27 Aug, 2014

Vadro 12, 1421 Shawal 30, 1435 Regd. No. DA 6238 Vol 2, No 145

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages plus 8-page Treehouse children’s supplement | Price: Tk12

TREEHOUSE

8 | WORLD

11 | OP-ED

B1 | BUSINESS

PROFILE OF A BANGLADESHI PAINTER

US SURVEILLANCE PLANES FLY OVER SYRIA

COLOURS OF AUGUST

PULL PRIVATE INVESTMENT TO TAP BLUE RESOURCES

Ceasefire in Gaza

Palestinian groups and Israel end 50-day conflict n Agencies, Gaza/Jerusalem Palestinian groups and Israel have agreed to an Egyptian-mediated ceasefire that came into force at 16:00 GMT yesterday.

The ceasefire, initially reported by Egyptian state television, ends 50 days of fighting that has internally displaced a third of the Gaza strip’s residents and left over 2,200 people on all sides, including over 490 children, dead.

The youngest to be killed in the conflict was 10 days old, while the oldest was 100 years old.

Hamas deputy political leader Moussa Abu Marzouk said the deal represented a “victory for the resistance.”

GAZA CONFLICT

50 days of fighting 2,138 Palestinians killed 490 Palestinian children killed 540,000 Palestinians displaced 64 Israeli soldiers killed 5 civilians killed in Israel

Gaza Strip civilian infrastructure laid waste, economy crippled Israel’s Strategic Affairs Minister Yuval Steinitz said the sides are “heading to an arrangement” after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accepted the proposals, Bloomberg reported.

A senior Israeli official told the BBC: “Israel accepts the Egyptian initiative for an unlimited ceasefire in Gaza.”

The apparent breakthrough came as both sides continued to trade fire.

A spokesman for the Popular Resist-

ance Committees, one of the Gaza militant groups that has been firing rockets into Israel, confirmed that a truce had been agreed.

Cairo’s initiative, Palestinian officials said, called for an indefinite halt to seven weeks of hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza’s blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt and a widening of the enclave’s fishing zone in the Mediterranean.

Under a second stage that would begin a month later, Israel and the Palestinians would discuss the construction of a Gaza sea port and an Israeli release of Hamas prisoners in the occupied West Bank, the officials said.

“The proposal does not include Hamas demands regarding a port, an airport, prisoners and funds. The sides will discuss their demands through Egypt within a month,” an Israeli official said.

Israeli government officials said it would ease its blockade of Gaza to allow in aid and building materials.

Mr Abu Marzouk wrote on his Facebook page that the Egyptian-brokered ceasefire agreement “embodies the resistance of our people and a victory for the resistance.”

One unnamed senior Palestinian official said the head of the Palestinian negotiating team, Azzam al-Ahmed, had played a key role, shuttling between Ramallah, Gaza and Doha, the capital of Qatar.

Both Israel and Egypt view Hamas as a security threat and are demanding guarantees that weapons will not enter the economically crippled territory.

The Israeli delegation was reportedly seeking guarantees that Hamas and other factions in Gaza would be disarmed.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Chief whip encroaches on speaker’s authority n Kamran Reza Chowdhury Chief Whip ASM Feroz allegedly encroached upon the authority of the speaker by sending a letter to the police suggesting that the parliament officer Sujit Kumar Dey, whom the police linked with aiding a fake major intruding on the MP hostel, should not be arrested or harassed.

Abdur Rahim, an officer of the parliament secretariat on Monday sent a letter to the Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police

station that said the House Committee members “unanimously” agreed that Sujit should not be arrested or harassed.

Police say Sujit was near the chamber of the Awami League MP Kabirul Haque and he ran away as the security personnel raided the office in the hostel adjacent to the parliament building – one of the highly secured areas in Bangladesh.

The Sher-e-Bangladesh Nagar police sent a copy of the letter to the parliament’s security wing. Deputy Serjeant-

at-arms Salim Khan received the letter from the police.

The Dhaka Tribune has obtained accessed the letter and got a copy of the meeting of the House Committee tasked to ensure food and accommodation for the MPs. The Rules of Procedure of parliament has not given approval of sending such letter to police.

According to the rules, the police must seek the permission from the speaker in case of arrest of any official of the parliament secretariat.

Family identifies kidnapper of baby from DMCH CCTV footage

The freezer at DMCH morgue goes dead

n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

n Rafe Sadnan Adel

The woman suspected to have kidnapped a newborn boy from the DMCH neonatal ward last week has been identified with the help of CCTV footage and a visitor’s log book.

According to the register book maintained by the on-duty Ansar member, the woman’s name was Parvin, who was a resident of Chashara in Narayanganj. However, the name or the address could not be verified immediately.

In the CCTV footage, the woman was seen to enter the Special Care Baby Unit (SCBU) with the missing baby and coming out of there after 15 minutes.

After analysing the CCTV footage at the hospital director’s office for several hours yesterday, the missing child’s mother Runa, father Babul and grandmother Gulnur Begum unanimously identified a woman in a pink sari to be the alleged kidnapper.

Brig Gen Mustafizur Rahman, director of Dhaka Medical College Hopsital, told the Dhaka Tribune that the kidnapper has been identified and a clear snapshot has been collected from the CCTV footage which would help

The Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) may be the biggest public healthcare facility in the country, but the facilities available here are nowhere close to being the best.

The freezer at the DMCH morgue which can store up to 12 dead bodies at a time went out of order on August 10; but as of yesterday, the authorities did not take any visible step to repair it.

Although it is affiliated with the leading public medical college in the country, the functions of the morgue are not limited to academics.

Because the DMCH is also the most important and one of the biggest public hospitals in the country, dead bodies that need autopsy are generally brought here, especially those that involve crime and police.

Documents show that on an average, four to five dead bodies are brought here every day. The DMCH morgue played a very crucial role during times of big disasters like those of the BDR mutiny in 2009, the 2012 fire at Tazreen Fashions factory and last year’s Rana Plaza collapse.

The mother of the missing child looks at CCTV footage at the DMCH yesterday, hoping to identify the woman who kidnapped her son RAJIB DHAR in rescuing the missing child.

Saying the CCTV footage would be provided to Shahbagh police station, he urged the media to publish the photograph of the kidnapper to help find the missing child.

The baby’s grandmother had at first

misidentified the alleged kidnapper as a woman wearing a green sari, the hospital director said.

However, after re-analysing the CCTV footage to find out who had entered or exited the ward with a baby  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

The private hospitals in the capital and even from those outside, which have freezing facilities, do not generally entertain any case of unnatural death; the bodies in such cases are forwarded to the DMCH. But since the DMCH morgue freezer has been out of order, the Dhaka Tribune correspondent saw yesterday that only

4 | News

3 | News

5 | News

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has agreed to conduct joint training exercises on border management with India’s Border Security Force (BSF). The BSF proposal came during a five-day conference between the two border forces held in New Delhi.

The Anti-Corruption Commission will soon challenge the legality of a lower court bail granted to former Awami League state minister Abdul Mannan Khan in a corruption case.

Coordinator of the CHT Commission Hana Shams has come under attack again, allegedly by the members of same group – Bangalee Somo Odhikar Andolon, who in early July enforced blockade to prevent the CHTC members from visiting the district.

The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council yesterday approved three development projects including digitization of land survey, record and preservation system.

6 | Nation

The prevailing one-week-long diarrhoea outbreak has turned into a matter of great concern as the situation was deteriorating continuously, leaving an apprehension going the state out of control.

12 | Entertainment

To mark the 38th death anniversary of Kazi Nazrul Islam, TV channels have prepared special programmes, featuring the rebel poet’s music, songs, poem and novels written by the revolutionary personality.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Probe against Morshed Khan nears the end n Tribune Report

one dead body was kept in an air-conditioned room. But the AC is not enough to keep the body from decomposing.

Morgue assistant Sekander told the Dhaka Tribune that despite being informed a few days ago, the authorities had not taken any step to repair the freezer; as a result, they are facing a lot of trouble.

He also said: “The facilities here are

The Anti-Corruption Commission has almost completed the investigation into a money laundering case filed last year against former foreign minister and BNP leader M Morshed Khan and his family members.

ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman yesterday said it would not take much time for the commission to press charges in the case.

The case was lodged over an allegation of laundering Tk321 crore to Hong Kong through 11 bank accounts. He had concealed this information in the tax statement, Bodiuzzaman said.

“Now the investigation is under way. We questioned the BNP leader and his son today [yesterday]. We are expecting that the investigation officer will not delay in submitting the charge sheet,” he told reporters while responding to queries.

Regarding BNP’s claim that the ACC was harassing its leaders through politically-motivated cases, the anti-graft body chief said: “The commission never files any case under political consideration, rather based on specific allegations.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

‘The freezer is really old. I do not know when it was installed.

It went out of order once before in June’

INSIDE 2 | News

“I will definitely inquire into it,” Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Former chief whip and member of the 15-member House Committee Abdus Shahid told the Dhaka Tribune that the speaker or the parliament secretary on her behalf was the authority to decide whether an employee of the parliament would be arrested or not.

“This is not the job of the House Committee to send such letter. We just

14 | Sport

Manchester United have agreed a British record transfer fee of £59.7 million ($98 million, 75 million euros) to sign Argentina midfielder Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid according to British media reports on Monday.

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

BGB and BSF to conduct joint training 154 Jamaat-Shibir men indicted for violence exercises along border n n

Rabiul Islam

The Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) has agreed to conduct joint training exercises on border management with India's Border Security Force (BSF).

“We have agreed to a BSF proposal on joint training and we wanted to know the modalities of training,” said BGB Director General (DG) Maj Gen Aziz Ahmed at a press conference at BGB headquarters in the capital on Tuesday afternoon.

The BSF proposal came during a fiveday conference between the two border forces held in New Delhi from August 20-25. “The joint training will focus on bomb disposal, dog handling and border management at the officer and soldier levels,” the BGB director general said.

The BGB chief said joint exercises would take place in India and that the host country would facilitate the training and would explain its border man-

War criminal Alim sent to ICU n Moniruzzaman Uzzal War criminal Abdul Alim was sent to intensive care unit yesterday at Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University from prison cell as his physical condition deteriorated.

BSMMU Hospital director brigadier general Abdul Majid Bhuiyan told the Dhaka Tribune that Alim had been sent to ICU as cancer has severely develoved in his body.

Alim, the former minister in the cabinet of late president Gen Ziaur Rahman (1977-81), served as the chairman of the “Peace Committee” in Joypurhat in 1971.

On October 9, the International Crimes Tribunal 2 awarded him death sentence. But he was spared the sentence because of his “old age, ill health and physical disability. l

Two female bodies recovered in the capital n Tribune Report Police recovered two female bodies from different locations of the capital yesterday.

Police sources said body of Tahmina Akhter Sathi, 30, was recovered from room number 605 of Uttarbango hotel in Shahbag. One Osman Gani was mentioned as her husband in the register book of the hotel. Both of them were said to be from Chandpur.

According to SI Suruj Uddin of Shahbag police station, Sathi and Osman checked in to the hotel as spouses around 8am on Monday. On the following day, Osman asked the duty worker of the hotel to bring some food and left the hotel. He never came back. Later hotel authorities informed the police after getting no response from the room.

“We are primarily assuming that the woman was strangled after being raped as we didn't find any injury marks. The body has been sent to Dhaka Medical [Collage and Hospital] for a postmortem.” he said.

Another SI Mujibor Rahman said that they were preparing to file a case but did not find any address of the woman.

Meanwhile, a body of an unknown girl, 18, was recovered from an alley on the opposite side of Ananda Cinema Hall, Farmgate yesterday. Police found injury marks on various parts of the body.

Sanjay Kumar Ghosh, Sub Inspector of Sher-e-Bangla Nagar thana, said: “We could not identify the girl yet. We found the body on the lane of Mughal Hotel.” The body was sent to DMCH for autopsy. l

agement practices.

A team could be sent to India just before the next border conference scheduled for the third week of December which will be held in Dhaka, he added.

DG-level border coordination conferences take place twice a year, once in India and once in Bangladesh.

BSF director general Shri Devendra Kumar Pathak, assured Bangladesh that a fair trial would take place in the Felani killing case.

The acquittal by a BSF General Security Forces court of Constable Amiya Ghosh who shot and killed a Bangladeshi minor as she was leaving Indian territory drew widespread criticism here and abroad. The BSF later decided to hold a revision trial.

Aziz Ahmed said: “About India's claims that there were [Indian] insurgent camps operating inside Bangladesh, we informed them that no such camps were found on our soil.”

Earlier, the BSF had given a list of insurgent camps to BGB. “We searched for the camps according to the list, but we did not find anything,” the BGB DG said.

During the conference, India handed over another list of 71 insurgent camps allegedly set up in Bangladesh, Aziz said. “We will check the list and take necessary steps,” he said.

The head of the frontier force said Bangladesh does not allow terrorist groups to operate from its territory, nor would it do so in the future.

Bangladesh gave the Indian side a list of phensedyl manufacturing factories in India. BSF said phensedyl was used as a medicine in India, but made assurances that the smuggling of the drug would be tackled.

The BGB DG said since most border killings take place at night, the public should avoid going near the border at that time. Maj Gen Aziz said most bor-

der killing incidents were related to cattle smuggling.

Quoting the BSF, the Bangladeshi paramilitary chief said India does not use non-lethal weapons.

Both directors general emphasised the proper implementation of the Coordinated Border Management Plan (CBMP) to tackle trans-border crimes including the smuggling of cattle, gold, fake currency notes and drugs.

The two sides said they would arrange joint visits to smuggling-prone areas twice a year and would increase surveillance in the areas.

The two forces agreed to expedite the exchange of intelligence to tackle border crimes.

Lauding the cooperation of the BGB in taking steps against Indian insurgents and terrorist groups, BSF director general sought more cooperation, and also sought the repatriation of detained and abducted Indian nationals. l

Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

A Dhaka court yesterday indicted 154 leaders and activists of Jamaat-Shibir in a case filed for torching and vandalising vehicles and attempted murder of policemen in the capital last year.

Three former presidents of Jamaat’s student body Islami Chhatra Shibir – Dr Shafiqul Islam Masud, Delwar Hossain alias Sayeedi and Fakhruddin Manik – are among the accused.

Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Tareq Mainul Islam Bhuiyan of the Speedy Trial Tribunal 6 framed the charges and fixed October 12 for starting trial of the case, filed under the Speedy Trial Tribunal Act on February 13 last year.

The court also cancelled the bails of 78 accused and issued arrest warrants against them as they had not appeared before the court yesterday.

Masud and Delwar were present in court. Of those on bail, 60 were present

during the hearing while 16 others are absconding since the filing of the case.

According to the charge sheet, the members of Jamaat-e-Islami and Shibir on February 13 last year resorted to physical assault and attack on police and rampaged in different parts of the capital.

The attacks were made with handmade bombs after they had been barred from holding violent processions to demand the release of Delawar Hossain Sayedee who is on trial for committing war crimes.

The activists also attacked police in Shapla Chattor, Dainik Bangla intersection, Fakirerpool and Motijheel areas.

During the attacks, many members of police and general people were injured. Of them, Agrani Bank’s Motijheel branch lift man Jakir Munshi was critically injured, says the charge sheet.

SI Habibur Rahman of Motijheel police submitted the charge sheet on February 25 mentioning 162 persecution witnesses. l

Tofail: Tarique a ‘black sheep’ The freezer at DMCH morgue goes dead n

Tribune Report

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has come down heavily on BNP leader Tarique Rahman and its chief Khaleda Zia for labelling the ruling Awami League as a “black sheep” party.

Tofail, also a senior leader of the party, yesterday termed Tarique, the BNP’s senior vice-chairman, a black sheep while labelled his mother Khaleda as “inhuman.”

“Only a black sheep like Tarique can call Awami League a black sheep party.

“The BNP chairperson is inhuman as she celebrates her fake birthday on

the National Mourning Day, August 15,” Tofail told reporters at his Secretariat office after a meeting with visiting G8 Secretary General Syed Ali Muhamand Musavi.

Tarique’s father Ziaur Rahman became the president of Bangladesh while his mother the prime minister because Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had liberated the country from Pakistan, Tofail said.

He also refuted Tarique’s allegation that ruling government ministers Rashed Khan Menon and Hasanul Haque Inu had attended the oath-taking ceremony of Khandakar Mushtaque. l

Hamas claims Gaza peace deal  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Israeli strikes

turning up the pressure on Palestinian militants to end their rocket strikes, Israel bombed more of Gaza’s tallest structures yesterday, bringing down a 13-storey apartment and office tower and destroying most of a 16-floor residential building.

The strikes flattened the Basha Tower and wrecked the Italian Complex, after occupants were warned to get out, and no deaths were reported.

Declining to comment specifically on the attacks, the Israeli military said it had hit 15 “terror sites”, including some in buildings that housed Hamas command and control centres.

Hamas missiles

Hamas, the dominant group in the Gaza Strip, accused Israel of an “unprecedented act of revenge against civilians” aimed at deterring Palestinians from supporting the Islamist movement.

Israel has now attacked three of Gaza’s most prominent high-rise buildings since Saturday, when it destroyed the 13-storey Al Zafer Tower.

The strikes were preceded by non-explosive warning missiles that sent residents fleeing, but 20 people

were wounded in the attack on the Italian Complex.

Six Palestinians were killed in other Israeli strikes yesterday, medical officials said. Israel’s military said 70 rockets were fired from Gaza and that one damaged a house in the southern coastal town of Ashkelon.

Mortar shells from Gaza killed an Israeli civilian and wounded six others in Eshkol Regional Council, medics told the BBC. Palestinian health ministry says 2,138 Palestinians, most of them civilians, including more than 490 children, have been killed in Gaza since July 8, when Israel launched an offensive with the declared aim of ending the rocket salvoes.

The objective of the offensive was later expanded to include the destruction of tunnels used by militants for cross-border attacks.

Israeli authorities say 64 Israeli soldiers have been killed, along with four Israeli civilians and a Thai national.

Thousands of homes in the Gaza Strip as well as the territory’s only electricity plant have been destroyed or damaged in the conflict. The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights said 540,000 people had been displaced in the territory of 1.8 million people. l

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

not enough. Unclaimed dead bodies, mostly from accidents and murders, are generally kept here for a few days.

If nobody comes to claim the bodies, those are handed over to Anjuman Mufidul Islam [a charity organisation that takes care of unidentified dead bodies].

But as the freezer is not working, we do not know what to do with the unclaimed dead bodies.”

Asked what were being done to the bodies that had come after the freezer broke down, Sekander said: “We are keeping the bodies in the AC room. We are using formalin and other chemicals to keep them from decomposing. In the last two days, we have discharged four bodies because their autopsies were done. The day before yesterday, we handed over three unclaimed dead bodies to Anjuman Mufidul Islam.”

According to the morgue assistant, a private company generally looks after the maintenance of the mortuary freezer.

He claimed that although he had informed the authorities three times about the situation in the last 15 days, nobody had come to see what the problem was.

“The freezer is really old. I do not know when it was installed. It went out of order once before in June. It gets out of order very frequently,” Sekander said.

Dr Sohel Mahmud, assistant professor of the Forensic Department, said: “Considering the demand and workload, we need to have the facility to store up to 50 dead bodies here. The drainage system is really bad. There is always water logged in the corridor [that leads to the morgue].

Things get worse when it rains.”

Prof Dr Habibuzzaman Chowdhury, head of the DMC Forensic Medicine and Toxicology Department, said: “We can preserve up to 12 dead bodies in the freezer. But it has been out of order for some days. So, quite naturally, we are having some trouble. But we have taken steps to repair it as soon as possible.”

He said a new freezer that can store up to 20 dead bodies had already ar-

Chief whip encroaches on speaker’s authority  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

discussed at the meeting (on August 18) that Sujit should not be arrested or harassed, if he is innocent. But I think we have not taken such decision,” he said.

The 3rd meeting of the House Committee headed by the chief whip discussed the probable arrest of Sujit, an administrative officer in charge of hostel wing of parliament. He executes the order of chief whip ASM Feroz on allocation of rooms and apartments for the MPs and looks after the accommodation facilities.

Police on August 12 arrested fake major Mahmud Hasan who used to maintain offices in parliament and took money from people promising jobs and government contracts.

Sujit’s subordinate Salahuddin

Md Amin caught red-handed with the major used to aid the swindler to enter the offices of the MPs while they were outside Dhaka. People used to come to him for lobbying.

Salahuddin and the fake major told police that Sujit knew about it.

The minutes of the meeting on August 18 said ASM Feroz raised the issue of arrest of the fake army major strongly suggesting that the parliament’s security wing had been implicating him with an “intention”.

He said the House Committee could take a resolution, asking the police not to arrest or harass him.

Abdus Shahid supported him.

Former whip Noor-E-Alam Chowdhury (Liton), a nephew of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, opposed the chief whip saying: “Why

should we take a resolution of this nature? Is this the work of the House Committee? This is up to the speaker’s discretion.”

Only three MPs talked on this issue. Other attending members Tajul Islam Chowdhury, Sagufta Yasmin, Panchanan Biswas and Fazle Hossain Badsha did not talk about Sujit’s arrest, said the minutes.

But the letter sent to the police reads that the House Committee members unanimously agreed in favour of Sujit.

The minutes will go to the next meeting of the House Committee for approval. In case of objection from any of the members, the minutes could be changed.

The date of the next meeting is yet to be fixed. l

Probe against BNP’s Morshed Khan near end  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

“If the allegations are false, they have the opportunity to prove it in court.

They should help us investigate the cases. But they are not doing so.”

Earlier in the day, ACC Deputy Director and Investigation Officer of the case Mir Zainul Abedin Shibli interrogated the BNP leader and his son Faisal Morshed Khan.

Emerging from the ACC headquarters, Morshed Khan said he gave the ACC official some information that they had asked for.

The case was filed on December 31 last year against Morshed Khan, his wife Nasrin Khan and Faisal on charges of laundering over $41.2m to Hong Kong.

According to the case statement, Morshed Khan and his family members had siphoned off US$39.5m and HKD$13.6m to Hong Kong during 2004-2011 and deposited the money in seven accounts of Standard Chartered Bank.

The accused did not seek any approval from the Bangladesh Bank

while opening the bank accounts and before the transactions. In addition, they did not inform the central bank of their assets and money abroad, it is alleged.

“The three accused have kept foreign money in an international bank without Bangladesh Bank’s consent because of their ill intention to conceal wealth, which is an offence under the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2009 and the Money Laundering Prevention Act 2012,” the case statement adds. l

rived at the Chittagong port. “But it would take another four months before we could start using it here.”

Other problems

Apart from the negligence factor, the authorities find really hard to run the morgue.

Sources have said there are only two full-time employees at the DMC morgue. Other than the two assistants – Sekander and Ramu – four other people have been working here as undertakers, called “dome” in Bangla, for years without any remuneration as the authority did not recruit them.

People who have been to the morgue for various reasons have told the Dhaka Tribune that not only the two assistants but the four undertakers, too, do nothing unless they are given tips. They allegedly ask for money even for handing over a dead body to legitimate relatives or keeping it from decomposing.

There are also allegations that Sekander and Ramu sometimes force relatives to use certain ambulances for carrying the dead bodies. Reportedly, Sekander owns one of these ambulances.

Admitting that they asked for tips, Sekander said: “My monthly salary is Tk14,000. I am working here for this salary only because my father and grandfather were also in this profession. Who else will want to work in a morgue for 24 hours for such a small salary?”

He also said: “My brother-in-law, who used to live abroad, bought two ambulances after coming back to the country. But I never take any commission from them.”

Asked how the undertakers had been working without any remuneration, Prof Dr Habibuzzaman, head of the Forensic Department, said: “Many years ago they started working here, hoping to get permanent jobs as undertakers.

But for various reasons, we could not recruit them. Now their only income is the tips they get from the people who come here for dead bodies. They only accept what people give them willingly. However, if we get any specific allegation of

extortion, we will take steps.”

Dr Sohel Mahmud, assistant professor of the department, said: “By no stretch of the imagination this can be considered a modern morgue. There is not even a table for dissecting the dead bodies. Medical students have to stand here for hours during practical classes because there is no seating arrangement; neither is there any video facility.

We do not even have a proper collapsible gate for keeping unauthorised people away.”

Dr Habibuzzaman also said: “No official wants to come to work in this section because of the risk associated with doing autopsies. There have been incidents in the past when doctors came under attack because their autopsy reports displeased criminals. Another reason for the reluctance is that there is no additional allowance for working in the morgue.”

The Dhaka Tribune correspondent has tried repeatedly to contact DMCH Director over phone, but he did not pick up or return the calls. l

Family identifies  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

in their arms, it was seen that a woman wearing a pink sari had entered the room at 12:15pm. The woman was also seen to have said something and take water from Gulnur during the time she stayed inside the ward.

The CCTV footage, time-stamped at 12:30pm, also showed on-duty ward boy Shafiq and an Ansar member brought the woman out from the room.

There are allegations that hospital staff and security personnel might have been involved in the kidnapping of the child.

On August 21, a woman befriended the mother of the two-day-old baby before carrying the infant out of the hospital in broad daylight, in plain view of law enforcement personnel and under the noses of closed-circuit camera staff. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

ACC to appeal against Mannan’s bail

Dhaka to ask for relaxed rules of origin in next D8 trade meet

Rajshahi 4 lawmaker Enamul dodges ACC inquiry team, seeks more time n Tribune Report “Since the court does not have the ju- his statements, but he has pleaded for of imprisonment of not more than three Bangladesh will request D8 member n Tribune Report risdiction to entertain the bail petition, I 30 more days. But it will not be 30 days. years or a fine or both. countries to relax the rules of origin The Anti-Corruption Commission will soon challenge the legality of a lower court bail granted to former Awami League state minister Abdul Mannan Khan in a corruption case.

The ACC would file an appeal seeking cancellation of the bail, commission Chairman M Bodiuzzaman told reporters at the ACC headquarters yesterday.

On August 24, a Dhaka court, allegedly beyond its jurisdiction, granted bail to Mannan until October 13 in the case filed for accumulating illegal wealth worth Tk75.04 lakh.

While contacted, ACC counsel Kabir Hossain said he was yet to receive any instruction from the commission.

wrote to the authorities seeking instructions on whether to appeal or not. But they are yet to respond,” he said.

The case was lodged on August 21 against Mannan, a former lawmaker from Dohar, since he had concealed information of wealth worth around Tk4.60 lakh and accumulated illegal wealth worth Tk75.04 lakh.

Enamul dodges ACC questioning

Rajshahi 4 lawmaker Enamul Haque, who is yet to appear before the ACC ignoring its summon notice, would have to face the anti-graft body to give his statement, Bodiuzzaman said.

“We earlier summoned him to give

We will allow him as per the law,” the ACC chief said adding that the designated investigating officer was yet to prepare the inquiry report on Enamul’s illegal wealth.

He also said: “No one is not above the law. He must come.”

The ACC issued the notice on August 20. The commission received Enamul’s letter seeking time on Monday, an ACC official said.

According to the ACC Act 2004, it can summon witnesses, ensure their appearance and interrogate them under oath. The law also terms it a punishable offence if any person violates any order.

The punishment in such case is a term

3

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The commission on January 22 initiated an inquiry against six ruling party leaders and a former Jatiya Party lawmaker on charges of amassing illegal wealth. All of them except for Enamul, owner of Ena Properties, faced the ACC inquiry team. The lawmaker earlier violated the provisions of the ACC Act by not submitting his wealth statements within the stipulated time. But he is yet to face any case as yet.

However, the commission on January 30 filed a case against Syeda Iqbal Mand Banu, the mother-in-law of BNP’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, for not submitting her wealth statement before the deadline. l

condition to boost of export to the countries in the bloc.

It will seek to reduce the value addition requirement to 30% from existing 40% at the upcoming meeting of the D8 Trade Ministers Council scheduled on October 20-21 in Ankara, Turkey.

“Our exports will increase substantially if the members relax the rules of origin [ROO],” Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told reporters yesterday, following a meeting with visiting D8 Secretary General Seyed Ali Mohammad Mousavi.

Officials consider that local manufacturers have not been able to

avail the opportunity of the D8 trade preference as they could not meet the ROO condition.

Tofail said: “Bangladesh deserves relaxed condition as we will ask for the 30% value addition at the conference as the lone least developed country [in the bloc]. Other economic blocs as well as countries already offered trade concessions under relaxed ROO conditions.

