14 Aug, 2014

Shraban 30, 1421 Shawal 17, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 132

THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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TMAG

7 | JURIS

11 | OP-ED

14 | SPORT

ABLE-ING THE DISABLED

WHAT CONSTITUTES A CONSTITUTION?

WHEN ARROGANCE IS THE STRATEGY

REAL MADRID REINFORCEMENTS SHINE IN SUPER CUP VICTORY

No negative indicators in HSC results Critics, who slammed creative questions, have little to complain n Mushfique Wadud No negative indicators were found in the results of this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate examination, as the overall pass rate in the country, number of GPA 5 scorers, number of colleges that had 100% pass rate, etc were higher compared to last year’s results.

The number of colleges where no students passed was also less this year, marking another positive indicator.

Last year, the HSC results took a plunge compared to the previous year’s result, and critics accused the newly-introduced creative question system for that.

However, this year the critics have little to complain about.

The combined pass rate this year is 78.33%, which was 74.3% last year. A total of 70,602 students got GPA 5 this year, compared to last year’s 58,197.

A total of 1,147 colleges have the 100% success rate this year, as opposed to 849 colleges last year. The number of

colleges with 0% pass is 24, this year, whereas last year it was 25.

A total of 1,129,972 students sat in the HSC examination this year – 127,476 more than the number of examinees last year.

In terms of pass rate, the female students has performed well – 78.86% among female students, 77.86% among male students.

However, in terms of scoring GPA 5, male students are ahead, with 38,787 male students and 31,815 female students achieving the perfect score.

The HSC results was published yesterday. Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid handed over the results to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the morning, and then announced it at a press briefing in the Secretariat in the afternoon.

At the press briefing the first question that the education minister faced after announcing the results was whether the question paper leakage contributed to the higher pass rate this year.  PAGE 4 COLUMN 2

n Mushfique Wadud

Students of Rajuk Uttara Model College celebrate their success in the HSC exams yesterday

The pass rate in the Higher Secondary Certificate examinations in the country has been increasing breaking all previous records. It has risen to 78.33% this year from the 28.41% in 2001.

There has always been a debate regarding the hike of passing rate in the board examinations. Some educationalists label it a positive thing, while some others say pass rate is increasing because of the examiners’ liberal attitude towards the exam scripts.

Dhaka University’s Institute of Education and Research Professor Abul Ehsan said the increase in passing rate was

Legal notice seeks punishment of 8 BIWTA officials n Ahmed Zaeef A legal notice was issued yesterday seeking punishment of eight officials of the BIWTA, the authority to oversee operations of water vessels, for the tragic capsize of Pinak 6 launch on August 4 and their failure in the rescue operation.

The notice gave the authorities 72 hours to initiate a survey to determine the exact number of vessels operating in the country’s waterways, enforcing mandatory registration for each vessel and launching fitness checking programmes.

Supreme Court lawyer Enamul Haq Mollah issued the notice on behalf of Ashish Kumar Dey, convener of the National Committee for Protection of Roads, Waterways and Rail, and Tushar Rehman, general secretary of the Citizens’ Rights Movement.

Respondents of the notice are the shipping secretary, the director general of Department of Shipping, the BIWTA chairman, the traffic inspector and the inspector of Mawa-Kawrakandi river belt, the engineer and ship surveyor of Mawa region, the BIWTA officer at Mawa river port, the director of port department, the director of river security and traffic department and the  PAGE 3 COLUMN 1

a positive thing, but there remained a concern: whether the examiners were checking the exam scripts properly.

“It seems some teachers check the exam scripts liberally,” he said, and suggested that the examination system should be reformed.

“We need a good examination system where a student’s talent is properly evaluated,” he said.

In an earlier interview, Viqarunnnisa Noon School and College Principal, Manju Ara Begum told the Dhaka Tribune that she did not believe in the idea that the quality of education had fallen.

“In the grading system, students normally get higher marks than the

previous system and the creative question style is another important thing to fuel the pass rate,” she said.

Earlier in June this year, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid sat with leading educationalists, where some educationalists questioned the standard of education.

Professor Abdullah Abu Sayeed, in that meeting, raised questions regarding the scrutinisation of answer scripts.

He said the number of GPA 5 scorers were increasing because of liberal scrutinisation, but their academic skills were not improving that much.

At yesterday’s press briefing follow  PAGE 4 COLUMN 1

2014 HSC RESULT HIGHLIGHTS BOARD-WISE PASS RATE

Pass rate going up, up and up n Mushfique Wadud

84.54% 78.55% 70.14% 60.58% 70.06% 71.75% 79.16% 74.14% 94.08% 85.02%

Dhaka Board Rajshahi Board Comilla Board Jessore Board Chittagong Board Barisal Board Sylhet Board Dinajpur Board Madrasa Board Technical Board

HSC Pass Rate

MEHEDI HASAN

General Education (all boards) Pass rate Male Female GPA 5 scorers Male Female 100% pass colleges All fail colleges No. of examinees 74.85

2001-2014

59.16

72.78

74.28

2014

2013

78.33% 74.30% 77.86% 78.86% 70,602 58,197 38,787 31,815 1,147 849 24 25 11,29,972 10,02,496 75.08

78.67

74.30

78.33

63.92 64.27

47.73 38.43 28.41

27.10

2001 2002 2003 2004 2005 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013 2014

Dhaka Board has the highest pass rate among the general education boards in the Higher Secondary Certificate examination published yesterday.

The boards outside Dhaka that performed well in the previous years secured comparatively low pass rate this year.

Dhaka Education Board had to postpone its English Second Paper examination after allegations of question paper leakage.

There were allegations about some papers of examinations that they were leaked on the social media.

Some teachers speaking to the Dhaka Tribune said question paper leakage contributed to good result of the Dhaka Education Board.

The result document shows that the pass rate in Dhaka Board is 84.54, in Rajshahi 78.55, in Comilla 70.14, in Jessore 60.58, in Chittagong 70.06, in Barisal 71.75, in Sylhet 79.16 and in Dinajpur 74.14.

In 2013 the pass rate in Dhaka Board was 74.04, it was 81.82% in 2012and 76.89% in 2011.

The Jessore Board performed badly in this year’s HSC exams. The pass rate is 60.58 this year. Last year, the pass rate was 67.49.

Some teachers said as the students in Dhaka are more social media user, and leaked questions were on the social media, Dhaka Board performed well.

Moreover, the subject-wise result shows that Dhaka Board students performed better in English than the result of last year.

In English, 92.59% students passed this year while last year it was 82.30%.

The Jessore Board which performed badly mainly for English. Only 65.07% students passed in this subject.

“Question leak certainly contributed to the good result,” a teacher of a  PAGE 4 COLUMN 2

Arrested Pinak 6 owner blames BIWTA Fire service divers little n equipped for operation Ashif Islam Shaon

The owner of Pinak 6 launch which sank in the Padma River on August 4 blamed the Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority officials and lessees of three launch ghats (terminals) for the tragedy.

A joint team from RAB 7 and RAB 11 arrested launch owner Abu Bakkar Siddique at a house in Agrabad Housing area in Chittagong city around 3:30am yesterday and later he was taken to the

RAB headquarters in Dhaka.

Siddique, 60, denied his involvement and said it was the BIWTA that controls launch operation for 10 days before and after Eid. They knew well about overloading, he added.

“I am an owner. How can I know the number of passengers getting on my launch? I don’t stay at launch ghat…,” he said while talking to reporters at the RAB headquarters.

Asked if he wasn’t responsible why he went into hiding following the dis-

Members of RAB take Pinak 6 owner Abu Bakkar Siddique to their headquarters yesterday.

Siddique was arrested at a house in Agrabad Housing Society in Chittagong DHAKA TRIBUNE

aster, he said, “I fled in fear. But in fact, the death of many people hurt me. It broke my heart.”

Siddique claimed that the launch had enough life jackets and life- saving equipment.

“We cannot operate launches without getting permission from terminal lessees. They force us to carry additional passengers and take extra money,” he claimed.

Blaming the Bangla Bazar ghat lessee, he said, “If we don’t touch this ghat, they don’t give us the serial number to operate the launch next day. The BIWTA knows it, but they don’t take any action.”

He added: “We have to anchor our launches at Bangla Bazar and Kanthalbari ghats after leaving Kewrakandi.

The leaseholders used to force us to carry passengers beyond capacity at the ghats.”

“The leaseholders, led by one Yakub Bepari, used to force all launches to carry 60-70 extra passengers. They beat launch staff if they do not want to carry extra passengers. Once I was involved with BNP politics and now I am an Awami League activist,” he claimed.

With more than 250 passengers, the double-decker vessel which was on way to Mawa from Kewrakandi sank in the Padma River around 11:00 am on August 4 due to strong current and high winds.  PAGE 3 COLUMN 2

n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The diving unit of the Fire Service and Civil Defence, a very important unit for rescuing victims of waterways accidents, has remained ill-equipped over decades despite the fact that such accidents have meanwhile increased in the country.

The unit has only 20 divers at present, who work in rescue operations across the country.

No governments have taken any major initiatives, since the inception of the FSCD in 1982, to develop the diving unit. The FSCD has rather focused all its efforts on the development of other wings.

Officials concerned said the unit’s manpower has not increased since its formation with just 25 divers in 1990.

If an accident occurs, these divers are always called in to conduct rescue operations. If a major accident takes place, the FSCD faces enormous problems as small accidents also happen across the country and resources are stretched thin.

When these divers are sent to tackle the aftermath of an accident, they cannot conduct rescue operations properly because they are not well equipped.

They cannot even carry out searches

INSIDE 3 | News

The government is likely to cancel a major power plant deal with an Indian contractor because the company failed to deposit the security money.

4 | News

The acute shortage of teachers for the ‘basic subjects’ at most public medical colleges has prompted the government to consider training and recruiting around 200 new doctors to fill the vacant lecturer seats.

Dhaka Board records the highest pass rate

5 | News

The plan to construct four arches made of steel in Kazirbazar bridge in Sylhet has been scrapped despite spending an additional Tk15 crore on piling.

8 | World

Canada will donate a small quantity of an experimental Ebola vaccine to the World Health Organization for use in Africa, the country’s health minister said on Tuesday.

12 | Entertainment

‘So, you’re a doctor? Can you do a vasectomy procedure right now?’ Why not! After all, the first line we comedians get at a social setting is: ‘You’re a comedian? Tell a joke!’

13 | Sport

The only advice Habibul Bashar has for the cricketers is to enjoy the game in the Caribbean. He believes a positive result is possible when the team start enjoying its cricket.

at depths greater than 30 feet because they are all shallow water divers, officials said.

There are two divers each in Chandpur, Chittagong, Sylhet, Khulna, Barisal, Rangpur, Rajshahi, Mymensingh and Sadarghat terminals, apart from four divers at the Siddikbazar headquarters.

‘In major accidents, fire service divers risk their lives, not naval or BIWTA officials. We have a river unit, but there is no post for divers’ At least 4,420 people were killed, 520 injured and 400 others remain missing in over 550 launch accidents in the last 38 years, according to official figures. Of them, around 1,960 people were killed and 176 went missing in the last decade. However, the number of deaths are probably higher than the official figure.

In August this year, 45 passengers were killed as launch Pinak 6 capsized in the Padma River while MV Miraj  PAGE 3 COLUMN 2

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, August 14, 2014

CID asked to submit report on Rana Plaza collapse Man arrested at Dhaka n airport, 1.5kg gold seized Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court has asked the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) to submit its probe reports by September 18 in two cases filed in connection with the Rana Plaza collapse.

Dhaka Senior Judicial Magistrate Kazi Shahidul Islam passed the order as CID Assistant Superintendent Bijoy Krishna Khar, also the investigation officer of the cases, failed to submit the probe reports yesterday.

On June 30, the court asked the CID

to submit the probe reports before the court on August 13.

Meanwhile, Additional Public Prosecutor Anwarul Kabir Babul yesterday filed a petition before the court seeking a progress report of the investigation of cases.

Babul said: “We filed a petition with the court seeking a progress report on the investigation, and the court granted it and asked the CID to submit a progress report.”

On April 24 last year, the collapse of Rana Plaza, which housed five garment factories, a shopping mall and a bank,

'BCL activist planned CID official murder' n Mohammad Jamil Khan After almost a year of investigation, police claimed that they had solved the murder of Fazlul Karim Khan, a retired additional police super of the Criminal Investigation Department (CID), who was leading an anti-drug campaign in the capital’s Rampura area when he was murdered.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune yesterday, the high officials of the Detective Branch of police, who are in charge of the investigation, said the murder was orchestrated by Tapu, a Bangladesh Chhatra League leader of Rampura unit.

They said Tapu planned the murder and hired killers for the job, who gunned down the former CID official at his house in Rampura’s Wapda Road on August 29 last year.

All of this information was revealed by Washim Ratan, one of the killers, who was arrested by the DB shortly after the investigation started. He confessed to being involved in the murder before a lower court in Dhaka, where he gave details of the killing.

In his statement, Washim named Tapu as the mastermind behind the murder and said he had decided to kill Fazlul because he was creating trouble in Tapu’s illegal drug trade in Rampura and

Study: Injections unavailable to mothers giving preterm birth

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal Only half of the women who give preterm birth in hospitals receive steroid injections which prevent death and disability of vulnerable preterm newborns, a new WHO study has revealed.

The World Health Organisation published the report on their website yesterday. The study, conducted across 29 countries, mostly comprising of low- and middle-income families, was also published in The Lancet medical journal.

It is the largest study to look at the use of the life-saving steroid injections which do not require refrigeration and cost less than $1 for an injection.

It is known to be the most effective intervention to reduce the risk of respiratory distress syndrome among preterm babies born in hospitals where access to further newborn care is available. This is the standard-of-care for women in preterm labour between 26 and 34 weeks’ gestation (a full-term pregnancy is 40 weeks).

“More than three-quarters of preterm babies born in hospitals could be saved with cost-effective interventions like corticosteroids to the pregnant woman before she gives birth. This is particularly important in Africa and Asia where more than 60% of preterm deliveries occur," said Dr Marleen Temmerman, director of WHO’s Department of Reproductive Health and Research and co-author of the study. l

the surrounding areas. A day before the incident, Tapu held a meeting with the killers at his girlfriend’s house, which was in the same area.

At the meeting, he explained the plan to the killers and gave them three firearms to use in the murder.

Among the killers, Rajib was killed in crossfire with the DB in the capital’s Hatirjheel area on August 7. The others are still in hiding.

The DB also found out that Wahid, sub-inspector at Rampura police station who was initially in charge of the investigation before the DB took over, was privy to the murder plan the entire time, but kept silent as he was in good terms with Tapu and frequently took money from him.

He even alerted Tapu and the killers whenever the DB raided Rampura area looking for them, the DB sources said. After getting enough evidence on Wahid, the DB requested his transfer to the higher authorities, who transferred Wahid to the Rajarbagh Police Line around one and a half months ago.

Asked about the progress of the case, Jahangir Hossain Matubbor, deputy commissioner of the DB and coordinator of the investigation, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The investigation is at full swing and we are trying our best to arrest all the accused.” l

left at least 1,135 people dead and over 2,000 others wounded.

Rajuk official Md Helal Uddin filed one of the cases against building owner Sohel Rana for structural fault at the nine-story building, construction of the structure with substandard materials, and violation of the National Building Code.

The other case was filed by Sub-Inspector Wali Ashraf of Savar police station against Rana, his father Abdul Khalek and owners of the five garment factories housed in the nine-storey building, in connection with the loss of lives.

Apart from the two cases, Sheuli Akter, wife of Jahangir Alam, whose body was recovered on April 24, filed another case against Rana, New Wave Style garment factory owner Bazlus Samad Adnan, and the chief engineer of Savar municipality.

The court, however, asked the CID to investigate the case together with the one filed by police immediately after the incident.

Seven out of 21 accused in the cases are now on bail, while the rest including Sohel Rana is in jail. l

n Tribune Report Customs officials arrested a man along with three bars of gold, weighing 1.5 kilogrammes, at Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport in the capital yesterday morning.

MA Rashid, 47, was a passenger of BG-087 flight that arrived in Dhaka from Malaysia at 6:00 am.

The customs officials also seized 700

grammes of gold from four other passengers of the same flight as they were carrying more gold than the amount permitted by the relevant law. The four were set free after realising fine, said Customs Intelligence Assistant Director Umme Nahida Akter.

The market price of gold which had been carried illegally is Tk1.10 crore, she added. As per the rules, a passenger can carry 200 grams of gold. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Major power plant deal with Indian contractor likely to be scrapped n Aminur Rahman Rasel The government is likely to cancel a major power plant deal with an Indian contractor because the company failed to deposit the security money.

Haryana-based Lanco Infratech Ltd was supposed to deposit around $3m as a performance security deposit (PSD)

by July 15 against a letter of intent (LOI) from the Bangladesh government for building a 367MW dual energy power plant in Sirajganj.

In the meantime, Singapore-based contractor Sembcorp has sent a proposal to build a gas-based power plant at the same location.

The proposal letter, signed by Sembcorp’s Executive Vice-President Tan Cheng Guan, was recently sent to State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid. The junior minister then forwarded the letter to the director general of Power Cell,

recommending that he take steps.

An official of the government’s Power Division said it would have been the biggest power plant building deal with an Indian company based on the production capacity.

“We are seeking permission from the Power Division to cancel the LOI and make a move to bring the security money [that Lanco was supposed to deposit],” said CFK Musaddeq Ahmed, a director of Power Cell – a concern of the Power Division.

Existing rules suggest that when the government issues an LOI to a company for any contract, the company must pay a performance security deposit within a stipulated time. In case the PSD payment deadline cannot be met and the deal is cancelled, the company must still pay the money to the government as a form of compensation.

“The company was supposed to

come up with the PSD on July 15; but it missed the deadline. The company then sought more time to submit the PSD...The government is going to make a decision in this regard very soon,” Musaddeq said.

Mohammad Hossain, director general of Power Cell, told the Dhaka Tribune: “After receiving [Sembcorp’s] proposal, we are now thinking about how we can move forward.”

Power Cell is supervising the project for building the 367MW power plant in Sirajganj.

Sources said the Indian company could not make the security deposit in time because of a financial crisis. In fact, the company had to shut down some of its major power plants at home and abroad because of the crunch.

On March 28, 2013, Lanco signed an initial agreement with Bangladesh for a power and gas purchase-sale on the pro-

posed 367MW Sirajganj dual-fuel power plant, which was supposed to start commercial operation in mid-2015.

On August, 2012, the Cabinet Committee on Government Purchase approved the Indian sponsor’s offer to implement the project as an independent power producer (IPP) on a build-own-operate basis.

Earlier, Lanco was awarded another project for building a 214MW plant in the southern district of Bhola. However, after the contract-signing, the company sought relocation of the plant from Bhola to Sirajganj and proposed setting up a dual-fuel power plant instead.

According to the minutes of a June 1 meeting of the Large Power Plant Implementation Committee, a decision was made to hand over both the projects to the state-owned North-West Power Generation Company. l

SAGAR-RUNI MURDER

Probe report due on Sept 18 n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday extended the deadline for the submission of the Sagar-Runi murder investigation report before the court to September 18.

Metropolitan Magistrate Tarique Mainul Islam Bhuiyan granted the extension to the case investigators.

This is the 27th time that the deadline to submit the probe report has been extended since the investigation of the journalist couple’s murders began.

However, a progress report was submitted before the court on Tuesday.

“Md Wares Ali, assistant superintendent of police at the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) and the investigation officer, submitted a progress report to the court in which he stated that there had been some development in the investigation,” said Sub-Inspector Md Humayun Kabir, general recording officer at the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court, while speaking to the Dhaka Tribune.

The accused in the case are: Mintoo

Defence fumbles in Qaisar case argument n Udisa Islam

Locals stage a demonstration yesterday protesting a recent sexual assault on an indigenous woman leader in Chapainawabganj’s Gomostapur AZAHAR UDDIN

BNP: No reason for government to be scared

Amu: Govt prepared to face agitation

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu yesterday claimed that the government had adequately prepared to tackle the opposition movement.

“We understand that they [BNP] may attack key point installations (KPIs) like power plants and railways and cause harm to people and their property. So, we are on alert for such attacks. We have made all preparations,” Amir Hossain, also chairman of the cabinet committee on law and order, said while addressing a discussion at the Shilpakala Academy Auditorium.

Now no violence would be allowed in the name of movement, Amu, a member of the Awami League Advisory Council, warned. “The character of BNP has not been changed yet,” he added.l

The BNP has claimed that the government has no reason to be afraid of BNP’s movement as its upcoming programmes would be peaceful.

“We will bring out processions, we will stage demonstrations. But those programmes will be peaceful. You [government] are enjoying comfort and should continue to live in comfort,” Mirza Abbas, convener of BNP’s Dhaka city unit, said after holding a meeting with the unit’s leaders at the capital’s Bhasani Auditorium.

Ahead of the meeting, a large number of police was deployed in front of the city BNP office, who barred leaders and activists from taking

Legal notice

position in front of the office.

Criticising the government for deploying additional forces in front of the office, Abbas said: “We are just holding a meeting and in such a situation police took an armed position. They did not allow anyone to stand in front of the office. If they [government] get scared about such a small meeting then what will they do in the days ahead?”

In reaction to ruling party leaders’ claims that the BNP did not have any capacity to wage a movement, the BNP leader said: “If we do not have any capacity to wage movement, then why are you taking such preparations?

Please do not gag democracy, rather let it go on its way.” l

A war crimes tribunal yesterday gave the defence of accused Syed Mohammad Qaisar another half session to conclude their closing arguments in the case.

Defence counsel SM Shahjahan argued on 11 charges out of 16 on the fifth day of submission. Later, the tribunal adjourned the proceedings keeping the arguments incomplete and asked him to sum up the arguments by the first session today.

Yesterday, Shahjahan failed to place his submission properly and it prompted the members of the International Crimes Tribunal 2 to intervene several times.

Qaisar, a Jatiya Party state minister during HM Ershad’s regime, was present in the dock.

When the defence counsel continuously claimed that his client had not been present at the crime scenes, the tribunal intervened: “Is it necessary for the accused to be present in every crime scene? If a witness says the army killed

anyone, then the person who helps them to identify the victim is also responsible.”

The tribunal also criticised the way the defence placed arguments and suggested that Shahjahan choose strong and relevant points.

When the defence mentioned the name of a witness and claimed that he had not actually witnessed the incident, the tribunal asked him whether they cross examined the witness on this point.

The defence counsel answered in the negative. The tribunal said: “If someone claims that he saw something and you cannot prove that he did not, then he is right.”

Earlier, the defence claimed that during the war, there had been no scope for his client to form the “Qaisar Bahini” which is blamed for collaborating with the Pakistani occupation forces.

Meanwhile, the tribunal adjourned the trial against Maulana Abdus Subhan until August 20 following a time plea submitted by the prosecution to place the next witness. l

Charred body found amid fire wreckage n Tribune Report Fire service officers recovered a charred body from the wreckage of a burned down chemical warehouse at Chawk Bazar yesterday. Police said the deceased could be Abdul Malek, 65, caretaker of a local business.

Fire Service control room Duty Officer Brojen Sarker said the fire started around 9:15pm on Tuesday, and it took

10 hours of frantic efforts by 11 units of fire-fighters before the blaze was finally put out at 7:30am yesterday.

“Five of our officers were injured while attempting to douse the fire.

They have received primary treatment,” Brojen said, adding: “The godown contained various chemicals.

The origin of the fire and the amount of losses could not be known immediately.” l

alias Bargia Miah alias Masum Miah, Kamrul Hasan alias Arun, Md Bakul Miah, Rafiqul Islam Abu Syed, Md Tanvir Rahman, Palash Rudro Paul and Enam Ahmed alias Humayun Kabir.

All of the accused, who are now in jail, were presented before the court yesterday.

Earlier, RAB submitted a progress report on the investigation to the High Court on March 10.

The victims, Sagar Sarowar and his wife Meherun Runi, were killed at their rented flat in the capital’s West Rajabazar area on February 11, 2012.

Sagar was news editor at private TV station Maasranga, and Runi was senior reporter at ATN Bangla.

Investigation of the murders started after a case was filed with Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police station in this regard.

Later, the case was moved to the to the Detective Branch (DB) of Police, but the High Court issued an order to transfer the case to RAB as the DB stated it was unable to solve the case. l

War crimes suspects Taher, Noni sent to jail n Udisa Islam

The two war crimes suspects from Netrakona arrested on Tuesday were sent to jail after they had been produced before the International Crimes Tribunal 1 yesterday.

Police produced Obaidul Haque alias Abu Taher and Ataur Rahman Noni before the three-member tribunal.

Upon query, Obaidul claimed himself to be innocent mentioning that he had been a victim of a conspiracy.

Tribunal Chairman Justice M Enayetur Rahim said: “If it is true then you will walk free after the trial.

For now, we are sending you to jail. In the meantime, you better appoint a lawyer.”

When the tribunal enquired the prosecution about the investigation report, prosecutor Mokhlesur Rahman said they were working on it. In response to another question, he said investigation had begun on June 6 last year.

The tribunal then asked the prosecutor to facilitate the duo to meet their relatives so that they could appoint lawyers.

On Tuesday, upon receiving arrest warrants of the tribunal, police arrested Obaidul from his business outlet at Chhotobazar in Netrakona while Noni from his house at Mokhterpara.

The investigation agency has found primary evidence of their involvement in the killing of over 500 unarmed civilians, arson and looting in different places of the district during the war.

The agency has been asked to submit progress report to the tribunal before September 14. l

Fire service divers little equipped for operation

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

director of river conservation and operations department.

Punishment has been sought for the eight officials except for the shipping secretary and the DG of the shipping department.

In the notice, lawyer Enam said: “Pinak 6 was carrying passengers beyond its capacity. On the other hand, the government officials concerned were not in Kawrakandi when the accident occurred.”

The notice said: “As the respondents did not monitor the activities and failed to stop the launch from taking excess passengers than its capacity, they are involved with the accident indirectly. That is why they should be punished.”

According to official count, the bodies of 45 passengers have so far been recovered from different rivers while 62 remain missing. The salvage operation was called off on August 11 as the rescuers could not find the vessel. The launch was reportedly carrying around 300 passengers from Kawrakandi to Mawa.

When it capsized, the Pinak 6 was operating on a temporary conditional permission from the authorities. The conditional permit was given after the management of the launch had applied for an operation permit, officially known as “survey certificate,” in April; but the decision on the permit is still pending.

The 19.5-metre-long launch also did not have any valid certificate from the Shipping Department to operate on the Mawa-Kawrakandi route in the Padma River. One of the conditions for the temporary permission of the launch was that it was allowed to carry maximum 85 passengers at a time. l

n Emran Hossain Shaikh

3

Thursday, August 14, 2014

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

4 sank in the Meghna River in May, claiming the lives of at least 57 people.

According to data compiled by the fire service control room, the FSCD team had attended 516 waterway accidents where 722 bodies were recovered and 12 people were rescued.

From January to August 10 this year, the team attended to 41 river accidents.

Abul Khayer, team leader of divers, told the Dhaka Tribune that the diving unit is facing an acute shortage of divers, seriously hampering rescue operations.

“We have only 20 divers across the country. So, we sometime have to face problems in dealing with accidents if two accidents happen at the same time.

If we send divers to one spot, another operation is hampered. Additionally, we are not well equipped,” he said.

About the Pinak 6 launch capsize,

he said: “There were four divers at Mawa to carry out rescue operations.

But in the middle of the operation, we were asked to send two divers to attend another accident. I sent two of them and they returned to Mawa after completing the other operation which took a long time, hampering the operation at Mawa.”

“I yesterday attended to four operations in the Buriganga and Shitalakkhya Rivers, and in Ashulia and Khilgaon Taltola. Like me, all of our divers have to attend frequent diving missions within the shortest possible time as our department is understaffed. At least 200 divers are badly needed to help us rescue people properly,” said Khayer who has won several awards, including the Prime Minister’s Award for showing courage during the operations.

