11 Aug 2014

Shraban 27, 1421 Shawal 14, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 129

MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages | Price: Tk12

7 | LONG FORM

8 | WORLD

11 | OP-ED

13 | SPORT

STORY OF A RIVER

GAZA’S WOUNDED: LIVING REMINDER OF RAVAGES OF WAR

I AM BOLD, THEREFORE KHOBISH

FESTIVITY MISSING IN PLAYERS’ TRANSFER

Poor coordination marks failed salvage operation 46 bodies of Pinak 6 passengers recovered so far Islam Shaon from Mawa n Ashif and Mohammad Jamil Khan in Dhaka It has been seven days since Pinak 6 capsized in the Padma with around 300 passengers and its position is yet to be located; and with every passing day the poor face of coordination among the authorities is becoming clearer.

As of yesterday, only 46 bodies of dead passengers of Pinak 6 were recovered, and with around 100 more still missing, the authorities yesterday decided to concentrate rescue efforts on locating the position of the launch rather than finding dead bodies.

The place on the riverbed where the launch is thought to have rested is more than 62 feet deep. With waves as strong as 5-6 nautical miles per hour, rescuers have found it really difficult to be sure about anything.

Yesterday, they managed to trace a metallic object on the riverbed that was roughly the same size as Pinak 6; but its position was thought to be some two miles away from where the launch was thought to have sunk.

Authorities are saying they are not sure about the exact place where the vessel sank because the survivors and witnesses have failed to pinpoint the position. That they say is one big rea-

son why they could not yet track the launch.

Coordinator of the rescue operation Captain Nazrul Islam of Bangladesh Navy told the Dhaka Tribune: “The passengers have not clearly identified the exact spot of accident; neither has the local authority. They just gave us a probable area. As a result, we are having to run the operation over a large area of roughly 50sq-km. We are not being able to search the entire area at a time.”

However, there are allegations that the authorities concerned have done virtually everything wrong since the launch capsized.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Mounting psychological toll in Pinak 6 tragedy n Abid Azad back from Madaripur The need for closure after bereavement is well known and well understood, but the tremendous psychological effort required for keeping hope alive, and the jarring, even damaging effects of silence in the face of uncertainty are not often talked about.

When emergency responders do not share information at regular and brief intervals and when they do not rapidly set up a single site for families to congregate in and share information, console each other, and wait out the crisis, they perpetuate a sort of administrative anguish for survivors.

A week ago, Shaheed Sardar was out in the fields of Kurghata village in Gournadi, Barisal, as he was every

year around this time, tending to crops during the late monsoon.

He was preoccupied because his son-in-law was ill, but felt things were going fairly well for his family. Shaheed’s son was well established with a job in the military, he had been blessed with a grandchild just under a year ago, and now his family were on a trip to Dhaka to treat his son-in-law.

But circumstances were cruelly conspiring to unleash unimaginable loss upon him. Shaheed’s family would be making the journey up the Padma River and the weather had turned as they, along with hundreds of other passengers, were being packed like sardines by unscrupulous launch operators into a ship called the Pinak 6.

He was in the fields when he got the  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Only two survey vessels to continue search for Pinak 6 n Ashif Islam Shaon from Mawa and Mohammad Jamil Khan in Dhaka

On the seventh day of rescue operation in search of Pinak 6 Munshiganj district authorities yesterday announced the withdrawal of Bangladesh Navy, Coast Guard, Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and Fire Service ships from the accident spot.

Only two survey vessels – Kandari 2 and Jarip 10 – will continue their search operation with rescue vessels Rustom and Nirvik keeping standby.

Saiful Hasan Badal, deputy commissioner of the district, while addressing a press briefing yesterday afternoon, said only Jarip 10 and Kanadari 2 will continue their work to ensure if the metallic object traced on Saturday  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Tofail urges BGMEA to form a crisis fund n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday tossed the idea of a “crisis fund” to be formed by the garment factory owners; but activists said strengthened monitoring from the government alone could do wonders.

At a press briefing yesterday at the BGMEA building in the capital, the minister urged the association of readymade garment manufacturers and exporters to form the fund to be

Forming such a fund is not a problem at all for BGMEA... It is really difficult to speculate its success or failure now utilised at times of crisis such as that of the Tuba Group.

The briefing was organised on the last day of disbursing due wages to the agitating workers of Tuba Group.

However, economist and rights activists Anu Muhammad, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Forming such a fund is not a problem at all for BGMEA. But, it is really difficult to speculate its success or failure right now. Instead, if the gov-

ernment strengthened monitoring to make sure that owners gave wages at the right time, the situation could drastically improve. BGMEA should also take more care of the sector.”

He also said: “I do not know how useful the fund will be. The victims of the Rana Plaza disaster have not got their compensations as yet.”

Sirajul Islam Rony, president of Bangladesh National Garments Workers-Employees League, said: “They [BGMEA] can form a fund for crisis situations, especially for giving compensations. Since the RMG sector is export oriented and involves multinational dealings, such a fund can provide security to the workers and ensure a healthy relationship with the owners.”

Syed Sadek Ahmed, managing director of Space Sweater Ltd, said: “Such a fund could be created for times of disasters like fire or collapse. But I am not sure how useful a fund could be for paying dues. We will need a really big fund. There are factories that pay Tk4-5 crore in wages every month. If 10 factories fall into crisis together, then we will need a lot of money.”

On July 28, at least 1,200 workers of five Tuba Group factories went on a hunger strike at the Hossain Market  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Allegedly without any prior notice, the Samajik Shikkha Kendra Government School building in the city’s Bailey Road was demolished on August 7. Even though only the benches were left standing, the demolition failed to douse the desire of the students to be educated. They wait for their teachers to take the classes out in the open yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

MPs disagree over Ebola screening at all international ports New Gaza truce agreed rape of indigenous n Moniruzzaman Uzzal opened soon at the Kurmitola General in Africa as a global health emergency. on Friday before a previous three-day n Reuters According to latest figures released by Hospital in the capital. truce expired and hostilities in the women The decision was made at an in- the WHO last Wednesday, there have Israel and the Palestinians yesterday month-old conflict broke out again.

As a precautionary measure, the Health A Hamas official said Palestinian Ministry yesterday issued a country- ter-ministerial meeting on prevention now been at least 1,711 recorded cases of agreed to an Egyptian proposal for a n Mushfique Wadud wide Ebola virus alert for 90 days, dur- of Ebola virus, headed by Health Minis- Ebola, a disease that has no proven vac- new 72-hour ceasefire in Gaza starting factions had accepted Egypt’s call and A member of parliament yesterday accused army personnel of raping indigenous women in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT) and called on the government to protect them.

“Indigenous women are raped by the army and they are raped by criminals.

The government should protect them,” said Hazera Khatun, Workers Party of Bangladesh MP for Seat 39, while speaking at a programme yesterday at the National Museum auditorium.

Her statement was contradicted by another MP speaking at the event.

RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee of the Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Ministry, said a rapist is a criminal, plain and simple, whether or not he wears a uniform.

“I would like to differ with Hazera  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

ing which special preventive measures will be taken at all international airports, land-ports and sea-ports to prevent the disease from entering the country.

As part of the special measures, a coordinated medical team will work to identify and carry out the physical examination of the suspected patients.

A 20-bed specialised ward will also be

ter Mohammed Nasim at the ministry’s conference room in the secretariat.

A six-member committee, headed by Health Secretary MM Niazuddin, was also formed to monitor and supervise the overall activities of Ebola virus prevention.

On Friday, the World Health Organisation declared the recent Ebola outbreak

cine or treatment. As of August 4, more than 932 people have died in Sierra Leone, Guinea, Liberia and Nigeria.

Health Secretary Niazuddin told the Dhaka Tribune that the precautionary measure has been taken to tackle any unwanted situation, adding that the 90day alert would be extended if needed.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE B1 | Business

A committee has been formed to place recommendations in implementing pledges Sheikh Hasina had made during her Japan visit in May, and initiate economic dialogues between the countries.

3 | News

Bangladesh and the US will try to reduce their political gap in the third partnership dialogue to be held in Washington.

4 | News

The haemodialysis unit of the DMCH faces a tragic but unavoidable predicament: it can admit new patients from a waiting list only when an under-treatment patient dies.

9 | World

14 | Sport

Southeast Asian countries yesterday expressed concern over ‘increased tensions’ in the South China Sea and called for stepped-up talks with China.

15 | Sport

Arsenal delivered a rousing demonstration of their Premier League title credentials by overwhelming league champions Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday.

12 | Entertainment

During Ramadan and post-Eid period, the cultural scenario was dim and dull. Last weekend, concerts, theatres and dance recitals rejuvenated the arena and the Dhaka city dwellers, who love to add colours to their lives.

Venus Williams booked her spot in the Montreal WTA final by rallying to take a three-set win over sister Serena on Saturday in their 25th career meeting.

at 2100 GMT (3am Bangladesh time), officials from the warring sides said.

“Israel has accepted Egypt’s proposal,” a senior Israeli government official said, adding Israeli negotiators would return to Cairo today to resume indirect talks with the Palestinians if the truce held.

The Israeli team had flown home

that the Cairo talks would continue.

In a statement, Egypt’s Foreign Ministry urged “both sides to exploit this truce to resume indirect negotiations immediately and work towards a comprehensive and lasting ceasefire agreement.”

Earlier, Prime Minister Benjamin  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, August 11, 2014

wants to Ivy, Shamim to be questioned BNP to hold rallies Abbas take on AL in Narayanganj seven murders on Aug 19 protesting n n broadcast policy Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The BNP will organise protest rallies around the country on August 19 in protest at the recently approved National Broadcasting Policy.

The party will also organise silent processions, holding black flags, in the capital and around the country on August 16 to protest against the Israeli attack in Gaza, said a Standing Committee member yesterday, seeking anonymity.

At a meeting of the party’s Standing Committee late last night BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia also decided to visit a number of districts soon to woo people.

The meeting at the chairperson’s Gulshan office also discussed an announcement of a 10-day plan for observing the BNP’s 35th founding anniversary on September 1.

The meeting prioritised issue-based activities to decide on party programmes.

The Standing Committee member said there would a meeting of the 20-party alliance after the committee’s meeting which which would finalise decisions on all the programmes.

At the party meeting, the BNP alleged that the government’s “incompetence, incapability and negligence” had led to the capsizing of the Pinak 6 launch causing the deaths of so many people.

Condemning the launch capsize incident, it also demanded compensation for the victims’ families and called for handing over all bodies immediately to their relatives and identifying all those responsible for the accident and bringing them to justice.

BNP’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir made the remarks while talking to reporters last night after coming out on a break of the Standing Committee meeting.

Speaking about the Tuba Garment crisis, Fakhrul condemned the attacks on the factory workers and demanded that the workers immediately be paid the wages that they deserve.

Calling for the new broadcast policy to be completely scrapped, the party spokesperson claimed that the move to introduce the policy was part of a conspiracy to establish one-party politics.

He also urged that all journalists resist the broadcast policy.

Speaking about the Gaza issue, the BNP leader said 1,800 people have so far been killed in Gaza. He also urged the United Nations, Organisation of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) and the Arab League to play a greater role in the issue.

The issues were discussed at yesterday’s meeting, where the BNP Standing Committee members gathered to discuss the course of their future programmes. l

Ebola screening  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

In a press release, Health Minister Mohammed Nasim asked citizens not to panic, but to remain alert. Claiming that the government has taken highest precautionary preparation to prevent Ebola, the minister said screening steps have been taken to ensure that Ebola-infected are not able to enter the country without proper health check up.

Dr Mahmudur Rahman, director of the Institute of Epidemiology Disease Control and Research (IEDCR), told the Dhaka Tribune that Bangladesh is facing a third-stage infection risk,

meaning there was small risk of Ebola infection in the country.

According to the WHO, the affected four countries are facing the first-stage risk, while their neighbouring countries are facing the second-stage risk.

Among others, State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan, State Minister for Health Zahid Maleque, Director General of health services Dr Din Mohammed Nural Hoque, Bangladesh Medical Association Secretary General Dr M Iqbal Arslan, and IEDCR Director Mahmudur Rahman were present at yesterday’s inter-ministerial meeting. l

Tofail urges BGMEA  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

in the capital’s Badda area demanding payment of three months’ wages, overtime and festival bonuses together before Eid. The Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters’ Association (BGMEA), managed a temporary fund for paying the due wages for May and June to a total of 1,475 workers of the group, after being pressured by the government in the wake of the hunger strike.

According to BGMEA, until 9pm yesterday, Tuba Group management disbursed wages for July and overtime bills for May and June to a total of 1,383 workers. Many workers also collected their attendance incentives.

BGMEA claimed that Tuba Group Managing Director Delowar Hossain, also the owner of Tazreen Fashion where a factory fire in 2012 killed more than a hundred, managed the wages for July by selling factory machinery and private lands.

Delowar, who was arrested last year in connection with the Tazreen fire, was released on bail last week. Tuba management said they could not pay the workers because the banks would not give them the fund as their owner was in jail.

During yesterday’s briefing, a journalist asked the minister about whether Delowar would be able to run the factory in the future.

In reply, Tofail said: “The own-

Dhaka city unit BNP Convener Mirza Abbas yesterday said his party wanted to take on the ruling Awami League in the streets.

“We want to meet Awami League in the field; but they do not want it. They want to face our movement by using police and RAB,” he told journalists after a meeting with the leaders of the convening committee.

Yesterday, at another programme in the capital, Awami League leader and Health Minister Mohammad Nasim said they wanted to face BNP in the field.

“You [Awami League] call a meeting and we call a meeting. Let us see what happens. There is nothing to fight about. Hold an election and see your popularity — that is the only field,” said Abbas countering Nasim’s statement. l

Mohosinul Karim

Narayanganj City Corporation Mayor Selina Hayat Ivy and MP Shamim Osman from Narayanganj-4 constituency will be quizzed today and tomorrow, respectively, for the sensational seven murder case in Narayanganj.

A seven-member probe body will question them at the secretariat, said AKM Mohiuddin, deputy secretary of the Public Administration Ministry and also member secretary of the probe committee.

Ivy will be interrogated at 10am today and Shamim at 11:30am tomorrow at the Bangladesh Secretariat in the capital, he said.

On May 6, as per a High Court direc-

Only two survey vessels to continue search for Pinak 6  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

under water is the sunken launch Pinak 6.

However, the divers of other organisations will continue their work, the DC said.

DC Saiful further said when the tide ebbs the divers will resume their operation in full swing. Now it is risky to work in such a strong wave and current.

About the latest location of the sunken launch, Commander Manjurul Karim Chowdhury of the Chittagong Port yesterday evening said: “There is no new development to tell you. They are trying to trace the metallic object. we are still hopeful.”

Meanwhile, the local rescue diver company Meghna Chins and Cycle Mat joined the rescue operation along with the existing team.

Mohammad Hassan, owner of the diver agency, told the Dhaka Tribune that the shipping minister asked them to join the rescue operation as they had some previous experience.

Hassan further said they started working from yesterday morning. “We are very happy that we on the first day could trace a metallic object under water and we are suspecting that it is the Pinak 6.

“As the wave in the river is too high today we cannot go under water but tomorrow morning around 7.00am our divers will go down and hope

er of Tuba will try to keep the factories operational. If he fails and has to shut them down, then he will clear all the dues of the workers as per the law.”

Yesterday, the BGMEA leaders informed the minister that Delowar had a Tk18 crore insurance claim in connection with the Tazreen fire.

The minister said he did not know that before and assured that steps would be taken in this regard.

During the briefing, the minister came down hard on some left political organisations that had expressed solidarity with the fasting workers.

He said: “In order to elongate the crisis and to keep the workers from getting their wages, some progressive

that we would able to give some good news.

Osman Goni Talukder, chairman of Lauhoganj Upazila, said the minister asked the divers to work as they are local and had worked on the area earlier.

However, a source said the minister said the divers would be given Tk5 lakh if they could trace the launch.

Meanwhile, a total of 46 bodies have been recovered over the last seven days since the Pinak 6 launch went down under water.

Of them, 28 were handed over to family members while the rest 17 bodies were buried after their DNA samples were put aside. l

New Gaza truce agreed  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Netanyahu said: “Israel will not negotiate under fire” and warned of a protracted Israeli military campaign in the Gaza Strip if rocket salvoes continued.

Hamas has demanded an end to Israeli and Egyptian blockades of the coastal territory and the opening of a Gaza seaport - a project Israel says should be dealt with only in any future talks on a permanent peace deal with the Palestinians. l

political parties tried very hard. But they have failed. They tried to work in favour of some of our competitors in the global market. But they failed.”

BGMEA President Atiqul Islam, who also spoke at the briefing, said: “The owner will decide whether he will run the factories or not. He sold machinery and land to pay the workers. So, how the factories will now run is a matter of consideration. The insurance company is not paying Delowar’s legal claim.

Moreover, the banks have not stood by him at a time of crisis.”

He also thanked the prime minister, the ministers and the local lawmakers for their role during the recent crisis. l

tive, the public administration ministry formed the probe body to investigate the abduction and killing of seven people in Narayanganj.

Additional Secretary of the ministry Shahjahan Ali Mollah is leading the committee which is comprised of three officials from public administration ministry, two officials from home ministry and two officials from law ministry.

Earlier, the probe body interrogated former deputy commissioner of Narayanganj Monoj Kanti Boral and Superintendent of Police Nurul Islam in connection with the case.

Sources in the committee said the investigation was almost over and they hope to submit the investigation report to the High Court by the end of next month.

Poor coordination marks failed salvage operation  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

Instead of a coordinated effort, the fire service, Bangladesh Internal Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) and the navy launched rescue operations of their own. It took the shipping minister four days to hold the first coordination meeting after the accident that is thought to have killed nearly 200 people.

Moreover, the fact that most of the rescue crew do not have proper training for such operations has made things even harder.

Aminur Rasel Babul, leader of a citizens movement for river-route safety, said: “Such accidents require more rescue vessels with survey equipment and trained manpower, which is not available in our country. We also needed to deploy volunteers at the accident site immediately after the accident. But that did not happen either.”

BIWTA’s “ace” rescue vessel Rustom reached the spot nearly 14 hours after the accident. Rustom can only pull up sunken vessels from the bottom of rivers; it does not have any tracing mechanism. So, if the position of a launch is not clear, it has nothing to do.

Soon, search vessel Nirbhik joined Rustom, but BIWTA’s survey vessels Kandari 2 and Jarip 10 – both equipped with modern technologies – were still a couple of days away.

Experts say when Kandari 2 and Jarip 10 reached the spot as late as five days after the accident, strong waves have carried the sunken launch further away from the spot making the search difficult for the two vessels.

Aminur Rasel Babul said: “The authority called the rescue vessel first.

Then they called the search vessel Nirbhik, and finally survey vessels Kandari and Jarip. They should have moved all the vessels at the same time.”

Asked why the rescue vessel was sent before locating the launch, BIWTA officials said sending the vessel after any accident was a routine procedure; as locating the launch was taking time, they later decided to send the search and survey vessels.

Both Kandari 2 and Jarip 10 belong to the Chittagong Port Authority. Officials said these two vessels had equipment such as the sub-bottom profiler, multi-beam echo sounder, side scan-

Mounting psychological toll in Pinak 6 tragedy  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

news that the launch had gone down, and rushed to Mawa Launch Terminal in the lungi and shirt he had on.

At Mawa, Shaheed’s search for his family began, but it has proven to be a harrowing experience; partly because the dead, spread across a vast area that is growing with the pull of the current, are less and less likely to be recovered, and partly because emergency responders haven’t done enough to mitigate the psychological effects on the victim’s families.

“I have lost my son Alamin Sardar, who worked in the Bangladesh Army, my daughter Mayna Akter, my 11 month-old grandson and Mayna’s mother-in-law,” Shaheed said.

“I do not know where I should go or how to find my family members.

When word of a recovered dead body is announced I rush to see if it is one of them, but I haven’t found them yet,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Meanwhile, his son-in-law, Sabuj, Mayna’s husband, is waiting for his family at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) where he was admitted on the second day of Eid-ul-Fitr for a brain illness. His four missing family members were travelling to meet him at the hospital.

“Sabuj hasn’t been told about the incident and the television in his hospital room was removed so he would not

get news of the accident. I don’t know what to do. Four of my family members are missing and at the same time my son-in-law is facing a life-threatening condition in hospital,” Shaheed said exhausted from worry.

He has been in a kind of daze since the accident. Torn between two family crises, and fatigued by uncertainty, he has slept little and lost track of whether he has been eating.

The dispersed and ad-hoc manner in which bodies recovered from the river were laid out to be identified has had a spirit-crushing effect on families bereft of certainty, though not yet bereft of hope, and still not able to grieve.

Until a government announcement on Thursday that the victims’ remains would be kept at Pachchar Government Primary School because most of the victim families lived nearby, victim’s families were frantically travelling to and fro between several sites in search of news, any news.

Soon after the accident, Shaheed had received information that his son had been rescued by fishermen who sent him to a hospital in Madaripur sadar, but when he contacted a doctor there, it turned out to be false.

He then came to Pachchar Government Primary School from Mawa when he learnt that an accident victim’s body was being kept there.

But the dead woman who had been

pulled from her watery grave was not one of his family members.

Shibchar’s Assistant Commissioner of Land Momin Uddin, who is in charge of transferring dead bodies to relatives, announced on the loudspeaker that a female body, aged approximately 40-42, wearing a black burqa, maroon salwar and a kameez printed with black spots, was recovered by Barisal port police.

The announcement of another recovered female body, this time in Barisal, sent Shaheed into an anxious state. He said he felt frustrated and tired at having to travel to Barisal to see if the body was that of one of his family members.

Shaheed’s despair from not knowing whether or not his loved ones were dead or alive is not difficult to comprehend. As he brings himself to the brink of exhaustion chasing down every lead he gets, it almost seems as though being allowed to grieve would be a merciful thing.

For some, the experience had frayed their nerves to breaking point.

While Shaheed prepared to go to Barisal, a middle-aged woman wearing white, a colour traditionally associated with widowhood, wailed inconsolably as she demanded to be shown her relative’s dead body.

Nearly mad from grief, her face stained with tears, the woman demanded to be shown the dead body held by

The probe body plans to question Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the case, shortly, who is currently serving time at a Kolkata jail.

On April 27, Narayanganj panel mayor Nazrul Islam, his three associates and chauffeur were abducted by miscreants from Fatullah area of Narayanganj.

Hours after their abduction, senior lawyer of district Judge’s Court Chandan Kumar Sarker and his chauffeur were also abducted on their way to Dhaka.

Three days after their abduction, on April 30, the bodies of the six people were found floating in the Shitalakkhya River, while another body was recovered on May 1. l

ner, sonar, etc, which are also the latest technologies available in the world.

It was in fact the side scanner that located a metallic object yesterday that had resemblance with the sunken ship.

However, all the equipment loses much of its effectiveness if it has to work in rough overhead conditions, especially strong waves and decreased visibility due to muddy water.

Port officials also said the two vessels had never been used before for the purpose of locating a capsized launch.

Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said: “We need more logistic support for the fire service to run rescue operations smoothly. The staff need to be trained, too. Moreover, there must be smooth coordination among the authorities to ensure smooth rescue operation after any kind of accident.”

Captain Nazrul Islam admitted that they had not thought about using the latest technology at first. He said had they used the technology immediately after the accident, the rescue operation would have taken much less time.

Records from the Department of Shipping show that over the past two decades, at least 392 capsizes have claimed 3,567 lives and left 401 people missing. At least 56 launches that have sunk at various times have never been pulled out of the riverbeds while 12 others have never been traced at all.

There are allegations that most of these launches were left abandoned because of a lack of modern technology.

The Dhaka Tribune has learned that at least 2,500 boats and cargo vessels of various sizes had gone under water at different times and the authorities never took any steps to recover them.

However, the BIWTA has recently invited a tender to pull up 26 water vessels from under water. Of them, 10 are launches and others are ferries and barges.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “If any sunken vessel does not cause any harm, we do not consider pulling it up.

Those water vessels need to be pulled up because they are hampering navigation.” l

MPs disagree the Red Crescent. But when officials and volunteers showed her the bloated corpse, she could not recognize the body.

The woman had no visible companions. Onlookers said she spoke to whoever would listen, and if no one in particular was speaking with her, she kept up a regular diatribe against everyone there. Her intense agitation and woeful laments made several people around her start crying.

As the number of people looking for lost loved ones converged upon the school, a shroud of strained anxiety and grief seemed to wrap around it.

Md Rubel, 10, who came from Gopalganj with his mother, said: “I have lost my father and two elder brothers who were the earning members of the family. My father was a rickshaw-puller and my brothers worked in a rickshaw workshop.”

“We have not found them. We have camped out at Mawa for three days.

Now we have come here to find my father and brothers,” he added.

The vast majority of the travellers are working class people, for whom this disaster is counted in wage-days in addition to personal grief. The distances that these families have travelled, their constant moves as they follow up scant bits of information originating in a half a dozen locations, and the mounting travel costs that must be paid is creating another mini-disaster in their lives.

“I was able to give my mother two pieces of bread to eat in three days and some water. Nothing else,” he said.

“We have nowhere to live here. I do not know what we will do if we don’t find my father and brothers,” he said in a small voice.

His mother could not talk because she was physically and mentally exhausted.

Many families here had fallen silent.

Earlier, sobbing had given way to very little speech, and then dejected silence.

Some might say that a grieving process had begun, and while that might well be true, it masked the physical exhaustion that the uncertainty and lack of coordination in the rescue and recovery process had caused.

The Red Crescent Society disaster response department’s Assistant Director Nurul Amin told the Dhaka Tribune: “Here, I have seen many people who are actually becoming psychologically weak and faint. They do not know what to do. Moreover, dead bodies cannot be identified because the water damage had disfigured them.”

“Many people have no shelter. They haven’t eaten food for many days. I do not know when they will leave but I worry about what they will do if they do not find their relatives. I worry about what they will do if they cannot find closure for this tragedy,” he said, his weariness apparent in his voice. l

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

Apa’s statement about rape by army men. I don’t think the army is institutionally involved in such activities.

People who do this are criminals and we should not blame everyone for one person’s misdeeds,” he said.

The parliamentary caucus on indigenous people arranged the programme, marking the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples.

Rights organisation Kapaeeng Foundation said 160 cases of violence against women – including rape, rape-murder and sexual harassment – were filed in the Children Repression Prevention Tribunals of Chittagong Hill Tracts from 2007 to 2012.

Research conducted by Kapaeeng found that in 2013, 67 indigenous women and children – 53 from CHT and 14 from the plains – were victimised. Fifteen had been raped.

The organisation’s research found that 69% of the victims were minors, 89% of the alleged perpetrators were ethnic Bengalis and 7% were indigenous people, and 4% of the perpetrators were security personnel.

The organisation recalled Kalpana Chakma, a Hill Women’s Federation activist who was abducted, allegedly by army personnel, from her village home in New Lalyaghona, Rangamati on June 12, 1996. Kalpana remains missing and is presumed dead. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Defence: Qaisar Bahini did not exist in ’71 n Udisa Islam The defence of alleged war criminal Syed Mohammad Qaisar yesterday claimed that there had been no collaborators’ group named “Qaisar Bahini” in Habiganj during the 1971 Liberation War. While placing arguments at the International Crimes Tribunal 2, SM Shahjahan said there had been no reality to form such group by his client, a former state minister during HM Ershad’s regime.

“There was no existence of ‘Qaisar Bahini’ in Habiganj which used to accompany the Pakistani occupation forces in committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War,” he said adding that the prosecution had failed to prove the case.

During the second day of arguments, the defence counsel fumbled several times in the face of repeated questions

by the tribunal. Shahjahan had failed to stay on track during his submission.

Qaisar was indicted on February 2 on 16 charges of crimes against humanity. A total of 32 prosecution witnesses testified against the accused. The defence refused to present any witness to defend their client.

The defence claimed that during the war, Madhabpur area had been under the surveillance of Protirodh Committee (resistance committee), led by Manik Chowdhury. His close aide was Madhabpur police officer Moslem Uddin. “Then, how can individual Qaisar form a bahini [force]?”

At the end of arguments, the tribunal asked the defence to complete their submission anyhow by tomorrow saying: “If you do not place your arguments quickly, you will be the looser.

Then we will have to stop you.”

After the whole day session, the tribunal adjourned the trial until today

keeping the argument incomplete.

On Thursday, Shahjahan in the beginning of the argument questioned the investigation process.

Accused Qaisar was involved in the crimes along with Pakistani occupation forces.

His father and uncle were involved with Convention Muslim League The defence also refuted the claims made by prosecution witness Tajul Islam, who identified himself as a member of “Qaisar Bahini” saying that such group had not existed.

According to the prosecution, Qaisar, 30/35 years’ old during the war, had

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Monday, August 11, 2014

formed “Qaisar Bahini” comprising 500-700 men and committed crimes against humanity in Habiganj and Brahmanbaria areas.

Qaisar was involved in the crimes as an individual or as a member of an individual group along with the Pakistani occupation forces, the prosecution says. His father and uncle were involved with the politics of Convention Muslim League.

“Qaisar Bahini” had acted like the notorious razakar force that collaborated with the Pakistani occupation forces.

“After the war, the accused could not be found anywhere until the brutal killings of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and his family members in 1975. Before and after that time he was working with the anti-liberation groups. The accused took part in the elections of 1979 and 1986,” prosecutor Rana Dasgupta said during the closing argument session. l

JS body: No constitutional bar to using term Adivasi n Mushfique Wadud Members of the parliamentary caucus on indigenous peoples yesterday said they had seen no constitutional bar on the use of “Adivasi” or the term “indigenous.”

