02 Nov, 2014

Kartik 18, 1421 Muharram 8, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 209

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ANAMUL NOT WORRIED ABOUT ‘FOOT WORK’

Power failure brings nation to a halt Dhaka power outage lasts longer than anywhere else in the country n

Aminur Rahman Rasel

Two back-to-back break-downs of the national electricity grid resulted in an unusually long and widespread power outage across the country yesterday.

At 11:28am, lights went out all over the country simultaneously because of the first collapse. Basically, there was no power anywhere in the country for at least an hour after that.

Nationally important establishments such as the president’s official residence Bangabhaban, the prime

The Power Ministry and PGCB formed two separate probe committees to look into the situation minister’s residence Ganabhaban, the Prime Minister’s Office and the Jatiya Sangsad have also remained out of power.

Around 1pm, the Mymenshingh area was the first to see some power as a 70MW station in Shombhuganj was made operative. A little later, a 20MW rental power plant in Sylhet was turned on.

Those two enabled partial restoration in a few parts of the country.

P3 BLACK DAY

Supply was restored in some areas of Dhaka as well after some stations in Ashuganj of Brahmanbaria were made operative.

At 2:50pm, the Dhaka Medical College Hospital became the first place in the capital to get back electricity. Gradually, the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Bangabhaban and Ganabhaban got back power gradually.

Slowly, some of the other parts of the capital, especially the important hospitals, started getting back to life.

However, another collapse in the national grid at 4:30pm brought things back to square one, plunging the country into darkness once again. The collapse ocurred when the authorities were trying to repair the problems in the network.

The Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) and the Shahjalal International Airport operated under alternative power arrangements for a few hours.

It took the authorities another hour and a half to make the national grid operative again. But, despite repeated attempts to restore electricity supply in the capital, the authorities failed.

Neither the managing director nor any other official of PGCB could give any explanation why they could not bring power back to Dhaka.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

P3 TELECOM SERVICE HIT

Verdict in Mir Kashem case today n Tribune Report

Doctors handling an emergency case at the outdoor unit of National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation using their mobile phones as the only source of light. The back-up generators failed just two hours after they were turned on MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Why the national power grid collapsed n Aminur Rahman Rasel There are flaws in the setup of the Bheramara power sub-station, as a result when it tripped yesterday, the entire national electricity grid collapsed, sources from the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh told the Dhaka Tribune.

Bangladesh began importing power from India in October last year through a 400-kilovolt transmission line that

runs from Baharampur in West Bengal to the southwestern Bangladesh town of Bheramara.

The sub-station can receive more than 400MW power at a time, but it cannot transmit anything more than that. India normally supplies 250MW to 350MW to the high voltage DC substation in Bheramara under an agreement for supplying 500MW. In recent times, this sub-station

tripped at least twice when the transmission line from India brought in more than 400MW. On those occasions, no disaster took place because both demand and generation were touching the higher threshold of around 6,000MW as most power stations here were operative.

But yesterday, some of the power stations around the country were kept  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 is set to deliver verdict in the war crimes case against top Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Kashem Ali, known as a key financier of the anti-liberation party, for his alleged crimes against humanity and other offences committed in Chittagong during the 1971 Liberation War. Mir Kashem, 62, who was a leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha (now Islami Chhatra Shibir), will be produced before the tribunal today – about six months after completion of the trial proceedings.

It is the second day of Jamaat’s shutdown called protesting the verdict against its chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.

The prosecution brought 14 charges of crimes against humanity against him but tried to prove 12 charges and did not contest in the two others. Among the charges, two were for killings while the rest for his role in abduction, confinement and torture.

The prosecution also the accused for arson, looting and his superior responsibility in the crimes committed during the war by himself and others of his group.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

P3 DALEEM HOTEL: HORRIFIC MEMORIES FOR ‘71 MEMORIES

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Khaleda Zia takes a page out of Sheikh Hasina’s book n

Mohammad Al-Masum Molla and Kamal Mridha from Natore

In a statement that is reminiscent of what her arch rival Sheikh Hasina has said before, Khaleda Zia has said she does not desire to be the prime minister again; rather she wants to serve the people by “ensuring their voting rights and restoring democracy” in the country.

“I do not desire to become a prime minister. I am doing a movement to save the country, its people and their voting and democratic rights. So, in the last stage of my life, I urge you all to unite and oust the current illegal, undemocratic and unconstitutional government,” she said at a rally in Natore yesterday.

Since coming to power for the first time in 1996, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has said on many occasions that the Awami League government under her leadership was not there to rule the country but to serve them.

On July 10 this year, the Awami League’s Facebook page uploaded a cover picture that contained Sheikh Hasina’s photograph and an inscription in Bangla which roughly translates into English as: “Our responsibility is to take to people the service that they deserve and thus repay their debt. Keep in mind that we are not rulers but we are here to serve people.”

Addressing the crowded rally yesterday at the Nawab Siraj Ud Doula College playground in Natore, Khaleda Zia said: “It is not only the responsibility of the political parties take to the streets to restore democracy; but people should also accept the moral responsibility for that.”

Comparing the PM with infamous World War II era German autocrat Adolf Hitler, the former premier said: “Many

BNP chairperson Khaleda Zia addresses a crowded rally at the Nawab Siraj Ud Doula College playground in Natore yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE people term the government as autocratic; but I want to say that a new Hitler has emerged and it is killing people and making them disappear...and running the country whimsically...We all must get united to remove this Hitler and the evil regime.”

In her 55 minutes speech, Khaleda

slammed the government for what she said were indulging in corruption and extortion; plundering public money; failing to maintain law and order and ensure uninterrupted utility services and attracting foreign investment; destroying the capital market and the country’s banking, garment and educa-

tion sectors.

Khaleda also accused the government of destroying the office of shut down vernacular daily Amar Desh by setting fire to the BSEC building in the capital.

On the occasion of the rally, the Natore town yesterday put on a festive look. The central points in the town were decorated with colourful banners, posters, festoons and placards and more than a hundred archways to welcome the BNP chief.

Portraits of BNP founder Ziaur Rahman, Khaleda Zia, her son Tarique Rahman and district BNP leaders, including its president Ruhul Kuddus Talukder Dulu, have also been put on display at several points in the city.

Addressing Khaleda Zia, Dulu, who chaired the rally, said in his speech: “If the leaders in Dhaka fail again in the movement, just ask Dulu. He will come to Dhaka with his people and blockade the entire city and also the leaders if needed.”

The rally was originally scheduled to be held on October 30 but was later deferred. This was Khaleda’s seventh tour to a district town since the January 5 election that the party and its allies had boycotted. <b> Jamaat’s threat <b> Addressing the rally, Mojibur Rahman, chief of the Natore district unit Jamaat-e-Islami, alleged that the government was trying to make the party leaderless by “farcically” trying its top leaders.

Apparently hinting at Sunday’s scheduled verdict announcement of the International Crimes Tribunal in the war crimes case against Jamaat leader Mir Kashem Ali, he threatened to enforce non-stop hartal if any more “farcical” verdict was given against their leaders. l

JMB chief coordinator, 4 activists sent to Jail n Mohammad Jamil Khan A Sirajganj court yesterday sent the chief coordinator as well as four members of banned militant outfit Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) to jail and fixed a date for the remand hearing of them.

Sirajganj Senior Judicial Judge Kohinur Arjuman passed the order to JMB chief coordinator Md Abdun Nur and “Ehsar” members Nur Islam and Md Nuruzzaman Arif while “Gaery Ehsar” members Abul Kalam Azad and Fauq Ahmed.

A team from RAB 12 arrested them from MMunsur Ali Station of the district early Friday along with huge quantity of explosives.

“Following the arrest, we have hand-

ed over the arrestees to Sirajganj Government Railway Police (GRP) police station after filing two separate cases,” Hafizul Islam, operation officer of RAB-12.

One case was in anti-terrorism act while the another was under arms act, the officer continued.

Hayder Ali, SI of Sadar police station and also the investigation officer of the cases, said the sought a five-day remand for the JMB members, but the court, however, ordered them to send jail and fixed November 6 for hearing on the remand plea.

The SI went on that although they have already started investigation in the cases, they would try to extract the motive behind the hoarding from the JMB members if the court grants their remand prayer. l

Fire erupts at chemical factory in old Dhaka n Adil Shakhawat A fire broke out in the storehouse of a colour chemical factory namely Macca World International on Nawabpur road in the old part of the capital around 8:15pm yesterday.

None casualty was reported from the blaze as there was a holiday.

The fire erupts on the 4th floor of a six-storey building that houses the factory, leaving chemical containers, which especially are used for dyeing stuff, burnt.

Being informed, 19 fire service units rushed to the spot and extinguished the fire after about four hours of frantic efforts.

Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan, director

general of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said: “Storing chemical containers in such type of residential area is very risky. We will check the factory’s licence and try to find out the reason behind the blaze.”

“If we find any anomaly to the law, action will be taken against the factory owner,” he went on.

The factory’s owner named Siddik Abu Taher denied to make any remarks in this regard showing a cause of being illness while the correspondent tried to contact with him.

However, Yousuf Ali who used to reside near to the building informed the Dhaka Tribune: “At first we have heard heavy sound like bomb blast in the establishment and then noticed the fire.” l

Why the national power grid collapsed  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

Detective Branch officials present six members of a gang detained with Tk50 lakh fake notes to the media yesterday

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

6 held with Tk50 lakh fake notes in capital n Mohammad Jamil Khan The Detective Branch (DB) of police in separate drives in the capital arrested six members of a gang involved in counterfeiting notes, and recovered Tk50 lakh fake notes early yesterday.

The arrestees were Babul Sheikh, leader of the gang, and his acomplices Ferdous Ali, Lutfur Rahman, Md Kabir, Foysal Mollah and Mohiuddin Khan.

They were arrested in different places at Badda and Rampura, said Shaikh Nazmul Alam, deputy commissioner of DB. Addressing a briefing at the Dhaka Metropolitan Police media centre yesterday, Nazmul said detectives also

recovered a large quantity of papers to produce fake notes, security ropes, a desktop computer, three laptops, three printers and other note counterfeiting materials.

“Seven members of the gang were arrested before Eid-ul-Azha and the six were detained based on information given by the previous arrestees. During interrogation, the previous arrestees said the gang comprised some 35 members,” he said.

“We received information that some members of the gang are selling counterfeit notes in Badda. Ferdous, Lutfur and Kabir were arrested there, and they had 50 fake notes of Tk1,000 and Tk100

with them,” he added.

Nazmul said based on information from the three, the remaining men were arrested in Rampura and the rest of the fake notes were recovered from Babul’s rental.

“During questioning, Babul said he had been involved in the illegal act for six to seven years. He also said three groups coordinate to accomplish the task – the first group collects paper and other materials, the second group takes care of the printing job and the third circulates the notes in the market. Tk1 lakh fake notes bring a minimum of Tk15,000 in benefit,” the DB deputy commissioner said. l

Power failure brings nation to a halt  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Dhaka finally got connected to the power grid again around 9pm and gradually the various parts of the city started lighting up.

Around 11 o’clock last night, PGCB Managing Director Masum Al Beruni told the Dhaka Tribune: “We supply power to a total of nine zones across the country. All these zones are currently getting more or less electricity. At this moment, we are generating 3,700MW. We estimate that the demand will go up to a maximum of 4,500MW in the remaining hours of the night. We are now trying to increase generation to 4,000MW.” Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC) Managing Director Nazrul Hasan told the Dhaka Tribune around 10:45pm yesterday that electricity had been restored in nearly 40% areas of the capital.

Dhaka Electricity Supply Company (Desco) Managing Director Arzad Hossain said: “Some 30% areas of the

northern part of the city, including Uttara, Gulshan, Banani, are now getting electricity.”

Rural Electrification Board (REB) Chairman Brig Gen Moinuddin told the Dhaka Tribune around 11:10pm: “All the 72 rural associations under REB have already got power to some extent.

They have not got full power as yet, but we will try to ensure that by tonight.”

State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid said in the afternoon: “We are investigating the reason for the power cut. Power supply has been resumed in some areas of the country. We hope that we will be able to restore power around the country gradually.”

In the evening, the state minister and the power secretary went to meet Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at her office. The PM, who is also in charge of the Power Ministry, gave them instructions to rectify the situation in the soonest possible time.

Yesterday afternoon, the Power

Ministry and PGCB formed two separate probe committees to look into the situation.

The ministry’s seven-member committee is headed by its Additional Secretary Ahmed Kaikaus. PGCB’s three-member committee is led by its Executive Director Tapan Kumar Roy. Meanwhile, power supply was being partially restored for the second time in some areas in Chittagong, Barisal, Comilla, Mymensingh and Sylhet yesterday evening.

“We are rationing electricity to some areas of the city from 6pm,” Md Moniruzzaman, deputy director of Power Development Board (PDB) in Chittagong, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Tariqul Islam, executive engineer of West Zone Power Distribution Company (WZPDC) Barisal office, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Although we successfully resumed power supply on a limited scale around 6pm, but full restoration is yet to be done.” l

shut because it was a weekend and demand was in the lower threshold of 4,500MW. So, there was no backup in case one of the supply sources tripped.

“Today [Saturday], 444MW was supplied [from India] in the morning, triggering a technical glitch,” Md Aksad Ali, PGCB chief engineer for system operation, told the Dhaka Tribune.

“As a result, some power stations in the Ashuganj area tripped as frequency came down to 45hz from the normal level of 48.9hz-51hz. The aggregate demand for power in the country was 4,500MW at that time. However, because all the power plants are interconnected, demand came down to zero instantly, causing the blackout,” he explained.

However, according to BBC Bangla, the Eastern Regional Load Despatch Centre (ERLDC), the Indian authority that supplies power to the Bheramara sub-station, claimed that there had been no fault from their side.

An Indian official told the BBC Bangla that one of the two lines that transmit power from Baharampur to Bheramara, tripped for about a minute or so yesterday. “In case one trips, then the other gives backup. The backup line is always kept charged. So, the power

supply to Bangladesh did not stop for a second.”

They categorically claimed that the national grid collapse in Bangladesh was not a result of any flaw in the Indian side.

Ideally, generation should always be exactly the same as demand at any given point in time. Frequency slowdown is generally caused by shortfall in generation compared to demand. When frequency falls below the normal level, power stations trip, professionals say.

Yesterday, when the technical glitch occurred at Bheramara, the supply from that source stopped, causing a generation shortfall. Instantly, because of the slowed down frequency, some other stations started tripping, bringing frequency further down and eventually leading to the countrywide blackout.

Professionals have also said even if there is a 10% gap between generation and demand, the national grid may collapse.

As a result, when the Bheramara sub-station tripped, it took out 444MW power from the grid which was roughly 10% of the demand of 4,500MW at that point.

Chowdhury Alamgir Hossain, director of Power Grid Company of Bangladesh (PGCB), told the Dhaka Tribune

Verdict in Mir Kashem case today  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

All the alleged crimes were committed in Chittagong district. Most of the crimes took place between November and December of 1971.

At the end of the case proceedings, the prosecution sought capital punishment for Kashem terming him “Bangalee Khan” of 1971.

The prosecution says Kashem was the chief of Chittagong district al-Badr, an infamous auxiliary force of the Pakistani occupation force formed by Chhatra Sangha men.

Mir Kashem was a top leader of Chittagong unit Chhatra Sangha and in November 1971 became general secretary of the central committee.

He was indicted by the International Crimes Tribunal 1 on September 5 last year. Later the case was shifted to the tribunal 2 for quick disposal. As many as 24 prosecution witnesses testified against Kashem.

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.

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

Mir Kashem played an important role in forming al-Badr Bahini that is orchestrated systematic killing of freedom fighters and intellectuals.

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 others 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

that the high voltage direct current (DC) substation at Bheramara in Kushtia shut down in the morning because of a technical glitch.

The blackout hit around noon and took down all those parts of the country that were connected to the national grid, with other power stations near it starting to close down one by one, he said.

PGCB Managing Director Masum Al Beruni told the Dhaka Tribune that Bangladesh was currently not receiving any power from India.

“Most power stations in the country are already operative. But the Bheramara sub-station is not. This means that there must be some problems there, otherwise they could have also brought it alive,” said Abdul Hasib Chowhdury, associate professor electrical engineering at Buet.

He also said: “Our grid system is very weak, especially in the west zone.

Moreover, the Dhaka-centred design of the national grid is also problematic.”

He suggested that the government should think about modernising the existing power transmission mechanism in the country to avert similar disasters in future.

On November 16 and December 14, 2007, the country went through two similar national grid failures. l

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.

The defence, however, claimed during their submission that Kashem had been in Chittagong when the crimes took place. They wanted acquittal of Kashem.

According to a defence petition, 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

3

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Black day puts spotlight on energy security n Ashif Islam Shaon and Abid Azad The power outage caused by the failure of the national grid has hobbled production at factories, hampered daily life and imperilled patients at different hospitals.

Most hospitals in the capital survived with the power from generators after the national grid went down twice since 11:30am yesterday. Most were rationing their power supply to cover only urgent energy-intensive services such as Intensive Care Units (ICU), Cardiac Care Units (CCU) and emergency rooms. Some were not able to run routine medical tests because of the power failure.

“The generators are our last option but if they fail, then we will not be able to serve the patients because everything depends on electricity,” Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) deputy director Dr Mushfiqur Rahman told Dhaka Tribune.

“Now we have 5 generators which are all working but it is uncertain how long they will work. When I contacted the managing director of Dhaka Power Distribution Company (DPDC), he instructed me to reserve extra fuel to operate the generators,” the DMCH deputy director said.

“We are facing a water crisis which is making it very difficult to cook food for thousands of patients. The lifts are inactive so patients cannot be moved safely and swiftly,” he added.

Many patients could not do any medical tests because of the power failure.

“I went to Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) yesterday for a pathology test but could not have it done,” said Mominul Islam who came from Gazipur in the early morning.

Lovely Begum, from the capital’s Mirpur area, is in the emergency unit of the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, after suffering three bouts of sudden chest pain on Friday night.

“Although I was able get an ECG test done here, the doctors have prescribed other tests which are not possible to take here because of the power failure,” she said.

At the National Institute of Kidney Diseases & Urology (NIKDU), National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, DMCH, BSMMU and other government and private hospitals, apart from the ICUs, CCUs and emergency rooms, the wards and cabins had no electricity and the administration offices were working by candle light.

Professor AKM Zamanul Islam Bhuiyan, a director at NIKDU, said the hospital is running on self-generated power but could not continue like this for much longer.

A BSMMU official, speaking on condition of anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Our operation theatre (OT) did not function properly since the power outage started. Only the

lights work but the other necessary OT equipment did not work. We have to reschedule all the operations.”

Every hospital administrator said the same thing – if the generators fail, patients’ lives will be in peril.

Our Chittagong correspondent reported that Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) resumed power supply to the operation theatre and other emergency units with back-up generators. But in the wards, doctors and nurses worked with mobile telephone flash lights, and the X-ray machine and other emergency medical machinery could not be used.

CMCH Director Brigadier General Khondokar Shahidul Gani said they used power from their generators in operation theatres and other emergency units. The electric supply resumed at the hospital around 6pm. The operation of Chittagong Port remained normal during the power collapse.

Chittagong Port Authority Director (Transport) Golam Sarwar said the operational activities at the port remained normal thanks to an alternative electricity line.

Our Khulna Correspondent reported that electricity was cut off at Khulna Medical College Hospital (DMCH) around 10am.

In the capital, some homes, offices, businesses and markets used generators and IPS batteries to operate lights and other amenities but most of the city remained in the dark.

Two or three hours into the marathon power failure, throngs of people carrying jerry cans converged on petrol pumps to buy diesel for generators.

By evening people were seen buying candles from shops.

Water too was scarce in different areas of the capital. The water supply is energy dependent.

“WASA staff said they could not operate the pump because of the power cut. There is no alternative source of electricity there,” Mizanur Rahman, a Rampura resident, said.

Sources at Dhaka Electric Supply Company (Desco) said the power supply to Bangabhaban and Gonobhaban was uninterrupted because of special lines.

But the residential areas of the staff working there had no power supply.

Shahjalal International Airport, government-run Bangladesh Television and state-owned radio, Bangladesh Betar, were also provided with uninterrupted power supply. Railway signals were not hampered because they are powered by solar panels. But the authorities could not supply water to the trains.

Meanwhile our Savar and Gazipur correspondents reported that most garment factories halted their operations yesterday afternoon.

Vice-President of the Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association, Shahidullah Azim, told the Dhaka Tribune over the telephone that factories continued running for two or three hours following the power cut but then suspended operations. l

Relatives carry a patient up the stairs at the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation yesterday because the elevator went out of service following the nationwide power failure MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Unexpected power cut hits telecom services too n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Mobile phone and internet services were disrupted at different parts of the country yesterday due to the nationwide electricity outage.

Several hundred sites (base stations) of different mobile operators went out of network as their power backup could not run smoothly.

Country’s six mobile operators have around 23,000 sites and when this story was being filed around 10pm, more than 1,000 of those went out off network, sources said.

The WiMAX operators also face huge challenges to serve their subscribers.

Situation went worse after 8pm, users experienced huge call drops and network congestion as the operators failed to run services with alternative arrangements.

“We are in a situation of national disaster. Everybody should understand

it and the operators are trying to solve it with their best efforts,” TIM Nurul Kabir, secretary general of Amtob, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday evening.

They informed the government and the regulator about the situation. “The government has also expressed concern about it.”

Around 15% of the sites of Robi went out of network by 7pm, said AKM Morshed, the chief technology officer. “We will be unable to manage the situation if the power outage continues for two or three more hours,” he said.

The disruption also created network conjugation, he added.

When the Dhaka Tribune was talking with him, the call dropped at least three times.

Market leader Grameenphone said around 100 of their sites went out of network as their backup system could

the sky, and the sound of generators roared across the darkened streets of Dhaka.

