08 Sep, 2014

Bhadro 24, 1421 Zilqad 12, 1435 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 157

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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B1 | BUSINESS

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

15 | SPORT

ODA FALLS 44% SHORT OF REQUIREMENT TO ACHIEVE MDGS

IS THERE ANY ISLAMIC BASIS FOR BLASPHEMY LAW?

RADICALS UNDER THE RADAR

BANGLADESH TARGET POSITIVE DISPLAYS

Eradicating illiteracy by 2014 fails

S E X U A L H A R A S S M E N T: A N O T H E R L I F E L O S T

35% yet to reach literacy levels n Syed Samiul Basher Anik The government is going to fail to accomplish its target of eradicating illiteracy by 2014 as the latest counts show that around 55 million people – 35% of the population – are still illiterate.

Primary and Mass Education Minister Mostafizur Rahman Fizar at a press briefing yesterday said at present Bangladesh’s literacy rate was 65-67%.

On September 5 last year, previous primary and mass education minister Afsarul Ameen said 71% of the population was literate.

Currently, the country’s population is 15.69 crore.

Poor planning in implementing projects towards the literacy target and a lack of budgetary allocation blamed Fizar and Bureau of Non-Formal Education’s Director General Zahir Uddin Ahmed admitted that the government would not be able to meet the 2014 target.

In its 2008 election manifesto, the Awami League pledged to achieve 100% literacy by this year. The National Education Policy 2010 and the government’s Sixth Five-Year Plan also aim at achieving the target.

Bangladesh observes the International Literacy Day today with the theme “Literacy and Sustainable Development.”

According to Unesco, literacy is the ability to understand what one reads and writes in their first language and the ability to keep day-to-day accounts related to household income and expenditure.

All successive governments since

Constitution’s 16th amendment bill placed in JS n Kamran Reza Chowdhury Law Minister Anisul Huq yesterday fumbled twice and corrected text before tabling the Constitution (16th amendment) Bill 2014 that would authorise the legislature to impeach Supreme Court judges for “misbehaviour and incapacity.”

The copy of the draft law reads that the second military order in 1978 “put in place the Supreme Judicial Council to remove the Supreme Court Judges instead of the Jatiya Sangsad.”

While tabling the bill, Anisul dropped the phrase “instead of the Jatiya Sangsad,” apparently realising the mistake in the draft.

He started by saying: “Honourable speaker, I want to table the bill in corrected form,” and read out rest of the sentences in the preamble of the bill, but did not mention what the mistake was.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

1991 have always considered education as a prioritised sector and allocated large budgets, but none have been able to achieve their target of eradicating illiteracy.

Officials at the Primary and Mass Education Ministry have blamed poor planning in implementing projects towards the target along with a lack of budgetary allocation as the key reasons behind the failure.

These governments had so far taken up several projects and already spent Tk2,500 crore, of which Tk1,000 crore funded by the state exchequer and the rest from foreign aids, between 1991 and 2014, an official said.

A number of ministry officials said foreign donors were no more interested in providing aid because of the widespread allegations of corruption and irregularities in projects under the Primary and Mass Education Ministry.

Meanwhile, with the government mainly focusing on the primary education, the non-formal education system had remained largely ignored, resulting in the failure in project implementation and meeting targets, the officials added.

Responding to queries at yesterday’s press briefing, the primary education minister said: “We targeted to achieve cent percent literacy by 2014, but we have not been able to meet the target. A lot of work towards fulfilling the target is still pending.”

Asked how the government is planning to meet the target, Fizar said: “The ministry is taking up multipurpose plans where basic literacy project is the core element to improve the literacy rate.”

In February this year, Ecnec approved the Basic Literacy Project worth Tk452 crore to be implemented in 64 districts to provide basic literacy and life skills education to 4.5 million people aged between 15 and 45.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Mitu has no one else before her to blame but her father. ‘What kind of a father are you – you could not save my sister?’ she wailed as the dead body of her sister was brought to their school in the capital’s Khilgaon area yesterday. Mitu’s sister Ritu killed herself after being hounded by stalkers. Story ‘Locals stage demo protesting suicide of school girl’ on Back Page MEHEDI HASAN

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

BARI admits no health tests done on Bt brinjal

n Reuters

n Abu Bakar Siddique

Islamic State pamphlets and flags have appeared in parts of Pakistan and India, alongside signs that the ultra-radical group is inspiring militants even in the strongholds of the Taliban and al Qaeda.

A splinter group of Pakistan’s Taliban insurgents, Jamat-ul Ahrar, has already declared its support for the well-funded and ruthless Islamic State fighters, who have captured large swathes of territory in Iraq and Syria in a drive to set up a self-declared caliphate.

“IS (Islamic State) is an Islamic Jihadi organisation working for the implementation of the Islamic system and creation of the Caliphate,” Jamat-ul Ahrar’s leader and a prominent Taliban figure, Ehsanullah Ehsan, told Reuters by telephone. “We respect them. If they ask us for help, we will look into it and decide.”

Islamist militants of various hues

3 | News

5 | News

4 | News

6 | Nation

Twenty doctors holding mid-level management positions in the World Bank-funded health ministry programmes have been put on special duty after inquiries revealed they were involved with financial irregularities.

A top spokesman of the Japanese government yesterday said despite being brief, the Bangladesh visit by their Prime Minister Shinzo Abe appeared “very successful” with its focus being economy for mutual benefit.

“This visit was very successful, though short,” the spokesman for the Japanese premier’s office Kenko Sone said in an interaction with select journalists over the breakfast ahead of Abe’s departure for Colombo.

He said: “Based on this visit, we will build future of our comprehensive partnership”.

Sone was supplemented by chief spokesperson of Japanese foreign office Kumi Sato, who said Japan wants to come to Bangladesh with greater engagement in economic sector as Abe brought with him 21 leading Japanese entrepreneurs to review their investment prospect here.

She said Bangladesh could now show the west that “one of the G-7 countries is coming with trust to Bangladesh in a bigger way” while Dhaka was desperately looking enhanced foreign investments.

“The visit is significant for Bangladesh’s development,” Sato said.

Both Sone and Sato, however, said Bangladesh withdrew its candidature for a non-permanent membership in UN Security Council in Japan’s favour “not in exchange of anything” but it created a long term sustainable friendship between the two countries.

The Japanese foreign office spokeswoman said Tokyo considered Bangladesh premier Sheikh Hasina as a “very wise woman” in terms of her pragmatism in foreign relation strategies and dealings with foreign nations for the interest of her country.

“Bangladesh now has a very good leader, she knows how to develop bilateral ties and strike a balance in developing ties with foreign countries,” she said in an apparent reference to China, a country which witnesses a little strained relation with Tokyo particularly over the South China Sea. Kenko Sone, however, said being a close and crucial neighbour of China, Bangladesh should explore its economic ties with Beijing.

After Syria and Iraq, Islamic State makes inroads in South Asia already hold sway across restive and impoverished areas of South Asia, but Islamic State, with its rapid capture of territory, beheadings and mass executions, is starting to draw a measure of support among younger fighters in the region.

P2 BANGLADESH INTEL Al Qaeda’s ageing leaders, mostly holed up in the lawless region along the Pakistan-Afghanistan border, are increasingly seen as stale, tired and ineffectual on hardcore jihadi social media forums and Twitter accounts that incubate potential militant recruits.

Security experts say Islamic State’s increasing lure may have prompted al Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahri to announce the establishment of an Indian franchise to raise the flag of jihad across South Asia, home to more than 400 million Muslims.

Pamphlets, car stickers

Seeking to boost its influence in the Afghanistan-Pakistan region, a local cell with allegiance to Islamic State has been distributing pamphlets in the Pakistani city of Peshawar and eastern Afghanistan in the past few weeks, residents said.

The 12-page booklet called “Fatah” (Victory), published in the Pashto and Dari languages of Afghanistan, was being mainly distributed in Afghan refugee camps on the outskirts of Peshawar.

The pamphlet’s logo features an AK47 assault rifle and calls on local residents to support the militant group.

Cars with IS stickers have also been spotted around Peshawar.

Sameeulah Hanifi, a prayer leader in a Peshawar neighbourhood populated mainly by Afghans, said the pamphlets were being distributed by a  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

The government has finally acknowledged that before releasing four varieties of genetically modified Bt brinjal – patented by US seed giant Monsanto – at the farmers’ level, it did not conduct any laboratory test by itself regarding the possible negative impacts on human health.

“We could not carry out any test regarding human health hazards of Bt brinjal in Bangladesh due to the absence of necessary laboratories,” Dr Rafiqul Islam Mondol, director general of the Bangladesh Agricultural Research Institute (BARI), told reporters yesterday.

He, however, claims Maharashtra Hybrid Seeds Company (Mahyco), in which Monsanto has 26% stake, assured the government that the GM varieties would not pose any hazard to public health and the ecosystem.

His statement comes only a day after

INSIDE Bangladesh now needs to find out a strategy to tap the opportunities opened up following the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said a senior official of the Foreign Ministry.

Tokyo spokesman: We want to come to Bangladesh in a bigger way n BSS

The infrastructural development of the capital has significantly slowed down because of an absence of public representatives in both the city corporations, according to city-dwellers and the urban experts claims.

Election of Ajmiriganj municipality in Habiganj has been stalled for the last 10 years due to legal complications. Despite paying taxes regularly, residents are not getting the necessary benefits because of administrative hindrances.

8 | World

The British government scrambled yesterday to pledge greater autonomy for Scotland, after a poll put the pro-independence camp ahead just 11 days before the referendum on separation.

12 | Entertainment

‘I was drawn to play Christine in ‘Before I go to Sleep’ because I liked the idea that she could be just very raw,’ said gorgeous Nicole Kidman.

13 | Sport

Bangladesh clinched the Hockey World League Round 1 campaign and qualified for Round 2 with a 3-1 victory over Hong Kong in their last game at the Maulana Bhasani National Stadium.

BARI in a circular published in dailies claimed that they had released the varieties after being several local and international laboratories confirmed that there were no health and environmental hazards.

The circular also said BARI had conducted nutrition tests at a Dhaka University laboratory.

On October 30 last year, BARI released the four GM varieties without giving any satisfactory explanation on the issues related to environmental and health hazards – raised by campaigners. The move was even challenged in court.

In the face of concerns, the government in late December tasked the BCSIR, better known as science laboratory, to analyse whether the GM varieties had any negative health impact. The report is yet to be prepared.

Mahyco’s brinjal varieties, developed  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Recent flood kills 14 people n Mohosinul Karim Around 14 people and 14,500 domesticated animals were killed in the recent flood across the country while 972 educational and religious institutions, and harvests of around 4.5 lakh acres of land were damaged.

Around 25 lakh people in 94 upazilas under 19 districts were affected by the flood. Among them the number of extremely destitute families is 66,522, while the number stands at 314,334 for individuals.

A total of 233,504 houses accommodating around 534,009 families were damaged during the flood, according to the National Disaster Response Coordination Center (NDRCC) of the Disaster

Management and Relief Ministry.

Considering the massive damages, the ministry has taken a plan to provide foods to the victims under Vulnerable Group Feeding (VGF) programme.

Special allocations under Test Relief (TR) programme will be made to repair the damaged infrastructures across the country, the officials of the ministry told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The Agriculture Ministry is also planning to supply seeds, fertilisers and special incentives to the farmers affected by flood to cultivate lands during the dry season to recover the loss.

Minister for Disaster Management and Relief Mofazzal Hossain Chowdhury said the government would start the special programmes for the victims

after the flood is over.

“A fresh 40 days employment programme will be taken for the people who lost their livelihood in flood affected area. They will be paid for taking part in repairing damaged roads, dams and various infrastructures across the country,” Maya added.

According to the NDRCC, around 3,330 sq km of area in 433 unions have been damaged while around 1,752 km of roads, 659 km of dams and 24 culverts were damaged in the flood.

Among the dead, seven died in Bogra, four in Jamalpur and three in Rajbari.

According to the ministry, the government has already allocated 7,200 metric tonnes of rice and Tk1.44 crore as Gratuitous Relief (GR) for the flood victims. l

Monday, September 8, 2014

‘No threat of militant attack in Bangladesh’ n Rabiul Islam

As per intelligence report, there is no threat of a militant attack in the country, said a member of the core committee from the Home Ministry.

“The intelligence agencies placed the report at the meeting of the core committee at the home ministry yesterday,” a member, who attended the meeting told this correspondent over phone seeking anonymity.

The core committee with all the heads departments under the Home Ministry was held with State Minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan in the chair at the ministry yesterday.

Home Ministry Senior Secretary Mozammel Haque Khan, Inspector General of Police Hasan Mahmood Khandaker, Border Guard Bangladesh BGB Director General major General Aziz Ahmed Khan, Dhaka Metropolitan Commissioner (DMP) Benzir Ahmed, chiefs of RAB, DGFI, NSI, among others, were present

at the meeting. After the recent threat of al-Qaeda, this was the first meeting on militant activities in the country.

“We have discussed militant issue; I could not complete the meeting as I have to go to the parliament,” Asaduzzaman told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting at his office yesterday.

“We have found nothing linked to the announcement of al-Qaeda leader,” the minister added.

About the report of The Times of India on Saturday that four Hyderabad youths were crossing over to Bangladesh to join the Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS), Asaduzzaman said it is not true that they were coming to Bangladesh; in fact they were going to Iraq.

Top Indian police officers said the recent al-Qaida video threat and the startling revelation of the four city youngsters trying to get in touch with a jihadi in Bangladesh have left the security agencies in jitters, according to the Times of India. l

Man held with drugs, currencies from car bearing MP sticker n Tribune Report RAB officials yesterday arrested a man with a large stash of local and foreign currencies as well as drugs from a luxurious car bearing a sticker meant for parliamentarians.

AZM Saleh, 32, son of Md Abul Hossain who lives in the capital’s Paribagh, was arrested from Shahbagh at 2pm.

Officials recovered €3,000, $7,876, Saudi riyals 7,500, Tk8 lakh and 23 yaba pills from his possession. He was in a white Mercedes-Benz, said RAB 1 Commanding Officer Md Tuhin.

“An international gang is involved in drug trade and money laundering and it has operations in Shahbagh. We were on its trail and that is how we arrested Saleh, a key member of the ring,” he said.

“We suspect the car was used in a range of criminal activities, including hundi business,” he added. l

Spokesman : Tokyo wants to come in a bigger way  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

A BSTI mobile court yesterday checks food products in a bakery in the capital's Fakirerpool

Eradicating illiteracy by 2014 fails  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

The project was scheduled to begin in that month and end in June 2018, but sources at the ministry said much of the preparation was still to be made and the project could not begin before June 2015.

Interestingly, Secretary Quazi Akhtar Hossain of the ministry, presented a different statistics at the briefing, claiming that 70% of the population was literate at present.

“The literacy rate would be much higher than the figures cited by different organisations. We have information that 2.5 crore people in the country are illiterate,” he said.

According to the fifth Population and Household Census 2011, a total of 51.8% people aged seven years and above were literate.

According to the Literacy Survey 2011 published in July 2013, the Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics estimated the functional literacy rate at 53.7% for people aged 11-45 years.

The Human Development Index 2014 rankings of the UNDP says 57.7% of the population aged 15 years and above in Bangladesh are literate.

Campaigners and observers have said adult literacy and non-formal education programmes did not move fast because of a lack of proper plans and

DHAKA TRIBUNE

project methodologies.

KM Enamul Haque, deputy director of the Campaign for Popular Education (CAMPE), said the illiteracy rate was not coming down significantly as the government had not taken up any sustainable non-formal programmes since 2002.

“If there had been any such programmes after 2002, the illiteracy rate would have been much lower than now.

As the government did not change the methodologies or take any sustainable programmes, donor funding became irregular, which has ultimately slowed down these programmes,” he said.

He suggested that the govern-

“We (Japan) have some problems with China but we have also huge investment there,” he said.

Turning to the issue of BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia’s meeting with Abe, Sone said “it was a courtesy call on when they talked about bilateral relations, not much about (Bangladesh’s) domestic politics”.

But, he said, Begum Zia told the Japanese premier that the political instability and lack of rule of law largely hindered prospects of foreign investment in Bangladesh while Abe expected the political problems would be solved in a

ment should strengthen its Bureau of Non-Formal Education and conduct follow-ups on the basis of Total Literacy Movement to expedite the process of achieving the target.

Zahir Uddin Ahmed, director general of the Bureau of Non-Formal Education, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Despite different attempts, the government has failed to meet the target because of ancillary activities related to the project that includes funding.”

Along with the basic literacy programme, the government has to initiate more programmes involving awareness creation to bring entire population under the light of literacy, he added. l

After Syria and Iraq, Islamic State makes inroads in South Asia  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

little-known local group called Islami Khalifat, an outspoken Islamic State supporter.

“I know some people who received copies of this material either from friends or were given at mosques by unidentified IS workers,” he told Reuters.

A Pakistani security official said the pamphlets came from Afghanistan’s neighbouring Kunar province where a group of Taliban fighters was spotted distributing them.

“We came across them 22 days ago and we are aware of their presence here,” said the official. “Pakistani security agencies are working on the Pakistan-Afghan border and have arrested a number of Taliban fighters and recovered CDs, maps, literature in Persian, Pashto and Dari.”

“We will not permit them to work in our country and anyone who is involved in this will be crushed by the government.”

Recruitment in India

Signs of Islamic State’s influence are

also being seen in Kashmir, the region claimed by both India and Pakistan and the scene of a decades-long battle by militants against Indian rule. Security officials in Indian-held Kashmir say they have been trying to find out the level of support for the Arab group after IS flags and banners appeared in the summer.

Intelligence and police sources in New Delhi and Kashmir said the flags were first seen on June 27 in a part of the state capital Srinagar, and then in July when India’s only Muslim-majority region was marking Islam’s most holy day, Eid al-Fitr.

Some IS graffiti also appeared on walls of buildings in Srinagar. A police officer said youngsters carrying Islamic State flags at anti-India rallies had been identified but no arrests had been made.

Another officer who questions people detained in protests against Indian rule, many of them teenagers, said most were only focused on winning independence from India.

“The majority of them have no religious bent of mind,” he said. “Some of them, less than 1 percent, of course are

religious and radicalised and end up joining militant ranks. They are influenced by al Qaeda, Taliban, Islamic State.”

Islamic State is also trying to lure Muslims in mainland India, who make up the world’s third-biggest Islamic population but who have largely stayed away from foreign battlefields despite repeated calls from al Qaeda.

In mid-July, an IS recruitment video surfaced online with subtitles in the Indian languages of Hindi, Tamil and Urdu in which a self-declared Canadian fighter, dressed in war fatigues and flanked by a gun and a black flag, urged Muslims to enlist in global jihad.

That came out just weeks after four families in a Mumbai suburb reported to the police that their sons had gone missing, with one leaving behind a note about fighting to defend Islam.

It soon turned out that the men had joined a pilgrimage to Baghdad.

They later broke off from the tour group and never returned. Indian intelligence believe the men ended up in Mosul, the Iraqi city captured by Islamic State in June, and that one of them

may have died in a bomb blast.

Last week, the Times of India newspaper said four young men, including two engineering college students, were arrested in the eastern city of Calcutta as they tried to make their way to neighbouring Bangladesh to join a recruiter for Islamic State based there.

“It’s not just these four, but our investigations have found that there could be more youngsters who are in touch with IS handlers and this is a bit of a scary proportion,” the newspaper quoted a senior officer as saying.

A top official at India’s Intelligence Bureau in New Delhi told Reuters: “The problem is we know so little about this network or who is acting on their behalf here.

“We know roughly where the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the Indian Mujahideen (organisations backed by Pakistan) support groups are, where they make contacts. But this is a different challenge. Youth getting radicalised in their homes on the Internet, in chatrooms and through Facebook are not easy to track.” l

peaceful manner through dialogue.

“We (Japan), (however), have a very good relation with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, we are not going to go into the deep in your internal politics,” Sone said referring to Japan’s stance on ties with the incumbent government in Bangladesh.

But he added that “of course the foreign investors make cost benefit analysis for their investments and gauge the business environment of a country for taking a decision”.

Asked if Tokyo knew beforehand the Bangladesh decision to withdraw candidacy in the UN Security Council, Sone said “the issue was sensitive and any

changes (in the decision) could be made until the final decision is announced”.

“UN Security Council issue is a big news for Japan,” he said as Tokyo is mobilizing its efforts to become a permanent member of the UNSC through reforms in the UN charter.

During Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Japan, Tokyo pledged to give some 600 billion yen ($5.71 billion) in official development assistance to Bangladesh over the next four to five years, starting in fiscal 2015 while the summit yesterday the two leaders agreed to promote Japan’s “Big-B” or Bay of Bengal Growth Belt initiative. l

BARI admits no health tests done on Bt brinjal  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

with the financial support of USAID, were banned in India in 2010 after it was exposed that there were harmful effects.

In addition to India and Bangladesh, the same group earlier developed GM brinjal varieties in the Philippines. But the move was stalled by a court order, considering the health hazards.

BARI claims that the GM varieties were popular in countries like US and Canada since they significantly cut the use of pesticides.

Brinjal is one of the major vegetables produced in countries like Bangladesh in South Asia. Bangladesh also exports the vegetable.

According to BARI, it is developed

by Bt Uttara, Bt Kajla, Bt Noyontara and Bt ISD 006 from local varieties by inserting Monsanto’s Bt gene into them after a seven-year experiment which started in 2006, with the technical support of Mahyco.

In February this year, BARI distributed Bt brinjal saplings among 20 farmers in four different regions – Gazipur, Jamalpur, Rangpur and Ishwardi – to be cultivated in one bigha land each for the first time in the country.

However, most of them yeilded poor results.

The BARI chief last month told the Dhaka Tribune that the government had plans to demonstrate Bt brinjal at filed level extensively, this time among 100 farmers, in the upcoming season to make the product popular among farmers.

Yesterday’s press conference, held at the city’s Bangladesh Agricultural Research Council (BARC) conference room, was also attended by nine out of the 20 farmers. They shared their feel-

ings on the problems they had faced while cultivating the Bt brinjal varieties.

All the framers admitted that the government had provided them saplings and Tk8,000 each for cultivating the Bt brinjals.

The farmers also admitted that they faced huge financial loses due to the poor production output as most of the saplings died at different stages of cultivation.

“I had to count huge financial loss by cultivating Bt Brinjal as I could produce brinjals worth Tk5,000 by spending Tk8,000 and all of my labour,” said Monsur Rahman Sarker, a farmer from Kaliganj, Gazipur.

He said earlier he used to produce brinjals worth Tk1,00,000 on one bigha land.

However, as per the circular, the only one or two farmers failed to be successful as they did not follow the guidelines properly.

The BARI chief said the problems was that the saplings where distributed late in the season. He said this year they would distribute the varieties in October-November which is the appropriate season for brinjal cultivation.

On the issue of labelling the GM brinjals before marketing them, Dr Rafiqul told the Dhaka Tribune that it would not be possible to maintain labelling while selling the brinjals. It would be ridiculous.

According to a condition imposed by the National Committee on Biosafety, no GM crop can be sold without labels – a precondition imposed by them. The Bt brinjals produced by the 20 farmers were sold at local markets allegedly without any label. l

and remove them if the charges are proved.

The bill does not bring any changes to the provision of judges’ current retirement age, which is 67.

The draft law terms the Supreme Judicial Council opposed to the spirit of the constitution’s article 7 that says the people are source of all power.

It further says the legislature can remove the president, the prime minister and speaker of the Jatiya Sangsad, but not the judges of the Supreme Court.

So, the judges should also be accountable to the people through the legislature, which is elected by the people.

The bill says the restoration of article 96 of the constitution would enhance people’s confidence on the judiciary and restore the basic spirit of the constitution.

It says the provision for removal of the judges has been practised in many countries in the world.

According to the directives of the Supreme Court, the Awami League

government on June 30, 2011 passed the 15th amendment to restore the provisions of the original constitution framed in 1972. Through this, the provision of non-party caretaker government was dropped.

Many of the MPs demanded restoration of the original article 96 of the constitution that empowered the legislature to impeach apex court judges for misconduct and inabilities. But the government refrained from doing so, apparently not to antagonise the judiciary.

Tasked by the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law Ministry, the Law Commission in April sent a set of proposals to speed up the disposal of the pending cases. The commission recommended that the government restore article 96 to make the judges accountable.

In line with the report of the Law Commission, the cabinet approved the proposal to restore article 96 of the 1972 constitution. l

Constitution’s 16th amendment bill placed in Jatiya Sangsad  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

Parliament Secretariat officials told the Dhaka Tribune that the Fourth Amendment in 1975 had curtailed the authority of the legislature to remove Supreme Court judges and vested the power in the president who became the centre of all power.

Military ruler Maj Gen Ziaur Rahman, who usurped state power after the assassination of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, promulgated the military order in 1978 to introduce unconstitutionally the Supreme Judicial Council headed by the chief justice.

At 7:10pm, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury, who chaired yesterday’s sitting, asked the law minister to seek permission of the House to table the bill.

Flanked by Chief Whip ASM Feroz on the left and former chief whip Abdus Shahid on the right, the law minister first read out the preamble of the bill and said: “I have tabled the Constitution (16th amendment) Bill 2014.”

The speaker and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who was sitting in the first row, intervened and suggested that Anisul, sitting in the second row, should seek permission of the House to initiate the bill.

Anisul fumbled again, prompting the other members including Leader of the House Hasina, Abdus Shahid and State Minister for Labour and Employment Mujibul Haque to correct him.

The premier looked at him, revolving her chair. Anisul then corrected and said: “Honourable speaker, I seek the permission of the House to table the Constitution (16th amendment) Bill 2014.”

As there was no opposition, the minister then tabled the bill, and the whole House having around 230 MPs celebrated it by thumping desks.

Mujibul Haque and State Minister for Local Government Mashiur Rahman Ranga were particularly euphoric.

Leader of the Opposition Rawshan Ershad, who attended the sitting be-

fore the Maghrib prayers, remained absent when the bill was placed.

On August 31, the Jatiya Party parliamentary party decided that they would oppose the constitution amendment bill “like a true opposition.”

In line with the parliamentary rule, the bill went to the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Law Ministry for further examination. The watchdog will send its recommendations to the assembly in seven days.

It apparently means that the bill is set to pass in the current session which may end on September 18.

If passed, not only the judges, parliament will also have the power to remove the chief election commissioner and commissioners of the Election Commission, the chairman and members of the Public Service Commission, the chairman and commissioners of the Anti-Corruption Commission, and the comptroller and auditor general on similar grounds.

The articles establishing the EC,

the PSC, the ACC and the office of the Comptroller and Auditor General stipulate that the holders of the constitutional posts would be removed according to the procedures applicable for the removal of the Supreme Court judges.

At present, the Supreme Judicial Council can remove the apex court judges for misconducts and incapacity.

Two senior judges are members of the council, a mechanism put in place by Ziaur Rahman through the second military proclamation in 1978.

According to the bill, parliament would impeach judges for “proven misconducts and inabilities” with a twothirds majority in the assembly and the legislature would enact a law governing investigation of the charges against the judges.

In line with the law, the report on the investigation into the allegations would go to parliament in the form of a motion of impeachment. The House would hold discussions on it, giving the judges scope to defend themselves,

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Monday, September 8, 2014

DHAKA-TOKYO RELATIONSHIP

‘Bangladesh to seize the opportunity’ n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman Bangladesh now needs to find out a strategy to tap the opportunities opened up following the visit of Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, said a senior official of the Foreign Ministry.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s visit to Tokyo in May and the return trip of Japanese Premier Shinzo Abe last week have elevated the bilateral relations to a new height.

“As far as money and commitment are concerned, it is there from the Japanese side. What Bangladesh needs is to find out a way to utilise it for the benefit of the country,” said a senior official of the foreign ministry.

Tokyo has committed about $6 billion assistance for the next four or five years and more investment by Japanese investors while Bangladesh as a goodwill gesture withdrew its candidature from UN Security Council non-permanent member election and supported Japan for the term 2016-17.

Hasina after the official talks with her Japanese counterpart said: “We understand the Japanese commitment would not be limited to the amount.”

Japan signed soft loan agreements with Bangladesh to provide $1.18 billion as assistance for five projects including Matarbari ultra super critical coal-fired power plant in June.

In May Tokyo also assured Dhaka of assisting its five mega projects – Ganges Barrage, multi-modal tunnel under river Jamuna, dedicated railway bridge over river Jamuna, multi-modal Dhaka Eastern Bypass, and ecological restoration of four rivers around Dhaka.

Commitment

Japan has committed to improving political and economic cooperation with Bangladesh.

Both the countries agreed to take the relationship to comprehensive partnership level under the framework of Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth belt initiative, said another official.

“Bangladesh wants to be a middle income country by 2021 and the highest office of Japan pledged to be a trusted partner to fulfill the goal,” the official said.