The minister will also hold discussions with other member countries – Egypt, Pakistan, Nigeria, Indonesia, Malaysia, Iran and Turkey – separately before the meeting to mobilise opinion in favour of Bangladesh’s demand.

In response to a question, Mousavi told the journalists: “We will propose bringing down the rate below 40%.” l

Grameen Bank hands over govt Tk4.32 crore profit n Asif Showkat Kallol The Grameen Bank has handed over Tk4.32 crore to the Finance Ministry as the profit of the government’s stake for 2013 which, officials say, shows that the micro-credit bank is running smoothly.

The government had 20.55% stake at the Grameen Bank at the end of 2013.

The share rose to 25% this year after the government had injected Tk3.25 crore.

The Grameen Bank’s total profit last year was Tk139 crore.

‘A meeting of the board of directors approved the proposal of paying the government’s profit to the finance division’ Tahsina Khatun, one of the bank’s directors, yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune that the government had been wrong about the micro-credit lender; it was operating smoothly and it was paying off dividends against the government’s share.

She said the new rules for the election of the Grameen Bank governing body might destroy the organisation and its implementation should be stopped.

“Before the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation, a meeting of the board of directors approved the proposal of paying the government’s profit to the finance division,” Tahsina said.

In April, the government issued the gazette notification on the Grameen Bank (Election of Director) Rules 2014 replacing the Grameen Bank (Election of Directors) Rules 1987.

Tahsina also said the new provisions gave the governing body election a political shape.

Grameen Bank General Manager Md Shajahal Ali sent a letter to banking division Secretary M Aslam Alam yesterday, informing him about the the government’s profit.

Earlier in April, Finance Minister AMA Muhith termed the Grameen Bank non-functional because of Muhammad Yunus’ “strong influence.”

The bank’s loan recovery rate was 97.37% this March 2014 while it was 97.11% in March last year, according to its data. The number of its members has also increased from 8.4 million to 8.6 million in the past one year. l

Vessels, hired allegedly by influential ruling party leaders, carry out dredging work on the river Padma yesterday. Locals claimed such indiscriminate dredging has been causing erosion of the riverbank

Prosecution demands death penalty for Azhar as closing arguments end n Udisa Islam The prosecution yesterday concluded their closing arguments in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam, an alleged al-Badr commander of Rangpur, demanding his capital punishment.

At the same time, the prosecution pleaded for compensation to a victim of sexual torture. The victim testified at the tribunal as the first prosecution witness.

She was confined at the Rangpur Town Hall camp and raped for 19 days resulting in the miscarriage of her baby.

According to International Crimes (Tribunals) Act, 1973, death sentence is the highest punishment.

When prosecutor Tureen Afroz termed Azhar a brute for the first time, the defence reacted and said they never thought that such a term could be used by the prosecution.

On the seventh day of prosecution’s part, Tureen placed arguments on legal points for more than two hours.

The prosecution submitted arguments on “other inhuman acts” as it is

Martyr’s son describes killing in Subhan case n Udisa Islam The son of a martyred Awami League leader from Pabna yesterday demanded justice for his father’s killing which was carried out upon the order of war crimes accused Maulana Abdus Subhan, then secretary of district unit Peace Committee.

At that time he was a student of class VIII, Md Shamsul Alam, son of Mohiuddin Pramanik, said he had witnessed the killing that took place on May 12, 1971 Gupinpur of Satbaria, Pabna. His grandfather narrowly escaped the attack.

He said: “Around 6am on May 12, Subhan came to our house along with the Pakistani Army men. Showing my father he said ‘this is the leader.’ Just after these words, the army men shot him while Subhan kicked him saying ‘this is the price of Joy Bangla.’”

Shamsul said he had witnessed the incident from a hideout just 50 feet away. At that time, the army members also shot his grandfather, but he luckily escaped.

After the occupation forces had left the village around 2pm, they came to know that many people died in atrocities by the Pakistani Army and their collaborators. The victims include Bazu Pramanik, Jharu Mandol and Mozibor Sheikh. His father was buried with the help of locals around 10pm.

After his deposition, defence counsel Mizanul Islam questioned Shamsul, the 24th prosecution witness, and the tribunal adjourned the trial until today keeping it incomplete.

Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Subhan was indicted on December 31 last year on nine counts of crimes against humanity. l

included in the charges. Besides this, the tribunal also questioned how the charge of deaths of over 100 people could be justified by the recovery of only five bodies without placing any evidence on the other victims.

Tureen answered quoting many decisions including ICTY Appeals Chamber in Kvocka: “It is not necessary to establish that the body of the deceased person has been recovered.”

The tribunal adjourned the hearing till today rejecting to even hear a plea from the defence to give them one-week time for preparation She also cited from second tribunal’s judgement in the case against Ali Ahsan Muhammad Mujaheed where the tribunal mentioned that to prove the offence of murder as crimes against humanity, locating the dead body is not necessary,

as such crime is committed in a context and as a part of pattern-based attack and not as an isolated crime.

Tureen placed her long argument on charge number five, which is for abetting and facilitating the rape of a victim, who testified at the tribunal.

Terming the Town Hall of Rangpur a “rape camp,” the prosecutor added that it was one of the many camps that had been raised and run by the anti-liberation forces in 1971. She added: “Azhar helped the Pakistani occupation forces to abduct and confine women in that camp, who were later treated as sex slaves. The person, who can facilitate such crimes in a rape camp, cannot be called anything other than an animal.”

Before her, prosecutor Rezia Sultana submitted arguments on the defence case of alibi. She said the defence through its lone witness had failed to prove the absence of accused Azhar.

On Monday, when prosecutor Tapos K Baul was placing argument on the charges, the tribunal asked him about placing less evidence on Rangpur Town Hall and asked why they did not place

more by focusing on the torture cell.

Tureen replied to the query yesterday.

“The decisions of other tribunals stated that it would be entirely speculative and inappropriate for the tribunal to enter into a consideration of what other evidence could have been brought.”

At the end of the argument, replying to a question of the tribunal on whether there was any opportunity in the conventional law to provide compensation to the victim, Tureen said: “The accused may be ordered to pay adequate compensation to the first prosecution witness for the social dishonour, ostracism and isolation the victim had to suffer for his heinous act of 1971.”

The tribunal adjourned the hearing until today rejecting to even hear a plea from the defence to give them one-week time for preparation. The tribunal said: “At this stage, you cannot place this type of petition.”

A total of 19 witnesses testified against Azhar. Of them, the prosecution declared their seventh witness hostile. On the other hand, the defence produced a single witness in favour of the accused. l

‘Hearsay evidence is admissible’ n Udisa Islam

The prosecution in the case against war crimes accused ATM Azhar yesterday placed a long argument on how hearsay evidence is acceptable under the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973.

In every case, defence counsels argued that if accepted, hearsay evidence must be viewed as credible, reliable and consistent by circumstantial evidence.

While submitting factual arguments in Azhar case, the prosecution for the first time felt that they needed to place legal argument on this mentioning that if they had cleared their position on hearsay witness, then the whole argument would be smooth.

Upon query, the prosecution urged the tribunal to consider the credibility of the hearsay prosecution witnesses for proving the charges made against Azhar, a Jamaat-e-Islami leader, by applying the International Criminal

Law Jurisprudence.

On the seventh day of arguments yesterday, prosecutor Tapos K Baul said if the tribunal considered the prosecution witnesses’ collective memory and old evidence principles scheme, the whole criminal performance of the accused would be visible.

Tapos told the Dhaka Tribune: “We placed eyewitnesses, victims and hearsay witnesses against every charge to satisfy evidence. The tribunal raised questions to clear the evidences and we hopefully satisfied them.”

Prosecutor Tureen Afroz said during her submission that section 19(1) of the ICT Act allows admission of hearsay evidence in a trial before the tribunal.

The section reads: “A Tribunal shall not be bound by technical rules of evidence; and it shall adopt and apply to the greatest possible extent expeditious and non-technical procedure, and may admit any evidence…which it deems to

have probative value.”

The tribunal said: “The tribunal 1 accepted hearsay evidence only when it was supported by eyewitness against the accused.”

Tureen then referred to some cases and added: “Hearsay evidence is not inadmissible…even when it cannot be examined at its source or when it is not corroborated by direct evidence.”

Citing the ICTY Trial Chamber in Simic, Tadic & Zaric (2003) case, the prosecution said: “There is no need to corroborate hearsay evidence with any direct evidence.

Therefore, it follows that once admitted, the hearsay evidence can stand on its own to prove offence against an accused.

Even, ‘anonymous hearsay evidence can be used to corroborate other evidence.’ However, in its recent decision of Ruto, the ICC Pre-Trial Chamber has held that ‘anonymous hearsay evidence’ alone is sufficient to prove a material fact.” l

MEHEDI HASAN

Ex-Oriental Bank officials, businessman sent to jail n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka Court sentenced six former Oriental Bank officials yesterday to seven years of imprisonment, and a businessman to 10 years of imprisonment for loan forgery.

Judge Md Aminul Islam of Dhaka Special Judge Court passed the order in a case filed by the Anti-Corruption Commission for taking loans using a fake account.

The court also ordered that the government could recover the money from the absconded seven accused under section 386 of criminal procedure code.

The court also fined Tk1,428,572 to each of the accused.

The court examined nine prosecution witnesses including two joint directors of Bangladesh Bank before pronouncing the judgement.

The accused are Shah Md Harun, the Oriental Bank’s former senior vicepresident; Abul Kashem Mahmud Ulllah, former senior assistant vicepresident; Md Fazlur Rahman, former assistant vice-president; Mahmud Hossain, former senior executive vicepresident; Kamrul Hossain, former executive vice-president; Imamul Haque, former deputy managing director of Oriental Bank principal branch; and Md Bakar Hossain, proprietor of M/S Bakar Hossain.

According to the case statement, the accused, Bakar, opened a bank account on April 16, 2005 at the Oriental Bank’s Islampur Branch in Dhaka and later used the name of a fake company to shift the account to the principal branch. He then used fake documents to take a loan worth Tk1 crore in two instalments on August 18 and 21, 2005, with the help of the accused bank officials.

On December 29, 2006, ACC Deputy Director SM Aktar Hamid Bhuiyan filed a case with Motijheel police station on this regard.

On June 6, 2013, the investigation officer of the case submitted the charge sheet accusing seven accused and mentioning nine prosecution witnesses.

The court framed charges against them on January 30, 2014. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

CHT Commission official injured in attack K Sarker in Dhaka and Our n Probir Correspondent in Bandarban Coordinator of the CHT Commission Hana Shams has come under attack again, allegedly by the members of same group – Bangalee Somo Odhikar Andolon, who in early July enforced blockade to prevent the CHTC members from visiting the district.

The incident took place at a location between Milonchhari Rest House and Sakura Resort of the town around 6:30pm on Monday.

At that time, Hana and a female teacher of Jahangirnagar University were returning to town from Shailopropat Tourist Spot on a taxi. Some 10 youths aged between 25 and 35 and led

by BSOA leader HM Samrat intercepted the taxi, pulled out two other passengers and then physically assaulted her.

The youths stopped and left the place only after a local indigenous person, apparently known to Samrat, saw the incident. “They were also shouting at us and asking ‘Why have you come here?’” Hana told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

OC of Sadar police Md Imtiaz Hossain confirmed the incident.

Samrat is the secretary of Parbatya Bangalee Chhatra Parishad’s CHT regional unit. The parishad is a wing of the BSOA. Even though the members of DB police had been accompanying Hana and her friend since the morning, they were nowhere near when the attack took place, Hana told the Dhaka Tribune.

“When we reached Bandarban on Monday morning, members of the DB

BCL burns Tarique’s effigy n DU Correspondent Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists burnt the effigy of BNP Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman yesterday, protesting his “derogatory remarks” on Bangabandhu’s family.

They brought out a procession which marched through different streets of Dhaka University (DU) and also staged a demonstration at the base of Aparajeyo Bangla at noon.

They protested Tarique’s remarks which claimed that the Mujib family was a killer family.

During the agitation programme, the BCL members demanded Tarique’s apology to the nation for his remarks, that Tarique be brought back, and all cases against him be reopened.

BCL President H M Badiuzzaman Sohag, Joint Secretary Abdur Rahman Jibon, President of DU BCL Mehedi Hasan and General Secretary of DU BCL Omar Sharif, among others were present at the protest rally.

Earlier on Monday, Tarique Rahman, the eldest son of BNP chief Khaleda Zia, claimed that Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina was directly involved with the August 21 grenade attack.

Tarique said: “Hasina is responsible for the deaths in the attack as she allowed it to be conducted.” “She called our family a killer family. But, Mujib’s family is a killer family, not ours”, Tarique added. l

police at the bus stop told me that they were ordered to provide me security since the situation in Bandarban was unpredictable. I agreed and since then four DB officers in plain clothes accompanied us wherever we went,” she added.

Hana said she had met a local journalist and Lelung Khumi, planning officer of a joint project of the Bandarban Hill District Council and the CHTDF-UNDP, on Monday.

She did not file any complaint with the local police station because she felt insecure. “I went to Bandarban on a personal visit. I will decide on filing a case after consulting with the members of the commission.”

Locals said Hana was attacked as rumours spread that she had been holding meetings with the indigenous leaders.

On July 5, three members of the CHT Commission, including Hana, and the sadar OC came under attack of the BSOA men in front of the Rangamati DGFI office during their visit in the three hill districts. The CHT Commission blamed police inaction for the Rangamati attack.

Later two people were arrested in this connection. But they were not among those named in a case filed by the commission.

They had to postpone their visit to Bandarban since several local groups of Bangalee settlers had announced blockade in the district. The group also faced outrage of the BSOA activists outside the Parjatan Motel in Khagrachhari, two days before the Rangamati attack. l

Johannes Zutt, country director, World Bank, Bangladesh and Nepal, speaks at the launching ceremony of the Quality Assurance Mechanism in Universities at Westin Hotels in the capital yesterday NASHIRUL ISLAM

Health Complex in sorry state in Noakhali n Our Correspondent, Noakhali

People of Subarnachar upazila are deprived of proper health care services as the Subarnachar Upazila Health Complex is beset with problems such as the unavailability of doctors and medicine, unclean premises, broken down equipments, interrupted power supply and shortage of hospital staff.

Dr Rahim, Acting Residential Medical Officer (RMO), acknowledged many problems of the health complex and added that the newly built building has not been inaugurated yet. The post of Upazila Health and Family Planning Officer (UHFPO) has been vacant for the past 2 years. Only 12 doctors are appointed against 29 posts, and among them 9 are in service while 3 serve in

deputation, he informed.

The RMO also said there were only 3 nurses appointed against 15 posts, one sweeper against 5 posts and 1 night guard against 2 posts. The X-Ray machine is out of order, and ultra-sonogram and ECG Machines were not installed. The operation theatre is unusable and there is no generator in the hospital. An Emergency Obstetrics Care (EOC) unit is badly needed too, he added.

Many complained that duty doctors practice at nearby private clinics and when they are at the hospital they remain occupied by the medical representatives most of the time.

This reporter found that an assistant community medical officer named Abu Sufian was admitting and giving treatment to the patients in the Emergency

market after showing them to be prescribed to fake patients in the registrar.

When contacted, Civil Surgeon of Noakhali Md Delowar Hossain said: “Services at the health complex will be improved by inaugurating the new building and by recruiting nurses and other staffs.” He confirmed the recruitment of 10 doctors in the vacant posts and assured that the Health Ministry would be informed about the lack of instruments in the hospital.

When asked about the doctors’ private practices, the civil surgeon said, “I have no information about it, and actions will be taken if those accusations are found true.” The civil surgeon also said necessary steps would be taken to prevent the reselling of the hospital’s medicines outside the hospital. l

Secretariat staff Russia keen to import more recruitment policy likely shrimp from Bangladesh n to get final approval Mohosinul Karim

n Mohosinul Karim The draft of amended Bangladesh Secretariat (Non-Cadre Gazetted Officers and Non-Gazetted Employees) Recruitment Rules is going to be placed before the authorities concerned for approval.

Sources at the Public Administration Ministry confirmed, saying the draft, which was made and amended by the ministry, would be presented in a Secretary Committee on Administrative Reform meeting supposed to be held in Secretariat today to ensure final approval, the last step on the way to a gazette notification in this regard.

The ministry made the amendment within six months after it was published in March this year.

According to the draft copy, the age

limit for the eligible candidates was proposed at 40 years with six years of minimum experience requirement in getting a promotion by the classIII and IV employees was lessened by one year while the promotion quota was increased to 40 percent from the existing 30.

The number of the written test and the viva voce for the employees was proposed at 70 and 30 respectively and the Member of Lower Supporting Staffs (MLSS), Daptari and Duplicating Machine Operator designations would be replaced by Office Help.

According to the cabinet division officials, a gazette in this regard would come soon if the committee will approve in the meeting. They claimed that there will have changes in some other provisions as well. l

Russian Federation intends to import more shrimps from Bangladesh through enlisted shrimp producers and packaging industries that would ensure the quality of shrimp according to the requirements of the country.

The department of fisheries will prepare a list of organisations after examining their standard and quality control measures, and send it to the federation authority.

“If they approve the list, more shrimp producing companies will get the chance to export shrimp to Russia,” Minister of Fisheries and Livestock Muhammed Sayedul Hoque told the reporters yesterday after a meeting with Alexander A Nikolaev, Russian Federation’s Ambassador in Dhaka.

The diplomat met the minister in his office at the secretariat to discuss the

measures taken by the government to improve the standard of Bangladeshi shrimp.

At present, only three companies are allowed to export shrimp to Russia, but those companies are not capable of meeting the demand Earlier, the federation put a ban on shrimp import from Bangladesh last year for its sub-standard quality, but it was opened again after the government took initiatives to improve the quality.

At present, only three companies are allowed to export shrimp to Russia, but those companies are not capable of meeting the demand in the federation.

So, the federation wants to increase the number of exporters, which would enable it to import more shrimp from Bangladesh in the future, said the ministry’s Senior Information Officer Mohammad Ali Sarker.

Sayedul Hoque assured the diplomat that Bangladesh has a good prospect in fulfilling Russia’s demand for shrimp as the potential of Bangladesh increased after winning disputes over maritime boundaries with Indian and Myanmar.

Appreciating the swift moves by Bangladesh government to solve problems regarding the poor quality of exported shrimp, Nikolaev said, “It has created prospect of expanding the Bangladeshi shrimp market in Russia.”

The ambassador also requested the minister to give a list of Bangladeshi products that could be exported to the federation. l

Flood victims angered at minister’s chopper visit n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

BNS Umar Farooq catches fire n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Bangladesh Navy Ship (BNS) Umar Farooq caught fire at the Bangladesh Naval Base, BNS Isha Khan, in Chittagong city’s Patenga area yesterday.

Assistant Director Mohammad Yiahia of Fire Service and Civil Defence Headquarters in Chittagong told the Dhaka Tribune that the fire originated from the kitchen of the ship around 2pm.

However, the fire was extinguished before fire fighting teams from the EPZ and Agrabad fire stations reached the spot, he said.

Chittagong Port Deputy Conservator Captain Nazmul Alam said two tugboats of Chittagong port – Kandari 2 and Kandari 10 – were also sent to the spot.

Meanwhile, Navy sources said the fire originated from an electric short circuit in the kitchen of the ship. The ship’s crew succeeded in dousing the fire within 20 minutes of the incident.

The ship is used to train the midshipmen as well as to support operations at the coastal areas of the country. l

Unit. The doctors supposed to be on duty sign on admission papers later, said the assistant to this reporter.

Jalal Uddin, a patient from Char Jubilee village said, “I came to this hospital for the first time. I did not get proper treatment and the bed sheets are dirty.

I am also disappointed with the doctors, as even four days after being admitted, I could not see one.”

Saheda Khatun, 68, from Char Wapda village said, “We have to buy medicines from pharmacies outside the hospital. Where would we get money to buy medicine? We know government hospitals provide medicine free of cost, but we do not get much of them here.”

According to the sources some dishonest employees of the health complex sell government medicines in the

Noel Saminathan, managing director and head of Citi’s Cash Product Management in the Southeast Asian region, speaks at the inaugural ceremony of the Nationwide Electronic Payment Roadshow at Westin Hotels in the capital yesterday NASHIRUL ISLAM

Case filed against 107 CU Shibir men n CU Correspondent

Police filed a case against 227 students on Monday, a day after a gunfight took place between activists of the Islami Chhatra Shibir and Bangladesh Chhatra League and explosives were recovered at a Chittagong University dormitory.

Of them, 107 are Shibir leaders and activists whose names were mentioned in the case, said Hathazari police station’s Sub-Inspector Nurul Hakim, who

filed the case around 10pm. They included prime accused Suhrawardy Hall unit Shibir President Abudul Hakim, CU unit President Mustafizur Rahman, General Secretary Mohiuddin Sarkar and Orgranising Secretary Saidul Islam, he said.

Earlier on Sunday, police recovered 15 petrol and crude bombs after Shibir men had engaged in a gunfight with Chhatra League activists at Suhrawardy Hall over a trifling matter.

At least five students were injured in the fight.

After the clash, the dormitory was closed for an indefinite period, asking its students to leave by Monday.

Another dormitory Shah Amanat Hall has been closed since a clash took place there on January 12.

Meanwhile, a press release has been issued in the name of general students in which reopening of both halls within 72 hours was demanded. l

Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud’s short visit to the flood-hit areas of the district has triggered anger among the flood affected people as the minister observed the flood situation from a helicopter.

According to locals, the minister reached the district around 4pm yesterday and observed the flood situation from the helicopter for 15 minutes.

Neither his chopper landed on the ground nor he talked to the flood victims, locals alleged, adding that the minister did not even distribute any relief stuff.

Gaibandha Water Development Board Executive Engineer Abdul Awal said: “The helicopter carrying the minister reached the flood-hit areas of Fuljhuri under Saghata upazila in the afternoon. But, it did not land. He observed the flood situation for 15 minutes from the helicopter.”

Expressing dissatisfaction, Maulana Mahbubur Rahman, a local school teacher, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It would be better if he visited the area and talked to the affected people, but his helicopter did not touch the ground.”

Fazlupur union parishad Chairman Zainal Abedin also claimed that he did not know anything about the minister’s

visit beforehand.

He said: “People of my area expected that they would share their sufferings with him (the minister) during the visit. Besides, the ultra-poor people were expecting to get relief. Among 3,000 people, some 450 get relief since flood hit my area.”

After talking to local representatives of the flood-affected areas of the district, the Dhaka Tribune has found that some 3,000 people got relief among 25,000 flood victims.

The minister was accompanied by State Minister Nazrul Islam and WDB Director Shahidur Rahman.

Flood situation has deteriorated in many areas of the district as the river water has crossed the danger level.

According to the WDB, water level of Ghagat, Brahmaputra and Karatoya rivers are already flowing above the danger level since Monday night.

The water level of the Ghagat River is flowing 13cm above the danger level, the water level of the Brahmaputra River increased by 4cm and in the Korotoa River by 24cm in last 24 hours.

Over 4,000 houses have been completely damaged while 8,000 have been partially affected in the flood, said officials of District Department of Disaster Management and Relief. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Ecnec okays three projects involving TK270cr A total of 45,843,404 khatians have been kept in record rooms n BSS The Executive Committee of the National Economic Council yesterday approved three development projects including digitization of land survey, record and preservation system.

The approval came from the 6th Ecnec meeting of the current fiscal held at the NEC conference room in city’s Sher-e- Banglanagar with Ecnec Chairperson and Prime Minister

Sheikh Hasina in the chair.

Planning Minister A H M Mustofa Kamal, after the meeting, told reporters the three development projects would require a total cost of Taka 270.61 crore.

The government would bear all the expenses from the national exchequer, he added.

He said the “Land Survey, Record Formulation and Preservation through Digitized System (First Phase:

Computerization of Existing Mouza Maps and Khatians)(1st revised)” project aims to provide land related documents to the owners easily without any hassle.

Under the project, a total of 4,58,43,404 khatians (CS, SA and RS) that has been kept in the record rooms of 55 districts would be computerized using modern technology.

Ministry of Land has been entrusted with the task of implementing the

project by June, 2016 involving Taka 92.78 crore.

The Ecnec also approved “S i n e b o a rd - Mo r e l g a n j - R aye n d a Sharankhola-Bogi Road (1st revised)” project to develop it into a regional highway for better communication system.

Roads and Highways Department will implement the 52.15 Km long road project by June, 2016 with a cost of Taka 123.48 crore.

Another project “40 Feet long Air Breathing and Gas Fired Fire Fighting Training Gallery and Collecting Fire Fighting Rescue Equipment” involving Taka 54.35 crore was approved in the Ecnec meeting.

Bangladesh Fire Service and Civil Defense department will implement the project by June, 2016.

Ministers, State ministers, secretaries and officials concerned were present in the meeting. l

Indefinite transport strike begins on Rangamati-Ctg road n Tribune Desk Transport owners and workers of the district have called an indefinite strike on Rangamati-Chittagong road from Wednesday, demanding the arrest of the attackers of six bus drivers.

Rangamati Road and Waterway Transport Owners-Workers’ Unity Council announced the strike at a press conference at the office of RangamatiChittagong Motor Owners’ Association in the town yesterday, reports UNB. Meanwhile, the Rangamati District Bus Workers’ Union has suspended bus operations on the RangamatiChittagong road in protest against the assault on six bus drivers on Monday.

On Monday night, the six bus drivers were beaten up by miscreants following a brawl between the transport workers and local shopkeepers at Old Bus Station area in the town.

A case has been filed with Kotwali police station in this connection. Police have already arrested two suspects – Hafizul and Monzu. l

RMG factory workers protest in Ashulia over job cut n Our Correspondent, Savar Workers of a readymade garment factory in Ashulia refrained from work yesterday following the job dismissal of two fellow workers.

The workers of Designer Jeans factory in Jamgora area of Ashulia burst into protest as they came to know that the garment authorities had fired their line manager and an operator on Monday.

They informed that yesterday they had come to work like any other day, however, around 11am, as the news spread they stopped working and demanded the restoration of the two workers.

The workers did not return to work even after the Industrial Police went to the spot to calm the situation.

Confirming the incident, Ashulia Industrial Police Director Mostafizur Rahman said additional police force had been deployed in front of the factory to avoid untoward situation. l

WEATHER LIGHT RAIN OR THUNDERSHOWER

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 6:22PM SUN RISES 5:39AM FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

33

26

Chittagong

30

26

Rajshahi

32

26

Rangpur

30

26

Khulna

32

25

Barisal

32

25

Sylhet

32

25

Cox’s Bazar

30

26

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

35.0ºC Jessore

23.2ºC Sylhet

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajar Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:21am 5:38am 12:00am 4:32pm 6:22pm 7:40pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

5

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

A woman takes part in human chain programme organised by Samajtantrik Sramik Front in front of the National Press Club in the city yesterday, protesting closure of Tuba garment factories MEHEDI HASAN

14 DU students, 4 teachers receive dean’s award n DU Correspondent

Some 14 students and four teachers from different departments of the Science Faculty of Dhaka University (DU) have received the prestigious Dean’s Award.

The award was given to the students for their outstanding academic results in the BSc Honours Examination, 2012 while the teachers for their extraordinary contributions to research and writing books.

DU Vice Chancellor Professor Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique distributed certificates among the awardees as chief guest at a function held at the Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban yesterday.

In the speech, the VC said meritorious students will have to work hard to help develop the socioeconomic condition of the ordinary people and he urged the students to play a pioneering role in eradicating discrimination from society.

Awardees students are: Jyoti Prokash Biswas (Physics), Farhana Ahmed Simi, Shirin Provat, Zakir Hossine, Sajal Chakroborty, Arafatur Rahman (Mathematics), Ataur Rahman (Chemistry), Shahnaz Nilima, Sharmin Akter, Karmrun Naher Keya, Rehana Akther, Kanchan Kumar Sen (Statistics, Biostatistics and Informatics), Ajmery Jaman and Humayera Islam (ISRT) while the teachers are Prof Dr Golam Mohammad Bhuiyan (Theoretical Physics), Prof Dr Md Aftab Ali Shaikh (Chemistry), Assistant Prof Dr Hasinur Rahaman Khan (ISRT) and Lecturer Dr Md Zavid Iqbal Bangalee.