The outage, triggered by a surge in electricity supply from India, disrupted water supplies along with power in many parts of the city.

Although the blackout began around 11:30am, many did not experience problems until much later in the day.

“This is a big problem for our sales,” said Mustafa, a salesman at Euro Bath, a store in Hatirpool. “We have only had a couple of people come in since dusk, and that is not our usual number of clients.”

“Our lights are being powered by the

central generator at New Market,” said a New Market shopkeeper. “But we have had very few clients since sunset.

Many people do not want to come out because they feel unsafe.”

Tasneem, who lives in Gulshan, says she had to rush her chores at Priyangon market in order to make sure she would be out of the mall before sunset.

“With two days of hartal ahead, this was was my only chance to get some chores done at the markets. But I had to rush because I would not be able to do anything in the market after sunset,” she told the Dhaka Tribune.

Institutions such as Shishu Park

Association of Mobile Telecom Operators of Bangladesh (Amtob) termed the disruption “the biggest disaster” of the mobile telecommunication history of in the last 20 years.

‘Further disruption in the national electricity grid may cause some network limitations on operators’ voice and data services in a few selected areas of the country’

Power failure cloaks Dhaka in darkness Zayeef and Syeda n Ahmed Samira Sadeque

The capital’s streets were engulfed in darkness yesterday as dusk gave way to pitch black because of a nationwide power outage that lasted for more than six hours.

Although the power failure began around midday, its effect became apparent as electric street lamps and house lights failed to come on as the sunlight faded into night.

Many buildings and most streets were poorly lit and smaller alleyways were completely dark. High rises loomed as shadowy silhouettes against

Daleem Hotel: Horrific memories for ‘71 survivors of al-Badr torture chamber n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong The three-storey Daleem Hotel on Nazir Ahmed Chowdhury Lane in Chittagong city’s Old Telegraph Road was a symbol of al-Badr Bahini’s brutal torture under the supervision of Mir Kashem Ali on the pro-liberation people in 1971.

The Mahamaya Bhaban, owned by Hindu landlord Sri Ranjan Nath, was captured by the al-Badr members allegedly under the supervision of Mir Kashem, who was then a top leader of Islami Chhatra Sangha and commander of para militia force al-Badr’s greater Chittagong region unit.

The al-Badr members used to torture people and killed them for not bowing down before them. Those who managed to escape captivity still flinch recalling those horror days.

A seven-member investigation team of the International Crimes Tribunal in a visit to the city on September 25-26, 2010 found that the Pakistani Army and their collaborators including Mir Kashem had set up a torture cell at Daleem Hotel.

They learnt that Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mir Kashem and his accomplices were involved in criminal activities like mass killings, rape, loot, arson and torture during the war.

“I was kept in a dark, dirty and damp room with many others for three to four days. Our hands and legs were tied with rope, and eyes blindfolded. The members of al-Badr force used to start kicking and beating us all of a sudden,” Dr Irshad Kamal Khan, the pro-VC of Chittagong Independent University, said.

He was picked up by the al-Badr men for Daleem Hotel at the end of November in 1971. An HSC first year student at Chittagong Government College, he was then going to join a training with a view to participate in the war.

“I was picked up with several other people. We were taken to Daleem Hotel on a truck by al-Badr men who were on brownish dress. They forced us to chant

not take the load for more than six hours.

“Further disruption in the national electricity grid may cause some network limitations on operators’ voice and data services in a few selected areas of the country,” Sayed Talat Kamal, head of external communications of Grameenphone, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Gias Uddin Ahmed, the acting managing director of Teletalk, said they were able to manage the network until 8pm, but expressed concern saying that they may not continue more with insufficient diesel generators.

Banglalink CTO Perihane Elhamy said they did not find any problem up to 8pm. He said they might face problems to tackle the situation if the outage continued for two or three more hours. l

slogan saying ‘Pakistan Jindabad.’ The persons refused to say this was beaten up,” he said.

“We were given nothing to eat and had to urinate in the same room. In my captivity, I ate Panta [fermented rice soaked in water] and fish bone for once,” he said.

Leftist leader Saifuddin Khan, who bore marks of torture on his body until death in 2007, in an interview with journalists had mentioned the names of Mir Kashem and some other Jamaat leaders, who were members of al-Badr. His brother was a freedom fighter.

The interview was published in a book in 2007 published to pay respect to his role memory, his wife Nurjahan Khan said.

Saifuddin had heard the name of Mir Kashem during the conversation of al-Badr men at Daleem Hotel where they were beaten up with iron rods and sticks.

When they asked for water, the alBadr men used to urinate on their faces and often used slang. “The detainees used to identify the dead bodies seeing flies on those,” she said.

Apart from them, journalist Arun Das Gupta, advocate Nurun Nabi Chowdhury and some others were picked up from their residences on November 25,

1971 – a day before they were supposed to go to Agartala to take training.

They were tortured brutally at the Daleem Hotel until December 16, Nurjahan told the tribunal’s investigation team in 2010.

Saifuddin told her that Mir Kashem and Abul Kalam had been the kingpins of al-Badr group tortured them. “I had no hope of getting him back,” she told the Dhaka Tribune.

On February 25, two prosecution witnesses – Nazim Uddin and Md Hasan – testified at the tribunal in the case against Mir Kashem.

They accused Mir Kashem of being the leader of the torture cell where the people were tortured to glean information about the plans and locations of freedom fighters.

Nazim said he, along with his uncles and cousins, had been picked up by alBadr members on November 30, 1971, and taken to the Daleem Hotel. “There I came to know that Mir Kashem was the leader of that camp. Luckily I was set free by Mir Kashem as my father requested with the help of a man,” the witness said.

Md Hasan said he was taken to the camp along with his father and some other neighbours on November 29, 1971.

Hasan was set free as he was a child. l

were completely dark immediately after sunset.

“We stay open till 7pm, and usually there are people who hang around for a bit after that. But today most people left quite early,” said Azad Hossain, a security guard at the amusement park.

He said they had warned people coming in that there was a power outage and many rides would not be open.

Aditya Nandi, a student who lives in Jagannath Hall at Dhaka University, said there was neither electricity nor water since 11:30am. Most students were spending time outside of the halls. Those with exams to prepare for were studying in candle light. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, November 2, 2014

DU PLAYGROUND

Students have no place to play n DU Correspondent Students of Dhaka University do not have enough opportunity to play in the university’s playgrounds as different companies and organizations keep occupied those in different purposes.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, several students alleged that the university’s authorities frequently lease out its playgrounds to various organizations and sports clubs on several occasions depriving them to play in the places.

The DU has four large playgrounds, including those ones adjacent to Jagannath Hall, Haji Muhammad Mohshin Hall and Sergent Zahurul Haq Hall and its Central Playground.

Different organizations, including Mohammedan Sporting Club, BJMC and Bangladesh Cricket Control Board, use the central playground on rent for several years, according to sources at the DU administration.

The National Board of Revenue (NBR) has been given rent the playground for 14 days (November 1 to November 14) to hold a fair, they said.

During a recent visit, it was found that almost one-third in its South-East part of the playground has remained occupied by tho construction companies.

In March, 2011, the construction companies were given the university’s various construction works, including construction of residential halls for students and administrative buildings, according to sources at DU administration.

Since then, the companies kept occupied the playground by piling up construction materials and erecting tin shades structures.

Talking to the constructions workers, it was learned that though the two companies were allowed only to keep construction material for the DU projects, they piled up construction materials and supply those to different other projects in the city’s different areas including Mirpur, Kolayanpur, Moghbazar and Jatrabari.

On September 16, 2012, rights orga-

nization, Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh, filed a writ with the High Court seeking its directives to remove all the construction materials form the playground.

On June 26, 2013, DU Syndicate at a meeting decided to ask the companies to vacate the playground. But the university authorities did not issue the ultimatum for unknown reasons.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, DU treasurer Dr Kamal Uddin Ahmed and acting proctor Amzad Ali told that the construction companies will vacate the university’s central playground after completion of construction work of “7 March Hall”.

Mazharul Kabir Shoyon, a third year student of Anthropology department and also residing in Surya Sen hall, said: “We have no place for playing now”.

“We used to play at Mal Chattar (in front of university’s registrar’s building). But the university authority had planted trees in that places narrowing our playing opportunity,” he said.

The playground adjacent to Sergent Zahurul Haq Hall has also been given rent to several Sporting clubs (Brothers Union, Rohomotgonj, Mohammedan Sporting Club) by the hall authorities.

Abdullaha Al Mamun, a residential student of the hall, said: “We have to sit outside the playground like audience as the outsiders [players of the clubs] keep occupy the playground most of the time”.

DU Physical Training Center Director Mohammad Shoukotur Rahman said the playgrounds adjacent to different halls are given rent only when the halls remain vacant or there is no academic schedule.

DU Vice-Chancellor Prof AAMS Arefin Siddique said, “We must give priority to our students. We directed the authorities concerned to rent the playing fields only when the university remains closed.

“The university authority always put importance on students sporting related affairs,” he said. l

Timbers worth Tk15 lakh seized n FM Mizanur Rahaman

Two held with 22,300 yaba pills

Members of Bangladesh Coast Guard (east zone) seized illegal segun and gamari timber worth Tk15 lakh from Chittagong’s Kalurghat area yesterday.

They also seized a truck from the spot.

No one was arrested in this connection.

Zonal Commander Shahidul Islam said the team raided a truck loaded with 600 cubic-feet illegal segun and gamari timber worth Tk15 lakh at Bolirhat area of Kalurghat around 3am.

Sensing the presence of the coast guard members, the driver and the helper escaped from the spot.

The logs were handed over to the Chittagong Forest Department (North), he said. l

WEATHER

n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Rapid Action Battalion-7 yesterday arrested two persons with 22,300 pieces of yaba tablets and Tk7.66 lakh from Chittagong’s Kala Miya Bazar area.

The arrested are Abul Kalam and Abdur Rahim, both hailing from Teknaf upazila of Cox’s Bazar.

RAB-7 Commanding Officer Lt Colonel Mifta Uddin said around 10:30am, the RAB team held the two with 22,300 pieces of yaba pills from the area under Boalkhali police station.

The seized pills worth Tk90 lakh, he said.

The team also recovered Tk7.66 lakh from their possession which were earned through selling yaba, said the RAB official.

The road opposite the Shyambazar kitchen market in Old Dhaka has turned into a dumping zone leaving no space for commuters or vehicles

Youth beaten dead by Brahmanbaria AL leader Correspondent, n Our Brahmanbaria

Awami League Brahmanbaria unit General Secretary has allegedly beaten his neighbour to death in Kandipara area of the city on Friday.

The dead is Richhal Pathan, 24, son of local influential Yasin Pathan.

According to the family members of the victim, Awami League city unit General Secretary Rafiqul Islam, who is a neighbour to them, shared long term enmity with Richhal.

“Following previous enmity, Rafiqul and his associates attacked and killed my son in front of the Hawler’s Market in

The arrested had been involved in drug peddling inside the port city for long. They used to carry the contraband items from Teknaf, he added.

The arrested and the seized items were handed over to Bakalia police station where a case was lodged in this connection.

With the latest recovery, the RAB-7 team has seized 337,163 pieces of yaba tablets till date this year, through different drives conducted inside its jurisdictional area.

According to the Department of Narcotics Control, 90% of the smuggled yaba tablets enter the country through Naf River from around 37 yaba factories located at the Mongdu town of Myanmar and are distributed inside Chittagong by rail, road and sea routes. l

DRY WEATHER LIKELY

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:19PM SUN RISES 6:05AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 31 30 30 30 31 30 32 31

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

21 23 19 19 18 20 19 24

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33.5ºC Sitakunda

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PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:48am 6:03am 11:42am 3:43pm 5:19pm 6:36 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Khal Par area. They called him a hijacker and are trying to establish their act as an incident of ‘mob beating,’ by using political power,” said Yasin Pathan.

According to the witnesses, on Friday around 11:30am, screaming “hijacker hijacker!” some 20/22 people attacked Ricchal with lethal weapons leaving him seriously injured. Some locals later took him to the Brahmanbaria Sadar Hospital.

Taposh Ranjan Ghosh, assistant superintendent of Brahmanbaria model police station, said police had recovered the dead body from the surgery unit of the hospital at night and sent it to the morgue for autopsy. The hospital

Madrasa student falls prey to acid attack in Jamalpur

Correspondent, n Our Jamalpur A female student of a local madrasa badly sustained burn injuries as unknown miscreants hurled acid at her at Garaduba village in Sarishabari upazila here yesterday.

The victim, identified as Suchana Begum, daughter of Surujjaman, of the village, was admitted to a local health complex.

Abu Bakkar Siddique, principal of Garaduba Alim Madrasa, said unidentified miscreants threw acid at Suchana from outside by injection syringe around 9:30am while she was staying in the madrasa’s wash room, leaving her back severely burnt.

Being informed, police visited the victim at the hospital, said Sarishabari police station OC Billal Hossain. l

Digital business innovation event announced

n Tribune Report

First international career summit at UIU n Tribune Report First International Career Summit 2014, arranged by United International University (UIU) and Workplace Skills Development Academy (WSDA) on the former’s campus, ended yesterday starting from the previous day.

The Summit’s aim was to create networks among the corporate houses and the job seekers, where above 100 corporate and career experts from national and international organisations participated to share their Idea, oppor-

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

tunities and challenges in the selection of career, says a media release.

In these two days of career summit the corporates from different sectors had discussed about the jobs in IT sector, Leadership, Job sector scenario, Entrepreneurship and other career related topics.

In the inauguration event, High Commissioner of Canada to Bangladesh HE Heather Cruden was present as the chief guest while the keynote speech presenter was John Faisander, president of the WSDA. l

Grameenphone yesterday announced the Innovation Xtreme (IX), an initiative of StartupDhaka, says a media release.

The unique technology business event will be held on November 22 in Radisson Hotel in the capital, where the country’s leading telecom operator GP is main sponsor.

The programme will bring together the entire entrepreneurial ecosystem – investors, experienced entrepreneurs, corporate professionals, local and international media– to showcase the potential of innovators and entrepreneurs in Bangladesh. l

authorities could not say who dropped him there or how he got the injuries.

Richhal died at 11pm on Friday while the autopsy was done in the morning yesterday, he said.

Sub-Inspector Abul Khayer said Richhal’s body contained marks of stabbing on forehead, right cheek, thumbs and right ankle. There were also several bruises and swelling found on his right leg.

Richhal’s mother Rahima Begum said: “Hearing the news I rushed to the spot and found Rafiq Miya and his associates including Helal, Bappa, and Niaz, stabbing my son mercilessly.

When I tried to stop them they started beating me too.”

She alleged that Rafiq and his associates did not let her enter the hospital and the treatment was also not done properly. “I finally could enter the hospital around 11pm after hearing that Richhal was dead,” said Rahima.

Ricchal’s father has filed a murder case against 17 people including Rafiqul Islam in this connection with the Brahmanbaria model police station.

Since death of Richhal, Rafiq and his associates had not returned to their homes which were found locked from outside upon visit by this correspondent.

Rafiqul Islam could not be reached over mobile phone despite several attempts. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Spotlight

Sunday, November 2, 2014

5

JOURNEY THROUGH THE HEART OF DARKNESS

A nationwide power outage yesterday triggered by the national grid collapse causing untold suffering to people across the country hampering regular activities in almost all sectors. Patients at the countryâ&#x20AC;&#x2122;s hospitals were the worst sufferers while long queues were seen in front of the diesel pumps for fuel for the generators. Commuters weaved their ways through the dark city streets with car headlights, torch and mobile phones on SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN/ MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU/ MEHEDI HASAN

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Bridge collapse hampering business activities n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha Movement of heavy vehicles on the Sadullapur-Dhaperhat Road in Sadullapur upazila in Gaibandha has been at a halt since last two months now causing untold sufferings to the vegetable farmers and businessmen of the upazila.

The chaos occurred when a 20-25 year old bridge near Bakshiganj Bazar collapsed snapping vehicular movement on the 16km long road which is the only connecting road between Rangpur-Dhaka highway and Sadullapur upazila.

Dhaperhat Union Parishad Chairman Shahidul Islam said two months back a massive hole occurred on one of the slaps of the bridge. Although the matter was immediately informed to the upazila Local Government Engineering Department (LGED) authority, no step was taken in this regard.

Locals had constructed an alternative road with mud, on which rickshaws, autorickshaws and human

hauliers ply amid risk, but heavy vehicles like goods laden buses or trucks could hardly use the road, he said.

The goods laden trucks now have to take longer routes through Gaibandha and Palashbari and spend double than what they used to pay for transportation cost, said Kushu Dhojwa Pramanik, a trader of rods and cements in the upazila.

Hamidur Rahman Rafu, owner of Tanin Traders, said everyday wholesale traders from different corners of the country used to come to the upazila to take away at least 30 trucks of rice, paddy and wheat. But now they have lost interest as heavy vehicles cannot ply on the road anymore, compelling them to pay extra for transportation.

A transport workers’ leader of the upazila Raja Miya said all the Dhaka-bound vehicles that used to take up the road now have to drive 28km extra through Gaibandha and Palashbari. As a result they charge Tk50 more to the passengers.

Mokhlesur Rahman, a vegetable

farmer of Torof Mohodi village, said as trucks are not being able to enter the local Bakshiganj Haat, price of vegetables have declined causing the farmers considerable losses.

Upazila Agriculture Extension Officer Obaidur Rahman Mondol said Sadullapur had been known for producing ample amount of vegetables in Gaibandha.

A village haat that used to take place twice a week in Bakshiganj attracted wholesalers from all across the country, however, the farmers now have to spend extra to go to other haats in Dhaperhaat to sell vegetables, he said.

LGED upazila engineer Azizul Haque said: “This situation has occurred because the bridge was built around 25 years back. More than Tk16 lakh are required for reconstructing the bridge for which application has been placed at the LGED Rangpur divisional office.

The matter was under process now.”

He hoped that the bridge would be reconstructed by June next year. l

Section 144 imposed n Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar Section 144 was imposed at Shamsernagar Bazar in Kamalganj upozila under Moulvibazar district yesterday as two groups of Awami League called meetings at the same place and time.

Md Enamul Haque, officer-in-charge of Kamalganj police station said local Awami League loyal to former Chief Whip Md Abdus Shahid and Chhatra League loyal to Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali called meetings at the bazar around 3pm on the occasion of Jail Killing Day. Upazila Nirbahi Officer and Executive Magistrate of Kamalganj Shahid Mohammed Saidul Haque said the section 144 had been imposed from 11am on Saturday to 9am on Sunday to avoid untoward situation. l

The bridge on Sadullapur-Dhaperhat Road at Sadullapur upazila in Gaibandha has remained out of repair for two months causing untold sufferings to the vegetable farmers and businessmen DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sunday, November 2, 2014

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

7

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Finding your leadership potential for business school ul Bari n Mustabeen and Nakibul Hoq

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State University.

In this regard, Gallogly cites an incident concerning a Stern (NYU Business School) student government president who reunited trafficked children from Nepal with their parents before applying for higher education. Stacy Blackman, founder of a prosperous consultancy firm, further exemplifies the impact of leadership through one of her clients – a Chinese student who launched an English club in China from which he and the society mutually ben-

Making meetings count n

Career Desk

M Time is a finite resource, and ought to be treated like it.

Every participant of a meeting owes it to the others to not waste time

eetings are a mainstay of working in groups. They can be held to arrive at a collective decision, generate ideas, receive status reports, planning etc. Whatever the reason, the purpose of all meetings is at its core the same – to establish an objective and seeing it through.

Meetings that do not establish an objective are prone to getting derailed and turning into bad meetings. You know you have had a bad meeting when it seems to have gone on for ages, you don’t have a clearer idea of the objective at hand than when you went in and you wonder what purpose was served by having it. An effective meeting on the other hand should make you feel accomplished and motivate you to hit the ground running for whatever lies ahead.

Whatever the purpose of a meeting, an effective one hits three criteria – it reaches the objective the meeting has established, it does not waste anyone’s time, participants leave with a better grasp of what’s at hand and what their tasks are going forward.

Unless you are the one convening the meeting, it is not easy to steer the meeting towards a valuable direction on your own if everyone else keeps being distractive. However, whether you are merely a participant or the moderator, following are a number of tips that may help ensure the aforementioned three criteria for running effective meetings are met.

Establishing objective

Establishing an objective for a meeting gives it a roadmap to follow, without which all participants would simply be making disorganised contributions with no direction. An effective meeting serves a purpose, meaning it aims to achieve a desired outcome. Establishing an objective is figuring out what this desirable outcome is.

To make sure a meeting is not being called to discuss things at random with no consideration of the ideal outcome, ask yourself the following questions.

Does the meeting require a decision to be made? Is it to generate ideas or for everybody to update one another?

Is there anything in specific that you have to communicate to the rest of the group? Is there going to be any planning involved? For the meeting to be an effective one, participants need to be clear about what the objective of the meeting is.

The answers to the questions posed, among a number of other possibilities, are examples of a meeting objective.

Therefore, this step is necessary before calling a meeting or planning for it. Once you have the desired outcome clearly defined, it is easy to determine things like how long the meeting should be or who needs to be present and who can sit it out.

Making the most of time

Time is a finite resource, and ought to be treated like it. Every participant of

efited from, and eventually went on to be accepted at Harvard University.

The impact leadership potential bears on an application is thus proportional to the selectivity trends of the institution in question. A good benchmark would be the acceptance rate the university boasts of.

This leads on to the original question: how to portray leadership potential? Blackman does a neat job of summing it up: “Leadership is not the big hairy example of your greatest achieve-

a meeting owes it to the others to not waste time. If a meeting has ten attendants, one of whom wastes ten minutes, they have just cost the company an hour and a half in total.

In the previous step, the meeting’s objective has been established, and the rest of the meeting should be conducted accordingly to further this objective.