Both the countries agreed to work in the areas of transport network improvement, stable power supply, urban development and private sector development.

Nuclear cooperation

Japan expressed its intention to intensify energy cooperation in Bangladesh including in the area of peaceful uses of nuclear energy.

“The first joint expert meeting on peaceful use of nuclear energy will be held this year in Dhaka and we expect to have more such meetings in the years ahead,” he said.

Bangladesh needs to increase human resources capacity building and learn Japan’s experience and knowledge for having peaceful and safe uses of nuclear energy, he added.

Economic cooperation

Japan has adopted China plus one policy and Bangladesh is potentially a lucrative destination if it can provide favourable environment for the Japanese investors, said another foreign ministry official.

“Stable supply of primary energy and power to the industries are anoth-

er major concern for the investors.

“The regulatory authorities need to provide improved and quick service to the Japanese investors to attract them in Bangladesh,” he said.

The first public-private economic dialogue between the two countries held in August discussed about the barriers that the Japanese investors face in Bangladesh.

The profitability of Japanese companies is declining and they need to expand their market in other countries to stay alive, the official said.

“It can be win-win situation. With Japanese investment, Bangladesh can also create employment opportunities here,” he observed.

Bangladesh agreed to develop an exclusive economic zone for Japanese investors and Prime Minister Abe emphasised on its location, competitive incentives, improvement of infrastructure and smooth labour supply.

Japan is committed to relaxing its rules of origin for importing knitwear products from Bangladesh which could be a major export destination.

Foreign secretary level talks

It is essential to have regular consultation at the level of foreign secretary level to improve bilateral relations between the two countries.

“Both the prime ministers agreed to hold foreign secretary level talks on regular basis and the first meeting will be held early next year,” said the official.

The foreign secretary level talks will give an opportunity to both the countries to identify new areas of cooperation and bottlenecks in the relationship and to resolve those, he said. l

Students of a primary school in Baily Road and activists of Bangladesh Students Union are barred by police when they went to the Primary and Mass Education Ministry yesterday to submit a memorandum protesting demolition of the school MEHEDI HASAN

EC to investigate low number of female voter enrolment n Mohammad Zakaria The Election Commission has decided to investigate the low number of female voter enrolment in the current voter list updating that is taking place across the country, said an EC official.

The decision was taken at an EC meeting yesterday.

The commission has also formed three probe committees to investigate why the more women are not enlisting themselves as voters, who would start working soon, said Commissioner Md Shah Newaz.

The commission also formed a cen-

Alal among seven indicted in vandalism case n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday framed charges against Jatiyatabadi Jubo Dal President Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal, General Secretary Saiful Alam Nirob and five others in a 2010 vandalism case.

The court of Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mostafizur Rahman set November 26 to start the trial in the case.

The other accused are Abdus Salam, Motiur Rahman, Md Hafizur Rahman, Firoz Alam, Sajjad Hossain – all leaders and activists of Jubo Dal, youth wing of the BNP. The court dropped charges against of Jubo Dal activist Reeyad Hossain upon a discharge petition.

Defence counsel Taherul Islam Towhid said: “We filed the discharge petition seeking discharge of all the accused but the court discharged only Reeyad.”

He said they would go to the High Court against the indictment order.

On November 7, 2012, Sub-Inspector Idris Ali submitted the charge sheet accusing the eight Jubo Dal men for vandalising vehicles, obstructing law enforcers from discharging their duties and attacking law enforcers on August 22, 2010. Some police officials including the OC of Paltan police were injured. l

Journo assault: High Court orders OC to register FIR n Ahmed Zayeef The High Court has ordered the officer-in-charge of Kumarkhali police to register an FIR over the assault on ETV journalist Akhil Poddar by policemen on August 27.

The bench of Justice Moinul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Ashraful Kamal passed the order yesterday following a writ petition filed by the victim.

In an interim order, the court directed the home secretary to submit a report within four weeks after forming a probe committee over the incident. The Kumarkhali OC has been asked to submit a compliance report by September 17.

Akhil filed the petition yesterday.

Lawyer Manzil Murshid moved for the petitioner while Deputy Attorney General Motaher Hossain Shaju for the state.

The court issued a rule asking as to why appropriate legal actions should not be taken against the criminals who assaulted the journalist. “The court also wanted to know why the inaction of the defendants should not be declared illegal in terms of accepting a case over the matter.” l

tral probe committee and 10 sub-committees to find out the reason behind overall low voter enrolment after the first phase, as the targeted number of voters was not achieved.

Since the updating started, more than 2.3 million new voters have been enrolled in the voters’ list, of whom around 1.3 million are male and around 1 million are female.

Earlier, the commission sought the assistance of the Women and Children Affairs Ministry to organise campaigns to spread awareness and encourage more women to enrol as voters.

Officials present at the meeting said the three probe committees would

start their investigation at the upazilas that were identified as having the lowest female voter enrolment this week.

The committee is due to submit the investigation report within 15 days.

The commission has identified more than 20 upazilas that have the lowest female voter enrolment. The number was especially low in Cox’s Bazar’s Pekua and Brahmanbaria’s Bijoynagar upazilas, they said.

The commission also decided to send 16 additional registration teams in the two Dhaka City Corporations and Narayanganj City Corporation.

It asked the authorities concerned to start the work by September 15. l

KHILGAON FATHER-SON SHOOTING

Probe body claims Jubo League men were involved n Mohammad Jamil Khan

Visiting Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and his wife pose with one of the artists at Faculty of Fine Arts of DU yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Japanese PM visits Dhaka University n Du Correspondent

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe paid a visit to Dhaka University yesterday at the end of his two-day state visit.

Shinzo Abe, accompanied by his wife Mrs Akie Abe, was warmly greeted

by DU Vice-Chancellor Prof Dr AAMS Arefin Siddique upon their arrival at

the Faculty of Fine Arts in the morning.

Abe took a brief tour of the exhibition by artists, who studied in Japan under Monbusho Scholarship and students of drawing and painting department of the university.

He also observed an arts and crafts demonstration by Bangladeshi artisans.

Pro-VC (academic) Prof Dr Nasreen

Ahmad, Pro-VC (administration) Prof Dr Shahid Akter Hussain, Treasurer Prof Dr Md Kamal Uddin and Dean of the Faculty of Fine Arts Prof Syed Abul Bark Alvi were also present at that time.

Prof Arefin Siddique thanked the Japanese prime minister for his visit and presented him with an honorary crest of the university. l

Sources in the Detective Branch of Police have claimed that investigators probing the Khilgaon father-son shooting and mugging case found a Jubo League leader’s involvement in the incident.

The suspect is an organising secretary of Jubo League (south) committee while other members of the group behind the crime also belong to Jubo League, the sources said.

On Thursday, Israil Hossain and his son Sharif Hossain were shot at Goran of Khilgaon in the capital city, and the shooters also took away Tk48 lakh from the duo.

DB sources said Shairf and Israil, owner of Universal Money Exchange, were carrying the money while returning home from Adamjee Court Money Exchange office in Motijheel on the day of the incident. The muggers, five to six in number, knew the information beforehand as they had been on the trail of the currency trader for a while.

A DB official said the father and the son were walking home having parked the vehicle at a building near Shantipur School as their own residence do not have a car park. The whole area was dark because of a power outage.

Riding two motorbikes, the muggers intercepted the duo and attempted to

snatch the briefcase where the money was. As Israil and Sharif resisted, the miscreants shot them and took the bag, leaving the son dead on the spot.

Investigators during the probe came to know that the power cut in the area was not a scheduled one. They questioned the staff at the local power office to gather more information.

DB sources said the Jubo League leader, who lives in that area, would also be interrogated.

Jahangir Hossain Matubbor, deputy commissioner of DB (west), said the perpetrators who had a hand in the crime had been identified and officials were also investigating whether the power cut was stage-managed.

The criminals hopefully would be brought to book shortly, he added.

None was arrested in this connection till yesterday evening.

Meanwhile, Sharif’s body yesterday was taken to National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation to let Israil, who is undergoing treatment there, would be able to see his son’s face for the last time before burial.

The body was kept at the Birdem Hospital freezer and Israil wished to be present at the burial but doctors did not release him, saying he needed to be at the hospital for a few more days. l

Witness: Jabbar targeted Hindus in Pirojpur ACC to sue seven officials of n Udisa Islam The first prosecution witness in the case of former Jatiya Party lawmaker Abdul Jabbar, now absconding, submitted his deposition at the war crimes tribunal yesterday.

Shoebur Rahman Golder, 75, said Jabbar had instructed to kill two freedom fighters and 23 Hindus, forcefully converted more than 150 Hindus into Islam and looted at least 360 houses at Phuljhuri of Pirojpur during the 1971 Liberation War. The witness said he worked at the Pakistan Administrative Staff College in Lahore and came to Dhaka on February 29, 1971. He went to his village Tushkhali on April 4 to train young people for the war.

He said on May 16 of 1971, the accused Jabbar held a rally on the playground of Tushkhali High School and ordered the collaborators to bring to him Abdur Razzak and Motaleb Sharif (trainer of freedom fighters) dead or alive. The witness said he was an

eyewitness. In line with the order, the armed razakars held the two freedom fighters and killed them.

After his deposition, state-appointed defence counsel Mohammad Abul Hasan cross examined the witness. The trial was later adjourned until today.

The three-member International Crimes Tribunal 1 led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim recorded the deposition of the witness after hearing the opening statement in the case, placed by prosecutor Mohammad Zahid Imam.

Shoeb said Jabbar had always instigated his followers to launch war on the Hindus. Quoting the war crimes accused, the witness said: “He used to say ‘Hindu’s wealth and properties are for plunder and so the Muslims can use them. If the Hindus want to live in this country, they will have to become Muslims.’”

According to the witness, Pakistan Muslim League Leader Jabbar was elected an MPA in 1967-68 and took the charge of Peace Committee of Mathbaria during the war. He recruited Iskandar

Ali Mridha as the razakar commander of that area.

The witness described the killing of Sharda saying: “Jabbar along with 30-35 Pakistani Army personnel went to Phuljhuri village and instructed the army to kill Sharda Kanto Paik. The army gunned down Sharda on the spot.”

He said in late May, following the instruction of Jabbar, razakars had forcfully converted over 150 Hindus of Paikbari to Islam. Later they were forced to take Muslim names and eat beef.

On October 6 of 1971, about 40-50 razakars led by Jabbar went to Angulkata village and detained 37 Hindus.

Among them, seven were set free.

“They opened fire at the detainees and killed 22 people,” the witness said.

Meanwhile, the same tribunal has asked the defence counsel to conclude their argument in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader ATM Azharul Islam by today. Lawyer Abdus Subhan Tarafder continued placing argument for the fifth day yesterday. l

Sonali Bank, Prime Bank n Tribune Report

The Anti-Corruption Commission is set to sue two officials of Sonali Bank Limited and five officials of Prime Bank Limited for their alleged involvement with the embezzlement of Tk90 lakh.

The ACC in its regular meeting yesterday approved the filing of the case against the accused as it primarily found their involvement in the misappropriation, Public Relation Officer Pranab Kumer Bhattacharya told the Dhaka Tribune.

The two accused officials of Sonali Bank are Senior Officer Anisur Rahman Sarker and Officer Liakot Hossain Chowdhury of a local branch.

The Prime Bank officials are Sales Executive Mirza Kamrul Hasan, Senior Executive Officer Ferdous Akhter Dipu, Senior Vice-President Mohiuddin Ahmed, Executive Officer HM Kamruzzaman Sumon, Senior

Assistant Vice-President Jafar Hasan of Motijheel branch.

According to an ACC, the primary investigation report found that the accused had misappropriated money by creating a fake account in the name of M/s Kalam Enterprise from Motijheel local branch office of Sonali Bank.

ACC Deputy Director Shahin Ara Momtaz conducted the inquiry into the allegation.

The ACC yesterday also questioned two higher officials of Palli Daridro Bimocon Foundation (PDBF). The antigraft body questioned the officials as the commission found irregularities in the Solar Project of PDBF, informed an official.

Two officials were AAM Anwaruzzaman, managing director of the Solar Project and former chief administrative officer Shufia Begum.

ACC Assistant Director Shamsul Alam quizzed the accused officials. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, September 8, 2014

Twenty Health Ministry doctors made Obaidul frustrated over investors’ response to OSD amid corruption concerns importing AC buses n Moniruzzaman Uzzal

Twenty doctors holding mid-level management positions in the World Bank-funded health ministry programmes have been put on special duty after inquiries revealed they were involved with financial irregularities.

The doctors made officers on special duty (OSD) were deputy programme managers (DPM) in various operational plans of the Health Population Nutrition Sector Development Programme (HPNSDP).

MM Niazuddin, the health secretary, confirmed the OSD postings and said the resulting vacancies would be filled shortly.

Sources told the Dhaka Tribune that pressure from the World Bank caused the government to move against the corrupt officials.

The World Bank threatened to withdraw financial assistance to the HPNSDP and other programmes unless the health ministry took action, sources said.

But the health secretary denied the ministry had been pushed into the decision to place the doctors on OSD status, in a talk with the Dhaka Tribune yesterday afternoon. He admitted the

World Bank had expressed concerns about the situation.

He said the decision was the result of an internal assessment by the health ministry and the Foreign Aided Project Audit Directorate (FAPAD). The inquiry and audit conducted by the two government bodies found the DPMs culpable, he told the Dhaka Tribune.

One of three line directors, who has asked to remain anonymous, told the Dhaka Tribune that DPMs don’t have the power to spend project money.

He said, as far as he was aware, the audit reports and inquiries found financial corruption and irregularities to the tune of Tk160 crore.

He asked this reporter how much of this money the DPMs had pocketed, adding that the highest level decision makers, including ministers, secretaries and directors general were involved in the graft.

Most of the newly appointed OSD doctors were originally posted with the recommendation of government-backed doctors’ leaders, sources said.

After being placed on OSD status, some ex-DPMs were said to be lobbying to be reappointed. Influential people, including ministers, secretaries, politi-

cal leaders, members of parliament and doctors’ leaders were allegedly lobbying for them, sources said.

Six of the deputy programme managers were in the non-communicable disease (NCD) section, six were in the communicable disease control (CDC) section and eight had been in the national nutrition programme (NNP) section.

The 20 DPMs on OSD status are Dr AKM Zafarullah (NCD), Dr Md Mizanur Rahman (NCD), Dr Kohinur Begum (NCD), Dr Saidur Rahman (NCD), Dr Monir Ahmed (NCD), Dr Muhammed Abdur Rahim (NCD), Dr Ruseli Hoque (CDC), Dr Shahid M Sadikul Islam (CDC), Dr Benzir Ahmed (CDC), Dr Md Zahirul Karim (CDC), Dr Shah Golam Nabi (CDC), Dr Md Sabbir Haider (CDC), Dr Sara Khanom (NNP), Dr S M Mustafizur Rahman (NNP), Dr Mir Mubarok Hossain (NNP), Dr Nasrin Khanom (NNP), Dr Rubina Hoque (NNP), Dr Tapan Kumer Biswas (NNP), Dr Md Amir Hossain (NNP) and Dr Md Khalequzzaman (NNP).

Health ministry and health directorate sources said questionable programme expenditures by the operation plans were highlighted in an audit report by FAPAD in 2012.

Based on those findings, the World Bank’s International Development Association (IDA) carried out a special financial management review last year, finding strong indication of inappropriate procurement practices and fraudulent activities in the performance of procurement and financial management activities.

Inappropriate procurement practices were identified – including the procurement of items through the request for quotation method and acting beyond the scope of the procurement plan approved by the World Bank in November 2011.

Packages were also reportedly split to avoid competitive procedures, while bid documents revealed similar handwritten dates, spelling mistakes, fonts, styles, descriptions; bid prices were in arithmetical sequence; and similar handwriting was seen on the documents of the procuring entity and the vendors’ document.

The IDA review found that honorariums had been paid to line directors for several training programmes which they never attended, as well as finding evidence of forged signatures on the list of training participants who were said to have been given honorariums. l

n Mohosinul Karim Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader expressed frustration yesterday over poor response from investors over import of air conditioned minibuses in the country.

After a meeting with an UNDP delegation yesterday the minister said: “The ministry has given the approval for importing around 100 air conditioned minibuses to resolve transport crisis in the capital. But, we are frustrated seeing the poor response from the private investors.”

“We, however, are not giving up hope. We have also taken initiative to import new public buses. Bangladesh Road Transport Corporation (BRTC) will import the buses soon,” he said.

United Nations Development Programme delegation submitted a written proposal to the minister yesterday on resolving the transport crisis and traffic congestion in the capital.

Describing UNDP’s initiative, the minister said: “They have found a solution for eliminating traffic congestion in the city. They want to work with us to create public awareness to achieve the goal.”

Obaidul Quader: Ershad’s stance a double standard n Mohosinul Karim Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader has criticised Jatiya Party (JaPa) Chairman HM Ershad for commenting against the government.

He said: “Being a part of the government, Ershad can never criticise or talk against the government. He cannot threaten with a movement against the government. It is a double standard.”

The minister, also a presidium member of the ruling Awami League, made the remark while talking to the reporters at the secretariat yesterday after a meeting with a UNDP delegation.

Quader said: “Jatiya Party is still in the grand alliance. He can criticise the government at the in-house meeting of the alliance forum. By principle, they have no scope to criticise the government.”

He said they were observing the activities of Ershad, also special envoy to the prime minister and the Jatiya Party.

On August 1, Ershad said his party would launch a movement against the government as it has “failed to meet the needs of the people.”

Regarding AK Khandaker’s controversial book “1971: Inside and Outside,” the minister said: “The book has generated a debate with its controversial content. The parliament has also discussed the Issue.” l

2 Shibir men held n FM Mizanur Rahaman, Chittagong

Police yesterday afternoon arrested two activists of Islamic Chhatra Shibir, the student front of Jamaat-e-Islami, in front of Chittagong Government Muslims High School in the port city’s Kotwali area.

The detainees were Asad Ullah, 25 and Asif Eqbal, 19, said Kotwali police sources.

Assistant Commisioner Shah Mohammed Abdur Rauf of Chittagong Metropolitan Police Kotwali circle said they were arrested in front of the school gate on charges of alleged involvement with recent subversive activities.

The official said police were interrogating the Shibir men. l

CAAB gets new chairman n Mohosinul Karim A new chairman was appointed by the Civil Aviation Authority of Bangladesh (CAAB) yesterday.

Air Vice-Marshal M Sanaul Haque was appointed for the post while previous chairman Air Vice-Marshal Mahmud Hossain was placed at the Bangladesh Air Force (BAF).

A gazette notification was issued by the Public Administration Ministry confirming the reshuffle in the office.

However, the order did not mention any reason for the change. l

“The delegation is working to start a systematic transport system in Bangladesh. We will prepare a comprehensive programme consulting with the stakeholders like police, transport leaders and experts,” he added.

The number of small vehicles is increasing day by day as people are not interested in riding unfit or sub-standard public transports Expressing concern over unfit vehicles in the city, Quader said: “We can see unfit vehicles plying in the city. However, we cannot dump the vehicles as there is no alternative.”

The number of small vehicles is increasing day by day as people are not interested in riding unfit or sub-standard public transports. Most of the families are using more than one car causing huge traffic congestion. An increased number of quality buses should solve the problem, he said. l

Fugitive physician sent to jail n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

CONSCIOUS NEGLIGENCE: Though a foot over-bridge is just around the corner, pedestrians cross a busy road, halting traffic and consciously risking their lives. The photo was taken yesterday near the Dhaka Airport intersection SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Custodial death: Judicial inquiry report ordered by Oct 7 n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court has set October 7 for submission of a judicial inquiry report in a case filed for torturing Istiaq Ahmed Jony to death in police custody in February.

Acting judge of the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court Jakia Parveen set the date yesterday following a petition filed by Metropolitan Magistrate Maruf Hossain seeking 30 more days to complete the inquiry.

The court on August 7 ordered the Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court of Dhaka for a judicial inquiry and asked for the submission of the report yesterday.

The case was filed against OC Syed Ziauzzaman, SI Zahidur Rahman Khan of Pallabi police station and six others.

SI Zahid were arrested on July 13 in the custodial death case of garment-waste trader Mahbubur Rahman Sujon.

The judicial inquiry was ordered following a murder case filed by Jony’s brother Imtiaz Hossain with the Dhaka’s Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court under the Torture and Custodial Death (Protection) Act 2013.

In the case statement, the complainant said a police team led by then SI Zahid picked up Jony, 25, along with four other youths from

a wedding programme at Rahmat Bihari Camp in the early hours of February 8.

Jony was detained after he had beaten up a drunk police informer, Sumon, for assaulting several female guests at the event, Imtiaz said.

Being informed, SI Zahid along with others picked up Jony and several other youths from the spot, took them to the police station and beat them up mercilessly.

At one stage, as Jony fell sick, he was taken to Dhaka National Heart Foundation, where he died. Jony was brought dead to Dhaka Medical College Hospital eight hours later, the case says. l

British Council holds National IELTS Partners Meet n Tribune Report A national meeting of the IELTS partners of British Council Bangladesh was held at a convention centre in the capital on September 4.

The theme of the event was ‘IELTS Pit Stop’ marking the 25year journey of IELTS. Just like Formula 1 racing, the aim of the event was to realign British Council and its partners with the journey ahead.

Deep Adhikari, director examinations services of British Council Bangladesh, Nasreen Sultana, deputy exams manager, Syeed Hasan, head of business development, Nafiz Zaman, business development manager along with other stakeholders were present at the event. The media, student engage-

ment agencies, IELTS registration partners and tuition providers were invited to the event.

The main attraction of the event was the group activity and discussion where inputs were taken from all the guests on how to

improve the quality of IELTS and how British Council can further improve IELTS experience for the test takers.

At the end of the event, a cake was cut to mark the ongoing celebration of 25 years of IELTS. l

A Dhaka court yesterday sent a physician to jail who had earlier escaped a courtroom dock after he was denied bail.

Acting Judge Jakia Pervin of Dhaka Senior Special Judge’s Court passed the order when the Dhaka Medical College Hospital physician Atiur Rahman surrendered before the court.

Earlier on August 27, Atiur, an assistant professor of surgical department of DMCH, along with another doctor Moshiur Rahman escaped from the dock of the courtroom.

On that day, the court also rejected the bail petitions of four former DMCH officials and a trader, and sent them to jail in the graft case filed for misappropriating Tk2.31 crore in machinery purchase.

The five were DMCH ex-director Bazle Qader, its ex-deputy director Foyzullah, and two former accounts officers both named Nazrul Islam and proprietor Habibur Rahman of surgical instrument supplier Habib Traders.

According to the case details, the accused in connivance with each other misappropriated Tk2.31 crore from different machinery purchase of DMCH. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Monday, September 8, 2014

Dhaka city’s infrastructure in a shambles Owners of battery-run Experts blame absence of public representatives in DNCC and DSCC

rickshaws protest ban

n Abu Hayat Mahmud

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

The infrastructural development of the capital has significantly slowed down because of an absence of public representatives in both the city corporations, according to citydwellers and the urban experts claims.

The organisations responsible for the city’s maintenance are now being run by government servants, who are allegedly involved in various irregularities and act on a whim while handling the city corporations’ work, sources said.

The largest and most important local government bodies, both the Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) and Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC) – formed when the government split the Dhaka City Corporation in two parts on November 29, 2011 aiming to achieve better performance in city management – have failed to live up to the citydwellers’ expectations.

No elections were held in the two city corporations since the split, which is why there are no mayors and ward councillors to run these civic bodies.

According to city residents and the urban planners, the condition of the capital’s infrastructure – streets, footpaths, drainage system – has been deteriorating for the past three years.

The allegations were refuted by the authorities concerned, who claimed that they had been running the city corporations properly.

Professor Nazrul Islam, president of the Centre for Urban Studies, expressed concern over the poor city management by both the city corporations.

“In 2011, when the city was bifurcated, the government said it was

to serve the city residents with more dedication. However, referring to news reports, I was unable to find any improvement on both sides of Dhaka in the past three years,” he said.

Nazrul also claimed that due to public representatives in the city corporations, the current authorities were not accountable to anyone and did as they pleased.

DSCC and DNCC said around 1,500km out of around 2,300km streets in the capital are in a dilapidated condition and need immediate renovation “The government should not transfer the administrators of the city corporations every six months. Top executives were transferred before they could fully understand their roles, ultimately depriving the city residents of better services,” he said.

He also suggested that the government should immediately take steps to hand the corporations’ responsibilities over to elected representatives.

Sources in the DSCC and DNCC said around 1,500km out of around 2,300km streets in the capital are in a dilapidated condition and need immediate renovation.

In different areas under the DNCC and DSCC, roads and walkways were

found to covered in potholes and broken in places, due to a lack of proper maintenance by the authorities concerned.

Although the DSCC spent Tk256 crore on the maintenance of roads, surface drains and traffic systems over the past two fiscal years – according to its latest budget information – a large number of streets and drains are in shambles.

Residents of Shukrabad, Panthapath, Kathalbagan, parts of Kalabagan, Jhigatola, Hazaribagh, Lalbagh, Azimpur, Kamrangirchar, Jatrabari, Postogola and Shanir Akhra, all under the DSCC’s jurisdiction, claimed that the maintenance of streets and others in those areas were lousy.

Munir Ahmed, a Shukrabad resident, said: “The DSCC authority has turned a blind eye to long-standing issues, like potholes and poor drainage system in the area. The terrible condition of the streets inside the residential areas makes vehicular movement difficult.”

The situated gets worse during monsoon, because even a little rain submerges the entire area in knee-deep water, he said.

“Earlier, there were ward councillors in the city corporation, to whom we could go and complain about our problems. But now there are no councillors due to the city corporation elections being postponed,” he said.

Meanwhile, the DNCC, which spent Tk361 crore on infrastructure maintenance, has failed to meet several deadlines in completing the projects for construction and repair of roads and footpaths in different areas under its jurisdiction.

Most of the streets and parts of the

main roads and footpaths in Mirpur, Kalshi, Manikdi, Agargaon, Kalyanpur, Uttara, Khilkhet, Ashkuna, Banani, Gulshan, Indira Road, West Rajabazar and Sobhanbagh are in a dreadful state.

Mohammad Dulal, a resident of Manikdi, said most of the roads, walkways and surface drainage system in the area were in a very bad shape, which made movement for both the vehicles and the pedestrians immensely difficult.”

“The DNCC has taken no initiative to reform the drainage system and repairing the dilapidated roads in Manikdi,” he added.

However, authorities of the DSCC and DNCC refuted all claims of mismanagement by the city-dwellers.

“After the division of Dhaka City Corporation, the city-dwellers have been getting better services,” said DSCC’s Chief Executive Officer Md Ansar Ali Khan, while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.

“Development in our jurisdiction is taking place based on the data and information collected by the zonal offices,” he added.

However, he said: “Due to a fund crunch, we have not been able to repair a few dilapidated roads, which will be fixed in this fiscal year.”

DNCC’s Chief Executive Officer BM Enamul Haque said: “It is not fair to put all the blame on the city corporation.

Those who are complaining should specify exactly what kind of problems they are facing.

“With the help of the media and the people in identifying the problems in the city, we can immediately take actions to solve them,” he said. l

More than a thousand owners and pullers of battery-run rickshaws staged a protest yesterday following the vehicle’s ban on the streets of the port city.

Starting the demonstration with a procession, the angry protesters barricaded the entrance to the city from the Dhaka-Chittagong highway and lay siege to the residence of Chittagong City Corporation Mayor M Manjur Alam.

They also demanded that the battery-run rickshaws be allowed to run on the city roads from today, as well as licence for said vehicles.

Police and local sources said Chittagong city was completely disconnected from the DhakaChittagong highway from 11:25 am to 2pm due to the demonstration.

The outrage came when authorities concerned instructed the owners of the battery-run rickshaws to take their vehicles off the roads by August 30, followed by a High Court-issued ban on the vehicle in Dhaka and Chittagong cities.

In protest of the ban, the owners and pullers of battery-run rickshaws gathered under the banner of Chittagong Rickshaw and Battery-run Rickshaw Chalok Shongram Parishad and staged the demonstration.

They took position in front of the Golden Container Limited near the City Gate area, Chittagong city’s entry point, around 10am and began their rally to press home their demands.

However, at the end of the rally, in a sudden change of plan, the

protesters put up a road block at the city’s entrance and lay siege to the mayor’s house, which is near the City Gate, said Tanvir Arafat, additional deputy commissioner of Chittagong Metropolitan Police (West).

Police tried to disperse the protesters away, but they held their position on the road.

Later, representatives of the batteryrun rickshaw owners’ association sat down in a meeting with police and the mayor at his residence, where they decided to have a meeting with the Chittagong Metropolitan Police commissioner today.

