Citibank, or their UK competitors Barclays and HSBC. He also has regular custom from workers at the brokers, IT and information providers whose businesses feed off the banks.

"This is predominantly a City area. It is not tourists," Sakthi says. "You have to be extremely competitive on price because they know the market. But if you give the best rates they will stay with you - and we have a lot of repeat custom."

Senior management at banks are nervous about how the allegations of currency market manipulation, now being investigated in half a dozen jurisdictions worldwide, will play out.

n AFP, Singapore Oil prices were mixed in Asia yesterday as dealers await the resumption of disrupted Libyan crude exports, while fears recede about fighting in major producer Iraq, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for August delivery rose one cent to $103.54 while Brent crude was down 11 cents at $110.13 in afternoon trade.

Singapore's United Overseas Bank said prices remained under pressure as "fears of supply disruptions out of Libya and Iraq abated".

After nearly four weeks of fighting with government forces, however, Islamist insurgents have yet to directly threaten the key oil-producing region in the country's south

A picture illustration of Euro banknotes taken in central Bosnian town of Zenica First, there is the potential for fines from regulators that top the 6 billion euros ($8.18bn) they have already paid out in the Libor interest rate fixing row.

But another reason is the possibility that the investigations will lead to a more detailed look at the structure of a market from which banks rake in billions annually. While most of those institutions have moaned loudly this year about falling profits from foreign exchange, Barclays for example made 5.54bn pounds from all trading last year.

HSBC, one of the few banks to break out its FX trading profits, made $3.2bn in 2013, almost half its overall Markets income of $6.9bn.

At an institutional level, the currency market is highly competitive. The spreads at which banks buy and sell euros for their biggest clients - other banks or multi-billion dollar investment, hedge and pension funds - are just a "pips" or hundredths of a cent.

Senior bank traders and managers regularly complain that increasingly it is business run at a loss, or at very thin margins, in aid of keeping key customers.

But by the time they get down to delivering that service to ordinary individuals, the cost rises. Barclays, for example, is charging spreads of more than 7 cents - or more than 700 pips.

Parcelled up and back on the inter-

REUTERS

bank market that amounts to 700,000 euros of profit for the bank on a standard 10 million pound lot.

Banks say the difference reflects the broader costs they have to bear as crucial parts of the world's financial structure and the risks they have to bear and manage in such huge transactions.

"Our analysis shows we are competitive against a range of different FX service providers," said a spokesman for another UK high street bank, Lloyds.

"Our FX international payments service has an extensive cost base and the margins charged on payments relate back to the cost to providing the service, staff, premises, infrastructure and processing."

Yen gains in Asia after US stocks fall n AFP, Tokyo

The yen rose against the dollar and euro yesterday as cautious investors retreated to the Japanese currency after two of Wall Street's main stock indexes slid from recent record highs.

The dollar weakened to 101.79 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade from 101.87 yen late in New York and 102.11 yen in Tokyo earlier Monday.

The euro slipped to 138.46 yen from 138.59 yen, while it was nearly flat at $1.3603 against $1.3604 in US trade.

Investors tend to seek out safe-ha-

Oil prices mixed in Asian trade

ven currencies perceived to be lowerrisk, such as the yen, during times of uncertainty.

On returning from a long weekend, equities in New York retreated Monday on profit-taking, after the Dow and S&P 500 finished at all-time highs at the end of last week in response to a betterthan-expected rise in US jobs.

US corporate earnings for the second quarter are a key trading peg for gauging future US stock prices, which may give direction to the dollar-yen rate, said Junichi Ishikawa, market analyst at IG Securities.

"The focus for now is whether the pair (dollar-yen) can break above 102.40," he added.

On Wednesday investors will be watching closely as the Federal Reserve releases the minutes of its most recent policy meeting.

And sentiment may get a boost from Chinese inflation and trade data this week if the figures point to a strengthening in the world's number two economy.

