23 July, 2014

Shraban 8, 1421 Ramadan 24, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 113

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com

Treehouse TALES FROM THE CITY

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8 | ISRAEL POUNDS GAZA DESPITE INTERNATIONAL PEACE EFFORTS

7 | THE TRUTH ABOUT FORMALIN

11 | EARNING THE RIGHT TO STAND WITH GAZA

Obaidul’s deadline lost in risky highways Three get 10 n years for deaths of 76 children Rabiul Islam

The case proceedings were stalled from 1994 to 2009 Sanaul Islam Tipu and n Md Ashif Islam Shaon A Dhaka court has awarded three officials of Adflame Pharmaceuticals 10-years of rigorous imprisonment, the maximum punishment stipulated in the related law, for manufacturing adulterated paracetamol syrup which killed 76 children in the 1990s.

Judge Abdur Rashid of the Dhaka Drug Court also fined the three convicts Tk2 lakh each in the case, which was filed 22 years back.

The three convicts are Adflame Director Helena Pasha, Manager Mizanur Rahman and Production Officer Nigendra Nath Bala.

The court, however, acquitted two other accused – Noman and Afsar Pasha – as the plaintiff, the then drug superintendent Abul Khayer Chowdhury, did not mention their designations in the case.

“The convicts committed crimes against humanity. So, it is better to award them 10 years’ imprisonment – the maximum punishment under the Drug (Control) Ordinance, 1982,” the judge said while delivering the verdict.

The court later sent Helena, 75, and Mizanur, 68, who were present at the courtroom during the delivery of the judgement, to jail.

The other convict, Nigendra, remains fugitive since the case was filed

in 1992. His punishment will be effective from the day of his arrest or surrender, the court said.

The names of three other accused – partners of the company Dr Anwar Pasha, Jahid Iftekhar Pasha and Israt Pasha – were dropped while framing of the charges on May 28, 1994 as they had died during the investigation period.

After the verdict, public prosecutor Shaheen Ahmed Khan said: “We are happy as the court awarded the three officials the highest punishment. We have got the verdict as expected.”

Until 1991, complaints were filed with the government relating to the death of as many as 76 children from acute renal failure after taking “Flammodol,” the paracetamol syrup produced by Adflame. The medicine contained diethylene glycol – a deadly industrial chemical.

The case was filed on December 19, 1992. Proceedings in the case had been stalled since 1994 following an order of the High Court. The trial resumed after November 11, 2009.

The case against Adflame was one of the four lodged against separate pharmaceutical companies. The three other manufacturers accused of producing the same adulterated paracetamol syrup were Polychem Laboratories Ltd, BCI (Bangladesh) Ltd and Rid Pharmaceuticals.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Despite the Communication Minister Obaidul Quader’s frequent visits to different parts of the country, the highways still remain risky for home-bound passengers with Eid-ul-Fitr only one week away.

The minister’s deadline for repairing all these roads ended on July 20.

Communication Minister Obaidul Quader has assured that the damaged

highways would be repaired by the next Eid. He made the statement while visiting the capital’s Farmgate area yesterday.

Temporary surface repair to roads has further worsened the situation on the highways after monsoon rain.

Fresh potholes have developed on the Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways, said our local correspondents.

While visiting Dhaka-Chittagong highway at Iliotganj under Daudkhandi upazila a bus of Tisha Paribhan was found stuck on the highway around 1:45pm yesterday.

Our Comilla correspondent reports: As the condition of roads is very bad vehicles remain stranded for hours on the highway.

The road at Gouripur was especially damaged after the monsoon rain even though it was repaired a few days ago.

n

Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina and Pakistani activist Malala Yousafzai have asked those, who do not believe there is a place of girls’ rights in Islam, to re-read the Qur’an and rethink Islam’s teaching about women.

The two iconic global female figures made the suggestions at the first ever Girl Summit at Walworth Academy in UK capital London yesterday.

The British government and Unicef have jointly organised the one-day summit to promote what British premier David Cameron said was a global movement against “preventable evils”

SEHRI & IFTAR TIME

such as child marriage and Female Genital Mutilation (FGM).

Hasina and Malala were accompanied

by Cameron and Burkina Faso First Lady Chantal Compaore in the lone high-level session of the summit yesterday.

Alongside formal representation from 21 countries and more than 200 NGOs from around 30 other countries, Hasina and Cameron were the only heads of governments to take part in the summit.

Yesterday, the summit passed a charter in which 21 signatory countries and the other participants made various pledges to end FGM and child, early and forced marriages.

Day

Sehri

Iftar

Ramadan 24/July 23

–

6.50pm

Ramadan 25/July 24

3.55am

6.49pm

World Health Organisation defines Female Genital Mutilation as “all procedures that involve partial or total removal of the external female genitalia or other injury to the female genital organs for non-medical reasons.” FGM is common in the African continent.

Speaking at the high-level session, Hasina said Islam was “the” religion that promoted women’s rights; but some people in Bangladesh had been misleading the society by campaigning against the cause.

She said her party Awami League had made some policies to prevent child marriage when it first came to  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

n Tribune Report

Bangladesh has one of the highest numbers of under-15 child marriages in the world, according to a report published by Unicef.

The report, titled “Ending Child Marriage – Progress and Prospects,” was published yesterday.

According to the report, 74% of the girls aged below 18 years are married off in Bangladesh. 39% of the girls aged under 15 years meet the same fate.

These girls are less likely to receive proper medical care during pregnancy and child birth, and they are not physically mature enough to give birth, which places both the mothers and

their babies at risk.

Over 20% girls who are married off before reaching 15 years in Bangladesh become mothers of three children or more before reaching 24 years, the report said.

Child marriage among girls is common in South Asia and Sub-Saharan African region. More than 700 million women are married off under the age of 18 globally, while one in three of them are married before the age of 15 globally, according to the report.

The top 10 countries with the highest scores of child marriage are: Niger, Bangladesh, Chad, Mali, Central African Republic, India, Guinea, Ethiopia, Burkina Faso and Nepal. l

Public Servants’ Bill proposes permanent pay commission n Kamran Reza Chowdhury The ruling Awami League’s unfulfilled pledge of a permanent pay commission for the public servants is likely to be implemented in a couple of months as the government has proposed the creation of such a pay commission in the draft Public Servants’ Bill-2014.

This proposed law says the government will take the recommendations of the pay commission into cognisance when raising salaries.

The Public Administration Ministry placed the draft of the Public Servants’ Bill-2014 for discussion yesterday at the meeting of the parliamentary

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

A long queue of buses remain stuck in a traffic gridlock that stretched over five kilometres yesterday in the Kanchpur area of the Dhaka-Chittagong highway

Hasina calls for rethinking of Islam’s Bangladesh one of the top countries in child marriage teachings on women’s rights Julfikar Ali Manik from London

It has developed big potholes at different points.

Roads in front of Katherpool and Palki Chinema Hall at Chandina are dotted with small and large holes obstructing the movements of vehicles.

Construction of 88-kilometre fourlane road on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway has added to the problems of travelling on this route.

Under-construction box culverts

standing committee on Public Administration before its probable initiation in the legislature in the coming session in early September.

The public servants have been demanding the creation of a permanent pay commission for a long time since the prices of essentials and services go up immediately after the announcement of a new pay scale by the government.

Experts say the price level would not go up overnight if the authorities put a permanent pay commission in place which could routinely suggest the annual rate of increase in salary to the government.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina spoke

of the permanent pay commission several times. In November 2013, the finance minister announced a temporary pay commission saying the permanent pay commission was not possible as there was no law on this issue.

“There would be a permanent pay commission. This commission would adjust the pay hikes every year after analysing the market prices and recommend its implementation,” says the draft law the Dhaka Tribune has obtained.

The law further stipulates that the government would ensure better education and health services for the public servants and their family members.

It also proposes introducing awards for

the public servants for their contribution toward public service.

“We have primarily discussed the Public Servants’ Bill-2014 at our meeting today [Tuesday]. If passed, it will ensure good public service,” HN Ashequr Rahman, the chairman of the standing committee, told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting at the parliament building.

The government would, in line with the Public Servants Bill, formulate rules on the code of conduct for the public servants, the violation of which would lead to departmental action against the errant public servants.

The rule would also determine the retirement age of the public servants. l

9 | World

12 | Entertainment

MEHEDI HASAN

Unicef issues statement on baby pic row n Tribune Report In response to a report titled “When Unicef violates its own code of conduct,” published in the Dhaka Tribune on July 11, the Unicef issued a statement.

The statement is as follows: Ms Nobonita Chowdhury’s daughter’s photograph was used in the newspapers and on posters as a result of a regrettable misunderstanding between a consultant and our government counterpart working to promote Birth Registration in Bangladesh.

The partner took the photograph from the Facebook account of our consultant, who is a Facebook friend of Ms Chowdhury’s.

In this instance, neither the partner nor the consultant followed Unicef’s standard procedure and the organisation was not consulted before the material went to print. Both parties have realised their mistake and apologised.

Unicef is not in the habit of using photographs without proper consent and, had we been consulted before the material was finalised, it would not have been approved.

We conveyed our sincere regrets for the unfortunate mistake related to the use of the photograph in a letter dated July 8 after Ms Chowdhury brought this to our attention on July 6. We also apologised for the continued use of the posters, which have now been removed by our partner.

It was never the intention of our  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

INSIDE B1 | Business

Excess liquidity in the banking sector piled up to a decade high in the year 2013 due to lack of credit demand and sluggish investment climate amid prolonged political unrest over 5 January national polls.

4 | News

The malaria situation across the country worsens, with the number of infected patients rising significantly in the three hill districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari.

5 | News

The government has decided to conduct a special mobile court drive against the beggars at nine important points in Dhaka city, where foreigners usually live, to uplift the country’s image. The drive will start after Eid-ul-Fitr.

6 | Nation

The bridge in Shankarpasha union, which connects the region’s largest fish market with the rest of the country, has tilted recently, placing the lives of the bridge users at risk.

Joko Widodo, who captured the hearts of millions of Indonesians with his common man image, won the country’s presidential election with 53% of the vote.

Fans of Tisha have good news this Eid as their favourite star will be all over the TV screen during the week long Eid celebrations of the satellite channels.

14 | Sport

Cristiano Ronaldo, putting a miserable World Cup behind him, on Tuesday declared himself fit and ready to go as he chases trophies at Real Madrid.

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Cameron assures continued Minister threatens media of tougher laws assistance to Bangladesh n The British PM expresses interest about visiting Dhaka For the first time since taking office Bangladesh on socio-economic develn Tribune Desk for the second term running, Prime opment and jointly work towards a betBritish Prime Minister David Cameron yesterday praised the progress achieved by Bangladesh in the fields of economy and women development, and assured that they would continue providing assistance to Sheikh Hasina’s government.

He made the remarks during a bilateral meeting between the two premiers at Cameron’s office at 10 Downing Street in London yesterday.

AKM Shamim Chowdhury, the Bangladeshi prime minister’s press secretary, told reporters after the meeting: “British Prime Minister David Cameron profusely praised the progress made by Bangladesh in achieving economic development as well as in protecting the freedom and rights of women.

“He [Cameron] said Bangladesh and the United Kingdom are long-standing friends. The United Kingdom’s support in the socio-economic progress of Bangladesh will continue in the future.”

Minister Sheikh Hasina is currently in London on a three-day visit to attend the Girl Summit.

Cameron and Hasina held talks for more than half an hour around 8:30am local time. Hasina’s sister Sheikh Rehana, Foreign Minister Abul Hasan Mahmud Ali and State Minister for Women and Children Affairs Meher Afroze accompanied the premier during the meeting at Downing Street.

Bangladeshi Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haq said: “The meeting took place in a friendly environment and both leaders held sincere talks. David Cameron profusely praised the socio-economic development of Bangladesh; especially the country’s achievement on MDG and the social movement led by the honourable prime minister [Hasina], and this is why he [Cameron] invited her to the Girl Summit.

“He also expressed hopes that Britain would continuously work with

ter future.”

Yesterday’s meeting was also an expression of the British government’s faith in Sheikh Hasina’s government, Shahidul said.

Cameron also expressed his interest in visiting Bangladesh, the foreign secretary said.

“He said he wanted to see for himself how Bangladesh managed to achieve womens’ development and a continued 6% GDP growth.”

Shahidul quoted Cameron as saying he was also interested in finding out how Bangladesh was tackling the challenge of fundamentalist powers.

Both prime ministers joined the Girl Summit after the meeting at Downing Street. At the summit venue, Hasina also held meetings with Desmond Swayne, the UK minister of state at the Department for International Development, and Unicef Executive Director Anthony Lake. l

Mohosinul Karim

Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali yesterday said the government would soon enact a tough law to limit the freedom of the press, applicable to both print and electronic mediums, to stop the media from running unnecessary news reports.

Criticising the role of the media in Bangladesh, the minister added that some media houses were trying to create a tense situation in the country by printing or broadcasting unnecessary news reports.

Mohsin made the remarks while speaking at an inter-ministerial meeting at his Secretariat office regarding the rehabilitation of the beggars across the country.

Referring to the seven-murder case in Narayanganj, he said: “The media, particularly the private television channels, have been exaggerating the negative aspects.”

“Electronic media houses have been broadcasting the Narayanganj seven murders report to create unrest across the country. You saw that hundreds of

people died at the Twin Tower incident in the US, but they aired it only for a few seconds,” he added.

The minister also said: “Press freedom does not mean ‘do whatever you like.’ You must have a limit to how far you should go and how much rights you have. This should be stopped. The government will enact tougher laws to limit the freedom of the press.”

On a different note, he urged the government to cut the hands and legs and behead those Islamic scholars who attacked sex workers and evicted them from their brothel in Tangail.

“The hands and legs of these Moulanas (Islamic scholars) should be cut off. They should be beheaded for attacking the brothel as per the provisions of an Islamic country,” he told the meeting.

“The Moulanas have evicting the sex workers from the brothel. But, they never thought about where these sex workers will live and what they will do now. International human rights groups are now pressurising the government. It is now damaging the image of the government,” he added. l

NARAYANGANJ SEVEN-MURDER

2 more RAB men give confessional statements n Tribune Report

Two more RAB-11 members gave confessional statements yesterday in connection with the Narayanganj seven-murder case. The two members – Army personnel Abdus Samad and RAB Deputy Assistant Director Abdus Salam - confessed under section 164 of the penal code as witnesses of the incident before the court of Senior Judicial Magistrate Monwara Begum of Narayanganj.

However, details of their statement was not disclosed to the media.

Advocate Shakhawat Hossain, president of the Narayanganj District Lawyers Association, said: “These two members were with the team which abducted seven people including panel mayor of Narayanganj Nazrul Islam and senior lawyer Chandan Sarker. They are witnesses to the incident. Their confessional statement is very important.”

Earlier, three former RAB officers Lt Col Tareq Sayeed, Major Arif Hossain and Lt Commander SM Masud Rana confessed their involvement in the Narayanganj seven murders, claiming that other men from the force were also involved. l

Hasina calls for rethinking of Islam's teachings on women’s rights  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

power in 1996 which religion-based fundamentalist parties such as Jamaat-e-Islami had always opposed.

When eventually Jamaat came to power in 2001 by being a part of the collusion government, they cracked many of those policies.

Fortunately, the Bangladesh PM said, when Awami League came back to power in 2009, many of those policies had been reinstated.

She also said the four most important posts of the current Bangladesh parliament were held by women – the speaker, leader of the house, the deputy leader of the house and the leader of the opposition.

She explained that none of those came easily; they faced many problems but eventually, as awareness was created, people accepted these women.

“We developed the entire society.

You cannot achieve these by developing half of the society,” Hasina said.

She pledged in front of the summit that by 2021, no girl under 15 years of age would be married; by 2041, no girl under 18 would be married.

In her turn, Pakistani rights activist Malala Yousafzai described the ordeals that they had to face in the Swat Valley during the Taliban rule.

In 2007, they used to go to school everyday, after the Taliban terrorists did not let them go to school. “They [Taliban] shut down more than 400 schools in the area... and they did that in the name of Islamic law.”

She said women’s liberation was not a new thing; Prophet Mohammad’s wife Khadeja was a businesswomen and her own independent identity.

Terming Islam as a religion of peace that promoted equal rights for women, the prodigal rights activist said those, who spoke against women education in the name of Islam, should “read Qur’an again.”

Sharing the experiences from her visit to Nigeria, Malala said she had seen how women were abducted there and now she was working on Nigerian girls.

Towards the end of her speech, she said women were “the human beings” and therefore the long tradition of seeing them as different should end.

“This [the tradition] does not come from heaven or God... So, we can change this,” she affirmed.

Education, in her view, was the solution for all the problems that the Girl Summit had been discussing.

British PM David Cameron said the summit was given so much importance because child marriage and FGM were clear violations of girls’ rights.

He said at least 130,000 girls had been affected by FGM in the UK only; the global figure was a staggering 130 million.

Cameron said the summit was crucial because it gave those, who had been victims of child marriage and FGM, the courage to speak up about their ordeals. That, he said, was a really big achievement.

Regarding child marriage, he said

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina joins a discussion with British Premier David Cameron, Burkina Faso's First Lady Chantal Compaore and Pakistani education activist Malala Yusafzai at the Girl Summit in London yesterday PID around 700 million people in the world have been married as a child and 200 million more were running the risks.

He also said education was the best way to fight the problems they had been discussing.

He pledged allocations of £25m for fighting child marriage and £45m to prevent FGM. Burkina Faso First Lady Chantal Compaore, the other panelist of the high level session, talked about a political will to adopt a long education programme to fight FGM in her country and elsewhere in the world.

Girl Summit charter

the signatories of the Girl Summit Charter agreed on the following: “Child, early and forced marriage and female genital mutilation must end, and the elimination of these practices should be reflected in the post 2015 development framework.

“Every girl and women at risk of or effected by these practices must have access to appropriate services like education, counseling, shelter, reproductive health and medical care.

“The government must design and implement effective, properly funded

policies and clear legislation to end these practices forever, and to protect anyone at risk. Where necessary they should work together across borders to implement these policies and legislation.

“Legislation alone is not enough.

We will all raise awareness and understanding so everyone respects the equal value and potential of girls. We will support local groups around the world —led by women and men, girls and boys — to do the same. Lasting change will come from communities themselves.

Obaidul’s deadline lost in risky highways  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

at different points from Joydevpur to Mymensingh has slowed down the movement of vehicles resulting in long tailback.

Bangladesh Road Transport Workers’ Federation (BRTW) General Secretary Osman Ali said efforts are on to fix the roads.

Describing his trip from Dhaka to Mymensingh on Monday Osman said two kilometers of the road stretching from Gajipur Chourasta is uneven causing vehicles to jerk violently.

Also because of the monsoon rain over the last few days the road have developed potholes at on the Dhaka-Mymensingh highway, he said.

The transport leader said the roads in Trishal have become muddy as ve-

hicles carrying fish spill water all over the road.

Road Division Secretary MAN Siddique however claimed over phone that the roads across the country are in good condition. “Home-bound passengers can travel without any hassle.”

Asked about why every year temporary repair is carried out just before Eid, Roads and Highway Department Chief Engineer Mafizul Islam said there are two on-going projects on the Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways.

Problems surface as the development work is going on, he said adding that there would be no problem next year.

Our correspondent from Jessore adds: Although Communications Minister Obaidul Quader vowed to repair all

highways across the country by July 20 to ease the sufferings of home-bound passengers ahead of Eid-ul-Fitr about 40 kilometres of the Jessore-Khulna highway is still in dire need of repair.

Local sources said commuters had to suffer needlessly while traveling through the highway. A large portion of the highway is severely accident prone as numerous potholes have recently appeared because of the monsoon rains.

“Vehicle very often break down because of the damaged road,” said truck driver Limon Mia. Shafiqul Islam, employee of an NGO, said he has to go to Jessore from Nawapara industrial town every day except holidays.

He said: “I have to pray to Allah when I am on the road as the bus can

overturn anytime. It also takes longer than ever before as the dilapidated road slows down the speed of vehicles.”

Businessman Sirajul Islam is also regular passenger on the highway.

“The Journey on the highway is simply awful for me.”

Asaduzzaman, teacher of a private college, said the communications minister failed to keep his word.

He said: “Although the minister has already issued show-cause notice to many engineers for not complying with his directives, nobody is paying heed to his order.”

When contacted, Ziaul Haider, executive engineer of the Roads and Highways Department, told the Dhaka Tribune that the highway would be fit for vehicular movement by today.

According to a recent survey conducted by the Roads and Highway Department around 41% of roads and highways across the country are in a dilapidated state. Of them, 12% are severely run-down. Earlier, transport leaders in Chittagong threatened to stop plying vehicles in the district ahead of Eid, if the authorities concerned failed to repair the appalling roads by July 14.

A total of 16 teams are working to make the highways fit for smooth traffic. Some potholes have been created in Sitakunda, Chittagong, due to poor drainage system, claimed the minister.

Comilla correspondent Masudur Rahman, Gajipur correspondent Raihanul Islam Akandah and our Jessore reporter contributed to the report. l

The committee then sent a sample to Japan and to Fisons – a British multinational pharmaceuticals company, but those efforts did not work out either.

Finally, they sent the sample to a government laboratory in Massachusetts, US and got a result.

Following this, the committee arranged a press conference to make the fact public.

It prompted the government to start working – banning the use of all paracetamol syrups and prosecuting the people at the four companies that were allegedly responsible.

However, the drug companies alleged that Prof Hanif had been trying to destroy the reputation of the pharmaceutical sector.

After 17 years, Prof Hanif brought to the fore the fact that Rid Pharma was selling adulterated paracetamol which

caused the deaths of at least 28 children.

Three get 10 years for deaths of 76 children  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

The fifth pharmaceutical – City Chemical and Pharmaceutical Works Ltd – was not prosecuted, apparently for having a close connection with the then ruling BNP high-ups.

According to the Adflame case, the child mortality rate suddenly shot up at Dhaka Shishu Hospital between 1990 and 1992, and all of them died from kidney failure.

On suspicion, the then director of the hospital Brig (retd) Mokbul Hossain verbally notified the drug administration about the matter on July 3, 1991.

Several news media published news reports that many children were dying after taking adulterated paracetamol.

On November 25, 1992, Abul Khayer collected samples of “Flammodol” and sent it to the drug testing laboratory and the WHO for examination. It was then found to have contained diethyl-

ene glycol.

Dhaka Shishu Hospital’s kidney specialist Prof Mohammed Hanif came to experience the tragedy of hundreds of children dying from kidney failure in 1982, when he started his career as a resident doctor at the BSMMU (formerly PG Hospital).

Every day, patients coming in for treatment of failures of both kidneys and fevers, were dying despite being treated with dialysis. The doctors could not do anything to help them recover.

He saw the same situation happening at Shishu Hospital after he had been transferred there in 1986. The children were dying from renal failure. The physicians checked the hospital’s water sources as well as the houses of the victims and conducted several other tests but did not find anything that could explain the mystery.

Later the hospital authorities

formed a committee with Prof Hanif as the chair. In 1990, they came to know that something was wrong with the paracetamol which was being administered to the children.

The children who were going to the hospital for minor surgeries started to experience renal failure, even though they did not have such complications earlier.

After reading a Newsweek article that talked about the adulteration of paracetamol in Nigeria, Prof Hanif was sure that paracetamol adulteration was behind the renal problems.

To convince the state authorities to do something, the probe body sent a sample of Adflame’s Flammodol to the government’s drug laboratory. But the laboratory did not respond.

Later they requested the Directorate General of Drug Administration to take a sample and send it to the drug laboratory. The laboratory again kept mum.

Case lingered

The government’s alleged indifference in pursuing justice against influential businesspersons and the intentional reluctance of the drug administration regulatory body caused the delay in trial.

The case remained stayed for 13 years since 1994 after the drug administration issued a circular saying that Bangladesh did not have proper test facilities. The plaintiff himself was responsible for this.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Abul Khayer, now a director of the drug administration, said yesterday: “I did not know about the judgement delivery date. I came to know the news from media. I am happy that the accused have been awarded the highest punishment.” l

“We will gather more and better data, improve the way we measure social change, and make open source data publicly available to help make the right decisions about how to end these practices.

“We must drive systematic, sustainable change in the way girls and women are valued in our societies, so they can seize the same opportunities and realise the same rights as boys and men.

“We need to invest in all girls so they have the knowledge, education, skills and self confidence to take control of their lives. We will work together across the different systems, including education, health and reproductive health, justice, social protection, child protection and civil registration.

“Young people are a powerful force for change. We need to listen to, and consult with, young people — especially those affected – and support youthled intiatives to break the cycle of these practices.

“All of us need to take action to end these practices, including governments, faith groups, traditional leaders, non-government orgnisations and civil society groups, young people, practitioners, people affected by these practices, communities, international organisations, media and private sector.

“The individual commitments that accompany this Charter will be monitored and assessed on an annual basis, and the results published online. l

Unicef issues statement on baby pic row  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

partner or Unicef’s to cause unnecessary distress to the mother of a newborn child.

The photograph was used to encourage caregivers in Bangladesh to register their children’s birth.

The biggest challenge is to raise awareness among parents on the importance of timely birth registration.

The annual celebration of National Birth Registration Day on July 3 and any related communication material are crucial in supporting this aim.

Bangladesh has made great strides in this area, resulting in the registration of over 110 million births on a computerised system.

However, evidence shows that despite this work, only 37% of the children under the age of five had their birth registered in 2013.

We hope that people will continue to value the importance of this issue and not get distracted by this unfortunate mistake and related newspaper article.

We must remember that birth registration is a right of all children.

A birth certificate is the primary document for identification of children and verification of their age.

It serves as a protection tool against child labour and child marriage, both of which are serious violations of children’s rights.

We want all babies to be registered at birth and to achieve universal birth registration in Bangladesh. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sand may be the next big thing in foreign trade n Asif Showkat Kallol The Commerce Ministry has decided to form a special committee to evaluate the prospects of exporting sand and soil to boost export earnings.

The new idea was first discussed a couple of months ago in a meeting of the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec).

Sources said several enthusiastic private companies have already placed proposals to the government seeking permission for the new business. They believe that Bangladesh can earn as much as Tk700 crore – Tk1,200 crore annually in sand exports.

The latest decision to form an eight-member committee was made at an inter-ministerial meeting at the Commerce Ministry yesterday. The meeting, presided over by the new Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, discussed prospects of formulating a

policy for exporting soil and sand.

The committee, headed by Commerce Ministry Joint Secretary Shawkat Ali Warsi, has been tasked with submitting a report containing recommendations on relevant permissions to be granted and the formulation of a policy, within 21 days.

However, during yesterday's meeting, officials of the mineral resources ministry opposed the idea of exporting sand, claiming that it might contain huge amounts of mineral resources.

Interestingly though, apart from conducting a survey in 1995, the mineral resources ministry has never taken any step to extract what they say were “huge amounts of mineral resources” embedded in the sand.

In response, the new commerce secretary lambasted the officials of the mineral resources ministry for never taking any steps to extract the “valuable” resources and said their objec-

tions were not based on facts. He also asked them to explain the reasoning behind their opposing the new idea.

During the meeting, representatives of the Environment Ministry said no matter what the government decided, care should be taken so that the environment was not damaged in any way.

Prof Mominul Haque Sarker, head of the government's Centre for Environment and Geographic Information Services, told the Dhaka Tribune that he was surprised to know that the mineral resources ministry, who never did anything more than conducting a survey two decades ago, had opposed the idea of exporting sand.