Dean of the faculty Prof Dr Mohammad Yousuf Ali Mollah, presided over the programme, and ProVC (Academic) Prof Dr Nasreen Ahmad, Pro-VC (Administration) Prof Dr Shahid Akhtar Hossain and Treasurer Prof Dr Md Kamal Uddin addressed the event among others. l

JU employees demand favourable admission rules for their children

No urea production at Fenchuganj fertiliser factory

n Mahadi Al Hasnat

Production of urea has been suspended at the Fenchuganj fertiliser factory for the last 26 days due to a power shortage.

Managing Director of the factory, Iskandar Ali said, Urea production had been halted as a 33 KV transformer of the factory’s sub-station malfunctioned on July 30. “It has been sent for repair and production would be resumed soon.”

He, however, he mentioned that Ammonia production was going on using alternative options.

President of Fenchuganj fertilis-

Employees of Jahangirnagar University (JU) are demanding a favourable stance on the university’s admission rules regarding their children.

According to a revised admission rule, the offsprings of the university’s employees have to have minimum of GPA 4 in their HSC which was GPA 3 before.

Some departments like International Relations, English etc require students under the brood quota to have at least GPA 4 in Bangla and English in their HSC to gain admission.

While demonstrating in front of the registrar’s office on Monday, the agitating employees claimed that the authorities had intentionally increased the minimum requirement to deprive their children. They announced to refrain from work from today and go for a tougher movement from Saturday if the demands were not met by tomorrow.

Md Abdur Rahim, general secretary of JU Employees Association, said: “The authorities have an intention of depriving our children. But we have rights that authorities must fulfill.”

Over the years, under different banners the employees have been reportedly blackmailing and putting pressure on the university authority to admit their children in different departments and institutes violating

the existing admission rules and regulations.

As the university has increased the requirements many unqualified children of the employees are not getting admission to their desired departments, said sources.

The employees have been reportedly blackmailing and putting pressure on the university authority to admit their children in different departments and institutes violating the existing admission rules and regulations In April this year, the admission test conduct committee of JU decided to provide three additional marks to the university staff ’s children in admission tests under the domestic quota.

Moreover, all conditions including minimum pass mark in related departments were withdrawn from the quota.

However, a number of students, teachers and parents complained that while thousands of students have

to take part in an intense battle for admission, the employee’s children need to get only 21 marks out of 60 in the written part of the admission test. In the wake of pressure created by different unions of university’s employees the authority had favoured the students under domestic quota over the years.

A teacher of the university, seeking anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Officers and employees have held the entire university hostage and they are not obeying university’s rules and regulations. Undeserving students are getting admitted using the domestic quota while general students are being deprived.”

“Many unqualified students from the quotas fail in their semester final exams afterwards. Some of them are not even prepared to study in a university. If authorities change their stance in this regard, not only they would bring good to the university but also stop the hypocrisy that is going on with students of the country,” he said.

JU Deputy Registrar (Education) Mohamad Ali said decision would be taken in the next meeting of the admission test committee regarding the matter.

When contacted, JU Pro ViceChancellor Prof Abul Hossain told: “Additional marks for the domestic quota is a tradition in the university, we cannot break this tradition.” l

n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

er factory trade union, Saleh Ahmed said: “The transformer failed due to overloading as the adjacent under construction Shahjalal fertiliser factory had been illegally fetching power from it.” He threatened to go on strike if the power supply to the factory was not disconnected. They also laid siege to the MD’s office recently demanding to start production.

The MD denied the allegation and claimed no power was supplied to the adjacent factory. The production was simply disrupted by malfunctioning of the transformer, he reiterated. l

One jailed for life for abducting minor in Chittagong n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A Chittagong court yesterday sentenced a life term imprisonment to a person and also fined him Tk 50,000 for abducting a six-year-old girl from Chittagong city’s Karnaphuli area in 2009.

The judge of Women and Children Oppression Prevention Tribunal 1 Md Rezaul Karim passed the order yesterday in presence of the convict Moslem Uddin, said court sources.

According to the prosecution, Moslem abducted Tahmina Akhter, daughter of Jannatul Ferdous, a resident of Shah Mirpur area under Karanaphuli police station, from her residence on

January 23, 2009.

Later, Moslem took the girl to Purbo Charkhali village of Bhola and demanded Tk1 lakh ransom from the victim’s mother over telephone on the next day.

Following that, Jannatul Ferdous lodged a case with Karanaphuli police station in this connection on January 24, 2009 while police rescued the girl and arrested Moslem from Bhola four days after her abduction.

Police submitted a charge sheet before the court on February 28, 2009 accusing Moslem while the court framed charges against the lone accused on May 5, 2009. l

Nahid:Quality of education still not up to the mark n UNB Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday said the quality of education in the country is not quite up to the mark although there has been some improvement.

Addressing a discussion meeting on the strategies for improving the quality of education at the university level, the minister noted that it is the first challenge for the Education Ministry to improve the quality of higher education.

The Bangladesh University Grants Commission (UGC) organised the discussion meeting at a city hotel.

Nahid said the government will not let any private university to operate

unless they comply with the existing laws for the sector.

He noted that a few among the 79 private universities are skirting around the laws, but they move to the court whenever legal steps are taken against them.

The Education Minister warned that such errant private universities will not be able to keep operating in the long run.

Speaking on the occasion, UGC chairman AK Azad Chowdhury also echoed the minister by saying the errant universities are managing to remain operational by securing stay orders from the court whenever the UGC takes any legal action. l

Prime Minster Sheikh Hasina enquires about the Hajj pilgrims in Ashkona Haj Camp in the capital yesterday

BSS

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Diarrhoea outbreak in Kushtia worsens n Our Correspondent, Kushtia The prevailing one-week-long diarrhoea outbreak has turned into a matter of great concern as the situation was deteriorating continuously, leaving an apprehension going the state out of control.

While visiting, the correspondent found that the corridors and verandahs as well as any free space of the 250-bed Kushtia General Hospital have been full of diarrhoea affected patients.

Even if the hospital authorities have been forced to set up tents before the hospital to give medical services to the increased patients.

On the other hand, the staff and physicians of the hospital were struggling to give due services to the huge people with their limited support.

Alike the hospital, the scenario of other hospitals of the district was same, in some cases the people have been taking treatment in their residents due to the space crunch.

When contacted, sources at Department of Public Health Engineering (DPHE), Kushtia, said they primarily suspected that contaminated surface water extracting by tube-wells caused the outbreak.

Kushtia Municipality authorities yesterday started giving advice the locals by loudspeakers not to drink the surface water without boiled.

Earlier, the district administration formed three separate committees to tackle the situation.

NEWS IN BRIEF 750kg cumin recovered Members of Border Guard Bangladesh seized 750 kg Indian cumin in the district yesterday. Sources said on a tip-off, the BGB members launched a drive by the Dharla Bridge and stopped a pickup van in the area. Later they recovered the goods from the vehicle worth about Tk11 lakh.BGB commander Mofazzal Hossain Akand confirmed the incident.

– Our Correspondent, Kurigram

Smuggler held with firearm Members of Border Guard Bangladesh arrested a smuggler yesterday with firearms in Saliajot border area under the district.

According to sources on a tip-off, a team of law enforces raided the house of Nekbar Khan in Saliajot village at night and arrested him with an Indian made pistol and two bullets. Later, he was handed over to Tetulia police station with the firearm and bullets. A case was filed in this connection. BGB commander Ariful Haque confirmed the incident.

– Our Correspondent, Panchagarh

Boatman drowns in Meghna A boatman drowned yesterday in the Meghna River under the district. According to sources, Sadhin, the boatman was coming from Shariatpur with a jute laden boat. When the boat reached near Chandpur area, it fell into a strong whirlpool and the boatman drowned. Relatives of Sadhin complained that the local administration did not take steps to rescue him.

– Our Correspondent, Chandpur

33 absconding accused arrested Police arrested 33 absconding yesterday in the district accused in several cases. Police sources said on a tip-off, the law enforcers in over night drive arrested the criminals from several houses. They were accused in several cases including vandalism, robbery and murder. Superintend of Police Mohammad Tabarak Ullah said the drives would continue for few days.

– Our Correspondent, Kurigram

Deputy Commissioner of Kushtia Syed Belal Hossain talks to two diarhoea patients at Sadar Hospital yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE The five-member committee, led by Kushtia Medical Officer Dr Mizanur Rahman, was directed to find out the cause and remedies of the outbreak.

The 15-member committee, led by Kushtia Medical College Associate Professor Dr Mahfuzur Rahman, was assigned to give medical services to the diarrhoea patients round the clock.

The another five-member committee has been assigned to oversee the overall situation and make reports along with recommendation of neces-

sary measures.

At yesterday noon, Kushtia Deputy Commissioner Soid Belal Hossain visited the spot and he, observing the overall scenario of diarrhoea outbreak, instantly requested the local Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) Sector Commander to send its medical teams there in an urgent basis.

Afterwards, the BGB teams started giving medical services to the diarrhoea affected people by erecting tents in front of the hospital. l

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Six hospitals in Comilla crippled by problems n Our Correspondent, Comilla Six hospitals, each with the capacity of 20 beds in different parts of Comilla, are unable to offer heath care to patients as they are unoperational due to a string of problems.

Three of them opened occasionally while theft occurs regularly at the remaining three. All the six hospitals are almost deserted.

The healthcare facilities are Bagmara Hospital, Sonaimuri Hospital, Goharua Hospital, Mahichail Hospital, Donarchar Hospital and Trauma Centre.

The 20-bed Goharua Hospital was built in Nangalkot upazila at a cost of Tk6 crore eight years ago, but it is offering no service at all to patients.

There are no doctors, nurses and security guards, and all the nine buildings of the hospital are largely covered by bush.

Nangalkot Jodda Union Parishad Chairman Ali Akkas said the hospital could have served more than two hundred thousand people in Nangalkot, Senbagh and Manoharganj.

Nangalkot Upazila Health Officer Dr Liakat Ali said the hospital’s electricity line was disconnected due to outstanding bill.

“There is no water there either.

Many things have been stolen as there is no security guard. Apart from ensuring proper infrastructure, the hospital needs manpower,” he said.

The Trauma Centre at Shahidnagar in Daudkandi upazila was built in 2006 at a cost of Tk6 crore with the aim of dispensing emergency treatment to pa-

tients facing accidents on Dhaka-Chittagong highway.

The health ministers of both the Awami League and the BNP inaugurated the hospital separately but it is yet to go into full fledged operations.

Construction of Donarchar Hospital ended in 2006 but it has an ineffective outdoor department with inadequate doctors and nurses.

Mahichail Hospital in Chandina was built in 2006 and there is outdoor department but like Donarchar Hospital, there are not sufficient healthcare professionals. Construction of Sonaimuri Hospital began in 2002 but only 70% of the work has finished in twelve years.

The initial expense was Tk4.13 crore.

The hospital now looks like an abandoned property.

Bagmara Hospital lies in the same condition as Sonaimuri Hospital. Construction began in 2005 but only 57% of the work has been completed so far.

The initial expense of the project was Tk5.82 crore.

Comilla Civil Surgeon Dr Mujib Rahman admitted the poor condition of the hospitals.

“Construction of Bagmara and Sonaimuri Hospitals are yet to be finished. Mahichail and Donarchar Hospitals have outdoor departments. Lack of manpower is hampering operations of the others,” he said.

“We have applied seeking appointment of some new staff and also some infrastructural developments. I hope the recruitment will end shortly,” he added. l

Lawyer arrested for realising extortion in Jessore n Our Correspondent, Jessore Police arrested a lawyer of Jessore Bar Association in an extortion case filed by a client on Monday night.

The accused Ruhin Baluj hails from Bagharpara upazila and had been practicing at the Jessore Judges’ Court. He was arrested following a case filed by his client Shajahan Kabir of Monirampur upazila.

According to Shajahan, he came to the Judges’ court on August 23 to file a human rights violation case. At that time Ruhin took Tk2,500 as advance and asked him to see him on the following day. When Shajahan met him on August 24, Ruhin demanded Tk10,000 from him.

Shajahan refused to give the money and an altercation broke out. At one point, Ruhin, with the help of some miscreants, captured Shajahan and took him to Kajipara, where he was severely beaten by the gang. He was later brought to a residential hotel and tortured again.

At that time, Ruhin and his associates snatched Tk20,000 and a motorcycle from him. Shajahan was released at around 11pm after he unwillingly signed two non-judicial stamps.

When contacted, General Secretary of Jessore Bar Association, Abu Mortaza Chhoto said, he had heard about the incident. He, however, claimed that it could be a retaliation of a case against two police men that Ruhin was involved in. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Partition of India: A historical imperative Why the partition of India was inevitable, necessary and timely for India’s Muslims

The map of the British Raj – how the political map of undivided India would look if it would have been realised

I

n Hafeejul Alam

t is rather baffling that even after more than six decades of independence or partition, many distinguished Indians dream about Akhand Bharat or undivided India and express great passion for the same, while completely forgetting the hard impact of about two hundred years’ of British colonial rule on the social, political and economic lives of the millions of people who are called Muslims.

They never even shrink from unconvincing criticism of such great leaders of the then India as Mohammed Ali Jinnah or Pandit Jawaherlal Nehru, both of whom ultimately spearheaded the independence of India from the British rule, and two independent states were born on August 14 and 15 – Pakistan and India, respectively.

In the garb of two-nation theory, what Jinnah wanted to achieve was emancipation of the downtrodden and forlorn Muslims of the Sub-Continent from the clutches of poverty and helplessness

The course of history is hardly soothing for those people who are averse to objective analysis – like celebrated Spanish poet and novelist Jorge Santayana is often quoted: “those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it.”

Pertinently, eminent columnist Kuldip Nayar’s recently published article, styled as “The idea of partition recedes in shadow,” has brought forward a few questions about his observations. According to him: “Pakistan’s founder Mohammad Ali Jinnah went on plugging that Hindus and Muslims were two separate nations, and this made them increasingly distant from each other.”

Obviously, such a generalisation about the partition of India is far away

from the historical facts. What is interesting is that, it was Jinnah who tried his best in brining Hindus and Muslims together, and was once declared

by MK Gandhi as the “ambassador of Hindu-Muslim unity.” Needless to say, Mohammed Ali Jinnah has been painted as the villain of India’s partition in 1947 only as an attempt to pass the buck and without any cogent reason.

On the other hand, Jaswant Singh, a former Indian foreign minister, in his landmark publication, “Jinnah: India, Partition, Independence” compared the leadership of Nehru, Gandhi, and Jinnah. According to Jaswant Singh, there were several players more culpable – the British, Congress leaders like MK Gandhi, and Muslim leaders who carried the traits of today’s Islamic terrorists.

He further stressed that the demand for Pakistan was made by elements that Gandhi encouraged and Jinnah initially abhorred, and the responsibility for India’s vivisection lies with the Congress and British, not with Jinnah.

Sometimes it is also alleged that Nehru believed in a highly centralised policy and that’s what he wanted India to be. On the other hand Jinnah wanted a federal polity which even Gandhi accepted. Nehru didn’t. Consistently, Nehru stood in the way of a federal India until 1947 when it became a partitioned India.

However, may we not forget that in the long course of history, it’s not always the leaders who chalk out the politics of a nation. Sometimes, just the opposite happens when the circumstances become such that the sensible section of the people propel their leaders to adopt a strategy which stands the test of time.

The plain truth is that neither Nehru nor Jinnah could hardly reverse the course of history which the British laid during 200 years of colonial rule. One needs not go through civil servant-turned-historian William Wilson Hunter’s “Indian Musalmans” or Percival Spear’s series of books on Indian history to understand as to how the British from the very beginning of their colonisation, were highly dubious about the Muslims who were otherwise very well off before the British occupation of India.

According to WW Hunter: “The Musalmans of India are, and have been for many years, a source of

WIKIIMEDIA

chronic danger to the British power in India. For some reason or other, they hold aloof from our system, and the changes in which the more flexible Hindus have cheerfully acquiesced, are regarded by them as deep personal wrongs.”

No wonder, within a generation, well-to-do Muslims of India became poor peasants under the Hindu zaminders (landlords), and thus turned into a hapless uneducated mass to be dealt with cruelly both by the British and the high caste Hindus.

Thus the great divide between the Hindus and the Muslims started right there, not on the ground of religious believes but on the abysmal economic, social, and political disparities between the two peoples. It may be worth mentioning here that before the advent of the British in India, generally the Hindus, Muslims and people with various other faiths used to live in this Sub-Continent in peace and amity.

Therefore, in the garb of two-nation theory, what Jinnah wanted to achieve was emancipation of the down-trodden and forlorn Muslims of the Sub-Continent from the clutches of poverty and helplessness.

Kuldip Nayar maintained that in undivided India, the Muslims could comprise one-third of the total population (including those of Pakistan and Bangladesh) with as much voting power. His contention is again very much arguable as the learned columnist might appreciate that the main question at that time was not the voting power of the Muslims, but fashioning their lives without interference from the majority Hindus.

Even today, there are approximately as much Muslims in India as there are either in Bangladesh or Pakistan.

But if one compares the standard of living of the Muslims in India with that of either Pakistan or Bangladesh, one may easily conclude why the partition of India was highly imperative in 1947.

According to the report produced by a committee led by a former chief justice of India, Rajender Sachar, Muslims are now worse off in India than the Dalits, or those once called untouchables. Some 52% of Muslim men are unemployed, compared with 47% of Dalit men. Among Muslim women, 91% are unemployed, compared with 77% of Dalit women. Almost half of

In post-independence India, the Muslim community remained downtrodden economically in comparison with all other majority or minority communities

Muslims over the age of 46 cannot read or write.

While making up nearly 14% of the total population of the country, Muslims account for 40% of India’s prison population. They hold only 4.9% of government jobs and only 3.2% of the jobs in the country’s security agencies, thus creating a new set of “untouchable Indians” in the modern democratic republic of India.

This official data is enough to figure out that in post-independence India, the Muslim community remained downtrodden economically in comparison with all other majority or minority communities.

It is expected that the government in India would come forward and take effective steps to improve the lots of the Muslims over there, for no country can prosper keeping the 14% of it’s population trapped in poverty. One may now conclude why the partition of India was inevitable.

There is no gainsaying the fact that the partition brought about tremendous misery to the Hindus, Muslims, and Sikhs. There were merciless killings on the both sides of the borders in the name of respective faiths which took more than a million lives and caused displacement of more than twenty million people. But the alternative or the undivided India could be even more menacing, and could have brought forth endless civil wars causing many times more casualties.

An undivided Indian government, no matter how it could have been formed, would be just unable to contain such a situation. It may be worth mentioning that both Jinnah and

Nehru were hard core secularists and prognostic statesmen. Nehru wanted a peaceful India, free from any political or religious discord.

Jinnah too had envisioned a secular Pakistan, but later governments had subverted his ideals to let Islamisation into the polity. The popular idea is to quote Jinnah’s now oft-quoted speech on August 11, 1947, when he said: “ in course of time Hindus would cease to be Hindus and Muslims would cease to be Muslims; not in the religious sense, because that is the personal faith of each individual, but in the political sense as citizens of the state.”

Admittedly, the Pakistan which Jinnah envisaged is not the Pakistan of today. After the sad demise of Jinnah, the rulers were mostly dogmatic, dictatorial, and narrow-minded so much so that within a short time (in 1971), the people of East Pakistan (now Bangladesh) had to liberate themselves through a bloody war against Pakistani occupying forces.

Today’s Pakistan, although a nuclear power, is not developing as was expected and situation is aggravated by the Talibans and other religious bigots.

On the other hand, despite many problems, Bangladesh, with more secular and matured outlook, is doing better socially, politically and economically.

The country is the world’s second largest exporter of garments and textile products after China.

As of now, it’s economic and social development indicators are reported to be the best in South Asia. l The writer is a former civil servant, and a freelance contributor.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

US surveillance planes fly over Syria n AP, Kabul The US has begun surveillance flights over Syria after President Barack Obama gave the OK, US officials said, a move that could pave the way for airstrikes against Islamic State militant targets there.

While the White House says Obama has not approved military action inside Syria, additional intelligence on the militants would likely be necessary before he could take that step. Pentagon officials have been drafting potential options for the president, including airstrikes.

One official said the administration has a need for reliable intelligence from Syria and called the surveillance flights an important avenue for obtaining data.

Two US officials said Monday that Obama had approved the flights, while another US official said early Tuesday that they had begun. The officials were not authorized to discuss the matter by name, and spoke only on condition of anonymity.

Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told reporters in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Tuesday that the US wants more clarity on the militants in Syria, but declined to comment on the surveillance flights.

“Clearly the picture we have of ISIS on the Iraqi side is a more refined picture,” said Dempsey, using one of the acronyms for the Islamic State group.

“The existence and activities of ISIS on the Syrian side, we have ... some insights into that but we certainly want to have more insights into that as we craft a way forward.”

The US began launching strikes against the Islamic State inside Iraq earlier this month, with Obama citing

Ukraine captures Russian soldiers on ‘special mission’ n Reuters, Kiev

Sailors guide a military plane on the flight deck of the US Navy aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush on August 10 in the Persian Gulf.

Aircrafts aboard the George H.W. Bush are flying missions over Iraq after US President Barack Obama authorized airstrikes against Islamic militants and food drops for Iraqis trapped by the fighters AP the threat to American personnel in the country and a humanitarian crisis in the north as his rationale. Top Pentagon officials have said the only way the threat from the militants can be fully eliminated is to go after the group inside neighboring Syria as well.

Obama has long resisted taking military action in Syria, a step that would plunge the US into a country ravaged by an intractable civil war. However, the president’s calculus appears to have shifted since the Islamic State announced last week that it had mur-

dered American journalist James Foley, who was held hostage in Syria. The group is also threatening to kill other US citizens being held by the extremists in Syria.

Dempsey, who was in Kabul for the US military’s change of command ceremony, has said he would recommend the military move against the Islamic State militants if there is a threat to the homeland. He didn’t rule out strikes for any other critical reasons, but listed the homeland threat as one key trigger.

Dempsey also said the US has been

meeting with allies in the region to help develop a better understanding of the Islamic State group’s threat. He said he believes those talks are now beginning to “set the conditions for some kind of coalition to form.”

He said they are “trying to better understand the threat that ISIS poses, not just in Iraq and Syria but regionally.” Dempsey has said he believes key allies in the region — including Jordan, Turkey and Saudi Arabia — will join the US in quashing the Islamic State group. l

Ukraine said yesterday its forces had captured a group of Russian paratroopers who had crossed into Ukrainian territory on a “special mission” - but Moscow said they had ended up there by mistake.

The Ukrainian military meanwhile reported pro-Russian separatist forces were shelling the town of Novoazovsk and buildings there, including a hospital, were ablaze.

Twelve Ukrainian soldiers had been killed and 19 wounded in the past 24 hours, military spokesman Andriy Lysenko said.

Earlier, the security services released video footage purporting to show testimonies from Russian paratroopers who were detained by Ukrainian government forces while fighting alongside pro-Moscow rebels in Ukraine.

The videos, the strongest evidence yet to back up Kiev’s claims of Russian involvement in the conflict, and the intensified fighting in the east overshadowed a meeting between Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko and Russia’s Vladimir Putin in the Belarussian capital Minsk.

Russia denies giving military help to the separatist rebellion in eastern Ukraine. A Russian defence ministry source, quoted by RIA Novosti, said the servicemen had strayed into Ukrainian territory by mistake during border patrol.

Ukraine rejected this.

“It wasn’t a mistake, but a special mission they were carrying out,” Lysenko said in a briefing.

In footage posted on Kiev’s Anti-Terrorist Operation Facebook page, one of

the detained soldiers, who identified himself as Ivan Milchakov, listed his personal details, including the name of the paratroop regiment he said is based in the Russian town of Kostroma.

“I did not see where we crossed the border. They just told us we were going on a 70-kilometre march over three days,” he said.

“Everything is different here, not like they show it on television. We’ve come as cannon fodder,” he said in the video.

Another man in the footage, who gave his name as Sergeant Aleksei Generalov, said: “Stop sending in our boys. Why? This is not our war. And if we weren’t here, none of this would have happened.

They would have sorted things out with the government themselves.”

On assignment

Social networking pages appear to corroborate the men’s assertions they are actively serving in the Russian military.

Photographs posted by an Ivan Melchakov of himself on Russia social media site Vkontakte are recognisable as the same person who appears in the video released by Ukraine’s SBU under the name Milchakov. His page is filled with pictures of soldiers in camouflage.

Aleksei Generalov’s profile photo on the site Odnoklassniki shows him smiling into the camera in military fatigues, while the Vkontakte page of another detained soldier, named as Egor Pochtoev, shows him in paratrooper uniform and a post that he is “on assignment.”

The Russian soldiers were detained with their personal documents and weapons, near the small town of Amvrosiyivka in Donetsk region, the Ukrainian state security service said.l

Turkey struggles as ‘lone gatekeeper’ against Islamic State recruitment n Reuters, Istanbul

As Islamic State insurgents threaten the Turkish border from Syria, Turkey is struggling to staunch the flow of foreign jihadists to the militant group, having not so long ago allowed free access to those who would join its neighbour’s civil war.

Thousands of foreign fighters from countries including Turkey, Britain, parts of Europe and the United States are believed to have joined the Islamist militants in their self-proclaimed caliphate, carved out of eastern Syria and western Iraq, according to diplomats and Turkish officials.

The militants, who seized an air base in northeast Syria on Sunday as they surge northwards, are trying to secure control of the area bordering Turkey above the city of Raqqa, their major stronghold, in a bid to further ease the passage of foreign fighters and supplies, sources close to Islamic State said.

Some of the foreign fighters in their midst reached Syria via Turkey, entering the region on flights to Istanbul or Turkey’s Mediterranean resorts, their Western passports giving them cover among the millions of tourists arriving

each month in one of the world’s most visited countries.

From Turkey, crossing the 900 km (560-mile) frontier into northern Syria was long relatively straightforward, as the Turkish authorities maintained an open border policy in the early stages of the Syrian uprising to allow refugees out and support to the moderate Syrian opposition in.

That policy now appears to have been a miscalculation and has drawn accusations, strongly denied by the Turkish government, that it has supported militant Islamists, inadvertently or otherwise, in its enthusiasm to help Syrian rebels topple President Bashar al-Assad.

The rapid and brutal advance of Islamic State, bent on establishing a hub of jihadism in the centre of the Arab world and on Turkey’s southern fringe, has alarmed Ankara and its Western allies, forcing them to step up intelligence sharing and tighten security cooperation.

“Thousands of Europeans have entered Turkey en route to Syria, and a large number of them we believe have joined extremist groups,” said one European diplomat in Ankara, describing Turkey as a “top security priority” for the EU.

“In recent months especially we’ve seen a real hardening in Turkey’s attitude, a recognition that this is a potential threat to their national security and a desire to take more practical steps through intelligence channels, police channels,” the diplomat said, declining to be named so as to speak more freely.

That cooperation includes tighter screening of passengers on flights into Turkey in collaboration with European Union member states, and the beefing up of border patrols on the frontier with Syria, the diplomat and other officials said.

Turkey already kept a “no-entry” list of thousands of people suspected of seeking to join “extremists in Syria” based on information from foreign intelligence agencies, a Turkish official said, and barred more than 4,000 people from entering the country last year alone as a result.

Only three of 13 border gates between Syria and Turkey were now fully open, the official said, with foreign nationals only allowed to pass through two of them. Close to 70 people were detained in Turkey last year on suspicion of links with extremist groups in Syria. l

In this photo of January 2, 2014, fighters of al-Qaeda linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant parade at the Syrian town of Tel Abyad, near the border with Turkey REUTERS

Scotland’s pro-independence leader Israeli air strikes target steamrolls final TV debate before vote more Gaza high-rises n

Reuters, Glasgow

Scotland’s pro-independence leader Alex Salmond easily won a final TV debate on Monday night just over three weeks before a breakaway referendum, but it wasn’t clear if this would help him catch up in the polls.

In a bruising debate before the Sept. 18 referendum, Salmond relentlessly talked over Alistair Darling, the leader of the anti-independence movement, arguing Scotland would be wealthier, freer and better governed if it went it alone.