The euro held up relatively well despite European stock markets turning down after Germany posted its third monthly decline in factory output.

The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It weakened to Sg$1.2457 from Sg$1.2464 on Monday, to 59.82 Indian rupees from 59.88 rupees, and to 11,696 Indonesian rupiah from 11,712.5 rupiah.

The greenback rose to 32.40 Thai baht from 32.39 baht, to 43.48 Philippine pesos from 43.47 pesos, to 1,011.11 South Korean won from 1,009.65 won, and to Tw$29.91 from Tw$29.89.

The Australian dollar firmed to 93.86 US cents from 93.58 cents, while the Chinese yuan eased to 16.40 yen from 16.44 yen. l

But speaking on condition of anonymity, officials at two of Britain's biggest high street lenders said there are concerns of a steady loss of market share in the retail segment.

"The truth is that the rates banks give to their customers have never been very fully examined," one senior retail banking manager told Reuters.

"They are benchmarked against what our immediate competitors are charging, how much you want to earn or position yourself in a given segment and so on. But they are not necessarily set against all of the places you can now exchange currency online. We do seem to be losing share pretty consistently as a result." l

Oil prices have tracked lower since Wednesday when Libya's interim Prime Minister Abdullah al-Thani said authorities had regained control of two export terminals blockaded by rebels.

The ports at Ras Lanuf and Al-Sidra could add about 500,000 barrels of crude per day to global energy markets, analysts have said.

The sites are also thought to have up to 10 million barrels of oil in storage that could be released.

Easing concerns over a possible supply disruption in crisis-hit Iraq are also dampening prices.

Islamist insurgents have overrun swathes of Iraq and are close to Baghdad following a lightning offensive since June 9, displacing hundreds of thousands of people and initially alarming global oil markets.

After nearly four weeks of fighting with government forces, however, the group has yet to directly threaten the key oil-producing region in the country's south.

Iraq is the second biggest producer in the 12-nation OPEC oil cartel, pumping 3.4 million barrels a day and possessing more than 11% of the world's proven reserves. l

Global device sales shifting to mobile n AFP, Washington Global sales of electronic devices including PCs, tablets and mobile phones hit 2.4 billion units this year, with the mobile segment leading the way, a survey showed Monday.

The survey by Gartner Inc. suggests a moderation in the declining PC market, predicting that tablet sales will overtake the traditional computer by 2015.

Gartner analysts said the tablet market is cooling a bit, with growth slowing to 23.9% this year, around half the pace of 2013. The PC market meanwhile is seeing relative stability - with a decline expected of 2.9% after a 9.5% drop last year.

Gartner analyst Ranjit Atwal said PC sales are being helped by upgrades and replacements of aging devices.

"This year, we anticipate nearly 60 million professional PC replacements in mature markets," he said. l

Alauddin A Mojid has been recently appointed as the new chairperson of BASIC Bank. He is also serving as chair of Bangladesh Krishi Bank, a government owned specialised bank. The veteran banker has started his career at Bangladesh Krishi Bank as an agriculture economist (principal officer) in 1974. He was the managing director of BASIC Bank between 1996 and 2001

Diamond World Lifestyle has recently celebrated its first anniversary by cutting a cake and offering discounts to its customers

Nasco USA Pte Ltd, an apparel venture of Singapore-USA is going to establish an apparel plant in Comilla Export Processing Zone through investing $10.27m. Sayed Nurul Islam, member (investment promotion) of BEPZA and Heng Chak Joo, chairperson of Nasco USA Pte Ltd have signed an agreement on this regard recently

Reckitt Benckiser has recently held the prize giving ceremony of the Harpic Gold Offer (first phase) at its head office. Reckitt Benckiser Bangladesh Ltd’s Marketing Director Mahbub Baset, Sales Director Kazi Arif Zaman and HR Director Faija Ansari handed over the prizes to the winners