“The 1995 research found some heavy metal in oceanic sand. That, if extracted, could have helped. Oceanic sand does not have any mineral content of its own. Whatever it has is transported by the rivers. Therefore, riverbed sand can also be rich in min-

3

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

eral resources,” said Mominul, also the dean of the Environmental Sciences Faculty of the Dhaka University.

The meeting also discussed that around 1.67 billion tonnes of sand and sediment comes into the Bangladeshi rivers every year and only 30% of that reaches the Bay of Bengal; the rest settles in the river beds which can be extracted by dredging.

According to an official, the government is currently considering the prospects of exporting the riverbed sand; not sand from the sea bed or the beaches.

Secretary Hedayetul said the potential of earning foreign currency from exporting sand and soil was huge because there was a lot of demand in Asia, especially for filling up the sea for land expansion and reclamation.

“Bangladesh badly needs investments for economic development,” he told the meeting yesterday.

A private company named Network

and Infrastructure Company has recently applied to the Commerce Ministry, seeking approval for exporting over 1.5 million tonnes of sand to Singapore.

The application is still pending.

Since the 1960s, Singapore's land area has increased by more than 20%.

Almost all of this land reclamation has been done using sand imported from nearby countries such as Indonesia and Malaysia.

The country also needs vast volumes of sand for its construction industry which has been booming over the past decade or so, according to Singaporean business portal TradeWinds.

The Maldives government has also expressed its interest to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina regarding the import of sand from Bangladesh for land expansion.

The existing Export Policy Order of the Commerce Ministry does not contain any prohibitions to the export of sand. l

HC summons Cox’s Bazar DC n Nazmus Sakib The High Court yesterday ordered the deputy commissioner of Cox’s Bazar to appear before it on September 9 for disobeying its order to save an environmentally critical area (ECA) in the district.

The bench of Justice Md Ashfaqul Islam and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal passed the order responding to a plea filed by the Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers’ Association (BELA).

Petitioner’s lawyer Ikbal Kabir said the High Court in a judgement on June 8, 2011 ruled for evicting all structures from a land of 51 acres at Jhilongza mouza of Cox’s Bazar by one month since it had been declared as an ECA. Disobeying the High court order, a project has been underway for the construction of houses of government staff.

A contempt ruling was issued against 12 including the Cox’s Bazar deputy commissioner on March 4 this year. l

Officials oblivious about cases against Rid Pharma n Moniruzzaman Uzzal The fate of the cases against Rid Pharmaceuticals – the company allegedly responsible for the deaths of 25 children in 2009 – remains in limbo, with officials concerned oblivious to the current status of legal proceedings against the accused.

Although four cases were filed against the pharmaceuticals’ bosses, and several top officials including the owner and his wife were also arrested at the time; all of those accused are currently out of jail after securing bail.

In 2009, at least 25 children died after suffering from renal failure, allegedly after consuming paracetamol syrups produced by Rid Pharmaceuticals, prompting the Health Ministry to form a seven-member probe body.

The committee found the presence of poisonous Diethylene Glycol – which is used in tannery and battery industries – in Rid Pharma’s paracetamol syrup. The company’s licence was then suspended.

However, since then, no significant progress has been made in any of the cases.

When asked by the Dhaka Tribune, several senior-level officials of the Directorate General of Drug Administration (DGDA), including the plaintiffs of the cases, were unable to explain the progress of the cases.

DGDA Deputy Director Ruhul Amin, the drug administrations’ designated information officer, told the Dhaka Tribune that he had no information regarding the cases. Instead, he suggested contacting the case petitioners for more details.

However, Nayar Sultana, a DGDA deputy director who lodged a case with a Narayanganj court, said she could not give any information about the case as the court had not asked for her over the last four-five years.

Based on her reference, the Dhaka Tribune then contacted Saikot Kumer Kar, a drug superintendent who was currently dealing with the case. He said: “I do not know anything about the case as I was not employed at the job back then. You would get more information from Nayar Sultana madam. As the petitioner, she could tell you the details.”

Abul Khair, a DGDA director who lodged a case in Comilla, said: “Although I am the petitioner, I do not know anything about it. A long time ago the court had summoned me once.

After that, I have not been called further by the court.”

Md Shafiqul Islam, an assistant director of the DGDA who also lodged a case with the drug court of Dhaka, said he had given a statement before the court around three to four months ago; but has not heard from the court since then. l

Wearing token bandages on their heads, members of several children’s organisations form a human chain yesterday in front of the National Press Club, protesting the deaths of civilians including children in the Israeli attack on Gaza MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

‘Butcher Siraj’ held; probe underway JS panel for withdrawal n of MCQ from BCS exam Udisa Islam

SAGAR-RUNI MURDER

Decision on Tanvir’s bail after police report n Nazmus Sakib The High Court yesterday said it would take decision on the bail plea of the National Human Rights Commission for a businessman after seeing the police report in journalist couple Sagar-Runi murder case.

The bench of Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore also set September 2 for further hearing on the matter. Attorney General Mahbubey Alam opposed the bail petition.

The top law officer of the country said the police report was supposed to be submitted before the trial court on August 13. As the investigation was going on into the sensational case, granting bail would not be correct, he argued.

NHRC’s lawyer Fouzia Karim Feroz said the commission filed the bail plea with the bench having the jurisdiction to deal with criminal matters in line with a suggestion of another bench comprising Justice Mirza Hussain Haider and Justice Khurshid Alam Sarkar.

The later bench gave the suggestion on July 13 when the NHRC moved a writ plea questioning the legality of detaining Tanvir Rahman, the businessmen.

Tanvir, a friend of the slain journalist couple, was picked up on October 1, 2012. He is now in the Kashimpur high security prison.

The NHRC filed the petition keeping the request of Tanvir’s father as there is no specific allegation against the detainee.

Sagar and Runi were found dead at their rented house in the capital’s West Rajabazar on February 11, 2012. l

War crimes accused Sirajul Huq alias Siraj Master was also known as “Siraj Kosai” in Bagerhat during the 1971 Liberation War for the brutal acts he had committed against unarmed civilians, mostly Hindus.

Locals labelled him as “Kosai” or butcher since the accused used to slaughter people, after his fellows had shot them, to confirm their death.

Siraj, the deputy commander of district unit razakar force – auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation forces, was allegedly involved in the killings of over 800 people in the district. He was also behind the “Dakara Genocide” in Rampal where over 600 Hindus had been killed in a day.

The war crimes suspect was also a key associate of deceased war crimes accused AKM Yusuf, a Jamaat-e-Islami leader who had founded the notorious razakar force in Khulna division during the war. Yusuf died in custody when the case against him was in the final stage at the tribunal.

Siraj was arrested on Monday night from his uncle’s abandoned house at

Dema village under Bagerhat sadar area. The arrest has been made more than a month after the International Crimes Tribunal 1 had issued arrest warrant against him and two other suspects in a war crimes case.

The two other accused – Abdul Latif Talukder and Akram Hossain Khan – have already been arrested and sent to jail.

The investigation officer said they had come to know about Siraj from local people while investigating the allegations against Yusuf.

The probe report against them would be submitted soon, officials said. The tribunal earlier set August 20 to submit a progress report on the investigation. The arrest warrants were issued on June 10.

In 2009, war victim Nimai Chandra Das from Raghuduttakathi village of Bagerhat sadat filed a case against some 20-30 men including the trio with a Bagerhat court. The case was later transferred to the tribunal 1.

Mohammad Helal Uddin, investigation officer of the case, confirmed the arrest and said: “The Bagerhat court is likely to send the war crimes suspect to

the tribunal as the latter issued arrest warrant against him.”

The IO visited the crime scenes on May 26-28 this year and recorded statements of witnesses. Following this, the probe team confirmed Siraj’s involvement in atrocities including the killing of over 800 unarmed civilians at Kochua, Rampal and areas under Bagerhat sadar.

IO Helal Uddin said Siraj Kosai along with the two other accused of the case had gone to Kochua on May 5, 1971 and carried out atrocities there. They looted houses and set those on fire after killing 42 Hindus.

The probe body accuses Siraj and his men of being responsible for the “Dakara Genocide” of May 21, 1971 when over 600 Hindus were killed in the village under Rampal upazila. After killing them with a gun, Siraj had slaughtered them to ensure death.

The razakar leader was also involved in the killing of 42 Hindus at Shakharikatthi, 19 at Kandapara, seven at Chulkathi and 63 others at Ranjitpur by gunshot. These victims too were slaughtered by the war crimes accused. l

Qaisar declines to defend case n Udisa Islam

The war crimes tribunal yesterday asked the prosecution to begin closing arguments in the case against Syed Mohammad Qaisar, a former state minister during HM Ershad’s regime, since the accused decided not to defend.

After the end of deposition of prosecution witnesses, the defence is supposed to place their witnesses. Then the prosecution and the defence place closing arguments.

Prosecutor Rana Das Gupta told the Dhaka Tribune that the defence did not submit any witness list to defend the accused. “So the next stage of the trial is closing arguments from the prosecution side.”

The defence also did not place any document on which they might rely upon.

Yesterday, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 gave the defence 30 minutes to complete cross-examination of the case’s investigation officer – the last prosecution witness.

Qaisar’s counsel Abdus Sobhan Tarafder questioned IO Monowara Begum for the fourth day yesterday but could not complete it despite several warnings issued by the tribunal previously.

At 1:30pm, Tarafder sought one more hour to conclude the cross-examination saying: “As it is a matter of death sentence, please give us the time to present our case properly.”

Tribunal Chairman Justice Obaidul Hassan was surprised hearing this. He asked the defence: “How have you become so sure that the accused will get death penalty? You always waste time like this everywhere.

“You have to conclude this by 11:30am tomorrow [today]. You will not get a single more second. Leave your time-wasting tricks aside. Go to the magistrate’s court to apply this,” the tribunal said.

When the tribunal gave the defence 30 minutes, the accused was in the dock.

During the 1971 Liberation War, Qaisar had allegedly formed a force after his name and collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces to commit crimes against humanity in Habiganj and Brahmanbaria areas.

Indicted on February 2 this year, Qaisar is facing 16 counts of charges that include mass killings, murder, extermination, enslavement, deportation, abduction and torture in confinement, rape and other atrocious acts. l

n Kamran Reza Chowdhury A parliamentary watchdog yesterday recommended dropping the existing MCQ (Multiple Choice Question) system, which the Public Service Commission follows, from the preliminary test to shortlist the applicants for the next stage of written exams.

The parliamentary standing committee on public administration asked the ministry to find an alternative to the MCQ system in which candidates sat for a 100 mark test by filling out a machine-readable script sheet.

This method helps the Public Service Commission to prepare the preliminary results in a month or two, though there are over 200,000 applicants.

The commission figures shows 221,575 applicants took part in the last 34th Bangladesh Civil Service examination that took one year eight months and 22 days to complete.

Former cabinet secretary HT Imam, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s political adviser, former home minister and lawmaker Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir, a bureaucrat turned politician, and ex-governor of the central bank Dr Farash Uddin Ahmed attended the meeting of the standing committee on special invitation.

The meeting sources said HT Imam raised the issue of changing the MCQ system in the public service saying that it was not a good method to judge the quality of the applicants.

Instead, he suggested the introduction of an easy system to shortlist candidates would present bureaucracy better.

Muhiuddin Khan Alamgir and Farash Uddin also seconded the proposal.

“To best judge the merits of the candidates, the standing committee recommended the ministry to formulate a merit-based system of examination instead of the MCQ method,” said a press statement issued by the parliament secretariat.

However, Standing Committee Chairman HN Ashequr Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are examining the options. We have not recommended it.”

Workers’ Party MP and committee member Mostofa Lutfullah told reporters: “Most of the committee members are in favour of dropping the MCQ system.”

State Minister for Public Administration Ismat Ara Sadique and committee members AMB Fazle Karim Chowdhury, Shukumer Ranjan Ghosh, Md Abdullah and Khorshed Ara attended the meeting.

According to the Rules of Procedure, the parliamentary standing committees are simply the recommending bodies.

The ministries have no obligation to implement their recommendations.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is the minister in-charge of the public administration ministry.

Secretary Kamal Abdul Naser Chowdhury told the meeting that the Public Service Commission was in favour of retaining the MCQ system.l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Malaria situation alarming in hill districts 10 dead in last six months as against total 15 last year There are 13 malaria-prone districts alarming increase in the number n Moniruzzaman Uzzal of malaria patients and deaths. We in Bangladesh.

The malaria situation across the country worsens, with the number of infected patients rising significantly in the three hill districts of Bandarban, Rangamati and Khagrachari.

According to the health directorate, the number of malaria patients increased between 10,000 to 12,000 in the first six months while it was only 6,000 to 7,000 at the same time last year.

The number of deaths in 2013 was 15, but it is more than 10 up to June this year.

The Directorate General of Health Services has formed a National Malaria Emergency Committee headed by Professor Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed, director of National Malaria Control Programme.

Three days ago, the national committee held a meeting with the district civil surgeon, upazila health and family welfare officer, health inspector and other government and non-government organisations to inform them about the current situation.

“We are very concerned with the

don’t know the actual reason but climate change or the change of vector might also be attributed to the infection of malaria,” said Professor Dr Be-Nazir Ahmed.

The health officials told the Dhaka Tribune the number of malaria patients increased in Tripura of India.

More than 50,000 people were infected with Malaria, they said, adding that the number of malaria patients also increased among the army personnel posted to the hilly districts.

Malaria is a parasitic infection transmitted by the female anopheles mosquitoes infecting humans and insects.

The disease is a public health problem in 90 countries around the world, affecting 300 million people and is directly responsible for the death of about one million people annually.

Africa accounts for 90% of the mortality burden for malaria and the Southeast Asia 9%.

Bangladesh is considered one of the malaria endemic countries in South Asia having 34 anopheles mosquito species.

The general symptoms of malaria include headache, nausea, fever, vomiting and flu-like symptoms. However, these can vary depending on the species causing the infection.

Bangladesh is expected to become a malaria-free country by 2020 if the trend continues.

Professor Dr Mahmudur Rahman, director, Institute of Epidemiology Disease and Research, told the Dhaka Tribune in recent times malaria had been prevalent alarmingly not only in Bangladesh but also in India and other South Asian countries. l

RAB gets new media director n Tribune Report A navy officer took over as director of the Rapid Action Battalion’s (RAB) Legal and Media Wing yesterday. The new director for media at RAB, Commander Mufti Mahmud, previously served as commander at RAB-9 for four months.

The departing media director, Group Captain ATM Habibur Rahman, is returning to service with the Bangladesh Air Force with a promotion from the rank of wing commander.

According to RAB, ATM Habibur Rahman was director of the media and legal wing from December 29, 2012. Before that, the post had been held by M Sohail, a Bangladesh Navy officer. l

Life of uncertainty for evicted sex workers n Our Correspondent, Tangail Sex Workers Network (SWN) of Bangladesh met the Tangail Deputy Commissioner Mahbub Hossain at his office yesterday and submitted a memorandum regarding the eviction of Kandapara brothel workers.

They also met the district’s Additional Police Super Hasibul Alam, Public Prosecutor S Akbar Khan and Mayor Shahidur Rahman Khan Mukti, followed by a visit to the brothel.

The memorandum mentioned the floating lives of the 800 sex workers who were evicted from the brothel earlier this month.

The sex workers were evicted from the brothel on July 13, following a demand from the activists of Ashamajik Karjokolap Protirodh Committee (AKPC), an organisation that aims to prevent anti-social activities, on July 4.

With no scope for rehabilitation, the evicted sex workers have nowhere to go and have to live on the streets.

“No girl is born as a sex worker. Poverty, trafficking, betrayal by loved ones, etc compel them to become one,” said the SWN activists in the memorandum.

They also said most of the brothel’s residents were living in extreme poverty with their children growing up in confined places.

Despite that, they claimed that the Kandapara sex workers lived in peace with the civil society, and incidents of violence instigated by them were unheard of.

The sex workers provided for their families with their earnings, and evicting them without rehabilitation was a violation of human rights, claimed the SWN activists.

“The sudden eviction of the brothel has made the sex workers vulnerable.

This is why we are seeking the government’s help in taking the necessary steps to rehabilitate them. The evicted also blame the society for their situation,” they said.

In the memorandum, the SWN leaders put down six demands to aid the sex workers, including the prevention of unplanned eviction at brothels,

‘With no scope for rehabilitation, the evicted sex workers have nowhere to go and have to live on the streets’ long-term plans by the state to prevent young girls from joining prostitution, and discussions with sex workers on sustainable alternative livelihoods for them.

The Tangail district commissioner assured them that necessary steps would be taken to resolve the matter.

When the SWN team met the mayor at his office, he said: “Please give me a written document on the matter, then I will take up initiatives with the district administration.”

The team included SWN Vice-President Chumki Begum, former secretary Shahnaz Begum, Rownak Jahan, Abeda Sultana, Sonia Afrin of Care Bangladesh, Tahmina Khatun of Brac, Mahmuda Shelly of MPS, Hirok Chowdhury of HASAB, Jahanara of RPDO, and Monju Rani Pramanik of SUPRO, among others. l

A tree lies on the pavement near the Curzon Hall on Dhaka University campus after suddenly becoming uprooted. With the authorities concerned failing to clean the footpath, the uprooted tree continues to pose risks to pedestrians and commuting vehicles MEHEDI HASAN

HC hands two food adulterators over to police n Nazmus Sakib

The High Court yesterday handed over two manufacturers of fake vermicelli, known locally as shemai, to police. The two men petitioned for anticipatory bail in a case registered for adulterating

food.

The bench of Justice Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore passed the order, Deputy Attorney General Nazmul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune.

The two food manufacturers, Nasir

Ticket touts arrested with 30 tickets in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong In separate incidents this week, police arrested two ticket touts with 30 tickets in their possession in Chittagong city.

The Government Railway Police (GRP) arrested an alleged ticket tout early yesterday from Chittagong

Railway Station area with five tickets for different train routes for July 23 and 24.

Mohammad Abdullah, 30, was taken into custody by the railway police at the GRP Outpost in the station. A case was filed with the outpost against him, said Officer-in-Charge Yiasin Faruk.

They nabbed Abdullah from the station premises around 9am following a tip-off, said the OC. Earlier, on Monday, the Detective Branch of Chittagong Metropolitan Police arrested another ticket tout, Abdur Rahim, 38, with 25 tickets for Turna Nishita, Mohanagar Godhuli and Paharika Express for July

21-24 from the port city’s Reazuddin Bazar area.

Recently, an intelligence report listed the names of 48 possible ticket touts. The list includes 11 personnel of Railway Security Force and three booking clerks at the railway station, apart from the professional touts. l

Poba urges formation of marine commission n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Hamdard arranged doa mahfil for late Hakim Mohammad Abdul Hamid Hamdard Laboratories (WAQF) Bangladesh organised a discussion and doa mahfil at the 15th death annivesary of late Hakim Mohammad Abdul Hamid, the founder of modern Hamdard, at Hamdard auditorium in Dhaka on Tuesday. Hamdard marketing director Dr. Hakim Rofiqul Islam presided at the meetingn and Hamdard managing directror Dr. Hakim Md. Yousuf was the chief guest. A munajat was offered for the salvation of the departed soul.

Administrative director professor Hakim Shiri Forhad,foundation director Lt Colonel Mahbubul Alam Chowdhury ( retired), planing and development director Mohammad Jamal Uddin Bhuiyan (Rasel), human resource and development director Dr. Nargis Marjan Shilpi, acting director of medical Dr. Md. Azizul Haque, Hamdard brand manager of Indian affairs Md. Zubayer and Hamdard Indian consultant Miss Garvin Kaur Bhatia attended the meeting.

Poribesh Bachao Andolan (Poba), a private environmental organisation, yesterday urged the government to form a high-power “Marine Commission” under the prime minister’s office to protect, maintain and develop resources inside the country’s maritime zones.

Urging the government to formulate a vision on maritime issues for up to 2050, they also recommended fast formulation of rules and regulations to preserve huge resources acquired in maritime areas in recent times.

The proposals were made at a press conference, titled “Activity on Bangladesh Marine Resource Management,” organised by Poba at its head office in the capital.

The environmental organisation also forwarded a 13-point recommendation regarding the issue.

Poba General Secretary Abdus Sobhan presented the key notepaper at the press conference.

“A multipurpose plan is needed for sustainable protection of marine zone and its environment and ministries and departments

concerned should immediately to run a survey to find out the resources available in the country’s marine zone,” he added.

Sobhan claimed that in 1974, the then government had talks with India and Myanmar over forming a territorial sea.

“Later, the government also enacted the ‘Territorial Waters and Maritime Zone Act,’ where 12 nautical miles were marked as Bangladesh’s territorial sea and 200 nautical miles as an exclusive economic zone.”

“At last, we have won two cases against Myanmar and India on marine zone conflicts,” he added.

Urging the government to take initiatives to recover resources associated with foreign and domestic companies, he also added: “However, the government should also be careful of the country’s interests while recovering the resources with foreign companies.”

Other speakers at the conference urged the government to amend the 1974 Maritime Zone Act and update it based on present regional aspects and perception. l

Uddin and Mohammad Ali, had been making fake vermicelli in the Kamrangir Char area of the capital. Nasir is the owner of Nasim Food Industries and Ali owns Mitali Shemai Factory.

The Kamrangir Char police station officer-in-charge filed a case against

them on July 11, following a mobile court drive.

They are being held at Shahbagh police station. Officer-In-Charge Shah Alam said the two men would be placed with Kamarangir Char police station which will pursue the case. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

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Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Government to ensure beggar-free country Social Welfare Ministry instructs the authorities concerned to prepare for eviction drive

n Mohosinul Karim The government has decided to conduct a special mobile court drive against the beggars at nine important points in Dhaka city, where foreigners usually live, to uplift the country’s image. The drive will start after Eid-ul-Fitr.

The Ministry of Social Welfare finalised the decision and instructed the authorities concerned to prepare for the drive, Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The decision was taken during an inter-ministerial meeting on special drives against the beggars and their rehabilitation across the country, chaired

by the minister at his office in the Secretariat.

The areas are Shahjalal International Airport, Hotel Sonargaon, Hotel Ruposhi Bangla, Hotel Radison, Baily Road, Gulshan, Banani, Jatiya Sangsad, and the diplomatic zones in the capital.

The minister said the government aims to eradicate begging across the country, and this drive is the first stage of the pilot project to eliminate begging.

The project will begin with the selected areas of Dhaka, and will then be expanded throughout the country depending on the outcome of the initial stage, he said.

“The government will take steps to break down the syndicates of beggars.

Legal action will be taken against their godfathers or beneficiaries,” the minister said, adding that the operation would continue on a regular basis.

Begging is a punishable offence according to existing laws of the country.

The minimum punishment for begging is three years in prison and the maximum is seven years, to be doubled for a repetition.

The minister also said the government had a rehabilitation project for the beggars, under which each beggar would be given Tk20,000 and other necessary paraphernalia for rehabilitation.

When asked about the government’s previous experience in this regard, Nasima Begum, secretary at the Ministry

of Social Welfare, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The government rehabilitated 58 persons under the programme. Of them, 39 were rehabilitated in Mymensingh, and 19 in Jamalpur.

“But all of them returned to Dhaka for begging, selling the machineries given to them for earning a living. So we will proceed carefully now,” she said.

“We have arranged accommodation for 1,900 people in our Stroller Rehabilitation Centres. A total of Tk2,600 per month has been allocated for each person. They will receive training at the centres as part of their rehabilitation. Tough action will be taken against those who return to begging,” she said.

Nurul Kabir Siddiqui, joint secretary

at the ministry and also the project director, said the government had undertaken the project in 2010 aiming to evict the beggars from the city streets and rehabilitate them as they damaged the country’s image at home and abroad.

The government operated a survey dividing the city into 10 zones, where the names of the beggars were enlisted.

The social welfare minister said: “We currently have a lot of programmes to feed and ensure food security for the people. We will be able to feed the beggars from those programmes. So, we believe that we will be successful in implementing the decision to make our country beggar-free.” l

BCC announces budget without fresh tax n Our Correspondent, Barisal The authorities of Barisal City Corporation yesterday proposed a budget of Tk407,8,894,975 for the 2014-15 fiscal year without imposing any new tax.

BCC Mayor Ahsan Habib Kamal presented the budget in the morning in the presence of all councillors at the BCC conference room, where the previous fiscal’s budget of Tk1,422,993,975 was passed.

According to the budget, the BCC estimated that Tk99.06 crore would be provided from their own income while the rest money would come from the government.

During the speech, Mayor Kamal termed the budget insufficient for the 6 lakh city dwellers and identified ensuring the health, sanitation, entertainment and drainage facilities, improving the dilapidated conditions of the city roads and mitigating the drinking water crisis as the main challenges for the corporation.

However, he hoped the budget would be fulfilled with help from the government and the development agencies. l

UP Chairman stabbed in Chittagong

Mizanur Rahaman, n FM Chittagong

WEATHER

LIGHT RAIN WEDNESDAY, JULY 23 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:46PM SUN RISES 5:24AM

No action taken against any accused in 12 years n DU Correspondent Teachers and students of Dhaka University expressed disappointment saying that although it has been 12 years since perpetrators assaulted female students at Dhaka University’s Shamsunnahar Hall, the authority concerned has yet to take action against any accused.

On July 23, in 2002, the police entered the hall in the dead of night, dragged the female students from their beds, verbally abused and assaulted them, leaving scores of students injured.

The police personnel also swooped on them in the presence of the hall administration as they were protesting the illegal stay of some leaders of Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal, the student wing of the BNP. Marking the day, the university authority and students’ organisations have undertaken several programmes.

The hall unit Bangladesh Chhatra

League brought out a candlelight procession from central Shaheed Minar to Shamsunahar hall dormitory yesterday evening.

However, even though it has been more than one decade since the incident, no legal action has been taken against the people who were responsible for the incident and neither has any recommendation of the probe body been implemented against of the perpetrators.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, teachers, students and student organisations expressed their frustration as the perpetrators were yet to be brought to book.

Rowshan Ara Nitul a third year student of the Mass Communication and Journalism department and also the general secretary of Shamsunnahar hall BCL unit, said it was a dark night for the women of our country since the country had never before seen such a heinous act against women since the inception of the country.

Dr Guchita Sharmin, house tutor of Shamsunnahar Hall, said, “It is a bad sign for the women and also raised questions about women’s safety and security at the university dormitory.”

On July 23, in 2002, the police entered the hall in the dead of night, dragged the female students from their beds, verbally abused and assaulted them, leaving scores of students injured She urged the authorities concerned to take stern steps against such activities to ensure proper safety and dignity of women.

After the incident, protests sparked on campus. The then vice-chancellor

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YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

23.7ºC Chittagong

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PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

3:59am 5:22am 12:05am 4:45pm 6:47pm 8:12pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Anwarullah Chowdhury and the proctor Nazrul Islam resigned from their posts in the wake of the movements.

Around 500 students, five teachers and 10 journalists were injured during the movement. Several hundred students were also arrested.

After the movements, a one-member judicial inquiry commission led by Justice M Tafazzal Hossain submitted a probe report to the higher authorities of the government, blaming the VC, proctor, hall provost and police for the incident.

But neither has the full report been made public nor has any punitive action been taken against the people responsible for the incident.

The present Vice Chancellor of DU, AAMS Arefin Siddique, also expressed doubt about actions being taken against the accused.