Fire service officials said the number of divers should be increased

soon and all the divers should be given training and proper equipment.

“In the major river accidents, fire service divers risk their lives, not naval officers nor BIWTA officials. We have a river unit, but there are no posts for divers,” said Khandoker A Jalil, senior station officer (station chief) of the fire service headquarters.

Both Khayer and Jalil confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune that FSCD had not increased its manpower since its inception and the number of divers never exceeded 25.

When contacted, FSCD’s Director General Brigadier General Ali Ahmed Khan said his organisation needs a minimum of 150 divers to work smoothly.

“The number of divers is less compared to demand. We have informed the home ministry of the issue and the needs for immediate recruitment,” he added. l

Arrested Pinak 6 owner blames BIWTA  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

After an eight-day search, the rescuers on Monday called off the rescue operation. A total of 48 bodies have so far been recovered and 58 are still missing.

While briefing reporters, Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of RAB’s Legal and Media Wing, said Siddique went into hiding soon after the launch capsized. “He stayed at several places after the incident.”

The RAB official said the Pinak 6 launch made in 1991 did not have adequate safety measures and fitness cer-

tificate. Even the master [who operates launch] had no licence.

Siddique bought the old launch from one Moniruzzaman Khokon of Barisal for Tk11 lakh. His eldest son Md Limon, 27, and nephew Ratul, 23, were in charge of its operation, Mufti Mahmud said.

“Without following relevant rules, the launch owner being influenced by greed was operating it to earn profit.”

He said five accused in the case filed in connection with homicide are still at large. Law enforcers were trying to

hunt them down.

According to RAB, Siddique is a resident of Louhajang in Munshiganj.

Apart from Pinak 6, he has half ownership of single decker launch Mawa Express which operates on the same route.

Siddique, also a transport businessman, is one of the owners of Ilish Paribahan.

After the launch accident, a case was filed against Siddique and five others, including the master, for overloading and homicide. l

Speakers address journalists at a meet-the-press programme in the National Press Club yesterday, ahead of next week’s Sustainable Development Summit MEHEDI HASAN

Sustainable development summit starts Saturday n Tribune Report A four-day conference called Bangladesh Summit on Sustainable Development 2014 is going to begin on Saturday at Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban of the University of Dhaka.

Addressing a press briefing at the National Press Club yesterday, noted economist and Chairman of Palli Karma-Sahayak Foundation Dr Qazi Kholiquzzaman Ahmad said the agenda of the conference includes sustainable development target for developing countries and determining post-2015 development agenda.

Bangladesh has made much progress in attaining the millennium development goal but the impoverished section of the society, including char,

haor and coastal people, tea workers and indigenous people, is yet to benefit from this, said Kholiquzzaman.

“There was a time when poverty meant income poverty. Income was the main determinant of whether a person was rich or poor. Now we have a range of criteria to measure poverty such as education, health and quality of food,” he said.

An initiative of Global Citizens Forum on Sustainable Development, the conference has been organised by Eminence Associates for Social Development. Organisations including UNFPA, Save the Children, Wave Foundation and Christian Aid, will organise the sessions of the conference. ATN Bangla, Dhaka Tribune, Bangla Tribune and Canvas Magazine are the media partners of the summit. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, August 14, 2014

HSC GPA 5 scorers declining in Chittagong n Tribune Report The pass rate in this year's HSC examination of Chittagong Education Board has gone up but the number of GPA 5 scorers has been falling consecutively for the last three years.

This year, a total of 2,646 students obtained GPA 5 in the board while the number was 2,772 in 2013 and 3,155 in 2012. Besides, 77,526 students sat for the HSC exam while the pass rate was 70.06, up from 61.22 in 2013.

Among the students securing GPA 5 were 1,357 males and 1,289 females.

Examination Controller Dr Pizus Dutta of Chittagong Education Board said the creative question system was

introduced in HSC level last year for the first time, and the students faced the system in Bangla exam and one of the group subjects.

“This is why the number of students obtaining GPA 5 was less than that in 2012. This year, students faced creative questions in four subjects which might have led to the decrease in the number of GPA 5 scorers,” he said.

“In the greater Chittagong region, the pass rate in Cox’s Bazar was 72 while it was 71.17 in Chittagong district and metropolitan areas. Overall judgement shows this year's HSC result is better as the students had performed well in creative method,” he added.

Farida Yasmin, a humanities student

from Government Women College in Chittagong who got GPA 3.80, said she studied the four subjects extensively but failed to ensure a good GPA. Professor Jesmin Akhter, acting principal of the college, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is easy to obtain pass mark in a subject in the creative question system but what is hard is to score 80% marks. This explains why the pass rate is increasing but the number of GPA 5 scorers is going down.”

Aeysha Siddiqua Tamanna, a business studies student achieving GPA 3.80 from Agrabad Girls College, said teachers of the subjects are under creative question system failed to deliver lessons appropriately which forced

her to seek additional guidance from coaching centres.

Associate Professor Shahid Uddin Mahmud, head of Islamic History and Culture Department at Patiya Government College, suggested teachers should be given more training in order to help them become more competent in teaching students in the creative method.

Meanwhile, teachers of Government Hazi Muhammad Mohsin College, which produced the highest number of GPA 5 scorers in Chittagong board, said students having poor preparations for the exam were blaming the creative system.

Assistant Professor Mohammad

Abul Bashar of Botany Department at the college said that any student can obtain GPA 5 if he studies properly.

495 students of the college got GPA 5, and 1,356 students out of 1,403 passed.

Three institutions in the board secured a 100% pass rate - Ispahini Public School and College, Faujdarhat Cadet College and CUFCO School and College - while none passed from Ideal School and College in Patiya.

Faujdarhat Cadet College secured the top position in the board, with 43 students out of 45 securing GPA 5, while Chittagong Government College came second, with 466 GPA 5 scorers out of 752 examinees. l

Madrasa students outshine general, vocational candidates n Tribune Report

Students of Rajshahi College celebrate their results with the beats of drums at the college premises yesterday. Sweets were also distributed among the students of the college which secured the top position in the Rajshahi Board AZAHAR UDDIN

‘Partition Week’ organised by Bayaan Collective ends today n Tribune Report Partition Week, an event created by Bayaan Collective in collaboration with University Press Limited (UPL), will conclude today following a session entitled “Teaching Partition,”

by Professor Ferdous Azim, at Brac University.

The event brought together academics, writers and researchers to examine the legacies of 1947 and the partition of India in the eastern theatre of Bengal.

It looked at the socio-economic circumstances, narratives, configurations and the consequences of dividing Bengal into West Bengal, which remained with India, and East Bengal which subsequently became East Pakistan and then Bangladesh.

The creation of East Pakistan and the independence of Bangladesh has pushed the memory of partition outside of the East Bengali public sphere.

However Bangladesh has inherited the problems of partition and many of these issues remain current in the Bangladeshi discourse.

The conflict between Bengali settlers and non-Bengali locals in the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHT), the non-Bengali “Pakistani” communities in Bangladesh, the cultural and economic segregation and the communal tensions are examples of the legacies of 1947.

Prof Zakir Hossain Raju from Independent University, Bangladesh (IUB) presented a paper on East Bengali Cinema, Tamina Chowdhury from Cambridge University presented a paper of the history of the CHT, Dina Siddiqi from Brac University spoke about the “Stranded Pakistanis” and Prof M Emdadul Haq of North South University presented on the narratives that led to partition in Bengal.

Along with the papers, a number of films dealing with the circumstances and consequences of partition were also screened at various venues across the capital.

Dhaka Tribune was the media partner for the five-day event, which began on August 10 and ending today, to coincide with the date of partition. l

Pass rate going up, up and up  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

ing the publication of this year’s HSC result, the education minister said the mentality that 50% students would fail in any examination was an old one.

Students were performing better and the teachers were not showing any liberal attitude in checking examination scripts, he added. l

Students appearing in this year’s HSC and equivalent examinations from Madrasa Education Board performed better than the general and vocational students in terms of pass rate.

The pass rate of madrasa students was 94.08 while it was 75.74 for general students.

Madrasa students also outperformed the students taking the exam from Technical Education Board, where 85.02% of the candidates passed.

The number of GPA 5 scored also marked a tiny increase in the madrasa board compared to the previous year’s figure. Last year, 6,009 madrasa students obtained GPA 5 and the figure

was 6,025 this year.

Acting chairman of Bangladesh Madrasa Education Board AKM Saifullah said they have gone for more supervision of students in the recent times.

“We visited madrasas that have poor academic record and monitored them closely so that students can perform better,” he said.

He said the madrasa teachers were threatened with suspension of the Monthly Pay Order (MPO) scheme if the institutions performed poorly in public examinations.

“It is likely that the teachers became more cautious out fear from being dropped from the MPO scheme,” he added. l

Rural students perform better in Barisal Board

n Our Correspondent, Barisal

Rural students performed better than their urban counterparts in the Barisal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate examinations, said BEB sources.

Total 39,402 students out of 54,915 passed their examinations from 273 colleges at 89 centers under the board. It was the highest rate of pass in last 14 years.

Of the 20 best colleges, 10 were situated in divisional or district headquarters while rest 10 were in rural upazilas, the sources said.

According to the percentage of pass rate, Barguna district had done better with 4,454 (79.07 percent pass rate) passed and 228 GPA-5 out of 5,633 appeared examinees from 28 colleges.

Jhalakathi district stood second with 3,189 (73.33 percent pass rate) and 84 GPA-5 out of 4,349 appeared examinees from 20 colleges.

14,752 students (72.82percent) passed in Barisal district while 1,149 got GPA-5 out of 20,258 from 84 colleges.

Meanwhile, Barisal Cadet College retained the top position in the Barisal Board of Intermediate and Secondary Education in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate examinations by attaining 90 points.

Amritatal Dey College, Barisai secured the second position with 72.79 points, Barisal Government Women’s College achieved the 3rd position with 72.29, Government Syed Hatem Ali College, Barisal obtained the 4rth position with 66.73 points, Hosnabad in Barisal obtained the fifth position with 64.12 points. l

Private colleges outperform Government mulls over government colleges in Dhaka n recruiting 200 basicsubject teachers PUBLIC MEDICAL COLLEGES

Tribune Report

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal The acute shortage of teachers for the “basic subjects” at most public medical colleges has prompted the government to consider training and recruiting around 200 new doctors to fill the vacant lecturer seats.

To discuss the crisis of basic-subject teachers, the Health Ministry is scheduled to hold a meeting today which will be presided over by Additional Health Secretary (medical education and manpower development) Aiyubur Rahman.

Motiur Rahman, joint health secretary (medical education), told the Dhaka Tribune that the meeting’s agenda includes discussion on recommendations for recruiting new doctors as teachers for MBBS and BDS courses at different public medical colleges. He added that the government was concerned about the declining number of teachers of the basic subjects which include anatomy, physiology, biochemistry, microbiology, forensic medicine, pharmacology and pathology.

Seeking anonymity, a senior Health Ministry official told the Dhaka Tribune that the government was planning to train 200 doctors from a pool of over 6,000 doctors who were recently appointed through the 33rd BCS exam.

These doctors would be provided with

six months of training on anaesthesiology and gynaecology-obstetrics, before being offered to join as lecturers at public medical colleges, the official added.

Several specialists on medical education have said authorities concerned at public medical colleges were facing much difficulty in carrying out academic activities as the number of basic-subject teachers had been gradually decreasing.

When asked about the total number of teachers needed, Dr ABM Abdul Hannan, DGHS director for medical education, told the Dhaka Tribune: “I cannot tell you the exact number, but it would not be a shortage of less than 50 percent.”

Over the past few years, a large number of senior and well-reputed basic-subject teachers have reportedly left their government jobs to seek employment at private colleges for higher salaries.

The crisis is also expected to grow as the government is failing to attract young doctors to join as teachers and more senior teachers are set to go on pre-retirement leaves this year.

Currently, the country has 23 public medical colleges with seven more newly approved colleges also set to admit students from the upcoming 2014-15 academic session. l

No negative indicators in HSC  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

In response, the minister dismissed any such possibilities, saying: “When we learned about any question paper being leaked, we postponed the examination.”

This year, the Dhaka education board had to postpone the English Paper II examination after allegations of question paper leakage.

Some other questions were said to be available on social media, though the education minister denied any such allegations.

Students under the Dhaka board scored better in English than last year, with 92.59% of the students passing the subject, as opposed to last year’s 82.30%.

Further countering the claim, the minister said the pass rate was good in 2012 than the previous year.

“That time, this question was not raised,” he said.

He said that students performed better and so the result was good.

Surprisingly, the Dhaka board has the highest pass rate in the country, with 84.54%, against 78.55% in Rajshahi, 70.14% in Comilla, 60.58% in Jessore, 70.06% in Chittagong, 71.75% in Barisal, 79.16% in Sylhet, and 74.14% in Dinajpur.

Last year, the pass rate in the Dhaka board was 74.04%, while in 2012 and 2011 it was 81.82% and 76.89%, respectively.

Nahid claimed that students performed well because of some positive steps taken by the government.He said one million teachers were trained, which had a positive impact on the education system.

Nahid said the ministry had se-

Private colleges under the Dhaka Education Board have outperformed the government colleges in this year’s Higher Secondary Certificate result that was published yesterday.

Sixteen of the top 20 colleges in the merit list prepared by the board authorities are private colleges. Moreover, only two government colleges could make it to the top 10 this year.

Abdul Kadir Mollah City College, Narsingdi, has secured the second position, National Ideal College fourth, Viqarunnisa Noon College fifth, Notre Dame College and Shamsul Hoque Khan School & College, Demra, jointly

Nahid for reforming university admission system n Tribune Report Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid said the present university admission system is unable to ensure accurate evaluation of candidates, and urged universities to reform the system considering the interests of the students.

“It is a faulty system,” he said while speaking at a press briefing at the secretariat. The briefing was arranged to announce the results of the Higher Secondary Certificate examinations.

“After studying for 12 years, it is not fair to judge a student by a one- or two-

lected some colleges where students were not performing well, and additional classes had been arranged for the students, which also contributed to the good result.

“We analysed previous years’ results and found that students mainly perform bad in English and Mathematics, and we arranged for additional classes in those two subjects,” he said.

The Jessore board performed the worst this year, mainly because of bad results in English. Only 65.07% of students passed the subject in Jessore board.

A total of 211 students took the examination from five overseas examination centres. Of them, 153 students passed, with the pass rate of 72.51%. Some 19 students got GPA 5. l

Dhaka Board records the highest pass rate  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

private college in Mirpur area said.

“In some examinations, question papers were available on Facebook and other social media sites,” he added. Nahid, however, disagreed with such opinion.

“Whenever we came to know about question paper leakage we instantly postponed that examination,” he said.

He said that students performed better and so the result was good.

bagged the sixth position and Milestone College secured seventh position in the merit list of Dhaka Board.

Meanwhile, the cadet colleges have dominated the merit list in other general education boards like the previous years.

The Education Ministry has prepared the top 20 list on the basis of different academic standards, including registered students, total examinees, passed examinees, number of GPA 5 and sum of GPA 5 achieved by any institution.

An analysis of the merit lists shows that colleges in the divisional headquarters or metropolitan areas performed well than the colleges in rural

Nahid claimed that students performed well because of some positive steps of the government.

Dhaka Education Board Chairman Taslima Begum also said question leakage does not have any link to good result. l

hour MCQ exam. The present admission system is also making students dependent on coaching centres as they prepare for university admission,” Nahid said.

The minister said he was unable to reform the system as the universities are run by separate laws.

“I as a minister do not interfere in their activities. I have urged the university authorities to rethink the admission system,” he said.

According to reports, many students with good grades in both HSC and SSC exams fail pass in English and Bangla in university admission exams. l

areas, showing the usual rural-urban disparity in Bangladesh’s education system.

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday said they were working so that

Sixteen of the top 20 colleges in the merit list prepared by the board authorities are private colleges the rural colleges could perform well.

“Things are changing and people will see more changes in future,” he said at a press briefing. l

Students confine hall provost in DU n DU Correspondent Resident students of Dhaka University’s Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall staged demonstration yesterday on the campus and confined the hall provost to his workplace protesting unusual hike in residence fee.

The students confined the hall provost Baitullah Kaderi for an hour in the afternoon, before he was rescued by DU Proctor Amzad Ali. Students alleged that the provost had been realigning Tk30 residence fee, hiked from Tk15 set by the university authorities, from all students. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Thursday, August 14, 2014

KAZIRBAZAR BRIDGE PROJECT

Government to give Japan two tiger cubs as gift n Mohosinul Karim

n Serajul Islam, Sylhet

The government is going to gift Japan two Royal Bengal Tiger cubs as per a promise made by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit there this year.

The cubs, which would be kept in the national zoo, will be handed over during the Japanese prime minister’s visit to Bangladesh shortly.

Confirming the news, Environment and Forest Minister Anwar Hossain Manju yesterday said necessary preparation has already been finalised and we are going to hand over the cubs, one male and another female.

“They (Japanese government) will arrange the shipment of the cubs,” he also stated. An official at Fisheries and Livestock Ministry told the Dhaka Tribune that the gift would be given through the ministry although Environment and Forest Ministry is the custodian of the Royal Bengal Tigers. l

Tk15 crore goes down the drain The plan to construct four arches made of steel in Kazirbazar bridge in Sylhet has been scrapped despite spending an additional Tk15 crore on piling though those were part of the main project.

The arches were supposed to be 100 feet tall each and it is feared the bridge will lose its beauty without the arches.

Executive Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department Abu Ehtesham Rashed, however, said they had to avoid the risk of constructing the arches as they added more load to the structure.

The Communication Ministry said there would be a separate structural design to be followed by a new development project proposal and this would need a little more time, he said.

The 366m long and 18.90m wide bridge is being constructed on Surma river. Roads and Highways Department officials were said to have dropped the plan to build the arches by managing the high-ups.

Rashed, however, refuted the allegation, saying: “According to the design, the arches should have weighed 700 tonnes, but the present situation demands 900 tonnes. We are forced to go for a new plan because of the additional load of 200 tonnes.

“The arches were to be built for beautification purpose only, but we intend to open the main bridge, which is still under construction, to the public later this year. This is why we are now prioritising construction of super structure and approaches.”

Deputy Divisional Engineer of the Roads and Highways Department Mir Nazim Uddin said construction of the

main super structure of the bridge has ended.

“Around 80% of the northern approach’s construction has completed. As for the southern approach, the ministry will soon begin demolishing structures erected on acquired lands and the construction will then begin,” he said.

People living on north and south banks of Surma river are discontented with the construction of approach ways on both sides of the bridge.

The southern approach leading to the nearby rail crossing will be 10ft higher than the existing Sylhet-Kamal Bazar road, but it is believed the approach will bring no advantage to the residents of Baraikandi, Mollargaon and Bishwanath upazilas.

On the other hand, the road for public use to the west of the northern approach is going to be 12ft wide, resulting in frustration among the locals.

“Kazirbazar is a business hub in the city. It sees the arrival and departure of hundreds of goods-laden trucks every day, but the narrow road can barely accommodate rickshaws, let alone trucks,” said Nazrul Haque Jahangir, secretary of Kazirbazar Traders Committee.

“Of the 12 feet, drains will take up three feet. The road will only be nine feet wide,” he added.

Chairman of Mollargaon union Sheikh Makhan Mia said the majority of the locals would not be benefitted from the approach way.

“We are in contact with the finance minister and other officials concerned in order to revise construction of the approach,” he said.

Sushashoner Jonno Nagorik President Faruk Ahmed Chowdhury said

A view of Kazirbazar bridge. The photo was taken yesterday foundation stone of the bridge was laid nine years ago but the construction is yet to be completed.

“Besides, construction of the bridge is not in compliance with the project proposal. This can be attributed to a lack of supervision. The construction, if deviated from the project proposal, will frustrate people, and will also lead to misuse of money,” he added.

Roads and Highways officials said they went for four-lane approaches as the bridge itself has four lanes.

Engineer Rashed said vertical walls were being constructed near approaches.

“Construction of the approaches is underway according to the standard configuration of the main bridge. The bridge might be operated by the city corporation, and it can work on any possible flaws of the approaches by acquiring land again,” he said.

Rashed said: “We are also considering construction of a separate staircase in the southern approach in the face of demand raised by the locals. Construction of two approaches on the same side poses a risk of accident. We will also have a discussion with people if any problem arises.

“We are now heavily focusing on

DHAKA TRIBUNE

inaugurating the bridge in December.

Arches can be built in June next year.”

On December 24, 2005, M Saifur Rahman, then finance minister, laid the foundation stone of the bridge. The initial cost of the project was estimated to be Tk44.64 crore but in nine years, it has risen more than three times to Tk125 crore. Kamal Associates, a Dhaka-based firm, is implementing the project.

Communication Minister Obaidul Quader said the bridge, to be opened in December, would be a gift to the people in Sylhet on occasion of the Victory Day. l

Housewife commits suicide n Tribune Report A housewife allegedly committed suicide by hanging herself at her residence in Chittagong city’s Firoz Shah Colony yesterday.

Police said the deceased Tumpa Akter, 21, was the wife of Md Yakub. Naik Abul Bashar of Chittagong Medical College Hospital Police Outpost said Tumpa hanged herself from the ceiling with a scarf at her father’s residence around 2pm.

The duty doctors at CMCH declared her dead when she was brought to the hospital by her family members soon after the incident, said Naik Bashar. l

OC, four SIs sued for custodial torture

Over 5,000 died in accidents last year Students confine provost in

associate body of BNP. The victim Saiful Islam Suman’s father, Shamsun Noor Patwari, lodged the lawsuit with Lakshmipur Session Judge Court against Ramganj police station OC Lokman Hossain as well as its four Sub-inspectors Sharif, Momin, Mozammel and Lutfur Rahman, said the plaintiff ’s lawyer Md Rafique Ullah.

According to the case statement, the accused arrested Saiful, 32, on August 7 and tortured him for two days in custody, leaving one of his eyes badly damaged.

Afterwards, they implicated him in a false case and sent him to jail.

Lakshmipur District and Session Judge Manjurul Baset directed the authorities concerned to have Saiful’s damaged eye examined by a physician within 24 hours and submit a report in this regard before it, the advocate continued. l

Deaths from road accidents across the country continue to plague society.

Over 5,000 people died from road accidents last year, but no comprehensive steps have been taken as yet to check the road accidents, says a study.

Citing the Nirapad Sarak Chai, the study said 5,162 people were killed in road accidents in 2013, although the official statistic shows that 3,137 deaths have occurred on an annual average from 2002-2012.

The study titled “Road Safety in Bangladesh: Realities and Challenges” was presented yesterday at a function at Daily Star Bhaban. Communications Minister Obaidul Quader was present at the function as chief guest.

The Power and Participation Research Centre (PPRC), in association with Brac, conducted the study.

While unveiling the report, Executive Chairman of the PPRC Hossain Zillur Rahman termed road accidents to be a fresh epidemic in the country.

The Roads and Highway Department has identified 208 spots across the country where road accidents frequently occur, said the study, adding that the accident prone-districts are: Dhaka, Chittagong, Comilla, Tangail and Sirajganj.

A total of 57km of highway are most accident-prone and 95% accidents take

protest of fee hike at DU n Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur No initiative taken to improve 208 black spots on highways demanded the resignation of the provost. n DU Correspondent The agitating students alleged that Five police officers, including an offi- and stop road accidents cer-in-charge (OC), were the accused Resident students of Dhaka Univer- the provost has been realigning Tk30 the Local Government and Engineering sity’s Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur residence fee, hiked from Tk15 set by place within this length. in a case filed yesterday on a charge of n Rabiul Islam Of the total length, 16.5km are on Department maintains 250,000km of Rahman hall staged demonstration the university authorities, from all torturing a local activist of Jubo Dal, an

WEATHER

MODERATE RAIN THURSDAY, AUGUST 14 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:33PM SUN RISES 5:34AM FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

32

27

Chittagong

30

26

Rajshahi

31

26

Rangpur

29

26

Khulna

31

26

Barisal

31

26

Sylhet

28

25

Cox’s Bazar

29

26

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34.2ºC Chuadanga

24.9ºC Madaripur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:13am 5:32am 12:04am 4:30pm 6:35pm 7:55pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

the Dhaka-Chittagong highway, 8.8km on Dhaka-Aricha highway, 7.9km on Nagarbari-Banglabandh Highway, 5.8km on Daulatdia-Jhenaidah-Khulna Highway, 5.1km on Dhaka-Sylhet highway, 2.6km on Gazipur-Tangail-Jamalpur highway, 2.2km on Bangabandhu Shetu approach road and 1.6km on Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway.

A total of 57km of highway are most accident-prone and 95% accidents take place within this length The report says 40.90% accidents take place at bus stands, 17.80% at intersections, 28.40% at kitchen markets and 13% at other places.

In his speech, the PPRC executive chairman said nine causes, including reckless driving, unfit vehicles, vulnerable road-side activities, faulty road design and poor traffic enforcement, are responsible for road accidents.

Speaking as the chief guest, Obaidul Quader said the communication ministry dealt with 21,500km of roads and

the roads.

“The roads in the capital are not under my jurisdiction, and if I was given the responsibility, I could repair it within seven days,” the communications minister said, adding, “I cannot do anything alone as I am involved in a political party.”

“When I take initiatives to remove kitchen markets from the highway, local elected representatives oppose it.

So I cannot stop the plying of Nosiimon, Korimon on highways, which are a major cause of road accidents.”

The research report states 10-point recommendations. These include priority action plans for black spot improvement and having better quality driving training schools.

Chairman of Nirapad Sarak Chai and eminent actor Ilias Kanchan said a number of ministries including the communication ministry, health ministry and home ministry, worked for road safety, but there was no coordination among these ministries.

Barrister Sara Hossain said steps were not taken against those who were responsible for accidents and so the culture of impunity caused even more frequent road accidents.

Bus Truck Owners’ Association’s Chairman Faruk Talukder Sohel said the arrangements for training drivers were very poor. l

yesterday on the campus and confined the hall provost to his workplace protesting unusual hike in residence fee.

Sources said the students confined the hall provost Baitullah Kaderi around 2:30pm after ending demonstration and it was lasted for over an hour, who was later rescued by Proctor Amzad Ali. During the protest, the hall unit’s BCL activists also joined the students, who

students who wanted that the rule be applicable only for new students from July 1, this year. The students also protested the unusual hike in the fee.

The provost could not be reached despite repeated attempt for his comment while his mobile phone was found switched off.

In this regard, Proctor Amzad Ali said the authorities would look into the allegation brought against the provost. l

Member of fake note syndicate arrested n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A counterfeit currency trader was arrested yesterday with 20 fake notes of Tk1,000 from the port city’s Halishahar area in the morning.

Officer-in-Charge Syed Abu Mohammad Shahjahan Kabir of Halishahar police station said the arrestee Bidhan Chandra Debnath, 25, was a member of a syndicate supplying fake notes. He was arrested with the currencies near Hakkani Petrol Pump of Nayabazar area around 10:30am following a tipoff, the OC added.

A case was lodged with Bakalia police station in this connection.

OC Shahjahan said Bidhan was trying to spread the counterfeit notes among the traders in cattle markets ahead of Eid-ul-Azha. Two other members of the same gang were arrested with fake currencies worth Tk 1.66 lakh on this year’s Eid-ul-Fitr eve from the city’s Halishahar area, he added. The police official said they were now trying to arrest the other members of the syndicate.

On August 10, Bakalia police arrested a person with fake currencies worth Tk20,000 from the city’s Bakalia area while the same police arrested two others with counterfeit notes worth Tk 5,000 from the city’s Kala Mia Bazar on August 9. l

Journalists demand cancellation of new broadcast policy n Tribune Report Journalists staged a demonstration under the banner of the Bangladesh Federal Journalists Union (BFUJ) in Jessore yesterday, protesting the newly approved the National Broadcast Policy 2014.