There are a number of ways to trim the fat around the edges and making sure time is utilised perfectly. For example, if the meeting is to troubleshoot a problem, participants should arrive with viable solutions already in mind instead of coming up with ideas during the meeting. It is important to figure out if there are required tasks that can be taken care of before the meeting begins and to attend to them.

When a meeting involves multiple talking points, it is essential to prioritise which ones must be covered before others. It is important to sequence them in a particular order, and to allocate sets of time for each point.

A common source of time loss is when individuals are invited to the meeting simply as figureheads, with little to contribute. The person calling the meeting should list necessary participants and leave out redundant names.

Apprising all participants

Meeting participants should come out of a meeting better informed than when they went in. To ensure this, a number of issues need to be taken into consideration. If you are moderating the meeting, make sure everyone is aware of the meeting’s agenda before the start of the meeting, so they can offer suggestions such as taking items off the list or adding to it. If you are a participant, try to understand what the objective of the meeting is and at the end ask yourself if you recognise what your steps are to be, going forward.

Meetings often get unbalanced by certain individuals dominating the discussion time, but an effective meeting provides time to all participants for their contribution. At the end of each topic, one participant should summarise the discussion and repeat what deliverables are expected off which individual. All participants should agree it is a fair summary.

One participant must be assigned to keep note of all tasks generated during the meeting, and who has been assigned which. This person should ideally compile a meeting summary, and provide a copy for all participants and any other member concerned. This is a crucial step to making a meeting effective, one that often gets overlooked.

The success of a meeting can be measured against the completion of the meeting objective originally established. l

ment ever. It can be really the simplest of things.”

In fact, admissions committees prefer simple, apparently insignificant instances that depict innate leadership potential. As opposed to coming off as a hero, experts suggest digging deep and searching for subtler indicators, occurrences showcasing the desire to overstep comfort zones and develop in the process.

It is therefore safe to presume that leadership potential can actually be derived from the most mishap of places.

Mustabeen ul Bari is an Intern, Content Writing and Nakibul Hoq is the Lead Manager, Content and Analytics of GradInsights, the career intelligence service of GradConnect. This article is part of a series GradConnect is preparing to understand the scope of Bangladeshi graduates working abroad. More articles from the team can be found at www.grad-insights.com.

A winning closing n Career Desk

W

hile the way employees are recruited, selection criteria for individual positions and the role of HR in the hiring process has all changed over the years, the majority of employers still continue to use common practices to select their number one candidate.

Whether the job is as a research assistant, lab technician or public relations content developer, doing an interview right and sealing the deal requires about the same tactics for all jobs – foreseeing the interviewer’s expectations and playing to it. Arguably, the most important part of the interview is the closing. It is what the interviewer will remember most when recalling all the interviewees later, and yet it is the one step that is often overlooked. The following steps will make for an interview closing that will put you at the top of your interviewer’s mind. You may use all of them, or a few using your best judgment regarding the situation.

Exchange cards

This is the most basic step, and you will probably receive one without having to ask for it at the very beginning of the interview. If it is your first job, the interviewer will not be expecting you to present one, but if you are a seasoned employee you should have a few cards ready prior to an interview. In case you are not presented a card at the beginning of the interview, wait till the interview is over and then ask for it before saying thank you and making your way out.

Make plans to follow up

Before leaving, make sure you plant a seed, that is, make an excuse for a fol-

low up. You may do this by simply telling your interviewer how exciting you find the work that the company does and how you can see yourself working for a company such as this, adding that you’ll be in touch with them. This way when you do a follow up call or email, it will not be an out of the blue cold call, but one that is expected.

Show gratitude

The faster you do a follow up after the interview, the higher the chances of your interviewer remembering you.

However, doing a follow up on the same day as the interview makes you seem not only desperate but obstinate.

Instead of doing a full-fledged follow up, it is better to email them a simple thank you note right after the interview. It might not make a big difference but it is one more way to inserting yourself in the employer’s mind.

Call back at the first hour

On your way out of the office following your interview, find out from the front desk what the company’s hours of operations are and how early the person who interviewed you comes to work.

While the front desk executive may be reluctant to divulge such information about individual employees, if you are tactful and friendly and explain why you need to know what you need to know, it should not be a problem.

Using this information, when you make a follow up call, make sure it is right after your interviewer gets to work. Generally people make more positive decisions in the morning before the day begins to settle in, and it also proves that you are an early bird and will be a punctual employee. l

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with smaller classrooms, which have highly holistic application review processes, allocate considerable weight to personality traits like leadership.

On the contrary, larger institutions with more mechanical review methods stick mostly to grades as a measure for applicant competency. This translates into higher emphasis on leadership potential in renowned universities such as the likes of Wharton Business School, as opposed to less emphasis in large-scale institutions such as Arizona

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xhibiting leadership in business school applications abroad is tantamount to working diligently for your next promotion. No application can be successful for that long dreamed-of postgraduate degree unless and until you can demonstrate your leadership qualities, since after all, a business school’s main purpose is to create leaders who can make it big in the real world.

But why is discovering your leadership so difficult? Are leaders only born, and not made?

If leaders were born and not made, business schools all over the world would have closed down a long time back. What baffles today’s youngsters and applicants are the various different strains of leadership, which essentially point out to a dilemma that has been faced by students for ages.

Repeated to the point of being cliche, the term leadership potential has been used by a myriad of educational institutions to describe a significant factor in admissions criteria of all business schools abroad. With the shift towards more holistic admissions processes, applicant evaluation has ceased to be limited to only tangible grades.

Schools now assess their applicants on both academic history and characteristics exhibited. This has eventually led to the obvious question: how do students demonstrate leadership?

To answer this query, it is crucial to ask another such question: how important is demonstrating leadership?

“Take credit for what you have done,” advises Isser Gallogly, New York University’s executive director of MBA Admissions. “You’re helping admissions committees to understand what you will bring to their class.”

Gallogly’s assertion is self-explanatory, and without fail, the data backs it up. Recent admissions trends delineate this in material terms: business schools

You need to know where to look. And in your application for business schools abroad, no matter how much of a lack of experiences you think you have, dig deep into your past few years and find something where you have made a difference in the lives of the people around you.

Most applicants consider leadership from only one point of view: from an authoritative perspective. But the fact is, a leader and a manager are two different things. Successful leaders demonstrate charisma and knowledge, and use them in ways both implicit and explicit to ensure that the societal value increases in the long run.

They work on achieving moral and ethical good to the maximum, and strive to ensure justice and equality for all. This is why leadership doesn’t always come with a position. Leaders can be anyone faced with a problem, and they set out to find utilitarian solutions for the greater good.

It is this implicit idea of leadership that admission officers evaluating thousands of application in the best business schools of the world are looking for. They don’t always want hotshot executives, successful entrepreneurs or political leaders.

What they are looking for are people who can make a difference in the business world, and this is why the successful portrayal of leadership potential does not necessarily depend solely on the depiction of self-control to supervise others.

Thus, applicants are advised to concentrate on their past life stories instead of looking forward to things that might never happen. You are bound to come up with interesting things that distinguish your characteristics. You just need to look. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Iraqi peshmerga fighters cross into Kobane n Agencies Iraqi peshmerga fighters have begun entering the Syrian border town of Kobane where they were expected to join the battle against Islamic State and the Levant (ISIL) fighters beseiging the town.

Peshmerga forces entered through the Yumurtalik crossing on Friday armed with heavy weaponry, including anti-aircraft machine guns and mobile rocket launchers.

Al Jazeera’s Jamal Elshayyal, reporting from the border, said the peshmerga entered five vehicles at a time with a few minutes between each crossing.

Fighters in the convoy were filmed waving Kurdish flags and flashing the victory sign.

ISIL fighters had escalated their attacks on the border, hurling mortars at

World

Sunday, November 2, 2014

PUMPKINS AND ZOMBIES

it and sending in waves of fighters in a desperate attempt to cut it off, since news broke that the reinforcements were imminent.

The self-declared jihadist group attacked Kobane six weeks ago, capturing dozens of nearby Kurdish villages as well as parts of the border town.

The town is now under attack from three sides and weeks of US-led air strikes have failed to break the ISIL assault.

Syrian Kurds had pleaded for more men and heavy weapons to help them gain the upper hand. And, on October 22, MPs in Iraq’s autonomous Kurdish region gave the peshmerga the goahead to travel.

The peshmerga arrived in Turkey on Wednesday and had been staying in the town of Suruc. l

Islamic State kills 85 more members of Iraqi tribe n Reuters, Baghdad Islamic State executed 85 more members of the Albu Nimr tribe in Iraq in a mass killing campaign launched last week to break their resistance to the group’s territorial advances, a tribal leader and security official said on Saturday.

Sheikh Naeem al-Ga’oud, one of the tribe’s chiefs, told Reuters that Islamic State had killed 50 members of Albu Nimr who were fleeing the al Qaeda offshoot on Friday. In a separate incident, a security official said 35 bodies were found in a mass grave.

The sustained bloodshed appears to demonstrate Islamic State’s resilience to US airstrikes against militant targets in parts of Iraq and Syria it controls.

Ga’oud said he had repeatedly asked the Shi’ite-led central government for

weapons but his pleas had been ignored.

Islamic State has been killing at will, with no signs that the Shi’ite-led government will send armed forces to the rescue of Albu Nimr or other tribes under threat anytime soon.

Members of the Albu Nimr tribe had held out for weeks under siege by Islamic State fighters in Anbar Province to the west of Baghdad, but finally ran low on ammunition, fuel and food.

Hundreds of tribal fighters withdrew and members of the tribe fled their main village Zauiyat albu Nimr.

Islamic State rounded up many of them, shot them at close range and dumped them in mass graves. Over 300 people have been executed since the killing began in the middle of last week, Ga’oud and security officials. l

Top A polar bear eats a pumpkin during Halloween celebration in the Tiergarten Schoenbrunn zoo in Vienna on Friday. Once a year the animals in the zoo are fed with pumpkins to celebrate Halloween REUTERS

Right Youngster dressed as ghouls and zombies for Halloween parade in downtown Lisbon, Portugal on Friday AP

Left A group of youngsters dressed as ghouls and zombies hedrivead to the 41st annual Village Halloween Parade in New York City, Friday YAHOO

Virgin Galactic crash: Branson vows to continue space project despite setback n BBC Sir Richard Branson has vowed to continue his space tourism venture despite the fatal crash of a Virgin Galactic rocket ship in the US. One pilot died and the other was badly injured when SpaceShipTwo exploded in California’s Mojave Desert on Friday. Investigators are on their way to the crash site, north of Los Angeles.

Mr Branson, founder of the Virgin Group and a long-time advocate of commercial space travel, said he was “shocked and saddened” but would “persevere.”

Virgin had hoped to launch commercially in 2015. It has already taken more than 700 flight bookings at $250,000 (£156,000) each, with Mr Branson pledging to travel on the first flight.

‘Serious anomaly’

SpaceShipTwo was flying its first test flight for nine months when it crashed

Egyptian helicopters fire on Sinai villages n Agencies Egyptian helicopters have bombarded several villages in the northern Sinai Peninsula region, witnesses reported, after a rise in attacks against soldiers in the unstable and often violent region.

Residents told Al Jazeera that the assault was launched on the villages of al-Tuma al-Mukataa and al-Mahdiya.

The army this week vowed to stamp out armed groups operating in the region.

No casualties were been reported in Friday night’s shelling.

On Saturday, Egyptian security officials said a roadside bomb had struck an army vehicle, also on Friday, injuring seven soldiers. Armed groups have been battling security forces in the Sinai Peninsula for a decade The blast near the city of el-Arish, near the Gaza border, came a week after an attack in the same area killed 31 soldiers.

It was the deadliest attack targeting security forces since the army toppled former president, Mohamed Morsi, in July. l

shortly after take-off near the town of Bakersfield, California.

In a statement, the company said SpaceShipTwo experienced “a serious anomaly” after the craft separated from its launcher, an aircraft called WhiteKnightTwo. WhiteKnightTwo landed safely.

It later emerged that the space craft was burning a new type of of rocket fuel never before used in flight, although officials said it had undergone extensive ground testing.

Mr Branson said Virgin Galactic would co-operate fully with the authorities involved in the investigation.

Officials with the US National Transportation Safety Board will begin their investigation on Saturday morning, which will probably take several days.

The Federal Aviation Administration is also investigating, officials said.

‘Space is hard’

In a blog post, Mr Branson said everyone involved in the project was “deeply saddened.”

“All our thoughts are with the families of everyone affected by this tragic event,” he wrote.

He said that he was flying to California, describing it as “one of the most difficult trips I have ever had to make.”

“Space is hard - but worth it. We will persevere and move forward together,” he added.

George Whitesides, chief executive of Virgin Galactic, echoed Mr Branson’s comments at a California news conference.

“The future rests in many ways on hard days like this, but we believe we owe it to the team to understand this and to move forward. And that is what we’ll do.”

Wreckage from the crash was scattered across the Mojave desert, northeast of Los Angeles. Police secured the site amid fears that some of the debris

could be explosive.

Both pilots were employed by Scaled Composites, the company that designed the craft. One was pronounced dead at the scene while the other was transported to a local hospital in an unknown condition.

The spacecraft had been carried into the air by WhiteKnightTwo before being released at an altitude of 45,000 feet (13,700m) for a test of its rocket engine. It crashed shortly afterwards.

Celebrities including Justin Bieber, Ashton Kutcher and Leonardo Di Caprio are among those said to have signed up for the flights, the Los Angeles Times reports.

It was the second accident this week involving a commercial space company in the US. On Tuesday, an unmanned supply rocket called Antares exploded shortly after its launch from Virginia. It was carrying cargo to the International Space Station. l

A majority of Scots would vote for independence now n Reuters, London A majority of Scots would back independence if another referendum were held today, according to a poll published on Saturday, just six weeks after Scotland voted against leaving the United Kingdom.

The YouGov poll for the Times newspaper put support for independence at 52% against 48% who wanted to stay in the union.

By including those who would not vote or do not know, the split was 49% in favor of a split and 45% against.

In September’s referendum, 55% of Scots voted against independence.

The opinion poll also brought more bad news for the leader of Britain’s opposition Labour party, Ed Miliband, who hopes to oust

Conservative leader David Cameron as prime minister in next May’s national election.

Among Scots overall, only 22% surveyed by YouGov thought Labour represented Scotland’s views and interests well while 65% thought it represented them badly.

In the past week, Scottish Labour leader Johann Lamont has resigned and another survey has suggested Labour faces virtual annihilation in Scotland at the hands of the pro-independence Scottish National Party - which controls the devolved parliament in Edinburgh - if an election were held now.

Lamont quit after accusing the Labour party of treating Scotland as a “branch office,” a charge Miliband denied. l

French nuclear plants in new mystery drone overflights

Missing Nigerian schoolgirls ‘married off,’ ceasefire claims denied

n Reuters, Paris

Boko Haram’s leader, Abubakar Shekau, has said the 219 schoolgirls kidnapped from the remote town of Chibok in Nigeria’s northeast in April have converted to Islam and been married off.

Shekau made the remarks in a video obtained by the AFP news agency on Friday.

“Don’t you know the over 200 Chibok schoolgirls have converted to Islam? They have now memorised two chapters of the Koran,” he said.

“We have married them off. They are in their marital homes,” he added.

In a previous statement the group’s leader threatened to sell the girls as slave brides and also suggested that he would be prepared to release them in exchange for Boko Haram prisoners.

Unidentified drones illegally overflew five French nuclear power plants overnight, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Saturday, in the latest of a series of unexplained incidents that have raised safety concerns.

The small unmanned aircraft were detected late on Friday above the five plants in northern and eastern France, the source said, confirming an earlier report by Agence France-Presse.

State-controlled utility EDF, which operates the plants at Penly, Flamanville, Saint-Laurent-des-Eaux, Dampierre and Fessenheim, could not confirm the latest drone incursions, a spokeswoman said. French law bans aircraft of all types from flying within five kilometers of nuclear facilities.

Interior Minister Bernard Cazeneuve said on Thursday that France had launched an investigation after drones

were sighted over seven EDF nuclear plants between Oct. 5 and Oct. 20.

The small unmanned aircraft were detected late on Friday above the five plants in northern and eastern France The power company has insisted that the mystery flights pose no safety or security threat. But the incidents have fueled public anxiety in France, the world’s most nuclear-dependent country with 58 reactors on 19 sites.

Greenpeace protesters forced their way into the Fessenheim facility earlier this year and have a history of breaking into French nuclear plants. The environmental campaign group has denied any involvement in the unmanned flights. l

n Agencies

Ceasefire claims denied

Shekau also said the group was holding a German national and denied they

had agreed to a ceasefire, describing the Nigerian government statement as a lie. He also appeareed to rule out future talks.

The video comes after a surprise Nigerian military and presidency announcement on October 17 that a peace deal had been reached with the group.

A senior presidential aide to President Goodluck Jonathan also said that an agreement had been reached to free the schoolgirls, whose abduction sparked a global campaign for their release.

There was immediate scepticism about both claims because of previous assertions of ceasefires and the identity of the purported Boko Haram envoy at the supposed talks, Danladi Ahmadu.

Fresh attacks

Violence and fresh kidnappings have continued unabated since the announcement, including a triple bombing of a bus station in the northern city of Gombe on Friday that

killed at least eight.

Nigeria’s government maintains that talks are ongoing in the Chadian capital, Ndjamena.

But Shekau, dressed in military fatigues and boots with a black turban, and flanked by 15 armed fighters, said: “We have not made ceasefire with anyone...”

“We did not negotiate with anyone...

It’s a lie. It’s a lie. We will not negotiate.

What is our business with negotiation?

Allah said we should not.”

He also said he did not know Danladi.

There was no indication of when or where the video was shot but it was obtained through the same channels as previous communications from the group.

The New York-based Human Rights Watch said in a report this week that Boko Haram was holding upwards of 500 women and young girls and that forced marriage was commonplace in the group’s camps. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Myanmar’s leaders seek to revive peace talks, maintain reforms

China’s Xi calls on army to remember past in graft fight

n Reuters, Yangon Myanmar’s political and ethnic leaders agreed on Friday to work together on reforms and peace talks ahead of a 2015 election after US President Barack Obama urged the government to make every effort to end ethnic conflict.

The president and the military chief met opposition parties and ethnic minority groups at a roundtable meeting in the capital Naypyitaw, the first meeting of its kind in the Southeast Asian nation. The gathering also marked the first meeting between opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi and powerful armed forces chief, Senior General Min Aung Hlaing.

Some critics are calling the hastily arranged get-together an attempt to burnish Myanmar’s image ahead of a visit by Obama next month, his second to the country.

The political leaders discussed keeping momentum on reforms and national reconciliation and cooperating to make the 2015 election free and fair, Information Minister Ye Htut said at a press conference after the threehour meeting. He gave no details on how those aims would be achieved.

“The meeting was cordial and the participants exchanged their views very frankly,” he said.

The participants agreed to continue talks but have yet to schedule their next meeting, he added.

High-level peace talks with more than a dozen ethnic rebel groups stalled in September, dashing government hopes for an agreement then.

Suicide car bomber kills 11 police, soldiers in Afghanistan n Reuters, Pul Alam A suicide car bomber killed at least 11 members of the security forces and wounded more than 20 civilians near a police checkpoint in eastern Logar province in Afghanistan on Saturday, local officials said.

The Taliban did not immediately claim responsibility for the attack and could not be reached for comment, but the militant group carry out daily attacks on the country’s army and police.

“The suicide bomber detonated his car near a residential area in Azra district of Logar, killing four army soldiers and seven local policemen,” Din Mohammad Darwish a spokesman for Logar’s governor said.

Violence has increased in Afghanistan over the past year as foreign troops prepare to withdraw by the end of 2014.

The government is reluctant to release figures on casualties, but more than 4,000 police and soldiers were killed fighting Taliban insurgents in 2013 and this year’s toll is expected to be higher.

Afghanistan’s president Ashraf Ghani, who took office about a month ago after months of destabilising deadlock over who won the election, said he hoped to achieve peace with the Taliban.

“Peace is not easy but is a mandatory,” Ashraf Ghani told a news conference in Kabul on Saturday, two hours after the attack.

“If it was easy then it could be achieved during the past years.” l

n Reuters, Beijing

Myanmar opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi smiles during a meeting at the presidential palace at Naypyitaw The political leaders agreed on Friday to work toward signing a nationwide ceasefire agreement later this year or in early 2015.

The United States has grown increasingly concerned about human rights abuses in Myanmar, including the jailing of journalists, and alleged oppression of stateless Rohingya Muslims and ethnic minorities.

President Thein Sein has ordered Myanmar’s National Human Rights Commission to investigate the death in army custody of journalist Par Gyi, the government said in a statement

n Agencies Devendra called thrice, Arun Jaitley and Amit Shah once each Shiv Sena was down in the dumps for over a week with political analysts lambasting it for lack of political wisdom. But the saffron party’s (read Sena) last ploy to join the BJP-led government seems to have hit the bullseye.

With the Bharatiya Janata Party’s not responding to the Sena’s lowest offer of swearing in at least two of its MLAs as ministers on Friday, the Sena leadership conveyed to the BJP late on Thursday night that the party was not boycotting the grand function. Of course, it threw in a rider. The Sena said that if the BJP refused to budge, it would not hesitate to announce its leader of the opposition immediately after Devendra Fadnavis was sworn in as chief minister.

With the BJP realising that the Sena had made up its mind to sit in the opposition in the Assembly, forcing the BJP to bargain with independents and take the NCP’s unconditional support, the BJP leadership blinked and decided to reach out to the Sena. Five phone calls were made to Matoshree within a span of five hours on Friday afternoon. The CM-designate, Devendra Fadnavis, himself called up Uddhav thrice, asking him to attend the swearing-in. In an emotional pitch, he even told Uddhav to attend the oath-taking as it was Balasaheb’s dream to see their government.

Uddhav, incidentally, had even finalised the name of Ravindra

Waikar’s for the post of leader of the opposition.