“The documents can say it better,” he said, adding, “So far as I know, no action has been taken against the accused." l

A housewife allegedly committed suicide in her residence at Arefin Nagor in Chittagong city’s Baizid area on Monday night because of a family dispute.

The deceased Bilkis Begum, 25, was the wife of Md Ziaul. She used to live with her husband in a rented house.

Nayek Jahangir Alam of Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) police outpost said: “Bilkis hanged herself from a ceiling fan with a scarf at around 11:30 pm, because of a family dispute.”

“Family members rushed her to CMCH where the duty doctors declared her dead,” added Nayek Jahangir. l

Dealer held, yaba worth Tk53 lakh seized n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Police took a man into custody yesterday in connection with the narcotics trade and seized contraband items worth Tk53 lakh from a residence in the Choitanyagoli area of Chittagong city.

The arrested Mohammad Atik, 25, who is from Anwara upazila in Chittagong district, was brought in by police along with 17,500 yaba pills and 1,500 broken pieces of the drug.

Police say Atik worked under yaba dealer Manjur as the keeper of a residence used as a warehouse for smuggled narcotics, police sources said.

Assistant Commissioner (AC) Shah Mohammad Abdur Rouf of Kotwali Circle of the Chittagong Metropolitan Police told the Dhaka Tribune that acting on a tip-off, around 5am a team from Kotwali Police Station took Atik into custody from the residence located on the second floor of a five-storied building. A case was lodged with Kotwali Police Station.

Police estimated that the seized yaba pills were worth Tk53 lakh. l

Six robbers get 14-year term in Chittagong

FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

34.5ºC Srimangal

RAJIB DHAR

SHAMSUNNAHAR HALL TRAGEDY

A union parishad (UP) chairman was stabbed by unknown miscreants yesterday at Sattarhat area under Hathazari upazila in Chittagong district.

The injured UP Chairman Gias Uddin of Mekhol union of Hathazari, also joint secretary of Jatiyatabadi Swechchhasebak Dal of the district (north) unit of Chittagong, was admitted at a private hospital in Chittagong city.

Officer-in-Charge (OC) Mohammad Ismail of Hathazari police station said: “Some miscreants attacked Gias at 1am when he was returning to his residence after completing some personal chores.” “Police are investigating the matter further,” added OC Ismail. l

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority is struggling to keep ferry services on the Mawa-Kawrakandi route active as ferry operations on the route were suspended on Monday night, only 13 hours after resumption.

Earlier, hundreds of vehicles, including buses and trucks, were stuck on roads for hours as the ferry services on the route remained suspended from Sunday afternoon till Monday because of a gigantic wave in the Padma River.

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation Manager Sirajul Haque said they were compelled to suspend the services of seven ferries because of a strong current in the river.

The disruption affected several hundreds of people who were stranded in their vehicles.

According to the BIWTA, a total of 14 ferries out of 17 are plying on the route.

At the Kawrakandi end, a large number of cattle and goods-laden trucks were waiting to cross the river and come to Dhaka.

At least 600 vehicles lined up on each side of the river.

Sirajul Haque said the gigantic wave was created because of a rise in the water level of the river.

Heavy downpour also contributed to the sufferings of passengers, he said, adding that Eid passengers would have to suffer if the inclement weather continued. l

Woman commits suicide in Chittagong

Tailors in makeshift shops in the capital's Nowab Katra area pass busy time yesterday ahead of the Eid-ul-Fitr

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Mawa-Kawrakandi ferry service disrupted again n Our Correspondent, Munshiganj

Activists of four non-government organisations – Orunodoy Torun Dal, LRB Foundation, Madhobika and Work for a Better Bangladesh Trust – form a human chain in front of the Fine Arts faculty of Dhaka University yesterday to raise awareness among the people regarding the bad effects of junk food, soft drinks and tobacco products RAJIB DHAR

A Chittagong court yesterday sentenced six robbers to 14-years of imprisonment in a robbery case lodged with Satkania Police Station in 2009.

The court also fined the six convicts Tk10,000 for each or serve two more years if they fail to do so.

“Chittagong Public Security (Jananirapatta) Tribunal Judge Mohammad Mominullah pronounced the verdict in presence of the convicts,” said Tribunal Prosecutor Advocate Jahangir Alam.

The court also acquitted two other accused of the case in its verdict.

He said that as the complaints against the accused were proved beyond any doubt, so the court sentenced the verdict under sections 395, 397, and 412 of Criminal Procedure Code.

The convicts, Nazrul Islam, Sa-

habuddin, Abu Saleh, Zinnat Ali alias Jasim, Shahadat Hossain and Alamgir, were sent to Chittagong Central Jail after the verdict.

According to case documents, the convicts robbed valuables worth Tk1.54 lakh by breaking into a residence at Hadiapara village under Korianagar union of Satkania upazila on May 3, 2009.

The robbers were later nabbed

by Highway Police from the Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar Highway on the night of the robbery, while the victim lodged a case with Satkania police station in this regard.

After completing an investigation, police submitted the chargesheet against eight people on February 17, 2010 while the court framed charges against eight of them on January 25, 2012.

The court pronounced the verdict after the testimony of 12 witnesses. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Bridge linking to Pirojpur fish market in sorry state n Our Correspondent, Pirojpur The bridge in Shankarpasha union, which connects the region's largest fish market with the rest of the country, has tilted recently, placing the lives of the bridge users at risk.

Locals feel that the bridge may collapse at any time. About 10,000 people, as well as the fish traders, use it daily.

The bridge plays a pivotal role in connecting the market with the rest of the country The traders, who buy fish from the market and send their consignments to other parts of the country, will be the most affected if the bridge collapses.

While visiting there, this correspondent found that the bridge, which is about 200 feet in length and 8 feet in width, is situated over the Pirojpur-Parerhat River, the eastern side of which touches Badura village, with Parerhat bazaar in Zianagar upazila lying to the west.

About 50 fishing trawlers sell sea fish daily at the Parerhat bazar, which vastly known as matsho bandar market, from where the traders spread out with their fish hauls to other parts of the country via the bridge. In this way, the bridge plays a pivotal role in connecting the market with the rest of the country.

The bridge, which was built 35 years ago, has tilted from the middle toward in a northeast direction.

One local fish trader named Ekbal Hossain opined that the bridge is very important for the residents, particularly for businessmen like him.

Tofazzal Hossain, chairman of Shankarpasa Union under Sadar upazila, said the local people would face severe problems if the bridge collapsed.

“We are trying our best to build a new bridge there,” he continued.

Pirojpur LGED Executive Engineer Md Rafiqul Hasan said he was informed of the sorry state of the bridge and was trying to build a new one as soon as possible, at a location slightly to the north of the existing bridge, because the necessary space for an approach road does not exist at any other point. l

3 killed in Sylhet road accident n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

A human chain is formed in front of the Ashwin Kumar hall in Barisal city yesterday, protesting attack on Palestinians

No-confidence motion against Magura UP chairman n Our Correspondent, Magura A no-confidence motion, seeking to oust the Union Parishad chairman for alleged corruption, was brought at a meeting of the members in Magura Sadar upazila yesterday.

Any Union Parishad chairman stands removed by the government upon a non-confidence motion brought by no less than seven members against him.

In a written statement by 11, out of 12, the members said, “We, the members of Kachundi Union Parishad, have

Four robberies committed in three districts, four arrested n Tribune Report At least four incidents of robbery were committed in Chuadanga, Gopalganj and Rangpur districts while four were arrested in Kishoreganj yesterday.

According to our Chuadanga correspondent, a daring robbery was committed on the Loknathpur-Kadirpur Road in Damurhuda upazila.

Sikder Moshiur Rahman, officer-incharge of Damurhuda police station, said some people from Pirpurkul village were returning home on a three wheeler after selling a cow at Dugdudir haat. Suddenly, a gang of robbers stopped them by blocking the road with logs. They beat them mercilessly and looted Tk5 lakh from them.

The OC said no case was filed in this

regard. In Gopalganj, robbers looted Tk20 lakh, including gold ornaments, from two houses in Tungipara.

According to police sources, a gang of robbers entered local AL leader Kabir Alam Talukder’s house in Dumuria village at night and looted Tk12 lakh and 11 tolas of gold at gun point. Later, the gang entered another house in the village and looted Tk8 lakh and 5 tolas of gold.

The robbers fled the scene when three local mosques made announcements about the gang on their loud speakers.

When contacted, Monirul Islam, officer-in-charge of Tungipara police station, confirmed the incidents.

In Rangpur’s Kawnia upazila, the robbers shot one of two bKash agents and snatched away Tk9 lakh from them.

OC Abdul Latif said a group of armed

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Three people have been killed as a bus rammed down a CNG-run auto rickshaw on Teliabazar Bridge under south Surma upazila in Sylhet on Tuesday morning.

Of the deceased, one has been identified as Salam. He is the driver of the auto rickshaw.

South Surma police station Officerin-Charge Md Mursalin said: “A bus rammed the auto rickshaw on Teliabazar Bridge near Dhaka-Sylhet highway around 11:15am, killing two on spot.”

“The driver died after being taken to Osmani Medical College Hospital,” he said. l

criminals shot Maidul and Obaidul when they were going to Haragacha on a motorcycle and snatched the bag.

In Kishoreganj, police arrested four robbers at Uttar Kaliarkanda village in Sadar upazila while they were trying to commit a robbery.

According to police sources, acting on a tip- off, they raided the village and arrested Ershad Mia, 28, of Nagergaon village, Bachhu Mia, 27, of Paschim Purura village in Katiadi upazila, Khalil Mia, 32, and his brother Jashim Mia, 20, of Gojariakanda village in Raypura upazila of Narsingdi district, while they were trying to commit a robbery.

The police also seized two pipe guns and four knives from their possession.

ASP Shahen Shah of Kishoreganj Sadar circle confirmed the incident. l

today brought a no-confidence motion against Chairman Baki Billah Shantu for his involvement in corruption.”

According to the statement, Chairman Shantu had embezzled Tk4 lakh by illegally cutting down trees from road sides in Belnagar area and taken a bribe of Tk2 lakh while leasing Kachundi bazar and Ramnagar hat of the union.

The chairman had collected Tk1 lakh tax from six brick fields and embezzled it instead of depositing with the parishad account. He had also been involved in an anomaly of Tk50 thousand in

2013-14 fiscal year.

Speaking to the Dhaka Tribune, Union Parishad member Abdul Mannan said: “We have submitted our no-confidence motion to the upazila nirbahi officer against our chairman.

“We hope he will take steps regarding this and inform the relevant ministry so that they look into this well and take steps for removing the chairman from office immediately.'

Sadar Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abdur Razzak admitted to have received the joint statement of the members of Ka-

chundi Union Parishad and said: “Necessary action will follow an investigation into this.”

Chairman Baki Billah Shantu however denied all the allegations brought against him by the Union Parishad members and said some of the members had demanded illegal facility from him which he had denied resulting in such a motion against him.

“Most members side with me but two influential members have forced the others to go with them in bringing this motion against me.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Tuesday, July 22, 2014

7

For the greater good of cricket We need an alternate world-order for the governance of cricket

The rest of the cricketing world does not need to play the big three’s proposal with a straight bat; the response should be more adventurous than a mere forward defence

A

n Mohammad Ali Sattar ccording to an Indian cricket boss, India had a contemplation of forming a separate cricket governing body if the ICC refused to abide by their claims and demand for a larger share of the revenue from cricket earnings.

The reason is: India earns and contributes the largest sum to the ICC fund, and gets only peanuts. So the BCCI thought to make amends to ICC regulations and ask for bigger gains.

The cricket bosses thought they have the potency (if not the judgment) to strike a bargain and come out victorious.

If India could threaten to create another cricket governing body, why can’t the rest of the members of the ICC walk out and form a World Cricket Council?

They took Team Australia and the English Cricket Board along with it.

They formed the trio calling themselves Big Three. The essence is to get a bigger share of revenue. Although the idea is self-destructive, to them it appears right.

The reason India and Australia put themselves in the same bracket is somewhat understandable, India now being the richest, and Australia a well-rounded team. Why should England be in the same rank, is inexplicable.

How far is the step right and reasonable? For simple reason, it is not right. India was never a force to reckon with. Not at least with its cricket. It came to the limelight once by its fluke win over the West Indies in 1983 ODI World Cup. Throughout it’s more than 6o year history, it never was a team to gossip about. It has still got the tag of “losers overseas.” They

have been losing overseas matches most humiliatingly.

Indian cricket roars, with full backing of its media and loud commentators, only when playing at home. If you watch closely, the BCCI and the media have been the main agents to raise the hype for cricket and the cricketers. The star is born even before he makes it to the national team. Most fade away sooner than later.

Of late, the IPL money has added to the power of the BCCI. We all know that the IPL was robbed from the ICL earlier introduced by Kapil Dev and others.

Don’t forget, if BCCI is rich today, it is not due to Indian sweat or performance. It is because of the international participation in the tournaments arranged by India, in India. It is the corporate money that attracts the foreign players and they in fact inject the extra life in these contests. BCCI got greedier day by day.

Drive away the foreign players, and then see how the BCCI and its events run – it will come to a grinding halt. BCCI authorities have long been involved in politics. The governing body members have come under severe criticism and acts of controversy many a time. Even the next ICC boss, the very Indian, Srinivasan has to be cleared by the court before he takes his seat as the chair of the ICC. The dissection in the ICC team ranks was tacitly accepted by the members. I was wondering what prompted other teams and their boards to accept the terms lying down. We know from reports that Pakistan raised its voice against the move, but later had to give in. What led the others to cower down?

The cricket bosses of other member countries did not dare to stand up and announce the incongruity, even if they did not approve of the plan from their hearts. In principle they are still against it, you bet.

If India could threaten to create another cricket governing body, why can’t the rest of the members of the ICC walk out and form a World Cricket Council (WCC)?

World boxing has three separate bodies for boxing, World Boxing Federation (WBF), World Boxing Association (WBA), and World Boxing Council (WBC). Each of them are holding their identities and running according to their rules. Each is awarding titles to their contenders at various categories.

Similarly, cricket also has the right to get a newer and more effective body for smooth operation of the game. However, things will not be the same with cricket as with the boxing

bodies, as the new organisation is likely to be a huge congregation of members compared to the current ICC with dictatorship of India and two others in force.

So a new body for cricket would be most welcome.

It’s easy, it’s simple.

How? It goes like this, subtracting India, Australia, and England, the rest would form the new body. Every cricketing nation will be immediately absorbed as full members of the WCC. There are at least 40 to 50 nations playing cricket. They will become members by paying a certain amount of fees. The HQs will be anywhere in UAE or Europe or Southeast Asia.

With a strong 50 (or even more) member council, the WCC will have a tough governing body from the top cricketing nations like Sri Lanka, West Indies, South Africa, Pakistan and even more.

Look at the prospects – teams from USA, UAE, Afghanistan, USA, Malaysia, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore, Fiji, African countries, Ireland, Scotland and other European states and the Caribbean islands will make a huge figure of members. The membership will far outnumber the current ICC list.

The UAE, the USA and many affluent European countries will make the WCC richer than the BCCI and its two friends. So, there should not be any reason of doubt over the donation and availability of funds. Rather WCC will be wealthier and they will be able to systematise more tournaments, matches and bilateral series between members more effectively with additional returns and revenue.

The world will be successfully abuzz with new cricket bonanza. The game will be expanded across the globe. We shall have more venues and added crowds enjoying the game, more people and governments involved in this.

We expect to get almost the same amount of excitement and heat as we now generate from football throughout the world.

The media will find its hub and pit of revenue here. They will squabble for rights to broadcast and telecast the events by WCC. What would be the fallout? It will be something like this – all the teams will be benefitted. Smaller teams will get a bigger access to the world of cricket and competition will turn fierce. It will unfasten the gates of gushing geniuses. There will be more faculties (players, organisers, sponsors) available from these countries, which are rich by all other means!

Even the donations that will pour

in from the member countries and private sponsors will be enormous! I believe that the WCC should be the richest body, if run appropriately.

There should not be any politics or big brothers (match fixers) in the body.

The election system should be worked out in thorough detail before embarking on this. The constitution ought to be revised minutely and considered by all members before final approval!

What about the current big three?

These “biggies” will soon be dwarfed.

Because they will be left to play only among themselves! Imagine the scenario. The bilateral series will be played only in venues at India, England and Australia, the ODIs and T20s will be contested only among the three.

How long will the boards be able to pull crowds? How long will the tickets sell? What about the world

WIKIMEDIA

economies and successful cricketing nations to sit together and start working on the new organisation, WCC. Cricket should be given a chance to thrive and survive. We have plenty of talent scattered around the globe. Give them a chance and see what they make of the opportunity! They will indeed illuminate the game with more power and talent and make it more ornamental. Who knows we might stumble upon more genius than we have seen up until now. Make the game global in the true sense of the term!

The divisive minds of the so-called big ones are nothing but a senseless step to divide the sport and reap short term benefits!

Sport or for that matter cricket is now on a higher plane than before.

The spoilt minds have failed to behold that. l

Cricket should be given a chance to thrive and survive. We have plenty of talent scattered around the globe. Give them a chance and see what they make of the opportunity!

championships? Only three teams will be left to compete under the ICC banner! How long will the three member team body exist?

The fate is simple. Within a year or two the whole of ICC and the teams will dry out and cease to be of any purpose. Players of the three teams will then opt for transporting themselves to those countries (WCC members) to make themselves available for cricket! And the BCCI and its partners (the trio) will have to lay off officers, panel of umpires, other staff and technical hands until it will lock the main office and walk away to find some other job. They may even apply for newer positions in the WCC! It is time we think of the WCC very seriously. I call upon the stronger

Mohammad Ali Sattar is a journalist and a DT columnist. He can be reached at malisattar@ outlook.com

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Israel pounds Gaza despite international peace efforts n Reuters Israel pounded targets across the Gaza Strip on Tuesday, saying no ceasefire was near as top US and UN diplomats pursued talks on halting fighting that has claimed more than 500 lives.

US Secretary of State John Kerry held talks in neighboring Egypt, while UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon was due to arrive in Israel later in the day.

Both have voiced alarm at mounting civilian casualties.

However, there was no let-up in the fighting around Gaza, with plumes of black smoke spiraling into the sky, and Israeli shells raining down on the coastal Palestinian enclave.

Hamas, the dominant group in the Gaza Strip, and its allies fired more rockets into Israel, triggering sirens in Tel Aviv. One hit a town on the fringes of Ben-Gurion International Airport, lightly injuring two people, officials said.

Israel launched its offensive on July 8 to halt missile salvoes out of Gaza by Hamas, which was angered by a crackdown on its supporters in the occupied West Bank and suffering economic hardship because of an Israeli-Egyptian blockade.

“A ceasefire is not near,” said Justice Minister Tzipi Livni, viewed as the most dovish member of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s inner security cabinet.

“I see no light at the end of the tunnel,” she told Israel’s Army Radio.

The Israeli military said it had identified the remains of six soldiers killed in an attack on their armored vehicle in Gaza on Sunday and was trying to identify the seventh.

Sparking widespread celebrations in Gaza, Hamas’s armed wing announced on Sunday that it had captured a soldier.

It displayed a photo ID and army serial number of the man, but did not show any image of him in their hands.

The Israeli military believes it was impossible for anyone to have survived the direct hit on the army APC. Israel has agreed to mass releases of

Top: John Kerry (L) and Egypt’s Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri talk before making statements to reporters after Kerry met with Shukri and Egyptian President al-Sisi at the presidential palace in Cairo yesterday.

Bottom: The mother of Palestinian Mahmoud alShawamrah mourns during his funeral in the West Bank town of Al-Ram near Jerusalem yesterday.

REUTERS

An Israeli soldier sits atop a mobile artillery unit in a staging area outside the Gaza Strip yesterday Palestinian prisoners in the past to secure the freedom of captured soldiers, or even for the return of the bodies of its citizens.

With the conflict entering its third week, the Palestinian death toll rose to 546, including nearly 100 children and many other civilians, Gaza health officials said. The Israeli military said it had killed 183 militants.

Israel’s casualties also mounted, with the military announcing the deaths of two more soldiers, bringing the number of army fatalities to 27 - almost three times as many as were killed in the last ground invasion of Gaza, in a 2008-2009 war.

Two Israeli civilians have also been killed by Palestinian rocket fire into Israel.

NEWS BITES

Palestinian militants in Gaza said they wanted a five-hour ceasefire on Tuesday to allow residents to emerge from their homes and seek vital supplies. Israel rejected the request for security reasons, a defense official said.

Violence spread to the nearby West Bank, where medics said soldiers shot dead a Palestinian man while dispersing stone-throwing protesters. A Palestinian shot and seriously wounded an Israeli in the Nablus area on Tuesday.

Diplomacy

Dispatched by US President Barack Obama to the Middle East to seek a ceasefire, Kerry held talks on Tuesday in Cairo with Egyptian Foreign Minister Sameh Shukri.

Egypt was key to securing an end

REUTERS

to a previous bout of Gaza fighting in 2012, but the country’s new leadership is openly hostile to Hamas, potentially complicating the negotiations.

“We hope (Kerry’s) visit will result in a ceasefire that provides the necessary security for the Palestinian people and that we can commence to address the medium and long-term issues related to Gaza,” Shukri said.

Israel has signaled it is in no hurry to achieve a truce before reaching its goal of crippling Hamas’s militant infrastructure, including rocket arsenals and networks of tunnels threatening Israelis living along the Gaza frontier.

Hamas has said it will not cease hostilities until its demands are met, including that Israel and Egypt lift their blockade of Gaza and its 1.8 million people,

n Reuters, Istanbul

n AP, Ankara

US college pays $190M in exam pix settlement

n

AP, Baltimore

A “rogue” gynecologist’s secret use of tiny cameras to record hundreds of videos and photos of his patients’ sex organs has led to a $190 million settlement with some 8,000 women and girls, lawyers said Monday.

Dr Nikita Levy was fired after 25 years with the Johns Hopkins Health System in Baltimore in February 2013 after a female co-worker alerted authorities about a pen-like camera he wore around his neck. He committed suicide days later, as a federal investigation led to roughly 1,200 videos and 140 images stored on computers in his home.

Levy, 54, had worked at the East Baltimore Medical Center, a Johns Hopkins community clinic, for 25 years before he was fired in February of 2013 after admitting to the misconduct and surrendering his devices to authorities.

The settlement all but closes a case attorneys for both Johns Hopkins and Levy’s former patients say traumatized thousands of women who, according to the women’s lead attorney, Jonathan Schochor, are still – a year and a half later – “extraordinarily upset.”

“They are in fear, dismayed, angry, and anxious over a breach of faith, a breach of trust, a betrayal on the part of the medical system,” Schochor said during a news conference Monday. l

File photo showing French-built warship BPC Vladivostock, designed to strengthen Russia’s ability to deploy troops, tanks and helicopter gunships, leaves the Saint Nazaire’s harbor, western France, for its test run on the open sea off coast of France. French President Francois Hollande is defending plans to deliver a Euro1.1bn warship to Russia, despite increasing pressure for tougher European sanctions against Moscow over the fighting in Ukraine AP

Putin vows to use influence on Ukraine rebels, rejects Western meddling n

Reuters, Moscow

Russian President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday Russia would use its influence with separatists in east Ukraine to allow a full investigation into the downing of a Malaysian airliner, but said the West must put pressure on Kiev to end hostilities.

Putin also called on Western powers not to meddle in Russia’s domestic affairs and said steps were needed to strengthen the country’s military capabilities because of moves by Nato and to protect the economy from “external threats”.

“We are being called on to use our influence with the separatists in southeastern Ukraine. We of course will do everything in our power but that is not nearly enough,” Putin said at the start of a meeting with defense and security chiefs.

“Ultimately, there is a need to call on the authorities in Kiev to respect basic norms of decency, and at least for a short time implement a ceasefire,” he said.

Putin’s comments were his first detailed response in public to Western

criticism of Russia’s role in Ukraine since the Malaysian airliner was brought down on Thursday, killing 298 people.

Reading from notes at the head of a long table with officials seated on each side, Putin spoke much more forcefully than during brief televised remarks on the plane’s downing first released in the early hours of Monday, when he had seemed less assured than usual.

Putin reiterated his belief that protests that toppled Ukraine’s former Russian-backed leader were instigated and funded from abroad. Despite Western sanctions, he said Moscow would stand by separatists in eastern Ukraine whom, he described as part of a popular rising against an illegal coup.

“Russia is being presented with what is almost an ultimatum: ‘Let us destroy this part of the population that is ethnically and historically close to Russia and we will not impose sanctions against you,” Putin said. “This is a strange and unacceptable logic.”

He did not, however, directly address the question of whether Russia has been arming the rebels - he has denied such accusations before. l

cerned about the consequences of Israel’s appropriate and legitimate effort to defend itself,” Kerry said. “No country can stand by when rockets are attacking it.”

Kerry plans to stay in Cairo until Wednesday morning but has no set departure date from the region. Officials said he might travel to Qatar, a Gulf state which has relatively close ties to Hamas and hosts its leader, Khaled Meshaal.

Ban was due to meet Netanyahu later on Tuesday in Tel Aviv and then see the Palestinian prime minister in the West Bank.

With Israeli shells and bombs hitting Gaza day and night, thousands of people have fled districts close to the border.

The main UN agency in Gaza, UNWRA, said almost 102,000 people had taken shelter in 69 of its schools. l

Turkey’s top cleric calls new Islamic ‘caliphate’ illegitimate

‘THE FORBIDDEN FRUIT’

Turkey: police detained for ‘spying’ and wiretaps Istanbul’s chief prosecutor says dozens of police officers have been detained on suspicion of spying and of illegally wiretapping government officials, including Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and the head of the Turkish intelligence agency.

Police raided the homes of several police officers early on Tuesday, taking at least one of them away in handcuffs.

Turkish media reports said some of the police officers were involved in a corruption probe targeting four government ministers. Prosecutor Hadi Salihoglu said 67 people have been detained so far.

Erdogan has long claimed that the corruption allegations that forced the ministers to resign were part of a coup attempt by followers of a US-based moderate Islamic preacher. Many of the officers were removed from posts in a government purge earlier this year. l

and that Israel release several hundred Palestinians detained during a search last month for three Jewish teenagers later found dead.

Israel blamed the killings on Hamas, and their deaths, along with the revenge slaying of a Palestinian teen were factors in a flare-up of violence along the Israel-Gaza border last month that escalated into the current fighting.

“The world must understand that Gaza has decided to end the blockade by its blood and its heroism,” deputy Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh said in a televised address on Monday.

Livni said the Hamas demands were unacceptable to both Israel and Egypt.

Kerry said the United States would provide $47 million in humanitarian aid for Gaza. Washington is “deeply con-

The declaration of a “caliphate” by Islamist militants in Iraq lacks legitimacy and their death threats to Christians are a danger to civilisation, Turkey’s top cleric, the successor to the last caliph’s most senior imam, said.

Islamic State, an armed group formerly allied to al Qaeda that has captured swathes of territory across Iraq, last month declared its leader, Ibrahim al-Baghdadi, “caliph” – the historical title last held by the Turkish Ottoman sultan who ruled much of the Muslim world.

“Such declarations have no legitimacy whatsoever,” Mehmet Gormez, head of the Religious Affairs Directorate, the highest religious authority in Turkey, which, although a majority Muslim country, has been a secular state since the 1920s.