However, Abdul Kader Majumder, president of the association, warned that they would launch a more intense movement tomorrow if today’s meeting did not produce any fruitful solution.

Assured of today’s meeting, the protesters withdrew the blockade from the city’s entrance and the mayor’s residence around 1:45pm. The traffic movement from and to the port city resumed around 2pm, the additional deputy commissioner said.

Asked about the association’s demand to allow the rickshaws, Mayor Manjur said: “The ban has already been ordered by the High Court, so the city corporation cannot do anything in this regard.

“However, taking to the streets will take us nowhere. We can sit together and try to find a solution that will suit all parties involved,” he said.

No untoward incident was reported during the demonstration, but commuters suffered traffic congestion as a result of the blockades. l

Vulture extinction to rise livestock-borne diseases n Tribune Report

Many livestock-borne diseases like anthrax, tuberculosis may rise in the country if the species of vulture become extinct, said speakers.

They said this at a discussion programme titled “International Vulture Awareness Day” held in Bangladesh Forest Department auditorium yesterday.

Addressing the programme Yunus Ali, Chief Conservator of Forests, Bangladesh Forest Department said vultures play an important role not only as scavenger but also as natural cleaner. Vultures are at great risk of being extinct; in Bangladesh estimated present vulture population is probably less than 500.

He said consumption of cattle carcasses treated with non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) such as diclofenac ketoprofen, sodium salicylate are the main cause of vulture mortality.

A single contaminated carcass can cause the death of a whole flock of vultures; he said adding that we have to stops use of such drugs to save the species and our environment.

Ruhul Amin, deputy director of Direc-

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A man collects the remains from a demolished establishment soon after Dhaka North City Corporation conducted a drive to evict illegal structures in the capital's Begunbari area yesterday NASHIRUL ISLAM

Three missing in Kirtankhola erosion

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torate General of Drug Administration, said the administration had banned production and trading of diclofenac in Bangldesh since 2011, but now another drug is being used for treating cattle are also responsible for the death of vultures.

“If the forest department officially informs it to drug administration we will take steps to ban it,” he added.

Istiak Uddin Ahmed, Country representative of International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Bangladesh said the vultures have many beneficial aspects to our environment.

Vultures reduces environment pollution by consuming carcasses, he said adding that it also reduce the spread of diseases like anthrax, rabies, tuberculosis and more others.

The main reason behind the gradual extinction of vulture is the uses of diclofenac and ketoprofen to treat cattle, he said adding that habitat loss and food crisis also play role in vulture demise.

Use of those drugs is still going on due to illegal availability although a safe alternative Meloxicam is available, he also said. The IUCN Bangladesh organised the discussion programme. l

4:27am 5:42am 11:57am 4:26pm 6:10pm 7:26pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

n Our Correspondent, Barisal At least three people went missing after four houses at Lamchhari area in Charbaria union were completely destroyed by erosion of the Kirtankhola River on Saturday night.

They were Golam Mustafa Shikdar, 60, son of Makbul Shikdar, Hossain Hawladar, 44, son of Bacchu Hawladar, and Giasuddin alias Selim Sardar, 40, son of Jamal Sardar.

Eleven more people also fell in the river at the time but were rescued alive by locals, that night.

“We are searching for the missing men,” said a fire service officer.

Ayub Ali, an activist of the local erosion prevention group Amra Bachte Chai, said erosion in the Kirtankhola had already destroyed more than halfa-kilometre area of crop lands, houses and businesses at Charbaria in the last two weeks.

We tried our best to convey the message to the local authorities that effective steps were needed to prevent rapid erosion of the river but all our words had apparently fallen on deaf ears, he said.

Charbaria Union Parishad Chairman Ziaul Islam Sabu admitted that the locals had called for measures to check erosion, adding that Charbaria, Charabdani and Lamchhari had been the worst victims of this natural phenomenon.

More than 50 structures have al-

ready been eroded away while at least 40 others, including shops, houses and institutions, are under severe threat, the chairman added.

'A long-term and sustainable river management policy is needed to be implemented to keep the erosion in check' Shahidul Alam, deputy commissioner of Barisal, Abdur Rouf Mia, upazila nirbahi officer of Barisal Sadar, and several other local officials visited the area yesterday and said relief goods would be distributed among the affected people.

They also said they would extend support in the rehabilitation process.

Zahiruddin Ahmed, executive engineer of Water Development Board’s Barisal office, said officials concerned had visited the area and would take steps soon.

“Erosion of the Kirtankhola is destroying and affecting new areas every year. A long-term and sustainable river management policy is needed to be implemented to keep the erosion in check. We will take temporary measures to prevent erosion as soon as we are allocated funds,” he added. l

INDEFINITE STRIKE AT CHITTAGONG UNIVERSITY

Students seal-off classrooms, no action from authority yet n CU Correspondent A number of classrooms of different faculties at Chittagong University (CU) were sealed off by students on strike yesterday, the eight consecutive day of indefinite strike at the campus.

The rooms were blocked off by applying instant adhesive to the locks.

Campus sources said, Shibir men allegedly locked a number of classrooms of Art and Humanities faculty, Science Faculty and Marine Science and Fisheries Institute in the morning halting the academic activities.

CU Proctor Siraj-ud-Dowla said, the university staffs opened the classrooms when the office hour began. He also claimed that academic activities

were not hampered because of the incident.

Professor Dr Imran Hossain, dean of Arts and Humanities faculty told the Dhaka Tribune: “They put “super glue” to at least 50 to 60 locks of the classrooms of different departments but the dean office remained safe”.

Earlier on Saturday, miscreants hurled crude bombs at campus bound shuttle train for the second time during the strike.

Eight days into the strike, the university authority is still silent over the issue while the protesters have been carrying out subversive activities in a bid to paralyse the university.

Though the Proctor said they would take “stern action” against the perpe-

trators, no one had been arrested yet in connection with anarchy.

Under the banner of “General Students of CU”, Shibir men of CU unit allegedly have enforced the indefinite strike demanding reopening of the Shah Amanat and Suhrawardy residence halls.

Shah Amanat hall was closed after a severe clash between the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and Islamic Chhatra Shibir men on January 12 earlier this year while Suhrawardy hall was announced shut after a gunfight between the same parties on August 24.

Both the closed dormitories were under the control of Shibir men, said campus sources. l

‘Saif Power Tech has connections with ISI’ n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Former Chittagong City Corporation mayor ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury yesterday claimed that the port’s container handling operator organisation Saif Power Tech had connections with Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI).

At a hunger strike in Chittagong the former mayor said: “Saif Power Tech is a Pakistani agent. In the name of

the organisation, Pakistanis have been working in the port, posing risk to the security system of the port.”

He also alleged that the port authorities had been turning a blind eye to the issue. He said: “The Pakistani agents were bagging all the work of the port in collaboration with the port officials.”

ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, also the president of Chittagong city unit Awami League, also demanded that

the treaty with Saif Power Tech be scrapped. The hunger strike started around 10am and ended at 6pm.

With the slogan “Bandar Bachao, Saif Power Tech Hotao,” Chittagong Bandar Rakhsha Parishad organised the hunger strike.

The parishad also announced to hold a rally at the port city’s Laldighi Ground over the same issue on September 10. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Monday, September 8, 2014

No election in Ajmiriganj municipality for 10 years, locals devoid of development The same person has been at the helm for a long time municipality area, it had been list- are about 3500 Hindu voters. n Our Correspondent, Habiganj the Initially, the UNO was appointed as ed within the union. This case was setElection of Ajmiriganj municipality in Habiganj has been stalled for the last 10 years due to legal complications. Despite paying taxes regularly, residents are not getting the necessary benefits because of administrative hindrances. Moreover, since there is no elected mayor, the same person has been allegedly at the helm of the municipality for a long time.

Locals say two cases regarding the demarcation of the municipality have led to such stagnant situation.

When contacted, municipality mayor Mohammad Gulam Farook said, Touhid Ali of Naya Nagar village filed a case with local court at the very beginning of the municipality formation. His allegation was that though his house was within

tled by the lower court, but Touhid Ali moved the High Court and secured a stay order.

Another complaint was lodged by Ward 8 councillor Jyotish Kuri to the UNO. He alleged that some areas of his Ward had been integrated into Ward 9.

This is also awaiting decision of the Local Government and Rural Development (LGRD) ministry.

Unless and until these two cases were resolved, an election of the municipality would not be possible, added the mayor.

Ajmiriganj was declared a municipality on January 21 of 2004 by the then BNP government. The 6.5 square kilometre municipality has a population of 16,000, with 9000 enlisted voters. There

the mayor of the municipality. But later in the same year, upazila BNP leader Mohammad Gulam Farook was made the mayor. After serving till 2012, he was again replaced by the UNO as there were cases against Farook. However, Farook was reinstated as a mayor with a court order in 2013 and had been holding the position since then.

The Ajmiriganj municipality has no administrative building of its own. It operates from a rented space at UNO’s office at BRDB building. This lack of infrastructure has been heavily impeding the development work, adding frustration and fury among the citizen.

While talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Secretary General of upazila Jubo Dal

Khaledur Rashid blamed the current mayor for the complications. He said: “Defendants of both the cases are BNP leaders and so is the mayor. Unless the cases are resolved, no election is possible.”

On condition of anonymity, a municipality official said, revenue collection was satisfactory in the municipality. “However, people’s desires have not been reflected in the development works since there had been no election.

Everyone wants an election now.”

Mayor Gulam Farook emphasised on resolving the cases and urged the incumbent government to take action in this regard. “I have no objection to election. Whoever wins will run the administration. They will be accountable to people.” he added. l

Student killed in brothel n Our Correspondent, Rajbari Miscreants shot dead a private university student and injured another in a brothel beside Daulatdia Rail Station at Goalanda upazila of the district yesterday.

Deceased Md Ripon Mandal, 22, was a student of LLB final year course of North South University and son of Md Mohan Mandal of the upazila.

Daulatdia union parishad chairman Nurul Islam Mandal said in a statement that his nephew Ripon came to house from the university few days ago. Some

UP chairman arrested n Our Correspondent, Netrakona

Police arrested Banihari union parishad chairman Mahbub Alam Rana in Bahartali area under Mohanganj upazila yesterday in a case relating to attack and vandalism.

Ramijul Haque, officer-in-charge of Mohanganj police station said Rana along with his companions attacked

One held during kidnapping n Our Correspondent, Munshiganj Police arrested one abductor while he was attempting to abduct a former Sonali Bank official in Munshiganj yesterday.

Witnesses said a group of 5-6 abductors forcibly picked SM Nurul Islam, the victim, up in a micro-bus when the former bank official came out of the Krishi Bank with Tk2 lakh in Hatlokkhiganj area.

Police, after being informed by locals, chased the vehicle and managed

n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

to rescue Nurul Islam and nab Mintu, one of the abductors, when they tried to flee away leaving the micro-bus abandoned in Sipahipara intersection.

Confirming the incident, Munshiganj sadar police station OC Md Yardous Hasan told the Dhaka Tribune that drives were on to nab the other abductors who fled away with the money. All the abductors were wearing the uniform of DB police, the OC informed.

Procedures were on to file a case in this connection, he added. l

A total of 56 accused in different cases were arrested by Kushtia police in special drives across the district in last two days.

Police also recovered one light gun, four cocktails, 45 yaba tablets and five

kilogramme weed from their possession.

Confirming the arrests, Kushtia Police Super Proloy Chisim told the Dhaka Tribune that seven arrestees were at sadar police station, five at Kumarkhali, 11 at Bheramara, 12 at Mirpur, 20 at Doulotpur and one at Islami Bishwabidyaloy police station. l

the house of ex-up member Madhu Sarker in a drunken condition and damaged the valuables of the house.

They also beat up Madhu.

On information, police rushed to the spot and arrested Rana and his cohort Biplob. A case was filed with Mohanganj police station accusing seven people. l

Three held with yaba Sreepur police arrested three people with 100 yaba tablets and half kilogramme weed in Gazipur’s Sreepur on Saturday night.

SI Farid Ahmed of the police station said Mokarrom, 25, and Sakhawat Hossain, 30, were arrested while selling yaba tablets near ansar road in the upazila. A total of 100 yaba tablets were also recovered from their possession. l

Jubo League man killed

n Our Correspondent, Noakhali

56 arrested in special drives n Our Correspondent, Kushtia

unknown friends called him over phone when he was staying at brothel. Then he went out of the brothel around 3:30am and miscreants shot him.

Ripon died on the spot and his friend Farid received injury. Family members of Farid admitted him to Faridpur Medical College and Hospital.

Gualanda Police Station Officer-inCharge Abdul Khaleque said, police recovered the body and sent it to Rajbari Sadar Hospital for autopsy.

A case was filed with Goalanda police station in this connection. l

Rowing boats gather around the Shimrailkandi Ghat area near the Teesta river in Brahmanbaria to participate in a boat race yesterday.

Twenty boats participated in the race amid festive mood DHAKA TRIBUNE

A Jubo League leader was shot and beaten to death by a gang of assailants in Barul area under Sonaimuri upazila on Saturday night. Deceased Arif Hossain, 31, was the general secretary of Amishapara union unit Jubo League and son of Sirajul Islam. Locals said a gang of armed miscreants attacked Arif when he was on Barul bridge riding on a motorcycle around 11:30pm. They shot and beat up Arif, leaving him dead on the spot. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Monday, September 8, 2014

7

Is there any Islamic basis for blasphemy law?

A

n Zeeshan Hasan fairly common demand of conservative Muslim political parties is that the death penalty be implemented as punishment for blasphemy (by which is meant insulting Islam or its Prophet) in accordance with Shariah or Islamic law. It is therefore worth looking at the textual sources which are used to justify blasphemy law.

Interestingly, investigation reveals that there is no Qur’anic basis for any blasphemy law at all. Further investigation reveals that blasphemy law arises from the secondary legal source of Sunnah (or Prophetic practice).

However, the Prophetic practice as described in the Sirah (Prophetic biographies) does not establish any death penalty for blasphemy. The Sirah passages which might have provided a basis for blasphemy law actually seem to be dealing with secular nationalist issues, namely treason during wartime.

Finally, the relevant Hadith (Prophetic sayings) which advocate blasphemy law may be the product of political tampering by the early Caliphate during the post-Prophetic ‘wars of apostasy’ (ridda). Even if the relevant Hadith is reliable, justification of any blasphemy law in Shariah through these religious sources may still be questioned.

To begin with, we can look at the Qur’anic position on blasphemy in the following verses. Blasphemy is indeed

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

succour reached them. There is none to alter the decisions of God... And if their aversion is grievous unto thee, then, if thou canst, seek a way down into the earth or a ladder unto the sky that thou mayst bring unto them a portent... If God willed, He could have brought them all together to the guidance – so be thou not among the foolish ones. (Qur’an 6:31-35)

Interestingly, investigation reveals that there is no Qur’anic basis for any blasphemy law at all

a serious offense against God, but no earthly legal penalty is ever mentioned. Rather, the Qur’an emphasizes that God will ultimately punish blasphemers, not any human law: Those who disbelieve and turn from the way of God and oppose the messenger after the guidance hath been manifested unto them, they hurt God not a jot, and He will make their actions fruitless... Those who disbelieve and turn from the way of God and then die disbelievers, God surely will not pardon them. (Qur’an 47:32, 34) The above makes the point that God cannot be harmed even ‘a jot’: the logical implication of which is that blasphemy laws are not required for His protection. This is in keeping with the following verses, which explicitly identify punishment for blasphemy and disbelief as being in the afterlife, with no mention of any earthly punishment: God hath promised those who believe and do good works: theirs will be forgiveness and immense reward.

And they who disbelieve and deny Our revelation: such are the rightful owners of Hell. (Qur’an 5:9, 10) The Qur’an even tells the Prophet directly that it is foolish to expect everyone to follow him, as only God knows who will find guidance; and humans, including messengers of God, have no ability to control this: They indeed are losers who deny their meeting with God until, when the hour cometh on them suddenly, they cry: Alas for us, that we neglected it!... We know how well their talk grieveth thee, though in truth they deny not thee, but the evil-doers flout the revelations of Allah. Messengers indeed have been denied before thee, and they were patient under the denial and the persecution till Our

How can traditional Islamic law justify punishing blasphemy with death, given the lack of any mention of earthly punishment at all for this crime in the Qur’an?

The answer is that traditional Islamic law is not derived only from the Qur’an but also from the Prophetic practice or Sunnah, as is established by the Hadith (reports of Prophetic sayings). A narrative of Prophetic actions, and hence of Sunnah, can also be derived from the Sirah (biographies of the Prophet). So these additional sources have to be considered.

When we look at the Prophetic practice as recounted in the Sirah biographies, we do find a precedent which may initially seem to support the death penalty for blasphemy. This is the killing of Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf, a Medinan who composed poetry opposing the Muslims. After the battle of Badr, Ka’b recited verses praising the Meccan Quraysh whom the Muslims had slain, and mocking the Muslim victors. He was slain by Muslims acting according to the Prophet’s instructions: The apostle said … ‘Who will rid me of Ibn al-Ashraf?’ Muhammad ibn Maslama ... said, ‘I will deal with him for you, O apostle of God, I will kill him.’ He said, ‘Do so if you can.’ (The life of Muhammad: a translation of Ibn Ishaq’s Sirat Rasul Allah, page 367, by Alfred Guillaume, printed in 1955 by Oxford University Press).

On the face of it, this seemingly justifies death penalty for speaking against the Prophet. However, blasphemy implies a religious offence.

A significant fact about Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf is that his opposition to Muhammad was not religious in nature.

Rather he was a political opponent of the Muslim community of Medina.

In spite of being a Medinan, and nominally at peace with the Muslims living there, Ka’b publicly allied himself with the Quraysh, who had not only expelled the Muslims from Mecca but were still in a state of war with

them. So technically, this killing was not for blasphemy at all, but treason during war-time.

A second incident which throws light on the secular nature of the execution of Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf is the punishment of the Medinan tribe of Banu Qurayzah. The Banu Qurayzah were punished after the “battle of the ditch,” when the Muslims of Medina protected themselves from the attacking Meccans by digging a protective trench around the city.

During the battle, the Banu Qurayzah allied themselves with the Quraysh; as a result, after the Meccans had been repelled, the Muslims beseiged the Banu Qurayzah. The Banu Qurayzah surrendered on the condition that their fate be decided by a Muslim, Sa’d ibn Mu’adh, from whom they expected leniency.

However, Sa’d gave the decision that all the men of Banu Qurayzah should be killed, their property seized and their women and children enslaved.

The execution of the men of Banu Qurayzah was obviously for treason, not blasphemy, as unlike Ka’b they did not speak publicly against the Muslims.

The fact that the death penalty was used against both Banu Qurayzah and Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf in similar circumstances points to the fact that their crime was the same. It is a fair generalisation that most states, including modern nation-states, have maintained laws advocating the death penalty for treason, especially during war; the Medinan state of the Prophet was no exception. Thus, these two cases taken together do not provide any basis for establishing the death penalty as a punishment for blasphemy.

So far it seems that there is neither support for death penalty as punishment for blasphemy in the Qur’an, nor in the Sunnah as mentioned in the Prophetic biographies.

The only remaining possible source for blasphemy law is the Sunnah as established by the Prophetic sayings of the Hadith. In fact, there are Hadith reports supporting the death penalty for blasphemy, such as the following attributed to Ibn Abbas, one of the companions of the Prophet: ‘Whoever changes his Islamic religion, kill him.’ (Sahih al-Bukhari, volume 9, page 45, translated by Muhammad Muhsin Khan and printed in 1984 by Kitab Bhavan, New Delhi, India).

Here we see that the position of the Hadith is remarkably different from the Qur’an, in that this Hadith report does explicitly advocate the death penalty for apostasy (abandoning the religion of Islam). It should be noted that apostasy is not exactly the same as blasphemy, as blasphemy usually implies publicly insulting religion, while apostasy can take the form of a purely private renunciation of religion, in which case it would not be blasphemy.

However, a Muslim committing blasphemy in public may be legally judged to have become an apostate, and so the two offenses become relat-

ed. Thus, Hadith reports such as the above become the legal justification for death penalty for both apostasy and blasphemy in traditional Islamic law.

It should be further noted that even this Hadith does not provide support for the death penalty to be applied to a non-Muslim who is guilty of blasphemy, nor is what might constitute such blasphemy even defined.

One point about the historical sources of Hadith becomes critical now. The massive Hadith literature arose after the death of the Prophet.

How long after is a good question. The earliest existing Hadith collection is the Muwatta of Malik, founder of the Medinan Maliki school of Islamic law, which was compiled 150 years after the death of the Prophet. The widely read Hadith collections of Bukhari and Muslim were compiled several decades or even a century later.

Thus, none of the Hadith collections have anything like the historical reliability of the Qur’an; this is precisely why each Hadith saying has a chain of transmitters as evidence of authenticity, whereas no chain of transmitters is required for the Qur’an.

As important as the late date of Hadith collections is the possible political motive for incorporating post-Prophetic material in them; most likely the Hadith collections were undertaken under the authority of early Muslim caliphs who required justification of the laws which they were implementing to administer their newfound empire.

The latter gave his permission easily: ‘Who else could have told you the hadiths?’... The Ma’mar just mentioned preserved a characteristic saying by alZuhri: ‘These emirs forced people to write hadiths’... Thus the Umayyad was enabled to circulate the contents of his manuscript as texts taught him by alZuhri ... [who] could not forever resist the pressure of the governing circles. (Muslim Studies, pages 46-47, published by Ignaz Goldziher in 1890 and translated by SUNY Albany Press) In Goldziher’s analysis, any laws adopted by the early Islamic empires which could not be found in the Qur’an required establishment of a second religious source to justify them; this second source of the law came to be the Hadith collections.

In the case of blasphemy and apostasy law, this becomes especially relevant due to the wars of apostasy (ridda in Arabic), which were fought by the early caliphs. If we consider the political and historical situation of the early Caliphate in which the Hadith were recorded, we may be able to explain the difference between the Qur’anic leniency regarding blasphemy and the contrasting severity of death penalty advocated by the Hadith.

After the Prophet’s death, the newly established Muslim rule over Arabia was threatened by the ‘wars of apostasy’ or ridda. These wars had a number of different reasons, but a common feature of them was the rise of local religious and political leaders who challenged the authority of Muslim rule.

Even if the Hadith establishing the death penalty for apostasy is reliable, this need not be interpreted as support for a blasphemy law as envisioned by its proponents today

In Western Islamic scholarship, Ignaz Goldziher first argued that the Hadith generally reflected political and historical realities of the early Caliphate rather than the time of the Prophet.

He mentions specifically a report regarding political pressure on alZuhri, a respected legal scholar, during the Umayyad Caliphate.

How the Umayyads made it their business to put into circulation hadiths which seemed to them desirable, and how people of the types of the pious alZuhri acquiesced in being their tools ... is to be seen from evidence ... Here we find an account which is handed down ... from ‘Abd alRazzaq, a disciple of Ma’mar b. Rashid ... [of] the disciples of alZuhri. This account tells us that the Umayyad Ibrahim alWalid ... came to alZuhri with a notebook he had written, and asked his permission to spread the sayings contained in it as hadiths communicated by alZuhri.

It was the first caliphs who first implemented the death penalty as penalty for apostasy. But justification for such a harsh stance was distinctly lacking in the Qur’an, as we have seen. Thus it could be that the early caliphs encouraged Hadith be compiled establishing the death penalty for apostasy (and by extension blasphemy) in spite of the Qur’anic silence on punishment for apostasy.

Scholars following Goldziher have long suggested that doubtful Hadith reports may have been circulated by early caliphs in order to justify their legislation.

Joseph Schacht’s “Origins of Muhammedan Jurisprudence,” published in 1950, concluded that the isnad, or chain of transmission which had traditionally been used to judge reliability of legal Hadith, had been subject to widespread forgery and thus could not prove whether particular legal Hadith

actually traced back to the Prophet.

Unfortunately, the work of Goldziher and Schacht is rarely read in the Muslim world. The view of the late Pakistani scholar Fazlur Rahman of the University of Chicago, certainly the most influential 20th century Muslim professor of Islamic studies in the West, on Schacht’s criticism of legal Hadith is worth reading: [T]o my knowledge, Professor Schacht is the first scholar to have undertaken an extensive and systematic comparison of legal traditions in their historical sequence, [this part of Schacht’s study] is unassailably scientific and sound in method and one only wishes that it were practised thoroughly in all fields of Hadith.

(Islam, page 49, by Fazlur Rahman, printed 1979 by University of Chicago Press).

In short, there is ample scope to question the death penalty for blasphemy under Islamic law.

In the first place, even accepting that relevant Hadith, there appears to be no support for the imposition of the death penalty for blasphemy committed by a non-Muslim.

In the second place, even if the Hadith establishing the death penalty for apostasy is reliable, this need not be interpreted as support for a blasphemy law as envisioned by its proponents today.

As we have seen, the Sirah prophetic biographies do record that the death penalty was implemented by the Prophet as punishment for treason

by Ka’b ibn al-Ashraf and the Banu Qurayzah. It should be recognised, however, in the context of the war between the pagan Quraysh of Mecca and the Muslims of Medina, apostasy meant far more than a personal statement of faith. It was also a declaration of which side of the war one intended to fight.

As such, within the context of the Quraysh/Muslim struggle, it is not unreasonable that apostasy could be taken as evidence of treason against the Muslim state of Medina, and be punished by death.

However, once the Muslims triumphed over Mecca, the association of apostasy and treason ends.

In peacetime, apostasy should once again be considered only a personal matter of faith, and the death penalty based on treason during wartime is not applicable.

Rather, the position of the Qur’an, which never advocates any earthly punishment for blasphemy or apostasy, makes more sense as the default position of any Islamic law outside the context of the Quraysh/Muslim war.

And where there is clear difference between the precepts laid down by the Qur’an and the apparent legal stricture suggested by the Hadith, surely Islamic laws should follow the reasoning of the Qur’an. l Zeeshan Hasan holds a Master of Theological Studies degree from Harvard Divinity School.

His other writings on religion can be read at his web site, www.liberalislam.net.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Monday, September 8, 2014

UK offers Scots new powers if they vote ‘No’ The govt’s offer comes after a poll gave the ‘Yes’ camp 51% support; Scotland represents one-third of Britain’s landmass they can stay at home, that they don’t to Scotland. More tax powers, more n AFP, London need to go out to the polls and vote ‘No’ spending powers, more plans for powThe British government scrambled yesterday to pledge greater autonomy for Scotland, after a poll put the pro-independence camp ahead just 11 days before the referendum on separation.

Finance Minister George Osborne said greater tax and spending powers would be announced in the coming days and would be implemented if Scotland votes on September 18 to remain in the 300-year-old union with England.

The government’s offer came after a YouGov poll published in The Sunday Times newspaper gave the “Yes” camp 51% support compared to the “No” camp’s 49%, excluding undecided voters. 6% said they had not made up their minds.

Although the two-point lead is within the margin of error, the findings dramatically up the stakes ahead of the vote, giving momentum to Scottish First Minister Alex Salmond and his separatist Scottish National Party (SNP).

“Scotland faces a very big choice,” Osborne told BBC television.

“If people were in any doubt that

to avoid separation, they won’t be in that doubt today.

“They should also be in no doubt about the consequences of this decision,” the chancellor of the exchequer added.

“No ifs, no buts: we will not share the pound if Scotland separates from the rest of the UK.” He said sharing the currency after independence would be equivalent to a couple divorcing but keeping a joint bank account.

Salmond says he would refuse to take on Scotland’s share of the United Kingdom’s debt post-independence if he does not get his way on a euro-style cross-border currency union.

‘Best of both worlds’

Osborne said it was “clear” that Scots wanted greater autonomy and the three main United Kingdom-wide parties – the Conservatives, their Liberal Democrat junior partners in government and the Labour opposition – had agreed to “deliver” on that.

“You will see in the next few days a plan of action to give more powers

ers over the welfare state,” he said.

“Then Scotland will have the best of both worlds.

“They will both avoid the risks of separation but have more control over their own destiny, which is where I think many Scots want to be.”

Any vote for Scotland to leave the UK would raise questions about Britain’s standing in the international community and could put pressure on British Prime Minister David Cameron to stand down.

Scotland represents one-third of Britain’s landmass and is home to Britain’s submarine-based Trident nuclear deterrent, which the SNP says must be out of an independent Scotland by 2020.

The Better Together campaign, which backs Scotland staying in Britain, has been ahead in opinion polls for months but its lead has narrowed in recent days.

