31 Oct, 2014

Kartik 16, 1421 Muharram 6, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 207

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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WEEKEND

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

B1 | BUSINESS

ARAKAN ACCOUNTS: TEARS ARE A LUXURY ROHINGYAS CANNOT AFFORD

EBOLA AND THE FAILURE OF THE WEST TO REACT

FAREWELL GHULAM AZAM?

BOOST ODA AS PROMISED TO HELP LDCS GRADUATE

Jamaat guru’s son questions BNP’s ability

Aman Azmi says he believes BNP cannot go to power without Jamaat “BNP will do better if they rememn Mohammad Al-Masum Molla ber that they can NEVER go to power Abdullahil Amaan Azmi, son of late war criminal Ghulam Azam, has said the BNP will never be able to go to power again without Jamaat-e-Islami’s support, triggering a heated debate among the supporters of the two political allies in social media.

Labelling the BNP as “ungrateful,” in a Facebook status on Wednesday, Azmi said he was disappointed with the party’s silence regarding the death of Ghulam Azam, the spiritual guru of Jamaat.

A BNP leader said: ‘It [the status] gives many hints as Azmi is a key figure in Jamaat’ Along with the status, he shared a news item titled “BNP boycotts Azam’s funeral prayer upon Tarique’s order” picked up from a website named “dailybdnews.net.”

He began the status asking: “CAN ANYONE CONFIRM THIS NEWS ITEM???”

Then he wrote: “The whole nation is disappointed at BNP’s silence after Prof Ghulam Azam expired although the entire world is mourning. I’m not sure why!!

“I have NO hesitation in saying that BNP could never form govt without Jamaat’s support. Sadly enough, their silence on the death of the founder Ameer of the party, and spiritual Guru till his death, is utterly unexpected and unacceptable!

again without Jamaat’s support. This is my ‘open challenge’.

“How ungrateful they can be!!!”

Azmi wrote.

As of filing of this report around 8:30pm yesterday, the status fetched 606 likes and 279 comments and was shared 151 times.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted BNP Standing Committee member Mahbubur Rahman and Joint Secretary General Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, but both declined to make any comments in this regard.

However, a mid-ranked but influential leader of the party told the Dhaka Tribune requesting anonymity: “Azmi should not have written that. This status can mean a lot of things. Ghulam Azam’s son thanked the government for allowing them to perform janaza without any hassle. Therefore, the BNP top brass should charge the leaders of Jamaat for that.”

A joint secretary general of the party said: “It [the status] gives many hints as Azmi is a key figure in Jamaat.”

When contacted over the phone, Azmi said: “It is not a political statement. My intention was not to create any debate or misunderstanding. I will soon post another status regarding this.”

When asked why he termed BNP ungrateful, Azmi said: “Over the last few days, I have been facing thousands of queries from people about BNP’s silence [regarding Azam’s death]. That is what the people at the grassroots think.

I also believe it.”

He said: “Some BNP men used abusive words and scolded me. It is their  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

A 10-year-old girl bleeds out after sustaining injuries inside the bus (visible behind) to which hartal supporters set fire after vandalising it in the capital’s Shyampur area yesterday. Her guardian and a passerby take her to a dispensary nearby MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Nizami back in same condemned cell n Ashif Islam Shaon The status of convicted war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami in jail has remained unchanged after Wednesday’s verdict as the Jamaat-e-Islami chief was sentenced to death in 10-truck arms haul case in January this year.

Officials said as per the jail code, he had been provided with the facilities a death row convict usually gets.

Nizami used to wear jail uniforms, and after he was taken back to the Kashimpur High Security Jail fol-

lo-wing the verdict, he was given his uniform back.

“He wore plain clothes when he was taken to the tribunal during the trial. If a prisoner wishes to wear plain clothes on the way and back to the court, he can do that,” Mizanur Rahman Don, superintendent of the jail, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Nizami appeared before the tribunal on Wednesday in white panjabi, brown waistcoat, white pyjamas, chocolate Jinnah Cap and brown pump shoes.

“But after he was taken back to the

jail, he was given his previous inmate status,” Mizan said.

The prison van carrying the death row convict arrived at Kashimpur jail at 9:05pm on Wednesday. He was brought to the cell where he used to stay, alone.

A sign on the cell’s wall reads: “Death Condemner’s Cell.”

Nizami, the successor of Jamaat guru and the most infamous war criminal Ghulam Azam, does not wear shackles. Most of the other death row convicts, except some “dangerous

ed a five-katha Rajuk plot in the city’s Uttara.

At the time they were granted the plot allotments, both Nizami and Mujaheed were influential ministers of the then four-party alliance government.

Nizami was serving as the industries minister, while Mujaheed was the social welfare minister.

The ninth parliament – which succeeded the BNP-led government – held much debate over the issue, before deciding to cancel all plot allotments that had been granted to convicted war criminals; however, the decision remains to be implemented.

The then state minister for liberation war affairs Captain (retired) ABM

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 has fixed Sunday for pronouncing judgement in the war crimes case against Jamaat-e-Islami Central Executive Committee member Mir Kashem Ali, also a key financier of the party.

Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah, senior member of the two-member tribunal, set the date yesterday in a short order, nearly six months after the trial ended. The tribunal chairman is on leave.

It also directed the jail authorities to produce the 62-year-old accused by 10am on that day. After an oral plea by the prosecution, the tribunal directed the registrar to issue a production warrant in this regard.

The prosecution sought for death for Mir Kashem terming him “Bangalee Khan” of 1971 when he had been the Chittagong district unit chief of alBadr, a vigilante group of Jamaat. They claimed that all the charges against the “man eater of ‘71” had been proved beyond reasonable doubt through strong witnesses and evidence.

He faces 14 charges of crimes against humanity committed during the war.

The prosecution contested in 12 out of the 14 charges. Of those, two are for killings and the rest are for abetting and facilitation of abduction, confinement and torture.

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Government to finalise list of razakars

Nizami still enjoying Rajuk plot for ‘serving country’

n Emran Hossain Shaikh

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Anti-liberation forces and Pakistani collaborators in 1971 are being put on a list to be compiled by the government, Liberation War Affairs Minister AKM Mozammel Haque said yesterday at a rally protesting the Jamaat strike.

The minister said: “We are finalising the list of freedom fighters and likewise, we will finalise the list of razakars and anti-liberation forces.”

He added that he had spoken to the secretary of home affairs about completing the list of anti-liberation forces.

Admitting it would be a challenge to complete a list of razakars 43 years after the liberation war, the minister said a government committee would be formed to scrutinise the evidence.

“The committee will include people’s representatives and central and local leaders of the Muktijoddha Command Council,” he said.

Historian Muntasir Mamun thanked the government for the initiative to finalise the list.

“We have demanded the list of razakars for the last 40 years and we thank the government for this,” he said.

Muntasir claimed it would not a difficult job to finalise the list because many collaborators were well-known and well-documented in the history books.

“The initiative is good but I worry that it will be left unfinished,” he said. l

Convicted war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami – who has been found guilty of murder, rape, looting, and the systematic killing of intellectuals during the Liberation War – continues to enjoy the benefit of a government-allotted housing plot, which was granted to him for his “services to the country.”

In 2005, the Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) granted Nizami, the ameer of Jamaat-e-Islami who was also the al-Badr chief in 1971, a five-katha plot in Banani – one of the most lucrative neighbourhoods in the capital.

Along with Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed – who has also been convicted as a war criminal – was grant-

The picture shows the six-storey building in Banani erected on the plot alloted to war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami by Rajuk in 2005 DHAKA TRIBUNE

PM: No scope of dropping presidential clemency for war criminals n Emran Hossain Shaikh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said there was no scope of dropping the provision for presidential clemency for convicted war criminals.

She made the remark addressing a press conference at the PM’s official residence Gonobhobon organised to make the outcomes of her recent United Arab Emirates (UAE) visit public.

She also blasted the European Union

(EU) for expressing concerns over the death sentence handed down to war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami.

Hasina said the EU expressed concern when the [Bangladesh] government tried war criminals, who had committed crimes against humanity, at a time when some of its member countries had also been holding trials for human rights violation during the Second World War. “Why did they [EU] not express con-

cerns when Israelis were killing women and children in Gaza?” Hasina said in reply to a question from a journalist.

Asked whether there was any thinking about the demand for amending laws to erase the provision for presidential clemency for convicted war criminals, Hasina said there was no scope for it.

The PM did not make any clear comment when a journalist asked her about

the BNP’s demand for a mid-term election.

Hasina said: “What would have happened if there was no election [on January 5]? [Do not forget that] we had to recover from the 1/11 shocks...Since we have already had an election, there will also be another election, that too will be arranged at the fixed time. It does not matter who understands what. A government has the power to hold an election anytime. Let people under-

5 | News

8 | World

12 | Entertainment

13 | Sport

Mid-term election

INSIDE 3 | News

The first day of the three-day general strike, called by the Jamaat-e-Islami protesting the death penalty awarded to its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami, passed almost peacefully in the capital and other parts of the country yesterday.

6 | Nation

People in Gaibandha suffer from continuous traffic jam as the authority shows negligence to construct a bypass beside the town.

Verdict in Jamaat financier Mir Kashem case Sunday n Udisa Islam

Rajuk is about to miss yet another deadline in completing the third phase of the Uttara Residential Model Town project due to irregularities and lack of monitoring by authorities.

Clashes have erupted between Israeli security forces and Palestinian youth in East Jerusalem a day after a gunman on a motorcycle shot and seriously wounded a far-right rabbi.

Quzi Nawshaba Ahmed has again been paired up with Mosharraf Karim in a single episode drama titled ‘Ek No Khati Premer Golpo.’ Written and directed by Asad Rahman.

Upon receiving his certificate from the Real Madrid Foundation, sexagenarian Musa was no doubt delighted as he managed to acquire priceless coaching methods and techniques.

stand whatever they want. I cannot explain anything.”

Referring to her much publicised telephone conversation with BNP chief Khaleda Zia, the PM said her previous government did everything possible to bring the opposition to the election.

“Even I called Khaleda Zia. They [BNP] refused and tried to foil the poll by creating mayhem across the country,” she said.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, October 31, 2014

US says it understands Bangladesh’s painful chapter n Tribune Report The United States understands the importance of ongoing war crimes trials in Bangladesh’s historical perspective and believes that the trials should be fair and transparent.

State Department’s Spokesperson Jen Psaki made the comment on Wednesday. She was replying to queries form journalists as part of her daily briefing.

‘I’m not in a position to evaluate the trial, other than to convey [the] values and standards that we expect countries to abide by’ She said: “We understand the importance of this process in closing a painful chapter of Bangladesh’s history.”

Referring to war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami’s death sentence, a journalist asked if the US believed that

the trial was fair and transparent.

Noting that the US supports bringing to justice those who committed atrocities in the 1971 war, the official said.

“The trials should be in accordance with international standards Bangladesh has agreed to uphold through its ratification of international agreements, including the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights,” Psaki added.

While answering the question, she referred to the observation of US Ambassador-at-Large for War Crimes Issues Stephen Rapp on death penalty.

Rapp has said countries that impose a death penalty “must do so with great care in accordance with very high standards of due process and respect for fair trial guarantees.”

Psaki said: “I’m not in a position to evaluate the trial, other than to convey that those are values and standards that we expect countries to abide by.”

Jamaat-e-Islami chief Nizami was sentenced to death by the International Crimes Tribunal for committing crimes against humanity in Dhaka and Pabna during the Liberation War. Eight charges out of total 16 including conspiracy, planning, complicity, incitement and active participation were proved. l

Shaptahik 2000 closes after 17 years n Tribune Report

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina briefing on her recent UAE visit to reporters at her official residence Ganabhaban yesterday FOCUS BANGLA

Amnesty International: Overturn Nizami’s death penalty n Tribune Report Amnesty International has urged Bangladesh to overturn the death sentence against Jamaat Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.

The UK-based rights group’s Bangladesh Researcher Abbas Faiz made the call in a statement published on the organisation’s website on Wednesday.

Abbas Faiz said: “Bangladesh must overturn the death sentence against

Motiur Rahman Nizami and all others.”

“The death penalty is the ultimate cruel, inhuman and degrading punishment and can never be a way to deliver justice.”

On Wednesday, the International Crimes Tribunal awarded the death sentence to Jamaat Chief Matiur Rahman Nizami for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971.

The statement said: “The crimes

committed during the independence war were horrific, and there is no question that victims deserve justice. But the death penalty only perpetuates the cycle of violence.”

“The death penalty is not only a violation of the right to life, but it is an irreversible punishment, if it leads to execution, and leaves no room to correct any possible judgment errors or fair trial violations from the proceedings.”

According to the statement, the

Nizami back in same cell

Jamaat guru’s son questions BNP’s ability

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prisoners,” also do not wear shackles as the prison is highly secure. Nizami looked quiet but disturbed during his arrival at the cell. He could not sleep well and walked across the cell for several hours, sources at the jail said.

“Actually he has remained reserved and talked less since he was kept here after being awarded death sentence in the arms haul case,” said an official.

Yesterday Nizami took his breakfast with vegetable and bread, lunch with dal and vegetables while dinner with fish, dal and vegetables.

Sometimes he buys extra foods from the jail canteen with the money given by his family members much earlier. The amount is kept in an account opened after his name.

“No one came to see him after the January sentence, not even after the tribunal verdict,” said a senior official seeking anonymity. “But today [yester-

day] he wanted to see family members.

We may allow the communication.”

Generally, the prisoners are allowed to meet relatives once in 15 days or a month.

The rule is relaxed in case of emergency situations including illness.

Death row prisoners do not need to do any work. They pass the time chatting with inmates.

Nizami, in isolation, passes time reading newspapers. “He has been suffering from eyesight problems. He seldom read books. “But he passes time reading newspapers.

Two Bengali newspapers [the daily Naya Diganta and the daily Prothom Alo] are his common reading items,” the official added.

In January, a special court in Chittagong handed down death penalty to 14 including Nizami for smuggling 10 truckloads of firearms in 2004 when he had been the industries minister. l

taste and I do not want to say anything about it. And as I am not involved with Jamaat’s politics, it is tough for me to get any reaction from Jamaat.”

He also said he had written that BNP could not go to power without Jamaat’s support because he believed it.

Asked what his future plans were, Azmi said: “I have been working on child education since 2001. I call it vision 2025 and want to continue doing it.

I do not want to get involved in politics.”

The heated debate

Most of the 279 comments posted for the status were either from the supporters of Jamaat or the BNP who tried to argue why their party was more important than the other.

Facebook user Wasim Akram wrote that BNP’s Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman would have to face harsh consequences if he had really instruct-

Nizami still enjoying Rajuk plot for ‘serving country’  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Tajul Islam had at the time promised the parliament of cancelling the plot allocations for the war criminals.

“After a discussion in the parliament, we also discussed this issue in the parliamentary standing committee [on Liberation War Affairs Ministry],” Tajul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune over phone.

The ministry also sent a list of convicted war criminals to the Ministry of Housing and Public Works, which then forwarded it to Rajuk, the former state minister added.

Rajuk sources said they had worked on the issue and scrutinised the legal process after getting the letter from the ministry, adding that the process might be completed soon.

Sources at Rajuk – the agency responsible for coordinating urban development in Dhaka – said they could not come to any conclusive decision over the plots as the trial process for Nizami

and Mujaheed was not completely over. However, if Nizami’s lawyer decided not to lodge an appeal against the tribunal judgement, Rajuk would go for tough action, the sources said.

“Nizami’s verdict was just declared and we need to wait for the copy of the verdict and then we can go for the next step,” Md Emdadul Islam, chief engineer (implementation) of Rajuk, told the Dhaka Tribune.

He, however, said they were waiting for the verdict’s copy as a legal ground was needed before suspending someone’s allotment.

Sources said both the war criminals were granted the plots on October 25, 2005, at the 162nd board meeting of Rajuk; while they were officially handed over the possession of the plots on March 16, 2006.

The then Rajuk board decided about the plots under the Land Allotment Rule (amended) 1969, which says anyone can be allotted a plot if he or she

was considered to have served the country.

In his decision, the then Rajuk chairman Iqbal Uddin said both Nizami and Mujaheed were eligible for getting Rajuk’s plot as they had served the country as ministers.

When contacted, incumbent Rajuk Chairman GM Jainul Abedin Bhuiyan refused to comment on this issue.

However, Rajuk’s immediate past chairman Nurul Huda said: “No doubt the rule was violated then. Under the clause [of land allotment rule], only famous persons are eligible to be awarded plots.”

The Dhaka Tribune yesterday visited the Nizami’s lake-view plot in Banani’s Block J, and found that a real estate company called Mission Developers Limited had built a six-storied building at the site. Nizami had reportedly received five flats – each estimated to be priced around Tk2 crore – in the building, while the developers received

ed BNP men to not attend Ghulam Azam’s funeral prayer.

Sabbir Ahmed wrote: “What more do you expect from such a weak party [the BNP]?”

Rabi Ul Islam writes: “If they call Ghulam Azam ‘Go Azam’ then why should we not call Tarique “Tarikka Chora,” “Khamba Tarique” because both these names were given by the Awami League.”

Tuku Zamil, a supporter of BNP, says: “It [the news report] is not true, many BNP leaders joined the janaza.”

Jaber Boutrous wrote: “So does that mean Jamaat has formed an open alliance with BAL [Bangladesh Awami League]? In that case JI [Jamaat-e-Islami] will be making a mistake. These mistakes of criticising the BNP will target JI as a munafiq in the long run when you desperately need alliance between the two.”

Salamat Ullah wrote: “As a former BNP student activist, the silence of BNP

five more.

All of Nizami’s flats have been sold, except for one on the fifth floor where his family members lived.

Mission Developers Limited had also constructed a building at Mujaheed’s plot in Uttara’s sector 1.

Rajuk Chief Engineer Emdadul said they now needed to analyse the legal process against the allotment of the plots as other parties were already involved with the properties.

On Wednesday, Nizami was handed the death sentence for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in collaboration with the Pakistani occupation forces. Earlier, Nizami was also awarded the death penalty in the 10-truck arms haul case.

Last July, the International Crimes Tribunal also handed capital punishment to Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed for committing crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. l

Verdict in Jamaat financier Mir Kashem case Sunday  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

The accused was indicted also for setting houses on fire, looting and other inhuman acts in Chittagong region during the war. He also faces command responsibility, the responsibility of a superior for actions committed by his subordinates in al-Badr Bahini he had created.

The tribunal on May 4 kept the day of the verdict on CAV (a Latin legal term that means case awaits verdict) as the defence concluded their part of closing arguments, followed by the prosecution with their rebuttal.

Mir Kashem was indicted by the tribunal 1 on September 5 last year. Later the trial was shifted to the tribunal 2 for quick disposal. As many as 24 prosecution witnesses testified against the notorious collaborator of 1971.

Even though the tribunal ended the

trial within a short time, it took much time to fixed the verdict date. The verdict in former Jatiya Party lawmaker Syed Mohammad Qaisar case is pending with the same tribunal.

Charges against Kashem, also the chairman of Diganta Media Corporation that runs Diganta TV (operation now suspended) and the Daily Naya Diganta, were taken into cognisance on May 26 last year.

Police arrested him on June 17 last year from the office of the daily Naya Diganta in the capital hours after the tribunal issued a warrant for his arrest.

He is also the treasurer of Jamaat.

According to the prosecution, Mir Kashem, who is originally from Munshidangi Sutalori under Harirampur in Manikganj, joined Islami Chhatra Sangha, then student wing of Jamaat, in 1967 while studying at Chittagong

The last issue of popular Bangla weekly magazine Shaptahik 2000 is set to reach readers today as the publisher has decided to cease its publication after 17 years for facing losses.

Its Editor Moinul Ahsan Saber told the Dhaka Tribune that the decision to close the publication had come from the publisher, Mahfuz Anam, who is also editor of The Daily Star.

“The last issue of the magazine will be available in the market on Friday [today],” he said.

Monjur Shams, the assistant editor, said: “The publisher told us that the decision was taken in the face of losses.”

The magazine started its journey in 1998 with late veteran journalist Shahadat Chowdhury as its founding editor.

Since its inception, the magazine rose to popularity through its authentic, sincere and in-depth coverage of contents. l

Collegiate School. He later became its Chittagong City unit general secretary.

Mir Kashem played an important role in forming al-Badr Bahini, a notorious auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation army that is blamed for systematic killing of freedom fighters and intellectuals, in Chittagong.

As per the charges, he had set up makeshift torture camps at different places in the port city including Daleem Hotel in Andorkilla, where pro-liberation people were handed down punishment. Other allegations against him include involvement in mass killings in Asadnagar and Panchlaish areas.

Mir Kashem in collaboration with the Pakistani occupation forces opened several torture cells in the city including Dost Mohammad Panjabi building and Salma Manjil where M Omar-ul-Islam and Lutfar Rahman Faruk among oth-

ers were tortured following abduction.

He is accused of abducting six persons including Jasim and torturing them in confinement from the day of Eid-ul-Fitr in 1971 to November 28, subsequently killing them and concealing their bodies.

The Jamaat leader is also charged for the abduction of Jahangir Alam Chowdhury, Tuntu Sen and Ranjit Das alias Latu and torturing them in confinement, looting and setting their houses on fire, later killing Ranjit and Tuntu in November 1971.

Most of the crimes took place between November and December of 1971.

The defence, however, claims that Kashem was not in Chittagong when the crimes took place.

During the rebuttal, prosecutor Tureen Afroz told the tribunal that joint

hurts me. As a fellow Muslim, whatever differences we have in this world, we do not take it to the hereafter, we wish each other well and forgive each other. This is the spirit of Muslim brotherhood. If the leaders are not aware of this spirit, they have no right to be leaders of the Muslim community.”

Redwanul Islam wrote: “BNP can NEVER go to power again without Jamaat’s support. This is also my ‘open challenge’.”

AKM Khalek wrote: “BNP is power hungry, so it can do [almost] anything for power.”

Faisal Alim, son of war criminal Abdul Alim and a BNP leader from Joypurhat, said he believed the news was wrong because there was no reason for BNP men to not attend Azam’s janaza.

Munna wrote: “You [Azmi] proved that Jamaat is a party of cattle. You should not have posted such a statement. It is a completely baseless news.

verdicts, delivered by the ICT, targeted mainly those linked with the Jamaat-e-Islami, while the trials themselves were observed to be unfair.

“The ICT is a unique opportunity for justice and reconciliation in Bangladesh. But in the face of consistent concerns raised by the defense team about the trials not being fair it will only have the opposite effect and create more resentment,” the statement added. l

Being the son of a leader of an Islamic party, you should be ashamed for spreading false news.”

Addressing Azmi, Facebook user Kalpurush wrote: “Dear Mr Azmi! Your father could enter this country because of Zia. Jamaat is doing politics today also because of Zia. But when Zia was killed in 1981, your father or for that matter nobody from Jamaat went to attend his janaza, let alone expressed condolences.”

Imtiaz Amin Abir wrote: “Even 50 years is not enough for the BNP to make up for the loss that it had suffered by tying up with Jamaat. Begum Khaleda Zia has to face grilling from foreign diplomats because of what you [Jamaat men] do. You stage violence and the BNP has to give the answers.”

Rakte-e-Chhatra Dal wrote: “Hasina wanted sons like you in Digital Bangladesh who thank the government even after people throw shoes at your father’s coffin.” l

PM: No scope of dropping  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

UAE visit outcomes

Refuting BNP’s claim that her UAE visit has failed, the PM said it was an observation from a party that had failed everywhere.

“They failed to participate in the last election....They tried to foil the poll but failed....They threatened launching a movement but failed....So, it is natural that they will see everything as failure,” she said.

“They turned the country into a failed state but our government is taking country forward. Let them continue to find the government’s flaws and let me take the country forward,” she said.

She claimed that her UAE visit had been successful because the middle eastern country had agreed to reopen Bangladesh manpower market soon.

She said the government would send female workers to the UAE free of cost. “So, there is no need to

criminal enterprise and criminal responsibility were not charges, as the defence has tried to claim, but liabilities.

“The defence tried to find some loophole in the prosecution’s case. But that cannot spare the accused from the charges as we know cases are run by available witnesses and evidence,” she said.

In their legal argument, the defence claimed that the prosecution had failed to prove any charges against the accused of commanding authority. They argued that only military personnel could command in a war situation.

The tribunal then told the defence counsel that precedence of a civilian having the responsibility of a commander had been established in the verdicts against war criminals Mohammad Kamaruzzaman and Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed.

According to a defence petition,

give money to the brokers by selling valuable assets.”

In response to a separate query, the premier said she would say goodbye to politics after the turning the country into a middle income one.

“I firmly believe that we will become a middle income country before the 2021 time frame that we have set,” she said.

JMB in West Bengal

Regarding the suspected operation of banned Islamist militant outfit Jama’atul Mujhideen Bangladesh (JMB) in India’s West Bengal, Hasina said the government in India and Bangladesh had been working on it under an agreement on information exchange.

“There were militant activities here, but our government drove them out.

Now they have taken shelter in India. Both governments have been exchanging information in this regard,” she said. l

Kashem is the member secretary of Islami Bank Foundation, an organisation that oversees all the projects of Islami Bank Bangladesh Ltd and profits generated by it; chairman of Keari Ltd, a real estate and tourism company; founding trustee and also a member responsible for administration of the Ibn Sina Trust and director (marketing) of Ibn Sina Pharmaceutical Industries; The Jamaat leader is also the member secretary of Fouad Al-Khateeb Charity Foundation.

On April 28 last year, then law minister Shafique Ahmed told parliament that Jamaat had signed an agreement with a US lobbyist firm to make the trial of war criminals “controversial.” He said Mir Kashem had paid $25m for this purpose while claiming that the government had copies of the receipts and the agreement. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

First phase of Jamaat hartal ends with little violence Apart from the torching of some vehicles and tyres, no serious violence was reported

n Tribune Report

disruption but the passengers were few.

The first day of the three-day general strike, called by the Jamaat-e-Islami protesting the death penalty awarded to its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami for committing crimes against humanity, passed almost peacefully in the capital and other parts of the country yesterday.

Apart from the torching of some vehicles and tyres, no serious violence was reported.

Police detained several Jamaat and Shibir activists in districts, our correspondents reported.

Jamaat enforced the strike on Wednesday, soon after the International Crimes Tribunal 1 pronounced the verdict in the Nizami case. The second phase of the strike will be in effect from 6am on Sunday to 6am on Tuesday.

Gaibandha

Dhaka

Kushtia

The capital saw no major untoward incidents yesterday.

Pro-strike activists marched the streets in a few areas and torched some vehicles. The strike had little impact on city life, with the volume of morning traffic on the roads was smaller compared to other workdays but gradually rose as the hours went by.

Police, RAB and BGB patrolled city streets to avert any possible violence.

Train and launch services remained normal but no long-haul buses entered or left the capital.

At least two crude bombs were blasted in Pallabi around 10:30am.

Police said two minor boys hurled the bombs and fled.

In Lalbagh, police detained eight people as they were attempting to organise a march.

Police in Mirpur raided a mess at East Monipur and detained six Shibir activists with jihadi books and petrol.

“We also found a paper there showing expenses for holding marches,” said Md Salauddin Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Mirpur police station.

In Fakirapool, two CNG-run autorickshaws were torched and four crude bombs exploded around 11:30am.

Ten trucks and a bus were vandalised in Palashbari while police fired 10 rounds to disperse pro-strike activists, said Palashbari police Station Officer-in-Charge Mojibur Rahman.

No one received injuries, he added.

Habiganj

A total of 49 Jamaat and Shibir activists were detained from Wednesday night to early yesterday, said Habiganj Assistant Police Super Masudur Rahman Monir.

Bahubal upazila Jamaat Secretary Advocate Jalal Uddin Akhanji was among the detainees.

Most of the shops remained open and traffic on roads was usual.

Vehicular movement remains like other days during the first day of the countrywide three-day hartal called by Jamaat-e-Islami. The MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU photo was taken from capital’s Paltan area yesterday A bus was torched in Shyampur but no one was injured. In Hazaribagh, police in the afternoon discovered eight abandoned crude bombs outside a house.