“Since the caliphate was abolished ... there have been movements that think they can pull together the Muslim world by re-establishing a caliphate, but they

have nothing to do with reality, whether from a political or legal perspective.”

Gormez said death threats against non-Muslims made by the group, formerly known as Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (Isil), were hugely damaging.

“The statement made against Christians is truly awful. Islamic scholars need to focus on this (because) an inability to peacefully sustain other faiths and cultures heralds the collapse of a civilisation,” he told Reuters in an interview.

Since ISIL’s advance across northern Iraq in June, Christians have fled the city of Mosul, where the militants are based, after they were given the choice to convert, pay a religious tax or be executed.

Mosul’s Christian community is one of the world’s oldest, tracing its roots back two millennia.

Gormez is in a unique position to question Baghdadi’s claim to the caliph’s seat. His office was created in 1924 to replace the Ottoman Sheikh al-Islam, the mufti with authority to confirm new sultans and who also served as chief legal adviser. l

Train with MH17 bodies on final journey reaches Ukraine base n Reuters, Donetsk A train carrying the remains of many of the 298 victims of Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 arrived at a Ukrainian government base on Tuesday on the first leg of their final journey home to be reclaimed by their families.

Five refrigerated wagons containing 200 body bags arrived in the city of Kharkiv after pro-Russian separatists agreed to hand over the plane’s black boxes to Malaysian authorities and the bodies to the Netherlands, where many victims had lived.

The train slowly rolled into the grounds of an arms industry plant, where the remains are due to be unloaded and flown to the Netherlands. A spokesowman for a Dutch team of forensic experts in Kharkiv said this was not expected before Wednesday.

The Malaysia Airlines plane was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it was shot down on July 17 near Donetsk, a stronghold of pro-Russian rebels, where fighting with Ukrainian troops flared again on Tuesday.

Western governments, including European Union ministers meeting in Brussels on Tuesday, have threatened

Russia with broader sanctions for what they say is its backing of the militia although they are struggling to agree a response.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said he would urge the separatists to allow a full investigation. The Netherlands said it would lead the investigation while Malaysia said it would look after the plane’s black boxes until a team was set up.

“Here they are, the black boxes,” separatist leader Aleksander Borodai told journalists at the headquarters of his self-proclaimed Donetsk People’s Republic as an armed rebel placed the boxes on a desk.

A small group of Malaysian air crash experts became the first international accident investigators to reach the site on Tuesday, escorted by a convoy of international monitors and heavily armed separatist fighters.

As they went about their work, loud explosions were heard on the outskirts of Donetsk, some 60 km (40 miles) from the site One shell was sticking out from a hole outside a residential block with a pool of blood next to it.

“A woman was killed here, her son was sitting next to her crying,” said Ta-

mara Lelyk, a 73-year-old cleaning lady.

The shooting down of the airliner has sharply deepened the Ukrainian crisis, in which separatist gunmen in the Russian-speaking east have been fighting government forces since pro-Western protesters in Kiev forced out a pro-Moscow president and Russia annexed Crimea in March.

Sanctions

Putin said a Ukrainian military “tank attack” on Donetsk was “unacceptable” and urged the West to put pressure on Kiev to end hostilities.

Andriy Lysenko, a spokesman for Ukraine’s Security Council, said 13 Ukrainian troops were killed in fighting in the east in the last day when “terrorists” attacked the army and their roadblocks 20 times.

The rival sides were now fighting around the city of Lysychansk, some 130 kilometres north-east of Donetsk, he said. Kiev also said it recaptured the adjacent town of Severodonetsk and the rebels confirmed they were forced out.

Shaken by the deaths of nearly 300 people on the Malaysian airliner, Western governments have threatened Russia with stiffer penalties. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

opposition claims Jakarta governor wins presidency Myanmar five million signed for n AP, Jakarta

Jakarta Governor. Joko Widodo, who captured the hearts of millions of Indonesians with his common man image, won the country’s presidential election with 53% of the vote, final results showed Tuesday.

Widodo, a former furniture exporter known to most as “Jokowi,” is the first candidate in a direct presidential election in Indonesia with no ties to the former dictator Suharto, who ruled for 30 years before being overthrown in 1998.

The other contender, former Gen. Prabowo Subianto, declared he was withdrawing from the contest shortly before the final numbers were released by the Election Commission, saying there was massive fraud during the election, and that it was unfair and undemocratic.

Widodo had maintained a slim lead of about 4 percentage points in unofficial “quick counts” by polling agencies released after the July 9 election. But Subianto, who has declared assets of $140m and was on his third bid for the presidency, repeatedly claimed that polling firms with links to his campaign showed he was ahead.

“We reject the 2014 presidential elec-

Indonesian presidential candidate Joko ‘Jokowi’ Widodo (C) and his running mate Jusuf Kalla (L) celebrate with their party chairwoman Megawati Sukarnoputri (R) REUTERS tion, which is illegitimate, and therefore we withdraw from the ongoing process,” he said Tuesday.

Observers of the election said they were generally fair and free, with minimal abnormalities. Maswadi Rauf, a political professor at the University of Indonesia, said he saw no sign of significant

fraud, as alleged by Subianto.

Subianto’s rejection of the results “reflects the real attitudes of the elite, who are not yet ready to accept losing,” Rauf said. “We are still in a transition to democracy, which is indeed not our culture. And what is happening indicates we are still immature, we need to learn.”

Islamic State crushes and coerces on march towards Baghdad n Reuters Using its own version of “soft” and “hard” power, the Islamic State is crushing resistance across northern Iraq so successfully that its promise to march on Baghdad may no longer be unrealistic bravado.

While conventional states try to win hearts and minds abroad before necessarily resorting to military force, the jihadist group is also achieving its aims by psychological means – backed up by a reputation for extreme violence.

The Islamic State, which in June captured a vast stretch of territory in

Syrian opposition coalition dissolves interim government n Reuters, Beirut The Western-backed National Coalition of Syrian opposition members said on Tuesday it had voted to force out its “interim government” and form a new one within a month.

Attempts to form a viable government-in-exile for Syria’s opposition have been hamstrung by rivalries between its backers and among its members as well as by its inability to establish itself inside Syria.

The National Coalition is designated as the main body representing the opposition by the United States and other major powers but it has little influence over rebels fighting to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad.

The group said in a statement on Tuesday it was dissolving its interim cabinet to “create new ground for work on the basis of moving the government into the interior as soon as possible, and employing Syrian revolutionary capabilities”.

The coalition’s interim Prime Minister Ahmed Toumeh and other ministers would continue as caretakers until the new government was formed, it said.

Nominations would be open for two weeks and a new government formed within 30 days. l

the north including the largest city Mosul, used this strategy when its fighters met armed resistance from the town of al-Alam for 13 days running.

They kidnapped 30 local families and rang up the town’s most influential citizens with a simple message about the hostages: “You know their destiny if you don’t let us take over the town.”

Within hours, tribesmen and local leaders caved in to save the families.

The black flag of the Sunni militants, who are bent on overthrowing the Shi’ite-led Iraqi government, was soon flying over government buildings and police stations in al-Alam.

Uttar Pradesh governor Aziz Qureshi on Monday stirred a hornet’s nest when he said even if the entire world’s police force is put on duty, rapes can probably be prevented only if gods come down from heaven.

While a lot needed to be done, the state government was trying to spruce up the system, Qureshi - who is holding additional charge of the state - told reporters in what was his last official engagement with the media.

“Yahan par to aap poori duniya ki (police) force laga dein to bhi balatkaar jaisi afsosnaak ghatnayein nahin ruk sakti” (Even if you put the entire world’s police force on duty here, you won’t be able to prevent unfortunate incidents like rape), he said.

constitution change n Reuters Myanmar’s main opposition party says it has collected about five million signatures seeking reduced powers for unelected military members of parliament as the country, which emerged from dictatorship in 2011, moves towards an election next year.

The National League for Democracy (NLD), led by Nobel laureate Aung San Suu Kyi, has spearheaded the campaign, which ended on Saturday, to rescind Section 436 of the constitution.

That clause requires a 75 percent vote in parliament to amend most sections of the constitution - all but impossible for an opposition party to achieve.

But the NLD’s efforts are unlikely to make much of a difference.

Shwe Mann, speaker of parliament, said this month that the petition would not influence the work of a parliamentary committee tasked with recommending constitutional amendments. Shwe Mann is also chairman of the Union Solidarity and Development Party (USDP), made up mainly of former officers.

Iraq Christians flee Mosul after militant threats n AP, Irbil

Iraqi Christians who fled the northern city of Mosul after Islamic extremists seized it described Tuesday leaving behind all the possessions, as politicians in the country still struggle to form a government following recent elections.

Most of Mosul’s remaining Christians fled when the Islamic State group and an array of other Sunni militants captured the city on June 10 – the opening move in the insurgents’ blitz across northern and western Iraq. As a religious minority, Christians were wary of how they would be treated by hard-line Islamic militants.

The militants imposed a deadline Saturday for Christians to convert to Islam, pay a tax or face death. That was the final straw for many, including Zaid Qreqosh Ishaq, 27, who was forced to flee with his family.

“We had to go through an area where they had set up a checkpoint,” he said.

Islamic State group militants “asked us to get out of the car. We got out. They took ... our things, our bags, our money, everything we had on us.”

With nothing more than the clothes on their backs, Ishaq’s family fled to the nearby self-rule Kurdish region or other areas protected by Kurdish security forces. l

Striking down clause 436 has been the focus of the drive, which has gained widespread support in the former Burma for a second goal - to enable Aung San Suu Kyi to run for president.

Suu Kyi won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1991 for her pro-democracy efforts and spent most of the next two decades under house arrest where she continued to resist military rule.

Although she remains popular, she is ineligible for the presidency under a constitutional provision which bars candidates with a foreign child or spouse her late husband was British as are both her sons. Tun Tun Hein, an NLD official responsible for the petition, told Reuters the party was still counting signatures and predicted the total would likely surpass five million. He said the party would decide how to present its petition to the government once the number was established at the end of July.

The NLD canvassed the country of 60 million for almost two months, tapping into discontent among many who say the military should withdraw from politics after ruling for 49 years. l

NEWS BITES

Indian soldier killed in Pak firing along LoC

n Agencies An Indian soldier was killed on Tuesday when Pakistani troops fired at Indian positions on the Line of Control (LoC) in Jammu and Kashmir, the military said. Military spokesman Col Manish Mehta told IANS here that the Pakistan Army used automatics and small-calibre weapons in Pallanwalla area of Akhnoor sector.

“The firing was intended to facilitate the infiltration of militants into our side of the LoC,” he said. “The infiltration attempt has been foiled but searches are still going on in the area.” l

Mers virus detected in air samples from Saudi camel barn

FOR THE LOVE OF GOD

n Reuters, London

Hindu devotees bathe in the Bagmati River on their way to the Pashupatinath Temple to offer prayers to Lord Shiva, Hindu god of destruction during Shravan festivities in Sundarijal, on the outskirts of Kathmandu on July 21, 2014. According to the Nepali calendar, Shravan is considered the holiest month of the year with each Monday of the month known as Shravan Somvar when worshippers offer prayers for a happy and prosperous life AFP

Maybe only Gods can stop rapes: UP governor n Agencies

Weeks later, only a few masked gunmen guard checkpoints surrounding al-Alam at night, so comfortable is the Islamic State in its control through fear.

“One hundred percent of people are angry that the Islamic State is here but there is nothing we can do,” said a scared resident who spoke by telephone on condition of anonymity.

Similar accounts of victories by the Islamic State, which has also seized territory in neighboring Syria during the civil war there, are repeated across other towns and villages in Salahuddin province north of Baghdad.

There were no immediate reports of violence Tuesday. About 100 Subianto supporters held a peaceful protest about 300 meters (yards) from the Election Commission building in downtown Jakarta, chanting “Prabowo is the real president” and holding banners saying that the commission should stop cheating.

The building was surrounded by thousands of policemen to maintain security after a particularly nasty presidential campaign marred by smear tactics from both camps. Widodo blamed his drop in opinion polls in the weeks before the election on character assaults that accused him, among other things, of not being a follower of Islam — which he denounced. Indonesia, an archipelago of about 17,000 islands and 240 million people, has the world’s fourth-largest population and is the most populous Muslim country.

Despite Widodo’s lack of experience in national politics, he built a reputation as being a man of the people and an efficient leader who wants to advance democratic reforms, and was elected to run Jakarta, the capital, in 2012. He is widely viewed as untainted by the often corrupt military and business elite that have run Indonesia for decades. l

In the same breath, Qureshi said if only gods came down from heaven, will there be an end to such crimes.

The governor’s statement came in the wake of several incidents of rape and murder of women in Uttar Pradesh in the recent days.

With this statement, the governor joins a list of politicians who have been giving uncharitable remarks on rapes in the state.

Former chief minister Mulayam Singh Yadav earlier said rapes were “minor mistakes committed by youngsters” and that laws sending rapists to the gallows must be quashed.

After last week’s rape and murder in Lucknow that caused considerable outrage, the Samajwadi Party chief attributed growing crimes against women to the rising population. l

India faces crisis over dwindling numbers of girls, UN says n REUTERS The dwindling numbers of Indian girls, caused by the illegal abortion of millions of babies, has reached “emergency proportions”, fuelling an increase in crimes such as kidnapping and trafficking, the United Nations warned on Tuesday.

Despite laws that ban expectant parents from running tests to determine the gender of unborn children, female foeticide remains a common practice in parts of India, where a preference for sons runs deep.

“It is tragically ironic that the one who creates life is herself denied the right to be born,” said Lakshmi Puri, deputy executive director of UN

Women, at the launch of a new study on sex ratios and gender-biased sex selection.

India’s traditionally male-dominated culture views sons as assets – breadwinners who will provide for the family, carry on the family name, and perform the last rites for their parents, an important ritual in many faiths.

Girls, however, are often seen as a liability, with families having to dig deep for a substantial dowry to ensure a desirable match. In a culture that views pre-marital sex as bringing shame to the girl’s family, parents also worry about their safety.

India’s 2011 census showed that while the overall female-to-male ratio has improved marginally since the last

census a decade ago, fewer girls were born than boys and the number of girls younger than six plummeted for the fifth straight decade.

“The sharply declining child-sex ratio in India has reached emergency proportions and urgent action must be taken to alleviate this crisis,” Puri added.

A May 2011 study in British medical journal the Lancet found that up to 12 million Indian girls were aborted over the last three decades, resulting in a skewed child sex ratio of 918 girls to every 1,000 boys in 2011, versus 962 in 1981.

But the crime is tough to check, they add, resulting in few convictions. There were 221 cases of foeticide reported in 2013, up from 210 in 2012., the National Crime Records Bureau says. l

Saudi scientists have found gene fragments of the deadly Middle East Respiratory Syndrome (MERS) virus in air from a barn housing an infected camel and say this suggests the disease may be transmitted through the air.

MERS, a serious respiratory illness caused by a virus known as a coronavirus (CoV), has infected at least 850 people since it first emerged two years ago and killed at least 327 of them, according to latest figures from the European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC).

The vast majority of human cases have been in Saudi Arabia, but isolated MERS cases have been reported across Europe and in Asia and the United States in people linked who have recently travelled in the Middle East.

Scientists are not sure of the origin of the virus, but several studies have linked it to camels and some experts think it is being passed to humans through close physical contact or through the consumption of camel meat or camel milk.

However, in this latest study, published in the online journal of the American Society for Microbiology mBio, scientists said the detection of the virus in air samples was concerning and needed to be followed up.

“The clear message here is that detection of airborne MERS-CoV molecules, which were 100 percent identical with the viral genomic sequence detected from a camel actively shedding the virus in the same barn on the same day, warrants further investigations and measures to prevent possible airborne transmission of this deadly virus,” said Esam Azhar, an associate professor of medical virology at King Abdulaziz University in Jeddah who led the study.

Viruses that spread through air - such as flu viruses for example - are far more likely to spread swiftly and widely in human populations than those that can only move from an animal to a person, or from person to person, via direct contact.

For their research, Azhar’s team collected three air samples on three consecutive days from a camel barn near Jeddah owned by a 43-year-old male MERS patient who later died from the disease.

Four of the man’s nine camels had shown signs of nasal discharge the week before the patient became ill, and he had applied a topical medicine in the nose of one of the sick camels a week before experiencing symptoms. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Stand up for girls

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

W

e welcome the prime minister’s attendance at the Girl Summit being co-hosted by UNICEF in London.

The event aims to mobilise international efforts to, among other things, end child and forced marriage and eliminate female genital mutilation around the world within a generation.

By focusing on those practices which most harm girls and young women, and thereby hold back the next generation, the summit highlights the need to tackle all types of gender discrimination and violence.

It is very important for Bangladesh that regardless of the outcome of this summit, our government takes more effective action to address these issues.

The country’s progress in reducing the most extreme forms of poverty and in improving performance against social indicators, has been helped by moves to improve basic education and increase women’s participation in the workforce.

Despite this, Bangladesh is still far away from eliminating gender discrimination and ensuring free exercise of rights by all women.

The aims of anti-discrimination initiatives are for instance held back by social attitudes which undervalue education by girls and encourage child marriage According to UNICEF, while the rate has declined substantially in recent years, 17% or nearly one in five of all girls are still getting married under the age of 15, giving Bangladesh one of the highest rates of underage marriage in the world.

We need the government to do much more to eliminate such abuses and to empower women and girls so that everybody is assured of their right to reach their full potential.

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Regardless of this summit, it is important to do more to empower women and girls

Changing directors no panacea

T

he finance minister has announced plans to reshuffle directors on the boards of state-owned banks.

Although this is described as part of a government move to establish more discipline and transparency, it fails to address the root problem with loss making state banks.

Namely, that government willingness to use taxpayers’ money to bail out state banks, has repeatedly been shown to fail to bring about meaningful reforms.

So long as these institutions are shielded from the consequences of poor management, there is little reason to expect that tinkering with appointment of directors will make much difference to their losses.

Unlike private banks where shareholders have been effective in ensuring efficient management, state banks have been prone to continual losses and scandals.

Unfortunately despite the recent crisis at BASIC Bank which led to the resignation of its chairman, the government is still committed to a policy of propping up poorly run state controlled banks.

Having spent spent Tk4,100 crore ($512 million) to bail out stateowned banks in the last financial year, the government is planning to disburse a further Tk5,000 crore ($625 million) to meet their capital shortfalls during the current fiscal year.

This is not acceptable.

Instead of borrowing money from the IMF to prop up the balance sheets of badly run state banks, the government needs to move towards either winding them down or privatising them completely. Privatisation is the best policy to adopt to make state banks more efficient and free from political influence and corruption.

Address the root problem.

Privatisation is the best policy for state banks

‘When there is no ceasefire, our answer is fire’ July 17

Vikram Khan Israel’s aggression against the Palestinians (Muslim and Christian population) is outrageous, but what about the war crimes committed by Muslim extremists against the Muslim population in Syria and Iraq, currently? Thousands of Muslims are being butchered by Muslims. Why do we not hear the same wave of protest from Muslim countries against these horrendous crimes?

Kmak Vikram Khan: What does Gaza have to do with Syria and Iraq? Ironically, this is the same rhetoric Israelis use to justify their murderous campaign, presenting the bombardment of Gaza as a wider fight against terrorism, with Hamas being no different from ISIS or the Taliban or Al Qaeda.

As a concern troll, your astonishment over the so-called Muslim silence on Syria and Iraq isn’t genuine. You tried to pull the same trick during the Boko Haram incident, anguishing over why Muslims aren’t protesting the kidnappings, in a comment on an article by a Muslim that condemned Boko Haram! Your selective sympathy is also obvious from the statements you have made about the Rohingyas, which are no different from how the Israelis describe Palestinians, as goodfor-nothing subhumans.

Finally, both ordinary Muslims and scholars, both Sunni and Shia, have condemned the ISIS and other terrorist groups. You aren’t aware of these, are you?

Vikram Khan Kmak: Seems you are a highly educated person, well-mannered, and verbally courteous. Point is that the aggression against the Palestinians (Christians and Muslims) has been going on for decades, but only recently – and probably because the World Cup football was not that interesting anymore – Muslims worldwide seem to have woken up.

For more than 20 years I am protesting against the Israeli horror, my friend. But, as a Muslim, I regret that Muslim countries (and especially the oil-rich Arab countries) are not investing their money and time actively in the development of the peace process.

On the contrary, Hamas gets training, arms, and financial support from Qatar and Saudi Arabia to continue the conflict. The UAE are spending trillions of US dollars on decadent and utterly useless projects, just to show the world how rich they are.

Part of the money Qatar is spending on hosting the next World Cup football could have been used to build schools, universities, and modern hospitals in Gaza, could have been used to modernise the infrastructure (electricity, water supply) and could have been used to provide jobs to young Christian and Muslim Palestinian boys and girls, or motivate and sponsor young Palestinians to become entrepreneurs. Just to show that the Muslim world is only good with words, but what about constructive deeds (and I do not mean military revenge, I mean long-term development)? kmak Vikram Khan: “Point is that the aggression against the Palestinians (Christians and Muslims) has been going on for decades, but ONLY RECENTLY (emphasis mine) – and probably because the world cup football was not that interesting anymore – Muslims worldwide seem to have woken up.”

Your detachment from the Muslim world is astounding and pitiable. It is only recently that the Muslim world has come to realise the Palestinians are suffering, and that too, because football is no longer on TV? Are you for real? Seriously, are you for real?

“Seems you are a highly educated person, well-mannered, and verbally courteous.”

Thanks. I can’t say the same about you though. You seem uneducated, ignorant and incredibly mendacious.

Vikram Khan Kmak: I’m honoured that you remember me from previous comments, and take the time to enlighten my knowledge with your insight in matters concerning international politics.

Post-2015: Disaster or blessing?

July 18

Assam approves citizenship to post-’71 Bangladeshis July 18

PB Good for the Bangladeshis there. Now they won’t grab the land of the local indigenous people.

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 5 represents I so fill I every time the figure 5 appears.

You have two letters in the control grid to start you off. Enter them in the appropriate squares in the main grid, then use your knowledge of words to work out which letters go in the missing squares.

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

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

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

SUDOKU How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Jewish surplice (5) 5 Slow of understanding (4) 8 Astounds (6) 9 Stratum (5) 10 Electrical item (4) 11 At no time (5) 12 Mineral spring (3) 15 Repose (4) 18 Slight colour (5) 21 Argue (3) 22 Sport (4) 24 Time of prosperity (4) 25 Valleys (5) 28 Enigma (6) 29 Dash (4) 30 Periods of time (5)

DOWN 1 Join the army (6) 2 Dried fodder (3) 3 Augury (4) 4 Venture (4) 5 Postpone (5) 6 Unfair moneylender (6) 7 Sheltered side (3) 13 Greek letter (2) 14 Breed of rabbit (6) 16 Accordingly (2) 17 Intertwines (6) 19 Street urchin (5) 20 Printers’ measure (2) 23 Whirlpool (4) 24 Insect (3) 26 Drink (3) 27 Meadow (3)

Mehedi Hasan Fuad Totally agree with the writer’s view. Excellent article.

Ashraful Alam Sagar Insightful!

Leya Biswas If we are to accept development, then we must be ready to survive through disaster!

CALVIN AND HOBBES

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER First ‘Bangladesh-made’ smartphones to be launched today

CROSSWORD

July 17

Tan Zin Great news!

PEANUTS

ZD Bangladesh zindabad; am feeling proud!

Ivy Ahmed Check this out, everyone!

Addressing the skin colour discrimination in ads July 17

Thè Kíñg Øf Hèàrt’s I agree with the author. Ads should have limits when presenting their points of view. Ads don’t literally sicken people, but the way today’s ads are presented, they are sickening the mind of our children, as well as of adults.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Earning the right to stand with Gaza

I

n Garga Chatterjee

am a Bengali and proudly so.

Apparently, that can be said about me from a mile. I take that as a compliment. Our family seat is in the Hooghly district of West Bengal. My family is Bengali Shakto (worshippers of Mother Kali and Goddess Durga).

My clan’s faith is something from which I have never ever thought of detaching myself.

Some people like to show-off enlightenment, maturity, and a higher state of consciousness by denigrating their family’s faith practices and even spitting on the concept of family.

Clearly, I am not one of them. We are looked upon as “Hindus,” though I do not relate to the religious practices of most other people classified as such.

I believe that the same is true for them.

With the exception of my ancestral male-line that is from West Bengal, much of my ancestry is from East Bengal. They were partition-era refugees, who fled their family home in Barisal, never to be able to return again. Earlier, both Hindus and Muslims fled their ancestral Bengal for their corresponding Bengal of relative safety.

cles form one’s identity. At some point of expansion, this touches the people of Palestine. It also touches the hounded Chakma of the Chittagong Hill Tracts, the marginalised Santhal of the Santhal Parganas of West Bengal, and the lives of Choles Ricthil or Kalpana Chakma or Bhikhari Paswan.

My being Bengali does not stand in between Bhikhari and me. My identity begins with me being a Bengali but it does not end there. My activism for Palestinian rights while I was a student at Harvard directly resulted in me being denied a certain lucrative position that I was already chosen for. That was a price worth paying. I have not ever regretted my activism, in spite of the targeting. Many, many more have paid far, far greater prices.

However, it is important that one looks closely at all that goes on under the umbrella of solidarity for Palestinians. There is something sinister about the kind of solidarity politics that originates from one’s private identification with the victims in terms of ethnicity, religion, language, etc but publicly couches it in terms of general humanism, whatever that is.

When someone passionately splashes graphic pictures of little children of Gaza, killed by Israeli attacks

Let us not forget that both honesty and indignation are by-products of a global hierarchy of ‘issues’

Post-1965, the refugees have been almost exclusively Hindus fleeing East Bengal. Tens of lakhs have followed suit. This continues to this day – victims of a long and continuing partition.

This is an issue very close to my heart. I suspect that my particular interest in the human rights violation of East Bengali Hindus is not unrelated to my particular family origin and my commitment to our preservation in a particular sense.

But concentric and expanding cir-

and never shows equally graphic pictures of the victims of Boko Haram or the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), the objective is three-fold. It is to evoke compassion for a certain kind of victim, to evoke hatred about a certain kind of perpetrator, and to remain silent on a certain kind of perpetrator.

There are a set of convenient brutes who are condemned and some inconvenient brutes who are rarely condemned, by the same people who were so vocal about human rights. Is

Chanting might be too easy it because, in some ghastly private political and ideological calculation, in an ultimate sense, some human rights violators are doing it for the “right” cause?

It then ceases to be about the victims or the horridness of the assault or even numbers. Why do I get the feeling that the religion of the killer matters? Why this unholy convergence of such elements with professional anti-imperalists?

Closer to home, why is the largescale destruction of Hindu villages and massacre of Hindu villagers by Indian state agencies in Chhattisgarh or the daily forced sodomisation of Hindus by largely Hindu policemen or the cold-blooded murder of young Hindus of Manipur by largely Hindu

REUTERS

Indian Army personnel not worthy of comment by the thikadars of political Hinduism? Is a victim of Muslim-on-Muslim terror less of a victim than others?

In this media-defined age of public thought, Gaza is a macabre spectacle.

While we witness this bursting forth of honest indignation about Israel’s reprehensible actions in Gaza, in the streets and in social media, let us not forget that both honesty and indignation are by-products of a global hierarchy of “issues.”

When we wake up to Gaza, we ought to remember who sets the alarm, who creates the machinery of the spread and perpetuation of such waking ups.