The “No” camp had a 22-point lead in YouGov polling just one month ago. Another YouGov survey for The Times newspaper on Tuesday showed a marked narrowing of the gap to six points. l

A Scottish flag and a Union flag fly outside a Scottish memorabilia shop in Edinburgh, Scotland. The British govt plans to offer Scotland more financial autonomy in the coming days as polls predict a very close vote in the upcoming referendum on Scottish independence AP

Abbas may end unity with Hamas Orthodox Jews seek new home in Guatemala over Gaza governance

Uriel Goldman, member of an ultraOrthodox Jewish group speaks with AFP in Guatemala City

n AFP, Guatemala City They stick out like a sore thumb in the steamy bustle of Guatemala’s capital: 230 ultra-Orthodox Jews, some speaking broken Spanish and eking out a makeshift living in a decrepit office building.

They had been residing in a Mayan Indian village until Thursday, when they were abruptly forced out in a culture and religious clash.

Now these people from a variety of countries such as the United States, Israel, Britain and Russia are looking for a place to settle anew. But they want to stay in this Central American nation.

“We will remain in Guatemala because the seed is fertile and it has to germinate,” Rabbi Uriel Goldman said in the lobby of the building he now calls home.

Around him were two beds, a bag of dirty laundry and an old washing machine.

The 30-odd families’ departure from the Indian village of San Juan La Laguna, 200 kilometers (120 miles) west of the capital, where they had been living for six years, has forced them to take up in a dilapidated six-story building that is not apt for residential life.

“It is an uncomfortable building, especially for children and women, because it was designed for offices, not for living,” said Goldman, a tall, robust man dressed in a black suit and white shirt and sporting a long, thick beard.

To spare his people from having to go out to buy food – some do not speak Spanish well – the community has set up a makeshift mini-mart on the first floor of the building.

Seated on an old wooden bench, the rabbi said the group will spend about six months in Guatemala City, where rampant crime and violence stands in stark contrast to the quiet and peaceful life they enjoyed in the lakeside village.

“We are going to look for a place where we can build the community’s homes,” Goldman said in fluent Spanish. He was born in Israel but holds US nationality and speaks four languages.

He said his people are receiving economic aid from Jewish communities in other countries, but would not say which ones.

“Here, no one has more than anyone else. We all have the same, and on rest days, we all eat the same thing,” said Israel Abraham, a Guatemalan who converted to Judaism 12 years ago.

n

AFP, Ramallah

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas has threatened to break off a unity agreement with Hamas if the Islamist movement does not allow the government to operate properly in the Gaza Strip.

The threat drew an angry reaction from Hamas, which denounced the president’s allegations as “baseless” and raised fresh questions over the future of a fragile intra-Palestinian unity deal aimed at ending years of bitter rivalry.

“We will not accept the situation with Hamas continuing as it is at the moment,” Abbas said on arrival in the Egyptian capital late Saturday, in remarks published by official Palestinian news agency WAFA. “We won’t accept a partnership with them if the situation continues like this in Gaza, where there is a shadow government... running the territory,” he said.

“The national consensus government cannot do anything on the ground,” he charged.

Abbas’s remarks came on the eve of talks in Cairo with Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi and a key address to the Arab League nearly two weeks after a ceasefire ended a major 50-day confrontation with Israel in Gaza.

In Gaza, spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri denied charges Hamas was hampering the operations of the national consensus government, the composition of which was jointly agreed on by the former rivals.

“Abbas’s statements against Hamas and the resistance are unjustified,” Abu Zuhri said in a statement, indicating that Hamas representatives would meet “soon” with their counterparts in the rival Fatah movement to discuss fleshing out the reconciliation deal that was inked in April.

Divisions back after ceasefire

Under the terms of the agreement, the Palestinians agreed to form an interim consensus government of technocrats, ending seven years of rival administrations in the West Bank and Gaza.

The unity deal sought to end years of bitter and sometimes bloody rivalry between the Islamist Hamas movement and its Fatah rivals who dominate the West Bank-based Palestinian Authority.

The new cabinet, aimed at preparing for long-delayed national elections, took office on June 2, with Gaza’s Hamas government officially stepping down the same day.

Despite the handover, Hamas has remained the de facto power in Gaza, with moves to implement the provisions of the unity agreement put on hold in the face of the deadly offensive that Israel launched on July 8. l

A novelty for Guatemalans For locals, these Jewish people are something of an oddity. Some passersby stop and gawk, while others say hello.

Dressed in black, the women wear veils and the men have beards and the ringlets of hair that are traditional for ultra-Orthodox Jews. The families have large numbers of children and homeschool them with teachers of their own.

One criticism the group receives is the way they educate their kids. To show it works, Abraham calls out to his six-yearold son Akiva and has him read – first in Hebrew and then in Spanish.

“Education is vital for the soul,” said another member of the community, Misael Santos, as his cell phone rang. It is one of few gadgets the community allows. They do not watch TV. Goldman has 10 children and three grandchildren. Santos has four, while Abraham has three and one on the way. l

A Palestinian supporter of the Islamist movement Hamas gestures during a rally in the West Bank city of Ramallah on August 30.

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas yesterday threatened to break off a unity agreement with Hamas if the Islamist movement does not allow the government to operate properly in the Gaza Strip AFP

Ceasefire in east Ukraine frays n Reuters, Donetsk/Mariupol A woman died and at least four people were wounded when fighting flared again in eastern Ukraine overnight into Sunday, jeopardising a ceasefire struck less than two days earlier between Ukrainian government forces and pro-Russian separatists.

The accord, brokered by envoys from Ukraine, the separatist leadership, Russia and Europe’s OSCE security watchdog, is part of a peace plan intended to end a five-month conflict that has killed nearly 3,000 people and caused the sharpest confrontation between Russia and the West since the Cold War. Shelling resumed near the port of Mariupol on the Sea of Azov late on Saturday night, just hours after Russian President Vladimir Putin and Ukrainian counterpart Petro Poroshenko had agreed in a phone call that the truce was holding.

Fighting also broke out early on Sunday on the northern outskirts of rebel-held Donetsk, the region’s industrial hub. A Reuters reporter saw plumes of black smoke filling the sky near the airport, which has been in the hands of government forces.

“Listen to the sound of the ceasefire,” joked one armed rebel. “There’s a proper battle going on there.”

The two cities turned quiet again on Sunday afternoon.

Both sides insisted they were strictly observing the ceasefire and blamed their opponents for any violations.

“As far as I know, the Ukrainian side is not observing the ceasefire. We have wounded on our side at various points.

We are observing the ceasefire,” Vladimir Antyufeyev, deputy premier of the self-proclaimed “Donetsk People’s Republic,” told Reuters.

Earlier, government forces said they had come under artillery fire east of Mariupol, a crucial port for Ukrainian steel exports. In the days before the ceasefire they had been trying to repel a big rebel offensive against the city.

The shelling in Mariupol claimed the first civilian casualty since the ceasefire began. Local officials confirmed the death of a 33-year-old woman early on Sunday and said at least four other people had been wounded. l

IS militants now want to fight Putin! US air strikes target militants near n Iraq’s Haditha Dam Agencies

The Islamic State (IS) has reportedly issued a video challenging a powerful global leader, but it was not President Obama or one of his counterparts in Europe. It was Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In the video, fighters pose atop Russian military equipment, including a fighter jet, captured from the forces of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad. This is Agence France-Presse’s transcription of what follows: “This is a message to you, oh Vladimir Putin, these are the jets that you have sent to Bashar, we will send them to you, God willing, remember that,” said one fighter in Arabic, according to Russian-language captions provided in the video.

“And we will liberate Chechnya and the entire Caucasus, God willing,” said the militant. “The Islamic State is and

will be and it is expanding God willing.”

“Your throne has already teetered, it is under threat and will fall when we come to you because Allah is truly on our side.”

Russia is an old ally of the Assad regime and maintains its only remaining naval facility on the Mediterranean in the Syrian port of Tartus. In the initial stages of the Syrian conflict, Putin’s government urged reconciliation and dialogue with the Assad regime, but rapprochement with the opposition never came to pass. Russia is Assad’s primary source for military hardware.

The jihadists’ reference to Chechnya and the Caucasus should not be a surprise. The Chechen insurgency has gone deep underground – the worst of the open violence was more than a decade ago – but Russia’s heavy-handed rule over the North Caucasus has radicalized some in this Muslim-majority

borderland. Fears of Caucasus-related terrorism haunted the buildup to this year’s Winter Olympics in the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi.

According to AFP, a second voice heard in the video, jeering over the stolen jet, speaks in “accented” Russian.

There are an estimated 200 Chechen fighters within the Islamic State ranks.

The most prominent, a red-bearded 28-year-old who goes by the name Omar al-Shishani (Omar the Chechen), is thought to be one of the senior-most commanders in the whole terrorist organization.

The video directed at Putin may just be a hollow boast, but it shows the many international dimensions to the Islamic State’s jihad.

Fighters who may have initially been attracted to a separatist cause in one region have surfaced somewhere else all together, inflamed with a zeal not shared by many locals. l

n Reuters, Baghdad US warplanes launched four air strikes against Islamic State militants threatening western Iraq’s Haditha Dam early yesterday, witnesses and senior officials said, broadening Washington’s campaign against the fighters.

The leader of a pro-Iraqi government paramilitary force in the west said the strikes wiped out an Islamic State patrol trying to attack the dam - the country’s second biggest hydroelectric facility which also provides millions with water.

“They (the air strikes) were very accurate. There was no collateral damage ... If Islamic State had gained control of the dam, many areas of Iraq would have been seriously threatened, even Bagh-

dad,” Sheik Ahmed Abu Risha said.

The strikes were Washington’s first reported offensive into Iraq’s western Anbar province since it started attacks on Islamic State forces in the north of the country in August. The move brought its planes closer to the border with Syria.

US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel said they had been carried out at the request of the Iraqi government.

“If that dam would fall into ISIL’s (Islamic State’s) hands or if that dam would be destroyed, the damage that that would cause would be very significant and it would put a significant, additional and big risk into the mix in Iraq,” he told reporters during a trip to Georgia’s capital Tbilisi.

Islamic State has overrun large ar-

eas of Iraq and Syria and declared a cross-border Islamic caliphate.

Iraqi government forces and a small number of Sunni militias have been confronting Islamic State and other fighters in Anbar since January.

Iraq’s outgoing Foreign Minister Hoshiyar Zebari welcomed the growing US air campaign and said Islamic State was trying to control strategic assets, including dams across Iraq.

The militants seized control of a dam outside Falluja in April and flooded areas on the rural outskirts of western Baghdad, displacing thousands of people.

It abandoned that dam, but went on to take control of Mosul dam, Iraq’s biggest, last month, before being forced out

by US air strikes and Kurdish fighters. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Monsoon floods kill nearly 300 in India, Pakistan n AP, Srinagar Landslides and flash floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains have killed nearly 300 people in large swaths of northern India and Pakistan, officials said yesterday. Five days of incessant rain in Indian-controlled Kashmir has killed at least 120 people in the region’s worst flooding in more than five decades, submerging hundreds of villages and triggering landslides, officials said. In neighboring Pakistan, more than 160 people have died and thousands of homes have collapsed, with an official saying the situation was becoming a “national emergency.”

Rescuers in both countries were using helicopters and boats to try to reach tens of thousands of people stranded in their homes as floodwaters rose and submerged many villages.

Rescue efforts in Srinagar, the main city in Indian Kashmir, were hampered by fast-moving floodwaters that submerged large parts of the city.

The rains had stopped yesterday, but officials said the spreading water that had overflowed from the Jhelum River was moving too fast to allow boats to reach many people stranded in Srinagar.

In many neighborhoods in the city, the

water was about 4 meters (12 feet) deep, submerging entire houses. Stranded residents left their homes to move in with friends or relatives in safer areas.

“I’m in my 80s and I’ve never seen floods like this,” said Ghulam Nabi, speaking through a window from the third story of his house in Srinagar’s upscale Rajbagh section. “If this is how it is in my neighborhood, I cannot imagine the devastation in other areas.”

Thousands of police officers and army rescue workers were fanned out across Jammu and Kashmir state to help with relief and rescue efforts.

At windows and balconies, worried residents looked at the swirling waters and waited for help. “The situation is extremely grim,” top civilian official Rohit Kansal said. “We are not able to reach many people because the water is moving so fast.”

Across Indian Kashmir, at least 450 villages have been submerged and 2,000 others have been affected by the floodwaters, officials said. All schools, colleges and offices have been shut, and electricity and drinking water supplies have been limited across the state.

In Pakistan, 103 people have died in Punjab from the collapse of houses, flooding and electrocution. l

World

W H AT T O D O W H E N YO U ’ R E S P R AY E D W I T H A WAT E R C A N N O N

Pro-democracy activists brace themselves during a drill to simulate the scenario of being sprayed with a water cannon at the upcoming ‘Occupy Central’ movement rally in Hong Kong.

According to the drill organizer, yesterday’s activity was conducted in preparation ahead of the Occupy Central civil disobedience event, which will block Hong Kong’s central business district if Beijing does not allow the city to conduct a genuinely democratic election in 2017 REUTERS

North Korea sets trial date for US man Matthew Miller

Imran Khan threatens to drag Pak PM to court

n Agencies

n Agencies

A US citizen detained in North Korea after allegedly tearing up his visa will be put on trial on 14 September, North Korean state media report.

Matthew Miller, 24, was arrested in April at North Korea’s immigration.

He is one of three Americans currently held in North Korea. Last Monday, Miller and the two other men made a televised appeal for help from the US government.

Miller allegedly tore up his tourist visa on arrival in North Korea and tried to seek asylum, North Korean state media reported at the time.

KCNA news agency described the act as a “gross violation” of North Korean law. The country has a history of using detainees as bargaining chips.

On Sunday, KCNA released a statement saying the government had “decided to hold on September 14 a court trial on American Matthew Todd Miller, now in custody according to the indictment of a relevant institution.”

Miller is one of three Americans currently held in N Korea It gave no further details, and did not specify the charges against him. US citizens Kenneth Bae, 46, and Jeffrey Fowle, 56, are also held in North Korea.

Bae, a Korean American missionary and tour operator, is serving a sentence of 15 years hard labour in a camp out-

side Pyongyang after being convicted of trying to overthrow the government.

Fowle entered North Korea as a tourist, but, according to reports, was accused of distributing Christian information - something the North considers incendiary.

During his interview with reporters on Monday, made in the presence of North Korean officials, he said he expected to be put trial within a month, but did not know what specific charges he faced.

The White House has described securing the release of three American citizens as a “top priority.”

In the past, Americans held by Pyongyang have been freed after senior US figures, including former President Bill Clinton, travelled to the country to negotiate. l

Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf leader Imran Khan has said he would approach the Supreme Court to get Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif disqualified because he had allegedly lied in parliament, media reported yesterday.

Addressing protestors at Islamabad’s D-Chowk, Imran Khan said the government’s dialogue committee announced that five demands of the PTI have been accepted, Dawn online reported.

However, Khan said the government’s dialogue committee was not giving in writing what it has accepted.

“The PTI leadership will approach the Supreme Court to get Sharif disqualified as he was telling lies on the floor of the National Assembly regard-

ing the leadership of the PTI, Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) and the army,” Imran Khan said.

Imran Khan alleged that the government was also lying to the people of Pakistan about Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit because the latter, in fact, had no plan to visit Pakistan.

The Chinese leader was only considering a visit to Pakistan, Imran Khan added.

Imran Khan reiterated his stance that he would not leave the D-Chowk until Sharif resigned.

PAT and PTI members began their protests Aug 15 in an attempt to topple Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif whom they have been accused of rigging the 2013 general elections.

Since then, the protestors have continued with their sit-ins in Islamabad. l

Police violence, abiding grief for China Myanmar cancels parliamentary by-polls families of missing on MH370 n Reuters, Beijing

n AP, Yangon

Six months after Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 went missing, relatives of those lost, desperate for any hint of what happened, say Chinese authorities have become openly hostile towards them.

In interviews, several relatives described how they had been detained and physically abused by police - seemingly in retaliation for publicly pressing Chinese and Malaysia Airlines authorities for information about the hunt for the plane.

“In the beginning, Beijing police were protecting us, but their attitude has completely changed,” said 38-year-old Cheng Liping, whose husband was on the flight.

“I can’t fathom why they’re doing this. I feel so incredibly disappointed.”

The Boeing 777 aircraft carrying 239 passengers and crew, disappeared on March 8 after taking off from Malaysia’s capital, Kuala Lumpur, bound for Beijing. About two thirds of those on board were from China. Investigators say what little evidence they have to work with suggests the plane was deliberately diverted thousands of kilometres from its scheduled route before eventually plunging into the Indian Ocean.

But no one knows for sure, or why. A painstaking international search has failed to find any trace. For the relatives, neither their pain nor their single-minded quest for answers has eased, and that seems to have become an annoyance for China’s authorities.

Police have beaten at least two people whose children were on the flight, several family members said. In one case, a woman in her fifties was hospitalised for three days.

“I went to see her in hospital, I could see the injuries on her head and body,” said Zhang Yongli, 64, whose daughter was on the flight. “The way the police acted was very extreme, it’s wrong to treat us this way.”

China’s government has repeatedly said it would spare no effort in the search

Myanmar’s Union Election Commission said yesterday that it was canceling by-elections planned for later this year to fill 35 empty parliamentary seats. Commission chairman Tin Aye made the surprise announcement at a media briefing in Yangon.

Reasons he gave included preparations for the 2015 general election, Myanmar’s duties hosting the summit of Association of Southeast Asian Nations in November, and an election law that says political parties must field at least

Zhang, whose husband Wang Houbin was onboard Malaysia Airlines Flight MH370 which disappeared on March 8, 2014 shows her husband’s car key and key holder during an interview with Reuters in Beijing REUTERS for the plane and leaders have expressed sympathy for the families.

Public security authorities have not commented on the families but Malaysia Airlines representatives said distraught relatives have sometimes been aggressive.

Some relatives said they believed their homes were being watched. Police have detained people several times at an office the government has set up in a nondescript Beijing suburb where families can go to seek information about the search from Malaysia Airlines and government representatives.

Detentions usually last for about 24 hours, said the families and their lawyer.

Police have cited various reasons for the detentions, family members said, including a rule against large gatherings. In a couple of cases, children were taken into custody with adult relatives.

In at least two other cases, recounted to Reuters by relatives, Beijing police went to family members’ homes before dawn to

9

Monday, September 8, 2014

Nearly 20,000 couples have been allowed to have a second child in Beijing under China’s controversial One Child Policy, which was recently modified to meet demographic challenges.

So far 21,249 couples have filed birth applications of which 19,363 were granted permission for the second child in the Chinese capital, Beijing Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning said.

Around 56% of those permitted are women aged between 31 to 35 while another 537 aged above 40, state-run Xinhua news agency reported.

China last year relaxed its decades-old one-child policy which was designed to curb population growth as the country grappled with looming demographic crisis with the increase in the numbers of old aged people.

A majority of the Chinese provinces, including the most populated, Henan, have allowed couples to have a second child if either parent is an only child.

Beijing followed suit on February 21.

Before the policy was adopted, both parents must be sole children to be eligible for a second child.

The relaxation came as the world’s second largest economy is coping with a declining labour force and an aging population.

Demographic experts have said the easing will help promote balanced population growth in the country.

Under the one-child policy, many couples, particularly in China’s countryside, had abortions as they prefer boys to girls. This led to a wide gender gap of 118 male births versus 100 female births in 2010. l

7 Afghan men sentenced to death in rare gang rape case in capital

detain them without a reason.

n Reuters, Kabul

Indifferent to requests

Afghanistan handed the death penalty to seven men yesterday for raping and robbing a group of women returning from a wedding, in a rare case of sexual assault that has shaken the capital and raised concerns over public security at a time of transition.

Police said a large group of men, some dressed in police uniforms, and with assault rifles, stopped a convoy of cars in which the women were travelling along with their families in the district of Paghman, just outside Kabul, last month.

They dragged four women out of the cars in the middle of the night and raped them in the field near the main road. One of them was pregnant. The victims were also beaten and their jewellery and mobile phones stolen.

Crimes against women are common but mostly take place inside

In the weeks after the flight disappeared, when media attention was intense, police were a constant presence at the Lido Hotel in Beijing, where Malaysia Airlines put up the families and held daily meetings.

At one demonstration in those early weeks, dozens of police escorted family members, many weeping and holding up signs, on a march to the Malaysian Embassy - an unusual show of support for a protest in China. But as the story faded from the news and the search dragged on, authorities became less supportive, the families say.

Cheng, who has two young sons and who herself has been detained at the representative office, said she had no way to access her husband’s Malaysian bank account, and authorities in both countries had been indifferent to her requests for help. l

three candidates or cease to exist, a requirement he described as burdensome for the country’s 67 political parties.

Tin Aye also said that next year’s elections would most likely take place in November, the most specific time mentioned so far. The commission had announced in March that by-elections would be held later this year to fill more than 30 seats vacated for various reasons.

Myanmar’s legislature has 224 members in the upper house and 440 in the lower house. Twenty-five percent of each house is occupied by military appointees. l

China: 19,000 couples given second child permit n Agencies

homes in Afghanistan’s conservative society. But a gang rape by armed men is rare in Kabul and has tapped into a vein of anxiety as foreign troops leave the country and a badly stretched Afghan army and police

Crimes against women are common but mostly take place inside homes in Afghanistan’s conservative society.

But a gang rape by armed men is rare in Kabul and has tapped into a vein of anxiety as foreign troops leave the country

fight a deadly Taliban insurgency.

Judge Safihullah Mujadidi in a summary trial, televised nationwide, convicted the men of armed robbery and sexual assault.

“Based on criminal law these individuals are sentenced to the severest punishment which is death sentence,” he said.

The men stood before him in a heavily guarded courtroom. Outside dozens of activists gathered demanding speedy justice to instil public confidence in law and order.

“This kind of gang rape is unprecedented in Kabul,” Kabul police chief General Zahir earlier said in his testimony seeking summary punishment for the men.

The assault has led to such outpouring of rage that President Hamid Karzai told a delegation of women last week that the perpetrators would face the death penalty. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Monday, September 8, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

RMG must keep eyes on the future

T

he Accord on Fire and Building Safety has announced that it has made “good and real progress” towards the goal of turning Bangladesh’s garment manufacturing into a safe and sustainable industry.

Its statement, that just 2% of the 1,000 units it has inspected for fire, electrical, and structural safety have been deemed unsafe for production in their current state, is certainly encouraging .

However, it is of utmost importance, to view inspections as only part of the process, and not as the goal in themselves.

Finding flaws in safety and compliance reveals nothing that is not already known or suspected.

The more important task in hand is ensuring ways are found to improve standards for the future.

Brands should work more closely with the BGMEA and BKMEA, to help factory owners implement improvements and minimise hardship for workers in factories affected by safety closures.

The Accord’s announcement that 250 corrective action plans have been agreed for factories inspected by its engineers is of practical significance in this regard.

For the industry as a whole, however, it is important to go beyond the mainly first-tier sites being inspected by the brand-led initiatives and to ensure standards are improved all along the supply chain.

The industry has many customers and investors potentially available. What it needs most to ensure safety and improve productivity is land on which new modern, compliant buildings can be built.

The government must help by allocating under-utilised khas and other state-controlled lands, for RMG investors, in order to secure the industry’s future.

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

Inspections are only part of the process, not an end in themselves

Outlaw marital rape

W

e call on the government to make marital rape an offence under the law.

Married people who are raped by their spouses suffer severe physical and psychological trauma, but the law fails to acknowledge their suffering. It is shameful that we still leave the Victorian Penal Code un-amended to provide a loophole for marital rape.

Efforts to curb sexual abuse in the country, such as the Women and Children Repression act in 2010, are badly undermined by loopholes and misogynist attitudes embedded in old laws.

Marital rape is a case in point. It is outrageous that women who are raped by their husbands are not allowed to label their sufferings as rape, and are prevented from seeking redress.

Over the past two decades, many countries around the world have moved to expressly outlaw marital rape. This has not only directly helped victims, but by raising awareness of the problem, it has acted as a deterrent and improved the availability of assistance available to vulnerable people.

It is a harmful oversight that legal reforms have failed to address this issue and have left untouched similar discriminatory and offensive rules which brings a victim’s character into question.

The persistence of such rules is contrary to the High Court’s directive to the government last year to create a civilised and sensitive environment for victims of rape.

We must reform such rules. For efforts to curb sexual violence to have more impact, the law needs to be clearly on the side of victims, not to provide loopholes.

The law needs to be clearly on the side of victims, not provide loopholes

Kill first

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 13 represents H so fill H every time the figure 13 appears.

You have one letter in the control grid to start you off. Enter it 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

September 2

SUDOKU Madiha Good piece on an issue that is not getting a lot of attention in Bangladeshi print. I appreciate that the writer – who I think lives abroad? – is examining pieces that are clearly important and taking advantage of his location in doing so. At the same time, it is important to remember that institutional racism exists in Bangladesh too. We might no longer be part of the defunct British Empire, but there is no denying that Caucasian foreigners have a high standing in society while anyone with dark skin (local or foreign) is, at least, subconsciously derided. Important piece.

Fahad What is particularly striking, as the writer points out, is how certain parts of society (in this instance, those with a more “desirable” race) are provided ready-made excuses to go and commit crimes. Which is not to say mental health issues are irrelevant, but it is surprising how often white shooters are painted as tragic souls while alleged black assailants are painted as drug dealers or criminals.

The saddest thing is that we often buy into these stereotypes and the best thing to do is to acknowledge the reality – that ethnic minorities do face specific societal challenges – without falling into racist caricatures.

Many benefits of ginger August 30

Zero-Agenda “Positive or affirmative action is a plaster applied to a gangrenous wound, prettied by being painted over in white.”

What is “affirmative action” if not a very condescending form of racism?

Breadbitten Zero-Agenda: Didn’t take you long to get back on the horse, did it?

Waqar Once again, we can see how a Western creation – the very idea of white-supremacist racism – has permeated and ingrained itself in the worst possible ways around the world.

As for comments on the writer needing to be more specific about problems and solutions, I can understand why he did not want to make this a totally prescriptive piece. It would have missed out on making an impact with an eloquent description of the problem within a limited word count. (Not to mention, this is an op-ed, not a policy paper).

Osmania Which principles of human rights does the writer regard as only Western? I think we should be told so that we can help him fight the power.

Who’s that knocking at my window?

August 30

Mansur Reza “Ginger is believed to increase saliva and other digestive fluids.”

Yes I know that ginger has many benefits, but from where would I get fresh ginger? Because they have also been injected with formalin. :-/

CALVIN AND HOBBES

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

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Black deposit (4) 4 Roman garment (4) 8 By way of (3) 9 Above (4) 10 Scheme (4) 11 Venomous ill-will (5) 12 Easter preparation period (4) 14 Ventilate (3) 15 Facial feature (3) 17 Insect (3) 19 Fuel (3) 21 Water pitcher (4) 23 Thespian (5) 26 Very extensive (4) 27 Anon (4) 28 Barrel (3) 29 Part of a shoe (4) 30 Tear (4)

DOWN 1 Admirably fine (6) 2 Egg-shaped (4) 3 Skin disease (5) 4 Summit (3) 5 Sheeplike (5) 6 Obtain (3) 7 Land measure (3) 11 Drinking tube (5) 13 African river (5) 16 Corroded (6) 18 Laud (5) 20 Cut off (5) 22 Storm (4) 23 Donkey (3) 24 Dove’s call (3) 25 United (3)

Nazmul Khair “The growing number of beggars might give us the impression that this is perhaps the easiest way for many to earn bread and butter in this city.”

Correct. Some people earn easily while for others it is very difficult. Nowadays, one can see young men and women in the begging business.

Hasina calls Khaleda a killer August 31

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER AB What a profound statement, lol!

Mirpur RMG factory catches fire August 31

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

Sheikh Jinat Mahmid “12 units of firefighters were trying to douse the flame.”

Seems like it was a huge fire if 12 unites were needed!

Loving Dhaka August 31

Arch Bishop It is a great city, but nothing will be done to fix it as long as our leaders are preoccupied with the past: The future is now, not 400 years ago, not in 1971, and not in 1981. The problem has 100% to do with the ruling regime in Dhaka at any given time and nothing to do with Pakistan, India, USA, UK, Mars, or Jupiter. Unfortunately, our leaders are far more concerned about the past than the future, and that is our number one problem.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Monday, September 8, 2014

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Radicals under the radar the man has a beard and is devout?

If I understand correctly, the word radical and militant have been used to describe those who do not conform to the established social and political ideology. In that definition, the ultra-leftist youth of the 70s who took up weapons against the state were also radicals.

The only difference is that they did not base their extreme beliefs on faith.

They based it on socialism. Therefore, it’s not incorrect to state that we always had extremists in some form or the other. In fact, every nation has sections that survive on the edge of society, adopting rather revolutionary and often fanatic notions.