The Sena had announced on Thursday night that due to repeated humiliation by the BJP, it would not attend the swearing-in.

With Uddhav not budging, BJP president Amit Shah called on him followed by a call from Union finance minister Arun Jaitley.

If the BJP refused to budge, it would not hesitate to announce its leader of the opposition immediately Shah repeatedly told Uddhav that Prime Minister Narendra Modi, too, wanted Uddhav at Wankhede, adding that the Sena would be given a share in the government and every single issue would be sorted out. Shah even promised to give the Sena a positive deal.

With the Sena’s ploy working and the BJP back at the talks table, the Sena leadership, which has been under pressure from a section within to join the government, took a step back.Uddhav and his wife Rashmi reached Wankhede just in time for the swearing-in. Soon after the function was over, Uddhav met Shah for a brief period.

“Things are going fine so far.

We will tell you the rest later,” Uddhav said after the meeting.

Iran’s elite revolutionary border guards on Saturday closed Pak-Iran border at Taftan for five days over security concerns in the wake of upcoming Ashura event in the holy month of Muharram.

A security official, who declined to be named, told Dawn.com that Iranian border guards closed the border after talks with their Pakistani counterparts.

“The border would remain closed for five days,” he said to Dawn.

The border was sealed to avoid occurrence of any untoward incident and make sure security on both sides of the porous border during Ashura – the main event of Muharram.

Pakistan has also deployed Frontier Corps (FC) personnel to strictly guard the border. The official said that trade activities at the border would remain suspended for five days.

Pakistan shares 900km border with Iran and recently some untoward incidents took place at the border.

Last month, Iranian guards stormed inside Pakistani territory and killed one FC official while injuring another three. Over 30 Iranian guards entered Pakistan and made the residents of Nokundi hostage for six hours as well.

Iran, on the other hand, claims that Pakistan based militants carryout terror activities inside it’s land.

Besides the death of two Iranian guards by ‘rebels’ last month, the country claimed that an Iranian soldier was killed and two pro-government militiamen wounded in September in an attack blamed on the extremist group Jaishul Adl (Army of Justice).

The same group captured five Iranian soldiers in February, four of whom were released in April. The fate of the fifth man remains unknown. l

According to Sena insiders, the party has clearly told the BJP that its share in the government should be based on a 2:1 ratio.It also wanted the BJP to make a public statement, saying the Sena would be part of the government. “We want a reasonable deal of at least onethird share in the government. We have asked the BJP to agree to it publicly. We will wait till November 10 while carrying on talks with them. If they do not agree to our terms, we will vote against them in the House on November 10. They will be forced to take the NCP’s support which we think they can ill afford now,” said a senior leader, who was part of the Sena’s last minute strategy session.

However, it is learnt that the party has given up its demand for the posts of deputy chief minister and Speaker following a stern no from the BJP. Uddhav had convened a series of meetings with several leaders since Tuesday and many of them told him that the Sena should sit in the opposition and take the BJP head on.»Uddhavji’sconfidence grew after we told him that we will sit in the opposition. Though a section of leaders said the party would then split, we rejected that sentiment. After failing to negotiate with the BJPfor a week, our last attempt has been successful.

We hope to be in power and then revive the party. However, if the BJP does not come forward, we will sit in the opposition,» said a senior Senaleader with an air of nonchalance. l

BJP should emerge as a diverse party, PM Modi says n Agencies Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday said that the BJP should emerge as a “diverse” party reflecting the diversity of the country.

“BJP should also come across as a diverse party. People from all strata of society should feel that we have a representative in this vase of flowers,” Modi said at a function to launch the BJP’s first membership drive post its emphatic win in the 2014 general elections.

“The poor and illiterate should also feel that we are a part of this party. The organization should be expanded in such a manner that

REUTERS

manitarian situation in Rakhine state as well as measures to support the civil and political rights of the Rohingya people, the White House said.

Violence erupted across Rakhine in 2012 between ethnic Rakhine Buddhists and Rohingya Muslims, killing at least 200 people and displacing 140,000, most of them Rohingya.

Obama also spoke to Suu Kyi, the White House said, discussing the status of Myanmar’s political and economic reforms and the need for an “inclusive, credible process” for conducting the 2015 elections. l

Five calls in five hours: How Shiv Sena threat rattled BJP

Iran closes Pakistan border for five days n Tribune Desk

published in state media.

On Tuesday, the US State Department called for a transparent investigation into the death of Par Gyi, a former democracy activist who once worked as a bodyguard for Suu Kyi. Obama spoke to Thein Sein on Thursday by telephone, urging that “every effort be made to conclude a national ceasefire in the short term,” the White House said The US president, who will visit Myanmar for a regional summit on Nov 12-13, also stressed the importance of taking more steps to address the hu-

9

Sunday, November 2, 2014

it is representative of all and can fulfill the dreams of all,” he said.

He added: “People from all sections of society should feel they have a representative in BJP. Our country is full of diversities, BJP should also be visible as a party with diversities.”

Modi said that the membership drive should serve as an example globally.

The prime minister became the first member of the BJP in this membership drive, which will last till Match 31.

“By giving me this opportunity, on Saturday the BJP has honoured me. To be a member of such a party is also a matter of pride,” he said. l

China’s military must not let down those who gave their lives for the Communist Party in the revolutionary struggle and must resolutely fight corruption, state media on Saturday quoted President Xi Jinping as saying after a high-level scandal.

Xi has made weeding out corruption in the armed forces a top goal.

This week the government said one of China’s most senior former military officers, Xu Caihou, had confessed to taking “massive” bribes in exchange for help in promotions.

Xu retired as vice chairman of the powerful Central Military Commission - which Xi heads and which controls China’s 2.3 million strong armed forces - last year and from the party’s decision-making Politburo in 2012.

During a top-level two-day military meeting at an old revolutionary base in the southeastern province of Fujian that started on Thursday, Xi said the armed forces needed to “deeply reflect on the lessons and thoroughly banish the influence” of Xu’s case.

“We must face up to the outstanding issues which face us in building up the military, especially on our political thinking,” the official Xinhua news agency cited Xi as saying.

The military has problems with poor management of its officers, especially with making sure they behave properly, he added.

‘Sacrifice’

The armed services must “return to and make full use of their fine political traditions,” Xi said.

Those traditions include the fair and honest promotion of officers, rigorous discipline and “sacrifice to the revolutionary spirit,” he added.

“We must deeply recognize the importance of political work in the military and the important role it plays and pass on to the next generations the great traditions that were forged in blood by our ancestors,” Xi said.

“Never slacken in the determination to deepen the fight against corruption.”

Pressing home this point, Xinhua said that Xi ate a simple meal with serving officers, including pumpkin soup, a far cry from the ostentatious lifestyle of some officials which state media have reported on with glee following Xi’s declaration of war on deep-seated corruption.

The Communist Party likes to remind people of the heroism and simple lifestyle of the soldiers who brought it to power in 1949 after a bloody civil war, in contrast with the perceived greed and poor morals of many of today’s officials.

China stepped up a crackdown on corruption in the military in the late 1990s, banning the People’s Liberation Army from engaging in business. But the military has been involved in commercial dealings in recent years due to a lack of checks and balances, military analysts have said. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Sunday, November 2, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Major policy changes needed to stop power failures

S

aturday’s collapse of the national grid which saw power outages cut electricity supplies across the nation is an inevitable consequence of the lack of a proper strategy to deliver energy security.

While stop-gap rental plants and new power stations have helped generation capacity top 10,000 MW, the government still has to improve planning and co-ordination to secure future capacity.

The harm done to development and industry by the lack of secure power is enormous and is regularly cited as a major obstacle preventing businesses from increasing investment in the country.

Matters are made worse by subsidies which artificially keep the costs of gas, fuel oil, diesel, and electricity low. Such subsidies encourage wasteful use of these important resources and reduce the funds received by power companies to invest in improving capacity and distribution.

Although there have been some moves to cap subsidies, these have not gone as far as countries like China and India, whose governments have accepted that high energy prices are necessary to fund investment in new power plants and fuel resources.

Unless we alter wasteful policies, energy companies and the Power Development Board will continue to lack the funds and incentive to invest in improving power supplies and distribution.

We badly need reliable power supplies to create the jobs and improvement in living standards which Bangladesh needs to increase peoples’ resilience to the negative consequences of climate change.

This needs a co-ordinated approach to diversify energy sources and increase reliability. Stopping costly subsidies which waste scarce taxpayer funds and disincentivise investment in new power sources, is a must.

Improve planning and cut wasteful subsidies to increase funds to invest in improving power supplies and distribution

Close Biman down

B

iman Bangladesh Airlines is going from bad to worse.

Its flights to Frankfurt this year have been incurring losses of Tk70 lakh each, with one flight carrying just seven passengers out of a capacity of 419 for a Boeing 777.

Having now decided to cancel this route, which had been added without a proper market survey, its managing director is planning to start new services across Asia, without any concrete evidence that any of them will be more viable.

This should be seen as the last straw. Biman has repeatedly shown that its management is incapable of reining its heavy losses. We do not see any justification for the government continuing to keep the state airline alive with endless subsidies. Biman has repeatedly shown it cannot compete and that its management cannot make a positive difference.

Passengers in the country are well-served by better run private and international airlines providing services both internally and internationally.

With airline demand rising at 8% a year, passengers are benefiting from increasing completion and investment by these other airlines.

No added benefit is provided to passengers or the country by wasting taxpayer funds on propping up Biman.

Government funds should focus on ensuring first rate airport hubs, out of which well-managed airlines can operate, rather than propping up Biman’s losses, which have been over Tk1,220cr in the last four years alone, even before taking account of accumulated debts.

Taxpayer money will be better spent on training more flight engineers and pilots within the country and improving safety and infrastructure.

Taxpayer money will be better spent on improving airports rather than propping up Biman’s losses

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

Militant funding suspected as Tk20cr wired from London October 20

Vikram Khan Not surprised. I lived in London for five years, and I’ve seen more dangerous religious extremism among the Bangladeshi population in the UK than in Bangladesh! Same is the case with the Pakistani, Somali, and Nigerian immigrants in the UK. The UK is, due to an extremely lax human rights approach (and the fear to be accused of being racist or against Islam), a breeding ground

Get serious about road safety

October 22

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 21 represents N so fill N every time the figure 21 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

for potential Islamists. Their objective is, once they have the British ID (hence they can always claim to be British and enjoy special protection), they can travel to their country of origin (like Bangladesh) to form and sponsor militant Islamist groups to overthrow (democratic) governments and install a Taliban-style tyrannical government based on the Quran, and not on a manmade constitution including human rights.

How long can we hold it in?

October 19

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

Sayeeda Ahmad It is high time, beyond high time I should say! How many more injuries, maimings, deaths must we see before anything significant is done about road safety?

OM We have to punish bad drivers. Look at Dhaka during Eid. Empty eight carriageway roads, but still antisocial drivers beep and still people get killed.

Make ministers use public transport for a while; maybe that will make them think seriously.

F8 OM: Look, this particular problem requires rectification, not retribution.

Punishment will deter to some extent. But the true solution would be to reform and educate existing and future drivers, helpers, and owners of the transport companies, so that they have a positive attitude towards safe driving.

Expelled Awami League leaders top the list of illegal arms buyers October 23

Osmania “With all the women’s empowerment talk, no one has thought about the need for women who travel, and how they might need toilets.”

Great article, let a million toilets bloom. But please keep them better maintained for both genders. The magical wonderland of male toilets is hardly that inviting wherever you go in the world.

Just because it is easier for men to go against a tree, it doesn’t mean we want to, or at least not all of us.

Karl Hungus I guess a lot of people like to pretend that women aren’t capable of something as degrading or filthy like excreting bodily wastes.

RS Let proper toilets be built for the women as well; it is indeed our need, is not it? And let us learn to keep them as clean as possible.

HC orders Ebola screening at all entrances October 20

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Counterfeit (5) 4 Opening (3) 6 Therefore (4) 8 Hackneyed (5) 9 Acting part (4) 11 Worshipped image (4) 12 Very poor (5) 15 Dissolves (5) 18 Brave man (4) 20 Golf club (4) 21 Dance (5) 22 Cult (4) 23 Digit (3) 24 Abnormally fat (5)

DOWN 1 Conductor’s wand (5) 2 Cunning (5) 3 Out of sorts (5) 4 Virtuous (4) 5 Rind (4) 7 Ingrained dirt (5) 10 Plunder (4) 13 Water pitcher (4) 14 Male honey-bee (5) 15 Maxim as guiding principle (5) 16 Cavalry weapon (5) 17 Tally (5) 18 Sword handle (4) 19 Flower (4)

Nazmul Khair I can only say, wow!

Anon BD in a nutshell. Not surprised.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

rose We must know everything about the Ebola virus, and take every step to eliminate it.

Party time October 21

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

Amit Eloquent discourse on an overlooked topic.

The narrowing political spectrum – or, rather, the transformation of the spectrum into a binary – should worry us all. I hope others pay attention

PEANUTS

Madiha I completely agree with the author and I remain in awe of how far-reaching his pieces are. In this case, although he refers to specific countries, the issue of limiting political choice is increasing around the world and I am glad someone is writing about it. Now, for people to start listening.

Shabnaz Highly informative piece that, once again, touches on a key issue that no one really wants to talk about. I am, unashamedly, a fan of the writer so perhaps I am biased, but the fact remains that he has consistently produced penetrating pieces that deserve more attention than they are getting at the moment.

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Sunday, November 2, 2014

The unbeatable Modi wave n Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury

T

BIGSTOCK

Gossip girls

Y

n Swatil Binte Mahmud

ou are being watched. I am being watched. Everywhere you go, the eyes follow. The steps to the rickshaw, the departmental store, that new restaurant, a friend’s house, all are being watched and judged. Aside from the innately sexual and inappropriate stares of men, I realised there are other eyes set on me.

I am talking about the eyes of women. The women in my apartment building, my friend’s mother, my friend, my neighbour’s second cousin; they all look at me. We always assume that it’s only the men who snatch away our freedom, but we often fail to discern that women are sometimes equally to be blamed.

It is not lost on us that women often sit down in groups and talk about other women. I am extremely offended by this because I realised how much I love us, us women, and how much it hurts for me to watch others being shamed.

Sadly, I have been on both ends of the stick. I have caught myself participating in conversations where the object was to belittle another woman. However, I have mostly been the

victim in such conversations because I was different, utterly oblivious.

I am certain that if a girl wears a short skirt to a party, other women there will talk behind her back. They not only talk about her skirt, but about her character, her mind, her body, and at times about her existence; ultimately concluding that a piece of clothing is her identity.

I have caught myself participating in conversations where the object was to belittle another woman

But the question is whether or not the conclusion could be different if she wore jeans that night? The answer is no. No matter what she wears, she will be judged and not respected by other women.

A woman going to work will be

looked down upon by her own mother and female friends. Why is that? Why is she considered a “bad” girl? Is it because she decided to make her own living? Why is it such a sin to decide to become a person of her own and not want to be dependent on a male caretaker? Why can’t the girl with the scooter go to work without being sneered at by the women on the streets?

How can men respect us if we cannot respect ourselves? Why is the girl in skinny jeans and tanktop considered lewd? Why do some women feel no compassion towards the girl whose pictures were leaked by her ex-boyfriend? Why is it okay to think that the single mother living upstairs has no principles, and that her body is available to any man because she does not have a husband?

We need to stop, you and I, together. We need to stop looking at women condescendingly. Being a woman in any country is challenging, especially in a male-dominated country like ours.

Growing up, I realised that if you have to be different you need to learn to fight for yourself. But I also realised that it takes a lot more strength and emotional strain to fight another woman.

I run out of things to say when I try to make another woman understand why any rape is not justified based on what the girl was wearing. I am at a loss for words when women question a 24-year-old young woman who is not married, and is still studying and pursuing a career.

Birds of a feather do not always flock together, we are still far from being a source of strength and support for each other. The attitude of women towards other women will not change overnight in this country. The socalled norms of our society will not alter in a week. Not every girl will be allowed to get an education or work, or say “no” to an arranged marriage immediately. But I know that change will come.

But for now, all I can do is show my appreciation towards the one that has decided to break the rules and be herself. That is why I have a little message for all you strong girls out there, fighting and surviving each day: Go out, wear anything that makes you happy, and most importantly, love yourself and be yourself, no matter what others have to say. l

he most noteworthy thing of the recent state assembly elections in the Indian states of Maharashtra and Haryana was the absence of prominent provincial leaders in the BJP, and yet they won.

The vacuum was aptly filled by Prime Minister Narendra Modi himself, and to the perfect success of his political charisma. Previously, he brought success for his party in his own province Gujarat, and lately in the national election of course, that ensured his ascendency to premiership.

But in the divisive political spectrum of India, it’s not easy to score electoral victory in provinces where someone isn’t really a native. But this happened. The last statesman was Indira Gandhi, who achieved similar success. BJP won Maharashtra and Haryana riding on “Modi wave” and banking on the astute strategic master class of the new BJP president, Amit Shah.

Where other parties had been busy promoting their provincial leaders, some parties are provincial or castebased themselves; the BJP thought of making the best use of the nationwide popularity of their precious political asset at the state level. It clearly paid off, even in the caste and provincialism-ridden politics of vast India.

The party won an unprecedented number of seats in both the states. In Maharashtra, a very important, large, and economically powerful state, it became the single largest party for the first time, tripling its past tally and coming close to the vital halfway mark.

It scrapped ties with its old rightwing ally, the local Shiv Sena, sensing the electoral growth with Modi’s help.

The tactic was a success. BJP, the erstwhile junior partner of the alliance, got twice the number of seats than Sena this time around and is now inching close to forming the state government with a BJP chief minister at the helm for the first time.

Haryana, a state although medium in size, has a high in economic ranking in India. Here, the BJP success is rather more astounding. It won an absolute majority for the first time in history and without any clear provincial lead-

Swatil Binte Mahmud is a freelance contributor.

er. In both the states, Prime Minister Narendra Modi campaigned for his party extensively.

“Development” yet again, not “Hindutva,” was BJP’s prime slogan. They also talked about generating economic growth and inclusion of all caste and communities in the benefits. The message mended the social cleavage to a large extent.

When most analysts had been predicting the everlasting entry of Indian democracy into fractured coalition politics and continuing weakening central power at the federal level, Modi and his BJP suddenly turned the tide.

Their maturing and moderation have drawn substantial support from otherwise unyielding quarters like media and civil society, which helped a lot in bringing about the electoral outcomes.

A weaker central government in India has often led to policy and decision paralysis. The nation suffered domestically, and its neighbours regionally. For instance, the age-old Land Boundary Agreement (LBA) was getting stuck due to a lack of support in the houses of Indian Parliament. In the dying hours of the last UPA government, none was willing to take any political risk.

Now, BJP is very much in charge at the centre with a clear majority on its own and even consolidating further at the state level. The Modi government is now in a position to take hard decisions which could be unpopular to some quarters domestically. The new Indian government has already made promises to Bangladesh to make progress in the key sensitive issues of LBA and Teesta water sharing.

Given the gestures the new BJP government is making regionally, in general and particularly towards Bangladesh, it would be prudent for the latter not to typecast the former from any preconceived notion and engage with them constructively. That would ensure the build-up of interactive relations beneficial for both the unalienable neighbours. l Sarwar Jahan Chowdhury is the Head of Operations in Brac Institute of Governance and Development (BIGD), Brac University.

He is also a member of Regional Studies Research Cluster in the same Institute.

REUTERS

Nothing can stand in our way n Niaz Asadullah

M

uslim countries worldwide have problems with gender equality. They dominate the bottom 10 countries in the 2014 Global Gender Gap Report and none of the 10 most successful countries offering equal opportunities for men and women are Muslim.

Girls lag behind boys in school attendance, making up 54% of the outof-school child population in the Arab states, a figure that has not changed since 2000. Of the ten countries that fare the worst for child school attendance rates, seven are Muslim.

These are Nigeria, Pakistan, Ethiopia, Cote d’Ivoire, Burkina Faso, Niger, and Yemen – countries that are often considered hotspots for acts of violence against women and schoolgirls.

The near-fatal attack on Malala Yousafzai by a Taliban gunman in Pakistan two years ago reminds us of the challenging circumstances in which girls attend school in many Muslim countries. Her subsequent fight for the education for girls and children worldwide won her this year’s Nobel Peace Prize.

Earlier this year, as many as 276 schoolgirls were abducted for similar reasons in the Borno state of Nigeria. Their captors from the extremist

Boko Haram group consider secular education a grave threat to Islam.

Frequent attacks on schools in Nigeria have forced many parents to withdraw girls from education. In some states, schools have even closed down for fear of insurgent attacks.

More recently, a Boko Haram-style armed group warned schools in Pakistan against co-education. It’s little wonder Nigeria and Pakistan together account for a quarter of the world’s out-of-school children.

Why this inequity?

In many Muslim countries, women are subjected to patriarchal norms and varying degrees of restriction on economic participation. This reduces the value of girls’ education in society.

Some scholars blame culture and religion for this problem. Others say the economic structure of some Muslim countries is not conducive to women’s development. They argue patriarchal norms persist because oil rich economies limit the role of women in the paid workforce and restrict women’s participation in politics.

Not all Muslim nations suffer gender inequity in education Within the Middle East, a region widely considered to lack progress in girls’ education, Turkey is very

close to eliminating the gender gap in schooling. In Kuwait, UAE, Bahrain, and Libya more girls are in secondary school than boys and there is gender parity in primary enrolment.

Bangladesh proves that if gender equity is prioritised, rapid progress is possible

Much clearer success stories are emerging outside the Arab world. In Indonesia – the world’s most populous Muslim country – equal numbers of girls and boys are in school. In neighbouring Malaysia, boys even lag behind girls at almost all levels of education. In the Borno state of Nigeria, half of ten-year-old girls remain out of school, a situation Malaysia overcame nearly three decades ago. A similar pattern is visible in Bangladesh, where girls outnumber boys in primary as well as secondary school. Neither religious orthodoxy nor income poverty

could keep girls away from schools in this Muslim majority nation.