Condemning the broadcast policy, they said the government had approved the policy so that journalists could not express their opinions freely and it would have grave impact on the democracy of the country. They also termed the broadcast policy as a black law.

Among others, Gerneral Secretary of the BFUJ Ma Aziz, acting vice-president of the BFUJ M Abdullah and Organisning Secretary Shahidul Islam addressed the protest rally which was held at the Jessore Press Club yesterday.

Demanding the cancellation of the policy, they said the journalist community would not hold any discussion with Information Minister Hasanul

Haq Inu until the broadcast policy was repealed.

They also threatened that newsmen would wage tougher movements across the country if the government did not cancel the policy. In Bhola, journalists also held a protest rally in front of the office of the deputy commissioner demanding the cancellation of the National Broadcast policy.

Journalists across the country have been observing agitation programmes since the Information Ministry finalised the draft of National Broadcast Policy 2014. According to the broadcast policy, all contents of radio and television will come under strict government monitoring. TV channels will be bound to broadcast specific programmes, including government press notes.

There will be a broadcast committee that will advise the government in providing licences to the TV channels. l

Executive Magistrate of the Dhaka North City Corporation Nuruzzaman talks with a small trader during drive at Gulshan in the capital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

6

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Juris

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Thursday, August 14, 2014

What constitutes a constitution? Tortuous liability in

road accident cases n Md Shafi Ullah

R

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

n SM Masum Billah “Do I contradict myself?

Very Well then, I contradict myself” “I am large, I contain multitudes” (replies the constitution).

[Walt Whitman, “Song of Myself” Leaves of Grass (1891-92)].

C

onstitution matters. Why? Is it because it protects our fundamental rights?

Maybe, at least this is the obvious answer that we get from the majority people. But I will provide a different answer to the question by using the words of American constitutional scholar, Mark Tushnet. Tushnet tells us that constitution matters because “it provides a structure of our politics.” Though meant for the USA, Tushnet’s phrase holds equal substance for the Bangladesh scenario. For it is politics, not the “constitution,” that is the ultimate and sometimes proximate source of whatever protection we have for our fundamental rights. The judicial contest of “uncontested” seats in the 10th parliamentary election is the recent reminder of this understanding.

The High Court Division (HCD) confirms the legality of the 154 “uncontested” elected seats in the 10th parliamentary election. The finding is no surprise, to say the least. From an open perspective, it seems that the court avoided the creation of a fresh constitutional chaos taking a stand in favour of legalism. The impugned Representation of People Order (RPO) provision is declared not to be violative of the constitution. The provision confers power on the election commission to declare a candidate elected, should be no rival candidates.

This appears to be a literal approach of the court which may contribute to hold a temporary political stability in the country. However, the finding fuels some important questions having far-reaching implications on our democratic practice.

The first question that confronts us is what constitutes the constitution? If constitution is the “solemn expression of the will of the people” (Article 7 of the Bangladesh Constitution), how may that “will” be convincingly distinguished from a clear exercise of voting rights? It is absurd to think that in a constitutional democracy the constitution contemplates for an untrusted system of political representation. Therefore, it would be a paradox to the nomenclature of the law itself (RPO), if the word “representation” is taken in a sweeping meaning to include otherwise untrusted persons. It will be interesting to see in detail how the judiciary addresses the issue.

We may recall the previous judicial stand on the question of “representation” in the parliament. The Appellate Division (AD) in 1995, in an advisory opinion, held the en masse resignation of the 147 MPs constitutional.

One of the issues then was whether the constitution at all contemplated such en masse resignation from the parliament in disregard of duties entrusted on the MPs by the people. The other one was whether the word “absent” engulfed the meaning of intentional “boycott” from the parliament. The AD did not find any difference between “absent” and “boycott.” This judicial apathy to draw

The discussion tempts us to term the constitution a ‘mystery.’ It is a ‘mystery’ because the lines of the constitution sometimes do not complement each other a line between a normal “absent” and intentional “boycott” has its legacy in our parliamentary practice.

The political parties often threaten to use this sword to make the parliament dysfunctional. I am afraid the “uncontested” verdict, in its present intonation is going to claim its similar tolls on our democratic voyage. The recent untrusted move for amending the constitution on the question of judges’ impeachment is nothing but an upshot of our failure to make an accountable parliament in the true sense of the term.

Constitution, as it is frequently uttered, is the supreme law of the land.

What makes the constitution supreme?

Say, for example, some law professors being dissatisfied with our current constitution draft a new one having the same supremacy provision. How does this newer provision differ from the old original one? The original one holds weight because it has a history of oneness of a nation, because it has a timetested public feeling that “sovereignty belongs to the people.” Is the “uncontested” opinion going to consolidate this feeling? I doubt very much.

Many other countries of the world have the provision for “uncontested” election. Therefore, it has been argued, it is no offence that Bangladesh should have the same. Again, we should make a cautious distinction of constitutionalism from the mathematics. Is it not our constitution that we need to expound? The point also ignites an intricate debate: to what extent is the migration of constitutional ideas acceptable where every constitution has its own framing history? It would be disastrous if we fail to sense the blood, sweat and tears of the common people that run along the text of our constitution.

Therefore, there must be ways that show how not to read the constitution. The constitution is an image. This image should not be the sole privilege of lawyerly wisdom. Even the masses draw a picture of what a constitution should look like. The lawyerly canvas may upset the people’s imagery of the constitution, but in no way does it reduce the “level” and “tone” of their expectation and criticism about how fairly they should be represented in the parliament.

Constitutional jurist Mahmudul Islam submits that the provision for uncontested election is an obvious choice. He suggests that if the political parties continue to refuse participating in the election there would be a vacuum. In order to avoid this void, claims Islam, uncontested provision seems inevitable. However, is it not also true that this legal sanction would pave the way to conduct elections disregarding the wish of the substantive political opinion?

The discussion tempts us to term the constitution a “mystery.” It is a “mystery” because the lines of the constitution sometimes do not complement each other. It is a mystery because different people see the constitution differently. This is because there is a pre-text for every text. The pre-text is a question of value external to the text. So, in order to unlock the constitutional puzzle, we need to cherish a democratic value. This value demands an oxymoron of the people’s rights and liberties with political invasions and evasions. The value-laden democracy helps us sketch the true image of a constitution. l SM Masum Billah is a PhD candidate, School of Law, Victoria University of Wellington.

Email: billah002@gmail.com.

JURIS QUOTE Justice is the insurance which we have on our lives and property. Obedience is the premium which we pay for it.

William Penn

English real estate entrepreneur and philosopher October 14, 1644 - July 30, 1718

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ecently a landmark judgment was given by the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court of Bangladesh comprising a full bench headed by the Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain. The order upholding the judgment of the High Court Division to compensate the victim’s family in a case involving the death of Mozammel Hossain Montu, a former News Editor of the “Daily Sangbad,” in a road accident more than two decades ago. In this case, a truck owned by Bangladesh Beverage Industries Limited (BBIL) had run over Mozammel Hossain in front of Ananda Bhaban in Dhaka’s Kakrail on December 3, 1989. He died after few days in the same year while undergoing a week long treatment.

On January 1, 1991, Mantu’s wife filed a case with a Dhaka court, seeking Tk3.52 crore as compensation from BBIL. The lower court in its verdict on March 20, 2005, directed the company to pay the amount to the wife and two sons of Mantu. BBIL appealed to the High Court against the verdict, saying the company could not be held liable for the driver’s mistake. The High Court, however, rejected the plea in 2010, saying the company could indeed be asked to pay compensation, and fixed the sum at Tk20mn. Finally, the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court disposed of an appeal filed by the BBIL challenging the verdict given by the High Court Division.

Khalilur, the counsel for Mantu’s wife pointed out that the Supreme Court verdict was a landmark one, saying that the owner of the vehicle had been directed to compensate for the offence of the negligent driver. In the reasoning of the decision, the trial court considered tortuous liability on the basis of the doctrine of vicarious

liability. The basis of the doctrine is a maxim that says, Nam qui facit per alium facit per se which means he who does an act through another is deemed in law to have done it himself. This is a maxim often stated in discussing the liability of an employer for the act of his/her employee.

Historically, tort has its roots in criminal procedure. Even today there is punitive element in some aspects of the rules of damages.

Considering civil wrong, the court made BBIL liable and ordered to pay compensation. Now, this judgment will be a precedent and as a result victim’s family will be able to seek compensation in similar cases in the future.

Road accident is a common phenomenon in Bangladesh. A recent report published by Bangladesh Jatri Kallan Somity shows that nearly 4,000 people died of road accident in the last six months from January to July. Most of the victims’ families took legal action but no proper remedy was given except for few circumstances. The questions are, under which law were the cases filed and what relief was sought in those cases?

It can clearly be mentioned here that the victims’ families tend to file criminal cases under penal code as the offences are of criminal in nature and their ultimate demand is to put the offenders behind bars. However, that hardly helps victim’s families to survive in society since in some cases the victims of the road accidents are the only earning members of their families. Therefore, tortuous liability should be invoked more often in these cases to seek compensation from the perpetrators for the family members as they are tertiary victims of the incidents. l Md Shafi Ullah is a Lecturer, Department of Law, Daffodil International University.

Justice at long last n Sanaul Islam Tipu

A

Dhaka court has recently awarded three officials of Adflame Pharmaceuticals 10 years of rigorous imprisonment, the maximum punishment stipulated in the related law, for manufacturing adulterated paracetamol syrup which killed 76 children in the 1990s. Judge Abdur Rashid of the Dhaka Drug Court also fined the three convicts Tk2 lakh each in the case, which was filed 22 years ago. The three convicts are Adflame Director Helena Pasha, Manager Mizanur Rahman and Production Officer Nigendra Nath Bala.

According to the fact of the case, the child mortality rate suddenly shot up at Dhaka Shishu Hospital between 1990 and 1992, and all of them died from kidney failure. On suspicion, the then director of the hospital Brig (retd) Mokbul Hossain verbally notified the drug administration about the matter on July 3, 1991. Several news media published news reports that many children were dying after taking adulterated paracetamol. On November 25, 1992, Abul Khayer collected samples of “Flammodol” and sent it to the drug testing laboratory and the WHO for examination. It was then found to have contained diethylene glycol.

Dhaka Shishu Hospital’s kidney specialist Prof Mohammed Hanif came to experience the tragedy of hundreds of children dying from kidney failure in 1982, when he started his career as a resident doctor at the BSMMU (formerly PG Hospital). Every day, patients coming in for treatment of failures of both kidneys and fevers, were dying despite being treated with dialysis. The doctors could not do anything to help them recover.

He saw the same situation happening at Shishu Hospital after he had been transferred there in 1986.

The children were dying from renal failure. The physicians checked the hospital’s water sources as well as the houses of the victims and conducted several other tests but did not find anything that could explain the mystery.

Later the hospital authorities formed a committee with Prof Hanif as the chair. In 1990, they came to know that something was wrong with the paracetamol which was being administered to the children. The children who were going to the hospital for minor surgeries started to experience renal failure, even though they did not have such complications earlier.

After reading a Newsweek article

that talked about the adulteration of paracetamol in Nigeria, Prof Hanif was sure that paracetamol adulteration was behind the renal problems.

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

Later they requested the Directorate General of Drug Administration to take a sample and send it to the drug laboratory. The laboratory again kept mum. The committee then sent a sample to Japan and to Fisons – a British multinational pharmaceuticals company, but those efforts did not work out either. Finally, they sent the sample to a government laboratory in Massachusetts, US and got a result. Following this, the committee arranged a press conference to make the fact public.

The convicts were given this sentence under the Drug Control Ordinance of 1982. According to Section 16 (c) of the Drug control Ordinance of 1982, whoever manufactures, imports, distributes, stocks, exhibits or sells any drug which is adulterated misbranded, spurious or imitated, shall be punishable with rigorous imprisonment for a term which may extend to 10 years, or with fine which may extend to Tk2 lakh, or with both, and any implements used in the manufacture or sale of such medicine or drug may, by order of the Drug Court, be forfeited to the government.

In the judgement, Judge Abdur Rashid mentioned that by manufacturing and marketing adulterated paracetamol consuming which many children had died, the convicts committed a crime against humanity. They deserved death penalty but since the law does not provide for death penalty we have to satisfy with the highest possible punishment.

There are reasons to be cynical too. This judgement which satisfied many families who have lost their children, has come from a subordinate court and appeal from the judgement will still lie with the High Court Division of the Supreme Court. There is a reasonable apprehension that the convicts will be able to obtain a stay order against this judgement from the HCD at the time of submitting their appeal petition. We all hope the Highest Court will decide upon the case keeping in mind the gravity of the crime that the convicts have once committed. l Sanaul Islam Tipu is a correspondent of Dhaka Tribune.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Canada to donate its own Ebola vaccine to WHO for use in Africa

Israel-Hamas talks tackle Gaza blockade

n Reuters, Winnipeg, Manitoba

n Agencies

Canada will donate a small quantity of an experimental Ebola vaccine developed in its government lab to the World Health Organization for use in Africa, the country’s health minister said on Tuesday.

The decision to donate the vaccine came after the WHO said on Tuesday that it was ethical to offer untested drugs to people infected by the virus.

The Canadian government will donate between 800 to 1,000 doses of the vaccine, with the final number given dependent on how much Canada holds back for research and clinical trials. The government will also keep a small supply in case it is needed domestically.

Health Minister Rona Ambrose said she offered the vaccine to Dr. Margaret Chan, director general of the WHO. The US is also working on a vaccine and the WHO and governments involved were discussing possible use inAfrica, Dr. Greg Taylor, deputy chief public health officer of the Public Health Agency of Canada told Reuters in an interview ahead of the Canadian announcement.

Canada only has about 1,500 animal doses of the vaccine, which it invented a few years ago, and would need four to six months to make a large quantity, he said. The government’s vaccine is separate from the treatment being developed by Canada’s Tekmira Pharmaceuticals Corp.

“We see this as a global resource, something we need to put on the global table to say ... how can we make best use of this asset? “We’re looking to do that as fast as we can,” Taylor said, speaking from Ottawa.

The Ebola outbreak is the world’s largest and deadliest. So far, 1,013 people have died, the vast majority

Negotiators in Cairo have addressed the issue of the Israeli Gaza blockade, as the clock ticks down to the 2100 GMT deadline that will end a current 72-hour truce.

By that time on Wednesday, Israeli and Palestinian negotiators in the Egyptian capital must have either agreed on a permanent ceasefire, accepted an extension or risk a resumption of more than a month of bloody fighting.

As Gaza’s residents ventured out into the quiet to try to piece together their battered lives, negotiators held a second round of indirect talks aimed at finding a durable end to the five-week confrontation.

A senior Israeli official told the AFP news agency there was still a long way to go to agree an end to the conflict, which erupted on July 8 when Israel launched military operations to halt cross-border rocket fire from Gaza.

“The negotiations are difficult and gruelling,” a Palestinian official said of Monday’s opening talks, which lasted almost 10 hours and which were described as “serious.”

Tuesday’s talks, which opened during the afternoon and tackled core issues such as Israel’s eight-year blockade of Gaza, went on late into the night.

Earlier on Tuesday, an Israeli official played down the chances of success.

“The gaps are still very wide. There has not been progress in the negotiations,” he told AFP. Hamas, the Palestinian group which runs Gaza, wants Israel to lift the blockade it imposed on the enclave in 2006 before it will stop rocket attacks. Israel has said it will only facilitate Gaza’s reconstruction if the enclave is fully disarmed.

In a sign that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu faced domestic

Passengers, wearing protective face masks and hand gloves push troleys loaded with personal effects upon arrival at the Murtala Mohammed Airport in Lagos AFP inGuinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone.

The Canadian vaccine, which the agency licensed for commercialization to US firm BioProtection Systems, a unit of Newlink Genetics, has proven effective in animals but has never been tested in humans, Taylor said.

Last week, Iowa-based NewLink said that BioProtection had a contract with the US Department of Defense for studies to bring the Canadian Ebola vaccine closer to human testing.

“We’ve been trying to figure out how we can make a contribution in

the fight against this disease and get our vaccine into the clinic,” Brian Wiley, NewLink vice-president of business development, told Reuters on Tuesday. “A large amount of work still needs to be done, but when there is a dire need the powers that be move at a quicker pace.”

Canada’s Taylor did not specify which of several US vaccines in development he was referring to that may be used in Africa along with the Canadian vaccine.

Profectus BioSciences of Tarrytown, New York, has tested its Ebola

Ukraine says Russian aid convoy won’t be let in, denounces Moscow’s ‘cynicism’ n Reuters, Kiev Ukraine denounced the dispatch of a Russian humanitarian aid convoy to eastern Ukraine as an act of Russian cynicism on Wednesday and said it would not be allowed in.

The comments reflected suspicions in Kiev and Western capitals that passage of the convoy onto Ukrainian soil could turn into a covert military action to help pro-Russian separatists now losing ground to government forces.

“The level of Russian cynicism knows no bounds,” Prime Minister Arseny Yatseniuk said at a government meeting. “First they send tanks, Grad missiles and bandits who fire on Ukrainians and then they send water and salt.”

Interior Minister Arsen Avakov said on his Facebook page: “No Putin ‘humanitarian convoy’ will be allowed across the territory of Kharkiv region.

The provocation by a cynical aggressor will not be allowed on our territory.”

Yatseniuk reiterated that any kind of humanitarian aid from the outside

Actor Robin Williams’ death was ‘suicide’ n AP The actor Robin Williams tried to cut his wrist and hanged himself in a bedroom of his San Francisco Bay Area home after struggling with depression, officials said on Tuesday.

His wife, Susan Schneider, likely was home at the time but was unaware, Keith Boyd, a Marin County sheriff ’s lieutenant, said.

Williams was last seen alive by Schneider on Sunday night when she went to bed, Boyd said. She woke up the next morning and left, thinking he was still asleep elsewhere in the house.

Shortly after that, Williams’ personal assistant came to the Tiburon home and became concerned when Williams failed to respond to knocks at a door.

The assistant found the 63-year-old actor clothed and dead in a bedroom.

Boyd said all evidence indicated the star of dozens of films committed suicide. But he said a final ruling would be made once toxicology reports and interviews with witnesses were complete.

The condition of the body indicated Williams had been dead for at least a few hours, Boyd said. Williams also had superficial cuts on his wrist, and a pocket knife was found nearby. l

had to be organised under the auspices of the International Committee of the Red Cross.

It was not immediately clear if this was an outright rejection of the Russian aid, which was being taken by a convoy of 280 trucks down to the Ukrainian border on Wednesday, or a refusal to allow the Russian trucks onto Ukrainian territory.

Humanitarian crisis

Ukraine said on Tuesday that the cargo would have to be unloaded from Russian trucks at the border and transferred under international Red Cross aegis onto other vehicles. The European Union (EU) said the contents would have to be scrutinised.

Kiev accuses Russia of supporting and arming the rebels - who now appear to be on the verge of defeat by government forces - with tanks, missiles and other weapons. Moscow denies this.

Four months of fighting in the east has produced a humanitarian crisis in parts of eastern Ukraine. People in the

main cities of Donetsk and Luhansk, on the border with Russia, are suffering acute shortages of water, food and electricity.

Yatseniuk said the Kiev government had received 6 million dollars from its Western partners which would be used to alleviate conditions in distressed areas.

“We as the government of Ukraine are sending vitally needed goods to all the liberated territories,” Yatseniuk said, meaning those places which had been recaptured from the rebels.

“We as a state are looking after and are capable of looking after our citizens,” he said.

The convoy which Russia says is carrying about 2,000 tonnes of water, baby foods and other goods left Moscow region on Tuesday for the Ukrainian border.

Journalists monitoring the movement of the convoy said it appeared to be at the Russian town of Voronezh on Wednesday, about 340 km (212 miles) from Shebekino on the Ukrainian border. l

vaccine in monkeys with good results, its chief science officer John Eldridge said on Tuesday.

Still, deciding whether to use an experimental drug on humans is “very difficult,” Taylor said.

“You really don’t know how safe it is, you don’t know what the side effects are going to be. But in this extraordinary circumstance in Africa right now, we’re trying to do everything we can to assist.”

The first doses in Africa would likely be available to health care workers, Taylor said. l

political battles to sell any deal to his fractious coalition government, he called off a planned meeting of his security cabinet on Tuesday.

Hamas tunnels

This is the second 72-hour ceasefire to be held during the conflict. The first only came about after Israel announced it had completed the destruction of a network of Hamas tunnels that crossed the blockade.

Israel is now preparing to build a network of sensors to try to detect tunnel building into its territory from the Gaza Strip, but it could take months to prove the technology works, a senior army officer told the Reuters news agency.

In the meantime, the army might re-invade the Palestinian enclave to destroy any tunnels it discovers or that it thinks are under construction, another official said, looking to calm the fears of Israelis living close to the Gaza border.

The army said it destroyed 32 tunnels last month, but believes some, which also serve as bunkers and weapons caches, survived intact.

After more than a decade of failed attempts to develop ways to reveal the infiltration tunnels, an army officer said the military was preparing to place sensors around Gaza’s perimeter.

The army hopes these will not only be able to detect tunnels under construction, but also others already built.

In a briefing to reporters, the officer, who declined to be named, said the sensors would be augmented by physical obstacles placed along the 68 kmlong (42 miles) frontier.

He did not discuss the technology, but said testing over the next few months would show whether it was ready for use. Previous experimentation has focused on seismic detectors. l

‘Prime Evil’ apartheid killer contests South Africa parole delay n Reuters, Johannesburg Jailed South African apartheid death-squad leader Eugene de Kock, dubbed ‘Prime Evil’ for murdering black activists in the 1980s, has launched a court bid to force the government to consider him for parole, his lawyer said on Wednesday.

De Kock, who is believed to have been responsible for more atrocities than any other man in the efforts to preserve white minority rule in South Africa, became eligible for release last month after 20 years behind bars.

However, Justice Minister Michael Masutha delayed by a year the sensitive decision on whether or not to set him free, saying the families of his victims had not been properly consulted.

De Kock’s lawyer Julian Knight said Eugene de Kock Masutha’s argument was being challenged Kock as any other criminal.” as legally flawed since the need to consult If de Kock is successful in getting the families about parole decisions was only court to overturn Masutha’s decision, it will introduced in 2004 - a decade after de put the ruling African National Congress Kock was arrested and jailed.

(ANC), which came to power at the end of “It’s a political game,” Knight told Reuapartheid in 1994, in a tight spot. ters. “The minister should be treating de

INDUSTRIAL DAMAGE

Although de Kock has few if any supporters, releasing convicted killers on parole has become commonplace, especially if - as is the case with de Kock - they have expressed remorse and are considered to no longer represent a threat to society. l

Clinton calls Obama to clarify Syria remarks n Reuters

View of the waters of the Sonora River where five days ago a copper mine leaked 40 thousand cubic meters of sulfuric acid seriously polluting it, in the Ures community, Sonora state,Mexico on August 12. The chemical caused an orange stain along a 60-kilometer (37mile) stretch of the river bordered by the towns of Arizpe, Banamichi, Vabiacora, Aconchi, Cananea, Ures and Hermosillo AFP

AFP

Hillary Clinton, a likely contender for the White House in 2016, has called US President Barack Obama to clarify that controversial remarks she made in an interview were not intended to attack him, her spokesman said.

In an interview published by The Atlantic magazine on Sunday, former Secretary of State Clinton identified the US choice not to intervene early in Syria’s civil war as a “failure.”

“Earlier today, the secretary called President Obama to make sure he knows that nothing she said was an attempt to attack him, his policies, or his leadership,” Clinton spokesman, Nick Merrill, said in a statement.

“While they’ve had honest differences on some issues, including aspects of the wicked challenge Syria presents, she has explained those differences in her book and at many points since then.”

Clinton, also a former first lady and senator from New York, served as Obama’s secretary of state from 2009 to 2013.

Since then she has been touring the country giving a series of lucrative speeches and promoting her

memoir, “Hard Choices.”

She will be on Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, to sign copies of her book on Wednesday. Obama is vacationing there, and the two are expected to see each other Wednesday night.

“Like any two friends who have to deal with the public eye, she looks forward to hugging it out when they see each other tomorrow night,” Merrill said.

The call was first reported by Politico.

Syria contention

Clinton has not said whether she will run for president, but she is regarded as the favorite to win the Democratic nomination. Therefore each of her public statements has been scrutinised as a possible reflection of her potential campaign platform.

While these comments were Clinton’s clearest effort at distancing herself from the White House, she has been subtly creating space between her own record and Obama’s for months.

The June release of “Hard Choices” also provided her with a chance to note her differences with the president.

In the book she specifically identified Obama’s decision not to arm moderate Syrian rebels as a point of contention while she was at the State Department. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Power brokers chose safe bet Abadi n Reuters, Baghdad

Iraq men carry a portrait of outgoing prime minister Nuri al-Maliki ahead of a rally to show their support for Maliki on August 13. Iraq’s premier designate Haidar al-Abadi is gaining widespread support from countries hoping political reconciliation will undercut jihadists, as Iran further undercut Nuri al-Maliki’s bid to cling to power AFP

Maliki says Abadi’s appointment as Iraqi PM ‘has no value’ n Reuters, Baghdad Nuri al-Maliki said on Wednesday the appointment of Haider al-Abadi to replace him as Iraq’s prime minister violated the constitution and “had no value.”

In a televised speech, Maliki said everyone should accept a pending federal court ruling on an objection he filed against Abadi’s appointment, and said his government would continue until a final decision was made.

Abadi won swift endorsements from the United States and Iran on Tuesday

as he called on political leaders to end feuds that have allowed Islamist militants to seize a third of the country.

State television on Wednesday reported that Abadi was working on forming a new cabinet and developing a government program in agreement with other political blocs.

But Maliki has so far refused to step aside after eight years as premier.

Critics have accused the Shi’ite Islamist of marginalizing the country’s once-dominant Sunni Muslim community during his rule and thereby

Pressure on Iraqi Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to step aside had become unbearable. Sunnis, Kurds, fellow Shi’ites, regional power broker Iran and the United States all wanted him out.

Maliki calculated he may have one more chance to hold onto power after eight years in office, even though alarmed allies had run out of patience as Islamic State jihadis swept government forces aside in much of western and northern Iraq.

Maliki’s plan would require persuading Iraq’s most influential cleric that he alone could reform and unite a country that had slid back into a civil war fueled by what critics view as his sectarian politics.

A week ago, he sent a delegation from his Islamic Dawa Party to try to meet Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani in the sacred Shi’ite city of Najaf, south of Baghdad, according to an Iraqi minister and a source close to the clergy.

It was unclear if they succeeded in gaining an audience with the reclusive 83-year-old cleric, but they did get a response on paper, if not the one that Maliki was hoping for: “Sistani made it clear that he wanted change. He put it in writing - the first time that a leader of Iraq’s Shi’ite clergy did such a thing,” the minister told Reuters.

Sistani’s word is law in majority Shi’ite Muslim Iraq so the fate of Maliki - an unknown when he first came to power in 2006 with help from Iraq’s then US occupiers - was sealed.

Maliki has been caretaker prime minister since an inconclusive parliamentary election in April. But his chances of a third term appear

over, with a party colleague named as prime minister-designate and drawing endorsements from home and abroad.

While Maliki kept digging in, the main Iraqi and foreign players moved on to wondering who could replace him.

Several names came up. One was Ahmad Chalabi, the smooth-talking, secular Shi’ite who played a role in persuading the United States to topple Sunni dictator Saddam Hussein in 2003.

Maliki’s immediate predecessor Ibrahim al-Jaafari was also a candidate.

But he had failed to ease sectarian violence during his year in office. Deputy Prime Minister Hussain al-Shahristani, a nuclear scientist tortured in Saddam’s jails, seemed promising, people familiar with the discussions said.

But, officials said, in the end it came down to a choice between Vice President Khudhaier al-Khuzaie and former Maliki lieutenant Haider al-Abadi, a deputy speaker of parliament.

Both were also members of Maliki’s Dawa Party but Khuzaie was seen as too sectarian, too like Maliki in that regard.