Ku Klux Klan in the American South was and is rabidly militant. Some even say the recent shooting of a black teen, Michael Brown, in Missouri, USA, opens up a deep division in a Western society where entrenched prejudices have formed unbending stereotyped notions. I would call that a sort of extremism. Wouldn’t you?

failing to integrate, immigrant communities became alienated from the mainstream Western societies to be seduced by distorted interpretations of religion.

An expat said much of the fault rests on immigrants because they cannot and do not blend in with the society of an adopted country, deciding to live within a closed circle made of other immigrants, which only widens the gap.

While there is truth in this, no one can deny that a subtle distance maintained by Western society and enforced through the creation of a barrier in life and employment have always prevented a smooth mix. The blame can be given to both sides. Let’s not forget about the tumultuous economic periods when the immigrants were often regarded as “second class” in the priority list. This only exacerbated the problem.

I can’t say if there is an IS recruiter in Bangladesh or not, but even if such a person exists, then his/her work will

Every nation has sections that survive on the edge of society, adopting rather revolutionary and often fanatic notions

Is extremism exclusive to faith?

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n Towheed Feroze he news was a bit disconcerting – four Indian men were detained by the police while trying to enter Bangladesh, allegedly to join the ultra-radical outfit, Islamic State.

We later found out that after initial counseling, the young lads were sent back home to their families – an indication that these were possibly young men harbouring some romantic notion about being part of a religion-based war.

The threat level posed by them is obviously low, otherwise they would

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not have been permitted to go back home. It’s a bit like the delinquent but educated young renegade who, after discord with the parents, leaves the house to discover the world. In such cases, the law enforcers can only work as advisers and resort to words of sense rather than strict actions.

Forgive me if I appear to be trivialising the episode of the four young Indian men, but the fact that they were allowed to go free, states unequivocally that we have very little reason to worry.

May I also say, with the Islamic State propaganda spreading all over the world, it is only natural that some-

one somewhere will try to reap the current media craze and blow up some innocuous event to create momentary sensationalism.

In recent times, the talk around town is that IS recruiters are here in South Asia and they will be taking in eager young men and women willing to fight for their cause. The question is: What is the cause? If establishment of a Caliphate is the objective, then how can people from other countries help? The sensible guess is by forming outfits across the world aimed at building mass support.

But IS hasn’t gotten official recognition from any major nation – hence

even if it has small groups of supporters outside, they need to be clandestine. One cannot expect a newspaper ad: “We are the IS, drop all your fancy clothes, burn the Sheila ki jawani DVD, bury the Manchester United shirt, wear all black, and then come join us!

Expertise in using knife on others will be regarded an extra asset.”

The way I see it, there may be an attempt to create a false sense of panic using the IS recruiting declaration and use that to stamp out any remnants of hardliners in Bangladesh. But who is a radical? Would you call a person with a staunchly anti-Western stance an extremist or will that term be used only if

If denouncing many of the foreign policies of the Western nations is one of the criteria for being labelled a radical, then a whole lot of educated people need to be rounded-up and given proper counselling. If faithbased extremists are the targets, then the search should be in the West first because it has now been proved conclusively that the assailant of the US journalist is a British citizen with an East London accent.

While the focus needs to be on the diaspora communities, answers need to be found as to why multiculturalism failed in developed nations. It is a common understanding that by

certainly be difficult.

Since “East London” is under the spotlight, maybe the authority would want to keep a close eye on the faithbased schools in the country where many British-Bangladeshi families send their children.

No need to get tensed – just a regular surveillance would be deemed appropriate.

Meanwhile, on a lighter note, perhaps someone will take the idea of the IS operating in Bangladesh to make a film – Jongi: The Radical. l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

Commissioning corruption? The need to read I

t was not expected that the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) would act otherwise, especially when the case is as high-voltage as this. Thanks to its leadership, the ACC has affirmed the perception of it being subservient to the political masters.

The Padma Bridge corruption case has been disposed of, finally, never mind the discretionary judgment from a beheaded body.

The ACC can, at least, boast of its achievement in arguing it is contributing to brightening Bangladesh’s image. Since Syed Abul Hossain and collaborators were not found guilty of conspiracy of corruption, they have been granted absolution.

And please remember, the authority to define corruption and implicate people is vested in the ACC. It still can’t sacrifice national dignity to interference by outsiders and has accordingly assumed additional responsibility of protecting the prestige of the patriotic.

Therefore, who is the World Bank to put forward allegations of corruption, or what is the jurisdiction of the Canadian court to try the accused in a case in which the place of occurrence is said to be Dhaka? After all, the ACC as the authority proper has not found any merits in the allegations and thus had set aside the case, which cost us more than the billion-dollar concessional loan.

In a Bangla daily’s online opinion poll published on September 3, a significant portion of respondents – 39.15%, or 1,779 out of 4,544 – agreed with the ACC’s theory of no proof of corruption. However, a higher percentage (59.62%, or 2,709 participants) showed no confidence in the ACC’s verdict. Also, a report raised questions about the ACC’s hurried approach and the lack of cognisance to the trial process in Canada and the WB’s investigations and complicity of the politically important individual.

The critics have been so cruel to the “hapless” ACC men. The curent chairman, Mohammad Badiuzzaman, and his colleagues must serve those

they are supposed to, and they are not blessed with more than one life to do the right thing. They have deliberately maintained the legacy of the organisation’s functioning – trying only the weaker parties, and in compliance with the desires of the party in power.

Those who dream of seeing properly-functioning public institutions in a democratic setup perhaps do so too idealistically and somewhat naively, without critically reading the profiles of and the temptations in the individuals at the helm of most institutions.

Former ACC chairman, Ghulam Rahman, and current Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin earned their reputation of being the gentlemen in their civil service careers. But the former presided over the declining status of the ACC and the latter as the about-turn of the electoral process, despite historic opportunity for them to improve on earlier progress.

innocent Bangladeshis.

The ACC has missed a few points in its arguments while showing allegiance to the patron. It probably forgot the public statement by the WB on June 29, 2012, which said it had “credible evidence corroborated by a variety of sources which points to a high-level corruption conspiracy among Bangladeshi government officials, SNC Lavalin executives, and private individuals.”

When the ACC stated that it had received no evidence from the WB, which claimed the opposite to be true, it indicated that either of the two was lying. When you cannot even ascertain whether some people are guilty or not, what exactly is your job and capacity then? To save its own face, the ACC could have requested the prime minister’s office to disclose evidence of the WB investigations submitted to the government.

Those who dream of seeing properly-functioning public institutions in a democratic setup perhaps do so too idealistically

We may wonder why they were unable to reach the mental height of running the constitutional bodies independently without fear and favour. Just as pitiful, they didn’t possess enough love and respect for themselves after their backbones of basic human qualities such as courage and integrity had been removed through common political surgery.

Conspicuously, a gutless ACC has challenged global players, pretending to prove them wrong. It has done something which may cause laughter in the best-case scenario, and more likely embarrassment for the entire nation. The Hallmark scam has already drawn global attention, and we fear the Padma Bridge case may be referred to as another disgraceful example for

The prosecution in Canada, scheduled for next year, may undermine Dhaka’s position and bolster criticism that the government, which lacks popular legitimacy, is out to politicise public institutions.

The ACC’s status has been downgraded further with its latest performance, as if it’s there to offer immunity to the ruling party men. It continues to expose its original face through leaks in its mask, which just reads its terms of reference: Combating corruption.

Are there any credible institutions left in this country to prevent corrupt practices? l Khawaza Main Uddin is Executive Editor at ICE Business Times.

Ibrahim and n Muhammad Akku Chowdhury

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t is said literacy is a human right, a tool for self empowerment, and a means for social and human development. Moreover, further educational opportunities depend on literacy. Although the figures state that more than 71% of the population of the country aged above 15 are literate, the facts are somewhat different.

September 8 is the global day to celebrate the occasion and countries all over the world, as well as concerned organisations, have chalked out programs to observe the day. However, the major concern is: When will the entire population of our country be literate? Literacy is at times counted as the ability to read, and sometimes just being able to give a signature.

This year, the International Literacy Day comes with the theme “Literacy and Sustainable Development.” Kofi Annan, the former UN secretary-general said: “Literacy is a key lever of change and a practical tool for empowerment for each of the three main pillars of sustainable development – economic development, social development, and environmental protection.”

Now, coming to the situation here in Bangladesh, where the population is our power seeing how we have plenty of it. Our population is one of our resources, and it can be used productively by overcoming the illiteracy that plagues it. Steps ought to be taken in using this vast resource for fruitful purposes.

In the 21st century, a perfect literary rate is more important than having 100% of the population educated.

We, being a country among the Next Eleven, education and literacy should be prime tasks for us, to be completed in the shortest possible period. When we talk about developed countries, we expect their populations to be properly educated and aware of keeping sustainable development in progress.

It is a matter of great frustration that even in this era of fast technological advancements, the gap between urban and rural dwellers is huge. The

cities possess an environment for quality education for those who can afford it. However, the rural masses have very few opportunities.

Some NGOs and youth-led organisations have come forward in tackling this challenge, but there has been little progress compared to the large number of people in the country. The government has taken steps and made primary education compulsory and also free of cost, but again, quality is a major concern which is rarely maintained.

A disconcerting issue is the large number of dropouts in schools. As students get promoted to higher classes, research suggests that the number of dropouts increases at a rapid rate across the country. There is also the issue of the number of seats in higher education institutions compared to the number of students achieving their Higher Secondary Certificate (HSC).

A huge amount of revenue is earned from our migrant workers, but we have failed in developing a good vocational curriculum. Speaking of further development, our higher education syllabus needs to be better. Some universities offer exclusive programs and opportunities, but nationwide, the education system should be composed of a developed and advanced curriculum.

Whether we want to be a leading

developing country or one of the developed countries in time, everyone should be conscious about spreading education, and more institutions should come forward along with strong support from the government and international organisations.

Being a country among the Next Eleven, education and literacy should be prime tasks for us

Access to information for the entire population should be ensured in its true meaning, and more experts have to tackle the situation with the highest priority. Only by framing a practical and realistic plan for literacy and education can we make the markings of International Literacy Day worth the purpose. l Muhammad Ibrahim is a freelance contributor.

Akku Chowdhury is a freedom fighter.

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n Khawaza Main Uddin

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment NICOLE KIDMAN ‘very raw’ in Before I go to Sleep

TISHA as slum thug n Entertainment Desk

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usrat Imrose Tisha has been critically acclaimed several times for her noteworthy portrayal in out of the ordinary roles, and this time she portrayed the character of a slum thug in a new TV serial titled “Bijli.”

Directed by Sumon Anwar, the thriller series will air today on RTV at 8:20pm.

Tisha is a favourite among most directors and many of them create characters keeping the actress in mind. The same is true for this serial written by Sumon Anwar who casts Tisha as the lead role in most of his productions.

“Sumon bhai’s productions are always very well scripted and multidimensional. Bijli is an absolute tough girl. The audience will find me confronting people, bashing them, swearing at them, firing guns and so much more. All of this is very exciting for me,” said Tisha who played the protagonist of all three Eid projects by Sumon

Anwar - “Chhayabrikkher Rajkonya,” “Tar Mone Shongshoy” and “Tar Baba Godfather.”

The story of Bijli is about the daughter of a mafia boss, who creates terror in a slum adjacent to a railroad. She continues her reign of terror at the place for a long spell with her gang. Incidentally, Noinna, the leader of another gang, is her key rival. At one point, the tough Bijli falls in love with a very ordinary guy and a feud ensues with a gang member named Nantu concerning the affair. On the other hand, members from the Noinna gang kill one of their own in order to put the blame on Bijli. Consequently, Bijli, along with her gang, is compelled to leave the place. A long serial is made under this storyline.

The cast of the drama serial also includes Rawnak Hasan, Jyotika Jyoti, Arfan Nisho, Sabbir Ahmed, Sushoma Sarkar and many others. The serial airs every Monday to Wednesday on RTV at 8:20pm. l

n Entertainment Desk “I was drawn to play Christine in ‘Before I go to Sleep’ because I liked the idea that she could be just very raw,” said gorgeous Nicole Kidman. The British mystery thriller film, adapted and directed by Roland Joffe, is based on a 2011 novel by S J Watson and has been released in UK on September 5.

On her role, Kidman said: “I wear very little make-up and I’m really distressed for a lot of the film. I liked having to be very authentic and real and still trying to piece things together, navigating through to the end and keeping a semblance of not hysteria but distress.”

Nicole Kidman plays Christine, a woman who wakes up every day and can’t remember what happened the day before as the result of a previous head injury. What is painfully frustrating soon turns morbidly sinister as she desperately tries to discover what happened to her, resulting in an appearance that is the polar opposite of her previous glossy princess “Grace of Monaco” role.

“I like the idea of exposing myself for different characters—sometimes you have to look extraordinary, sometimes you have to look haggard,” said the actress. “And It’s a great thing when you go in and you’re only in the make-up chair for ten minutes—that’s really good because the call times are early on movies,” she added. l

Monday, September 8, 2014

Brave

Zee Studio, 9:30pm

Merida, a skilled archer and headstrong daughter of King Fergus and Queen Elinor lives in the Scottish kingdom of Dun Broch as a princess with her three brothers.

Hummingbird HBO, 7:30pm

A British thriller film about an ex-special forces soldier who is on a run from a military court martial.

Bad Boys

Star Movies, 11:59pm

Detectives Mike (Will Smith) and Marcus (Martin Lawrence) are partners working for the Miami Police Department. Mike is a happy bachelor while Marcus is married with three kids. 100 million dollars worth of heroin is stolen from the safety vault of the police headquarters and these two men are assigned the task of apprehending the criminal.

Jalaler Golpo goes to Busan

n Entertainment Desk Promising director Abu Shahed Emon’s film “Jalaler Golpo” will be showcased at the New Currents category of Busan International Film Festival in South Korea.

A total of 12 films from 10 countries will be featured in the segment of the festival which will take place from 2 to 11 October in Busan. Apart from Bangladesh, films of Philippine, South Korea, Lebanon, Japan, China, Iran, Taiwan, India and Iraq have also been nominated in the competition.

The film previously won the Asian Cinema Fund. Made under the banner of Boutique Cinema Project, an initiative of Impress Telefilm, the cast of the film includes Mosharraf Karim, Moushumi Hamid and Toukir Ahmed.

“Jalaler Golpo” portrays the story of a rootless child Jamal and his struggles throughout life to become a man with a standing in society. l

New drama series Family Pack to start airing tonight n Entertainment Desk A star-studded new drama series titled Family Pack will start airing tonight at 9:45pm on NTV. Dilara Zaman, Shahiduzzaman Selim, Urmila, Agnila, Sporshia, Shahed Ali, Mishu Sabbir and others form the cast of the comedy.

The story revolves around seven siblings with a nosy father playing the villain in their lives. From ac-

counting their pocket money to investigating their love lives, he wants to control every aspects of his sons and daughters, all adult but unmarried.

The siblings are always queasy about their father’s activity, while their mother is disturbed by the twists and turns of their shared life.

Suddenly, the father declares that he will marry them all off within three moths. l

GEORGE CLOONEY to explore the dark side of the media George Clooney is set to direct an adaptation of the book “Hack Attack” by Guardian journalist Nick Davies, an account of Davies’ investigation into Rupert Murdoch’s media empire which uncovered the phone-hacking scandal that rocked the British establishment and resulted in the closure of the News of the World.

“This has all the elements – lying, corruption, blackmail – at the highest levels of government by the biggest newspaper in London,” Clooney said in a statement. “And the fact that it’s true is the best part. Nick is a brave and stubborn reporter and we consider it an honour to put his book to film.”

Michael De Luca, who will oversee the project in his role as president of production for Columbia pictures, said in a statement, “As the son of a journalist, George has a sharp interest in the role journalism plays in all of our lives – whether that’s for good, as in “Good Night, and Good Luck,” or for bad.

“With Hack Attack, George will explore the dark side of that world, a business where all of the rules of journalism are broken in the race for an easy and ever-larger pay-day.”

Clooney will, with partner Grant Heslov, also produce the film through their company Smokehouse Pictures, which has produced several other Clooney movies as well as Ben Affleck’s “Argo.” Shooting is scheduled to begin next year. l

Prachyanat staged its acclaimed production Circus Circus on Saturday at Shilpakala Academy as party of the ongoing Ganga-Jamuna theatre festival

TODAY IN DHAKA Exhibition

‘The Dying Grounds

By Shafiq Rahman Time: 3pm – 8pm Dhaka Art Centre, Montage

By Samarjit Roy Choudhury Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts Reality Versus Imagination and Illusion’ Time: 11am – 7pm Gallery Cosmos 69/1, New Circular Road Shahid Sangbadik Personage of Egyptian Vision

By Dr Walid Jahin Time: , 3pm – 8pm La Galerie, Alliance Francais Mirpur Road, Dhanmondi Existence Delineated

By Fahmida Urmi Hossain Time: 3pm – 8pm Dhaka Art Centre, Rd No 7

Theatre

Ganga-Jamuna Theatre Festival Prometheus Time: 7pm – 9pm National Theatre Hall Shilpakala Academy

n Entertainment Desk If Priyanka Chopra’s role in “Mary Kom” as the five-time World boxing champion has changed the definition of “hero,” the movie’s producers too have a reason to smile as it has collected Rs 17.25 crore in two days since release.

Based on the life of boxing champion M C Mary Kom, the biopic released on Friday in 1,800 screens in India An excited Priyanka took to Twitter to thank fans for the “overwhelming” response to the biopic, which has been panned by some critics.

“Thank you for the incredible response to #MaryKom. I guess this film was such a heart wrenching experience that the love is just overwhelming (sic),” she tweeted on Saturday.

Also starring newcomer Darshan Kumar, it is directed by Omung Kumar and co-produced by Sanjay Leela Bhansali and Viacom18 Motion Pictures.

The release was preceded by a world premiere at the prestigious Toronto International Film Festival. l

Did you know?

Japan’s Kei Nishikori becomes the first Asian man to play in a Grand Slam final after beating top-ranked Djokovic on Saturday

Sport

14 Cilic, Nishikori

stun biggies at US Open semis

DHAKA TRIBUNE

15 Bangladesh

15 Hamilton wins

target positive displays

Tigers suffer with bat after Taijul shines on debut n Tribune Desk

Mominul Haque’s soft dismissal right at the stroke of tea left Bangladesh in a shaky position as the visitors were 105 for four at tea on the third day of the first Test against West Indies in St Vincent yesterday.

Left-handed Mominul made 51 before getting caught down the leg side as the players took tea with the

5 WICKETS ON TEST DEBUT FOR BANGLADESH Name Against Figure Naimur Rahman (2000) Ind 44.3-132/6 Manjural Islam (2001) Zim 35-81/6 Mahmudullah (2009) WI 15-51/5 Elias Sunny (2011) WI 23-94/6 Sohag Gazi (2013) WI 23.2-74/6 Taijul Islam (2014) WI 47-135/5

St Gregory’s to face DT in final n Shishir Hoque St. Gregory’s High School and Dhanmondi Tutorial swept into the men’s final of the Polar Ice Cream 22nd School Handball Tournament after winning their respective semifinals at the National Handball Stadium yesterday.

Ekramul scored 13 goals as St Gregory’s handed Dhaka Residential Model School and College a crushing 25-6 defeat in the day’s first semifinal while Dhanmondi Tutorial outplayed PlayPen school 17-4 in the second semifinal.

Meanwhile in the girls’ section, Sunnydale, Dhanmondi Tutorial, Scholastica and Viqarunnisa Noon School and College reached the semifinals after defeating Bangla Bazar Gov. High School, Shaheed Nobi High School, Green Herald and Shaheed Anwar Girls’ College respectively. l

dismissal. Mahmudullah was unbeaten at the other end on six as the Tigers were trailing by 378 runs in their first innings.

After a no-show from Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes, Shamsur Rahman (35) added 62 for the third wicket with Mominul, but just when he was looking to land a fifty he paid the price for poking at an outgoing delivery from Suleiman Benn.

Mominul, who has three 100s in seven Tests, looked very composed and struck seven fours on the way to his third Test 50.

Earlier, debutant spinner Taijul Islam completed a five-wicket haul on debut but veteran batsman Shivnarine Chanderpaul was left unbeaten on 85 as the West Indies declared at 484 for seven before lunch on the day.

Left with an hour to bat before the interval, Bangladesh reached 41 for two, losing senior opening batsman Tamim and Imrul to good low catches

by Darren Bravo at second slip off Kemar Roach and Jerome Taylor respectively.

Needing to accelerate the scoring considerably following pedestrian progress on the rain-affected second day, the West Indies batsmen displayed greater adventure, which proved beneficial for Taijul, who reaped significant rewards for his perseverance.

He took three of the four wickets to fall to finish with five for 135 off 47 overs by the time the declaration came after 80 minutes’ play. l

13

Monday, September 8, 2014

in Italy, Rosberg second

Raqibul lauds Bangladesh pacers, debutants n Mazhar Uddin

DAY 3, AT TEA West Indies 1st innings CH Gayle lbw b Shuvagata Hom 64 KC Brathwaite c Mominul b Taijul 212 KA Edwards c Mominul b Taijul 10 DM Bravo c Mahmudullah b Taijul 62 S Chanderpaul not out 85 J Blackwood lbw b Rubel Hossain 10 D Ramdin c Rubel b Taijul 5 JE Taylor c Shuvagata b Taijul 10 KAJ Roach not out 2 Extras (b 5, lb 18, nb 1) 24 Total (7 wickets dec; 160 overs) 484 FoW: 1-116, 2-133, 3-261, 4-422, 5-451, 6-466, 7-479 Bowling Al-Amin 22-12-43-0, Rubel 30-11-10-1, Mahmudullah 19-0-64-0, Shuvagata 37-6-104-1, Taijul 47-9-1355, Nasir 4-1-4-0, Mominul 1-0-1-0 Bangladesh 1st innings Tamim Iqbal c Bravo b Roach 1 Shamsur Rahman c Bravo b Benn 35 Imrul Kayes c Bravo b Taylor 9 Mominul Haque c Ramdin b Gabriel 51 Mahmudullah not out 6 Extras (lb 2, nb 1) 3 Total (4 wickets; 41 overs) 105 FoW: 1-1 Tamim, 2-18 Imrul, 3-80 Shamsur, 4-105 Mominul Bowling JE Taylor 12-4-36-1, KAJ Roach 11-3-291, ST Gabriel 7-1-20-1, SJ Benn 11-3-18-1

West Indies pacer Jerome Taylor celebrates with teammates after dismissing Bangladesh’s Imrul Kayes (R) during the 3rd day of 1st Test at St Vincent yesterday WICB

Bangladesh skipper Mushfiqur Rahim’s decision to field first in the first Test of the two-match series against the West Indies at St. Vincent might have raised a few eyebrows but former national captain Raqibul Hasan is of the opinion that the visiting bowlers actually did quite well to stem the flow of runs of the home side.

West Indies declared their first innings on 484/7 from 160 overs and despite the pacemen picking up just a wicket among the seven wickets to fall, Raqibul said Al Amin Hossain and Rubel Hossain bowled a good line and length which prevented the hosts from scoring freely.

“The pace bowlers did reasonably well as you know the pitch was on the slower side. Al Amin and Rubel did create some chances which was a good sign,” said Raqibul.

Raqibul also praised debutants Taijul Islam and Shuvagata Hom Chowdhury with the former scalping a five-wicket haul on his Test debut.

“I think the two debutants (Taijul and Shuvagata) bowled well and I am impressed with their approach as both of them gave the loop to the batsman which was needed,” he said.

The former skipper stated for Bangladesh to draw the game, the batsmen would have to play well, especially the top-order.

“A lot of time is left in this match and there is a bright chance for Bangladesh to draw the match but for that to happen, the Bangladesh batsmen have to bat well, mainly the top-order. Only then the visitors can hope for a draw,” he added. l

Bangladesh A begin final preparations BCB VP election process draws blank on opening day ahead of Zimbabwe A home series n

Minhaz Uddin Khan

The Bangladesh A team’s preparations for the upcoming home series against Zimbabwe A reached its final stage with a two-day practice game. The second-string Bangladesh side is taking on Bangladesh Under-19 in the two-dayer which began at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday.

The highlight of the game was the participation of suspended national all-rounder Shakib al Hasan for the U-19 side. Shakib is currently serving a three-month suspension due to indiscipline but the Bangladesh Cricket Board has kept the gates open for the star cricketer to use the practice facilities of the board according to a training

schedule drawn by the national head coach Chandika Hathurusingha.

Shakib’s participation in the game is a part of the training roster and is literally the only practice match he will take

The highlight of the game was the participation of suspended allrounder Shakib al Hasan for the U19s part in before he returns to the national set-up through the forthcoming 17th Asian Games. His suspension ends on September 15.

The Bangladesh U-19 side opted to bat first after winning the toss and posted 210 runs on the board losing all of

their wickets in 76 overs. Middle-order batsman Nazmul Hasan was the highest scorer with 58 while his skipper, Mehedi Hossain, made 46. Shakib, who batted for the first time since the home ODI series against India in June, managed to face only 16 balls and scored 11 runs.

Six of the eight bowlers employed by the Bangladesh A team picked up at least one wicket. Paceman Kamrul Islam Rabbi had the best figures conceding only 21 runs for his two wickets in 10.5 overs.

Later, the Bangladesh A side batted out the remaining seven overs of the day without any fall of wickets and scored 21 runs. Openers Sadman Islam and Liton Kumar were unbeaten on 10 and seven runs respectively. l

n Minhaz Uddin Khan

Not a single nomination paper of the Bangladesh Cricket Board’s (BCB) vice-president election was sold on the opening day of the procedure yesterday.

According to the full-fledged schedule for the two vacant vice-president posts, the election is scheduled to take place on September 16. The candidates will have the chance to purchase nomination papers and submit them within September 7-11. This will be followed by the publishing of the list of candidates after scrutinising the submitted nomination papers on September 13.

Thereafter, candidates will get the opportunity to withdraw their nomination papers on September 14.

The final list of the candidates will

Niloy treble guides Bangladesh to Round 2 n Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh forward Hasan Jubair Niloy celebrates one of his three goals against Hong Kong in the Hockey World League Round 1 at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday MUMIT M

Bangladesh clinched the Hockey World League Round 1 campaign and qualified for Round 2 with a 3-1 victory over Hong Kong in their last game of the meet at the Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

This is the second consecutive time that Bangladesh have reached the second round as group champions in a tournament which was recently designed by the Federation of International Hockey to add more glamour to the game.

Forward Hasan Zubair Niloy slammed a hattrick, however, according to Bangladesh’s high standards the performance was not an impressive one. Bangladesh did not dominate proceedings and the level of penetration was not satisfactory. It took nearly half an hour to broke the deadlock against a team like Hong Kong, who are far behind Bangladesh in the official rankings.

Bangladesh went ahead in the 27th minute after a combined attack. Forward Pushkor Khisa Mimo ran down

the left and hit a reverse shot which was intercepted by his attacking partner Niloy, who sent the ball into the post with a reverse push.

Niloy doubled the lead in the 45th minute after skipper Mamunur Rahman Chayan’s fierce hit off a penalty corner was glided home with another reverse hit.

Hong Kong won a penalty in the 51st minute as Chayan stopped Chan Ka Chun illegally inside the arc. Chan Ka Ho converted from the spot to make it 2-1. Asim Gope, the Bangladesh goalkeeper who saved a penalty against Sri Lanka in the previous match, had no chance of repeating that performance this time around.

Niloy though ensured the tie for Bangladesh when he completed his hattrick in the 53rd minute. Snatching the ball from an opponent defender, Niloy beat Hong Kong goalie Andrew Hayward with another reverse hit.

Bangladesh earlier defeated Sri Lanka 3-2 in a narrow victory while the Lankans beat Hong Kong 6-1 in the second match of the first round.

Round 2 of the Hockey World League will be held in Singapore from January 17-25. l

be published by the BCB on September 15, just a day before the polls.

The number of interested candidates for the already delayed election was reduced to three after current board directors Sajjadul Alam and Enayet Hossain Siraj opted out of the race. Sajjadul pulled out his name informing BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury ahead of the declaration of the date for the election. The withdrawals of Sajjadul and Siraj left former senior BCB vice-president Mahbub Anam, Ahmed Iqbal Hasan and AZM Nasir to fight for the two available slots. Sources revealed influential BCB directors Mahbub and Nasir are the front-runners as majority of the board directors and the BCB president himself are interested in seeing the duo in the posts. l

Shariful, Shirin win 200m titles n Shishir Hoque Shariful Islam and Shirin Akter claimed the men’s and women’s 200m sprint titles respectively in the Walton 12th National Summer Olympics at the Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

Bangladesh Army athlete Shariful clocked 21.30s to complete his run beating Mezbah Ahmed of Bangladesh Navy who took 21.42s. Abu Rayhan of Navy finished third with 21.90s. Today, Mezbah will take the turf to prove himself as the fastest man of the country and will no doubt face a stern challenge from juvenile athlete, Shariful.