What explains these contrasts within the Muslim world?

The answer lies partly in different policy choices. Even though public spending on education hasn’t increased significantly, the Bangladeshi government prioritised women’s development through gender-responsive budgeting, and partnered with nonstate providers to make up for gaps in public investment.

The government introduced nation-wide scholarship schemes for school-aged girls. NGOs were also encouraged to run development programs targeting girls and women in rural communities. The coordinated push for greater educational opportunities for girls was matched by largescale deployment of rural women as providers of social services as well as micro-entrepreneurs.

This helped quickly shift the cultural norm in girls’ social participation.

The absence of such a “big push” in Pakistan probably explains why it has fallen behind Bangladesh in terms of girls’ education. The 2013 Global Gender Gap index ranks Bangladesh (75) much higher than other Muslim majority countries such as Saudi Arabia (127), Iran (130), and Pakistan (135).

Bangladesh’s global ranking improved further this year (68).

Malaysia’s approach to girls’ education was more conventional. Inspired by the success of high-performing East Asian economies such as South Korea, Malaysia prioritised education for all.

Long before experiencing double-digit growth rates, Malaysian education spending was much higher than that of other developing countries. According to the World Bank’s World Development Indicators, by 1970, gross female primary school enrolment in Malaysia was nearly three times higher than that of Nigeria.

In Malaysia, democracy, development, and equitable growth in early years reduced the demand for extreme views. This may explain why female schooling has never been undermined in Malaysia by religious extremism or violence caused by “Islamic” radical groups like Boko Haram.

What is happening in Nigeria is a reflection of the long-term deprivation of basic health and education services.

Despite plentiful natural resources, human development was never a priority. The country’s oil rent was not used productively to build schools and boost literacy rates. The absence of a functional democracy, poor governance, and widespread corruption may have fuelled demand for a puritanical

Islamic regime and allowed extremists groups like Boko Haram to thrive.

Boko Haram has emerged in the poorest part of Nigeria, where nearly three-quarters of the population live in abject poverty. Nigeria remains one of the few developing countries where more than 20% of primary school-aged children will remain out of school by 2015. The success stories of Indonesia and Malaysia highlight the importance of sustained public investment. And Bangladesh proves that if gender equity is prioritised, rapid progress is possible, despite limited economic capacity. These three countries show that neither poverty nor patriarchy can stand in the way of women’s development in Muslim societies.

The lesson for the rest of the Muslim world is that schooling gender gaps can be narrowed, as long as there is a political consensus on achieving education for all. A lack of consensus can encourage religious extremism and opposition to inclusive development.

This will further limit the prospect of women’s empowerment through education. l Niaz Asadullah is a Professor of Development Economics at the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur. He is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of Arts (RSA), UK. The article was first published on The Conversation.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

German pianist LYDIA BADER presents classical music

Sunday, November 2, 2014

BOB DYLAN confirms new album for 2015 n Entertainment Desk Bob Dylan’s upcoming covers disc “Shadows In The Night” is officially slated for a 2015 release, according to an ad inserted into advance copies of Dylan’s new The Basement Tapes Complete box set. News of the LP first came in May when Dylan posted a cover of Frank Sinatra’s 1945 hit “Full Moon and Empty Arms.”

“The track is definitely from a forthcoming album due later on this year,” a spokesperson for Dylan told Rolling Stone at the time - though the timeline has obviously shifted since then.

It’s unclear what other songs will be on the collection,

though this week Dylan began ending his live set with “Stay With Me,” a track that Sinatra turned into a hit in 1964.

“Shadows In The Night” will be Dylan’s first release since 2012’s “Tempest” and his first non-Christmas covers disc since 1993’s “World Gone Wrong.”

Dylan resumed his Never Ending Tour earlier this month. He’s doing multiple nights at theaters across North America, though his set list rarely changes. The vast majority of the songs comes from his recent albums. “She Belongs To Me” is the only track of the night he performs from his 1960s catalog and “Tangled Up In Blue” and “Simple Twist of Fate” are the only other songs he plays that came out before 1997. l

Frankenweenie

Zee Studio, 9:30pm

Young Victor conducts a science experiment to bring his beloved dog Sparky back to life.

Bad Teacher HBO, 5:07pm

A foul-mouthed seventh grade teacher who is dumped by her sugar daddy starts to pursue a colleague, thus provoking conflict with the school’s model teacher.

n Entertainment Desk A classical piano concert by famous German pianist Lydia Bader organised by the German Embassy will be held today at 7pm at the Goethe-Institut.

Bader will perform pieces of the famous German-speaking composers Mozart, Schubert, Liszt and Schapfl, covering three centuries of German musical history.

She is a well-sought after pianist, giving concerts all over Europe, in Rus-

The Matrix Reloaded

sia as well as in China. Bader performs as a soloist as well as a pianist for chamber music, together with guitarists and clarinettists. She has been playing at various significant international festivals around the world.

Her career started when she was only four years old. Taught by her father in the beginning, she secured first awards for young musicians at the age of six. Since then, she has received trainings at renowned music universities. l

CHITRANGADA SINGH to produce a film on hockey n Entertainment Desk Bollywood actress Chindrangada Singh revealed her plans of producing a sports film. The actress said: “I will soon be producing a film on hockey. While we did have a ‘Chake De India,’ we do need more good films on sports,” said Chitrangada.

“Being fit is something you do for yourself whereas being thin is what you do for others,” said Chitrangada. “People workout to look good at a dance or a party, but very few people take a larger goal in fitness,” added the actress.

Coming from an army background the actress vouches for sports and regular fitness regimes.

“My dad was in army and hence as a child I was always involved in some sport or the other. I suggest all women, and of course men, should take up a sport. When one takes up a sport it keeps them stronger and fitter for a longer time, and being fit changes your lifestyle for good.”

Encouraging the youth to dream big, the actress said, “It is important youngsters dream big, but at the same time it is important that they are realistic.

“Also disappointment should not effect ones goals. One gets to hear a lot of no before getting to hear a big yes.” l

BENEDICT CUMBERBATCH vows to keep acting into his 70s n Entertainment Desk Sherlock star Benedict Cumberbatch has said he wants to continue acting well into his 70s.

The Sherlock star, 38, said he is “in it for the long game”.

He told the Telegraph Magazine: “I’m interested in working in 40 years’ time, and turning round and talking to an actor on set and telling them stories about working with Judi Dench and Michael Gambon.

Cumberbatch plays code-breaker Alan Turing in biopic “The Imitation Game.”

Turing, regarded as one of the fathers of computing, was given a posthumous royal pardon in December for his conviction for homosexuality—or an act of “gross indecency” - in 1952, which led to his chemical castration and also saw his security clearance being withdrawn for his post-war work at GCHQ. He went on to commit suicide in 1954.

Cumberbatch described his treatment as a “massive injustice”, saying: “I miss the fact that he’s not with us and should be with us.”

He also spoke about controversy surrounding his role as WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange in “The Fifth Estate.”

Assange wrote to the actor claiming the Dreamworks production is based on a “toxic” book and believes the film “will distort events and subtract from public understanding” of his work.

Cumberbatch said: “I wrote back a very strong email that, unless he shows it, will never see the light of day. It’s one of the best pieces of writing I’ve ever done.” l

Movies Now, 9:30pm

In the second chapter of the Matrix trilogy, Zion falls under siege to the Machine Army. Only hours before 250,000 Sentinels destroy the last human enclave on Earth.

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 Stones

By Hamiduzzaman Khan Time: 11pm to 8pm Gallery Kaya

TISHA and NISHO’s troublesome marriage n Entertainment Desk A single episode drama titled “Tumi Ami” will be aired today on NTV at 9pm. Written and directed by Tuhin Hossain, the play casts Tisha and Nisho in lead roles.

Tisha is simple frank girl who says everything that come in her mind without thinking about the surround-

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 Pipra Bidda How to Train Your Dragon 2 Guardians of the Galaxy Million Dollar Arm Tarzan Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City 13/3 Ka Panthopath A scene from ‘Tumi Ami’

RHEA: Many 100cr budget films lack content n Entertainment Desk Whether a film has a big or small budget does not decide its fate at the box office, says actress Rhea Chakraborty, who believes that her new movie “Sonali Cable” is “strong on content”.

Rhea stars along with Ali Fazal and Anupam Kher in the film, and is directed by Charudutt Acharya. “‘Sonali Cable’ is not a low budget film, it’s a normal budget film. I don’t think of any movie as big or small, after all what matters is content of the film. I have seen many times in Rs 100 crore films, there is no content. In short, only money is wasted,” Rhea said in a statement.

Set in the cable internet turf war of Mumbai, “Sonali Cable” is the story of a ghetto girl and her ‘internet boys’, who take on a greedy conglomerate that is out to decimate their spirit of enterprise.

An ordinary girl puts her love, life and survival at stake, when she and her ragtag team come in the way of the expansion plans of India’s largest corporation. The film wants to establish the growing corporate crushing small businesses without any scope for co existence.

“In our film, there is everything what audience wants to see. According to me, films like ‘Sonali Cable’ are career-changing films and only few get such a chance. I’m happy that I did this film,” she added.

Last seen in “Mere Dad Ki Maruti,” the actress is also due to star in Yash Raj Films’ “Bank Chor.” l

ings and situations. On the other hand, Nisho’s life is entwined in routine work. He likes to take decisions and actions considering situations and surroundings. At one time, these two persons having contradictory characteristics conjugate to marry due to their family’s constant pressure. The drama depicts deterioration of their feud after the marriage. l

Did you know?

Adebayo Akinfenwa has scored eight goals in his last nine games in all competitions for Wimbledon

Sport

14 Manchester

supremacy on line in derby clash

Sunday, November 2, 2014

DHAKA TRIBUNE

15 Pakistan eye series

15 Federer’s

win as Aussie batsmen fail again

13

number one hopes take a hit

Anamul not worried about ‘foot work’ n Minhaz Uddin Khan from Khulna Foot work has always been a trouble for Bangladesh top order batsman Anamul Haque. The right-handed batsman, who led the Bangladesh Cricket Board XI in Kolkata and joined the national camp in Khulna a day after the team arrived, said he has put his thoughts into the issue but is also concerned as it can break down his confidence.

The 21-year-old rather takes confidence from the batsmen who did well in international cricket despite being haunted by the similar problem throughout their career.

“Everyone who plays as opener faces some kind of problem while dealing with the new balls. So if I think it as a big deal, it can affect me mentally,” Anamul told the reporters at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna yesterday.

“I am thinking about what I can do to rectify this problem. There were many cricketers in the world who continued playing with this problem but left behind their legacy making 8000 or 10000 runs. I am taking confidence from those cricketers.”

Monday’s strike withdrawn in Khulna requested for a respite from the day-long n Tribune Desk strike on the eve of the second Test Ahead of the second Test match between hosts Bangladesh and the visiting Zimbabwe at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna starting tomorrow, the southwestern city of the country received a good bit of news.

The day-long strike, scheduled for tomorrow, has been cancelled by Jamaat-e-Islami.

Khulna and its cricket loving people

match. Jamaat responded positively and cancelled tomorrow’s strike.

It is mentionable that Jamaat called a three-day strike (last Thursday, today and tomorrow) across the country after the International Crimes Tribunal handed out a death penalty to Jamaat chief Motiur Rahman Nizami recently. l

“In recent times, I worked with forward defense and forward leave with the swing ball. The new ball has been a continuous problem for me. If I work hard with these issues, I hope I will do well in ODI and Twenty20 cricket as well as Test cricket.”

Since his debut he has played just four Test matches in contrast to 22 ODIs, reflecting the team management’s lack of faith on him in the longer format.

The above mentioned might be the reason why coach Chandika Hathurusingha is thinking of playing the batsman at No 7 in the second Test against Zimbabwe starting tomorrow. According to sources close to the team, Anamul is considered in the XI as someone who will give skipper Mushfiqur Rahim better support.

“I am yet to be confirmed and the coach also did not talk to me about this.

But I have no problem to bat in any position. In fact I was not an opener, I was used to bat in the middle order. Under-19 World Cup was the first time I opened the batting. Thereafter in the last four years, I am playing as opener,” he said.

“There are many examples that a batsman who opens the innings in ODI cricket, bats at another position in Test cricket. So it’s not a problem to adjust with it.”

Citing his call-up to the squad as a “surprising” one he said, “I’ll try my best to cement my place in the Test team if I get the opportunity.” l

Gazi to join Kalpage in Khulna n Mazhar Uddin Banned off spinner Sohag Gazi will be travelling to Khulna to work closely with Bangladesh spin bowling coach Ruwan Kalpage. The Bangladesh Cricket Board earlier opted to send Gazi to Malaysia to work with former fielding coach of Bangladesh Mohammad Sala-

huddin, but busy schedule of the latter saw the board alter their decision.

“Most probably I will be travelling to Khulna on Tuesday to work under Kalpage who is with the national team at the moment. I will start for Khulna once the hartals (strike) end,” Gazi told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The 23-year-old, who was banned

A file photo shows Sohag Gazi (L) and Ruwan Kalpage speaking at SBNS on Wednesday

by the International Cricket Council for an illegal bowling action after his arm was found to have extended above the 15-degree limit after appearing in a bowling action test in the UK. He said, “If I can work for a month properly and work on my foot landing which is the main problem I am sure I can return to cricket very soon.”

Gazi was seen having a lengthy conversation with Kalpage on October 29, during the national side’s practice session in Mirpur, where the former Sri Lankan spinner chalked out a schedule for Gazi’s remedial work while tips from veteran spinner Abdur Razzak, who also faced a similar situation before, also helped.

“I am gathering mental strength and willing to work hard to make a return.

Sometimes it is frustrating to see my team playing a Test series at home and I really miss the dressing room. But this is life and I am very happy to see young spinners like Taijul [Islam] and Jubair [Hossain] along with experienced Shakib [al Hasan] guiding the side to a Test win,” said Gazi. l

Bangladesh players Taijul Islam (L) and Jubair Hossain share a light moment during their practice session in Khulna’s Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium yesterday MINHAZ UDDIN KHAN

ATN adds gold to national hockey championship n Raihan Mahmood The 30th edition of the national hockey championship is set for a golden touch as new sponsors ATN Bangla, one of the leading satellite channels of the country stepped up to craft a whole gold-emblazoned trophy and a contract of Tk2m for each of the next five years. The championship starts from November 5.

The details were revealed in a press conference at Dutch-Bangla Bank Auditorium of the Bangladesh Olympic Association yesterday.

ATN Bangla chairman Mahfuzur Rahman and Anvir Adil Khan, the joint secretary of Bangladesh Hockey Federation disclosed the ins and outs of the event.

Mahfuzur said they will provide an attractive pure gold trophy though the winners would be presented a replica.

“I assure the trophy will be attractive and will be made out of pure gold. In addition we will also provide a purse

of Tk fifty and thirty thousand each for the champions and runners-up respectively,” said Mahfuzur.

Meanwhile, Anvir said another venue outside the capital would have added extra colour to the event.

“This year we initially thought of adding Faridpur as the third venue but

I assure the trophy will be attractive and will be made out of pure gold due to unavoidable circumstances it had to be cancelled, the more hockey is played outside the capital, we believe it wins the people’s heart,” he said.

A total of 23 teams, split into six groups, will play across two venues in Dhaka and Rajshahi. The group champions will join Bangladesh Army, Faridpur, BKSP and Dhaka, the four semifinalists from last year, in the final round which is expected to start form November 12. l

Zimbabwe’s Ervine suffers thumb blow

n Minhaz Uddin Khan from Khulna Zimbabwe received a big blow as middle-order batsman Craig Ervine injured his left-thumb yesterday and is doubtful for the second Test against the Tigers starting tomorrow.

The 29-year-old was struck off pacer Tendai Chatara while batting at the nets. “He (Ervine) was hurt off a rising delivery facing Chatara. We took him for a medical scan immediately and the injury seemed serious to be honest,” informed Zimbabwe manager Mufaro Chiturumani.

Ervine scored an unbeaten 85 in the three-day warm-up against BCB XI and made 34 and 10 in the first Test in Dhaka.

Zimbabwe opener Vusi Sibanda termed the time of the injury as “harsh” before saying, “We have no option but to win this game. All the members in the team are hopeful and looking forward to the game. I hope the result will be a positive one for us.” l

‘Mashrafe calls me Maa’

n Minhaz Uddin Khan from Khulna

Every time any high-profile cricket match took place in the last seven years at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium (SANS) in Khulna, focus automatically fell on late national cricketer Manzarul Islam Rana.

Once someone steps inside SANS, attention diverts to Rana for the obvious reason.

The beloved cricketer hailing from Khulna passed away in a tragic road accident in 2007 becoming the youngest Test cricketer to die at the tender age of 22. To honour his life, a stand in the stadium was named after Rana.

The initiative to name a stand after the Khulna cricketer was taken by the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) in 2012 when the hosts faced the West Indies in a Test match, the maiden Test hosted by SANS. To name a stand after his son - this was the only request of Jamira Khatun, Rana’s mother.

“I am thankful to [BCB president Nazmul Hasan] Papon bhai for that. This is the only thing I ever wanted since he (Rana) left us,” she told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

This correspondent, accompanied by a couple of other media personnel, was given a warm welcome into the two-storied house which is literally empty.

Jamira informed she mostly lives alone these days since Rana’s father, a cancer patient, breathed his last in 2009. “I have two more sons (both older than Rana). One lives in Dhaka while the other resides in Dubai so I am all on my own most of the times,” she said.

There is a norm in Rana’s home. Anyone who is close to Rana is directly taken to his room located on the first floor upon their visit to the cricketer’s home. “You are here because of my son so it is better to sit in his room,” she said.

Entering the room, one will easily

understand the love Rana had for the game while looking at his belongings. There are trophies, medals, dummy bank cheques and cricket gears of the left-arm spinner reminding everyone of his playing days.

“There are many people coming in – mostly reporters – to see me, ask me how I am doing. I am thankful to them,” said Jamira.

Jamira informed that no aid has been provided by the BCB to Rana’s family but then again, she said, she cannot ask for it.

“He does not play for the country anymore so it will not be right. But there is one thing

Rana’s mother Jamira Khatun recalls memories at their residence in Khulna yesterday

that always irks me – Rana was unable to play for his country at his home ground.”

The left-arm spinner was very close to playing the first ODI against Zimbabwe in Khulna in 2006. Jamira said Rana was quite confident of playing the game but some last-minute changes saw him ruled out of contention ending his dream of playing in front of his home crowd. He never got such an opportunity again.

Rana, a good friend to many of his former and current national cricketers, is always remembered – his mother informed.

“I often receive calls from many of them but its Kaushik (Mashrafe bin Mortaza) who visits me and takes care of me the most. He is like my son and calls me Maa (mother),” said a trembling Jamira with teary eyes.

Rana played six Tests and 25 ODIs for Bangladesh. He was only 22 when a tragic motorbike accident took away his life alongside that of Sajjadul Hasan, a local first-class cricketer who died on his way to the hospital.

Both players had finished playing a match in Fatullah the previous day, where Manjural took four wickets. Their motorbike clashed with an incoming bus, thus depriving the country of a priceless and valuable life that was only beginning to realise its potential.l

Winners of the SWID Bangladesh national indoor games pose with the guests at its headquarters yesterday COURTESY

SWID Indoor Games end n Raihan Mahmood The first edition of Society for the Welfare of Intellectually Disabled (SWID) Bangladesh National Indoor Games, sponsored by Walton, concluded at the organisation’s head office, SWID Alamgir MA Kabir Auditorium, yesterday.

State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan distributed the prizes as the chief guest. Additional director of Walton FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn, Bangladesh Development Group vice president Dilara Mustafa, SWID president Jawaherul Islam Mamun and member secretary Hemayetuddin Ahmed were

also present on the occasion.

All the first, second and third prize winners received Taka three, two and one thousand respectively. A total of 100 intellectually disabled and autistic children participated in the two-day event.

The winners are - table tennis (boys) – Rais (1st), Rabbi (2nd), Dipu (3rd) and (girls) – Farzana Tanzia (1st), Nipa (2nd), Murfika (3rd). In badminton (boys) – Tarikul (1st), Haripad (2nd), Monir (3rd) and (girls) – Rabeya (1st), Munni (2nd), Kaniz Fatema (3rd). In bou chi (boys) – Mujahid (1st), Asadullah (2nd), Tuhin (3rd) and (girls) Chameli (1st), Zakia (2nd), Rumana (3rd). l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Sunday, November 2, 2014

Manchester supremacy on line in derby clash n AFP, London Manchester football supremacy will be at stake at the Etihad Stadium on Sunday when Premier League rivals Manchester City and Manchester United face off in a potentially momentous derby showdown.

United goalkeeping great Peter Schmeichel, who also played for their cross-town rivals, opined this week that City’s status as champions meant that they are presently “a bigger club” than United.

His words echoed a claim made in February by City manager Manuel Pellegrini, whose side beat United 4-1 and 3-0 last season en route to finishing 22 points above the 20-time champions in the league.

City go into Sunday’s encounter four points above their neighbours in third place in the table -- six points shy of leaders Chelsea -- but recent events suggest the gap may be narrowing.

City have gone three games without victory, falling further behind Chelsea after a 2-1 loss at West Ham United last weekend and then seeing their reign as League Cup holders ended by Newcastle United on Wednesday.

Last week’s 2-2 draw away to CSKA Moscow, meanwhile, left them facing a battle to qualify from Champions League Group E ahead of a high-stakes return fixture against the Russian champions next week.

Pellegrini complained that his players had shown a “lack of trust” in each other following the 2-0 loss at home to Newcastle, but he believes their downturn in performances will prove short-lived.

“I think they know perfectly what

we are doing and I am absolutely sure we will return to our normal performance,” the Chilean said in his pregame press conference.