With the campaign to break up the United Kingdom and sever Scotland’s 307year union with England trailing in opinion polls by an average of up to 14 percentage points, Salmond’s supporters were looking for a game-changing performance after he lost the first such encounter.

Salmond, 59, did much better this time.

In a snap Guardian/ICM poll, 71 percent of over 500 respondents judged that Salmond had won, against 29 percent who said they thought Darling had triumphed.

If Scotland, with its $250-billion (150-billion-pound) economy, 5.2 million people, oil industry, and nuclear submarine base, leaves Britain, with its $2.5 trillion economy and 63 million people, the consequences would be profound.

Britain’s three main political parties want it to stay in the union, which includes England, Wales and Northern Ireland.

Professor John Curtice of Strathclyde

The Scottish independence debate UK government arguments

Would Scotland be better off independent?

No

Annual per capita public spending greater in Scotland than in rest of UK In thousands of pounds

12.2

Scotland

No

2

11

UK

Yes

Scotland pays more tax per capita than Britain In pounds (2011/2012)

10,700

9,000

Scotland

Can Scotland count on its North Sea oil?

Production is too volatile: Since 1998, Scottish oil and gas receipts have ranged between billion and

Scottish government arguments

12 billion pounds

UK

Yes

In the 30 years from 2011,

98.8%

of oil production will come from Scottish waters Source: Scotland Office (London)

Source: Scottish govt. (Edinburgh)

University, a polling expert, agreed that Salmond had comfortably won the debate.

But he questioned whether the nationalist leader’s rhetorical victory would translate into a win at the ballot box.

“A debate doesn’t necessarily win you votes,” said Curtice, adding that the evening had been notable for its lack of proper discussion about wider economic questions.

“My glance at the flash poll is that while Salmond was the obvious winner, it doesn’t seem to have moved votes at this stage,” he said.

Scotland’s press feted Salmond’s performance. “Salmond Bounces Back,” said the Daily Record, the second bestselling newspaper, while the top selling Sun said Darling, the leader of the “Better Together” campaign, had been “smoked”

by Salmond.

Salmond, the leader of the proindependence Scottish National Party (SNP), got more cheers in Glasgow, Scotland’s biggest city, than Darling, 60, who attracted the odd groan from the audience. But he didn’t land a knock out blow.

Instead, over the course of a scrappy hour-and-a-half, he repeatedly interrupted Darling and asked him the same questions again and again, a tactic which unsettled the former British finance minister who at times struggled to find a riposte.

“The eyes of the world are indeed focused on Scotland,” Salmond told the audience in an emotional opening statement, urging Scots to vote for full independence. “This is our time, our moment. Let us do it now.”

Scotland’s health service would be better off under independence, he argued, questioning whether the British government would give Scotland more devolved powers if independence was rejected.

Scotland already has its own parliament with control over policy areas such as education and health. l

n Reuters, Gaza

Israel bombed more of Gaza’s tallest structures yesterday, bringing down a 13-storey apartment and office tower and destroying most of a 16-floor residential building after warning occupants to get out.

The Israeli military, declining to comment specifically on the attacks that flattened the Basha Tower and wrecked the Italian Complex, said it attacked 15 “terror sites,” including some in buildings that housed Hamas command and control centres.

Hamas, the dominant militant group in the Gaza Strip, accused Israel of an “unprecedented act of revenge against civilians” aimed at deterring Palestinians from supporting the Islamist movement.

A Hamas official, Osama Hamdan, said Egypt had proposed a new ceasefire and was waiting for Israel to respond, after a five-day truce and indirect Israeli-Palestinian talks in Cairo on a durable Gaza agreement collapsed a week ago.

Locked in a seven-week-old war and vowing to end rocket fire from the enclave, Israel has now attacked three of Gaza’s most prominent high-rise buildings since Saturday, when it destroyed the 13-storey Al Zafer Tower.

No fatalities were reported in those bombings, which were preceded by non-explosive warning missiles that

sent residents fleeing. Twenty people were wounded in the attack on the Italian Complex building, and two others were killed in Israeli strikes elsewhere in the Gaza Strip, medical officials said.

Palestinian rocket fire damaged a house in the southern Israeli coastal town of Ashkelon, lightly wounding 10 people police said. Another rocket was intercepted over the Tel Aviv area, an army spokeswoman said.

Cairo’s latest initiative, Palestinians officials said, called for an indefinite halt to hostilities, the immediate opening of Gaza’s blockaded crossings with Israel and Egypt and a widening of the enclave’s fishing zone in the Mediterranean.

Under a second stage that would begin a month later, Israel and the Palestinians would discuss the construction of a Gaza sea port and an Israeli release of Hamas prisoners in the occupied West Bank, the officials said.

Both Israel and Egypt view Hamas as a security threat and are demanding guarantees that weapons will not enter the economically crippled territory.

An Israeli official speaking on condition of anonymity said Israel would consider an Egyptian proposal once assured that Hamas was ready to accept it.

Speaking on Al-Arabiya television, Hamdan said: “Returning to negotiations must be linked to a position that includes guarantees and clear Israeli concessions.” l

US seeks life in prison for bin Laden son-in-law n Reuters, New York The United States said Suleiman Abu Ghaith, a son-in-law of Osama bin Laden, should spend the rest of his life in prison following his conviction on terrorism-related charges.

Abu Ghaith, 48, had been convicted in March by a Manhattan federal jury for conspiring to kill Americans, conspiring to provide material support for terrorists, and providing such support.

In a court filing, prosecutors portrayed Abu Ghaith as a charismatic mouthpiece for al Qaeda after the Sept.

11, 2001 attacks who recorded inflammatory videos to recruit new members, and said the defendant showed no remorse and lied at his trial.

Prosecutors also rejected arguments by defense lawyers, who seek a 15-year prison term, that Abu Ghaith did not knowingly plot to murder Americans, and that his speeches amounted to mere “whistling past the graveyard” because al Qaeda was already reeling.

“The defendant played a central role in al Qaeda’s conspiracy to kill Americans, unapologetically celebrating the murder of nearly 3,000 people, proudly proclaiming to the world that this senseless tragedy was justified and America deserved to be attacked, boldly threatening more attacks of similar magnitude, and working to drive more fighters to join al Qaeda’s deadly mission,” prosecutors said. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Nawaz Sharif meets army chief amid crisis Army’s role is key to how the crisis pans out

n Reuters, Islamabad Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif met the country’s powerful army chief yesterday as a political deadlock over mass protests to demand the government’s resignation showed no signs of resolution.

Pakistan has been gripped by peaceful anti-government protests demanding Sharif’s resignation this month, with thousands of demonstrators camped outside parliament in a country that has experienced a succession of military coups.

Few believe the military wants to seize power this time, but there is a widespread perception it is using the protests as an opportunity to weaken Sharif Sharif’s press office said army chief Raheel Sharif and the prime minister discussed the protests and agreed to resolve the issue “expeditiously in the best national interest.”

The meeting was one of many the two leaders have held in recent weeks over the impasse, said a senior source at army headquarters in the garrison town of Rawalpindi.

“They are discussing solutions,” said the official, who asked not to be named as he was not authorised to talk to reporters. “This situation is very alarming for the army. We are dealing with mobs. What if things get violent?”

Protesters led by cricketer-turned-politician Imran Khan and firebrand cleric Tahir ul-Qadri have vowed to occupy the capital, Islamabad, until Sharif resigns - a demand the premier has firmly rejected.

Thousands of protesters are now camped out in the heart of Islamabad - the so-called “Red Zone” - but the gathering has a festival-like atmosphere. Security forces protecting nearby installations have not used force to disperse the crowds.

Whether the protests fizzle out or take a more violent course ultimately depends on the stance taken by the military in a country ruled by generals for half of its history.

“No one wants to take any steps that would make the situation worse,” the military source said.

On Monday, the supreme court ordered protest leaders and the government to find a compromise solution so that the “Red Zone” - home to parliament, the prime minister’s home, embassies and government offices - could be cleared by the following day.

But protesters defied the court’s orders and stayed put for the 13th day on Tuesday, scattering the area with garbage as a putrid smell of human waste and rubbish hung in the air.

Police at the site said some of their colleagues had fallen ill. “It is impossible to be here sometimes, the smell is so bad,” said constable Ahmed Ali. “If the revolution is coming, let it come already. Everybody wants to go home.”

Sharif has a difficult relationship with the army: his last term in office ended in 1999 when then army chief General Pervez Musharraf launched a coup to usher in a decade of military rule.

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

Sharif also opposed a military offensive to crush Taliban insurgents and, crucially, sought reconciliation with neighbour India - a perceived threat the army uses to justify its huge budget and national importance. l

Supporters of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) gather during a demonstration in support of Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in Lahore

How Sharif stumbled into protests crisis n Reuters, Islamabad

As thousands of protesters blockaded Pakistan’s parliament last week, the spirits of the lawmakers inside were briefly lifted by a rare appearance from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.

But Sharif only listened in silence as legislator after legislator denounced the protesters seeking his government’s resignation. He then stood up, and left through a back door.

Toppled in a 1999 coup, jailed and then exiled, Sharif made a triumphant comeback as prime minister for a third time in last year’s general election.

Voters had hoped he would prove better than a long line of prime ministers widely seen as feckless, and would shore up a sagging economy by tackling the chronic power cuts and crumbling infrastructure that bedevil the country of 180 million.

Vajpayee, Advani, Joshi dropped from BJP Parliamentary Board n Agencies The Bharatiya Janata Party under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi seems to be doing a complete overhaul of the ruling party, with party patriarchs Atal Bihari Vajpayee, LK Advani and senior leader Murli Manohar Joshi being dropped from its Parliamentary Board on Tuesday.

Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan, under whose leadership the party registered its third consecutive victory in the state, has been rewarded with a membership in the party’s parliamentary board. BJP national general secretary and Rajya Sabha MP JP Nadda has also been included in the party’s highest decision-making body.

The two have also been included in BJP’s Central Election Committee, which decides on the party candidates to be fielded in elections, Zee News reported.

Here’s the list of 12 members of the BJP Parliamentary Board: Narendra Modi, Amit Shah, Arun Jailtey, Rajnath Singh, Sushma Swaraj, Nitin Gadkari, Venkaiah Naidu, Shivraj Singh Chouhan, Thawarchand Gehlotm, Ananth Kumar, JP Nadda and Ramlal.

The party has created a body named

LK Advani, Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and Murli Manohar Joshi ‘Margdarshak Mandal’ (guiding group), which would include Narendra Modi, Home Minister Rajnath Singh, AB Vajpayee, LK Advani and MM Joshi.

Earlier, both Advani and Joshi were denied Cabinet berths in the Modi Cabinet. The new BJP President Amit Shah initiated the changes after consultations with top BJP leaders and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.

Vajpayee, who had faded away from public life since about a decade ago due to his ill health, had however been retained as NDA Chairman. Advani was

the Working Chairman of NDA before the Mori era.

The Central Election Committee was also reconstituted, with firebrand leader from Uttar Pradesh Vinay Katiyar being dropped. Former BJP Mahila Morcha President Saroj Pandey, who was an ex-officio member of this Committee, has been replaced with Vijaya Rahatkar the new Mahila Morcha chief who was earlier the former Aurangabad Mayor.

Jual Oram, a Tribal face and union Tribal Affairs Minister, marks his entry into the 15-member body. l

WHO urges stiff curbs on e-cigarettes n Reuters, Geneva The World Health Organization (WHO) stepped up its war on “Big Tobacco” yesterday, calling for stiff regulation of electronic cigarettes as well as bans on indoor use, advertising and sales to minors.

In a long-awaited report that will be debated by member states at a meeting in October in Moscow, the United Nations health agency also voiced concern at the concentration of the $3 billion market in the hands of transnational tobacco companies.

The WHO launched a public health campaign against tobacco a decade ago, clinching the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. Since entering into force in 2005, it has been ratified by 179 states but the United States has not joined it.

The treaty recommends price and tax measures to curb demand as well as bans on tobacco advertising and illict trade in tobacco products. Prior to Tuesday’s

report the WHO had indicated it would favour applying similar restrictions to all nicotine-containing products including smokeless ones.

In the report, the WHO said there are 466 brands of e-cigarettes and the industry represents “an evolving frontier filled with promise and threat for tobacco control.”

It urged a range of regulatory options,

AFP

including banning e-cigarette makers from making health claims such as that they help people quit smoking, until they provide convincing supporting scientific evidence.

Smokers should use a combination of already-approved treatments for kicking the habit, it said.

While evidence indicates that they are likely to be less toxic than conventional cigarettes, the use of e-cigarettes poses a threat to adolescents and the fetuses of pregnant women using them, it said.

E-cigarettes also increase the exposure of bystanders and non-smokers to nicotine and other toxicants, it said regarding Electronic Nicotine Delivery Systems that it calls ENDS. “In summary, existing evidence shows that ENDS aeorsol is not merely ‘water vapour’ as is often claimed in the marketing for these products,” the WHO said in the 13-page report. E-cigarettes should be regulated to “minimise content and emissions of toxicants.” l

But critics say that his slow pace of reforms, apparent detachment and poor relations with the military emboldened his challengers and encouraged the anti-government protests.

“This is a symptom of arrogance and bad governance,” said independent seNator Mohsin Leghari. “When issues are not discussed in parliament they spill out into the streets.”

That is what happened this month when opposition leader Imran Khan and firebrand cleric Tahir ul-Qadri led tens of thousands of supporters to the capital, Islamabad, to demand that he step down. If the army referees a resolution of the stand-off, as many expect, it will emerge strengthened at the expense of the prime minister. That would deal a blow to civilian rule, a year after an election that marked the first democratic transfer of power in Pakistan’s coup-blighted history.

Many believe that Sharif, a wealthy steel magnate from Pakistan’s wealthiest and most populous province, has only himself to blame for his current crisis. Ordinary Pakistanis have not seen many improvements since he took office. Apart from the annual budget, not a single law was passed in his first year, a legislative watchdog said.

Draft legislation to tackle corruption and electoral reform - central demands of the protesters - has languished.

Fourteen months after Sharif’s election, key posts remain unfilled, and government regulators lack heads.

There is still no foreign minister. Defence and the water and power ministries share a single minister, as do the information and law ministries.

A spokesman for Sharif, responding to questions for this report, said these posts were being filled gradually as the government sought capable candidates.

Chinese satellite detects tunnels in N Korean border n Agencies

Afghan candidate threatens to pull out of election process

Chinese police have detected dozens of cross-border tunnels with the help of a high definition satellite in troubled Muslim-majority Xinjiang province as well as northeast area bordering North Korea, PTI reported.

The tunnels are a cause of concern for China as Xinjiang, where militants of the al-Qaeda linked East Turkestan Islamic Movement (ETIM) are staging violent attacks in recent months, bordered Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (PoK) and Afghanistan.

China has deployed security forces in a large scale to quell the spread of the outfit.

Xinjiang is restive for the past few years over protests by native Uygur Muslims objecting to the increasing settlements of Hans.

It is not clear whether police have found out the reasons behind the tunnels, state-run broadcast CRI reported.

Jiang Zhaoyong, a Beijing-based expert on ethnic affairs, told South China Morning Post that identifying these passageways may alleviate pressure on border patrol forces.

Jiang noted that some people may have used such routes to leave China and receive terrorism training abroad, but given that Xinjiang’s border measures about 5,600km, “it’s wrong to think that will spell the end of terrorism around Xinjiang.”

Much of the bases of ETIM militants existed in Pakistan’s troubled tribal areas as well as Afghanistan.

The Gaofen 1 satellite can identify objects as short as two metres wide. It is part of a seven-satellite network that will be fully operational by 2016 and provide global coverage.

Earlier, there were reports about illegal crossings on the China-North Korea border, while some terrorists snared in Xinjiang were found to have been trained abroad, the report said.

China National Space Administration which released the pictures taken

by Gaofen-1, a high-definition earth observation satellite, also spotted vast stretches of illegal poppy and marijuana farms in Heilongjiang, Hebei, Jilin provinces and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region and an offshore depot storing smuggled oil off Fujian province. l

‘Resentment’

The government can point to some macroeconomic wins: stabilising the currency, rebuilding foreign reserves and cutting inflation by a couple of points to around eight percent.

But these have not won Sharif much applause at a time when populist opponents are promising subsidised food, free housing and a crackdown on corruption.

“The ... government’s failure to gauge the growing resentment at the common-man level enabled Imran Khan and Tahir ul-Qadri to mobilise the alienated populace,” national daily the Express Tribune said in a commentary on Monday.

Sharif’s habit of surrounding himself with a small coterie of advisers, many of whom are also relatives, led protest leader Khan to jeer that the prime minister was a “monarch.” l

n Reuters, Kabul One of two candidates competing to succeed Afghan leader Hamid Karzai threatened yesterday to pull out of a UN-backed audit of a disputed presidential election, undermining a process meant to defuse a volatile standoff between the contenders.

The investigation is part of a US-brokered deal between presidential candidates Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani, both of whom claim to have won the election that was hoped would usher in the country’s first democratic transfer of power.

The crisis over the outcome of the vote has raised the spectre of another round of war in Afghanistan after the country was torn apart by years of fighting in the 1990s, which eventually led to the rise to power of the Taliban.

On Tuesday, Abdullah’s team said the United Nations had until Wednesday to accept their demands to widen the criteria for identifying and discarding ballots deemed fraudulent from a June run-off vote.

“If our demands are not taken into account we will not recognise the legitimacy of the process,” said Abdullah’s spokesman, Mujib Rahman Rahimi.

Abdullah’s supporters think that the more fraudulent votes are thrown out, the more likely he is to win.

Rahimi said if the audit went ahead without accepting Abdullah’s demands his camp would not recognise any future government as legitimate - a dangerous prospect likely to deepen ethnic and political divisions in the fragile country.

Afghanistan was plunged into turmoil in April when Abdullah, a former foreign minister, led after a first-round vote but failed to secure an outright majority.

He trailed behind former finance minister Ghani in the June run-off, according to preliminary figures, and has since rejected the outcome, accusing Ghani’s team of rigging the vote with Karzai’s help - an accusation both Ghani and Karzai have rejected.

The crisis comes at a time of much anxiety in Afghanistan as the United

The crisis over the outcome of the vote has raised the spectre of another round of war in Afghanistan after the country was torn apart by years of fighting States, Kabul’s biggest aid donor, and other Nato nations withdraw their troops after nearly 13 years of fighting Taliban insurgents.

Interminable chaos as Western forces pull out would be a huge embarrassment for those countries which have spent billions of dollars and lost about 3,500 soldiers in a bid to bring peace and stability.

Karzai, who is not allowed by the constitution to run for the presidency again, has urged both candidates to respect the terms of the US-brokered deal.

“President Karzai has started a series of meetings and consultations with both candidates,” said his spokesman, Aimal Faizi.

“Tonight he is meeting with Abdullah Abdullah and Ashraf Ghani to ask them to cooperate with the political process.” l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Why change the impeachment law?

T

he constitutional amendment bill approved by the Council of Ministers which will give the Jatiya Sangsad the power to impeach supreme court judges is the wrong way to go.

In the first place, it is unclear to us why there is any need to change the current system which allows for a Supreme Judicial Council to impeach judges. We have seen no evidence that the present system is not working, and the general consensus among legal practitioners is that it would be preferable to putting the impeachment power in the hands of legislators.

While there is nothing intrinsically wrong with allowing parliament this power, and it exists in other countries, given the reality of the political polarisation in Bangladesh, this is surely an unwise step.

The ultimate impact would be to make the judiciary subordinate to the parliament, which would invariably lead to judges not feeling free to exercise their consciences independently.

Many cases have a political dimension or implicate people who have links with parliamentarians. Even giving the appearance of parliamentary control over the courts could inhibit the judiciary from taking due action in such cases. The fact that the parliament is typically (as is the case right now) dominated by legislators of one party only makes the problem even more acute.

The biggest casualty of the constitutional amendment bill will ultimately be respect for the judiciary, as the judiciary would always in future be vulnerable to accusations of political pressure even if the impeachment power were to be exercised judiciously.

There is nothing wrong with the existing mechanism for impeaching judges, and thus there is no need to effect a fix that not only runs the risk of curtailing judicial independence but will also invariably diminish the public’s confidence in the judiciary, which is something no one wants.

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

Urban artist hits Dhaka streets August 22

The biggest casualty of the constitutional amendment bill will ultimately be respect for the judiciary

A better way to share waters

W

e welcome India’s agreement to discuss the proposal of the Joint Rivers Commission of Bangladesh for basin-wise management of the Brahmaputra and the Ganges rivers.

Experts have long recommended basin-wise management as the best way to use and protect our nations’ shared common rivers, but past proposals have not been taken forward.

By taking a holistic view to managing trans-boundary rivers, this approach is more likely to secure improvements to flood protection and benefit people in all countries involved. Sharing of technical expertise and the improvement of embankments to protect bank and catchment areas upstream, provides a practical way to help people all along the flow of a river.

If the planned meeting goes well, it should not only lay the foundation for improving lives but also improve the relationship between our two nations.

These rivers account for over 60% of water flows into the country. It is vital that our governments take this opportunity to make progress.

Bangladesh is both highly dependent on and hugely vulnerable to the flows of our major river systems. We need to work more closely with Bhutan, China, India and Nepal to improve management and sharing of common river waters .

Hopefully, the JRC meeting will lead to some solutions to the water sharing-issue that have been the cause of suffering of millions of people in our country.

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 12 represents P so fill P every time the figure 12 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

Kate Karney “The Dhaka Project is a collaboration between local artists and the Faketory, a Brazilian art collective. The artworks will be exhibited this weekend at Dhaka Arts Centre (Aug 22-24), and at Athena Gallery (Aug 15-31).”

Very interesting works. Different.

SUDOKU Only 4% of total users enjoy 3G August 19

Padma Bridge: Goldman Sachs offers to raise $2-$3bn from int’l bond market

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

August 22 Raihan Al-Beruni Use this fund for deep-sea port in Sonadia. A deep-sea port will generate money, not the expressway.

Nazmul Khair Correct, because all phones are not supported for 3G. You have to buy a specialised phone to enjoy 3G. Mainul Islam Mony Yes, true. We don’t have 3G, only “bad G.”

READY ... SET ... GREEN ...

Syed Shadman Rahim The Chinese have offered much cheaper funds, along with construction technology and management, for the Sonadia deep-sea port on a BOT basis. So why borrow at high interest from the bond market?

Birthday lunacy must end August 22

August 19

Basin-wide management is more likely to benefit people in both our countries

Md Sabbir Ali Undoubtedly I will visit this market at least once in my life. Such a beautiful place.

STA A lovely place that surely looks even lovelier in the rain!

IT minister calls for enhancing IT knowledge August 19

“‘Development of the telecommunications, information technology sector is the government’s top priority,’ says Palak.”

Rafsan Reza Yet, they tax gadgets heavily. Go figure.

Shariot Sharif As a simple person, I would like to say that I believe that Khaleda Zia is just being dramatic again.

I doubt August 15 was ever her birthday. After everything, I simply can’t believe it.

Kabir Miah Shariot Sharif: She still has a lot to learn. And I have a feeling we still have much more to see from her. Who knows.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Nuisance (4) 5 Caused prolonged pain (5) 9 Painter (6) 10 Do wrong (3) 11 Mountain lake (4) 12 Dance (5) 14 Anaesthetic (5) 16 Single occasion (4) 19 Vended (4) 21 Hazards (5) 24 Performed (5) 27 Naked (4) 29 Today (3) 30 Worships (6) 31 Tale (5) 32 Departed (4)

DOWN 1 Track (4) 2 Period of time (3) 3 Emphasise (6) 4 Tinge (4) 5 Waits on (7) 6 Female bird (3) 7 Work unit (3) 8 Lets fall (5) 13 Curve (3) 15 Period of recreation (7) 17 Make certain (6) 18 Schemes (5) 20 Metal-bearing rock (3) 22 Have knowledge (4) 23 Joke (4) 25 Infant’s bed (3) 26 Couple (3) 28 Lair (3)

Shahabuddin awarded French highest title August 22 Rashed Husain Congratulations to Shahabuddin Ahmed Sir.

Tridib on MTV World Stage in Malaysia

CALVIN AND HOBBES

August22

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

PEANUTS

Moon Soundedge “For the first time ever, MTV invited a Bangladeshi musician in the grooming session of the show MTV World Stage, which was held in Malaysia this year, Aftabuzzaman Tridib, vocalist of the band Mechanix.”

Hats off to Tridib.

Hungary PM: EU ‘shot itself in foot’ with Russia trade sanctions

August 19 Filleppi Girindelli What do the #WorldBank and #IMF have to do with the Ukraine conflict? Now the goal is to set policies that will benefit Western corporations.

Whereas #Ukraine does not allow the use of genetically-modified organisms (#GMOs) in agriculture, Article 404 of the EU agreement, which relates to agriculture, includes a clause that has generally gone unnoticed: Both parties will cooperate to extend the use of biotechnologies.

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

The good patient n Rabiul Islam

A

Remembering the day Bangabandhu died

MEHEDI HASAN

Colours of August

P

n Mohammad Ali Sattar olitically speaking, Dhaka and its adjoining areas are relatively calm. Following the controversial national polls held in January this year, the Awami League and its partners have been basking in the glory of making it to the citadel of power.

The one-time leftovers of politics grabbed their opportunities to be at the centre of power with the AL. They played the right kind of role that the stooges and sycophants play as the second fiddle.

The BNP is left in the lurch. It is trying to heat things up, but not managing much. Only when Tarique Rahman speaks up from London does the party get something to embark on.

It equally rejuvenates the government party. They immediately start firing salvos at BNP, its late founder, Khaleda Zia, Tarique, and the whole bunch. The agile AL stalwarts do not mince words.

Whatever the current trend, the AL and allies have effectively managed to contain BNP politics. As of now, all is quiet in the political front. However, in the name of protesting the Gaza atrocity and the recent broadcast policy announced by the government, BNP and the 20 party alliance staged demos and rallies, which saw large gatherings of supporters and activists. The rallies were peaceful.

More than this, the month of August carries greater significance for the country. In this month, some 39 years ago, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib was killed along with his family members at his Dhanmondi residence in the

early hours of August 15, 1975 by some disgruntled army officers. Serniabat and Sheikh Moni were also killed in their homes at about the same time.

The day is one of mourning for Bangladesh. The leader was gunned down brutally and there was no opposition, nor any action against the perpetrators for 21 long years during the tenures of the governments that ruled after his killing.

15,000 people.

As Hasina finished her speech, a total of 13 grenades were thrown into the crowd from the rooftops of nearby buildings, killing at least 23 people and injuring more than 200. Among the dead were Hasina’s bodyguard and Awami League Women’s Affairs Secretary Ivy Rahman.

Tarique Rahman and 28 others were indicted and are being tried in absentia

The month of August bears importance because of the tragedy that struck the members of the Sheikh family

However, with AL back in power in 1996, the self-confessed killers who were in Dhaka were captured. The absconding few were brought back (a few are still at large in different countries). They walked the gallows after a prolonged trial.

The tragedy does not end here for AL and its supporters. This month is also a month of the gruesome grenade attack on the AL rally (then in opposition). The attack was carried out on August 21, 2004.

AL chief Sheikh Hasina had been speaking at a public meeting on Bangabandhu Avenue, protesting blasts against the party’s workers in Sylhet. The rally drew a crowd of

for their alleged involvement in the attack.

The month of August bears importance, especially when AL is in power, because of the tragedy that struck the members of the Sheikh family.

Fortunately, Sheikh Hasina, the then opposition leader, escaped unhurt.

The month of August also holds another hue. The chairperson of BNP, Begum Khaleda Zia celebrates her birthday on August 15 (the day Sheikh Mujib and his family were killed). This celebration naturally causes a ripple of annoyance and anger in the AL camp, especially in the minds of the Sheikh family members.

People and parties who don’t get

along with BNP and Khaleda Zia come down hard on her every year claiming that August 15 is not her original birth date. She does this deliberately to rejoice on the day of Mujib’s death.

But BNP and others who are with her reject the claim and go on cutting colourful cakes with the leader at her residence, at the party offices, wherever convenient.

There are, however, opposing views regarding her celebration. Quarters in the AL ask her not to celebrate the day even if it is her original birth date.

That way, they admit that this is her genuine birthday.