Southeast Bank Limited has donated over 6000 school bags to the deprived children living in the country’s island chars of Northwestern region as part of the bank’s CSR activities. The bank’s managing director Shahid Hossain has formally handed over the school bags to AKM Musa, country director of Concern Worldwide Bangladesh, an NGO at ceremony recently held

Managing director, CEO of Trust Bank Limited and Rotarian Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury has been recently awarded for his outstanding achievement in professional career by Rotary Visionary District Award & Recognition 2014 RI District-3281 Bangladesh

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Wednesday, July 9, 2014

Microfinance - A catalyst to boost rural demand n Sourajit Aiyer “Knowledge first” is the corporate mantra of the company I work for – Motilal Oswal Financial Services Ltd. Amongst the various knowledge-sharing initiatives of the company, one involves bringing senior leaders from corporate India to come and share their learnings and experiences.

Corporate leaders bring valuable insights which their companies’ annual reports would not often contain. One of the recent guest speakers under this initiative was Mr Sanjiv Mehta, the CEO and MD of Hindustan Unilever. Sometimes it is insightful to look at the FMCG consumption story from the supplier’s perspective rather than buyer’s, as to how suppliers can deepen their reach into hitherto under-penetrated regions. His thoughts and unique insights into marketing strategies and consumption demand set my mind thinking on an observation which I had made in Bangladesh in 2005.

Back in 2005, I did an internship project with Grameen Bank, the global pioneer in microfinance. I had to make field visits into Bangladesh’s rural districts to visit branches, SHG meetings and borrowers’ business establishments to get a ground-level understanding. One of the most interesting aspects was seeing the various activities for which the women borrowers took their loans. Not only the nature of the activity itself, but also the thought-process that they put while deciding on an activity and making it successful as well as their progression over time in terms of the profile of their businesses. What had started with small-scale farming and artisan activities was making way for small-scale trading and production activities.

One of the activities gaining serious ground was that of establishing and running modern grocery stores in the villages by microfinance borrowers. It was an eye-opener to see that many villages in rural hinterlands still do not have properly-run grocery stores which sell an array of packaged products across segments and shelf-life, something that urban folk take for granted. This was where microfinance seemed to be making its mark, by facilitating the supply of modern packaged products (FMCG/CPG goods) to village buyers through stores that were set up with microfinance borrowers, and thus, deepening the reach of the FMCG companies into the rural areas – a win-win situation.

I had to visit the business establishments of borrowers and in this case, it was the

A worker who took a loan from a micro finance company to start her own business, arranges her goods for sale at the side of a road in a slum area in Mumbai stores. I visited borrowers’ stores in districts like Narayanganj, Barisal, Rangpur, etc, and I now recall some of the observations the women running those stores told me.

The first was on demand. It is not that stores did not exist before. Stores were there, but often they were run-down shambles where products got damaged, most did not stock the latest products and storage was an issue for freshness. This was a time when awareness of urban consumption was reaching rural areas due to advertising in television, highway hoardings, and mobiles.

Thus, the demand was there, something for

which the existing stores seemed slow to change.

Another aspect was the demand potential. Most villages could house a couple of such new grocery stores, depending on its physical geographic spread. In villages where most dwellings were physically located around a closer navigable area, the potential of additional stores was lower as people in outlying areas could reach the store easily. In villages which were physically spread out, there would be chance to open new stores, but that would depend on the population in each catchment area.

China says broad consensus reached on new BRICS bank n Reuters, Beijing The five BRICS nations have reached a broad consensus on their $100bn development bank though some differences remain, a senior Chinese diplomat said on Monday ahead of a summit in Brazil next week to be attended by President Xi Jinping.

The new bank will symbolise the growing influence of emerging economies in the global financial architecture long dominated by the United States and Europe through the International Monetary Fund and the World Bank.

Leaders of Brazil, Russia, India, China and South Africa are expected to sign a treaty to launch the bank officially when they meet at a BRICS summit in the northern Brazilian city of Fortaleza on July 15.