Chittagong

Police detained 10 people in Satkania and Lohagara on charges of plotting subversive acts.

Chittagong Police Super AKM Hafiz Akhter said police were on alert on Dhaka-Chittagong, Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar and Chittagong- Rangamati highways to check any attempt to perpetrate street violence.

Rajshahi

Police held Rajshahi city Jamaat chief Ataur Rahman around 2am yesterday.

Four Chhatra Shibir workers were also detained at night.

Motihar police Station Officer-in-Charge Alamgir Hossain said Ataur was detained at his nephew’s house on charges of subversion.

Around 06:30am, Shibir workers picketed the Hadi intersection in an attempt to create panic but fled when RAB arrived.

Shops and businesses remained shut while no long-haul buses left the district.

Jessore

Sylhet

At least seven Jamaat and Shibir men were detained in the district since Wednesday night, said Golam Rouf Khan, deputy commissioner of Barisal Metropolitan Police, yesterday.

Several pro-strike marches were organised on the streets but there was no violence except suspension of longhaul road transport.

Water transport services faced no

Police held 58 Jamaat and Shibir men till 12 noon yesterday.

At 10:30am, Shibir activists blockaded the Balaura point on Sylhet-Sunamganj highway for nearly one and a half hours. They placed electric poles to obstruct traffic and also torched tyres.

Police later arrived and dispersed them.

Police detained 21 people, including eight Jamaat activists, in a number of areas from Wednesday night till yesterday.

Police and RAB were on alert at key points in the district to avert any untoward situation.

No long-haul buses left the district but trains travelled on schedule.

Lakkhipur

A total of 56 people, including 19 activists of Jamaat and Shibir, were held in the district town and eight upazilas, said Jessore police spokesman Reshma Sharmin.

Jessore Police Super Anisur Rahman said 450 policemen in addition to three platoons of BGB were deployed in the district.

Police detained 11 Jamaat and Shibir activists in Ramganj, Ramgati and Kamalnagar for subversion attempts, said Assistant Superintendent of Police in Lakkhipur Md Nasim Mia. Jamaat and Shibir men blasted crude bombs, petrol bombs and also torched tyres on streets in addition to organising marches. They were later dispersed by police.

Barisal

Natore

Marches were held in several parts of the district in support of the strike.

Pro-strike activists torched tyres and blocked the Natore-Rajshahi and Natore-Pabna highways.

Activists of the district unit of Awami League, on the other hand, organised an anti-strike march at the Madrasha crossing led by local lawmaker Shafiqul Islam Shimul. l

Alal, 6 others sent to jail

Trip to US in the offing for FM as bilateral ties deepen

n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Bangladesh and the US have agreed to schedule a visit by Bangladesh Foreign Minister Abul Hassan Mahmood Ali to the United States at the earliest opportunity, according to a joint statement by the two countries.

The joint statement was issued after the third partnership dialogue held in Washington on October 28 and 29, with Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque leading the Bangladeshi delegation and State Department Under Secretary Wendy Sherman heading the US side.

“The process of widening and deepening the Bangladesh-US relationship and taking it to greater heights has been started,” the foreign secretary told the Dhaka Tribune from Washington.

The government dispatched its top diplomat to Washington to formally negotiate with the US to upgrade the bilateral political relationship.

This was the first partnership dialogue between the two countries after the January 5 elections in which ruling the Awami League won the polls. Some countries expressed concern over the

A Dhaka court yesterday ordered to send Jubo Dal President Syed Moazzem Hossain Alal and six others to prison in a case filed on charges of plotting subversive activities.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Asaduzzman Nur passed the order yesterday when Sub-Inspector Nayan Miah of Mohammadpur police station produced the seven before court after completion of the threeday remand.

On October 26, the court granted the seven three days’ police remand while sending the remaining 56 accused to jail rejecting their bail plea. Defence counsel Md Sanaullah Miah submitted the bail petition.

A day earlier, police conducted a raid in Alal’s Lalmatia residence in the capital and arrested the 63, including Alal.

Mohammadpur police the same day lodged a case against the arrestees under the Special Powers Act. l

n Sheikh Shahariar Zaman

elections because the BNP, a major political party, did not participate in it.

Washington had been vocal about the elections and issued statements expressing their disappointment over the polls.

The statement said after the second Partnership Dialogue in Dhaka in May 2013, Bangladesh and the United States had demonstrated a shared commitment to broadening and deepening their partnership.

The first partnership dialogue was led by former foreign secretary M Mijarul Quayes, currently serving as Bangladesh ambassador to Brazil, while the second and third dialogues were led by the current foreign secretary. Wendy Sherman, the US Department of State’s fourth-ranking official, led the US side in all three partnership dialogues.

Security cooperation between the two countries has grown over the past 17 months, the statement said.

Washington transferred a Cutter, a type of patrol ship used by the US Coast Guard, to Dhaka last year. It will be handing over another one in the coming year, the statement added.

A senior foreign ministry official said the threat posed by Islamic State was discussed at the partnership dialogue.

“The foreign secretary had a oneon-one meeting with Wendy Sherman on the issue,” the official said, asking not to be identified.

The US side made it clear that it would not impose anything on Bangladesh, the official said.

“They told us that Washington is ready to collaborate with Dhaka. If Bangladesh wants anything like information they are willing to provide it,” the official said, asking to remain anonymous.

The statement said the Counter-terrorism Cooperation Initiative enabled improved information sharing and communication to fight terrorism in Bangladesh, in the region, and beyond.

As part of the globally recognised Financial Action Task Force (FATF) framework, in December, the US Embassy in Dhaka and the State Department will host a South Asia regional workshop in collaboration with the government of Bangladesh to focus

on best practices to counter violent extremism and terrorist financing, it added.

The US-Bangladesh statement said both sides would continue to work on the Action Plan to reinstate Bangladesh’s Generalised System of Preferences benefits as soon as possible.

“At the same time, both sides agree to continue working together to address outstanding needs to safeguard labour rights and workers’ health and safety,” the statement said.

Washington scrapped the GSP facility for Bangladesh in June last year on the grounds that the country had poor labour conditions.

“We discussed the restoration of the GSP scheme, labour issues and TICFA,” Shahidul said.

The second round of the Trade and Investment Cooperation Forum Agreement (TICFA) meeting is expected soon, officials said.

“If the commerce ministry can play its cards right at the upcoming TICFA meeting, there is a good possibility that Bangladesh could get back into the GSP scheme,” he said. l

Charges framed against Khoka for amassing Tk9.76 crore illegally n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu

Law enforcers present the six people, who were arrested in the abduction case of C&F agent Habibur Rahman Habi, also vice-president of Jubo Dal. Story on back page MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

3

Friday, October 31, 2014

A Dhaka court yesterday indicted BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka in a case filed for amassing wealth worth Tk9.76 crore illegally and concealing information about it.

Senior Special Judge Md Jahrul Haque framed the charges and the court fixed November 16 for recording prosecution witnesses.

ACC prosecutor Mosharraf Hossain Kajal said trial of Khoka would start in his absence.

Meanwhile, defence counsel Mohosin Miah of Khoka, who is now in the USA for treatment, has filed a petition seeking adjournment in the trial unless he is back.

On April 2, 2008, ACC Assistant Director Md Shamsul Alam, also investigation officer of the case, submitted a charge sheet against Khoka to the

Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court. A total of 43 people were shown as prosecution witnesses.

The case was filed on December 6, 2007 against Khoka, his wife Ishmat Ara, son Ishrak Hossain and daughter Sarika Sadaque for amassing wealth worth over Tk17.57 crore illegally and hiding informatioon about it.

According to the chargesheet, Khoka submitted his wealth statement on December 6, 2007 showing assets worth Tk9.97 crore.

But the ACC later found that the BNP leader had wealth worth Tk9.76 crore under his ownership, which was beyond his known sources of income.

It also found wealth worth Tk9.97 crore that was concealed in his wealth information submitted earlier to the commission. l

Hyundai wants to leave Bibiyana 3 project n Asif Showkat Kallol The Hyundai E&C company Ltd has decided to leave the Marubeni–Hyundai consortium, which was awarded the job to construct the 400MW gas-fired power plant at Habiganj’s Bibiyana, with the South Korean energy firm reportedly planning on shifting its business to other locations, especially in Venezuela.

The Bangladesh Power Development Board (BPDB) has recently sent a proposal from Japanese energy firm Marubeni Corporation – saying it wanted to take total scope of the project as Hyundai desired to leave the consortium – to the Cabinet Committee on Public Purchase for its consent, a BPDB official told the Dhaka Tribune.

Last July, Hyundai E&C won a plant construction project worth approximately $4.8bn in Venezuela, where it is expected to shift its focus on.

The BPDB has already agreed to give initial permission to the proposal if different conditions are fulfilled including a new performance guarantee from Marubeni.

The Japan-based firm, Marubeni, has reportedly agreed to provide a new performance guarantee while the BPDB can return the performance guarantee of the Marubeni-Hyundai consortium. According to the proposal, the engineering planning contract (EPC) agreement between BPDB and Marubeni-Hyundai consortium will now be identified as the EPC agreement between BPDB and Marubeni.

Although the Bibiyana 3 plant was approved in May 2012, the construction is yet to begin in the absence of an EPC as the two members of the consortium did not sign a loan agreement.

Power Division Secretary Monowar Islam said the Japan Bank for International Cooperation – which will finance the Tk2,923 crore plant under buyer’s credit – has agreed to give loan to the Marubeni Corporation. l

Fourth arrest warrant issued against Latif

n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu For the fourth time, another Dhaka court yesterday issued an arrest warrant against recently sacked minister Abdul Latif Siddique in a case filed for hurting the religious sentiments of the Muslims.

Metropolitan Magistrate Md Younus Khan issued the warrant as Latif did not appear in his court as per a summon in the lawsuit and ordered the OC concerned to submit the execution report of the warrant on January 14 next year.

On October 1, Alhaj Badal Miah, a cattle-hide trader and a resident of Chawlkbazar in Mawartek area in the capital, filed the case and the court in response to it summoned the former minster to appear before it yesterday.

Through the move, a total of four arrest warrants have so far been issued by different Dhaka courts against Latif Siddique for hurting the countrymen’s religious sentiment by making controversial remarks on hajj and Tablig last month during a programme in New York.

Besides, Latif, who was also expelled from the post of AL presidium member, has been sued in some 30 cases across the country for the statement. l

Elderly woman beaten dead for only Tk50 n Our Correspondent, Comilla A brawl over price of fish eventually led to the death of an elderly woman in Bhatipara village of Comilla.

The victim is Kanon Bala, 55, wife of Jagadish Chandra Das. Quoting locals, police said on Wednesday evening Jagadish, who is a fisherman by profession, brought some fish which Kanon Bala sold to her neighbour Jasmine Akhter, 25, on credit.

Later yesterday when she went to Jasmine’s house to collect the money which was Taka 50, Jasmine started to swear at her and said the price of the fish was fixed less than that.

At one point of the bickering, Jasmine and her family members started hitting Kanon Bala with a stick leaving her dead on spot.

Titas police station Officer-in-Charge Md Abdul Hannan said following a case filed by Jagadish Chandra Das, police had detained Jasmine’s parents, daughter and a nephew in this connection.

However, Jasmine managed to flee from the scene, he said. The victim’s body was sent to Comilla Medical College Hospital for autopsy. l

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Friday, October 31, 2014

ACC to probe £1.5m Maizbhandar mosque deposit n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The Chittagong Anti Corruption Commission (ACC) is seeking permission to investigate a £1.5 million deposit made into a bank account named for a major religious institution in Chittagong allegedly opened using falsified signatures.

The account was opened in the name of Maizbhandar Sharif Shah-eJame Masjid Directors and Development Committee.

‘The police investigation is almost complete but this type of case should be looked into by the ACC as per the law’ A Pakistani national, identified as Alamgir Mia, transferred roughly Tk20 crore into an account at Laldighi branch of Janata Bank in Chittagong from Barclays Bank in London, raising suspicions of funding for Islamist militants.

Documents of the case, lodged at Kotwali police station on October 28, were received by the ACC Chittagong Division Office yesterday.

They will be sent to Dhaka on Sunday as the Chittagong office seeks permission to investigate the matter, ACC Chittagong Divisional Director Abdul Aziz Bhuiyan said.

Kotwali police station Inspector (investigation) Nezam Uddin lodged a case against the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education Assistant Director Abul Kalam Azad, Maizbhandar Masjid Director and Development Committee General Secretary SMS Shahjahan Maizbhandari and Chief

Treasurer SM Sahibul Alam, and Rakib.

The mosque committee’s president, Syed Nazibul Bashar Maizbhandari, also MP for Chittagong 2 (Fatikchhari) and chairman of the Bangladesh Tariqat Federation, alleged that two members of the committee had opened the account by forging his and other members’ signatures.

He said General Secretary SMS Shahjahan Maizbhandari and Chief Treasurer SM Sahidul Alam had opened the account with the Janata Bank Laldighi branch in May this year, allegedly to defame him and Maizbhandar Sharif mosque.

“We informed law enforcement and intelligence agencies and Janata Bank authorities about the matter soon after the deposit of a cheque of £1.5 million from Barclays Bank PLC in London by a Pakistani citizen,” he added.

Inspector Nezam of Kotwali police station lodged a case with the then Metropolitan Sessions Judge SM Mujibur Rahman on May 19 seeking investigation into the matter.

“The police investigation is almost complete but this type of case should be looked into by the ACC as per the law,” he said.

Didarul Alam, assistant general manager (foreign section) of Janata Bank’s Laldighi corporate office in Chittagong city, said the bank opened the account on simple faith but suspended it after receiving the complaint.

The investigation officer quoted Shahjahan as saying he got the link of the fund from the Pakistani national through Abul Kalam Azad, assistant director of the Directorate of Secondary and Higher Secondary Education.

Azad confirmed Shahjahan’s account, saying that Tk2 crore of Tk20 crore was to be given for the mosque’s development and the rest would go to Azad and six of his associates. But Azad told police that he did not know Shahjahan. l

Members of the Gonojagoron Moncho bring out procession on the Dhaka University campus yesterday, protesting the countrywide hartal called by the Jamaat-e-Islami NASHIRUL ISLAM

‘No political instability in investment’

n Tribune Report

Finance Minister AMA Muhith claimed that there was no political instability in terms of investment in the country.

He made the remark in response to a query after a meeting with the delegations of International Finance Corporation and Bangladesh Jute Goods Association at the Secretariat yesterday.

Muhith termed BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia’s movement bogus, saying that BNP acting secretary general Fakhrul Islam Alamgir only talks.

He said the weak points of the country’s economy are lack of investment and its growth rate is almost normal. l

War crimes convict Salauddin Qauder Chowdhury’s wife and son coming out of Dhaka’s Cyber Crimes Tribunal after securing bail after surrendering to the court in a case concerning verdict leak in Chowdhury’s war crimes trial DHAKA TRIBUNE

103rd birth anniversary of Obaidul Huq today n Tribune Report Today is the 103rd birth anniversary of late veteran journalist Obaidul Huq. Obaidul Huq, a doyen of journalism, joined The Pakistan Observer in 1951 as joint editor.

He became the editor of The Bangladesh Observer after the 1971 Liberation War and held the position until 1984, after which he became a columnist and regular contributor to different dailies. He was the chairman of the Press Institute and trustee on the board of the now defunct Dainik Bangla and Bangladesh Times.

He was honoured with many awards including the Ekushey Padak in 1983 and the Unicef Gold Medal for journalism. He also received the Bangla Academy Award in 1964 for drama writing.

Born in 1911 in Feni, the widely travelled journalist died on October 13, 2007 at the age of 96. l

SQ Chowdhury’s wife, son surrender n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu Following their surrender, a Dhaka court yesterday granted bail to war criminal Salauddin Quader Chowdhury’s wife and son for their alleged link with the leak of the draft verdict in the war crimes case against the senior BNP leader.

Dhaka Cyber Tribunal Judge KM Shamsul Alam granted the bail to Farhat Quader Chowdhury and Humam Quader Chowdhury upon a bond of Tk1 lakh for each with two guarantors.

The court set November 24 for next hearing regarding the arrest warrant issued against Mehedi Hasan, an assistant of Salauddin’s lawyer barrister AKM Fakhrul Islam.

The same court, on October 12 issued a warrant for arrest of the accused after taking the charges into cognisance.

Meanwhile, the counsel of detained accused Faruk Hossain, tribunal’s office assistant, filed a bail petition before the court while Fakhrul sought re-investigation of the case.

The court after a hearing rejected both

petitions.

Investigators found that the accused had made a huge investment to leak out the verdict from the tribunal chairman’s computer to create controversies.

Four other accused, now in jail, are Salauddin’s manager Mahbubul Ahsan, Fakhrul, Faruk and Nayan Ali. Nayan and Faruk gave confessional statement before magistrates on October 9 last year.

On October 1 last year, the tribunal awarded Salauddin death sentence for committing crimes against humanity and genocide in Chittagong during the 1971 Liberation War. Shortly after pronouncement of the verdict, his family members and defence counsels told the media that the verdict had been available on a few websites and that it had been written in the Law Ministry.

The seven accused were asked to appear in court November 24. If found guilty, they may face highest 14 years’ imprisonment or up to Tk1 crore in fines or both. l

DPDC, EnergyPac sign pact to ensure smooth power supply

Railways minister to tie the knot today

n Aminur Rahman Rasel

Railways Minister Mazibul Hoque is about to end his 67-year bachelor life he gets married today.

The wedding will be held in the bride’s own village Mirakhula in Chandina upazila of the district. The groom’s procession, scheduled to reach Comilla around 2pm, will start from his Bailey Road residence around 11am.

Six ministers and more than 50 lawmakers are expected to join in.

Arrangements have been made for a total of 1,500 guests, said Lutfur Reza Khokan, a Jatiyo Party leader. l

Dhaka Power Distribution Company Ltd (DPDC) signed a contract with EnergyPac Engineering Ltd to set up three high-powered transformers to ensure smooth power supply in Siddhirganj and Khanpur and other areas in Narayanganj.

Accordingly, the power engineering company will install two transformers at the Khanpur power substation and the other in Siddhirganj.

This would reduce systems loss and

necessary voltage would be ensured to about 50 thousand consumers in the areas. Five thousand new connections would also be given.

DPDC Superintending Engineer ASM Mahmudul Hoque and EnergyPac General Manager SM Aminul Hoque signed the agreement in DPDC office yesterday.

“The DPDC is going to implement the project at a cost of Tk12.83 crore to minimise the systems loss to free our consumers from the power hassle,” said Brig Gen Md Nazrul Hasan (Rtd), DPDC’s managing director. l

n Our Correspondent, Comilla

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

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Friday, October 31, 2014

THIRD PHASE OF UTTARA RESIDENTIAL MODEL TOWN

Rajuk to miss deadline to hand over the plots n Abu Hayat Mahmud The Rajdhani Unnayan Kartripakkha (Rajuk) is about to miss yet another deadline in completing the third phase of the Uttara Residential Model Town project due to irregularities and lack of monitoring by the authorities concerned and project contractors.

Both officials at Rajuk and owners of the plots under the project told the Dhaka Tribune that development was progressing at snail pace and it did not seem like the authorities concerned would be able to hand over the plots to the owners in time.

All the plots were supposed to be handed over by the end of this year, as Firoj Ahmed, project director of the third phase, told the Dhaka Tribune in July last year.

“Out of a total of 8,295 plots, we have already handed around 4,000 plots over to the owners, and the rest will be handed over by December next year,” he said.

To date Rajuk has been able to hand over only 500 more plots to the owners, and at this rate it will be impossible to meet the deadline, sources at Rajuk said.

Officials concerned said the development of the third phase of the project was 75% complete since it began 15 years ago.

A Rajuk official alleged that the project has been delayed because of frequent changes in the project’s administration, lack of planning, interference of ministers and MPs, indiscipline, and locals protesting the land acquisition and their legal action against Rajuk.

Work has been suspended several times within this period due to the increasing cost of construction material as well as conflicts between Rajuk authorities and the contractors, which resulted in the contractors employing only a few workers delaying the project’s progress, sources said.

During a visit to the project around 11:30am, this correspondent found no one present at the Rajuk project office at the site. A few construction workers were seen working, who told the Dhaka Tribune that the workforce was vastly insufficient for such a project.

By-polls to 65 union parishad posts Nov 18 n Tribune Desk By-polls to various vacant posts of 65 Union Parishads across 35 districts of the country will be held on November 18.

Besides, by-elections in three more Union Parishads of Rangpur district will be held on November 20, reports UNB. The 68 vacant Union Parishad posts include nine chairmen, 49 general members and ten reserved member posts (exclusively reserved for women), according to sources at the Election Commission.

The EC declared the by-election schedule for the union parishads in early October, said its assistant secretary M Ashfaqur Rahman.

The nine Union Parishads going to the by-polls to elect chairmen are Gangachara Union of Gangachara Upazila and Pirgacha of Pirgacha in Rangpur, Domar Union of Domar in Nilphamari, Char Astodhar of Nakla in Sherpur, Charamkhaoya of Dewanganj in Jamalpur, Karihata of Kapasia of Gazipur, Sonailtola of Mongla of Bagerhat, Narayanpur of Chaugachha of Jessore, and Belchari of Matiranga of Khagrachhari.

The elections will be held with the updated voter list of the 10th parliamentary polls. l

Steel mill catches fire in Chittagong n FM Mizanur Rahaman Labourers are involved in construction work of a road of Uttara Model Town, but there is no monitoring of the authorities concerned. The photo was taken recently NASHIRUL ISLAM

Most of the roads and a 9-km lake under the project has been built, while the construction of 12 bridges and several culverts and laying of utility lines – water, power, gas – are still under way.

Sources said development of Sectors 15, 16 and 18 were complete, and the development of Sector 17 was in progress.

These four sectors make up the third phase project. Of them, Sector 18 is the only project of flats by Rajuk, and the other three are of plots.

When contacted on Monday, Firoj Ahmed, the project director, said: “Most of the development work is complete and we have already handed over more than 50% of plots to the owners.

The rest will be handed over after the construction of roads and bridges and installation of utility lines are finished.”

But he could not say when.

Asked about the project delay, he said the main obstacle was the cases filed by the people affected by land acquisition.

“The first and second phases took longer than expected to finish for the same reason,” he said.

Timeline: Third phase

Rajuk started planning the third phase of Uttara Residential Model Town in 1999-2000, and the project took off after being approved by the Executive Committee of National Economic Council (Ecnec) in May 2000.

Rajuk started land acquisition in

2000-2001 and acquired a total of 812.8 hectares of land. The project was supposed to be completed by 2002, but it did not due to different problems. The construction finally began in 2004.

In 2006, the project deadline was extended to 2009 in the cost was estimated to be around Tk2,340 crore. But Rajuk could not meet that deadline either.

Finally, in 2011 Rajuk announced the names of plot winners and started handing over the plots. l

A fire broke out at a steel re-rolling mill in Chittagong’s Maijjartek area yesterday morning.

No causality was reported in the incident.

Assistant Director of Agrabad Fire Service and Civil Defense Md Yahiya said the fire had originated from an electric short circuit at the Ehsan Steel Re-Rolling Mills around 7:30am.

Two units of fire fighters from Lama Bazar Fire Station doused the flame after two and half hours of frantic efforts, he said.

Fire service officials estimated that the loss caused by the fire worth Tk1.15 crore. l

One held with SC stays HC verdict on shifting 1,000 Yaba tablets Samajik Shikkhakendra school in Chittagong lease by Girls Guides Association from n Tribune Report n Tribune Report the government.

Police arrested a youth in possession of 1,000 pieces of yaba tablets from Bhatiyari area of Sitakunda upazila in Chittagong early yesterday.

The detainee was Rubel, 22, son of Md Manik Mia, hailing from Muradpur area of Comilla, said Sub-inspector Mozammel Haque of Sitakunda police station.

SI Mozammel said being tipped of police raided a Dhaka-bound bus on the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway of Bhatiyari area of the upazila and nabbed the youth around 1:30am.

Later ,police seized 1,000 pieces of yaba tablets from his possession, said the SI adding that a case was lodged with Sitakunda police station in this regard. l

WEATHER DRY WEATHER LIKELY

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:20PM SUN RISES 6:05AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 31 30 30 30 30 30 32 31

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

20 23 20 20 20 19 18 23

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

32.8ºC Sylhet

16.8ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Jumma Asr Magrib Esha

4:48am 6:03am 11:42am 3:44pm 5:20pm 6:37 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

The Supreme Court yesterday stayed a High Court verdict that had declared illegal two ministerial letters against the shifting of Samajik Shikshakendra Government Primary School located on Bailey Road in the capital.

The four-member Appellate Division bench, led by Justice Surendra Kumar Sinha, passed the order after hearing a leave-to-appeal petition, filed by Girls Guides Association, against the verdict.

Additional Attorney General Murad Reja told the Dhaka Tribune that this order allowed Girls Guides Association to continue its activity in its present location unless appeals were settled.

Samajik Shikkhakendra Government Primary School is located on a piece of land, which has been taken

India hands over bodies of three Bangladeshis n Tribune Desk The bodies of three Bangladesh nationals killed by Indian civilians in Tripura were handed over to Bangladesh border guards yesterday.

Second-in-command of Teliamora camp of Indian Border Security Force Birendra Vajpayee handed the bodies over to Border Guard Bangladesh through Balla border in Chunarughat upazila around 6:30pm.

The BGB sources said officerin-charge of Chunarughat Police Station Amulya Kumar Chowdhury who was also present during the body handover.

The three Bangladeshi nationals were beaten to death by Indian civilians in the Khowai town of Indian Tripura state, close to Balla border in Chunarughat upazila of the district, early Tuesday.

The victims are Karam Ali, 35, Sujon Miah, 24, and Akal Miah, 25, hailing from Alinagar village at Gazipur union of the upazila.

A battalion commander-level flag meeting between BGB and BSF was held on Wednesday at the no-man’s land along Balla frontier over the handover of the bodies. l

As Girls Guides Association felt the need for using this land for their own purpose, they moved to shift this school elsewhere, promoting the government to issue two letters against it on May 18, 2008.

According to the letters, the school is a government infrastructure and its land and building is also a government property and so there is no scope to shift it.

Girls Guides Association then filed a writ petition challenging the legality of the letters issued by the ministry about the shifting of this school.

Additional Attorney Murad Reza represented the government while Aadvocate Munsurul Haque move for the girls guide side. l

This groom’s party heads to the bride’s home 45km away on battery-run autorickshaws finding no microbus or motor car during the Jamaat enforced nationwide general strike yesterday. The photo was taken from Kharkhari Bazar area of Rajshahi AZAHAR UDDIN

Govt sets timeframe to remove overhead cables in capital n Aminur Rahman Rasel The government has set a timeframe for the removal of overhead cables in the capital within the next seven days in a bid to beautify the city.

Nasrul Hamid, state minister for power, energy and mineral resources, gave the instruction to the internet service providers (ISPs) and cable TV operators at a meeting with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC), Dhaka Power Distribution Company Limited (DPDC) and Dhaka Electric Supply Company Limited (Desco) at Bidyut Bhaban in the capital yesterday.

The overhead cables are not only an eyesore, but also hazardous, the state minister said.

He warned the ISPs and cable TV operators that the DPDC and Desco would take action against them if they did not take immediate steps to follow the instructions.

SM Altaf Hossain, chairman of the technical and infrastructural committee of the Internet Service Providers’ Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), said completing the task in such a short time would be difficult.

The overhead cables have to be replaced with underground cables, and only two companies – Fibre@Home Limited and Summit Communications Limited – are currently in charge of

'The tangled mass of cables makes the footpaths and the roads seem like a jungle, and it creates severe problems for people who use the foot overbridges' managing the underground connections, and getting schedule from these companies in such a short notice will be quite a hard task, he said.

“We need more time to work on this, in phases. Before, the order was primarily given only for the main streets, now the authorities want all overhead cables across the capital to removed,

which is tough to do within a week,” Altaf said.

A Power Division official told the Dhaka Tribune that overhead internet and TV cables created trouble for pedestrians, and in many cases caused fatal accidents.

“Pedestrians in different parts of Dhaka have accused the authorities of negligence in this regard,” he said.