Abadi was selected because all parties agreed the low-key figure got along with leaders of the Kurdish minority and had a decent chance of appeasing Sunni Muslims, whose disgust with Maliki prompted some to join the Islamic State militants.

Abadi also appealed to religious leaders and others because the engineer appears not to be motivated purely by political ambition. He spent more than two decades in exile, working in business in Britain while promoting the Islamic ideals of the Dawa party. l

Iraq crisis: France to deliver arms to Iraqi Kurds n BBC France will supply arms to Iraq’s Kurds “in the coming hours,” French President Francois Hollande has announced.

France has received approval from authorities in Baghdad for the decision, French media reports say.

Kurdish forces have been fighting militants from the Islamic State (IS) group. The conflict has displaced thousands of people.

The US has also reportedly begun supplying weapons to the Kurdish forces, known as the Peshmerga.

A statement from Mr Hollande’s office said the move was “in response to the urgent need expressed by the regional authorities in Kurdistan.”

“For several days, France has had the necessary measures in place to support the operational capabilities of the forces fighting IS,” the statement said.

“The catastrophic situation faced by the population of Iraqi Kurdistan means the international community must step up its mobilisation,” it went on.

Earlier the US announced it had sent 130 more military advisers to the Kurdish region.

The marines and special operations forces will assess the humanitarian situation and will not be engaged in combat, a US defence official said.

The US has been carrying out air strikes against IS fighters in northern Iraq.

The political leader of Iraq’s Kurds, Massoud Barzani, had on Sunday appealed for international military aid to help defeat the Islamist militants.

The United Nations has said that tens of thousands of civilians, including members of the Yazidi sect, are trapped on Mount Sinjar by IS fighters and need “life-saving assistance.” l

Afghan candidate casts fresh doubt Japan ‘strongly protests’ against Russian exercises over deal to share power

Iranian the first woman to snare maths ‘noble’

n Reuters, Kabul

Maryam Mirzakhani

worsening the country’s crisis.

On Wednesday, Maliki said the decision to appoint Abadi as prime minister was not valid without a decision from the Federal Court on an appeal he said he filed on Tuesday against the decision to task Abadi with forming a new government.

“The violation that occurred has no value and its consequences have no effect,” he said.

“This government is continuing, and will not be changed except after the Federal Court issues its decision.” l

9

Thursday, August 14, 2014

AFP

n Agencies Iranian mathematician Maryam Mirzakhani has become the first woman to be awarded the Fields Medal, mathematics’ equivalent to the Nobel Prize.

The professor at Stanford University in California was among four Fields Medal recipients at the International Congress of Mathematicians held in Seoul, and the first female among the 56 winners since the prize was established in 1936.

“This is a great honour. I will be happy if it encourages young female scientists and mathematicians,” Mirzakhani was quoted as saying on Stanford’s website.

“I am sure there will be many more women winning this kind of award in coming years,” she said.

Mirzakhani was born in Tehran and lived there until she began her doctorate work at Harvard University. She said she dreamed of becoming a writer when she was young, but she pursued her enthusiasm for solving mathematical problems.

“It is fun - it’s like solving a puzzle or connecting the dots in a detective case.

I felt that this was something I could do, and I wanted to pursue this path,” she said.

Mirzakhani was recognised for her work in understanding the symmetry of curved surfaces.

According to Stanford, the work could have an impact on the theoretical physics of how the universe came to exist.

The prizes are awarded every four years. Wednesday’s honours were presented by South Korean President Park Geun-hye.

“On behalf of the entire Stanford community, I congratulate Maryam on this incredible recognition, the highest honour in her discipline, the first ever granted to a woman,” said Stanford President John Hennessy on the university’s website. l

Afghan presidential candidate Ashraf Ghani cast fresh doubt over a deal to share power with his rival Abdullah Abdullah on Tuesday, saying the accord was ambiguous and needed clarifying.

Abdullah was the clear winner in the first round of Afghanistan’s presidential election in April, while a preliminary count showed Ghani won the run-off vote in June.

However, the ballot was marred by accusations of mass fraud, which in turn have fueled tensions between the rival camps, raising fears of a civil war along ethnic lines.

US Secretary of State John Kerry has twice flown to Kabul to try to defuse the crisis and last Friday helped persuade

the pair to sign a framework agreement for sharing power, including control over key economic and security institutions.

Under the terms of the deal, the runner-up will be appointed to a specially created role of “chief executive,” who will share equal control with the president over certain key decisions, such as nominating the head of the army and intelligence agency.

However, Ghani appeared to back away from the idea of sharing power on Tuesday, telling journalists the language of the document signed during Kerry’s visit was unclear.

“Instead of getting into verbal disputes, this is one of the key areas our teams are working on,” Ghani said.

“The word parity can have a range of meanings.”

Abdullah’s spokesman replied that the framework accord clearly indicated government posts would be split between the candidates. “If it’s not power-sharing, then what is it?” spokesman Mujib Rahman Rahimi said by phone late on Tuesday.

Abdullah has warned that violating the spirit of the deal would have dire consequences for national unity.

“It’s important that first of all we change the atmosphere from now on, from an atmosphere of campaigning against each other to an atmosphere of working together. That will help,” Abdullah told Reuters after Kerry’s last visit.

Each camp has appointed a commission to flesh out the accord and they met for the first time on Tuesday. Rahimi said he hoped their work would continue. l

on disputed isles n Reuters, Tokyo Japan “strongly protested” on Wednesday against Russian military exercises on Pacific islands that it also claims and which have been at the root of strained relations between the two countries since the end of World War Two. The exercises on the disputed islands are a blow to Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s efforts to court resource-rich Russia and keep the door open to dialogue, despite the Ukraine crisis.

Russia seized the islands from Japan in the waning days of World War Two and the dispute over them has prevent-

ed the neighbours from signing a formal peace treaty.

The islands are known as the Southern Kuriles in Russia and the Northern Territories in Japan.

“Carrying out this sort of exercises in the Northern Territories is totally unacceptable,” Abe told reporters.Japan lodged a “strong protest” at the Russian Embassy in Tokyo, the Japanese Foreign Ministry said in a statement, calling the exercises “extremely regrettable.”

Japan had already protested at the beginning of the military exercises but reiterated its objections on Wednesday. l

Siege mentality grips Pakistan ahead of Independence Day n Reuters, Islamabad Thousands of riot police sealed off Pakistan’s capital with barbed wire and shipping containers on the eve of the country’s Independence Day, in a bid to foil mass protests aimed at toppling embattled Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

Two groups, led by cricket star turned opposition politician Imran Khan and fiery cleric Tahir ul-Qadri, plan to converge on Islamabad on Thursday intent on forcing Sharif to call an early election little more than a year after his landslide victory at the polls.

Police said on Wednesday that they had detained some 2,100 followers of the two populist opposition figures in the past few days, and with all the obstacles in their path it was uncertain how many protesters would reach the capital.

The latest challenge to Pakistan’s fragile democracy will inevitably sow unease among neighbours and allies. They dread instability in the nuclear-armed state, which is battling an internal Islamist insurgency and is home to several virulently anti-Western and anti-Indian militant groups.

While police and paramilitary manned barricades round the city, how far Khan and Qadri succeed in destabilising the government could ultimately depend on the stance taken by a military with a long history of mounting coups.

The protesters insist they are reformers crusading against corruption and say last year’s election was fraudulent, whereas Sharif’s loyalists accuse them of being a front for darker, anti-democratic forces.

While the political temperature has become more feverish, Pakistan’s generals have stayed silent. Exchanges of fire between Pakistani and Indian forces on the ceasefire line that acts as a de facto border in the disputed Kashmir region have added to the tension.

Many analysts doubt whether the military

wants to seize power, but there is a widespread perception that it could use the opportunity to put the civilian government under its thumb.

“The idea was to put pressure on our government and it has worked,” a minister in Sharif’s cabinet told Reuters, requesting anonymity.

“Once this is over, things will be a lot more difficult for the government. The decision-making space will be reduced. It is unfortunate that anti-democratic forces have pushed things to this point.”

Speaking to journalists in Lahore on Monday, Information Minister Pervais Rashid was more direct, accusing a former “spymaster” of coordinating the security for Khan’s protest.

Pakistani media identified him as Ahmed Shuja Pasha, who retired as head of the military’s feared Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) Directorate two years ago.

Neither were available for comment.

Bad blood Sharif and the military have an unhappy history. His last term in office ended in 1999, when then army chief General Pervez Musharraf launched a coup that heralded a decade of military rule.

Since returning to power, Sharif has been at odds with generals who seemed happy to leave running Pakistan’s rickety economy to civilians but jealously guard their dominant influence.

Relations with the military quickly soured when Sharif’s government prosecuted Musharraf last year for treason, angering officers who see the army as Pakistan’s saviour and despise politicians like Sharif as corrupt.

Recently Sharif has relented. Musharraf’s prosecution ground to a halt and he was released from house arrest, but he remains unable to leave the country.

For all the conspiracy theories over the brewing crisis, Sharif’s loyalists have, however,

Canadian-based cleric Tahir-ul-Qadri waves to Pakistani supporters in Lahore on August 10. Pakistani police on August 10, charged a populist, anti-government cleric with murder after a policeman was killed during clashes with his supporters AFP avoided spreading suspicion over serving generals, and the government last month entrusted security in the capital to the military.

“There may be individuals involved in this (protest), friends of Musharraf, perhaps.

But we don’t see any evidence that the army as an institution is involved,” said Ahsan Iqbal, the secretary-general of Sharif’s party.

Both Khan and Qadri have also repeatedly denied having secret military support.

“I am not saying call in the army,” Khan said on a televised speech Monday. “The army is not the solution.”

A military spokesman did not return

messages but the military has often said it does not meddle in politics.

Dual tactics So far the government’s response to the protests has been a mixture of carrots and sticks.

Qadri, who controls a network of religious schools and charities, has met with stiff opposition. He has a history of organising protests. Last year, he returned from his home in Canada to lead tens of thousands of followers who camped out on the capital’s main street for four days.

The cleric had planned to hold another

protest in the eastern city of Lahore on Sunday but was thwarted by mass arrests of his followers. Supporters on their way to Sunday’s protest were blocked. For two days, they clashed with police in several cities. Eleven people were killed and hundreds injured.

Khan’s supporters are considered less likely to fight. His party has urged them to be peaceful, in contrast to Qadri, who urged supporters to retaliate if police attacked.

On Tuesday, Sharif offered Khan a Supreme Court investigation into the alleged electoral irregularities. Khan rejected the offer unless Sharif stood down. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Thursday, August 14, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Protect whistleblowers to fight corruption

A

n acting headmaster in a Rajshahi public school has been suspended by their governing body for filing a complaint about the taking of bribes for teacher appointments.

The headmaster had lodged a complaint with the secondary and higher education directorate after discovering four teachers had submitted fake registration documents during their recruitment process.

Although the directorate has confirmed the forgeries, and the salaries of the teachers involved are reportedly being withheld, the governing body of Mohanganj High School in Rajshahi’s Bagmara, is still ignoring demands by parents and pupils to reinstate the suspended headmaster.

It is outrageous that a public servant can be wrongly suspended in such a manner for simply performing their duty.

One of the teachers involved in this has admitted to arranging the transfer of one decimal of land to local AL leaders at the request of the governing body, as a bribe for being appointed as a teacher.

Far from being ashamed at this report, the local union AL president has stated he sees no offence in the process as “money is taken everywhere while recruiting teachers.” Instead, a case has been filed against the sub-registrar of land for registering the land transfer in the name of the prime minister without permission from the PMO. The government must disown and root out this type of institutionalised and politically protected corruption.

It also needs to do more to ensure the law upholds the Whistleblower Protection Act 2011, so that people who bring wrongdoing to light are properly protected.

Ensure people who bring wrongdoing to light are properly protected

Unite against child trafficking

I

t is chilling that that every year 20,000 children are believed to go missing or are kidnapped from Bangladesh.

Most are understood to be taken across the border into India.

Human trafficking is a scourge which affects all ages and needs to be addressed across the board. The problem of child trafficking in particular needs to be attacked has a urgent priority.

We must build on work being undertaken with neighbouring countries like India and Nepal to strengthen anti-trafficking measures. The problem is particularly acute in our region and it is in the interest of all South Asian countries to come together to fight this crossborder problem.

Bangladesh should strengthen its resolve as well as its technological capability to track and rescue trafficked children. Improved management systems, such as the “uniformed case management” system proposed at a workshop recently, may increase the efficiency in matter of finding, rescuing, and repatriating child victims of trafficking.

It is a matter of great shame that Bangladesh is not up to the internationally desired standard for eliminating human trafficking.

The government must urgently take action in this regard, and start prosecuting culpable parties.

Government officials and law enforcement personnel must be given comprehensive training on how to spot and deal with traffickers.

Our legal establishment has a duty to enforce anti-trafficking laws. We need to see it act against any corrupt elements in law enforcement which have been complicit in child trafficking, so that they can be brought to book and future abuses are prevented.

All South Asian countries should strengthen resolve to eliminate trafficking

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

Girl commits ‘suicide’ after failing to watch Star Jalsha August 9

Depressed Town It’s almost becoming a trend for a handful of young teenagers to commit suicide over such an issue. Why? It’s obviously psychological.

If we look at this case, then we’ll see that it happened in Savar, a booming industrial city with a hazardous environment. Like many other places of Bangladesh, this place also lacks sufficient playgrounds, parks, and places where young people could hang out.

In the Bangladeshi context, for a girl at her age, it is extremely difficult to go out and get some fresh air. In that suffocating condition, she, like many other teenage girls of our country, put all her concentration into a 21” square screen, where actors and actresses dramatise and exaggerate life events. Gradually, in our case, naturally, she built up a strong connection with those Indian serials.

It is very easy for one to say that a girl died for nothing. Yes, she died for nothing. She died because of the entertainment you couldn’t provide.

She died because she couldn’t go out in order to seek natural entertainment which you people have already covered up with buildings and garbage.

Romio Hasan She is not the only one. There may be thousands more ready to commit suicide on this same issue.

I have talked with several teenage girls among my relatives, and they used to say the same words again and again: “If you change the channel, I will

Girl kills herself after mother stops her from watching Star Jalsha August 8

Neel Ayon What can I say? Can’t find the words.

Shamim Hossain Life is no more precious than electronic gadgets, TV-serials, fried chicken, and so on.

Fahmida Sultana Crazy people. They need to be rounded up and put into a mental hospital. Stupid girls and women.

Xiao Xing I think it’s dumb to blame these suicidal acts based solely on TV channels or TV programs.

The poor girl must have been psychologically unstable and no one noticed. I hope people will understand the need for counseling and the importance of mental health.

Rakib Bappi WTH is wrong with this nation!? Is it worth dying for TV shows? Or a dress?

CALVIN AND HOBBES

commit suicide.” And they all were absolutely serious about that!

All of these kids’ behaviour was totally normal a few years back and now all of them are showing many traits of personality disorders and strong aggressively defensive behaviour. No matter how much you try, you can’t make them watch cartoons or any other children’s shows anymore.

There could be two possible reasons: (1) All of them, and even the elderly, have an underlying mild to moderate, or even severe, mental illness for which they find these specific types of programs so comforting and addictive. (2) These programs are shaping their minds everyday, in a way that promotes severe mental illness.

I have studied a few of these shows, and the only thing that filled the screen was a pure negative vibe, and the visual storytelling part was full of disturbing shots and creepy background sounds. It was hard to find anything positive about those shows.

So if you still think committing suicide for a “Pakhi dress” or for missing a single episode is just plain stupid, then please think again! It’s never too late to save your youngsters from taking a deadly path.

I am writing this with a hope that some of you will consider the depth and emerging danger of these repeated suicides, take effective initiatives to study/analyse the psychological pattern, and publish workable solutions.

Mental illness is a debilitating disorder and we need an immediate cure.

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 4 represents H so fill H every time the figure 4 appears.

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

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

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

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

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

35 fake freedom fighters’ certificates cancelled August 10

Habib Khondker No punishment?

Md Ashraf Husain What rewards/punishments will be given to the proven fake freedom fighters? Will more investigations be carried out to find the fake freedom fighters?

What action will be taken against the fake freedom fighters who retired from government/ semi-government/autonomous organisation service?

Mir Farzuk Md Ashraf Husain: The freedom fighters are real.

The fake ones, however, should be punished for defaming our nation’s poor fighters.

BNP delegation visits Mawa ghat August 8

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Insect (4) 4 Loses colour (5) 8 Optical illusion (6) 9 Dull, heavy sound (4) 11 Wash lightly (5) 12 Employs (4) 14 Mature (3) 15 Come forth (6) 19 Composed (6) 21 Vast age (3) 22 Lacerate (4) 24 Shaft (5) 27 Sketched (4) 29 Exact satisfaction for (6) 30 Satisfied fully (5) 31 Paradise (4)

DOWN 1 Obtain (3) 2 Entertained (6) 3 Season (4) 4 Distant (3) 5 Nimble (5) 6 Lair (3) 7 Country (6) 10 Immense (4) 13 Become firm (3) 14 Examines by trial (6) 16 Came into contact with (3) 17 Brought up (6) 18 Blood (4) 20 Over (5) 23 Border (4) 25 Rodent (3) 26 Marry (3) 28 Pale (3)

Rashel Mahmud “A BNP delegation visited the Mawa Ghat in Munshiganj today in order to query over the progress of the rescue operation of Pinak 6, the launch that capsized in the Padma River on August 4.”

Why so late!?

Do you know this place?

August 7

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD Arefin Rafi It’s the Jatrabari-Gulistan flyover. The Jatrabari and Demra deviation part.

PEANUTS

Benazir: Police did not act cruelly with Tuba worker August 9 Yusuf Arefin What a load of crock. Everyone saw that police had beaten the ill Tuba worker.

Save Jamaat-e-Islami?

August 9 Arch Bishop What exactly is the purpose of a “trial” when the author and the party he represents already know what verdict is proper and what punishment should be meted out?

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

Thursday, August 14, 2014

11

When arrogance is the strategy

A

n Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury Middle Eastern analyst said few years back: “If someone claims to have a quick solution to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he hasn’t understood the problem.”

Ironically, this is both true and false.

It takes a lot of study to grasp the crux of the issue – yet those, a lot of them actually – who have done it with some honesty can actually offer realistic solutions.

Whether politicians will buy that or not is a different issue altogether, because dishonesty is pervasive among politicians of both sides, especially on part of the strong.

have increased interest in Christian religious sites in the Middle East.

Obviously, the Palestinians will have to keep the Christian sites open for religious Christians for pilgrimage purposes and also to have any chance to receive wider support for a Palestinian state.

Interestingly, Bethlehem is in PA territory, and PA has started celebrating Christmas in a sort of international way by receiving Christians from different parts of the world. PA President Mahmud Abbas and all senior leaders attend the main congregation in the Church of Nativity.

The political part is also complex.

There is a long, protracted fight of arrogance, patience, and perseverance

In the Israel-Palestine crisis, not talking to Hamas, or not involving them in the peace initiative is something impractical

Gaza has almost been levelled now, and looks like German ruins at the end of Second World War after the RAF bombing campaign, or Hiroshima after the nuclear strike. As usual, the Israel-US narrative starts from the middle of the story. They depict Israel, the only country established in modern times with unprecedented scriptural or historic claims and through hounding out the indigenous population with terror, as the victim, despite its unquestionable military supremacy in the region.

Present developments, history, and political geography of the region are well-known these days. The core issue, at this instance, is the hugely disproportionate Israeli reaction to the active resistance of Gazaites under the leadership of Hamas. Judeo-Christian links, especially between orthodox Jewish and American Christians are an important facet now. Christians believe in the returning of Jews to Palestine as a precursor to the reappearance of Christ.

It had been going on for quite some time now. Moreover, they nowadays

T

H

going on between Israel and Hamas.

Both want to see themselves as the winner, demoralising the other in the longer run, instead of thinking of any immediate compromise.

Israel wants to break down all Arab resistance that questions (mostly for bargaining, hardly for any realistic possibility) Israel’s legitimacy, which of course is a big question mark, and a matter of another long debate.

It wants to have a perpetual strong upper hand in the final bargain, if any, and beyond. IDF and its precursors like Haganah and Irgun terrorist outfits have hounded out about 700,000 Palestinians, who are now about 3 million, from their home.

They established a state, in a most unprecedented way in a historically contentious region, by bringing Jews from all over the world, and now they want peace and security for themselves without addressing the issues of the oppressed.

Liberal Jews like Albert Einstein, Hannah Ardent, and many more protested these Zionist terror acts around 1948 and beyond. Now, if Hamas fails

I

R

D

Hamas has deep roots in Gaza society

AFP

to keep reminding the world about Palestine, the whole Palestinian issue will go to oblivion by the grand Israeli design. They perhaps learned a lesson from Fatah in the West Bank, whose non-pursuance of resistance as per Israeli condition in favour of calm has given them hardly anything solid.

Palestinians, by and large, would have accepted a demilitarised fair deal Palestine as per the unmistakable indications by Palestinian leadership, yet people like Netanyahu keeps inventing a false doomsday for Israel to promote chauvinism and jingoism. People like him are dishonest politicians.

Israel is already in possession of the Western Wall (Welling Wall) of

E

Y

S

outh India. We were discussing easy money-making processes in our part of the world. Most of our friends were IIT or IIM graduates, with a few having studied in the leading business schools of the USA, including a retired general of the Indian Army.

The significance of this general was that he had fought for Bangladesh’s liberation in 1971 as a captain.

The meet-up almost came to the conclusion that, in our sub-continent, most of the easy money comes though political connections or by holding senior positions in the government.

In India, apart from business houses close to the ruling party, many business conglomerates made hefty amounts through real estate development. Timely debut in the capital market also turned some into billionaires in India. E-commerce companies were also reported to be making tons of money these days. Big companies with deep pockets making huge investment in retail chains were also pocketing large sums in an increasingly consumer-driven India.

Indian bourses have seen around $200bn market cap companies in more recent years. However, these are

It’s difficult to foresee how a permanent solution can now be reached.

Israeli conservatives have fallen into their own trap of impracticable conditions. Or, it’s more likely that this is a conscious yet mindless and habitual strategy of arrogance that they want to pursue. Only a powerful external thrust might have the potential of changing the scenario. But who can do that? l Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury is the Head of Operations, BRAC Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), BRAC University, Dhaka. He is also a member of the Regional Studies Research Cluster in the same institute.

In their right mind

all intelligent companies with better corporate governance. Nothing like being close to the ruling party though, which would all but ensure that large contracts with large kickbacks would be allocated to them.

There are companies in India that are being given large power plant, airport, or highway contracts, or large government procurement without even possessing any relevant track record. The good news is that once these contracts are awarded, they sub-contract those projects to companies operating in the relevant sector with a proven track record.

However, our discussions revealed that siphoning out money from the banking sector is on the wane now.

Unfortunately, Bangladesh is seeing the opposite. Large companies are reluctant to go the capital market way, or face stiff competition from global operators. They mostly depend on borrowed money or debt capital here in Bangladesh. One should not be at all surprised to see that most of the companies are in the “red” in Bangladesh, and their losses are being continuously financed by asset-hungry banks.

Many companies borrowing do not have relevance with their actual turnover. Large borrowers in Bangladesh

Political connections can be a bit like a magic lamp

their bands of freedom fighters, terrorists in the final count?

In the Israel-Palestine crisis, not talking to Hamas, or not involving them in the peace initiative is something impractical. Hamas has its roots deep inside Gazaite society, and even Palestinian society to some reckonable degree, and has grown over the decades out of popular resistance.

It appears that Netanyahu and associates don’t want to give peace a chance, rather, continue to make up excuses to be in power riding on chauvinistic arrogance. They know Israel will always have the option to revert to a heavy hand if a genuine peace offer doesn’t work.

E

Easy money n Mamun Rashid

the Temple Mount, yet they want the whole of the al-Aqsa mosque in their jurisdiction. The Jewish orthodoxy want all the pride of possession. What about the Muslim sites of Jerusalem for the Palestinians and the Muslims?

Of course, Hamas is a doubtful right-wing entity in the measure of moderate ideas, but that will have to be dealt with after doing justice to the Palestinians. Even Saudis, America’s best Arab friends, are more radical than Hamas. Can Hamas really be called a terrorist outfit when they are fighting for the cause of such a vividly oppressed community? Were the indigenous Indian heroes of the colonial era, like Bhagat Singh, Khudiram, and

BIGSTOCK

do not occupy the top five positions in any of the industries or business segments they operate in. Their borrowed money was reportedly used to buy stakes in other new banks. A portion of their borrowed money has also been used to bribe the bank owners lending them the money, and thus it never came back to the banks’ coffers.

For the last few years, our government seems to have been in a buying or procurement spree – be it technology, building material, supply of digital equipment to schools, or even defence procurements. I could not convince my friends of why the only government-owned cell phone operator had to procure 3G technology much earlier than any of its competitors.

With the digitisation of the classrooms in government schools, printing textbooks have also seen hefty sums being pocketed by political leaders or businessmen with deep political connections.

I shared with my friends questions such as how some first-time members of the parliament could reportedly make large sums of money. I also talked about the high price tags of low technology supplies, and more importantly, only the ruling party cronies having access to “license raj.”

However, all our discussions and observations took a backseat when we came to know about Sri Lanka.

Apparently it is a one-way traffic there, a “winner take all.” We at least have something of a civil society or an increasingly strong media. The Indian media has shown its muscle during the last election. In Sri Lanka, I am told, you are either supporting the ruling party, taking all the advantages you can get out of them, or you have no place at all. However, we all agreed that only better politics, a good legal system, and most importantly, a value-centric civil society could save us from the brink of rupture. l Mamun Rashid is an economic analyst and financial sector entrepreneur.

n Julian Francis

B

eing left-handed is like being in a secret club. We have our own bizarre initialisation rituals, such as learning how to write “the wrong way.”

We pay our dues every day, in terms of the extra effort that we must make to live in a right-handed world. When we encounter another lefty, we immediately have something in common.

The club is shrouded in secrecy, because we rarely mention the topic to our right-handed friends. But as we know that the right side of the brain controls the left side of the body, we can say that only left-handed people are in their right mind!

International Left-handers Day, which was yesterday, was first observed in 1976. As its name suggests, it is meant to promote awareness of the inconveniences facing left-handers in a predominantly right-handed world.

It is a day to celebrate their uniqueness and difference, which is about 10-12% of the world’s population.

The word “left” in English comes from the Anglo-Saxon word “lyft,” which means weak or broken. Rampant cultural differences have imbued us with the notion that left equals bad. The English word “sinister,” for example, is derived from the Latin for “left-hand side.”

In French, gauche means left and, of course, awkward, clumsy, unlucky, insincere, malicious, and socially unrefined. Being out in left field is not good, and neither is having two left feet. Left-handedness has long been associated with Satanic influences and witchcraft, and a “left-handed compliment” is actually an insult.

In the Bible, the blessed are always sitting at the right hand of God, never the left. The right hand is mentioned positively 100 times in the Bible, while the left hand is mentioned only 25 times, all negatively.

Then there are the practical biases, a regular source of inconvenience, frustration, and sometimes, peril to

left-handers.

Try opening a tin can with a manual tin opener using your left hand – your arms will be crossed, and you’re likely to cut yourself on the lid. Hold a measuring cup with your left hand – the fractional amounts will be facing unhelpfully away from you.

Think: Circular saws, electric drills, chainsaws, surgical instruments, even firearms and holsters. All designed primarily for righties. And computer keyboards are made for righties – even though Bill Gates is left-handed.

posite happens. Among cultures from the southern hemisphere, right-handedness is still dominant. No study on left-side connotations from those cultures has been done.

However, since most sun-worshipping cultures see the setting sun as dying or vanishing, the right side would indicate the negative associations associated with a setting sun. This is the opposite trend from that.

There is, almost continuously, it seems, research on left-handedness.