Negotiations to create the lender have dragged on for two years, with

some members growing weary of China's desire to have a bigger stake in the bank by putting in more capital.

A senior Brazilian government official said in May the five BRICS nations were likely to agree to fund the bank equally, giving them the same rights.

Briefing reporters ahead of the summit, Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Li Baodong would not be drawn on the specifics of the share structure, but was optimistic.

"On the BRICS development bank, all parties have extensive consensus on this issue. Of course there are a few differences and different viewpoints on technical issues," Li said.

"We are fully confident that we can reach consensus and establish the BRICS development bank at this meeting," he added.

"On this type of technical issue, BRICS members must establish consen-

sus through friendly consultation," Li said, referring to the bank shares issue.

"There are all kinds of different considerations, but the goal is to establish the BRICS bank as soon as possible."

The bank will have to be ratified by the countries' legislatures and could begin lending in two years, the Brazilian official told Reuters earlier.

The new development bank would help cover growing demand for project financing that has not been entirely met by global multilaterals, which, for years, have been heavily criticized for meddling in the domestic policies of sovereign borrowers.

The BRICS also need to decide if the bank will be based in New Delhi, Shanghai, Johannesburg or Moscow.

Brazil will not offer headquarters because of upcoming presidential elections that could delay negotiations, the Brazilian official said. l

Security personnel ride on segway's to patrol the smart city project at Kashiwanoha in Kashiwa city, suburban Tokyo on July. Japan's leading developer Mitsui Fudosan displayed the next generation smart city of Kashiwanoha, which includes a residential area, large shopping mall, hotel and two national universities, as a model city of advanced energy management system AFP

REUTERS

with the buyer. The Self-Help Group model of microfinance was useful when it came to influencing the local community to honour credit, since many of them were also part of self-help groups under the same microfinance umbrella in that village.

Grocery stores were useful in terms of engaging family members productively, wherein the borrower could put effort into another activity at the same time. There was restriction on additional loans a borrower could get when a loan was still outstanding.

However, she could help another borrower from her family in their activity in terms of mindshare/effort, while manning the store at the same time.

This meant additional income. Typical cases included a Xerox business or garment sewing business, along with the store. Ticket sizes were in line with average microfinance loans. Loans were progressive, starting small and thereafter, progressing to higher amounts once earlier loans were paid off. The main challenge was the rental of the location itself, since it meant earning enough to pay off the weekly installments, as well as the rent for a crème-de-la-crème location.

Microfinance certainly seemed to have played a role in deepening the rural reach of FMCG products in Bangladesh. During a visit to a leading local stockbroker – LankaBangla Securities – it turned out that the consumer sector was a prominent component along with the banking and industrial sectors.

Success stories of microfinance and modern grocery businesses are abound not only in Bangladesh, but also with leading microfinance firms in Pakistan, Philippines, Ghana, Kenya, India, Mexico, Uganda, Afghanistan, and such.

The microfinance firm also often connects the women borrowers with wholesale suppliers, as in the case of Samgam store scheme of SKS Microfinance, the leading Indian microfinance player.

As microfinance penetrates further, creating economic opportunities in rural districts of developing countries through entrepreneurship, it should aid the penetration of FMCG companies with the increasing trend of modern grocery stores as a microfinance business activity. Proactive engagement of FMCG companies with microfinance firms and target borrowers would help unfold the rural consumption story to its true potential. l

Store locations were typically around the village-centre, where people typically gather in villages. Locations were also in areas where the main connecting highways met. This was where people waited for longdistance buses and saved the time to go till the bus station.

Depending on the frequency of buses, such road intersection spots were sweet spots. The highway network and bus frequency in Bangladesh was in fact better than most of India at that time. This would mean that the waiting time for passengers there was lower than that in India. But even

then, that waiting time seemed enough to justify the setting up of the store to cater to those waiting.

Another was the utilisation of the loan.