“I do not think that there is any constitutional bar to use the term Adivasi.

We will continue using it in our caucus’ name,” Fazle Hasan Badsha, convenor of the caucus, said during a meeting at the National Museum auditorium.

The Press Information Department on August 7 issued a release urging the people to avoid the word “Adivasi” at discussions and talk-shows on the International Day of the World’s Indigenous Peoples observed on Saturday.

Badsha said some over-enthusiastic officials were doing this. “I do not think that the government high-ups have any involvement with this statement.”

Chairman of Parliamentary Stand-

ing Committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts Affairs Ministry RAM Obaidul Muktadir Chowdhury said he also believed that an over enthusiastic group within the government had done it. “I went through the constitution and did not find anything that creates obstacles in using the term ‘Adivasi,’” he said.

Speaking at the meeting, another caucus member AKM Fazlul Haque urged his colleagues to take steps with a view to uphold the rights of the indigenous people in using the term “Adivasi.”

Chairman of the CHT Regional Council Jyotirindra Bodhipriya Larma said everyone had delivered positive words but they brought no concrete result.

“The CHT Peace Accord has not been implemented in the last 17 years,” he said adding that the present government in its two terms had not taken any steps against the military rule imposed in the CHT region for the last 43 years. l

Charge against Mirza Abbas in blast case dropped n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday discharged BNP’s newly-appointed Dhaka City Convener and Standing Committee member Mirza Abbas from a 2010 case involving a bomb blast that injured three RAB members during a hartal.

Dhaka’s Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alamgir Kabir Raj passed the order and indicted 19 others after a hearing.

The BNP leader’s name was dropped as no witness had mentioned his name as accused while testifying before the investigation officer. Police pressed the charge sheet on July 22, 2012 accusing 20 people.

Defence counsel Joynal Abedin Mesbah filed a discharge petition mentioning that there is no allegation against Abbas.

After a hearing, the court ordered to discharge him and framed charge against 19 other accused. It also fixed October 16 for recording depositions of prosecution witnesses.

The case was filed with Motijheel police station on June 27, 2010.

According the case statement, activists from a procession, brought out by the BNP-Jamaat-Shibir men, hurled handmade bombs at police in Rajarbagh Police Lines area on that day.

Three members of Rapid Action Battalion were injured in the incident.

Abbas was accused in the case as an abetter.

Meanwhile, another Dhaka court yesterday deferred the charge framing hearing in three cases filed against BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and 89 others upon time petitions filed by the defence.

Metropolitan Magistrate Tarique Mainul Islam Bhuiyan set September 2 for the Shahjahanpur police case while August 24 and September 3 for the other cases filed with Paltan police.

The court also issued an arrest warrant against 12 BNP leaders including its Students’ Affairs Secretary Shahiduddin Chowdhury Annie for not appearing before the court.

Among the 90 accused, at least 55 BNP leaders and activists including Mirza Fakhrul appeared before the court during the hearing.

The Detective Branch of Police submitted charge sheet in the three cases on March 27 last year.

The three cases were filed under the Speedy Trial Tribunal Act for creating panic among people, torching vehicles and preventing police from discharging their duties during a rally in front of the BNP’s Nayapaltan office on March 2. l

Workers from the Tuba Group queue up in front of the BGMEA building yesterday to collect their outstanding wages for the month of July

Bangladesh and US seek to bridge political gap

Four-day remand granted against 19 Jamaat-Shibir men n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Bangladesh and the US will try to reduce their political gap in the third Md Sanaul Islam Tipu n partnership dialogue to be held in A Dhaka court yesterday granted 4-day remand against 19 Jamaat-Shibir leaders and activists, including Jamaat-e-Islami central leader and former Chhatra Shibir president Shafiqul Islam Masud, in a case filed with Mohammadpur police station.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Ataul Haque passed the order after Sub-Inspector Saiful Islam produced them before the court, seeking a 10-day remand each for interrogation.

The defence lawyer had also filed bail petition for his clients, but the court passed the order, rejecting the bail petition.

Earlier on Saturday, police arrested the 19 at a house in the capital’s Mohammadpur area around 8:30pm while the detainees were holding a secret meeting. Later, a case was filed with Mohammadpur police station in this regard.

The other detainees are Ziaul Hasan, Mahabubur Rahman, Abbas Miah, Kamrul Hasan, Sagir, Lokman, Syed Ahmad Ali, Ibrahim, Al-Amin, Mahe Alam, Yusuf, Ibrahim Monir, Mazraul Islam, Habib, Abdul halim, Nur Amin, Monir Hossain and Moshfique. l

One held with 20 fake Tk1,000 notes n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Police held a person yesterday with 20 counterfeit notes of Tk1,000 denominations in Chittagong’s Bakalia area.

Tajuddin alias Masud, 23, is a listed forged note trader, OC Mohammad Mohsin of Bakalia police station said.

He was arrested in Rahattarpul area around 9am. A case was filed. Two others were arrested on Saturday with fake notes.

Police say a total of 143 listed people are involved in the counterfeit note trading across the city and adjoining areas. l

Washington.

“We will be holding the third dialogue in the third week of October,” Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque told the Dhaka Tribune.

Bangladesh and the US enjoy a love and hate relationship as Washington praises Dhaka as a moderate, secular and pluralistic society and calls it an increasingly important trading partner and destination for US investment.

On the other hand, Washington has remained concerned about the state of democracy and human rights violations in Bangladesh and termed the parliamentary elections of January 5 as undeniably flawed.

The US has said that Bangladesh’s

main political parties urgently need to engage in constructive dialogue that leads to a more representative government.

“We have shared views and at the same time differences of opinions,” said an official of the Bangladesh foreign ministry.

The political relationship is the most important and the two countries will sit together and sort out their differences in this regard, he said.

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali and US Secretary of State John Kerry had an opportunity to meet each other at a reception at the ASEAN ministerial meeting in Myanmar Saturday where they briefly discussed issues of mutual interest, he added.

“This short meeting will have an impact on the next partnership dialogue,” the official said.

The foreign secretary will have talks

with his counterpart, Wendy Sherman, the under secretary for political affairs.

The countries held the third security dialogue in Dhaka in April where they discussed cooperation in the security area.

“The decisions taken at the security dialogue will be placed in the partnership dialogue for review,” the official said.

Anti-terrorism, natural disasters, climate change, defence cooperation, arms purchases and other security issues were discussed in the security dialogue.

Meanwhile, US Ambassador-designate Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat, at a hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations committee in July said: “The strong US-Bangladesh relationship allows us to discuss our differences, when they occur, in a spirit of candour and openness.”

Certificates of 31 fake FFs scrapped n Mohosinul Karim

In less than a month, the government has cancelled 31 more fake freedom fighter certificates of public servants including a joint secretary and a senior official of Bangladesh Bank.

The Liberation War Affairs Ministry issued a gazette notification yesterday regarding the matter following the approval of the National Council of Freedom Fighters, widely known as Jatiya Muktijoddha Council (Jamuka).

The certificates of 35 other public servants were scrapped on July 21.

The steps were taken after those certificates had been proved to be false in the investigations conducted by the National Security Intelligence and the district administrations.

According to the gazette, it was found that the 31 officials and persons, who had taken provisional certificates from the ministry, were not real freedom fighters.

The high officials whose certificates have been cancelled are Joint Secretary Mahbubul Alam, who was placed un-

der the Public Administration Ministry for further posting; Bangladesh Bank Executive Director Md Abdul Hamid; LGED Project Director SM Selim; Department of Public Health Engineering’s Supervising Engineer Md Sirajul Islam; Water Development Board’s Executive Engineer Md Saidur Rahman; and Civil Aviation Authority Director AKM Ataul Islam.

The certificates of Benapole Tax Officer Md Nazmul Kabir; Dhaka’s tax officers Nilufa Sultana and Mostaq Ahmed; Chittagong tax office’s retired stenotypist Alamgir Kabir Chowdhury; Chittagong Port Authority’s Chief Assistant Khan Sirajul Islam; its Lower Division Assistant Md Alauddin and former security inspector Fayez Kabir; Chittagong’s SI Niranjan Kumar Roy and Narsingdi’s Tally Clerk Md Abdur Rouf were also cancelled.

Gazipur’s Sub-Registrar Jasim Uddin Md Toufik Elahi and Sylhet District Registry Office’s Chief Assistant Md Masudul Haque; Kapasia’s Food Inspector Md Abdul Malek; Nababganj Upazila Health Complex former

accountant Abdul Mannan; Faridpur Road Sub-Division’s Sub Assistant Engineer KM Abul Hossain; Narsingdi’s Assistant Agriculture Extension Officer Md Asaduzzaman and Bangladesh Agriculture Development Board’s retired accounts officers Manisha Ranjan Roy and SM Alauddin are among others who took provisional certificates from the ministry claiming that they had joined the 1971 Liberation War. The government school teachers whose certificates were cancelled are assistant teachers of Norerkanda Primary School Abdur Rouf Mollah, Soratoil Primary School’s Matiar Rahman, West Shahpur Primary School’s Muhiuddin Morol; and Headmaster Khogendra Nath Saha of Badarghata Primaray School.

The certificates of Hafizur Rahman, Wali Ahmed and Dr Minal Kanti Mitra were also cancelled for the same reason.

Many of the officials have already lost jobs while others will face departmental action. So far, a total of 147 fake certificates of public servants have been cancelled since 2009. The government is probing 500 other allegations. l

She expressed grave concerns about the January 5 elections, the confrontational political situation, political violence, attacks on religious and ethnic minorities, and extra-judicial killings committed by security forces.

“I will work hard to support efforts to promote accountability and strengthen human rights and democracy in Bangladesh,” she said.

Bangladesh is a focus country for three of the President Barack Obama’s key development efforts - Global Health, Global Climate Change, and Feed the Future, she added.

About Bangladesh’s commitment to holding trials of war criminals, she said: “The United States supports bringing to justice those who committed atrocities in the 1971 war, but those trials should be fair and transparent, and in accordance with international standards.” l

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Ex-official of Sky Distributions under ACC scanner n Tribune Report The Anti-Corruption Commission has decided to launch an inquiry against a former official of lubricant importer Sky Distributions for his alleged involvement in embezzling Tk17 lakh.

In a regular meeting, the commission appointed two of its officials for the inquiry against former senior marketing officer of Sky Distributions Sumon Kumer Ray, an ACC official told reporters at ACC headquarters yesterday.

ACC Assistant Director Saiful Islam will investigate the allegations while its Deputy Director Jatan Kumer Ray will supervise the inquiry.

While working with Sky Distributions, the accused embezzled Tk17,28,711 from his office. l

Reshuffle within tribunal prosecution team begins n Udisa Islam Just three days after the Law Ministry relieved AKM Saiful Islam, another prosecutor Mir Iqbal Hossain, who has been absent at work for nearly six months, yesterday voluntarily stepped down on grounds of health.

Now the prosecution team of the International Crimes Tribunal has 19 counsels. One of them, Noor Jahan, became parliament member in January.

Some members of the prosecution team take it as part of the reshuffling process hinted at by the law minister recently. They think the ministry may take more initiatives to reorganise the prosecution team.

Mir Iqbal, who joined the prosecution team on April 29, 2012, submitted his resignation letter to the law minister mentioning that it was not possible for him to continue the job as a prosecutor because of his poor health, said Hrishikesh Saha, a senior prosecutor.

Iqbal never conducted any case except for the one against Jamaat-eIslami Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami.

He had handed over the responsibility of the case to one of his junior colleagues during the preliminary stage reportedly due to his lack of capacity to conduct the case. Later prosecutor Mohammad Ali conducted the case.

Officially, Iqbal remained absent from his duties since late April when he had submitted an application to the chief prosecutor seeking one-month leave from May 1. But after the leave period expired, no one knows whether the prosecutor sought an extension.

However, acting chief prosecutor Haider Ali claimed that Iqbal used to keep contact with the team.

A mid-level prosecutor said the ministry did not want to reform the team harshly but knew that it was needed.

“So it is taking action one by one and staying away from criticisms.” l

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Grim wait at DMCH haemodialysis unit n Moniruzzman Uzzal The haemodialysis unit of the DMCH, where there is a severe shortage of haemodialysis machines, faces a tragic but unavoidable predicament: it can admit new patients from a waiting list only when an under-treatment patient dies.

With only 16 haemodialysis machines available for over 450 enlisted renal failure patients, the authorities concerned at the haemodialysis unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) have little to no options at hand. Working around-the-clock in three shifts, the unit can provide dialysis services to a maximum of 30-40 patients in a single day.

Kidney failures reportedly cause around 40,000 deaths in Bangladesh each year The unit is unable to accommodate all those who need the treatment as every patient needs to undergo two to three dialysis treatments a week.

Nephrologists said regular haemodialysis treatments or kidney transplants were the only two end-stage options for patients who have had both kidneys fail. As the kidney transplant process was comparatively more expensive, and the collection of a kidney from a blood relative was also a complicated procedure; most patients wanted to take the haemodialysis treatment.

Dr Nizamuddin Chowdhury, head of the haemodialysis unit, told the Dhaka Tribune that the limited number of machines meant they could not offer dialysis to at least 150 patients on their waiting list. “We have nothing to do unless a patient is dead,” he added.

When asked about the fate of the patients who fail to get admitted to the DMCH haemodialysis unit, Dr Nizam said those who could afford it usually went to private dialysis centres, while others who did not have the financial ability had no other option but to stop their own treatment and ultimately die.

“We need more haemodialysis machines. We have applied for 15 more machines and other accessories. If we get it, we would provide dialysis services to more kidney patients,” the chief of the haemodialysis unit said.

Compared to other hospitals, the DMCH reportedly offers more affordable haemodialysis treatments. For six months of treatment, the DMCH haemodialysis unit charges around Tk25,000 to each patient; while it costs each patient Tk40,000 to Tk50,000 per month to receive treatment from the private sector facilities.

Brig Gen Dr Mustafizur Rahman, director of the DMCH said the hospital had long been planning to set up an ideal haemodialysis unit, but was unable to do so because there only limited space was available at the unit to accommodate new machines.

However, there was now enough space available after the unit was recently shifted to DMCH 2. Requisition requests for 15 new machines have already been submitted to the health directorate, the DMCH director added.

Visiting the haemodialysis unit yesterday, the Dhaka Tribune spoke to Abdur Rashid, the son of a kidney patient, who said his father finally got an appointment for treatment after a gruelling wait of four months. However, there are still hundreds more who wait their turn to get affordable treatment at the unit.

Kidney failures reportedly cause around 40,000 deaths in Bangladesh each year, with more than 90% patients dying without receiving proper treatment. l

Although buses are not allowed to carry extra passengers on their roofs, bus drivers and helpers often flout rules to make more money by letting people sit on the top. The pictured BRTC bus is carrying passengers on the roof right under the nose of police yesterday at Rajshahi’s Kamaruzzaman Chattar AZAHAR UDDIN

Mozena: No simple solution to tackle the drug monster n Tribune Report US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan Mozena said illicit drug is a heinous monster everywhere in the world and there is no easy way to tackle it.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of “Prevention of illicit drug use and treatment of drug use disorders for children and adolescents at risk,” a training and workshop programme for drug addicts, he said it preyed on the minds and bodies of vulnerable people, including children, young adults, mature people, boys and girls, rich and poor.

“There is no magic wand, no simple solution to helping people steer clear of the drug monster, but there are

some things that we can do to address the myriad of social, psychological and financial security and other forces that induce individuals to be lured by the quick fix offered by drugs,” he said.

He urged all to find the way to avoid the trap of drug abuse and to save those who were already addicted to drugs.

The opening ceremony took place yesterday at the Catholic Bishops’ Conference of Bangladesh Centre in the capital.

Apon, a non-government addiction rehabilitation centre in Mohammadpur, is organising the workshop, which is being funded by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crimes (UNODC).

Brother Ronald Drahuzole, executive director of Apon, presided over

the opening ceremony, while Elizabeth Matfield, co-coordinator of the drug dependency programme at UNODC, Nazmul Ahsan Majumder, director (treatment and rehabilitation) of at the Department of Narcotics Control (DNC), ABM Kamrul Ahsan, program co-coordinator of UNODC, and Dr M Enamul Hoque, former director of the DNC, spoke at the event, among others.

Nazmul Ahsan Majumder said the number of drug addicts was high, but there were only four public addiction treatment centres with 65 beds – 40 beds at the Drug Addiction Treatment Centre in Tejgaon and the rest outside Dhaka.

There are no treatment facilities

for women and child drug users in the public centres, he said.

“The DNC has given licences to 100 private drug rehabilitation centres to treat the drug users. We are about to complete a 250-bed public hospital in Tejgaon,” he added.

ABM Kamrul Ahsan said more than 700,000 children, adolescents and their families lived on the streets, and around 50% of them were victims of drug abuse, according to the Bureau of Statistics. Most of them do not have access to proper healthcare.

Brother Ronald Drahuzole said a huge number of boys and girls under age 10 were unattended. Most of them were involved in drug-related crimes and other practices. l

HC rule to protect Tagore's Kachharibari n Ahmed Zayeef The High Court yesterday directed the government to stop the construction of a private building near the home of Nobel Laureate poet Rabindranath Tagore. It is considered as an archaeological site, known as Kacharibari, at Shahjadpur in Sirajganj.

The bench, comprising of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Akram Hossain Chowdhury, also asked the authorities to send a compliance report

in 4 weeks regarding the stoppage of construction of the building by Yarn Merchant Association.

The court also issued a rule asking the government and the association chairman to explain why they should not be directed to protect the archaeological site by removing the illegal structure.

The bench passed the order after hearing a writ petition filed on August 7

by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, referring to recent newspapers

Salma Sobhan’s 77th birth anniversary today n Adil Sakhawat

Artistes perform at a cultural programme at the Chhayanaut Auditorium yesterday, organised by Ain O Salish Kendra to mark the 77th birth anniversary of its founding executive director Salma Sobhan MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Report on Bangladesh's environment and climate change published n Tribune Report The government yesterday published the Bangladesh Environment and Climate Change Outlook 2012 report which is a compilation of the current status of the country’s environmental situation.

The report, produced by the Department of Environment (DoE), includes the status of different themes like land resources, water resources, biodiversity, air quality, waste management and climate change.

DoE Director General Raisul Alam Mondol said the current report tried to identify the link between the negative impacts of climate change and different sectors of the environment.

It would help the government to take sustainable measures toward stopping environmental degradation, he added.

It identified the ways to do so and to ensure sustainable development in the country, he added, while addressing the launching programme at the city’s

Cirdap auditorium.

As a signatory nation of Agenda 21, which was taken in Earth Summit 1992 to protect the global environment from degradation, the DoE has produced the report as part of the country’s environmental status submission procedure to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

Earlier in 2001, the country prepared its first environment outlook which was named State of Environment Report 2001. l

Idcol to set up solar irrigation pumps n Aminur Rahman Rasel

The Infrastructure Development Company Limited (Idcol) signed a financing agreement yesterday with the Mazand Consortium Limited (MCL) for setting up five solar irrigation pumps in Jessore and Jhenaidah.

“Under the project, the MCL will install four pumps in Jessore and one in Jhenaidah, which is expected to provide water to 1,556 bigha land for irrigation,” Executive Director and CEO of

Idcol Mahmood Malik told the Dhaka Tribune.

Idcol is a public limited company and a non-bank financial institution fully owned by the government, which is one of the leaders in energy and infrastructure financing in Bangladesh.

The project worth Tk25.13 crore will be financed by the Idcol – 40% of the cost as soft loan and 40% as grant under Idcol’s renewable energy programme. On the other hand, the fund

for the grant and loan will be sourced from the Japan International Cooperation Agency and the World Bank.

Meanwhile, sources said Idcol had a target of financing a total of 1,550 solar irrigation pumps to replace the existing diesel operated pumps in rural areas by 2016.

According to Idcol, Bangladesh has more than 1.4 million irrigation pumps using about 800,000 tonnes of diesel, requiring a $120 million subsidy annually. l

Today is the 77th birth anniversary of the country’s human rights pioneer Barrister Salma Sobhan. Born on this day in 1937 she was the founding executive director of Ain o Salish Kendra (ASK).

Marking her birth anniversary, ASK has taken various initiatives.

Paying homage to its founding executive director, ASK organised a cultural and reminiscent programme at the capital’s Chayanat Auditorium yesterday.

As Salma Sobhan had a special love for children, ASK arranged the programme with child participants from its drop-in centres.

Children from Mohammadpur, Mirpur, Goran, Shantibug drop-in centres participated in the programme and performed patriotic songs, dances, poem recitations, and staged dramas.

Recalling Salma Sobhan at the programme, Advocate Sultana Kamal, now exec-

utive director of ASK, said: “Salma Apa is remembered by all of us at ASK through our everyday activities. She founded ASK and worked hard for the organisation, but never took any salary.”

“She dreamed that everyone would advocate human rights passionately. As she loved children the most, she had been working to establish child rights throughout her life.”

Senior lawyer ZI Panna Khan, another colleague of Salma Sobhan, said: “Salma Apa was a non-communal and democratic woman. She worked for those women who were deprived of their rights. She was a pioneer in raising her voice against all kinds of inhumane activities.”

At the end of the programme, ASK awarded some children for best drawings.

In her distinguished career, Salma Sobhan served as a teacher at the University of Dhaka for 19 years.

She worked hard to spread education in remote areas of Bangladesh and prepared paralegal projects for Brac.

She was involved with numerous international human and women’s rights organisations like Asia Pacific Forum for Women, Law and Development (APWLD), Women Living Under Muslim Laws (WLUML), etc.

Just before she died on December 30, 2003, she had been selected as a board member for Research Institute for Social Development under United Nations. l

reports that the beauty of the archaeological site was being destroyed by the construction of a five-storey building

by Yarn Merchant Association in violation of the law.

The petitioner's lawyer Manzill Murshid said: “Yarn Merchant Association has reportedly raised a five-storey building within 10 feet of Kacharibari. The administration sent several notices since 2009 to stop the construction work.

However, they continued constructing the building, ignoring the notices.” l

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CNG auto-rickshaws continue to charge Khulna 4-lane road project advances slowly extra, defying government rules n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Although it has been more than a decade since the government introduced the billing meters in CNG auto-rickshaw in order to regulate fares, most auto-rickshaw drivers continue to charge high fares from passengers due to the negligence of the authorities.

Most residents in the capital and other major cities in the country say there is no benefit from the government initiative as auto-rickshaw drivers had been forcing passengers to pay almost double than the government-fixed fare rates, even for a short journey.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, many passengers blamed law enforcment agencies and officials at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority for failing to implement the digital metering system in CNG auto-rickshaws.

Shahdat Hossain, employee of a private company, said: “This is nothing new, auto-rickshaw drivers never followed the meter readings and always charge abnormally-high fares from the passengers. But, the traffic police and BRTA authority apparently took no steps to put an end to this mass irregularity.”

“Now, these auto-rickshaws charge a minimum fare of Tk120 to Tk150 for any journey and often refuse short-distance trips,” he added.

However, auto-rickshaw drivers mainly claimed that vehicle owners now charge them much higher than the government-fixed rate, forcing them to charge higher fares from the passengers.

They also told the Dhaka Tribune that although the government had fixed the daily vehicle rent at Tk600, most vehicle owners charge as much as Tk1,000 daily from the drivers.

According to BRTA’s latest fare

chart, updated in 2011, the fare for first 2km was fixed at Tk25, Tk7 for each subsequent kilometre and Tk1.25 per minute for stand-by.

Admitting the problem, Dhaka Metropolitan CNG-run Auto-rickshaw Malik Samity Oikya Parishad President Barkat Ullah Bhulu said: “Presently, the extra fares are being realised considering the price hike of necessary goods.”

He also said a proposal was sub-

mitted to the government to set the deposit money at Tk900 from Tk600, and to also increase the minimum fare and the per kilometre charge.

However, many commuters said there were no logical reasons to justify charging such abnormal fares from passengers, adding that most auto-rickshaw drivers charge almost triple the normal fare during rush hours.

“City dwellers, especially service holders and students, have become hostage to the whims of these auto-rickshaw drivers. During rush hours, they make absurd fare demands which makes it impossible for people like us to be abe to afford it,” said Tania Islam, a university student.

In April, Communications Minister Obaidul Quader declared that the government has no plans to raise fare rates of CNG-run auto-rickshaws.

When asked, Dhaka Metropolitan Police Joint Commissioner (Traffic) Moslem Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have been monitoring the situation. If an auto-rickshaw driver charges more than the fare rate, the commuter can seek help from traffic police officials in the area.”

“The helpline number of the traffic control room has been written down on the back of every CNG-run auto-rickshaw. If a commuter needs help, he or she can contact the control room over the phone,” he added. l

n Our Correspondent, Khulna

The project to elevate the Khulna shipyard road into four lanes was granted approval 14 months ago but officials are still uncertain about when the construction work will begin.

Land for the project has yet to be acquired and there are also complexities regarding the acquisition documents.

Mizanur Rahman Mizan, lawmaker for Khulna 2 constituency, recently expressed discontent over the slow progress of the project.

Khulna Development Authority (KDA) proposed turning the road, from Rupsha River to Khan Jahan Ali Bridge, into a four-lane one as it is too narrow for vehicular movement.

Implementation of the project requires acquisition of 2.895 acres of land on both sides of the road, but the process is mired in complexities. Officials spent a year dealing with cases filed over the lands to be acquired, and preparing maps and other necessary documents.

The KDA applied to the district administration, seeking permission for acquisition in April this year, but did not have all the required papers. Preparation of documents is now underway.

KDA caretaker engineer Kazi Sabirul Alam said: “There were some complexities regarding the acquisition of land and it took us time to sort those

Schoolgirl injured after plaster from school ceiling falls

5 held with foreign currencies at Dhaka airport n Tribune Report Foreign currencies worth around Tk86 lakh were recovered from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport during the early hours of yesterday.

Airport Armed Police Battalion arrested five Malaysia-bound passengers in this regard.

The detained are Maksudur Rahman, 38, Rajon Shikder, 40, Sumon Shikder, 40, Rafiqul Islam, 40 and Badol Khan, 44.

Around 12:50am, they were detained from boarding bridge 1x of the airport. They were hiding the currencies inside their socks and on different parts of their bodies, said Alamgir Hossain Shimul, assistant superintendent of the airport police.

The recovered currencies include US dollar, Malaysian ringgit, Saudi Arabian riyal and UAE dirham.

A case was filed with the Airport police station in this regard.

Shimul said: “Of the detainees, two are twins and the rest are local businessmen. Police also discovered hidden holes ºin their shoes, which indicates that they were planning to smuggle gold by using that money.”

Legal actions would be taken against them, he said. l

WEATHER

DRIZZLE MONDAY, AUGUST 11 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:35PM SUN RISES 5:32AM FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

32

28

Chittagong

30

26

Rajshahi

33

26

Rangpur

33

26

Khulna

32

26

Barisal

31

26

Sylhet

32

25

Cox’s Bazar

29

26

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34.5ºC Sylhet

25.7ºC Rangamati

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:09am 5:30am 12:05am 4:44pm 6:39pm 8:00pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

out. However, I do not think this can be termed slow progress as any project involves initial complexities and hassles.”

“We are working on the problems in collaboration with the district administration and I hope everything will be resolved within a month,” he said.

“Tk50 crore has been allocated this year for land acquisition and compensation purposes. We will get an additional Tk12.5 crore in the first installment when we initiate the project.

When the project received approval, its duration was estimated to be two years. However, it will require a oneyear extension after experts are appointed for the main part of the work,” added the engineer.

Meanwhile, Deputy Project Director Arman Hossain is verifying the prepared documents and it will take two more weeks to complete. The papers will then be sent for ministerial approval.

The project, involving an estimated Tk98,90,48,000 in expenses, received the nod of approval on May 7 last year, and is supposed to be implemented by June next year.

The project includes beautification of footpaths in addition to developing the road which measures 3.778km in length and 60ft in width. The 92m median strip will be beautified with flowers to make it eye-catching. l

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Fatema Rahman, a child participant in an art exhibition marking the 90th birth anniversary of artist SM Sultan, receives a crest from filmmaker Catherine Masud at the Dhaka Art Centre yesterday RAJIB DHAR

No change in port city’s roads even after minister’s discontent n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) still remains negligent about the repair works of roads even after Communications Minister Obaidul Quader’s expressed his discontent over their sorry state.

Recently, the communications minister came down heavily on CCC officials after witnessing the rundown state of roads during a visit. He also termed the port city as unlivable.

During a visit to different parts of the city, the Dhaka Tribune found potholes had developed on many city roads, including Airport road, Kapasgola road, Station road, Kadamtoli road, BRTC road, CDA road, SS Kahled road, Hazi Chand Mia road, Panshlaish road, MM Ali road, Momin road, Jamalkhan road, Mehedibag road, OR Nizam road, KB Fazlul Kader road, KB Abdus Sattar road, Sheikh Mujib road, DT road, Agrabad Access road, PC road, Halishahar road, Artillery road, Tara Gate road and Fida Pukur road.

Alam Bepari, a rice trader in Khulna, said he had to pay additional money to transport rice from the port city to Khulna.

Omar Faruk, a businessman, said he was facing a huge loss as his product-laden vehicles could not move smoothly for the sorry state of the roads.