Some of the findings are: Handedness

Left-handedness has long been associated with Satanic influences and witchcraft, and a ‘lefthanded compliment’ is actually an insult

Until very recently in Taiwan, left-handed people were strongly encouraged to switch to being right-handed (or at least, switch to writing and eating with the right hand). It is more difficult to write legible Chinese characters with the left hand than it is to write Latin letters.

Remember that easy and difficult depend on the person using those terms, so your writing may be neater. Because it is supposedly easier to write when moving your hand towards its side of the body, it is easier to write the Roman alphabet with your right hand than with your left. Conversely, Arabic and Hebrew, which go from right to left, would be easier to write with the left hand.

Again, easier and harder are subjective.

It is possible that sun worship relates to the association of the left with evil. People in the northern hemisphere, looking south, would see the sun rise on their left, move rightwards across the sky, and set on their right.

In the southern hemisphere the op-

can be seen from ultrasounds during third trimester of pregnancy, studies show that premature babies or those with low Apgar scores are more likely to be left-handed, left-handers are more likely to be dyslexics or stutterers (Note: This writer had a stuttering problem), left-handers are slightly more prone to allergies and asthma than right-handers are.

Among the great leaders who were lefties are: Alexander the Great, Winston Churchill, Admiral Lord Nelson, and Napoleon Bonaparte. Mahatma Gandhi was left-handed too.

Last, but not least, one of the most well known “left” leaders, Fidel Castro, is left-handed, and celebrates his birthday on August 13. l Julian Francis has worked, written, and typed left-handedly for many years in Bangladesh and, since the Liberation War, has been encouraging the few left-handers in Bangladesh to assert their uniqueness in their very right-handed world.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Nanu, Nanu – Signing Off

n Naveed Mahbub “So, you’re a doctor? Can you do a vasectomy procedure right now?” Why not! After all, the first line we comedians get at a social setting is: “You’re a comedian? Tell a joke!”

The comedian is expected to be “on,” 24/7/365, to entertain on demand. At least the struggling ones.

The big wigs? Well, be prepared to stitch up your nose from a fist punch from Andrew Dice Clay.

But not you, Robin. You were “on” every waking hour. If it came to a speed race between Usain Bolt and your mind, the former would go home with pouted lips.

I will never forget that half hour I spent with you, just the two of us, in the green room of the Throckmorton Theater in Marin County, California. This was your favorite joint, close to your home and close to your heart. You came here to watch plebes like us and to try out new material.

The stars (pun? So be it!), the sun, the moon and the earth had all lined up perfectly that evening. It so happened that I was in Northern California for my wife’s MBA graduation from Berkeley, that the booker of Throckmorton Theater invited me to do a spot, that I jumped on to the opportunity, that you decided to drop by, that I was alone in the green room.

You extended your hand, “Hi! I’m Robin Williams.

And who are you my friend?”

I shook his hand while forgetting my own name.

“When do you go up?”

“I’d rather stay here with you.” Well, that’s what I wanted to say. But I also had a packed house to entertain.

Your mind then raced from the garb of a graduate to being an engineer to being from Bangladesh to the Gulf War....I needed another seven days to digest your wits that spewed out like a machine gun.

I managed to utter a few sentences, but you cut in and finished them all, far better and funnier than I could have imagined. I wished I had a voice recorder – that would have been instant comedy material for

my future use.

You trailed off to Sunset Boulevard and The Comedy Store in Hollywood. My claim to fame, to have started from the same place as you did. You held the hands of the club’s legendary owner, Mitzi Shore and I, those of her daughter and successor, Sandi Shore, for showing us the ropes. The “Store” has the names of legends like Richard Pryor, David Letterman, Jay Leno, Arsenio Hall on its walls to remind us of the big names who started their journey here. But your name shone the brightest, at least to me, as I grew up with Mork and Mindy, the only English show of the day and on the only channel in Bangladesh.

You have scaled your heights. I have just started, throwing away a lifelong career in Corporate America and Bangladesh. Even if I’m half as crazy as you were, I’m glad to have taken the leap. Thank you for the inspiration.

But there is more. You inspired me to be Patch Adams as I did my stints with terminal cancer patients at one Southern California hospital. Here I experienced the power of healing through humor.

That beckoning to heal pain, not just physical ones, got me to leave the “land of opportunities” and to return to the “land of possibilities” (where anything is possible…), to open up Naveed’s Comedy Club only to heal through laughter and to get people high in a non-alcoholic fashion. Thank you.

But you had your battles. It showed as we sat a few feet apart. Some may call it contradiction, or controversy, or even outright double standards. I call it the inherent contrast of the trade. Comedy 101: “There is no such thing as victim-less comedy.”

Well, “Only the good die young,” as Billy Joel says.

Perhaps you are finally, truly, happy.

So long.

“Nanu, Nanu.” Over and out… l Naveed Mahbub – engineer, comedian, TV host. The inset shows the author’s meeting with Robin Williams in 2008

Four movies of Robin Williams awaits release n Entertainment Desk The untimely death of Robin Williams has certainly been felt, and will continue to reverberate among fans all over the world.

The first project is “Merry Friggin’ Christmas,” an indie comedy with a November 7 release date, which also stars Joel McHale and Wendy McLendon-Covey. Williams plays McHale’s father, who joins his son on a road trip to retrieve some forgotten gifts. This sounds a little bit too close to some of Williams’s later film roles (like RV), which left a little something to be desired, but just the presence of the comedian on screen will be enough to give it a chance.

The actor will then appear as Teddy Roosevelt in the next “Night at the Museum” film, “Night at the Museum: Secret of the Tomb” that comes to theatres on December 9 and all can agree that Williams is definitely a highlight of the series.

Next year, Williams will be heard as the voice of an animated dog named Dennis, in the live-action film “Absolutely Anything.” The film also stars Simon Pegg and Kate Beckinsale, with voice work from almost all the surviving members of the Monty Python troupe.

The final performance from Robin Williams will be “Boulevard,” a drama that features the actor as a married man who picks up a gay hustler. That film premiered at Tribeca this year, but has no distributor as yet.

Finally, Williams was at work on a “Mrs Doubtfire 2,” which was in development at Fox with director Christopher Columbus and scriptwriter David Berenbaum.

That one is still up in the air, although it’s unlikely that the studio will try to get anyone to fill the actor’s shoes as the lead character. l

Screen siren Lauren Bacall dies at 89

Thursday, August 14, 2014

n Entertainment Desk Harper’s Bazaar first launched Bacall on their cover when she was a 19-year-old model. Initially, the diva worked as an usherette.

Bacall - real name Betty Perske - was born to Jewish immigrants in New York in 1924 and was signed by Warner Bros in 1943 and two years later married Humphrey Bogart which accounted for one of the most famous Hollywood couples of all time.

The pair remained together until his death from esophageal cancer in 1957. At their time of their wedding, Bacall was 20 and he was 45. They had two children, Stephen Humphrey Bogart and Leslie Bogart.

She first emerged as his leading lady in the film “To Have and Have Not in 1944.”

Director Howard Hawks paid her $124 a week for what would prove to be her breakthrough role.

The film contained one of the most famous phrases of Bacall when she asked Bogart: “You know how to whistle, don’t you? You just put your lips together...and blow.”

Bacall died Tuesday at the age of 89 in New York, according to the managing partner of the Humphrey Bogart Estate, Robbert JF de Klerk. Bacall’s son Stephen Bogart confirmed his mother’s death to de Klerk. She was pronounced dead at New York-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center at 5:21pm Tuesday, according to Kathleen Robinson, the hospital’s media relations director.

The Academy-Award nominated actress received two Tonys, an honorary Oscar and scores of film and TV roles.

She appeared in movies for more than a half-century, but none brought her the attention of her early pictures.

Not until 1996 did she receive an Academy Award nomination — as supporting actress for her role as Barbra Streisand’s mother in “The Mirror Has Two Faces.”

Although a sentimental favourite, she was beaten by Juliette Binoche for her performance in “The English Patient.”

She finally got a statuette in November 2009 at the movie academy’s Governors Awards gala.

Her persona paralleled her screen appearances: She was blunt, with a noirish undertone of sardonic humor that illuminated her 1979 autobiography, “By Myself.” l

TODAY IN DHAKA Film

Khamosh Paani

Most Welcome 2 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

As a part of Nations and Notions: Partition Week Time: 1.30pm NAC Room 205, North South University Hercules 3D 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

Shuvo’s ‘Warning’ to Mahi

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak

A dark seclud ed place. Arefi n Shuvo is sh ly and blurtin outing furious g out insults to Mahiya M it in withou ahi who is ta t protest. Af king ter rescuing from the grip the naive ac of danger, th tress e macho acto her reckless r scolds her behaviour of for co nf ro proper backup nting crimin als without or security.

The scene de scribed abov e is from an up “Warning” w coming mov here both th e e actors will aspiring jour be seen as yo nalists and as ung a senior of th rightfully sh e trade, Shuv outs at Mahi o for her carele ing was taki ssness. The sh ng place on ootthe ground fl BFDC yester oor of a lab day. in the After Shafiud din Shafi’s bl ockbuster “A is back on th gnee,” the du e silver screen o once again w action scenes ith spectacu and candy-co la r at ed romance.

Arefin Shuvo, one of the bu siest actor of with three fi the industry lms in the pi peline, “Chh timat” and “C aya Chhobi,” hhuye Dile M “Kison” said to D am enjoying haka Tribune: Arefin Shuvo and Mahia Mahi on the set of Warning my role in th “I e film. For ge of the charac nuine portra ter, I have trie yal d out severa not that glam l looks which orous. But I are really hope th appreciate m e audience w y effort.” ill This time ar Ekti Jotil Ganitik Shomoshya ound, Shuvo is playing the tim whose pa Maasranga TV enraged vicrents were ki lled by a mafi is out for reve a leader and 7:50pm nge, whereas he in “Agnee,” M the lethal kille ahi was seen Featuring Bindu, Faruk Ahmed, Jayanta r who avenge as s her parents’ About her ro Chakraborty, the telefilm is about a mathemurder. le, Mahi said : “Playing a always fun. matician whose work in partial differential journalist is You get to ac t bold and fe tellectual. I arless and an equations enables him to predict the future. have enacted in the role of a in the film ‘D journalist be As he is the resident of a village, the local esa,’ but sinc fo re e my characte different, I am r in this film people started considering him as a Pir. Howquite eager to is play the role Refuing to sp .” ever, his daughter can only understand his father’s illness oil the fun by sharing too m rector Shafiud which lead her to take him to a physiological counsellor. uch, the didind Shafi on ly said: “The er with a di film is a thril fferent tone l. The audien element of ce will find entertainmen every t including dance and dr action, roman ama.” On th ce, e 4th floor of of an item so BFDC the sh ng of “Warni oot ng” was also at the same tim being carried e. out The shootin g of the film commenced while the di on August 3 rector expect s to release end of this ye the film by ar. Misha Saw the dagor, Rubel will also seen and Kazi Hay in the film in at supporting ro Emon is wor les. Sawkat Al king as the m i usic director is the produc and Maple Fi tion house. lms l

KHAN HASAN MUHAMMAD RAFI

The Lost World: Jurassic Park

Star Movies 11:30pm Four years after the failure of Jurassic Park where the genetically bred dinosaurs went on a rampage, multimillionaire John Hammond (Richard Attenborough) reveals that he had been breeding more dinosaurs at a secret location. Malcolm (Jeff Goldblum), his girlfriend (Julianne Moore) and a wildlife video producer join Hammond on an expedition to this secret island.

APES ARRIVE IN TOWN

n Entertainment Desk

“The Dawn of the Planet of the Apes,” released on July 11 worldwide and will hit the Star Cineplex on Saturday.

20th Century Fox’s sequel to the “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” has become the seventh movie of the year to cross $500m at the global box office. That figure makes Dawn the highest grossing instalment of the Apes franchise, with its predecessor “Rise of the Planet of the Apes” having earned $481.8m back in 2011.

“Dawn of the Planet of the Apes” is directed by Matt Reeves and sees Andy Serkis returning as Caesar. In the wake of a disaster that changed the world, the growing and genetically evolving apes find themselves at a critical point with the human race. l

Did you know?

Sangakkara and Jayawardene need to put on 36 runs to pass Greenidge and Haynes as the second most productive Test partnership

Sport

Thursday, August 14, 2014

14 Real field most

expensive team in football history

14 Happy Van Gaal

names Rooney as new captain

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Sri Lanka eye

winning farewell for Jayawardene

ASIAN GAMES, INCHEON 2014

BOA cuts off nine disciplines n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh Olympic Association (BOA) has taken a ‘revolutionary’ decision by excluding nine disciplines from the initial 21 selected disciplines in the 17th Asian Games scheduled to be held in South Korea next month.

The decision left Bangladesh to compete in 12 disciplines in the Asian Games - archery, fencing, golf, shooting, karate, taekwondo, beach volleyball, wushu, football, cricket, hockey and kabaddi.

In an emergency executive committee meeting yesterday, BOA, in presence of officials of several other sport federations, decided not to send any athletes for athletics, badminton, boxing, cycling, gymnastic, swimming, table tennis, weightlifting and wrestling after the poor results in the Commonwealth Games.

The decision mainly came as Bangladesh earned only one medal in the recently concluded Commonwealth Games in Glasgow, Scotland after BOA spent around Tk20m for preparations on 10 disciplines.

It’s quite clear the nine excluded discliplines will now have a plenty to prove to participate in big events in future as shooting remains the only area BOA are focused on. Abdullah Hel Baki won a silver medal in shooting in the Commonwealth Games and he will be the lone flag carrier for Bangladesh in Korea.

The disastrous performance in the Commonwealth Games brought in severe criticism for BOA who flew to Glasgow with a 69-member team that included 30 athletes.

BOA secretary general Syed Shahed Reza hinted to be strict from now on before sending any athlete for an

international event and said, “Asian Games is the second biggest event after Olympics and it is even bigger than the Commonwealth Games. There is more competition and stronger teams participate there.”

“So the athletes say for instance who finished 27 out of 28 participants in Commonwealth Games, there is no logic in sending them to the Asian Games,” he said.

“It’s a revolutionary decision after the liberation war. We have had enough experience and it didn’t give us anything. According to the performances in the recent tournaments, especially Commonwealth Games, we decided to exclude all disciplines except shooting to take part in the Asian Games. We discussed with the federation officials and nobody opposed,” added the BOA secretary general.

Shahed Reza, however, also pledged to give more importance to the regional events like SA Games and Indo-Bangla Games in future.

The men’s cricket team won gold in the last episode of the Aisan Games and this time around the women’s team will also take part, as like kabaddi.

Some of the federation officials, however, expressed disappointment over the decision to exclude those disciplines.

“They could have taken the decision earlier. Syque Caesar is strong contender for medal. I’m very much frustrated about the decision,” said Ahmedur Rahman, general secretary of the Bangladesh Gymnastic Federation.

The Asian Games will begin on September 19 and a 164-member Bangladesh team drafted for 12 disciplines have been confirmed for their visit next month. l

National cricketer Anamul Haque’s mother is wishing her son well at the Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport yesterday night prior to the team’s departure for West Indies

Carrom World Cup camp begins n Raihan Mahmood The Bangladesh Carrom Federation (BCF) has started a month-long training camp to prepare its players for the upcoming 4th Carrom World Cup scheduled to be held in Maldives from September 13-17.

A total of 18 players including 10 in the male section and 8 in the female section are involved in the camp to grab the 4+4 slots. Selections will be finalised on August 20. Hafizur Rahman, however, dubbed as the best player of the country is yet to join the camp reportedly due to some misunderstanding with the federation.

Though Hafizur is absent in the camp the other top players - Humayun

Kabir, Hemayet Mollah and Moniruzzaman - are attending the camp.

In the women’s section Shamsunnahar Maqsuda, Farzan Akhter, Farzana Prity and Afasana Khatun are the top players and they are going through the training.

Bangladesh carrom team’s last mission was in 2012 when the men’s side defeated Canada to finish third in the World Carrom C’ship held in Colombo The Bangladesh carrom team’s last mission was in 2012 when the men’s side defeated Canada to finish third in the World Carrom Championship held

Fond memories of WI to spur Tigers on: Bashar n Minhaz Uddin Khan The only advice national selector Habibul Bashar has for the cricketers is to enjoy the game in the Caribbean.

Former skipper Bashar, who is also the manager of Bangladesh in their upcoming tour of the West Indies, believes a positive result is possible when the team start enjoying its cricket besides being responsible.

As the captain of Bangladesh in their maiden tour of the islands in 2004 and also during the 2007 ICC World Cup that was hosted by the West Indies, Bashar holds valuable expertise on the local conditions and also the venues.

“There is always a message for the team. However, I think it will not be anything special this time,” Bashar told Dhaka Tribune yesterday. “People love their cricket in the Caribbean. Most of the players have played in the islands and I

believe they know what is to be done or not. I think the players will do fine if they start enjoying the game besides being responsible. They also have to handle the pressure of contributing for the team.

First thing I will want as a manager is for them to remain in their best health and then enjoy their cricket,” he added.

Bashar informed that the first thing which comes to his mind when he thinks of the West Indies is the year 2004. The 41-year old said he always had a fascination for West Indi-

an cricket.

“They have amazing cricketers and so many legends,” said the national selector. “Playing in the Caribbean was exciting for me. Their crowd, their culture – I thoroughly enjoyed the West Indies. In fact that was Bangladesh’s maiden tour I should say. The performance of the team was also pretty good that time. So, I often recall memories of that tour,” he added.

Bashar also cherished memories of the 2007 ICC World Cup. For the first time in the global tournament’s history, Bangladesh progressed to the second stage in style defeating powerful neighbours India. In the second round the Tigers shocked the world again by beating South Africa.

“We went there nearly a month early and then played the World Cup. The contrast was totally different compared to 2004,” he said.

“Personal achievements might have been limited but team-wise the results were fantastic. We were respected bigtime throughout the Caribbean after the win against India. We became more like celebrities there. The taxi drivers, people in restaurants and almost everywhere – they used to get excited meeting us. That experience was amazing,” he added.

A 15-member Bangladesh side left Dhaka yesterday for the 38-day long tour of the Caribbean. The Tigers will begin their tour with the three-match ODI series that will be followed by a lone Twenty20 international. Two Test matches will conclude their tour. The visitors will also play two warm-up games – one limited-over tie and a three-day game.

A 15-member Bangladesh squad has already been announced for the ODIs. Following the ODI series and the solitary T20I, the squad for the Tests will be declared. l

in Colombo, Sri Lanka.

Bangladesh lost to India in the semifinals of the team event and were pitted against Canada in the third-place decider. Earlier in the group phase, Bangladesh beat United Arab Emirates and Maldives to reach the knock-out stage. Hafizur finished sixth in the world rankings while Hemayet and Moniruzzaman were positioned 13th and 15th respectively.

The BCF will have to pay $160 per player as entry fee. The host federation will also have to arrange the costs of transport and food. Canada, France, Germany, India, Italy, Japan, South Korea, Malaysia, Maldives, Pakistan, Poland, Sri Lanka, Switzerland, United Kingdom and United States have confirmed their participation. l

MUMIT M

Five years ago in 2009 a lanky but good-looking teenager convinced a senior cricketer of his cricket academy to ‘hire’ him for a cricket match, or in other words, to take him for a ‘khep’ as it is popularly known as.

The senior cricketer in question is Rony Gope who had faith over the curious young fast bowler although he did harbour initial doubts regarding the teenager’s ability to handle the pressure of playing with

seniors in a competitive match, which itself is no less of a pressure for anyone. On top of these, Gope also had to consider that the young kid will be playing as an outsider or ‘foreign player’ which traditionally means he has to perform well for the team or else a lot will be at stake.

Dear readers, Rony Gope was actually dealing

with none other than Taskin Ahmed, the latest fast bowling sensation of the country who was already playing for Bangladesh under-15 cricket team at that time. Typical of a pacer, the paceman had no fear to shy away from challenges which originate from playing with seniors in an alien environment.

It was a tough call to make for Rony, who was hired by a team for a Twenty20 match at Keraniganj, as he was still not convinced and therefore tried to put Taskin off by saying he will only get Tk200. The attempt, however, proved to be a futile one as Taskin had other ideas brewing in his mind when he replied, “This is more than enough for me as I need Tk100 for my transport allowance and the remaining 100 for my food.” This affirmation just goes to show the extent of the determination of Taskin possessed from his formative years, which is so vital for any cricketer to succeed at the highest level.

So Rony agreed to take Taskin alongside him to play in the match at Keraniganj where the

Afghanistan pull out from WHL n Raihan Mahmood Afghanistan yesterday withdrew from the World Hockey League round 1 scheduled to be held in Dhaka from Sept 5.

The message from the International Hockey Federation reached the Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) yesterday and as a consequence, round 1 will be comprised of only three teams - Hong Kong, Sri Lanka and hosts Bangladesh.

According to the previous schedule there were two matches slated per day in the duration of three matchdays on September 5, 6 and 7. Following the Afghans’ pullout, it was learned that the matchdays will be retained but the number of matches will be re-distributed. l

INTERNATIONAL FRIENDLIES

Nepal confirms interest n Shishir Hoque Nepal is interested to play friendlies with the Bangladesh Under-23 football team on August 25 and 28 as part of their preparation for the upcoming 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea next month.

The All Nepal Football Association replied yesterday expressing their interest to take part in two friendlies in Dhaka after the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) had approached on Monday to play practice matches.

The federation has prepared a budget for the friendlies - Tk1.5m for one match and Tk2.5m for two - including plane fare of the visiting team and local hospitality and forwarded it to the national team management committee. After the national team management committee approves the budget, the other formal-

From Tk200 to stardom n Mazhar Uddin

MUMIT M

youngster encountered another hiccup when the team officials objected to him playing citing his tender age. Thankfully for Taskin, Rony rescued him and was convinced enough himself by that time to persuade the team officials to allow Taskin to play.

It was enough for the 15-year old rookie to prove his mettle as he picked up two consecutive wickets in his very first over of the match and surprised the team officials as well as the large crowd who were present at the ground.

“I remember the match. I picked up two wickets in my first over and I also remember I got 200 hundred Taka for that match. At that time playing a T20 match with the white ball was a huge thing for me and I was never bothered about the money,” said Taskin to Dhaka Tribune before boarding the flight for West Indies yesterday.

“There was a huge crowd who entered the field in the middle of the game and gave me 20 Taka, 50 Taka whenever I got a wicket. It is something I had never witnessed before and it was an amazing experience,” he added.

All in all, the determination and insatiable hunger to play at any level of cricket were the

ities will take place accordingly.

“Following our invitation on Monday, they (Nepal) replied today (Wednesday) and expressed their interest to play two friendly matches on August 25 and 28. We drafted the budget and forwarded it to the national team management committee. They will take the decision whether we will play one or two friendlies against Nepal,” said BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday.

The BFF is also hopeful of organising a friendly match against Malaysia before the Asian Games. Malaysia, however, has not yet responded to the BFF’s invitation for the friendly.

Meanwhile, the national U-23 side will play their third practice match against Bangladesh Army today at the Army Stadium. l

trademarks of the youngster from the very early stage of his career. Those attributes have later come more into fruition as the 19-year old has geared himself up for more exposure in his first ever tour with the national side.

This tale of digging deep into the genesis of Taskin as the new spearhead of the Tigers’ attack would be incomplete if his debut performances in T2O and ODI cricket are not recalled. Taskin showed the glimpses of his raw talent when he produced an impressive figure of 1/24 in his T20 debut against Australia in the World T20 this year. However, the best was yet to come as he followed that up with a memorable ODI debut in the second match of the three match home series against India in June this year when he ripped through the visitors’ batting while bagging 5 wickets for just 28 runs from eight overs.

There is no doubting the fact that this West Indies series is potentially the biggest challenge of his career till date as he again finds himself in an unknown territory which traditionally offers assistance to quicker bowlers. The fans of Bangladesh would be expecting Taskin would once again provide them with reasons to celebrate and bask in glory. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Two-goal CR7 overtakes Messi on European goals n Goal.com

Real Madrid’s players celebrate on the pitch with the trophy after the Uefa Super Cup match against Sevilla at Cardiff City Stadium in Cardiff, south Wales on Tuesday. Cristiano Ronaldo upstaged new team-mates Toni Kroos and James Rodriguez and homecoming hero Gareth Bale as Real Madrid beat Sevilla 2-0 AFP

Real reinforcements shine in Super Cup victory RESULT Real Madrid (ESP) Ronaldo 30,49

2 0

Sevilla (ESP)

ROLL OF HONOUR

2014: Real Madrid (ESP) 2013: Bayern Munich (GER) 2012: Atletico Madrid (ESP) 2011: Barcelona (ESP) 2010: Atletico Madrid (ESP) 2009: Barcelona (ESP) 2008: Zenit Saint-Petersburg (RUS) 2007: AC Milan (ITA) 2006: Sevilla (ESP) 2005: Liverpool (ENG) 2004: Valencia (ESP) 2003: AC Milan (ITA) 2002: Real Madrid (ESP) 2001: Liverpool (ENG) 2000: Galatasaray (TUR) 1999: Lazio (ITA) 1998: Chelsea (ENG)

n Reuters, Cardiff Real Madrid ended a 12-year wait for a 10th European Cup win in May but it would be no surprise if their next title arrives just 12 months later based on their performance in the 2-0 victory over Sevilla in the European Super Cup on Tuesday.

Carlo Ancelotti’s expensively assembled team dominated the lively annual European club season curtain-raiser against the Europa League winners in Cardiff and could easily have won by more than the two excellent goals scored by Cristiano Ronaldo.

With the Spanish League season starting on the weekend of Aug. 23-24, Ancelotti’s players have more than a week to hone their fitness and skill levels, to pose even more of a threat to both their domestic and European rivals.

Real go into the new season with an even stronger squad than the one that

finished the last campaign when they won the Champions League and King’s Cup but finished third behind Atletico Madrid and Barcelona in La Liga.

The squad has been bolstered by the arrivals of Toni Kroos from Bayern Munich, James Rodriguez from AS Monaco and goalkeeper Kayler Navas from Levante, an exciting trio of players who all shone at the World Cup. In total, Ancelotti has around $840 million worth of talent at his disposal and perhaps one of his main tasks this coming season, as well as winning as many matches as possible, is to keep such an array of star players happy.

Ancelotti, however, seems totally at ease with the kind of problem that would cause plenty of headaches for most managers.

“It will be impossible for anyone to play in the 65 matches ahead of us,” the Italian said. l

Happy Van Gaal names Rooney as new captain n Reuters New Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has given England striker Wayne Rooney the role of team captain and made Scotland midfielder Darren Fletcher his vice-captain.

“It is a huge honour for me - and for my family - to be named captain of this great club,” Rooney told United’s website (www.manutd.com) after Van Gaal’s side beat Valencia 2-1 in a pre-season friendly at Old Trafford on Tuesday.l

RESULT

Man United (ENG) Manchester United’s Marouane Fellaini (C) celebrates scoring the late winning goal with teammates during a pre-season friendly against Valencia at Old Trafford on Tuesday AFP

United bans laptops over security fears n AFP, London English Premier League giants Manchester United announced on Wednesday they were banning supporters from bringing laptops and tablets into their Old Trafford stadium over security fears.

The three-time European champions issued a statement on their official website telling supporters that they would not be able to bring in any electronic devices measuring more than 150mm x 100mm (6 inches x 4 inches), including laptops and tablet devices such as iPads and iPad minis.

“In line with UK airports we are reacting to the latest security intelligence,” said the statement. “These actions are designed to ensure the continued safety and security of all spectators.”

United said the scale of the 75,000 capacity stadium, dubbed the “Theatre of Dreams”, and the club’s high profile meant Old Trafford was at “unique” risk.l

Fletcher 49, Fellaini 90+1

2 1

Valencia (ESP) Moreno 71

Real field most expensive team in football history n Metro.uk Real Madrid, the club well-known for breaking records, have fielded the most expensive starting XI in football history for their Uefa Super Cup victory over Sevilla on Tuesday.