Who decides priorities - whose

deaths get headlined, whose deaths get sidelined? No one but sociopaths would say that what is happening in Gaza is good, but in this sophisticated world, one’s politics are given not by what one condemns, but what one chooses to condemn, and what one overlooks.

Just in 2014, the South Sudanese, Ukrainian and Somali civil wars have each claimed more lives than the ongoing Israeli aggression of Gaza. That is not all. The Islamist insurgencies in Iraq and Nigeria have each claimed more than 5,000 lives in 2014. Till now, the Gaza death toll is less than 400. Comparing the number of dead is horrible business but using the dead for private ideological satisfaction is more horrible business.

Considering some killers as the scum of Earth, and considering other killers as unmentionable is reprehensible business. Hence, when one is chanting “death to America” or “death to Israel,” from relatively safe perches in New York, Dhaka, Kolkata, Delhi, Lahore, and elsewhere, one probably should take a moment to think what precisely is the origin of this bloodthirst.

One owes it to the silenced victims of not-so-popular-but-much-morepopulous massacres. Chanting “Free Palestine” is easy. One has to earn the right to stand with Gaza. That is the hard part. l Garga Chatterjee is a freelance contributor.

He can be followed on twitter @gargac .

Ramadan in the US

Give the tests a rest

n Abdul Matin

n Mushfique Wadud

B

efore coming to the United States, I was worried that it would be very difficult to fast for almost 17 hours a day during the month of Ramadan. After fasting for over three weeks, it has become apparent that fasting is not at all difficult here. First of all, the weather has been reasonably mild in the North Eastern region where I have been staying.

Secondly, nobody feels the heat as all the houses, shopping malls, and cars are air-conditioned, so nobody faces any problem fasting, unless working outdoors on a hot day.

Muslims in the States fast religiously during Ramadan just like others do in any other country. It is astonishing to notice how the number of mosques multiplied in different cities in the States. Almost all the cities in the US with a substantial Muslim population have one or more mosques. In most cases, Muslim communities have bought churches and converted them into mosques. In some cases, new mosques have been built following traditional Islamic architectures. I have been told that there are more than a dozen mosques in and around Jackson Heights in New York alone.

Most of the mosques are full during Juma and Tarabi prayers. Women also take part in large numbers in the congregations in the mosques. All mosques make special arrangements for Tarabi prayers. In some mosques,

What’s good to eat around here?

Tarabi prayers are held twice if the number of devotees exceeds the capacity of the mosque. Iftar with dinner is served in most mosques. Sehri meals are usually served after the second Tarabi prayer. Meals are provided voluntarily by the well-to-do Muslims.

Bangladeshis are fond of forming associations, no matter where they live. There are associations with the names of each of the districts of Bangladesh. Since most Bangladeshis are politically polarised, there are usually more than one association for each district.

Numerous socio-political and cultural organisations have sprung up in most areas with substantial Bangladeshi populations like Jackson Heights. They regularly arrange iftar parties at restaurants or conventional halls during the month of Ramadan.

Some popular conventional halls in Jackson Heights have reportedly been booked for iftar parties for the whole month of Ramadan.

Since the days are long and the nights are short here during the summer months, most Muslims have iftar and dinner together. Muslims of different nationalities prepare their iftar according to their own traditions.

The best collections of Bangladeshi iftar and dinner items can be found in Jackson Heights, Jamaica, and Astoria in New York City and similar places in other major cities in the States.

A stroll in Jackson Heights just before iftar is a mouth-watering

experience. Name any item like piaju, cholabhaji, pakora, samosa, dahi bora, halim, biriyani, kababs, meat preparations, jilapi, or sweets – all are available in the restaurants of this area. Unlike in Dhaka, each item here is prepared with pure ingredients.

You can, therefore, eat whatever you want without any hesitation about the quality of the food. There are usually long queues to buy iftar and dinner at the restaurants. The prices are also very reasonable. One can buy a box of iftar and dinner together for as little as $8 and the quantity of food may be enough for two persons.

I was amazed to see a Bangladeshi street vendor selling fresh leaf vegetables like “lalshak,” “puishak” and other types of spinaches on a van. I was told that some Bangladeshi expatriates grow these vegetables in nearby areas. Most of the shops in Jackson Heights are owned and managed by Bangladeshis. One can get varieties of Bangladeshi food like fish, vegetables, spices, and halal meat and poultry in these shops. People speak in Bangla in most of these shops and restaurants.

I may mention here that I spent one night in Jamaica and another in Jackson Heights at my relations’ houses recently and at each of the places, the number of iftar and dinner items together was more than 20. I could hardly do justice to all of the items served on the table.

Jackson Heights is also famous as a paradise for shoppers. It has many alluring shops with displays of clothes and jewellery of the latest fashions.

Varieties of traditional clothes for both women and men are available here at reasonable prices. Even though the jewellery shops are generally owned

by Indian expatriates, most of the salespersons are Bangladeshis. All the shops are now doing brisk business before Eid. If you are in Jackson Heights, Jamaica, or Astoria in New York City or other similar areas in the States, you will feel like you are not away from home. l Abdul Matin is a former chief engineer of Bangladesh Atomic Energy Commission.

A

s an education reporter, I have to visit schools and colleges almost regularly, where I get the opportunity to speak to students, teachers, and guardians. As I speak to them, one question always comes to my mind: Are we obsessed with examinations and grades? And I answer to myself: Yes, we are.

One of the irrationalities of obsession is the concept of “all or nothing.”

It seems to me that most people in our country bear this irrational thought: Pass the exams and get good grades, or nothing.

It appears that if one does not pass his or her examinations or does not get good grades, he or she has no right to live.

With this mentality, teachers and guardians are contributing to developing examination-phobia among students. I remember my college teachers being a major factor in instilling an examination-phobia in me, resulting in me having a nervous breakdown during my Higher Secondary Certificate examination.

Just a few hours before my HSC chemistry second paper examination, I suffered blurry vision. For a few seconds, I could not see anything. It felt like the whole world had fallen apart.

I couldn’t stop shaking, and thought that everything surrounding me was also shaking.

I recovered after a few minutes and managed to go to the examination hall, but was half an hour late. At the examination hall, I experienced the same sensation again and could only stay there for half an hour to make sure I would get a passing grade. The remainder of my examinations took place in a similar fashion, without much concentration.

The subsequent three months were the most horrible time of my life. I went from one doctor to another, but no one was able to offer an explanation for my sudden nervous breakdown.

And this was the most important time of my academic life. I should have been preparing for admission into a university, but I could not, as I was

afraid of examinations. I still am.

Later, I realised that my college teachers played a role in my sudden illness. The college I attended during my HSCs was notorious for discipline.

We had to sit for two examinations every week, and if we got poor grades, we had to face scoldings and punishment.

Before being admitted in this college, I used to enjoy sitting for examinations and had a good academic record. But as I got exposed to too many examinations, I developed a phobia towards examinations.

When I speak to students, I find that many students have the same phobia.

And our education system and teachers’ mentality are largely responsible.

It seems to me that as a nation, we are too concerned about examinations and grades. Academic life does not have to be all about examinations and grades.

examinations are so important that they have no right to live if they fail.

Is life all about examinations? Is it not possible to lead a happy life if a student fails in a public examination?

The obsession with exams is not just present among teens; it is visible even in the higher education system.

I am doing a professional Master’s at the University of Dhaka, and have observed that in the very first class, the most frequent questions asked by students are about examinations.

Even before starting a course, students become concerned about how to get good grades.

And most of the teachers’ lectures are about examinations, not the subject. Learning is less important.

Consequently, we have many students who have good grades, but they are ignorant about the subject.

According to a recent World Bank

Is life all about examinations? Is it not possible to lead a happy life if a student fails in a public examination?

We don’t seem to be concerned about whether a student enjoys a subject or if he or she has learnt anything. Unfortunately, the most important thing is the student’s grades.

Just think about the coverage of the results of the public examinations in the mass media. I don’t know if any other country makes this big a deal out of it. In Bangladesh, the results of a public examination take the lead spot in the front page of most newspapers.

Because of this extreme concentration on examinations and grades, when a student fails, he or she thinks that the whole world has fallen apart, that he or she has no future. Many students even commit suicide. Aren’t we responsible for these suicides?

In my opinion, the social system convinces these teenagers that public

report, nearly 75% of fifth graders do not have adequate competence in grade V Bangla, while 67% lack that in mathematics.

The report said that although these students are at the end of their primary education cycle, they are still performing at a level lower than what is typical of fifth graders. This is not only true for primary education, but also for secondary and higher education.

We must remember that if students do not enjoy their studies, grades will be of no use. The sooner we can overcome our obsession with examinations and grades, the better it will be for the country. l Mushfique Wadud is an education reporter at the Dhaka Tribune.

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Tisha rules small screen this Eid Tanvir Mokammel films screening at Kolkata n Entertainment Desk Tanvir Mokammel’s films and documentaries have been screened several times in different film festivals. Once again, three of his films, “Lalshalu,” “Rabeya” and “Jibondhuli” were screened at the event organised by Kolkata’s Bidhan Nogor Film Society, at Rabindra Okakura Bhavan on July 19-20.

The screening of his films were attended by housefull audience. Film “Jibondhuli” revolves around Jibonkrishna Das, a poor Hindu lower-caste drummer, whose wife and children get killed by Pakistani armed forces. It depicts how he struggles to survive against the brutality of the Pakistanis and local collaborators. The director’s feature film “Lalshalu” is based on Syed Waliullah’s classic novel and film “Rabeya” is about a valiant girl whose death inspired the poor peasants to rise against the Pak army during the Liberation War. On July 28, Mokammel will talk about independent cinemas at the Kolkata Cinetek organisation where he will screen “Bonjatri,” a documentary based on the Sundarbans. l Tisha in Eid telefilm Tar Mone Shongshoy

n Punny Kabir Fans of Tisha have good news this Eid as their favourite star will be all over the TV screen during the week long Eid celebrations of the satellite channels. Be it single-episode play, telefilm or serial, Tisha will be seen in various characters which promises to entertain the viewers. However, the humble actor feels very awkward about the number of TV productions she has worked in, which exceeds 30 different projects.

“I don’t want to appear that repetitively to the audience.

Many of the plays were completed long ago. But all the old and the new productions are releasing on the same occasion,” explains Tisha in an interview with the Dhaka Tribune.

Tisha is the favourite of most directors and many of them create characters keeping the actor in mind. Tisha is the protagonist of all three Eid projects of Sumon Anowar -- “Chhayabrikkher Rajkonya,” “Tar Mone Shongshoy” and “Tar Baba Godfather.”

“Three stories are completely different from each other.

For the first time I played a tea garden worker in “Chhayabrikkher Rajkonna. The viewers will find me as the daughter of a godfather and a struggling village lady in the other two productions. All the characters were challenging and the teams worked really hard,” said Tisha who is exited to have experimented with many new roles this Eid. She said: “I have worked as a mentally challenged girl in “Moyurakkhir Hatey Kagojer Jahaj” directed by Sagar Jahan. I found it really hard to portray the character as the line between underplaying and overdoing the character is almost unidentifiable.”

In Wahid Anam’s “Chhinno,” Tisha underwent different kind of struggles as the play was shot in a remote island away from Kukata.

Tisha will be seen opposite Riaz, Nisho, Mosharraf Karim, Zahid Hasan, Iresh Zaker, Rawnak Hasan, Shyamol Mawla and many other popular male stars. “I am comfortable with any actor. All I do is give life to the character. The rest happen with the dedication of the team.” l

A screen from Lalshalu

Amitabh Bachchan happy to work in TV serial n Entertainment Desk Bollywood’s favourite film star Amitabh Bachchan appeared on Indian screens last week in his first TV drama series, playing a real estate businessman with a potentially terminal illness.

After more than four decades in cinema and nearly 200 film appearances to his name, the 71-year-old star, widely known as the “Big B,” made his TV fiction debut with the lead role in the 20-episode show “Yudh.”

“For quite some time I wanted to get an opportunity on television in which I get to work in a serial,” said Bachchan. “Television is a very powerful medium. Commercially the turnover of television is three times more than that of films. It means that more people watch TV than films. It is not about coming down to TV or going up to films. I think it is a healthy interchange of talent,” he added.

Bachchan’s TV experience thus far has included hosting the game show “Kaun Banega Crorepati,” the Indian version of “Who Wants To Be A Millionaire?,” and one season of reality show “Bigg Boss,” the equivalent of “Big Brother.” l

Campus Soundbox begins at IUB

Kanak Chapa returns with original tracks after 10-year hiatus

Eid TVProgramme mme

n Entertainment Desk The cover of a new solo album of seasoned singer Kanak Chapa titled “Araale” unveiled yesterday at a hotel in the capital. The album is released under the banner of Laser Vision.

A total of 11 songs are placed in the album track list including a duet with Nakib Khan.

About the album, Kanak Chapa said: “The album is a combination of some beautiful piece of work. Nakib Khan, Pilu and Mainul, three talented musicians created such wonderful songs for the album. And the lyrics by Julfiqer Russel is outstanding. I hope the audience will appreciate this effort.”

Lastly, an album of original song of the artist was released ten years ago titled “Ami Noi Bonolata Sen” and in 2011 a compilation album titled “Abar Phire Eshechi” with her previous releases was out in the audio market. l

Protidin Shonibar portrays romance in red-light district

n Entertainment Desk

Romel Ali and Shafin Ahmed at the inauguration of Campus Soundbox

On the second day of Eid, telefilm “Protidin Shonibar” will be aired on Channel 9 at 2:35pm. Written by Monirul Islam Rubel, the drama is directed by Dipankar Dipan. Actors Bhabna, Rownak Hasan, Rico, Rimu, Nima Rahman and many others will be seen in various roles.

A woman from the red-light district, Bijli’s focus was to marry her lover Forhad and live a happy life. After a lengthy affair, Forhad’s Muslim family comes in the way of her dreams.

For the last three and half years, every Saturday, Forhad use to visit her regularly from his home-town which is located 69km away. Hearing her love story, a British photographer Robert becomes fascinated with Bijli and

n Entertainment Desk

stays with her for three days straight.

But on the fourth day, he is forced to leave as it was time for Forhad’s visit. Pressured by his family, Forhad

Zac Efron wins Hottest Hunk title n Entertainment Desk

Watch out for the TV programme “Deadly 60” on Animal Planet today at 4:30pm. The show takes its viewers on a trip across six continents over six months to catch a glimpse of the lives of the “Deadly 60” – some most dangerous wildlife. Steve Backshall is the wildlife expert who will be leading everyone on this trip. Watch Steve prove that size is not the most important criterion when it comes to survival

Hollywood actor Zac Efron has been named as the “Hottest Hunk of 2014” in a magazine poll, replacing Tom Daley who topped the list last year.

The 26-year-old “High School Musical” star, who sought treatment in early 2013 after struggling with alcoholism and substance abuse, moved up three places to grab the title. The annual poll was held by Heat magazine, which saw diver and television personality, Tom Daley, on the second place followed by ace footballer David Beckham in the 101 Hottest Hunks list.l

marries elsewhere and faced with the trauma of losing her love, Bijli falls ill and needs treatment. On hearing this, Robert visits her once again. l

A talent hunt programme titled “Samsung Galaxy GRAND 2 Presents Campus Soundbox” began its journey through searching emerging musicians at the Independent University, Bangladesh last week.

It is an initiative of Creinse Limited, the official programme syndication partner of MTV/Viacom in Bangladesh, that will continue the programme in five more private universities.

The registration process was inaugurated by eminent musicians Shafin Ahmed and Romel Ali. They expressed their satisfaction on such a unique platform that will bring out the emerging young talents from the cultural heart of a campus. Amidst numerous requests from the students, Shafin Ahmed performed his cult classic “Phiriye Dao,” and the surrounding crowd sang along in chorus.

The shortlisted musicians from the initial round of the programme will go through live auditions in front of an esteemed judging panel in August 2014 at the IUB Multipurpose Hall and one will be crowned the Campus Soundbox winner of IUB. Creinse will record and make a music video of the winning soloist or band who will also get an opportunity to perform in the grand Premiere Show at the university and have the chance to feature their videos on MTV Program Platforms. l

Hate Story 2 blamed for instigating rape n Entertainment Desk A demand for ban on the screening of “Hate Story 2,” a Bollywood erotic thriller, was made in the Karnataka Assembly yesterday by a JDS member who alleged that the movie may affect gullible minds and instigate them to commit crimes against women “including rape.”

“Screening of Hate Story 2 should be stopped for some bold scenes in the film which affects gullible minds to commit crimes including rapes against women,” Y S V Datta said. The film directed by Vishal Pandya, is the sequel to the 2012 sleeper hit “Hate Story” starring Paoli Dam and Gulshan Devaiya.

State Home Minister K J George said he has asked the police to examine the film and submit a report.

Raising the issue during the debate on increasing rape incidents in the state, Datta said Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and the Home Minister should direct the police to examine the “steamy” scenes depicted in the film.

The film has already courted controversy after the Censor Board had objected to the sex scenes as part of the trailer and music video on television

channels, which prompted the producers to edit certain portions.

The movie stars Surveen Chawla and Jay Bhanushali. l

Sport DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Large contingent of Chess Olympiad raise eyebrows n Raihan Mahmood The contingent of Bangladesh Chess Olympiad leaving for Norway includes ten players and 14 officials which raised many eyebrows in the sports arena yesterday. The official list provided by the Bangladesh Chess Federation showed acting president Syed Shahabuddin Shamim, vice president K.M. Shahidullah and general secretary Gazi Shaiful Tareque joining the tour party as the head of delegation, Fide Congress participant and Congress delegate respectively while Joint secretary Morsalin Ahmed will be traveling as a journalist .

However, executive committee members Lion Mojibur Rahman, Bahar Mia, Kazi Zakerul Mowla, Delowar Hossain Bhuiyan and Kamruzzaman Bhuiyan’s role and designation were not defined in the list. Therefore, the reason behind they being part of the contingent is not clear. Masuda Begum is the manager of the female team besides being a national chess player.

Interestingly enough, Moniruzzaman Palash, the president of Access Chess Club’s role was also not defined. It is worth mentioning here in this regard

that Mahmuda Haque Chowdhury Molly, wife of Acting president Syed Shahabuddin Shamim and their son Syed Ridwan alongside Tasmin Sultana, wife of Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman and their son Tahsin Tazwar, are also the part of the large contingent.

Meanwhile, chess federation’s general secretary Gazi Shaiful Tareque claimed that all the members of the

We urged the government to provide Tk2.7 million but they have provided us only Tk0.3 million party would bear their their own expenses. “The federation has not provided any financial assistance to the executive committee members and all are traveling on their own expenses. There is nothing wrong in it. The wife of the acting president is entitled to tour and they can’t leave their son alone,” said Tareque.

Tareque also added that the feder-

ation could not manage any sponsor for the estimated expenditure of Tk 3.5 million, including the honorarium of Sergei Tiviakov for his month-long coaching of the players. “We urged the government to provide Tk2.7 million but they have provided us only 0.3 million. We have managed the fund from our own sources and we would announce them later. I believe all the members of the tour party will return to the country. The chess federation’s executive committee members need to enrich their knowledge of chess by visiting the big international meets. That’s why, a number of executive committee members are going to Norway,” elaborated Tareque.

Tareque further added that the federation members don’t even drink a cup of tea from the federation’s fund and they deserve to get a foreign tour. “Our members have always tried to contribute in the federation’s cause. They don’t take anything from it. So if they want to avail a foreign tour with their own fund, there is nothing wrong in it. They learn a lot from the tours and it’s reflected in many activities. It should be seen positively,” Tareque opined. l

Muktis edge past Feni Soccer n Raihan Mahmood

Founder director of Dhaka Bank Limited Mirza Abbas (3L) and other dignitaries of Dhaka Bank pose with the logo and trophies of West Indies-Bangladesh series yesterday COURTESY

Dhaka Bank to sponsor series in West Indies n Tribune Desk

Dhaka Bank Limited became the title sponsor of the bilateral series between Bangladesh and hosts West Indies in August. The 29-day Caribbean tour will consist two Tests, three ODIs and a Twenty20 game.

The logo and trophies for the series were officially unveiled at a press conference yesterday by the founder & director of Dhaka Bank Limited Mirza Abbas Uddin Ahmed. Director of Dhaka Bank Mirza Yasser Abbas and former

chairman ATM Hayatuzzaman Khan also delivered separate speeches on the occasion.

Directors of Dhaka Bank Altaf Hossain Sarker, Khondaker Monir Uddin, managing director Niaz Habib, deputy managing directors Neaz Mohammad Khan, Emranul Huq and Khan Shahadat Hossain and company secretary Arham Masudul Huq were also present during the unveiling ceremony.

The series will take place at four different venues across West Indies - Grenada, St Kitts, St Vincent and St Lucia.l

Muktijoddha all but secured third place in the Nitol-Tata Bangladesh Premier Football League after they handed Feni Soccer Club a 1-0 defeat in their penultimate match at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

After 26 matches each, the win took Muktijoddha’s tally to 46 points while Feni Soccer remained on their previous collection of 18 points.

The Muktis trail second-placed Abahani by just three points as they will face already relegated Uttar Baridhara before wrapping up their league commitments.

However, if Abahani lose their season ender against Chittagong Abahani while Muktijoddha win against Baridhara, the Reds will finish as the runners-up.

The Nigerian duo of Eleta Kingsley and Sunday Chizoba combined in the 34th minute to help Muktijoddha take the lead.

Sunday danced down the right flank and cut a low cross to an unmarked Eleta who completed the job with a cool headed placing shot from the far post. l

13

CARLOS CAETANO BLEDORN VERRI (DUNGA) PLAYING CAREER Dunga began his playing career at Internacional of Porto Alegre, winning three consecutive state titles (1982-84) at one of the two main clubs in his home state of Rio Grande do Sul. He left Inter in 1984 to sign for Corinthians in Sao Paulo and was there for two years before short spells at Santos and Vasco da Gama.

In 1987 he moved to Italy, first to Pisa, but then to Fiorentina, where he spent almost four years, reaching the final of the UEFA Cup. After a short stint at Pescara he moved to Germany and VfB Stuttgart but his time there was cut short by a lucrative move to Japan in 1994.

INTERNATIONAL CAREER He made his Brazil debut in 1987 and was one of the leaders of the squad that went to the 1990 World Cup. However, Brazil played poorly and were knocked out in the second round by Argentina.

Brazil’s 1994 World-Cup winning skipper Carlos Verri, better known as “Dunga”, speaks during his presentation as new coach of the Brazilian national football team, at the headquarters of the Brazilian Football Confederation in Rio de Janeiro, yesterday AFP

Brazil appoint Dunga as Scolari successor n AFP, Rio de Janeiro Dunga won the World Cup as a player for Brazil and now the country is giving him a second chance to get the trophy as a coach.

The Brazilian Football Confederation (CBF) named Dunga, 50, to run the national team after Luis Felipe Scolari’s humiliation at the World Cup this month, including a devastating 7-1 defeat by Germany.

Dunga was previously in charge from 2006 until 2010, when he paid the price for World Cup failure -- Brazil were beaten in the quarter-final. He did win the 2007 Copa America and the Confederations Cup in 2009 however after he replaced Carlos Alberto Parreira.

“Football has changed. It changes every moment and every day. We like to talk here about talent and playing off the cuff . But we also praise German organization. So we have to harness our talent with planning,” Dunga said as he accepted the post Tuesday.

Brazil has a history of giving coaches two tries at the national team. Scolari guided Brazil to a World Cup triumph in 2002 in his first stint. Parreira won the World Cup at USA ‘94 and then came back for a less successful stint in 2006.

Dunga, a close friend of Gilmar Rinaldi, Brazil’s new technical coordina-

tor overseeing a football revolution after the World Cup humiliation, is better known as a player and captain.

He is hardly the archetypal Brazilian samba football star. As a combative midfielder he never earned the effusive plaudits offered to Romario, Ronaldo or Ronaldinho.

He was a pillar of the 1994 world champions though.

His usefulness behind strikers Romario and Bebeto is illustrated by his 91 caps for his country after making his debut in 1987.

Dunga skippered the under 20 side to world success in 1983.

By 1989, he was an established figure, having won the Copa America -- though his tough style sat uneasily with fans who pointed to a poor 1990 World Cup when Brazil were beaten

by Argentina in the second round, as ‘proof’ of his ineffectiveness.

But in 1994, Parreira recognized the leadership qualities of a man christened Carlos Caetano Bledorn Verri, making him skipper after Rai was dropped.

Having ended a six-year spell in Italy to play for Germany’s VfB Stuttgart, Dunga kept his nerve in the penalty shoot out against the Italians and Brazil won the trophy, ending a 24-year drought stretching back to Pele.l

Brazil had abandoned the stylish football of the 1980s in favour of a more direct style that is still cruelly remembered as “the Dunga era.”

Dunga, however, bounced back four years later to lead Brazil to their fourth World Cup title in the United States with the same gritty and committed style. He famously lifted the trophy with a screaming tirade against his critics.

He captained the team to the 1998 final when Brazil lost 3-0 to France.

BRAZIL MANAGER With no managerial experience, Dunga was a surprise choice to take over from Carlos Alberto Parreira after the disappointing 2006 World Cup when a Brazil were knocked out in the quarter-finals by France.

He once again opted for a direct approach and it was successful. He won the Copa America in 2007 and the Confederations Cup in 2009 and guided Brazil to first place in the 10-team South American qualifying group for South Africa.

However, his team failed to react after going 2-1 down to the Netherlands in the quarter finals of the 2010 tournament and he was fired soon after.

He managed Brazil for 60 games, winning 42, drawing 12 and losing 6.

RETURN TO INTERNACIONAL Dunga disappeared from football following that loss and only returned more than two years later, in December 2012, when he was offered the chance to manage Internacional, the club where he started and ended his playing career.

His final record at Inter was 25 wins, 18 draws and nine defeats.

Bangladesh chess team ICC and BCB lodge appeal against targeting 2013 repeat BPL tribunal’s sanctions n Raihan Mahmood Cook has nowhere left to hide following Dhoni schooling

n Reuters, New Delhi England skipper Alastair Cook is running out of time, excuses and places to hide after Mahendra Singh Dhoni’s India became the latest side to expose his weaknesses with a thumping victory at Lord’s to open a 1-0 lead in their fivematch series.

His bright start to life as England captain at the end of 2012 now appears like a dim and distant memory as Dhoni carried on a trend started by Australia’s Michael Clarke before handing the baton on to Sri Lanka’s Angelo Mathews.

Cook’s poor form and questionable leadership have come under intense scrutiny with some critics suggesting he should give up his place at the top of England’s batting order and take a break from the game following Monday’s painful 95-run defeat.

The England skipper has little time to rally his troops ahead of the third test starting in Southampton on Sunday, needing to lift his underperforming senior players and without the services of injured wicketkeeper Matt Prior for the rest of the series. l

The Bangladesh chess team are aspiring to retain their 33rd position in the upcoming 41st Chess Olympiad scheduled to start from August 1 at Tromso, Norway. Around 181 countries across the world have registered their names in the event and Bangladesh Grandmaster Abduallah al Rakib, one of the key players of the team, is of the opinion that retaining their previous position would be a satisfying outcome.

In a presser held at the Bangladesh Chess Federation hall-room yesterday, Rakib and International Master Minhajuddin Ahmed Sagar expressed their hope about keeping up the momentum.