Nahima Akhter, an NGO official, said she could not reach her workplace

as commuting to work had become very difficult.

Salsabil Sumaiya, an SSC candidate, said she was always late for class even after starting two hours before for school because of the pitiful condition of Agrabad Access road and Port Connection road.

Recently, the communications minister came down heavily on CCC officials after witnessing the rundown state of roads during a visit. He also termed the port city as unlivable Nur Mohammad, a computer engineer, said the CCC repaired potholes of DT Road, Sheikh Mujib Road and Dewanhat Overpass with patchwork, but the affected portions of the roads had been damaged again within a few days of repair.

Sharmin Akhter, a garment factory worker in the CEPZ, said she faced long tailback from her way to home after office as vehicles could not run fast for the sorry state of road.

The transport owners said about 1,000 public vehicles out of 1,800 went

out of order because of the road.

President Belayet Hossain Belal of Chittagong Bus, Minibus and Human Hauler Owners’ Association said there was no new investment in the city vehicle service for bad shape of road.

“Taking the chance, unfit vehicles are plying city roads which have risks of accidents,” he said.

Moreover, the Chittagong Development Authority (CDA), the Chittagong Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (CWASA), the Bangladesh Telecommunication Company Limited (BTCL) and other bodies are digging city roads for their respective developments works, but they do not have any coordination with each other.

Currently, the Chittagong Wasa is digging 24 city roads for setting up their pipeline.

Executive Engineer of the city corporation Rafiqul Islam said there were about 650 kilometres carpeting roads, 200 kilometres concrete roads, 100 kilometres brick-soling roads and 50 kilometres earthen roads in the port city.

Although city authority claimed that they need to repair 100 kilometres of road, the Dhaka Tribune in a recent visit across the city found that most of the city roads are in shabby state.

Mayor of the CCC Manjur said they would start renovation works after getting fund.

He also said they were doing their routine development works. l

A schoolgirl was injured yesterday as the plaster from the school ceiling fell on her during school hours at Puranpara Secondary School in Barisal.

The victim was identified as Suravi Aktar, 13, an eighth grade student at the school.

Banani Chowdhury, headmaster of the school, said the injured girl was rushed to Barisal General Hospital at 12:30pm by the school authorities.

After necessary examinations, x-rays and treatment, Suravi was sent home with some medicine.

The headmaster said:“The school building was constructed in 1994 and most of the classrooms have been in dilapidated condition for a long time now. “ “We had informed higher authorities about the condition of the building several times but to no avail. The teachers and students of the school are at risk,” she added.

Abul Bashar, executive engineer of Education Engineering Department of Barisal, said he was informed about the incident and will investigate the matter further. l

Students of English vandalise department office in CU n CU Correspondent A group of students from the English department in Chittagong University, vandalised the department office yesterday, demanding to be allowed to attend the second year final examination.

The agitating students were barred from sitting in the exam, as they could not obtain pass marks in the first year finals.

Earlier, 35 to 40 students of 20112012 session locked the exam halls from 10:30am to 1:30pm which resulted in postponing the scheduled examination, said department sources.

According to the sources, the second year final examination, course no -201 (Language-2), was scheduled to be held yesterday.

The students vandalised the windowpane, notice boards and flower

pots on the second floor of the Arts and Humanities faculty building, said Officer-in-Charge of Hathazari Police Station Ismail Hossain.

Police and CU proctors’ body rushed to the spot and dispersed the demonstrating students around 11:45am, he added.

A total of 37 students, out of 87, had failed to obtain minimum pass mark in the first year final examination last year, but they demanded to sit for the second year final exam which is a violation of the university rules and regulations, said Professor Azmeri Ara, chairman of English department in CU. CU Proctor Professor Siraj-ud-Dowla said they were looking into the matter and trying to find a way out of the deadlock. l

USTC resumes after 82 days n CU Correspondent The academic activities and administrative work of University of Science and Technology Chittagong (USTC) resumed yesterday after more than two months, following a demonstration programme by university staff, teachers and officers in May. Professor Rezaul Karim, vice-chancellor (VC) of USTC, said the teachers, students, officers and employees had

already joined their respective work stations. “Though very few classes were held today [yesterday], full-fledged academic activities will resume from tomorrow [Monday],” he added.

Earlier, all academic activities of USTC were suspended after a fourhour work abstention programme was held on May 18 by teachers, doctors, staff and officials of the university, demanding the implementation of service rules. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Monday, August 11, 2014

Scarce medicine hampers health service in Magura n Our Correspondent, Magura Community clinics in Magura are failing to provide proper health care to the patients because of acute scarcity of medicine.

Authorities concerned alleged that they were not being able to provide health services properly due to a lack of sufficient budget allocation for the community clinics. Chandana Datta, a house wife from Araishat village under Magura sadar, said she went to a community clinic as she had been suffering from respiratory problems.

“I received cordial behaviour and a proper prescription from the clinic, but no medicine. I do not have the ability to buy medicines from the pharmacies.

Such service is meaningless to people like me,” she said.

Abu Taleb from Bongram village under Mohammadpur upazila said: “We avoid community clinics as prescribed medicines are hardly available there.”

Requesting anonymity, a commu-

nity health service provider at a clinic in Magura said only Tk29,820 was annually allocated for a community clinic to provide health services to around 6,000 people, an amount which was far below the standard allocation.

“Increasing medicine allotment can make the community health service an outstanding success,” he said.

When contacted, Magura Civil Surgeon Shunil Chandra Roy, however, claimed that the acute crisis of medicine in the community clinics was not true, adding that the budget allocation for the community clinics had been increased in the 2014-15FY. Community clinics were first introduced in Magura in 2000 to provide free health services to the people and a total of 95 community clinics were established that year in the district.

However, the clinics remained closed for eight years till the clinics were reopened in 2009. Sources said the clinics had been facing an acute medicinal crisis since then. l

Labourers carry sand bags to the banks of Padma River in Rajshahi’s Bulunpur yesterday as part of the Water Development Board’s efforts to prevent river erosion in the area. A large section of the riverbank in the area had eroded in recent months AZAHAR UDDIN

Illegal shops built along police station boundary walls n

Our Correspondent, Naogaon

Recently, illegal shops were built on government property adjacent to the boundary walls of Dhamraihat police station in Naogaon.

Though police had barred such attempts earlier, this time the land-grabbers allegedly bribed the Officer-inCharge AKM Mizanur Rahman to let them use the government property.

At least 10 shops were built using

bamboo and tin sheds on the government property beside the Naogaon-Jipurhat road, running alongside the boundary walls of the police station, over the last few days.

A source, requesting anonymity, said OC Mizan took Tk5,000 per shop for permitting them to build their shops there.

The locals are fearful that road accidents and other hazards will result from such illegal establishments.

Teenage domestic help raped n Our Correspondent, Sirajganj A former Jubo Dal leader allegedly raped his teenage domestic help on Saturday at Jidhuri village of Belkuchi upazila under Sirajganj.

The accused Mostafizur Rahman is the former literary editor of Jubo Dal upazila unit.

Locals said one month ago, the victim, who was Mostafizur’s neighbour, was appointed as a domestic help at his house to look after his pregnant wife.

On Saturday, while the wife was out for a medical check-up, Mostafizur raped her. Victim’s mother said her daughter was admitted to Sirajganj Sadar hospital in a severely injured condition.

She also said the elderly people from

the village were pressurising them to not file a case in this regard. Mostafizur often tried to instigate her into a physical relationship, the victim told journalists yesterday at the hospital.

Residential Medical Officer Farid Ahmed said signs of rape had been found in the primary examinations.

Belkuchi police station Officer-inCharge Anis Ahmed said upon receiving information police went to the hospital to talk to the victim’s family members. However, police could not do anything until a case was filed.

Mostafizur could not be contacted despite attempts. His older brother Habibur Rahman Mandal said he was not in touch with his brother because of political reasons. l

Denying the accusation of taking bribes, the OC told the Dhaka Tribune that he was not in charge of the land on which the shops were built, though for a long time he had prevented any illegal establishment from being built on it. But now he claimed he could not do so anymore.

ASP Syed Iqbal, he said there were no such shops in front of the police station. If shops were built there illegally, necessary measures would be taken to evict them, he added. l

When the costly dowry system keeps a poor, marginalised woman from tying the knot, a mass dowry-free marriage is surely appreciated by such women. In addition, if that arrangement is made for free it is even more appreciated.

Dressed up in wedding finery, Moniruzzaman was squatting at the Kuwait Islamic Yatim Complex inside Gazir Dargah beside the Jessore-Benapole highway yesterday.

He was happy that he was finally getting married to a girl despite having been beset by financial constraints.

He said he would have been happier had his father been alive today. He is the third among his five brothers and three sisters.

Monir had hardly imagined being wed in the near future because he knew how much money one needs for a marriage nowadays.

The girl he was marrying is called Rumana. Her father is also very poor.

He runs his family by working at other people’s fish enclosures.

Considering her father’s poverty, Rumana had also never imagined getting married because she had known her father could barely afford to run their family, let alone arrange her marriage.

When the Kuwait Joint Relief Committee, Bangladesh Office came up with a proposal to arrange dowry-free marriages, both Monir and Rumana’s fears dissipated and both their families were elated.

Apart from this marriage, the charity organisation arranged for 19 other simultaneous dowry-free marriages yesterday.

Sharjah Charity Director Mohammad Ham-

n Our Correspondent, Panchagarh People from all walks of life at Tetulia formed a human-chain yesterday demanding the punishment of the killers of Samsunnahar, a housewife, who was killed on Friday by miscreants.

Among others, Tiranhat UP chairman Alamgir Hossain, BM College Principal Ekramul Haque, Abdur Rashid, Sohrab Ali, Safiul Alam, Sabbir Alam

Chowdhury spoke on the occasion.

Tetulia police station Officer-inCharge Asadduzzaman said that they had arrested the husband of Samsunnahar in this connection.

“The other culprits will be nabbed soon,” he said.

The miscreants killed Samsunnahar with a sharp weapon at midnight.

Later, Asraful Alam, brother of the deceased filed a case in this connection. l

Man kills cousin over land dispute

71 rescued while being trafficked to Malaysia n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar n Our Correspondent, Pirojpur Police rescued 71 passengers, who were being trafficked to Malaysia, from Cox’s Bazar and the Bay of Bengal in the early hours of yesterday. Police also detained two traffickers and seized a trawler.

Shahidul Islam, in-charge of the coast guard station at Cox’s Bazar, said they acted on a tip-off where they conducted a drive on the Sonadia Channel in the Bay of Bengal and rescued 56 passengers from a trawler.

Later, law enforcers detained 15 more passengers and two traffickers, from a hotel in the Kolatoli area. l

Dowry-free marriage ushers in hope for society n Our Correspondent, Jessore

Human chain demands punishment to killers

dan Al Jari, who came from the United Aram Emirates, project chief Mohammad Abdur Rahman Ahmed Sa’Ab Ali and donors Yusuf Mohammad Kashim Mohammad Ali and Mrs Kashim Mohammad Al Ali attended the mass marriage ceremony.

Mohammad Hamdan Al Jari said it was the fifth time they had arranged such a mass marriage. It would continue even in the days to come.

Kuwait Islamic Yatim Complex administrative officer Mohammad Nasirullah said they had conducted 260 marriages prior to yesterday’s 20. They had also taken on the responsibility of looking after these individuals as well as their marriages.

The charity would even bear the cost of educating the children born from these unions, he said.

Each of the 20 couples was given a rickshaw van, a sewing machine, a gold ornament etc which are necessary for running a family. They were also each given some money.

The 19 other couples were Bipul Biswas-Masura Khatun, Jahidul Islam-Mahmuda Akter Pinki, Almas Ali-Rabia Khatun, Miraj-Jahirun Khatun, Saiful Islam-Sathi Akter, Jamal Hossain-Shamoli Khatun, Ripon Hossain-Rumi Khatun, Tarikul Islam-Marjina Khatun, Mohorrom Ali- Kulshium Khatun, Rahman Hossain-Irani Khatun, Akter Hossain-Bristy Khatun, Jewel Rana-Shefali Khatun, Rafiqul Islam-Akhi Khatun, Mostofa Kamal-Ruma Akter, Hasan Ali-Sheuli Khatun, Ashikur Rahman-Shila Khatun, Ziaur Rahman-Farida Yasmin, Idris Ali-Mariam Khatun and Mizanur Rahman-Shilpi Khatun.

They all hail from various upazilas in Jessore and Magura. l

A man died after being allegedly beaten by his cousin on Saturday regarding a dispute over land in Kolar Doyaniya area of Nazirpur upazila in Pirojpur.

Former member of Kolar Doyania Union Parishad Abdur Razzak said the deceased Zakir Hossain, 35, had built a house in North Kolar Doyania area which his cousin Rafiq had demolished five months ago. A case was pending in the court in this connection.

On Saturday, around 8am, Rafiq went to pluck a coconut from a tree

situated on Zakir’s land. When Zakir’s wife Yasmin stopped him, Rafiq and his associates started swearing at her.

When Zakir arrived at the scene, and tried to stop Rafiq and his associates, they started beating the couple.

Severely injured, the duo was admitted to Barisal Sher-E-Bangla Medical College Hospital, where Zakir died around 9pm.

Abdur Razzak said Rafiq had claimed that the land belonged to his mother.

Nazirpur police station Officer-inCharge Mostafizur Rahman said the filing of a case in this connection was underway. l

Outlawed party member shot dead

n Our Correspondent, Tangail

An activist of Purba Banglar Communist Party was shot dead by some unknown miscreants at Charhugra in Sadar upazila yesterday.

Akhtaruzzaman, officer-in-charge of Tangail model police station, said a gang of miscreants had opened fire on Abdul Haque Mandal alias Haquesab, 42, a resident of Dhulbari village of the upazila and an activist of Purbo Banglar Communist Party, Lal Pataka.

Later, the miscreants hacked him indiscriminately with sharp weapons.

Local people rescued him and took to Tangail Medical College Hospital where doctors declared him dead. l

Three die from drinking liquor

n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha At least three people died yesterday after drinking locally made liquor at Gobindaganj upazila in Tangail district.

The upazila health officer Dr Shah Jahan said Jaharul Islam, 30, the son of Dulu Miah, Ripon Miah, 30, the son of Abdul Matin Miah of Boalia village and Sawpan Miah, 29, from Mokamtala, fell sick after drinking the liquor.

Later, they were sent to Sadar Upazila Health Complex from where they were shifted to Bogra Shahid Ziaur Rahman Medical Hospital. They died there. OC Abdur Rahman visited the spot. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Monday, August 11, 2014

Story of a river

How Europe divided the flow of the Rhine, can work as a guide to how the Teesta and the other common river issues can be solved in our region Panoramic view of Rangit Hydroelectric Power Project Stage III, a dam and reservoir on the Ranjit river in Sikkim, India. The river Ranjit is one of the major tributaries of the Teesta

U

n Selina Mohsin nder the fiery summer sun, the once verdant fields of paddy in north Bangladesh is a vast wasteland that stretches for thousands of hectares covering numerous villages. In this dry land, a thin ribbon of water, the once mighty Teesta, struggles through sandy banks. Water can only be found 10 feet or more below the surface.

The dying river has drastically altered the livelihood of millions. As the river flows from Sikkim through West Bengal, cascades of dams significantly reduce the volume of water reaching Bangladesh from 5000 cusecs (cubic feet per second) to 500 cusecs.

Bangladesh is one of the world’s richest countries in fresh water, and sustains a dense population. Yet, Bangladesh is dependent not only on the monsoons, but also on India. 54 trans-boundary rivers bring 90% of its water from upstream India. The Teesta

is only one local aspect of a much wider problem, including climate change. South Asia with 21% of the world’s population has barely 8.3% of the world’s water resources.

In 2011, Manmohan Singh’s visit to Dhaka had raised the expectation of the people of Bangladesh. But, a new agreement for a 50-50 sharing of Teesta water, replacing the earlier 1983 one, was blocked by the chief minister of West Bengal. Water is a “states issue” in federal India. It is critical to note that it was the BJP opposition along with Trinamool Congress and Asom Gana Parishad that prevented the previous Congress-led UPA Government from signing the Teesta water sharing treaty.

Fast forward to June 2014, the external affairs minister of the new NDA government has promised during her visit to Dhaka, that the Teesta issue would be given consideration. If Prime Minister Modi aims to improve relations with India’s neighbours, including Bangladesh, the Teesta

The Rhine flowing through seven European countries

question cannot be bypassed. As the fourth largest trans-boundary river, it serves an approximate population of 21 million people in Bangladesh as opposed to around 8 million in India.

In West Bengal, the Teesta barrage project intends to irrigate 922,000 hectares in 6 northern districts as well as produce hydropower. Work so far includes Gazaldoba barrage in Jalpiguri which was completed in 1982. This diverts around 85% of the flow thereby greatly reducing water to the lower riparian.

Meanwhile in Bangladesh, the Dalia barrage was built with a network of canals to serve districts in the North West. Unfortunately, during the dry periods, diversion of water at Gazoldoba renders the Dalia barrage fruitless, and excessive water released during monsoons causes floods, land erosion, and destruction of crops.

A 2012 report by Indian expert Kalyan Rudra confirmed that the shortage of water in the Teesta was due to the numerous dams and projects upstream.

WIKIMEDIA

The Teesta covers an area of 12, 136 sq km out of which 1,121 sq km is in West Bengal and 2,009 sq km is in Bangladesh. The rest of the river flows through Sikkim, an area rich in biodiversity and endangered species.

The construction of numerous hydropower projects in Sikkim has raised alarm there. The diversion of river

WIKIMEDIA

operation and governance.” All parties should “put human development at the centre of trans-boundary cooperation and governance.”

There are many examples of failures to achieving such aims. China has an estimated 22,000 large dams, half of the world’s total. For instance, on the river Mekong, China has built

There is too often ‘zero sum’ thinking, narrowly confined to the assumption that a cusec gained by one side must be a loss to the other

water and dumping of waste materials has increased ecological fragility and affected indigenous people with loss of livelihood and poor agricultural productivity.

Unrest due to dispossession of land and lack of adequate compensation has further exacerbated dissatisfaction. Although a section of the people and government has benefited, local inhabitants, civil society groups, scientists and environmentalists are concerned about the negative impact of dams on Sikkim’s fragile ecosystem; the threats include a great increase in landslides.

Furthermore, the controversial Indian government’s Inter Linking of Rivers Program (ILR) is expected to divert the water from the rivers of the Himalayan region to the dry areas of southern India. This has been criticized both in India and Bangladesh as uneconomic, and a violation of both the 1996 Helsinki and 2004 Berlin Rules on equitable sharing of river water.

The long standing dispute over the effect of the Farakka dam on the Padma and tension over the Teesta is joined by even greater concern over the potential loss of flows to the Jamuna and the Meghna if India and China proceed with multiple large dams and river diversion projects.

Throughout the world, negotiations for the shared management of scarce water resources are often fraught with tension and mistrust, even within a single country – between Karnataka and Tamil Nadu for example, and the concerns of civil society and interests of stakeholders are often under-represented or neglected.

Ideally, water management should take a holistic approach, balancing all interests. Lower riparian states such as Bangladesh recognise this, but the absence of mutual trust creates difficulties in negotiating bilateral or regional agreements. There is too often “zero sum” thinking, narrowly confined to the assumption that a cusec gained by one side must be a loss to the other.

The UN has rightly pointed out that management of trans-boundary rivers needs concerned countries to avoid “inward looking national strategies and unilateral actions” and adopt “shared strategies for multilateral co-

and is still building massive dams with seemingly little regard for the vital interests of the five countries downstream.

One dam, Xiaowan, holds 15 billion litres of water. China has refused to negotiate joint management of the Mekong, and is one of only 3 countries to vote against the 1997 UN treaty governing shared international waters.

China claims its “scientific regulation” of rivers helps downstream countries.

But these smaller and poorer countries require better sharing of information and confidence building though cooperation.

In contrast, the river Rhine is an example of what can be achieved.

It flows through 7 countries, Swit-

West Bengal, and the national governments of India and Bangladesh should discuss the river in an integrated manner in consultation with other stakeholders.

Discussions need to include national needs, volumes of water at various periods, equitable distribution, conservation, environmental concerns, climate change and characteristics of the ecosystem for judicious planning.

• Respect each other’s needs: Mutual confidence and appreciation of each other’s requirements are the basis for successful collaboration and conflict resolution.

• Full and timely availability of data and information to all parties: Greater access to information by all stakeholders, civil society, NGOs, and experts creates confidence and generates discourse enlarging the acceptance and legitimacy of negotiations.

• Develop lateral thinking for new solutions: Instead of discussing only “how many cusecs to which country” engage in broader dialogues with multiple representatives to discuss joint planning of basin wide management e.g. provision of water at lean periods, regular data sharing for rightful distribution and prevention of flash floods at the lower end.

• Voluntary concessions: Voluntary concessions based on the requirements of downstream areas can help create the basis for sustainable development benefiting all parties.

Water management should take a holistic approach, balancing all interests, and on the basis of the whole river basin

zerland, Austria, Germany, France, Luxembourg, Belgium, and the Netherlands. Historical conflicts harmed water related interests until international cooperation across the whole Rhine basin transformed the situation.

Consequently, avoidance of unilateral promotion of interests, collaboration and fruitful negotiations are possible when undertaken with understanding of the needs of all parties.

An Asia Foundation study has identified some recommendations and the author also suggests some course of action: • The whole Teesta basin should be analysed as a single unit: It is a trans-boundary river and falls under multiple jurisdictions. The state governments of Sikkim,

• Tradable benefits: All negotiation can include trading other benefits outside immediate water issues.

Bangladesh should assess any such benefits it might trade with upstream interests as valuable tools for negotiation.

When the situation is dire and worsening then time is of crucial importance. But we are compelled to wait and see how far India and West Bengal are willing to collaborate with Bangladesh on an integrated approach to Teesta management based on international principles of justice and for the mutual benefit of all our peoples.

Do we have to wait long? And how long is long? l Professor Selina Mohsin is a former high commissioner to Maldives.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Cairo talks in disarray amid Gaza violence

World

Monday, August 11, 2014

Gaza’s wounded: Living reminder of ravages of war

Israeli premier sees protracted conflict

n Reuters, Gaza/Jerusalem Israel said yesterday it was prepared for protracted military action in Gaza and would not return to Egyptian-mediated ceasefire talks as long as Palestinians kept up cross-border rocket and mortar fire. The head of the Palestinian delegation in Cairo had said it would leave unless Israeli negotiators, who flew home on Friday hours before a three-day truce expired, came back to the talks. But Egypt’s state news agency, MENA, said the Palestinians would remain for an urgent meeting with the Arab League on Monday.

Israeli air strikes and shelling killed three Palestinians in Gaza yesterday, including a boy of 14 and a woman, medics said, in a third day of renewed fighting that has jeopardised international efforts to end a more-thanmonth-old conflict.

Since the last truce expired, Palestinian rocket and mortar salvoes have focused on Israeli kibbutzim, or collective farms, just across the fortified border in what appeared to be a strategy of sapping the Jewish state’s morale without triggering another ground invasion of the tiny Gaza Strip.

The violence has become less intense than at the war’s outset, down from more than 100 rocket bursts a day including at major cities like Tel Aviv, which have not come under attack

Iranian plane crashes after takeoff, killing 39 n AP, Tehran, Iran A regional passenger plane assembled in Iran crashed yesterday while taking off from the country’s capital, Tehran, killing 39 and injuring another nine onboard, according to a senior transportation official and state media.

Deputy Minister of Transportation Ahmad Majidi provided the latest casualty figures in an appearance on state TV. The channel earlier reported that all 48 people onboard had died.

The aircraft, an IrAn-140 typically used for short domestic flights, crashed near Tehran’s Mehrabad airport. The plane went down in a residential area after one of its engines went out, Iran’s state-run IRNA news agency reported.

The plane was operated by Sepahan Air and was heading to Tabas, a town in eastern Iran. It took off at 9:20am local time (0450 GMT) and crashed shortly afterward. State TV said the bodies of some of the victims were so badly burned that they could not be identified. They will be handed over to relatives after DNA tests are carried out to determine their identities, it said.

Members of the Revolutionary Guard worked to secure the crash site and security and rescue personnel combed the wreckage as onlookers gathered shortly after the plane went down. The plane’s mangled but largely intact tail section was torn from the fuselage and came to rest on a nearby road.

The IrAn-140 is a twin-engine turboprop plane based on Ukrainian technology that is assembled under license in Iran. It is a version of the Antonov An140 regional plane and can carry up to 52 passengers. Mehrabad, located in western Tehran, is the busier of two main airports serving the Iranian capital, and primarily handles domestic flights. Most international flights use the newer Imam Khomeini International Airport.

Iran has suffered a series of airplane crashes, blamed on its aging aircraft and poor maintenance. Many of the Boeing aircraft in state-run Iran Air’s fleet were bought before the country’s 1979 Islamic Revolution, which disrupted ties with the US and Europe.

Iranian airlines, including those run by the state, are chronically strapped for cash, and maintenance has suffered, experts say. US sanctions prevent Iran from updating its American aircraft and make it difficult to get European spare parts or planes as well.

The country has come to rely on Russian aircraft, many of them Soviet-era planes that are harder to get parts for since the Soviet Union’s fall.

In March of this year, a small plane belonging to the State Aviation Organization crashed while on a test flight near the tourist resort of Kish Island, killing all four crew members.

The last major airliner crash in Iran happened in January 2011. l

since Israel withdrew ground forces from Gaza on Tuesday.

Before the truce ran out on Friday, Israel said it was ready to agree to an extension. Gaza’s ruling Hamas did not agree, demanding an end to an economically stifling blockade of the coastal enclave that both Israel and Egypt, which regards the Islamist movement as a security threat, have imposed.

Israel has resisted easing access to Gaza, suspecting Hamas could then restock with weapons from abroad. A sticking point has been Israel’s demand for guarantees that Hamas would not use any reconstruction supplies sent to Gaza to build more tunnels of the sort that Palestinian fighters have used to infiltrate the Jewish state.

“Israel will not negotiate under fire,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in public remarks at the weekly meeting of his cabinet in Tel Aviv.

“At no stage did we declare (Israel’s military offensive) was over. The operation will continue until its objective - the restoration of quiet over a protracted period - is achieved. I said at the beginning and throughout the operation - it will take time, and stamina is required.”

Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Netanyahu, by threatening to press on with Israel’s military offensive, would be “fully responsible for the failure of the Cairo negotiations and for all the consequences that may result.” l

Disabled Sally Saqr, 20, who was wounded on July 12, in Beit Lahiya during Israeli shelling of a care center for the handicapped, lies on a mattress at her family home in Gaza City. When an Israeli airstrike hit the Gaza home for the handicapped where she was staying, Saqr was left shattered. Her pelvis, both legs and an arm were broken, her skull fractured, much of her body burned AP

n AP, Gaza City When an Israeli airstrike hit the Gaza home for the handicapped where she was staying, Sally Saqr was left shattered. Her pelvis, both legs and an arm were broken, her skull fractured, much of her body burned. In the hospital, doctors couldn’t put her limbs in casts because multiple other wounds had to heal first. But after a week, her mother had to take the 20 year old home because Gaza’s main Shifa Hospital needed the bed as more broken bodies flowed in every day from the bombardment.

Saqr has been severely handicapped since birth because of complications during delivery. She can’t speak, her body never developed beyond the size of a child. She was able to walk — with difficulty — but after her wounds in the July 12 airstrike, she couldn’t walk at all, and had to be put in diapers because she couldn’t reach the bathroom.

Her mother has been overwhelmed.

Saqr is in excruciating pain and screams in her sleep.

“My burden is heavy,” said her 36-yearold mother, Soumah Abu Shanab. “Now I must feed her, bathe her and change

her diapers.” She spoke as three visiting nurses changed Saqr’s dressings. Saqr clutched a box of medicine. Just holding it distracts her from the pain.

Much of the world’s attention has focused on the Palestinian death toll in the Gaza war, with more than 1,900 killed, including at least 450 children, Palestinian health officials say. But a longer-term trauma may be the large number of wounded — more than 9,800, mostly civilians, including at least 3,000 children, officials say.

The dead have been quickly and often unceremoniously buried even

as fighting raged. The wounded are a living reminder of the ravages of war.

Their numbers have overwhelmed Gaza’s medical system, already dilapidated after seven years of blockade on the tiny territory by Israel and Egypt, as well as the diversion of resources to build up Hamas’ military capabilities.

Gaza’s 25 hospitals have a total of 2,047 beds, or 1.3 beds per 1,000 people, among the lowest ratios in the world, according to United Nations figures. Nearly a third of the hospitals have been damaged in the fighting, according to UNRWA, the UN agency that looks after Palestinian refugees.

The thousands discharged — many with severe wounds patched together temporarily — are then left to the care of already devastated families who are grieving for dead loved ones and struggling to get by in the devastation of the war. Some of the wounded return not to home but to UN-run schools packed with displaced people. Some crowd into the houses of extended families along with other relatives with nowhere else to go. Most homes are without electricity or running water.

Around 250,000 of Gaza’s 1.8 million residents have been displaced, while some 65,000 lost their home in the fighting, according to UN figures.

In the crowded households, the wounded become a center of attention as relatives try to provide small comforts. Most are immobile, or can move very little. Families often put the wounded’s mattress or bed by a window to get air in stifling rooms amid the power outages.