The game at the Cardiff City Stadium saw Real boss Carlo Ancelotti send £382m worth of talent out to take on the Europa League winners, with the first piece of silverware of the new campaign up for grabs. And it was little surprise Real ran out 2-0 victors, thanks to a brace from £80m Cristiano Ronaldo, who was set up by £85m Gareth Bale and £27m Karim Benzema.

James Rodriguez, bought for £63m this summer following his Golden Boot performance at the World Cup, made his debut for the European champions.

The cheapest purchase in Real’s ranks was £5m defender Daniel Carvajal, while Iker Casillas came through the youth ranks at the Bernabeu. l

Martino takes reins of Argentina n Reuters, Buenos Aires Argentina named former Barcelona coach Gerardo Martino as the new manager of the national soccer team on Tuesday following Alejandro Sabella’s decision to step aside in the wake of their World Cup final defeat in July.

Martino, who won the Argentine league title with Newell’s Old Boys in June 2013 before taking the reins at Barca, will make his debut in a Sept. 3 friendly against Germany in Duesseldorf.

The Germans beat Argentina 1-0 after extra time in the World Cup final at Rio de Janeiro’s Maracana on July 13, after which Sabella decided against accepting the offer of a new contract from late AFA President Julio Grondona.

“The Rosario-born coach Gerardo Daniel Martino will take office as the

new coach of the national team, succeeding Mr Alejandro Sabella, who completed his contract with the AFA after the end of the World Cup Brazil 2014,” the Argentine FA (AFA) said in a statement on its official website (www. afa.org.ar).

Martino was enjoying the early days of a sabbatical after a disappointing season at Barcelona where he took the job left vacant when Tito Vilanova stepped down to undergo cancer treatment.

Vilanova died in April at the age of 45.

He got off to a good start at Barca but injuries to key players, including hamstring problems for Lionel Messi, saw the side stutter through the season and he resigned after the club failed to win a major trophy for the first time in six years.

His failure with Barca did not seem to damage his reputation in Argentina,

Drogba returns to Stamford Bridge as Chelsea win n AFP, London Jose Mourinho claims Chelsea’s Diego Costa will prove a bargain buy after the Spain striker marked his home debut with a clinical double in the 2-0 friendly win over Real Sociedad.

Mourinho splashed out £32 million ($53 million) to lure Costa from Spanish champions Atletico Madrid and the

RESULT Chelsea (ENG) Costa 1, 7

2 0

Sociedad (ESP)

Blues boss is convinced even that hefty price tag will look cheap by the end of the season.

The 25-year-old certainly looks capable of justifying Mourinho’s faith after making a confident bow for his new club at Stamford Bridge.

He took just 57 seconds to open the scoring with a cool finish from an acute angle and bagged his second with a tapin after Andre Schurrle’s shot hit a post in the seventh minute.

As well as his goals, Mourinho was

also impressed with the way Costa linked with attacking midfield trio Schurrle, Eden Hazard and Cesc Fabregas, while working tirelessly to close down Sociedad when they were in possession.

His qualities look ideally suited to the Premier League and Mourinho said: “Diego is a team player, he works a lot, he is not just about goals. He is about defensive work, his mentality, his ambition.

“This is why we didn’t buy a striker in the last transfer window - we were waiting for him.

“He looks very adapted to his teammates and the style of play.

“I won’t say he is adapted to the Premier League yet because it is a very difficult job to be a striker in this country, but hopefully he does well.

“You can consider that it is a bargain because the market is crazy.

Mourinho also revealed that Blues legend Didier Drogba, back from Galatasaray for a second tour of duty at the Bridge, could still recover from his ankle injury in time to feature against Burnley.

Cristiano Ronaldo’s double for Real Madrid in their 2-0 win over Sevilla in the Uefa Super Cup on Tuesday saw the Portuguese reach 70 goals in European competition and overtake Barcelona forward Lionel Messi in the process.

Ronaldo was a full 18 strikes behind Messi in April of 2012, but has closed that gap after netting 12 and then a record 17 in the last two editions of the Champions League - and his two goals on Tuesday mean he is now two ahead of the Argentine in the all-time list of European scorers.

The Portuguese now has 68 Champions League goals and two in the Uefa Super Cup for a total of 70, which leaves him tied second in the list of scorers in continental competitions with former AC Milan and Juventus striker Filippo Inzaghi.

Ronaldo is now only six adrift of former Madrid team-mate Raul, who scored 76 times in Europe for Real and Schalke.

Messi, meanwhile, has scored 68 times in total, with 67 of those converted in the Champions League and one in the Uefa Super Cup. In total, Ronaldo has now netted 254 goals in 247 games for Real Madrid. l

“Didier is good, I don’t want to say ready for Monday, but with the quality of our medical department and the

mentally he has, I’m not saying it is impossible for him to recover for Monday either,” he added. l

Chelsea’s Didier Drogba (2L) is seen on the pitch ahead of the pre-season football friendly match against Real Sociedad at Stamford Bridge in London on Tuesday AFP

where he is still highly regarded after having a successful club coaching career in Paraguay before returning to Rosario to steer Newell’s Old Boys to the league title in 2013.

After hearing from Sabella that he did not want to carry on, Grondona had planned to meet with the 51-year-old Martino to offer him the job.

However, Grondona died of heart failure on July 30.

AFA Vice President Luis Segura took charge and the matter of appointing a new coach was postponed for more than a week.

Despite being critical about how the AFA was run a year ago, Grondona favoured Martino’s appointment because he had worked with Argentina captain Messi, also a Rosario native, and midfielder Javier Mascherano at Barca.l

Suarez to learn verdict on Thursday n AFP, Paris Luis Suarez will find out on Thursday whether he has been successful in his appeal to have a four-month ban for biting Italy’s Giorgio Chiellini at the World Cup reduced.

The Uruguayan striker last week pleaded his case to the Swiss-based Court of Arbitration for Sport, which announced that it will deliver its verdict at 1300 GMT on Thursday.

“The Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) will announce its decision in the matter Luis Suarez, FC Barcelona and the Uruguayan FA on Thursday 14 August 2014 at around 3pm (local time).

This case was heard on 8 August 2014 at the CAS offices in Lausanne,” a statement released on Wednesday said.

“At the request of the Appellants and with the agreement of FIFA, the CAS has conducted an expedited arbitration procedure. As a consequence, the CAS Panel has accepted to render its decision within a short period of time but with grounds to follow later.”l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Jayawardene a rare brand of cricketer, says Mathews n Reuters, Colombo

QUICK BYTES

Second women’s semi today Abahani Limited will take on Khelaghar Samaj Kallyan today in the second semifinal of the Metropolitan Women’s Cricket League 2014 at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium. The winner will face Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited in the final on August 19 at the same venue. Mohammedan earlier sealed their passage to the final after defeating Gulshan Youth Club by 99 runs (D/L method) at Mirpur on Tuesday.

–Tribune Desk

Qasim urges Pakistan to boost spin reserves Pakistan’s former spin great Iqbal Qasim on Wednesday urged the country’s cricket chiefs to groom more young slow bowlers after Saeed Ajmal was reported for suspect action. The umpires and match referee voiced concerns over a number of the 36-yearold off-spinner’s deliveries during Pakistan’s seven-wicket loss to Sri Lanka at Galle, which finished on Sunday. Under International Cricket Council (ICC) rules, Ajmal is required to undergo tests within 21 days of the report. If biomechanical assessment of Ajmal’s action proves his action is illegal he will be banned, just like Sri Lanka’s Sachitra Senanayake and New Zealand’s Kane Williamson were last month.

–AFP

Liverpool confirm Moreno set to sign Liverpool have reached an agreement to sign Spain fullback Alberto Moreno from Sevilla, the Premier League club said in a statement on Tuesday. The 22-year-old defender, who has played three times for his country, will cost the Anfield club about 12 million pounds ($20.17 million) according to local media in Spain and England. Moreno did not feature in Sevilla’s 2-0 loss to Real Madrid in their UEFA Super Cup clash in Cardiff on Tuesday but the Spanish club’s manager Unai Emery praised him after the match. “Yes he is going, but he leaves with our best wishes and we thank him for everything he has done for the club,” he said.

–Reuters

PSG without Silva for ‘several weeks’ Paris Saint-Germain captain Thiago Silva will be out for “several weeks” with the hamstring injury that forced him off early in Monday’s friendly against Napoli, the French champions confirmed on Wednesday. “Tests undergone by Thiago Silva yesterday (ultrasound and MRI) have confirmed an injury to his right hamstring. He will be unavailable for several weeks,” read a statement on PSG’s website. The Brazilian centre-back lasted just 12 minutes of Monday’s 2-1 win in Italy before having to come off after back-heeling the ball in his own penalty box. He is now unlikely to return until after the international break at the start of September, meaning he will miss Ligue 1 games against SC Bastia, Evian and Saint-Etienne and probably Brazil’s friendlies in the United States next month against Colombia and Ecuador. However, PSG will hope that he is able to return in time for the start of the Champions League group stage on September 16 or 17.

–AFP

Japan, Iran sign ‘partnership’ deal Asian champions Japan and rival Iran have struck a deal to cooperate in promoting football at home, with a focus on the women’s game, the Japan Football Association (JFA) announced Wednesday. The so-called partnership agreement would see the countries share and exchange personnel, including coaches and referees, as well cooperate in areas such as sports medicine and professional league management. The association said it signed the deal with its Iranian counterpart in Tehran on Tuesday with plans to work together on “invigorating women’s football,” as Iran reportedly plans to launch a female league next month. Japan won the 2011 women’s World Cup as the first Asian nation to lift the global football trophy for either sex, having come a long way since it launched a women’s league in 1989.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Ten Cricket 10:30AM Pakistan Tour of Sri Lanka 2014 2nd Test, Day 1 Star Sports 1, 2 Pro Kabaddi League 8:15PM Bengaluru v Delhi 9:30PM Pune v Jaipur

15

Sri Lankan cricketer Mahela Jayawardene smiles at teammates as he attends a practice session on the eve of their second Test against Pakistan, which is also his final Test, in Colombo, Sri Lanka yesterday. Jayawardene, has 11,756 runs from 250 Test innings and has posted 34 Test centuries and 49 half centuries AP

Emotional Sri Lanka eye winning farewell for Jayawardene n AFP, Galle Sri Lanka are determined to send former captain Mahela Jayawardene into retirement with a victory in the second and final Test starting Thursday against a fragile Pakistan and a 2-0 series sweep.

Captain Angelo Mathews said emotions were running high in the home team’s dressing room before the match at Jayawardene’s home ground at the Sinhalese Sports Club (SSC) in Colombo.

“It is an emotional moment for everyone,” Mathews said. “We want to win it for him. He has been the pillar of strength for us for so many years. We will miss him a lot.

“The best thing we can do is try and win the game and give him the best farewell that we could possibly give him.”

Jayawardene, 37, who has already retired from Twenty20 internationals,

will quit the longer format after the Test, even though he will continue playing in one-day matches till next year’s World Cup Down Under.

The elegant right-hander is one of only five batsmen to score more than 11,000 runs in both Test and one-day cricket -- the others being Sachin Tendulkar, Ricky Ponting, Jacques Kallis and team-mate Kumar Sangakkara.

Sri Lanka won the first Test in Galle on Sunday by seven wickets after a nail-biting chase when they beat fading light to surpass the target of 99 in the final session just before heavy rain drenched the ground.

Jayawardene’s farewell Test was originally scheduled to be played at the P. Sara Oval in Colombo before thoughtful officials moved it to the SSC. Jayawardene’s 2,863 runs in 26 Tests at the SSC are the most by any batsman at a single ground, highlighted by an average of 77.37 there with 11 centuries

that include a best of 374 against South Africa in 2006.

Last month, against Hashim Amla’s South African team, Jayawardene hit a fluent 165 at the SSC to show his skills had not diminished.

He goes into his final Test after making 59 in the first innings at Galle and a quickfire 26 in the unfamiliar role of an opener during the chase.

Mathews hoped his team would not be distracted from its aim of sweeping the series.

“When you walk into a game, you want to win all the time,” he said.

“That’s the attitude we take, regardless of what’s happening around us. We want to keep our focus and play it for Mahela.”

The Galle Test was heading for a draw after just 20 wickets had fallen on the first four days, before a six-wicket burst from Rangana Herath skittled Pakistan for 180 in the second innings.

Pakistan were handed a severe blow on Monday when the International Cricket Council said star off-spinner Saeed Ajmal had been reported for a suspect action for the second time in his career.

Ajmal, 36, who has taken 174 wickets in 34 Tests, has been allowed to play on till he is tested at the end of the month.

Pakistan captain Misbah-ul Haq said he was confident Ajmal’s action will be cleared and hoped his team can level the series - just like they did against the same opponents in the United Arab Emirates in January.

“We have to forget what happened in Galle and concentrate on the game ahead,” he said. “We have done it before. Anything can happen in cricket.

“We played well in patches in Galle.

We batted well in the first innings but could not repeat that in the second.

Being consistent is one area where we have to improve.” l

Cricketers like Mahela Jayawardene come around very rarely and younger players in the team have a lot to learn from his fighting attitude, Sri Lanka captain Angelo Mathews said on the eve of the veteran batsman’s last Test match.

The second Test against Pakistan starting on Thursday will be an emotional one for Sri Lanka and Jayawardene as the 37-year-old bids farewell to Test cricket as one of its prolific run-scorers.

“As we all know, it’s going to be Mahela’s last game. It’s an emotional moment for everyone... we want to win it for him,” Mathews told reporters on Wednesday.

“When you walk into a game, we want to win all the time, that’s the attitude we take, regardless of what’s happening around. We want to keep our focus and play it for Mahela.

“It will take a long time to replace him because he’s the kind of player that comes around very rarely. We can’t do his service justice with words.

“As a team we’re very sad he’s retiring. The best thing we can do is play well in this match and win it for him.”.

Mathews said the team especially the younger players will miss Jayawardene’s presence in the dressing room.

Jayawardene will be playing in his 149th Test match, the most by a Sri Lankan cricketer.

As we all know, it’s going to be Mahela’s last game. It’s an emotional moment for everyone... we want to win it for him “Mahela is a real fighter. If you go into a warm-up match with him, he’ll still try to fight and win. That’s the kind of character he is, he’s an unbelievable player,” Mathews added.

“He puts options on the table and he’s the most senior guy in the team, and we’re going to miss him so much.

The younger guys, including me, have learned so much from him.

“Up to now, he has supported me right throughout from day one, and I’m really thankful to him for that.”

Sri Lanka won the first Test of the two-match series by seven wickets at Galle. l

Djokovic outlasts Simon to advance at Cincinnati n AFP, Cincinnati Novak Djokovic pulled his championship tennis back together after last week’s early exit, beating Gilles Simon 6-3, 4-6, 6-4 to reach the third round of the ATP-WTA Cincinnati Masters here Tuesday.

The world number one was ambushed at the same stage in Toronto a week ago by eventual champion Jo-Wilfried Tsonga.

But Djokovic made sure he did not commit the same error twice as he began a bid to win the only Masters 1000 title missing from his resume. But he was tested by his French opponent, who took Tuesday’s contest into a final set.

“He’s not going to give you too many unforced errors and free points, so I knew that,” Djokovic said. “But I managed to get a win in the end, and that’s what matters.”

Djokovic went down a service break in the opening set but got it back and added another to take the early lead.

In the second set, he went up a break for 2-1 but could not stay the course. A break for 4-3 in the third kept him on the road to recovery.

He ended on his second match point after more than two hours.

Four-time Cincinnati finalist Djokovic improved his record over France’s Simon to 8-1. He is playing the pre-US Open Masters tournament for the tenth time.

In the only other second-round match played, Australian Open winner Stan Wawrinka was broken while serving for victory but pulled out a win over German Benjamin Becker 6-3, 7-6 (7/5).

Toronto winner Tsonga crashed back down to earth in his opening match, losing 6-1, 6-4 to Russian Mikhail Youzhny.l

Novak Djokovic of Serbia signs autographs for fans following a match against Gilles Simon of France on day 4 of the Western & Southern Open in Cincinnati, Ohio on Tuesday AFP

Captain Misbah backs Ajmal to come clean on suspect action

Bangladesh keep on winning in World Chess

n Reuters, Colombo

n Tribune Desk

Pakistan are not worried about Saeed Ajmal’s reporting for a suspect bowling action and are confident that the ace off-spinner will be cleared, captain Misbah-ul-Haq said.

Match officials reported Ajmal to the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a suspect bowling action following the first Test defeat by Sri Lanka in Galle but is permitted to bowl until his bowling is scrutinized further.

The 36-year-old, who has taken 174 wickets in 34 Tests at an average of 27.79, was also reported for the same offence in 2009 but was later cleared by the ICC. “As far as the main bowler Saeed Ajmal is concerned it has been done before and that’s not a worry for us,” Misbah told reporters on the eve of the

second Test in Colombo.

“He’s been through this process before and I hope he will be fine. We will just concentrate on our game and look forward to playing good cricket and try to win this Test.”

Misbah blamed the lack of consistency from his side for their seven-wicket loss at Galle.

“We played well in patches. On and off we performed well and we lacked consistency and could not win every session,” the 40-year-old said.

“We want to make sure in this Test it doesn’t happen with our batting and back ourselves with good bowling and fielding. We have to improve in all departments.”

The Pakistan bowlers struggled to bowl the hosts out in Galle but the captain backed his bowlers to come good.

“Their batsmen know these conditions very well. Players like Kumar Sangakkara, who is world class and in good form, when he gets set it will be very difficult for any team to handle their bowlers,” said Misbah.

“These are the reasons why it’s not easy to get these batsmen out in good batting conditions.

“We should not always blame our bowlers in good batting conditions, sometimes you play into the hands of the batsmen.”

Sangakkara scored his tenth double hundred in Sri Lanka’s first innings to move second to Don Bradman in the all-time list of Test double centuries.

Misbah was also aware that getting the wicket of Mahela Jayawardene, who will play his final test, would be crucial for his side.l

The Bangladesh open chess side and women’s team on Monday posted their second successive victories in their 10th round of games in the 41st World Chess Olympiad which is being held in Tromso, Norway.

Bangladesh defeated El Salvador comfortably by 3.5-0.5 points in the penultimate round of games in the open section. Grandmaster Abdullah Al Rakib beat Fide Master Arias Daniel, GM Enamul Hossain Razib beat IM Burgos Figueroa Carlos, IM Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar beat FM Chavez Ricardo Ernesto and GM Ziaur Rahman drew with IM Arias Lemnys of El Salvador.

The Bangladesh open team earned 12 match points and 24 game points after the end of the 10th round.

Meanwhile in the women’s section, Bangladesh defeated IBCA by 3-1 points. WIM Shamima Akter Liza beat Zsiltzova Lisenko Lubor, WIM Rani

Bangladesh defeated El Salvador comfortably by 3.5-0.5 points in the penultimate round of games in the open section Hamid beat Valner Shafiga and WFM Sharmin Sultana Shirin beat Zarubinskaya Irina. WFM Nazrana Khan Eva lost to Stolarczyk Anna.

The Bangladesh women now have 10 match points and 22 game points out of 10 matches.l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Posh area businesses without licence busted Mobile court unearths many more irregularities in restaurants of Gulshan, Banani n Adil Sakhawat Many businessmen had been operating businesses in the capital’s Gulshan and Banani areas without having any trade licence, a mobile court of the Dhaka North City Corporation revealed yesterday.

A drive led by Nuruzzaman Sharif, regional executive officer (area 3) and executive magistrate of the DNCC mobile court, also found unhygienic conditions in some restaurants in those areas.

Islamia Pharmacy in Gulshan 2 area has no trade licence, drug licence or approval of the Bangladesh Standards and Testing Institute (BSTI) for selling baby food.

Owner of the pharmacy Oli Ullah Sarker could not show any documents

and was fined Tk5,000 for the irregularities.

Al Madina Pharmacy and many other stores, including Gazi General Store, also did not have trade licences. They sell baby food, soft drinks and other daily goods without any approval of the BSTI. The magistrate told the Dhaka Tribune that if any businessman wanted to sell foreign products, they must bring those through authorised importers.

“But these shops could not provide me with any documents regarding their selling of foreign products or trade licence for operating their business.”

Khalil Hamdy who was buying some products during the raid from Islamia General Store said: “I came here to buy powdered milk for my baby.

I regularly buy my daily necessities

from this shop. But I was astonished to know that I buy these products for my 10-month-old daughter and these do not have approval!”

The magistrate also fined those shop owners for encroaching on the footpaths in front of their business place illegally.

In Banani area, the team found many restaurants serving food prepared in unhygienic condition.

The kitchen of Rice and Noodles, a restaurant in the area, was found unhygienic. The workers cooked without wearing any gloves or clean clothes.

It was also found that the food items were cooked with expired ingredients.

The mobile court fined the restaurant owner Tk10,000. The manager later said: “This is our mistake. We will not do this in future.”

A customer named Jyoti Mahmud

told the Dhaka Tribune: “We customers never enter the kitchens and so we are not aware about the environment there. But they charge the customers higher prices regularly.”

Another restaurant named Deshi Shad was found to be operating without a licence for Banani area. The trade licence they have was issued for Nakhalpara area.

The mobile court also found that the restaurant was using artificial colour and unhygienic ingredients. For the offences, the magistrate fined the owner Tk15,000.

Magistrate Sharif said: “Serving customers food in unhygienic condition and using artificial ingredients in preparing food is a clear violation of the related safe food ordinance.”

The mobile court also found many

businesses operating in residential areas without any approval of the city corporation.

Posh N Pink, a fashion house, operates in a residential building in Banani.

When the team asked for papers for using a residential place for commercial purpose, owner Farhad Hossain failed to do so. He showed his trade licence but it was not issued for residential areas.

Then the team fined the shop Tk10,000.

Sharif told the Dhaka Tribune: “A syndicate working with the city corporation is providing the businessmen fake trade licence in exchange of bribes.

We are trying to identify the miscreants and the businessmen.”

He said they would continue conducting such sudden mobile courts in these up scale areas. l

BR employees are land occupiers, admits DG n Kamran Reza Chowdhury The allegation that railway staffers were collaborating with railway property grabbers is not a new one and the authorities hardly admit such practices.

However, on Tuesday, the authorities admitted that the railway employees had been aiding in the illegal occupation of Bangladesh Railway (BR) land. The employees have been erecting illegal structures on the occupied railway land and renting those out to tenants for money.

The railway quarters had turned into a “stable” since the railway employees’ were building unapproved structures on the land adjacent to their assigned quarters and were competing for tenants to occupy these structures, Tafazzal Hossain, the railway director general (DG), said at a meeting of the parliamentary standing committee on railways.

Some employees allegedly maintain strong political connections with very influential leaders of the AL and the BNP While discussing the extent of the illegal occupation, the director general expressed his department’s helplessness to remove the unapproved and makeshift houses due to their strong connections with politicians and MPs. He said the BR would not succeed in clearing out the unwanted structures unless the MPs and the ministers backed the authorities.

“The railway colony in Shahjahanpur (Dhaka) was one of the most beautiful residential areas in Dhaka.

But now you will not rate it as a liveable place; it has turned into a living place for cattle. The employees, who received allotments of 200-square-foot quarters, occupy 800 to 1,000 square feet of the land adjoining their houses and beyond,” Tafazzal told the meeting when the MPs asked him about the involvement of BR staffers in helping the people to grab railway land.

They make small compartments on the land and rent it out to outsiders, he explained.

“They earn much larger amounts than their monthly salaries from the

Plane crash kills Brazil’s Campos n Tribune Report Eduardo Campos, presidential candidate from Brazilian Socialist Party, died in a plane crash yesterday.

The plane carrying him crashed in a residential area of Santos in Sao Paulo, reports BBC. Locals said it was raining at the time of the crash.

It was flying from Santos Dumont airport to Guaruja when hit by bad weather. All the nine people including two pilots and his entourage on board died in the accident that took place at 9:50am local time, reports A Folha de S Paulo, a local newspaper.

The former governor of Pernambuco state was running third in the polls for October’s election. l

rent. When we proceed to evict them, they turn to the local MPs and politicians and receive support from them,” said the director general in the presence of the Minister for Railways, Mazibul Haque, who is also a member of the 10-member watchdog body.

At the railway DG’s office, there were some employees who allegedly maintained strong political connections with very influential leaders of both the Awami League and the BNP. “They even threaten us if we try to transfer them,” he said.

Tafazzal Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that he said this in the meeting at the parliament building.

He told the meeting that BR authorities had proof of the involvement of many BR officials in aiding the illegal occupation of land in different parts of the country.

“They will not get support from the minister or from me. We can assure you that no one will interfere in your move to clear off the structures. If anyone obstructs your work, then tell them to talk to me or to the minister,” ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury, the standing committee chairman, told the DG in the presence of the Dhaka Tribune reporter.

“We will evict them very soon,” Tafazzal assured the chairman.

The standing committee then recommended the eviction of all the illegal land occupiers and the transferring of the employees who had occupied land.

The documents presented at the watchdog meeting show that BR held more than 61,605 acres of land across the country, of which over 13,000 acres had been leased out. A huge portion of the land was under illegal occupation.

BR’s land survey project in limbo

In June 2007, the BR assigned a private firm to implement the “Land Survey and Preparation of Land Use Plan of Railway Land in Bangladesh,” aimed at preparing a report to show the state of railway properties across the country. The survey report would also find out how much of the land was illegally occupied.

The project was supposed to be finished by June 2009. But despite seven time extensions, the project had achieved an implementation level of just 68% as of June 2014.

Tafazzal told the meeting that the survey company had been given a deadline to finish the project by December this year. l

Even though they are the reason why many children will be able to celebrate special occasions with the juvenile joy of playing with balloons, poverty has forced 11-year-old Rakib, wearing a shirt in the picture, and 13-year-old Sumon to work in sweatshop conditions at a balloon factory in the capital’s Kamrangirchar. To support their families, both children have to work from 7am to 5pm, six-days-a-week, only to earn a meagre Tk2,000 each month. Although they are surrounded all day with colourful balloons, Rakib and Sumon have little colours existing in their lives. None of them goes to school or has any time to play games as they struggle to make a living MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Mozena: No change in US policy over Jan 5 poll n Sheikh Ahahariar Zaman US Ambassador Dan Mozena yesterday said Dhaka and Washington have no political gap but it has not changed its policy over January 5 election.

US statement on January 6, US State Department Assistant Secretary Nisha Desai Biswal testimonies on February 11 and April 30 and the US Ambassador designate to Bangladesh Marcia Stephens Bloom Bernicat testimony on July 17 are the US policy, Mozena said.

“They are all identical. There is no change and there is no gap [between Bangladesh and US relationship,” he said in responding to a question on political gap between the two countries.

He was talking with journalists after having a meeting with Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque at the Foreign Ministry.

The US issued a statement on January 6 and expressed discontent over the polls where candidates were elected unopposed in more than half of the 300 seats and voter turnout was low.

Bernicat at her testimony before Senate Foreign Relations Committee praised Bangladesh but termed the election “undeniably flawed”.

She also said that the US felt Bangladesh’s main political parties urgently need to engage in constructive dialogue that leads to a more representative government.

Asked about the criticism of the Bernicat’s statement by some Awami League leaders, Mozena said: “People say what they want to say.”

“I wish people read her testimony that is extremely comprehensive and very very balanced and reflected the continuing US policy,” Mozena said.

He said he thought his successor would get confirmation to be the next ambassador from the Senate by July 31 but it did not happen as the Senate is going on recess.

“Subsequently I was asked by the State Department to stay on and I will,” he said.

About his meeting with the foreign secretary, Mozena said: “I updated him about the whole series of military to military exercises that is coming up in August and September.”

They also discussed about third partnership dialogue to be held in Washington where Bangladesh side will be led by the foreign secretary and US side will be US State Department Under Secretary Wendy Sherman in October.

About the statement of the foreign ministry on US Secretary of State John Kerry’s visit to Dhaka, he said: “I don’t have confirmation about that.