In the women’s 200m sprint, Shirin of Navy took 25.50s to touch the finishing line ahead of Army duo Shamsun Nahar Chumki and Sumita Rani respectively.

Sumita, considered to be the best woman hurdler of the country, was disappointing in the 100m hurdles. The Bangladesh Jail athlete took 16.12s to finish her run. Jesmin Akter of Army clinched first spot clocking 15.10s while BJMC’s Marufa Khatun finished third.

In the day’s other events, Mohammed Sohel of Army clinched the men’s high jump crown, Irin Akter came first in the women’s long jump while Navy’s Alamgir Hossain finished first in the men’s 400m hurdles. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Monday, September 8, 2014

Cilic, Nishikori stun biggies Cilic thrashes Federer after Nishikori shocks Djokovic to make their Grand Slam final debuts

n Reuters, New York Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Croatia’s Marin Cilic rocked the tennis world with stunning back-to-back U.S. Open semi-final upsets on Saturday, sending two all-time greats Roger Federer and Novak Djokovic out of Flushing Meadows.

On an extraordinary day that will go down as one of the most surprising in grand slam history, 10th seeded Nishikori denied Djokovic a fifth straight trip to the U.S. Open final when he toppled the world number one 6-4 1-6 7-6(4) 6-3 on a sweltering Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

Then, before a disbelieving crowd had fully absorbed what they had just witnessed, 14th seeded Cilic sent a new round of tremors across the U.S. National Tennis Center by sweeping past 17-time grand slam champion Federer in snappy one hour, 45 minutes.

When the dust had settled the year’s last grand slam was left with a final no one would have predicted between Cilic, who missed last year’s tournament sitting out a doping ban and Nishikori, the first Asian man to ever reach a slam final.

Adding to the magnitude of Saturday’s events, Monday’s final will be the first grand slam title decider without either Rafa Nadal, Federer or Djokovic since the 2005 Australian Open when Marat Safin defeated Lleyton Hewitt.

“I think it’s exciting for the game to have different faces from timeto-time,” said Federer when asked about his thoughts on a Nishikori-Cilic final. “At the same time, I think people still enjoy seeing the

Marin Cilic

guys they have seen for a while or often in the big matches.

“But I think it’s definitely refreshing to some extent. It’s big for Croatia and big for Japan I guess on some level, especially on sporting terms and tennis terms.

“Everybody who gets to this stage of this kind of a competition deserves to be there because they have put in the work and they hoped for the break and this is it for both of them. I hope they can play a good final.”

Certainly it will not be the marquee

Roger Federer (L) and Novak Djokovic wave to the crowd after being defeated in their respective men’s singles semifinal match in US Open on Saturday AFP

Striking problems confront Spain’s attempted revolution n AFP, Valencia Spain’s bid to put right a disastrous defence of the World Cup gets underway in the modest surrounds of Levante’s 26,000 capacity stadium against equally modest opponents Macedonia on Monday.

However, a series of injuries to key players leaves coach Vicente del Bosque searching for goalscorers in his need for a big performance to quell the doubts over his ability to rejuvenate the side and compete for a third consecutive European Championship triumph.

Chelsea striker Diego Costa pulled out of the squad on Thursday after damaging his hamstring in the 1-0 friendly defeat by France on Wednesday, leaving Valencia’s Paco Alcacer, who only made his international debut in Paris

THE

as a second-half substitute, as the only recognised striker left in the squad.

Scoring goals has been a familiar problem for Spain in recent times as they failed to score from open play before being eliminated in Brazil and found the net just 14 times in eight games in qualifying for the World Cup. The absence of the injured Andres Iniesta, added to the international retirements of Xavi Hernandez and Xabi Alonso, also significantly affects La Roja’s ability to play the tiki-taka style of football that brought them success in three consecutive international tournaments.

Del Bosque has another key decision to make in goal with Manchester United’s David de Gea challenging captain Iker Casillas to be the number one.

De Gea made his first start at senior international level against France, but Del Bosque is expected to back Casillas once more despite his culpability as Spain were swept aside by the Nether-

final fans and television executives had hoped for.

Between them, Federer and Djokovic have won 24 grand slam titles, including six U.S. Opens. Nishikori and Cilic have won none and had never before been beyond the semi-finals of a grand slam.

Despite the lack of a big name, the final should be an entertaining one between the big-hitting Cilic and the no-quit counter-punching Nishikori.

“It’s going to be special day for both of us,” said Cilic. “Opportunity for both

lands and Chile at the World Cup. Missing Daniel Sturridge and stung by recent media criticism, England begin their 2016 European Championship qualifying campaign on Monday with a perilous away game against chief Group E rivals Switzerland.

England returned to action after their dismal group-phase exit at the World Cup with a lacklustre 1-0 friendly win over Norway on Wednesday, and despite the victory, pessimism continues to prevail. A record low crowd for the new Wembley Stadium of 40,181 turned out for the game, and the mood around the team darkened further on Friday when it was revealed that Sturridge will miss the trip to Basel due to injury.

Midfielder Jack Wilshere accepts that recent performances have not lived up to expectations, but believes a positive display against Vladimir Petkovic’s Switzerland would alleviate the doom and gloom. l

of us to win a grand slam, to be a part of the history. It’s going to be definitely huge emotions on the court.

“We have different game styles.

“I think I’m going to have to just focus on my game...and to try to serve well. I think it’s going to be a good sort of tactical matchup for the final.”

Certainly no one worked harder or longer for their place in the final than Nishikori.

In a remarkable display of endurance, the 24-year-old Japanese followed up punishing five-set wins over third seed Stan Wawrinka and fifth seed Milos Raonic with an even more extraordinary effort, grinding down Djokovic in two hours, 52 minutes on a swel- tering Arthur Ashe Stadium court.

Nishikori arrived on Saturday looking fresh despite having played the latest finishing match ever at the U.S. Open on Tuesday in the fourth round against Raonic, when he walked off court at 2:26 a.m. local time.

Two days later, the Japanese was forced to go the distance again, out-lasting Wawrinka in a four hour, 15 minute battle.

In total a tireless Nishikori logged 11 hours 16 minutes of court time in his last three matches.

In contrast, the powerful 6-foot6 (1.98 m) Cilic wasted little time in blasting past Federer to record a first win over the Swiss master at his sixth attempt.

Federer had no answer to his opponents’ booming service game and heavy groundstrokes as Cilic completed the win with three aces and a sizzling backhand winner up the line as he served a love-game to close out a startling afternoon of tennis. l

Neymar strikes but Brazil fail to win over media n AFP, Rio de Janeiro With Neymar back in their ranks and scoring the only goal, Brazil gave Dunga a winning start in his second spell in charge - although a 1-0 friendly success over Colombia left media unimpressed.

Fielding seven of the side whipped 7-1 by Germany in their World Cup semi-final almost two months ago, Dunga could point to a win and a clean sheet as positives to take from Friday’s encounter in Miami, but observers back home were critical.

There was “little samba or salsa,” with the match only remarkable for “the same old song-- the talent of Neymar,” complained sports daily Lance.

Rio daily O Dia was even blunter in its assessment after a win over opponents reduced to ten men following a red card for Juan Cuadrado just after the interval for fouling, inevitably, Neymar.

“Brazil remain the same -- they only have Neymar,” grumbled the paper,

though it could not fault the team’s effort and pinpointed some periods of “good football.”

Globo joined the chorus of underwhelmed observers.

“Little has changed - (they) suffered” to drag out the win.

“Starting a new era under Dunga (sacked after a World Cup quarter-final loss against Holland in 2010 before replacing Luiz Felipe Scolari six weeks ago) there were few on-field improvements as Brazil’s game plan still lacks alternatives” to Neymar, Globo complained. Having taken the captain’s armband on his return he added: “I am very happy the coach has this confidence in me” to lead the squad.

“But everyone has to remember this is a group.”

Tasked with overhauling the fivetimes world champions, Dunga picked just 10 of the 23-man squad which ultimately disappointed at a home World Cup. l

10BIGGEST TRANSFER WINDOW SPENDS BY FOOTBALL CLUBS

REAL MADRID SUMMER 2009

MAN UNITED SUMMER 2014

REAL MADRID SUMMER 2013

MAN CITY SUMMER 2009

LIVERPOOL SUMMER 2014

Total spent £195m Biggest transfer Cristiano Ronaldo £85m

Total spent £146m Biggest transfer Angel di Maria £59.7m

Total spent £142m Biggest transfer Gareth Bale £85.3m

Total spent £140m Biggest transfer Carlos Tevez £47m

Total spent £117m Biggest transfer Adam Lallana £25m

BARCELONA SUMMER 2014

CHELSEA SUMMER 2003

MAN CITY SUMMER 2010

MAN CITY SUMMER 2011

CHELSEA SUMMER 2004

Total spent £115m Biggest transfer Luis Suarez £75m

Total spent £111m Biggest transfer £16.8m Hernan Crespo

Total spent £107m Biggest transfer David Silva £26m

Total spent £105m Biggest transfer Sergio Aguero £38m

Total spent £99m Biggest transfer £24m Didier Drogba

Kei Nishikori

RESULTS Nigeria Ambrose 13, Salami 89

Sudan

2-3

Congo Brazzaville

0-3

South Africa

1-2

Algeria

1-0

Angola

2-0

Lesotho

0-2

Cameroon

2-1

Sierra Leone

Oniangue 16, Bifouma 40, 54-P

Vilakazi 55, 61, Ndulula 79

Ethiopia Saladin 90-P

Gabon Mbingui 45+1

Burkina Faso Pitroipa 11, Traore 49

Congo

Soudani 35, Brahimi 84

N’Jie 45+3, Aboubakar 81

Ivory Coast Doumbia 63, Gervinho 68

Ghana A Ayew 50-P

Guinea Soumah 11-P, Idrissa Sylla 45

Zambia Niger Maazou 30

Senegal Diouf 17, Mane 45+1

1-1 2-1 0-0 1-3 2-0

K. Kamara 44

Uganda Mawejje 45

Togo J. Ayite 57

Mozambique Cape Verde Rodrigues 3, Fortes 14, Ze Luis 24

Egypt

Congo stun African champions Nigeria n AFP, Johannesburg Defending champions Nigeria suffered a stunning 3-2 home loss to Congo Brazzaville Saturday on matchday 1 of the Africa Cup of Nations qualifying competition.

It was the first defeat in 47 home matches for the Super Eagles since qualifying started 48 years ago and the first time they conceded three goals at home in an eliminator.

Ghana were another World Cup team who failed to take advantage of playing at home as Uganda forced a 1-1 draw at Baba Yaro Stadium in Kumasi.

Tony Mawejje put the Ugandan Cranes ahead on the stroke of half-time in Group E and Andre Ayew levelled from a 50th-minute spot-kick.

Cameroon began life without Samuel Eto’o with a comfortable 2-0 Group D victory in the Democratic Republic of Congo.

Clinton N’Jie scored in first-half stoppage time and another Francebased player, Vincent Aboubakar, added the second nine minutes from time.

Ivory Coast, whose participation had been in doubt as the government initially refused to allow the team from Ebola-hit Sierra Leone to play in Abidjan, won 2-1 after trailing at half-time. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

15

Monday, September 8, 2014

QUICK BYTES

BCB designer Rezaul found dead Designer of the Bangladesh Cricket Board logos, Mohammed Rezaul Haider, was found dead at his residence in Nakhalpara yesterday. Rezaul’s body was recovered from his home after his neighbors complained of decomposing smell of the corpse and notified the law enforcement authorities. He was involved with various graphic design works with the BCB for more than two decades. The police was investigating the reason behind Rezaul’s death when this report was filed.

–Tribune Desk

Navratilova proposes to girlfriend on TV Tennis legend Martina Navratilova got down on one knee and proposed to girlfriend Julia Lemigova at the US Open on Saturday - and her partner said ‘yes’. Navratilova, 57, popped the question during a break in the Tennis Channel broadcast of men’s singles semi-final day. “I was very nervous, but it came off, and she said yes, and I was flying high,” Navratilova told www. wta.com. “It was like an out of body experience because you see people propose at sporting events before. You watch it in movies and in real life, and here it was happening to me. It was pretty cool.” Navratilova won 18 Grand Slam singles titles in her career and 167 tour crowns in total.

–AFP

Bailey stands down as Australia’s T20 skipper George Bailey has given up the captaincy of Australia’s Twenty20 team to focus on playing in next year’s World Cup, Cricket Australia said Sunday. Bailey, 32, has indicated that he wants to prepare for the one-day World Cup in Australia and New Zealand next February-March and to play more first-class cricket for his state Tasmania, particularly before Christmas.

Bailey was appointed T20 captain in January 2012, taking over from Cameron White, and in that time he competed in two ICC World T20 tournaments. He played for Australia in 28 T20 Internationals, winning 14 and losing 13 with one tied match. CA said it would make an announcement on Bailey’s replacement as captain shortly. “I’ve thoroughly enjoyed the responsibility and honour of leading Australia in T20 internationals,” Bailey said in a statement. “Over the last couple of months I have had the opportunity to reflect on my role as T20 captain and the direction I want to take my cricket over the next few years. I want to focus on my oneday cricket as well as becoming the best long-form player I can to give myself the very best chance to play Test cricket again.

–AFP

Bangladesh Under-23’s Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif (C) speaks at the Bangladesh Football Federation office yesterday prior to the team’s departure for the upcoming 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea. Skipper Mamunul Islam (L), BFF vice president Kazi Nabil Ahmed (2R) and team manager Amirul Islam Babu are also seen MUMIT M

ASIAN GAMES FOOTBALL

Bangladesh target positive displays n Shishir Hoque With the aim of offering positive performances and collecting at least a point from the group stage, the 20man Bangladesh Under-23 squad left the country yesterday night to take part in the men’s football competition of the 17th Asian Games to be held in Incheon, South Korea.

Bangladesh will face a strong challenge in Group B as they were pitted with Afghanistan, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong, all ranked higher than the

men in Red and Green. Bangladesh will take on the Afghans on September 15 before facing Uzbekistan three days later. Bangladesh will round off their campaign against Hong Kong on September 22.

Ahead of their departure, Bangladesh’s Dutch head coach Lodewijk de Kruif asked the fans not to place high expectations upon the team given the country’s poor record in the Asiad.

Bangladesh have won just two matches in 19 attempts in the history of the competition.

DAY’S WATCH BTV, Gazi TV, Ten Cricket 8:00PM Bangladesh Tour of West Indies 1st Test, Day 4 Euro Qualifiers 2016 Sony Six 9:45PM Russia v Liechtenstein 12:45AM Switzerland v England Sony Six HD 12:45AM Spain v Macedonia

AFC rankings and are considered by many to be the favourites to claim the title. Defending Saff Championship winners Afghanistan occupy 19th position in the AFC rankings while Hong Kong are placed 32nd. Bangladesh, meanwhile, are ranked 36th according to the latest AFC rankings.

“Don’t expect highly. We know they are all ranked higher but it doesn’t give any pressure to me because if you go there and have nothing to lose then you can play without pressure,” he added.

In the previous edition of the Games hosted by Guangzhou four years ago, Uzbekistan and Hong Kong were grouped with Bangladesh. Bangladesh will not have fond memories as they went down to defeats against both the teams.

De Kruif went on to say Uzbekistan will be the toughest team among the three nations. “I think even my country Netherlands will have problems with a team like that when they face them. That is the toughest game in the group stage.” l

MSC targets DPL title

Makarova, Vesnina dash Hingis’s US n Minhaz Uddin Khan Open title dream Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited (MSC) are looking forward to erasing n AFP, New York their disastrous performances of the

Martina Hingis’s hopes of winning her first Grand Slam doubles title since 2002 were shattered on Saturday when the Russian pairing of Ekaterina Makarova and Elena Vesnina took the US Open title.

Hingis, 33, was playing with Italy’s Flavia Pennetta but despite a promising start to the final they went down 2-6, 6-3, 6-2 to the fourth seeds.

Hingis last appeared in a doubles final at a Grand Slam in 2002 at the Australian Open where she won the title with Anna Kournikova, one of nine doubles crowns she captured during her heydey.

She also captured the 1998 doubles title in New York with Jana Novotna. l

Farah ends British drought in Great North Run

British track great Mo Farah became the first home runner to win the men’s Great North Run race since Steve Kenyon in 1985 as he won a thrilling duel with Kenyan and former training partner Mike Kigen in Newcastle on Sunday. The 31-year-old 5,000 and 10,000 metres Olympic champion -- second last year to Ethiopian legend Kenenisa Bekele in the race -- had been content to play second fiddle to Kigen throughout most of the race as they set a pace which proved too much for Ethiopia’s Olympic and world marathon champion Steven Kiprotich and his compatriot Tariku Bekele. However, Farah, who missed the Commonwealth Games earlier this year after he collapsed because of a poisoned tooth but bounced back to win dual gold at the European Championships, went to the front as they entered the last kilometre of the race run over the half marathon distance and although Kigen tried to come back at him he had enough left in the tank to hold on. Both were given the same time of 1 hour dead which is a personal best for Farah. “It’s great to finish the season with a victory and a great time,” Farah told the BBC. –AFP

De Kruif though repeated the common theme often used in football – nothing is impossible.

“The teams we will face are ranked higher in Fifa and Afc but it doesn’t mean we don’t have a chance. Everything is possible in football,” said the 44-year old head coach.

“In every game you can win three points, even if you play against Argentina. This is a big challenge for the boys.

I want the players to be highly motivated,” he said.

Uzbekistan are ranked third in the

past through the upcoming Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League (DPL) as the legendary sports club are eyeing the coveted title of the country’s premier 50-over competition this season.

The Motijheel-based club underwent vast changes in its hierarchy recently to meet their aim of lifting the DPL title for the first time in five seasons.

In a press meet held yesterday at the club premises, it was announced that influential Bangladesh Cricket Board director Mahbub Anam would be the chairman of the MSC cricket committee while Masuduzzaman was chosen as the general secretary. The club have also informed that they would form

an advisory committee comprising of veteran organisers like Enayet Hossain Siraj, Khandaker Jamil Uddin and Golam Alamgir.

Director-In-Charge of the club, Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan, notified that all the changes were brought to the club in order to relive the glory days of the past.

The MSC team management, however, confessed that the side’s local recruits are not yet good enough to fight it out consistently with the top contenders of the tournament this year. The side, therefore, are looking to add firepower through their overseas collection.

According to club sources, Mohammedan are making an effort to rope in the services of Sri Lankan cricketers Mahela Jayawardene, Upul Tharanga and Tillakaratne Dilshan.

Mohammedan will be captained by veteran paceman Mashrafe bin Mortaza this season. l

Hamilton wins in Italy, Rosberg second n Reuters, Monza

England skipper Eoin Morgan acknowledges the crowd after reaching his 50 during their T20I against India at Edgbaston in Birmingham, central England yesterday. England made 180 for 7 off their 20 overs AFP

Morgan smashes England to thrilling T20 victory n Reuters, Birmingham

BRIEF SCORE

Skipper Eoin Morgan found his form at the right time to lead England to a thrilling three-run victory over India in a one-off T20 international at Edgbaston on Sunday.

Morgan, who had scored only 198 runs in 10 one-day international innings since returning from injury in March, smashed 71 off 31 balls including seven sixes and three fours, as England posted a daunting 180 for seven wickets in their 20 overs.

In reply, Virat Kohli - led the India charge but his 66 off 41 balls and 27 off 18

by India captain Mahendra Singh Dhoni at the death could not clinch victory for India who finished on 177 for five.

England 180 for 7 in 20 overs Morgan 71, Hales 40; Shami 3-38 India 177 for 5 in 20 overs Kohli 66, Dhawan 33; Finn 1-28 England won by 3 runs India’s reply got off to a poor start, Rahane lasting four balls, bowled by Ali, before Kohli and Shikhar Dhawan led the India charge. Kohli and Dharwan put on 79 in nine overs before Chris Woakes bowled Dharwan.

Kohli survived a difficult catch to HDhoni smashed 12 off the first four balls before Woakes managed to subdue the India skipper and Englnd scraped home before a packed crowd. l

Lewis Hamilton battled back from an agonisingly slow start to win the Italian Grand Prix for Mercedes on Sunday and slash team mate Nico Rosberg’s Formula One championship lead to 22 points.

Rosberg finished second as dominant Mercedes celebrated their first one-two since Austria in June and seventh in 13 races.

With the sport taking a deep breath as the championship rivals lined up together on the front row, two weeks after they had collided in Belgium, the start provided an immediate sensation.

Hamilton had taken pole position for the first time since May but problems with the car’s start mode left him struggling to get away and fourth into the first corner as Rosberg sped away untroubled.

It was the start of a thrilling chase, with the 2008 world champion fighting back and retaking the lead on the 29th of 53 laps when Rosberg missed the first chicane as he had done earlier in the race.

With the German under pressure and driving straight on, slowing and weaving to get back on track, Hamilton seized the lead in the decisive moment

of the afternoon.

The two crossed the finish line 3.1 seconds apart, with Hamilton celebrating his first win since Britain in July. It was his fifth of the season and 28th of his career, taking him ahead of triple champion Jackie Stewart in the all-time lists.

“It was a difficult race,” said Hamilton. “For whatever reason, at the start the button didn’t press which engages the launch sequence.

“For the formation lap it didn’t work and when I got to the grid and put it on again, again it didn’t work. It was very strange. I’ve never really had that happen before. l

Citycell Inter School Basketball begins n Tribune Desk The Citycell Inter School Basketball Tournament got underway yesterday at the Dhanmondi Basketball Gymnasium as Sunbeams School defeated Green Herald International School 44-09 in the opening match of the girls’ event.

Tasfia scored 10 points for Sunbeams School while Kazi Adrina notched seven points for Green Herald.

Bangladesh Basketball Federation (BBF) vice president Moinul Ahsan Monju and the federation’s general secretary AK Sarker, also the general secretary of the South Asian Basketball Association, were present during the inauguration. BBF president Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin was the chief guest. l

Bangladesh Basketball Federation president Mostafa Jalal Mohiuddin being presented a flower bouquet during the inauguration of the Citycell Inter School Basketball Tournament at the Dhanmondi Cricket Stadium yesterday COURTESY

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, September 8, 2014

UNREST AT MITFORD HOSPITAL

Nationwide strike if demands not met by Thursday n Moniruzzman Uzzal Medical services at Mitford Hospital came to a halt yesterday as intern doctors went on a work abstention from the afternoon.

Dr Iftekhar Amin, spokesperson of the intern doctors, said: “The interns will be back on duty from 10am tomorrow [today] if they feel the work environment is favourable.”

On the other hand, the nurses who went on work abstention from Saturday returned to duties in the evening yesterday after Lutfur Rahman, a Health Ministry official met with them.

Nurses Movement Committee at Mitford Hospital gave a three-day ultimatum to the hospital authorities on Saturday demanding the cancellation of intern doctor Sujon’s registration, bringing him to book and taking departmental action against him.

Yesterday, after meeting with the Health Ministry official the nurses announced to call a countrywide nurses’ strike if Sujon’s registration was not canceled by Thursday. Because of the ongoing unrest and impasse, a lot of patients had to return from the hospital yesterday without being treated.

According to hospital record, 84 patients arrived at the outdoor and emergency unit until 2pm yesterday, of whom. 64 were admitted. The number remains three to four times higher on any other day.

Moreover, no routine check up was done by the nurses since Saturday evening. They brought out a procession and chanted slogans against doctors

Family members transfer a sick mother and her two-day-old child to another hospital amid strikes by intern doctors at Mitford Hospital RAJIB DHAR

who allegedly assaulted a senior staff nurse on Saturday. The intern doctors remained absent from work in fear of being attacked by the nurses.

Khadiza Begum, 35, came to the hospital from Keraniganj with swollen feet yesterday morning.

“At the emergency unit, the doctors prescribed me some drugs and told me to come one or two days later as the hos-

pital situation was not normal,” she said.

The authorities of Mitford Hospital suspended Rafiqul Islam Sujon, an intern doctor, for allegedly physically assaulting a nurse on Saturday.

A three-member committee led by child department head Lutful Kabir was formed to investigate the incident.

The intern doctors sat in a meeting with Director of the hospital Brig Gen

Zakir Hasanon yesterday afternoon. The director told them to join work and assured them that their security would be taken care of. The director asked them to be present before the session of the investigation committee to be held today.

Health Secretary MM Niazuddin told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are aware of the matter and we are trying to resolve it.” l

Education Ministry for DGFI, NSI to stop question leakage n Kamran Reza Chowdhury The Education Ministry has requested the Defence Ministry to assign the Directorate General of Forces Intelligence (DGFI) to keep a close watch on the Bangladesh government press staff who are involved in printing question papers for public exams.

The ministry has also requested the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) and Home Ministry to seek support to employ the National Security Intelligence (NSI) and the Detective Branch (DB) of police to maintain secrecy in the preparation of question papers.

Replying to a question from Abdul Wadud (Rajshahi-5), Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday told parliament that the decisions came in line with the recommendations of the ministry’s seven-member committee tasked to recommend ways of stopping question papers being leaked in the public exams.

In his question, Wadud said the trend of leaking question papers had turned “severe”. The committee came up with the observation that most of the allegations of question papers being leaked in recent years were proved to be true.

Around 80 hundred thousand students appear in the public exams.

The BG press employes at least 100 of its 600 staff in printing the question papers in city’s Tejgaon area.

“A letter has been sent to the Defence Ministry requesting it to assign the DGFI to prepare secret reports on the personnel involved in printing question papers every six months,” Nurul Islam told the assembly. He said the NSI and the DB police would ensure secrecy in question making.

The minister further said the

MDG successes touted Mamata benefited most from but major goals missed Saradha scam, former aide says n Tribune Report Bangladesh has hit many UN Millennium Development Goals’ (MDGs) targets ahead of the 2015 deadline, but will miss 11 indicators, including employment generation, adult literacy and the elimination of hunger-poverty, a government report says.

Dr Shamsul Alam, member of General Economics Division (GED) of the Planning Commission, presented the report at the National Economic Council auditorium in the capital yesterday.

The MDG progress report said the country’s employment rate for the 15+ years population was just 59.3% of the total population. The literacy rate was also very low for the 15+ years population at only 58.5% of the total population.

Speaking at the function, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said Bangladesh had been successful in achieving the MDGs.

BANGLADESH AND MILLENIUM DEVELOPMENT GOALS Source: Planning Commission

TARGETS HIT • Poverty • Gender equity • Child mortality • Health TARGETS MISSED • Literacy • Employment • Environment

“If production can be increased, I think we can eliminate poverty by 2030,” he said.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said Bangladesh had done better than other nations in achieving MDG targets.

UNDP Country Director Pauline Tamesis praised Bangladesh’s progress in reducing poverty, increasing primary education coverage, reducing child mortality and maternal mortality. She said it was important to recognise the way this progress was made because these achievements would provide motivation to achieve other MDGs. A firm action plan and a political commitment at the highest level of government was absolutely necessary to achieving the other targets, she said.

In 2000, 189 countries agreed to MDG targets to reduce poverty and hunger across the globe by 2015.

Eight major MDGs were identified as a worldwide benchmark and every country set their own specific targets to achieve by 2015.

The eight big MDGs are the eradication of extreme poverty and hunger; the achievement of universal primary education; the bridging of the gender

equality gap and the empowerment of women; the reduction of child mortality; the improvement of maternal health; combating HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensuring environmental sustainability and developing a global partnership for development.

Bangladesh adopted 21 targets and 60 indicators against which progress was measured. The report said data for 33 indicators was available. According to the report, progress on 11 indicators was lagging behind target, progress was on track for 10, and targets for 12 indicators had been met.

Bangladesh’s poverty rate declined to 26.2% as of 2013, the planning commission official said. According to the MDG targets, Bangladesh had targeted a cut in its poverty rate to 29 per cent by 2015.

Bangladesh hit MDG targets for the reduction of headcount poverty and the poverty gap ratio, reduction of the number of underweight children under five years of age, attainment of gender parity in primary and secondary education, reduction of under-five mortality rate, increase in primary school enrolment, reduction in infant mortality rate and maternal mortality ratio, improvement in immunisation coverage and reduction of the incidence of communicable diseases.

The country is on track to hit the 2015 targets for increasing the net enrolment ratio in primary education, reducing the infant mortality rate, increasing the proportion of one year-old children immunized against measles, reducing the maternal mortality rate, increasing the proportion of births attended by skilled health personnel, reducing HIV prevalence in the population, reducing deaths from tuberculosis, and raising the proportion of people using an improved drinking water source.

There are 11 indicators where progress has been lagging behind and it is most likely that targets will not be achieved.

These indicators included reducing hunger-poverty, generating adequate employment, raising the adult literacy rate, creating decent wage-employment for women, increasing correct and comprehensive knowledge of HIV/AIDS, increasing forest coverage, and increasing access to and coverage of Information and Communication Technology.