Though nurses can sometimes visit homes, many wounded have to make daily trips back to the hospital for treatment, risking complications from the exertions of the trip and the summer heat. l

West mobilises Iraq aid as US raids continue n Agencies

In this handout picture released yesterday, Bob Gibbons of the UK Department for International Development (L) and Cpl Chris Kent (R) doing final checks on humanitarian aid loaded onto a Hercules C130 transport plane at RAF Brize Norton, northwest of London, on August 8, to be airlifted to stranded civilians fleeing militants in northern Iraq AFP

Women stoned to death in Syria for ‘adultery’ n AP, Beirut A cleric read the verdict before the truck came and dumped a large pile of stones near the municipal garden. Jihadi fighters then brought in the woman, clad head to toe in black, and put her in a small hole in the ground.

When residents gathered, the fighters told them to carry out the sentence: Stoning to death for the alleged adulteress.

None in the crowd stepped forward, said a witness to the event in a northern Syrian city. So the jihadi fighters, mostly foreign extremists, did it themselves, pelting Faddah Ahmad with stones until her body was dragged away.

“Even when she was hit with stones she did not scream or move,” said an opposition activist who said he witnessed the stoning near the football stadium and the Bajaa garden in the city of Raqqa, the main Syrian stronghold of the Islamic State group.

The July 18 stoning was the second in a span of 24 hours. A day earlier, 26-year-old Shamseh Abdullah was killed in a similar way in the nearby town of Tabqa by Islamic State fighters.

Both were accused of having sex outside marriage. The killings were the first of their kind in rebel-held northern Syria, where jihadis from the Islamic

State group have seized large swaths of territory, terrorizing residents with their strict interpretation of Islamic law, including beheadings and cutting off the hands of thieves.

The jihadis recently tied a 14-yearold boy to a cross-like structure and left him for several hours in the scorching summer sun before bringing him down – punishment for not fasting during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan.

The group has also brutalized Shiite Muslims and others whom it views as apostates. In neighboring Iraq, Islamic State militants have driven members of the Yazidi religious minority out of a string of towns and villages.

Thousands of the fleeing Yazidis have been stranded on a mountaintop for days, a humanitarian crisis that prompted the US to airlift aid to them this week.

On Friday, Kamil Amin, the spokesman for Iraq’s Human Rights Ministry, said hundreds of Yazidi women under the age of 35 are being held by the Islamic State group in schools in Iraq’s second largest city Mosul.

The stonings in Syria last month were not widely publicized at the time, but in the following days three photographs appeared online which appeared to document the grisly spectacle. l

WHO: ‘Realistic’ to expect Ebola vaccine by 2015 n AFP, Geneva Clinical trials of vaccines for the deadly Ebola virus should soon get underway and will likely be ready for widespread use by early next year, the World Health Organization has said.

“I think it’s realistic,” Marie-Paule Kieny, assistant director-general of the UN health agency, told AFP. There is currently no available cure or vaccine for Ebola, one of the deadliest viruses known to man, but Kieny said she expected a vaccine to be rushed through the trial process and become available by 2015.

Her colleague Jean-Marie Okwo Bele, who is vaccine chief at WHO, told French radio RFI earlier Saturday that British pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline appeared set to start clinical trials of a vaccine next month.

He also said he was optimistic about making the vaccine commercially available.

“Since this is an emergency, we can put emergency procedures in place ... so that we can have a vaccine available by 2015,” he said.

Kieny acknowledged however that any vaccine rushed to market to help stem the epidemic, which has already claimed nearly 1,000 lives in west Africa, would not be tested as rigorously as other vaccines and drugs. l

Western diplomacy and aid efforts are shaping up in Iraq to avert what US President Barack Obama warned could be an impending “genocide” against civilians besieged on a mountain in the country’s north by the Islamic State group fighters.

US fighter jets yesterday continued to strike positions belonging to the self-declared jihadists whose attack on Sinjar Mountain last week sent thousands many of them from the Yazidi minority scurrying into a nearby mountain. Those stranded on Sinjar Mountain in searing summer heat are left with little food and water. US and Iraqi cargo planes have been air dropping food and water over the region, a barren 60-kilometre ridge.

The UK joined the effort overnight.

French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius arrived in Iraq on Sunday, where he is due to oversee the first delivery of French aid for displaced people.

Fabius urged Iraq›s bickering leaders to form an inclusive government capable of countering Islamic State fighters advancing through the north of the country. “Iraq is in need of a wide unity government, and all Iraqis should feel that they are represented in this government, and all Iraqis should feel they

are represented to take part in this battle against terrorism,” Fabius told a news conference with his Iraqi counterpart in Baghdad. Meanwhile, Kurdish military sources have told Al Jazeera’s Jane Arraf in Iraqi Kurdish capital of Erbil that the village of Ghwar and Makhmour, which lie in 40km south of Erbil, have been retaken by Peshmerga forces. The development came after another round of US airstrikes there earlier on Sunday.

Ghwar is important because of its access to Erbil, while Makhmour is strategic because access to Kirkuk runs through it.

The US aerial assault aims to allow the federal and Kurdish governments to claw back areas lost in the conflict.

On Sunday, Iraq’s human rights minister said the Islamic State group has killed at least 500 members of the Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive. Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said fighters had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and children. About 300 women were kidnapped as slaves, he added. Federal Iraqi forces completely folded when the Islamic State fighters, who already control a large swathe of Syria, swept in from the northeast two months ago, took the second largest city, Mosul, and advanced into much of the country’s Sunni heartland. l

‘Islamic State killed 500 Yazidis, buried some victims alive’ n Reuters, Baghdad Islamic State militants have killed at least 500 members of Iraq’s Yazidi ethnic minority during their offensive in the north, Iraq’s human rights minister told Reuters yesterday.

Mohammed Shia al-Sudani said the Sunni militants had also buried alive some of their victims, including women and children. Some 300 women were kidnapped as slaves, he added.

“We have striking evidence obtained from Yazidis fleeing Sinjar and some who escaped death, and also crime scene images that show indisputably that the gangs of the Islamic States have executed at least 500 Yazidis after seizing Sinjar,” Sudani said in a telephone interview, in his first remarks to the media on the issue.

Sinjar is the ancient home of the Yazidis, one of the towns captured by the Sunni militants who view the community as “devil worshipers” and tell them to convert to Islam or face death.

A deadline passed at midday on Sunday for 300 Yazidi families to convert to Islam or face death at the hands of the militants. It was not immediately clear whether the Iraqi minister was

talking about the fate of those families or others in the conflict.

“Some of the victims, including women and children were buried alive in scattered mass graves in and around Sinjar,” Sudani said.

The minister’s comments could pile pressure on the United States - which has carried out air strikes on Islamic State targets in response to the group’s latest push through the north - to provide more extensive support.

“In some of the images we have obtained there are lines of dead Yazidis who have been shot in the head while the Islamic State fighters cheer and wave their weapons over the corpses,” said Sudani. “This is a vicious atrocity.”

The Islamic State, which has declared a caliphate in parts of Iraq and Syria, has prompted tens of thousands of Yazidis and Christians to flee for their lives during their push to within a 30-minute drive of the Kurdish regional capital Arbil.

Earlier in their push through northern Iraq, Islamic State, which also considers all Shi’ites heretics who must repent or die, boasted of killing hundreds of captive Shi’ite soldiers after capturing the city of Tikrit on June 12. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Monday, August 11, 2014

Disputed claims in the South China Sea CHINA

TAIWAN (claims Spratly Islands) Vietnamese claim

Chinese claim

Paracel islands

Drilling for Chinese oil rig started in May and ended mid-July, according to China state media

VIETNAM

Brunei claim

Philippines claim PHILIPPINES

Spratly Islands

Malaysian claim

BRUNEI

200 km

This July 20, 2011 file aerial photo shows Pag-asa Island, part of the disputed Spratly group of islands, in the South China Sea located off the coast of western Philippines

Southeast Asia concern in South China Sea at ‘all-time high’ n Reuters, Naypyitaw Southeast Asian countries yesterday expressed concern over “increased tensions” in the South China Sea and called for stepped-up talks with China, in what the United States said was a setback for China’s efforts to play down the disputes.

But there was no specific mention of China in the final statement from an Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) meeting and the 10 nations did not take up a US and Philippine call for a freeze on provocative acts in the sea, in what China will likely see as a positive result.

A senior US official said ASEAN countries’ concern over the South China Sea tension was at “all-time high” based on private conversations, although their public statements were more guarded to avoid antagonising China.

NEWS BITES

Tibet tour bus plummets into valley, killing 44

n AP, Beijing

A tour bus on a highway in Tibet fell off a 10-meter (30-foot) cliff after crashing into an SUV and a pickup, killing 44 people and injuring 11 others, China’s state media reported yesterday. The bus was carrying 50 people when it plunged in mountainous southern Tibet on Saturday afternoon, the Xinhua News Agency said, citing the regional government. The crash happened in Nyemo county, about 90 kilometers (60 miles) from Lhasa, Tibet’s capital.

Most of the passengers were from four Chinese provinces. There were four people in the SUV and a truck driver, but their condition was unclear. Police detained the managers of a travel agency and a tour company connected with the bus trip, Xinhua said. A man who answered the phone at the Lhasa-based Shengdi Vehicle Tour Company said as far as he knew there were no foreigners among the passengers, and refused to comment further.

Xinhua said that the bodies and survivors were pulled out of the bus and the injured rushed to hospitals in Lhasa. Photos released by the news agency showed the vehicle lying upside down.

Tourism has been on the rise in the scenic Tibetan Plateau, where mountain roads are often treacherous and can be particularly dangerous in the summer rainy season. l

Four Afghan civilians killed in Kabul suicide bombing

n AP, Kabul

A suicide car bomber attacked a Nato convoy moving through Afghanistan’s capital yesterday, killing at least four civilians and wounding more than 35 in an assault claimed by the Taliban, authorities said. The blast struck two MRAPs, or Mine Resistant Ambush Protected armored vehicles, in western Kabul, damaging a civilian car and leaving debris scattered across a highway lined by shops. Nato troops and Afghan soldiers cordoned off the scene after the blast. Hashmat Stanikzai, a spokesman for Kabul’s police chief, said the blast killed four civilians and wounded more than 35 people. Nato later said the blast wounded none of its troops, though it was investigating the attack.

Civilians increasingly find themselves under fire as the 2001 US-led war draws to a close, l

“We urged all parties concerned to exercise self-restraint and avoid actions which would complicate the situation and undermine peace, stability, and security in the South China Sea,” ASEAN said in a communique following their meeting this weekend in the Myanmar capital Naypyitaw.

The United States is using the meeting of the region’s foreign ministers in Myanmar to step up its engagement in the off-shore tension, by calling for a moratorium on actions such as China’s planting in May of an oil rig in waters that Vietnam also claims.

The ASEAN Regional Forum brings together 27 countries including the United States, China, Russia, Japan, India and Australia.

US ally the Philippines has also called for a freeze as part of a threestep plan to ease tension in the re-

source-rich sea, through which passes $5 trillion of trade a year.

Senior US officials accompanying Secretary of State John Kerry at the two-days of talks described the wording as a new and strong criticism of recent Chinese assertive actions in the South China Sea as a reversal for China.

“This language represents a significant setback for China’s efforts to play for time and change the subject,” said one senior US administration official.

A senior State Department official said ASEAN members had made clear they were “increasingly concerned about the escalatory pattern of behaviour.”

“They have decided it is no longer enough to accentuate the positive,” the senior State Department official said.

The communique called for effective implementation of a 2002 non-binding agreement on conduct in

AP

the South China Sea and stepped up ASEAN’s call for an early conclusion of a binding maritime Code of Conduct.

ASEAN and China have begun talks on that code but made little substantive progress so far.

The statement made a brief reference to the three-point Philippine plan for a freeze on destabilising actions, saying only that it had been noted.

Most claimants have flouted the 2002 guidelines, leading to rising tension in the South China Sea between four ASEAN claimant nations and China, which claims 90% of the waters.

The rancour has split ASEAN, with several states including some of the claimants reluctant to antagonise Asia’s economic giant.

China rejects US involvement in the dispute and has already dismissed the proposal for a freeze. l

MALAYSIA

Sources: D.Rosenberg/MiddleburyCollege/HarvardAsiaQuarterly/Phil gov’t/ChinaMaritimeSafetyAdministration

South China Sea: Key facts to know n Agencies Vietnam calls it the “East Sea.” The Philippine parliament passed a law calling it the “West Philippines Sea.” China calls it the “South Sea.” The ocean officially designated as the “South China Sea” – as Western mariners have long known it – has many names and many claimants.

Once, it was just a matter of fish. The waters of the South China Sea are still important to the region’s fishermen, especially as coastal stocks have been badly depleted.

But more valuable still are the reserves of oil and gas that lie under the seabed. Just how big those reserves are is still unknown, but none of the littoral states are ready to walk away from them.

Over the past several months China has set itself on a collision course with its Southeast Asian neighbours, taking a

series of forceful steps to assert territorial claims over potentially valuable rocks, reefs, and waters that other nations claim, too.

The South China Sea matters to the rest of the world, too: More than half of the world’s shipping tonnage sails through its waters each year, carrying half of the world’s oil and gas exports to China, South Korea, Japan, and other economic powerhouses.

The United States, whose warships have kept the peace in the area for the past seven decades, has made freedom of navigation a cornerstone of its policy there.

China has said that it respects that principle, and can be trusted to uphold it as Chinese naval power grows. But as Australian security expert Alan Dupont points out, the sea lanes of the South China Sea are absolutely vital to Beijing, and “China is tired of outsourcing its economic security to the US Seventh Fleet.” l

Khmer Rouge verdicts bring history Pakistani police register alive for Cambodian students murder case against n dissident cleric AFP, Phnom Penh

Pointing at photographs of two former Khmer Rouge leaders a day after they were sentenced to life in jail, history teacher Ung Ratha asks his students whether justice was served.

One volunteer says the punishment was too lenient, as others in the class try to grasp how Cambodia’s “Killing Fields” era, once whitewashed from textbooks, left up to two million people dead.

“Some students do not believe it happened because their parents were born after the regime. So they feel that the teachers are making it up,” said Ratha, 43. But having lived through the Khmer Rouge’s brutal 1975-1979 rule, he brings a first-hand account to lessons which only became compulsory for high school students three years ago.

The students flinch when Ratha shows them images of skulls from execution sites, before turning to the first-ever convictions of top ex-leaders to bring this gruesome period of history up to date. On Thursday, Cambodia’s UN-backed court found “Brother Number Two” Nuon Chea, 88, and ex-head of state Khieu Samphan, 83, guilty of crimes against humanity, sentencing them to life in prison.

“The verdicts taught me more about the leaders of the Khmer Rouge, the torture and other things they did,” said Khun Monalisa, 18, a final year student at Beltei International School in Phnom Penh.

n Reuters, Lahore/Multan, Pakistan

A Cambodian student answers a teacher’s question about Khmer Rouge history in a classroom at a private school in Phnom Penh AFP She has been following the case closer than many young Cambodians – more than half of the population was born after the regime was ousted – as, until recently, schools have taught little about the period.

According to the Documentation Center of Cambodia (DC-Cam), the government went on to remove all reference to the regime from school curriculums between 1993 and 2002 in an attempt at reconciliation with former cadres.

It took years of lobbying before a textbook on the period was eventually

allowed in Cambodian schools in 2009, paving the way for a compulsory curriculum a few years later.

The Khmer Rouge forced more than two million people out of Cambodian cities and into rural work camps during their rule, wiping out nearly a quarter of the population through executions, starvation or overwork.

Teachers were among the prime targets of the communist regime, but incorporating this history into a nation still traumatised by the horrors has been a massive challenge. l

Pakistani police registered a murder case yesterday against an anti-government cleric after three policemen were killed in clashes with his supporters ahead of a demonstration.

The cleric, Tahir ul-Qadri, had called for protests on Sunday, saying he wants to bring down the government by the end of the month because it is corrupt.

Another protest, led by opposition politician Imran Khan, is due in the capital on Thursday.

The protests have unnerved the civilian government and raised fears of tension with the military. Some ruling party members believe the protesters are getting support from elements in the military in an effort to weaken the government and stymie its pursuit of policies the military objects to.

The law minister of Punjab province, where the clashes between the clerics’ supports and police erupted on Friday, said police were out to arrest him.

“Qadri is responsible for killing police officials and his own workers. Police have booked him for terrorism and murders and will arrest him soon,” said the minister, Rana Mashhood Ahmad.

In Pakistan, police must register a case against someone before charging him with a crime.

A spokesman for Qadri said eight of his supporters had been killed and more than a 100 wounded in clashes with police over the past two days.

Policy differences

On Sunday, hundreds of Qadri’s supporters stood outside his house in the eastern city of Lahore reciting the Koran as a helicopter rattled high over overhead, apparently monitoring the crowd.

The spectre of tension between the civilian government and the military has arisen in particular because of the prosecution for treason of Pervez Musharraf, a former army chief who went on to become president.

Some in the army have privately criticised the legal action against their old boss, who, as army chief in 1999, overthrew the current prime minister, Nawaz Sharif, when he held the office then.

Sharif’s government has also made improving relations with India a cornerstone of its policy. But the military is believed to be less keen on such a move towards Pakistan’s old enemy and nuclear-armed rival and it sees external relations as its domain.

The government and the military have also disagreed on how to handle Pakistani militants fighting the state. l

50 years on, fateful Vietnam resolution resonates n AP, New York

A dubious threat to US interests. A swift vote in Congress for broad presidential war powers in response. A long, costly and bitterly debated war.

Fifty years ago on Sunday, reacting to reports of a US Navy encounter with enemy warships in the Gulf of Tonkin off Vietnam — reports long since discredited — President Lyndon Johnson signed a resolution passed overwhelmingly by Congress that historians call the crucial catalyst for deep American involvement in the Vietnam War. Many also see it as a cautionary tale that has gone unheeded.

“I think we are probably a bit better informed now, but I don’t think that makes us a lot safer,” says Edwin Moises, author of “Tonkin Gulf and the Es-

calation of the Vietnam War.” Every era brings new foreign policy and political challenges, said the Clemson University history professor, “and I think it is utterly unpredictable what kind of misunderstandings may come along.”

“If you ask whether we learned anything, I would say not enough,” says former US Sen Bob Graham, a Florida Democrat who opposed the war in Iraq, long after Tonkin and Vietnam.

In the last five decades, Tonkin has not kept Washington from backing wars, but it has shadowed relations between presidents and Congress. Debates about foreign conflicts, whether in Bosnia, Syria or Iraq, have also been referendums on trust. Is the war really necessary? Is the president telling everything he knows? What should be the

parameters, if any, for military action?

Graham was chairman of the intelligence committee when the Senate debated, in the fall of 2002, whether to authorize military action in Iraq. Did Saddam Hussein, as alleged by President George W Bush’s administration, possess weapons of mass destruction?

Graham found the case “soft and unreliable” and voted no. But most of his colleagues disagreed. The Sept. 11, 2001, attacks were barely a year old, and the midterm election was just a month away, a difficult time to turn away the president or the Pentagon.

The Senate approved the Iraq resolution by 77-23, the House 296-133. A US-led coalition invaded Iraq, opening a conflict that lasted for years. As Graham and others feared, the weapons

were not found.

Former Sen. Max Cleland of Georgia, who had been badly wounded in Vietnam, was among those who supported the 2002 legislation. “I can’t believe I volunteered for one war, which turned out to be a massive tragedy for the United States, and I went to the Senate and voted for another war, which turned out to be a massive tragedy,” he says.

“It was right before my re-election, and I felt compelled for my own hide,” explains Cleland, who nonetheless was defeated. “It became the worst vote I made in my life.”

Trust in the White House was high at the time Johnson signed the Tonkin resolution on Aug. 10, 1964. The resolution was submitted and passed within 48 hours.

For months, the US had been conducting clandestine missions, engaging in what historians now consider provocations. On Aug. 2, gunfire was briefly exchanged between the North Vietnamese and the Americans, leading to the sinking of a North Vietnamese boat. According to Stanley Karnow’s respected history, “Vietnam,” Johnson considered pushing for the resolution but decided to hold off because no Americans had been harmed.

Two days later, the commander of the destroyer Maddox, Capt John J Herrick, believed he had picked up radio messages communicating a planned North Vietnamese attack. The Maddox and a second vessel, the Turner Joy, began firing at what they thought were enemy patrol boats launching torpedoes against the Americans. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Monday, August 11, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

RMG would benefit from wage tribunals

A

round 1,600 Tuba Group employees have suffered from not receiving wages for on average the last three months.

The BGMEA’s action last week in paying these wages for May and June, and the company’s announcement that it will pay for July, are hopeful signs that this particular dispute may now be ended.

While there are disquieting aspects about the way this particular dispute has been prolonged, it raises a more general question for the RMG sector.

Namely that many RMG companies face severe pressures which can give rise to genuine financial reasons for delays in paying wages.

In this case, matters have been helped by the BGMEA commendably agreeing to pay some of the overdue wages even though they were under no legal obligation to assume these liabilities. A proper system is needed to help address this type of issue in other cases.

The BGMEA and industry bodies should work with the government and unions to set up a tribunal system that can adjudicate on wage issues so disputes do not get out of hand. This should be empowered to make quick rulings and to order a company to pay due wages. Powers can be granted to recover monies from the bank accounts and other assets of the company and its directors.

An insurance system should also be established to provide back up funds which can be drawn upon to pay overdue wages. By offering such additional security, the BGMEA would show leadership in guarding against hardship and build better industrial relations for the industry as a whole.

Set up a system that can adjudicate on wage issues and help prevent disputes

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

NBR: Survey report August 6

A reader The statistically-presented observations in an article in your business page were interesting and much appreciated.

Going through the article, one felt that if making tax payments is a hassle, then maybe this is why many people tend to avoid going through the hassle and thus not pay their taxes.

This is why this writer believes that the matter of tax payment should be simplified, and the payment process should be like depositing money in the bank.

That should be the target for tax authorities, so that one-to-one interactions between taxpayers and tax officials are minimised as much

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 2 represents A so fill A every time the figure 2 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

as possible.

The report hinted that most obstacles were related to circumstances leading to the usual bribery and corruption interactions, which may be reduced considerably with a simplified tax payment process.

For verification, periodic review with the taxpayer can be carried out once every three years, based on the audited reports and other necessary documents of the organisation that is paying taxes.

Compared to that, assessment and tax payments by individuals can be easily simplified, as sources of income are fairly limited for the individual.

SUDOKU Rapp against trial of Jamaat-eIslami

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.

August 6

Boost regional co-operation on energy

W

e welcome Nepal’s support for Bangladeshi initiatives to establish tripartite co-operation on energy between our two countries and India.

Cross-border collaboration is vital to make the best use of the region’s resources. As well as helping our economies to better match supply and demand for water and power, it can bring mutual economic benefits by opening up new trade opportunities.

Nepal’s energy minister has discussed a memorandum of understanding with the Bangladesh government for facilitating the export of energy from Nepal.

He supports the principle of Bangladesh buying electricity from GMR, an Indian company, which is investing in a hydroelectricity project in Nepal.

Importing hydropower in this way may help our energy sector become less dependent on expensive, non-renewable fossil fuels. It has the potential to provide an economically and environmentally sustainable option to help meet our future energy needs.

The sharing of resources development of cross-border infrastructure should be a top priority for regional platforms such as BIMSTEC, Saarc, and the BCIM Forum.

As well as helping to address energy and water challenges, building cooperation around hydropower can assist in helping to ensure fairer management of the region’s common river-waters.

Improved co-operation on these matters can also help the region better address the impacts of climate change.

The Brahmaputra basin is a vital resource of nature that links Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India and Nepal. Initiatives that help us work more closely together with our neighbours through mutually beneficial regional projects should be strongly supported.

Cross-border collaboration can bring mutual economic benefits

Tuba group: Only 24% workers accept part payment August 6 Ashraful Islam Siam The Tuba Group must pay each and every worker their full salary!

Government postal service is dependable

August 5 Md Ashraf Hossain Recently PLC banks and NBFIs individually published statements in the print media stating that they have dispatched half-yearly financial statements of the PLCs to the addresses of the shareholders. In recent years, I had gone through similar statements in the print media. I am a shareholder of at least 21 PLC Banks. But I never got a financial statement concerned. I belief that the management of the PLCs have handed over the financial statements to private courier service providers, but the latter did not deliver the statements to the respective addresses.

In this circumstance, I would like to urge the management of the PLCs to dispatch the financial statements as well as the annual reports through the government postal service.

Mac Haque I think the government of Bangladesh should take a rap from Rapp and ban the “party” – Jamaat-eIslami. Next step – punish the “individuals.” Piece of cake actually. :) Gautam Saha He should have said: “War criminals have a right to defend themselves from women who want to be raped and people who like their guts wrenched out with bayonets or shot at close range or people who like to be ethnically cleansed.”

CROSSWORD

Most Welcome 2: Big fish in a little pond August 7

Syed Ali Tarek Well constructed. A thought-provoking review.

Otaku Senpai AJ movies are more moral than the next biggest movies.

ACROSS 1 Alloy (5) 4 Sporting item (3) 6 Conceal (4) 8 Accustom (5) 9 Rodents (4) 11 Burden (4) 12 Harsh (5) 15 Of the kidneys (5) 18 New Zealand bird (4) 20 Dash (4) 21 Artless (5) 22 Egyptian goddess (4) 23 No score (3) 24 Water pitchers (5)

DOWN 1 Inflamed swellings (5) 2 Sky coloured (5) 3 Lustre (5) 4 Legume (4) 5 Throw (4) 7 Male honey-bee (5) 10 Musical instrument (4) 13 Work hard (4) 14 Checks (5) 15 Wash lightly (5) 16 Clamour (5) 17 Vegetables (5) 18 Sharp (4) 19 Plaintive cry (4)

Shanta Islam But, did you know the main theme of the story is inspired from a Tamil movie!?!

Delhi gang rape: India outrage over fashion shoot August 7 Sheikh Jinat Mahmid Don’t know, but seems bizarre to me!

CALVIN AND HOBBES

7 burnt to death as buses collide in Narsingdi

August 6 Anon More sad news. I’m not sure for how much longer we can keep going like this.

Story of Pinak 6 and Habiba’s unending wait for Shamim

August 6 Obayed Rahman I can’t hold my tears after reading this article. :(

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

PEANUTS

Launch capsize death toll reaches 33

August 7 Zebrul Hossain They can’t find all of the dead bodies, nor recover the launch that sunk in a river. If this accident had occurred in the sea or the ocean, not a single body could have ever been recovered, nevermind the launch.

Hall-Mark scam: Ministry ‘helpless’ in arresting ‘accomplice’ August 7 Shamuna Mizan Helpless?!? What a joke!

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Op-Ed T

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Monday, August 11, 2014

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I am bold, therefore khobish lawmakers are careful in their reckless misuse of power and position.

Let’s bring one recent incident back under the limelight – a police officer, who refused to bow down in front of political pressure to leave a polling station for false voting and, therefore, received a torrent of abuse from a lawmaker.

When the news came out in the open, thanks to a TV channel, there was mass public support for the officer who had brought some pride to the uniform, which, over the years, had become tainted by brazen political exploitation.

The sad part is, not a single politician stood up to take the side of the law enforcer. No one said in public gatherings that this is the sort of lawmaker the government wishes to promote.

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n Towheed Feroze

irst, let me be clear – I was not at the program where the social welfare minister allegedly hurled abuse at the journalists, but since several top-notch papers have printed the news, one has to accept that something untoward happened.

As reports state, the minister used indecorous language to address the members of the press present and used a hectoring tone to say he will see how far the media can go once the national broadcast policy is implemented to its full extent. We are told, faced with the broadside, journalists walked out in protest.

The national broadcast policy has become a hotly-debated item with

the media community voicing almost unanimously that instead of making the media more responsible, this is aimed at muzzling. And when a public representative in an open program allegedly threatens to curb media freedom, a question is likely to arise as to why there is so much fervour from the authority to have such a policy passed.

In the UK, the British government took a very firm stance holding the Leveson Inquiry after a phone-hacking scandal revealed extensive media-bugging into the lives of citizens in total disregard for their right to privacy.

The hacking scandal saw the News of the World shut down with top media men facing imprisonment for their collusion in the whole process.

However, the move by the British government to rein in on the press

was mainly to safeguard the lives of the common person from unethical transgression.

The British media, though warned, has not been barred from reporting on social anomalies, especially those that hamper smooth operation of civic life.

In Bangladesh, we have not reached the level where, desperate to add new twists to a news item, values are totally banished. I am not saying the entire media apparatus is spotless, but there is no denying that media which plays along the tunes of a government is hardly a free press integral to a democratic system.

Regulating the press is actually a very vague term because unless specifics are mentioned, like private phones cannot be bugged or pictures of victims of sexual assault must

It’s easy to criticise n Khawaza Main Uddin

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rguably, a thankless job in our society is the job of a matchmaker. A ghatak, as they are known in Bengali, happens to be a person who is not paid but criticised unjustly by both the families of the bride and the groom even when an arranged marriage results in a certain degree of satisfaction. The role of the civil society is similar to that of a typical Bangladeshi matchmaker.

Some folks love to slam members of the civil society, who are respected and privileged men and women. It’s possible that jealousy instigates adverse criticism and sometimes the role models’ gaffes inspire many to join the army of detractors.

A section of high-flying people feel and voice unabashedly that they themselves are the sole representatives of the conscience of the community, reminding us of the hubris-driven line uttered by Louis XVI of France: L’État, c’estmoi (I am the state)!