This reporter visited the capital’s Mohammadpur, Moghbazar, Mouchak, Farmgate, Dhanmondi, Mohakhali and Motijheel areas yesterday and found the situation worse in those areas.

“The tangled mass of cables makes the footpaths and the roads seem like a jungle, and it creates severe problems for people who use the foot overbridges,” said Abdur Rashid, a Mohammadpur resident, while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.

“It is quite impossible to move in the streets as the cables hang very close to the surface, not to mention how risky it is for the pedestrians. And they also put a damper on our city’s beauty,” he said.

There are around a hundred cable TV operators and 400 ISPs in the capital, according to sources at the BTRC. l

One held with 82 gold bars n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Customs officials arrested a Dubai-returned person with 82 gold bars weighing 9.50 kilograms at Shah Amanat International Airport in Chittagong city yesterday morning.

The intelligence personnel around 11am stopped one Mohammad Hossain, of Anwara upazila in Chittagong, who arrived at the airport by Fly Dubai flight (FZ-589) flight around 10:45am, at the immigration on information and recovered the gold bars searching his body, said airport sources.

Shah Amanat International Airport Manager Wing Commander Nur-eAlam said the seized bars worth Tk4.10 crore were handed over to Chittagong Customs House.

The arrestee was handed over to Patenga police station while a case was lodged with the police station against him in this connection, added Additional DC (immigration) Mizanur Rahaman of Chittagong Metropolitan Police.

Existing law allows a person to carry highest 200 grammes gold from abroad paying necessary duty at the airport while the passenger can bring highest two kilograms of gold by giving early notice to the authorities concerned and paying duty according to a circular of Bangladesh Bank. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Friday, October 31, 2014

People suffering from traffic jam for want of bypass n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha People in Gaibandha suffer from continuous traffic jam as the authority shows negligence to construct a bypass beside the town.

Roads and Highway Department engineer Mahbub Alam Khan said: “Vehicles cannot pass the town quickly as the road is narrow and there is no alternative way.”

He said at first a proposal of Tk56 crore was sent to the ministry in 1988 to construct a bypass beside the town.

Later, another proposal of TK73 crore was sent to the ministry in 2011. But the authority did not take any steps.

Recently another proposal of Tk75 crore to construct the road has been

sent to the ministry.

Everyday thousands of vehicles including buses, trucks, three wheelers ply on the narrow road throughout the town causing long tailback.

Everyday, number of locally made three wheelers such as Nasiman, Kariman, Vutvuti are increasing rapidly.

But the road cannot be extended with the marching of the increasing vehicles.

The people have to suffer as there is regular tailback from Bridge Road area to Purano Bazar, Post office road, Jail road, DC office road and Rail gate areas.

In rush hour, pedestrians cannot walk due to the traffic jam. No traffic police is seen this time also.

The tailback also increases when the vehicles from Dhaka cross the town

Confusion over upazila committees of Ishwarganj BNP Correspondent, n Our Mymensingh Activists of Ishwarganj upazila unit of BNP in Mymensingh are confused over two committees formed by former members of parliament Shah Nurul Kabir Shahin and Khurram Khan Chowdhury.

Party sources said Shah Nurul Kabir, who is the convener of Ishwarganj upazila unit of BNP, organised a meeting on September 17 at his house, where he announced a new upazila BNP committee consisting only nine members. Shahin held the post of president and Farid Uddin held the post of general secretary in the new committee.

On the other hand, Ishwarganj upazila BNP organised a biennial meeting on September 24 at the party office in the municipality, but they had to transfer the venue to Char Hossainpur as the local administration imposed section 144 in the area on that day. In that meeting

a committee of 101 members was announced by Convener of Mymensingh North unit of BNP Khurram Khan Chowdhury. Engineer Lutfullahel Majed Babu was the president and AKM Harun-or-Rashid was the general secretary of the new committee.

Nasir Ullah, a member of Ishwarganj unit of BNP, said the Lutfullahel’s enthusiasm and support revitalised the inactive party members.

When contacted, Shah Nurul Kabir Sahin said his committee was legal as he is the convener of Ishwarganj upazila BNP. However, Lutfullahel Majed Babu said Khurram Khan Chowdhury announced the new committee of 101 members in a meeting following regulations of the organisation.

Convener of Mymensingh North unit of BNP Khurram Khan Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune that the committee announced at the biennial meeting was the legal one. l

College student shot dead Correspondent, n Our Rajshahi A youth was shot dead at his residence in Bhobanipur village under Durgapur upazila of Rajshahi on Wednesday.

The dead is Raju Ahmed, 23, student of Kanapara Degree College.

Raju’s relative Monirul Islam said Raju had been living with his uncle Shahidul Islam since his childhood.

On Wednesday night, when everyone in the fam-

ily went asleep, a group of people, claiming themselves to be police officials, arrived in front of the house and started calling out Shahidul’s name.

As Raju opened the door they shot Raju on his back and left the spot.

Raju’s family members took him to the Durgapur Health Complex. Later he was referred to the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital where the doctors declared him dead. l

NEWS IN BRIEF Security guard killed in clash A security man was killed and 50 were injured in a clash between two rival groups in Kashimpur Baluchar area under Gazipur City on Wednesday evening. The deceased was identified as Nur Hossain,50, son of Arshad Ali of Shoronkhola upazila in Bagerhat district. He was a security supervisor of Dulal Brothers Ltd. Khandaker Rezaul Karim, officer-in-charge of Joydebpur police station said the workers of Khalek Garments Ltd of Keya groups went to Kashimpur Baluchar area to fill up a piece land with sand. But the employees of Dulal Brothers Ltd resisted them. At one stage, the workers of both groups locked in a clash leaving 51 injured. Of the injured, Nur died while he was being taken to hospital.

– Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Three bird poachers jailed in Gopalganj A mobile court sentenced three bird poachers to imprisonment for one month on Wednesday night for hunting migratory birds. The mobile court was led by Upazila Nirbahi officer and Executive Magistrate Md Mominur Rahman. The convicts were Tapan Sarkar, 32, the son of Hari Sarkar from Joaria village in Tungipara, Atul Bairagi, 32, the son of Baburam Bairagi from Taroil village and Bidyut Bala, 28, the son of Bhanjan Bala from Mitradanga village. Sub-inspector (SI) of Tungipara police station Ikram Ahammed said the three bird poachers, who possessed 49 migratory birds, were brought before the mobile court. The court sentenced the one month jail.

– Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

Motorbike rider dies in road crash A motorbike rider died on spot being hit by a shallow-engine run human haulier on the Dhaka-Rangpur highway yesterday. The victim is Wahedul Islam Mondol, 32, son of Abul Kashem hailing from Kharia village under Gobindaganj upazila of Gaibandha district.

Gobindaganj highway police Officer-in-Charge SM Masud Parvez said Wahedul was riding his motorcycle towards Gobindaganj when a speeding human haulier hit him leaving dead on spot.

– Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

for Sundarganj, Sadullapur, Naldanga, Saghata and Phulchari.

When visited the town, it was found that many illegal auto-rickshaw parking stations and shops have been set up occupying the footpath which is one of the reason of traffic jam.

Mahmudul Gani Rijon, Khademul Islam Khudi of Bridge Road, Sahabul Shaheen of Dhangara, Goutum Asis Guho of David Company Para area said a bypass should be made to solve the problem.

Advocate Sirajul Islam, convenor of Gaibandha Civil Society said: “If the bypass is constructed, the traffic jam will be removed.”

Mayor Shamsul Alom said: “The steps should be taken up immediately to construct the bypass.” l

A farmer irrigates his Aman paddy field through a water pump. A drought like situation has been prevailing in Rajshahi for a few days affecting the cultivation of Aman paddy during the current season. The photo was taken from Sangkarpukur area, Godagari upazila on Wednesday AZAHAR UDDIN

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Friday, October 31, 2014

Ebola and the failure of the West to react

A mask-wearing man, who refused to give his name, walks past an apartment building where a child was taken the the hospital to be tested for Ebola in the Bronx borough of New York on October 27

T

n Liam Maddrell

Ebola – The virus

he “Ebola scare” on the Gold Coast in Australia highlighted the dangers and fears associated with this virus, and why governments around the world, particularly in the affluent West, need to start treating the ongoing epidemic in West Africa more seriously.

Not surprisingly such efforts should go beyond the rather muted responses seen from Australian and Queensland officials who appeared to be more concerned with the impact on tourism that the scare might have had, and which have been replicated in other Western nations who suffered similar scares.

Ebola was first identified in 1976 due to two simultaneous outbreaks in Nzara, Sudan and Yambuku in then Zaire (now Democratic Republic of Congo). Yambuku incidentally is situated on the Ebola River, which gave its name to the virus. To date, five distinct species of Ebola have been discovered. The current epidemic is called by “Zeebov” or the “Zaire strain,” which is the most deadly to humans, and has been responsible for the majority of previous outbreaks.

Transmission of Ebola occurs through contact with infected bodily fluids, secretions or the organs of an infected animal or person. It is thought that the disease is transferred to humans through the consumption of infected bushmeat in Africa or the handling of infected animals such as primates, fruit bats, forest antelope and porcupines. Once in a human host however, the primary method of transmission for the virus is human to human contact.

Due to the way it infects, health workers themselves are among the most at risk, especially in developing nations such as those currently experiencing the epidemic in West Africa.

This can be seen with the infection and death of doctors who have specialised in this virus during the current epidemic. In fact over 10% of those who have died so far have been health workers themselves, which has further weakened the possible response from the governments in West Africa.

Due to the lack of adequate infectious disease control, the epidemic is now considered to be out of control. Further complicating matters on the ground for health workers is widespread misinformation and fear amongst the local population, with many believing that the health workers themselves are causing the epidemic.

This fear also does not help the governments in West Africa in educating their citizens on how Ebola is spread.

Government officials in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone report that these fears are preventing them from dissuading their people in the more rural areas from continuing traditional funeral practices of relatives and friends touching the deceased, which in turn spreads the disease.

Ebola can be difficult to contain due to it possessing a highly-variable incubation period, during which victims can be infectious although not symptomatic. Once symptomatic according to the World Health Organisation victims will experience “fever, intense weakness, muscle pain, headache and sore throat. This is followed by vomiting, diarrhoea, rash, impaired kidney and liver function, and in some cases, both internal and external bleeding.”

In laymen’s terms, those afflicted

The other reason why Western governments are doing very little when it comes to the Ebola epidemic threatening to kill 10,000 people or more by this time next year, and has already killed 2500, is that you can’t bomb a virus

Indeed as the World Health Organisation now warns of over 20,000 possible cases with over half of these ending in fatalities before the epidemic in West Africa might be brought under control, it is not the West but rather nations such as Cuba who are leading the fight against the insidious virus, a situation that is damming on government priorities.

A quarantine official stands behind a banner notifying to incoming passengers

REUTERS

from Ebola begin to bleed from the inside out as the virus causes the immune system to attack the body’s circulatory system. This process also leads to the most publicised symptom of Ebola, with victims appearing to bleed from their eyeballs. However as a virus strain possessing RNA rather than our own DNA, it is highly mutable, with each new case presenting a chance for Ebola to acquire new abilities.

During this epidemic alone 300 new Ebola mutations have been recorded.

More startling yet is that with the Ebola Reston variant, that attack pigs, there is historical evidence of a remote chance that Ebola could become airborne, with catastrophic results.

Why aren’t we doing more?

Obviously this disease is something that governments would like to see contained. So why aren’t they investing more into the containment of the current epidemic like Medicines Sans Frontiers continually lobbies for? Put simply, its democratic and financial priorities. Governments in the West simply do not care enough to do more than what is already being done.

While they will give token support to Non-Government Organisations on the ground or through the World Health Organisation, it appears any official response will only come into it when one of their nationals are afflicted. This has been seen with the US sending a 25 bed field hospital with no staff to Liberia, who has a shortage of over 700 beds for Ebola patients in the capital, Monrovia, alone, or the European Union’s pledge of 500,000 euros, in comparison to the response when Western citizens have themselves become infected.

The reasons for this are largely economic and political. In a world with multiple issues, a rampant epidemic in developing countries of little infrastructure and even less sanitation is considered by most Western governments as “too hard.”

This has been increased with the recent Global Financial Crises and ongoing programmes of austerity which have led to governments of western democracies to be increasingly worried with large costs about the electoral cycle and weary of anything that won’t produce “warm fuzzy” feelings inside of that cycle, or play to the more hawkish elements of their constituencies, thus generating votes.

This is why a fifth of all budget cuts in the recent Australian budget came from the Foreign Aid budget and why similar cuts have been made elsewhere.

The other reason why Western governments are doing very little when it comes to the Ebola epidemic threatening to kill 10,000 people or more by this time next year, and has already

REUTERS

During this epidemic alone 300 new Ebola mutations have been recorded. More startling yet is that with the Ebola Reston variant, there is a remote chance that Ebola could become airborne, with catastrophic results

killed 2500, is that you can’t bomb a virus. In the age of humanitarian intervention, the Responsibility to Protect, and smart bombs, the base instinct for Western governments is to deal with emergent issues of humanitarian importance through military action and/ or sanctions, both of which produce great footage for cable news providers and clearly shows their constituencies that they are being tough.

These options are not available in dealing with the Ebola virus, beyond the militaries of the afflicted nations working to quarantine infected regions. The very real and hard process of building health infrastructure capable of containing the epidemic in a place where it only exists marginally just doesn’t generate enough buzz amongst the wider society, especially with the costs attached, and sending doctors on mass to another country when healthcare services, or lack thereof is a contentious issue at home, further weakens the resolve to do something.

Therefore, its easy to see why Western citizens themselves will pressure their governments to do something about the Islamic State in Iraq and Syria while at the same time ignoring the humanitarian disaster unfolding in West Africa. This situation has led to some, like Jonas Schmidt-Chansait, of the Bernhard Nocht Institute for Tropical Medicine, to controversially claim that the containment fight in Sierra Leone and Liberia has already been lost, and that we will now be forced to wait for the virus to “burn itself out” infecting nearly the entire population of the two countries and killing around half, or 5 million people in the process.

So what can we do?

We in the West can do a number of things to help contain the virus where it is, and more long-term help to ensure that it doesn’t continue. Helping those groups already on the ground needs to happen at a faster tempo, with greater contributions financially

and also the personnel required from the more affluent countries which can afford this.

Longer term, investment into the sanitation systems and continued education of the populations in the regions known to harbour the Ebola virus naturally needs to be undertaken, alongside the continued government-supported research into a vaccine which may take several years.

However, merely doing one or the other will only provide a mere band-aid solution to the much greater problem of general lack of adequate health services and understanding in a region afflicted by more than just Ebola. Instead it is likely that unless the epidemic reaches a Western country, there will be little action beyond what has already been taken. l Liam Maddrell is an editor of Alochonaa.com, a PhD student, School of Government and IR, Griffith University and an intern with the Australian Institute of International Affairs – Qld Branch. This article was first published in alochonaa.com.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Friday, October 31, 2014

Jerusalem brawling after rabbi shot Al-Aqsa mosque shut down ment before his release in 2012, accordn Al Jazeera ing to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

Clashes have erupted between Israeli security forces and Palestinian youth in East Jerusalem a day after a gunman on a motorcycle shot and seriously wounded a far-right rabbi.

Israel announced the shutdown of al-Aqsa mosque following Wednesday’s shooting of Yehuda Glick.

The mosque remained closed “until further notice,” Israeli public security minister said, an announcement that prompted a strong reaction by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.

The move is tantamount to a “declaration of war,” Abbas said.

“This dangerous Israeli escalation is a declaration of war on the Palestinian people and its sacred places and on the Arab and Islamic nation,” his spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina quoted him as saying.

Israeli police on Thursday shot dead Mutaz Hijazi, a Palestinian whom the police claimed was responsible for firing at the US-born rabbi, who is known for his lobbying to secure Jewish prayer rights at the al-Aqsa mosque compound.

Sources told Al Jazeera that Hijazi, 32, was killed in the al-Thori neighbourhood of East Jerusalem.

He had spent more than 11 years in an Israeli prison - mostly in solitary confine-

The developments threaten further escalation in Jerusalem, which has been fraught lately with clashes between Palestinian protesters and the Israeli police.

Jewish encroachment

The latest shooting took place outside a conference promoting Jewish access to the holy site, a hilltop compound in Jerusalem’s old city.

Al-Aqsa mosque compound houses Islam’s third holiest site, but is also revered as the most sacred spot for Jews who refer to the site as the Temple Mount. Although non-Muslims are allowed to visit the site, Jews are not allowed to pray there.

The US-born Glick is a member of the Temple Mount Faithful, a group which calls for “liberating the Temple Mount from Arab [Islamic] occupation.”

Israeli politician Moshe Feiglin said a man approached Glick outside the conference and spoke to him in “heavy Arabic-accented Hebrew.” He then opened fire at point-blank range and fled.

Police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld said that the police had set up roadblocks and were searching for the suspect. l

A Palestinian kicks back a tear gas canister fired by Israeli security forces during clashes in the Abu Tor neighbourhood of east Jerusalem yesterday

Iraqi Kurdish forces enter Syria to fight Islamic State n Reuters, Beirut A first group of Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters entered the besieged Syrian town of Kobane on Thursday to help push back Islamic State militants who have defied US air strikes and threatened to massacre its Kurdish defenders.

Kobane, on the border with Turkey, has been encircled by the Sunni Muslim insurgents for more than 40 days.

Weeks of US-led air strikes have failed to break their stranglehold, and Kurds are hoping the arrival of the peshmerga will turn the tide.

The siege of Kobane - known in Arabic as Ayn al-Arab - has become a test of the US-led coalition’s ability to stop Islamic State’s advance, and Washington has welcomed the peshmerga’s deployment.

A first contingent of about 10 peshmerga fighters crossed into Kobane from Turkey, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Kurdish and Turkish officials said a larger deployment was expected within hours.

“That initial group, I was told, is here to carry out the planning for our strategy going forward,” said Meryem Kobane, a commander with the YPG, the main Syrian Kurdish armed group defending the town.

“They need to make preparations so the peshmerga will be positioned according to our needs,” she told Reuters.

Around 100 peshmerga fighters arrived by plane in southeastern Turkey on Wednesday, joined later that night by a land convoy of vehicles carrying

heavy weapons including a cannon and truck-mounted high-calibre machine guns.

In a compound protected by Turkish security forces near the border town of Suruc, the fighters were donning combat fatigues and preparing their weapons, a Reuters correspondent said.

Syria condemned Turkey for allowing foreign fighters and “terrorists” to enter Syria in a violation of its sovereignty. Its foreign ministry described the move as a “disgraceful act.”

Iraqi Kurdistan President Masoud Barzani said his region was prepared to deploy more forces to Kobane if asked.

Islamic State has caused international alarm by capturing large expanses of Iraq and Syria, declaring an Islamic “caliphate” that has erased borders between the two. l

Germany warns security situation ‘critical’ due to radical Islam

Seven Ukrainian soldiers killed in past 24 hours despite ceasefire n Reuters, Kiev

n Reuters, Berlin

Seven Ukrainian soldiers have been killed in the past 24 hours in the east of the country despite a ceasefire with separatists, a military spokesman said on Thursday.

“They were killed in different places by shelling and one was killed in an ambush,” spokesman Andriy Lysenko said. Eleven others had been wounded in various incidents.

The deaths further strained a tenuous ceasefire, which came into force on September 5, while tension is growing in the run-up to a local election on Sunday organized by the separatists and which has been denounced as illegal by the Kiev government. l

Radical Islam poses a critical security threat to Germany, Interior Minister Thomas de Maiziere warned on Tuesday, saying the number of people capable of staging attacks in the country stood at an all-time high.

Besides the risk posed by German jihadists returning from Syria, there was also the danger of violent clashes on German streets as rival extremist groups turn on each other - mirroring the conflicts of the Middle East, he told a security conference.

De Maiziere said security forces believed the greatest danger came from radicals striking out alone, as

happened in Canada last week, when two soldiers were killed in attacks that police said were carried out by recent converts to Islam.

“The situation is critical. The number of threatening individuals has never been as high as now,” he said. “We represent freedom, and are therefore an object of hate.”

The domestic intelligence agency (BfV) has warned that ultra-conservative Salafism was becoming increasing popular – boosting the number of potential recruits for Islamic State.

Some 450 people have traveled from Germany to join the jihadists in Syria and Iraq. Around 150 have returned. l

Iran parliament rejects minister in fresh blow to Rouhani

Egypt targets universities as last haven for political expression

n AFP, Tehran

n Reuters, Cairo

Iran’s President Hassan Rouhani suffered a fresh setback on Wednesday when the conservative-dominated parliament rejected his choice for science minister as too close to reformists.

Mahmoud Nili-Ahmadabadi, the pick for minister of science, research and technology, lost a vote of confidence by a margin of 79 to 160 following a parliamentary debate lasting almost three hours. It was the third time since Rouhani took office that deputies rejected his candidate for the influential post that covers Iranian universities.

Lawmakers questioned Nili-Ahmadabadi over his stance on the mass protests which broke out after the June 2009 re-election of hardline president

Iran foils sabotage attempt on heavy water tanks n AP, Tehran, Iran Iranian authorities have foiled a sabotage attempt involving tanks used for the transportation of heavy water, a key component in nuclear reactors, an Iranian newspaper reported on Thursday.

The independent Arman daily quoted Asghar Zarean, deputy head of Iran’s nuclear department, as saying that Iranian nuclear experts thwarted the sabotage attempt “in recent weeks” but did not provide a more specific timing.

“Thanks to the full alertness of our colleagues, we were able to detect and defuse the sabotage attempt,” said Zarean, who is also in charge of security at Iran’s nuclear agency.

An unidentified foreign country was behind the attempt, Zarean added without elaborating. He did not indicate what kind of result the sabotage meant to achieve. l

Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.

“None of my colleagues nor I have crossed the red lines set” by Iran’s supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, he said.

“You will not find a single case of our having overstepped these limits,” he said, questioned over a letter sent to Khamenei and signed by academics including himself to condemn attacks on student protesters inside university campuses.

“All my colleagues believe in the system (of the Islamic republic) and acted within the framework of the system,” Nili-Ahmadabadi said.

Parliament in August sacked Rouhani’s previous science minister, Reza Faraji Dana, for trying to recruit to his staff people accused of involvement in the 2009 protest

movement, in which thousands of university students took part.

Reformers and moderates have accused conservatives, who viewed the protests as a “plot” against the Islamic system, of working to weaken Rouhani’s government.

A Western diplomat in Tehran told AFP that the post of science minister was so sensitive because Iranian universities were “very politically active and difficult to manage.”

Faraji Dana was already Rouhani’s third choice as minister for science after parliament rejected the first two nominees.

The role of science minister will be held on an acting basis by Mohammad Ali Najafi, whose permanent appointment was also voted down by lawmakers. l

France investigates mystery drone activity over nuclear plants n Reuters, Paris France has launched an investigation into unidentified drones that have been spotted over nuclear plants operated by state-owned utility EDF (EDF.PA), its interior minister said on Thursday.

Seven nuclear plants across the country were flown over by drones between Oct. 5 and Oct. 20, an EDF spokeswoman said, without any impact on the plants’ safety or functioning.

“There’s a judicial investigation under way, measures are being taken to know what these drones are and neutralize them,” Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve told France Info radio on Thursday, without specifying the measures.

The drone sightings may renew concerns about the safety of nuclear plants in France, the world’s most nuclear-reliant country with 58 reactors on 19 sites operated by EDF. Activists from environmental campaigning group Greenpeace forced their way into the Fessenheim plant on the German border earlier this year and have a history of breaking into nuclear plants in France.

Greenpeace denied any involvement in the pilotless flight activity.

“For all its actions, Greenpeace always acts openly and claim responsibility,” Yannick Rousselet, head of Greenpeace’s anti-nuclear campaign, said in a statement. l

REUTERS

Hundreds of police surround its walls, patrolling in armoured vehicles with sirens blaring, while muscle-bound security guards man metal detectors, searching all who enter.

But this is not a military barracks or police station, it is Cairo University, where the government has tightened security as it seeks to avert another year of unrest on university campuses, among the last bastions of protest and dissent in Egypt.

The government has cracked down on critics since July 2013, when then-army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi overthrew Mohamed Mursi, Egypt’s first freely elected president and a member of the Muslim Brotherhood, after mass protests against his rule.

The Brotherhood was banned, thousands of its supporters were locked up and hundreds were killed when police broke up two protest camps last year. The net has since widened to include secular activists who played a leading role in the 2011 uprising that toppled long-serving autocrat Hosni Mubarak and ignited hopes for deeper change.

As the noose tightened around activists and the government banned unlicensed demonstrations, Egypt’s state universities emerged as one of the few remaining spaces to express dissent.

Scores of students were killed last year in clashes with police and hundreds more were detained, leading the government to delay the start of the new academic year to mid-October while it put security procedures in place.

Sisi, now president, has warned that violence at universities would no longer be tolerated. After the long summer hiatus, increased security has come as a relief for many students who had found themselves traversing battlegrounds on their way to class.

But opponents accuse the government of trying to stamp out the last flickers of political expression. They criticise the moves as an attempt to return campuses

to the grip of the security services, which ruled by fear under Mubarak. “(The government) is eliminating politics inside the university and outside it,” said Khaled Reda, a student leader at Zagazig University in the Nile Delta. “The situation inside the university will be even more difficult than it is outside.”

Universities have banned partisan activity on campus, limiting extra-curricular pursuits to sports or culture.

A decree issued in June means appointments to positions including principal or faculty head must be approved by the president himself, an apparent effort to keep politically active academics from attaining senior positions.

Regulations introduced in September at the thousand-year-old Al Azhar University, among the world’s most venerable centres of Islamic learning, give the administration new powers to sack or expel any faculty member or student involved in activities that damage university property, disrupt the learning process or incite violence.

The cabinet has approved similar rules for all universities. Sisi has yet to sign the measures into law, but the plans have drawn criticism from students and professors active across the political spectrum who say they are too vague and leave the door open for principals to remove anyone they find too outspoken.

“It is clear that there is interference from the security services and the target is to suppress academic freedoms under the pretext of combating terrorism,” Hassan Nafaa, a political science professor at Cairo University, told Reuters.

“We are against terrorism... but we are also against exploiting the current political situation and the state of polarisation to restore the (old) regime...”

State of violence Student activism has played a key role in Egyptian politics for the last century, fomenting unrest against the British occupation and the ensuing succession of

Egyptian leaders hailing from the military, eventually helping topple Mubarak.

Prominent politicians launched their careers as student leaders, including former presidential candidates Abdel Moneim Abol Fotouh, a moderate Islamist, and leftist Hamdeen Sabahi.

Changes introduced in the aftermath of the 2011 revolt, saw academic staff electing faculty chiefs for the first time.

Under the new law, they must be named or approved by the president, giving top political leaders direct control over what are meant to be independent educational institutions.

Gaber Gad Nassar, president of Cairo University, denied the security measures were intended to restrict academic freedoms.

“There is a state of violence which we had to confront for the sake of protecting the students and the university facilities,” he told Reuters in an interview at his office under the university’s iconic dome.

“In what country is storming the university gates with a Molotov (cocktail) accommodated as academic freedom?”

The presence of security forces inside universities has been a contentious issue for years. Before the 2011 uprising, a special police force was dedicated to universities, crushing protest and monitoring dissent.

A court ruling in 2010, shortly before the Tahrir Square revolt, banned police from entering campuses. But after the spread of violence during the last academic year, the government allowed police to step on site at the request of principals.

Universities have since hired private security firms to patrol on campus, while police scour the perimeters for any signs of trouble among Egypt’s 1.5 million university students.

“We will not deal except with those who try to disturb or terrify students,” police general Medhat el-Menshawi, the head of special operations at interior ministry, told Reuters outside the main gate of Al Azhar on the first day of the academic year. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Friday, October 31, 2014

9

Ten developments of Modi’s war against black money n Tribune Desk Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi has set up a special team to investigate people with bank accounts abroad. It is a part of a wider crackdown on corruption promised during his election campaign.

Modi’s party had accused the previous government of failing to go after Indians with billions of untaxed dollars outside the country.

The prime minister says that repatriating that money could help develop India. His finance minister is sperheading the efforts to bring the money back home. Reports al Jazeera.