“It is a very important game, but every game has just three points, so it is very important for us to just add three points.”

Compounding City supporters’ anxiety is the knowledge that the previous time they won the title, in 2012, they failed to kick on the following season and finished 11 points adrift of eventual champions United.

United struck a decisive blow when they went to the Etihad in December of that campaign, winning 3-2 through an injury-time Robin van Persie free-kick to move six points clear of City.

FIXTURES Man City v Man United Aston Villa v Tottenham Another stoppage-time goal by Van Persie means that United approach Sunday’s game with renewed confidence, after the Dutch striker earned his side a morale-boosting 1-1 draw at home to Chelsea last weekend.

It was the kind of late salvo they specialised in under legendary former manager Alex Ferguson, and with some £150 million ($240 million, 192 million euros) of new talent in their ranks in the form of players such as Angel di Maria and Radamel Falcao, it has galvanised belief that United are moving in the right direction under Louis van Gaal.

“This is the biggest derby that I shall manage,” Van Gaal said on Friday.

“It’s one of 38 matches, but for the fans it is unbelievably big as a rivalry. I have felt that with some of the players,

Mancheter United’s Angel di Maria (2L), Marcos Rojo (C) and Manchester City’s Pablo Zabaleta unite for a joint Premier League Kicks charity event at the Manchester College in Ardwick ahead of their Manchester derby today. The Argentine trio, representing the Manchester United Foundation and City in the Community, also put some young fans through their paces at a training session on Friday - while they showed off a few flicks and tricks to the youngsters INTERNET but also especially with (assistant manager) Ryan Giggs.

“When he presented the analysis on City, I felt more tension with him. It was good to see.

“That is our goal, to win. It is possible. We are growing, we are developing

Newcastle stun sorry Liverpool n AFP, London Liverpool slumped to their fourth defeat of the Premier League season on Saturday as Spanish substitute Ayoze Perez earned in-form Newcastle United a 1-0 victory at St James’ Park.

Runners-up to Manchester City last season, Liverpool saw Philippe Coutinho test Newcastle goalkeeper Tim Krul with a second-half header, but Perez gave the hosts victory in the 73rd minute after a blunder by Alberto Moreno.

It was Newcastle’s fourth consecutive victory in all competitions, fol-

lowing their shock League Cup win over holders City in mid-week, and saw Alan Pardew’s side provisionally climb to ninth place in the table.

Liverpool, for whom striker Mario Balotelli endured another frustrating after-

RESULT Newcastle

1-0

Liverpool

Perez 73

noon, are now nine points behind leaders Chelsea having played a game more.

Brendan Rodgers’s side now face a daunting trip to European champions Real Madrid in the Champions League on Tuesday, before hosting Chelsea in

the league next weekend.

Newcastle lost Gabriel Obertan to a thigh injury in the 25th minute, but they went close to opening the scoring when Glen Johnson had to head a shot

by Papiss Cisse off the Liverpool line.

After an incursion down the Newcastle left led by Moussa Sissoko, the Frenchman’s pass into the box was intercepted by Moreno, but the Spaniard made the error of taking a second touch and Perez lashed home.

Newcastle substitute Remy Cabella saw an attempt to inflate the hosts’ lead thwarted by Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet after a one-two with Perez, but Pardew’s men held out regardless. l

tion during that game.

United captain Wayne Rooney, the top scorer in Manchester derbies, will make his return after completing a three-match suspension, but fellow striker Falcao remains unavailable due to injury. l

ourselves. What we have seen of City in the last few matches was not so good.

You never know.”

United have been given a further boost by the news that David Silva will miss out for City after sustaining a knee injury against Newcastle that is likely

to keep the Spain midfielder out for around three weeks.

Samir Nasri is in line to deputise after making his return following groin surgery against Newcastle, while Yaya Toure is expected to play after a groin scare saw him substituted as a precau-

Ferdinand risks further FA action n AFP, London

Zidane cleared to coach during appeal

Rio Ferdinand risked putting himself on a fresh collision course with the Football Association on Friday after apparently endorsing a tweet which accused the governing body of double standards in giving him a threematch ban.

The Queens Park Rangers defender was suspended for three games and fined £25,000 ($40,000, 31,800 euros) by the Football Association on Wednesday for referring to the mother of another Twitter user as a ‘sket’, a derogatory slang term for a promiscuous woman. l

n AFP, Madrid Zinedine Zidane has been cleared to continue coaching Real Madrid’s reserve side while the Spanish Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAD) considers his club’s appeal against a three-month ban, Real said Friday.

On Monday, Zidane was banned for three months for not having the necessary qualifications to coach in Spain.

Real appealed the decision and now the France legend, the two-goal hero of their World Cup final victory over Brazil on home soil in 1998, has been

allowed to continue in his role.

Zidane’s assistant Santiago Sanchez, who was also sanctioned by the Spanish Federation (RFEF), has been likewise cleared to continue his duties.

“The TAD acquiesced to the club’s request for a provisional suspension (of the ban) which allows... the coaches of Real Madrid Castilla, Santiago Sanchez and Zinedine Zidane, to perform their professional activities until such time as a decision is taken on Real Madrid’s appeal against the decision taken by the (RFEF) appeal committee,” said Real in a statement.l

Milan eager to get back to winning ways n Agencies

Members of the South African Police Services (SAPS) stand guard at the coffin of Senzo Meyiwa in front of thousands of South Africans who gather at the Moses Mabhida stadium to pay their final respects to South African football captain and Orlando Pirates goalkeeper during his funeral in Durban yesterday AFP

Resurgent Gladbach eye club record n

AFP, Berlin

Borussia Moenchengladbach can equal a 40-year-old club record by beating Hoffenheim on Sunday to stay second to Bayern Munich in the Bundesliga, but coach Lucien Favre just wants three points.

Favre’s Gladbach are unbeaten in 16 matches in all competitions this season and can match the club’s record from the 1970/71 season, when they won the league title, with a home win over undefeated Hoffenheim, who are fourth in the Bundesliga.

Favre turns 57 on Sunday, but Gladbach’s Swiss coach says all he wants is

to see his team break down the compact Hoffenheim defence to stay hot on the heels of Pep Guardiola’s league leaders Bayern.

“My birthday isn’t important, the only thing that matters is the game

FIXTURES M’gladbach v Hoffenheim Cologne v Freiburg Paderborn v Hertha Berlin against Hoffenheim,” he said, having seen his side beat Hamburg 2-0 last year on his birthday.

Along with Bayern, Gladbach and Hoffenheim are the only teams still unbeaten in the Bundesliga after nine matches.l

Serie A giants Milan have enjoyed a strong start to life under new coach Filippo Inzaghi, losing just one of their nine league games so far this season - with that defeat coming at home to champions Juventus.

A return of 16 points is enough for Milan to sit fourth in the table, but consecutive 1-1 draws with Fiorentina and Cagliari has seen them fall six points adrift of top two Juve and Roma.

And Menez, who joined the club from Paris Saint-Germain in June, is eager for Milan to rediscover their killer touch against Giuseppe Iachini’s struggling Palermo.

“I think the important thing is that we haven’t lost a match, apart from the Juve game,” the Frenchman told a media conference on Friday.

Menez made a superb start to his career at San Siro, scoring three times in his first two Serie A appearances.

The 27-year-old has since endured something of a drought in front of goal,

FIXTURES Chievo Sampdoria Torino Udinese Milan Cesena Lazio

v v v v v v v

Sassuolo Fiorentina Atalanta Genoa Palermo Verona Cagliari

though, failing to find the net since his double in the thrilling 5-4 victory at Parma and was benched for the draw at Cagliari in midweek.

However, the Frenchman insists he is not overly concerned by his dry run, and hopes to get back among the

Henry, Donovan seek final glory n Reuters Major League Soccer’s playoffs kick off in earnest on Saturday with two of the league’s best known players, Landon Donovan and Thierry Henry, seeking to end their careers on a high note.

LA Galaxy forward Donovan, the league’s all-time top scorer, has announced he will retire at the end of this campaign while former France and Arsenal striker Henry’s contract with New York Red Bulls runs out at the end of the playoffs.

The 37-year-old Henry has given no indication of his plans after this season but club officials have made it clear that even if the Frenchman does continue to play it is very unlikely to be in New York.

Henry joined the Red Bulls from Barcelona in 2010 and while his time in MLS is widely viewed as successful, he has not been able to bring New York,

founding members of the league, the title which has eluded them so far.

On Thursday, a 90th-minute winner from English forward Bradley Wright-Phillips, the league’s top scorer with 27 goals in the regular season, ensured New York beat defending MLS Cup champions Sporting Kansas City in the knockout “play-in” round.

New York host D.C. United in the first leg of their Eastern Conference semi-final at Red Bull Arena on Sunday.

D.C. United were the worst team in MLS last year with just three wins from 34 regular season games but having kept faith with coach Ben Olsen they went from worst to first in the Eastern Conference.

The other East match-up sees Columbus Crew, New York in the 2008 final, up against the New England Revolution, who have finished runners-up in MLS Cup four times but have yet to

get their hands on the silverware.

Donovan’s long farewell from soccer has involved a final appearance for the U.S national team and a celebration of his career after his final regular season game with the Galaxy but he will hope his true send-off comes with a fourth MLS Cup. The route to the final is a tough one though for LA with a two-legged game against a strong Real Salt Lake kicking off in Utah on Saturday. RSL were beaten finalists last season and won the Cup in 2009 - beating Donovan and the Galaxy in the final.

Should the Galaxy make it to the conference final they will face either FC Dallas or the Seattle Sounders, the top seed in the West, who with Nigerian Obafemi Martins and American international Clint Dempsey in attack believe they have a real chance of winning the title. l

goals soon.

“The important thing is to win, then scoring is a secondary,” he added.

“We all know that I can do better - I’m trying to find my best physical form. I feel responsibility from the team, I want to get back on form and help the side.

“We’re a good team and we must keep working. I’m very happy in Milan - it’s a city that everybody likes.”

Milan skipper Riccardo Montolivo returned to training on Thursday following the broken leg he suffered in May, but Sunday’s game will come too soon for the Italy midfielder.

Palermo, who sit 15th in Serie A, have won just one of their last seven trips to face Milan.

However, Iachini’s men will travel to San Siro in buoyant spirits after Luca Rigoni’s 81st-minute goal against his former club Chievo gave them a valuable 1-0 victory in midweek. l

Monaco stall as Reims grab late equaliser n Reuters, Paris Monaco’s rise up the Ligue 1 standings was halted when the principality side were held 1-1 at home by Stade de Reims on Friday.

Leonardo Jardim’s side, who were looking for a third consecutive league victory, started well with Elderson Echiejile’s first-helf opener but Benjamin Moukandjo equalised nine minuets from time.

Monaco could have moved level on 20 points with third-placed Olympique Lyon but the draw left them in seventh place with 18 points from 12 games, seven points behind leaders Olympique Marseille who host RC Lens on Sunday.

Echiejile put the home side ahead after 20 minuets when he fired home from Bernardo Silva’s cross.l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Sunday, November 2, 2014

QUICK BYTES

SECOND TEST, DAY 3 Pakistan 1st innings 570-6 dec (Younis Khan 213, Azhar Ali 109, Misbah-ul Haq 101; M. Starc 2-86) Australia 1st innings (overnight 22-1) D. Warner c Shah b Rahat 19 C. Rogers c Ahmed b Khan 5 N. Lyon b Rahat 15 G. Maxwell b Babar 37 M. Clarke b Khan 47 S. Smith lbw b Babar 0 M. Marsh c Rahat b Khan 87 B. Haddin b Shah 10 M. Johnson c Hafeez b Shah 0 P. Siddle c Shah b Hafeez 28 M.Starc not out 0 Extras: (lb6, nb7) 13 Total: (all out; 67.2 overs) 261

Japan interested to play Bangladesh in December The Japan Olympic football team are interested to visit Bangladesh in December but they will play only one friendly against the hosts. The Bangladesh Football Federation earlier invited the Japan Olympic team for two friendly matches against Bangladesh.

Japan Football Association (JFA) informed BFF they would not be able to stay in Bangladesh for a sufficient amount of time to play two friendlies.

“Japan told us (BFF) they will not play two matches because of their busy schedule. They want to come in the middle of December. As their visit could conflict with our schedules of Victory Day it could be held three or four days later,” said BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday. The Bangladesh national team are also likely to play friendly matches against China in March.

–Shishir Hoque

Bowling Khan 14-1-60-3 (1nb), Hafeez 5.2-013-1, Babar 25-5-94-2, Rahat 9-0-41-2, Shah 14-2-47-2 Pakistan 2nd innings Ahmed Shehzad b Johnson 14 Hafeez c Starc b Johnson 3 Azhar Ali not out 21 Younis Khan not out 16 Extras: (b7) 7 Total: (for two wkts; 21 overs) 61

Junaid out of NZ series with injury Pakistan will be without leading paceman, Junaid Khan for the series against New Zealand after he was advised to undergo another six weeks of rehabilitation following his knee injury. The 24-year-old left armer, who has been Pakistan’s best fast bowler in recent months, had to return home from the United Arab Emirates earlier this month at the start of the series against Australia after sustaining a knee injury during a practice session. “Junaid was examined by an orthopedic surgeon, Dr Waqar Farooqi. He was advised to continue with the existing protocol of rehabiliation with gradual increments over the next three weeks,” the Pakistan Cricket Board said in a statement on Friday. “His MRI will be repeated after another six weeks to measure improvement.” Pakistan had also lost another left arm paceman, Wahab Riaz, with a knee injury during the second one-day international against Australia last month and he also had to return home for rehabilitation at the national cricket academy. The PCB reported that Wahab had shown “impressive” improvement.

–Reuters

DAY’S WATCH Ten Cricket 12:00PM Pakistan v Australia 2nd Test, day 4

Star Sports 1 2:00PM India v Sri Lanka 1st ODI 1:45AM Italian Serie A Milan v Palermo

Star Sports 2 5:00PM Spanish La Liga Athletic Bilbao v Sevilla 7:30PM Indian Super League Mumbai v Kerala

Star Sports 4 English Premier League 7:30PM Man City v Man United 10:00PM Aston Villa v Tottenham 1:30AM Formula One US GP: Main Race

Ten Action French Ligue 1

Pakistan pacer Imran Khan celebrates after bowling out Australia skipper Michael Clarke during the third day of their second Test at the Zayed International Cricket Stadium in Abu Dhabi yesterday AFP

Pakistan eye series win as Aussie batsmen fail again n AFP, Abu Dhabi Pakistan tightened their grip on the second Test and the series after the third day’s play against Australia, stretching their overall lead to 370 at stumps in Abu Dhabi on Saturday.

Pakistan were 61-2 at the close in their second innings with Azhar Ali unbeaten on 21 and Younis Khan on 16 after another batting collapse saw Australia almost squander any chance of levelling the series.

Australia were dismissed for 261 in their first innings, 309 behind Pakistan’s first-innings total of 570-6 declared, but Misbah-ul Haq did not enforce the follow-on and chose to bat again to set a big target on the fourth day.

Mitchell Johnson (2-29) gave the Pakistanis an early scare with the wickets of Ahmed Shehzad (14) and Moham-

mad Hafeez (three) but Ali and Younis ensured Pakistan did not surrender their strong position.

Australia once again failed to post a big total, with Mitchell Marsh hitting 87 and Michael Clarke scoring 47.

Australia had hoped skipper Clarke, who managed just two and three in the first Test, would bat long enough to counter the Pakistan attack but he fell after a good start.

Clarke looked well set during his 62-ball spell at the crease, hitting seven boundaries before he was bowled through the gap with a sharp incoming delivery by paceman Imran Khan who finished with 3-60. Clarke added 64 for the sixth wicket with Marsh, who batted solidly and hit a six off Zulfiqar Babar and then took three runs to complete his half-century off just 56 balls.

But wickets fell at regular intervals,

with Yasir Shah dismissing Brad Haddin (10) and Johnson for a duck to leave Australia struggling at 199-8.

Marsh added 62 for the ninth wicket with Peter Siddle but miscued a defensive shot and was caught off Khan. He hit 13 boundaries and a six during his obstinate 116-ball knock.

Hafeez wrapped up the innings when he dismissed Siddle for 28. Rahat Ali (2-41), Shah (2-47) and Babar (2-94) also chipped in with useful wickets.

Resuming at 22-1, Australia lost David Warner in the sixth over of the day when the left-hander played straight into the hands of point on a short delivery from Rahat. Glenn Maxwell, who made 37, tried to take the attack to the bowlers with two boundaries and hit a six off Babar but the veteran spinner had the last laugh when he spun one across the bat to hit the off stump. l

n Reuters, Paris Roger Federer’s hopes of knocking Novak Djokovic off the top of the ATP world rankings before the end of the year took a hit when he lost to big-serving Canadian Milos Raonic in the Paris Masters quarter-finals on Friday.

The Swiss second seed was beaten 7-6(5) 7-5 and Djokovic later saw off Britain’s Andy Murray 7-5 6-2 to advance to the semi-finals of a tournament he won last year.

Federer had narrowed the points gap on Djokovic in recent weeks but defeat in Bercy halted his charge, while Japan’s Kei Nishikori and Raonic completed the line-up for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals which will be played in London from Nov. 9-16.

All is not lost for Federer, however, as the Swiss is able to boost his points tally in the Davis Cup final against France.

“Milos played well. As I said, I always thought it was going to get solved in London,” Federer, who beat Raonic in the Wimbledon semi-final this year, told a news conference.

“Whether I am number one at the end of this year or one or two weeks later next year, it doesn’t really matter.

Novak seems to be fit, anyway.”

Seventh seed Raonic, who qualified for London after Nishikori beat Spanish fourth seed Ferrer 3-6 7-6 (5) 6-4 to become the first Asian singles player to qualify for the season-ending showpiece, served 21 aces to beat Federer for the first time in seven attempts.

Raonic will face Tomas Berdych in the semi-finals after the Czech booked his place in London with a 6-7(4) 6-4 6-4 victory over South African Kevin Anderson. Djokovic, who edged a close first set against Murray before running through the second, will take on sixth

Bowling Johnson 3-0-29-2, Lyon 10-3-19-0, Starc 5-2-6-0, Siddle 3-3-0-0

Prolific Younis wants to be remembered as ‘team man’ n AFP, Abu Dhabi

Team-man not greatness is what Younis Khan wants to be remembered for in Pakistan’s cricket history after his epic double hundred in the second Test against Australia in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

Younis, 36, cracked a magnificent 213 to guide Pakistan to an imperious 570-6 declared in their first innings, leaving them in a strong position for their first series win over Australia in 20 years after winning the first Test by 221 runs in Dubai.

At close on the second day Australia were 22-1, trailing by 548 runs.

Younis completed his 8,000 Test runs during the knock, third behind his illustrious countryman Javed Miandad (8832) and Inzamam-ul Haq (8829).

In all 28 batsmen have scored 8,000 or more runs in Tests with India’s Sachin Tendulkar (15,921) on top.

Younis is now Pakistan’s highest

Federer’s number one hopes take a hit seed Nishikori.

Federer appeared relieved that he would have a little more time to prepare for the Tour Finals.

The 17-times grand slam champion never found the key on Raonic’s huge serve and managed to engineer only one break point, in the 10th game of the second set when the Canadian bombed down an ace to fend off a set point.

A superb backhand pass in the next game allowed Raonic to break the Federer serve and he closed out the match in style.

Fifth-seeded Berdych, who won on his Bercy debut in 2005, became the sixth player to secure his place in London.

After losing the opening set tiebreak, he found his range on serve to level and recovered from a break down in the third set to finally subdue Anderson and qualify for the year-ender for the fifth year in succession. l

Test centurion with 27.

During his 181-run fourth wicket stand with Misbah-ul Haq (101) he became the highest century partnership maker with his skipper on 11, beating the pairs of Miandad and Mudassar Nazar and Inzamam and Mohammad Yousuf who had ten stands of over 100.

Younis said he still wasn’t among the greats of Pakistan cricket.

“I am not great .. like Javed, Inzamam, Yousuf or Hanif Mohammad. I can’t compare myself with them,” Younis said after the day’s play.

“The era I am playing in is easy for me compared to theirs. I want to be remembered as a team-man who loves to serve and his performance makes his country proud and win.”

Younis wants his team inflict a whitewash on Australia.

Younis admitted it was tough to overcome the disappointment of being axed from the preceding one-day series, which Pakistan lost 3-0. l

Marathon champion Jeptoo fails doping test n Reuters, Nairobi Kenya’s Rita Jeptoo, winner of the Boston and Chicago Marathons for the last two years, has failed an out-of-competition doping test, Athletics Kenya said on Friday.

“Athletics Kenya is disappointed to announce that we have received communication from IAAF in regards to the doping test results of above named athlete through the ‘A’ sample collected during out of competition on 25th September 2014,” they said in a statement.

Athletics Kenya did not give more details on what substance the test had found.

Jeptoo, 33, could not be reached on Friday, but after a meeting with senior athletics officials on Thursday, she said the accusation was false.l

Mutai seeks rare NYC Marathon treble

7:00PM FC Nantes v Stade Rennais 9:30PM Bordeaux v Toulouse

n AFP, New York

2:00AM Olympic Marseille v De Lens

Neo Prime German Bundesliga 8:30PM Monchengladbach v 1899 Hoffenheim 10:30PM FC Koln v SC Freiburg

Sony Six NBA 14-15: Regular Season 6:00AM Oklahoma City v Denver 8:30AM Golden State v LA Lakers 1:45PM Ram Slam T20 Knights v Warriors 9:45PM Lions v Dolphins 6:00PM World Kabaddi League 2014 Bhopal: 32nd 3:00AM Major League Soccer 2014 DC United v Sporting KC/NY Red Bulls

15

People, wearing plastic made bubble balls, enjoy a three-on-three game of bubble-soccer at the National Museum of Emerging Science and Innovation in Tokyo yesterday. The museum offers visitors a chance to experience the new Norwegian born sport AFP

Geoffrey Mutai will try to become just the third man to win the New York City Marathon three times in a row on Sunday.