For years and decades, the attitude of the establishment towards a vibrant media and sharp opinions has remained unchanged – inimical and hostile. And why would a government which does not represent the entire nation be so tolerant to the gentlemen who speak for democratic governance?

Selfless individuals, however, think otherwise. Only 31 intellectuals issued a statement demanding dissolution of parliament constituted through controversial elections boycotted by the Khaleda Zia-led BNP in 1986.

General Ershad-sponsored Jatiya Party captured the treasury bench and Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League was the automatic choice for fitting the opposition bench. Evoking the entente between the two 27 years ago, they have made a historic castling in the power game minus the BNP. That defiant statement, which also contained the demand for holding free and fair elections under a caretaker government, set the course for politics in Bangladesh – a popular student demonstration that culminated in the mass upsurge of 1990, resulting in the fall of Ershad, who usurped the Presidency from the BNP’s Justice Abdus Sattar in 1982. This was followed by the most peaceful ballot in our history in 1991.

Those intellectuals, if we may consider them as vanguards, still kept

pressure on the BNP, the party that won the majority of votes in the 1991 parliamentary polls, to introduce the parliamentary form of government through the 12th amendment of the constitution.

One of the celebrated journalists of his time, the late Foyez Ahmed, maintained liaison among the political actors in the same manner he and some others did during the anti-autocracy movement in the 1980s. We also saw him active in mediating a dialogue on the caretaker government in 1995.

The rise of the civil society should have been firmer during the reign of elected governments; however, a large number of civil society icons managed to brazenly polarise themselves into two camps. Its third stream, outside the alignment of either the AL or the BNP, has become a depleted force over the years.

The role of the civil society is similar to that of a typical Bangladeshi matchmaker

Elites and various professionals have, in the past two decades, issued many joint statements, mostly biased towards one camp or the other.

Statements by others too were of no significant impact as the practice has lost potency.

Matchmakers like Pakhi bhai have found their own ways to survive and thrive, sacrificing social volunteerism and opting instead for commercial services. Alas, civil society actors cannot open shop with a lucrative turnout every month.

Its status is defined in the treatment from successive regimes when they doled out halua-ruti (benefits), politicising public institutions. Rival political camps made a trade-off while choosing non-party individuals for polls-time governments, castigating the office-bearers after electoral defeat every now and then – in 1991, 1996, 2001, and then 2008.

A handful of aristocrats and ad-

never be printed, laws using language deceptively or euphemistically can be misused.

Hypothetically speaking, let’s assume that the freedom of the press is slashed considerably in the days to come with reports of misdeeds at high places becoming rare. Tell me this, how will stringent laws curb the voice of the citizen journalist?

Somewhere, some conscious person is always alert to bring out a nefarious act into the open. How can they be stopped? Mass arrests, maybe? The much condemned Argentine regime of the 70s, when no kind of dissent or criticism was tolerated, comes to mind.

When we live with so many social media outlets, laws should be passed, not to stifle it but to ensure that

Laws should be passed, not to stifle the media but to ensure that lawmakers are careful in their misuse of power

Instead, there was uneasy silence from the side of the authority seeing a totally shameless practice come out in the open. Also, was the media channel thanked or lauded for exposing attempts at the grass-roots level voting fraud? I doubt it.

The police officer in question has perhaps learnt that it would be better to remain silent in the future and let Goliath carry on. David can turn into a deferential disciple. Such transformations have become an art form here.

I have said earlier – media as an institution is also replete with opportunists who use the press privileges to make a fast buck or attain some

material possessions. Not pointing any fingers, but there are plenty of media personalities who have pledged their loyalty to one regime or the other in return of position and power.

During the autocratic rule, several journalists cleverly took to the task to glorifying the regime’s achievements.

Some were sent abroad as envoys, and others got land plus special patronage.

The trend, I can say confidently, has thrived over the years.

As realists, we know very well, every government will have cronies in the media. After all, propaganda is more powerful than flaunting weapons or exerting muscle force. The slow but insidious indoctrination is safer because fear may bring submission, never long time hypnotic submission.

Obviously, there is no limit to fawning by a media outlet towards a government in power – the more the better! Though, in that format, media will only be a castrated fourth estate. Naturally, no policy is needed in controlling acquiescence.

Hirok Rajar Deshe, a Satyajit Ray movie, shows an imaginary land where everyone is brainwashed into indulging in panegyric rhetoric. No opposition and all praise, but the rule of human civilisation states – no situation of perceived total control is forever.

In real-life politics, that means – no matter how strong the grip, in the natural flow of events, change will come. Before the media is suppressed or words like khobish is used at pressmen at public programs, a look at the lessons of the past is advised.

Unscrupulous practices by the media must be minimised. A media regulatory policy is also essential while press monitoring has to be the prerogative of an apolitical, independent body run by outspoken civil society members, not by those whose minds are made in the Moshtishko Prokkhalon Jontro (brainwashing instrument) as used by Hirok Raja. l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

Workers, not serfs venturists, disillusioned with political leadership, advocated changes, evidently supporting attempts by the army-led interim government that took office on January 11, 2007.

This cost the civil society its credibility. As fallout, the next Sheikh Hasina-led government went after Nobel Laureate Professor Muhammad Yunus and others with visceral rage. Many have shut the doors of conscientious mind to not protest against various misdeeds around us.

The January 5 elections, manipulated from the beginning to the end, have offered a tricky choice between maintaining silence and raising their voices for the civil society leaders. They came up with a last-minute statement, making a fervent appeal to postpone the one-sided polls. However, once the election was over, they faced pressure from the ruling camp, blighted by the legitimacy question but blissfully nonchalant.

While the vocal ones are subjected to reprimand and harassment, they themselves seem to be overwhelmed by the situation. The pro-BNP part of the civil society fears of the repercussions and the AL’s portion loses its moral position.

The pressure group outside the political parties missed the opportunity to impel the main contenders for power to come to a consensus on the modality of holding acceptable elections well before the announcement of the polls-schedule in 2013.

They are now in a dilemma on how to proceed and what to do. Unlike the pro-democracy intellectuals in the 1980s, a segment of today’s intelligentsia, which boasts of forming opinion or negotiating with power blocs, is more concerned about the eventual beneficiary of its activism: Would it go against AL, or in favour of the BNP? A few of them dream of replicating the model of the civil society-led political movement that gave birth to the Aam Admi Party in India, but are not ready to invest years of painstaking effort to mobilise the people.

We have yet to see a formidable social force that can effectively talk about the smaller issues of public interests before thinking of the bigger changes within the country’s political landscape. l Khawaza Main Uddin is Executive Editor at ICE Business Times.

n Shariful Islam

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t is a shame that workers had to call a hunger strike for their unpaid wages and Eid bonuses. Notably, 1600 workers from Tuba garment factory are making a call for justice.

These poor, helpless garment workers have not been paid for the last three months. How are they surviving? How do they manage to eat, pay rent, and provide their children with education or healthcare? Who will think about their wellbeing?

The workers, who are major drivers of our national economy, are not paid on-time and are often subjected to various forms of mistreatment. When, they want to raise their voices against any injustice being done to them, they are treated very badly by law enforcers or by their employers’ hired goons. But if these garment workers, or workers in any sector for that matter, are not saved, how will our country go on? For sustainable development to blossom in Bangladesh, there is no other alternative than to ensure the safety and wellbeing of its RMG workers.

Unfortunately, RMG workers have become marginalised these days. I am personally aware of the injustices being done to them. From 2008 to 2009, my older sister worked in a garment factory. Like tens of thousands of others, she had a very low-paying job, while often not being paid on time.

Shiuly, one of the garment workers in the recent Tuba group crisis, points out that she has around Tk30,000 in dues with Tuba Group. She has been unable to pay her rent and grocery bills for the last two months and her landlord has already started threatening to evict her.

But is it right to neglect these garment workers? It can be mentioned here that in the 1970s, after the birth of Bangladesh, many perceived the country as a “bottomless basket case,” and many thought that the country would remain permanently locked in a “below poverty level equilibrium trap.”

There is no denying the fact that Bangladesh’s economy was mostly aid-dependent at the initial stages.

Bangladesh has come a long way since then and has graduated from a predominantly aid-dependant nation to a trading nation.

In this context, the RMG industry has made a crucial contribution in bringing Bangladesh to its current

position, and the cornerstone of the RMG sector is the hard-working workers. Bangladesh exported RMG goods worth only $69,000 when Reaz Garments exported its first consignment to the USA in 1978.

Over the years, our RMG industry has witnessed a steady growth and within three decades, it has become the largest export-earning sector of the country, generating 80% of the export earnings and contributing more than 10% to the national GDP. Notably, due to the low wages and low safety standards, Bangladesh tends to be the first destination of the MNCs, more so in the case of RMG. It is easily understandable from the fact that, despite being a small country, having only 147,570 sq-km, Bangladesh is the second largest exporter of RMG after China. The main reason is the cheap labour.

According to a New York Times report, “Bangladesh has more than 5,000 garment factories, handling orders for nearly all of the world’s top brands and retailers. It has become an export powerhouse largely by delivering lower costs, in part by having the lowest wages in the world for garment workers.”

In this age of economic globalisation and neo-liberal economy, the principle of profit over people plays a crucial role. Here, the state or a certain class of the society benefits from this economic globalisation, while creating a huge social inequality where certain sections, particularly the working class, become vulnerable in the name of development. In case of the RMG

sector in Bangladesh, this claim is quite evident. While the owners become richer day by day, the workers die from factory fires, collapses, while suffering from hunger, malnutrition, and disease due to lower wages and lower safety standards of their workplaces.

Although garment workers are the major drivers of the national economy in Bangladesh, they are hardly treated well by their employers or even the government, at least when it comes to ensuring the minimum wage or safety standards. Despite all the lofty promises made by the government and factory owners, there is hardly any evidence of implementation.

Furthermore, the issues of garments workers, their lives, and their living and working conditions are seldom covered in the mainstream media. Only after some major incidence do the marginalised sections of the society come into focus.

Without any delay, the wages of the Tuba garment factory workers must be paid along with their Eid bonuses.

It’s not an act of benevolence towards them, it’s their legal right. For the long-term interests of Bangladesh, the government must address this issue urgently, and there must be a permanent solution towards ensuring better wages and safety standards. The bottom line is that Bangladesh needs to save its garment workers in order to save itself. l Shariful did his Master’s in International Relations from South Asian University (SAU) and Dhaka University (DU).

RAJIB DHAR

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Monday, August 11, 2014

Eventful Saturday evening

TODAY IN DHAKA Theatre

Chandrabatee

By Asma Akter Liza Time: 7:30pm EMK Center, MIDAS Center, Dhanmondi A Man For All Season Time: 7:00pm – 8:30pm National Theatre, Shilpakala Academy, Shegun Bagicha Bon Manush

By Prachyanat Time:7pm Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

Film

Most Welcome 2

1 During the whole month of Ramadan and post-Eid period, the cultural scenario was dim and dull. Last weekend, concerts, theatres and dance recitals rejuvenated the arena and the Dhaka city dwellers, who love to add colours in their lives by attending such shows, surely had an eventful weekend.

1. Tamoghna Dey performs a dance recital at a solo Odissi dance evening titled ‘Parampara’ at the Chhayanaut Sanskriti Bhaban Auditorium.

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2. Singers of Bangladesh Rabindra Sangeet Shilpi Sangstha present a chorus performance on the closing day of the two-day long cultural programme ‘Tobu Mone Rekho’ marking the 73rd death anniversary of Nobel Laureate Rabindranath Tagore.

Hercules 3D

3. Natnandan stages its first production ‘Chandrabatee’ at the EMK Centre. Directed

by Asma Akhtar Liza, the experimental play is centred on women’s issues.

4. Eminent singer Luva Nahid Chowdhury performs at a solo music evening titled ‘Morome baje’ at the auditorium of Bengal Foundation in Dhanmondi.

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n Shadma Malik

n Entertainment Desk

A rugged look with scruffy beard, Tariq Anam Khan once again will be seen in a negative role in a drama series titled “Face” which will start airing from today at 8:40pm on SATV. In a conversation with the Dhaka Tribune, the renowned actor, who has made his marks in TV, theatre and cinema, shared about his ventures in “Face” and more:

Finally, after a gap of four years, Bollywood diva Kajol has given a positive nod to a film.

Kajol, who has majorly worked in romantic films, will be seen in a completely different avatar in the upcoming film.

Ajay Devgn recently announced that his wife Kajol would make a comeback this year with an action thriller film produced under his banner.

The film is an adaptation of the Dutch TV series "Penoza" and the actress will be seen playing the role of a feisty widow.

The story of the film revolves around a gangster's wife who decided to enter the world of crime to protect her children.

The news was confirmed by Deepak Dhar, who is co-producing the film.

Dhar told Pune Mirror that they are adapting "Penoza" and Ram Madhvani will direct the film.

A source close to the development said that Kajol's comeback has to be a big one and hence the producers finalised to adapt the Dutch series. l

Tell us about your role in “Face”?

In “Face,” I play Rahat who is a gangster involved with an international smuggling group.

I hold different disguises and fake identities in several incidents to make the “wrong” things done. He can go any extend to achieve his target.

What is the story of Face?

The title suggests many different identities of a single person. I should not disclose the whole story in this point but all I can say, it is a thriller and action packed series. The audience will enjoy the turns and twists in every layer of the story. Every episode has the potential to grow curiosity among the audience to watch the next part.

Star studded Pinjor airs today n

Drama series “Pinjor” portrays how the institution like village court is misconducted by nurturing some superstitions and religious biogotries. Written and directed by Badrul Anam Saud, the series is aired

Most Welcome 2 The Fault in Our Stars Hero Honeymoon Noah 3D Godzilla 3D Blockbuster Cinemas, Ka- 244 Pragati Avenue Kuril

Exhibition

Jolchhobi

By Shahnoor Mamun Time: 12pm – 8pm Alliance Francaise, Mirpur Road

Tariq Anam’s villaneous Face

Kajol to make a comeback with an action thriller

Entertainment Desk

KHAN HASAN MUHAMMAD RAFI

Maleficent Transformers: Age of Extinction (3D) X-Men: Days of Future Past (3D) Edge of Tomorrow (3D) Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City Panthopath Tejgaon

every Monday and Tuesday at 9:20pm.

Popular soap actors Suborna Mustafa, Raisul Islam Asad, Wahida Mallick Jolly, Bonnya Mirza, Intekhab Dinar, Jitu Ahsan, Saju Khadem, Pran Roy and many more stars are seen in the drama.

The story steps out of the usual stereotypical plots and revolves around a man named Manik Mia who returns home after approximately 14 years. No one takes his return easily and finally a village court is held where it is decided by all present that Manik will have to leave the village.

He starts a new life from scratch but in the midst an affair blooms between Manik and a widow named Tori.

Finally, the relationship is exposed and becomes unacceptable to everyone concerned. l

Subarnarekha to be screened today n Entertainment Desk Ritwik Ghatak's acclaimed film Subarnarekha will be screened today as part of the Partition Week at the Independent University at 12pm.

The Indian Bangla is the last part of Ghatak's trilogy dealing with the aftermath of the Partition of India in 1947 and the refugees coping with it. It was ranked 11th in a critics' poll of all-time greatest films conducted by Asian film magazine Cinemaya in 1998.

The Partiion Week is organised by the Bayaan Collective, in collaboration with the University Press Limited, and features a series of discussions and presentations on the legacies that have been created with the partition of South Asia. The event began yesterday through a discussion session on “Identity formation and Bengali Cinema: Pre and Post -1947” at the Chhayanaut Bhaban. l

Did you experiment with your looks?

I kept my hair short, but there were a lot more to do in my body language, my expressions, wearing a shoulder holsters to uphold an arrogant and angry look etc.

Reason behind regularly playing negative roles..

It is surprising for me as well that I am contineously being offered as a terrorist or a criminal. May be, it is because of my bad look, jokes apart. However, there is no such character that can be termed completely positive or negative.

There is always many shades of gray in every character, and that is the beauty.

Which one do you prefer the most, TV or theatre?

Theatre is my passion. It is the source of inspiration for my acting. In theatres, there are rooms for learning while discussing, teamworking and analysing with enough time in hand. On the other hand, TV ensures more exposure and financial support for an actor which are absent in theatre.

What's coming next?

My film, “Desha” is scheduled to be released in Eid-ul-Adha. l

Did you know?

Ravichandran Ashwin is now the only player to average above 40 with the bat and below 30 with the ball in Tests, minimum 100 wickets

Sport

Monday, August 11, 2014

14 Dominant Arsenal

thrash City in one sided Shield win

15 Venus beats

sister Serena to reach final

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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15 Sri Lanka beat

rain to down Pakistan

Festivity missing in players’ transfer Tigers’ captain Mushfiq signs for Prime Doleshwar n Mazhar Uddin

Paceman Shafiul Islam completes his signing formalities while Mushfiqur Rahim is seen in a jovial mood during the first day of the players’ transfer held at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday. Both Mushfiq and Shafiul signed for Prime Doleshwar MUMIT M

On previous occasions, clubs used to involve band parties and horse-carts whilst marching into the Bangabandhu National Stadium for the players’ transfer of the most prestigious cricket competition of the country, the Dhaka Premier Division League.

However, there was no such drama yesterday in the players’ transfer held at the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis premises where giants Abahani Limited and Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited secured the services of Nasir Hossain and Mashrafe bin Mortaza respectively.

The ongoing players’ transfer was also a bit different than that of the previous season. The largely controversial ‘Players By Choice’ system which was introduced last season, was criticised by most of the cricketers.

It was scrapped this season for the more favourable traditional system of players’ transfer where the clubs buy the cricketers of their choice.

The traditional system of players’ transfer, however, failed to add to the excitement at the big bowl.

Last season’s runners-up, Prime

Not fielding, Kalpage joins as assistant and spin coach n Minhaz Uddin Khan Former Sri Lanka cricketer Ruwan Kalpage officially joined the Tigers yesterday. Kalpage’s joining meant that the former Sri Lanka all-rounder is back in Bangladesh cricket circuit after a gap of four years. He worked as the head coach of the Bangladesh National Cricket Academy for two years before joining Sri Lanka as their fielding coach in 2010.

However, the few media correspondents who met the 44-year-old after the completion of his signing with the Bangladesh Cricket Board, were left surprised after he revealed of joining as the national assistant and spin coach, and not as the fielding coach as it was previously thought of.

Explaining the sudden change of

appointment, a BCB official requesting anonymity said, “He (Kalpage) applied for the posts of both assistant coach and fielding coach. But in the end the board decided to recruit him for the job as the assistant and spin coach.”

Kalpage informed that he and BCB had earlier reached a common ground for the position of fielding coach. But two days back, the BCB re-offered Kalpage the job of the national assistant and spin coach which he accepted with much delight and is happy to be back in Bangladesh and see the familiar faces, but his job this time will be challenging.

“Imrul Kayes, Shamsur Rahman, Rubel Hossain, Nasir Hossain – around 7 to 8 national cricketers were under my supervision when I was the head coach of the Academy. So it will be interesting

to work with them once again, but at the same time I am also sorry for those cricketers who have been discarded, for example Naeem Islam. I have asked a few people here why he is not in the

Kalpage applied for the posts of assistant coach and fielding coach. But in the end the board decided to recruit him as the assistant and spin coach team. They said he was not performing consistently,” said Kalpage.

However, Kalpage believes it won’t be hard for him to gel in the national team’s dressing room as many current national cricketers are from the Acad-

emy team of his time. “It doesn’t take long for us to understand each other.

The cultural difference between Bangladesh and Sri Lanka is not vast, and I know pretty well about their talent and ability because I have worked with many of them for around two years. I believe I know all the ins and outs. And the same goes my way – they know very well how I work, but I am also looking forward to work with players I am not known to,” said Kalpage.

It has been learned that Piyal Wijetunge, another Sri Lanka coach who turned down BCB’s offer as the Tigers’ spin coach, made the board consider Kalpage for the job of the same capacity and BCB has already started negotiation with another foreign individual for the post of the fielding coach. l

U-23 held to goalless draw in second warm-up n Tribune Desk

Bangladesh eying good show in Youth Olympics Hockey n Raihan Mahmood

The Bangladesh U-23 national football team registered their second draw in their second practice match. The U-23 side were held to a goalless draw against Dhaka XI, a side made up with BKSP footballers and players within the squad, at the BKSP yesterday.

The U-23 booters, who will travel to Korea in September to take part in the Asian Games, were split into two teams – Red and Green - in their first practice match which the drew 1-1 at the Bangabandhu National Stadium last week. l

With the inclusion of national players like Romman Sarkar and Ashraful Islam, the Bangladesh hockey team is aspiring to progress to the semifinals of the 2nd Summer Youth Olympic Games scheduled to be held in Nanjing, China from August 16-28.

BKSP coach and a renowned personality in the country’s hockey scene, Md. Kawsar Ali was not afraid of facing up to the challenge. “We are grouped with Australia, Canada, South Africa and Spain in Group A and it is a tough one.

But we have been taking preparation for a long time and as it is the age-level, the difference is not huge. We want to play in the semifinals and it is our first target,” said Kawsar.

The format is five-a-side and the Bangladesh squad comprises nine players who are all BKSP students. The matches will take place in three parts consisting of 12 minutes each. There will be a two-minute break after each part.

The significant change in this format is that a player can score a goal from anywhere in the field, just like in football; there will be no restrictions of the traditional ‘D’ area.

The Bangladesh contingent will fly to China on August 15. The number of participants in the discipline of hockey is 10.

Bangladesh qualified for the YOG as the runners-up of the Junior Asia Cup. Among the players in the squad, Din Islam and Fazle Hossain have the experience of playing in premier division hockey. l

BHF president Air Marshal Enamul Bari and acting MD of Janata Bank Omar Faruk shake hands after signing the Tk5m deal at the BOA auditorium yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Janata Bank continues hockey support n Raihan Mahmood Janata Bank, one of the leading state owned banks of the country, stepped up to assist Bangladesh Hockey Federation again with a purse of Tk5m for the salaries of the foreign coach of the national hockey team yesterday.

However, the amount has been reduced to Tk5m from Tk9m that was provided by the bank on 7th March 2013 for the same purpose. Omar Faruk, the acting managing director of Janata Bank, however, revealed they also have plans to assist hockey in other ways apart from the provided amount. “Our bank decided to reduce the money due to some limitations, but it is not the end of the story.

We are ready to assist the hockey feder-

ation in other aspects also. We believe hockey of Bangladesh has the potential to go ahead,” said Omar Faruk.

Air Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari, the president of Bangladesh Hockey Federation, thanked the bank for the support.

“We want to look forward. Bangladesh is currently ranked 30 in the international arena and we have moved six steps up in the last year. This has been possible because the national team remained under the guidance of a foreign coach throughout the year and this would not have been possible if Janata Bank was not there. Moreover, many companies sponsor the tournament and other meets where they get the coverage, but Janata Bank has stepped up for a noble cause and they don’t get that coverage for pro-

viding the support for the foreign coach.

They should be lauded. After all, we have a base to start,” said Enamul Bari.

Khaja Rahmatullah, the general secretary of the hockey federation assured that the money will be used efficiently and will have the optimum utility. “We have kept a foreign coach for the last one year and look forward to continue it, but I also have to admit at the same time that it would be little tough for us as the fund has been reduced. We thank Janata Bank and hope they will continue the support as Bangladesh moves forward,” said Rahmatullh.

BHF vice president Abdus Sadeque and the DMD of Janata Bank Iftekharuzzaman were also present on the occasion. l

Doleshwar, were the first team to arrive on the first of the two-day players’ transfer for the national players.

Bangladesh captain Mushfiqur Rahim, reportedly the most expensive player this time, signed for Doleshwar for Tk50 lakh. Paceman Shafiul Islam was also recruited by Doleshwar.

Reporters had gathered for the reaction of the national skipper but when queried about his record payment, Mushfiq appeared annoyed and informed that he was disappointed that news of his fee was made public. The 25-year old said he will receive much less than the mentioned amount.

“The amount which came out in the media is not the payment that I will receive. In fact I am getting much less than that and I was shocked to see it.

Whatever payment a player is receiving should be made public after asking the right person and then it should be published. And if a player is not willing to inform about his payment it is his personal matter. Tk50 lakh is a huge amount of money and it is not a matter of joke. I am receiving much less than that,” said an agitated Mushfiq.

Meanwhile, national cricketer Nasir, who was almost confirmed to turn out

for Kalabagan Cricket Academy till Saturday, surprisingly opted to play for Abahani. After coming to the players’ transfer yesterday, Nasir notified he was in talks with Kalabagan CA but did not give his final commitment. After receiving a better offer from the Sky Blues, Nasir changed his mind.

“Every team has their budget.

What I asked from Kalabagan CA would have been higher than their budget. Abahani are a big club and it is always fascinating to play for such a club,” said Nasir.

Abahani also retained pacer Al Amin Hossain and signed all-rounder Ziaur Rahman, completing their quota of national cricketers.

Veteran pace bowler Mashrafe on the other hand re-signed for Mohammedan alongside all-rounder Naeem Islam and Mithun Ali while Prime Bank Cricket Club concluded their signings recruiting Taskin Ahmed, Farhad Reza and Mahmudullah.

The remaining clubs who are yet to complete their signings of the national cricketers are expected to feature prominently on the second and final day of the players’ transfer today while the transfers of the remaining cricketers will take place on August 27-28. l

Mushfiq eyes turnaround in difficult conditions n Minhaz Uddin Khan National skipper Mushfiqur Rahim is aware that the upcoming 38-day long tour of the Caribbean islands will not be easy for the Bangladesh cricketers given the conditions and the composition of a totally different side since their last visit to West Indies in 2009.

In their previous visit of the Caribbean five years ago, Bangladesh had won their first away Test match besides also clinching the ODI series albeit against a second-string West Indies side.

“It (tour) will be difficult. International cricket is not easy,” Mushfiqur told the media during the pre-tour press conference yesterday. Although Bangladesh will leave Dhaka on August 13, their preparation for the first away tour of the season ended yesterday.

Mushfiqur informed that the Tigers will try to be competitive in all formats of the game during the tour. Following several below-par performances displayed by Bangladesh throughout this year, Mushfiqur stated that bouncing back against the Windies will be one of their criterion.

The 25-year old Bangladesh captain believes the West Indies’ recent defeats against New Zealand at home will keep the Caribbean side morally down.

In June this year, West Indies lost the three-match Test series to New Zealand 2-1 while the two-match Twenty20 series ended in a draw.

The Tigers will miss out on the service from their prime all-rounder Shakib al Hasan who is serving six months ban from all form of cricket due to indiscipline. However, Mushfiqur

said though Shakib will be missed, it won’t affect the motivation.

“We are always motivated it doesn’t matter who is there or who isn’t. Yes, he (Shakib) is a big performer and has been contributing for the team since last 8 years,” said Mushfiqur.

“But its not as though we would be all relaxed if we were in the team, cricket is not a one man’s game, we need at least three to four players to perform for a good result, so from that aspect we are motivated. Many players who haven’t been in form recently have been working hard, so hopefully they can motivate themselves to work harder and contribute for the team. They need to put in their best performance,” said the wicketkeeper-batsman.

On the other hand, it will be the first away tour for national head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and the former Sri Lanka cricketer expressed they are doing everything possible to have an away win.

Bangladesh national cricketers as part of preparation played to practice games – one in white dress and red ball to get the spirit of the longer format while the second was a 50-over-a-side game.

“We had few goals in the practice matches,” informed Hathurusingha.

“We also looked for roles of the players in the team. We had training prior to the Ramadan where we worked on our individual games and after that we focused on our team game and in those terms I am happy with most of the players with what they did. However there is always some work to be done,” he added. l

The Bangladesh hockey team for the Youth Olympic Games, Nanjing, China

Bangladesh squad

MUMIT M

Rezaul Karim, Romman Sarkar, Ashraful Islam, Din Islam, Naeem Uddin, Khalid Mahmud, Sajibur Rahman, Fazle Hossain and Raju Ahmed.

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Monday, August 11, 2014

Slow Proteas creep up on Zimbabwe n Reuters, Harare

Arsenal’s Mikel Arteta lifts the Community Shield after a 3-0 victory over Manchester City at Wembley Stadium in London yesterday

Arsenal thrash City in Shield n AFP, London Arsenal delivered a rousing demonstration of their Premier League title credentials by overwhelming league champions Manchester City 3-0 in the Community Shield at Wembley on Sunday.

Buoyed by last season’s FA Cup success over Hull City, Arsene Wenger’s side took charge with first-half goals from Santi Cazorla and Aaron Ramsey before substitute Olivier Giroud added a glorious long-range third.

With £30 million ($50.5 million, 37.8 million euros) new signing Alexis Sanchez also impressing on a sunny afternoon in northwest London, Arsenal’s fans will hope it proves the precursor to a sustained title challenge, after seeing their side fall away last season.

Victory in the traditional season curtain-raiser -- which witnessed the first

use of vanishing spray in English football -- suggests Arsenal are in fine fettle ahead of their opening league fixture at home to Crystal Palace on Saturday.

In mitigation for City, manager Manuel Pellegrini could point to the absences of first-teamers such as captain Vincent Kompany and Sergio Aguero,

RESULT Arsenal

3 0

Manchester City

Cazorla 21, Ramsey 42, Giroud 61

but his side’s rustiness will be cause for concern ahead of their season opener at Newcastle United.