However, many wonder why the AL should be so sensitive that they will not allow any anniversary or event to take place in this month. They opine that there are two birthdays celebrated in this month of August, that of the closest of kin of Sheikh Mujib. One is none other than the wife of the leader, Begum Fazilatunnesa Mujib, and the other is Mujib’s eldest son, Sheikh Kamal.

So if their birthdays can be celebrated in this month, what harm have the other people done to the country’s politics that they cannot celebrate their events?

However, in the end, we must agree that a tragedy is a tragedy. We should mourn the deaths of leaders. And again, we must not stop anyone from living his or her own life, when they don’t disturb others. We should all respect each other. That’s the only way a family, a community, and a nation can prosper. l

ccording to the Independent: “Since restrictions on drug trials were relaxed in 2005, the industry in India has swollen to the point where today more than 150,000 people are involved in at least 1,600 clinical trials … Between 2007 and 2010, at least 1,730 people died in India while, or after, participating in such trials. Many of those people, often only eligible for the studies because they were ill, might have died anyway.

Yet when there are complications, even those resulting in deaths, there is often a failure to properly investigate.”

People generally complain that they don’t remember to tell their doctors about every detail of their physical sickness. On the other hand, there are many doctors who don’t really listen to all of their patients’ complaints.

In Bangladesh, patients put their ultimate trust in their doctors in terms of treatments. They don’t ask too many questions about their medication. They don’t ask if they needed any diagnosis to begin with, or why they should need any diagnosis at all. They don’t consider if they are being treated as guinea pigs or if many pharmaceutical companies, diagnostic centres, and doctors are making big profits out of their blind faith.

One can get medical advice from doctors either from hospitals or from their private chambers. In public hospitals, it doesn’t cost too much to visit a doctor, but people have to deal with large crowds and wait for their turn.

When they do get the chance to talk to their doctors, many of them forget to inform all the details of their sickness. Because of the crowd and heavy pressure, many doctors cannot even listen very carefully. And because many doctors have private chambers where they make way more money than in such hospitals, they maintain a reluctant attitude towards these general patients. This is why those who can afford it visit doctors in their private chambers.

But not all miseries end there. Just because doctors in their private chambers take a lot of money, that doesn’t actually mean that all of them treat their patients with honesty. Every doctor’s chamber is surrounded by representatives of various pharmaceutical companies. They take notes on the patients’ prescription to find out which medicines are prescribed.

These representatives also visit doctors and influence them to prescribe their own products. For pharmaceutical companies, this is a competitive and productive market. They take doctors to different seminars where

they discuss marketing new products in order to educate them about those products. But that education is not available for all. Diagnostic centres also maintain strong connections with doctors for similar purposes.

It is your responsibility to find out the reason for a particular prescription

These are the questions you should be asking your doctors while visiting them: What am I taking this medicine for? What are the brand name and generic name of this medicine? Can I take a generic version of this medicine? Does this new prescription mean I should stop taking any other medicines? How much of the medicine should I take and how often do I take it?

If I need to take it three times a day, does that mean at breakfast, lunch, and dinner, or every eight hours? Do I need to wake up in the middle of the night to take it? Do I need to take it all, or should I stop when I feel better?

How long will I be taking it? Can I get a refill? How often can I get a refill? How should I store my medication? Do I need to keep it in the refrigerator? Are there any tests I need while I’m on this medicine?

When should the medicine start working? How can I tell if it’s working?

Are there foods, drinks (including alcohol), other medicines, or activities to avoid while I’m taking this medicine? What are the side effects? When should I tell the doctor about a problem or side effect? What should I do if I have a side effect? What happens if I miss a dose? What printed information can you give me about this medicine?

It is your responsibility to find out the reason for a particular prescription. It is also every doctor’s duty to let their patients know why they are prescribing any particular medication.

You can also do a little bit of research yourself by way of the internet. Most pharmaceutical companies have their own websites where they list details on their products. You can find out what your doctor is telling you and what he is not telling you about a particular medication. l Rabiul Islam is a freelance contributor.

Mohammad Ali Sattar is a journalist and a DT columnist.

Let’s get started n Mahir Ahmed

B

angladesh has tremendous entrepreneurial spirit. It is evident everyday with simple shops on the side of the roads or the boys and girls that sell flowers in between the traffic lights. Earlier this year, I was invited to the “phone booth” inauguration at the StartUpDhaka headquarters.

StartUpDhaka was formed by a group of angel investors who realised that students in Bangladesh had innovative ideas. They simply wanted to materialise these ideas. As I started talking to the people at the phone booth event, I realised what a significant role this institution can play in the transfer of technology in Bangladesh.

The phone booth was highly symbolic of the connections StartUpDhaka facilitates – it is a small area in the office where budding entrepreneurs are able to make free Skype calls to get in touch with prospective partners or investors. The idea-ridden environ-

ment spoke for itself. This reminded me of how the readymade garments (RMG) sector changed the Bangladeshi economy forever.

The business mentorship facilitated

by StartUpDhaka provides a platform for technology transfer, which will stimulate economic growth in Bangladesh. Technology transfer is the horizontal transfer of skills, knowledge, and expertise. It is the method by which Bangladesh was able to develop its economy.

When entrepreneurs purchased knitting machines and set up textile factories, productivity and living standards increased. Bangladesh became industrialised. The RMG sector in Bangladesh is now the fastest growing in the world, and such a formidable sector exists due to technology transfer.

StartUpDhaka is facilitating tech-companies in setting up technology-based infrastructure. It is allowing entrepreneurs to explore their ideas and create solutions for the local economy. For example, entrepreneurs in

the RMG sector provided solutions to unemployment in Bangladesh.

This brought foreign income into the country and the sector received global recognition. StartUpDhaka is effectively stimulating job creation, as more students are now able to receive angel investments to develop their ideas.

Technology transfer resulted in the creation of long-lasting institutions in Bangladesh. In the RMG sector, Bangladeshi businessmen invested in machinery from abroad, set up factories, and created jobs. As the industry gained momentum, RMG-specific expertise became necessary.

New schools opened up and courses such as textile engineering gained popularity. People went to business schools because effective management became integral to the success of the RMG sector. The education industry thrived. This had a positive spillover effect on students in thinking outside the box and coming up with innovative solutions to the problems they face in Bangladesh.

StartUpDhaka helps transpire their ideas by connecting the students to angel investors. It is difficult for the average student entrepreneur to come across networking opportunities, which may give them access to mentorship and capital. StartUpDhaka facilitates that level of networking.

local employment.

The RMG sector addressed a lot of infrastructural issues in Bangladesh. Businessmen lobbied to build buildings and bridges, and developed the necessary logistics to aid business operations. Such development also trickles down to the consumers.

It is difficult for the average student entrepreneur to come across networking opportunities

Once ideas materialise, the market can be tested. If the market responds well to a prototype, then ideas become viable. Therefore, student entrepreneurs are able to cultivate a technology-based infrastructure and create

For example, consumers benefit from new roads in the city just like RMG factory owners. StartUpDhaka provides the technology-based infrastructure to connect people.

This technology transfer enables

products and processes to be distributed to customers efficiently. So far, StartUpDhaka invested in companies that produced beneficial apps for services such as finding blood donors and helping jobseekers with their curriculum vitae. Investments in simple ideas like this provide solutions to existing problems and entrepreneurs are able to monetise it.

Bangladesh has many problems that need to be addressed. It is obvious that there are people who have the capability to solve these problems, provided they have the right guidance.

Young entrepreneurs want to develop their ideas but do not have a formal platform to do so.

In Bangladesh, the bureaucratic nature makes it very difficult to develop innovative business ideas.

StartUpDhaka provides young entrepreneurs indispensable business mentorship, capital, as well as other services such as cheap office space and internet. l Mahir Ahmed is a freelance contributor.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

BREAKING BAD AND SHERLOCK WIN BIG AT EMMYS

n Entertainment Desk

Moushumi was spotted in FDC while shooting for an upcoming flick titled ‘Mon Jane Na Moner Thikana’ on Monday. Here the diva was posing for the song Rongila Mon written and composed by Shafiq Tuhin. The film also features leading stars of the industry, Razzak and Ferdous along with newcomer Porimoni in the lead roles

DHALLYWOOD couples on the radar

KHAN HASAN MUHAMMAD RAFI

“Breaking Bad” which ended last September, won its second straight Emmy for Outstanding Drama Series, and actors Bryan Cranston, Anna Gunn and Aaron Paul all took home Emmys in their respective categories.

While the series also won several technical awards, was the big drama winner, the biggest winner overall was, surprisingly, “Sherlock: His Last Vow.” The TV movie, which aired on PBS, won a total of seven awards this year, counting Monday night’s haul and wins at the Creative Arts Emmys earlier this month. The wins included Outstanding Actor in a Miniseries or Movie for Benedict Cumberbatch, who played Sherlock Holmes in the movie, and also plays him in the series from which it was spun off. Martin Freeman, who plays Watson, was named Outstanding Supporting Actor in a Miniseries or Movie.

The wins for “Sherlock” were among the few surprises in a night that basically featured favourites repeating in the top categories, including Ty Burrell for “Modern Family,” Jim Parsons for “The Big Bang Theory,” Julia

SRK gets police protection

Nazrul specials on TV To mark the 38th death anniversary of the national poet of Bangladesh, Kazi Nazrul Islam, TV channels have prepared special programmes, featuring the rebel poet’s music, songs, poem and novels written by the revolutionary personality.

Nobojug

ATN Bangla, 8pm

Vince Gilligan, center, and the cast and crew of Breaking Bad Louis-Dreyfus for “Veep,” and Allison Janney, who took her home her second Emmy of the year for “Mom,” after scoring one at the earlier Creative Arts Emmys for Outstanding Guest Actress. Jessica Lange repeated for the latest iteration of “American Horror Story,” “American Horror Story: Coven,” while “The Amazing Race” won its 10th Emmy for Outstand-

Lisa Ray returns to Bollywood

n Shadma Malik and Hasan Mansoor Chatak

n Entertainment Desk

Link ups and rumours are an integral part of a celebrity’s life. Though they usually shy away from the spotlight when it comes to their personal life. But alas! when someone creates sensation in the entertainment industry, they are bound to be attached to rumours.

Here are the most talked about couples of Dhallywood:

She was a name to reckon with in the fashion world in the nineties and even had a successful stint in films.

But her battle with cancer temporarily halted Lisa’s work prospects, before she made her way back to pursue a career in showbiz. After hosting a lifestyle show a while ago, the model-turned-actress is in Mumbai to make the city her base camp again. “Well I’m not a planner, I’m more of an intention setter. Moving back to Mumbai has always been on the cards, but the timing is perfect now as I’m healthy and my husband is moving to Asia as well. I want to be a part of the new wave of storytelling that’s coming out of the Hindi film industry. I’ve always felt I have an ‘unfinished business’ in Mumbai,” says the actress who believes she gets her nomadic streak from her father.

“My father is my hero. He is the most original, evolved, cool man you will ever meet. He just sent me an email to congratulate me on the purchase of a flat in Mumbai and then mentioned he’s driving down to Montana with some friends to go hiking. He’s in his 80s.” Next, it’s her husband who Lisa says has changed her life. “My marriage to Jason has given me wings. We are not conventional people at all so we decided to co-create the ideal life for ourselves not anyone else.

And it’s Jason who is encouraging me to work again in Mumbai he feels I have so much more to give.”

Lisa also credits her illness for giving her a new perspective on life. “I have never had a ‘normal’ life, but I can share that my life is different now it’s better! I don’t get caught up in the hustle of life, simplicity is important to me. I have a much better sense of humour and I certainly don’t sweat over the small stuff. And I also found my soulmate post cancer. You can actually thrive after dealing with a huge health issue if you listen and learn from the experience.” l

Shakib Khan and Apu Biswas

n Entertainment Desk

The duo has worked in approximately 40 films together giving rise to the question of them being a couple.

Apu, Shakib’s rumoured girlfriend made her big screen debut opposite the superstar in “Koti Takar Kabin” in 2006 and from then on, their chemistry led to the ongoing pairing which is a sure hit among the audience. Although the stars are said to be dating, they have different plans when it comes to marriage. Apu wants to wait five years before taking up the challenge of marriage, whereas Shakib plans on tying the knot in three years time. Few months back, Shakib and Apu were spotted in a flight together from Cox’s Bazar to Dhaka. However, Shakib and Apu did not speak at all in the journey. That leaves a mark of confusion for their fans about their linkup.

Bappy and Mahiya Mahi

After the success of “Honeymoon,” Bappy and Mahiya Mahi have been labelled as the latest Dhallywood couple. The youngsters impressed the audience with their unbreakable connection onscreen and their casual ease with each other. The duo first came to prominence with “Bhalobashar Rong.” In only two years, the couple reached the peak of popularity which is rare phenomena in Dhallywood. It is said that they have been spotted together many times and rumour has it that they spend a lot of time phoning or texting each other. Mahi uploaded an album on her Facebook where she posted cosy pictures of her and Bappy. The album is titled “celebration of life.” Once, Bappy and Mahi were good friends, they only discovered their feelings for each other after spending quality time together.

Iftakar and Bobby

The couple is continuously complementing each other on the media and are working together in one project after another.

Director Iftakar Chowdhury’s “Khoj: The Search” first saw the bold actress on big screen and his comment about her having the perfect height to star in the movie gave the diva the confident boost needed to carry out her role. Currently, Bobby is shooting for “Action Jasmine” directed by Iftakar. l

Additional police protection has been provided to Shah Rukh Khan following a threatening call from the dreaded underworld gangster Ravi Pujari. Earlier Srk’s good friend Ali Morani’s house was under attack following a similar call from the mobster.

After few hours of giving threat calls, the gangster got his team to fire at Morani’s house. Three rounds were fired but thankfully, no one was injured.

Two policemen have been deployed outside “Mannat,” SRK’s home, to make sure that there are no attacks. Officials suspect that since Morani and Khan are business associates, a similar attack might also take place at Khan’s house.

This is not the first time that Bollywood actors and producers have been threatened by the underworld but police officials have already provided additional protection to SRK to prevent any mishap. l

ing Reality Competition and “The Colbert Report” won its second for Outstanding Variety Series.

Julianna Margulies won yet again for “The Good Wife.”

One repeat, though, made history: “Modern Family” scored its fifth Emmy for Outstanding Comedy Series, tying it with “Frasier” for most consecutive wins in the comedy category. l

Single episode TV play “Nobojug” is based on a true story. Directed by Ferdous Hasan, the drama features Sajal, Sumaiya Shimu, Dilara Zaman, Abdullah Rana and many others.

Nishith Pritom Channel i, 7:50pm

Play “Nishith Pritom” is based on a poem with the same title by Nazrul. Directed by Aruna Bishwas, the love story features Shaila Sabi and Sazzad in lead roles.

Khelicho E Bishwaloye Maasranga TV, 11pm

Dance show “Khelicho E Bishwaloye” presents dance recitals choreographed by eminent dance duo Shamim Ara Nipa and Shibli Mohammad.

Priyo Amon Raat NTV, 9pm

“Priyo Amon Raat” based on Nazrul’s novel titled “Kuhelika” features Apurbo and Sumauiya Shimu as the lead actors of the play. Set on the backdrop of 1940s, it revolves around hiccups in the daily life of the Swadeshi fighters.

Did you know?

Since August 2011, only Messi & Özil (39 each) have more goal assists than Angel di Maria (38) in the top 5 European leagues

Sport

14 Red Devils

agree record fee for Angel

DHAKA TRIBUNE

14 Arsenal look

15 Change in staffs,

to cash in on home turf

Bangladesh Under-23 midfielder Sohel Rana rejoices after scoring the match-winning goal against Nepal in the SS Steel International Friendly Series at the Army Stadium yesterday

Shakib’s ban reconsidered, reduced to three months n Minhaz Uddin Khan Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) has reconsidered its ban on national all-rounder Shakib al Hasan as it decided in a meeting yesterday to reduce his suspension from all forms of competitive cricket to three months from six months. However, the board’s previous decision to not issue an NOC (No Objection Certificate) to the left-arm all-rounder to participate in domestic competitions abroad stays.

BCB’s latest decision means Shakib’s suspension will end on September 15, thus allowing him to be eligible for selection for the Asian Games 2014 and also for the home series against Zimbabwe in October this year. The board has also relaxed restrictions on Shakib from participating in the Dhaka Premier League 2014. The star cricketer will participate in the second round of Players’ Transfer – which is for the

BJMC crowned women’s handball champions n Tribune Desk Team BJMC clinched the Walton Air Conditioner National (U-19) Women’s Youth Handball Tournament 2014 after beating Panchagarh 25-13 in the final held at the Shaheed (Captain) M Mansur Ali National Handball Stadium yesterday.

BJMC were leading 15-5 following the conclusion of the first half. Shirina and Sumi scored eight and six goals respectively for the victors while Rahima and Ramnabina netted four each for Panchagarh. BJMC’s Shirina was adjudged player of the tournament. l

non-pool players and is scheduled to take place today. However, as Shakib belongs to players under pool category, the Cricket Committee of Dhaka Metropolis (CCDM) has been asked for a speedy decision on what should be the process for his transfer.

“We discussed very thoroughly on Shakib issue,” said BCB president Nazmul Hasan yesterday. “As a contracted player of the board, he had the right to appeal which he did. We were satisfied with the letter and also with his recent behavior with individuals in and around the board. We believe that he understood his mistake and that is why we have reconsidered his punishment,” Nazmul added.

Nazmul further revealed that Shakib’s on-field behavior will be under observation and if his behavior improves, the board might also reconsider its decision and allow him to play in domestic competition abroad.

Meanwhile, issues regarding the troubled Bangladesh Premier League were also discussed in the meeting. Nazmul informed that the both Game On, the event management company of BPL and the franchises owe a good sum of money to the board. The BCB chief lamented that despite BCB’s several efforts to realize the money, it failed to get any response.

“Board as the guarantor of the players’ payment, both local and international, will pay the money at the earliest. But this doesn’t mean that there is any room for Game On and the franchises to relax,” said Nazmul.

“We will go for legal action against the franchisees in a day or two in order to realize the debt. On the other hand, we have formed a five-member committee which will be responsible to talk to Game On or their representatives and provide the board with a report within 15 days,” said the BCB boss.

Nazmul, when queried regarding

the possible time for the next BPL season, informed that the board had three slots in hand to stage the money-spinning tournament. “We had December 2014, April 2015 and November 2015 as options. The board thought that it won’t be wise to hold the Twenty20 tournament in December this year as it will be right before the World Cup 2015.

So we have chosen April to be the best option,” said Nazmul.

It was also decided in the meeting that the election for the two vice-president posts of BCB will be held on September 16 while Nizamuddin Chowdhury was appointed as the permanent Chief Executive Officer of BCB. Nizamuddin has been playing the role as the acting CEO of BCB since 2012. In a meeting where flurry of decisions were taken, BCB also decided to appoint a permanent manager for the national team with Nazmul informing that the recruitment will start soon.l

De Kruif praises players, Koster n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh’s Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif was full of praise for his players as well as the efforts of his assistant Rene Koster after winning the first match of the SS Steel International Friendly Series against Nepal at the Army Stadium yesterday.

The young Bangladeshi side displayed great character in their 1-0 victory and De Kruif duly gave credit to all the players.

“I’m very happy with the result which is very important for us. In my absence of one week, Rene did a marvellous job. The players also did very well especially in the first hour. Credit

goes to everybody on the pitch,” said the Dutchman who returned to Dhaka from the Netherlands yesterday morning following a week’s leave to attend to his ailing father.

Despite the convincing victory, De Kruif believes that there is still room for improvement. He also talked about Sohel Rana’s match-winning goal. “It was a fantastic goal. It gave us the reward of playing very good football. We are happy with 1-0,” said the 44-year old coach.

Assistant coach Koster on the other hand spoke about making the best use of their resources.

“The tactical plan is very important.

I told my players, we don’t have the best players but we have to make sure

we have the best team. The first 75 minutes was perfect how they defended today, also how they built up from the back to midfield. We could score two or three goals in the first half. But I’m very proud of the boys,” said Koster.

“All are saying that Sohel is man-ofthe-match but for me the team is the man-of-the-match,” he added.

Sohel, who scored his first goal in an international match, dedicated his goal to the crowd. “I have played many matches for the national team but never scored before and I cannot express my feeling in words,” he continued, “They (crowd) came here to watch us win. That is why the goal is extra special for me as the crowd got what they wanted.” l

13

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

but no change in results

MUMIT M

Brave Bangladesh gun down Nepal in first U23 friendly n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh Under-23 football team put up a courageous display in the first match of the SS Steel International Friendly Series against the Nepal U-23 side with a convincing 1-0 victory at the Army Stadium yesterday.

Midfielder Sohel Rana appeared as the central difference maker between the two Saff sides with a top-notch performance alongside scoring the all-important goal from a screamer to give the hosts the lead in the two-match friendly series.

The match-winning goal might have given Sohel the best player award but overall, all the players deserved credit not only for the victory but also for the performance they constructed yesterday. The team chemistry gave the visitors little chance to create anything in the game, especially in the first hour.

The defence which conceded four goals against an amateur Bangladesh Army team on Saturday looked different and solid from the beginning.

The combination between midfield and defence also made for pleasant viewing.

The first half was totally dominated by the hosts. Atiqur Rahman Meshu led the back four with a rock-solid defensive display. Hemanta Vincent Biswas continued to impress, especially in the first 40 minutes before he was substituted by Omor Faruk Babu after picking up an injury. Yousuf Sifat made more threats than any other attacking player on the pitch.

The home side was all over the opponents from the outset and it was Toklis Ahmed Tonmoy who created the first chance of the game with just three minutes into the clock. The Sheikh Jamal winger paced forward through the right flank and provided a low cross into the middle of the box but Wahed Ahmed was a little slow in connecting the ball.

Wahed had the first shot on target in the 13th minute but it was too weak to create any trouble for the Nepal goalkeeper. A minute later, Hemanta had a great opportunity to open the scoring.

Sifat fed Hemanta with a through pass and the youngster broke into the penalty area skipping past two defenders but his shot was parried away by keeper Alan Neupane for a corner.

Nepal’s only chance of the opening half arrived in the 31st minute when a bicycle kick attempted by striker Asim Jung Karki flew way off the target following a cross by Rabin Shrestha from the left flank.

Bangladesh, again, could have taken the lead in the 41st minute. Mohammedan forward Sifat displayed great skill and technique whilst dribbling past a defender before his tricky chip was punched away by the keeper. Sifat headed on the rebound which fell kindly at the feet of Meshu but his shot went wide.

The hosts got their reward after resumption and deservedly took the lead at the hour mark from a stunning goal

by Sohel. Collecting a missed clearance by a Nepalese defender from Mamunul Islam’s corner, the Sheikh Jamal midfielder stopped the ball and then unleashed a powerful grounder from 20 yards out which flew into the top left corner.

Nepal’s best chance of the game came in the 64th minute when substitute midfielder Shyam Nepal, despite having an open net in front of him, saw his shot blocked by Meshu.

Heman Gurung made an immediate effect after coming off the bench in the 70th minute. Receiving a back pass from Bikram Lama, the forward took a powerful volley from outside the box which was fisted away by Bangladesh custodian Russel Mahmud Liton.

The crowd went wild after the game, entering the pitch and celebrating the victory with the players. l

Mashrafe named captain for Asiad

BCB mulling separate captains for Tests, ODIs sible for preparing performance-based a champion side and to be honest we do n Minhaz Uddin Khan reports of the national team after every not expect the team to win each and evThe Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) named veteran paceman Mashrafe bin Mortaza as the captain for the upcoming 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea next month. The BCB took the decision in a board meeting held at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

The board had to choose a separate captain for the Asiad as the national side will miss the services of its current skipper Mushfiqur Rahim. The wicket-keeper-batsman will be on leave during that time as his wedding is slated for September 27.

Bangladesh’s poor showings this year have also prompted the BCB to introduce a ‘technical committee’ in the board. The committee will be respon-

series and will also identify the areas that need to be addressed. The committee will also have the right to make suggestions for the betterment of the team’s performance.

BCB president Nazmul Hasan also hinted that the board has decided to have different captains for the Test and the ODI teams.

“There were many things we had to discuss and decide regarding the team and its performance but I do not think it will be wise to do so during an ongoing series,” said Nazmul.

However, while explaining the reason behind the formation of a technical committee, Nazmul said, “We know that the Bangladesh cricket team are not

ery game, it will not be fair. What we are concerned about is why the team is not being able to make use of the chances.

This year we had many occasions where we could have won a game.

“So there are lots of questions lingering around the game-plan and also team selection. The board does not interfere with team selection. That is why the board has decided to form a technical committee which will comprise of former national cricketers and few members from the board.

Meanwhile, former national coach Sarwar Imran was named as the head coach of the Bangladesh A team. Imran’s first mission will be against Zimbabwe A at home in September this year.l

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan (C) and the directors observe a minute’s silence prior to the start of the board meeting held at Mirpur yesterday in respect towards the three officials and directors who passed away recently MUMIT M

14

Sport

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Red Devils agree record fee for Angel n AFP, London Manchester United have agreed a British record transfer fee of £59.7 million ($98 million, 75 million euros) to sign Argentina midfielder Angel Di Maria from Real Madrid according to British media reports on Monday.

Several media outlets, including the BBC, reported that United have finally sealed a deal for Di Maria after several days of negotiations with the Spanish club.

The 26-year-old was said to have been seen arriving at United’s training ground on Monday evening as he prepares to put pen to paper on a reported five-year contract worth an estimated £200,000-a-week.

Di Maria’s move to Old Trafford is expected to be completed on Tuesday and will shatter the previous British record fee of £50 million paid by Chelsea to sign Spain striker Fernando Torres from Liverpool in 2011.

United last broke the British transfer record when they paid Leeds £29.1 million for Rio Ferdinand in 2002 and the deal will also eclipse the club record £37.1 million they splashed out to sign Juan Mata from Chelsea in January.

Real manager Carlo Ancelotti revealed over the weekend that Di Maria had said goodbye to his teammates and he was absent from the Madrid squad as they beat Cordoba

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

How does Utd £59.7m signing compare to most expensive transfers ever? n Telegraph.co.uk Manchester United have smashed their transfer record to bring in Real Madrid winge r Angel Di Maria for £59.7 million, so what a r e they getting for their money?

With such a h u g e f i g u r e putting the Argentina star among the upper echelons of big-money signings worldwide it is only fair to compare him to the other players who warranted similar obscene amounts of cash. Step forward Gareth Bale (Real Madrid, £86m), Cristiano Ronaldo (Real Madrid, £80m), Luis Suarez (Barcelona, £75m), Neymar (Barcelona, £71m) and James Rodriguez (Real Madrid, £63m).

When comparing last season’s performances of the six most expensive players of all time, the statistics can broadly be broken down into shooting (Di Maria = bad) and assisting/passing (Di Maria = good).

While all six players may not necessarily be strikers, all were signed with both goals and assists in mind. Despite Suarez’s phenomenal season at Liverpool last year, there is only one winner when it comes to finding the back of the net: Ronaldo is the goalscoring king. With a goal every 79 minutes, the Real Madrid man scored an average of more than four goals in the time it took Di Maria to bag one last campaign.

He also tested the goalkeeper

on Monday.

His arrival in Manchester would be the headline deal of United’s overhaul under new manager Louis van Gaal, who has already spent a combined £72 million on England left-back Luke Shaw, Spanish midfielder Ander Herrera and Di Maria’s Argentina team-mate Marcos Rojo, who is also left-footed like him.

Assuming the transfer is finalised on schedule, Di Maria, capped 52 times, could make his debut at Burnley on Saturday as van Gaal looks to revitalise a United team still without a win after the first two games of the new Premier League campaign.

Former Benfica star Di Maria has an impressive pedigree after winning the Champions League with Real last season and the Spanish title in 2012.

He was also named on FIFA’s 10man shortlist for the best player at the recent World Cup where Argentina reached the final, although he was unable to play in that game or the semi-final because of an injury he suffered in the quarter-final win over Belgium. l

Appearances Goals Minutes per goal Shots on target Shooting accuracy %

Bale 44 22 151 44 43

Ronaldo 47 51 79 134 57

Suarez 37 31 105 87 53

Assists Chances created Passes made Pass accuracy %

16 51 1032 78

13 70 1352 81

14 100 1394 74

Neymar Rodriguez Di Maria 41 38 52 15 10 11 189 290 342 45 29 46 54 42 60 11 56 1443 85

12 85 1636 81

22 111 1756 82

Pellegrini gladdened

by Jovetic display

Liverpool new boy Balotelli glad to be back n AFP, Manchester Mario Balotelli said he was glad to be back in the Premier League after the controversial Italy striker completed his £16 million ($26.5 million, 20.1 million euros) move to Liverpool on Monday.