The last man to accomplish the feat was Alberto Salazar in 1980, ‘81 and ‘82.

Another American, Bill Rodgers, won four straight titles in New York immediately before Salazar’s run, while Mutai’s two wins to date came in 2011 and 2013 -- with the 2012 edition cancelled because of Hurricane Sandy.

Kenya’s Mutai will be trying to make it three-for-three in New York, hoping to rebound from a 2:08.18 at the London marathon where he finished sixth in a race won by Wilson Kipsang.

The occasional training partners will clash again, with Mutai hoping to take advantage of Kipsang’s inexperience on the New York course to reassert himself over a rival he has beaten in four of their five head-to-head meetings.

Kipsang was eclipsed as the world’s fastest marathon runner just a few weeks ago when Dennis Kimetto and

Emmanuel Mutai ran under Kipsang’s previous world record of 2:03:23 at the Berlin Marathon.

The hilly, demanding course, predicted windy weather and lack of pace-setters make New York unlikely to produce a world mark.

But Kipsang will hit the streets of the Big Apple for the first time buoyed by the fact that he has won his last two marathon starts, in Berlin in 2013 and in April, when he shattered the London course record.

With a win in New York, Kipsang could overtake Kimetto for the World Marathon Majors series bonus of $500,000 (400,000 euros).

“It’s not a big pressure for me so much because many of the guys, we are really racing together,” he said. “So it’s just a matter of running my own race and targeting really to win.”

Ethiopian contenders Lelisa Desisa and Gebre Gebremariam are also contenders. Desisa won his marathon debut last year in Dubai in just under 2:05, and followed up with a 2013 Boston Marathon win.

Desisa dropped out of this year’s Boston Marathon at the 40-kilometer mark, but won a half-marathon in October. Gebremariam, 31, won the New York Marathon in 2010.l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Sunday, November 2, 2014

3 cops among 4 arrested over extortion charge RAB and police give contradictory statements about the arrest n Mohammad Jamil Khan Three police officials and the driver of their car were arrested early yesterday on charge of demanding extortion from a man in the capital’s Kuril.

The arrestees were Assistant Sub-Inspectors Mir Sirajul Islam and Kaisar Ahmed, and Constable Abdur Rahman – all three of Bhatara police station and driver Md Asaduzzaman.

RAB and Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), however, gave conflicting information of the arrest.

According to information from both sides, Sirajul and Kaisar arrested a man and a woman - Sahjahan Shamsu and Borsha - in a flat in Bhatara on charges of engaging in illicit acts. The arrestees were put in the police van but the driver just drove around without heading to police station.

The policemen at one point demanded money from the arrestees but Shamsu said he had no money with him.

Shamsu was then told to call his relatives for money. He was also asked to tell his relatives that he had been abducted and the money was needed for his release.

Shamsu’s nephew Abu Zafar told the Dhaka Tribune he lodged a general diary with Khilkhet police station and also a complaint with RAB 1 after getting a call from his uncle.

Tuhin Mohammad Masud, commanding officer of RAB 1, told the Dhaka Tribune Zafar in his complaint said that his uncle had been abducted by miscreants and Tk1 lakh was demanded in ransom.

“With his complaint, Zafar also

enclosed a copy of the general diary filed with Khilkhet police station on Friday night. RAB then took position near Kuril flyover where the money was asked to be taken to. The four along with Shamsu and Borsha arrived there,” he said.

The four identified themselves as police and were handed over to Bhatara police, he added.

Meanwhile, DMP Deputy Commissioner (media) Masudur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune that Gulshan division police arrested three policemen and a driver based on information that a team of police had demanded money from a person after arresting him.

“Police made the arrests as part of taking action against dishonest law enforcers. The arrested man was Sahjahan, who was found with a woman in a house when the police team raided it. The team demanded Tk50,000 from Sahjahan’s relatives for his release,” he said.

“Based on the information, another police team arrested them and a RAB team also arrived on the spot in the meantime. However, RAB did not make the arrests,” added Masudur.

A case was filed by Zafar with Bhatara police station against the three police officials and the driver.

The RAB 1 commanding officer, however, said Masudur’s statement was wrong. “RAB arrested the four and handed them over to police,” he claimed.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Court sent the three policemen and the driver to jail after Bhatara police had produced them in the court yesterday evening. Metropolitan Magistrate Md Mizanur Rahman passed the order. l

A large part of the road under the Mayor Hanif Flyover in the capital’s Sayedabad area has turned into a truck parking lot obstructing smooth vehicular movement on one of the entry points to the capital SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Bounty for Bardhaman bomb blast fugitives n Mohammad Jamil Khan

India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is offering cash rewards for information contributing to the arrest of 12 absconding accused persons in the Bardhaman bomb blast case, four of whom are described as “Suspected Nationals of Bangladesh.”

The agency offered the highest bounty of Indian Rs10 lakh for five fugitives, four of whom were allegedly Bangladeshi.

Law enforcement agencies in Bang-

ladesh said they have yet to get any information about the matter.

Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of the Detective Branch of Police, one of the main law enforcement agencies dealing with militant activities, said his agency had not received any official confirmation or information about the Bardhaman blast investigation from India.

Lt Col Abul Kalam Azad, director of the intelligence wing of the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB), told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday they had no new in-

formation on the issue.

The NIA, the Indian Central government agency probing the blast case, listed the names of the militants next to their photographs, last known addresses in West Bengal and physical descriptions on their website.

Informants’ identities would be kept secret, the press release said.

The alleged Bangladeshis with Indian Rs10 lakh on their heads are Kausar, Nasirullah alias Suhali, Sajid, described as the “Chief of the Burdwan Module,”

Faulty safety gear at BSEC, Amar Desh 3 years later, no trial yet n for mayor’s murder Ashif Islam Shaon

The BSEC building in the capital’s Karwan Bazar which caught fire on Friday from the office of the daily Amar Desh and burnt two other private firms on the 10th floor had some faults in its fire fighting system, officials say.

The newspaper office which was burnt completely had inadequate fire fighting equipment, said a fire official after visiting the floor yesterday, on the first day of investigation.

The five-member probe committee headed by Fire Service’s Deputy Director Sheikh Mizanur Rahman visited the floor of the Bangladesh Steel and Engineering Corporation building around noon.

A committee member said the floor did not have auto-ventilation system.

As a result, the fumes spread throughout the floor and then went to the other floors through the staircases and reached the ground floor.

“Most of the offices were closed since it was a weekend. Roughly 150 people were inside the building when the fire began and all of them managed to come out unhurt. Had there been more people, there were chances of suf-

focation and deaths,” the official said.

The emergency staircase is narrow and piled with papers and materials on almost every floor, he added.

“According to our recommendations in 2007, the BSEC authorities were supposed to build two fire exit staircases outside the building. But they built one. As a result, there were many people trapped on the upper floors.”

A Fire Service source said at the newspaper office they found some fire extinguishers, but most of the employees did not know how to use those.

Probe body Chief Mizan said they had collected names and addresses of the witnesses present in the building and the Amar Desh office during the fire. The committee will talk to them today.

“We will try to submit the probe report within seven days and it will be made public,” he said. About their first day’s investigation, Mizan said they had inspected the whole floor, captured video footages and gathered information.

The Amar Desh office was fully burnt, while offices of a lawyer and an accessories distribution company partly damaged, he said.

Asked if electricity connection was

restored in the building, he said all the floors, except for the 10th floor, were given connections, Mizam said.

In response to another question, he said the fire had not affected the structure of the building. “The fire only destroyed inner part of the floor.”

Meanwhile, members of another five-member body headed by Director (finance) Syed Muzammel Haque of the BSEC also visited the spot yesterday.

Masud Hasan, secretary of the BSEC, claimed that there was no lack of fire safety in the building. “The fire service officials inspected the building earlier and okayed the safety measured taken by us.”

Asked about their yesterday’s findings, he said: “We will let you know the detail after probe report is submitted.”

No casualty was reported in the third fire incident at the building since February 2007. It houses offices of around 30 private institutions, including two television channels – NTV and RTV. Four people were killed and 30 others injured when a fire broke out in the building in February 2007. In December the same year, another fire on its ground floor was reported but there was no casualty. l

Family members of slain Narsingdi mayor demand punishment to the killers of Lokman at a press conference at the DRU in the capital yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Jamil Khan in Dhaka n Mohammad and Asaduzzaman Ripon in Narsingdi With no trial in sight three years after the former mayor of Narsingdi was gunned down, his family alleges investigators submitted a charge sheet that omits the names of many of the accused.

Lokman Hossain was shot in front of the district Awami League (AL) office in Sadar Road on November 1, 2011 and succumbed to his injuries at Dhaka Medical College and Hospital a day after he was admitted there.

On the third anniversary of the shooting, the victim’s first wife, Tazmahal Begum Tazrin, and son, Saham Hossain Karzon, yesterday said they were concerned that the trial had not begun yet, at a briefing at the office of the Crime Reporters Association Bangladesh in the capital.

The slain mayor’s family said it is being threatened by some of the accused who have been granted bail.

Lokman’s brother and incumbent Mayor of Narsingdi Kamruzzaman Kamrul filed a case accusing 14 people including Salauddin Ahmed Bachchu, younger brother of former Awami League labour minister Rajiuddin Ahmed Raju, Raju’s assistant personal secretary Masudur Rahman Murad, Narsingdi city unit AL president Momtaz Uddin Bhuiyan, former Narsingdi municipal chairman Abdul Matin Sarkar, his younger brother and Narsingdi city unit Juba League president Ashraful Sarkar, district AL leader Mobarrak Hossain Moba and eight others.

After an eight-month long investigation, on June 24, 2012 Inspector Mamun-or-Rashid Mandal of the Detective Branch (DB) of Police, who is also investigating the Narayanganj Seven Murder case, submitted a charge sheet in the Lokman murder cased, naming 12 people.

But the investigation officer dropped 11 of 14 people named in the first information report (FIR).

Kamrul, rejecting the charge sheet submitted in his brother’s murder case, petitioned the District Sessions Judge Court on July 24, 2012. The court rejected the petition the following day.

Kamrul then filed a petition with the

District Judicial Magistrate Court on July 28 which was accepted by the court on September 2. But the court then rejected the petition on November 4, 2012.

Finally, Kamrul filed a petition with the High Court. The petition says the investigation officer, because of high-level political pressure, dropped the names of the prime accused including former minister Raju’s brother and two others.

In 2013, the High Court issued a rule asking the government to explain why it should not be directed to include Raju’s brother and two other persons’ names, dropped from the charge sheet, in a supplementary charge sheet.

The case proceedings have come to a halt since then.

“We are awaiting the order of the High Court and will soon instruct our

‘I personally will continue the legal fight to ensure the punishment of my brother’s killers’ lawyer to move so that the matter can be disposed of before the expiry of the stay order,” he said.

“I personally will continue the legal fight to ensure the punishment of my brother’s killers,” Kamrul said.

He said if the authorities concerned took the necessary steps then neither the victim’s family nor witnesses in the case would face threats.

When asked about the case, Shaikh Rafiqul Islam, police superintendent of Narsingdi, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “The police have conducted an excellent investigation in the murder and named the responsible persons in the charge sheet it prepared.”

Of the 12 charge-sheeted accused in the case, only prime accused “Killer” Sharif is in custody. Ten are out on bail and prime accused Mobarak Hossain was arrested by Dubai police, but Bangladesh police are yet to bring him back to the country, according to sources at police headquarters.

The Narsingdi police superintendent said the charge-sheeted accused who are on bail were kept under watch by police. l

and Talha Sheikh. The fifth high-value fugitive is Maulana Yusuf Sheikh, of West Bengal.

The security agency announced a cash rewards of Indian Rs5 lakh for Shahnur Alom of Barpeta, Assam and Habibur Rahaman Sheikh and Amjad Ali Sheikh, both from Birbhum, West Bengal.

Cash rewards of Indian Rs3 lakh is being offered for Abul Kalam, Burham Sheikh and Rejaul Karim of Bardhaman district and Jahirul Sheikh of Nadia district, West Bengal. l

Jamaat’s 2nd phase 48-hr hartal begins today n UNB The second phase of the countrywide 72-hour hartal, called by Jamaat-e-Islami protesting its ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami’s death sentence for his crimes during the Liberation War, begins on Sunday morning.

The 48-hour shutdown begins at 6am on Sunday and will end at 6am on Tuesday.

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) have been deployed in different parts of the country, including the capital ahead of the shutdown.

The BGB men alongside members of other law enforcement agencies, including police, started patrolling the city streets on Saturday evening to maintain the law and order, said sources at the BGB headquarters.

Meanwhile, four crude bombs were exploded in the city’s Khilkhet area on Saturday evening, ahead of the general strike.

Witnesses said the crude bombs went off under the Khilkhet Footbridge around 6:30pm. However, no one was injured in the blast.

The first phase 24-hour hartal enforced by Jamaat ended on Friday morning amid poor response.

The city life was largely unaffected as vehicular movement was almost normal.

Hours after the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 condemned Jamaat ameer Nizami to death for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War on Wednesday, the Islamic party announced the 72-hour staggered nationwide shutdown programme.

In a joint statement, Jamaat acting ameer Makbul Ahmed and its acting secretary general Dr Shafiqur Rahman announced the shutdowns -- from 6am Thursday to 6am Friday and 6am Sunday to 6am Tuesday -- after the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT)-1 condemned their ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami to death for crimes against humanity during the 1971 Liberation War. 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.

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B3 ‘China’s October factory

B4 Bank of Japan expands

growth unexpectedly hits five-month low’

NBR may extend tax return submission deadline

n Asif Showkat Kallol

National Board of Revenue is likely to extend the deadline again for submission of income tax returns for individual taxpayers by another month as it expires today.

The board is expected to give an announcement about the extension today as a NBR proposal is already on the table of Finance Minister AMA Muhith for his approval, officials said.

As per the expected new deadline, taxpayers will be able to file their returns till November 30.

A total of five lakh individual taxpayers have submitted their tax returns till Thursday, according to NBR officials, who said the number was not satisfactory.

Eid-ul-Azha, Durga Puja and hartals made it difficult for many to submit returns in time On Saturday, the Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry urged the government to extend the deadline to November 30.

The apex trade body wrote a letter to the NBR chairman to consider the request, said an official at the FBCCI. FBCCI thinks Eid-ul-Azha, Durga Puja and hartals made it difficult for many people to submit their income tax returns within the stipulated time.

Earlier, the deadline for submitting income tax returns for the current year was extended by a month from September 30.

About 17 lakh people now holds TIN across the country although less than 10 lakh people usually file their returns to NBR every year.

According to the income tax ordinance, the NBR can fine Tk1,000 at a time and Tk50 for each day if any TIN holder failed to submit the returns within the deadline. l

monetary easing plan as economy slows

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 2, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Banks form interest rate cartel

Bangladesh Bank Governor, former central banker and economists criticise owners for their greed n Tribune Report Bangladesh Bank has so far failed to regulate the banks as their interest rate spreads still remain above 5% despite repeated instructions to bring the rate within the desired level.

The observation emerged from a national seminar on banking titled “Future Vision” arranged by the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh in the capital yesterday.

Despite lower credit demand, lending rate did not come down as the banks set it at the owners’ wish, Bangladesh Bank former deputy governor Khondkar Ibrahim Khaled told the seminar.

Bangladesh Bank has failed to regulate the banks because of such practice by the bank owners, he added.

He said the banks did not bring down the spread within 5% despite repeated requests by the central bank.

The owners of the banks will make profit but they should not be greedy, Ibrahim Khaled suggested.

He adds that 2% additional tax may be imposed on the banks that maintain spreads above 3%. The former deputy governor observed that the credit concentration faces a very worst situation in the banking sector. Businesses in Chittagong zone have damaged due to credit concentration, he said, adding that the banking sector is heading towards worse in the wake of the banks’ credit dependency on a few business groups.

Ibrahim underscored that the sector suffers widely for default loan culture that rises due to laxity of banking ethics.

He also stressed developing skilled human resources and using technology properly in the banking system.

In his address, Dhaka University Professor MA Taslim termed the default culture in the banking sector a serious issue.

He said default loan had increased

Bangladesh Bank Governor Dr Atiur Rahman addresses the national seminar on banking titled ‘Future Vision’ organised by the Association of Bankers, Bangladesh Limited in Radisson Hotel yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE tremendously over the last several years because of low deposit rate and high lending rate. The professor claimed that the spread goes high due to laxity of regulation by the central bank. He observed that the overall economy might immediately be affected if the financial sector is damaged. Taslim stressed more priority for financial sector.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said the owners of many banks manipulate credit access, credit appraisal and internal control process for their own advantage, taking the opportunity of corporate governance weaknesses.

Addressing the seminar as the chief guest, he said lending resources of the

Hartal hits RMG exports n Ibrahim Hossain Ovi The country’s RMG manufacturers and exporters are apprehensive of shipment delay ahead of the Christmas Day as the recent strike called by the Jamaat-e-Islami leads to disruption in production and supply chain of raw materials.

Jamaat called a three-day strike on Thursday, Sunday and Monday in protest against the capital punishment of its Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami.

The party enforced a 24-hour shutdown from 6am on Thursday. It also called another 48-hour hartal on Sunday and Tuesday.

A war crimes tribunal sentenced Jamaat-e-Islami Chief Motiur Rahman Nizami to death for masterminding intellectual killings in 1971 and committing crimes against humanity during Liberation War in collaboration with Pakistani occupation forces.

RMG entrepreneurs are apprehending further strikes in the days to come as the verdicts for other war criminals are in the offing.

If so, manufacturing of the apparel items would be affected badly while

dirupting the associated supplies, they said.

The exporters face a year-end rush in December to ship their orders ahead of Christmas, the biggest festival of Christian community.

“The biggest problem during hartal is transportation as it disrupts supply chain and shipment,” said Shahidullah Azim, Bangladesh Garment Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) vice-president.

Though the factory does not stay closed during general strikes, the presence of workers remains very thin, thus causing a decline in production, said Azim.

“We would not be able to complete shipment in due time if this situation continues,” Azim said, calling upon the government to take appropriate measures for smooth operation of export and import.

Bangladesh Truck and Covered-Van Owners association General Secretary Rustom Ali Khan said: “If the government assures us of security, we will carry shipment.”

It will be impossible to ply trucks or covered van on the roads during hartal

unless police escort the goods-laden vehicles, he added.

During the last year’s political unrest and strikes around 500 trucks and covered vans were torched.

“The RMG sector is still in crisis due to safety issues, and if the hartal makes the environment hazardous, the buyers would lose confidence in Bangladesh and will not place any orders,” said Anwar-UlAlam Chowdhury Parvez, chairman of Evince Group.

On the other hand, the exporters would be unable to complete shipment in due time, which might bring in a huge loss for the exporters as they have to ship the products by Air or have to give a discount in case of failure to meet any deadline.

If the situation deteriorates, it would tarnish the image of the country which was, however, restored after the last year’s violence, he added.

According to the BGMEA survey, RMG sector incurred a production loss of Tk11,750 crore, over $60 million due to cancellation of orders, $21 million for air freight and $22 million as discount for delay shipment last year. l

banks are being provided largely for big borrowers often with insufficient diversification and inappropriate asset-liability maturity mismatches.

He claimed that the board and senior management are mainly involved with this to short-term gain.

Myopic vision and focus on immediate gains deprive the banks themselves of future earning opportunities from cultivating new customer bases in large population segments.

As a result the banks are also failing to fulfill corporate social responsibility obligation of combating inequity and poverty in the society they profit from, the governor said.

He said the first step in overcoming

these deficiencies and weaknesses and gearing up for attaining excellence in banking will be of properly orienting the institutional goals and objectives, shifting focus away from quick high gains.

“BB’s guidance circulars on Corporate Social Responsibility and financial inclusion drives are intended to steer our banking sector out of this weakness.”

Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury said banking system in Bangladesh is prone to credit concentration risk.

The impact of this risk is more adverse to the capital position of the banks among various stress scenarios specified by Bangladesh Bank, he said.

Sur Chowdhury gave a power pres-

Call to set compensation standard for RMG disaster victims n Tribune Report The government has been urged to enact a law to ensure proper compensation for the victims of RMG factory disasters.

Bangladesh Textile-Garment Workers Federation made the call from a discussion on effective investigation into RMG factory disaster and formulation of laws on workplace safety they organised at the National Press Club in Dhaka yesterday.

Speakers stressed on setting a compensation standard and urged the RMG workers’ leaders to take initiatives to materialise their demands and rights.

They made the remarks against the backdrop of RMG factory disasters including Rana Plaza collapse and Tazreen Fashions fire that killed thousands.

Dhaka University Prof MM Akash said: “If the issue of workers compensation is resolved through tribunal, it will have an acceptance.”

He also urged the justice who issued suo moto rules to set a compensation standard to resolve the issue as the

committee to set the standard had already placed the report.

Earlier on April 30, the High Court issued an order to form the committee to fix adequate compensation for the victims of Rana Plaza collapse that killed over 1,100 workers and injured over 2,500.

Akash, who teaches economics at Dhaka University and head of the committee, submitted the report to a high-powered committee headed by the ninth infantry division GOC Major General Chowdhury Hasan Suhrawardy.

He said the court is yet to finalise the compensation package as per the committee recommendation. It is not true that the process is not done, he added.

“We have placed the report, recommending Tk15 lakh for the dead and Tk10 lakh for the injured workers.”

Akash also blamed the BGMEA authorities for delay in finalising the recommendation as they were putting note of decent and were unwilling to settle the issue through court.

The BGMEA argued that it would be a standard for future, he said, adding

Mobile banking users cross 2cr as it gets popular n Jebun Nesa Alo As the popularity of mobile financial services is growing fast across the country, the total number of users already crossed 2 crore mark in September this year, according to a recent data of Bangladesh Bank.