The MDG progress report said there were unfinished MDGs, including too many children still being denied their right to primary education. Environmental sustainability was under severe threat, and while most maternal deaths were preventable, progress in the area was falling short of target. l

n Agencies

Chief Minister of West Bengal Mamata Banerjee suffered the worst salvo yet from her blue-eyed-boy-turned-renegade-MP Kunal Ghosh on the Saradha front on Saturday. "If anyone has benefited the most from the Saradha media, her name is Mamata Banerjee," the suspended Trinamool MP shouted out to reporters as he exited the city sessions court.

What's more, Ghosh – an undertrial in the Saradha case – told the judge that he wanted CBI to question the chief minister along with him and Saradha boss Sudipta Sen. Sources close to Ghosh said he had been "preparing" over the last three days to make these explosive statements against his party chief. Only a day ago Mamata had lashed out at the media for running a smear campaign against Trinamool and warned partymen that the "rotten mangoes" in the party may be dropped.

Unlike other days, when Ghosh shies away from the media, he seemed to be an aggressive mood on Saturday. Standing in the dock in a packed courtroom, Ghosh urged judge Arvind Mishra to allow him to defend himself.

When allowed to do so, he launched into a 15-minute argument without a break. Ghosh said that he was not praying for bail.

Rather, he wanted CBI to "interrogate Mamata Banerjee along with himself and Saradha CEO Sudipta Sen".

Defending himself as a "salaried employee", he claimed he was not aware of funds being transferred from the Saradha-run media group, of which he was CEO, to Saradha Tours and Travels.

Ghosh appealed to the judge not to allow those once close to Sudipta to "use the time to set their house in order".

"We are in jail. But there are many once close to Sudipta Sen. Don't allow them to set their house in order," Ghosh told the judge. The hint was loud and clear.

Ghosh pointed to the high and mighty, who he had named in a recorded video clip two days before his arrest.

The Opposition pounced upon Kunal's explosive comment. State BJP president Rahul Sinha, while not giving the undertrial a clean chit, held that investigators should take Ghosh seriously "because of his proximity with the Trinamool chief during the Saradha scam". Pradesh Congress president Adhir Chowdhury was more direct: "We welcome what Ghosh has

proposed. The chief minister should come clean. CBI should question Mamata along with Kunal Ghosh and Sudipta Sen." CPM leader Md Salim wanted Mamata Banerjee to "tell CBI whatever she knew about the scam".

Ghosh's salvo prompted Trinamool leaders to come out in defence of their party supremo. At a hurriedly called press conference, party secretary general Partha Chatterjee said: "He (Ghosh) is aware of his predicament. Now that he has realized that he may be punished by the law for his wrongdoings, he is trying to take the CM's name in a futile attempt to save himself." Urban development minister Firhad Hakim dismissed Kunal's claim. "The comment comes from one of the prime accused in the Saradha scam. I am not taking it seriously," he said.

CBI, however, called Ghosh a "key person in the Saradha conspiracy" and sought his custody for 10 more days.

CBI lawyer Partha Sarathi Datta submitted that Saradha had mobilized Rs 1,259 crore from the market, of which Rs 988 crore was pumped into its media group, of which Ghosh was CEO. The judge remanded Ghosh in jail till September 12 and Sudipta Sen and Debjani Mukherjee till September 18. l

Pilgrims walk to the airport terminal from the hajj camp yesterday as transportation supposed to be provided by the government was not available SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

government would amend the Public Examinations (Offences) 1980 (Amendment-1992) - Act incorporating tougher punishment for being involved the leaking question papers in the public examinations.

After attending an inter-ministry meeting on the ways of preventing question paper leakage on August 20, Nurul Islam told reporters that the existing law had a provision for four years of imprisonment for such crime.

The meeting also decided to form

The ministry requested the PMO and Home Ministry to seek support from NSI and DB to maintain secrecy in preparation of question papers a monitoring committee to prevent question paper leaks in public examinations in future.

The committee will consists of the representatives from the Cabinet Division, the Public Administration Ministry, the Home Ministry, BG Press and representatives from the NSI, Special Branch of police and the DGFI, said the minister.

The education ministry on April 11, formed the seven-member probe body headed by an additional secretary to probe the allegation of leaking question papers in the higher secondary certificate exams.

On June 30, the committee submitted its report to the ministry with the findings that the question paper of the HSC’s English Second Paper under Dhaka board were leaked. l

Locals stage demo protesting suicide of schoolgirl n Mohammad Jamil Khan Hundreds of locals, including teachers and students of Khilgaon area in the capital, yesterday staged demonstration and formed a human chain protesting the suicide of a schoolgirl because of sexual harrasment.

The demonstration began soon after the body of Umme Kulsum Ritu, 15, a Class IX student of East Point Education School and College in Khilgaon, reached the school playground around 3pm following the autopsy at Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

She killed herself with poison on Saturday evening in face of continuous sexual harrasment by a local stalker, her family members said.

During the two hour demonstration, school students, teachers and locals laid siege to the house of the alleged stalker in Nandipara area. During the human chain, they also demanded that the culprits be immediately arrested and awarded with exemplary punishment.

Victim’s mother Shathi Begum filed a case with Khilgaon police station, accusing five people, including prime accused Shimul Chandra Mandal.

The victim used to live with her family at Nandipara. She was the eldest among three brothers and sisters. Her father Mohammad Ashiq and mother Sathi Akther are garment workers.

Like everyday, Ritu’s parents went to work and her grandmother Fatema went to a neighbour’s house after lunch. Getting the chance, prime accused Shimul, along with Joy, entered Ritu’s house and tried to abuse her.

Hearing her screaming, Fatema rushed to the house but the stalkers left the spot. Later, Fatema called on Ritu’s Bangla teacher Al-Amin, also their neighbour, for help.

Later, Ritu took the poison to kill herself as Al-Amin and Fatema were outside the house, discussing the steps to be taken in this regard.

Ritu was taken to DMCH where the on-duty doctors declared her dead.Mohammad Foyez, uncle of the deceased, said despite repeated complaints to Shimul’s Father Ranjan Chandra Mandal, no step was taken by him.

With tears in his eyes, Ritu’s father Ashiq said: “They have killed my daughter. ” Contacted, Mostafiz Bhuiyan, officer-in-charge of Khilgaon police station, said they were yet to arrest any of the accused.

“However, we are trying our best to arrest the accused. Hopefully, we will be able to arrest them shortly,” he added. l

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B3 Smartphone makers dial up growth in India

B4 Searching for growth in Europe, clarity in China

RMG export to US faces setback It falls 9% during July-August after compliance issues hit the country’s biggest industry n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi RMG exports to US market have seen an 8.8% decline to $831 million in the first two months of current fiscal.

A set of compliance issues and lack of proper infrastructure are attributed to the failure in grabbing enough orders from the United States buyers.

According to the Export Promotion Bureau data released yesterday, Bangladesh earned only $831 million by exporting apparel products to the US market in July-August period of the current fiscal, which is 8.81% less compared to $911 million earned in the same period of last fiscal.

The woven items has seen 10.46% decline to $604.75 billion compared to 675.42 million in the previous year’s earning. The knitting apparels earnings lost around 4% to $226.37 million against $236 million in the same period of the previous fiscal.

“This is the reflection of low orders from the global buyers especially from the US,” BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim told the Dhaka Tribune while commenting on the declining trend of woven sector export earnings.

The compliance issues have cast a shadow on the export earning as every day RMG units are being shut, he said, adding that the buyers are disinclined to place new orders in shared buildings housing factories.

According to the Accord and Alliance agreement, the buyers may not

Dutch trade delegation due today n Tribune Report A high-level trade delegation from the Netherlands representing different sectors including Information Communication Technology (ICT), food security, logistics, technology, waste management, water management and shipping sectors is scheduled to arrive in Dhaka today to explore potential areas for collaboration.

The Netherlands wants to make Bangladesh a hub for their IT outsourcing, apart from extending technological support and collaboration in the areas of flood and water management.

Nyenrode Business University and Dutch Embassy in Dhaka are arranging the four-day visit, according to senior officials of Bangladesh Association of Software and Information Services (BASIS).

On the top line, BASIS and Dutch Embassy in Dhaka will host a B2B matchmaking event on September 9 morning time at the BASIS auditorium. As part of the program, a seminar styled 'Investing in Bangladesh-practical information & key constraints' will be held on Tuesday morning.

Dutch IT delegation along with the Embassy officials and BASIS members will attend the seminar where state minister of foreign affairs Md. Shahriar Alam will attend the seminar as chief guest while the ambassador of the Kingdom of the Netherlands will attend the program as special guest.

Around 50 BASIS member companies have already shown their interest in B2B meetings with Dutch companies, BAISIS sources also informed.

Same number of Bangladeshi IT companies will also attend a networking reception at the residence of the ambassador of the embassy of the Netherlands, said Badruddoza Mahmud Tuhin, assistant manager of BASIS. l

pull out their orders till the factories are relocated.

A BGMEA data said a total of 209 factories had been shut since the deadliest collapse of Rana Plaza last year.

“RMG exports to the US market have declined as our competitors Vietnam, Cambodia, Pakistan and India have gained the ability to develop infrastructure, productivity and price competitiveness that lured American buyers,” Mustafizur Rahman, executive director, Centre for Policy Dialogue told the Dhaka Tribune.

Bangladesh fails to grab the orders coming from china due to lack of proper infrastructure, lead time and increasing cost, which were reasons behind the downward trend in export earnings, said Rahman.

He added that some buyers are disinterested in placing orders after the Rana Plaza collapse.

“The US buyers are now in wait-andsee mood as they are observing the inspection report on the RMG sector in Bangladesh, thus abstaining from putting orders,” said Bangladesh Knitwear Manufacturers and Exporters Association first Vice-President Mohammad Hatem.

He adds that the downward trend could be beaten as soon as the probe gets completed that would help buyers gain confidence in safety issues.

However, the total RMG exports to the world market in July-August period have seen 1.72% growth to $4.23 billion, which was $4.16 billion in the same period last year. l

MONDAY, SEPTEMBER 8, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

ODA falls 44% short of requirement to achieve MDGs n Kayes Sohel Official Development Assistance (ODA) from development partners fell 44% short of what annually required for attaining the higher growth and millennium development goals (MDGs).

The country has received US$1.68bn ODA against the annual requirement of $3bn for attaining the higher growth, according to the General Economic Division of the Planning Commission.

Bangladesh needs $78.2bn to achieve all the indicators of MDGs (2011-15). The country required to invest $5bn from its own resources and $3bn in foreign assistances to attain general growth and higher growth annually, it said.

“Resource requirement is one of thee impediments to achieving MDGs in Bangladesh,” GED member Shamsul Alam said in a presentation on MDG progress report 2013.

Echoing with him, UNDP Country Director Pauline Tamesis said resource mobilisation from the government and the development partners are also important.

Internationally, eight major MDGs were identified and individual countries had set some specific targets to achieve them by 2015. Bangladesh is one of the signatories to the MDG charter.

MDGs included: eradicate extreme poverty and hunger; achieve universal primary education; gender equality and women empowerment; reduce child mortality; improve maternal health; combat HIV/AIDS, malaria and other diseases; ensure environmental sustainability and develop a global partnership for development.

Bangladesh had adopted 21 targets and 60 indicators against which progress was measured. However, the report said data against only 33 indicators was available.

According to the report, of the total

Dignitaries display the progress report 2013 on Millennium Development Goals of Bangladesh as the book was launched at a function at the NEC conference room in Dhaka yesterday Courtesy

In absolute terms, Japan was the highest provider of ODA amounting to $348.5m followed by the UK ($109m) and Germany ($68.7m) 33 indicators, progress on 11 indicators is lagging behind, on track for 10 while targets against 12 indicators have been met.

During the last two decades and more, Bangladesh on an average got $1.7bn ODA per year. The disbursed ODA as a proportion of the country’s GDP has declined from 5.59% in fiscal year (FY) 1990-91 to 1.87% in FY 2012-

13, implying yearly average of 2.62%.

During the same period, per capital ODA disbursement saw fluctuating figures ranging between $18.29 and $7.64, meaning yearly average of $12.7 from FY1990-91 to FY2012-13. On yearly average, Bangladesh got $633m as grants and $1,045m as loans.

Out of 34-member states of the OECD, only eight countries provided $624.9m ODA to Bangladesh in FY201213. The amount was about 22.23% of the total ODA received by Bangladesh during the period.

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) is an international economic organisation founded in 1961 to stimulate economic progress and world trade.

Most OECD members are high-income economies with a very high Human Development Index and are regarded as developed countries.

Govt to promote labour inspection in RMG sector n Tribune Report

International Labour Organisation gives 95 motor bikes for labour inspectors with funding from Canada, Netherlands and UK. Senior diplomats of these countries and other officials pose during hand-over ceremony in Dhaka yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

The government is trying its best to ensure a credible and transparent inspection in RMG sector by strengthening the Labour Inspection Department, said State Minister for Labour.

During a labour inspection equipment handover ceremony, jointly organised by the government and the International Labour Organisation (ILO), Mujibul Haque Chunnu made the comment.

He also said the government had already taken several programmes to train the labour inspectors.

As part of the move, the annual budget for the department had been increased to $3.02 million this year, whereas it was only $0.36 million in the FY2006-07, secretary to the ministry told the Dhaka Tribune.

The state minister, on behalf of the government, received 95 motorcycles

from the ILO. Canada, Netherlands and the UK aid gave away the bikes which will be distributed among the officials of the Department of Inspection and Establishment.

The minister also asked all the inspectors to learn how to drive motorcycles within two weeks so that the inspection system could work more efficiently.

Srinivas B Reddy, ILO's country director in Bangladesh, said the National Labour Inspection policy was a must for a better RMG sector, and the government should work on it.

He also said the project would continue to deliver more equipment to support the RMG sector in Bangladesh.

Netherlands Ambassador to Bangladesh, Gerben Sjoerd de Jong, said the stakeholders of the sector should work to turn the inspection department into a global standard. l

CTO forum kicks off today; Tofail: Recruitment of 200 focus on sharing knowledge fire inspectors by October n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Commonwealth Telecommunication Organisation (CTO) begins a five-day annual forum and council in Dhaka today with an aim to sharing of knowledge and innovations in the international ICT sector.

With the theme “ICTs for development - from access to inclusive and innovative services,” the events – threeday forum followed by two-day council – will be held at Radisson Hotel.

Bangladesh Government and Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) are jointly hosting one of the most prestigious summits in the world's telecommunication sector.

The CTO forum aims to focus on sharing of knowledge among stakeholders in the sector organising seminars on different IT issues.

High government officials including ministers, secretaries and BTRC chairman will attend the summit.

The forum would be the big-

gest ever ICT event in the country, Golam Mowla Bhuiyan, BTRC director general for system and services, told the journalists recently.

“We are satisfied with the arrangement in Dhaka. Our team liked the venue and hope it will be a successful event from Bangladesh,” said Lasantha De Alwis, director of operations and corporate secretary of CTO. Crediting Bangladesh with achieving tremendous improvements in the ICT sector, he also said many developing countries are learning from the country.

The CTO conference would be a learning session and a chance for member countries to share knowledge, he added.

Bangladesh considers the event especially important as a chance to draw support for its election as a council member of International Telecommunication Union (ITU).

The election will be held during the next ITU summit which is due to begin on October 20 in South Korea.

CTO says it promotes, facilitates and guides its members in using ICTs to deliver effective development intervention. The vision of the CTO is to be the preferred partner for governments, the private sector and civil society in delivering effective ICTs for development (ICT4D) in the Commonwealth and beyond. l

n Tribune Report The long pending recruitment process of 200 fire inspectors, out of the BCS candidates who have been waiting for postings after passing all the-three tiers of the examination, will be completed

by October this year.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed yesterday came up with the disclosure at a media briefing after holding a regular meeting on Social Compliance for the RMG sector held at commerce ministry in the secretariat in the city. The meeting discussed about the progress of the overall social compliance issues.

Meanwhile, the government had appointed 67 class-one fire inspectors, out of the 200 in different categories, while rest of them would have to join as 2nd class inspectors by October.

Although, we promised to accomplish the appoint process of all the 200 inspectors by August, we could not full-fill our pledge as yet due to some legal complications, said Ahmed.

He also said the problem is very close to be resolved and hoped that the appointment of 200 inspectors would be completed by October at any cost. The government would provide cash incentives to the non-traditional export items to diversify products aiming at enlarging the export volume, the minister told reporters.

According to meeting sources, the meeting has assigned the senior secretary of commerce Hedayetullah Al Mamoon and labor and employment secretary Mikail Shipar to discuss the issue with the Public Service Commission (PSC) for accomplishing the entire appointment process by October.

“Since the inception of the Social Compliance for the RMG sector, the country has made good progress in social compliance issues in the last eight years,” said the minister.

“During the collapse of Spectrum Garment, there were no complete data of workers but after the Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashion fire incident, we have complete data,'' claimed Tofail.

The RMG owners have become more cautious regarding safety issues and establishing RMG factories in line with the full-fledged social and industrial compliance issues, said the minister.

“If Bangladesh gets duty-free access to the global markets as per the WTO rules, the trade volume of the country will cross US$50bn by 2021.”

In response to a query, commerce minister said: “Bangladesh's export to the market of Japan would be $1bn by the current fiscal year as the Japan government has allowed duty-free access of all Bangladeshi products except arms and hand gloves. l

Out of the eight countries – Cabana, Denmark, Germany, Japan, Nether Lands, Sweden, UK and South Korea – provided ODA to Bangladesh in FY 2012-13. Only three countries – Sweden, Denmark and UK – are complying with their commitment to provide more than 0.7% of their GNI as ODA to the developing countries.

In absolute terms, Japan was the highest provider of ODA amounting to $348.5m followed by the UK ($109m) and Germany ($68.7m).

Out of total $32.6bn ODA disbursement from 190-91 to 2012-13 in Bangladesh, public administration got highest 17.38%, followed by power 15.09%, transport 13.16%, education and religious affairs 11.59%, health, population and family welfare 10.1%, physical, planning, water supply and housing 7.78%, water resources 6.4% and agriculture 4.32%, according the GED data. l

Export earnings fall short of target by 9% n Tribune Report The country has failed to reach its target by 9% to US$5.14bn against the target of $5.66bn in the first two month of the current fiscal year.

During July-August of 2014-15, Bangladesh earned $5.14 billion, which is 2% higher compared to $5.03 billion for the same period of last fiscal year, according to Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) data released yesterday.

Meanwhile, the country's export earnings posted 7.25% growth in August to over $2.15bn compared to $2bn of the last fiscal year. This figure is 17.46% lower than that of the target of 2.6bn for the period.

The export earnings failed to reach its target as the RMG sector has also failed to reach its export target, Shahidullah Azim, vice president of Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) told the Dhaka Tribune.

“As we have fixed an ambitious export target, we have missed it,” said Khondaker Golam Moazzem, additional research director of CPD. Failure in reaching the export target of the RMG sector is undoubtedly a mater of concern and we should concentrate on the upcoming challenges in RMG sector, especially with the compliance issues, he added.

According EPB data, the RMG sector failed to reach the export target by 7.72% as the government has set export target of $4.58bn for the July-August period but the sector could earn $4,23bn.

In July-August-2014-15, RMG sector, the highest foreign currency earner of the country posted a 1.72% growth to $4.23bn, which was $4.16bn in the same period last year. The export earning from Knitwear products posted a nearly 5% growth to $2.20bn but the earnings from woven products has seen a 1.6% decline.

Among the major sector, frozen food posted 8.26% gain followed by agriculture products 14.31%,Pharmaceutical 24.5%, plastics products 35.81%, leather and leather products 18%, handicraft 15.45%, bicycle 38% and ships, boat and floating structure 200%.

Non-performers were frozen fish, which registered 4.18% negative growth followed by vegetable 5.74%, jute and jute products 11.27%, specialized textile 28.74%, terry towel 46% and furniture17%. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks fall after 4-day rally

DSE key features September 7-2014

n Tribune Report

Number of Contract

Turnover (Million Taka)

over 52% of the total DSE turnover.

Rally in the market bellwether banks that gained almost 2% offset losses of other large cap sectors.

Non-banking financial institutions lost the highest 1.4%, followed by telecommunication that shed 1.3%.

Pharmaceuticals, power, food and allied, tannery, IT and engineering also performed negative.

BRAC-EPL said after last four sessions of gaining streak, the market witnessed marginal correction amid volatility throughout the sessions.

Lanka Bangla Securities said market ended flat as investors went for some profit booking. It said intraday volatility in the index has been observed.

IDLC Investments said carving out last few weeks’ enthusiastic tone, opening session of the week absorbed flat-end.

The consecutive re-assessment of market level valuation encouraged few investors to book profit in some blue chip stocks, it said.

Zenith Investments said market failed to sustain its last week’s strength and gave in to the pressure of profit taking.

The center of attraction was mainly the financial institutions along with textile sector which reported high sector-wise gains compared to other sectors, it said.

Beximco Ltd was the most traded stocks with shares worth nearly Tk17 crore changing hands, followed

by BSRM Steel, Mobil Jamuna Limited Bangladesh, Saiham Textile, Grameenphone, Lafarge Surma Cement Ltd Bangladesh, and ACI Ltd. l

Stocks fell marginally yesterday, breaking their four-day rally, as late profit booking cut early gains.

The market opened on upbeat mood but profit taking selling pressure mainly on non-banking financial institutions and telecommunications has offset the early gains.

The Dhaka Stock Exchange benchmark index, DSEX, witnessed fractional losses of 0.9 points to 4,641.

The center of attraction was mainly the financial institutions along with textile sector which reported high sector-wise gains compared to other sectors The Shariah index, DSES, was marginally down 8 points or 0.8% to 1,080. The comprising blue chips DS30 shed 10 points to 1,748.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, shed 12 points to 8,737.

Trading activities, however, declined further as turnover at DSE stood at Tk520 crore, which was almost 14% over the previous session.

Textile, pharmaceuticals, engineering and energy scrips made 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)

Modern Dyeing -Z Deshbandhu Polymer-A Tung Hai Knitting -N Fine Foods A Khulna Printing-N FarEast Knitting -N ICB -A Rangpur Dairy-N Agni Systems -A BDCOM Online-A

-9.12 -8.74 -5.91 -5.46 -4.66 -4.65 -4.52 -4.33 -4.18 -4.09

CSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

Deshbandhu Polymer-A ICB -A AFC AgroBiotech-A Reliance1 M.F.-A Wata Chemicals -A Rahima Food -Z Rangpur Dairy-N Fine Foods A FarEast Knitting -N BD. Thai Alum -B

-8.74 -5.50 -5.38 -5.19 -5.10 -4.76 -4.74 -4.42 -4.42 -4.38

4641.45253

(-) 0.02%

1748.23772

(-) 0.57%

14365.03080

(+) 0.06%

11487.24100

(-) 0.11%

8737.66730

(+) 0.14%

Average (% Change) -9.24 -7.36 -4.99 -5.12 -3.91 -2.31 -4.04 -1.18 1.63 -0.38 Average (% Change) -7.23 -5.50 -3.39 -3.25 -4.06 -4.76 -1.70 -3.98 -2.30 -3.56

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 76.60 19.26 24.56 17.62 31.43 40.15 1710.46 22.60 33.06 26.50

Closing 76.70 18.80 23.90 17.30 30.70 39.00 1696.50 22.10 32.10 25.80

Bank NBFI Investment Engineering Food & Allied Fuel & Power Jute Textile Pharma & Chemical Paper & Packaging Service Leather Ceramic Cement Information Technology General Insurance Life Insurance Telecom Travel & Leisure Miscellaneous Debenture

DSE Million Taka 406.99 360.82 100.70 638.13 197.07 519.65 1.43 887.28 672.01 63.10 56.56 35.08 90.75 200.13 125.16 124.94 92.39 229.37 120.37 269.85 0.58

Company

147,241,420 127,992

Traded Issues

298

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

159

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

133 6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,439.17

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

29.57

CSE key features September 7-2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

408.20

Turnover (Volume)

12,614,872

Number of Contract

16,471

Traded Issues

227

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

122

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

99

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,355.58

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

28.55

Turnover in Million

DHIGH

DLOW

83.90 20.20 25.70 18.60 32.70 41.50 1800.00 23.60 36.00 27.50

76.00 18.60 23.60 17.20 30.70 38.70 1689.00 20.80 30.20 25.00

Latest EPS

0.203 39.598 53.216 5.576 62.039 58.534 12.016 39.914 49.861 4.058

1.61 0.81 0.60 -1.01 1.31 2.13 53.53 1.16 1.27 1.43

Turnover in Million

Closing

DHIGH

DLOW

19.11 1,688.00 54.51 7.45 229.50 40.00 22.60 17.63 39.97 26.28

18.80 1,688.00 54.50 7.30 227.00 40.00 22.10 17.30 38.90 26.20

20.10 1,688.00 55.40 7.60 232.00 40.00 23.40 18.60 41.30 27.60

18.70 1,688.00 54.30 7.30 227.00 40.00 21.90 17.20 38.70 26.00

Latest EPS

2.496 0.084 0.232 0.253 0.092 0.020 2.610 0.547 10.071 0.960

0.81 53.53 2.84 1.38 6.20 -1.01 1.16 -1.01 2.13 0.84

Latest PE 47.6 23.8 40.9 -ve 24.0 18.8 32.0 19.5 26.0 18.5

1.09 0.68 1.75 3.85 2.41 2.41 1.78 4.42 2.32 5.20 0.01

Million Taka 37.54 28.73 5.32 36.90 15.04 24.44 56.46 59.14 13.03 3.45 9.48 9.44 33.28 13.34 5.83 3.33 22.99 15.65 28.31 0.00

CSE

% change 8.90 6.81 1.26 8.75 3.57 5.80 0.00 13.39 14.02 3.09 0.82 2.25 2.24 7.89 3.16 1.38 0.79 5.45 3.71 6.71 0.00

Million Taka 444.53 389.55 106.02 675.03 212.12 544.09 1.43 943.74 731.15 76.12 60.02 44.56 100.19 233.40 138.50 130.77 95.72 252.36 136.02 298.16 0.59

10.00 9.98 9.09 8.14 8.01 8.00 7.69 6.96 6.90 6.82

Total

Company PrimeFin. 1st MF-A 6th ICB M F-A ACI Formulations-A Saiham Tex.A Asia Pasific Insu. -A Legacy Footwear -A H.R. Textile -A AMCL 2nd MF-A First Lease- A Eastern Bank - A

Closing (% Change) 9.71 9.62 9.20 8.68 8.37 7.77 6.39 6.38 5.79 5.68

Average (% Change) 10.98 10.13 8.46 4.54 9.68 8.34 10.45 7.84 7.59 7.29 Average (% Change) 9.47 10.71 9.96 9.56 8.28 4.97 6.42 6.38 4.63 5.76

ClosingAvg.

Closing

8.79 93.57 15.52 31.55 33.76 8.18 19.76 16.79 6.24 36.34

ClosingAvg.

8.80 93.70 15.60 31.90 33.70 8.10 19.60 16.90 6.20 36.00

Closing

19.19 56.98 92.59 33.58 23.28 31.68 33.30 5.00 19.87 27.90

19.20 57.00 92.60 33.80 23.30 31.90 33.30 5.00 20.10 27.90

DHIGH 8.80 93.70 15.70 32.30 34.20 8.20 20.00 17.30 6.30 36.90

DHIGH 19.20 57.20 93.20 34.20 23.60 32.00 33.30 5.00 20.20 27.90

DLOW 8.70 76.70 14.20 29.50 31.40 7.70 18.80 14.90 6.00 30.50

DLOW 19.00 56.00 88.90 31.50 22.60 30.50 33.30 5.00 19.20 27.90

Turnover in Million 0.510 54.815 0.388 19.749 144.923 0.139 38.183 8.853 0.259 1.080

Turnover in Million 0.288 0.057 0.685 3.922 0.128 3.207 0.067 0.010 1.679 0.028

Latest EPS -4.85 3.36 -6.91 0.28 3.09 -1.85 1.30 0.92 -1.33 2.84

Latest EPS 1.30 6.47 3.36 3.09 2.26 0.28 1.75 0.99 1.38 3.10

Latest PE -ve 27.8 -ve 112.7 10.9 -ve 15.2 18.3 -ve 12.8

Latest PE 14.8 8.8 27.6 10.9 10.3 113.1 19.0 5.1 14.4 9.0

News, analysis and recent disclosers ACIFORMULA: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of ACI Formulations Limited, a subsidiary of Advanced Chemical Industries Limited has decided to execute a Manufacturing and Support Agreement for production of Paints with Akzo Nobel Paints (Singapore) Pte. Ltd an associate of Akzo Nobel of Netherlands, the world's largest paints manufacturer, for which an Agreement will be signed with Akzo Nobel (Singapore) Pte Ltd. The Project is initially being located within the premises of the factory at Gazipur having necessary infrastructural and production/storage facility.