Balotelli left England in January 2013 when Manchester City sold him to AC Milan, but the 24-year-old endured a difficult time in Milan, where he was subjected to racial abuse by opposing fans.

After completing his switch to Anfield on a three-year contract worth a reported £90,000 a week, which includes an option for a further year, Balotelli conceded he had been wrong to ever leave England.

“I’m happy to be back because I left England and it was a mistake. I wanted to go to Italy, but I realised it was a mistake,” Balotelli told Liverpool’s website.

“English football is generally better.

English football is beautiful.”

Liverpool did not complete the transfer in time for Balotelli to play in their 3-1 loss at City on Monday, but he attended the match and sat in the directors’ box wearing a dark top and a beanie hat.l

ing more chances and making more passes than anyone else, the Madrid man more than made up for his lack of shooting prowess.

With proven goalscorers Wayne Rooney and Robin van Persie already bedded in at Old Trafford, Louis van Gaal will be hoping Di Maria can provide the key to unlock their full goalscoring potential during this campaign. l

more than any other player in the list although Di Maria’s shooting accuracy was better than the lot of them at 60 per cent. He may not shoot a lot, he may not score a great deal, but at least he finds the target when he tries his luck.

When it comes to helping his team score, Di Maria was the standout player among the mega-signings last season. Assisting more goals, creat-

n AFP, Manchester

Liverpool signing Mario Balotelli (above, right) watches in the stands with team-mates, with Kenny Dalglish in the front row during their Premier League match against Manchester City at Etihad Stadium on Monday INTERNET

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini heralded Stevan Jovetic’s perseverance after the Montenegrin striker scored twice in the Premier League champions’ 3-1 win at home to Liverpool.

Jovetic, 24, endured a frustrating debut campaign at City, with injury and illness restricting him to only 11 league appearances, but he appears rejuvenated after a successful pre-season.

He scored either side of half-time in Monday’s game at the Etihad Stadium - taking him to within one goal of his tally for the entire 2013-14 campaign and Pellegrini said it was a reward for his determination.

With Alvaro Negredo sidelined by injury and Sergio Aguero working his way back to full fitness after his exertions with Argentina at the World Cup, Jovetic has acquired extra importance for the defending champions.

But Aguero also made an impact against Liverpool, scoring just 23 seconds after coming on for Edin Dzeko in

Arsenal look to cash in on home turf Real off to winning start, n Atletico held at Rayo AFP, London

Jack Wilshere is confident Arsenal’s dramatic late fightback at Everton will provide the perfect springboard to see off Besiktas in Wednesday’s crucial Champions League showdown.

Arsene Wenger’s side head into the second leg of their play-off encounter against the Turkish side with the tie delicately poised after a goalless draw in Istanbul last week.

It was the first time in 13 matches Arsenal had failed to win a Champions League play-off fixture.

But the Gunners are feeling good about themselves after rescuing a 2-2 draw from an unpromising situation in their Premier League match against Everton on Saturday.

Trailing 2-0 with only seven minutes remaining, Arsenal looked destined for another dispiriting defeat against one of their rivals for a top four finish.

Yet Wenger’s men ignored the memories of last season’s capitulations at Manchester City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Everton and hit back to equalise thanks to Aaron Ramsey’s strike and Olivier Giroud’s last minute header.

It was the ideal morale booster

ahead of Besiktas’s visit to the Emirates Stadium and England international Wilshere believes the fightback should inspire Arsenal to get the win they need to reach the group stages of Europe’s elite club competition for the 17th consecutive season.

Arsenal’s late revival on Merseyside couldn’t disguise the underwhelming nature of a performance that followed hot on the heels of another tepid effort

FIXTURES Ludogorets Malmo Bilbao Arsenal Leverkusen

v v v v v

St Bucharest Salzburg Napoli Besiktas FC Copenhagen

in the 2-1 victory over Crystal Palace on the opening day of the season.

Wales midfielder Ramsey, who bagged the late winner against Palace, was key to Arsenal’s recovery on both occasions, but he will be missing against Besiktas after being sent off in Turkey.

Alexis Sanchez started ahead of Giroud on Saturday, but struggled before coming off at half-time and Wenger must decide whether to keep the Chile forward in the central striker’s role. Regardless of who starts up front, Wenger expects Arsenal to finish the job.l

n AFP, Madrid Real Madrid got their La Liga campaign off to a winning start as they beat newly promoted Cordoba 2-0 at home, but champions Atletico Madrid were held 0-0 away to Rayo Vallecano on Monday.

Without the Manchester United bound Angel di Maria, Real were also far from convincing at the Bernabeu but got the three points thanks to Karim Benzema’s first-half header and a characteristic thumping finish into the bottom corner from Cristiano Ronaldo in stoppage time.

However, there was no such joy for Atletico as with coach Diego Simeone watching on from the stands they played out a bore draw with Rayo.

Simeone had been handed an eightmatch touchline ban earlier in the day for his conduct towards the officials in the second leg of Atletico’s Super Cup victory over Real on Friday and his side suffered a hangover from that match in a lacklustre performance.

Mario Mandzukic had been the match winner against Real, but the Croatian striker had an evening to forget at Vallecas as he wasted Atletico’s best

two openings towards the end of the first-half as he fired into the side-netting from Cristian Ansaldi’s low cross and then placed a shot too close to Rayo keeper Cristian Alvarez from the edge of the area.

Rayo had by far the better of the second-half, but despite their failings going forward, Atletico remained solid at the back.

RESULTS Real Madrid

2 0

Cordoba

0 0

Atletico Madrid

Benzema 30, Ronaldo 90

Rayo Vallecano

Manucho had the best chance to win the game as he dove to meet Javier Aquino’s cross, but his header was turned away by Atletico keeper Miguel Angel Moya.

Cordoba were playing in their first top flight game for 43 years and nearly had a dream start against Real’s Galacticos when Mike Havenaar pulled his shot just wide from the edge of the area.

Real did eventually ensure they started with a win as Ronaldo picked up the ball midway inside the Cordoba half and strode forward before unleashing a fine shot low past Carlos. l

the second half.

Pellegrini said that Dzeko would undergo tests on Tuesday after the Bosnian striker took a kick to the leg, but the City manager described it as “nothing important”.

Jovetic’s display took the spotlight away from Mario Balotelli, the former City striker, who watched the game from the director’s box after completing his £16 million ($26.5 million, 20.1 million euros) move to Liverpool from AC Milan. l

RESULT Man City Jovetic 41, 55, Aguero 69

3 1

Liverpool Zabaleta 83-og

QUICKEST GOALS AS SUB 1. Sibierski (Derby v Wigan) 2. Vellios (Chelsea v Everton) 3. Johnson (Wolves v Fulham) 4. Aiyegbeni (Blackburn v Everton) 5. Bikey (Reading v Chelsea) 6. Giannakopoulos (Spurs v Bolton) 7. Long (Reading v Newcastle) 8. Derbyshire (M’brough v Blackburn) 9. Aguero (Man City v Liverpool)

15s 17s 17s 18s 19s 19s 22s 22s 23s

Van Gaal unhappy with Kagawa’s performances n AFP, London Shinji Kagawa’s future at Manchester United has been plunged into doubt after Louis van Gaal admitted he was disappointed with the Japan midfielder’s performances.

Kagawa has been an unused substitute in the first two games of the van Gaal era at Old Trafford and the United manager even opted to leave him on the bench and send on winger Adnan Januzaj to play out of position in central midfield during the second half of Sunday’s 1-1 draw at Sunderland.

That was a major snub to Kagawa given his vast experience compared to the Belgian teenager. And to make matters worse for the Japanese star, he has been cast into exile by van Gaal at a time when United are struggling with midfield injuries to Michael Carrick, Ander Herrera, Anderson and Marouane Fellaini.

Van Gaal tried Kagawa in one of the two central midfield holding positions he uses in his 3-5-2 formation during United’s pre-season tour of the United States.

But the 25-year-old failed to shine in that role and van Gaal has so far preferred Juan Mata in the more attacking central midfield berth than Kagawa played at Borussia Dortmund. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

15

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Change in coaching staffs, but no change in results Tigers in turmoil again as they face the hosts in lone T20I today WEST INDIES V BANGLADESH, ODI SERIES n Mazhar Uddin Tigers suffered yet another humiliating series defeat this year after West Indies whitewashed the touring party on Monday by winning the third and final ODI by 91 runs courtesy of a brilliant 169 runs knock from wicket-keeper batsman Denesh Ramdin. Both sides will meet again today for the lone T20I which can be a morale booster for the visiting side if they can manage to play to their potential although such an unexpectedly helpless surrender in the ODI series hardly bodes well for the visitors before today’s match.

West Indies skipper Dwayne Bravo won the toss and elected to bat on a rather batting friendly pitch at the Warner Park and despite losing both openers - Chris Gayle and Lendl Simmons inside the first five overs, the home side managed to post a huge total of 338/7. Darren Bravo and Ramdin then led the recovery in style for the batting side as the pair added 258 runs for the third wicket which ultimately became the highest aggregate of runs for third wicket for West Indies in ODIs. Bangladesh were left to rue the missed chances offered by both Ramdin and Bravo as skipper Mushfiqur Rahim failed to stump Bravo off Razzak when he was on 10 while Ramdin was also lucky on 35 when Razzak couldn’t reach close enough to the skier at mid-on.

QUICK BYTES

Bolt to visit India to play cricket Jamaican sprint superstar Usain Bolt will make his first trip to India next week to play cricket against India’s World Cup hero Yuvraj Singh, organisers said on Tuesday. The cricket face-off -- titled ‘Bolt and Yuvi - Battle of the Legends’ -- is being organised by sportswear giants Puma and will take place at the Chinnaswamy stadium in Bangalore on September 2. The format and details of the game have not been revealed. “Puma brings Usain Bolt down for a one-of-a-kind cricket faceoff between two sporting legends,” the organisers said in a media release. “For the first time ever, watch the fastest man on earth challenge Yuvraj Singh to an exclusive cricket showdown.”

–AFP

Player D Ramdin (WI) DM Bravo (WI) KA Pollard (WI) Tamim Iqbal (Ban) Anamul Haque (Ban)

Inns 3 3 3 3 3

R 277 184 125 118 116

HS 169 124 89 55 109

Ave 92.33 61.33 41.66 39.33 38.66

SR 100 111.69 1 82.51 1 128.86 0 74.21 0 78.37 1

BBI 4/51 4/29 4/32 3/39 3/13

Ave Econ SR 17.00 5.93 17.2 14.00 3.81 22.0 12.80 5.33 14.4 26.00 4.64 33.6 18.25 2.70 40.5

Most wickets Player Al-Amin Hossain (Ban) R Rampaul (WI) DJ Bravo (WI) Mashrafe Mortaza (Ban) SP Narine (WI)

Overs Runs Wkts 28.4 170 10 25.4 98 7 12.0 64 5 28.0 130 5 27.0 73 4

The West Indies team poses with the Dhaka Bank Cup after winning the ODI series against Bangladesh 3-0 at the Warner Park cricket ground in Basseterre, Saint Kitts and Nevis on Monday AFP

After that it was a devastating period for the Bangladeshi bowlers as Ramdin smashed the bowlers all over the park with 11 sixes and eight fours for his 121 ball 169 runs. Bravo played his part too, scoring 124 off 127 deliveries with seven boundaries and 8 sixes.

It looked like another catastrophe was on the card before Tamim Iqbal and Mushfiq rescued the Tigers’ innings by adding 99 for the third wicket after they were struggling at 2-2 after just 2 overs of their mammoth run

chase. Tamim hit 9 boundaries in his 62 ball 55 and this should serve as a massive confidence booster for the visitors as it was the southpaw’s first half-century after nine months. Tigers would hope this is just the beginning of a good run for him before today’s T20I and the two Tests.

However, Mushfiq’s departure in the 37th over for 72 runs again initiated a collapse for the visitors from which they couldn’t recover. Mushfiq, who promoted himself at the num-

6:00PM Bangladesh tour of West Indies Lone T20 Star Sports 1, 3 3:30PM India Tour of England Second ODI Star Sports 2 Pro Kabaddi League 8:15PM Pune v Mumbai 9:30PM Bengaluru v Jaipur Ten Cricket 1:00PM Tri-Nation Series 2014 2nd ODI, Australia v South Africa Ten Sports 8:30PM US Open 2014 Day 3: Day Session Ten Action 12:45AM UEFA Champions League, Qualifier Arsenal v Besiktas

ber four position where Mominul was supposed to play, hit 8 boundaries in a rather sedate innings off 113 deliveries.

Mominul, who replaced Shamsur Rahman in the XI, couldn’t do much as he was out for just 5 while Mahmudullah and Nasir perished trying to fulfill the demand of the situation because of an ever increasing run-rate.

However, Bangladesh will be desperately hoping for a better display in the only T20I of the tour today.

They would also feel like a little help

of luck could do them a huge favor as their only two T20 wins this year came against Afghanistan and Nepal, none a Test playing nation. Therefore, the Tigers again face an uphill task to break out of the shell of defeats against a home team which has just gone from strength to strength as the ODI series progressed. It will also be a test of the players’ mental state as to how they approach today’s match and bounce back after those counseling sessions by psychologist. l

Bowling Sohag 9-0-63-0, Mashrafe 10-0-69-1, Al-Amin 10-1-59-4, Razzak 10-0-76-1, Mahmudullah 10-1-48-1, Mominul 1-0-19-0.

Bangladesh Tamim Iqbal b Narine 55 Anamul Haque c Sammy b Holder 0 Imrul Kayes c Roach b Rampaul 1 Mushfiqur c Sammy b Rampaul 72 Mominul c Sammy b D.J. Bravo 5 Mahmudullah c Ramdin b Roach 27 Nasir Hossain c Roach b Rampaul 26 Sohag Gazi b Rampaul 24 Mashrafe Mortaza not out 15 Abdur Razzak not out 5 Extras (lb2, w13, nb2) 17 Total (50 overs, 8 wickets) 247 Bowling Holder 8-0-47-1, Rampaul 10-2-29-4, Bravo 5-1-32-1, Roach 9-0-48-1, Narine 10-0-31-1. Gayle 8-0-58-0.

West Indies won by 91 runs West Indies won the series 3-0

Sri Lanka beat Pakistan to square series n Agencies Sri Lanka defeated Pakistan by 77 runs in the second one-day international in Hambantota on Tuesday to level the three-match series 1-1.

Pakistan, chasing Sri Lanka’s commanding 310-9 in 50 overs, were bowled out for 233 in 43.5 overs in the day-night match. Pakistan had won the first match at the same venue by four wickets last week. The decider will be played in Dambulla on Saturday.

Skipper Angelo Mathews scored 93 as Sri Lanka survived a three-wicket burst by Mohammad Hafeez to make 310-9 from 50 overs in the second

one-dayer against Pakistan in Hambantota on Tuesday.

The hosts, needing a win to keep the three-match series alive after losing the opening game by four wickets on Saturday, stuttered to 62-3 after electing to take first strike. Mahela Jayawardene and Mathews retrieved the situation by adding 122 for the fourth wicket, with both batsmen recording their second successive half-centuries.

But the dismissal of Jayawardene for 67 in the 34th over -- the first of three wickets in as many overs by Hafeez-saw Sri Lanka collapse from a commanding 184-3 to 194-6.

Big-hitting Thisara Perera helped

BRIEF SCORE Sri Lanka 310-9 in 50 overs (Mathews 93, Jayawardene 67, Perera 65; Wahab 4-65, Hafeez 3-39) Pakistan 233 all out in 43.5 overs (Hafeez 62, Shehzad 56; Perera 3-19) Sri Lanka won by 77 runs Mathews add 87 off 57 balls for the seventh wicket before the captain holed out to mid-wicket against Wahab Riaz seven runs short of a century. Perera smashed 65 off 36 balls as the hosts

plundered 101 runs in the last 10 overs.

Hafeez, who also trapped Seekkuge Prasanna and Ashan Priyanjan leg-before in successive overs, finished with three for 39 from 10 economical overs.

Riaz had four for 65.

Hafeez stepped in for the prolific Saeed Ajmal, who was yet to return from Australia where he underwent tests on his bowling action after being reported by the umpires during the preceding Test series.

Pakistan, hoping to win the one-day leg after they lost the Tests 2-0, were also without frontline batsman Younis Khan who returned home following a death in the family. l

Hamstrung captain Clarke set to miss more cricket

Former champions Novak Djokovic and Maria Sharapova sparkled under the Arthur Ashe Stadium lights to end a steamy first day that proved more than a little stressful for several of the U.S. Open favourites on Monday. Djokovic, who had won only two matches in the hard court run-up to the season’s final grand slam after getting married just days after his Wimbledon triumph, was back to his best once the center court spotlight shone on him at Flushing Meadows. The 2011 champion treated his first-round match against unseeded 22-year-old Argentine Diego Schwartzman like a breezy workout, dominating in all phases with 24 winners including seven aces in a 6-1 6-2 6-4 rout. Eighth-seeded 2012 champion Andy Murray fought off cramps to beat Dutchman Robin Haase in four painful sets.

–Reuters

BTV, Gazi TV

West Indies Simmons c Mahmudullah b Mashrafe 6 Gayle c Mushfiqur b Al-Amin 6 DM Bravo c Imrul b Mahmudullah 124 Ramdin c Nasir b Al-Amin 169 Pollard c Tamim b Abdur Razzak 10 Sammy c Abdur Razzak b Al-Amin 10 DJ Bravo not out 3 Holder c Nasir b Al-Amin 0 Narine not out 0 Extras (lb4, w6) 10 Total (50 overs, 7 wickets) 338

50 1 1 1 1 0

Djokovic, Sharapova sparkle as others toil

DAY’S WATCH

SCORECARD

Most runs

n Reuters, Melbourne

Sri Lanka batsmen Mahela Jayawardene (R) and Angelo Mathews run between wickets during their second ODI against Pakistan in Hambantota yesterday. Sri Lanka won the game by 77 runs REUTERS

Two-day DPL players transfer today n Mazhar Uddin The two-day player transfer of the Dhaka Premier League for the cricketers outside the national team will take place at the Bangabandhu National Stadium today.

The player transfer of the traditional fifty-over tournament for the national pool cricketers earlier took place on August 11-12 and returned to its original trend where the players can choose their clubs after the controversial “players by choice” system was scrapped last season.

Most of the cricketers are relieved that the old system of player recruitment has returned in the domestic cricket league which is one of the main sources of income for the country’s cricketers.

Earlier in the first phase of the player transfer for the national pool crick-

eters, skipper Mushfiqur Rahim joined Prime Doleshwar along with Mominul Haque and Shafiul Islam while Gazi Tank Cricketers roped in Tamim Iqbal who will reportedly receiving the highest payment in the league. Shakib al Hasan is likely to lead Gazi Tank.

Most of the cricketers are relieved that the old system of player recruitment has returned in the domestic cricket league which is one of the main sources of their income Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, Brothers Union, Partex and Old DOHS, however, have not registered a single national pool cricketer and are expected to recruit some national discards to their sides today. l

Australia captain Michael Clarke, sidelined with a hamstring injury, may not be fit until the “back end” of the triangular one-day tournament with Zimbabwe and South Africa, according to stand-in skipper George Bailey.

Clarke injured his hamstring at training in Harare and was scratched from Monday’s series-opener against Zimbabwe, which Australia won by 198 runs.

“It happens a little bit too often,” Bailey said at the toss, referring to standing in for Clarke.

“Hopefully ‘Pup’ will be right for the back end of this series. Rest up for the first couple and then get himself right.”

Australia play South Africa in Harare on Wednesday, with further matches next week before the final on Sept. 6.

Australia are likely to be very cautious about rushing Clarke back, with a two-Test series against Pakistan in the United Arab Emirates to follow in

October.

The team’s performance without their top batsman will also have buoyed selectors, along with the straight hitting of paceman Mitchell Johnson, who blasted a six into the television commentary box window.

The shot showered Neil Manthorp and colleague Pommie Mbangwa with shards of glass.

The pair were uninjured and left-armer Johnson, who bowled Australia to Test series wins over England and South Africa earlier this year, was not apologising beyond a sheepish smile and a raise of his hand when surveying the damage from out in the middle.

“I didn’t see it shatter, I just saw some of the commentators brushing away a bit of glass, so it was a good thing it didn’t shatter everywhere and the ball didn’t go through,” he said in comments published on Cricket Australia’s website on Tuesday (www. cricket.com.au).l

Lampard calls time on England career n AFP, London England midfielder Frank Lampard announced his retirement from international football after a career spanning 15 years on Tuesday.

The 36-year-old’s 106th and final cap for his country came on June 23 when he captained England in their final World Cup game against Costa Rica.

Lampard said in a statement released by his management company: “I have taken the decision to retire from international football.

“It has been a very tough decision for me to make which is why I have given it so much thought since the World Cup.” His haul of international caps puts him sixth in the all-time England list behind Peter Shilton, David Beckham, Steven Gerrard, who announced his England retirement last month, Bobby Moore and Ashley Cole.

Chelsea’s all-time top goalscorer left the Premier League club after 13 years last month, signing for Major League Soccer 2015 expansion side New York City FC. In his statement Lampard said he had been “proud and honoured” and enjoyed “every minute” of wearing an England shirt.

He added: “Due to my club career now going in a different direction it is of utmost importance for me to consider my family first.

“Also, to concentrate on how I can perform consistently to the best of my abilities over my next few years in club football. l

IIDFC, Bando, Steller cruise to QFs n Arsalan Quddus It may have been a gloomy day in Dhaka yesterday, but the action in the STM Hall was fast and thick. Qubee continued their fine run in this tournament by overturning IFC World Bank Group who held their nerves almost to the end of the match. But as they say experience trumps exuberance every time. We bid farewell to IFC who have gained many an admirer through their attractive brand of football. Noor-e-alam, Yasir, and Rased all put their names on the Qubee scoreline while Zulqar and Fahad replied for IFC. Bangla Trac fought hard and long against the in-form HRC Group, but the two pronged attack of Sijon and Rion proved too much for them in the end. They both scored two each.

Emran khan of Bangla Trac scored a brace too.

Ahad of Stellar Digital returned to scoring

ways with two goals in their match against HSBC. The bankers tried their best to stop the marauding attack of the SD by scoring three themselves. Sadly, it wasn’t enough. We hope to see the HSBC back next year stronger.

RESULTS, DAY 5 Qubee Bangla Trac Steller Digital City Bank IIDFC Runner ULAB

3 2 5 2 4 1 3

2 4 3 9 0 11 5

IFC HRC Group HSBC Bando Design Metlife Alico Beximco Pharma Ispahani

STM Hall was due for a packed to the rafters match. The City Bank game against Bando Design proved to be one. Bando, who had previously destroyed IPDC 12-0, found themselves only 3-1 up at the break. This was a testament of City Bank’s game plan.

Upto that point, their defense stood strong and thwarted wave upon wave of Bando attacks.

Unfortunately, the flood gates opened as soon as the second half started. In the end, the scoreline read 9-2 in favor of Bando. The bankers gave a fine account of themselves in this tournament. We hope to see them again soon.

In the meantime, Bando’s captain Imran went one step closer in the race for the golden boot with a tally of 14 goals in three games.

IIDFC ended Metlife Alico’s run in this tournament with a 4-0 rout. We will miss Metlife’s exuberant players and fans but this is the end of the road for them. l

Arsalan Quddus is a key member of the organiser Excalibur Entertainment, a die hard Manchester United fan and also a passionate football fanatic.

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Low lying areas surrounding Dhaka flooded

Flood situation worsens in Jamalpur, Kurigram Roads in several areas subside; thousands marooned in different areas in the capital’s periphery n Tribune Report n Abu Hayat Mahmud The overall flood situations in Jamalpur If anyone visits the surrounding areas of the capital now, they might wonder how could they not know there was a city that is built on water.

From Amin Bazar to Ashulia, from Demra to Shonir Akhra, most of the low lying areas around the capital, it is water everywhere as the places have been flooded because of the heavy rain and overflow of the four Dhaka rivers in the past few weeks.

Roads, homesteads, fields and open spaces in these areas are submerged under around 10 feet of flood water.

Sources at the Bangladesh Water Development Board (WDB) say the areas were flooded as the four rivers surrounding the capital – Balu, Turag, Shitalakkhya and Buriganga – were overflowing.

According to their estimate, around 2.5 lakh people are marooned in flood water in Nasirabad, Amulia, Madartek, Kodomtola, east Basabo, Demra, Matuail, Shonir Akhra, Amin Bazar and a few other areas.

“The scenario is not new in the low lying areas around the capital. Every year these areas get flooded due to heavy rainfall and overflowing river water,” WDB Executive Engineer Md Ruhul Amin told the Dhaka Tribune.

People of these areas are also used to such sufferings. Most houses in Nasirabad union were seen built on pillars about 10 feet high.

Boats have become the only mode of transport in these areas.

Ibrahim Sarkar, 65, a resident of Shekher Jaiga in Nasirabad, said: “It has become very difficult to continue our regular work because of the flood.

Our movement has become limited.”

Ibrahim fears the flood this year might worsen and get big like in the past.

A road in the area has subsided at three points due to heavy rain on Monday. The 100 feet wide Demra-Amulia-Shekher Jaiga-Rampura road, which is under construction, was also damaged at Nagdarpar point due to river bank erosion.

HC dismisses plea on banning Indian TV channels n Ahmed Zayeef The High Court has dismissed a writ petition which sought a ban on Indian television channels, as the petitioner failed to present supporting documents for the petition.

The vacation bench of Justice Sheikh Hasan Arif and Justice Abu Taher Muhammad Saifur Rahman passed the order yesterday.

Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder represented the government, while Abdul Matin Khosru presented documents on behalf of the cable TV network Star Group at the hearing.

On August 21, the High Court set August 26 for the petitioner to submit documents regarding Indian TV channels’ broadcast licences and financial transactions before the court.

Advocate Eklas Uddin Bhuiya, who represented the petitioner, told the Dhaka Tribune: “The government side and the lawyer of Cable TV network authority said Indian TV channels have permission to broadcast. I said ‘these channels are the major cause of the degradation of our society and culture.

On that reason they can stop the broadcast of those TV channels.’

“After the hearing, the court wanted to reject the writ outright, but I pleaded them to reject the case as being not pressed, and they accepted it.”

Deputy Attorney General Amit Talukder told the Dhaka Tribune: “The petitioner failed to provide documents supporting the claim that Indian television channels were broadcast illegally and the financial transactions were also illegal. After that, the court rejected the writ petition as being not pressed.”

On August 7, a writ petition was filed with the High Court seeking an answer to why all Indian TV channels should not be banned in Bangladesh.

In the petition, Supreme Court lawyer Advocate Syeda Sahin Ara Laili said broadcasting by the Indian channels is a major cause for society’s degradation.

On August 3, Advocate Eklas Uddin Bhuiyan sent a legal notice through a registry post to the information minister, secretary of information and BTRC chairman, seeking to stop the airing of all Indian TV channels in Bangladesh within 24 hours. l

Pedestrians avoid falling into stagnant water that covers a large portion of a road that subsided because of flooding in Khilgaon’s Sheker Jaiga yesterday Sakhawat Hossain, project implementation officer of the Department of Disaster Management, said local lawmaker Saber Hossain Chowdhury was consulted regarding the damaged road in Shekher Jaiga, adding that reformation of the road would start today.

Meanwhile, several roads and open spaces in Matuail, Shonir Akhra, Mogholpara, Rosulpur, Dholeshwar, Adorshopara, Sarulia, West Sarulia, Dogair, Deillah, Munsibagh, Baghmara, Box-

onagar, Sarulia Bahir Tengra, Kandapara, Mridhabari, Manda, Basabo, Madartek, Kodomtoli and other low lying areas surrounding Dhaka have gone under water.

At the same time, several houses, educational institutions and healthcare centres were marooned. The flood water is also responsible for various water-borne diseases like diarrhoea and skin diseases, which may break out any time.