“We had a fruitful month-long coaching programme under Sergei Tiviakov and he taught us the working methods. We realised many errors in our game plans and we are now ready to put our best. Tiviakov was once the 11th-rated player in the world and he shared his vast experiences and also some secret tactics. I firmly believe that his wisdom will benefit us for a long time,” said Rakib.

Bangladesh finished 33rd among 157 countries in the last edition and an increase in the number of participating countries has increased the competitive edge of the upcoming edition. “I think we played beyond our level last time. I think this time the competition has expanded and in my analysis retaining the 33rd position or finishing within 35 positions would be a satisfy-

ing performance,” opined Rakib.

Sagar, who is expected to be the sixth Grandmaster of the country, said it would be a grand experience for him. “I do not know whether I will be selected as a player as four Grandmasters are already there, but if I do get the chance then I am ready to prove my worth. I will be learning for the future,” said Sagar.

The male team consist of four Grandmasters - Ziaur Rahman, Rakib, Enamul Hossain Razib and Niaz

Bangladesh finished 33rd among 157 countries in the last edition and an increase in the number of participating countries has increased the competitive edge of this edition Murshed - and International Master Sagar. Zia is currently playing in Spain and will fly to Norway after completing the tourney.

The female team members are IWM Shamima Akter Liza, WFM Nazrana Khan Eva, IWM Rani Hamid, WFM Zakia Sultana and WFM Shamima Sharmim Shirin. Liza, who currently lives in Lisbon will fly directly to Norway.

Harunur Rashid will accompany the team as the arbiter along with general secretary Gazi Saiful Tareque and KM Shahidullah, who is also set to attend the Fide Congress. l

n Minhaz Uddin Khan

With reference to the disciplinary proceedings relating to the 2013 edition of Bangladesh Premier League (BPL), both the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) and the International Cricket Council (ICC) have jointly appealed against the sanctions imposed by the BCB Anti-Corruption Tribunal. Yesterday was the last day for submitting appeals related to the fixing issue from the second edition of BPL and the appeal was made to the chairman of the BCB disciplinary panel.

BCB acting CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury confirmed the media of the appeal being made. The appeals were

made against the individuals acquitted by the BPL tribunal after they were found not guilty of the accusations charged against them by ICC’s Anti-Corruption and Security Unit.

This means cricketers including Mosharraf Rubel and Mahbubul Robin, Dhaka Gladiators’ chairman Salim Chowdhury along with their CEO Gaurav Rawat and bowling coach Mohammad Rafique plus English cricketer Darren Stevens will once again see themselves involved with the BPL fixing scandal.

Both the BCB and the ICC earlier stated their utter disappointment by the outcome of the proceedings, and complained that the reasons cited by the Tribunal for its decision did nothing

to address their concerns. The two governing bodies also claimed that their views, clear and compelling evidence of corruption by a number of individuals were not taken into account properly by the BPL tribunal. But having got the opportunity to review the detailed decision, both the ICC and the BCB decided to appeal against the sanctions of the tribunal after taking advice on it and basing their appeal on very strong grounds they believe to have.

Earlier, former national cricketer Mohammad Ashraful, Dhaka Gladiators’ managing director Shihab Chowdhury and Sri Lankan cricketer Kaushal Lokuarachchi also made individual appeals against the sanctions of the tribunal. l

Winners of the ‘World Cup 2014 Pran Potato Crackers LED TV’ competition pose for photographs at a city restaurant yesterday. Winners were chosen by the Pran officials and the highest number of SMS senders were rewarded COURTESY

14

Sport DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Ronaldo ready to rumble after World Cup flop n AFP, Tokyo Portugal superstar Cristiano Ronaldo, putting a miserable World Cup behind him, on Tuesday declared himself fit and ready to go as he chases trophies at Real Madrid.

“I’ll try my best all the season like I do it every year. I’ll try to be the best, try to help my team, try to score goals and try to win titles,” the 29-year-old striker told a sponsor’s event in Tokyo, adding he would like to play “six, seven more years” at the top level of club competition.

Portugal failed to make the World Cup knockout round in Brazil last month with one win, one loss and one draw in their group as an injury-hit Ronaldo squandered plenty of chances and notched up just one goal. He had been hampered by a left leg injury since just before the global tournament.

“I’m really focused. My injury is gone. I feel very, very good,” Ronaldo said, adding he wanted to kick off and finish the Spanish top-flight league season “in good shape.”

Without referring to his World Cup

Argentinians refuse to return to Ukraine n AFP, Kiev Three Argentinian players of top flight side Metalist Kharkiv have refused to return to their Ukrainian club because of the ongoing conflict in the country, local media reported Tuesday.

Metalist skipper Jose Sosa, Alejandro Gomez and Jonathan Cristaldo have said they will stay in Argentina until the situation in Ukraine returns to normal or their contracts would be cancelled.

“It’s unreasonable to stay in a country where we don’t feel safe any more,” Gomez was quoted as saying by the www. football.ua information site. “Nobody can provide us with any security in Ukraine.”

Last week another Argentinian midfielder Sebastian Blanco refused to return to Metalist Kharkiv, a club in the eastern Ukraine, from a training camp in Austria. l

diaster in Brazil, the striker described last season as “amazing”. He listed several individual trophies while Real Madrid won a 10th Champions League title and the Copa del Rey, the oldest Spanish football competition.

Ronaldo was the top scorer in La Liga and the Champions League and won his second Ballon d’Or as well as the European Golden Shoe, among other honours.

The chiselled Ronaldo was in Japan to promote a series of fitness products, including an airplane-shaped device meant to shape up facial muscles, after posting an online photo of himself wearing a black mask that went viral.

Ronaldo added that he hoped for a repeat of last season’s glory, saying he will have an “opportunity to win five, six titles this year - so fantastic. I’m really focused”.

“This is my goal for every season -- to prepare myself 100 percent. And for me every season is a challenge so I want to be good again.

“I dedicate myself 100 percent and I want to carry on like that until I finish my career.” l

Portuguese football star Cristiano Ronaldo (R) listens to a question from a Japanese fan during a promotional event held by his sponsor in Tokyo yesterday

Gerrard leaves England with tears for souvenirs n AFP, London

As Steven Gerrard soaked up thunderous applause from England’s supporters at full-time in Belo Horizonte, he looked surprised and relieved by the generous response to his team’s dismal World Cup campaign.

The 17-minute substitute appearance in a meaningless draw against Costa Rica proved to be Gerrard’s last England appearance after the Three Lions captain announced his retirement from international duty on Monday.

The 34-year-old took his last curtain call on the global stage when he waved in response to the England cheers that seemed so out of place in a tournament in which Roy Hodgson’s team took only one point from three matches.

It was a symbolic epitaph for Gerrard’s England career, which left the player himself and his legion of admirers frustrated that he never quite dominated in the manner he has for Liverpool.

After winning 114 caps, behind only Peter Shilton (124) and David Beckham (115) on his country’s all-time appearance list and captaining England at two World Cups, Gerrard will rightly be remembered as a loyal and proud servant.

But while Gerrard’s application in an England shirt could never be questioned, the quality of his performances often fell short of the stratospheric standards he reached in Liverpool colours.

While Gerrard’s signature moments for Liverpool are many and varied -few will ever forget his heroics in Istanbul in the 2005 Champions League final and his 2006 FA Cup final masterclass against West Ham -- for England he was mostly diligent but lacking inspiration.

He scored 21 times for England, starting with a blistering strike from outside the penalty area in the memorable 5-1 thrashing of Germany in September 2001.

Yet he never netted against another top-level international opponent, with

his remaining goals coming against a motley crew including the likes of Macedonia, Andorra, Belarus and Trinidad and Tobago.

That chilly night in Munich when Gerrard inspired the German demolition seemed to promise such a bright future for the midfielder, who was making only his sixth England appearance.

“That was my favourite England game,” Gerrard said. “We had to get a result and we completely played them off the park.”

But he failed to scale those heights for England again, instead becoming one of the now tarnished ‘golden generation’ who never made it past the last eight at a major tournament.

Gerrard was handed his first England cap by Kevin Keegan against Ukraine in 2000 and he insisted from that moment on he “enjoyed every minute of representing his country”.

If that is really the case, Gerrard

must have some masochistic tendencies. He made his tournament debut at Euro 2000 when England bowed out in the group stages, then missed the World Cup two years later due to a groin injury.

Gerrard, whose failure to establish a strong midfield partnership with Frank Lampard was a constant problem, was unable to stop England crashing out of Euro 2004 on penalties against Portugal in the quarter-finals.

Two years later Gerrard would miss a penalty against the same opponents in Germany, where England again lost on spot-kicks in the World Cup quarter-finals.

Gerrard was made vice-captain by Steve McClaren, but England failed to qualify for Euro 2008 after a 3-2 loss to Croatia.

He went on to take the armband for the 2010 World Cup, but a 4-1 last 16 exit against Germany brought a chastening end to that campaign. l

AFP

Rodriguez goal consecrated n AFP, Madrid James Rodriguez’s spectacular volley against Uruguay was crowned the best goal of the World Cup on Monday.

Rodriguez became the hot property of the World Cup with his six goals that gave him the Golden Boot for the top scorer.

In a FIFA.com poll, his volley against Uruguay in the last 16 was declared goal of the tournament by more than four million voters - three quarters of those who took part.

Robin van Persie’s diving header for Netherlands against Spain in Group B came second.

Rodriguez collected a ball on the edge of the penalty area with his back to the Uruguay goal. He chested the ball over his head, turned and fired the volley into the goal via the underside of the crossbar.

The goal established the global reputation of the young playmaker. l

Rooney should be England captain, says former boss Eriksson n Dailymail

Former England boss Sven-Goran Eriksson says Wayne Rooney should replace Steven Gerrard as national team captain.

Gerrard, 34, has quit international football and Eriksson feels 28-year-old Manchester United striker Rooney, who has 95 caps, would be a “good choice”.

“He is the right age and he’s a very important player for England,” the Swede told BBC Sport.

Ex-England captain Bryan Robson feels Rooney, Joe Hart and Gary Cahill are all contenders for the job.

Manchester City keeper Joe Hart, 27, and Chelsea centre-back Cahill, 28, have 43 and 27 caps respectively.

“As a captain I don’t think we have

a standout candidate,” said Robson, who was capped 90 times between 1980 and 1991.

“Wayne has captained Manchester United and England. He knows what it’s about.”

Wayne has proved he is our best player. He leads by example. He works really hard for the team He added: “Hopefully some of the young boys can come through and really prove themselves after the experience of the World Cup and stamp their authority on the England squad.

“But I don’t see that now. Really, you have to go to the experienced ones who

will play each game, especially with the European Championship coming up.

“Joe Hart, Gary Cahill and Wayne Rooney look like the contenders.”

Rooney has captained England twice - in a pre-tournament friendly with Brazil in 2009 and a World Cup qualifier against San Marino in 2012 - as well as having previously had a stint as vice-captain.

“Wayne has proved he is our best player,” Robson said. “He leads by example. He works really hard for the team.

“No matter what position the coach wants him to play, Wayne wants to do the job.

“That is a good sign for a captain. If it was Wayne I would have no doubts about him being captain.” l

Messi meets fan who got his name tattooed on his back n Dailymail

FC Copenhagen ask Uefa to move Ukraine game n AFP, Copenhagen

As arguably the world’s greatest player, Lionel Messi has his fair share of admirers.

The Argentine icon is one of the world’s most popular names to get on the back of shirts - both for Barcelona and the national team.

Messi met one fan, however, who wasn’t satisfied with just getting a shirt bearing the forward’s name.

He decided to go one step further and get Messi’s famous No 10 tattooed on his back.

The Barcelona star clearly didn’t mind, grinning while posing for a picture with the die-hard.

Messi is yet to return to Barcelona’s pre-season training after guiding Argentina to the World Cup final. l

Danish club FC Copenhagen have asked European football’s governing body UEFA to move a Champions League qualifier in Ukraine to another venue, citing safety and insurance concerns, a spokesman said Tuesday.

The Danish side had been drawn against FC Dnipro Dnipropetrovsk, with the first leg set to take place in Dnipropetrovsk on July 29, but have demanded the game be moved after the downing of a Malaysian airliner in the rebel-held region of eastern Ukraine.

The Ukrainian city is located around 300 kilometres (186 miles) from the site in the rebellion-wracked region of Donetsk where the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 was shot down, leaving 298 people dead.l

Two wreaths are placed on seats in memory of two Newcastle United fans who lost their lives in the Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crash, during the football match between Sydney FC and Newcastle United at the Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin yesterday AFP

Magpies down Sydney in win for MH17 victims n AFP, Dunedin Newcastle United thrashed Sydney FC 4-0 in Dunedin Tuesday in a win the club dedicated to two fans who died in the Malaysia Airlines MH17 disaster.

Before the pre-season tour match, manager Alan Pardew and captain Fabricio Coloccini joined supporters in the stands of Forsyth Barr Stadium and laid wreaths on the seats allocated to Liam Sweeney and John Alder.

The Britons were en route to New Zealand for the tour when their flight was apparently shot down by pro-Russian rebels over eastern Ukraine, killing all 298 on board.

Both teams wore back armbands for the match and the crowd, some carrying banners honouring Sweeney and Alder, observed a minute’s silence before kick off.

Newcastle went into the fixture vowing to put on a show in memory of their fans and were as good as their word, leading 3-0 at half time.

New signings Emmanuel Riviere and Siem de Jong combined to open the scoring after 19 minutes, Riviere pouncing on a mis-hit clearance from Sydney keeper Ivan Necevski to set up de Jong’s goal.

Riviere, a new arrival from Monaco, then fired home from close range in the 26th minute to make it 2-0.l

Sport DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, July 23, 2014

15

QUICK BYTES

Alonso praises ‘superb’ Ricciardo Fernando Alonso heaped praise on Australian youngster Daniel Ricciardo on Sunday after he held him off in a thrilling scrap to take fifth place for Ferrari in the German Grand Prix. The two-time world champion battled wheel-to-wheel with Ricciardo as the Red Bull man defended his position and attacked him in the closing stages.

Alonso said: “Daniel is a surprise from Australia. I think he’s doing unbelievable. “I think he’s seven-three in the first ten races with Sebastian [Vettel], so it’s something we probably didn’t suspect,” he said, referring to Red Bull’s qualifying performances. “He’s driving fantastically and today he was battling very smart -- always taking the slipstream off me after I pass him and braking very late, attacking very late and never missing a corner. “He was very, very smart, very respectful with the rules and it was a great fight.”

–AFP

Juve new signing Morata out for weeks Striker Alvaro Morata’s 20 million euros ($26.97 million) move to Juventus has quickly turned sour after the Spaniard injured his knee in his first training session and was ruled out for seven weeks. The 21-year-old, who completed his move from Real Madrid on Saturday, suffered a second degree injury to the medial collateral ligament in his left knee after being injured on Monday, the Serie A champions said in a statement on Tuesday. “The forecast for a full recovery is of 50 days,” the club said. A highly-rated product of the Real youth academy, Morata came to the fore in the 2012-13 season, former coach Jose Mourinho’s last at the club. He scored eight goals in 23 La Liga appearances last season.

–Reuters

Loew made honorary hometown citizen Germany’s World Cup-winning coach Joachim Loew is to be made an honorary citizen of his hometown of Schoenau im Schwarzwald, the town mayor said on Tuesday. “We are proud of Jogi Loew. He has carried the name of Schoenau throughout the world,” mayor Peter Schelshorn told the DPA news agency. Loew, 54, was born and grew up in the town in the Black Forest of southwestern Germany which now counts 2,300 inhabitants. The city council unanimously voted on Monday night to make Loew an honorary citizen and also to rename the local stadium where the former midfielder played his first match after him. Schelshorn said that Loew has already agreed to accept the honour and there would be “a grand reception” organised at a date has not yet been set. Loew, who led Germany to their fourth World Cup title in Brazil and the first since reunification in 1990, is currently on holidays in Freiburg, southwest Germany.

–AFP

Queiroz negotiating contract to lead Iran Carlos Queiroz has backtracked on his decision to quit as Iran coach and is negotiating an extension through to the 2018 World Cup in Russia, Iranian media reported. The Mozambique-born coach said after Iran’s group stage exit at the World Cup in Brazil last month he would quit the three-times Asian champions. But the former Real Madrid, Portugal and South Africa coach is close to signing a new deal that would see him lead the team at the 2015 Asian Cup in Australia in January. “We have to negotiate about the contract in the details. I wish to stay as Iran coach,” Queiroz told the Tehran Times. “The Iranians will always stay in my heart.

I like to continue my job but the deal has not yet finalised.” The paper said the deal would be completed on Aug. 1. Queiroz took over in 2011 and helped Iran qualify for their fourth World Cup by instilling steely defence and cleverly scouring the Iranian diaspora for attacking players.

–Reuters

DAY’S WATCH Sony Six 11:30PM Pre-Season Football Chelsea v Wolfsberg 2:00AM Caribbean Premier League Barbados Tridents v St Lucia Zouks Star Sports 2, HD1 11:30PM Natwest T20 Blast Northamptonshire v Nottinghamshire

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin (L) speaks during his visit to the construction site of new football stadium, one of the future venues of the 2018 World Cup, in the Volga River city of Samara 868 km southeast of Moscow, on Monday.

Last week US Republican lawmakers urged tougher sanctions on Moscow after a Malaysian jet crash in Ukraine was blamed on Russian-backed separatists, with one congressman even bringing the World Cup into play. Russia is due to host the 2018 rendition of the massive soccer tournament - seen as the country’s most ambitious project since the fall of the Soviet Union - with Putin recently vowing it would be ‘an unforgettable football feast’ AFP

Injury-plagued Prior takes break from England duty n AFP, London England wicketkeeper Matt Prior has decided to take a break from international duty for the rest of the season after losing form due to a series of injuries.

Prior revealed his decision to step away from England action just hours after his country slumped to a 95-run defeat in the second Test against India at Lord’s.

The 32-year-old has had a torrid season behind the stumps and his rash dismissal, unwisely hooking Ishant Sharma, played a key role in England’s second innings collapse.

He has dropped six catches of varying difficulty this season and with the

bat he has averaged just 25.

Prior attributes his poor form to injury complaints and he expects to go under the knife to sort out his Achilles during the break, while he also recovers from right quad and right hand problems.

“I’m not doing justice to myself and more importantly the team and that is what matters first and foremost,” Prior said.

“I tore my quad before the first Test and my right hand has been beaten to a pulp, but the main issue is the Achilles.

“Now we have the time, I want to be pro-active about how we deal with it so I imagine that I’ll have an operation.

“I’ve always said as long as I can do my job I will manage the pain and get

on with it, but it has now got to the point where I can’t do my job to the level I expect of myself.”

An emotional Prior is reported to have told his England team-mates of his decision in the Lord’s dressing room following their defeat.

He feels he has no choice but to have a spell out of the firing line, but is hopeful of regaining his fitness and challenge for his place next year.

For now though he accepts that with 79 Test caps to his name he may have played his last game for England.

That is especially difficult to take as he was keen to play his role in rebuilding a team struggling badly after a miserable run of 10 consecutive Tests without a victory. l

Flying Finn Bottas seals star status n Reuters, Hockenheim Valtteri Bottas is rapidly laying claim to be Formula One’s fastest Finn after again eclipsing Kimi Raikkonen on his way to a third successive podium appearance for Williams on Sunday.

The 24-year-old’s impressive second place, from the front row of the German Grand Prix grid, was his team’s 300th podium finish and contrasted with 2007 champion Raikkonen’s disappointing 11th for Ferrari.

The points also allowed resurgent Williams to leapfrog Ferrari into third place overall in the constructors’ standings.

“Of course I feel really lucky also to be part of this,” said the happy Finn, who may still face a long wait to stand on the top step of the podium in a season that has seen Mercedes win all but one race.

“Last year we could not have expected to be three times in a row on the podium but we now...this is the package we have and it’s all down to hard work and we need to always keep aiming for more,” he added.

“It feels really good to be (on the podium) for a third time in a row but I think we’re aiming for more than that now.”

Former champions Williams, who switched from Renault engines to Mercedes power at the end of last year, are a team reborn and revitalised with a fresher image and new confidence after a troubled recent past.

Last year they scored just five points all season as they sunk to ninth overall.

Bottas has now chalked up 91 points in 10 races - more than the team as a whole have scored with both drivers in the previous three years.

Mercedes motorsport head Toto Wolff said Bottas was increasingly looking like the biggest rival for his championship-battling pair Nico Rosberg, the winner on Sunday, and Lewis Hamilton.l

Australia’s Marsh ruled out for four months by surgery n Reuters, Sydney Australia batsman Shaun Marsh is to have surgery on an injured elbow next week and will miss October’s test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates, Cricket Australia said on Tuesday.

The 31-year-old, who played in the first two tests of the series win in South Africa that put Australia back on top of the world rankings, suffered the ligament injury playing Twenty20 cricket in India.

“It’s a pretty significant injury,” team physiotherapist Alex Kountouris told the Cricket Australia website.

“Shaun has had a short period of rest, but it’s still a problem and we know that surgery takes a long time to recover.

“There’s a three-to-four month recovery period and we’ve chosen to go ahead with that because it gives him time to play for Western Australia and prepare for the World Cup and the Ashes next year.”l

Waqar wants to revive Pakistan with pace n Reuters, Karachi Pakistan coach and former paceman Waqar Younis has promised to rejuvenate his country’s fast-bowling attack.

Waqar, who in May accepted the coaching job for the second time in four years, said he wanted pace to play a pivotal role in Pakistan cricket again.

“We shouldn’t just be depending on our spinners, we also need to rely on our pace bowlers,” he told reporters in Lahore on Monday.

“We have some talented pacers and they can be groomed for the future.”

As a player, Waqar formed a formidable new-ball attack with Wasim Akram, finishing with 373 Test and 416 one-day international wickets. He and

Wasim shared a total of 1705 wickets in Tests and ODIs. Waqar’s first assignment of his twoyear contract as coach is a tour of Sri Lanka in August, where Pakistan play two Tests and three ODIs. “Even in Sri Lanka we will not just depend on our spinners - the pace bowlers are also being prepared to do their work in those conditions,” Waqar said.

“Pakistan has been blessed with some world-class pace and spin bowlers and I want to make both of them equally important for the team.”

Waqar pointed out that Pakistan has a proud history of producing fast bowlers. “One part of my job is to groom the pace talent we have available,” he said.l

Nicklaus and Woods hail McIlroy’s Open victory n Reuters, Hoylake Jack Nicklaus and Tiger Woods have combined to salute Rory McIlroy’s performance in capturing the British Open title for the first time in his career.

The 25-year-old Northern Irishman became the third youngest golfer in the modern era, after the two American greats, to land three of the four major championships when he triumphed by two strokes at Royal Liverpool on Sunday.

“I like his swagger,” said 18-times major winner Nicklaus on his official Facebook page. “I like the way he handles himself.

“I like his desire to be great. I like his desire to do the things he needs to do.

I like that in a young guy. He’s cocky in a nice way.”

McIlroy went into the last day holding a six-stroke lead and Nicklaus said he was particularly impressed with the way he protected his advantage with a safety-first 71 in the final round.

“He didn’t take some of the chances that he did in the other rounds as far as the clubs he hit off the tee,” added the Golden Bear.

“Rory didn’t put himself in position to lose the golf tournament. He did what he needed to do ... It’s about shooting what you have to shoot to win the golf tournament.”

Woods, who finished 69th of the 72 players who made the cut at Royal Liverpool in only his second competitive appearance since undergoing back surgery in March, compared new world number two McIlroy to his great rival Phil Mickelson.l

Gordon Strachan, manager of the Scottish National Football team, poses for pictures with ‘games makers’ as he carries the 2014 Commonwealth Games baton at Hampden Park Stadium in Glasgow, Scotland yesterday, ahead of the start of the 2014 Commonwealth Games which begin today AFP

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, July 23, 2014 DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, June 16, 2014

13 Brazil appoint Dunga as coach

14 Ronaldo ready to rumble after WC

Sport

15 Prior takes break from England duty

James Rodriguez the Real deal for Madrid

Colombian wonder-boy moves from Monaco for €80m fee n Agencies

Rodriguez leaves the hospital Sanitas La Moraleja after his medical in Madrid

Real Madrid have agreed a deal to sign World Cup Golden Boot winner James Rodriguez from Monaco, the European champions have announced.

The Colombia international has agreed a six-year contract with Madrid and underwent his medical with the club this morning. He will be presented this evening.

Neither club have confirmed the fee for the 23-year-old, but reports suggest Madrid have paid in the region of €80 million (£63million), which would make Rodriguez the fourth most expensive transfer of all time after Gareth Bale, Cristiano Ronaldo and Luis Suarez.

A Real Madrid statement read: “Real Madrid have reached an agreement with Monaco for the transfer of James Rodriguez, who will join the club for the next six seasons.

“The player will be presented today, at 20:00 (Spanish time), in the Santiago Bernabeu’s presidential box.

“Following that, James Rodriguez will take his first steps on the Santiago Bernabeu’s pitch wearing the Real

Madrid shirt and will attend the media in the press room.”

Rodriguez was one of the revelations of the World Cup, scoring in each of Colombia’s games as they reached the quarter-finals of the competition for the very first time, eventually losing 2-1 to hosts Brazil.

In total Rodriguez scored six goals at the World Cup to finish as the leading scorer — one clear of Thomas Muller — while his stunning 25-yard volley against Uruguay was voted goal of the tournament on FIFA.com.

His signing comes less than a week after Madrid brought in another of the World Cup’s star performers in Germany’s Toni Kroos, who moved from Bayern Munich for a reported £24million (€30,369,177).

It also means that, if the reported figure is correct, Madrid now boast three of the four most expensive signings in history, the others being Gareth Bale last summer and Ronaldo in 2009.

The Champions League winners would hold a clean sweep of the top three signings but for arch-rivals Barcelona, who splashed out a reported €90 million on on Liverpool striker

n Reuters

Chelsea’s new faces (from left) Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Filipe Luis show their new colours during their pre-season tour of Austria on Monday

Zadran blasts Afghans to famous victory n AFP, Bulawayo Afghanistan beat Zimbabwe by two wickets Tuesday in a thrilling oneday cricket international to keep alive hopes of squaring the series.

Zimbabwe scored 261-8 off 50 overs at Queens Sports Club in Bulawayo and Afghanistan reached 264-8 with two balls to spare.

Afghanistan, who lost the first two matches by six wickets and eight wickets, can draw the four-match series by winning again at the same venue Thursday.

The cricket minnows are using the matches to prepare for the World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next February and March.

Opener Hamilton Masakadza top scored for the hosts with 84 runs and his 93-ball stand included nine fours and two sixes.

Captain Brendan Taylor (53) and Sean Williams (49) were the other Zimbabwe batsmen to impress while Aftab Alam (2-44) and Dawlat Zadran

With the signing of Colombian superstar James Rodriguez for current Champions League winners Real Madrid done, the question now lies on where the top scorer of the World Cup will fit in Carlo Ancelotti’s lineup puzzle.

James Rodriguez is an old-fashioned number 10, an attacking midfielder or a creative mid, depending on how you want to describe it. He is versatile enough to have played on the wing (both of them) and even as a second forward, behind a killer the likes of Falcao or Hulk, but all of those positions are either taken or don’t exist on Ancelotti’s preferred tactical view.