The India government is facing criticism in the media over its handling of the “black money” issue, despite its decision to give the Supreme Court the names of all Indians suspected of holding untaxed assets abroad.

The list of 627 names was handed over in response to an order from the court, after it rejected the government’s argument that doing so would infringe international agreements, BBC reported.

There is no exact figure for how much undeclared money has been hidden abroad. But some reports suggest more than $1.4 trillion are stashed in Switzerland.Prime Minister Narendra

Eye of cyclone Nilofar will pass near Karachi coast n AFP The eye of cyclone Nilofar, which has been classified by officials as a “very severe cyclonic storm,” will pass around 250 kilometres from Karachi, Pakistan’s chief meteorologist said Thursday.

Tauseef Alam, however, told AFP the storm’s “outer waves would hit Pakistani coasts,” bringing strong winds, high tides and rains to southern parts of the country, especially drought-hit districts of southern Sindh province.

Scientists say the pressure inside the eye of a cyclone is very deep and there are light winds, which can give a false sense of security. There is also an eerie sensation, as 200 kilometre per hour winds can suddenly go calm.

The winds can return to being just as strong as the cyclone continues to move over.

The National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) has told district officials to prepare to evacuate villages along the coast and all beachside restaurants were closed.

“We have estimated some 50,000 people might be evacuated if the need arises,” Ikhlaque Qureshi, a senior National Disaster Management Authority official, told AFP. The authorities claimed to have vacated government buildings and schools in several areas to house the affected people there. l

Modi says he wants to prosecute tax dodgers and bring money stashed in tax havens back into the country but his opponents claim enough progress has not been made since his landslide election victory earlier this year, reports Hindustan Times.

Here are ten developments since the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government took charge at the Centre in May this year: 1. May 27: Modi govt forms SIT Signalling his government’s resolve to bring back the country’s black money stashed abroad, PM Modi’s first decision in the maiden meeting of his cabinet was to form a high-profile SIT to unearth illicit money.

The SIT is headed by former SC judge MB Shah and includes the highest-level officials from financial departments and law enforcement agencies.

2. Oct 17: ‘Black money info cannot be disclosed to all’ The Centre on October 17 told the SC that it could not disclose the names of those who have deposited money in banks abroad as it this would jeopardise tax agreements with nations providing those names to India.

This echoes the line taken by the previous United Progressive Alliance government, which the BJP had slammed over alleged inaction on the

n

Hong Kong’s pro-democracy protests have escalated into a national security issue threatening Chinese sovereignty over the Asian financial center, a delegate to China’s rubber-stamp parliament said on Thursday.

Businessman and lawmaker Michael Tien Puk-sun said support for Hong Kong Chief Executive Leung Chun-ying was crucial to the city’s future stability and there was no longer any room to remain neutral.

The protesters have blocked key intersections for a month in their demand for fully-democratic elections for the city’s next chief executive in 2017. Beijing has said it will only allow a vote among pre-screened candidates.

While the protests have remained largely peaceful, flashes of violence and dramatic images of students dressed in raincoats and safety goggles using umbrellas to protect themselves from tear gas and pepper spray have reared a new political consciousness in the city of seven million.

“Because China has declared there are foreign forces and political influence behind Occupy Central, it has been elevated to a national security issue,” Tien said, referring to one of the protest groups.

“They are not fighting for democracy. They are fighting for independence.

We are dealing with a sovereignty issue... Occupy Central is asking for complete democracy, something that only an independent state can provide.”

Tien was speaking a day after his

in foreign banks.

The much-awaited list did not include names of any politician. Those named in a government affidavit were Pradip Burman of the Dabur group, Rajkot-based bullion trader Pankaj Chimanlal Lodhya and directors of Goa-based mining company Timblo Private Limited — Radha Satish Timblo, Chetan S Timblo, Rohan S Timblo, Anna C Timblo and Mallika R Timblo.

Timblo Private Limited, a firm identified by Association for Democratic Reforms as a donor to both the BJP and the Congress, was also named.

5. Oct 27: Oppn slams BJP for calling affidavit historic Political reactions were sharp after the government revealed the names of seven persons and a company facing prosecution for keeping illegal wealth in foreign banks.

Sambit Patra, a BJP spokesperson, called disclosure of the names “a historic day in the black money case.”

But Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh accused the BJP of “selective revelation” of names and said the process smacked of “blackmail, not black money.”

AAP leader Arvind Kejriwal said the revelations of black money account holders should not be selective.

6. Oct 28: SC pulls up Centre

The apex court directed the government to submit to it the names of all foreign bank account holders by Oct 29, saying it need not provide a “protective umbrella” to such persons.

The court also turned down the government’s request that it modify its order seeking the names of all such account holders. The Centre had contended that the names should be revealed only after investigations proved the accounts indeed held black money and led to prosecution against tax evaders.

7. Oct 29: Centre gives black money full list to SC The government submitted a list of 627 Indians holding accounts in HSBC Bank, Geneva, to the court, which directed its SIT to examine them and take appropriate action.

8. Oct 29: No revelation, for now A special bench of the apex court headed Dattu refused to open the envelope handing over by the Centre, saying it would be done by the SIT chairman and vice-chairman.

“We don’t want to open these papers and embarrass anyone. That has never been our intention,” it said.

Scheduling the next hearing for December 3, it asked the SIT to submit a status report by November 30 after ascertaining who had black money accounts abroad.

Hindu devotees worship the Sun god Surya by the waters of the river Yamuna during the Hindu religious festival of Chatt Puja in New Delhi yesterday. Hindu women fast for the whole day for the betterment of their family and the society during the festival REUTERS

brother, James Tien Pei-chun, was expelled from China’s top parliamentary advisory body and resigned as leader of Hong Kong’s pro-Beijing Liberal Party after urging the Leung to step down.

Beijing has said it fully supports Leung.

James Tien’s swift removal from the Chinese People’s Political Consultative Conference (CPPCC) is a sign of how concerned Beijing is about the protests which, at their peak, drew more than 100,000 people into the streets.

Hong Kong’s increasingly charged political climate is also putting Chinese government officials on tenterhooks.

China’s liaison office in Hong Kong called an urgent meeting with Liberal Party leaders on Tuesday, calling them in the morning and asking them to attend a dinner meeting that night, said Liberal Party lawmaker Felix Chung.

China’s most senior official in Hong Kong, Zhang Xiaoming, explained the CPPCC’s decision was specific to James Tien, Chung said. Zhang also said Beijing would continue to support the Liberal Party, according to Chung.

The party in Hong Kong is pro-establishment and comprised largely of businessmen.

Michael Tien said that the CPPCC was forced to act given the backdrop of the protests.

While CPPCC officials have said they still consider James Tien loyal, his brother says there is still debate over how to categorize him.

“One camp calls him the ‘conscience of Hong Kong’ because he is willing to sacrifice his own political career to speak his mind. l

China chides India over border posts n AP, Beijing

China’s Defense Ministry cautioned New Delhi on Thursday over Indian plans to construct 54 new border posts along an eastern stretch of their disputed frontier.

Spokesman Yang Yujun said China urged India to do more to maintain peace and stability in the area and “not to do things that may complicate the situation.”

The long-festering border dispute continues to bedevil relations between the giant Asian neighbors — armed with nuclear weapons and with 2.6 bil-

lion people between them — despite a recent warming of relations.

Suspicions date from a monthlong border war in 1962 that killed about 2,000 soldiers. That conflict ended in a standoff with each side accusing the other of occupying its territory.

As recently as September, Indian and Chinese troops faced off along the border, even as their leaders were promising to boost economic cooperation and substantially increase Chinese investment in India’s infrastructure at a rare meeting.

China claims about 90,000 square kilometers (35,000 square miles) of

land in India’s northeastern state of Arunachal Pradesh, while India says China is occupying 38,000 square kilometers (15,000 square miles) of territory on the Aksai Chin plateau to the west.

China only acknowledges a dispute in the eastern section of the border and has refused to stamp Chinese visas inside the Indian passports of citizens from Arunachal Pradesh.

India also recently announced plans to build new roads inside the disputed area to keep up with China’s development of transport links and airstrips on its side of the line-of-control. l

Shinzo Abe: North Korea to deepen probe into Japanese abductees n Reuters, Tokyo North Korea had told Japan it intends to deepen its probe into the fate of Japanese citizens kidnapped by Pyongyang decades ago, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Thursday, but there was no indication of any imminent breakthrough.

Abe’s administration is under fire for fund-related scandals in his cabinet that have forced two ministers to resign and put others under scrutiny, and any progress in the talks with North Korea would provide a welcome relief.

“North Korea indicated its stance to thoroughly deepen its investigation from a new angle, without sticking to the results of past probes,” Abe told journalists outside his official resi-

9. Oct 29: State of confusion On Tuesday, the top court directed the government to submit the full list after the latter said it wasn’t possible to make the names of all foreign bank account holders public. Rejecting the Centre’s submission, the CJI said, “If it breaches confidentiality, let it be so.”

But on Wednesday, the court refused to open the sealed envelope which contained the list of foreign account holders.

It was also not clear why the court insisted on getting the list from the government when the latter had submitted it to the court-appointed SIT in June.

The Centre, meanwhile, was allowed by the court to raise its objections against making all the names public before the SIT. 10. Oct 30: What’s next The SC-appointed SIT, looking into the black money cases, on Thursday said it will go after the offenders “big or small” but made it clear that confidentiality about account holders abroad will not be violated.

It also said it was gathering more names other than the over 600 account holders in HSBC bank, Geneva, given by the government to the apex court on Wednesday, for investigation.

The SIT was asked to complete the probe by next March. l

Pakistan protests fresh drone strike in South Waziristan n Tribune Desk

N E W D E L H I ’ S C H AT T P U J A

‘Hong Kong protests a national security issue’ Reuters, Hong Kong

issue and made it into an election issue earlier this year.

Appearing before a bench headed

by Chief Justice HL Dattu, Attorney general Mukul Rohatgi said that all amounts deposited in foreign banks

by Indian citizens cannot be termed black money and that it is not a crime to open such accounts.

However, finance minister Arun Jaitley rejected any notion that the BJP was reluctant to make the names public.

3. Oct 17: FM says Switzerland agrees to provide details of black money Jaitley said that Switzerland had agreed to share information on Indians’ bank accounts on independent evidence provided in each case, marking a major step in efforts to secure data from the Alpine nation, known for its banking secrecy laws.

Jaitley said Switzerland had agreed to share information related to HSBC and Liechestein lists of account holders, provided there is independent evidence collected by Indian authorities.

4. Oct 27: Govt discloses eight names to SC Days after it was criticised for backtracking on its election promise to bring back black money stashed abroad, the Modi government named seven persons and a company facing prosecution for keeping illegal wealth

dence after receiving a report from diplomats back from two days of talks in Pyongyang, the first such visit in a decade.

He added that Japan had told North Korea’s highest-level officials that resolving the issue was Tokyo’s top priority, but gave no further details.

“I am determined to do my utmost to resolve the abductees issue,” Abe said in brief, televised remarks.

Pyongyang admitted in 2002 to kidnapping 13 Japanese citizens in the 1970s and 1980s to help train spies, and five abductees and their families later returned to Japan.

Japan wants to know about the fate of the remaining eight, who Pyongyang has said have died, and others that Tokyo believes were also kidnapped.

Japan eased some sanctions on North Korea in July in return for the North reopening its probe into the status of the abduction victims and had expected an initial report by now. But Pyongyang said last month there were no details to report and invited Japanese officials to visit for an update.

The abduction issue has long soured relations between the two countries, which have no formal diplomatic ties.

The North, already under UN sanctions for its nuclear and rocket programmes, had promised to reopen an investigation in 2008, but never followed through. It also reneged on promises made in multilateral talks aimed at ending its nuclear weapons programme, and declared the negotiations had ended. l

Pakistan has strongly condemned a US drone strike in South Waziristan that killed at least four suspected militants and injured several others on Thursday and termed it unnecessary, said a statement issued by the Foreign Office.

“These drone strikes are a violation of Pakistan’s sovereignty and territorial integrity and should be stopped,” FO spokesperson Tasneem Aslam said at a news briefing, Dawn reported.

The sources also claimed that an Arab national identified by the name of Adil has been killed in the strike that was carried out in Birmal Tehsil of South Waziristan. These details could not be independently verified as the media’s access to the troubled region is restricted.

Speaking at the press briefing, Aslam said Pakistan has always taken up the issue of drone strikes with the US administration at every level because these attacks are also a violation of international laws.

Responding to a question, she said the recent visit by Iranian deputy foreign minister was successful and that Pakistan and Iran had productive discussion on a wide range of issues.

When her attention was drawn to an International crises group report about Pakistan’s foreign policy, she termed it baseless and said all relevant institutions are consulted with regards to its formulation. l

Indian troops kill Pakistani on border n Tribune Desk Indian Border Security Forces shot dead a Pakistani citizen near zero line in the Shakargarh sector on Wednesday.

According to senior officials of Chenab Rangers, local farmers were working in their fields near zero line, close to Ajlaala village, Dawn reported.

Tauqeer Ahmed, 30, had gone to the area inadvertently. The Indian forces fired at him without any warning. He received serious bullet injuries. The BSF soldiers dragged him into the Indian territory and shot him dead.

Chenab Rangers said efforts were being made to bring back the body.

Pakistan strongly protested against the brutality and dragging and killing of its citizen by Indian troops.

Meanwhile, the Foreign Office protested to India over the death of a civilian in the latest incident of ceasefire violation on the Line of Control on Tuesday.

“The government of Pakistan, today, has lodged protest with the government of India through diplomatic channels over the casualty of a 70-yearold civilian in the Rawlakot sector, caused due to indiscriminate firing by the Indian forces, on 28 October,” a Foreign Office spokesperson said.

Mohammad Din, a shepherd, was killed on Tuesday evening in Chirikot village in Indian shelling. He was reportedly grazing goats in fields near the LoC. According to the ISPR, Pakistani military “effectively responded” to the Indian firing. The demarche given to the Indian government condemned the incident and called upon Delhi to restrain its security forces from firing on the civilians, and stop the ceasefire violations across the LoC and the Working Boundary. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Friday, October 31, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

RMG should learn from Germany

I

t is encouraging to hear the Parliamentarian State Secretary of the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development praise the production of readymade garments in Bangladesh as “incredibly dynamic.”

Germany is the dominant economy in the European Union and a major customer for our exports. Its interest in helping to share expertise and to raise standards and productivity in the RMG sector is of huge significance.

By value, Germany’s exports, which are the third largest in the world, are close to the value exported by the United States, and around 70% of the value exported by the world’s biggest exporter, China.

Via its development arm GIZ, Germany is a key supporter of initiatives to improve safety and workers rights in the RMG sector.

Germany’s willingness to continue to support Bangladeshi companies by providing training and expertise is therefore highly welcome.

It is worth noting how much of Germany’s success has depended on ensuring good working conditions and labour rights. This is a different and much higher wage model from most Bangladeshi businesses.

As our economy grows, the low-wage model underlying much of our export industry will become less tenable. It is vital that Bangladeshi businesses, led by the RMG sector, look ahead by investing to raise standards and rise up the value chain.

Germany’s experience as one of the leading export nations of the world is worth learning from to help RMG workers and owners build a better and stronger future.

It is vital that Bangladeshi businesses invest to raise standards and rise up the value chain

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

‘Cancel lowering female marriage age’ October 20

Vikram Khan “Lowering the marriage age of girls” is a disgusting insult to all people and (I)NGOs who are fighting to protect the rights of children in Bangladesh every single day.

Only a few months ago, our prime minister attended a conference in London (in the presence of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Malala) regarding women’s/girls’ rights. At that meeting, Bangladesh was praised because of its success in eradicating child marriage. So why does our government wish to turn back the clock?!

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 9 represents J so fill J every time the figure 9 appears.

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

Some letters of the alphabet may not be used.

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

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

legitreaasons Vikram Khan: We cannot give up our rights to legally marry, just because some criminal in some corner of our country will force a girl to get married as a child. We should keep checks and balances rather than banning it altogether.

Because if someone really wants to force a child into marriage, he or she will find ways to bypass the law. Just the law-abiding citizens will suffer.

And we all know the rest.

The age for hitting puberty is at a record low.

What about people who want to marry without being forced?

SUDOKU Bangladesh to get 100MW energy from Tripura October 22

Commuters caught in CNG autorickshaw drivers’ whim

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.

October 19

Mohdud Ul Huq Where are our energy policymakers in Sonar Bangladesh? We are able to develop our own energy, so why do we need to import it from other countries?

What a waste of our national natural resources!

Include the disabled

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isability is grossly neglected in our country.

With large numbers of people suffering from some form of disability, the government needs to foster a more effective strategy to protect and enhance the rights of disabled people.

Disability is not just individually harmful, it affects the economy, as a disproportionate number of disabled people are poorly educated or prevented from reaching their potential.

A survey conducted by the Physically Challenged Development Foundation highlights that not only do disabled people have less access to proper education, but they also face huge struggles accessing health facilities and accessible transport.

The fragile economic prospects of the disabled community cannot be addressed if they do not have access to fundamental rights such as education and healthcare.

Students with disabilities require certain facilities such as wheelchairs, special transportation, separate computer rooms with recorders, etc in order to have a fighting chance in making it in the job market.

Special counselling services within and outside educational institutions have to be set up to help disabled students cope with the pressure of competing with students without disabilities. Also, more workshops that offer vocational training to the disabled need to be introduced.

Protecting the rights of the disabled should be a higher priority for government and businesses. Everyone can benefit if we help people with disabilities in Bangladesh involve themselves as equal citizens in society. The inclusion of disabled people in the economic, political, and social arenas must be seen as an essential part of the growth and advancement of the nation.

Protecting the rights of the disabled should be a higher priority for government and businesses

The man I knew

October 22

Sharmin Suravi Salahuddin “He had this instinctive nature to disregard rules and speak freely on issues.”

Thank you for your wonderful writing.

BD elected UNHR council member October 22

University BD News Congratulations!

Apple, Facebook to pay for women to freeze eggs October 20

vihan I’ve a very easy solution: “Agree” with the price but do not pay the exact (“agreed”) amount at the end of the trip. “Cheat the cheater”; simple! What will the CNG driver do? Will he call the police? It’s his word against yours. And, by the way, he will never admit to the authorities that he tried to cheat you.

You simply pay the fair amount at the end of your trip, not the exorbitant amount claimed by the corrupt driver. I’ve done this a couple of times and it works, believe me.

Unconventional careers: The world of creative writing October 19

Osmania Shades of Gattaca in this. Either they provide extended Scandinavian-style maternity and parental leave and healthcare, or they don’t. If it’s extended by US standards, then that might just be a few weeks. Nothing wrong individually with the companies paying for IVF if employees want it, but collectively there is a message being sent of getting to the top first before reproducing and the corporation planning people’s babies for them.

Mosquito menace rises in capital as authorities fail to take early steps October 21

NK If city corporations take the right steps, then why does money go missing? Is someone embezzling the funds?

CALVIN AND HOBBES

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Cheerless (4) 3 Goods for sale (5) 8 Country (4) 9 Work hard (4) 11 Within the law (5) 12 Dreadful (4) 14 Enquire (3) 15 Even (5) 18 Spirited mount (5) 19 Little devil (3) 21 Heavy substance (4) 24 Bellows (5) 26 Labyrinth (4) 27 Skirting board (4) 28 Precipitous (5) 29 Consumer (4)

DOWN 1 Obligation (4) 2 Dry (4) 4 Monkey (3) 5 Kingly (5) 6 Periods of time (4) 7 Sullenly ill-humoured (5) 10 Rhythmic swing (4) 11 Riverside embankment (5) 13 Staggers (5) 16 Dutch cheese (4) 17 Aviary dwellers (5) 18 Garden tool (5) 20 Filled trench around castle (4) 22 Speaker’s platform (4) 23 Be afraid (4) 25 Fish eggs (3)

rose Creative writing is indeed an interesting subject, and if we are interested in it, then we ought to study it. As mentioned in the article above, those who study creative writing do get employed even in embassies, nowadays. So there is no need to worry if one studies this subject.

Make abortions safe, not life threatening October 19

MS We need compulsory sex education, so less young women end up with unwanted pregnancies and seek terminations (as well as helping those who do).

PEANUTS

VK We pretend that sexuality does not exist in Bangladesh. However, in the meantime, we live in one of the most overpopulated countries in the world.

So we should discuss sexuality and sexual behaviour, family planning methods, unwanted pregnancies, sexual violence (like rape, incest) and the sex trade. Hypocrisy based on “shame,” religion, or culture will not bring a solution.

Building new cities helps October 19

Momoaswan Yes, but what if it is just planned as another car-dependent housing scheme with no parks or clean public transport?

SR Let a modern and well-equipped city with the proper kind of facilities be built and benefit many in this country.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Friday, October 31, 2014

A battle no one chooses n Shusmita Khan

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Resting in our soil

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H

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

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F

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I

P

S

I

D

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Farewell Ghulam Azam?

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n Nadeem Qadir hulam Azam – the convicted war criminal and mastermind of the Bangladesh genocide – is gone and buried safe as per his wishes. Shame on Bangladesh!

I remember meeting Ghulam Azam twice while I was working for Agence France-Presse. The first time, I went to his Moghbazar office without an appointment for a quick interview, and I came back with a few lines, which served my purpose to some extent.

The second time, I was there with the Asia-Pacific chief with an official appointment.

Both of the times, I neither shook hands with him nor drank a drop of water from his office. How could I? It was all stained with the blood of the martyrs, or Bengali-loving people. I could see blood dropping from his hands and his fangs bared – the way he was portrayed in many posters.

He returned during President Ziaur Rahman’s military rule, and got his Bangladeshi citizenship during Begum Khaleda Zia’s rule. Then, the meetings started about his punishment.

was born.

Jahanara Imam led the movement, and a huge mock trial was held at the Suhrawardy Udyan with at least 100,000 people. Some of them went

Except for the conviction, he has won, as nowhere else in the world could a war criminal have gotten away so easily

The insult that he was given a Bangladeshi passport was unacceptable to most of the people of Bangladesh.

Thus, Ekattorer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul committee – a platform for people of all ages and professions seeking the trial of Ghulam Azam for war crimes –

there with their children, despite the high risk of a confrontation. Khaleda Zia’s government deployed a huge police force on all the roads leading to the Suhrawardy Udyan and in the park itself.

We, again, had to wait for years.

Then came a thumping victory of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s Awami League. The trial started. Ghulam Azam was saved because of his age, and was sentenced to 90 years in prison. He became so sick, that he was given the comfort of a hospital, where he died.

Except for a shoe from Badhan, nothing happened, and his janaza as well as burial ended properly. Why? Where were all those political groups, or people who so strongly spoke of his death penalty? Why did the freedom fighters across the country remain silent? The answer, my friend, is blowing in the wind – as the song goes.

Kudos to Badhan and shame on all of us. Farewell! Yes, farewell Ghulam Azam. Except for the conviction, he has won, and we have to admit it redfaced, as nowhere else in the world could a war criminal have gotten away so easily. l Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism.

six-letter word – cancer. You can write so many words with six letters, but none would be as frightening as this one. None can give you sleepless nights, and days full of agony and stress. There are so many things we wish to do after knowing the diagnosis, but are unable to do. There are so many if onlys. One thing is for sure, all of us – whose lives have been touched by cancer – have thought this at least once: “If only I went for an early check up!”

While early signs and symptoms are not known for all types of cancers, for several cancers – breast, cervical, colorectal, skin, oral, and some childhood cancers – the benefits of having a systematic approach for early detection and care save lives and money.

Despite the evidence, the importance of early detection and seeking care when symptoms are present is not well understood even among literate and able communities, particularly in low-resource settings.

Lack of information and awareness about cancer is a critical impediment for effective cancer control and care in low and middle income countries (LMICs) like Bangladesh. Among other reasons for the delay in detection for countries like Bangladesh, a critical shortage of trained health professionals to diagnose and manage cancer is a key barrier to the delivery of effective and quality early-detection strategies.

For any country – developed or developing – any comprehensive early-detection program should include strategies to improve knowledge of cancer across all communities.

However, understanding and responding to cultural beliefs, traditions, rituals, and practices are essential, particularly among communities with misconceptions about diagnosis and treatment. Stigma associated with cancer and social inequities can also lead to delay in care.

Along with that, it is also equally important to have strategies for encouraging health-seeking behaviour, including awareness and education of ways to recognise the signs and symptoms for some cancers. Identification of early warning signs of some cancers is particularly relevant in the context of primary care in a resource-constrained country like ours.

For instance, currently, breast

Blind to justice

Abstraction to reality

n SM Shahrukh

n William B Milam

O

f late, I have read many writeups on Facebook about the trial of the war criminals of 1971.

Mostly, it is hinted that a political game of convenience has taken centre stage, whereas others have tried to put up arguments to defend the independence of the judiciary, and some have even lauded the role of the government in the whole affair.

I don’t care about political games, and would, in fact, very much like to believe in the independence of the judiciary and all constitutional bodies like the Election Commission, Anti Corruption Commission, etc. But my concern lies in the effects a political game of convenience, if any, would have on the generation born after 1971.

What would their take be from the apparent casual nature (a dalliance, maybe) shown by the very people who started the war crimes tribunal in 2009 in tune with the trials that started after the war and were stalled, nay, shot to death, by the martial and pseudo-democratic governments since 1975 till 1990?

My concern is also about what the independent nation of Bangladesh has done for the war heroes and the hundreds of thousands of women raped and abused by the enemy in connivance with the collaborators who are/ were the sons of this very soil. It was impossible to make due reparations to the sacrifice of genuine freedom fighters (muktijoddha) considering the faltering state of the economy of a war-ravaged country, and the heroes didn’t expect too much either, I suppose.

But the rehabilitation of collaborators after 1975 was hard to stomach for the people who brought independence from the marauding and oppressing Pakistanis, but they hoped, after the ICT was formed and some prominent war criminals were charged and put

to trial, for some alleviation of the wounds of 1971, a balm to soothe the nightmares. How do they feel today, after the verdicts of the honourable courts? Do they feel vindicated? Do they feel their pain assuaged somewhat? I wonder.

And what about the ravaged women? The so-called “birangonas”?

Women who were unable, mostly, to go back to a normal life, women who were unjustly stigmatised by a society that was too insouciant of their mental state, a society which, in many cases, saw them as fallen women instead of war heroes.

Do they feel vindicated? Do they feel their pain assuaged somewhat?

Some of these women have found good husbands, a caring home, subsequently children of their own to love and cherish – only some. Others have been spurned by society – a little sympathy on special days does very little to assuage their pain – many have ended up in brothels, committed suicide, or lost their sanity.

Human life, like flower petals, withers from neglect. A society without empathy, without compassion, without true recognition of the heroes will also wither into one that has lost its values. Don’t we see a society like that already? Or are we blind? Blind with eyes that can see but don’t see. l SM Shahrukh is a freelance contributor.

I

n recent months, my articles have tended to try to apply political theory and intellectual history to political events and behaviour in Pakistan and Bangladesh. The insight that comes from working at the interstices of intellectual history and political theory is somewhat akin to that described in the The Financial Times’ recent excerpt from Stephen Johnson’s new book How We Got to Now, a book about scientific innovation.

In it, as I understand from the excerpt, innovation is described as primarily arrived at through technological discoveries of different people coming together to make an idea only imagined before it becomes feasible.

The light bulb is an example.

Different people worked more or less simultaneously on a generally recognised problem, turning electricity into light, and a solution appeared.

One person got the credit, but drew on the work of many others.

But innovation may start with a visionary thinker imagining potential uses for technology that is yet to be imagined, say electricity, long before it was harnessed for power. The heroine of this particular piece is Ada Lovelace, the daughter of the poet Lord Byron, who, because she lived at the interstices of advanced mathematics and poetry, saw the possibilities of how mechanical numerical calculating machines could be directed by internal instructions to go beyond numerical calculations to algebraic and analytical systems that encompass prose, poetry, and music.

Sophisticated calculating machines which could be programmed to go well beyond numerical calculation, such as she had envisioned, had to wait for electricity and a number of other inventions, and came along to change our lives over 100 years later.