With the millstone of a nine-year trophy drought no longer weighing them down, Arsenal made an assured start on their return to Wembley, with new signing Mathieu Debuchy obliging

Gael Clichy to head a cross clear.

Debuchy then blocked a shot by Samir Nasri -- lustily booed by the fans of his former club -- at the other end, before Cazorla gave Arsenal the lead in the 21st minute.

Jack Wilshere was felled on the edge of the box by Dedryck Boyata, but play continued and the ball ran to Cazorla, who threw Clichy off-balance with a clever feint before drilling home left-footed.

Edin Dzeko looked to get City level by racing away from Calum Chambers and teeing up Stevan Jovetic, but Laurent Koscielny produced a timely block. Moments later it was 2-0.

From Sanchez’s sweeping through ball, Yaya Sanogo played a pass inside that was slightly behind Ramsey, but the Welshman checked his run and smartly chipped the ball on before drilling a shot into the bottom-left corner.

REUTERS

It had been a less than ideal first 45 minutes for new City goalkeeper Willy Caballero -- who was preferred to Joe Hart -- but he helped limit the damage in first-half stoppage time by rushing out to prevent Sanchez collecting a pass from Sanogo.

Sanchez made way for Alex Oxlade-Chamberlain after a lively firsthalf cameo on the right flank, while City were given fresh impetus by the introduction of David Silva.

Jovetic twice threatened to halve Arsenal’s lead, heading against the post and blazing the rebound over before seeing a rasping 15-yard shot blocked

by Wojciech Szczesny.

But Giroud put the game to bed on the hour, gathering the ball in the inside-right channel and launching a superb, dipping strike from 25 yards that plunged beneath the crossbar. l

Zimbabwe stifled South Africa’s usually fluent top six but the world’s topranked test side remained in control by reaching 201 for four, 55 runs behind, at the close on the second day of the oneoff test at Harare Sports Club on Sunday.

The day yielded just 209 runs in the 90 overs on a wicket that is becoming increasingly difficult to bat on as Zimbabwe posted 256 in the morning session.

Faf du Plessis (69) and Quinton de Kock (27) will resume on day three.

In the hour after tea South Africa scored 11 runs for the loss of Hashim Amla and AB de Villiers as the home sided packed the offside field and bowled wide of off-stump, daring the South African batsmen to blast their way through the ring of men.

De Villiers’ demise was lazy in the end as if the boredom of it all overcame him as he tried to hit a ball from off-spinner John Nyumbu over cover, but succeeded only in picking out Sibanda.

Usually so fluent and difficult to contain, De Villiers’ torturous seven came from 34 balls.

Opener Dean Elgar fought his way to

Nasri confirms France retirement

n Reuters, Paris

n AFP, London

Striker Andre-Pierre Gignac scored a double but defensive flaws let Marcelo Bielsa’s Olympique Marseille down when they opened their Ligue 1 challenge with a 3-3 draw at Bastia on Saturday.

Marseille are looking to rediscover some magic under Argentine coach Bielsa in a bid to unseat arch-rivals Paris St Germain, champions for the last two seasons.

A loss of concentration allowed midfielder Christopher Maboulou to open the scoring for Bastia with the first of his two goals in the ninth minute.

Gignac equalised three minutes later with a header from a cross by Benjamin

RESULTS Evian

0 3

Caen

Kante 12, Duhamel 32, 37

Bastia Maboulou 9, 73, Tallo 66-P

Guingamp Lille Montpellier Nantes Bammou 65

Nice Cvitanich 23, 62, Bosetti 68

3 3 0 2

Marseille Gignac 11, 62-P, Thauvin 17

Saint-Etienne Erding 39-P, 90+2

0 0 0 1

Bordeaux

1 0

Lens

3 2

Metz Diabaté 17

Toulouse Braithwaite 44, Ben Yedder 45

Blatter wants his critics to stand for president n Reuters, Ulrichen

FC Barcelona’s new defender Thomas Vermaelen (C) poses with Barcelona’s sports director Andoni Zubizarreta (L) and vice-president Jordi Mestre during his official presentation at the Camp Nou stadium in Barcelona yesterday AFP

Arsenal’s Vermaelen agrees Barcelona move n AFP, London Barcelona finally won the race to sign Arsenal defender Thomas Vermaelen on Saturday.

The Spanish club had been battling with Manchester United for the Belgium international’s signature over the last few weeks and Luis Enrique’s team got their man for a reported fee of £15 million ($25 million).

United had initially been the front-runners to sign Vermaelen, who was said to be keen to stay in the Premier League and was uncertain if he would start regularly at the Camp Nou.

But United manager Louis van Gaal ended his interest when Gunners boss Arsene Wenger, who preferred to sell the former Ajax star to a foreign club rather than a direct rival, asked for England defender Chris Smalling to be included as part of the transfer.

“Thomas Vermaelen has agreed to join Barcelona in a permanent transfer for an undisclosed fee,” a statement on Arsenal’s website confirmed.

“Everyone at Arsenal would like to thank Thomas for his contribution during his time at the club and wish him well for the future.”l

Sepp Blatter wants his detractors to stand up and take him on in a FIFA presidential election rather than just criticise him, the FIFA president said on Saturday.

“If I were not criticised, I would not have any value,” the Swiss, who is in his fourth mandate after first being elected in 1998, told reporters. “People who say I should not be a candidate or I should not get elected, they can take the risk to be in an election. I took the risk in 1998.”

“If you never take the risk, you will never have a chance. But if you take the risk you also have the chance to lose,” added Blatter, speaking at the annual football tournament he organises in a small Alpine village in his home canton of Valais.

“Now I say, if (other people) want to take the risk then take the risk. Don’t speak, go out and fight, then you will see. That is good. I am happy to fight. I am a fighter.”

Blatter’s words appeared to be aimed at UEFA president Michel Platini who is seen as a possible rival to Blatter, although the Frenchman has yet to decide whether he will enter the race.

Blatter is seen as almost certain to run for what would be a fifth term in next year’s election although he has not made any official announcement.l

Manchester City midfielder Samir Nasri has confirmed his retirement from international football with France.

The 27-year-old dropped a strong hint last week that he had decided to cut short his chequered international career, having been omitted from the France squad that went to the World Cup by coach Didier Deschamps.

“I will only be 29 in 2016 for the European Championship, but the French national team doesn’t make me happy,” Nasri said in an interview with British newspaper The Guardian published on Sunday.

“Every time I go there, there is just more trouble. I face accusations about me

BRIEF SCORE Zimbabwe 1st Innings: 256 all out Taylor 93, Steyn 5/46 South Africa 201/4 (84.0 ov) du Plessis 69, Elgar 61, Nyumbu 2/71 South Africa trail by 55 runs in the 1st innings tumbami - at the second attempt - after he attempted to paddle a leg-side delivery from Nyumbu.

In the morning session, Dale Steyn completed his 24th five-wicket haul in tests to end the Zimbabwe innings.

Steyn finished with five for 46 from 22.4 overs to take his tally of test wickets to 380, three short of Ian Botham in 13th place on the all-time list.

Off-spinner Dane Piedt recorded figures of four for 90 in his first test. l

South African batsman Faf du Plessis (C) hits the ball during the second day of their Test match against host Zimbabwe at the Harare Sports Club yesterday AFP

Marseille held in high-scoring opening draw at Bastia Mendy and an own goal by Romaric put Marseille 2-1 up at halftime.

Marseille went further ahead with Gignac’s second goal, a penalty just past the hour.

However, Claude Makelele’s side fought back with a 66th-minute penalty converted by Junior Tallo for a foul on Maboulou, who then equalised with his second goal in the 73rd.

PSG also only managed a 2-2 draw in their opening match at Stade Reims on Friday with a brace from Zlatan Ibrahimovic.

Caen had the biggest win on Saturday, thrashing Evian 3-0, while St Etienne won 2-0 at Guingamp and Nice beat Toulouse 3-2 at home. l

61 from 146 balls before he was superbly caught flashing at a wide delivery by wicketkeeper Richmond Mutumbami off the bowling of Donald Tiripano, handing the debutant seamer his maiden test wicket.

Under-pressure opener Alviro Petersen (32), who averages 21 in his last 10 test innings, was also caught by Mu-

and my family suffers from it and I don’t want to make them suffer, so it’s better to stop it and focus on my club career.”

Nasri’s girlfriend Anara Atanes sparked controversy in May when she responded to his exclusion from the World Cup squad with a foul-mouthed Twitter attack on Deschamps and the France squad.

“Let’s face it, as long as he is going to be the manager, I don’t think I have a shot after everything that has happened,” Nasri said of Deschamps.

“It’s not just him. He did what he thought was best for his team. I understand his choice. It is not something about him. I don’t have any problem with him. It’s just everything. l

Southampton sign England keeper Forster from Celtic n AFP, London England international goalkeeper Fraser Forster joined Southampton from Celtic on Saturday, penning a four-year deal believed to be worth £10 million (12.5 million euros, $17 million).

The 26-year-old, who was part of the England squad at the World Cup in Brazil, began his career with Newcastle United, and had loan spells at Stockport County, Bristol Rovers and Norwich City before joining Celtic in 2010.

Meanwhile, Koeman also said Southampton had had a bid -- believed to be in the region of £4.5m -- rejected by Leeds for 20-year-old right-back Sam Byram.l

‘Lampard is impossible to replace’ n AFP, London Jose Mourinho admits it will be impossible to find a replacement for Chelsea legend Frank Lampard.

Lampard was released by the Blues at the end of last season and has since signed for new MLS franchise New York FC, while also agreeing to play for Manchester City on loan until his new club start training in January.

The 36-year-old established himself as one of Chelsea’s all-time greats during his 13-year stay at Stamford Bridge, becoming the club’s record goalscorer and winning the Champi-

ons League, Europa League, Premier League, FA Cup and League Cup. Mourinho knows Lampard’s departure has left a significant hole in his squad, and the Blues manager claims even new signing Cesc Fabregas won’t be able to replace the England international on his own.

Speaking to Rio Ferdinand for BT Sport, Mourinho said: “Frank is Frank, he is irreplaceable. No chance.

“Fabregas is the player we need to modify a little bit the profile of our game. We want to give the next dimension to our game in midfield.

“But I think we can never say - in

spite of Cesc, who is a fantastic player as you know - that, ‘This guy is coming to replace Frank’, because Frank is Frank.

“In England it is even stronger now than in my first period,’ he said.

“Even more now because when I first came Man City didn’t have this financial situation they have now. Even Tottenham at this moment, all the top five or six.

“In this moment can you tell me who is going to win the Premier League?

You can’t tell me.

“This is what I want. For my concept of what a league should be, this is the best.” l

Juve strike late to win Sydney friendly n Reuters, Sydney Juventus needed late goals from Paul Pogba and Simone Pepe to snatch a 3-2 win over an A-League All Star XI in a friendly played in front of 55,364 fans at Sydney’s Olympic Stadium on Sunday.

With the Italians trailing 2-1 with two minutes to go, French midfielder Pogba chested the ball down and steered it into the top corner of the net with an exquisite half volley to equalise.

Pepe scored the winner three minutes later with a low drive

from a similar position on the edge of the box.

Argentine Marcelo Carrusca had given the hosts, who were captained

by Juventus great Alessandro Del Piero, a deserved lead in the ninth minute when he found space for his shot on the edge of the box and stroked the ball past Gianluigi Buffon.

Substitute Tomi Juric lashed home the All Stars’ second goal in the 77th minute after a defensive error by Kwadwo Asamoah but Pogba and Pepe saved the blushes of the Italian champions. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

QUICK BYTES

Badrul Huda passes away Renowned sports journalist and commentator Badrul Huda Chowdhury passed away due to old age complications at his Chittagong residence yesterday. He was 82. He is survived by three sons, two daughters and his wife.

Badrul Huda was suffering from old age complications for the last couple of years. Born in Mirsarai in 1932, Badrul Huda worked for local dailies like Azad, Ittefaque, Inqilab, Banglar Bani, Sangbad, and Purbodesh. He also wrote two books on cricket, “Tobu Cricket Bhalobashi” and “Duti Bat Ekti Ball”. He was active as a sports commentator in both radio and TV. His namaj-e-Janza was held at the Laldighi Ground and he was buried at the Chaitnya Gali graveyard after the Asr prayers.

–Tribune Desk

WI name squad to face Bangladesh The West Indies Cricket Board on Saturday named a 13-man squad for the three one-day internationals against Bangladesh later this month: Dwayne Bravo (captain), Darren Bravo, Kirk Edwards, Chris Gayle, Jason Holder, Nikita Miller, Sunil Narine, Kieron Pollard, Denesh Ramdin, Ravi Rampaul, Kemar Roach, Darren Sammy, Lendl Simmons

Match schedule Aug 20: 1st ODI - St. George’s, Grenada Aug 22: 2nd ODI - St. George’s, Grenada Aug 25: 3rd ODI - Basseterre, St. Kitts (d/n) Aug 27: Twenty20 international - Basseterre, St. Kitts (day/night) Sept 5-9: 1st Test - Kingstown, St. Vincent Sept 13-17: 2nd Test - Gros-Islet, St. Lucia –AFP

England upbeat over Stuart Broad England expect Stuart Broad will be fit to play in the fifth and final Test against India at The Oval next week despite confirming the paceman had suffered a broken nose in their fourth Test win at Old Trafford. “X-rays confirm a fractured nose,” an England and Wales Cricket Board spokeswoman told reporters at Old Trafford after England, with Broad off the field, completed a spectacular innings and 54-run victory inside three days to go 2-1 up in the series. “He will have treatment over the course of the week and the medical team anticipate he will be available for the fifth Test.” Broad was hit when, trying to hook Varun Aaron for what would have been a third six in as many balls of the India fast bowler, he missed, with the ball lodging between the peak of his helmet and the grille.

–AFP

Sport

Sri Lanka beat rain to down Pakistan n AFP, Galle Retiring Mahela Jayawardene took on the unusual role of opening batsman to hand Sri Lanka a thrilling seven-wicket victory on the final day of the first Test against Pakistan in Galle on Sunday.

The hosts, needing 99 to win in a minimum of 21 overs, beat fading light and approaching rain to cruise home in the 17th over in front of some 5,000 jubilant home fans.

Jayawardene, who is due to retire from Test cricket after the two-match series, scored 26 before Kumar Sangakkara (21) and skipper Angelo Mathews (25 not out) chipped in lower down the order.

Mathews and Kithuruwan Vithanage smashed 17 runs in the 16th over bowled by Junaid Khan and then scored the winning run in the next over just before rain hit Galle.

The win was set up by left-arm spinner Rangana Herath, who claimed six for 48 that bundled Pakistan out for 180 in their second innings in the posttea session.

Pakistan, who started the day at 4-1, lost three wickets in the morning session to go to lunch on 66-4.

The tourists added eight runs in the morning when seamer Dhammika Prasad had nightwatchman Saeed Ajmal edging a catch to wicket-keeper Niroshan Dickwella.

Opener Ahmed Shehzad made 16 when he was given out leg-before to

Stekelenburg joins Monaco on loan Monaco have signed Dutch international goalkeeper Maarten Stekelenburg from Fulham on a season-long loan, the Principality club said on their website Saturday. The 31-year-old, who was first choice for the Netherlands at the 2010 World Cup, will provide competition for Croatia’s Danijel Subasic. The former Ajax and Roma shot-stopper, who has 54 international caps, will wear the number 16 shirt. He played just 11 league games for Fulham last season as they were relegated from the Premier League to the Championship. Monaco had been expected to sign former Barcelona goalkeeper Victor Valdes after the Spaniard became a free agent at the end of last season, but they pulled out of the deal after he tore his cruciate knee ligament in March.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Ten Action 2:00PM South Africa Tour of Zimbabwe 1st Test Day 3

Pakistan 1st innings 451 (Younis Khan 177, Asad Shafiq 75, Sarfraz Ahmed 55, Abdur Rehman 50, Dilruwan Perera 5-137, Rangana Herath 3-116) Sri Lanka 1st innings 533-9 declared (K. Silva 64, K. Sangakkara 221, M. Jayawardene 59, A. Mathews 91, Saeed Ajmal 5-166, Junaid Khan 2-104) Pakistan 2nd innings (overnight 4-1) Khurram Manzoor c Dickwella b Herath 3 Ahmed Shehzad lbw b Perera 16 Saeed Ajmal c Dickwella b Prasad 4 Azhar Ali c Dickwella b Herath 41 Younis Khan b Herath 13 Misbah-ul Haq lbw b Perera 28 Asad Shafiq lbw b Herath 8 Sarfraz Ahmed not out 52 Abdur Rehman c Dickwella b Eranga 1 Mohammad Talha c Dickwella b Herath 4 Junaid Khan lbw b Herath 0 Extras: (b7, lb3) 10 Total (all out, 80.2 overs) 180

off-spinner Dilruwan Perera to make it 39-3.

Shehzad, who consulted his partner Azhar Ali before deciding not to ask for an umpire’s review, would have survived if he had signalled for it. Television replays showed the ball missing the leg stump.

Herath dealt Pakistan a bigger blow when he bowled first innings century-maker Younis Khan for 13 to reduce the tourists to 55-4.

Ali and skipper Misbah-ul Haq put on 56 for the fifth wicket on either side of lunch when both fell at the same total to make it 111-6 -- just 29 runs ahead with 45 overs left in the game.

Ali (41) was caught behind off Herath and Misbah (28) was leg-before to Perera in the next over.

Pakistan found themselves pinned against the wall at 133-7 when Asad Shafiq, the last recognised batsman, was leg-before to Herath for eight.

Seamer Shaminda Eranga had Abdur Rehman caught behind at the stroke of tea before Herath dismissed Mohammad Talha and last man Junaid to leave gutsy Sarfraz Ahmed stranded on 52 not out.

The second and final Test will be played at the Sinhalese Sports Club in Colombo from Thursday. l

Fall of wickets 1-3 (Manzoor), 2-11 (Ajmal), 3-39 (Shehzad), 4-55 (Younis), 5-111 (Ali), 6-111 (Misbah), 7-133 (Shafiq), 8-153 (Rehman), 9-178 (Talha), 10-180 (Junaid).

Bowling Herath 30.2-11-48-6, Eranga 14-5-44-1, Perera 28-6-68-2, Prasad 8-3-10-1.

Sri Lanka 2nd innings U. Tharanga b Junaid 12 M. Jayawardene b Junaid 26 K. Sangakkara c Manzoor b Talha 21 A. Mathews not out 25 K. Vithanage not out 11 Extras: (lb3, w1) 4 Total (for three wickets, 16.2 overs) 99 Fall of wickets 1-28 (Tharanga), 2-59 (Jayawardene), 3-73 (Sangakkara).

Bowling Ajmal 6-0-29-0, Junaid 8-0-55-2 (w1), Talha 2.2-0-12-1.

Sri Lanka won by seven wickets

Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews celebrates after the win over Pakistan in the first Test in Galle yesterday REUTERS

Venus Williams booked her spot in the Montreal WTA final by rallying to take a three-set win over sister Serena on Saturday in their 25th career meeting.

Seven-time Grand Slam winner Venus benefited from nine Serena double

faults en route to a 6-7 (2/7), 6-2, 6-3 victory at the $2.5 million hardcourt tournament.

Venus posted her first win over top seed and defending champion Serena since another three-set victory five years ago in Dubai.

“Serena is at her top level,” Venus

Barca’s Affelay joins Olympiakos on loan Dutch midfielder Ibrahim Afellay has joined Olympiakos from Barcelona on a season-long loan, the Greek champions announced Sunday.

Afellay, 28, was sidelined for much of last season with a thigh injury having spent the 2012-13 campaign on loan at Schalke in Germany before a series of injuries curtailed his time in the Bundesliga. The injury-prone Dutchman joined Barcelona from PSV Eindhoven in January 2011 but has made just 35 appearances for the Spanish giants since his arrival at the Nou Camp. Afellay won the last of his 44 Netherlands caps in November 2012.

–AFP

SCORECARD

Venus beats sister Serena to reach final n AFP, Montreal

Serena Williams (L) and Venus Williams, both from USA, hug each other after the women’s semifinals in the Rogers Cup at Uniprix Stadium on Saturday in Montreal, Canada AFP

Federer cruises past Lopez to book spot in final n AFP, Toronto Roger Federer put on a command performance on Saturday to reach his fifth career Canadian final as he defeated Feliciano Lopez 6-3, 6-4 at the Toronto Masters.

The Swiss second seed and twotime champion in Canada will take on Jo-Wilfried Tsonga after the Frenchman rolled over rising star Grigor Dimitrov 6-4, 6-3.

Tsonga, seeded 13th and loser to Federer in two previous finals, will be playing his first final in Canada, while Federer moved into his 120th career final.

Federer stayed in total control from the opening point against Lopez, who was treated in the second set for an apparent neck problem.

The 32-year-old Spaniard has now lost all 11 of his matches with Federer, who will be looking for an 80th career trophy when he plays Tsonga.

“I’m happy to be playing in such good form,” said Federer, who turned 33 on Friday and lost just four points in serve in the first set. “I’m super-happy to be in the final.

“The key to the match was always the big serve. I had to focus on my own and then try to create chances. I started well from the get-go.

“I could tell Feliciano was tired, he’s played a lot of tennis this week. The

second set was maybe not of the highest quality, but I was seeing the ball very well.

“The final will be exciting, Jo has been playing well. I know what’s ahead of me, I have my work cut out if I want to win the trophy.”

Federer improved his 2014 record to 44 wins and eight defeats as he bids for a third title of the season after Dubai and Halle. He is only a month removed from the Wimbledon final.

The winner fired 13 aces and never faced a break point while forcing Lopez to save nine of 11 break points.

The 29-year-old Tsonga will face off for his second Masters 1000 shield on Sunday. He claimed a Masters win at Paris Bercy in 2008, but lost in Paris and London in two other finals to Federer.

“I’m feeling good, I’ve been waiting for this moment since a couple of years now. I’ve always believed it myself during all these years, and all those weeks where I was losing,” he said.

“Finally I get a little reward (with the victory), it’s good for me. It will for sure make me stronger, keep my motivation at the highest level.”

Tsonga spent fewer than 90 minutes in dispatching 23-year-old Bulgarian Dimitrov, the youngest member of the ATP Tour’s top 10 who stands eighth in the world and is tipped as one of the stars of the future.l

15

Monday, August 11, 2014

said. “You can’t win every match. You can’t win them all.

“She’s number one. Nobody wants to play her. If you do, you have to play the match of your life.”

Saturday was also their first meeting since Serena thrashed her older sibling 6-1, 6-2 last year in Charleston.

The contest lasted just over two hours as Venus hammered six aces and had just two double faults.

“Big sister taught little sister a lesson,” world number one Serena said.

Many of the crucial points in the semi-final came off second serves as Venus won 56 percent of hers compared to just 36 percent for Serena, who still leads their head-to-head series 14-11.

In Sunday’s final, Venus will face third-seeded Agnieszka Radwanska of Poland who beat unseeded Russian Ekaterina Makarova 7-6 (7/1), 7-6 (7/3).

The 34-year-old Venus became the oldest player to reach the final of this event in a quarter of a century as she guns for her 46th career singles title.

“I want to go out there and perform well,” Venus said. “If I am fortunate enough to win this tournament, then I am sure it will be dance-worthy.”

This also marked the first time Venus and Serena appeared on the same court together since Serena’s infamous wobble at Wimbledon.

Six weeks ago Serena exited Wimbledon in bizarre fashion. Appearing dizzy and bewildered during a Wimbledon doubles match with her sister as she struggled just to bounce the ball and then double-faulted four times in a row. Serena later blamed her performance on a virus.

Serena, a three-time champion at the event and who was coming off a victory last week in Stanford, fired 19 aces but couldn’t overcome her double faults and poor second serves.

“I made many mistakes today. When I make so many mistakes it is impossible to win against her,” a disappointed Serena said.

“I haven’t been able to get into the quarter-finals of a Grand Slam this year.

“At this point, really just looking forward to next year, to be honest.”

Serena then bristled at a reporter’s follow-up question about possibly overlooking the US Open and how this affects her motivation for the upcoming Grand Slam. l

Chess team return to winning ways n Tribune Desk Bangladesh Open chess team finally returned to winning ways after beating San Marino convincingly by 4-0 points in the 7th round of the 41st World Chess Olympiad at Tromso, Norway on Saturday.

Meanwhile in the women’s section, Bangladesh lost to Moldova by 2.5-1.5 points in their 7th round encounter.

In the Open section, Grandmaster Ziaur Rahman beat Righi Ezio, GM Enamul Hossain beat Cecchetti Roberto, IM Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar beat Maccapani Massimiliano and GM Niaz Murshed beat Grassi Enrico of San Marino.

Bangladesh Open team now have seven match points and 15.5 game points after the end of the 7th round.

In the women’s section, only WIM Shamima Akter Liza managed to win against WIM Baciu Diana while WFM Sharmin Sultana Shirin forced a draw against Gitu Paula Alexandra as WFM Nazrana Khan Eva lost to IM Petrenko Svetlana and WIM Rani Hamid lost to Hincu Olga. Bangladesh women team now have six match points and 13.5 game points after seven rounds played. l

India press slam team’s ‘spineless surrender’ n AFP, New Delhi

India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni faced criticism from the nation’s press Sunday for his “bizarre” tactics during the side’s humiliating loss to England, while his batsmen were slammed for their “spineless surrender”.

Lacklustre India lost the fourth Test at Old Trafford on Saturday by an innings and 54 runs, handing England an unbeatable 2-1 lead in the five-match series.

Under the back-page headline “Spineless Surrender”, the Times of India lashed out at the country’s batsmen for refusing to fight back in their second innings.

The newspaper said the batsmen had made millions of dollars playing “slam-bang” limited-overs cricket, but failed to hone their skills for Test matches, the sport’s most demanding format.

“Faced with the onerous task of saving the match, India’s ‘Young Millionaires’ did not even attempt to save face,” its correspondent wrote.

“Instead they flaunted a flamboyant approach, so typical of limited-overs cricket, to bring about a quick end to the fourth Test.

“So pathetic was India’s display that their second innings lasted just 43 overs.” l

Runners start the 44th annual City2Surf fun run down Sydney’s William Street August 10, 2014. Around 80,000 people participated in the run, which covers a distance of 14km (8.7 miles) from the city to Bondi Beach REUTERS

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, August 11, 2014

SUSHMA SWARAJ’S VISIT

India claims illegal migration issue discussed n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Dhaka and New Delhi have made opposite claims on whether they had discussed the issue of alleged illegal migration from Bangladesh during Indian Foreign Minister Sushma Swaraj’s visit to Dhaka in June.

After having official talks with his Indian counterpart on June 26, Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali said the issue had not been discussed in the meeting. “It was not raised by the Indian side and no discussion took place,” he told reporters.

However, the Indian External Affairs Ministry in response to questions of parliamentarians said, at least twice, that the issue had been discussed during the meeting.

A senior Foreign Ministry official in Dhaka said they had no knowledge why the Indian ministry had been making such claim In response to a question of Rajya Sabha member Bhubaneswar Kalita on August 7, Sushma Swaraj said: “The matter of illegal immigration, border management and related issues were raised with the Government of Bangladesh, stressing the need for enhanced border management and better cooperation between our border guarding forces.”

She also said both the governments had agreed that better management would be helpful in bringing about peace and security along the border.

On July 30, in response to a question of Rattan Lal Kataria and Yogi Aditya Nath in Lok Sabha, State Minister for External Affairs VK Singh said: “During her [Sushma Swaraj] visit to Bangladesh from June 25 to

AL leader shot dead n Tribune Report An Awami League leader was shot dead on Saturday night outside his house in the capital’s West Agargaon area.

Jahangir Kabir, 45, was a candidate for the presidential post of Awami League’s ward no 41 unit as well as the president of Agargaon Trade Association.

After the shooting, he was first taken to a local hospital but was later shifted to the National Institute of Traumatology & Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, where doctors declared him dead.

Jahangir’s wife Parvin Akhter said around 11:45pm, when her husband got out of a car in front of their house, two people shot him several times.

“He received injuries on his nose, face and chest. The shooters, riding a motorcycle, fled the scene when locals rushed there after hearing the sound of shooting,” she said.

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar OC Kazi Ruhul Imam said: “Jahangir was shot around 11:30pm by two miscreants and he died after being taken to the hospital.”

The motive behind the killing could not be ascertained and no case was filed till the filing of this report. l

27, 2014, the external affairs minister raised the issue of infiltration and illegal migration with the Bangladesh leadership.”

When contacted, a senior Foreign Ministry official in Dhaka said they had no knowledge why the Indian ministry had been making such claim.

“The issue was not raised in the official talks and our minister mentioned it in the press conference. We stand by what our minister said,” the official said.

It was not even raised when Sushma Swaraj had called on Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during the visit, the official said. “Had the issue been raised, Bangladesh would have responded to it. But in the responses of the Indian ministers, there was no mention of what Bangladesh said and that is unusual.”

During the election campaign, Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi made the alleged infiltration from Bangladesh an issue while it was endorsed by his party, BJP, which won majority in the Lok Sabha election.

Modi several times threatened that he would get rid of the alleged Bangladeshi infiltrators if voted to power.

Bangladesh Commerce Minister and senior Awami League leader Tofail Ahmed at that time said such remarks would have negative impact on the bilateral relations.

Indian Finance and Defence Minister Arun Jaitley in May published an article, saying: “Mass infiltration of Bangladeshis has changed the demographic character of Assam, West Bengal and some districts of Bihar.”