After many trials last season, the Italian head coach decided to move forward with a 4-3-3, which could turn into a more classical 4-4-2 when it was time to drop back and secure a score board.l

Cook advised to step down by former England captains

Costa, Fabregas, Luis welcomed to Chelsea n Dailymail New Chelsea signings Diego Costa, Cesc Fabregas and Felipe Luis have avoided the traditional club signing initiations – for now at least.

Instead the trio were treated to a team meal on Monday as the Chelsea squad gathered on their pre-season tour of Austria.

But defender Cesar Azpilicueta tweeted a photo of the festivities with a word of warning.

The caption of the tweet read: ‘First dinner but you don’t have to sing... yet @cescf4bregas #Diego Costa @filipeluis @chelseafc.’

Costa flew in overnight from Lisbon and joined up with the Chelsea squad early on Monday morning before boarding a plane with the rest of the squad. l

How does Rodriguez fit in Real’s puzzle? n Agencies

Luis Suarez earlier this summer.

Rodriguez began his professional career with Colombian side Envigado before moving down to Argentinian club Banfield aged 17.

His performances for the Buenos Aires outfit attracted the attention of Porto, who signed him for £4million (€5,064,800) in 2010, and three years later he joined Monaco for £38.5million (€48,744,850) after helping the Portuguese side win a hat-trick of league titles and the 2011 Europa League.

The left-footed forward scored 10 goals in 38 matches in all competitions for Monaco last term as they finished second in Ligue 1 behind Paris St Germain.

Big-spending Monaco said they had not been looking to sell Rodriguez but described the deal as “one of the most significant transfers in football history”.

A statement on www.asm-fc. com read: “The club would like to take the opportunity to thank James for the role he played in getting the club back to the Champions League and wishes him the very best for the future. l

(2-49) returned the best Afghan bowling figures.

Openers Javed Ahmadi (56) and teenager Usman Ghani (43) contributed most to the visitors’ run chase followed

by Mohammad Nabi (42) and Samiullah Shenwari (41).

BRIEF SCORE Zimbabwe 261-8 in 50 overs (Masakadza 84, Taylor 53; Aftab 2-44, Dawlat Zadran 2-49) Afghanistan 264-8 in 49.4 overs (Ahmadi 56, Usman Ghani 43; Williams 2-33, M’shangwe 2-50) Afghanistan win by two wickets Zimbabwe lead four-match series 2-1 Lower-order pair Dawlat Zadran (24) and Shapoor Zadran (5) sealed victory in a tense finish with an unbeaten ninth-wicket stand.

Williams (2-33) and Natsai M’shangwe (2-50) were the most successful Zimbabwe bowlers. l

Beleaguered England captain Alastair Cook should step down and take a break from the sport to avoid suffering from a damaging burnout that could end his career, a number of former England captains said on Tuesday.

“For all the resolve... to carry on regardless, common sense should prevail in the interests of the man and his team,” former captain Mike Atherton wrote in the Times a day after England fell to a humiliating 95-run defeat to India at Lord’s.

Cook has gone 27 test innings without a century and presided over England’s 5-0 Ashes capitulation in Australia which was followed by a 1-0 home loss to Sri Lanka ahead of the current five-match series against India.

“It gives no pleasure to write it, but the tap on the shoulder for Alastair Cook should come,” Atherton added.

“The cruellest cut would also be the kindest cut, as it would be in this fine cricketer’s best interests, so that he can find a way to score runs and enjoy his cricket again.

Many are not sure whether England have an alternative choice as captain, although Atherton is not one of them.

Writing in the Daily Telegraph, another former skipper, Michael Vaughan, felt Cook badly needed a break.

“I believe Cook wants the selectors to step in and pull him out of the fire, before it gets so hot that we lose him for good. This is a man with the capacity to score 13,000 test runs,” wrote Vaughan, who played the last of his 82 tests in 2008.

“For me, Cook would be best off taking a six-month break and chilling out with his family. Shane Warne missed a year of cricket in 2003 thanks to the diet-pill controversy, and some of his best performances came after that suspension. Geoff Boycott skipped a lot of series during his many years with England and look how many runs he finished up with.”

Never one to shy away from expressing a frank opinion, Boycott was even harsher in his assessment of the situation.

“Only Alastair Cook, his wife and family want him to remain as captain - nobody else. He’s being stubborn and it’s going to take six wild stallions to drag him out of that job,” the former opener told BBC Test Match Special. l

Avishek, Hasanuzzaman land easy ULAB win n Tribune Desk

Majestic fifties from University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) skipper Hasanuzzaman and Avishek Mitra earned them a commanding seven-wicket victory over Jamaica Inter-Collegiate Sports Association (JICSA) of West Indies in the Red Bull Campus Cricket World Finals at Wormsley yesterday.

After losing the first Group 2 game, the Bangladeshi side rode on the 110run opening stand to overcome JICSA’s 148 reaching the target losing three wickets and five balls to spare.

Hasanuzzaman struck 10 fours and a six to dominate the opposition bowling with a 54-ball 76 while he was ably supported by Avishek who made 53 off 45 balls. Right-handed Avishek hammered six boundaries and two towering sixes.

Though ULAB lost successive wickets in the penultimate over to leave them needing four off the last six balls,

Izal Khan slogged his first ball for a boundary to land the win.

Earlier, JICSA threatened to run away with a big total after a blistering start from their openers Oshane Walters and Oraine Williams. Dangerous of the two, Walters made 38 off just 19 balls before first-change bowler Anjum Ahmed returned the right-handed batsman with the scoreboard reading 45 in four overs.

Medium pacer Anjum brought the Bangladeshis back in the game as he followed up with two more scalps while spinner Tanvir Ahmed also sneaked in a wicket to leave the Caribbean side reeling at 64 for 4.

Pete Salmon and Chrishna Graham, however, put on 82 runs for the fifth wicket to pull JICSA out of trouble. Salmon made 57 while Graham was unbeaten on 22 as JICSA eventually reached two

short of 150 losing six wickets.

Anjum finished with figures of 3 for 18 while Tanvir took one for 17 runs.

In the opening match of the tournament, ULAB lost to University of Pretoria (TUKS), South Africa, by a huge 114 runs. TUKS rode on a demolishing 137 off just 60 balls from TB de Bruyn to post 205 for 4. In reply, ULAB were restricted to 91 for seven in their stipulated 20 overs. l JICSA 148/6 in 20 overs (Salmon 57; Anjum 3/17) ULAB 149/3 in 19.1 overs (Hasanuzzaman 76, Mitra 53; Walters 2/18) ULAB won by 7 wickets MoM: Hasanuzzaman ULAB cricket team coach Sarwar Imran (C) briefs his charges prior to the start of their game against JICSA at Sir Paul Getty’s Ground, Wormsley yesterday COURTESY

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

China meat scandal

A Shanghai food factory was shut down on Sunday for selling meat past its due date Affected meat Chicken

Pork

Beef

YUM! BRANDS Ordered restaurants to stop using all meat from factory

Actions taken

Restaurants included: PIZZA HUT

B3 India will not restrict iron ore exports

Factory closed: Shanghai Husi Food Co.

KFC MCDONALDS

meat scandal China restaurants B4 USChina food supplier to stop using all OSI Group spreads to Japan

meat from factory

WEDNESDAY, JULY 23, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

BURGER KING Pulled all meat from factory early Monday

Excess liquidity decade-high in 2013 In Japan

STARBUCKS COFFEE Withdrew chicken panini from 12 provinces and Chongqing

MCDONALDS Says it sourced about 20 percent of Chicken McNuggets from Husi. Suspended product since Monday

Profit indicators of the banking sector dropped more than half in the last three years from 2010

n Jebun Nesa Alo Excess liquidity in the banking sector piled up to a decade high in the year 2013 due to lack of credit demand and sluggish investment climate amid prolonged political unrest over 5 January national polls.

The surplus liquidity stood at 15.38%, which was 32.54% of the total liquid asset in the banking sector in the last year. It was 9.9% in 2003, according to a publication of Department of Off-site Supervision (DOS) of the central bank.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) Deputy Governor Abu Hena Md Razi Hassan unveiled the publication titled “Bangladesh Bank’s Off-site Supervision, Recent initiatives” at a ceremony held yesterday at its headquarters in the capital.

The ceremony was attended, among others, by executive director of Naushad Ali Chowdhury and SM Moniruzzaman and General Manager of the bank Rabiul Hassan.

The rate of excess liquidity remained below 10% in the last 10 years and it reached over 15% in the last one year, according to the publication.

The amount of surplus liquidity

came down to 6% in 2010 from 9% in 2009 as maximum bank diverted their huge investment towards the capital market, said a senior executive of the central bank.

The banks started to withdraw their investments at the beginning of the year 2011, soon after the market crash, as they were strongly monitored by the

central bank to reduce their excessive investment beyond their limit, he added.

The banks, though, turned down their investment position from the share market but they did not get alternative opportunity to move their business due to the then political unrest.

As a result, excess liquidity of the banking sector was increased by more

than double times in the last three years, he said.

The surplus liquidity of the stateowned commercial banks stood at 25.29% of the total liquid asset of 44.27% followed by specialised banks at 4.19% of 15.27%, private commercial banks at 11.18% of 27.95% and foreign banks stood at 27.35% of total liquid as-

set of 46.15%, according to the central bank data.

The profit indicators of the banking sector dropped more than half in the last three years from 2010 due to lack of investment opportunity.

The return of asset (ROA) of the banks came down to 0.90% last year from 1.8% in 2010 while return on equity (ROE) dropped to 10.77% from 21%.

The Non Performing Loan (NPL) of the banking sector increased by 100% in the last one decade. The amount of NPL stood at Tk40,583 crore in the last year compared to Tk20,320 crore in 2003, according to the central bank data.

Out of the 100% increase of NPL in the last 10 years, mainly 88% NPL was increased only in three years in between 2010 and 2012 due to several loan scam, said another senior official of the central bank.

The total NPL in the banking sector reached at the highest level at Tk42,726 crore in 2012. Then central bank had relaxed the loan reschedule rule for the banks to reduce their abnormal classified loans burden and lastly it came down to 2.01% of the total loan in 2013 from 4.38% in 2012, he said. l

Sonali Bank faces House rent payment rules through banks relaxed crisis as clients Tribune Report reluctant to get n loans n Tribune Report Loan disbursement of the state-owned Sonali Bank dropped by 8.8% to Tk33,534 crore in June this year compared to same period of the last year as the bank has so far failed to disburse expected-level of loans among its clients.

The disbursement is Tk3,236 crore lower than Tk36,771 crore released in the first half of last year.

The bank published notices in the newspapers offering loans, but yielded no result so far, Sonali Bank Managing Director Prodip Kumar Dutta told a press conference at the head office of Sonali Bank in the capital yesterday.

“We are reminding the branch managers, heads of regions and general managers to enhance the loan disbursement,” he said.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has relaxed the rules for monthly house rent payment over Tk25,000 through banks as the landlords could now deposit the rents in any of their existing bank accounts.

The board, in a specific guideline issued yesterday, said a landlord have to deposit his house rents over Tk25,000 (including rents of furniture, fixture and fittings) derived from one or more houses (both used for commercial and residential purposes) in any of the scheduled banks.

The landlord can deposit the house rent and advance house rent, along with other incomes in any of his existing bank accounts, the guideline adds.

The tenants could pay the house rents through crossed cheques or could directly deposit the amount to the landlord’s bank account, according to the guideline. If any tenant pays the rent in cash, the landlord will have to deposit the rent to the bank account.

The NBR issued the guideline to

clarify the newly introduced system as many of the taxpayers were confused on the system including who will deposit the rent, methods of rent payment under the system, responsibilities of people having power of attorney etc.

If any landlord failed to comply with the guidelines, the NBR will impose penalty on the house owners at the rate of 50% of taxes payable on incomes derived from the house property or Tk5,000, whichever is higher, for not transacting the house-rent through banks, according to the finance bill 2014.

The government has made mandatory payment system of the house rents through banking channel to ensure transparency in the house rent collection and to bring more people under tax net while prohibiting the practice of dodging tax on earnings from rental property.

NBR chairman Md. Ghulam Hussain told the Dhaka Tribune that the newly introduced system will help bring both the landlords and the tenants under the tax net.

is depositing the income derived from house rent.

During submission of tax returns, the landlords have to furnish their tax returns including details of income derived from the house rent. The landlord has to submit a copy of the bank statement where he/she is depositing the house rents during return submission, the guideline added.

The board, with the rule also clarified the rent collection method for the joint owners or people having power of attorney. If a house is owned by joint owners, a house owner have to maintain separate bank account if his/her portion received as house rent exceeds Tk25,000.

If any landlord is staying abroad and gives power of attorney to another person for supervising the house and collection of rents, the person (having power of attorney) will have to maintain the bank account to deposit the house rents to banks.

However, if a landlord wants to maintain a separate bank account for the matter, he/she can do that voluntarily. l

GP continues to pay higher dividend than profit

The adjusted loan growth rate of Sonali Bank was negative by 7.07% in the last year against the target limit of 8% set by Bangladesh Bank “We have set the loan disbursement target for the branches and the performance of the branches is being strongly monitored by the head office.”

The adjusted loan growth rate of Sonali Bank was negative by 7.07% in the last year against the target limit of 8% set by Bangladesh Bank.

The total loan growth of the banks decreased by 11.67% or Tk3,963 crore in the last year, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.

The credit ceiling of Sonali Bank has been set at Tk1,328 crore for the year 2014, which is 6% of the adjusted loan status of Tk22,133 crore in 2013.

The bank won’t be able to achieve its loan disbursement target as the bank is also going through a financial crisis, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank.

The bank is yet to settle over 1,700 accepted bills with other banks, relating to Hallmark scam as the stateowned bank is suffering find crisis, he said.

Moreover, the bank is suffering from image crisis due to the Hallmark loan scam, he added.

“Though the bank suffered from capital shortfall of Tk278.43 crore in March this year, which was Tk821 crore in 2013, we will be able to meet the shortfall at the end of this year,’’ however, hoped managing director of Sonali Bank. l

“With the introduction, we will be able to bring not only landlords, but also the tenants under the tax net which will help to boost the revenue collection,” he said.

According to an NBR survey, 166,500 flat owners and traders do not pay tax despite having taxable incomes, among which, 45,600 of them are house owners in the capital.

According to Real Estate and Housing Association of Bangladesh (REHAB), some 164,000 flats were handed over to the buyers from 1992.

Under the guideline, the house owners now have to maintain a separate register and record regarding the details of the house rents received from one or more houses.

The landlords have to record the names and addresses of the tenants, dates of rent payments, amount received as house rent and other information related to this issues with the aforesaid register.

The taxpayers have to keep the Deputy Tax Commissioner informed about the bank account where he/she

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

A little girl finds a dressed manikin interesting while shopping at a city mall with her mom.

Not only the adults, but the kids also remain busy choosing beautiful clothes for them to put on during Eid days COURTESY

Mobile phone operator Grameenphone has reported net profit of Tk1,060 crore in the first half of this year, but decided to distribute about Tk1,283 crore as interim cash dividend.

They made the financial disclosure at a press conference in Dhaka yesterday as they earned a revenue of over Tk5,112 crore, up 7.8% from the same period last year.

“As a major listed company, we have a dividend policy and we are just following it,” Chier Executive Officer Vivek Sood told the Dhaka Tribune after the press conference.

The earnings per share (EPS) of the country’s largest mobile phone operator in the first half of 2014 stood at Tk7.85, but their dividend stands at Tk9.50.

Grameenphone also distributed 28.6% higher dividend than the net profit the company earned in 2013 when they had reported an after tax profit of over Tk1,470 crore and distributed dividend of over Tk1,890 crore.

Mentioning their performance outstanding, the CEO said: “Stable political environment, improving economic activities and Grameenphone’s strong traction in the market contributed to this elevated performance.”

The operator informed their service revenue grew by 7.5% (YoY) along with 14.3% (YoY) growth in devices and other revenues.

The growth is attributed to increased voice outgoing from acquisition, data revenue from 3G as well as 2G, SMS and content services.

Replying to a question, Acting Chief Financial Officer Md Mainur Rahaman Bhuiyan said currently they have 95 lakh active internet users and from data side their revenue growth is 57% while the growth of voice only 4% year to year.

Grameenphone said the growth in interconnection revenue with contribution from both local and international minutes, higher device sales (28%) for enabling the data era, wholesale and financial services also contributed.

Average minute per-uses (AMPU) and average revenue per-users also started recovering as the political situation becoming stable.

In the last quarter of 2013, AMPU stood at 240 minutes that rose up to 250 minutes after the second quarter and that time ARPU was Tk165 which also rose to Tk170 per user.

During the second quarter (April to June), Grameenphone acquired 0.6 million net subscriber addition, taking the year-end subscription base to 49.23 million with 42.1% market share.

They have registered Tk26.2 billion in the second quarter, a 9.5% (YoY) and a 5.1% (QoQ) growth. Net profit after taxes for the first half of 2014 was Tk10.6 billion with 20.7% margin compared to Tk5.1 billion with 10.8% margin of the corresponding period of 2013.

Earnings per share (EPS) for the period stood at Tk7.85 compared to Tk3.78 of corresponding period of 2013.

Grameenphone invested Tk6.5 billion during the first half for 3G rollout in all 64 district headquarters, 2G-coverage as well as capacity increase and other efficiency enhancement initiatives. l

RMG workers’ capability to face fire incident improves significantly n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, a platform of the North American buyers, has completed inspection that resulted in full or partial closure of 10 out of 587 RMG units.

According to the final report of the Alliance published yesterday on its website, the Alliance completed inspections of all 587 factories and identified 10 factories flawed on fire, electrical and structural ground from which its members source products.

The report also said 50% RMG factories from which Alliance brands source products are now in remediation while 1.1 million workers trained in basic fire safety of which 97.8% can correctly identify what to do in case of fire.

The Alliance said it has $100 million affordable capital available to factory owners and $5 million support available to displaced factory workers and as it compensated 1,000 displaced workers.

The Alliance conducted a comprehensive baseline survey and a limited sample follow-up survey among the garment workers assessing their knowledge on fire safety before and after the Alliance-led trainings.

The survey findings showed workers, who could correctly identify what to do in case of a fire, increased from 39% to 98%, and those who could correctly identify the five most common fire hazards increased from 2% to 51% following the basic fire safety training.

“Together, the Alliance and our partners are steadily achieving progress that will have a lasting, positive impact on factory workers, the readymade garment industry and the country’s economy as a whole,” said Ellen Tauscher, former U.S. Congresswoman and Alliance Independent Chair.

“Much work remains to be done, but we are steadfastly committed to staying the course, working in partnership, ensuring transparency and helping achieve a new, sustainable standard for safe workplaces in Bangladesh,” she added.

“Substantial challenges must be overcome in order to achieve our goals in the Bangladesh garment industry,” said Rabin Mesbah, managing director of the Alliance. As the hard work of remediation now begins, it is incumbent upon all stakeholders to do their part to ensure a safer industry for everyone, he added.

The Alliance, a plat form of 26 brands and retailers, had committed to improve safety standard, including fire, electrical and structural safety after the collapse of Rana Plaza, which killed 1,135 workers and injured over 2,500 last year. l

Harun Securities fined Tk3 lakh n Tribune Report Harun Securities, a member of the Dhaka Stock Exchange, was fined Tk3lakh for breaching securities rules.

The brokerage firm has provided margin loan to its directors, employees and their relatives without loan agreement and on junk companies, which is clear violation of securities rules, said Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) in a statement yesterday.

For this, the commission has decided to slap fine of Tk3lakh, it said. l

Banks related to customs open on July 25, 26 and 28 n Tribune Report Bangladesh Bank has asked the banks to keep open their branches related to customs on July 25, 26 and 28 ahead of eid-ul fitre.

The decision came in response to the request of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA), said a circular Bangladesh Bank issued yesterday.

This is to facilitate import-export activities of export oriented garment industry, it said. The central bank also advised the banks to pay reasonable allowance to the officials who will work during the holidays. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Positive H1 earnings spur stocks n Tribune Report

Company

Turnover (Million Taka)

3,756.45 85,721,148

Number of Contract

friendly monetary policy assisted investors to revive enthusiasm.”

Telecommunication sector accounted for 16% of the total trading and rose 1.5% following positive earnings and dividend declaration by heavyweight Grameenphone that rallied 1.6%.

Stocks gained for the second straight day yesterday, spurred by better-than-expected half-yearly earnings and the central bank’s hint about capital-market friendly monetary policy to be announced Saturday next.

Investors injected fresh fund hoping gain in the future but some, however, were still cautious about possible political unrest after Eid to be celebrated last week of this month, dealers said.

The benchmark DSEX rose more than 29 points or 0.7% to end at 4,424. The Shariah index gained marginally 8 points or 0.9% up to 999. The comprising blue chips DS30 closed at 1,618 with rise of 12 points or 0.8%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, was up 43 points to 8,388.

Trading activities improved significantly, as the DSE turnover stood at Tk375, which was more than 21% higher over the previous session.

IDLC Investments said with earnings declarations being on the driving seat, market subdued the recent monotonous down trend for the second day.

“The session started in a flurry, with promising earnings figures appearing early in the morning. Along with this, hope for a capital market

DSE GAINERS

DSE key features Jujy 22, 2014

Turnover (Volume)

The country’s top telecom company showed up 13.66% growth in its half-yearly net profit. The company also declared 95% interim dividend.

Lanka Bangla Securities said equity market continued positive momentum for yet another session on yesterday backed by cue of recovery in quarterly earnings of stocks.

Zenith Investments said the market is getting back in shape as the earnings season started streaming in, arousing investors’ enthusiasm and attracting fresh funds towards stocks.

“Buying spree behavior of investors have magnified the strength of total turnover volume and also pushed the index to the region of positivity.”

Beximco continued leading the chart for the sixth consecutive session with Tk49 crore changing hands, followed by Grameenphone, Padma Oil, Lafarge Surma Cement, Shahjibazar Power Company, Olympic Industries, Square Pharmaceuticals and Generation Next. l

Weekly capital market highlights

80,260

Traded Issues

29

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

185

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

104

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

8

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,308.91

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.99

CSE key features Jujy 22, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

275.27

Turnover (Volume)

7,200,800

Number of Contract

10,963

Traded Issues

215

4424.60351

(+) 0.67%

▲

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

129

DSE - 30 Index :

1618.06060

(+) 0.77%

▲

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

80

CSE All Share Index:

13595.81430

(+) 0.57%

▲

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

CSE - 30 Index :

11246.83880

(+) 0.46%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,206.85

8388.81390

(+) 0.52%

▲

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

26.75

DSE LOSERS Company ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A Karnaphuli Insur -A Progressive Life-A Libra Infusions-A Central Insur -A GSP Finance-A Envoy Textiles Ltd-N Fareast Finance-Z Rupali Bank - A LankaBangla Fin. -A

Closing (% change) -6.87 -5.37 -3.64 -3.50 -3.14 -3.06 -2.81 -2.65 -2.61 -2.57

CSE LOSERS Company NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A Midas Financing-Z Samata LeatheR -Z Prime Insur -A Union Capital -A Premier Leasing-Z Fareast Finance-Z LankaBangla Fin. -A GPH Ispat Ltd-A Bangladesh Welding -Z

Closing (% change) -10.00 -9.75 -6.78 -5.85 -3.90 -3.80 -3.51 -3.49 -2.88 -2.50

ANALYST

Average (% change) -6.81 -4.22 -4.67 -3.50 -1.20 -1.93 -0.44 -2.51 -4.28 -3.53 Average (% change) -10.00 -8.86 -6.78 -5.85 -3.67 -1.58 -2.54 -3.43 -2.82 -0.42

Closing average 27.10 19.50 104.86 386.00 24.74 19.26 52.40 11.25 67.02 41.29

Closing average 6.30 21.30 22.00 19.30 19.68 7.49 11.13 41.44 50.63 11.94

Weekly closing 27.10 19.40 106.00 386.00 24.70 19.00 51.90 11.00 67.10 41.70

Weekly 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

27.10 20.30 106.10 386.00 25.00 19.70 53.40 11.50 67.10 43.00

Weekly high

6.30 21.30 22.00 19.30 19.70 7.60 11.00 41.50 50.60 11.70

6.30 21.30 22.00 19.30 20.00 7.60 11.30 42.00 51.00 12.00

Weekly low

Turnover in million

27.10 18.50 101.00 386.00 24.60 17.70 49.00 11.00 64.00 38.60

Weekly low 6.30 21.30 22.00 19.30 19.60 7.20 11.00 41.00 50.20 11.70

Latest EPS

0.027 5.405 0.245 0.077 0.193 1.054 30.120 2.379 0.412 42.276

Turnover in million

9.83 9.23 8.18 7.56 6.96 6.20 5.75 5.69 5.66 5.64

4.57 1.40 2.30 4.20 3.64 1.56 2.04 0.78 3.96 1.38

Latest EPS

0.003 0.011 0.011 0.014 0.312 0.005 0.534 4.931 0.076 0.292

1.52 -6.91 0.09 0.92 2.08 0.12 0.78 1.38 2.42 0.48

Latest PE 5.9 13.9 45.6 91.9 6.8 12.3 25.7 14.4 16.9 29.9

Latest PE 4.1 -ve 244.4 21.0 9.5 62.4 14.3 30.0 20.9 24.9

Company Mithun Knitting -A SummitAlliancePort.-A BGIC -A Kay & Que (BD) -Z Golden Son -A AFC AgroBiotech-A Active Fine Chem.-A Asia Pasific Insu. -A ICB AMCL IslamicMF-A Peoples Insur -A

Closing (% change) 9.83 9.75 9.68 7.14 7.11 6.71 6.15 6.06 5.41 5.16

Average (% change) 7.90 7.20 7.59 5.19 3.98 5.09 1.60 2.49 5.95 5.07 Average (% change) 9.83 7.44 7.94 7.14 6.99 5.68 4.58 6.06 5.41 5.21

Closing average 25.26 54.52 23.53 50.29 40.52 998.33 17.80 46.88 44.90 63.39

Closing average 105.00 25.26 23.24 15.00 45.02 50.60 63.21 21.00 19.50 22.41

Weekly closing

Weekly high

25.70 56.80 23.80 51.20 41.50 1,008.90 18.40 48.30 44.80 63.70

25.70 57.00 24.10 51.80 41.60 1,009.00 19.10 48.30 45.90 64.50

Weekly closing

Weekly high

105.00 25.90 23.80 15.00 45.20 50.90 63.90 21.00 19.50 22.40

105.00 25.90 23.80 15.00 45.60 51.50 64.30 21.00 19.50 22.90

Weekly low 21.20 52.40 20.00 46.50 39.30 960.00 15.70 45.80 38.20 57.00

Weekly low 105.00 23.00 22.00 15.00 43.40 49.40 61.90 21.00 19.50 22.00

Turnover in million 28.682 96.629 6.730 42.084 18.529 0.599 85.043 2.016 82.531 74.807

Turnover in million 0.210 4.686 0.379 0.008 7.351 1.270 1.410 0.021 0.010 0.072

Latest EPS 1.08 3.04 1.36 2.32 2.48 26.16 2.28 5.16 4.08 3.72

Latest EPS 2.69 1.08 1.36 -0.92 4.08 2.32 3.72 2.48 2.33 2.28

Latest PE 23.4 17.9 17.3 21.7 16.3 38.2 7.8 9.1 11.0 17.0

Latest PE 39.0 23.4 17.1 -ve 11.0 21.8 17.0 8.5 8.4 9.8

News, analysis and recent disclosers GP: The Board of Directors of the Company has declared 95% interim cash dividend for the year ending on 31 December 2014, out of the provisional net profits of the Company for the half-year ended on 30 June 2014 and retained earnings as of 31 December 2013. The Company has also reported net profit after tax of Tk. 10,601.27 million, EPS of Tk. 7.85, NAV per share of Tk. 25.91 and NOCFPS of Tk. 9.80 for the half-year ended on 30 June 2014. Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 05.08.2014.