Shahara Banu, 60, a resident of Shekher Jaiga, said: “Locals tried to protect the road, but they failed because of the heavy current of the flood.”

When contacted, one of the local members of Nasirabad union parishad said the union gets flooded during every rainy season. He expressed concerns that the flow this year was higher than last few years.

Meanwhile, residents of the flooded areas have been facing water-logging due

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

to a lack of adequate drainage system.

WDB Executive Engineer Md Ruhul Amin said the water would start receding by the end of September.

Answering a question, he said: “We are yet to get any information regarding major flood problems in the capital.

If any major problem is reported, immediate measures will be taken.”

Pointing out Padma bank erosion in Munshiganj, the WDB official said they were trying to prevent it. l

and Kurigram worsened because of the continuous heavy rainfall in last few days.

Our Jamalpur correspondent reports that the flood situation in the district was very critical, as water was flowing at 27cm above the danger level at Bahadurabad point in the Jomuna River.

The rise in water level left at least 15 villages submerged and eight educational institutions closed. Till now, a total of 117 educational institutions were closed because of the flood.

Sources said only 24 tonnes rice and Tk5 lakh were allocated for over 2 hundred thousand flood affected people.

Pathorshi Union Parishad Chairman Hasmot Ali said they were not being able to help the flood victims due to the lack of aid and relief.

Meanwhile, Jamalpur Deputy Commissioner Md Shahabuddin said new aid and relief would be provided within two days.

On the other hand, our Kurigram correspondent reports that water levels of the Brahmaputra River, Dhorola River, Teesta River and other rivers in the district had increased because of the heavy rainfall, leaving thousands of people marooned in flood water for the last 13 days.

Sources at the local Water Development Board said water level of the Brahmaputra River was increased by 1cm at Chilmari point and 5cm at Nun Khaoa point. On the other hand, Kaunia point saw an increase of 9cm in the water level of the Teesta River and the Dhorola River saw a rise of 5cm in the water level at Setu point.

The trapped people in remote areas had been starving as aid and relief have not reached the areas, while they were also suffering from different water borne diseases because of the flood.

Kurigram Deputy Commissioner ABM Azad said though 500 tonnes rice and Tk11 lakh were allocated for the flood affected people, the authorities could distribute only 300 tonnes rice and Tk4 lakh among the villagers. l

RAB: AL leader slaying a family affair Ice bucket challenge n goes wrong, teen dies Tribune Report

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) has made three arrests in its investigation into the slaying of ward-level Awami League leader Jahangir Alam in the capital 17 days ago.

The arrestees, Amena Khatun, 27, Md Jannatul Nayeem, 22, and Md Yasin Sarker Rajan, 34, were picked up along with two passports and currency.

The elite force investigation indicated that Jahangir was the victim of a contract killing.

Jahangir Alam, 45, a presidential candidate of the Ward 41 unit of the AL, was shot dead in front of his West Agargaon house on August 9 while getting out of his car. His wife and daughter were with him in the car.

He was the president of the Agargaon Momota Bahumukhi Samabaya Samity.

Nayeem, one of the arrestees, was identified as the shooter, said Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of the RAB legal and media wing.

The RAB officials said Jahangir was shot in the chest by two youths wearing three-quarter pants, who then fled the scene. Jahangir died at the National In-

stitute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation, popularly known as Pongu Hospital, in the capital around midnight.

“Acting on a tip-off, we arrested Amena from Nabinagar bus stand on Monday. The main shooter, Nayeem, was arrested from the capital’s Adabor neighbourhood while Rajan, the owner of the murder weapon, was arrested in West Agargaon,” he said.

The primary interrogation revealed that the plan to kill Jahangir had been made last Ramadan. The day before Eid, Jasim asked Mohabbat and Nayeem to come to Hossain Ali’s house, located close to the victim’s house. Jasim had the weapon delivered to Hossain Ali’s house by Rajan, and Hossain then handed it over to Nayeem.

On August 9, Nayeem accompanied by cohorts, shot Jahangir six times as he was getting out of his vehicle around 10:55pm. He then handed the weapon over to Jasim, Haji Babu and Rajan who were waiting near the scene of the crime, RAB sources said.

“We are trying to arrest Mohabbat who was with Nayeem during the shooting,” the RAB official said.

According to the RAB investigation,

Jahangir is the son-in-law of Awami League Ward 41 unit president Nur Mohammad. Nur Mohammad is the main accused in the murder case of ward-level AL leader Fazlul Haque. Nur went missing in October, following Fazlul’s murder in January 2011. After two months without a trace, another of his sons-inlaw, Abdul Mannan, also went missing.

Nur’s family alleges that law enforcers have Nur and Mannan in custody.

Nur’s son Mamun was also murdered that year while another son, Bagha, died of natural causes.

Yet another of his sons, Mintu, absconded to India because he was listed as a criminal here. Mintu is accused in a number of murder cases.

Jahangir, the victim, started to manage his father-in-laws assets after his father-in-law, Nur Mohammad, and brother-in-law, Mannan, disappeared, and other brother-in-law, Mintu fled to India, the investigators said.

RAB alleges that Mintu, who is absconding, disliked his brother-in-law’s control over his father’s assets and hatched a plan to have him killed.

They allege that Mintu hired contract killers to murder his brother-inlaw. l

n Tribune Desk The death of a teenager who drowned in a disused quarry is being investigated as possibly the first fatality linked to the ice bucket challenge craze.

Cameron Lancaster, 18, died after disappearing under the water at Prestonhill Quarry in Inverkeithing, Scotland, on Sunday evening. It is thought that he took part in the ice bucket challenge before entering the water in the quarry.

The ice bucket challenge has spawned hundreds of internet videos of famous and non-famous alike being doused in cold water to raise awareness and money for the fight against motor neurone disease.

Among those to have taken part are Victoria Beckham, the model Cara Delevingne, Vogue editor Anna Wintour, Bill Gates, Oprah Winfrey, former US President George W Bush who had a bucket of water poured over his head by his wife Laura.

The ice bucket challenge has raised

at least £250,000 for the UK Motor Neurone Disease Association and $62.5m for its equivalent the ALS Association in the US, where the craze originated.

It has, however, faced criticism that it has become more about celebrities getting publicity than raising money.

The craze was also hit by tragedy last week when Corey Griffin, 27, credited with being one of the American inventors of the ice bucket challenge, drowned in a swimming accident in Nantucket, Massachusetts.

Lancaster’s death, however, is thought to be the first fatality directly linked to the ice bucket challenge.

Emergency services were called to the quarry at 5pm on Sunday and the body of Lancaster from Burntisland, Fife, was recovered after a four-hour search of the deep water.

A police spokesman said: “Inquiries are under way to establish the full circumstances of what happened and Police Scotland’s thoughts are with the family at this very difficult time.” l

Iran supplied weapons to Iraqi Kurdish forces; Baghdad bomb kills 12 n Reuters Iran has supplied weapons and ammunition to Iraqi Kurdish forces, Kurdistan President Massoud Barzani said yesterday at a joint press conference with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Arbil, capital of Iraq’s Kurdish region.

The direct arming of Kurdish forces is a contentious issue because some Iraqi politicians have said they suspect Kurdish leaders have aspirations to break away from the central government completely. The move could also be seen by some as a prelude to Iran taking a more direct role in broader Iraqi conflict.

“We asked for weapons and Iran was the first country to provide us with weapons and ammunition,” Barzani said.

Militants from the Islamic State have clashed with Kurdish peshmerga fighters in recent weeks and taken control of some areas on the periphery of Iraqi Kurdistan.

Earlier in the day a car bomb was

detonated in a mainly Shi’ite district of eastern Baghdad, killing 12 people and wounding 28, police and medical sources said.

The bombing in the New Baghdad neighbourhood followed a series of blasts in the Iraqi capital on Monday which killed more than 20 people.

The Islamic State, which controls large swathes of northern and western Iraq, claimed responsibility for a suicide bombing in the New Baghdad neighbourhood on Monday and said in a statement that the attack was carried out as revenge for an attack against a Sunni mosque in Diyala on Friday which killed 68 and wounded dozens.

The Iranian foreign minister held talks with Barzani on Tuesday, one day after visiting senior Shi’ite clerics in southern Iraq. Zarif acknowledged giving military assistance to Iraqi security forces but said the cooperation did not include deploying ground troops in the country.

“We have no military presence in

Iraq,” Zarif said. “We do have military cooperation with both the central government and the Kurds in different arenas.”

Neither Zarif nor Barzani gave any details whether weapons supplied to Kurdish peshmerga forces had been routed through the central government or given directly to Kurdish forces. Prime Minister-designate Haider al-Abadi said Monday that arms given to the peshmerga had been routed through the central government.

Britain, France, Germany and Italy have also promised to send military assistance to Kurdish security forces to fight the Islamic State.

The United States has carried out a series of airstrikes against the Islamic State fighters in northern Iraq in the past two weeks, partly to protect the Kurdish region from being overrun.

Zarif denied that Iran and the United States were discussing Iraq as part of talks between Iran and Western powers about Iran’s nuclear program. l

Iraqi Kurdish regional President Masoud Barzani, right, shakes hands with Iranian foreign minister Mohammad Javad Zarif in Arbil, north of Baghdad, yesterday REUTERS

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B3 ‘Economy likely grew

faster in June quarter’

B4 Germany signals will

continue EU austerity drive

WEDNESDAY, AUGUST 27, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Pull private investment to tap blue resources Top IOCs not interested

Experts urge the government to encourage private money to utilise opportunities offered by the new maritime boundary n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman The government has taken an initiative to sensitise the private sector to invest in acquiring of marine resources, which remain still untapped in Bangladesh.

“Many researches show that the countries which have utilized their marine resources have advanced more,” Secretary Md Khurshed Alam of Maritime Affairs Unit of Foreign Ministry said yesterday at a roundtable on Blue Economy of Bangladesh in the city.

The Board of Investment organised the dialogue, which was attended by Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy adviser to the prime minister, secretaries of different ministries and representatives from the private sector.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina also presided over the first ever government conference on marine resources last Thursday, and the Foreign Ministry is going to host the first-ever international conference on Blue Economy on September 1 and 2.

Bangladesh has settled its maritime delimitation disputes with India and Myanmar and now has more than 1,18,813 square kilometres of waters altogether comprising territorial sea and exclusive economic zone extending to 200 nautical miles across sizable area.

It also has undeniable sovereign rights in the seabed extending as far as 354 nautical miles from Chittagong coast in the Bay of Bengal with all the living and nonliving resources.

The unresolved maritime boundary created severe obstacles to exploration and exploitation of natural resources, affected deep-sea fishing and the Bangladesh Navy and the Coastguard experienced severe problems in exer-

n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali speaks at a roundtable on Blue Economy of Bangladesh. The Board of Investment hosted the dialogue yesterday in the city cising sovereign rights in the maritime areas.

The Maritime Affairs Unit secretary said fisheries, communication, mineral resources, tourism, shipbuilding and manpower export are all parts of Blue Economy and private sector can invest in those sectors.

Several business leaders proposed that the government should take necessary steps to contact different chambers and associations and make them aware of the prospect of marine business.

The Foreign Minister immediately responded that the government would take necessary actions.

Former FBCCI president AK Azad said the private sector would acquire

marine resources and for that it needs government patronisation to invest in the Blue Economy.

“Now we are growing at an average rate of 6% but it should be around 8% to 10%,” he said.

The private sector needs soft loan and cash incentive to invest in the sector, he demanded.

The total trade volume of Bangladesh is $65 billion, and for transportation, the foreign carriers realise $6 billion as freight charge every year, he said.

“We can operate our own ships and retain the amount of money in our country,” he added.

He demanded that infrastructure be built to import liquefied natural gas.

National Feed IPO okayed

Electronic fund transfer struggles to get pace

National Feed Mill Limited yesterday got IPO approval from the securities regulator to raise Tk18 crore from the stock market mainly to expand its business.

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) in a statement said yesterday that it approved the IPO of National Feed.

The company will issue 1.8 crore ordinary shares with a face value of Tk10 each. The raised fund will be used for expanding its operation, payment of bank loan, strengthening the capital base and meeting the IPO expenses. The company’s net asset value is Tk14.55 and earning per share is Tk1.85, according to its financial statement till June 2013.

The BSEC also approved Tk300 crore Mudaraba Subordinate Bond of Social Islami Bank. With its maturity period of six years, the bank’s annual term deposit interest rate is 120%. The bond’s each unit price is Tk5,00,000.

Institutional investors like bank, insurance, financial institution, corporate house and individual investors are eligible for subscribing the bond.

The bank raised fund through issuing bond in line with the regulatory requirement of meeting Basel-II. The commission also fined two brokerage firms Tk10 lakh for breaching securities rules.

AB Securities was fined Tk5 lakh as it accepted cash instead of cheque from its clients and withdrew more than Tk6 crore from its consolidated client. l

n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

Citibank, NA Bangladesh has launched roadshow on Electronic Fund Transfer (EFT) to popularise the modern payment system across Bangladesh.

The roadshow will be comprised of five additional workshops in 2014 in the country's major collection and payment centers located in Bogra, Jessore, Comilla, Mymensingh and Sylhet.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) deputy governor Nazneen Sultana inaugurated the roadshow at a city hotel yesterday.

She said electronic fund transfer system has brought new dimension to the country’s payment system, which is cost-effective, secured and eco-friendly.

But the country’s people are still not aware about this modern system, she said, expecting the Citi initiative would help popularise the system.

However, she hoped the people will be habituated in using the system as it is gaining pace as days passing by. Now electronic fund transactions increased to 55,000 per day from 18,000 a couple years back, she said.

BB General Manager of Payment System Department KM Abdul Wadood said the EFT is yet to reach at satisfactory level since its introduction by the central bank in February 2011. A lot of challenges remain in making people habituated, he said.

Citi Managing Director and Head of Cash Product, Southeast Asia, Noel Saminathan, Citi Country Officer Rashed Maqsood, Head of its Treasury and Trade Solution Moinul Huq and Head of its Corporate and Investment Banking Shams Zaman also spoke at the function.

Later at a panel discussion, Dutch Bangla Bank Deputy Managing Director AKM Shirin said a client has to present physically for completing some formalities. This is one of the reasons the system is not getting momentum, he said.

Another discussant said most of the commercial banks do not have fullfledged online banking systems, holding back many to introduce the system.

The opening event was also attended by senior officials from Bangladesh Bank, Bangladesh Automated Clearing House, managers from scheduled banks and corporate clients of Citi Bangladesh along with nominated distributors and dealers.

The objective of the roadshow is to reduce paper-based processes from the entire payment industry and thus adding more efficiency in the economic system.

Through this initiative, Citi Bangladesh hopes to stimulate further utilisation of EFT system across the country in conjunction with the digital initiatives of the central bank.

As real time gross settlement (RTGS) is expected to go live in 2015, it is expected that a culture of strong electronic payment system across the country will develop, said the Citibank.

Faster settlement cycle along with standardisation in payment information transmission will not only help the clients achieve efficient receivable cycle, but also help the communities across the country to get their goods and services far faster than now, it said.

The system, tagged as Bangladesh Electronic Fund Transfer Network (BFTN), initially allows people to make online money transactions, payment of utility bills through internet, transfer of funds (account to account), payment for goods and services, and facilitate online credit card payments in local currency.

People can later transfer fund from their accounts to the recipients in the country irrespective of their banks, the central bank officials said. l

Shipping Secretary Manjurul Islam stressed the need for an environment conducive to investment so that private sector can come forward.

He called for initiatives to develop maritime strategy paper as soon as possible to tap the ocean resources.

Chief Executive Officer of Business Initiatives Leading Development (BUILD), Ferdaus Ara Begum, proposed that Bangladesh should forge strategic partnership with India and Myanmar.

Economic Relations Division Additional Secretary Shafiqul Azam said Bangladesh is going to procure a research vessel by December with assistance from Islamic Development Bank.

The prime minister’s energy advis-

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

er, Tawfiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, said there should be research on how to mitigate the risk of private sector.

“We need specialised vessel to conduct research in the sea,” he said.

The foreign minister termed industrialists and entrepreneurs main actors in acquiring marine resources.

He said the private sector should formally place their demand to get soft loan for investing in the sector.

About strategic partnership with India and Myanmar, he said Bangladesh already has such relationship with the two countries.

Under the framework of BIMSTEC and BCIM, all the three countries are members and cooperate with each other. l

Leading five or six international oil companies have not shown interest in exploring gas and oil in Bangladesh, said high foreign ministry official.

They were interested about what Bangladesh didn't offer, he added.

“They are interested about a kind of terms and conditions which we don’t offer,” said Md Khurshed Alam, Secretary to the Maritime Affairs Unit of the ministry, at a roundtable dialogue on Blue Economy in Bangladesh yesterday.

The programme was organised by Board of Investment where Foreign Minister AH Mahmood Ali, Energy Adviser to the Prime Minister Toufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury and other senior government officials and representatives from the private sector attended.

The top companies are going to Myanmar as their terms and conditions are more acceptable to the IOCs, Md Khurshed Alam said.

The secretary said in last June he traveled to Jamaica where he had a discussion with a Canadian company, Nautilus Mineral, which was doing business in Tonga, a tiny island.

“I asked them why they are not interested about Bangladesh. They mentioned political instability as a reason,” he said.

According to the energy adviser, Bangladesh cannot offer the terms and conditions what Myanmar offers to the oil companies.

“Myanmar’s intention is to monetise the resources while Bangladesh wants to inject the resources to the economy.

We have different objectives,” he said.

He said Bangladesh would redesign its block for bidding and already revised production sharing contract (PSC) for that. “We hope that it would be attractive enough for the IOCs.” Bangladesh signed PSC with six IOCs – three from the US, one from Canada and one from former Yugoslavia – for offshore exploration in 1974 but they left as India and Myanmar both objected to as maritime delimitation was not settled that time. l

The grassroots female entrepreneurs (behind) receive awards for their outstanding contributions to women empowerment at a programme in the capital yesterday RAJIB DHAR

Grassroots female entrepreneurs change lot n Tribune Report Three grassroots female entrepreneurs have been awarded in recognition of their outstanding contribution to women empowerment in the country through their entrepreneurship.

Association of Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs Bangladesh (AGWEB), a non-profit organisation, yesterday handed over the award styled “Grassroots Women Entrepreneurs Award-2013” among the recipients, for the first time of its kind, at the Institute of Diploma Engineers in the capital.

The theme of award giving ceremony was “Empowering Grassroots Women through Entrepreneurship” which was sponsored by IFIC bank. Speaker of Bangladesh Parliament Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury handed over the awards as chief guest.

State minister for the ministry of women and children affairs Meher Afroze Chumki, governor of Bangladesh Bank Atiur Rahman and Managing Director of IFIC bank Shah A Sarwar attended the programme as special guests with AGWEB President Mousumi Islam in the chair.

Of the three recipients, one was awarded as champion while two others were as runner-ups. All the winners received a crest along with a certificate.

Besides, champion got Tk3 lakh while first runner up got Tk2 lakh and the second runner up got Tk1 lakh.

The championship award went to Mokseda Begum, an owner of a handicraft shop at Gobindonagar of Thakurgaon. She started her business with a very small capital in the year 2001 but now around 300 contract-basis workers are working in her organisation. She was earlier, awarded by the Ministry of Youth and Sports in 2011 for her creative works.

Kohinur Akhter from Jessore, won the first runner up for her struggled journey in her 14 years of business career. She started her business with only Tk50,000, which now stood at Tk5 lakh and around 300 contract-basis workers are working in her institution named “Kohinur Handicrafts”.

Shahanaz Begum Rosy from Dinajpur, won the second runner up award for her entrepreneurship in SME business. She is the proprietor of Glamour Fashion House and Rose Beauty Parlor.

A total of 12 regular employees and 20 contract-bases workers are now working in her institutions.

Receiving the championship award, Mokseda Begum said, “I had to face difficulties in getting capital to start my small business. As no banks helped me to get any capital without collateral, I

did not give up, rather, decided to start my business with my won savings.”

She is yet to take any loan from the bank as her capital is now around Tk14 lakh. Addressing the function, she urged the banks to arrange loan facility for the new women entrepreneurs without collateral.

IFIC bank provided loan of Tk3 lakh to Piara Begum, a proprietor of Rukhsana Jamdani Weaving Factory from Narayanganj through mobile banking at the function as part of its new financial service product “Grassroots Women”. It also handed over a cheque of loan worth Tk5 lakh to five grassroots entrepreneurs at the function.

Shirin Sharmin Chowdhury called upon the women entrepreneurs to engage themselves in innovative business as she said, “Women have to bring diversification in their business to attract customers, otherwise, they will be looser in business if everyone do the same business.”

Mousumi Islam place a set of recommendations, which include keeping 30% allocation in total loan disbursement and bring down interest rate at 5% on loan for women entrepreneurs.

The award-giving ceremony was addressed, among others, by Meher Afroze Chumki, Atiur Rahman and Shah A Sarwar. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

DSEX hits 5-month high

DSE key features August 26-2014

n Tribune Report

Number of Contract

by more than 12% over the previous session and highest in seven months.

Investors focused on power and fuel, pharmaceuticals and engineering. These three sectors jointly account for almost 44% of the total DSE turnover.

Non-banking financial institutions, cement and telco were reeling under selling pressure with 0.7%, 2% and 2.6% losses in their respective market capitalisation. Travel and leisure, IT and service, and real sectors performed positive.

Lanka Bangla Securities said bull has once again picked up its pace with the benchmark index DSEX heading towards 4,600 marks.

IDLC Investments said large cap stocks further extended the dominance in turnover. Investors’ participation remained strong and turnover spiked at Tk795 crore, which is highest in last seven months.

Zenith Investments said investor seemed willing to inject more money into the healthy stock market as long as they are getting their desired and expected return. This has raised the level of volume over the past few days, keeping positive index in check, it said.

Beximco Limited was the most traded stock for the fifth straight session with a net turnover of Tk50 crore, making up more than 6% of the total turnover.

It was followed by Beximco Pharmaceuticals, Mobil Jamuna Ltd Bangladesh, BSRM Steel, Grameenphone, Goldenson, Summit Power and Khulna Printing and Packaging Ltd. l

Stocks gained for the second straight session yesterday with the benchmark index DSEX climbing to five months high.

The rally was led by mainly the market’s bellwether banking issues, which remained under pressure for long, rose 1.3%.

The benchmark DSEX rose 26 points to 4,590 – highest since March 28 this year.

Non-banking financial institutions, cement and telco were reeling under selling pressure with 0.7%, 2% and 2.6% losses in their respective market capitalisation. Travel and leisure, IT and service, and real sectors performed positive The Shariah index edged 2 points or 0.5% higher to 1,065. The comprising blue chips DS30 witnessed fractional losses of 0.03 point to 1,728.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, rose 62 points to close at 8,677.

Trading at DSE continued to remain lively with the total turnover amounting to Tk795 crore, up

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

S.B. 1st M. F.-A NLI 1st M F-A Standard Ceramic -A 5th ICB M F-A Modern Dyeing -Z Popular Life Insu. -A Savar Refractories-Z Imam Button -Z Progressive Life-A Renwick Jajneswar-A

-9.09 -8.99 -8.13 -8.06 -7.34 -4.17 -4.13 -3.85 -3.83 -3.72

(+) 0.58%

1728.41601

(-) 0.001%

14193.20900

(+) 0.56%

11644.22760

(+) 0.43%

8674.51310

(+) 0.70%

ClosingAvg. 8.00 8.18 44.17 142.50 70.00 144.96 58.00 7.51 100.97 261.30

Company

7,949.57

Closing

▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲

DHIGH

8.00 8.10 44.10 142.50 72.00 144.70 58.00 7.50 100.50 256.10

8.00 8.20 44.50 142.50 72.10 149.00 58.00 7.70 102.50 270.90

188,490,839 153,048

Traded Issues

298

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

203

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

89 6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,393.08

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.01

CSE key features August 26-2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

535.28

Turnover (Volume)

15,652,257

Number of Contract

19,971

Traded Issues

225

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

158

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

63

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,303.34

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

27.92

Turnover in Million

8.00 8.10 43.50 142.50 72.00 142.10 58.00 7.30 100.00 251.00

Closing (% Change)

Provati Insur.-A S.B. 1st M. F.-A NLI 1st M F-A H.R. Textile -A BDCOM Online-A Apex Foods -A Samata LeatheR -Z Shahjibazar Power-N Premier Cement-A JMI Syringes MDL-A

-9.76 -9.30 -7.78 -6.71 -6.57 -5.49 -5.45 -4.90 -4.05 -3.73

Average (% Change) -9.79 -10.96 -8.78 -6.74 -1.22 -5.47 -5.45 -3.58 -2.39 -3.55

ANALYST

Latest EPS

0.060 0.045 0.530 0.014 0.007 1.812 0.003 0.259 7.724 5.213

1.42 1.41 1.32 18.67 1.61 17.00 0.52 -1.85 2.30 3.92

Latest PE 5.6 5.8 33.5 7.6 43.5 8.5 111.5 -ve 43.9 66.7

Company Beximco Pharma -A Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z UNITED AIR-A Rangpur Dairy-N Orion Pharma-N Aramit -A Fu-Wang Food A Beach Hatchery -A Agni Systems -A Unique Hotel RL - A

ClosingAvg. 22.20 7.80 8.21 30.60 26.79 98.20 26.00 564.40 93.82 160.10

Closing

DHIGH

22.20 7.80 8.30 30.60 25.60 98.20 26.00 565.00 92.30 160.10

9.94 9.85 9.73 8.82 8.65 8.45 8.43 8.41 7.82 6.51

22.20 7.80 8.30 30.60 27.40 98.20 26.00 580.00 96.10 160.10

Turnover in Million

DLOW 22.20 7.80 8.10 30.60 25.60 98.20 26.00 555.00 91.30 160.10

Latest EPS

0.011 0.066 2.287 0.015 0.094 0.015 0.039 4.346 1.820 0.080

1.52 1.42 1.41 1.75 1.43 2.99 0.09 3.04 3.67 4.50

DSE Million Taka 474.03 352.09 87.72 971.99 286.01 1292.73 1.21 621.83 1244.81 183.95 239.53 59.36 39.94 291.84 259.25 109.42 68.20 390.09 285.07 689.72 0.79

Average (% Change) 10.55 6.51 8.78 7.58 6.15 8.45 7.43 5.04 9.48 7.11

ClosingAvg. 25.96 12.17 54.92 50.29 13.89 49.49 19.12 70.27 5.67 87.50

ClosingAvg. 55.32 14.24 12.26 18.30 50.24 308.00 19.08 23.75 26.22 70.33

Closing

DHIGH

26.60 12.30 56.00 51.70 14.30 51.60 19.40 71.20 5.60 91.10

Closing 56.40 14.50 12.40 18.50 51.50 308.00 19.30 24.50 26.20 70.40

26.60 12.30 56.10 51.90 14.40 52.00 19.60 72.60 5.70 93.20

DHIGH 56.40 14.50 12.40 18.60 52.00 308.00 19.40 24.60 26.70 72.40

DLOW 22.00 10.10 46.00 42.50 11.80 47.50 16.60 60.10 5.60 80.20

DLOW 52.90 12.90 11.00 17.10 47.50 308.00 18.40 23.10 24.30 65.50

Turnover in Million 107.646 69.740 479.281 178.722 5.931 4.306 33.253 147.675 0.034 2.100

Turnover in Million 31.777 1.851 18.480 4.578 18.526 0.046 1.178 4.321 10.067 8.378

Latest EPS

Latest PE

1.27 0.77 3.94 6.06 0.04 5.33 0.96 2.98 -1.33 2.38

Latest EPS

20.4 15.8 13.9 8.3 347.3 9.3 19.9 23.6 -ve 36.8

Latest PE

3.94 0.04 0.77 1.16 6.06 12.56 0.96 1.70 1.27 2.98

14.0 356.0 15.9 15.8 8.3 24.5 19.9 14.0 20.6 23.6

From Trade Servers:

KAY&QUE: National Credit Ratings Limited (NCR) has announced the rating of the Company as "BBB-" in the long term and "ST-4" in the short term based on audited financial statements of the Company up to December 31, 2013.