JMISMDL: The Company has further informed that the shareholders in the 7th EGM of the Company which was held on 6th September, 2014, have approved the following: "To increase Company's paid up capital by issuing right share @ 2R:1 i.e. two rights shares for every one existing share held on record date at an issue price of Tk. 20.00 each (including a premium of Tk. 10.00 per share)."

BANGAS: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on September 18, 2014 at 3:30 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company

for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

DESHBANDHU: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on September 07, 2014 at 4:30 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

Primary Status of IPO: Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries Ltd.: All concerned are hereby informed that the primary status of the IPO of Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries Ltd.: Total amount of subscription (excluding NRB) is Tk. 8,304,540,000. Total amount received from NRB is Tk. 33,280,000 up to 28 August 2014.

Final Status of IPO: Western Marine Shipyard Ltd.: All concerned are hereby informed that the final status of the IPO of Western Marine Shipyard Ltd. is, Total subscription received from General Public=Tk. 2,881,091,500, Affected Small Investors=Tk.358,809,500, NRB=Tk. 249,347,000 & Mutual Fund=Tk. 744,866,500. Total subscription received=Tk. 4,234,114,500 against Public Issue of IPO of Tk. 1,575,000,000 which is over subscribed by 2.69 times.

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.

Right Share: MIDASFIN: Subscription period for rights issue will be from 01.09.2014 to 30.09.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 03.08.2014.

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

MHSML: 25% stock, AGM: 30.10.2014, Record date: 25.09.2014.

FARCHEM: 20% stock, AGM: 09.10.2014, Record date: 11.09.2014.

SAIHAMCOT: 10% cash, AGM: 23.10.2014, Record date: 17.09.2014.

BSCCL: 10% cash, AGM: 12.10.2014, Record date: 04.09.2014.

PRAGATILIF: No dividend, AGM: 30.09.2014, Record date: 14.09.2014.

GPHISPAT: 15% cash and 5% stock, AGM: 10.11.2014, Record date: 22.09.2014.

Dividend of Mutual Funds: 1JANATAMF: 12.50% 'Re-Investment' Units. EXIM1STMF: 12% 'Re-Investment' Units.

Latest PE 23.6 31.5 19.2 5.4 37.0 -ve 19.5 -ve 18.8 31.3

The consecutive re-assessment of market level valuation encouraged few investors to book profit in some blue chip stocks

% change 7.84 6.95 1.94 12.29 3.80 10.01 0.03 17.09 12.94

Meghna Con. Milk -B ACI Formulations-A Midas Financing-Z Legacy Footwear -A Saiham Tex.A Imam Button -Z PrimeFin. 1st MF-A I P D C -A Meghna PET Ind. -Z United Insur -A

Closing (% Change)

CSE GAINER

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

ClosingAvg.

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▼ ▼ ▲ ▼ ▲

DSE GAINER

5,192.35

Turnover (Volume)

Monday, September 8, 2014

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

% change 7.92 6.94 1.89 12.02 3.78 9.69 0.03 16.81 13.02 1.36 1.07 0.79 1.78 4.16 2.47 2.33 1.70 4.50 2.42 5.31 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 BSRM Steels-A MJL BD Ltd.-A Saiham Tex.A Grameenphone-A LafargeS Cement-Z ACI Limited- A Beximco Pharma -A BD Submarine Cable-A Aftab Auto.-A

CMC Kamal Tex. -A BSC-A CVO PetroChem RL-A Golden Son -A Prime Finance-A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Square Pharma -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A BD Submarine Cable-A HeidelbergCement -A FarEast Knitting -N UNITED AIR-A BSRM Steels-A AramitCementA Shahjibazar Power-N Aftab Auto.-A

LafargeS Cement-Z National Bank - A Khulna Printing-N Grameenphone-A Fu-wang Ceramic-A

VolumeShares 4,196,871 1,688,214 1,289,580 4,292,900 422,800 1,047,500 336,124 1,793,037 584,047 1,039,131

Value in Million 173.35 165.01 148.72 144.92 141.72 124.30 119.12 97.64 87.65 85.90

% of TotalTurnover 3.34 3.18 2.86 2.79 2.73 2.39 2.29 1.88 1.69 1.65

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

3,213,604 125,200 111,558 1,453,859 3,275,688

136,176 574,402 107,500 30,200 252,000 738,891 84,845 175,500 11,700 94,847

63,500 634,835 224,500 20,400 357,500

81.53 76.62 74.84 68.66 67.85

32.32 23.72 16.17 15.10 10.07 9.21 8.36 8.07 7.85 7.84

7.54 7.14 7.07 6.83 6.43

1.57 1.48 1.44 1.32 1.31

8.20 6.02 4.10 3.83 2.56 2.34 2.12 2.05 1.99 1.99

1.91 1.81 1.79 1.73 1.63

ClosingP 40.80 95.50 113.30 33.70 333.40 117.20 350.60 53.80 148.60 81.80

25.40 606.25 681.30 46.90 20.70

ClosingP

235.20 40.90 148.60 494.20 38.90 12.40 96.20 46.10 659.00 82.30

117.60 11.30 30.80 333.70 17.80

Change % -2.16 -3.05 -2.91 8.01 -1.39 -1.68 1.56 -2.18 2.48 1.49

3.67 -0.66 5.06 -1.68 2.99

Change %

-0.84 -2.15 3.48 -0.06 -4.42 -2.36 -3.32 1.99 3.05 2.11

-1.09 1.80 -4.35 -1.18 3.49

ClosingY 41.70 98.50 116.70 31.20 338.10 119.20 345.20 55.00 145.00 80.60

24.50 610.25 648.50 47.70 20.10

ClosingY

237.20 41.80 143.60 494.50 40.70 12.70 99.50 45.20 639.50 80.60

118.90 11.10 32.20 337.70 17.20

DHIGH

DLOW

45.00 101.00 118.40 34.20 339.90 121.00 362.00 58.00 153.90 85.00

37.60 95.00 105.10 31.40 332.50 116.90 330.00 50.00 130.60 73.00

26.00 621.00 687.90 48.50 21.50

22.30 603.00 610.00 45.00 18.50

DHIGH

DLOW

240.00 42.20 153.30 500.00 41.30 12.80 99.70 46.20 680.00 83.50

235.00 40.70 145.50 493.60 38.70 12.30 100.00 45.00 650.00 81.30

120.60 11.40 32.50 339.00 18.50

116.90 10.90 30.70 332.20 17.40

AvgPrice 41.30 97.74 115.33 33.76 335.19 118.66 354.38 54.45 150.07 82.67

25.37 612.01 670.83 47.23 20.71

AvgPrice

237.36 41.30 150.38 499.96 39.97 12.46 98.53 45.97 670.78 82.61

118.76 11.24 31.50 334.72 17.98

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Monday, September 8, 2014

Smartphone makers dial up growth in India

BB to provide Tk2cr to send back urban poor to own villages n Tribune Business Desk

n AFP, New Delhi Smartphone-makers are in a race to the bottom of India's economic pyramid as they battle for customers in the fastgrowing low-end market segment where analysts say opportunities are vast.

India is now the quickest-expanding smartphone market globally and the third-largest market after China and the United States, according to Britainbased consultancy Canalys.

India "is a market that offers huge potential as hundreds of millions of users have yet to upgrade", said Jessica Kwee, an analyst at Canalys.

Sales in the country of 1.25 billion people rose by 84% in the quarter to June from a year earlier as users traded up from basic handsets to more sophisticated models, spurred by ever lower prices.

Local and foreign companies alike are sacrificing profit margins to build market share in India, which counts 914 million mobile users, according to government data. The cheapest smartphones now retail at 2,000 rupees ($33), down from an average 15,000 rupees two years ago.

Technology consultancy IDC India projects annual smartphone sales growth of around 40 percent for the next five years in the price-sensitive nation, home to 33 percent of the world's poor.

"A new entry-level price point is being breached by Indian home-grown vendors in every (financial) quarter," IDC analyst Karan Thakkar said. Smartphones now hold a 10 percent market share among India's mobile-phone-using population, according to IDC. That 10 percent figure is widely seen as a "tipping point" - the moment when buyers start opting for smartphones over other phones, going by experiences in other countries.

And the below-$200 slice of the smartphone market is at the heart of the action, accounting for some fourfifths of total Indian smartphone sales, IDC says.

An Indian mobile phone vendor shows a display unit for a low-end smartphone, an unlicensed copy of a Vertu luxury mobile phone, in New Delhi on September 5

'A time of transformation'

California-based Mozilla, the non-profit organisation behind the open-source web browser Firefox, is the latest entry into India's cheap smartphone market.

Mozilla joined forces with Indian phonemaker Intex last month to launch a low-cost smartphone - the Intex Cloud FX - at 1,999 rupees.

Intex, which billed the smartphone as India's cheapest, said the first batch sold out in days. It aims to sell half-amillion handsets by the end of 2014.

Leading television channel NDTV's technology reviewer Jamshed Avari called the handset "a great start" for

Firefox in India but warned of "agonising slowdowns" when operating it.

Intex's nearest smartphone rival price-wise is domestic handset-maker Spice, which sells its Firefox-powered Spice Fire One Mi-FX 1 for 2,299 rupees, or $37.

Using Firefox slashes 30 percent from prices of the closest Androidbased competition, experts say. Other Indian handset-makers also have ultraaffordable Firefox-driven smartphones in the works.

The smartphone sales boom echoes India's initial staggering growth in mobile telephony in the last decade when

the country was adding millions of new subscribers a month.

That frenetic growth has flattened - the number of mobile users per 100 stands at 73.55 - and now the focus is getting Internet access through smartphones.

"It's a time of transformation in the Indian mobile industry - getting access to the Internet is where it's at," Vanitha Narayanan, IBM India managing director, told AFP. Handset makers in India and other emerging markets have been leapfrogging fixed-line technology that was used in developed markets. They are employing mobile broadband to deliv-

AFP

er Internet access to people who have no computers.

The replacement market now is propelling most mobile sales and the smartphone switchover is becoming much easier with the fall in prices and cheap monthly finance options.

All these developments could spell trouble for South Korean giant Samsung, which has targeted mainly highend customers and leads the Indian smartphone market with a 29 percent share, according to IDC. It needs to move into the high-volume, low-cost segment more decisively, analysts say. l

Dollar hits six-year high against yen in Asia As cocoa price soars, chocolate n AFP, Tokyo The dollar soared to a near six-year high against the yen Friday on upbeat expectations for US jobs data, while the euro sank after the European Central Bank launched a surprise round of monetary easing.

The greenback jumped to 105.69 yen in early Asian trade - its highest level since the depths of the global financial crisis in October 2008 - before easing slightly to 105.33 yen. However, it was still above the 105.22 yen seen in New York.

The euro, which fell below $1.30 for the first time since July 2013 on Thursday, bought $1.2931 compared with $1.2945 in US trade while it was unchanged at 136.22 yen.

Upbeat data for the world's number one economy have helped boost the dollar recently, with key jobs numbers scheduled for later Friday.

The US currency has also been given a lift against the yen as investors shift out of the euro after the ECB's announcement.

The dollar's rebound to crisis-era levels is psychologically significant, said Junichi Ishikawa, market analyst

at IG Securities.

"This will send a signal to the market that further advances in the dollar lie ahead," Ishikawa said.

ECB policymakers on Thursday cut eurozone interest rates to 0.05% from 0.15% and the deposit rate to minus

'The ECB over-delivered versus consensus market expectations' 0.2% from minus 0.1%, meaning lenders will now have to pay more to keep their cash at the central bank.

It also unveiled plans to purchase asset-backed securities to help kickstart lending in the region, which is dogged by the threat of deflation.

"The ECB over-delivered versus consensus market expectations," National Australia Bank said in a note.

Tsuyoshi Hirota, chief manager of the forex department at Mitsubishi UFJ Trust and Banking, said some market players were "taking dollar-buying opportunities ahead of the release of the (US) jobs data" Friday.

"Strong figures are expected,

prompting short-term buying," he said of the August employment data.

The US economy's upward momentum has fuelled speculation the Federal Reserve will hike interest rates sooner than later, which would boost the greenback.

On Thursday, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its loose monetary policy in place but held off expanding the programme. It stuck to its rosy view of the world's number three economy despite mounting evidence that an April sales tax hike has stalled growth.

The dollar was mostly higher against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It strengthened to Sg$1.2558 from Sg$1.2518 on Thursday, to 32.11 Thai baht from 32.03 baht, to 1,025.25 South Korean won from 1,018.75 won, and to 43.66 Philippine pesos from 43.57 pesos.

The dollar also rose to Tw$29.94 from Tw$29.90 and to 60.43 Indian rupees from 60.42 rupees, while it edged down to 11,765.00 Indonesian rupiah from 11,766.30 rupiah.

The Australian dollar inched up to 93.41 US cents from 93.38 cents while the Chinese yuan rose to 17.12 yen from 17.09 yen. l

makers devour substitutes n Reuters, Singapore Chocolate makers in the fast-growing Asian market are replacing a bigger proportion of cocoa butter, which gives confectionery its melt-in-the-mouth texture, with cheaper palm oil-based alternatives.

The move will help confectioners keep down prices in the price-sensitive region where chocolate sales are forecast to grow more than 5% this year to about 917,000 tonnes, according to market researcher Euromonitor International.

This is well ahead of growth of less than 1% in the United States and about 1.5% in western Europe.

Palm oil-based butter mimics the taste of cocoa butter but is much cheaper. Higher demand for butter alternatives, known as cocoa butter equivalent (CBE), has pushed prices up by about 10 percent to $3,300 a tonne in the past year, but this is still more than $4,000 below the price of butter from cocoa beans.

"We don't normally buy CBE, but

now we use it because of requests from customers," said Richard Lee, chief executive officer of Aalst Chocolate, a Singapore-based firm that sells chocolate to bakeries, ice cream makers and food manufacturers.

"When butter prices were low, we didn't even use CBE at all," said Lee, who estimated that the firm's orders for substitutes were three to four times higher than last year.

Confectioners in Asia and Europe are allowed to add cocoa butter equivalent to chocolate, but hold the maximum amount at 5 percent since a higher content can alter the taste and put off customers. In the United States, products using butter alternatives cannot be labeled "chocolate".

Cocoa beans are processed into roughly equal parts butter and powder, which is used in cakes, biscuits and drinks.

Chocolate typically contains about 20% cocoa butter, so confectioners in Asia and Europe looking to save money can replace about a quarter of the cocoa butter with something else. l

Bangladesh Bank yesterday signed an agreement with Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) to finance the poor in urban slums to return home and become self-employed.

As per the deal, the central bank and the specialised agriculture bank will implement the government's “Ghore Phera Karmasuchi” (return home programme), reports UNB. Under the agreement, Bangladesh Bank will provide Tk2 crore to BKB for providing loan of Tk30,000 to Tk40,000 to each poor living in the urban slums to return to their village to build residential house and get rehabilitated through self-employment.

The programme is being run by the Prime Minister's Office (PMO).

Bangladesh Bank executive director Mahfuzur Rahman and BKB managing director Abdus Salam signed the agreement on behalf of their respective side at a simple ceremony at Bangladesh Bank.

Addressing at the function, Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman said the main objective of the ‘Return Home Programme” is to provide home to each homeless people.

He said the central bank has been trying to implement various humanitarian programmes in the country's banking sector from its obligation of corporate social responsibility (CSR).

Dr Atiur said the Bangladesh Bank will provide more funds to the banks for implementing more such programmes like that of “Return Home.” l

Amazon.com's retail practices in India come under scrutiny n Reuters, San Francisco Regulators in India are investigating whether Amazon.com Inc may have circumvented restrictions placed on foreign investors by selling directly to domestic consumers, The Wall Street Journal on Friday, citing unidentified sources.

The Finance Ministry's Enforcement Directorate is looking into whether Amazon.com's local subsidiary may have sold directly to customers, but made it look as if the sales were made by other companies, the Journal report said, quoting two people familiar with the matter.

India does not allow foreign firms to own majority stakes in retail companies that sell more than one brand. Amazon. com is allowed to operate there because it acts as a marketplace rather than a retailer, according to the Journal.

Amazon was not immediately available for comment.

The Seattle-based e-commerce company makes its money in India by charging third-party suppliers to use its website to sell some 17 million different products, from books to electronics.

Asia's second-largest country is seen as strategically important to Amazon as it tries to ramp up growth and profits. l

General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, chairperson of Trust Bank Limited and chief of army staff in Bangladesh Army has recently inaugurated the bank’s new branch in Comilla

Sigree, a global chain restaurant has recently started its operation in Bangladesh. Jahid Akbar Chowdhury, chairperson of Dynasty Group and chief executive of Sigree was present at the inaugural ceremony along with cricketer Shakib Al Hasan

Modhumoti Bank Training Institute has recently arranged a training programme on credit proposal processing and green banking for the bank’s credit. The bank’s managing director and CEO, Md Mizanur Rahman has inaugurated the programme

Union Bank Ltd has recently held its first annual general meeting at a city hotel in Dhaka.

The bank’s chairperson, Shahidul Alam presided over the meeting

BRAC Bank Limited has recently extended support to Society for Education and Care of Hearing Impaired Children of Bangladesh (HICARE) to purchase a brain stem audiometer.

The bank’s MD and CEO Syed Mahbubur Rahman handed over a cheque for Tk5 lakh to Professor Anwar Hossain, chairperson, Hicare Society

Rotary has recently held a district membership seminar, where the director of Rotary International PT Probhakar presented his views on increasing the number of rotarian for the betterment of humanity. Governor Safina Rahman and former governor Salim Reza along with many others have also spoke at the seminar

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, September 8, 2014

Searching for growth in Europe, clarity in China n Reuters, Brussels The euro zone's struggle to avoid another recession will take centre stage in the coming week in the absence of major US data, as investors mull whether the ECB's new asset-buying plan is a prelude to even more radical steps.

While data from China may give clarity on a pattern of uneven growth there, it is in Europe that the prospects for the economy are most uncertain, although a ceasefire in Ukraine could lift the mood and avoid new EU sanctions on Russia this week.

The euro zone's fragile economic recovery came to a halt in the second quarter, in marked contrast to the United States, where the economy grew robustly. Like many of its neighbours struggling to rebound from the debt crisis, Italy slipped into recession for the third time since 2008.

EU finance ministers and European Central Bank President Mario Draghi convene on Friday in Milan, where the ECB's latest move to help the economy and avoid deflation will be at the forefront of discussions.

The ECB stunned markets last week by cutting interest rates and announcing a plan to buy asset-backed securities from October, which Barclays described "as a clear first step into quantitative easing" - a US-style bondbuying programme that could help the economy but divides the central bank.

Draghi said his aim was to expand the bank's balance sheet back to the heights reached in early 2012, which equates to a rise of around 50 percent or 1 trillion euros in new assets.

"This is going to be digested by the markets over the coming weeks," said Thomas Harjes, an economist at Barclays.

"There's now a 50-50 chance that the ECB will go further and announce a sovereign bond-buying programme by yearend, or the beginning of 2015," he said.

Under its statutes, the ECB is banned from buying bonds directly from governments but can find ways to purchase them from banks, for example,

Protestors left some barbed wire in front of the euro sign landmark outside the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) before the ECB's monthly news conference in Frankfurt REUTERS on the secondary market.

An inflation rate of just 0.3 percent, coupled with the lack of economic growth, has given new urgency to the bloc's search for growth. The ECB is urging governments to also do their part and enact ambitious structural reforms.

German trade, labour and industrial data during the week should show whether the second quarter's poor showing is part of a trend or a one-off.

A euro zone confidence indicator for September will also be watched after August's unexpected slump.

The ECB's stimulus contrasts with developments across the Atlantic, where the U.S. Federal Reserve is gradually winding down its bond-buying programme as the economy improves and is beginning to think about tighter monetary policy.

Investors have little to get their teeth into in the coming week and the

biggest U.S. data will be August's retail sales on Friday. With the jobs market lifting confidence, retail sales are seen up 0.3% after dropping in July.

The expected gain in the indicator's so-called control number, which corresponds most closely with the consumer spending component of gross domestic product, would be a welcome relief after spending dropped in July, leading some economists to temper their growth forecasts.

Still, US job growth slowed down sharply in August as more Americans gave up the hunt for work, giving a cautious Federal Reserve more reasons to wait a bit longer before raising rates.

The Fed's chair, Janet Yellen, is concerned about slow wage growth, the high numbers of Americans working part-time even though they want fulltime employment and a long spell of joblessness following the 2008/2009 financial crisis.

Eurozone economy stagnates n AFP, Brussels

Euro under water as ECB opens liquidity spout n Reuters, Sydney The euro was deep under water on Friday, having suffered its steepest fall in three years after the European Central Bank stunned markets by cutting interest rates and embarking on a trillion-euro asset-buying binge.

The aggressive shift sent shortterm bond yields into negative territory in Germany, France, the Netherlands and Austria, giving investors an overwhelming incentive to sell euros for higher-yielding assets elsewhere.

That stood in stark contrast to the United States, where upbeat data only reinforced the case for the Federal Reserve to wind down its stimulus, driving the dollar higher and sideswiping oil and gold in the process.

After surging on Thursday, European share markets looked set to start in a cautious mood as the US payrolls report loomed large later in the session. Financial spreadbetters tipped losses of 0.1% to 0.2% for the FTSE 100, DAX and CAC 40.

In Asia, Japan's Topix stalled just short of its January peak. Chart resistance is tough as a break there would take it to levels last seen in July 2008.

Chinese stocks extended their bull run, with the CSI300 of the leading Shanghai and Shenzhen A-share listings barrelling to their best in over eight months.

MSCI's broadest index of Asia-

Pacific shares outside Japan eased back 0.6%, having already reached its loftiest level since early 2008.

The Dow had eased 0.05%, the S&P 500 lost 0.15% and the Nasdaq 0.22%.

The euro was licking its wounds at $1.2934, after hitting a 14-month low of $1.2920 overnight, and it seemed destined to test the July 2013 trough of $1.2898.

It hit a one-month low on the yen at 135.97, while the dollar briefly spiked to a six-year peak of 105.71 yen before steadying at 105.35.

The single currency's capitulation came after ECB President Mario Draghi announced a range of rate cuts and a new plan to push money into the flagging euro zone economy.

In a news conference, Draghi said the aim was to expand the bank's balance sheet back to the heights reached in early 2012, which equates to a rise of around 50% or 1tn euros in new assets.

"The Governing Council will be pumping money into the economy while simultaneously penalising European banks that do not spend it," said Valentin Marinov, an analyst at CitiFX. "To the extent that at least some part of that money will head abroad, the turbo-charged easy money will likely invigorate euro-funded carry trades," said Marinov. l

The eurozone economy stagnated in the second quarter, official figures showed on Friday, in line with the poor outlook which pushed the European Central Bank into radical action on Thursday.

In a second estimate for growth in the 18-country currency zone, the Eurostat statistics body confirmed zero percent growth from the previous quarter. It also reported slight expansion of 0.2% for the full 28-country European Union.

"The second quarter stagnation in eurozone GDP clearly added to the pressure on the ECB to take further stimulative action sooner rather than later to try and dilute the risk of extended low consumer price inflation morphing into deflation," said economist Howard Archer at IHS Global Insight.

Eurozone economic activity also suffered "as heightened global geopolitical tensions, particularly the Ukraine/Russia crisis, weighed down on investment," he said.

The first estimate announced in mid-August sent shockwaves across financial markets and governments desperate for growth, and put even more pressure on the ECB to take action.

It did so in unexpected fashion on Thursday, when ECB president Mario Draghi produced the latest in a series of policy surprises, while also warning that the real solution was faster reforms by governments.

Concerns are growing that the European economy, after making it through the euro crisis and the prospect of the collapse of the single currency, may now be poised for years of stagnation or unduly low growth.

Stunted growth in the eurozone is forcing governments to cut back their estimates for growth of gross domestic product for the rest of the year, putting budget deficit targets into jeopardy, and also clouding the outlook for growth of the global economy.

The unexpectedly low growth figure was mainly the result of a surprise 0.2% shrinkage in Germany, usually the reliable eurozone growth engine, and stagnation in an already fragile French economy.

Feeling the pressure, the Frankfurtbased ECB cut interest rates to a record low level on Thursday and pledged to buy hundreds of billions of euros of private sector bonds, thereby pumping much-needed cash into the economy.

However, Draghi also revealed that the ECB's policy council was split, since

the decisions announced were not taken unanimously.

‘Support act'

The effects of the ECB's deflation-fighting measures were still being felt on Friday, with the euro still trading just below the $1.30 mark, a key target for governments seeking to promote exports with a more favourable exchange rate.

Despite the surprise moves, economist Holger Schmieding of Berenberg Bank said the ECB could now play only a "support act" in turning around the economy, unlike the instrumental role it played in ending the debt crisis.

"A lack of dynamism in France and Italy and Russia's aggression in Ukraine have interrupted the recovery. These factors are outside the ECB's control," Schmieding said.

The rate cut and bond-buying "will help, but not solve all problems," he said.

The ECB also cut its forecasts for growth in the 18-country euro area this year and next, and lowered its outlook for area-wide inflation.

The ECB is now pencilling in gross domestic product growth of 0.9% in 2014 with inflation expected to be 0.6% this year - a lower rate than the 0.7 originally forecast. l

DILBERT

A home surveillance system is displayed at the booth of French consumer electronics company Withings on the opening day of the consumer electronics trade fair 'Internationale Funk Ausstellung' (IFA) in Berlin September 5 AFP

"Such weakness plays into the hands of the Fed doves," said Rob Carnell, an economist at ING, of the August job data. "It gives Yellen more leeway to stand firm against the hawks, many of whom are calling for a change in the Fed's language on the likely timing and scale of policy normalisation."

Normalisation refers to the end of an unprecedented period of cheap money since the financial crisis. The consensus has been for a rate hike in late 2015, but economists are bringing forward their forecasts to near the middle of next year.

In Asia, the central banks of South Korea, Indonesia and the Philippines hold monetary policy meetings this week.

Another cut in Korea after August's 25 basis-point reduction is not expected this month, however. The monetary authority has been reluctant to cut rates more for fear that lower borrowing costs could swell the ageing society's large household debt.

Meanwhile, the People's Bank of China has so far refrained from cutting interest rates, preferring instead to ease liquidity for some banks to free funds for lending. Beijing in turn has tried to ease conditions in the property market.

Data on money and credit supply during the week will give an indication about the central bank's next moves following inconclusive data last week.

Activity in China's vast factory sector cooled in August as foreign and domestic demand slowed, spurring new calls for more policy easing to prevent the economy from stumbling once more.

But China's services sector rebounded in August after a drop in July, offseting factory-sector weakness and letting the government stick with its policy stance.

"The economic expansion is quite uneven, as exports accelerate, investment slows, and the real estate correction intensifies, but on balance, headline real GDP growth is probably a bit faster to the third quarter," said Bill Adams, an economist at PNC Financial Services Group. l

This time's different as Asian markets warm up for Fed rate rises n Reuters, Singapore

Faced once again with the prospect of rate rises in the United States, investors in Asia are no longer selling and running as in the past, choosing instead to stay in markets like India and South Korea, that are relatively sheltered from global forces.

The two bouts of market turmoil in May 2013 and January this year demonstrated the perils of selling out of markets prematurely and indiscriminately.

This time, investors have already begun preparations for a rise in US rates by mid-2015 at the earliest, albeit with a degree of caution about the different moving parts to the policy story.

For one, central banks in Europe and Japan could soon be injecting stimulus, which would compensate the world for the cash the Federal Reserve is withdrawing.

And secondly, it is entirely plausible that US growth disappoints, thereby keeping yields down but pushing stock markets sharply lower.

Standard responses to a spike in US rates, such as avoiding Indonesia, India and other countries which rely on external funding, may no longer be appropriate, given how rapidly Asia has changed in the past year.

The region's current account deficits are smaller, bond yields are high and currencies already quite weak. Governments perceived to be more reformoriented have taken over in India and Indonesia, and Asia's rallying stock markets are backed by robust growth in company earnings.

"You should be in countries where idiosyncratic forces are more dominant drivers than the global forces," said Jahangir Aziz, head of Asian research at JPMorgan. "They allow you to hedge against global changes."

As of now, both Asian equity and bond markets are still riding a six-year long rally spurred by the heavy quantitative easing policies of the Fed and other developed economies.

But investors are prone to worry, says Aziz, and this abnormally long period of very low volatility and memories of the vicious selloff in 2013 have made them uneasy.

"There could be significant preemptive reaction in the market to the likelihood of better US growth, jobs or inflation numbers. That is where the concern is," he said. l