Now, I do not consider myself or

the many others who labour to bring together political theory and intellectual history to be innovators. Visionaries in such fields are rare indeed, and even breakthroughs in thinking are very uncommon. But I do believe that working at the crunch point of two or more such disciplines allows one to often see beyond the superficial surface appearance of events and actions to their historical and conceptual roots and to their intended, and especially their unintended, consequences.

For example, I wrote of state and nation-building recently, and noted the difference between the two. States can be weak or strong, but neither a strong or a weak state necessarily makes a nation. Nations, no matter how they came to be, are inhabited by citizens whose greatest loyalty is to the nation/state, not to family, ethnic groups, or the region. Nations have usually been able to establish a coherent national identity, or ideology, which is the foundation for an organic national narrative.

Pakistan is a weak state with an invented nationalist ideology, and a national identity that is still up for grabs. Its national narrative has been, to a large extent, hijacked, first by both the military which constructed a self-serving defensive national narrative, and later by fundamentalists who have morphed it into a defensive and exclusionist one.

The unintended consequences of this incoherence are fairly clear: A myopic and defensive obsession with India; the buildup over decades of proxy armies based on this defensive narrative which now have turned against the state because, though the times and the civilian government’s agenda have changed, that of the proxies (and perhaps the army) has not; an erratic and often disjointed foreign policy which at the very least confuses its friends; and a national narrative that leads to incongruent public

reactions to national and international events, eg the long-standing duality about Afghanistan and the recent ambiguous public response to Malala’s Nobel Peace Prize.

The mixed reaction to Malala’s Nobel Prize is especially illustrative when I compare it to the Bangladesh reaction to Muhammad Yunus’ Nobel Peace Prize in 2006. Yunus was universally acclaimed in Bangladesh when he won. The message from Bangladeshis then was that Yunus had brought great honour to their country. His troubles in Bangladesh came much later and were political in nature. The attacks on him began in 2010, four years after he had won the prize.

The mixed reaction to Malala’s Nobel Prize is especially illustrative when compared to the reaction to Yunus’

They were the result of a particular policy of Sheikh Hasina, who, as one rumour has it, may have felt the prize should have been hers – though for what is very hard to say – or according to another rumour, she feared him as a possible political opponent, something he may have exacerbated by appearing to be interested in a political role after the Bangladesh army intervened in early 2007.

In any case, since Sheikh Hasina took power in 2009, she has made it a point to go after Yunus and Grameen Bank. Some of her party men jumped on that bandwagon smelling blood

cancer tops the rank of cancers among women, and screening for this cancer is easy. Even in low-resource settings, it is cost-effective and in some cases does not require any specialist diagnostic technologies. The clinical breast examination that can be performed by primary healthcare workers has an immense potential to detect breast cancers earlier.

For cervical cancer – another major killer in Bangladesh – the WHO guidelines for screening and treatment of pre-cancerous lesions for cervical cancer prevention recommend the screen-and-treat approach combining visual inspection with acetic acid (VIA) or human papilloma virus (HPV) DNA testing coupled with cryotherapy of pre-cancerous lesions for primary screening for cervical cancer.

Though the availability of the HPV testing is resource-dependent, an HPV test can be provided over VIA where it is available, affordable, implementable, and sustainable over time.

However, within all these rays of hope, the critical issues for all screening programs are to select the test that is most appropriate for the context in order to achieve high-screening coverage, high-quality testing, and reliable follow up. Eventually, the success of any early detection program can be measured by a reduction in the stage of the cancer at diagnosis with earlier diagnosis associated with a reduction in the risk of dying from cancer.

Despite all these, it is not impossible to meet the challenges present in the current health system if awareness is recognised as the first step to early detection and improving cancer outcomes. With the demand side creation, simultaneous actions should be taken to tailor resources along with cultural beliefs and practices. We have to keep in mind that screening and detection should not be a stand-alone vertical system.

Screening programs are integrated into the health system. There is strong evidence that screening can reduce deaths from cervical cancer by 80% or more among screened women. Even a single screening between the ages of 30 and 40 can reduce a woman’s lifetime risk of cervical cancer by 25-36%.

Just think about the number of lives we are talking about! l Shusmita Khan is Coordinator at Eminence Associates for Social Development.

and loot, but many did not and do not agree. And four years after the attacks began, the government has succeeded in removing Yunus from Grameen Bank, but has not yet accomplished its ultimate objective: Taking over the bank. Except for a vindictive prime minister and her acolytes, however, Yunus remains very popular in Bangladesh and his worldwide reputation is, perhaps, even stronger than it was.

Malala’s case is more depressing.

Although the latest Pew Poll shows that an overwhelming majority of Pakistanis favour schooling for girls, and there was a great outpouring of pride and joy about her award in most of the Pakistani press that I could read, much more attention than it deserved was given in the Western press to the small but noisy minority that panned the award, seeing it as a Western conspiracy of some sort, and/or Malala as a tool of anti-Pakistan elements.

An undercurrent of misogyny here could not be missed. There are some, I suppose, who see a great threat to their ways of life or to their culture in her assertion that schooling for girls is an innate, universal human right. In any case, the reaction from Pakistan was, in many Western eyes, ambiguous.

And again this raised questions about whether Pakistan will ever come to terms with modernity, whether it remains a country whose elite (I heard this expressed publicly recently by an American educator who has worked in Pakistan) have no interests in education for the underclasses, be they girls or boys, and whether its contorted, out-of-date national identity and distorted national narrative are both cause and effect of its weakness as a state, and the seeds of possible failure. l William B Milam is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC, and former US Ambassador to Pakistan and Bangladesh. This article was previously published in The Friday Times.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Friday, October 31, 2014

THE HUNDRED-FOOT JOURNEY premiers at Star Cineplex n

NAWSHABA paired up with Mosharraf, again n

Hasan Mansoor Chatak

Quzi Nawshaba Ahmed has again been paired up with Mosharraf Karim in a single episode drama titled “Ek No Khati Premer Golpo.”

Written and directed by Asad Rahman, the drama’s shooting was recently wrapped up in Uttara. As the title suggests, the drama a quintessential love-story. Two people of opposite characters fall in love, and overcoming social barriers and dire situations, stay together.

About acting with Mosharraf Karim, Nawshaba said “Mosharraf Karim possesses a distinct feature of making his co-artists very comfortable. I cannot but wonder how helpful Mosharraf Karim has been despite him being such a high profile actor.”

“I have learnt many acting do’s and don’ts from him, and I will definitely be happy to work with him in future,” she added.

The drama, produced by Parban Telemedia, will be aired next Velentines Day.

Meanwhile, Nawshaba and Mosharraf Karim duo’s first tv serial titled “Ashiteche Duti Mon Duti Asha,” directed by Kochi Khandakar, will be aired shortly on a television channel.

In the serial, Nawshaba will appear as a female political leader. About the drama, she said: “It seems that after many days I have worked in a drama which had a well-written script.”

Nawshaba also recently wrapped up shooting for a Brac Bank commercial directed by Wahid Tarek. About how she choses the brands she represents, she said: “I only choose those brands which do not demoralise people, and the commercial should have some scope of acting too.”

Nawshaba has recently landed her first major role in celluloid, having appeared in minor roles in three films previously. The film – Pratiruddho – will also star newcomer Amit Sinha, will start shooting in December. Nawshaba is also playing a tv-serial titled “Come to the Point” which is currently being aired on SATV. l

Otopor Bhalobashar Din NTV , 2:35pm

Entertainment Desk

American comedy-drama “The Hundred-Foot Journey” will premier today at the Star Cineplex in the Bashundhara City in the capital’s Panthapath area. Starring Om Puri and Helen Mirren, the story revolves around the silent competition between two restaurants in the same French neighbourhood: one restaurant is managed by an Indian family, the other by a Michelin-starred French chef.

The Kadam family, who has had a restaurant business in Mumbai, has to relocate to Europe after tragedy strikes. Shortly after crossing the border between Switzerland and France, the brakes on Papa Kadam’s van fail near a village. Marguerite, a sous chef at an up-scale French restaurant named Le Saule Pleureur, passes by and offers to help the Kadams find an auto repair shop and a guest house. She also brings the Kadams to her apartment and treats them to food. Papa is amazed at the quality of the food in the village and its availability.

He learns of an abandoned restaurant building on the outskirts of town available for purchase. Seeing this as divine providence, Papa decides to renovate it into an Indian restaurant named Maison Mumbai, which happens to be across the French restaurant where Marguerite works at, and which is owned by Madame Mallory, the Michelin-starred head chef. l

The single-episode play is about an unmarried couple who lives together. When they discover that the woman is pregnant, they become confused about whether they should get married.

Shopne Dekha Rajkonya Maasranga TV, 11:59pm

Nisho and Shokh play the lead chracters of the play which talks about a young man who considers the girl who lives just opposite to his house as the “dream girl.”

Shrek Forever After Zee Studio, 5:30pm

Exhibition

Searching Myself By artist Monjur Rashid Time: 11am – 6pm La Galerie, Alliance Francaise, Dhanmondi The Dhaka Print Club Show Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, 60, Gulshan Avenue

Stones

By Hamiduzzaman Khan Time: 11pm to 8pm Gallery Kaya, House 20, Road 16, Sector 4

Film

Annabelle Kistimaat , Amra Korbo Joy Into The Storm, Hercules 3D

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3D, Valkyrie, Most Welcome 2 Blockbuster Cinemas Jamuna Future Park Guardians of the Galaxy (3D) How to Train Your Dragon 2 (3D) Million Dollar Arm, Tarzan (3D) Pipra Bidda Star Cineplex, Level 8, Bashundhara City

A bored and domesticated Shrek pacts with deal-maker Rumpelstiltskin to get back to feeling like a real ogre again.

KATIE HOLMES doesn’t want to be defined by Tom Cruise Katie Holmes has opened up about her life post-Tom Cruise, claiming she’s ready for “new challenges” professionally and personally.

“I don’t have any fear now, I don’t have a lot of rules for myself, and I don’t take myself that seriously,” the actor told People magazine.

Coming up, the star will be seen as a vigilante schoolteacher in the new comedy Miss Meadows, and she will soon go behind the camera for her feature directorial debut. As for her 2012

split from Cruise, Holmes said she has long since moved on.

“I don’t want that moment in my life to define me, to be who I am,” she said. “I don’t want that to be what I’m known as. I was an actor before, an actor during and an actor now.”

She also said the couple’s eight-year-old daughter Suri “means everything to me.” “I’m learning every day, and I have been since the minute I became a mom.”

She also admitted that parenting a tween has its challenges. “My patience has grown, but between 4 and 6pm ... I mean, wow,” she said. “Between tickle fights and glitter art, I try to throw in some manners along the way.” l

LOST ORSON WELLES film to be released next year n Entertainment Desk Orson Welles’ final film, which has remained unfinished for decades, could hit theaters in time for the 100th anniversary of the filmmaker’s birth next May. Royal Road Entertainment has secured the rights to The Other Side of the Wind, The New York Times is reporting. The Los Angeles-based production company plans on bringing it to the American Film Market next month to promote distribution for the film.

Welles never completed his film, which tells the story of a director attempting to finish a masterpiece while clashing with the Hollywood system. The film stars John Huston, Susan Strasberg, Lilli Palmer, Dennis Hopper and Peter Bogdanovich.

Welles spent the final fifteen years of his life on the project, up until his death in 1985. He left behind roughly 45 minutes of edited film. Royal Road hopes to release the film timed to the May 6, 2015, anniversary of Welles’ birth. l

PIPRABIDYA nominated for Silver Screen Award n Entertainment Desk Mostafa Sarwar Farooki’s “Piprabidya” has been nominated for the Silver Screen Award at Singapore International Film Festival to be held later this year. To take part in the event, Mostafa Sarwar Farooki, Noor Imran Mithu, the lead actor and Faridur Reza Sagor, managing director of the film’s production company Impress Telefilms, will head to the festival on December 11.

The other noted films nominated this year includes Indian film “Court,” directed by Chaitanya Tamhane, Fili-

pino film “Above The Clouds,” directed by Jose Pepe Diokno, “The Monk,” opening film of the Karlovy Vary International Film Festival, Russian film “The Owners,” Malaysian film “Men Who Save The World,” directed by Liew Seng Tat, and others.

Every year, around 10-11 best films in Asia get nominated in different categories in the award. The jury board then select the best film, best director, best actors and best cinematographer from the films.

The closing ceremony of the festival will be held on December 13. l

Films releasing on HALLOWEEN n Entertainment Desk The Halloween weekend is packed with scary film “Ouija,” war film “Fury” to Rekha’s “Super Nani”. Loaded with thrill, comedy and romance, there is something for every movie lover this weekend.

While “Roar: Tigers Of The Sunderbans” is one of its kind film made on the Royal Bengal Tigers, Brad Pitt’s “Fury” too is

running high on the priority list of those looking for some adrenaline rush. Rahul Khanna’s offside film “Fireflies” with a gripping storyline can also be a good choice along with Ben Affleck’s “Gone Girl” about a girl who goes missing without a trace. A romantic treat “The Best of Me” from the author of “The Notebook fame” is also on the platter for those seeking romance. l

Did you know?

After going 18 games (all comps) without a goal, Erik Lamela has now scored three in his last three for Tottenham

Sport

Friday, October 31, 2014

14 Magpies knock

holders Man City out of League Cup

14 Rio penalised

over Twitter comment

BFF Academy finally to see light n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh Football Federation’s long cherished dream of running a football academy will finally see daylight as an academy with 40 students is set to be inaugurated at the Sylhet BKSP on November 13.

Initially the students will be selected across age levels U-13 and U-15 only and the BFF has already began the process of selecting the players which is expected to conclude on November 10. However, currently the academy possesses the lodging and facilities for 38 students while the ground and the kitchen still need the finishing touches.

Zobayer Nipu, the technical director of BFF, is billed to become the head coach of the academy after Dutch coach Rene Koster, who was in line to take charge, departed ways with the BFF recently. Nipu will also have four BFF panel coaches – two for each age group – assisting him.

BFF general secretary Abu Naeem Shohag said they are eager to start the academy at any cost. “It has been a long time that we have initiated the effort of starting the academy, there were a lot of delays, we now want to start the academy and the procedure,” said Shohag.

Though the planning has been going on for a while now, Shohag also admitted of not getting any sponsors for running the expense of the academy and said “the process of getting a sponsor is going on.”

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Century-man

Younis punishes Australia

PM attends sports ministry office n Raihan Mahmood Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina attended her office at the youth and sports ministry yesterday. State minister and deputy minister for youth and sports Biren Sikder and Arif Khan Joy briefed the prime minister about the recent developments in the sports arena during her three hours stay at the office.

The prime minister assured that the government will continue its support to the country’s sports arena and their development projects. It was learnt that she will also provide the recommendation of constructing mini stadiums in more than 100 upazilas and installation of 15 synthetic turfs in 15 cities across the country.

Bangladesh Football Federation’s request of providing a purse of Tk350m for the development project was also discussed by the prime minister. l

The National Sports Council, responding to a plea of the BFF, agreed to provide the Sylhet BKSP to run a football academy in 2009. BFF was given the official right to use the Sylhet BKSP as a full- fledged football academy for the next five years in 2011 and the MoU was signed in June 2012. Two years have passed by without the academy being launched but Shohag said the contract is renewable and they are hopeful that the government will provide them the required time to produce good footballers.

It has been a long time that we have initiated the effort of starting the academy. We now want to start the academy and the procedure

BRIEF SCORE BCB XI 309/8 in 50 overs Nasir 74, Naeem 61*, Anamul 44, Soumya 40, Iresh 3/43 Bengal 235-all out in 48.1 overs Sudip 66, Arafat 4/38, Shahid 3/24 BCB XI won by 74 runs

The Sylhet BKSP, one of its four centres of sporting excellence around the country, is built on over 13 acres of land in Khadimnagar on the outskirts of the Sylhet city. BFF will pay a monthly rent of Tk 50,000 to BKSP authorities for the academy that has one classroom for 50 students, one conference room with an accommodation capacity of 100 people, two office rooms, two rooms for coaches, 19 rooms as a hostel in which 38 students can stay, a dining, one football ground, two quarters for officers and two quarters for staffs.l

BCB XI batsmen Naeem Islam (L) and Nasir Hossain speak with each other while batting during their match against Bengal in the CAB SK Acharya Challenger Trophy at Salt Lake in Kolkata yesterday BCB

Nasir, Naeem shine Of local coaches and Real Madrid Foundation as BCB XI beat Bengal n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Upon receiving his certificate from the Real Madrid Foundation, one of the world’s leading football nurseries, sexagenarian Musa was no doubt delighted as he managed to acquire priceless coaching methods and techniques.

Participating in an ongoing three-day training camp in Chittagong, Musa and 29 other lucky coaches from Bangladesh have been afforded the opportunity to learn their trade from three coaches belonging to one of the world’s best football institutions.

Real Madrid Foundation head coach and Team Camps technical director Pablo Gomez Revenga is conducting the training camp alongside his two colleagues Javier Garcia Torres and Rafael Palacios Peinado.

The training camp, titled “YKK Asia Group Kids Football Clinic”, got underway yesterday at MA Aziz Stadium and has been organised with the joint initiatives of two Japanese companies - YKK Holding Asia Private Limited and YKK Bangladesh Private Limited – and the Bangladesh Football Federation. With

an eye towards developing football skills among youngsters and enhancing the local coaches’ understanding of the beautiful game, the training camp will also teach 300 underprivileged children, aged between 10-14, on the modern tactics of football.

Following the conclusion of the training camp’s opening day, the head coach of Real Madrid Foundation in-

Real Madrid Foundation head coach Pablo Gomez Revenga conducts a demonstration session for the local coaches at the MA Aziz Stadium, Chittagong yesterday COURTESY

Hosts, Zimbabwe reach Khulna for 2nd Test n Mazhar Uddin

The Tigers reached Khulna yesterday ahead of the second of the three-match Test series against Zimbabwe beginning on November 3. The hosts are coming into the second Test match with a 1-0 lead after beating Zimbabwe by three wickets in the recently concluded first Test in Dhaka.

Although the Bangladesh cricket team registered their first Test win in 18 months and their first Test victory at home in nearly a decade, concerns are still lingering over the home side’s batting department.

Alongside the batting jitters, Bangladesh have also encountered a couple of injury worries heading into the second Test in three days’ time.

Opener Tamim Iqbal has been the victim of a thumb injury during training while left-arm spinner Taijul

formed that the local coaches here have a lot of potential that will require nursing in order to succeed.

Revenga went on to say Bangladesh has a bright future in the game as long as the footballers play under the supervision of brilliant and creative coaches.

While briefing the media, Revenga also said they want to come up with another camp like this two years later if

Islam, player-of-the-match in the first Test, was also a concern as reports emerged that he might be suffering from jaundice.

Bangladesh cricket team manager Sabbir Khan though brushed away the concerns saying there is nothing to be worried about.

“Tamim suffered a right-hand thumb injury and was immediately taken to a hospital for an x-ray.

The reports are fine and we are hopeful that it is nothing serious.

And Taijul is also fine after reports came that he has been suffering from jaundice. He is fine.”

Skipper Mushfiqur Rahim and his charges will be targeting a series win in Khulna which will elevate the Tigers to ninth place in the official Test rankings, pushing down Zimbabwe to the bottom.

The south-western venue will be hosting only its second Test match. The only Test, against the West Indies, took place in 2012. The Tigers lost the match by ten wickets. l

they succeed in their efforts.

Torres, meanwhile, mentioned that players who think their football careers are over after hanging up their boots are wrong. Torres said the retired footballers have the option of implementing their own football philosophy in coaching following the end of their playing career. The Spaniard cited Musa as an example.

After completing the theoretical and practical training session from 3pm5:30pm, local coach Masud Parvez Kaiser stated that this type of initiative can only improve their coaching style. Kaiser also said, “Besides, we also learned European warm-up and practice methods that are multi-dimensional and different from us.”

Following the training session, certificates were handed out to the 30 coaches. The training of the 300 underprivileged children will take place today morning.

This kind of training camp is being held for the first time in the port city.

YKK, however, has the previous experience of organising two similar training camps in the country. l

n Reazur Rahman Rohan

Riding on half centuries from Nasir Hossain and Naeem Islam the BCB XI picked up a consolation win in the CAB SK Acharya Challenger Trophy as they beat Bengal by 74 runs at Salt Lake, Kolkata yesterday.

It will be a relief for the Bangladesh selectors to see out-of-form Nasir back amongst the runs as the right-hander struck 74, his second consecutive fifty in the tournament, a very good sign for the Bangladesh team ahead of the ODI series against Zimbabwe. Naeem, who has been scoring heavily in the first-class circuit recently, continued his good work with an unbeaten 61 anchoring BCB XI to a challenging 309 for eight in 50 overs.

Put in to bat, the visitors were off to a flier with Imrul Kayes (17) and skipper Anamul Haque (44) adding 58 inside seven overs before the latter’s dismissal triggered a mini collapse which saw the BCB XI getting reduced to 65 for three.

Soumya Sarkar added a valuable

40 to the scoreline before Nasir and Naeem joined in the middle to put on 96 for the sixth wicket. The partnership came off just 96 balls in which Nasir slammed half a dozen boundaries and a six while Naeem struck two fours.

In reply, fast bowler Mohammad Shahid and left-arm spinner Arafat Sunny shared seven wickets to restrict their opponents to 235 runs and seal an emphatic win on a placid wicket with 11 balls to spare.

Other than Sudip Chatterjee (66) there were no big scores as Bengal never threatened to achieve the target.

Shahid removed both openers with the scoreboard reading 38 before Sunny wrecked through the home side’s middle-order.

Shahid took three for 24 while Sunny bagged four wickets at the expense of 38 runs. Having lost the first two matches Bangladesh are all but out of the four-team event but the bottom side, with a single win, can make it through to the final on net run-rate if Mumbai, who also won one match, lose to Karnataka in their last game. l

SWID Nat’l Indoor Games begin today

Men’s World Cup could be played on artificial turf: Valcke n Raihan Mahmood Society for the Welfare of the Intellectually Disabled (SWID) will be holding Reuters, Berne n its first edition of the National Indoor Fifa secretary general Jerome Valcke has dismissed allegations of gender discrimination over the decision to play the women’s World Cup on artificial turf, saying the surface could also be used for the men’s tournament in the future.

“It could well be that sooner rather than later the men’s World Cup will also be played on artificial pitches,” he said in an interview on Fifa’s own website (www.Fifa.com).

Forty international women players, including Fifa Player of the Year Nadine Angerer, have filed a lawsuit in Canada, host nation of next year’s tournament against Fifa and the Canadian Soccer Association (CSA). They claim that Fifa and the CSA are discriminating against women by staging the event on artificial grass which they say poses safety risks and alters how the game is played.

The World Cup finals for men and women, each contested every four years, have always been played on natural grass. l

Games at its Eskaton Garden headquarters today. Renowned conglomerate of the country, Walton, will sponsor the games.

A total of 120 intellectually disabled and autistic children will participate in the event that will feature three disciplines – table tennis, badminton and bouchi.

Formed in 1977 and currently boasting 105 branches across the country, SWID has been contributing in changing the lifestyles of the intellectually disabled and autistic children through a specialised education process.

Among the participants who took part in the last edition of the Special Olympics, SWID has provided around 95 percent of the athletes that brought laurels for the country.

SWID president Jawaherul Islam Mamun thanked Walton for the support. “We have been arranging athletic events for a long time but we were not able to host a national level indoor

games. With the support of Walton we have managed to host it. We emphasise on sports a lot as it helps the intellectually disabled children to cope with the atmosphere of life,” said Mamun yesterday.

The SWID president said they have requested the government for the construction of a full-fledged complex in their headquarters and sought their as-

sistance regarding the issue.

Walton executive director SM Zahid Hasan and additional director FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn pledged support for the organisation yesterday in a press conference. SWID general secretary Hemayetuddin Ahmed and senior games and cultural officer Al Asadur Rashid were also present on the occasion. l

FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn, the additional director of Walton speaks while Zawaherul Islam Mamun (2L), the president of SWID listens in the presser at the BNS yesterday COURTESY

14

Sport

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Friday, October 31, 2014

Magpies knock holders Man City out of League Cup n AFP, London Newcastle United visited fresh misery upon faltering Manchester City with an impressive 2-0 win at the Etihad Stadium on Wednesday that dumped the holders out of the League Cup. Teenage forward Rolando Aarons put Alan Pardew’s side ahead in the sixth minute and substitute Moussa Sissoko added a superb solo goal 14 minutes from time to send Newcastle into the quarter-finals.

RESULTS Man City

0-2

Newcastle Aarons 6, Sissoko 76

Stoke City

2-3

Nzonzi 49, Diouf 82

Tottenham

Southampton Pelle 6, 88, Long 30

2-0

Brighton

Lamela 54, Kane 74

Premier League champions City, who saw midfielder David Silva forced off by injury, have now gone three games without victory in all competitions ahead of Sunday’s derby with Manchester United.

Ryan Taylor was making his first Newcastle appearance since August 2012 after a long-term knee problem and he quickly made an impact.

City received a further blow three minutes later when Silva was forced off after injuring his left knee in an early

tangle with Taylor.

Pellegrini said that Silva’s knee injury would be assessed on Thursday, but played down the extent of a groin problem that saw Yaya Toure leave the fray during the second half, saying it was “nothing important”.

Elsewhere, Graziano Pelle took his tally for the season to nine goals as in-form Southampton survived a late Stoke City rally to win 3-2 at the Britannia Stadium and set up a trip to third-tier Sheffield United.

The Italian curled Southampton ahead from 25 yards in the sixth minute and Shane Long made it 2-0, only for Steven Nzonzi to bring Stoke back into the game before Mame Biram Diouf headed in an 82nd-minute equaliser.

But after former Southampton player Peter Crouch had been sent off for a second bookable offence, Pelle swept home from the ensuing free-kick in the 88th minute to put Ronald Koeman’s side in the last eight.

In the evening’s other game, second-half goals from Erik Lamela and Harry Kane gave Tottenham a 2-0 victory at home to second-tier Brighton and Hove Albion.

Liverpool, who edged Swansea City 2-1 on Tuesday, will visit second-tier Bournemouth in the quarter-finals, while Chelsea were handed a trip to another Championship side, Derby County. l

Newcastle United midfielder Moussa Sissoko (C) celebrates his goal against Manchester City with team mates during their English League Cup fourth round match at the Etihad Stadium in Manchester on Wednesday REUTERS

Roma level top as Juve beaten

Bayern ease through in German Cup

n AFP, Milan

n AFP, Berlin

An injury-time goal from Genoa midfielder Luca Antonini handed Juventus their first defeat of the season Wednesday while a 2-0 win for Roma allowed the title challengers to pull level at the top of Italy’s Serie A. Udinese’s 3-0 defeat at Fiorentina allowed AC Milan, held 1-1 at Cagliari, to move three places up to third with Sampdoria still in fourth despite suffering a last-gasp 1-0 defeat at Inter Milan.

Both AC Milan and Sampdoria are six points off the leaders’ pace, with Udinese dropping to fifth, also on 16 points and one ahead of Lazio, who face Verona on Thursday.

Gonzalo Higuain should have handed Napoli all three points in the dying minutes away to Atalanta but the Argentinian striker saw his spot-kick saved by Marco Sportiello.

Napoli remain seventh and are now seven points adrift of Juventus and Roma.

Juventus had moved clear of Roma last weekend after Rudi Garcia’s men were held to a scoreless draw away to Sampdoria but were frustrated at the Luigi Ferraris stadium where goalkeeper Gianluigi Buffon was making his 500th appearance in a Bianconeri jersey.

Garcia, meanwhile, insisted: “Juve’s result is of no concern to us. Our focus has to be on our team and the crucial thing is for us to remain focused.”

In Bergamo, Napoli were stunned 13 minutes into the second half when German Denis ran in unhindered between Christian Maggio and Raul Albiol to nod Cristian Raimondi’s cross past Rafael.

Napoli should have levelled two minutes later but Jose Callejon somehow skied Faouzi Ghoulam’s cross despite being less than a metre from goal.