PRAGATILIF: The Company has further informed that the 14th AGM of the Company will now be held on September 30, 2014 at 12:30 PM. Other information of the AGM will remain unchanged.

Far East Knitting & Dyeing Industries Ltd: All concerned are hereby informed that trading of the shares of Far East Knitting & Dyeing Industries Ltd. will commence at CSE from 28 August 2014 under settlement category ''N''. Please note that the Scrip Id=12050, Scrip Code=FEKDIL, Market Lot=200, Face Value=Tk.10 & Tick Price=10 paisa. However, the listing date of the Company at CSE was 18 August 2014.

IPO Subscription: Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries Ltd. subscription date 24-28 August 2014, NRB upto 06 September 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. Western Marine Shipyard Limited subscription date 10-14 August 2014, NRB upto 23 August 2014. @ taka 35, face value taka 10 and market lot 100.

tion period for rights issue will be from 01.09.2014 to 30.09.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 03.08.2014.

ICB: Subscription period for rights issue will be from 07.12.2014 to 30.12.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 09.09.2014.

Dividend/AGM

ANCE1: 11% cash dividend . Record date.

Record date: 01.09.2014.

APEXFOODS: 20% cash, AGM: 28.09.2014, Record date: 21.08.2014.

APEXTANRY: 45% cash, AGM: 23.09.2014, Record date: 27.08.2014.

BSCCL: 10% cash, AGM: 12.10.2014, Record date: 04.09.2014.

DELTASPINN: 10% cash, AGM: 30.08.2014, Record date: 14.08.2014.

PRAGATILIF: No dividend, AGM: 30.09.2014, Record date: 14.09.2014.

NAVANACNG: 15% cash, AGM: 25.09.2014, Record Date: 10.08.2014.

GPHISPAT: 15% cash and 5% stock, AGM: 10.11.2014, Record date: 22.09.2014.

SUNLIFEINS: 5% stock, AGM: 15.09.2014, Record Date: 07.08.2014.

Dividend of Mutual Funds: 1JANATAMF: 12.50% 'Re-Investment' Units. EXIM1STMF: 12% 'Re-Investment' Units. IFIC1STMF: 9% 'Re-Investment' Units. FBFIF: 10% 'Re-Investment' Units. TRUSTB1MF: 10% Re-Investment Units. EBL1STMF: 7% cash dividend. PHPMF1: 10% Re-Investment Units. EBLNRBMF: 10% Re-Investment Units. ABB1STMF: 10% Re-Investment Units. POPULAR1MF: 12% Re-Investment Units. DBH1STMF: 0.60% cash dividend.

GREENDELMF: No dividend. GRAMEENS2: 15% reinvestment units, GRAMEEN1: 30% reinvestment units. AIMS1STMF: 50% 'Re-Investment' Units as dividend, RELI-

SQURPHARMA: 30% cash and 15% stock, AGM: 25.09.2014, Record Date: 26.08.2014. NAV of Tk. 22,277.52 million, EPS of Tk. 8.36.

APEXSPINN: 20% cash, AGM: 28.09.2014, Record date: 07.08.2014. EPS Tk. 2.24, NAV per share of Tk. 49.75.

SANDHANINS: 25.50% stock, EGM and AGM: 06.09.2014, Record Date for EGM and AGM: 16.07.2014.

SALVOCHEM: 10% stock, AGM: 27.08.2014, Record date: 25.06.2014.

Latest PE 14.6 5.5 5.8 17.5 18.7 32.8 288.9 185.7 25.6 35.6

Trading at DSE continued to remain lively with the total turnover amounting to Tk795 crore, up by more than 12% over the previous session and highest in seven months Company

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY 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

Closing (% Change)

Average (% Change) 8.44 9.05 9.88 5.90 5.31 3.36 7.30 6.87 6.38 (2.05)

News, analysis and recent disclosers

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS

Sector

9.92 9.82 9.80 9.53 9.16 8.63 8.38 7.88 7.69 7.43

CSE GAINER

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

DLOW

Agni Systems -A UNITED AIR-A Beximco Pharma -A Orion Pharma-N Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z Rupali Life Insur.-B Fu-Wang Food A Unique Hotel RL - A Meghna PET Ind. -Z PragatiLife Insu. -Z

Closing (% Change)

Right Share: MIDASFIN: Subscrip-

CSE LOSER Company

4590.65120

Average (% Change) -8.88 -8.81 -7.98 -8.06 -10.26 -0.35 -4.46 -3.72 -3.39 -2.66

DSE GAINER

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

% change 5.96 4.43 1.10 12.23 3.60 16.26 0.02 7.82 15.66 3.01 0.75 0.50 3.67 3.26 1.38 0.86 4.91 3.59 8.68 0.01

Million Taka 24.14 26.10 8.15 54.48 19.07 66.27 48.01 83.76 36.82 10.72 12.65 4.05 19.14 48.56 1.77 2.99 27.53 37.97 59.50 0.04

CSE

% change 4.08 4.41 1.38 9.21 3.22 11.20 0.00 8.11 14.16 6.22 1.81 2.14 0.68 3.23 8.21 0.30 0.51 4.65 6.42 10.06 0.01

Million Taka 498.16 378.18 95.88 1026.47 305.08 1359.00 1.21 669.85 1328.58 220.76 250.24 72.01 43.98 310.98 307.81 111.19 71.19 417.63 323.04 749.22 0.83

Total

% change 5.83 4.43 1.12 12.02 3.57 15.91 0.01 7.84 15.55 2.58 2.93 0.84 0.51 3.64 3.60 1.30 0.83 4.89 3.78 8.77 0.01

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Beximco Pharma -A MJL BD Ltd.-A BSRM Steels-A Grameenphone-A Golden Son -A Summit Power -A Khulna Printing-N Orion Pharma-N LafargeS Cement-Z

BSC-A Eastern Housing -A Unique Hotel RL - A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Beximco Pharma -A Khulna Printing-N MJL BD Ltd.-A Orion Pharma-N UNITED AIR-A BD Submarine Cable-A Golden Son -A BSRM Steels-A Keya Cosmetics -A

VolumeShares 11,450,571 8,726,998 3,435,146 3,256,074 951,226 4,354,476 4,726,387 4,985,500 3,553,815 1,421,500

Value in Million 503.11 479.28 412.93 333.09 305.00 209.17 189.73 183.58 178.72 155.64

% of TotalTurnover 6.33 6.03 5.19 4.19 3.84 2.63 2.39 2.31 2.25 1.96

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

245,220 2,506,526 2,101,665

1,131,108 574,457 734,000 190,692 368,780 1,507,465 107,544 330,451 126,395 496,922

153.58 151.53 147.68

49.78 31.78 27.00 23.24 18.53 18.48 16.53 15.89 12.91 11.86

1.93 1.91 1.86

9.39 5.99 5.09 4.38 3.49 3.48 3.12 3.00 2.43 2.24

ClosingP 43.30 56.00 117.00 98.80 317.40 48.00 41.00 36.20 51.70 107.30

616.75 59.80 71.20

ClosingP

43.30 56.40 36.20 117.00 51.50 12.40 155.60 48.00 98.60 24.20

Change % -0.23 9.80 -2.42 -1.40 -2.88 2.56 4.86 -3.72 9.53 -2.37

-2.34 2.93 7.88

Change %

-0.46 9.94 -3.72 -2.58 8.65 9.73 2.77 2.13 -1.30 6.14

ClosingY 43.40 51.00 119.90 100.20 326.80 46.80 39.10 37.60 47.20 109.90

631.50 58.10 66.00

ClosingY

43.50 51.30 37.60 120.10 47.40 11.30 151.40 47.00 99.90 22.80

DHIGH

DLOW

47.00 56.10 123.50 105.00 333.30 48.80 41.50 38.60 51.90 112.00

39.10 46.00 108.00 95.00 317.00 42.30 36.00 35.80 42.50 106.20

DHIGH

DLOW

638.00 61.50 72.60

44.80 56.40 38.50 124.90 52.00 12.40 158.80 48.80 99.70 24.50

613.50 54.00 60.10

42.90 52.90 35.90 114.50 47.50 11.00 149.00 47.00 100.00 23.20

AvgPrice 43.94 54.92 120.21 102.30 320.64 48.04 40.14 36.82 50.29 109.49

626.30 60.45 70.27

AvgPrice

44.01 55.32 36.79 121.87 50.24 12.26 153.74 48.08 102.14 23.86

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

'Economy likely grew faster in June quarter' n Reuters, Bangalore India's economy likely grew at its fastest in two years between April and June, according to a Reuters poll, as improved sentiment after Narendra Modi's election victory in the middle of the quarter coincided with a rebound in investment, manufacturing and construction.

Prime Minister Modi is expected to deliver major reforms, but the lack of progress on that front, along with poor monsoon rains is expected to hamper the recovery in growth from worryingly low levels.

Asia's third largest economy likely grew 5.3% in the first quarter of this fiscal year (April-March), up from 4.6% in January-March, according to the median consensus of over 40 economists surveyed by Reuters last week.

That would be the fastest since the quarter that ended in March 2012 and reflects the upturn in factory activity during recent months. Official gross domestic product data is due to be released on Friday.

"Capital goods, a leading indicator for investment activity, logged a significant 13.9% rise in output in the first quarter of FY15," said Aditi Nayar, Senior Economist at ICRA. Indian manufacturing activity grew at its quickest pace in 17 months in July as order books swelled, marking the ninth consecutive month of expansion according to the HSBC Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) survey INPMI=ECI, compiled by Markit.

And factory production INIP=ECI grew for the third straight month in June.

Economists however did not significantly change their growth forecast for the 2014-15 fiscal year, with the average at 5.4%.

For all the hopes invested in Modi's government, economists cautioned that the economy's momentum de-

A vendor carrying a basket is seen through a sewage pipe along a roadside in Mumbai pended on reforms that could prove difficult to pass through parliament.

Despite is massive majority in the lower house, the government lacks a majority in the upper house and it has so far failed to initiate major reforms, and has been confined to taking minor

steps to encourage saving and investment.

"Additional reforms are required to ensure that a sustained and broadbased recovery takes root," said ICRA's Nayar.

The poll also showed India's cur-

REUTERS

rent account deficit INCURA=ECI likely widened to $7.1bn in the April-June quarter, compared to a deficit of $1.2bn in the previous three months, after restrictions on gold imports were lifted.

In percentage terms, the current account deficit INCAPA=ECI prob-

ably widened to 1.5% of gross domestic product against 0.2% in Jan-March quarter.

India's Finance Secretary Arvind Mayaram said last month that India needs to keep its current account deficit between 2-2.5% for 2014/15. l

Gold ticks up but stuck near two-month low on firm dollar n Reuters, Singapore

Asian shares firm, euro wilts as ECB seen on cusp of QE Pedestrians walk past an electronic board showing Japan's Nikkei average outside a brokerage in Tokyo

n Reuters, Tokyo Asian shares held firm while the euro hit one-year lows yesterday as investors increasingly expect the European Central Bank to expand liquidity as soon as next week to boost the sagging euro zone economy.

Markets were still coming to terms with comments from ECB chief Mario Draghi late last week that the central bank was prepared to respond with all its "available" tools should inflation drop further.

"Draghi's speech marked a turning point in ECB rhetoric... He also confirmed that beyond liquidity injections through the targeted longer-term refinancing operations (TLTRO) and outright asset-backed securities (ABS) purchases, the ECB was ready to do more if necessary," Philippe Gudin, an economist at Barclays, said in report.

European shares are expected to step back after sharp gains on Monday, with Germany's DAX and France's CAC 40 both seen falling 0.3% while Britain's FTSE is seen up 0.5 percent in catch-up trade after a market holiday.

MSCI's dollar-denominated index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was 0.04% firmer, led by 0.3% gains in South Korean shares. Japan's Nikkei average bucked the trend, shedding

0.5% on profit-taking.

The mood in the market was buttressed by the S&P 500, which briefly topped the 2,000 mark for the first time in history on Monday, and closed up 0.48% at 1,997.92.

European stocks led the rally in global equities overnight, with many country and regional indexes climbing more than 1 percent, as investors grew convinced that the ECB could adopt quantitative easing as soon as next week.

'I suspect the ECB will announce the outline of its policy next month and will start actual buying in October' On Wall Street, the biggest winners were financial shares, seen as the main beneficiary of any cheap money from the ECB at a time the U.S. Federal Reserve is preparing to end its bond-buying drive.

Speculation that the ECB could buy debt of euro zone countries drove down yields on bonds from Germany,

REUTERS

France, Italy, Spain, Portugal and Ireland and others to all-time lows.

German 10-year yields hit a record low of 0.92%, before pulling back to 0.95 percent.

"I suspect the ECB will announce the outline of its policy next month and will start actual buying in October," said a European bond trader at a European brokerage.

The euro also fell to $1.31785 in early Asian trade, its lowest level since early September last year, with a test of the $1.3 mark seen as inevitable. It last stood at $1.3199.

Germany's Ifo business climate index published on Monday showed business confidence sagged for the fourth straight month, further fanning expectations of major asset purchases by the ECB. In contrast, the U.S. dollar was broadly firm, with its index against a basket of currencies hitting a one-year high of 82.613.

Against the yen, the dollar stepped back slightly to 103.90 yen, but still not far off its seven-month peak of 104.49 yen hit on Monday.

In the face of the greenback's broad strength, the New Zealand dollar dropped to a six-month low of $0.8311, hit by New Zealand's surprisingly large trade deficit. l

Gold regained some strength yesterday on bargain hunting but still held near its weakest level in two months as a firmer US dollar and rallies in equities undermined the metal's appeal as an alternative investment.

Tensions between Russia and Ukraine as well as violence in the Middle East have failed to stir up demand from investors, although some jewellers purchased bullion after prices dropped below $1,300 an ounce.

Cash gold added 0.22 percent to $1,279.11 an ounce by 0328 GMT, still not far above a two-month low of $1,273.06 hit on Aug. 21.

"We are seeing some physical demand but it's not enough to make the market higher. I think the US dollar is a bit too strong. $1,240 to $1,250 should be very good support levels," said Yuichi Ikemizu, branch manager for Standard Bank in Tokyo.

"China bought too much last year, and also this year, gold (price) is a bit higher. I think if we go down lower, we will see some demand."

Spot gold may rebound moderately to a resistance at $1,283 before testing a support at $1,273 per ounce, as indicated by its wave pattern and a Fibonacci projection analysis, according to

Reuters market analyst Wang Tao. China's net gold imports in July from main conduit Hong Kong tumbled to their lowest since June 2011 because the country already has ample supply from shipments in earlier months, while jewellers there are waiting for lower prices.

The country's crackdown on corruption could have also sapped demand in China, which overtook India as the biggest consumer of the precious metal last year with imports topping 1,000 tonnes.

U.S. gold was steady at $1,280.10 an ounce.

SPDR Gold Trust, the world's largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, said its holdings fell 0.37 percent to 797.09 tonnes on Monday from 800.08 tonnes on Friday.

"We've been selling some gold but a bank holiday in London yesterday slows us a little," said a physical trader in Singapore. "There are bargain hunters around, but I guess the physical market is still quiet."

Premiums for gold bars in Hong Kong rose to 70 cents to $1.10 to the spot London prices, higher than the 50 cents to $1 quoted late last week. In Singapore, premiums were steady at 80 cents to $1 an ounce to spot London prices. l

A blacksmith holds on to gold rings at the gold market in Omdurman

REUTERS

BOJ to keep inflation view even as it cuts GDP estimate n Reuters, Tokyo The Bank of Japan is likely to keep its bullish inflation outlook even as it cuts its economic growth forecast this fiscal year in an October report, sources said, suggesting the central bank will not ease policy further for at least the rest of the year.

After a hefty 6.8% contraction in second-quarter gross domestic product, many private-sector analysts are downgrading their growth forecasts for the year ending in March to around 0.5% , just half the 1% expansion estimated by the BOJ in July.

The central bank is seen cutting its GDP estimate for the current fiscal year when it next updates its economic and consumer price forecasts in a semi-annual review on Oct. 31. But any downgrade will be minor and unlikely to greatly affect its bullish projections for inflation to climb near 2% next fiscal year, sources familiar with its thinking say.

"The basic scenario of a moderate economic recovery pushing up inflation remains in place," one of the sources said on condition of anonymity.

The downgrade in its economic estimate would be largely due to the sharp contraction in second-quarter GDP, although many BOJ officials remain optimistic that growth will rebound from the current quarter as the effect of a sales tax hike in April begins to ebb.

In a statement to be issued at a rate review next week, the BOJ is likely to say the economy is recovering moderately with the tax-hike impact "gradually beginning to subside," signalling its relief that consumption is holding up even as households feel the pinch from the higher levy, the sources said.

That will be a slightly rosier view than the current assessment that the economy is recovering moderately, albeit with some speed bumps caused by the tax hike.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda said earlier this week that consumption is "back to normal levels now" and that he expected a recovery in GDP in JulySeptember.

Behind the BOJ's optimism lies a steadily improvement in job and household income conditions. Regular pay rose 0.2% in the year to June, marking the first increase in more than two years, and summer bonuses were up 2%, easing some of the pain from the higher tax.

The BOJ hopes that such increase in wages, driven by a tightening job market, will support household spending and encourage companies to raise prices of goods and services. That, in turn, will allow Japan to meet the BOJ's 2% inflation target next fiscal year, central bank officials say. l

Oil prices up in Asia n AFP, Singapore Oil prices rose in Asia yesterday as dealers await the release of a batch of US economic data for clues on whether the Federal Reserve will speed up its timetable for raising interest rates, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for October delivery rose 20 cents to $93.55 while Brent crude for October gained 13 cents $102.78 in late-morning trade.

Data on US durable goods orders in July, the 20-city Case-Shiller home price index for June, as well the Conference Board's reading of consumer confidence for August are set to be released later Tuesday.

Revised US gross domestic product figures for the second quarter of the year are out on Thursday.

Analysts said the data will be pored over for clues on how well the world's biggest economy is faring and when the Fed will hike interest rates.

Fed chairman Janet Yellen last week signalled her commitment to raising rates late next year, but market watchers say robust US economic data could shorten the central bank's timetable.

"The Fed's expectations are still data dependent," Singapore's DBS Bank said in a note. "Tonight's US durable goods and consumer confidence will be closely watched," it said.

"Close attention will also be paid on how much the advance estimate for Q2 GDP growth will be revised down."

The oil market is continuing to monitor geopolitical tensions in crude producers Iraq and Libya as well as Ukraine, a key conduit for Russian gas exports to Europe.

"Support from geopolitical tensions in Ukraine and Libya have countered ample supplies and anticipated weak demand," Singapore's United Overseas Bank said in a note. l

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, August 27, 2014

Germany signals will continue EU austerity drive n AFP, Madrid

This led French President Francois Hollande to instruct his Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Monday to form a new government. France's economy is stalling and its central bank warned this month that Hollande had no hope of reaching his target of 1% growth for 2014.

The French economy has been stagnant for the past six months and the government was forced to halve its growth forecast to 0.5% for this year.

Germany strongly signalled Monday it will continue to push for fiscal austerity in Europe alongside Spain, even as France was thrown into political turmoil over its economic policy.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised Madrid's austerity drive during a visit to Spain and gave her powerful backing to the country's economy minister in his bid to lead the Eurogroup forum of finance ministers.

'Tightening is much weaker'

Structural reforms are sometimes hard, they are sometimes difficult and complicated to explain, but they boost economic competitiveness and levels of wellbeing and wealth and jobs Merkel hailed Luis de Guindos' handling of the Spanish crisis, saying he was "an excellent economy minister in Spain in difficult times" during a joint press conference with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy.

The German leader's support could be crucial in landing him the job, which would give the austerity policies favoured by Berlin a powerful defender in the European Commission.

Both Merkel and Rajoy, who have been allies in stabilising the finances of heavily indebted Spain, defended the need for further austerity and economic reforms, saying this boosted economic growth.

"The public deficit and debt levels must be reasonable," Rajoy told the news conference in his northwestern home city of Santiago de Compostela.

"Structural reforms are sometimes hard, they are sometimes difficult and

German Chancellor Angela Merkel (left) waves as she walks with Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy (right) on Obradoiro Square in Santiago de Compostela, on Monday. Merkel is on a two-day visit to the northwestern city of Santiago de Compostela AFP complicated to explain, but they boost economic competitiveness and levels of wellbeing and wealth and jobs."

Rajoy's government claims to have overseen something of a recovery

in Spain's economy, which emerged last year from a double-dip recession sparked by a 2008 property crash.

"I share Mariano Rajoy's opinion regarding the combination of budget

austerity and reforms," Merkel told the news conference.

The leaders' defence of austerity came as France lurched towards political turmoil after the country's

firebrand Economy Minister, Arnaud Montebourg, criticised Germany's austerity drive and warned Paris would no longer "be pushed around" by the EU's economic powerhouse.

Germany earlier this month snubbed a request from Hollande for an EU-wide shift of economic policy in order to encourage growth.

Since the start of the eurozone debt crisis in 2010, Germany has faced accusations that by failing to use its standing as Europe's biggest economy to do more to kickstart growth, it is leaving struggling partners in the lurch.

But European markets and bonds shrugged off the upheaval in France, boosted by comments last week from ECB chief Mario Draghi who suggested recent monetary policy measures would get the eurozone back on its feet.

Hollande and Italian Prime Minister Matteo Renzi have been especially vocal in calling for an easing of the fiscal austerity imposed by Germany.

IMF chief Christine Lagarde, a former French finance minister, waded into the debate on Monday, saying in an interview that Germany should play a bigger role in propelling economic recovery in Europe.

"What I think is very important for Germany is to participate in the recovery movement in a very intense way. It has the means to do so," she told Swiss public broadcaster RTS. "We have seen a process of very strong budget tightening over the past three years," she said, adding that "fortunately, in 2014 and 2015, this budget tightening is much weaker". l

Swiss private bank releases first-ever results n AFP, Geneva

Customers check the engine room of Japanese auto giant Toyota Motor's 30th anniversary model of 'Land Cruiser 70', equipped with a 4.0-litter V6 engine to drive heavy-duty body at Toyota's showroom in Tokyo on Monday. The special edition model to celebrate the 30 year anniversary was launched for the one year period AFP

The elite of Swiss private banks yesterday begin lifting the veil on their books after a radical shift in their business model, amid tougher international regulations and crackdowns on tax dodgers.

Geneva's Bank Pictet broke with a 209-year-old tradition of keeping its accounts under wraps, announcing a six-month profit of 203 million Swiss francs (168m euros, $222m).

Operating income was 975m francs, operating profit 247.2m, and assets under management 404 billion francs.

Pictet said that tier one capital ratio - a measure of a bank's own top-notch funds, and a benchmark of stability was 21.7 percent.

Under global rules, banks must have a ratio of at least 4.5%, while Switzerland's regulator requires 7.8%.

"Our financial solidity, along with the ability to set our own business

strategy without pressure from external shareholders or creditors, go hand in hand with independence of mind, exacting risk management and freedom from the temptations of short term fashion," said Pictet senior managing partner Jacques de Saussure in a statement.

Pictet's results release will be followed on Thursday by Lombard Odier, while Mirabaud and LaRoche are also poised to issue their results.

"All the figures published will be important, even if these banks are not listed," Andreas Venditti, an analyst at Zurich's Vontobel Bank, told AFP. The revolution in the secretive world of private banking - which caters for the globe's super-wealthy - began in January when Pictet and Lombard Odier ditched their two-century-old statutes.

Previously, their handful of wealthy managing partners were personally responsible for their clients' money.

Japan government turns more cautious on weak factory output

SWIFT sees Europe gaining in China yuan payments share n Reuters, Tokyo Japan's government turned slightly n AFP, Shanghai more cautious about factory output Europe now represents 10% by value of global payments in China's currency, transactions organisation SWIFT said Tuesday, as more countries seek a greater share of yuan business through new clearing arrangements.

Although China's special administrative region of Hong Kong is the dominant centre for offshore yuan trading, four European countries are in the top ten, said the Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication.

They are Britain, France, Germany and Luxembourg, it said, all of which have reached agreements with China's central bank for yuan-clearing in their countries.

Over the past year Britain's yuan payments have surged nearly 124%, France has jumped almost 44%, Germany has soared 116% and Luxembourg gained around 42%, the organisation said in a statement, although it gave no values. l

DILBERT

and flagged a risk that April's salestax hike could have prolonged effects, a sign that the world's third-biggest economy is struggling with the higher tax and further stimulus might be warranted.

In its monthly report issued yesterday, the government stuck to its overall view of the economy, which it had raised in July. The new report said that a moderate recovery trend is intact, adding that there has been an easing from the pullback in demand that followed the sales-tax hike.

Previous monthly reports described industrial output as weakening "recently", following a boost in demand before the sales tax rose to 8% from 5%.

In the latest report, the government dropped "recently" to sound more cautious about factory output.

Despite that wording tweak, the government left its assessment on in-

nesses almost like any other.

They have recast themselves a "corporate partnership", a hybrid status that makes it easier to compare them with fully-listed players such as Credit Suisse and UBS. It is similar to the "limited company" structure in the British Isles, with its well-known "Ltd." label.

The partners now only risk the funds they have invested in the bank, rather than putting all their personal assets on the line.

Not being listed on the stock exchange, private banks do not have to publish as detailed results as mainstream banks.

For Luc Thevenoz, a law professor at the University of Geneva, the changed business model offers greater protection.

"But the price of that is more transparency," he said.

Seven lower-profile private banks have opted to stick to their traditional operating model, however. l

Saudi set for $8.5bn from Hajj n AFP, Mecca

A worker is seen near a factory in Keihin industrial zone in Kawasaki, south of Tokyo REUTERS

dustrial output unchanged from July.

"The economy is expected to recover moderately as effects of the sales tax hike ease gradually," said an official of the Cabinet Office, which compiled the monthly report for August. He added that improvement in the labor market and household income are expected to support private consumption from now on.

Still, the government flagged the risk of a prolonged impact of the tax hike, as well as weaker overseas economies, hurting the Japanese economy in future.

If weakness in the economy persists, that would threaten the Bank of Japan's inflation goal and could put pressure on the government and the BOJ to take fresh action to sustain growth.

In other words, if the bank got into trouble, the partners could lose all their assets, not just those they had invested in the operation.

But the increasingly complex nature of global finance made it hard for private bankers to feel safe with a traditional approach that put all their assets on the line as they expanded their operations.

The tougher regulatory environment seen since the global financial crisis, and scandals such as the Madoff fraud case in the United States which rippled across the world's banking sector, were also wake-up calls.

Switzerland's cherished tradition of banking secrecy has meanwhile been battered as governments - notably the United States and European Union - crack down on tax cheats who stash cash abroad.

As a result, the four private banks shifted from their near-unique status and transformed themselves into busi-

The central bank sees the economy in a moderate recovery trend, while describing output as showing some weakness lately.

Industrial output slid 3.4 percent in June, the biggest month-on-month decline since the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami. Production is expected to rise just 1.0 percent in July, according to a Reuters poll, as manufacturers face a pile of inventory and falling shipments.

Industrial production data for July is due on Friday.

Analysts expect Japan's economy will grow at an annualized rate of around 4% in the current quarter after the tax hike led to a 6.8 percent economic contraction in April-June. l

Saudi Arabia could earn $8.5bn from this October's Hajj, according to a study published on Monday, which predicted that two million Muslims would make the pilgrimage to Mecca.

The Mecca Chamber of Commerce said revenues from the world's largest annual gathering of Muslims would increase by three percent from last year.

The study was based on estimates that 1.98 million pilgrims will travel to the holy Muslim city of Mecca, including 1.38 million, or 70%, from abroad.

According to the report, a pilgrim who has travelled from another country will spend an average of 17,381 riyals ($4,633) during Hajj, which runs for five days.

A domestic worshipper pays around 4,948 riyals ($1,319), the study found.

Expenses include housing, food and drink, gifts and phone bills.

Millions of people visit Islamic holy sites in Saudi Arabia for the hajj, a pilgrimage all Muslims are expected to make at least once in their lives if health and finances permit.

Saudi Arabia also hosts millions of Muslims annually for the lesser umrah pilgrimage, which may be undertaken at any time throughout the year.

Around six million Muslims took umrah during the holy fasting month of Ramadan in July this year, according to authorities.

As well as Mecca, Saudi Arabia is also home to Islam's other holiest place - Medina. l