MARICO: The Board of Directors of the Company has declared 150% interim cash dividend for the year ending on 31st March 2015 based on 1st Quarter financials for the period ended on 30th June, 2014.

Record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend: 07.08.2014.

ACTIVEFINE: In connection with their earlier news disseminated by DSE on November 17, 2013, the Company has further informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided for raising capital by issuing 2,00,00,000 Ordinary shares of Tk. 10.00 each at an issue price of Tk. 60.00 to the ICB and/or different institutional investors subject to the approval from BSEC. It is to be mentioned that in the EGM held on 10.12.2013 the shareholders has approved the issuance of 2,00,00,000 Ordinary shares at an issue price of Tk. 50.00 to ICB.

Unaudited Financials:

RELIANCINS: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 139.65 million with EPS of Tk. 2.34 as against Tk. 126.92 million and Tk. 2.12 respectively*.

EASTLAND: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 104.16

million with EPS of Tk. 1.93 as against Tk. 100.66 million and Tk. 1.86 respectively*.

UTTARAFIN: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 515.59 million with EPS of Tk. 4.53 as against Tk. 458.32 million and Tk. 4.03 respectively*.

BDSERVICE: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 105.57 million with basic EPS of Tk. 1.43 (restated 1.24) as against Tk. 90.18 million and Tk. 1.22 (1.06) respectively*.

TRUSTBANK: (H/Y): NPAT=Tk. 386.43 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.91 as against Tk. 365.79 million and Tk. 0.86 (restated) respectively*.

ISLAMICFIN: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 86.68 million with EPS of Tk. 0.75 as against Tk. 59.65 million and Tk. 0.51 respectively*.

SPPCL: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 344.23 million with EPS of Tk. 2.26 as against Tk. 337.06 million and Tk. 2.22 respectively*.

SUMITPOWER: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 1,203.95 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.77 as against Tk. 1,169.27 million and Tk. 1.72 respectively*.

NHFIL: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 99.73 million with EPS of Tk. 0.94 as against Tk. 68.50 million and Tk. 0.64 respectively*.

IDLC: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 306.58 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.52 as against Tk. 200.59 million and Tk. 1.00 respectively*.

LANKABAFIN: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 150.74 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.69 as against Tk. 192.86 million and Tk. 0.88 respectively*.

BATBC: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 2,872.27 million with EPS of Tk. 47.87 as against Tk. 2,063.33 million and Tk. 34.39 respectively*.

GP: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 10,601.27 million

with EPS of Tk. 7.85 as against Tk. 5,103.84 million and Tk. 3.78 respectively*.

MERCINS: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 43.00 million with EPS of Tk. 1.00 as against Tk. 43.40 million and Tk. 1.01 respectively*.

UNIONCAP: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. 40.27 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.33 as against Tk. 6.86 million and Tk. 0.06 respectively*.

ICBIBANK: (H/Y): NPAT= Tk. -262.93 million with EPS of Tk. -0.40 as against Tk. -86.63 million and Tk. -0.13 respectively*.

SONALIANSH: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1.54 million with EPS of Tk. 0.57 as against Tk. 6.29 million and Tk. 2.32 respectively*.

HRTEX: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 33.14 million with EPS of Tk. 1.31 as against Tk. 38.63 million and Tk. 1.53 respectively*.

MARICO: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 466.68 million with EPS of Tk. 14.82 as against Tk. 417.24 million and Tk. 13.25 respectively*.

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.

Dividend/AGM

SUNLIFEINS: 5% stock, AGM: 15.09.2014, Record Date: 07.08.2014.

SQURPHARMA: 30% cash and 15% stock, AGM: 25.09.2014, Record Date: 26.08.2014. NAV of Tk. 22,277.52 million, EPS of Tk. 8.36.

LINDEBD: 200% interim cash dividend, Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 03.08.2014.

APEXSPINN: 20% cash, AGM: 28.09.2014, Record date: 07.08.2014. EPS Tk. 2.24, NAV per share of Tk. 49.75.

The market is getting back in shape as the earnings season started streaming in, arousing investors’ enthusiasm and attracting fresh funds towards stocks

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Weekly high

SummitAlliancePort.-A Shahjibazar Power-N BGIC -A AFC AgroBiotech-A Global Heavy Chemicals-N Stylecraft -A Generation Next-A Pioneer Insur -A Golden Son -A Active Fine Chem.-A

Closing (% change)

CSE GAINERS

DSE Broad Index :

CSE Selected Index :

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

DSE Million Taka 183.98 136.74 41.68 314.05 185.79 437.35 2.47 316.61 542.20 0.05 58.80 14.90 26.31 149.52 13.18 48.51 36.39 581.33 93.72 571.94 0.92

% change 4.90 3.64 1.11 8.36 4.95 11.64 0.07 8.43 14.43 1.57 0.40 0.70 3.98 0.35 1.29 0.97 15.48 2.49 15.23 0.02

Million Taka 11.78 10.48 1.50 33.39 16.94 32.45 33.64 29.49 23.94 5.08 24.49 2.17 12.06 2.26 1.00 2.74 30.98 14.90 57.63 0.03

CSE

% change 3.40 3.02 0.43 9.63 4.88 9.35 0.00 9.70 8.50 6.90 1.46 7.06 0.63 3.48 0.65 0.29 0.79 8.93 4.30 16.61 0.01

Million Taka 195.76 147.22 43.18 347.44 202.73 469.80 2.47 350.25 571.69 23.99 63.88 39.39 28.48 161.57 15.44 49.51 39.13 612.31 108.62 629.57 0.95

Total

% change 4.77 3.59 1.05 8.47 4.94 11.45 0.06 8.54 13.93 0.58 1.56 0.96 0.69 3.94 0.38 1.21 0.95 14.92 2.65 15.34 0.02

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

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Grameenphone-A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Padma Oil Co. -A LafargeS Cement-Z Shahjibazar Power-N Olympic Ind. -A Square Pharma -A Generation Next-A Golden Son -A FAR Chemical-N CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Grameenphone-A BD Submarine Cable-A FAR Chemical-N The Peninsula CTG.-N Generation Next Fashions-A Golden Son -A Appollo Ispat CL -N Square Pharma -A Padma Oil Co. -A

Volume shares 1,776,317 12,854,597 325,917 1,173,000 1,772,200 376,500 356,357 4,776,821 1,837,908 1,614,000

Volume shares 1,338,508 72,600 53,326 190,500 266,800 479,127 163,294 255,000 27,700 19,000

Value in million 521.06 491.64 106.71 98.03 96.63 91.04 90.24 85.04 82.53 80.46

Value in million 51.16 21.28 9.70 9.49 9.16 8.55 7.35 7.34 7.01 6.17

% of total turnover 13.87 13.09 2.84 2.61 2.57 2.42 2.40 2.26 2.20 2.14

% of total turnover 19.43 8.08 3.69 3.61 3.48 3.25 2.79 2.79 2.66 2.34

Weekly closing 293.70 37.40 325.60 84.30 56.80 242.80 253.60 18.40 44.80 50.80

Weekly closing 38.00 293.50 182.50 50.10 34.40 18.20 45.20 29.00 252.90 326.30

Price change 1.49 -0.53 1.28 2.43 9.23 1.17 -0.20 5.75 5.66 4.74

Weekly opening 289.40 37.60 321.50 82.30 52.00 240.00 254.10 17.40 42.40 48.50

Weekly high 297.00 41.00 330.50 84.40 57.00 243.40 255.00 19.10 45.90 51.50

Weekly low 285.00 33.90 300.00 82.10 52.40 235.00 232.00 15.70 38.20 48.60

Weekly average 293.33 38.25 327.41 83.57 54.52 241.82 253.24 17.80 44.90 49.85

Price change 1.06 1.63 2.47 3.51 0.00 4.00 7.11 3.20 0.32 1.15

Weekly opening 37.60 288.80 178.10 48.40 34.40 17.50 42.20 28.10 252.10 322.60

Weekly high 39.10 296.40 184.30 51.40 34.80 18.40 45.60 29.10 255.00 329.40

Weekly low 37.40 290.70 175.00 48.60 34.00 17.20 43.40 28.20 252.00 320.10

Weekly average 38.22 293.07 181.97 49.83 34.33 17.85 45.02 28.77 253.06 324.60

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

B3

India will not restrict iron ore exports n Reuters, New Delhi India does not plan to restrict exports of iron ore despite curbs on illegal mining, Minister of State for Steel Vishnu Deo Sai said on Monday, adding that there was still enough of the raw material for domestic steelmakers.

Court orders against unlawful mining over the past four years cut iron ore output by a quarter, to 152 million tonnes in the last fiscal year, dropping India to the No10 spot from its earlier position as the third-largest iron ore exporter.

But Sai said iron ore output was still sufficient to meet the requirements of the domestic steelmakers.

Iron ore output in the year ended March 31 was 48 million tonnes more than local consumption, the minister told lawmakers. Exports, however, were just 14.41 million tonnes as a duty of 30% and high freight rates made Indian ore uncompetitive.

Given the softness in global prices

IMF raises Germany growth forecasts n AFP, Berlin The International Monetary Fund raised its forecast for Germany’s growth on Monday, shrugging off concerns of a slowdown in the eurozone’s largest economy.

Germany is expected to grow by 1.9% this year, the Washington-based body said in its annual country report, raising its previous forecast of 1.7%.

The stronger-than-expected expansion is also expected to spill into 2015, the IMF said, raising its prediction to 1.7% from 1.6%.

The optimistic outlook comes after a growing list of disappointing data in the European Union’s powerhouse, including weak industrial production and investor confidence figures.

Germany has been hit particularly hard by the political crisis in Ukraine and European Union sanctions against Russia, which supplies some 40% of its oil.

In the face of such uncertainty, the IMF urged Berlin to increase public investment to boost growth and support weak growth in the rest of the eurozone bloc.

The body in a statement “emphasized the importance of growth-enhancing policies, which would also generate positive spillovers to the rest of the euro area, preserving the role of the German economy as an anchor of regional stability”. l

and lower domestic output, India's No3 steelmaker JSW Steel is importing 6 million tonnes of iron ore this fiscal year from Canada, South Africa and Australia.

JSW - whose second-biggest shareholder JFE Steel is the world's ninth-largest steel company and a unit of Japan's JFE Holdings Inc - says it may be cheaper to import iron ore than to buy it locally.

JSW is currently operating a 10 million-tonne-per-year mill at about 85% capacity in Karnataka, a state that is still the No2 producer of iron ore despite the restrictions that have been placed on mining there.

JSW and other steelmakers have been hoping for some kind of restriction on iron ore exports as Prime Minister Narendra Modi, during an election campaign, had criticised the previous government for allowing ore exports while importing steel.

India's steel output inched up 4% to 81 million tonnes in the most recent fiscal year. l

A labourer works in an iron factory on the outskirts of the southern Indian city of Hyderabad

Yen dips as stocks rally and Ukraine tensions ease n AFP, Tokyo The yen eased in Asia yesterday as news that pro-Russian rebels had handed over the black boxes of Flight MH17 eased concerns about the Ukraine crisis.

The losses in the Japanese unit, which is considered a safe bet in times of economic and political uncertainty, were in line with a regional stock market rally as confidence returned to financial markets.

In Tokyo afternoon trade, the dollar bought 101.53 yen, up from 101.38 yen in New York Monday afternoon, while the euro rose to 137.28 yen compared with 137.10 yen. The single currency was at $1.3520 against $1.3523.

Thursday's downing of the Malaysia Airlines jet hit global markets as it fuelled fears of an escalation of the months-long crisis in Ukraine, with western leaders saying it was shot down by rebels using Russian-supplied missiles.

However, on Tuesday it emerged the separatists had given the plane's

two black boxes to Malaysian officials and announced a ceasefire with a 10-kilometre (six-mile) radius around the crash site to allow a international probe.

They also allowed a train carrying the remains of 280 of the 298 people killed in the disaster to leave the region.

The greenback also declined to 11,516 Indonesian rupiah from 11,564 rupiah and to 31.87 Thai baht from 32.02 baht

Despite the breakthrough, European Union foreign ministers will meet in Brussels Tuesday to discuss toughening sanctions against Russia over its links to the militants.

Traders are also keeping watch on events in the Middle East as Israel undertakes a ground invasion of Gaza following air strikes and shelling that have left more than 570 Palestinians dead.

In the US, a strong inflation data reading later yesterday could boost the dollar as it may prompt the Federal Reserve to hike interest rates sooner than later.

Fed chief Janet Yellen last week told lawmakers the bank could raise rates more quickly than expected if jobs data prove unexpectedly strong. But she emphasised the shift would be data dependent.

Existing home sales figures are also due out in the United States on Tuesday. In other trading, the dollar was mostly down against other Asia Pacific currencies. It weakened to Sg$1.2406 from Sg$1.2410, to 60.19 Indian rupees from 60.20 rupees, and to 43.36 Philippine pesos from 43.43 pesos.

The greenback also declined to 11,516 Indonesian rupiah from 11,564 rupiah and to 31.87 Thai baht from 32.02 baht.

The Australian dollar edged down to 93.89 US cents from 93.90 cents, while the Chinese yuan was higher at 16.36 yen from 16.30 yen. l

REUTERS

Oil prices up in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore Oil prices rose in Asia yesterday against the backdrop of geopolitical tensions fuelled by a warning of tougher sanctions against Russia over the downing of a Malaysian airliner and fierce fighting in Gaza.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for August delivery was up 54 cents at $105.13 at midday, and Brent crude for September climbed 26 cents to $107.95.

Five days after Malaysia Airlines flight MH17 crashed in Ukraine, proRussian separatists conceded to a furious international clamour and handed over the bodies of victims and the plane's black boxes, helping ease tensions and lifting Asian equities.

A train carrying the remains of 280 of the 298 people killed in the disaster was finally allowed to leave a rebelheld region in eastern Ukraine as the militants declared a truce yesterday around the crash site.

The devices, which record cockpit activity and flight data, were handed to Malaysian officials by the prime min-

ister of the self-proclaimed Donetsk People's Republic, Alexander Borodai, in front of scores of journalists.

"The backdrop continues to be one of a cautious nature as geopolitical issues remain at the forefront," Singapore's United Overseas Bank said in a note.

The US has accused Russia of supplying the weapons allegedly used to shoot down the passenger jet and European leaders readied new sanctions against Moscow, which has denied any involvement.

Russia is the world's second biggest oil producer and there are fears that tougher sanctions could affect those supplies. Ukraine is also a major conduit for Russian gas exports to Europe.

In the Middle East, Israel continued to pummel Gaza, raising the Palestinian death toll to more than 570, as Egypt took centre stage in world efforts to broker a ceasefire.

UN chief Ban Ki-moon and US Secretary of State John Kerry were in Cairo Tuesday in a bid to broker a truce between Israel and Hamas militants in Gaza. l

Bank crisis further rattles Portugal economy n AFP, Lisbon

Portuguese Economy Minister Antonio Pires de Lima admitted on Monday that a crisis engulfing the giant Banco Espirito Santo group could affect the country's recovery, but insisted Portugal's "upturn is stronger".

"The crisis in the Espirito Santo

Junior Climate Champions, a knowledge and activity based programme organised by HSBC Bangladesh has kicked off in Dhaka recently for the second time after the programme’s previous successful completion

Jamuna Bank Limited recently held a half yearly business conference for its officials in Rajshahi Zone at a hotel in Bogra. The bank’s managing director and CEO Shafiqul inaugurated the conference as chief guest

group will not do us good, but the recovery is stronger and it is there to stay," he told journalists.

The turmoil at Portugal's largest lender comes at a delicate time for the country, which has just come out of a joint EU-IMF rescue programme despite a surprise drop of 0.6% in its GDP in the first three months of the year.

Many analysts fear the knock-on effects of the crisis could further undermine Portugal's faltering economy, one of the weakest in the eurozone.

Portuguese President Anibal Cavaco Silva, on a visit to South Korea on Monday, said the problems affecting the nonbanking part of the group "could have a certain affect on the real economy... and

its creditors could be confronted with serious difficulties". The bank is threatened by a hole in the accounts of one of its main shareholders, the Luxembourgbased Espirito Santo International (ESI), and allegations that it covered up accounting problems. ESI admitted on Friday that it could not pay its debts.

Another of the bank's holding com-

panies, Rioforte, failed to meet repayment of a debt of 847m euros ($1.146bn) to Portugal Telecom last Tuesday.

Economist Paula Carvalho, of BPI Bank, said although analysts had initially felt Portugal's troubles were transitory, "there is now a certain chilling, and doubts about the strength of the recovery in the second trimester". l

EXIM Bank has recently distributed Zakat to street children who have accounts under initiative of Bangladesh Bank. The central bank’s governor Dr Atiur Rahman attended the distribution programme as chief guest held in Gulshan, Dhaka. The chairperson of EXIM Bank, Md Nazrul Islam Mazumder presided over the programme

Prime Bank Limited recently held the closing ceremony of a foundation-training course for its officers at the bank’s HR Training and Development Centre. The bank’s deputy managing director and COO Quazi ASM Anisul Kabir attended the programme as chief guest

DESCO has recently signed an agreement with at NRBC Bank at its head office for providing customers to pay electric bills at the bank’s branches in Gulshan and Uttara. The bank’s managing director and CEO Dewan Mujibur Rahman and Engr Md Shofiqul Islam, company secretary of DESCO signed the agreement

First Security Islami Bank Ltd has recently started operation of its new branch in Bhola.

The bank’s head of ICT division, Taher Ahmed Chowdhury inaugurated the branch

B4

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Wednesday, July 23, 2014

Over 50% consumers globally upbeat on job prospects n Reuters, London More than half of consumers globally expect job prospects to be good to excellent in the year ahead, a survey showed on Tuesday.

That helped push global consumer confidence up in the second quarter to its highest since the first quarter of 2007, according to the survey by global information and insights company Nielsen. India overtook Indonesia as the most optimistic consumer market, while Portugal and Slovenia were the most pessimistic.

Japan and Hong Kong saw the biggest declines in confidence from the previous quarter.

The Nielsen Global Consumer Confidence Index rose 1 point in the second quarter to 97, according to the survey, conducted between May 12 and 30. The reading headed closer to the 100 mark that signals optimism among consumers.

US consumers were the eighth most upbeat globally as optimism about job prospects surged.

"Payroll growth is visible across a range of (US) sectors, which is also positive," said Venkatesh Bala, chief economist at the Cambridge Group, a part of Nielsen. "However, real-wage growth of workers has been anaemic so far, and needs to pick up substantially, along with other improvements in the labour

Facebook lets users squirrel items away n AFP, San Francisco Facebook on Monday began letting people squirrel away online tidbits such as links to chew on more thoroughly later.

"Now you can save items that you find on Facebook to check out later when you have more time," software engineer Daniel Giambalvo said in a blog post on the leading social network.

"You can save items like links, places, movies, TV and music."

The feature is being added as Facebook users increasingly connect with the social network from mobile devices while on the go, with only snippets of time to explore Internet offerings.

Letting people save items for later scrutiny encourages people to return and spend more time on Facebook, increasing opportunities for the social network to cash in on money-making tools such as advertising.

California-based Facebook said users have the option of keeping saved items private or sharing them with friends via the social network.

The "Save" feature will be rolled out during the next few days to those using computer browsers or mobile devices powered by Apple of Android software, according to Giambalvo. l

Apple asks suppliers to produce up to 80 million large-screen iPhones

market, in order for consumer spending to increase in a broad-based way."

By region, consumers in the Asia Pacific were most confident about job prospects with 65% seeing favourable job opportunities for the year ahead, up from 64% in the first quarter.

Globally, 56% of respondents to the survey viewed their personal finances positively, up from 55% over the past three consecutive quarters. North America reported the biggest increase, with 63% of respondents feeling secure in money matters over the next 12 months, up from 59% in the first quarter.

While consumer confidence in debtladen euro zone economies remained weak it improved sharply in Italy, which Nielsen attributed to confidence in Prime Minister Matteo Renzi's new government, formed in February.

Confidence also continued to slowly improve in Greece, France and Spain.

Outside the euro zone, consumer sentiment in Britain rose to its highest level since 2007 as the country's economy continued to outperform euro zone peers.

Ukraine, meanwhile, saw a rebound in consumer sentiment after a sharp fall in the first quarter following a political crisis and tensions with Russia after Moscow annexed the Crimea region.

The Nielsen survey covered more than 30,000 online consumers across 60 markets. l

Japanese electronics giant Panasonic employee displays the new eye steamer 'EH-SW53', that provides hot steam in Tokyo yesterday. Panasonic will put their new products on the market from September 1 AFP

China meat scandal spreads to Japan Paris hotels allow guests n AFP, Shanghai

A scandal involving expired meat sold by a China unit of US food supplier OSI Group spread to Japan Tuesday, as McDonald's confirmed that the now shut factory provided Chicken McNuggets to its restaurants.

Shanghai authorities on Sunday shut an OSI plant - a supplier to McDonald's and KFC in China - for mixing out-ofdate meat with fresh product, re-labelling expired goods and other quality problems following an investigative report by a local television station.

A Tokyo-based spokesman for McDonald's Japan told AFP the restaurant chain had sourced about 20% of its McNuggets from the Shanghai factory, and had suspended sales of its product since Monday.

Around 500 of McDonald's restaurants in Japan, a sixth of the total, had

temporarily stopped selling McNuggets while the company obtained alternative supplies, he added. Chinese police were questioning "several" employees of the OSI subsidiary, which is called Shanghai Husi Food Co., in the case, the Shanghai Daily newspaper said. Police could not be reached for comment.

Separately, the China Food and Drug Administration had ordered an investigation of OSI's factories nationwide, according to a statement.

OSI's Shanghai factory, set up in 1996, has more than 500 workers with five production lines for items including pork, beef and chicken, according to the group's website. OSI is a longtime supplier to McDonald's in China, starting from 1992, it said.

Series of safety issues

The US company said on Monday that it was "appalled" by the allegations while

China meat scandal

A Shanghai food factory was shut down on Sunday for selling meat past its due date Affected meat Chicken

Pork

Beef

YUM! BRANDS Ordered restaurants to stop using all meat from factory

Actions taken

Restaurants included: PIZZA HUT

n Reuters Apple Inc has asked suppliers to manufacture between 70 million and 80 million of its two forthcoming large-screen iPhones by the end of the year, its largest initial production run of iPhones, the Wall Street Journal reported, citing people familiar with the matter.

Its forecast for the iPhones with 4.7inch (11.9-cm) and 5.5-inch (14-cm) displays is much larger than the initial order last year of between 50 million and 60 million for iPhone 5S and 5C models, the people told the Journal.

Foxconn and Pegatron Corp plan to start mass producing the 4.7-inch iPhone model next month, and Hon Hai Precision Industry Co Ltd, whose parent is Foxconn, will begin making the 5.5-inch version exclusively in September, the people said.

Both iPhone 6 screens will be larger than the 4.0-inch (10.2-cm) panels on Apple's existing iPhone 5S and 5C models.

The new phone models are also expected to feature metal cases similar to the iPhone 5S and likely come in multiple colors, the people said.

Both iPhone 6 screens are expected to use in-cell touch panel technology, built into the screen and allowing for thinner construction than with standard touch panel films, that was introduced with the iPhone 5, sources told Reuters in March. l

announcing it had formed a team to investigate. McDonald's in China said it had "immediately" stopped using the factory's products while restaurant operator Yum said separately its KFC and Pizza Hut establishments had also halted use of meat from the Shanghai plant.

US coffee chain Starbucks confirmed it was supplied chicken by the factory, but had removed the product from 12 provinces and a major municipality in China. Burger King, another customer, said it had removed the meat from its restaurants.

In an editorial, China's Global Times newspaper took aim at McDonald's and Yum for failing to supervise their suppliers.

"Famous international brands have not adopted a dedicated attitude toward Chinese consumers," said the newspaper, known for its nationalistic editorial stance. l

Factory closed: Shanghai Husi Food Co. US food supplier OSI Group

KFC MCDONALDS China restaurants to stop using all meat from factory BURGER KING Pulled all meat from factory early Monday

In Japan

STARBUCKS COFFEE Withdrew chicken panini from 12 provinces and Chongqing

MCDONALDS Says it sourced about 20 percent of Chicken McNuggets from Husi. Suspended product since Monday

to 'pay what you want' n AFP, Paris Five Paris hotels on Monday launched a scheme allowing guests to "pay what you want" in an experiment that may be extended if successful.

The three- and four-star hotels taking part in the scheme are located in the city's 9th and 11th districts - a little away from the city's tourist centres.

The owners are bullish about the prospects and confident that clients will not abuse the scheme.

Tourists often complain about high hotel rates in Paris and tiny rooms.

France attracts more tourists than any other country in the world.

The scheme will run until August 10 and will be available only to those who have made bookings through the web-

site www.payezcequevousvoulez.net (Pay what you want) "It's a fair price operation, one of confidence in the client," said Aldric Duval, the head of the Tour d'Auvergne hotel, and the man who came up with the idea.

Guests will pay whatever they want, based on their impressions of the hotel, the room and the service The experiment could be extended if it works and clients don't abuse it.

Fears of cheapskate guests do not faze Si Zyad Si Hocine, the owner of one the hotels, the Grand Hotel Francais in the east of the city, who said he was confident "guests will pay a fair price".

The hotels taking part have so far only set aside two to three rooms each under the scheme. l

Yahoo to buy analytics startup Flurry to bolster mobile ad business n Reuters, San Francisco Yahoo Inc will buy mobile analytics startup Flurry to beef up a fast-growing mobile advertising business that still lags Google Inc's and Facebook Inc's in scale.

Six-year-old Flurry uses analytics to help target ads at consumers by monitoring activity on more than half a million apps on some 1.4 billion mobile devices around the world, Yahoo said in a statement on Monday.

The startup provides information to help marketers and brands more easily reach their desired audiences, Yahoo said.

Yahoo did not cite a price tag, but a source familiar with the matter said the Internet company is paying several hundred million dollars. Tech blog re/code earlier reported that rough amount.

Flurry will operate much as before after the acquisition closes, and its team will remain in their current locations, Yahoo added.

Yahoo is trying to revitalize a stagnant online advertising business as Chief Executive Marissa Mayer marks her second anniversary at the Internet company.

The former Google executive has

DILBERT

revamped many of Yahoo's Web products but its ad sales are still weak while rivals such as Google and Facebook continue to post strong, double-digit revenue growth.

Like its rivals, it has been investing in its mobile advertising platform,

Yahoo is trying to revitalize a stagnant online advertising business as Chief Executive Marissa Mayer marks her second anniversary at the Internet company as users increasingly access the Internet from smartphones and tablets. Its mobile advertising revenue more than doubled in the second quarter.

But mobile advertising typically commands lower rates than online.

Revenue in Yahoo's display advertising business decreased 8% to $436m in the second quarter.

The average price per ad decreased 24%, while the number of display ads sold increased 24%. l