Unlike most microfinance loans, the nature of this activity had more to do with working capital loans to buy the inventories. Purchase of refrigerator or cooling cabinets was the only equipment in terms of capital purchase. As per borrowers, their cash cycle ran smoothly.

Most were cash purchases since the buyers were eager to get the new FMCG products due to the novelty factor. Even in cases of sale on credit, it depended on the comfort level

US pushes China to give ground on technology trade deal

Samsung, Intel, Dell team up on standards for connected gadgets

The United States on Monday urged China to give ground on a deal to eliminate duties on billions of dollars of technology products and said it would use talks in Beijing later this week to push to restart negotiations.

The United States and Europe have blamed China, the world's biggest exporter of IT products, for derailing talks on a pact on technology trade by asking for too many exemptions.

US Trade Representative Michael Froman said US officials aimed to use talks with their Chinese counterparts in Beijing on July 9-10 to "make concrete progress toward resolving our differences ... in order to restart the negotiations."

Breaking the deadlock over updating the World Trade Organization's 16-year-old Information Technology Agreement (ITA), which eliminated duties on products including personal computers and telephones, could in turn give a boost to talks on a US-China bilateral investment treaty, he said.

"This is an area where concrete progress would have potential positive spillover effects into other negotiations between us," Froman said on a conference call with reporters before leaving for the Strategic and Economic Dialogue meeting.

China was well able to resolve outstanding ITA issues this year during its chairmanship of the regional AsiaPacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) grouping, he said, urging China to revise its list of excluded goods.

Other issues to be raised at the Beijing talks included intellectual property rights, state-owned enterprises and regulation, while officials on both sides were continuing to work on outstanding issues to allow US beef back into China, Froman said.

China has restricted imports of American beef for 10 years following the first reported US case, in December 2003, of mad cow disease, a brain-wasting condition formally known as bovine spongiform encephalopathy. l

n Reuters, San Francisco

n Reuters, Washington

Samsung Electronics, Intel Corp and Dell have joined to establish standard ways for household gadgets like thermostats and light bulbs to talk to each other, at odds with a framework backed

by Qualcomm, LG Electronics and other companies.

The new Open Interconnect Consortium, like the Qualcomm-supported AllSeen Alliance, aims to establish how smart devices work together in a trend increasingly called the Internet of Things.

Manufacturers are rolling out growing numbers of Internet-connected burglar alarms, televisions and light switches. But like the early days of video cassette recorders, current smart home products are often incompatible with each other.

The new consortium, which also includes chipmakers Broadcom and Atmel, was announced in a news release late on Monday.

Doug Fisher, general manager of Intel's Software and Services Group, told Reuters that the framework to be developed by the new consortium would address security and other issues not adequately handled by the AllSeen group.

The potential emergence of smart household products made by manufacturers using two sets of incompatible standards would be incidental, he said.

"We're not out to create that. We just think the industry has spoken and there's this approach that's needed," Fisher said. "We're certainly welcoming others to participate."

Last week, Microsoft became the 51st member of the AllSeen Alliance,

DILBERT

Sourajit Aiyer works with a leading capital markets company in Mumbai.

which also includes Sharp Corp and other consumer electronics manufacturers.

Rob Chandhok, senior vice president of Qualcomm Technologies Inc, compared the two competing standards groups to walled-off online services in the early 1990s before widespread Internet use.

Technology heavyweights Apple and Google are pursuing their own ways of interconnecting household devices which will integrate control of devices like lights and thermostats "It's better for us to have an industrywide shared platform than to be divided," Chandhok said. "I don't want to get to a 'Prodigy and CompuServe' of the Internet of Things."

Technology heavyweights Apple and Google are also pursuing their own ways of interconnecting household devices.

Apple, known for strictly controlling how other companies' products interact with its own, in June announced HomeKit, which will integrate control of devices like lights and thermostats.

Google's Nest has also partnered with companies including Whirlpool Corp and light bulb maker LIFX to integrate their products with its thermostats and smoke detectors. l