The root cause of social tension in several parts of north-eastern India was infiltration, he alleged.

“Some political parties in Assam and West Bengal have regrettably made infiltration into a secular cause because infiltrators are their vote bank,” Jaitley said. l

With high-tech equipment still unable to trace the Pinak 6 launch, locals carry out their own manual efforts in finding the location of the sunken vessel. By tying pieces of bricks to a plastic rope, they drag it across the riverbed in hopes that the bricks will get caught in the body of the launch. These locals try to assess the situation yesterday after their rope got caught apparently on a large structure in the middle of the Padma River, which they assumed to be the Pinak 6 MEHEDI HASAN

Bangladeshis 'at serious risk' in Libya and Iraq n Rabiul Islam Bangladeshi labourers in war torn Libya and Iraq were at serious risk, the expatriates' welfare minister, Khandker Mosharraf Hossain, said yesterday.

But the government does not plan to evacuate them at this time.

“We have shifted our migrants from Tripoli and Benghazi to safer places in Libya and advised them not to move to conflict-prone areas,” the minister for expatriates' welfare and overseas employment told reporters after a policy discussion on migration and development at a city hotel.

Answering a question, Mosharraf admitted that Bangladeshis were at risk but that it was good news that Bangla-

Mohsin regrets foulmouthing journalists n Our Correspondent, Sylhet Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali yesterday regretted making derogatory remarks about journalists, saying he meant those words for only a couple of newsmen, not all.

In a statement signed by the public relations officer of his ministry, the minister yesterday stated that those two local journalists had been publishing fabricated news on him repeatedly over the last few days.

Mohsin said he had been agitated by constant verbal pinching of some of the journalists present there, as they had been constantly “making fun of the honourable prime minister and the finance minister.”

He said he could not control his wrath and fumed towards the journalists.

Mohsin, who had apologised for smoking at a programme of a school after the incident had been revealed by the media, said he sincerely regretted his

words if the journalists community had been hurt. He asked journalists to consider that as an unintentional mistake.

The minister asserted that journalism was a noble profession and he had eternal respect for it.

Addressing a discussion programme in Sylhet on Saturday, Mohsin called journalists “Khobish,” a Bangla word roughly meaning disgusting and dirty.

The social welfare minister also said journalists were uneducated, non-graduate and they did not have any character. l

Almost half the space of the footbridge in front of Shabagh’s BSMMU is occupied by hawkers who lay down and display their products on the walkway built for pedestrians’ use. The photo was taken yesterday RAJIB DHAR

deshis were not the target of any of the conflicting groups.

Mosharraf said the government would evacuate Bangladeshi citizens from Libya if the situation deteriorated any further.

Talking to this correspondent, the first secretary of the Bangladesh embassy in Tripoli, Libya, Ahsan Kibria, said 3,500 migrants had been moved from Tripoli and 2,500 from Benghazi to safer places.

He said seven Bangladeshis had been killed in the last few days.

The embassy official said some Korean companies that employed expats had halted their projects in Libya. The companies gave 6 months' leave to workers and said they would recruit

further manpower when the situation improved.

The chief of the Dhaka mission of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Sarat Das, told the Dhaka Tribune on the sidelines of the discussion that migrants had little scope of being evacuated at the moment. The IOM has been distributing relief materials in Libya.

Around 50,000 to 60,000 Bangladeshis are on work contracts in Libya.

Asked about the confinement of 180 migrants in Iraq, the expat minister confirmed that it was true and that the migrants had no work.

He said the company that recruited the migrants had no commercial activities.

“We have started negotiations with the company to provide jobs for the migrants elsewhere,” he said.

The expat minister said the managing director of a company recruiting workers to go to Iraq amid war and renewed US airstrikes had assured him that security precautions had been taken.

He said between 25,000 and 30,000 migrants work in Iraq.

Addressing the discussion on migration and development, organised

by Parliament and the International Organisation for Migration (IOM), Speaker of the House Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury said it was necessary to mainstream migration into development. l

Saga of so-called condensed milk n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

The Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institution in 2003 cancelled the licences of four companies for producing so-called condensed milk with expired milk powder and inedible palm stearin instead of milk fat.

The companies confessed to making such adulterated condensed milk in violation of the BSTI's licensing conditions; the condensed milk must contain 8% milk fat, extracted either from cow or buffalo milk.

The companies then demanded making a new standard for them so that they could produce condensed milk with vegetable fat, arguing that such production is seen in Malaysia. Considering the health consequences, the BSTI rejected the appeal, prompting the companies to file a writ petition with the court that is yet to settle the case.

Thus, the companies continued producing and marketing condensed milk with palm or soya bean fat.

“We visited a condensed milk factory in Comilla. The factory was equipped with very good machinery, but we saw sacks of expired imported milk powder which was similar to stone pieces. These out-of-date stone-like powdered milk was crushed into milk powder. Then water, palm stearin (instead of edible palm olin) and sugar were added to the milk powder to make condensed milk,” said Kabir Ahmed, a representative of the Institute of Public Health to the probe body the BSTI formed in 2002 to investigate the malpractices of the condensed milk companies.

“These were simply poisoning the people as the palm stearin is not edible; it is used in detergent making,” he said.

Millions of people across the country, even in the remotest areas, are consuming the so-called condensed milk mainly used in tea stalls and restaurants. People of all ages take the injurious milk which children and elderly people must avoid.

The companies are reluctant to disclose the figures on the sales of the condensed milk. But the harmful condensed milk has replaced the tradition of making tea and coffee with raw milk across the country.

“I use at least five cans of condensed milk every day,” Kalu, a tea stall owner

in Chokmuktar Southwest Para, told the Dhaka Tribune. Similar statement came from Chhobi Begum, a tea stall owner in Khulna's Batiaghata area.

Each of the 68,000 villages has at least five tea stalls. A conservative assumption says at least 3.4 lakh jars of condensed milk are sold every day in the villages. It means at least one crore jars of condensed milk are sold per month.

Based on the findings, the BSTI council headed by then (2003) industries minister MK Anwar cancelled the licences of four condensed milk companies: Danish Condensed Milk Bangladesh Ltd, Abul Kahir Condensed Milk Industries Ltd, SA Condensed Milk Ltd and Meghna Condensed Milk Industries Ltd. In 2007, the military-led interim administration ordered the BSTI to set a new standard allowing palm or soya bean fat in the condensed milk styled Sweetened/Unsweetened Condensed Filled Milk. Since then, at least six companies are producing and marketing the so-called condensed milk.

According to the new licensing conditions (2007), the jar must not claim it to be a condensed milk; it must read Sweetened/Unsweetened Condensed Filled Milk with 22% skimmed milk power. But the companies are marketing the products writing in bold red Sweetened Condensed Milk, with a small black world 'filled' which must be in the heading.

Hitherto, neither the BSTI nor any agency in-charge of ensuring food safety has tested any samples of the condensed milk to check whether the companies are using edible ingredients.

“The writ petition is yet to be settled.

But the companies are marketing the milk under new licences that allow use of vegetable fat. We have just made a standard for production of sweetened condensed filled milk. We have no authority to punish them for adulteration,” Taher Jamil, a deputy director (administration), told the Dhaka Tribune.

“At present, we have set standard for around 3,800 products. We can cancel licences and jail them for the 155 items.

For adulteration of rest of the products, the government agencies such as the police, the local government bodies, institute of public health and the consumer rights directorate can act in line

with the Pure Food Act 2013 and other laws,” he said.

“This is for sure that no company will ever produce condensed milk again as it will not be economically viable”.

BSTI Director (chemistry) Md Akhtaruzzaman told the Dhaka Tribune that the companies were very powerful and it was very difficult to punish them.

“One kilogram of powder milk costs Tk650. So, you can easily understand how we have been doing business. The production cost of one jar of milk costs around Tk25,” said Kazi Hasan, the general manager of the Danish Condensed Milk Bangladesh Limited.

He said his company imported milk powder from Australia, New Zealand and Denmark.

According to the BSTI rule, the companies must use 88 grams of powder milk in 400 gram condensed milk jar, meaning that only the power milk will cost over Tk57. But one container of 397 condensed milk sells at Tk58 in the retail market.

Replying to a Dhaka Tribune question how they could sell 400 gram condensed milk with only Tk58 as one, a representative of Samannaz Condensed Milk Ltd (Goalini), told the Dhaka Tribune: “This is our business secret; there are ways you will not understand.”

Further relaxing conditions

The BSTI has agreed to give further concession to the companies. The 2007 conditions forced the companies to use 22% of power milk in a 397 gram jar that sells at Tk58. This year, testing institution has amended the 2007 conditions, allowing them to prepare the milk with 20% milk power.

“We will place the decision at the BSTI's highest policy-making body headed by the industries minister,” Taher Jamil said, adding that the amended licensing conditions would enable them to punish the companies for violation of conditions.

Partex Group's Danish Condensed Milk Limited, Tasneem Condensed Milk (No1), Meghna Condensed Milk Ltd in Comilla (Fresh), Samannaz Condensed Milk Ltd (Goalini), Sonowara Condensed Milk Limited (Diplomat) and Abul Khayer Condensed Milk Ltd (Starship) are the companies producing such milk in Bangladesh. l

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B3 Read all about it: News you can wear

B4 From an Indian jail,

tycoon tries to sell the NY Plaza

MONDAY, AUGUST 11, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Body formed to start Dhaka-Tokyo economic talks Both countries will proceed to hold the first meeting of the forum on August 21 which will be the first follow-up to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s tour to Japan

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman assured visiting Japanese investors of facilities to promote their investment in Bangladesh.

Meanwhile, the government has also formed an eight-member committee to initiate economic dialogues between the two nations to remove bottlenecks in bilateral trade and investment.

The central bank chief came up with the assurance as the delegation met him at his office in Dhaka yesterday, said a press release. The Japan-Bangladesh economic dialogue is expected to start in the third week of this month.

n Asif Showkat Kallol The government has formed an eight-member committee to place recommendations in implementing pledges Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina had made during her visit to Japan in May, and initiate economic dialogues between the two countries.

The committee will create a joint forum comprising members from both public and private sectors of the two countries to hold dialogues on promoting investment and trade between Japan and Bangladesh.

Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Principal Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikder is heading the committee, which also include seven other secretaries.

PMO last week issued a circular to form the committee to organise Bangladesh-Japan public-private economic dialogues.

An official said the first meeting of the newly formed committee will be held at the PMO on Thursday. So prime minister’s scheduled visit to commerce ministry on the day is likely to be shifted to August 28.

Meanwhile, the both countries will proceed to hold the first meeting of the forum on August 21 which will be the first follow-up to prime minister’s tour of Tokyo.

The Thursday’s meeting will discuss identifying priority development projects of Japan as a Japanese economic survey team is expected to visit Bangladesh soon.

Discussions will also include onestage rules of origin from existing three-stage rules of origin for Bangladesh’s garment export items, acquiring of a 500-acre land for a Japanese investors export processing zone, Japan’s willingness to establish an industrial park and allocation of 40 plots and two industrial buildings for Japanese new investors to Bangladesh.

The committee will request foreign

Japanese Ambassador hopes further progress in ensuring trade, investment facilities before Japanese PM’s visit to Bangladesh next month

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman holds a meeting with a Japanese team led by Japanese Ambassador to Dhaka Shiro Sadoshima at the central bank yesterday ministry to invite Japanese government to international conference on expert group meeting on blue economy in September.

Sources said as the visit uplifted the Japan-Bangladesh bilateral relationship onto a comprehensive partnership, the forum would play a positive

role in taking forward the partnership through dialogues for the socioeconomic development of the two countries.

Officials hoped Dhaka’s demands like removing tariff barriers and quota-and-duty-free trade would get importance while scope of removing

various investment barriers that Japan identified in Bangladesh are likely to be dealt with in this kind of forum meeting.

Earlier on various occasions, Japanese business community submitted to the Bangladeshi government a list of common areas where improvement is

Dhaka, Paris sign BB signs refinance scheme with 32 agreement on banks, FIs for new entrepreneurs Decentralised n Tribune Report Cooperation n Tribune Report A framework agreement on “Decentralised Cooperation” has recently been signed between the Embassy of France in Bangladesh and the Local Government Division under the ministry of local government, rural development and cooperatives and the Economic Relations Division (ERD) under the ministry of finance to promote the development of exchanges between Bangladesh local governments and French local authorities.

Mohammad Mejbahuddin, Secretary of Economic Relations Division and Zuena Aziz, Director General (Additional Secretary) of Local Government Division and Michel Trinquier, ambassador of France to Bangladesh signed the framework agreement on their respective sides.

Other senior officials of the Government of Bangladesh and of French Embassy in Bangladesh were present in the signing ceremony, according to a statement released by ERD recently.

There will be a management committee for identifying projects addressing development challenges faced at the local level in Bangladesh for which French local authorities would be able to contribute through decentralized cooperation.

According to the agreement, local government division would identify the needs of Bangladesh local governments and suggest to management committee for possible decentralized cooperation projects to be implemented with selected Bangladeshi local governments.

The French Embassy would communicate the aforementioned needs and projects to French local authorities and put interested French local authorities in relation with the selected Bangladesh local governments to work together. l

BB chief assures Japanese investors of facilities n Tribune Report

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman urged the banks to divert their investment focus to the creation of new entrepreneurs providing small loans to them.

He also said the SMEs have demonstrated more commitment in repayment of loans than the big entrepreneurs.

“Banks are to face crisis sometimes by providing loan to big entrepreneurs but SMEs (small and medium entrepreneurs) would be more committed in this case,” he said while addressing a signing ceremony of “New Entrepreneurs Refinance Scheme” at Bangladesh Bank headquarters yesterday.

The central bank signed a participatory contract with 32 commercial banks and financial institutions under its refinance fund of Tk100 crore for the development of new entrepreneurs.

The fund will be used for providing highest loan of Tk10 lakh without collateral and Tk25 lakh with collateral at 10% interest rate to a new entrepreneur aged 18 to 45 years who did not take any loan earlier.

The refinance scheme will be implemented through the country’s banks and financial institutions.

Earlier, Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry had taken an initiative to promote 2,000 new entrepreneurs.

In order to expose these entrepreneurs to the local and global arena, DCCI had taken a mega expo titled “DCCI Entrepreneurship and Innovation Expo” held in November last year.

The refinance scheme is the outcome of that initiative for creating new entrepreneurs taken by DCCI, said governor.

“We have many projects for financing the SME sector but this refinance project is most important as the fund will go to the new generation of our country,” he said.

He expressed hope that the fund of Tk100 crore would be increased following the approval of central bank board if the outcome of using the fund is good.

“There is no funding problem, but important is how many entrepreneurs we are creating.”

Dr Atiur Rahman called the banks to keep their commitment in disbursing the fund properly.

Governor directed Bangladesh Bank officials to ensure the timely disbursement of the fund.

DCCI President Shahjahan Khan and Former President Sabur Khan were also

present, among others, at the function.

Shahjahan Khan said: “Despite the contract is being signed, the main objectives are not achieved.”

He urged the banks to come forward to achieve the goal of creating new entrepreneurs using the fund properly.

Masum Patwary, General Manager of SME and Special Programmes Department of Bangladesh Bank, alleged the banks showed interest to sign such contracts but after signing they didn’t participate actively in the SME loan disbursement.

Ali Reza Iftekhar, President of Association of Bankers Bangladesh (ABB), denied the allegation and said the banks always achieved successfully the targets set by Bangladesh Bank in all projects including in agriculture and SME sectors.

Selim R.F Hussain, Managing Director of IDLC Finance, assured on behalf of all banks and financial institutions that they would be committed about the proper use of the fund.

Helal Ahmed Chowdhury, Managing Director of Pubali Bank, expected the size of the fund would be increased in future if properly used. The fund will have an important role on employment generation, he hoped. l

JS body for bigger Teletalk’s market share n Muhammad Zahidul Islam A parliamentary standing committee yesterday stressed the need for increasing more market share by the state-owned Teletalk in the mobile sector of the country.

The standing committee of public undertakings in its fifth meeting held in the parliament building asked the lone state-owned mobile phone operator to invest more on network expansion and also spend more for advertisement purpose.

The meeting was presided over by the committee chairman Col (Retd.)

Shawakat Ali. “We’ve found that the committee is showing more pragmatic attitude towards us as they are well-informed about our limitations and at the same time it wanted to help us in getting more market shares,” Gias Udding Ahmed, acting managing director of Teletalk, who attended the meeting, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Currently, Teletalk has obtained 3.08% market share with 35.95 lakh active subscribers after June 2014, according to the statistic of the telecom regulator.

Market leader Grameephone has

42.24% market shares with 4.92 crore active subscribers, while Banglalink grabs 25.53%, Robi has 20.61%, Airtel has 7.33% and Citycell has 1.22% market shares.

During the meeting, the committee member urged the Teletalk management to increase more market share to establish control over the market as soon as possible.

After discussing different corruption-related issues, published in the newspapers, the committee asked the public companies to submit their reports to the standing committee after proper investigation. l

BB

needed in business to ease doing business in Bangladesh. But, sources said, hardly any step was taken yet.

During Sheikh Hasina’s visit, Japan’s Prime Minister Shinzo Abe pledged an assistance of 600bn yen (equivalent to US$6bn) to Bangladesh over the next five years. l

Japan’s Ambassador in Bangladesh Shiro Sadoshima is leading the delegation which also includes representatives from Japan’s business community in Bangladesh, Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO) and Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA).

Senior officials of Bangladesh Board of Investment, Bangladesh Export Processing Zones Authority (BEPZA), National Board of Revenue (NBR), Ministry of Commerce and Bangladesh Bank were also present during the meeting.

Meanwhile, the Japanese Ambassador expressed hope of further progress on ensuring trade and investment facilities before the visit of Japanese Prime Minister to Bangladesh in next month.

In the meeting, consensus was reached on several bilateral trade issues while some issues were said to be resolved through dealing with relevant authorities including the Prime Minister’s Office. l

Green tax not imposed as NBR yet to get list of polluting firms n Tribune Report National Board of Revenue (NBR) has failed to impose environment protection surcharge from the polluting companies in the first month of introduction.

The surcharge which is called “green tax” was introduced in the budget of fiscal year 2014-15 beginning from July.

A compiled list of polluting companies is yet to be prepared. A high official of NBR said the Department of Environment is dillydallying in the process and showing reluctance to help the Board get the list.

He said such non-cooperation is delaying the start of imposing green tax on the polluting factories.

The official alleged NBR has repeatedly asked the Department of Environment authorities to provide a list of polluting firms as the Board cannot issue official gazette notification without such a list.

“Until we get the names of polluting companies, we cannot implement green tax rules.”

The government has introduced 1% environment protection surcharge or green tax on the prices of each product produced by companies polluting environment in different ways.

In his budget speech, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said the tax would be imposed to encourage owners of the environment polluting factories to set up effluent treatment plants (ETP) and raise awareness among them about harmful impacts of pollution on the environment.

A large number of factories of leather, dyeing, printing, chemical and textile sector industries are polluting air, soil and water through releasing industrial wastes.

When contacted, officials of Environment Department, however, denied allegations of non-cooperation and dillydallying.

They said as there was no such a compiled list before and the green tax system is new in Bangladesh, the process is taking some time.

“We have no such compiled list as the system has been introduced for the first time in the country. First we will provide a list of factories that were earlier fined for environment pollution,” said an official at Department of Environment who is involved with the process.

“NBR should have to wait some more time as we are working to prepare a compiled and appropriate list to implement the surcharge policy,” he added. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Turnover crosses Tk700cr after six months

DSE key features August 10-2014

n Tribune Report

Turnover (Volume)

Stocks continued to rally for the fifth consecutive session yesterday with turnover crossing Tk700 crore after more than six months.

The market opened the session on an upbeat mood and the momentum continued till closing on buying spree, mainly on large cap stocks.

The benchmark DSEX rose 45 points or 1% to end at 4,530, hitting three-month high, as most of the stocks were halted or at least came close to being halted.

The Shariah index gained 21 points or 2% to 1,047. The comprising blue chips DS30 was up 26 points or 1.65% to 1,678.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 8,575 with a rise of 82 points.

Inflow of fresh funds has helped the DSE turnover to stand at Tk763 crore, a sharp increase of 30% over the previous session and highest since February 6 this year.

Lanka Bangla Securities said market registered a handsome return as heavyweight stocks extended their rally further with increased buying interest. The benchmark index crossed the psychological barrier of 4,500 point with strong turnover, it said.

IDLC Investments said upbeat vibe was upheld throughout the session. Besides, stable macro-economic indicators like forex reserves crossing $22bn and thus Taka appreciation continued its ongoing trend, putting a positive psychological impact on investors, it said.

Alongside, investors’ confidence remained high, as evidenced by sustainable increase in participation in terms of turnover in last few ses-

sions, it said.

Mostly, large cap-centric trading pattern assisted accumulation of this bulk amount of turnover, with top ten capturing 38.8% of the total trade.

Telecommunication continued its gaining streak with almost 3% rise, followed by cement that rose 3%, NBFIs 2.3%, power 2.24% and pharmaceuticals 1.6%. Conversely, life Insurance and bank edged lower.

Upbeat vibe was upheld throughout the session.

Besides, stable macro-economic indicators like forex reserves crossing $22bn and thus Taka appreciation continued its ongoing trend Zenith Investments said market snared rock solid gains early in the morning, as almost all the stocks were subject to massive buy pressures.

A bout of small profit taking was witnessed on few sectors at later part of the day, which failed to create any significant negative impact on the rising trend, it said.

Mobil Jamuna was the most traded stocks with shares worth nearly Tk68 crore changing hands. It was followed by Square Pharmaceuticals, Grameenphone, Active Fine and Beximco.

The two companies were followed

by Square Pharmaceuticals, Lafarge Surma Cement, Peninsula Hotel and Golden Son. l

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index :

4530.83840 (+) 1.00%

(+) 1.33%

1047.20310 (+) 2.04%

(+) 1.61%

1678.71347 (+) 1.57%

(+) 1.49%

13952.67950 (+) 1.11%

(+) 1.10%

11430.09400 (+) 1.12%

(+) 1.33%

DSE LOSER Company ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A Sun Life Insurance-N Prime Bank-A AMCL 2nd MF-A ICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z Imam Button -Z Padma Islami Life*-N Fareast Islami Life -A R. N. Spinning-Z

Closing (% Change) -8.28 -6.97 -6.31 -5.08 -4.00 -3.85 -3.75 -3.64 -3.38 -3.36

CSE LOSER Company Imam Button -Z Sun Life Insurance-N Prime Bank-A Dhaka Ins. Ltd.-A ICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A IBBLMPB-A Prime Islami Life -A Sandhani Life -A R. N. Spinning-Z Padma Islami Life*-N

Closing (% Change) -9.64 -7.37 -5.71 -5.36 -4.85 -4.60 8.41 -4.19 -3.72 -3.48

Average (% Change) -6.86 -5.03 -5.27 -3.96 -3.07 -3.85 -3.63 -3.32 -2.56 -2.76 Average (% Change) -11.35 -5.15 -5.29 -5.29 -3.35 -4.60 8.43 -2.68 -2.93 -4.62

ClosingAvg. 28.12 49.84 19.94 5.82 9.80 7.50 7.71 56.78 83.74 23.26

ClosingAvg. 7.50 49.04 20.41 26.52 9.80 953.00 91.54 60.03 23.53 55.79

Closing

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

DHIGH

27.70 49.40 19.30 5.60 9.60 7.50 7.70 55.60 82.90 23.00

Closing

31.00 51.00 21.10 6.10 9.90 7.50 8.10 58.50 86.00 24.10

DHIGH

7.50 49.00 19.80 26.50 9.80 953.00 91.50 59.50 23.30 55.50

7.50 49.20 21.40 26.60 9.80 955.00 91.90 60.50 24.10 56.80

DSE GAINER Company

Turnover (Million Taka)

8,424.37 160,739,692

Number of Contract

161,356

Traded Issues

300

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

181

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

111 8

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,403.39

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.13

CSE key features August 10-2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

1,953.23

Turnover (Volume)

53,690,822

Number of Contract

74,705

Traded Issues

251

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

157

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

89

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,269.18

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.51

Turnover in Million

26.30 49.20 18.60 5.60 9.60 7.50 7.50 55.10 79.00 23.00

1.673 3.065 17.512 1.073 2.333 0.002 0.081 4.885 3.910 18.494

Turnover in Million

DLOW 7.50 48.60 19.70 26.40 9.80 951.00 85.90 59.10 23.20 53.10

Shahjibazar Power-N Prime Bank-A IDLC Finance -A Hwa Well Textiles-N RAK Ceramics-A Summit Power -A AMCL (Pran) -A Wata Chemicals -A Eastern Lubricants -A H.R. Textile -A

Closing (% Change) 9.99 -12.34 9.94 9.94 9.40 9.12 8.74 8.72 8.22 7.69

CSE GAINER

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

DLOW

Monday, August 11, 2014

Latest EPS 4.57 0.00 1.96 0.99 1.40 -30.63 -1.85 1.10 4.60 2.74

Latest EPS

0.004 0.172 0.525 0.066 0.010 0.038 0.403 0.024 3.247 0.446

-1.85 0.00 1.96 2.60 1.40 0.00 4.95 2.12 2.74 1.10

Latest PE 6.2 10.2 5.9 7.0 -ve -ve 51.6 18.2 8.5

Latest PE -ve 10.4 10.2 7.0 18.5 28.3 8.6 50.7

Company Hwa Well Textiles-N IDLC Finance -A B I F C -A RAK Ceramics-A Summit Power -A AMCL (Pran) -A Prime Islami Life -A H.R. Textile -A Bay Leasing.-A Daffodil Computers -Z

Closing (% Change) 10.00 9.96 9.66 9.11 9.09 8.71 8.41 8.14 8.10 8.00

Average (% Change) 13.13 -10.00 9.46 10.04 7.61 5.44 7.44 10.15 5.09 4.13 Average (% Change) 9.03 10.19 8.79 7.74 5.36 7.25 8.43 5.86 6.95 8.01

ClosingAvg. 88.82 21.05 53.46 52.83 44.66 33.93 235.71 252.39 445.45 29.77

ClosingAvg. 52.38 52.79 15.85 44.66 34.02 235.08 91.54 31.23 26.46 13.49

Closing 89.20 20.60 54.20 54.20 45.40 34.70 238.90 253.10 455.60 30.80

Closing 53.90 54.10 15.90 45.50 34.80 238.30 91.50 31.90 26.70 13.50

DHIGH 89.20 24.00 54.20 54.20 45.60 34.90 238.90 253.10 457.80 31.40

DHIGH 53.90 54.10 15.90 45.80 35.00 238.30 91.90 32.00 26.80 13.70

DLOW 83.00 20.00 48.00 50.00 38.00 28.70 221.90 221.00 426.00 27.00

DLOW 50.90 50.00 15.50 38.00 32.00 220.50 85.90 29.50 25.70 12.50

Turnover in Million 99.833 46.054 49.257 209.663 50.134 132.328 27.519 6.274 2.695 7.125

Turnover in Million 9.925 3.752 1.530 7.836 9.261 1.387 0.403 0.562 0.426 0.189

Latest EPS 3.04 1.96 3.04 3.99 1.76 3.54 5.85 6.20 6.95 1.75

Latest EPS 3.99 3.04 1.42 1.76 3.54 5.85 4.95 1.75 2.32 0.68

Latest PE 29.2 10.7 17.6 13.2 25.4 9.6 40.3 40.7 64.1 17.0

Latest PE 13.1 17.4 11.2 25.4 9.6 40.2 18.5 17.8 11.4 19.8

From TradeServers Dividend/AGM DELTASPINN: 10% cash, AGM: 30.08.2014, Record date: 14.08.2014.

ICB MF Dividend: 8THICB: 120% cash, 7THICB: 130% cash, 12.08.2014, 6THICB: 110% cash, 5THICB: 225% cash , 4THICB: 250% cash, 3RDICB: 250% cash, 2NDICB: 400% cash, 1STICB: 800% cash. Record date: 12.08.2014.

NAVANACNG: 15% cash, AGM: 25.09.2014, Record Date: 10.08.2014.

GP: 95% interim cash, Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 05.08.2014.

MARICO: 150% interim cash, Record date for entitlement of interim cash dividend: 07.08.2014.

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.

RUPALILIFE: 5% stock, AGM: 21.08.2014, Record Date: 04.08.2014.

SANDHANINS: 25.50% stock, EGM and AGM: 06.09.2014, Record Date for EGM and AGM: 16.07.2014.

BDSERVICE: 15% stock, AGM: 25.08.2014, Record Date: 14.07.2014.

SALVOCHEM: 10% stock, AGM: 27.08.2014, Record date: 25.06.2014.

ISLAMIINS: 15% stock, AGM: 09.07.2014,

RD: 12.05.2014.

JMISMDL: 15% cash, AGM: 24.07.2014, RD: 22.05.2014.

MARICO: 50% final cash, AGM: 19.08.2014, RD: 02.07.2014.

ASIAPACINS: 12% cash, AGM: 14.08.2014, RD: 08.05.2014.

GHCL: 10% cash dividend for the shareholders except Directors, AGM: 09.07.2014, RD: 15.05.2014 Dividend of ICB AMCL Managed MFs: ICBSONALI1 10% cash, IFILISLMF1 10% cash, ICB3RDNRB 5% cash, PF1STMF 5% cash, PRIME1ICBA 5% cash, ICBEPMF1S1 5% cash, ICBAMCL2ND 5% cash, ICB2NDNRB 10% cash, ICB1STNRB 30% cash, ICBISLAMIC 20% cash. Record Date: 20.08.2014.