Of course, I would love to have that happen.” l

Another Tazreen factory fire victim dies n Our Correspondent, Savar

Another victim of Tazreen fire died yesterday, after fighting for her life for nearly two years.

Amena Begum, the victim of the fire, died early morning yesterday in Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) where she was receiving treatment.

Amena worked on the fifth floor of Tazreen Fashion. When the fire broke out on her floor, she saw her co-workers being burnt alive and to save her

life she jumped from the fifth floor. She broke her bones in her hand, feet and waist from the jump.

For the first few days she received treatment from the hospital, but her family could afford to keep her there, so they brought her home in Nischintapur in Ashulia and looked after her there.

When her condition deteriorated a few days ago, she was again admitted to BSMMU, where she died on Wednesday morning.

When her body was brought to Nis-

chintapur, the locals and her former colleagues came to see her one last time and many of them broke down in tears.

Amina’s husband Abul Hossain said: “I don’t know what to say to our children. I did my best to provide her with proper treatment.

After the tragedy, many people assured us of help, but all of them were hollow promises.”

Many of her colleagues said other victims of the fire, like Amina, are passing away one by one, after suffering

unbearable pain, without proper treatment. Nobody cares for them, and the union leaders are only good with clever words, the workers complained.

Around 11pm, an ambulance took Amina’s body to her village in Lalmonirhat, where she would be buried, the deceased’s relatives told to the Dhaka Tribune.

On November 24, 2012 a devastating fire broke out in Tazreen Garments which killed at least 112 workers, and injured more than two hundred severely. l

Bills to amend CHT laws sent back for anti-peace deal move n Kamran Reza Chowdhury

The parliamentary body tasked to finalise recommendations on three draft laws on three hill districts criticised the Chittagong Hill Tracts Ministry for not initiating the laws in line with the 1997 peace deal.

While discussing the three draft laws – Rangamati Parbatya Zilla Parishad (amendment) Bill, Khagrachhari Parbatya Zilla Parishad (amendment) Bill and Bandarban Parbatya Zilla Parishad (amendment) Bill – the parliamentary standing committee on Chittagong Hill Tracts yesterday refrained from making recommendations for procedural lapses by the ministry.

According to the parliamentary rules, the three bills must not be passed without the recommendations of the watchdog.

The draft laws the state minister Bir Bahadur U Shei Ching tabled in parliament on July 1 were aimed at amending

similar laws passed in 1989 governing the three hill districts.

“We have not finalised the bills today [Wednesday]; we have suggested the ministry discuss [with the hill leadership],” Kujendra Lal Tripura, Awami League MP and committee member, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“This is better to have discussion [with the hill leadership] before passage of the laws,” he said.

In 1989, the government passed three laws – Rangamati Parbatya Zilla Parishad Act, Khagrachhari Parbatya Zilla Parishad Act and Bandarban Parbatya Zilla Parishad Act. In line with the laws elections to the three district councils took place in 1989. Since then no election has taken place.

On May 24, 2009, the government annulled the 10-year-old district councils, inserting a section into the original laws. The section authorised the government to form five-member unelected interim district councils.

The latest three bills have proposed increasing the members of the interim councils tasked with supervising the activities of 23 agencies transferred in line with the 1997 peace accord.

‘This is better to have discussion [with the hill leadership] before passage of the laws’ The government peace agreement with the Parbattya Chattagram Jana Sanghati Samity has stipulated that the authorities must consult the district councils and the regional council to bring any change to the laws relating to the Chittagong Hill Tracts.

Ushatan Talukder, independent MP from Rangamati and member of the standing committee, raised the procedural lapses involving the bill.

The chairman, RAM Obaidul Muk-

tadir, then sought clarification from the ministry officials attending the meeting. One of the officials said the amendment bills were “not law making,” prompting a deputy secretary of the parliament secretariat to refute it.

“They must be consulted,” said the chairman, before asking the ministry to have talks with the hill leadership.

Opposing initiation of the bills without discussion, Ushaton earlier told the Dhaka Tribune increasing the number of interim councils meant that the there would be no election to the local government bodies.

The amendments propose increasing the members of the interim councils tasked with supervising the activities of 23 agencies transferred in line with the 1997 peace accord.

According to the proposals made in three separate bills, the government will form three 11-member interim councils for each of the districts instead of present five-member bodies.

Rangamati District Council will consist of a chairman and 10 other members: three from Chakma and three from non-tribal people, one from Marama, one from Kheyang and or Lusai, one from Tanchangya, and one from Tripura.

Khagrachhari district council will have one chairman, three members from Chakma and three from non-tribal people, two from Marma and two from Tripura.

One chairman, three members from non-tribal members, two members from Marma, one from Tanchangya or Chakma, one from Mro, one from Tripura, one from Chak, Kheyang or Khumi, and one from Bom, Lusai or Pankhu will constitute the Banderban district council.

Hill people allege that the government had been amending the laws “to nominate its own people to the district councils bypassing the long due elections.” l

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B3 China’s July economic

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THURSDAY, AUGUST 14, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Consumer loan terms liberalised Banks burdened with huge idle money allowed to raise auto loan limit to Tk40 lakh EXCESSS LIQUIDIT Y TREND Figures in Taka crore

95,700 79,000 60,000

Jan’13

84,000

1,00,900 89,300

66,000

Mar’13

Jun’13

Sep’13

n Jebun Nesa Alo The loan limit as well as debt to equity ratio for purchasing vehicles has been increased to encourage purchasing vehicles, apparently liberalising the consumer credit regime.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) raised the conditions of consumer financing with the immediate effect considering the present market price and consumer demand for vehicles, said a circular issued yesterday.

It instructed the commercial banks now burdened with huge excess liquidity to increase their exposure to consumer financing – individuals would now be entitled to get up to Tk40 lakh of auto loan, double than the exiting ceiling of Tk20 lakh.

Borrowers’ equity has also been liberalised to 50% of the vehicle price from 70%. Banks would now finance half the amount of the total vehicle price and the borrowers will pay the rest half, which was earlier 70%.

Bankers said this is apparently the first step towards liberalising the consumer financing conditions to help bail out the commercial banks burdened with huge idle money.

The central bank had tightened the

Dec’13

Jan’14

Mar’14

conditions in January 2012 to curb credit flow to the unproductive sectors.

“It would help push up the amount of small credit … it would be helpful for the banks,” Pubali Bank Managing Director Helal Ahmed Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The decision has been made to boost the credit growth although the central bank always discourages the loan inflow to the unproductive sector.

It, however, has increased the consumer loan ratio against the backdrop of the slower credit growths, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank.

Earlier, on January 22, 2012, Bangladesh Bank had set the loan margin ratio at 30:70 for car loans and all other consumer financing from the previous ratio of 50:50 to discourage lending to the unproductive sector.

Consumer financing registered about 11% negative growth in October-December quarter last year compared to more than 18% growth in the preceding quarter, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

It, however, witnessed a substantial growth of 32% in January-March quarter last year compared to the negative growth of 5% in the preceding quarter as all the banks had disbursed con-

sumer loans aggressively amid lack of credit demand from the industrial sector, said a senior executive of a private bank.

Industrial term loan decreased by 27% to Tk9,283 crore in January-March quarter of the current fiscal year as compared to Tk12,685 crore in the preceding quarter, according to the central bank data.

Banking sector had failed to use the full space of credit growth set by the last two monetary policy due to lack of adequate credit demand amid sluggish investment climate and political unrest.

Against the backdrop, the central bank announced its monetary policy statement for the first half (July-December) of the fiscal year 2014-15, keeping private sector credit growth and other key policy rates unchanged from the immediate past policy.

It set private sector credit growth target at 16.5% (including foreign borrowing by local corporates) as like as its January-June target. The target was not achieved, however.

The growth in the private sector credit was 15.7%, including foreign borrowing, as of May last.

Banks have already cut the interest rate on deposits as they have enough liquidity, but could not use the fund due to lack of demand, said another senior executive of a private bank.

The deposit rate stood at 7.79% in June, down from 8.01% in the previous month. It remained between highest 8.68% and lowest 8.01% in more than last two years.

Banks also cut lending rates to encourage entrepreneurs to take loans.

The interest rate on loans and advances reduced to 13.1% in June from 13.23% in the previous month. l

Photo taken from a city road reflects the rising demand for car in the country SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Committee okays $1.5bn AkzoNobel India plans to set up hard-term loans plant in Bangladesh n Tribune Report

The government will take hard-term loans of more than $1.5bn to implement development projects as well as maintain uninterrupted fuel oil imports after it failed to get soft credits from multiateral donors like World Bank and Asian Development Bank.

Hard-term loans committee approved the proposals at a meeting yesterday presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

The surge in hard-term and suppliers’ credits would push up the country’s foreign debt repayment bill to over $2bn in the coming fiscal year Of them, Power Division proposals include construction of 275-megawatt thermal power plant at Barapukuria and 365-megawatt combined power plant at Ghorashal.

It proposed to take around $450m loan at 6% interest rate from the Chinese Industrial and Commercial Bank to implement the two power projects.

The division sent the proposals to Economic Relations Division which, however, failed to convince the multilateral donors to bankroll the projects which are considered crucial in the power-starved country.

Bangladesh Petroleum Corporation (BPC) had its proposal approved to take a record $900m suppliers’ credit from four companies of the East Asian coun-

tries to import fuel oils.

Petco-Malaysia, Petro-China, PNOCEC of the Philippines and Unipec of Singapore have agreed to provide $300m, $250m, $200m and $150m respectively in the current fiscal year in this regard.

BPC, which is struggling to meet surging demand of oil of more than 5m tonnes, three-times higher in less than five years, due to costly and oil guzzling rental power plants, will import the oils. The annual fuel import bill has now reached $6bn.

Proposals from local government division were to get $150m and $40m loans from the ADB and OPEC fund respectively. These loans will be taken at high interest rate to implement the Third Urban Governance and Infrastructure Improvement project.

Held at the finance ministry, the meeting was attended by Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman, Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed, Economic Relations Division Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin and Banking Division Secretary M Aslam Alam.

Experts said the surge in hard-term and suppliers’ credits over the last few years would push up the country’s foreign debt repayment bill to over $2bn in the coming fiscal year.

The government had to pay $1.13bn in last fiscal year to meet debt obligations against foreign loans worth $59.31bn taken from the country’s bilateral and multilateral donors since Independence. The rate of interest for soft loan is 1%, but more than 6% annually for the hard-term loans.

Experts said the government relied on hard-term loans due to falling aids from the donors. The interest rate and conditions of such loans are stiff, they said. l

n Kayes Sohel Paint manufacturer AkzoNobel India plans to set up a plant in Bangladesh with local conglomerate ACI Formulations Limited in next two to three years.

The plant will produce Dulux brand – a product of decorative paint now being marketed in Bangladesh

by ACI Formulation, a subsidiary of conglomerate ACI Ltd. Executive director of consumer brands, ACI Ltd, Sayed Alamgir said: “We are working on manufacturing the Akzo brands in Bangladesh.”

Initially, AkzoNobel will use the existing facility of the ACI Formulations to produce its brands on tolling arrangement, he said.

“If it is successful, the company might go for establishing a manufacturing unit in Bangladesh,” he said.

ACI Formulations currently distrib-

utes the Dulux brand in the country in the last seven to eight months.

The company is now into crop protection chemicals, mosquito pesticides and household chemicals had its lineage in erstwhile ICI Bangladesh Manufacturers Ltd. After ICI exiting business in Bangladesh, a former Chairman of ICI took over the company and renamed it as Advanced Chemical Industries (ACI) Ltd in May 1992.

Earlier, AkzoNobel, a leading global paints and a major producer of specialty chemicals, had entered into a tolling agreement with ACI to supply the raw materials and formulations to be manufactured by the proposed Bangladesh entity.

AkzoNobel India Managing Director Jayakumar Krishnaswamy told Indian media on Monday that Bangladesh market was growing at a CAGR (compound annual growth rate) of 8% to 9%

during last three to four years.

He said ACI Formulation Ltd has a capacity to produce around 2m litres of paints. “At the initial phase, we would use the facility to produce Akzo brands on fee-based tolling. If the experiment is successful and we are able to make a dent, then we would consider investment in having a capacity of seven to eight million litres at a later stage.”

In September, Akzo revived the Dulux brand in Bangladesh through ACI’s distribution network. “In the next 36 months, we hope to grab 5% market share in Bangladesh. We are beginning with decorative paints. Later on, we would be looking for industrial paints markets too in Bangladesh,” Krishnaswamy said.

He said the company had spent Rs240 crore in last three years for setting up a new unit in Gwalior and in other places like Bangalore and Hyderabad of India. l

International hotels awarded duty rebate once again n Tribune Report The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has once again offered tax benefits for the construction of the international standard luxury hotels in the country, allowing the interested investors to import capital machinery including plastic, wood and steel-made equipments by paying only 5% customs duty.

The board had earlier in April this year exempted the posh hotel builders from all the taxes, but 5% customs duty on the import of materials like exterior-interior decorations, kitchen and cooking equipment, building security equipment, fire-safety tools, electricity substation machinery, lighting and health club materials.

The board again exempted the entrepreneurs from paying taxes for the import of dunnage rack (plastic), steel sink, kitchen hood exceeding 120 CFM, RFID encoder, RFID key covered with hotel logo, wooden height box, height

box, chair and steel furniture, according to a Statutory Regulatory Order (SRO) issued last week.

The exemption is to attract investment in the potential tourism and hospitality sector, said an official of NBR. The NBR has finalised the list of the materials for giving tax benefits through discussions with the officials of the civil aviation and tourism ministry and Board of Investment (BoI).

According to officials, this exemption will be given only to the franchise of international chain hotels and local hotels of international standards to be certified by the tourism ministry. These facilities will be available only after the interested companies can obtain quality certification from the ministry concerned.

To get these tax benefits, the entrepreneurs will have to show all the agreement documents signed with the international chain luxury hotel companies.

For local luxury hotels of international standards, they will have to submit VAT payment certificates and approvals from the Board of Investment.

Tax benefits will remain effective only during the construction work of the hotels and will also continue until the commercial launching of the hotels.

As the number of foreign visitors and businessmen has been increased in recent times while Bangladesh hosted a series of international sporting events like T-20 World Cup Cricket tournament, the investors are keen to build and expand their luxury hotel business in the country.

The NBR had earlier made a decision for providing tax break to the investors in tourism sector as many hotels including Sea Pearl Beach Resort and Spa Ltd in Cox’s Bazar, Radisson Bay View Hotel in Chittagong, Hotel La Rose in Sylhet requested the NBR for the tax cut to help them in promoting hospitality sector. l

PMO to decide on Agrani Bank MD appointment n Tribune Report The proposal to appoint the managing director of the state-owned Agrani Bank will go to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina as the Finance Ministry failed to come up with the decision, official sources said.

The decision came yesterday at the ministry’s meeting held to dispatch the proposal to the Prime Minister’s Office for appointing the Agrani Bank MD. Presided over by Finance Minister AMA Muhith, the meeting was also attended by the Bangladesh Bank Governor, Atiur Rahman, and Banking Division Secretary M Aslam Alam.

Seeking anonymity, an official that attended the meeting, said the tenure of the outgoing MD of Agrani Bank, SM Aminul Rahman, could be extended as per the wish of the government highups.

The proposal will go to the Prime Minister’s Office next week and the new MD of Agrani Bank will take office thereafter, said the official.

Regarding swap of places between the managing directors of Rupali and Janata Banks, sources in the meeting said the state-owned Rupali Bank MD Farid Uddin was doing well and the financial institute needed that kind of MD. Meanwhile, some incumbent and former managing directors of the stateowned banks including the Agrani Bank boss SM Aminul Rahman, whose second tenure expired on July 27, have intensified their lobby to be reinstated.

The other incumbent managing directors are Dr Md Zillur Rahman of the state-owned Bangladesh Development Bank Limited, Md Abdus Salam of Bangladesh Krishi Bank and Md Mofazzal Husain of Rajshahi Krishi Unnayan Bank.

The Banking Division wants to retain SM Aminul Rahman as the MD of Agrani Bank for another term.

Aminul has also intensified his lobbying with the government high-ups for his reinstatement for another six months before going to retire. l

TU urges reopening Tuba Group factories n Tribune Report The Garment Workers Unity Forum yesterday urged the Tuba Group owners to reopen closed factories and demanded payment of Eid bonuses in no time.

The forum president, Mosrefa Mishu, made the call at a media briefing in the city.

The trade union will also hold a solidarity rally on August 17 to drum up support for the Tuba Group workers’ demand, besides holding a workers’ rally at Badda in the city on August 20.

In the briefing, Mosrefa Mishu made a six-point demand including immediate payment of Eid bonuses to 1,600 workers of the group, reopening the closed factories and running it as per the laws, scrapping Tuba Group owner Delowar’s bail and taking punitive action against him as he deliberately killed workers in his Tazreen fashions, forfeiting his properties and declaring it as the government assets.

Withdrawal of cases against all Tuba factory workers and stopping harassment by police also included.

Mishu called for the factory owners to refrain from random lay-offs of RMG workers across the country and ensure formation of trade unions in all factories, including ones in the Export Processing Zones (EPZs).

In her written speech, Mishu urged the government to seize Delowar’s passport and impose permanent restriction on his leaving the country.

She also claimed that Shahbag police called her several times, saying: “There is an arrest warrant against her.”

Mishu alleged that the lawmen were harassing leaders of several organisations that expressed solidarity with the workers of Tuba Group.

The forum president said the factory owner had stealthily shifted machinery from the factories and been trying to shut their operation.

If the factory was shut without any due procedures, they would go on tougher movement to realise their demand, she vowed.

Mishu said if the factory owner wanted to shut his factories, he must discuss the issue with the workers first and then take the decision jointly. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks end flat with volatility

DSE key features August 13-2014

n Tribune Report

Traded Issues

Stocks ended flat with volatility yesterday as late profit booking wiped off early gains.

The market moved between positive and negative throughout the session due to investors playing both sides of fence.

After rising almost 30 points in the morning, the benchmark DSEX saw fractional rise of 0.8 points to 4,527, after falling in the previous session.

The Shariah index rose marginally 2.8 points or 0.3% to 1,051.

The comprising blue chips DS30 closed at 1,693 with a slight rise of 4 points or 0.3%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, witnessed slight fall of 2 points to 8,564.

Turnover at DSE tumbled down to Tk490 crore, which is 27.6% lower over the previous session’s value.

Last minute buying spree mainly on telecommunication, cement and textiles offset profit booking losses on other sectors, including banks, nonbanking financial institutions, pharmaceuticals, and food and allied, which edged lower.

Among the large cap sectors, telecommunication advanced by 2.3%, lifted by the Grameenphone (GP) that rose 2.5%.

Lanka Bangla Securities said af-

4527.21009

(+) 0.02%

▲

DSE - 30 Index :

1693.02290

(+) 0.27%

▲

CSE All Share Index:

13968.36870

(+) 0.11%

▲

CSE - 30 Index :

11431.07820

(-) 0.58%

8564.19740

(-) 0.03%

Company 8th ICB M F-A 6th ICB M F-A 2nd ICB M F -A 3rd ICB M F-A 5th ICB M F-A 1st ICB M F -A Zeal Bangla Sugar -Z Prime Insur -A 4th ICB M F-A Stylecraft -A

Closing (% Change) -9.99 -9.91 -8.72 -7.59 -7.01 -6.36 -5.33 -4.43 -4.10 -3.87

CSE LOSER Company ICB -A NLI 1st M F-A Shahjibazar Power-N Green Delta M.F.-A Phoenix Fin. 1st MF-A AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A Republic Insu.-A Meghna Life Ins. -A ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A Bangladesh Lamps -A

Closing (% Change) -5.26 -4.17 -3.87 -3.85 -3.70 -3.64 -3.52 -3.45 -3.45 -3.34

Average (% Change) -9.82 -9.78 -9.08 -7.82 -6.85 -6.46 -3.07 -6.91 -4.48 -3.66 Average (% Change) -1.47 -2.44 -2.68 -2.71 -2.44 -3.82 -3.25 -5.39 -3.45 -3.37

ANALYST

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 307.72 143.23 97.56 547.90 145.74 960.97 0.63 810.66 812.47 0.35 60.54 51.38 16.78 226.56 31.37 46.32 43.63 336.54 78.63 212.93 0.19

108,980,876 101,182 298

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

72

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

219

Hwa Well Textiles-N Paramount Textile Ltd.-A Renwick Jajneswar-A Mozaffar H.Spinning-N MJL BD Ltd.-A Wata Chemicals -A AFC AgroBiotech-A Maksons Spinning-A CMC Kamal Tex. -A Active Fine Chem.-A

Closing (% Change) 9.07 7.38 6.74 6.27 6.19 5.20 4.30 4.29 3.96 3.95

CSE GAINER

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,408.27

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.19

CSE key features August 13-2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

335.19

Turnover (Volume)

8,282,994

Number of Contract

12,134

Traded Issues

220

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

65

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

148

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,301.24

▼ ▼

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.89

ClosingAvg.

Closing

DHIGH

DLOW

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

64.90 60.90 290.00 203.64 165.00 916.67 7.27 19.40 201.00 920.00

64.90 60.90 290.00 204.40 164.50 916.90 7.10 19.40 201.00 920.00

64.90 60.90 290.00 205.00 169.50 917.00 7.30 20.10 201.00 920.00

64.90 60.90 290.00 202.00 160.00 916.80 7.10 18.50 201.00 920.00

0.065 0.085 0.203 0.112 0.132 0.275 0.040 0.515 0.060 0.092

7.96 6.47 33.24 22.19 18.67 38.55 -30.63 1.28 23.11 26.16

8.2 9.4 8.7 9.2 8.8 23.8 -ve 15.2 8.7 35.2

ClosingAvg.

Closing

DHIGH

DLOW

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

1,872.07 9.20 618.56 5.02 5.20 5.29 27.38 95.17 28.00 113.00

1,800.00 9.20 621.00 5.00 5.20 5.30 27.40 95.10 28.00 113.00

1,887.50 9.20 621.00 5.10 5.20 5.40 27.50 100.00 28.00 113.00

1,800.00 9.20 616.00 5.00 5.20 5.20 27.20 95.00 28.00 113.00

4.212 0.060 1.237 0.130 0.013 0.029 0.110 0.154 0.028 0.011

53.53 1.41 3.04 0.83 0.71 -0.56 3.26 6.45 4.57 1.12

35.0 6.5 203.5 6.0 7.3 -ve 8.4 14.8 6.1 100.9

Company Hwa Well Textiles-N Paramount Textile Ltd.-A Aramit -A Aziz PipesZ Imam Button -Z MJL BD Ltd.-A Mozaffar H.Spinning-N Maksons Spinning-A Active Fine Chem.-A Prime Textile -A

Closing (% Change) 9.62 7.10 6.77 6.67 6.58 6.40 5.25 5.00 4.69 4.55

Average (% Change) 5.70 4.83 3.88 2.67 4.40 2.96 2.06 3.06 2.28 2.01 Average (% Change) 7.22 4.32 6.77 6.73 6.58 4.32 1.47 2.91 2.74 1.32

ClosingAvg. 56.59 38.85 283.40 31.88 103.95 273.57 55.45 14.50 23.37 71.00

Closing 57.70 39.30 286.60 32.20 104.70 275.30 55.80 14.60 23.60 71.00

DHIGH

DLOW

58.10 39.80 289.00 33.00 107.00 278.00 56.40 14.90 23.80 72.50

53.00 33.00 276.90 30.30 89.00 245.00 49.00 12.60 20.70 63.50

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

159.046 89.709 15.984 50.993 425.168 26.979 35.968 45.270 52.802 164.808

3.99 3.13 3.92 2.27 5.04 6.20 2.84 0.21 1.38 3.30

14.2 12.4 72.3 14.0 20.6 44.1 19.5 69.0 16.9 21.5

ClosingAvg.

Closing

DHIGH

DLOW

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

Latest PE

57.04 38.67 284.00 16.01 8.10 103.83 31.76 14.48 71.22 22.31

58.10 39.20 284.00 16.00 8.10 104.80 32.10 14.70 71.40 23.00

58.30 39.70 284.00 16.10 8.20 106.90 32.80 14.80 73.80 23.00

53.00 36.70 284.00 16.00 8.00 88.70 30.80 12.60 68.00 22.20

11.180 8.344 0.028 0.008 0.016 12.384 2.160 4.482 6.408 0.078

3.99 3.13 12.56 0.42 -1.85 5.04 2.27 0.21 3.30 1.13

14.3 12.4 22.6 38.1 -ve 20.6 14.0 69.0 21.6 19.7

News from trade servers ACTIVEFINE: SEC has given consent under the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Issue of Capital) Rules, 2001, for raising the paid-up capital of the Company of Tk. 20 crore only through issuance of 2,00,00,000 ordinary shares of Tk. 10.00 each (issue price of Tk. 60.00 including a premium of Tk. 50.00 per share).

The consent has been accorded subject to the condition that the Company shall comply with the relevant laws and regulatory requirements, and shall also adhere to the conditions imposed by BSEC under Section-2CC of the Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969 which includes, among others, the following: "The revised decision should be approved by the shareholders of the Company before issuance of ordinary shares to ICB and/or other institutional investors".

LANKABAFIN: SEC has given consent under the provisions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Private Placement of Debt Securities) Rules, 2012, for raising of capital by LankaBangla Finance Limited amounting to Tk. 300.00 crore only through issuance of Zero Coupon Bond. The consent has been accorded subject to the condition that the Company shall comply with the relevant laws and regulatory requirements, and also shall adhere to the conditions imposed

by BSEC under Section-2CC of the Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969.

DELTALIFE: he Company has informed the

following: As per amended Income-Tax Ordinance No. XXXVI of 1984 (ref. Finance Act, 2014) under section 54, every shareholder is required to furnish the Company his/her 12 digits Taxpayer's Identification Number (TIN) for deduction of Advance Income Tax (AIT) @ 10% on payment of Cash dividend.

It may be mentioned that those who would not provide 12 digits TIN will be subjected to deduction of AIT @ 15%. Therefore, shareholders are requested to submit their 12 digits TIN to the Share Department of the Company at Delta Life Tower, Plot # 37, Road # 45 (South) & 90 (North), Gulshsn Circle-2, Dhaka-1212 within seven days from 11.08.2014.

COMPANY NEWS: Close-end mutual fund managed by ICB Asset Management Company Limited: For successful disbursement of the cash dividend through BEFTN, investors of the close-end mutual fund managed by ICB AMCL are cordially requested to provide (if necessary) the bank account information in their BO account before record date. The respective Depository Participants (DP) are also requested to update the bank account information (with the routing number) of the investors of the fund before the Record Date as well.

ICB: Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) has approved the Rights offer of Investment Corporation of Bangladesh for 2,10,93,750 ordinary shares of Tk. 100.00 each at an issue price of Tk.

500.00 per share (including a premium of Tk. 400.00 per share) totaling Tk. 1054,68,75,000.00 at a ratio of 1R:2, i.e. one rights share for two existing shares. The approval has been accorded subject to the condition that the Company shall comply with the requirements embodied in the Securities and Exchange Commission (Rights Issue) Rules, 2006 and other relevant laws and Regulatory Requirements, and shall also adhere to the conditions imposed by BSEC under Section-2CC of the Securities and Exchange Ordinance, 1969.

ACTIVEFINE: The Company has further informed that the amount through issuance of 2,00,00,000 ordinary shares will be used for expansion of business.

LANKABAFIN: The Company has further informed that the purpose of issuance of Non-Convertible Zero Coupon Bond is to meet the ongoing financing requirements of the Company subject to obtaining of No Objection Certificate (NOC) from Bangladesh Bank.