Atalanta suffered a blow late on when Luca Cigarini saw red for a second bookable offence, and Napoli capitalised soon after when Higuain spun on Lorenzo Insigne’s pass into the area to beat Sportiello down low.

Napoli won a penalty in the dying minutes after Guglielmo Stendardo’s foul on Cristian Zapata, but Sportiello did well to keep out Higuain’s effort from 12 yards. l

RESULTS Atalanta

1-1

Denis 57

Cagliari

1-1

Ibarbo 24

Fiorentina

Napoli Higuain 86

Milan Bonaventura 34

3-0

Udinese

Babacar 44, 70, Valero 80

Genoa

1-0

Juventus

1-0

Sampdoria

1-0

Chievo

2-0

Cesena

1-0

Parma

Antonini 90+4

Inter Icardi 90-P

Palermo Rigoni 81

Roma Destro 9, De Rossi 81

Genoa’s Luca Antonini (L) is jubilant after scoring as Juventus goalkeeper Gigi Buffon looks on during their Italian Serie A match at Luigi Ferraris Stadium on Wednesday REUTERS

French Ligue 1 leaders Marseille were eliminated from the League Cup at the first hurdle on Wednesday, conceding in the last minute to lose 2-1 at Rennes.

Marseille are four points clear at the top of the league but saw their run of eight consecutive wins ended in a 1-0 reverse at Lyon last weekend and coach Marcelo Bielsa opted to rotate his squad for the trip to Brittany.

Marseille manager Bielsa made six changes to his starting line-up, with Michy Batshuayi getting his chance up front as Andre-Pierre Gignac was rested.

And the young Belgian striker gave the visitors the lead in the 19th minute at the Stade de la Route de Lorient to put Marseille seemingly on course for a berth in the last 16.

However, Anders Konradsen headed in the equaliser from inside the six-

n AFP, London

yard box on the hour and Austrian forward Philipp Hosiner then diverted the ball into the net in injury time to take Rennes through.

That winning goal came after Brice Dja Djedje and Paul-Georges Ntep were sent off following a clash as tempers flared, leaving both teams to end the game with 10 men.

RESULTS Nice

3-3

Metz

Metz won 3-2 on penalties

Rennes

2-1

Darmian 10

n AFP, Madrid An understrength Real Madrid began their defence of the Copa del Rey with a comfortable 4-1 win over third-tier UD Cornella in the first leg of their fourthround tie on Wednesday.

With World Player of the Year Cristiano Ronaldo among a host of star names given the night off, it was centre-back Raphael Varane who produced the finishing touch in the first half as his bullet header put the visitors in front after just 10 minutes.

Cornella, from the outskirts of Barcelona, had their magic moment 10 minutes later, though, as Oscar Munoz saw off challenges from Varane and Alvaro Arbeloa before firing high past Keylor Navas to equalise.

However, in a game played at the home of top-flight side Espanyol, Varane restored Real’s lead from another corner nine minutes before half-time and Javier Hernandez put the tie beyond the Catalans with a fine angled finish eight minutes into the second period.

Madrid boss Carlo Ancelotti then withdrew James Rodriguez, one of only four players to retain his place from Saturday’s 3-1 Clasico victory over Barcelona, for Marcelo.

And the Brazilian rounded off the scoring when he smashed home from a narrow angle after Jose Manuel Segovia had parried Isco’s initial effort.

With the second leg still to come at the Santiago Bernabeu in early December, Real remain very much on course

Rio penalised over Twitter comment

Marseille dumped out of League Cup n AFP, Paris

Torino

Holders Bayern Munich eased into the last 16 of the German Cup on Wednesday with a 3-1 second-round win away to Hamburg.

Robert Lewandowski put Pep Guardiola’s side ahead following some desperate defending before Austrian international David Alaba doubled their advantage from long range late in the first half.

Franck Ribery marked his first start of the season after injury by finding the net with a deflected shot early in the second period, and the Frenchman was then struck in the face with the scarf of a spectator who invaded the pitch, before Pierre-Michel Lasogga got a late consolation for the hosts.

Elsewhere, Freiburg, Hoffenheim and Wolfsburg all beat lowerleague opposition, while Borussia Moenchengladbach, who are second in the Bundesliga, won 2-1 at Eintracht Frankfurt.

Bayer Leverkusen needed penalties to win at regional league side Magdeburg, but it could have been worse for Roger Schmidt’s side.

They took an early lead through Hakan Calhanoglu but were pegged back and fell behind after having South Korean star Heung-Min Son sent off.

However, Kyriakos Papadopoulos equalised before the top-flight side eventually progressed in a shoot-out.

Hertha Berlin and Hanover succumbed to lower-league opponents on Tuesday, but Borussia Dortmund advanced to the last 16 along with Werder Bremen and Cologne. l

Real Madrid cruise to victory in Cup opener

Marseille

Earlier on Wednesday, Metz eliminated Nice on penalties after squandering a 3-0 lead to draw the match on the Cote d’Azur 3-3.

Along with the winners of Tuesday’s ties, Rennes and Metz progress to the last 16 in December, when France’s six European representatives - including holders Paris Saint-Germain - will enter the draw. l

Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand has been suspended for three matches and fined £25,000 for a comment he made on Twitter, the Football Association announced on Wednesday.

The 35-year-old former England captain was apparently punished for a tweet in which he referred to the mother of another Twitter user as a “sket” - a derogatory slang term for a promiscuous woman.

“Queens Park Rangers defender Rio Ferdinand has been suspended for three matches commencing with immediate effect, subject to any appeal, after an FA misconduct charge against him was found proven,” read a statement released by the FA. “It was alleged a comment Ferdinand posted on his twitter account was abusive and/or indecent and/or insulting and/or improper.

“It was further alleged that this breach was aggravated pursuant to FA rule E3(2) as the comment included a reference to gender.

“Following an independent regulatory commission hearing on Wednes-

day 29 October, Ferdinand was also fined £25,000, severely warned as to his future conduct and ordered to attend an education programme, arranged by the FA within four months.”

A Twitter user provoked the tweet that appeared to land Ferdinand in hot water by sending him a teasing message on transfer deadline day that said: “Maybe QPR will sign a good CB (centre-back) they need one.”

Ferdinand replied: “get ya mum in, plays the field well son! #sket.”

Former Man United defender Ferdinand is a member of a commission set up by FA chairman Greg Dyke to investigate how to improve English football.

Ferdinand, who said last week that he would probably retire from playing at the end of the season, has over 5.9 million followers on Twitter and is a prolific user of the social networking website. l

for a last 16 meeting with La Liga champions Atletico Madrid.

Sevilla are also well on their way to a place in the last 16 as on-loan Liverpool striker Iago Aspas scored a hat-trick in their 6-1 thrashing of Sabadell. l

RESULTS UD Cornella

1-4

Munoz 20

Sabadell Forgas 75

Real Madrid Varane 10, 36, Hernandez 53, Marcelo 75

1-6

Sevilla

Kolodziejczak 28, Aspas 43, 60, 90+P, Gameiro 67-P, Reyes 70

Real Madrid’s Javier Hernandez celebrates a goal against Cornella during their Spanish King’s Cup match on Wednesday REUTERS

Maradona withdraws theft complaint n AFP, Buenos Aires Former Argentine soccer star Diego Maradona on Tuesday withdrew a theft complaint against his ex-girlfriend, after a video surfaced that allegedly showed him hitting her, news reports said.

“I spoke to Diego and he withdrew the complaint,” the former girlfriend, Rocio Oliva, told Argentine television.

Maradona in March had accused Oliva in Dubai of stealing jewelry and other valuable items.

Oliva, 22, had a turbulent relationship with 53-year-old Maradona, who lives in Dubai and works as a sports promoter.

Argentine television channels have released a short video supposedly shot

by Oliva in a room in Maradona’s home.

In the blurry footage, Oliva can be heard saying “Stop, stop” as if she is trying to stop an attack.

Maradona has said he had knocked the phone from her hands but denies hitting Oliva, a female footballer. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

QUICK BYTES

Raul joins New York Cosmos Former Real Madrid and Spain forward Raul has joined New York Cosmos for the 2015 season on a “multi-year” contract pending a medical, the North American Soccer League (NASL) club said on Thursday. As part of the deal, the terms of which were not disclosed, Raul, 37, will also become a technical adviser for the club’s youth academy, which he will take over on a full time basis when he retires from playing, Cosmos said on their website (www. nycosmos.com). “Everyone throughout the soccer world knows the Cosmos name and the legacy of the players that played for this team previously,” Raul said. “They helped establish soccer in America and I’m honoured to follow in their footsteps,” he added. “I believe in this club’s vision and I’m excited to be a part of that.”

–Reuters

Ribery brushes off Hamburg fan’s insult Bayern Munich’s France winger Franck Ribery has accepted Hamburg’s apology after one of their fans hit him in the face with a scarf during the Bavarians’ German Cup win. Ribery scored for title-holders Bayern in Wednesday’s 3-1 win at Hamburg in the second round of the German Cup. But Ribery was insulted in added time when a fan stormed on to the Imtech Arena pitch, hit the France star in the face with his Hamburg scarf and showed him the middle finger of both hands before security guards intervened.

“That shouldn’t have happened, but it’s not so bad,” the Frenchman told Sky Sports, having started the match after recovering from a knee injury which hampered the start of his season. “It’s always forgotten after the game. I don’t know what that was all about.

It wasn’t an easy game for me, I got kicked a lot.” Hamburg apologised to Ribery on social media Twitter.

–AFP

Newcastle dealt Spurs trip in League Cup Newcastle United were handed an all-Premier League clash with Tottenham Hotspur in the League Cup quarter-finals after dumping holders Manchester City out of the competition on Wednesday.Chelsea and Liverpool both landed away games against Championship opposition, with the former set to visit Derby County and the latter handed a trip to Bournemouth.

Southampton, who won 3-2 at Stoke City on Wednesday, will visit third-tier Sheffield United, who are the lowest-ranked team left in the competition.

–AFP

15

n AFP, Abu Dhabi Younis Khan became the first batsman in 90 years to hit three hundreds in consecutive innings against Australia as Pakistan took early advantage of the second Test in Abu Dhabi on Thursday.

The 36-year-old, who smashed twin hundreds in the first Test, notched 111 not out for his 27th century to help Pakistan close the opening day on a solid footing of 304-2 after they won the toss and batted on a flat Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.

In the last over before stumps Azhar Ali also completed his sixth Test hundred and was unbeaten on 101 on a day Australia used as many as eight bowlers and unusual fielding placings but failed to break the Ali-Younis third wicket stand which has so far yielded 208 runs.

NUMBER OF TEST 100S SCORED BY PAK BATSMEN v AUSTRALIA 1999-2010 Six 100s in 14 Tests and 11 years 2014 Six 100s in 2 Tests and 9 days Younis lofted spinner Glenn Maxwell to long-on boundary for his tenth boundary to complete his hundred before raising his bat to his team-mates and a few dozen people who gave him a standing ovation.

England’s Herbert Sutcliffe was the last man to score three hundreds in three consecutive Test innings against Australia way back in 1924-25.

Before Younis three Pakistani batsmen Zaheer Abbas (v India in 1982) Mudassar Nazar (v India in 1982) and Mohammad Yousuf (vs West Indies in 2006) had achieved the feat.

So ruthless was Younis that even the second new ball taken soon after it was due couldn’t disturb him. He has so far hit ten boundaries and a six during his 155-ball knock.

Things went wrong for Michael Clarke right from the toss when he wrongly called tails. He did everything, from using two short mid-wickets, a

SCORECARD, DAY 1 Pakistani batsman Younis Khan plays a pull shot against Australia during the first day of their second test cricket match at Zayed International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday INTERNET short mid-on and a man almost behind the umpire at bowler’s end but even that failed to get him any wicket, leaving him frustrated in his bids to avoid first series defeat against Pakistan since 1994.

Pakistan won the first Test by a big 221-run marging in Dubai.

Younis survived two leg-before reviews, off Maxwell when on 35 and off Steven Smith when on 68.

Ali, who hit six boundaries off 223

balls, too survived two sharp chances, on 34 and 46 suming up a unrewarding day for Australia.

Openers Ahmed Shehzad (35) and Mohammad Hafeez (45) were out either side of lunch.

Hafeez fell to an edge behind the wicket off paceman Mitchell Johnson who toiled hard for his figures of 50-1.

Shehzad was shaping well during his 64-ball knock, hitting three fours before he missed a delivery from spinner

Lyon and was trapped leg-before.

Clarke juggled his pace bowlers before bringing Lyon on in the 14th over to get the needed breakthrough.

Pakistan, seeking to win their first series against Australia since 1994, kept the same XI while Australia brought in paceman Mitchell Starc and spinning all-rounder Maxwell for batsman Alex Doolan and left-arm spinner Steve O’Keefe, preferring a three-prong pace attack with one spinner in Lyon. l

Pakistan Ist innings Ahmed Shehzad lbw b Lyon 35 Hafeez c Haddin b Johnson 45 Azhar Ali not out 101 Younis Khan not out 111 Extras: (b3, lb6, nb3) 12 Total: (for two wkts; 88 overs) 304 Fall of wicket 1-57 (Shehzad), 2-96 (Hafeez) Bowling Johnson 18-4-50-1 (2nb), Starc 11-0-370, Siddle 17-5-39-0 (1nb), Lyon 23-1-861, Marsh 6-0-23-0, Maxwell 8-1-36-0, Clarke 2-0-7-0, Smith 3-0-17-0

Murray on brink of World Broad denies Pietersen ‘bullying’ claims Finals, Federer through n AFP, London

n

AFP, Paris

Andy Murray turned in a clinical performance on Wednesday as he joined Roger Federer, Stan Wawrinka, David Ferrer, Grigor Dimitrov and Milos Raonic in the third round of the Paris Masters.

The two-time Grand Slam winner, who was absent in Paris last year afer undergoing back surgery, overcame the challenge of French world number 28 Julien Benneteau and advanced to the last 16, 6-3, 6-4.

In the evening matches, 2008 winner Jo-Wilfried Tsonga brought the home crowd to life as he overcame a second-set blip to oust Austrian Jurgen Melzer 6-2, 4-6, 6-2 and will now play

Japanese sixth seed Kei Nishikori.

Nishikori, who is trying to become the first Japanese player to qualify for the season-ending World Tour Finals, came back from a set down to defeat Spanish warhorse Tommy Robredo 6-7 (4/7), 6-2, 6-3.

There was more good news for the French faithful when crowd pleaser Gael Monfils delighted the fans with an array of spectacular shots on the way to a 6-4, 7-6 (7/4) win over American 13th seed John Isner.

Federer, the 2011 Paris champion, showed nerves of steel as he saved four set points in the opening frame before wearing down plucky Frenchman Jeremy Chardy 7-6 (7/5), 6-7 (5/7), 6-4. l

England bowler Stuart Broad has dismissed claims by former team-mate Kevin Pietersen that there was a bullying culture in the changing room during their time as international colleagues.

In Pietersen’s recently-published autobiography, he alleges that Broad was a member of a group of senior players who abused less-experienced squad members if they made fielding errors.

But Broad told BBC Sport in an interview published late on Wednesday: “The ‘bullying’ word has not crossed my mind in eight or nine years of playing international cricket.”

He added: “You would expect guys to be excited and passionate about playing for their country. I look at my

heroes growing up, the likes of (former England rugby union captain) Martin Johnson.

“Look at (former Manchester United goalkeeper) Peter Schmeichel when he conceded a goal, he certainly gave Steve Bruce and Gary Pallister an earful.

“I don’t know if that would be classed as bullying, or just the passion of being disappointed.”

Broad’s fellow-bowler James Anderson, another player accused of bullying by Pietersen, said the South Africa-born batsman’s claims threatened to overshadow the team’s achievements.

“It puts a bitter taste in your mouth about a really fruitful time for an England team who were one of the best England teams I’ve been around in recent times,” Anderson said.

“We try to challenge each other, try to push each other to improve and get the best out of each other. The culture we built is the reason we got to number one in the world (in August 2011).”

Meanwhile, Broad expressed support for batsman Jonathan Trott, who has been selected for the England Lions’ January tour of South Africa after withdrawing from England’s Ashes squad last year due to a stress-related illness.

“I think if I could choose anyone to bat for my life, it would be Jonathan Trott,” Broad said.

“It was really sad to see what happened to him in Australia, but credit has to go to him, his family and the people around him to get him back up to playing cricket and scoring runs.” l

Wozniacki eyes marathon debut n AFP, New York Former world number one Caroline Wozniacki knows just what to expect when she steps on a tennis court, but tackling the New York City Marathon is another matter.

“I’m a little nervous,” the Dane admitted Wednesday as she looked ahead to her first crack at the 26.2-mile distance on Sunday.

“This is the farthest I’m going to run so far. I think it’s going to be an unbelievable experience. The New York City Marathon has always been on my bucket list.”

Wozniacki decided to make the fantasy a reality back in June - not long after the break-up of her engagement to golf star Rory McIlroy.

Since then she has squeezed her training runs in when she can during a busy tennis season that included a runner-up finish at the US Open.

She arrived in New York on Tuesday night via Denmark from Singapore, where she played in the WTA’s season-ending championships.

Since falling to Serena Williams in the US Open final in September, Wozniacki has played four tournaments in Japan, China and Singapore.

DAY’S WATCH Ten Cricket 12:00PM Australia v Pakistan Second Test, Day 2

Star Sports 4 9:00PM & 1:00AM F1: United States GP Practice Sessions

Star Sports 1 1:45AM Deportivo v Getafe

Sony Six 5:30PM World Kabaddi League Bhopal: 30th

Friday, October 31, 2014

Century-man Younis punishes Australia

Isco keen to impress during Bale absence While Gareth Bale is fully expected to regain his place in the Real Madrid side when he returns from injury, team mate Isco is making the most of his chance to prove his worth on the pitch. Coach Carlo Ancelotti has made it clear that a fit Bale, who became the world’s most expensive player when he joined Real in 2013, will always be in his preferred starting lineup in a three-pronged attack with Cristiano Ronaldo and Karim Benzema. However, Madrid-based sports newspapers have been mounting something of an anti-Bale, pro-Isco campaign in recent weeks, criticising the Welshman for not helping out more in defence while praising Isco’s work rate. Whether the accusations are fair or not, Isco has grabbed his chance to show Ancelotti what he is capable of and the 22-yearold was given a rousing ovation when he was substituted after a fine performance in last weekend’s ‘Clasico’ against Barcelona at the Bernabeu.

Bale’s position in the team may not yet be under threat but if he suffers a dip in form he may, at the very least, find himself being replaced in the second half of matches more often than he would like.

–Reuters

Sport

Tennis star Caroline Wozniacki of Denmark holds her race bib as she poses with children from Public School PS 35 in Queens at a news conference to promote running in the New York City Marathon as an ambassador for the Team For Kids charity on Wednesday REUTERS

In the early stages of that Asian swing, her match schedule precluded serious marathon training and she was “starting to panic.”

“I had a few dreams were I didn’t finish and had to be carried through with a wheelchair,” she said.

But she was able to step up her mileage in a break between a tournament in Beijing and the championships in Singapore, which left her confident she can finish even though her longest run to date is 13 miles.

Contrary to fears that combining marathon training with tennis would lead to injury or debilitating fatigue, Wozniacki says she’s never felt better.

She credited her running with helping her in a three-hour slug-fest with Maria Sharapova in Singapore last week.

Even so, none of her elite tennis rivals have voiced an interest in emulating her marathon attempt.

“None of the others have said that they want to try,” Wozniacki said. “I think you need to be a little crazy - but in a good way, I hope.”

She did get some advice from Kimiko Date-Krumm, the Japanese WTA veteran who has run marathons.

“She told me that she had a really tough time, but she had a great time as well,” Wozniacki said. “Obviously, you have to watch out for your body, but I think, as an athlete, you know your body so well. You know when you can push it. You know when you need to hold back.” l

Barcelona goalkeeper Masip saves a shot during the penalty shoot-out against Espanyol

Barcelona beat Espanyol to win Catalan Super Cup n Agencies Barcelona edged Espanyol on penalties to win the Catalan Super Cup on Wednesday at the Estadi Montilivi in Girona.

Barça were in absolute domination of the ball, although real chances to extend on their lead were seriously lacking. All the same, it took 41 minutes for Masip to get the chance to show his worth, and he certainly showed that worth by defying Víctor Álvarez in a one-on-one.

After the match finished 1-1 after 90 minutes the teams went directly to penalties, where Barca prevailed 4-2.

Luis Suarez set up Gerard Pique to

score for Barcelona in the 15th minute. Taking possession in the box, he danced around a defender and crossed for Pique to head in at the far post.

Espanyol had a chance to equalise in the 41st minute on a two-on-one break but Jordi Masip saved a shot from Víctor Alvarez.

Anaitz Arbilla curled a free-kick into the top corner to level for Espanyol six minutes into the second half.

Luis Enrique made eight substitutions in the second half, but Barca could not find a winner.

In the penalty shootout, Masip saved a shot from Arbilla and Abraham shot wide before Ivan Rakitic clinched the victory with his next kick. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Friday, October 31, 2014

JDC exam Poverty-stricken youths being lured into militancy JSC, schedule changed

Detailed hit-list with 22 names, photos and biographies recovered by detectives n Mohammad Jamil Khan The newly formed militant platform – Bangladesh Jihadi Group – has reportedly been working to recruit youths with low-income backgrounds as it was easier to lure them to a militant way of life with promises of bearing all the costs of their families.

“Under the new recruiting method, militants visit random areas of the country and propose [youths] to join the way of Allah in exchange taking care of their family expenditures,” a senior official of the Detective Branch of police told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The official further said arrested Huji-B bomb expert Umar, a final year student of the chemistry department

Sweden recognises Palestinian state n AFP Sweden has officially recognised the state of Palestine, Stockholm’s foreign minister has said, less than a month after the government announced its intention to make the unprecedented move.

Palestinians cheered yesterday’s announcement, while Israel summoned the Swedish ambassador to protest and express its disappointment.

Foreign Minister Margot Wallstrom said in a statement that the recognition was “an important step that confirms the Palestinians’ right to self-determination.”

“We hope that this will show the way for others,” she said in remarks published in the Dagens Nyheter daily.

Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas hailed the “brave and historic” move to officially recognise the state of Palestine, his spokesman told the AFP news agency.

Sweden is the first EU member state in Western Europe to recognise the Palestinian state.

Seven EU members in eastern Europe and the Mediterranean have already recognised a Palestinian state – Bulgaria, Cyprus, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Malta, Poland, and Romania. Non-EU member Iceland is the only other western European nation to have done so.

Israel has long insisted that the Palestinians can only receive their promised state through direct negotiations and not through other diplomatic channels.

The United States cautioned Sweden against recognition, calling it “premature” and saying the Palestinian state could only come through a negotiated solution between Israelis and Palestinians.

In Thursday’s announcement, Sweden’s foreign minister said that “the government considers that international law criteria for recognition of a Palestinian state have been fulfilled.” l

at Prime University, was the son of a retired air force official who was now unable to work because of a disability.

Exploiting the family’s financial hardships, Huji-B members had been paying all the family expenses since Umar was in class six, telling the family that the outfit was taking the boy to work in the ways of Allah.

The information came out during the interrogation of four members of banned militant outfit Harkat-ul Jihad Al-Islami Bangladesh (Huji-B) who were arrested last Saturday. A six-day remand of Huji-B operation wing chief Mawlana Mohammad Rafiq Ahmed alias Sajid, bomb expert Md Umar alias Foyzul alias Roby, members Md Nadim Ahmed alias Sumon and Md Salahuddin Ahmed – is set to end today.

A UN official has warned that Israel’s plans for further settlements in East Jerusalem could ignite more violence and threaten the viability of the future Palestinian state.

Under-Secretary-General for Political Affairs Jeffrey Feltman called on Israel on Wednesday “to rescind” its plan to build 1,000 new homes, which he said was in violation of the international law, and contrary to the twostate solution.

Feltman called on Israel to “abide by its commitment to the international law,” while calling on Palestinian protesters to stop incitement of violence.

While speaking at a UN Security Council emergency session, he urged both sides to commit to “meaningful negotiations.”

The meeting was convened at the request of council member Jordan on behalf of the Palestinians.

Tensions have soared between Arabs and Jews over Israel’s plans to build about 1,000 housing units in East Jerusalem, the part of the city the Palestinians demand for their future state.

On Monday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government said it was advancing plans to build about 600 additional houses in Ramat Shlomo and 400 in Har Homa districts of East Jerusalem.

Israel has said all of Jerusalem will

up in the Kashimpur Jail along with him.

The DB boss added that the arrested Huji-B men have provided a list of 14 people – half of them currently in Bangladesh while the rest are hiding in India – who were actively working for the Bangladesh Jihadi Group.

Without giving any names, the DB chief said a number of politicians and businesspeople were sponsoring the activities of the militant platform.

The militant platform’s next plan was to set up a base on a one acre land near the Homra border point in Satkhira, he said.

Meanwhile, when asked about the Indian media reports on JMB’s plan to kill the prime minister, Joint Commissioner Monirul said they were yet to get any official report from India, but had

already increased vigilance based on those media reports.

One Hizb-ut-Tahrir man arrested

The Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday arrested a member of banned militant outfit Hizb-ut-Tahrir from the capital’s Dakkhinkhan area.

Based on intelligence reports that these men would circulate anti-state leaflets in Dakkhinkhan, RAB 1 officials raided the area and arrested 22-year-old Jahangir, said Mufti Mahmud, director of legal and media wing of RAB. The arrestee was an accused in cases with Gazipur’s Karimganj police station and Dakkhinkhan police station, the RAB official said, adding that Jahangir has already admitted being involved with Hizb-ut-Tahrir. l

n Mohammad Jamil Khan

A man talking on his mobile phone narrowly escapes an accident by the Moghbazar railway tracks in the capital yesterday, not hearing the honking of a motorised trolley carrying members of the Railway Nirapatta Bahini (RNB) SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

forever be its capital, citing historical, religious and security reasons.

But the international community, including the US, does not recognise Israel’s annexation of the eastern sector of the contested city.

Two businessmen kidnapped three days ago were rescued yesterday from the capital’s Rampura and Kamalapur areas by the Detective Branch (DB) of police and Armed Police Battalion (APBn), leading to nine arrests.

They were abducted separately by different gangs but the kidnappers used similar techniques.

Both gangs used women operatives to entice the businessmen to come to the abduction site, before demanding ransoms from their families.

“DB started an investigation into the abduction of Benapole Port C&F businessman Habibur Rahman and conducted a special drive in the capital’s Maniknagar area, rescuing him early yesterday,” Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of DB police, said.

DB officials arrested six people, including two women, for their alleged involvement in the abduction, and found an imported pistol and a bullet from their possession.

The arrestees were Abdul Mannan Polash, 32, GM Jubayer Ahmed, 22, Mojibur Rahman, 44, Mahbubur Rahman Jisan, 17, Jannatul Ferdous Josna, 32, and Bristi Akther, 17.

The rescued businessman, presented before the press at the Media and Community Centre of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said he knew Polash, Jubayer and Josna.

Habib, former chairman of Putkhali Union, first met Josna in 2005 for business purposes. Polash was the business partner of his son-in-law, Jahangir. Six months ago, he and Jahangir stopped

doing business with Polash.

Last Monday, Josna had called him asking him to meet her in Kamalapur.

“When I just reached the place, three or four people picked me up at gunpoint and forced me into a vehicle.

They hid me in a room in Maniknagar.

“They tortured me unmercifully, and when I tried to flee, they pushed me down two flights of stairs.” Habib said the kidnappers demanded Tk60 lakh from his family but when they refused to pay, the abductors tortured him even more.

The DB chief said Polash was mainly an arms trader and Josna had a luggage business in India, adding: “We suspect the abduction was conducted for money but we will investigate further.”

Meanwhile, the APBn rescued businessman Imam Hossain, 53, from a house in front of the Sultan Market of Matubborbari in Baunia of the capital’s Turag area yesterday. Three people, including two women, were arrested for their alleged involvement with the abduction.

The arrestees were Toufiqul Islam Topon, 27, Afroza Akther, 22, and Ayesha Akther, 39.

Imam was kidnapped from the city’s Uttara area where he went to meet Afroza on receiving a call from her, APBn Assistant Police Superintendent (ASP) Amirul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune.