GOLDENSON: (H/Y): As per un-audited half yearly accounts as on 30.06.2014 (Jan'14 to June'14), the Company has reported net profit after tax of Tk. 258.83 million with EPS of Tk. 2.12 as against Tk. 213.58 million and Tk. 1.75 respectively for the same period of the previous year.

However considering 25% bonus share for the year 2013, restated basic EPS is Tk. 1.70 as on 30.06.2014 (Jan'14 to June'14) and Tk. 1.40 as on 30.06.2013 (Jan'13 to June'13) Whereas net profit after tax was Tk. 103.05 million with EPS of Tk. 0.84 for the period of 3 months (Apr'14 to June'14) ended on 30.06.2014 as against Tk. 112.77 million and Tk. 0.92 respectively for the same period of the previous year. However considering 25% bonus share for the year 2013, restated basic EPS is Tk. 0.68 as on

30.06.2014 (Apr'14 to June'14) and Tk. 0.74 as on 30.06.2013 (Apr'13 to June'13).

CMCKAMAL: (H/Y): As per un-audited half yearly accounts as on 30.06.2014 (Jan'14 to June'14), the Company has reported net profit after tax of Tk. 59.79 million with EPS of Tk. 0.69 as against Tk. 63.02 million and Tk. 0.73 (restated) respectively for the same period of the previous year. Whereas net profit after tax was Tk. 34.61 million with EPS of Tk. 0.40 for the period of 3 months (Apr'14 to June'14) ended on 30.06.2014 as against Tk. 31.24 million and Tk. 0.36 (restated) respectively for the same period of the previous year.

AIMS1STMF: As per regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Trustee of the fund has informed that a Trustee meeting of the Fund will be held on August 13, 2014 at 7:30 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the fund for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

RELIANCE1: As per regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Trustee of the fund has informed that a Trustee meeting of the Fund will be held on August 13, 2014 at 7:45 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the fund for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

IPO Subscription: Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries Ltd. subscription date 24-28 August 2014, NRB upto 06 September 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Western Marine Shipyard Limited subscription date 10-14 August 2014, NRB upto 23 August 2014. @ taka 35, face value taka 10 and market lot 100.

Record date for the entitlement of cash dividend for all these funds is on August 12, 2014

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector Bank NBFI Investment Engineering Food & Allied Fuel & Power Jute Textile Pharma & Chemical Paper & Packaging Service Leather Ceramic Cement Information Technology General Insurance Life Insurance Telecom Travel & Leisure Miscellaneous Debenture

DSE Million Taka 410.52 287.05 131.17 752.80 234.00 1496.89 4.56 1048.86 1452.18 1.60 88.38 46.01 61.37 386.44 68.90 48.20 95.46 490.50 194.37 339.01 0.78

% change 5.37 3.76 1.72 9.85 3.06 19.60 0.06 13.73 19.01 1.16 0.60 0.80 5.06 0.90 0.63 1.25 6.42 2.54 4.44 0.01

Million Taka 28.88 23.88 7.69 42.17 22.98 69.07 83.73 341.56 28.42 4.38 33.83 8.22 43.80 8.92 1.03 5.50 48.70 29.98 37.51 0.04

CSE

% change 3.32 2.74 0.88 4.85 2.64 7.94 0.00 9.62 39.25 3.27 0.50 3.89 0.94 5.03 1.03 0.12 0.63 5.60 3.45 4.31 0.00

Million Taka 439.40 310.93 138.86 794.98 256.98 1565.95 4.56 1132.59 1793.74 30.02 92.76 79.85 69.59 430.24 77.82 49.22 100.96 539.20 224.36 376.52 0.82

Total

% change 5.16 3.65 1.63 9.34 3.02 18.40 0.05 13.31 21.08 0.35 1.09 0.94 0.82 5.06 0.91 0.58 1.19 6.34 2.64 4.42 0.01

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company MJL BD Ltd.-A Square Pharma -A Grameenphone-A Active Fine Chem.-A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Hwa Well Textiles-N LafargeS Cement-Z ACI Limited- A Padma Oil Co. -A Summit Power -A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Grameenphone-A LafargeS Cement-Z BEXIMCO Ltd. -A The Peninsula CTG.-N MJL BD Ltd.-A Active Fine Chem.-A LankaBangla Fin. -A UNITED AIR-A Matin Spinning-N Hwa Well Textiles-N

VolumeShares 6,748,487 1,535,503 1,221,995 4,616,815 7,650,330 3,968,500 2,184,030 544,229 411,160 3,900,123

Value in Million 678.88 426.88 405.65 328.21 260.04 209.66 206.03 175.21 141.12 132.33

% of TotalTurnover 8.89 5.59 5.31 4.30 3.40 2.74 2.70 2.29 1.85 1.73

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

119,400 371,500 903,198 428,400 145,876 176,266 277,950 933,722 210,400 189,500

40.03 34.79 30.77 15.13 14.86 12.58 12.21 11.18 10.05 9.93

5.19 4.51 3.99 1.96 1.93 1.63 1.58 1.45 1.30 1.29

ClosingP 104.20 279.70 333.90 71.00 33.40 54.20 95.30 318.20 344.40 34.70

ClosingP

333.20 94.90 33.50 35.10 104.10 71.20 44.50 12.00 48.70 53.90

Change % 7.42 3.63 3.09 1.43 -2.05 9.94 3.81 0.19 2.44 9.12

Change %

3.09 4.40 -2.05 -0.57 6.55 1.86 6.71 -0.83 7.98 10.00

ClosingY 97.00 269.90 323.90 70.00 34.10 49.30 91.80 317.60 336.20 31.80

ClosingY

323.20 90.90 34.20 35.30 97.70 69.90 41.70 12.10 45.10 49.00

DHIGH

DLOW

105.80 281.90 336.80 72.30 37.00 54.20 95.70 328.60 365.60 34.90

87.80 250.00 323.90 63.00 31.00 50.00 90.00 295.00 325.00 28.70

DHIGH

DLOW

344.90 95.20 35.00 36.00 99.90 72.20 44.70 12.20 49.00 53.90

328.00 92.00 31.00 34.90 100.00 69.80 42.00 11.90 45.60 50.90

AvgPrice 100.60 278.00 331.95 71.09 33.99 52.83 94.33 321.93 343.23 33.93

AvgPrice

335.24 93.64 34.07 35.32 101.89 71.38 43.94 11.98 47.77 52.38

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Monday, August 11, 2014

B3

Read all about it: News you can wear Europe’s fragile economy 'A well-written headline can encapsulate an entire story' n AFP, Washington Even if you don’t open a newspaper, turn on a television, log on to a computer or pull out a smartphone, you can get news - from wearable technology.

As wearables gain traction, news purveyors are eyeing these devices for their potential to deliver headlines and more to people who want to stay up to date.

Some news apps already have the capacity to deliver news notifications, or full articles, to smartwatches or eyewear such as Google Glass.

“We are going full speed on smartwatches,” said Gilles Raymond, the San Francisco-based chief executive of News Republic, a mobile app that delivers news to mobile devices from hundreds of outlets.

Raymond told AFP he expects people will find it useful to get not only headlines but full articles on a smartwatch as the wearable trend revs up.

“When the iPhone came out, people were saying that not one would read news on a phone. Now nobody is saying that,” said Raymond.

“People will read articles on a watch.

They may not read 300 articles, but people adapt quickly to technology.”

Raymond founded News Republic in France and has expanded to other European markets as well as North America and China, aggregating news from hundreds of outlets, including AFP, Al-Jazeera, Reuters and The Associated Press.

Roman Karachinsky, CEO of the news aggregation app News360, also sees a future for wearables, but mainly for quick notifications they might not otherwise see.

“We want to change the formula from one where you go and seek information out to a world where information finds you when it’s relevant and useful,” Karachinsky said.

He said the newly introduced Android Wear platform for Google allows for News360 alerts to be sent to some smartwatches, and to Google Glass.

These alerts fulfill a need of getting information out quickly - whether it is

Technologies Associates, said news on smartwatches and Google Glass will probably be limited to short items that can be absorbed in a glance.

“The glanceability of it is important,” Kay said.

“I don’t imagine people squinting at their watches to read articles; they have enough trouble reading on their phones.”

Still, Kay noted that “a well-written headline can encapsulate an entire story.”

For news organizations struggling with the transition to digital, wearables may offer some help, analysts say.

'The news alerts business, which has been around for 20 years, is having a huge revival'

An attendee uses a Google Glass during the White House Youth Summit at the White House in Washington, DC. No need to open a newspaper, turn on the television or computer, or leave a cell phone on, news can also be read on a watch or glasses AFP a sports score, stock market action or breaking news - in an unobtrusive way.

“Instead of digging around your pocket for your smartphone, now you can just look at your wrist or glance up to your Google Glass,” said Karachinsky.

“It’s a very transformative experience.”

‘Glanceability’

It remains unclear at the moment how fast wearable technologies will catch

on, and how people will use the devices.

While News Republic’s Raymond sees a demand for full articles, he differs from News360 on Google Glass.

But he said smartwatches may gain more traction when they become independent of smartphones, allowing people to shed their phones for some of the time.

Roger Kay, analyst at Endpoint

Ken Doctor of the media research firm Outsell said news organizations may be able to bring in more readers with alerts tailored to their interests, by delivering through wearables.

Doctor said that major news organizations are now delivering millions of email alerts on important news for readers who register, and that this drives more traffic to the websites. The same could be true for alerts on wearables.

“The news alerts business, which has been around for 20 years, is having a huge revival,” he said. “This is a technique that works because of mobile and smartphones.”

Important in this effort is getting readers to register, to be able to determine the news they want to see - essentially tracking their habits using the same techniques as retailers like Amazon or services such as Netflix.

“People are expecting alerts for news that is important to them,” Doctor said.

“And I would think the ability of wearables to deliver alerts is very good and that it could spur news reading.”

London oil prices fall as US launches strikes in Iraq n AFP, New York

Oil prices fell in London Friday after the US said it had launched air strikes on jihadist militants in Iraq who are threatening the crude-rich Kurdish region.

Brent North Sea crude for September delivery lost 42 cents to finish at $105.02 in London trade.

Earlier, before the US strikes were announced, Brent had surged to as

high as $107.45.

Prices rose modestly in New York however, adding 31 cents to $97.65 a barrel, though finishing well off the day’s highs.

US President Barack Obama ordered his country’s warplanes back into Iraqi skies to stop the Islamic State militants from moving into autonomous Kurdistan.

CMC Markets analyst Desmond Chua said the development could add

“significant risk premium to oil prices” as dealers worry about potential supply disruptions.

“The announcement certainly edges up the geopolitical concerns about Iraq and the Middle East region, and comes as a bit of a surprise to investors,” Chua told AFP. Meanwhile OPEC trimmed its 2014 forecast for global oil demand growth on Friday due to weaker-than-expected economic growth in rich countries

in the second quarter and a “fragile” worldwide recovery.

The Organization for Petroleum Exporting Countries said it now expects demand to be 91.11 million barrels a day, down from a previous projection of 91.13 mbd.

In its new monthly report, OPEC, which pumps a third of the world’s crude, stuck however to its forecast that demand would grow to 92.32 million barrels a day in 2015. l

put to test as Ukraine, Iraq sour mood n Reuters, Frankfurt

Investors will gauge the strength of the euro zone’s fragile economy this week as escalating conflicts in Ukraine and Iraq darken the mood globally.

In stark contrast to the United States and Britain, which are growing strongly, economic output in the euro bloc is likely to have all but ground to a halt in the three months to June. Its star economy, Germany, is losing momentum and Italy is sliding back into recession.

“The United States and the United Kingdom are going to be among the fastest-growing economies both this year and next,” said James Knightley, an economist with ING. “In Europe, the situation seems to be going into reverse.”

The growing sanctions fight between Russia and the West over Moscow’s backing of rebels in Ukraine and U.S. air strikes to block Islamist militants in Iraq are also upsetting the markets.

On Thursday, the European Union announces economic output data for the 18 countries in the euro zone for the April-June quarter, and Germany will reveal its own gross domestic product for the same period.

By these yardsticks, neither Germany nor the wider euro zone are expected to see much, if any, improvement on the first three months of the year.

To compound matters, tit-for-tat sanctions between Moscow and the European Union and fears that Russia could even invade eastern Ukraine are already sapping business confidence and will eat into paltry economic growth later this year.

Not only does Moscow supply about a third of the European Union’s gas needs, trade ties in other areas between Russia and Europe run deep.

German energy giant, for instance, has invested 6bn euros ($8bn) since 2007 in Russia, while chemicals firm BASF has a joint venture with Gazprom.

“For a long time, the market has been ignoring the geopolitical risks,” said Gregor Eder, an economist with Allianz, one of the globe’s largest fund investors.

“The escalation in Ukraine and a spiral of sanctions could be a turning point for that. Exports to Russia were already falling even before Ukraine and could fall further. The Iraq crisis increases nervousness further.”

Pay check

With Europe looking gloomy and the days of mega-growth in China over, the United States has offered some hope for the world economy.

Investors will seek to gauge the strength of the US rebound by examining the latest figures for retail sales and producer prices there.

Many are looking for reassurance,

as they are in Britain, that economic growth is trickling down to workers’ pay - important proof that the recovery will stick when central banks make it more expensive to borrow.

But the Bank of England is set to acknowledge surprisingly weak pay growth on Wednesday when it publishes economic projections, raising questions about Britain’s readiness for its first interest rate hike since the financial crisis.

Although unemployment is set to fall, earnings are also forecast to be lower than a year earlier. There is a similar gap in the United States between rising numbers of people in work and lagging pay.

“To have confidence in the recovery in the United States and United Kingdom, wages need to rise in line with credit,” said ING’s Knightley.

“The cost of living continues to exceed wage growth. People need to see that they have more cash at the end of the month so that they are not borrowing out of necessity.”

In China, industrial output readings will give investors a glimpse of the country’s performance in the third quarter of the year after government moves to boost lending to business, such as shrinking the amount of cash that banks must hold in reserve.

China’s economy gathered pace slightly to grow by 7.5% in the second quarter as the government stepped up construction of railways and public housing.

But a downturn in property prices, despite efforts to make it easier to buy, as well as high local government debts, are holding up the economy.

Analysts believe that deeper reforms, such as overhauling giant state companies, will be needed in the long term to keep the economy growing at the pace the authorities want.

In the meantime, the euro zone remains the globe’s problem child.

Last week, the European Central Bank signalled that it stood ready to print money and buy bonds if the euro zone deteriorated, a pledge to act that the Frankfurt-based bank has made many times in the past.

ECB President Mario Draghi underscored that he would not be discouraged from taking such action by the fact that the United States was plotting a different course.

His words alone, however, may not be sufficient to reassure investors unnerved at the prospect of the US Federal Reserve drawing the purse strings ever tighter.

“There has been this fantastic monetary policy experiment where policy has never been looser,” said Paul Dales of Capital Economics, which advises companies and others. l

Union Bank Ltd has recently held its half yearly conference for its managers at a hotel in Dhaka. The bank’s managing director Md Abdul Hamid Miah was present at the conference

ANIS A KHAN elected SWIFT Bangladesh chairperson n Tribune Report Anis A Khan, Managing Director and CEO of Mutual Trust Bank, has been elected the chairperson of the SWIFT Member and User Group of Bangladesh for 2014-2016, says a press release yesterday.

Ali Reza Iftekhar, Managing Director and CEO of Eastern Bank was elected the vice chairperson and A M M Farhad, Deputy Managing Director of Social Islami Bank, secretary general.

The election to the 15 member Executive Committee was held on Wednesday at a local hotel in Dhaka following the Annual General Meeting of the Group, at which the new

constitution was formally adopted.

Arfan Ali, Deputy Managing Director of Bank Asia and acting chairperson of the Group chaired the AGM. K Mahmood Sattar, former chairperson of the Group and former chairman of the Association of Bankers Bangladesh announced the results of the election as the election commissioner.

Other office bearers of the Group are head of International Division at ICB Islamic Bank Abul Kalam Azad as joint secretary general, head of International Division at NCC Bank Syed Md. Masum as treasurer and head of International Division at United Commercial Bank Sohrab Mustafa as joint treasurer. l

Appollo Ispat holds conference for its sales representatives n Tribune Business Desk Appollo Ispat, a manufacturer of corrugated iron sheet has recently organised a conference for its sales representatives at its head office in Dhaka.

The participants at the conference discussed issues relating sales growth

Al-Arafah Islami Bank Limited has recently held its monthly conference on business development at its head office. The bank’s managing director Md Habibur Rahman presided over the conference while director, Alhajj Abdul Malek Mollah was present as special guest

of the company, said a press release.

The company’s deputy managing director, Abdur Rahman spoke at the meeting.

He urged the salesmen to contribute more to the company’s growth by putting efforts on grasping more of the market share in the coming days. l

Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL) has recently held its half yearly business review meeting in Dhaka. BDBL’s managing director, Dr Md. Zillur Rahman, presided over the meeting while chairperson, Prof Santi Narayan Ghosh was present as chief guest among others

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, August 11, 2014

From an Indian jail, tycoon tries to sell the NY Plaza n Reuters, New Delhi It’s hardly the $30,000 a night royal suite, but after five months in India’s biggest jail, the owner of the New York Plaza and London’s Grosvenor House is thrilled to be able to use a modest office as he tries to sell the iconic hotels.

Indian tycoon Subrata Roy is putting up the two trophy properties and another luxury New York hotel for sale to raise $1.6bn for the bail bond that will get him out of Tihar, a sprawling New Delhi prison complex that houses about 12,000 inmates.

About a minute’s walk from the headquarters of the prison, Roy now has a 600 square feet (56 square meter) office where he can hold video conferences and receive visitors to try and sell or mortgage the hotels, say prison officials.

In a small adjoining room, there are three beds for Roy and two associates who have also been jailed.

“They are happy, they can now talk to known people all day,” said one Tihar official, who described the setup to a Reuters reporter visiting the prison.

“He is very satisfied with the arrangement.”

“Our work will be done now,” Roy told a senior prison officer after moving to the new office-cum-cell, according to the official.

Entry to the office was not possible because Roy was inside and contact with prisoners is prohibited without permission. Three guards stood by an unlocked metal gate before the building, one stood on the roof and one patrolled its grounds.

It’s a race against time for the 66-year-old head of the Sahara conglomerate: Under a deadline set by the Supreme Court, Roy has just a few days left to post the 100 billion rupees in cash and bank guarantees that would secure his release.

The only higher bail ever appears to be a $3bn bond set by a judge in Texas in 2004 for a wealthy fugitive, although that was reduced to $450,000 on appeal.

Roy was jailed in March after he failed to appear at a contempt hearing in the long-running dispute with the capital markets watchdog over the company’s failure to repay billions of

OPEC trims 2014 oil demand growth forecast n AFP, Vienna The OPEC oil cartel trimmed its 2014 forecast for global oil demand growth on Friday after weaker-than-expected economic growth in rich countries in the second quarter and a “fragile” worldwide recovery.

The Organisation for Petroleum Exporting Countries said it now expects demand to grow by 1.10 million barrels per day (mbd) to 91.11 mbd, down from a previous projection of 91.13 mbd.

In its new monthly report OPEC, which pumps a third of the world’s crude, stuck however to its forecast that demand would grow by 1.12 mbd in 2015 to 92.32 mbd.

It kept unchanged its forecasts for global economic growth of 3.1 percent and 3.4 percent for 2014 and 2015 respectively, saying the “slow and uneven recovery” was continuing. l

Google to pay $250 million to fight illegal online pharmacies n AFP, San Francisco Google has agreed in a court settlement to spend at least $250m over the next five years to help fight illegal online pharmacies selling to US customers, documents showed Friday.

The US Internet search giant made the commitment in settling a lawsuit from shareholders alleging Google failed to take adequate measures to prevent foreign online pharmacies from using its advertising network.

The lawsuit was filed in 2011 after Google paid a $500m settlement to the US government over charges it sold advertisements to Canada-based online pharmacies which marketed drugs to Americans in violation of US law.

In a settlement filed in federal court in California, Google agreed to spend at least $50m per year in each of the coming five years on “product quality operations, policy enforcement, and user safety initiative” to prevent the ads from appearing. l

Sahara Group Chairman Subrata Roy gestures as he speaks during a news conference in Kolkata dollars to investors who were sold outlawed bonds.

He is yet to be charged over the dispute and denies any wrongdoing.

His Sahara group has vast real estate, media and hotel interests, part-owns a Formula 1 team and used to sponsor the Indian cricket team.

Glittering prizes

One asset that could raise quick cash is the landmark New York Plaza Hotel - a 107-year-old luxury property that

overlooks Central Park. Studded with chandeliers, the hotel’s decor recalls the Great Gatsby era.

Jointly owned with the Saudi Arabia-based Kingdom Holdings, the Plaza offers an overdose of luxury for guests in its 282 rooms, from round-the-clock butlers to in-room iPads for booking a restaurant or requesting a wake-up call.

Its 4,490 square-foot Royal Suite has three bedrooms, three bathrooms, a dining room for 12, a kitchen, a gym-

nasium, a grand piano and a library. It costs $30,000 a night.

Sahara bought the Plaza for about $570m in 2012. Two years earlier, it paid 470m pounds ($790m) for the 494-room Grosvenor House opposite Hyde Park and just a stone’s throw from Buckingham Palace.

Opened in 1929, it houses the Great Room, which is one of Europe’s largest banqueting halls and can seat 2,000 guests.

Sahara is also seeking to sell the

High-end ‘micro-flats’ latest trend for Hong Kong home buyers n AFP, Hong kong At a glitzy show stall for a new residential development in Hong Kong, property agents with loudspeakers are promoting the latest trend in the overcrowded city - high-end “micro-flats” which still come with an eye-watering price tag.

Hong Kong’s poorest residents are used to making their homes in cramped accommodation, but now developers are touting minuscule upmarket apartments to reel in young middle-class buyers.

Although they are part of swish modern complexes, some of the newlybuilt studio flats measure as little as 16 square metres (177 square feet) and are on sale for HK$1.5m - almost $200,000.

Single entrepreneur Mike Ko is typical of the buyers that developers are targeting: aspiring home owners who are priced out of the overheated Hong Kong housing market.

“I’m 33 years old and I really need my own place,” says Ko. “Studios are good enough. They’re quite hip and cool as well.”

Ko currently lives with his parents in public housing and has been saving to buy, but says that current price tags mean he can only afford tiny properties.

“The market is too expensive, so buying a studio flat is a good first step to home ownership,” he said.

Agents are selling the pint-sized flats on the basis that the market boom will only continue.

“You want to buy now because prices will just go up,” said one agent at the new Mont Vert development in the suburban neighbourhood of Tai Po. “You are saving, in a sense.”

Mont Vert boasts a clubhouse, sea views and surrounding greenery - but at 16 square metres, its smallest units are only three times larger than cells in Hong Kong’s most populous prison.

The main space doubles as both bedroom and living room, with a kitchen and bathroom tucked away in the corners.

Developer Cheung Kong says that 10 percent of the 1,000 apartments on offer are studios, but could not confirm how many of those had been sold.

REUTERS

Dream Hotel in New York’s midtown Manhattan.

In Tihar, the office given to Roy has a conference room with a big table, office chairs, and Wi-Fi and video conferencing facilities, said the prison official, who declined to be named as he was not authorised to speak to the media.

Roy and his two associates sleep in a tiny adjoining room, get meals from the prison canteen and have to use shared toilets.

The complex is under round-the-

VW set to overtake Toyota as global auto leader n Reuters, Tokyo

A man walks through a playground as he looks at residential buildings in Hong Kong. The southern Chinese city has been hit with a serious housing shortage as property prices have doubled since 2009, becoming unaffordable for many AFP The development is not yet completed, and -- despite being a massive investment for potential buyers -- there were no show flats, models, or pictures of the interiors of the studio units immediately available.

‘Inhumane’ conditions

While some prospective buyers are desperate enough to snap up the tiny flats, there are those who are outraged by the conditions Hong Kong residents are having to bear.

“They are not only small, it is repressive. You are paying that much to be living there, it’s ridiculous,” Kenneth Tong, a spokesman for local NGO “No Flat Slaves” told AFP. The organisation believes the government is to blame for a lack of affordable homes and being slow to build more public rental housing.

“People have no other choice,” says Tong.

There is a “surging need” for cheaper homes in the city, vice-chairman of Hong Kong’s pro-democracy Labour Party Fernando Cheung told AFP. “As a result, you see these very small flats that I think could be described as inhumane if you compare (them)... with units that would be used to house

refugees, or even earthquake victims, in other places,” Cheung said.

With many larger and pricier flats bought by wealthy mainland Chinese buyers, the smaller homes are targeted at young professionals, university graduates and newly married couples, among others, who are seeking to live independently from their parents and are looking for more reasonable prices, he added.

“It’s really mind-boggling to see how the private residential market in Hong Kong has developed to such an extent,” Cheung said.

The overcrowded southern Chinese city suffers from a serious housing shortage, with property prices doubling since 2009.

The dearth of new affordable homes has spurred protests and sentiment against the city’s big developers.

Now micro-flats are seeking to fill the gap - though they will remain well outside many househunters’ budgets.

Half of the apartments in the new Le Riviera tower project, in a quiet neighbourhood to the east of Hong Kong Island, measure less than 300 square feet and are priced around $HK5m. But developers say they will attract single “yuppies” and young families. l

clock video surveillance, with people allowed to visit from 6 am to 8 pm. Roy received four or five visitors on one day last week and local media said they included representatives of prospective buyers.

“All options are being explored. It can be an outright sale or mortgage lien.

Phone calls are being made to interested parties, and things will become clear by early (this) week,” said a source with direct knowledge of Sahara’s position.

“The response has been good so far.

There have been some inquiries by investment funds in the Middle East and other places,” said the source, declining to give names of the bidders who have shown interest.

The Supreme Court has given Roy 10 working days from Aug. 5 to complete any sales, setting a deadline of Monday. The source said that may not be enough and that Roy may ask the court to extend the deadline.

“Due diligence has to be done, all the negotiations have to be completed and the deal has to be signed. All these take time,” he said. “Sahara cannot do a distressed sale of these properties.”

The source declined to be named as the deal talks are not public. Sahara did not respond to an e-mail requesting comment submitted by Reuters.

One of its main businesses is the sale of financial products, largely to small investors in towns and rural areas. It was two such products, later ruled illegal, that drew the market regulator’s attention.

Roy, who is outside mainstream corporate India, has often been photographed with senior politicians, cricketers and stars of the Bollywood film industry.

Based in Lucknow, the capital of Uttar Pradesh, Roy calls himself “managing worker and chairman” of Sahara and chief guardian of the “world’s biggest family”, overseeing businesses with almost a million staff and agents.

Industry consultants said trying to sell the hotels from inside a prison was unlikely to dampen the appetite of buyers for the prestigious New York and London hotels.

“The properties are quite iconic and would be sold at the right price,” said an international property consultant who did not wish to be named. “Whatever Roy does, he does it in style.” l

Volkswagen is poised to overtake Toyota Motor Corp as the global leader in vehicle sales, with a rapid expansion drive in China - the world’s biggest auto market - while Toyota curbs growth to focus on shoring up quality.

Toyota, reigning at the top spot in the auto industry for two years in a row, will announce its global sales for the first six months of the year on Wednesday, which could fall short of Volkswagen’s half-year total.

The Volkswagen group sold 4.97 million vehicles in January-June, up 5.9% from the same period a year ago.

That excludes figures from truck makers Scania and MAN, which will be released on July 31.

IHS Automotive forecast Volkswagen’s total first-half sales at 5.07 million vehicles and Toyota’s at 4.83 million, although it added that Toyota could end up outperforming its projections in the Middle East and Africa.

“China is the driving force of the global market, and the degree to which a company is focused on that region is linked to the global sales performance,” said Yoshiaki Kawano, a Tokyo-based analyst at IHS Automotive.

General Motors Co, which Toyota overtook two years ago, said it sold 4.92 million vehicles in January-June.

For the full year, IHS expects Volkswagen to sell 9.91 million vehicles versus Toyota’s 9.47 million.

Volkswagen, which sold 3.27 million vehicles in China last year, is planning to invest 18.2bn euros ($24.4bn) between 2014 and 2018 in new plants and

DILBERT

products there together with its Chinese joint venture partners.

Toyota’s China presence is much smaller with annual sales of 1 million vehicles, and while it plans eventually to double that it has given no time frame.

Toyota has put a freeze on the building of new plants until about 2016 and President Akio Toyoda has stressed that the company is focused on building better cars rather than chasing sales volume.

'Even if Toyota makes up its mind on potential investments soon, it’ll be around 2017 when those plants can start operating' “Even if Toyota makes up its mind on potential investments soon, it’ll be around 2017 when those plants can start operating,” said Takaki Nakanishi, auto analyst and CEO of Nakanishi Research Institute.

Nakanishi expects Toyota to start announcing investment plans for new plants in the near future. It could open a new plant in Mexico, according to analysts and media reports.

Despite VW’s expansion, profitability remains an issue, with its namesake brand’s 2013 profit margin at 2.9% while Toyota’s auto division achieved 8.8% and Hyundai Motor Co stood at 9%. Much of VW’s production is in its home market of Germany, where workers secured a significant pay increase last year. l