EBL1STMF, TRUSTB1MF, IFIC1STMF, 1JANATAMF, FBFIF, EXIM1STMF: The Asset Manager of the Funds has further informed that due to unavoidable circumstances, the meeting of the Trustees Committee of the Fund will now be held on August 14, 2014 at 3:30 PM instead of August 13, 2014 to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Fund for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

The lower turnover reflected slowing down of selling spree among the investors

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

4,932.12

Number of Contract

DSE Broad Index :

DSE LOSER

Company

Turnover (Volume)

Daily capital market highlights

CSE Selected Index :

DSE GAINER

Turnover (Million Taka)

ter the fast and furious rally in last week, market lost breadth and was subdued in last two trading sessions. Benchmark index lost some ground giving no specific direction at this level, it said.

Zenith Investments said the correction phase of the market still seems to cloud over the stocks, as index barely finished in positive zone after getting through heavy fluctuations throughout the trading day.

The support mainly came from the textile sector and few large cap scrips that showed significant strength over the profit takings shares, it said.

IDLC Investments said having last session’s correction, market ended flat with turnover shrinking further. “The lower turnover reflected slowing down of selling spree among the investors.”

MJL Bangladesh topped the liquidity chart for the second consecutive session with Tk42 crore changing hands, followed by GP, Square Pharmaceuticals, Active Fine Chemical, Hwa Well Textiles and Appollo Ispat.

Investors’ interest in textile was vigilant from the fact that, five stocks emerging at the top ten gainers list with largest rise of Hwa Well Textiles.

ICB managed mutual funds dominated the losers chart as seven out of eight funds got featured in the list. l

Thursday, August 14, 2014

% change 6.24 2.90 1.98 11.11 2.95 19.48 0.01 16.44 16.47 1.23 1.04 0.34 4.59 0.64 0.94 0.88 6.82 1.59 4.32 0.00

Million Taka 17.04 12.98 4.91 34.56 6.64 41.42 64.33 45.32 6.88 2.23 12.12 2.44 26.40 3.35 1.01 2.56 34.06 14.65 22.91 0.01

CSE

% change 4.79 3.65 1.38 9.71 1.87 11.64 0.00 18.08 12.74 1.93 0.63 3.41 0.69 7.42 0.94 0.28 0.72 9.57 4.12 6.44 0.00

Million Taka 324.76 156.22 102.47 582.45 152.38 1002.39 0.63 874.99 857.79 7.23 62.77 63.49 19.22 252.96 34.72 47.34 46.20 370.61 93.28 235.84 0.20

Total

% change 6.14 2.95 1.94 11.01 2.88 18.96 0.01 16.55 16.22 0.14 1.19 1.20 0.36 4.78 0.66 0.90 0.87 7.01 1.76 4.46 0.00

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company MJL BD Ltd.-A Grameenphone-A Square Pharma -A Active Fine Chem.-A Hwa Well Textiles-N Appollo Ispat CL -N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A ACI Limited- A LafargeS Cement-Z SPurbanchol Power-N CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Grameenphone-A LafargeS Cement-Z BEXIMCO Ltd. -A BD Submarine Cable-A Argon Denims Limited-A Appollo Ispat CL -N Square Pharma -A MJL BD Ltd.-A Hwa Well Textiles-N Orion Pharma-N

VolumeShares 4,090,187 778,609 744,421 2,321,360 2,810,500 4,948,200 3,712,803 400,785 1,239,000 1,972,088

VolumeShares

58,600 196,500 423,516 76,500 279,806 453,000 48,488 119,268 196,000 196,960

104.70 339.20 276.30 71.00 57.70 30.30 34.00 311.80 99.60 52.90

Change % 6.19 2.51 -0.93 3.95 9.07 1.68 -1.45 -1.36 2.89 3.73

% of TotalTurnover

ClosingP

5.96 5.88 4.41 4.31 4.18 4.12 4.04 3.73 3.37 2.83

338.90 99.70 34.20 186.00 50.00 30.30 276.70 104.80 58.10 47.80

Value in Million 425.17 262.34 205.31 164.81 159.05 149.26 127.82 125.00 122.46 102.87

% of TotalTurnover 8.62 5.32 4.16 3.34 3.22 3.03 2.59 2.53 2.48 2.09

Value in Million

19.76 19.50 14.63 14.31 13.86 13.65 13.41 12.38 11.18 9.38

ClosingP

ClosingY

DHIGH

DLOW

AvgPrice

98.60 330.90 278.90 68.30 52.90 29.80 34.50 316.10 96.80 51.00

107.00 341.80 282.00 72.50 58.10 30.80 37.00 325.00 100.20 54.10

89.00 325.00 255.00 63.50 53.00 29.60 31.20 295.00 97.00 45.90

103.95 336.93 275.80 71.00 56.59 30.16 34.43 311.88 98.84 52.16

Change %

ClosingY

DHIGH

DLOW

AvgPrice

0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00 0.00

338.90 99.70 34.20 186.00 50.00 30.30 276.70 104.80 58.10 47.80

341.80 99.90 35.20 191.00 50.80 30.60 281.80 99.20 58.30 48.10

333.10 100.00 34.10 185.50 48.80 29.70 273.00 100.00 53.00 46.70

337.15 99.24 34.54 187.02 49.53 30.14 276.57 103.83 57.04 47.64

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Thursday, August 14, 2014

China’s July economic data points to further softness n Reuters, Beijing China’s economy showed further signs of softening in July despite a burst of government stimulus measures, suggesting more policy support may be needed to keep growth on track as a property downturn worsens.

Unexpectedly weak growth in investment, retail sales and bank lending in July all pointed to growing vulnerabilities in the world’s second-largest economy.

The biggest surprise from Wednesday’s data deluge came from credit and financing figures that showed the amount of cash flowing into the world’s second-largest economy tumbled to a near six-year low in July of 273.1bn yuan ($44.34bn), about one seventh of that in June.

The central bank downplayed the drop, saying that the plunge in lending was a natural pull-back after an unusual surge in June, while conceding loan demand was slowing. Analysts said the unusually large drop may also have come on the back of a crackdown on high-risk loans and commodity financing in the wake of a fraud scandal at the port of Qingdao.

But the dour news rattled some economists, who worried that the numbers signaled not only weaker loan demand in the property sector but growing caution on the part of banks to lend in general as credit risks increase.

The mood contrasted sharply with that in June, when data showed the economy appeared to be regaining traction after a weak start to the year.

“The reading on investment, the most important driver of the economy, missed market expectations again,” said Hu Yuexiao, an analyst at Shanghai Securities.

“Add to that the remarkable decline in credit growth in the corporate sector and it could suggest an end to the economic rebound (seen) in the second quarter.”

Hu said he expected authorities to further loosen monetary policy with a

People cross a bridge at Pudong financial district in Shanghai possible interest rate cut, whilst trying to stoke investment growth by slashing red-tape and wooing private capital.

Helped by a steady stream of government stimulus, China’s economy rebounded slightly to 7.5% in the second quarter - in line with the government’s full-year target - from an 18-month low of 7.4% in the first three months.

But buffeted by a property downturn that has hurt domestic spending, the economy appears to be sputtering again. Questions about the durability

of the economic recovery flared last week when surveys on the services sector showed unexpected weakness, linked largely to the housing market downturn.

Property drag

Accounting for roughly 15% of China’s economy, the housing sector has faltered this year as prices and sales turned south, leading many analysts to warn that it poses the biggest risk to broader growth.

REUTERS

Wednesday’s data showed the slowdown may have deepened. Housing sales skidded 16.3% in July compared with a year ago in terms of floor space, Reuters calculations showed, a sharp increase from June’s 0.2 annual fall.

New construction fell 12.8% in January-July as cash-strapped developers tried to clear huge inventories of unsold homes. But discounts and other sweeteners have failed to attract many buyers, who expect further price declines.

While easier access to loans is seen

as one key to preventing a sharp correction in the property market, a survey released by Standard Chartered last week indicated many developers were finding it tougher to access funding through banks or trust loans.

They also said borrowing costs were rising, and most felt banks did not appear more willing to extend loans to first-time home buyers despite encouragement from the central bank.

Analysts said the wobbly real estate market had dampened overall invest-

ment growth, which was up 17% in the first seven months compared with the year-ago period, a level unseen in over 12 years.

“The sluggishness of the property market will continue to hang over the domestic economy,” said Louis Kuijs, an economist at RBS. “We expect the government to continue taking and encouraging measures to support growth.”

Economists disagree on whether China will need to resort to more aggressive policy loosening measures, such as cutting interest rates or the reserve requirement ratio for banks to shore up growth.

A Reuters poll last month showed analysts were split on whether China would cut the reserve requirement ratio this year, though half of those surveyed thought that a 50-basis-point reduction was possible before March.

Analysts who oppose further policy loosening, including the International Monetary Fund, argue that China’s economy is already awash in credit, and authorities must refrain from adding more cash to the system unless growth crumbles.

To be sure, the latest data pointed to some pockets of resilience.

Industrial output rose 9% in July from a year earlier, the National Bureau of Statistics said, slowing from June’s 9.2% gain but in line with market expectations.

Data last week showed exports grew nearly twice as much as expected, though imports unexpectedly fell, pointing to soft domestic demand.

Retail sales, a key gauge of domestic consumption, rose 12.2 percent in July from a year earlier, slowing from June’s 12.4 percent pace.

“The activity figures are basically lower than market expectations, especially the investment data, which is mainly due to the weak showing in the property market,” said Zhou Hao, an economist at ANZ in Shanghai.

“I would say the government will have to further relax policies to deliver an annual growth rate of 7.5 percent.” l

Oil prices mixed after IEA slashes demand forecast n AFP, Singapore

As money leaves Russian stocks, China, other BRICS benefit

Dollar firms in Asia amid thin trade

n Reuters, London

n AFP, Tokyo

Oil prices were mixed in Asia yesterday after the International Energy Agency slashed its demand outlook for 2014 and 2015 while reporting a glut in global supplies despite conflicts in Iraq and Ukraine.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for September rose four cents to $97.41 in afternoon Asian trade, after declining 71 cents in New York.

Brent crude for September delivery was down 31 cents at $102.71. It fell $1.66 to finish at $103.02 in London on Tuesday, its lowest closing point since July 1, 2013. Cutting its demand outlook for this year and next, the IEA yesterday said “the oil market today looks better supplied than expected”.

The agency, the oil policy arm of the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, projected 2014 oil demand would rise by 1 million barrels a day to 92.7 mbd, compared to its July forecast for growth of 1.2 mbd. l

With the threat of further Western economic sanctions hanging over Russia, foreign investors are deserting Moscow’s equity markets and funnelling cash into other BRICS states, with China a standout beneficiary.

Russia has performed worse than any other big emerging market so far in 2014, with stocks down 17% in dollar terms and the rouble losing 9%. In the bond market too, anyone who bought rouble-denominated debt this year would have lost 14%, according to JPMorgan’s GBI-EM index.

Sanctions placed on Moscow for its perceived role in the Ukraine crisis do not yet bar holding shares of Russian companies that are viewed as close to the Kremlin.

But investors have been exiting all the same, fearing more sanctions that could pull other Russian assets into the net.

Data, which may not capture the

latest exodus, shows that more money left Russian stocks and bonds in midJuly than at any other time in the last six months.

Investors pulled $353m from Russia equity funds in July and $172m in the week after a Malaysian passenger plane was brought down on July 17 over rebel-held eastern Ukraine, according to fund tracker EPFR. Boston-based EPFR is estimated to capture some 15% of global fund flows.

The outpouring of money from Moscow has led analysts to ask: where is all this cash going?

As funds exited Russia, emerging equity funds as a whole, tracked by EPFR, drew buoyant flows totalling more than $10bn over July and the first week of August.

Russia has a relatively small 5% share in MSCI’s emerging equity index, but given $1.3tn is benchmarked to that index, a lot of money is at stake.

China appeared well placed to benefit as domestic factors, which had

caused an early year blip in Chinese equities, began to improve just as tensions between Russia and the West reached their high point.

Hints of a stimulus plan from Beijing overlapped with the downing of the Malaysian airliner, while shadow banking and property bubble fears have generally subsided.

Evidence of an allocation shift is anecdotal but it is strong enough to suggest China is a major recipient of recent Russia outflows. China took in $1.6bn in equity inflows last week and $2.14bn in the last week of July, the largest since April 2008, according to Morgan Stanley.

While Moscow’s main dollar-traded IRTS index has fallen 14% since the end of June, China’s benchmark ShanghaiShenzhen index has surged 11%.

Since the Russian sell-off there has definitely been a pick-up in interest in China, said Will Ballard, emerging markets and Asia fund manager at Aviva Investors in London. l

The dollar firmed against major currencies in Asian trade yesterday, but its movement was limited because many traders were off for the summer holiday season.

The dollar fetched 102.28 yen in Tokyo afternoon trade compared with 102.24 yen in New York.

The euro bought $1.3364 and 136.69 yen against $1.3368 and 136.67 yen.

Minutes before the opening bell, the Japanese government announced that the world’s number three economy shrank by 1.7% quarter-on-quarter in the April-June period as a sales tax rise dented activity.

But the market lacked direction, with many participants away during the summer holiday season.

“The market basically brushed off the data - after all, it was largely within expectations,” Yasuaki Amatatsu, analyst at the Bank of Tokyo-Mitsubishi UFJ, told Dow Jones Newswires.

Market players were instead eyeing China’s retail sales and industrial production data for July, which will be followed later in the day by US retail sales data.

China’s industrial production, which measures output at factories,

workshops and mines in the world’s second-largest economy, rose 9.0 percent year-on-year in July, the government said.

Retail sales increased 12.2% in the same month, the National Bureau of Statistics said.

Junichi Ishikawa, market analyst at IG Securities, said strong US data could support US shares, which in turn would strengthen the greenback.

“That could see the pair breach the 200-day moving average at 102.35 yen,” he said.

In New York on Tuesday, the euro weakened against the dollar following a plunge in investor confidence to a 20-month low in Germany, Europe’s largest economy.

The ZEW research institute’s indicator of economic sentiment in Germany dived 18.5 points to 8.6 points in August, its lowest level since December 2012.

Analysts had expected only a minor fall.

The institute said the decline was “likely connected to the ongoing geopolitical tensions”, suggesting the Russia-Ukraine crisis and turmoil in the Middle East were weighing on the economy.

The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies. l

After offshore oil failure, Cuba shifts energy focus n Reuters, Havana Modhumoti Bank Limited opened its fourth ATM booth at Jamgora in Ashulia yesterday.

The bank’s managing director and CEO Md Mizanur Rahman inaugurated the booth

NCC Bank Ltd has recently organised a workshop on documentation of loans and advances for its senior level executives and credit administration officers. The bank’s chairperson Md Nurun Newaz Salim inaugurated the workshop as chief guest

Akij Group has undertaken two new projects that are table-ware of Akij Ceramic and Akij Particle Board Mills Ltd at Mukkumpur and Khagati in Mymensingh. Monowara Begum, wife of late founding managing director SK Akij Uddin laid foundation stones of the projects

Dutch-Bangla Bank Limited (DBBL) has recently organised a day-long workshop on integrated supervision system (ISS) reporting for the bank’s designated officers. The bank’s managing director KS Tabrez inaugurated the workshop

Cuba has shifted its focus away from offshore oil, concentrating on renewable energy and improving output from onshore wells due to a lack of interest by foreign companies for further deepwater exploration, sources close to the industry say.

With so much oil readily available around the world, oil companies including those from allies China and Russia see little incentive in drilling off the Caribbean island, delaying the Cuban dream of oil wealth that could inject vigor into its socialist revolution.

With the U.S. trade embargo of Cuba further complicating drilling plans, the country is seeking investors in renewable energy such as biomass and wind while attempting to increase output from existing onshore and shallow water wells.

Russia’s state-run Rosneft and the China National Petroleum Company (CNPC) separately agreed last month

to help Communist-run Cuba extract more oil along the traditional northwest heavy oil belt, but did not sign on to deepwater exploration.

The northwest heavy oil belt is a 200-mile (320-km) stretch of the northern coast from Havana to Villa Clara and reaching up to 3 miles (5 km) offshore. It produces poor quality oil that meets 40% of the country’s needs.

Rosneft and CNPC will also support the horizontal drilling of new wells from shore and join Canadian firm Sherritt International and another Russian state-run oil company, Zarubezhneft, which are already carrying out similar work.

Cuba had hoped Russia and China, whose presidents visited in July, would explore deepwater offshore fields that it says may hold 20 billion barrels of oil and end its dependence on socialist ally Venezuela.

Venezuela sends 115,000 barrels of oil per day to Cuba under favorable terms. l

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Japan suffers biggest economic slump since 2011 n Reuters, Tokyo

A sales tax hike last quarter drove Japan’s economy into its biggest contraction since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami, Cabinet Office data showed on Wednesday, keeping policymakers under pressure to expand fiscal and monetary stimulus should recovery falter again.

The April 1 sales tax hike took a heavy toll on household spending, shrinking the world’s third-largest economy by an annualised 6.8 percent from April through June, and wiping out growth of 6.1% seen in JanuaryMarch as consumers went on a shopping spree to avoid the higher tax.

The median market forecast was for a 7.1% drop.

Seeing the slump as temporary, however, the Bank of Japan remains publicly convinced the economy is on course for a moderate recovery and has no plans to expand stimulus any time soon.

The soft data, though, could compel the central bank into trimming its rosy fiscal year economic projections when it reviews them in October.

If third quarter growth proves weak the BOJ may also come under pressure to add stimulus - particularly before Prime Minister Shinzo Abe decides later this year whether to implement a second sales tax hike from 8 to 10 percent in October next year, analysts say.

“Should the next quarter be weaker than expected, there’s the chance that the BOJ will be called on to do some more easing - and how the BOJ responds then will be another point to watch,” said Yuichi Kodama, an economist at Meiji Yasuda Life Insurance.

Economics Minister Akira Amari signalled the government’s readiness to compile an extra budget later this year should growth in the third-quarter stay weak, although any fiscal stimulus would probably not be big enough to have a major impact on the economy, given Japan’s dire government finances.

“At the moment I don’t feel the need (to prepare an extra stimulus) but we will take necessary steps as appropriate depending on economic developments from now on. Appropriate steps mean every possible measure,” he told

A man stands in front of a shop window at a shopping district in Tokyo reporters after the data was published.

On a quarter-to-quarter basis, Japan’s economy shrank 1.7% in the second quarter, less than a median forecast for a 1.8% fall.

The second-quarter contraction was the biggest decline since the first quarter of 2011, when the devastating earthquake and tsunami in March disrupted factory production and chilled household spending.

Fiscal stimulus forthcoming

Private consumption, which makes up about 60% of the economy, fell 5% in the quarter, more than the 4.3% drop forecast by markets. Capital expenditure also slumped 2.5%, a worrying sign for policymakers counting on companies to support recovery by increasing their spending.

External demand added 1.1 percentage points to GDP, after shaving 0.2 point off first-quarter growth, but was mostly due to a fall in imports. Exports fell 0.4% in the second quarter, underscoring how much the failure of

REUTERS

exports to rebound is weighing on the economy.

Many analysts expect a pick-up in July-September as the tax hike impact fades, with some projecting an annualised expansion of around 3% to 5%.

A tightening job market is gradually pushing up wages and big firms have boosted summer bonus payments, which augurs well for consumption.

Still, a majority of economists project growth for the current fiscal year, which began in April, to fall well short of last month’s BOJ projection for a 1% expansion.

BOJ Governor Kuroda has repeatedly stated he would not be surprised to see a contraction in April-June economic activity, and that there was no need to offer additional stimulus as growth is set to rebound in July-September.

Some analysts pointed to a rise in inventories in the second-quarter GDP data as a sign that companies, having underestimated the tax hike effect, added excess inventory and will scale back production in coming months.

“The positive contribution from inventories is a risk factor for the future.

This means we need stronger domestic demand growth in July-September to achieve a rebound strong enough to justify a second rise in the sales tax,” said Masayuki Kichikawa, chief Japan economist at Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

“I think there is a 70 to 80% chance Abe will raise the sales tax again with another fiscal stimulus package,” he said.

Government officials have already signalled privately that they are ready to compile an extra budget toward the year-end to shore up the economy, scraping leftover money from the previous fiscal year’s budget.

They remain silent on the possible size of the stimulus and when the budget would be compiled, all of which depends on economic performance this quarter.

Under its “quantitative and qualitative easing” policy put in place last April, the BOJ now buys 70% of new government bonds issued in markets, as well as risky assets, to reflate the moribund economy. l

Thursday, August 14, 2014

Google ‘anti-aging’ group has a website n AFP, San Francisco Google’s new company aimed at addressing problems of health and aging has taken a step forward - with its own website and mission statement.

“We’re tackling aging, one of life’s greatest mysteries,” says the website of Calico LLC, a project announced last September by Google chief executive Larry Page.

“Calico is a research and development company whose mission is to harness advanced technologies to increase our understanding of the biology that controls lifespan. We will use that knowledge to devise interventions that enable people to lead longer and healthier lives.”

As previously announced, the head of the company is Arthur Levinson, who was chief executive officer of Genentech from 1995 to 2009 and is now the chairman of the board of Apple.

The other members of the team, which had not been previously announced, include Hall Barron former chief medical officer of pharmaceutical group Hoffmann-La Roche; David Botstein, a Princeton University genomics professor; and Cynthia Kenyon, a researcher in biology and genetics who comes from the University of California at San Francisco.

The team also includes former Ge-

nentech oncology researcher Robert Cohen and Jonathan Lewis, an executive from Brussels-based UCB Pharma.

“We are scientists from the fields of medicine, drug development, molecular biology, and genetics,” the website said.

As previously announced, the head of the company is Arthur Levinson, who was chief executive officer of Genentech from 1995 to 2009 and is now the chairman of the board of Apple “Through our research we’re aiming to devise interventions that slow aging and counteract age? related diseases.”

Announcing the new investment last year, Page said: “Illness and aging affect all our families. With some longer term, moonshot thinking around healthcare and biotechnology, I believe we can improve millions of lives.”

News of the website was reported Monday by SFGate, which is part of the San Francisco Chronicle. l

Twitter unveils video ads n AFP, San Francisco Twitter on Tuesday unveiled a new advertising program that delivers “promoted videos” to the tweet stream of users of the popular messaging platform.

The new program adds to the source of advertising revenue for Twitter, which has struggled to convince investors it is on a path to profitability.

“By using Promoted Video, it’s easy for brands to upload and distribute video on Twitter, and to measure the reach and effectiveness of this content,” product manager David Regan said in a blog post.

Regan said test launch came “after months of experiments and feedback from users and brands.”

Regan said that to make it easier for advertisers, Twitter will offer a “cost per view” model: “This means advertisers only get charged when a users starts playing the video,” he said.

“Additionally, advertisers using Promoted Video have access to robust video analytics,” such as how many people view the entire video, he said.

Twitter accounted for 0.5% of global digital ad revenues in 2013, according to research firm eMarketer, and expects to increase that to 0.8% this year, as digital ad spending grows to $140.15bn.

Twitter said last month that the number of monthly active users of the platform has hit 271 million, up 24% when compared with the same period a year earlier. l

Yellen resolved to avoid raising rates too soon, fearing downturn n Reuters, Washington Approaching a historic turn in US monetary policy, Janet Yellen has staked her tenure as chair of the Federal Reserve on a simple principle: she’d rather fight inflation than another economic downturn.

Interviews with current and former Fed officials indicate that Yellen and core decision-makers at the US central bank are determined not to raise interest rates too early and risk hurting the fragile US economy.

It’s a commitment that will be vigorously tested in coming months as pressure builds inside the Fed, among Republicans on Capitol Hill, and perhaps even in financial markets, for the Fed to acknowledge a strengthening US economy with its first interest-rate increase in more than eight years. A global central bankers’ conference in Jackson Hole, Wyoming next week will give Yellen a major stage on which to press her case.

After taking over from Ben Bernanke in February, she has developed a

distinct style: off-the-cuff and personable in public appearances, unusually direct in calling attention to the plight of the unemployed, meticulous in her preparation for Fed meetings and highly attuned to the opinions of her colleagues, the Fed sources say.

A common adjective used to describe her in meetings is “over-prepared.” She is able to deeply question staff and colleagues about the fine points of their presentations, and so far has been able to forge consensus statements that have satisfied the Fed hawks most concerned about the inflation threat while keeping the central bank focused more on employment.

The nightmare scenario she wants to avoid is hiking rates only to see financial markets and the economy take such a hit that she has to backtrack.

Until the Fed has gotten rates up from the current level near zero to more normal levels, it would have little room to respond if the economy threatened to head into another recession.

Inflation, on the other hand, is a fa-

Janet Yellen

REUTERS

miliar foe that Fed officials say they are confident they can control with conventional policy tools.

“If the Fed were to generate too much economic growth and higher inflation, that is a much better situation to be in than one of a faltering economic recovery and the need to rely even more on unconventional tools,” said David Stockton, the Fed’s chief econo-

mist until 2011 who is now a senior fellow at the Peterson Institute for International Economics.

“The Fed knows how to contain inflation if it is moving,” he said, while the impact at this point of another downturn “are more uncertain and hard to counter.”

The risks of moving too soon, Stockton and others in and outside the Fed say, include snuffing out an already tepid housing market recovery with higher mortgage rates, depressing business investment and durable goods purchases, and triggering sudden declines in asset prices.

And after extraordinary efforts to right the US economy after the financial crisis struck, there would likely be little appetite among Republicans or other fiscal conservatives on Capitol Hill to use fiscal policy to counter a fresh recession, making it all the more important for Yellen to avoid helping to cause such a reversal.

“The challenge that she and the Fed as an institution face is to support the

recovery, because fiscal policy ... is no longer on the table for both political and economic reasons,” said David Lipton, first deputy managing director at the International Monetary Fund. “Now that (the economy) is recovering, the challenge is to gauge its strength and make sure it stays on the right path.”

The other scary scenario is that a bout of swifter-than-expected inflation could erode three decades of hard-earned confidence that prices will remain under control, which in turn could make it easier for higher inflation to take firm root. The Fed’s more hawkish officials also worry that the longer rates remain ultra low the more likely it is that troublesome financial bubbles will form.

Philadelphia Federal Reserve Bank President Charles Plosser formally dissented over the current dovish approach at the central bank’s last policy meeting, while in recent weeks Richard Fisher of the Dallas Fed has amplified his concern that the bank is falling behind the inflation curve.

But even Fisher, one of the Fed’s

most outspoken hawks, credited Yellen’s “extremely thoughtful” way of taking into account the views of other policymakers, a factor he said prompted him not to dissent.

“She may be new to the chair but she’s well respected and she knows all the personalities in the room,” said former Fed Governor Elizabeth Duke.

Jeffrey Fuhrer, senior policy advisor at the Boston Fed, said Yellen’s communications style is “a little more open and accessible” than her predecessor Bernanke. Adding: “She’s a bit more approachable somehow.”

The central bank is also watching the November mid-term elections with particular interest: a Republican takeover of the Senate could give momentum to a proposal that would force the Fed to rely on a mechanistic rule to set interest rates based on the levels of inflation and unemployment in the economy. That would undermine the collective judgment Yellen feels is needed to guide the economy in the aftermath of the financial crisis. l

German inflation drops to lowest level in four years n AFP, Frankfurt Inflation in Germany, Europe’s biggest economy, fell in July to its lowest level in over four years, official data showed yesterday.

Confirming a flash estimate released at the end of last month, the federal statistics office Destatis calculated that German inflation this month dropped to 0.8% year-on-year, its lowest level since February 2010, after rebounding to 1% in June.

Inflation has been unusually low across the 18-nation eurozone, fuel-

ling concern the region could slip into deflation: a sustained and widespread drop in prices that hampers economic activity and threatens job losses.

While falling prices may sound good for consumers, deflation can trigger a vicious spiral where businesses and households delay purchases, throttling demand and causing companies to lay off workers.

Such concerns persuaded the European Central Bank to cut interest rates in June and unveil other measures to ease monetary conditions in the single currency area. l

DILBERT

Customers visit an electronics store displaying Sony's video game console PlayStation 4 and game software in Tokyo on August 13. Sony said on August 13 that global sales of its PlayStation 4 console have surged past the 10 million mark in less than a year, a record for the Japanese electronics giant AFP