The kidnappers are Imam’s former tenants who lived in his house in the capital’s Rampura area, ASP Amirul said.

They kidnapped Imam, took him to the house in Turag, and forcibly took indecent pictures of him which they intended to blackmail him with, he said, adding that the abductors demanded Tk1 lakh from Imam’s family as ransom. l

British firm wins Dhaka Metro design contract n Tribune Desk

The design of Dhaka’s elevated metro rail service has been awarded to John McAslan + Partners, which edged out competitors in an international design contest for the project with its vision of Islamicate geometry wedded to modern design.

John McAslan + Partners will design 16 elevated stations for the over-head line, part of a $3 billion project that will stretch 19.31 kilometres across Bangladesh’s capital.

The Dhaka metro line will be completed in three stages with all stations operational by 2022, and is forecast to serve over 500,000 passengers daily by

2025.

It will form a commuter link between the capital’s residential district in the north of the city and the business centre in the south, top design magazine Dezeen reports.

Director of infrastructure at John McAslan + Partners, Hiro Aso, said the scheme would produce “a significant

‘Exacerbating conflict’

On Wednesday, Palestinian representative to the UN Riyad Mansour told the Security Council meeting that Israel’s “illegal” actions on settlement plans “are exacerbating the conflict and obstructing a peaceful solution.”

He said: “Israel, the occupying power, must be demanded to cease immediately and completely its illegal settlement activities throughout the occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem.”

In response, Israel’s Ambassador to the UN Ron Prosor denied that Israel was an occupier, adding that Jerusalem would “forever” belong to Israel while denying the existence of Jewish settlers.

He also said Israel was doing everything possible to minimise tensions, and blamed Palestinians for provoking the Israeli police.

The UN meeting came as tension between the US and Israel escalated, after an unnamed official of US President Barack Obama’s administration called Netanyahu a “chickenshit,” attacking him over Israeli policy on settlement building in the occupied Palestinian territories. l

The Education Ministry has reshuffled the dates for two papers of Bangla in the Junior School Certificate (JSC) and the Junior Madrasa (Dakhil) Certificate (JDC) examinations following nationwide strikes called by Jamaat-e-Islami on Sunday and Monday.

Bangla first paper exam will be held on November 7 instead of November 2 while the Bangla second paper exam will be held on November 14 instead of November 3, the education secretary told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

On Wednesday, Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid announced the JSC and equivalent examinations would begin on November 2. Over 2 million students from 27,925 educational institutions will appear in this year’s exams. l

Rescue of abducted businessmen bags nine kidnappers

S M A R T P H O N E , N O T- S O - S M A R T U S E R

Israeli expansion plan condemned at UN n Agencies

The police also managed to recover a detailed hit-list containing pictures and biography of 22 prominent citizens of the country including politicians, intellectuals and journalists.

“The militants were planning to collect details before killing these people, as part of an attempt to show-off their strength and presence in Bangladesh,” Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of DB police, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

However, he refused to disclose the identities of the targeted individuals as the investigation was ongoing.

Monirul said the detained Huji-B members have confessed that their chief Mawlana Abu Sayed alias Abu Jafor came up with the plan to set up a united militant platform after discussions with other militant leaders who were locked

for hartal n Tribune Report

Design for Dhaka's first metro rail service won by British firm John McAslan + Partners

www.DEZEEN.COM

new infrastructure system for Dhaka.”

“The line will form connections between areas of Dhaka in support of the wider urban strategy of decentralisation of urban activities and population from the centre to satellite communities,” said a statement from John McAslan + Partners.

Plans for the metro line show elevated train tracks supported on a series of piloti, with station platforms connected to the ground by white elevator shafts and stairwells.

White perforated canopies provide cover for the station platforms, arching over the tracks to let trains pass through.

The canopies are perforated with a geometric pattern reminiscent of Islamic tile designs allowing sunlight to pass through the tunnel-like structures to illuminate the platforms below. An irregular bowed framework supports the cut-out roof.

The project also includes the design for a train depot and is part of a larger development scheme proposed by the Dhaka Mass Transit Company that aims to address growing traffic congestion and air pollution in the city.

The studio will work in collaboration with local architecture firms to integrate the new stations into the urban setting.

John McAslan + Partners has worked on a number of infrastructure projects.

The Anand Vihar transport hub in New Delhi and several commuter station redevelopments in the UK form part of the firm’s portfolio, including the highly acclaimed Western Concourse of King’s Cross Station in London. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

B3 IBM, Twitter to partner on business data analytics

B4 80 countries join fight to end banking secrecy

IFC for private investment in power and railway lands n Tribune Report International Finance Corporation has suggested Bangladesh to allow foreign and local private investments in the lands of the government-owned power plants and railways, said Finance Minister AMA Muhith.

He said this to journalists yesterday after a meeting with a visiting IFC delegation headed by its executive vice president Jin Yong Cai at the minister’s Secretariat office in Dhaka.

Muhith said the investors could install small power plants like 100MW besides the government-owned big plants like 1000MW using public land and grid facilities.

While talking about IFC’s advice to leave railway sector for private investment, the finance minister said Dhaka-Chittagong route could be made profitable through giving it to private sector.

“Railway has a lot of fixed assets.

We can see profit in Dhaka-Chittagong route if private investment comes up here,” Muhith said.

On IFC, he said it was established as a private sector arm of World Bank to encourage private investment around the globe including Bangladesh.

Muhith said the country has a lack of both foreign and local investments.

“Both investments – local and foreign – are poor here.”

“IFC is encouraging us to attract more FDI and we sought technical as-

FRIDAY, OCTOBER 31, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Boost ODA as promised to help LDCs graduate Asia Pacific LDCs urge developed countries to implement the pledges as their three-day conference concluded in Dhaka yesterday n Tribune Report

sistance from them in this regard.”

According to a IFC report, Pakistan is doing well in doing business index while Bangladesh’s ranking has fallen by three steps.

Muhith said Pakistan has been able to build an industrial base in last 20 years.

“It was due to transfer of wealth from then East Pakistan, now Bangladesh.”

About giving land to Japanese investors, he said the government would provide land to them in Chittagong instead of Dhaka.

Bangladesh has almost received $10bn worth of financial support this year from IFC to facilitate the country’s private sector growth.

In fiscal year 2013, the IFC invested $774m worth of funds to 12 projects in the private sector in Bangladesh.

According to the World Bank report, Bangladesh was ranked 173 among 189 nations on doing business list.

Last year the ranking was 170 in the index.

Although the business regulatory environment of Bangladesh has seen an improvement from last year, it was not enough to bump up ranking in the World Bank’s index on the ease of doing business.

In South Asia, India stood at 142, Pakistan 128 and Sri Lanka 99.

IFC, a member of the World Bank Group, is the largest global development institution focused exclusively on the private sector in developing countries. l

A three-day conference of Asia Pacific least developed countries (LDCs) concluded in Dhaka yesterday, with a call for ensuring official development assistance(ODA) as earlier promised by developed countries to make a significant leap forward and meet the graduation criteria by 2020.

Keeping the notion in mind that domestic resource is the main pillar for overcoming financial crisis, it also recommended strategies on searching new sources of financing and tax base expansion to meet domestic demand for fund.

The conference hoped that the newly formed Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) would play particular role for providing fund required for meeting the graduation criteria by 2020 from the list of LDCs. It urged development partners to implement pledges made in the sixth WTO Ministerial Conference held in Hong Kong in 2005 and UN resolution for facing situation of post-LDC graduation.

Economic Relation Division (ERD) Secretary Mohammad Mejbahuddin read-out the recommendations emerged from the three-day regional conference at a press briefing at a city hotel.

“If Bangladesh can make $10-11bn investment per year, it will be able to come out from LDC status before 2020,” he said.

For smooth transition for graduating from the list of LDCs, the recommendations also include making national policy in the light of infrastructure weakness, state crisis and prospect, taking steps for raising investment,

State Minister for Foreign Affairs Shahriar Alam (first from left) and Finance Minister AMA Muhith (second from left), among others, seen at the opening day of LDC conference that concludes yesterday in the capital MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU wooing foreign direct investment, creating friendly investment environment to encourage private sector, increase of domestic production and resource mobilization.

Forty-nine members of the LDCs must generate enough growth in incomes and economic activity to cut by half the number of LDCs by 2020.

The goal, agreed in 2011 during 4th UN Summit, is called the Istanbul Programme of Action where development partners promised to provide 0.150.20% of their GNI to LDCs as ODA. At the three-day conference, 55 policymakers from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Cambodia, Kiribati, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, Solomon Is-

lands, East Timor, Tuvalu and Vanuatu participated at the event titled Financing Graduation Gaps of the Asia-Pacific Least Development Countries.

The conference was jointly arranged

by Economic Relations Division (ERD), United Nations Economic and Social Commission for Asia and the Pacific (UN ESCAP) and United Nations Department of Economic and Social Affairs (UN DESA) in Dhaka to find out a strategy to deal with fund deficit for coming out of LDCs. At present, there are 12 LDCs in Asia and the Pacific region with half of them supposed to graduate by 2020. Samoa and the Maldives have already moved out of the category.

The 12 Asia Pacific LDCs received about $12 billion in ODA in 2012, which was 9% of the total donors’ money. And half of the money went to Afghanistan.

Kiribati, Vanuatu and Tuvalu are moving forward on the path towards graduation, while several countries, including Bangladesh, Cambodia, Lao PDR and Nepal, have formally expressed their commitment to graduate in the next six years.

These LDCs face a number of challenges when it comes to their graduation. They have low levels of human capital and investment, and some are landlocked while others having exposures to natural disasters and economic shocks. l

Airtel sees drop in subscribers

Muhith: India grabs global jute market BSEC okays open-end

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

n Tribune Report

The latest cellphone operator in the country, Airtel, faces a drop in subscribers over the last few months from June to September.

According to the monthly statistics issued on Thursday by the telecom regulator, Airtel witnessed a decline in 7.48% subscribers.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) reports Airtel’s active connections were 85.4 lakh till June which came down to only 79 lakh after September.

After July the number four operator’s active connections stood at 83.53 lakh that slipped into 81.43 lakh after August.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted the Airtel to learn about specific reasons for the declining subscribers, but the authorities refused to comment on this.

India has grabbed the entire global market for jute and jute goods, which is very alarming news for Bangladesh, Finance Minister AMA Muhith said yesterday.

“We want to enhance our jute export in the global market as the government is now estimating the demands for jute and its products in the global market,” he told reporters, after a meeting with the leaders of Bangladesh Jute Goods Association (BJGA) at his Secretariat office.

“Jute is one of my favorite sectors, which is now struggling due to lack of fund and financial support.”

As jute and jute items are not sophisticated ones to export, that is why Bangladesh is not doing well in this sector, the minister told the BJGA leaders.

Attending the meeting, BJGA Chairman Kamrul Islam Khan placed fourpoint demands, including 3% subsidy on the export amount of jute goods.

The other demands are withdrawal of 15% VAT on license fees and bank loan facilities with only 9% interest rate, which is now being enjoyed by the readymade garment owners.

“We also need CIP facilities like readymade garment exporters,” Kam-

Airtel’s active connections were 85.4 lakh till June which came down to 79 lakh after September The BTRC report also notes that the total active mobile connections of the country stands at 11.85 crore after September, which was 11.76 crore just a month ago. In September, the market leader, Grameenphone, crossed five crore active connection landmark while the second largest operator in terms of subscribers, Banglalink, also another 3 crore milestone.

Alongside the Airtel, Citycell with 13.49 lakh subscribers also faces a fall in its subscribers, according to BTRC. Robi, the number three operator, runs with 2.49 crore active customers while the state-owned operator, Teletalk, progresses with 37.68 lakh active connections. BTRC also reports that mobile internet users crossed four crore landmark for the first time in September while the total internet connections in the country crossed 4.23 crore.

The telecommunication industry added 15 lakh new internet connections this month.

Following September, the total number of mobile internet connections is 4.08 crore while Wi-max connections slipped into 2.62 lakh from 2.71 lakh and the internet service providers brought another 12.32 lakh households to their fold. l

fund after a year n Tribune Report

Visitors at a fair of jute products

Syed Zakir Hossain

rul said. He noted the government would execute the jute packaging law to popularise the local jute goods.

“We want to export jute and jute goods in the middle-eastern countries apart from the USA and the European countries.”

A total of nine lakh tones of jute and jute goods are being produced in the country annually. Of them, 88% jute goods are being exported the rest being used domestically. Earnings from this sector rose to Tk1,600 crore last year. l

50% IT-trained youths get jobs n Tribune Business Desk Almost 50% young people, who were provided with quality training to develop them as IT leaders, got job in the IT industries and organisations and the remaining are in the process of joining, official sources said.

They said 148 youths were provided three-month-long world-class training in the first batch under Fast Track Future Leader (FTFL) programme of the World Bank funded Leveraging ICT for Growth, Employment and Governance (LICT) Project of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC), reports BSS. Of them, 70 youths have already got job from the IT and IT Enabled Service (ITES) Industries within two months after completion of their training in August

and the remaining 78 got multiple job offer, they added.

According to sources, the FTFL programme has been designed to provide world-class training to 4,000 youths aimed at boosting the fast growing IT industry.

Executive Director of Bangladesh Computer Council (BCC) S M Ashraful Islam said the IT industry’s response is very good until now to employ the youths, who received training in the first batch under FTFL programme.

“The IT industries and organizations have already provided jobs to nearly 50 percent of the youths, who were trained in the first batch under FTFL programme and some of the trained youngsters are yet to join even after getting multiple job offers,” he said.

Ashraf said the three-monthlong training of second batch

comprising 124 youths has just started on Wednesday involving the IT experts and noted academics having experience of providing quality training.

Standard curriculum and best quality training are being designed to provide training to develop the 4,000 youths as IT leaders and they (IT leaders) would play an important role in flourishing the country’s IT sector, LICT project director Md. Rezaul Karim said.

LICT Deputy Project Director Tarique M Barkatullah said “The LICT project is trying its best to ensure participation of 30 percent women in the FTFL training programme and we have been able to do so in the selection of trainees in the upcoming two batches through competitive online exam.” l

Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has approved draft prospectus of an open-end mutual fund named Rupali Life Insurance First Mutual Fund.

The regulator gave approval to such fund after a gap of more than a year.

Alliance S&P Shariah Index Fund was the last fund of this kind approved in October last year, according to a statement issued yesterday. The total fund size is Tk50 crore. Of which, Tk30 crore will be sold to the general public and Tk20 crore will be kept for sponsors. Offer value of each unit will be Tk10.

The regulator has taken a go-slow policy in approving mutual funds keeping conformity with the market situation, said an official at the stock regulator.

A mutual fund is a professionally managed type of collective investment scheme that pools money from many investors and is invested typically in investment securities (stocks, bonds, short-term money market instruments, other mutual funds, other securities, and/or commodities such as

JS body wants action against Basic Bank corruption

n Tribune Business Desk The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Undertakings yesterday recommended the authorities to take “exemplary” punitive actions against the perpetrators of corruption in the state-owned Basic Bank in line with the investigation report.

“The committee also called for a review why the Anti Corruption Commission did not take any action against the BASIC Bank Board of Directors even after Bangladesh Bank informed them long ago about the irregularities and corruption there,” a parliamentary secretariat handout said referring to the committee’s resolution, reports BSS. l

precious metals).

Mutual funds may be of different types from their investment objectives, underlying portfolios of shares, risks and returns, fees, charges including all fund liabilities. There are basically two types of mutual funds open-ended and close-ended.

The regulator has taken a go-slow policy in approving mutual funds following market situation While a closed-end fund offers only limited number of shares and puts the brake on issuing no new units after it is launched, open-end does not have any curbs on the amount of shares to be issued.

If demand is high enough, the fund will continue to issue shares no matter how many investors there are.

Open-end funds also buy back shares when investors wish to sell. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks snap two-day losses

DSE key features October 30, 2014

n Tribune Report

Number of Contract

However, non-banking financial institutions continued to slump with 1.5% loss. Cement sector gained 3.9% in market capitalisation followed by fuel and power 2.4% and Textile 1.3%.

LankaBangla Securities said market ended the day with smart gain on the closing day of the week where investors watched streams of corporate declarations to grip the movement in index.

IDLC Investments said the market rebounded amid robust turnover and reallocation of portfolio position by retail and institutional investors.

The turnover also broke the recent stalemate and posted an impressive 32.8% growth over last session, it said, adding that a number of quarterly declarations hit the market during the session and consequently the bourse reacted positively.

Zenith Investments said the market turned a blind eye to the recent political instability and took a smooth ride to close the last day of the week in positivity.

It said the total volume of the market also supported the index which made hefty gains after a long time. The gainers, however, beat losers strongly as out of 311 issues traded, 213 advanced, 77 declined and 21 remained unchanged.

The state-owned natural gas distribution company, Titas Gas, was the most trading stock with shares worth nearly Tk27 crore changing hands, followed by Summit Purbanchol Power Company, Khulna Power Company Limited, AB Bank, Khulna Printing & Packaging Limited and Grameenphone. l

Stocks rebounded with volatility yesterday, breaking two days profit booking losses, shrugging off renewed political upheaval.

The market opened higher and continued to scale up till close of the session.

The benchmark DSEX rose nearly 64 points or 1.3% to close at 5,173.

The Shariah index DSES gained 17 points or 1.5% to 1,220. The comprising blue chips DS30 was up 30 points or 1.6% to 1,949.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 9701, rising 106 points to 9,701.

The market turned a blind eye to the recent political instability and took a smooth ride to close the last day of the week in positivity The market saw buoyant trading activities as the DSE turnover stood at Tk724 crore, a share increase of nearly 33% over the previous session. Quarterly earnings of financial sector kept the banking stocks in focus, while fuel and power, pharmaceuticals an other manufacturing stocks also were in buying radar.

Banking sector gave almost 1% return in market capitalisation following significant growth in Q3 on the top-line of some of the banking stocks.

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)

Savar Refractories-Z Apex Tannery -A Popular Life Insu. -A 7th ICB M F-A 8th ICB M F-A Continental Insur. -A Daffodil Computers -Z BD Finance-A B I F C -A CVO PetroChem RL-A

-12.15 -7.46 -6.70 -6.31 -6.11 -5.19 -5.10 -4.14 -3.76 -3.42

CSE LOSER Company Midas Financing-Z NCCBL Mutual Fund-1-A Monno Ceramic -B Apex Tannery -A ICB AMCL 2nd NRB -A ICB -A Prime Islami Life -A Republic Insu.-A Asia Pasific Insu. -A BD Finance-A

Closing (% Change) -10.00 -9.09 -7.22 -6.33 -5.32 -5.22 -5.18 -4.45 -4.35 -4.12

5173.23208

(+) 1.25%

1949.47856

(+) 1.57%

15960.23310

(+) 1.34%

13124.07280

(+) 0.89%

9701.27670

(+) 1.11%

Average (% Change) -12.85 -5.40 -2.53 -6.47 -6.14 -4.71 -0.26 -1.32 -0.77 1.93 Average (% Change) -10.00 -3.48 -7.06 -4.30 -5.85 -5.75 -4.65 -4.45 -4.35 -0.42

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 55.56 154.80 168.86 84.71 64.54 22.03 15.38 16.45 18.12 601.65

ClosingAvg. 15.30 6.37 27.00 154.38 8.85 1,526.86 82.30 27.90 22.00 16.59

Closing

15.30 6.00 27.00 152.50 8.90 1,535.50 82.30 27.90 22.00 16.30

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 1068.84 296.04 63.54 789.67 343.83 1577.14 0.97 392.04 966.87 184.26 148.61 113.22 71.95 235.99 181.99 44.45 189.37 231.58 106.85 240.23 1.00

Company

7,248.41

DHIGH 57.90 160.00 175.10 88.20 68.70 23.30 16.90 17.00 18.70 624.90

179,278,407 132,712

Traded Issues

311

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

202

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

103

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,753.18

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

33.37

CSE key features October 30, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

541.46

Turnover (Volume)

15,395,060

Number of Contract

18,703

Traded Issues

235

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

169

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

62

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,654.70

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.18

Turnover in Million

DLOW 51.10 150.10 163.00 82.00 64.20 21.70 14.50 15.40 17.00 580.00

DLOW

15.30 6.70 27.00 157.20 8.90 1,536.00 82.30 27.90 22.00 17.00

15.30 6.00 27.00 148.50 8.80 1,520.00 82.30 27.90 22.00 16.10

Latest EPS

0.050 38.174 12.158 0.593 1.194 3.437 15.308 13.456 8.664 89.782

Turnover in Million

DHIGH

0.008 0.089 0.004 1.744 0.018 0.534 0.008 0.028 0.011 1.042

% change 14.75 4.08 0.88 10.89 4.74 21.76 0.01 5.41 13.34 2.05 1.56 0.99 3.26 2.51 0.61 2.61 3.19 1.47 3.31 0.01

Million Taka 55.78 18.10 4.26 65.99 30.84 106.44 68.94 84.76 57.72 17.78 37.51 6.90 15.44 34.70 3.09 5.65 11.20 15.98 26.73 0.00

CSE

% change 8.35 2.71 0.64 9.88 4.62 15.94 0.00 10.32 12.69 8.64 2.66 5.62 1.03 2.31 5.20 0.46 0.85 1.68 2.39 4.00 0.00

Million Taka 1124.62 314.14 67.80 855.66 374.67 1683.58 0.97 460.97 1051.64 241.98 166.39 150.73 78.84 251.43 216.68 47.54 195.02 242.78 122.83 266.96 1.00

SAIF Powertec-N Power Grid Co. -A AB Bank - A Shurwid Ind. -N Nitol Insurance -A Mithun Knitting -A Alltex Industries -Z Dulamia CottonZ Sinobangla Indu.-A Shahjibazar Power-N

Closing (% Change) 10.00 9.98 9.88 9.86 9.63 9.55 9.50 9.33 9.18 9.18

CSE GAINER

-1.08 2.64 4.13 12.01 7.96 2.27 0.68 0.69 1.42 -3.33

Latest EPS -6.16 0.43 0.11 2.64 1.40 35.69 4.95 2.56 2.32 0.69

Latest PE -ve 58.6 40.9 7.1 8.1 9.7 22.6 23.8 12.8 -ve

Total

Company

Closing (% Change)

Alltex Industries -Z SAIF Powertec-N AB Bank - A Power Grid Co. -A Shurwid Ind. -N Imam Button -Z Aramit -A Navana CNG-A Mithun Knitting -A National Life I -A

9.90 9.89 9.84 9.83 9.79 9.21 8.74 8.48 8.35 8.33

Average (% Change) 12.91 5.28 6.90 9.91 4.73 7.78 12.25 9.33 10.98 9.53 Average (% Change) 19.54 12.27 7.05 8.25 10.44 9.35 8.74 7.09 8.05 8.33

ClosingAvg. 82.24 49.43 27.26 44.93 28.35 93.74 19.15 8.20 32.96 208.20

ClosingAvg. 20.68 81.91 27.33 51.04 45.39 8.30 293.60 67.51 95.20 247.00

Closing 82.50 50.70 27.80 45.70 29.60 95.20 19.60 8.20 33.30 208.20

Closing 21.10 82.20 27.90 51.40 46.00 8.30 293.60 67.80 96.00 247.00

DHIGH 82.50 50.70 27.80 45.70 29.70 95.50 19.60 8.20 33.50 208.20

DHIGH 21.10 82.20 27.90 51.40 46.00 8.30 293.60 68.60 97.20 247.00

DLOW 78.00 46.00 23.50 43.00 27.00 88.00 17.00 8.20 31.00 208.20

DLOW 18.50 80.00 25.00 49.10 43.20 8.20 293.60 64.90 92.00 247.00

Turnover in Million 36.777 39.232 185.236 55.382 2.059 11.536 15.904 0.095 26.189 26.858

Turnover in Million 7.229 8.076 13.928 0.995 15.750 0.108 0.029 1.324 1.675 0.025

Latest EPS 2.54 2.13 4.13 1.64 2.79 2.69 2.56 -4.13 1.21 3.00

Latest EPS 2.56 2.54 4.13 2.13 1.64 -1.80 14.12 4.12 2.69 12.46

Latest PE 32.4 23.2 6.6 27.4 10.2 34.8 7.5 -ve 27.2 69.4

Latest PE 8.1 32.2 6.6 24.0 27.7 -ve 20.8 16.4 35.4 19.8

News, analysis and recent disclosers SAVAREFR: No dividend, AGM: 24.01.2015, Record Date: 23.12.2014. EPS of Tk. -1.08, NAV per share of Tk. 9.48.

SHYAMPSUG: No dividend, AGM: 13.12.2014, Record Date: 20.11.2014. EPS of Tk. -67.81, NAV per share of Tk. -461.40.

MIDASFIN: No dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 20.11.2014. EPS of Tk. -6.16, consolidated NAV per share of Tk. 4.04.

RENWICKJA: 22% cash dividend, AGM: 13.12.2014, Record Date: 20.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 5.58, NAV per share of Tk. -31.51.

ZEALBANGLA: No dividend, AGM: 19.12.2014, Record Date: 20.11.2014. EPS of Tk. -48.70, NAV per share of Tk. -275.93.

Unaudited Financials:

SALVOCHEM: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 43.87 million with EPS of Tk. 0.86 as against Tk. 32.37 million and Tk. 0.63 respectively.

FEDERALINS: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 50.21 million with EPS of Tk. 0.97 as against Tk. 62.14 million and Tk. 1.21 respectively.

PHOENIXFIN: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 241.26 million with EPS of Tk. 1.99 as against Tk. 236.42 million and Tk. 1.95 respectively.

PRIMEBANK: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,438.95 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.40 as against Tk. 434.82 million and Tk. 0.42 respectively.

UTTARABANK: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 954.71

million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.39 as against Tk. 927.62 million and Tk. 2.32 respectively.

RENATA: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,251.06 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 28.35 as against Tk. 1,095.89 million and Tk. 24.83 respectively.

SAPORTL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 107.68 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.66 as against Tk. 97.59 million and Tk. 0.60 respectively.

GSPFINANCE: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 80.64 million with EPS of Tk. 1.19 as against Tk. 66.52 million and Tk. 0.99 respectively.

JMISMDL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 36.93 million with EPS of Tk. 3.36 as against Tk. 19.98 million and Tk. 1.82 respectively.

ORIONPHARM: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 888.98 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 3.80 as against Tk. 772.17 million and Tk. 3.30 respectively.

BDWELDING: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 13.29 million with EPS of Tk. 0.33 as against Tk. 17.67 million and Tk. 0.43 respectively.

PHENIXINS: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 117.37 million with EPS of Tk. 2.91 as against Tk. 115.39 million and Tk. 2.86 respectively.

ASIAPACINS: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 73.85 million with EPS of Tk. 1.74 as against Tk. 84.50 million and Tk. 2.00 respectively.

DUTCHBANGL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,453.77

million with EPS of Tk. 7.27 as against Tk. 1,381.20 million and Tk. 6.91 respectively.

EASTERNINS: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 74.66 million with EPS of Tk. 1.73 as against Tk. 84.14 million and Tk. 1.95 respectively.

ABBANK: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,655.05 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 3.10 as against Tk. 621.92 million and Tk. 1.16 respectively.

GQBALLPEN: (Q3): NPAT = Tk. 14.83 million with EPS of Tk. 1.66 as against Tk. 23.39 million and Tk. 2.62 respectively.

CITYBANK: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,298.59 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.56 as against Tk. 608.65 million and Tk. 0.73 respectively.

PEOPLESINS: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 78.00 million with EPS of Tk. 1.69 as against Tk. 76.26 million and Tk. 1.65 respectively.

EBL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,281.27 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.10 as against Tk. 1,041.31 million and Tk. 1.70 respectively.

PUBALIBANK: (Q3): NPAT = Tk. 1,641.69 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 1.87 as against Tk. 1,325.34 million and Tk. 1.51 respectively.

SQUARETEXT: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 650.15 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 4.40 as against Tk. 644.88 million and Tk. 4.36 respectively.

BXPHARMA: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,154.03 million with EPS of Tk. 3.14 as against Tk. 1,083.18 million and Tk. 2.94 respectively.

Latest PE -ve 14.8 245.5 58.5 6.3 42.8 16.6 10.9 9.5 24.0

Market ended the day with smart gain on the closing day of the week where investors watched streams of corporate declarations to grip the movement in index

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

55.70 152.50 164.20 84.70 64.50 21.90 14.90 16.20 17.90 591.00

Closing

DSE GAINER

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

Friday, October 31, 2014

% change 14.21 3.97 0.86 10.81 4.73 21.27 0.01 5.82 13.28 3.06 2.10 1.90 1.00 3.18 2.74 0.60 2.46 3.07 1.55 3.37 0.01

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Titas Gas TDCLA Summit Purbanchol P-N Khulna Power-A AB Bank - A Khulna Printing-N Grameenphone-A Olympic Ind. -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Keya Cosmetics -A MJL BD Ltd.-A

Square Pharma -A Barakatullah E. D.-A Beximco Pharma -A Ratanpur Steel -N

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Khulna Printing-N Shurwid Ind. -N ACI Limited- A Khulna Power-A Summit Power -A AB Bank - A AFC AgroBiotech-A MJL BD Ltd.-A Summit Purbanchol -N

Keya Cosmetics -A FAR Chemical-N Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A Appollo Ispat CL -N

VolumeShares 2,961,864 3,720,326 3,259,290 6,795,130 5,636,000 483,943 631,344 4,008,213 6,148,789 1,139,745

Value in Million 269.62 228.20 218.05 185.24 183.22 180.97 165.09 164.82 161.59 160.57

% of TotalTurnover 3.72 3.15 3.01 2.56 2.53 2.50 2.28 2.27 2.23 2.22

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

557,101 4,060,217 2,225,109 1,760,800

574,084 720,000 347,000 33,350 227,586 344,102 509,651 259,600 96,517 208,433

464,525 292,900 448,500 455,200

154.63 152.79 146.49 144.64

23.59 23.39 15.75 15.32 15.28 15.09 13.93 13.86 13.62 12.76

12.20 11.89 10.77 10.53

2.13 2.11 2.02 2.00

4.50 4.46 3.00 2.92 2.91 2.88 2.66 2.64 2.60 2.43

2.33 2.27 2.05 2.01

ClosingP 91.70 60.00 65.00 27.80 32.10 374.50 262.60 41.40 26.80 142.00

278.70 37.60 65.40 81.70

ClosingP

41.40 32.10 46.00 453.70 65.10 43.20 27.90 54.00 141.60 60.00

26.70 40.00 23.80 23.20

Change % 3.73 -0.83 -1.52 9.88 5.94 -0.03 1.63 6.15 6.77 0.92

1.09 2.17 0.93 3.55

Change %

5.88 5.59 9.79 -2.16 -1.21 -0.23 9.84 0.37 0.50 -0.66

6.37 0.25 -0.42 4.50

ClosingY 88.40 60.50 66.00 25.30 30.30 374.60 258.40 39.00 25.10 140.70

275.70 36.80 64.80 78.90

ClosingY

39.10 30.40 41.90 463.70 65.90 43.30 25.40 53.80 140.90 60.40

25.10 39.90 23.90 22.20

DHIGH 92.50 62.90 70.00 27.80 33.30 378.00 264.00 42.70 26.90 147.00

DLOW 80.20 54.50 59.90 23.50 31.00 370.00 250.00 36.00 23.00 127.00

280.00 38.10 66.90 83.00

260.00 33.20 59.00 79.70

DHIGH

DLOW

41.90 33.40 46.00 469.00 68.50 44.50 27.90 54.30 144.00 63.00

40.00 30.90 43.20 452.80 64.20 43.00 25.00 53.00 138.40 59.60

26.80 41.80 24.50 23.50

24.70 39.30 23.60 22.30

AvgPrice 91.03 61.34 66.90 27.26 32.51 373.95 261.48 41.12 26.28 140.88

277.55 37.63 65.84 82.14

AvgPrice

41.09 32.48 45.39 459.30 67.13 43.86 27.33 53.40 141.08 61.23

26.25 40.59 24.02 23.13

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

IBM, Twitter to partner on business data analytics

Linde industrial gases cuts 2014 profit forecast n AFP, Berlin Linde, the German maker of industrial gases yesterday cut its profit forecast for the current year in face of slowing economic conditions in its key areas of business.

Industrial gases are used in a wide range of activities, and notably in steelmaking.

“We have to take account of the fact that economic growth has been much weaker than we all expected. In addition, future prospects for global economic trends have recently dulled,” complained Linde chief executive Wolfgang Buechele.

In view of “changed conditions in some regions” in its gases division, Linde would take a charge of 229m eu-

n Reuters, Washington International Business Machines Corp on Wednesday announced a partnership with Twitter to help shape business decisions using data collected from tweets worldwide.

IBM will help businesses predict trends in the marketplace and consumer sentiment about products and brands and will train 10,000 employees to consult businesses on the best use of Twitter data.

IBM chief executive Ginni Rometty has been trying to shift the 100-yearold company’s focus away from commoditized hardware to higher-value cloud and data analytics products.

In July, IBM announced a partnership with Apple Inc to offer iPads and iPhones loaded with applications geared toward enterprise clients.

“Here we are seeing an alignment of old tech and new tech companies.

It is the second such deal that IBM has announced in the last couple months.

They realize they don’t have all the answers and a lot of other companies have asset offerings that can be matched well,” said Scott Kessler, analyst at S&P Capital IQ in New York.

In April, Twitter acquired social data provider Gnip to burrow into the 500 million tweets sent daily on its network.

Enterprise clients will now be able to filter the data based on geography, public biographical information and the emotion expressed in the tweet.

The company previously allowed third-party companies such as Gnip, Datasift and Dataminr to buy access to tweets and re-sell that data to corporate clients. Reuters’ parent company, Thomson Reuters, also sells sentiment analysis of Twitter data, which monitors

B3

Friday, October 31, 2014

ros ($289m) in the third quarter.

And that meant it would now no longer be able to meet its 2014 target of “of around 10% for return on capital employed.” In concrete profit terms, underlying or operating profit before oneoff items would only stagnate at the 2013 level, as opposed to the group’s previous forecast for “a moderate improvement,” it said.

In terms of revenues, however, Linde “continues to expect to achieve solid growth in revenue in 2014 after adjusting for exchange rate effects,” the group insisted. l Looking further ahead, Linde said that depending on economic conditions it would set back its target for group operating profit of 4.5-4.7bn euros from 2016 to 2017. l

Oil prices down in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore

A person holds a magnifying glass over a computer screen displaying Twitter logos, in this picture illustration taken in Skopje the emotional sentiment behind tweets toward topics and companies.

While other data analysis software for businesses exists, Twitter hopes the partnership with IBM’s established businesses will draw in customers.

IBM plans to offer Twitter data as part of its analytics services delivered through cloud computing, including cognitive computing. Software devel-

opers will also be able to use Twitter data in applications they are building using IBM’s Bluemix and Watson Developer Cloud offering.

“Data is the phenomenon of our time,” said IBM’s Rometty.

“Twitter has created something extraordinary. When you bring this together with other kinds of information and leverage IBM’s innovations

REUTERS

in analytics, Watson and cloud, business decision-making will never be the same,” she told an event announcing the launch. “This is a huge milestone for Twitter,” said Twitter CEO Dick Costolo, adding: “IBM brings a unique ability to integrate complex systems and data to help clients make better business decisions.” l

Oil prices edged lower in Asia yesterday but losses were limited by a surprisingly upbeat assessment of the US economy by the Federal Reserve, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for December delivery eased 30 cents to $81.90 while Brent crude for December fell 23 cents to $86.89 in afternoon trade.

“Crude oil found some support following a more bullish-than-expected outlook of the US economy by the Federal Reserve,” Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore, told AFP. The Fed’s policy statement, issued Wednesday after a two-day meeting, cited improving labour market conditions and expressed little concern about low inflation, elements that led analysts to characterise it as more

hawkish than expected.

As expected, the central bank wound up its quantitative easing stimulus programme while keeping in place plans to maintain ultra-low interest rates well into 2015.

Daniel Ang, investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore, said investors also had an eye on the latest US supply report Wednesday, which showed crude reserves rose 2.1 million barrels in the week ended October 24.

The figure was less than analysts’ consensus estimate of a 3.1 million barrel surge.

But Ang said that while the inventories rise was smaller than expected it still does not alleviate the oversupply situation in the US. Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said dealers will next be scrutinising US advance third-quarter gross domestic data to be released later yesterday. l

Dollar up in Asia on Fed’s bullish tone

Moody’s: India banks’ soured loans hit 3-year high

Japan’s NEC rebounds from losses on smartphone exit

n AFP, Tokyo

n AFP, New Delhi

n AFP, Tokyo

The dollar rose in Asia yesterday as a slightly bullish turn by the US Federal Reserve fuelled hopes for an early rise in US interest rates.

The greenback hit a three-week high of 109.08 yen in afternoon trade, up from 108.90 yen in New York and 108.12 yen in Tokyo earlier Wednesday.

The euro fell to $1.2594 from $1.2634 in US trade and Wednesday’s $1.2737 in Asia. The single currency was at 137.39 yen compared with 137.60 yen in New York.

On Wednesday the Fed made no unexpected policy changes, announcing the wind-up of its quantitative easing stimulus programme while keeping in place plans to maintain ultra-low interest rates well into 2015.

But a shift to a more optimistic assessment of the labour market, after having shown doubts about gains all year, showed a “hawkish” turn by policymakers, analysts said, bolstering the dollar.

An upbeat view on the economy fuelled speculation that the bank could start raising the key federal funds rate sooner than the expected timeline of mid-2015.

Higher interest rates tend to attract investors to dollar-denominated as-

sets, which would be a plus for the greenback.

The Fed statement “proved to be a more market-moving affair than many had anticipated”, National Australia Bank said in a note.

Credit Agricole added that the “less dovish-than-expected” Fed boosted the dollar.

Investors are now waiting for a string of data later in the day including US third-quarter growth, eurozone October economic sentiment and business climate report, and preliminary German October consumer inflation.

The Bank of Japan holds a policy meeting on Friday.

The dollar climbed against most other Asia-Pacific currencies yesterday.

It rose to 32.56 Thai baht from 32.50 baht on Wednesday, to Tw$30.39 from Tw$30.36, to 61.44 Indian rupees from 61.28 rupees, to 44.89 Philippine pesos from 44.71 pesos, and to Sg$1.2788 from Sg$1.2724.

The greenback also rose to 1,053.42 South Korean won from 1,047.45 won while edging down to 12,120 Indonesian rupiah from 12,152 rupiah.

The Australian dollar tumbled to 87.65 US cents from 88.66 cents while the Chinese yuan firmed to 17.81 yen from 17.66 yen. l

Soured loans in India’s banking system are at a three-year high, global credit rating agency Moody’s said yesterday, as it warned that a muted economic recovery means the sector’s outlook could stay bleak.

Worries have been mounting about the threat to Indian banks from delinquent corporate loans in the statedominated banking system following a sharp economic slowdown which the new right-wing government is seeking to reverse.

“High leverage in the corporate sector could prevent any meaningful recovery in (loan) asset quality” even with “a moderate rebound in economic growth”, Moody’s said in a report.

India’s economy may grow five percent in the financial year through March 2015, said Moody’s, which retained the negative outlook on the banking sector that it has had since November 2011.

India’s economic slowdown has badly hit the corporate sector, with infrastructure and mining projects worst affected as debtors struggle to repay loans in an economy that last year grew by 4.7%, the weakest pace in nearly a decade.

Infrastructure “projects remain stalled by regulatory roadblocks and

operationally uneconomic, since they were conceived with higher growth assumptions”, Moody’s said.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, who took power in May, has been seeking to make India a more business-friendly destination, cutting bureaucratic red tape and speeding regulatory clearance to boost growth.

High leverage in the corporate sector could prevent any meaningful recovery in (loan) asset quality But underscoring Modi’s challenge, World Bank figures released Wednesday covering the 12 months to just after he took office showed India slipped further in its “Ease of Doing Business” rankings.

India’s rank fell to 142 among 189 countries, down two places from last year. Modi has set an ambitious target of improving India’s ranking to 50 in two years.

Non-performing loans - meaning loans in default or close to default - are at a three-year high, keeping bank profitability “under pressure as banks continue to provide for problem loans”,

Moody’s said.

Steep interest rates aimed at fighting stubborn inflation and a fall in the rupee have eaten into corporate profits and made it tougher for companies to cut debt. The ratio of non-performing loans to total lending is four percent, according to industry figures.

“Poor (loan) asset quality will require continued provisioning and strengthened capital buffers,” Moody’s said, adding the problem was particularly acute for public-sector banks.

Standard and Poor’s forecast separately that gross non-performing loans would climb to 4.5 percent by the end of this financial year.

India’s four-percent non-performing-loan ratio compares with just under one percent in China. Some banking experts attribute China’s healthy bad-debt levels to a tendency by its banks to renegotiate loan terms rather concede they have soured and write them off.

Standard and Poor’s warned in its report that India’s plan to award more banking licences to embrace the more than two-thirds of Indians who do not have a bank account could raise risks in the sector, as new players may be less picky about loan quality to win market share. l

Japan IT firm NEC said yesterday it had swung back to profitability in the six months to September, after it exited from the smartphone market as part of a broader restructuring.

The firm posted a net profit of 12.5bn yen ($114m) in the April-September period, reversing a 26.2bn yen loss a year earlier. Operating profit ballooned to 21.5bn yen from a year-earlier profit of 379m yen, as the firm cut away its money-losing smartphone unit and focused on conventional handsets. Sales were down 4.2% at 1.32tn yen, it added.

NEC fell into the red last year due largely to losses stemming the former powerhouse quitting the highly competitive smartphone sector, ending the development, production and sales of the devices.

It had merged its mobile phone handset operations with those of Casio Computer and Hitachi to fight off rising competition. But the subsidiary struggled in a market increasingly dominated by Apple and South Korean giant Samsung.

Yesterday, NEC left its earnings forecast unchanged for the full year to March, expecting a net profit of 35bn yen on sales of 3tn yen. l

Bangladesh Development Bank Limited (BDBL) has recently organised a training course on National Integrity Strategy of Bangladesh at its training institute in Dhaka. Head of the training institute, Narayan Chandra Roy was present on the occasion

Matin Spinning Mills Ltd has recently approved 25% cash dividend at its 12th annual general meeting held at in Gazipur. The company’s chairperson Abdul Wahed presided over the meeting

EXIM Bank has recently donated Tk12 lakh to twelve families of the dead workers at Tazrin Garments collapse. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina handed over the cheques to the victims’ families at a programme, in the presence the bank’s chairperson Md Nazrul Islam Mazumder

IDLC Finance has recently opened its 28th branch in Bhulta, Narayanganj. CEO and managing director of IDLC Finance, Selim RF Hussain inaugurated the branch

Social Islami Bank Limited has recently held its 324th board meeting. The bank’s chairperson, Major (retd) Dr Md Rezaul Haque presided over the meeting

The shariah supervisory committee of Union Bank Ltd has recently held its 7th meeting at the bank’s head office. The committee’s chairperson, Prof Dr Abu Reza Mohammed Nezamuddin Nadwi presided over the meeting

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Friday, October 31, 2014

80 countries join fight to end banking secrecy n AFP More than 80 countries signed up to a deal that could help end banking secrecy Wednesday in what the sponsors hope will be a major step in the global battle against tax evasion and fraud.

A total 51 countries signed up to the Multilateral Competent Authority Agreement under which their national tax authorities will exchange information automatically from September 2017.

And more than 30 other countries said they would sign up a year later in 2018.

Among the first round of signatories or “early adopters” were EU countries as well as previously staunch proponents of banking secrecy such as Liechtenstein and tax havens like the Cayman or Virgin Islands.

Others, such as Austria and Switzerland, the Bahamas and the United Arab Emirates, will follow in 2018.

The signings in Berlin crowned two days of talks by the Global Forum on Transparency and Exchange of Information for Tax Purposes, hosted by German Finance Minister Wolfgang Schaeuble.

The aim is for every country to be kept fully informed about the offshore holdings of its citizens.

Tax evasion is a “scourge across the world,” British finance minister George Osborne told a joint news conference with his colleagues from Spain, Italy, France and Germany.

He said the signing of the deal was a “key moment” in worldwide efforts to stamp out tax evasion.

It will “reduce the places that tax evaders can hide their money,” he said, while adding that the forum’s work was

automatically exchange information, a measure that could act as a disincentive for investment funds and international organisations looking to invest in those countries.

Banking secrecy lives on

Finance ministers and tax chiefs pose for a family picture in Berlin “not finished”.

French minister Michel Sapin said it was “intolerable” that taxpayers should have to feel that some people were somehow exempt and could dodge taxes.

Economist Gabriel Zucman, a specialist in fiscal fraud, has calculated that about 5.8tn euros ($7.4tn) is stashed away in tax havens, depriving authorities all over the world of around 130 billion euros in revenue each year.

US Act against evasion

The international movement to end banking secrecy has gained new momentum recently with the enactment in the United States of its 2010 Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act or FATCA. The law obliges foreign banks to report to the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) on the offshore holdings of US clients in excess of 50,000 euros.

The move prompted five European

New wave of online delivery gains momentum in US

Visa sees mobile payment as big growth driver

n AFP, Washington

n Reuters

App in hand, Jack Plater-Zyberk has delivered caviar, condoms, chicken nuggets, cases of beer and even a little black dress.

And he can get it to you within an hour.

Plater-Zyberk, who maneuvers his 1992 BMW through Washington streets, is one of an estimated 5,000 independent contractors in the US for Postmates, an online service and smartphone app which delivers anything from lunchtime tacos to late-night diapers.

“For me, it’s like being a superhero,” said Plater-Zyberk, who uses Postmates to supplement his income as a fill-in attorney.

“When you get hot shawarma and pizza to people at 3:00 am, they’re happy to see you.”

With Postmates and other start-ups offering quick delivery of meals, groceries and other items, the online world is delivering again, more than a decade after the spectacular collapse of the major players in the space.

In the 2 version of online delivery, things are different. Most Americans have high-speed Internet at home, and smartphones as they move around.

The new startups are looking to avoid the mistakes of dot-com busts like Webvan and Kozmo, which invested heavily in warehouses and hired large numbers of staff before going bankrupt.

‘City is our warehouse’ “The city is our warehouse,” said Bastian Lehmann, co-founder of Postmates, which claims to have the largest US ondemand delivery fleet for groceries, meals and a range of other merchandise. all dropped off within 60 minutes.

Postmates, which has raised $23m, uses independent deliverers, known as “postmates,” who like the flexibility of choosing their work shifts, Lehmann explained.

“We have a lot of students or people who have another part-time job. We have artists, musicians,” he said. “There are people who are looking for a job that gives them this flexibility.”

Grocery delivery firm Instacart, which has raised $55m, expects revenue to grow tenfold this year, and is now in 15 cities with 1,000 “personal shoppers,” who are also independent contractors.

“We’ve had to invest very little in infrastructure outside our technology platform,” said Instacart general manager Heather Wake.

Instacart has partnerships with big grocery chains like Whole Foods and Costco and touts its large selection and personalized service.

“Our personal shoppers are trained in grocery selection,” Wake said. “We can respond to the customer, so if someone wants bananas that are a little bit brown we can accommodate that.”

Companies in the food and grocery e-commerce and delivery industry raised

nearly $486m in 109 deals globally in the 12 months ending in June, up 51% from a year earlier, according to the venture capital blog CB Insights.

In the US market, some $545 million was pumped into the food delivery space in the 18 months to September, excluding restaurant delivery, according to Rosenheim Advisors, which tracks food tech startups. That includes the reported $90 million acquisition of food delivery group Caviar by Square.

“People are a lot more comfortable ordering online than they were 10 or 15 years ago, and that is important for something as personal as food,” said Brita Rosenheim, who leads Rosenheim Advisors.

“Across the board you’re seeing growth in these categories - grocery delivery, meal delivery, meal kits.”

The research firm BI Intelligence estimates that same-day deliveries will generate $100m in 20 US cities this year, and that the market will grow to $2bn by 2016 and $4bn by 2018.

Hungry for takeout The fast-growing segment of restaurant delivery services include startups like GrubHub, which raised $200m in a public stock offering, and Foodler.

“Americans spend about $9bn a year on takeout from independently owned restaurants, so this is a huge opportunity,” Abby Hunt, a GrubHub spokeswoman, told AFP. “And 90% of those orders are still placed with a phone and paper method, so it’s very inefficient.”

GrubHub is “the leading company in this space,” according to Hunt, citing the company’s links to 30,000 restaurants in the United States and in the British capital London.

Hunt says most deliveries are handled by restaurants themselves, and that GrubHub allows them to add sales with little extra cost.

Even as startups multiply, established firms are looking to get a piece of the action. The taxi app Uber has launched deliveries in some cities, either using cars or bike messengers, for meals and other items.

The biggest challenges may be coming from industry heavyweights Amazon and Google, both of which have begun offering same-day grocery delivery.

The “Amazon Fresh” service for groceries and local shops - currently in just a few West Coast locations and New York - is expected to expand further.

Google Express in October added Boston, Chicago and Washington for same-day delivery service for groceries, books, sporting goods and other items in partnership with local retailers.

“Our idea was to make shopping your favorite local stores as easy and fast as shopping online,” said Google’s Brian Elliott. l

Visa Inc reported a better-thanexpected adjusted quarterly profit and said the mobile payment industry would be “a great driver” for business, sending its shares up nearly 4% in extended trading.

The world’s largest credit and debit card company and its competitors are turning their attention to mobile payments, an industry given fresh impetus by the entry of Apple Inc. Visa, along with Mastercard Inc and American Express Co, have partnered with Apple in the launch of a system Apple Pay - that allows iPhone users to pay for anything from office supplies to burgers at the tap of a button.

Several analysts have estimated that mobile payments will be a $1tn global industry by 2017.

“We have our traditional ways of doing business but ... we see the mobile opportunities in both the developing, the less developed and the developed world being great drivers,” Visa Chief Executive Charlie Scharf said on a conference call.

The company, along with its smaller rival MasterCard, is looking to expand in emerging markets, where cash is still the preferred means of doing business.

Earlier on Wednesday, China said it would open up its market for clearing domestic bank card transactions following its promise to reform and free its electronic payments market. The move is expected to benefit both Visa and MasterCard in a market worth over $1tn a year. l

Nestle Japan hiring 1,000 robots to sell espresso machines n AFP Food giant Nestle said yesterday that its Japan unit would hire 1,000 robots as sales clerks at stores across the country.

The first batch of the robots - a chatty humanoid called Pepper - will report to work by the end of this year at outlets that sell coffee capsules and home espresso machines.

“From December, they will start selling coffee machines for us at big retail stores,” said Nestle Japan spokeswoman Miki Kano.

“We are sure that our customers will enjoy shopping and being entertained by robots.”

Pepper - which has already been at work, chatting with customers at wireless giant SoftBank’s outlets - has proved an effective marketing tool for the Japanese mobile carrier, delighting managers who put it to work collecting customer opinions. l

REUTERS

countries - Britain, France, Germany, Italy and Spain - to call for a generalised automatic exchange of information in 2011.

Following months of talks, amid fierce resistance in countries such as Luxembourg and Austria where banks continue to uphold banking secrecy, the EU finally came up with an accord two weeks ago.

“The more countries sign up, the more difficult it will be for others to

attract investment,” said the OECD’s director for tax policy and administration, Pascal Saint-Amans.

However, a number of financial centres remained a “source of concern”, he said.

Panama, for example, still has not set a concrete date for its exchange of information, and Singapore has not joined the process.

Saint-Amans said the OECD would compile a list of countries that do not

But experts in fiscal fraud, such as Andres Knobel of Tax Justice Network, believe such a “blacklist” would prove a rather feeble deterrent.

FATCA puts the thumbscrews on the banks themselves, retaining 30% of their revenues in the United States if they do not disclose the information, he noted.

The deal signed in Berlin was therefore “an important first step (but) will not definitively bury banking secrecy,” he argued.

Tax Justice Network also identified a number of potential shortcomings in the OECD deal.

In order to exchange information in 2017, the banks will collect the data from 2016 on accounts holding more than $250,000. The delay will be sufficient for tax evaders to carve up their assets and place them into multiple accounts.

Countries will also be able to decide on a case-by-case basis which information will be automatically exchanged.

Switzerland, for example, has said it will hand over information only to countries which are important for Swiss industry. Thus, the holdings of wealthy citizens from poor countries will not come under scrutiny.

Tax evaders could also hide behind “smokescreen” companies or foundations in certain cases where banks are not always obliged to reveal the identity of the account holder. l

Employees of Snapdeal, an Indian online retailer, sort out delivery packages inside their company fulfilment centre in Mumbai REUTERS

India’s delivery men offer prize investment as billions pour into e-commerce n Reuters, Mumbai From Japan’s richest man to Jeff Bezos, everyone wants a piece of India’s booming online retail sector. For those without billions to pump into the tightly held firms who dominate e-commerce, the best bet may be the delivery men.

On Tuesday, SoftBank Corp Chief Executive Masayoshi Son joined Bezos’s Amazon.com Inc in pledging heavy investment in an e-commerce industry worth $10bn and seen quadrupling in five years. Son’s gambit: a stake in Snapdeal, India’s third-biggest online marketplace.

Yet the little-known firms that deliver goods ordered online are already raking in rocketing earnings from ecommerce in a country with the world’s third-biggest Internet user base, and they’re listed. Shares in companies like Transport Corp of India and Gati Ltd have surged more than three-quarters this year as industry watchers seek a chance to invest.

“When you see the limitless growth in the e-commerce sector, you do want to get involved,” said Eric Mookherjee, a Paris-based fund manager at Shanti India, whose holdings include Transport Corp. “The next Alibaba or Tencent can be created in a country whose population is roughly similar to China.

You will get that in India.”

Finance house Nomura estimated in a research note in July that India’s e-commerce industry could more than quadruple to $43bn over the next five years, driven by online retail.

Pledging to invest $10bn in India in the next 10 years, SoftBank’s Son on Tuesday said Snapdeal has the potential to become India’s Alibaba, the recently listed Chinese e-commerce giant. Son is well placed to know: his fast-growing

Japanese telecom and media empire is the biggest Alibaba investor.

Delivery outsourcing a must

Son’s move comes after India’s two biggest online retailers, the home-grown startup Flipkart.com, and Amazon’s India business, began spending billions of dollars to secure a bigger share of the market. Though India’s Internet population is huge, e-commerce infrastructure remains relatively under-developed and ripe for huge growth.

The forecasts for future expansion, and a key role in it for third-party delivery firms, have helped push the more than $50bn Indian logistics sector, including Gati and Transport Corp, about 80% higher so far this year. That makes it the fifth-best performing major industry in India by the Thomson Reuters StarMine classification.

Earnings are also ramping up. Net income of Blue Dart Express and Transport Corp is expected to jump by 37% and 24% in this fiscal year respectively, according to Thomson Reuters’ SmartEstimates, which place an emphasis on recent forecasts by top-rated analysts.

In comparison, net profit of companies in the BSE Sensex is expected to rise just 15% on average.

As the market surges, competition for customers among e-commerce

DILBERT

firms will see them seek to cut delivery times and expand into smaller cities.

While Amazon and Snapdeal use both in-house logistics networks and external service providers, new services will see them relying increasingly on outsourcing.

“Amazon is today advertising 24hour delivery and that’s where people like us come in,” said Areef Patel, executive vice-chairman of Patel Integrated Logistics Ltd , which serves Amazon India. The 24-hour delivery offer applies only to select postal codes and is not available across the country.

“We are looking to get e-commerce market share today because that’s the flavour of the day,” he said. Patel said his firm aims to increase the portion of revenue it generates from e-commerce companies to 20-25% within two to three years from just 5% currently.

With more than 45% of Amazon’s orders in India coming from outside the top eight cities in the country, the company is looking to work with more logistics partners, Amazon India said.

“The biggest advantage of working with specialist logistics firms is the wide reach that they provide,” said Ashish Chitravanshi, vice-president of operations at Snapdeal, speaking before the SoftBank investment was announced. l