Earlier, the number of the account holders under MFS crossed 1 crore in November last year.

The service mostly expanded in the rural areas to bring the unbanked people under the network, a senior executive of the central bank told the Dhaka Tribune.

Bangladesh Bank data shows the number of the registered clients stood at 2 crore in September with an increase of about 8% from August while the number of active accounts stood at 94 lakh.

The number of daily average transactions increased by over 17%

Average daily transaction (in crore Taka) through mobile financial services 333 273

284

217 184

Nov-13 Dec-13 Jan-14 Feb-14 Mar-14 Apr-14 May-14 Jun-14 Jul-14 Aug-14 Sep-14

to 18,07,052 in September from 15,43,086 in August this year.

The daily average money transactions also rose to Tk333 crore last month from Tk248 crore in the previous month.

As the people’s confidence and trust on the services gradually increased following the Bangladesh Bank’s strict monitoring, which

virtually resulted in increasing the mobile account users, said K M Abdul Wadood, general manager of Payment Systems Department of the central bank.

“Mobile transaction gains widespread popularity as it helps in reducing wastage of time. Although frauds and forgeries still remain in the banking sector, clients should

entation on a paper titled “Future Banking in Bangladesh” at the seminar.

He said it would impact seriously on banking sector capital adequacy if 3, 7 or 10 large borrowers default.

He said lack of corporate governance may result in significant public costs and consequences, for example, losses to depositors, a generalised loss of confidence that could ultimately trigger a bank run or liquidity crisis.

ABB President Ali Reza Iftekhar presided over the seminar while Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor SK Sur Chowdhury, Financial Express Editor Moazzem Hossain, Islami Bank Founder Managing Director M Ajijul Haque spoke at the function. l

know how to maintain secrecy of their PIN numbers used in mobile account,” he said.

With the growing figure of mobile account users, amount of cash-in transactions, cash-out transactions, salary disbursement and utility bill payments through mobile banking service also rose significantly in the last 10 months, according to the central bank data.

Amount of cash-in transactions rose to Tk4,000 crore in September this year from Tk2,000 crore in November last year while cash-out transactions rose to Tk3,600 crore from Tk2,000 crore during the same period.

Salary disbursement through mobile account improved to around Tk70 crore in September from Tk20 crore in November last year.

Amount of inward remittance transactions remained in the level of Tk3 crore in September, which

was up to Tk4 crore in November last year.

Significant rise witnessed in utility bill payment system as it rose to Tk158 crore in September, which was hovering around Tk1 crore only in November, 2013.

Inward remittance transactions, however, remained at the level of Tk3 crore during the last 10 months as remittance inflow into the country was slower due to fall in manpower export and sluggish investment environment, said a senior executive of a private bank.

Currently, 19 banks are providing the MFS out of 28 banks got licenses for introducing this service.

Bangladesh Bank has been awarded Alliance for Financial Inclusion Policy Award for its role to promote MFS in the event of the 2014 AFI Global Policy Forum held on September 9 at Port of Spain in Trinidad and Tobaggo. l

that it is not true because this calculation is only for Rana Plaza victims.

“Coordination among the RMG workers’ federation is mostly needed as nothing is possible without coordination,” said eminent layer Dr Kamal Hosaain in his address as the chief guest.

The workers should unite and place their demands jointly, he said, adding that the workers should realise their demands using the opportunity of Rana Plaza incident.

Kamal assured the workers of providing all-out cooperation for legal fight.

Nagorik Oikko Convener Mahmudur Rahman Manna said the government did not concentrate on the enactment of compensation rule.

The government received fund from different sources but it did not compensate RMG workers adequately, Rahman said, calling upon the government and the factory owners to resolve the issues and to ensure safe workplace for the workers.

To save the RMG sector, the owners have to emphasise the importance of labour relation with them, said Rahman. l

B2

Stocks stay flat with topsy-turvy trading n Tribune Report

lighted last week’s market movements.

It said mixed market scenario was observed due to investors’ cautious re-balancing of portfolio ahead of corporate announcements.

LankaBangla Securities said the market experienced volatility throughout the week as most of the listed companies have published their Q3 (Jul-Sept 2014) earnings report.

It said the investors responded to quarterly earnings declarations of several stocks last week.

Particular issues from fuel and power and textile sectors grabbed the investors’ special attention, it said.

Fuel and power stocks dominated the week with a rise of over 3% gain.

Fuel and power companies showed on an average meager growth in earnings in Q3, 2014.

All other major sectors yielded mix performance last week. Banks and non-banking financial institutions gained marginally. Profit booking took place on pharmaceuticals, food and allied, telecommunication.

Losers took a lead over the gainers as out of 314 issues traded, 150 declined, 146 advanced and 18 remained unchanged.

Grameenphone dominated the week’s top turnover chart with shares worth Tk13 crore changing hands, followed by Mobil Jamuna Limited Bangladesh, Titas Gas, Square Pharmaceuticals and Khulna Power Company Ltd. l

Stocks recorded flat with volatility in the past week as mixed results of third quarter earnings of the listed companies drove investors’ nerve.

The third quarter earnings results that started pouring over the last weeks remained unpredictable due to mix trend of corporate earnings and offered investors room to rebalance their positions, dealers say.

The benchmark index DSEX inched over 19 points or 0.4% higher to 5,173, recovering marginally from 131 points lost in the previous week.

The comprising blue chips DS30 index was also slightly down almost 6 points or 0.4% to 1,949. The DSE Shariah Index closed at 1,220, edging 3 points or 0.4% higher.

The port city bourse Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) also saw marginal gain with its Selective Categories Index, CSCX, rose 23 points or 0.5% to close at 9,701.

Fresh funds injection slowed down last week with increased level of volatility. The week’s daily turnover averaged more than Tk55 crore, registering a decline of 15.5% over the previous week and lowest in seven weeks.

Investors concentrated on power, pharmaceuticals and banks, which together accounted for almost 50% of the week’s total turnover.

IDLC Investments in its weekly analysis said earnings disclosures and dynamic trading pattern high-

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS Company Popular Life Insu. -A First Lease- A LankaBangla Fin. -A Zahintex Ind.-N CVO PetroChem RL-A Continental Insur. -A Apex Tannery -A Rahima Food -Z MJL BD Ltd.-A ACI Formulations-A

Closing (% change) -27.44 -11.36 -8.13 -8.13 -8.12 -7.98 -7.69 -7.05 -6.82 -6.07

CSE LOSERS Company Continental Insur. -A Eastern InsurA Apex Tannery -A LankaBangla Fin. -A Takaful Islami Insu-A First Lease- A Apex Foods -A 7th ICB M F-A Monno Ceramic -B MJL BD Ltd.-A

Closing (% change) -11.20 -10.97 -9.06 -8.68 -8.52 -7.83 -7.75 -7.37 -7.22 -6.78

5173.23208

(+) 0.37%

1949.47856

(+) 0.30%

15960.2331

(+) 0.28%

13124.0728

(-) 0.43%

9701.2767

(+) 0.24%

Average (% change) -26.11 -10.09 -9.99 -6.14 -7.06 -7.67 -6.93 -4.96 -5.95 -5.42 Average (% change) -10.20 -10.97 -7.50 -10.43 -8.62 -8.79 -6.22 -7.37 -7.06 -6.10

ANALYST

Closing average 168.86 19.79 45.87 19.42 601.65 22.03 154.80 45.44 140.88 150.99

Closing average 23.25 34.90 154.38 45.85 27.87 19.83 100.24 88.00 27.00 141.08

Weekly closing

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 3341.07 1648.65 260.84 2695.67 955.90 6254.83 10.42 1587.33 3656.32 605.66 713.30 467.13 275.93 1051.49 402.69 144.79 964.33 1445.67 376.15 812.99 5.15

▲ ▲ ▲ ▼ ▲ Weekly high

164.20 19.50 46.30 19.20 591.00 21.90 152.50 44.80 142.00 150.20

Weekly closing

228.80 22.40 55.30 20.90 645.00 23.50 172.20 52.00 155.40 171.80

Weekly high

23.00 34.90 152.50 46.30 27.90 20.00 100.00 88.00 27.00 141.60

24.50 35.40 171.80 51.00 29.00 22.90 106.00 88.00 27.00 156.80

DSE key features October 26-30, 2014

DSE GAINERS

Turnover (Million Taka)

Alltex Industries -Z Shahjibazar Power-N Modern Dyeing -Z SAIF Powertec-N Dulamia CottonZ Khulna Printing-N Shurwid Ind. -N Sinobangla Indu.-A GeminiSeaFood-Z Northern Jute -Z

Company

27,676.32

Turnover (Volume)

627,835,293

Number of Contract

523,978

Traded Issues

314

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

141

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

169 4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,753.18

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

33.37

CSE key features October 26-30, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

2,040.78

Turnover (Volume)

54,647,182

Number of Contract

70,484

Traded Issues

253

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

106

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

143

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,654.70

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.18

Turnover in million

163.00 18.00 42.00 18.00 530.00 21.50 150.10 44.20 127.00 137.10

Weekly low 22.50 34.90 148.50 45.00 27.60 19.70 100.00 88.00 27.00 132.00

Latest EPS

405.901 50.245 255.674 18.253 569.907 6.871 91.015 7.009 934.863 349.045

Turnover in million

Closing (% change) 145.00 59.66 26.08 19.74 17.14 15.47 14.54 13.27 12.44 11.86

CSE GAINERS

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

Weekly low

Sunday, November 2, 2014

4.13 1.27 1.29 1.04 -3.33 2.27 2.64 -1.01 5.11 3.27

Latest EPS

0.095 0.021 3.740 17.968 0.103 1.634 0.139 0.044 0.004 76.252

2.27 2.31 2.64 1.29 1.43 1.27 3.64 12.01 0.11 5.11

Latest PE 40.9 15.6 35.6 18.7 -ve 9.7 58.6 -ve 27.6 46.2

Latest PE 10.2 15.1 58.5 35.5 19.5 15.6 27.5 7.3 245.5 27.6

Company Alltex Industries -Z Popular Life Insu. -A SAIF Powertec-N Khulna Printing-N Quasem Drycells -A Shurwid Ind. -N Sinobangla Indu.-A MutualTrust Bank-A Fareast Finance-Z S Purbanchol Power-N

Closing (% change) 157.32 66.59 19.48 15.05 14.63 14.43 12.88 11.96 11.76 10.70

Average (% change) 137.59 59.75 24.38 22.86 17.14 16.65 10.47 10.38 12.76 12.07 Average (% change) 155.31 66.59 22.13 16.79 14.24 11.06 11.05 10.39 11.76 11.21

Closing average 19.15 208.20 99.50 82.24 8.20 32.51 44.93 32.96 152.22 162.50

Closing average 20.68 229.90 81.91 32.48 47.65 45.39 33.16 20.08 13.30 61.23

Weekly closing 19.60 208.20 99.60 82.50 8.20 32.10 45.70 33.30 151.90 162.20

Weekly closing 21.10 229.90 82.20 32.10 47.80 46.00 33.30 20.60 13.30 60.00

Weekly high 19.60 208.20 101.40 82.50 8.20 33.30 45.70 33.50 158.00 250.00

Weekly high 24.00 229.90 82.20 33.40 48.50 46.00 33.70 20.60 14.00 63.00

Weekly low 8.00 143.40 79.90 63.20 6.90 25.80 36.50 27.60 135.00 135.00

Weekly low 7.90 229.90 63.50 25.90 42.20 36.50 27.30 17.50 11.30 49.50

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

104.570 119.106 1.112 413.924 0.285 602.380 174.769 74.182 0.428 1.993

Turnover in million

2.56 3.00 1.56 2.54 -4.13 2.13 1.64 1.21 -1.80 1.69

Latest EPS

26.697 0.115 64.783 76.492 4.112 35.644 1.557 1.394 5.785 52.553

2.56 4.13 2.54 2.13 1.55 1.64 1.21 2.45 1.08 4.60

Latest PE 7.5 69.4 63.8 32.4 -ve 15.3 27.4 27.2 -ve 96.2

Latest PE 8.1 55.7 32.2 15.2 30.7 27.7 27.4 8.2 12.3 13.3

Weekly news from trade server AGM/Dividend FUWANGCER: 10% stock, AGM: 28.12.2014, Record Date: 10.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.49, NAV per share of Tk. 13.18.

MODERNDYE: 8% cash, AGM: 11.12.2014, Record Date: 13.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.56, NAV Tk. 15.23 million.

FEKDIL: 5% cash and 15% stock, AGM: 29.11.2014, Record Date: 06.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 2.66, NAV per share of Tk. 21.73.

ANLIMAYARN: 10% cash, AGM: 23.12.2014, Record Date: 10.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.04, NAV per share of Tk. 12.04.

MICEMENT: 30% cash, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 13.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 4.54, NAV per share of Tk. 38.22.

ZAHINTEX: 10% stock, AGM: 29.12.2014, Record Date: 05.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.82, NAV per share of Tk. 31.70.

HAKKANIPUL: 5% cash dividend on other than Sponsors share (Public share) and 3% on Sponsors share, AGM: 07.12.2014, Record Date: 10.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.40, NAV per share (with revaluation reserve) of Tk. 30.07, NAV per share (without revaluation reserve) of Tk. 11.43.

TITASGAS: 38% cash, AGM: 23.12.2014, Record Date: 06.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 10.38, NAV per share of Tk. 53.13.

STANCERAM: 10% cash dividend for the Public Shareholders only, AGM: 28.12.2014, Record Date: 05.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.62, NAV per share of Tk. 15.82.

PTL: 15% stock, AGM: 07.12.2014, Record Date: 09.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 2.23, NAV per share of Tk. 23.15.

MIRACLEIND: 5% stock, AGM:

20.12.2014, Record Date: 16.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.24, NAV per share of Tk. 14.65.

KPPL: 5% cash and 10% stock dividend, AGM: 14.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014.

EPS of Tk. 3.75, NAV per share of Tk. 43.00. full dilution EPS and NAV for the year 2013-14 will be Tk. 2.13 per share and Tk. 17.00 per share respectively.

SAIFPOWER: 27% stock, AGM: 15.12.2014, Record Date: 10.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 2.54, NAV per share of Tk. 26.84.

SHURWID: 15% stock, Date of EGM & AGM: 20.12.2014, Record date for EGM & AGM: 20.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.64, NAV per share of Tk. 20.22.

GHAIL: 10% cash, Date of EGM and AGM: 15.12.2014, Record date for EGM and AGM: 13.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.19, NAV per share of Tk. 23.05.

MALEKSPIN: 10% cash dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record Date: 18.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 2.33, consolidated NAV per share of Tk. 45.06.

BEACONPHAR: No dividend, AGM: 10.12.2014, Record date: 16.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.10, NAV per share of Tk. 12.41.

MONNOCERA: 5% cash dividend for public shareholders (excluding Sponsor/ Directors), AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 17.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.11, NAV per share of Tk. 95.19.

MEGCONMILK: No dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 07.12.2014. EPS of Tk. (1.78), NAV per share of Tk. (25.48).

MEGHNAPET: No dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 07.12.2014. EPS of Tk. (0.47), NAV per share of Tk. (1.99).

BDCOM: 15% stock dividend, AGM: 25.12.2014, Record Date: 17.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.49, NAV per share of Tk. 15.91.

IMAMBUTTON: No dividend, AGM: 20.12.2014, Record Date: 19.11.2014. EPS of Tk. -1.80, NAV per share of Tk. 7.55.

JUTESPINN: No dividend, AGM: 20.12.2014, Record Date: 19.11.2014. NAV of Tk. -142.66 million, EPS of Tk. -43.64.

SAIHAMTEX: 15% cash dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record Date: 16.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 2.81, NAV per share of Tk. 32.53.

HWAWELLTEX: 15% cash dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record Date: 10.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 3.81, NAV per share of Tk. 24.61.

LIBRAINFU: 20% cash dividend, AGM: 28.12.2014, Record Date: 11.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 5.92, NAV per share of Tk. 1,572.00.

EMERALDOIL: 10% cash and 5% stock dividend, AGM: 28.12.2014. Record Date: 23.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 2.39, NAV per share of Tk. 14.26.

NORTHERN: 5% cash and 5% Stock Dividend, AGM: 14.12.2014, Record Date: 19.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.69, NAV per share of Tk. 77.60.

CVOPRL: 5% cash dividend to the ordinary shareholders, AGM: 22.12.2014, Record Date: 06.11.2014. EPS of Tk. -3.33, NAV per share of Tk. 9.32.

PREMIERCEM: 30% cash dividend, AGM: 27.12.2014, Record Date: 17.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 4.78, NAV per share of Tk. 28.62.

USMANIAGL: 11% cash and 10% Stock Dividend, AGM: 26.12.2014, Record Date: 20.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 3.62, NAV per share of Tk. 29.63.

The market experienced volatility throughout the week as most of the listed companies have published their Q3 (Jul-Sept 2014) earnings report

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

% change 12.07 5.96 0.94 9.74 3.45 22.60 0.04 5.74 13.21 2.19 2.58 1.69 1.00 3.80 1.46 0.52 3.48 5.22 1.36 2.94 0.02

Million Taka 177.64 89.29 11.67 273.05 82.27 430.66 0.00 215.99 253.74 158.37 91.11 92.72 24.40 84.18 105.80 6.77 16.45 76.76 68.01 102.86 0.09

CSE

% change 7.52 3.78 0.49 11.56 3.48 18.23 0.00 9.14 10.74 6.71 3.86 3.93 1.03 3.56 4.48 0.29 0.70 3.25 2.88 4.36 0.00

Million Taka 3518.70 1737.94 272.51 2968.72 1038.17 6685.49 10.42 1803.31 3910.06 764.03 804.41 559.85 300.33 1135.67 508.49 151.55 980.79 1522.44 444.16 915.85 5.25

Total

% change 11.71 5.79 0.91 9.88 3.46 22.26 0.03 6.00 13.02 2.54 2.68 1.86 1.00 3.78 1.69 0.50 3.27 5.07 1.48 3.05 0.02

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 Grameenphone-A MJL BD Ltd.-A Titas Gas TDCLA Khulna Power-A Square Pharma -A S Purbanchol Power-N Brac Bank -A Summit Power -A Khulna Printing-N CVO PetroChem RL-A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Ratanpur Steel -N Raspit Data Mgt -Z Khulna Printing-N MJL BD Ltd.-A Khulna Power-A SAIF Powertec-N Summit Power -A S Purbanchol Power-N Grameenphone-A

Volume shares 3,416,665 6,445,631 9,762,288 13,188,882 3,095,757 13,768,802 18,634,708 14,597,852 20,466,000 992,121

Volume shares 2,199,460 981,600 2,591,000 2,591,000 522,738 990,123 928,600 1,274,748 900,221 125,800

Value in million 1296.55 934.86 871.65 865.19 859.52 805.76 659.97 630.26 602.38 569.91

Value in million 88.40 79.70 76.49 76.49 76.25 64.88 64.78 55.11 52.55 47.78

% of total turnover 4.68 3.38 3.15 3.13 3.11 2.91 2.38 2.28 2.18 2.06

% of total turnover 4.26 3.84 3.68 3.68 3.67 3.12 3.12 2.65 2.53 2.30

Weekly closing 374.50 142.00 91.70 65.00 278.70 60.00 34.90 43.20 32.10 591.00

Weekly closing 41.40 81.60 32.10 32.10 141.60 65.10 82.20 43.20 60.00 373.70

Price change -0.08 -6.82 1.89 -0.76 0.61 10.50 4.80 2.86 15.47 -8.12

Weekly opening 374.80 152.40 90.00 65.50 277.00 54.30 33.30 42.00 27.80 643.20

Weekly high 389.00 155.40 93.00 70.00 285.00 62.90 37.00 46.00 33.30 645.00

Weekly low 360.00 127.00 78.50 57.50 253.00 49.00 30.00 37.80 25.80 530.00

Weekly average 373.95 140.88 91.03 66.90 277.55 61.34 36.19 43.89 32.51 601.65

Price change 1.22 1.49 0.00 15.05 -6.78 -0.61 19.48 2.13 10.70 -0.16

Weekly opening 40.90 80.40 27.90 27.90 151.90 65.50 68.80 42.30 54.20 374.30

Weekly high 41.90 85.00 33.40 33.40 156.80 68.50 82.20 44.50 63.00 388.10

Weekly low 36.60 75.20 25.90 25.90 132.00 57.40 63.50 39.00 49.50 372.00

Weekly average 41.09 81.86 32.48 32.48 141.08 67.13 81.91 43.86 61.23 374.15

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Sunday, November 2, 2014

PMI: China’s October factory growth unexpectedly hits five-month low

US consumer sentiment at highest since July 2007

n Reuters, Beijing

US consumer sentiment rose in October to its highest level since in more than seven years on growing optimism about the economy and more favorable personal financial expectations, a survey released on Friday showed.

The Thomson Reuters/University of Michigan’s final October reading on the overall index on consumer sentiment finished at 86.9, the highest level since July 2007, up from 84.6 at the end of September.

The late October reading was up slightly from its initial figure of 86.4, which was also the expected reading of economists polled by Reuters.

“The gains in confidence over the past three months point toward improved holiday spending by consumers,” survey director Richard Curtin said in a statement.

“Overall, five years after the start of the recovery, consumers have finally begun to adopt the expectations and behaviors that have driven past expansions.”

China’s factory activity unexpectedly fell to a five-month low in October as firms fought slowing orders and rising costs in the cooling economy, reinforcing views that the country’s growth outlook is hazy at best.

The official Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) eased to 50.8 in October from September’s 51.1, the National Bureau of Statistics said on Saturday, but above the 50-point level that separates growth from contraction on a monthly basis.

Analysts polled by Reuters had forecast a reading of 51.2.

Underscoring the challenges facing the world’s second-largest economy, the PMI showed foreign and domestic demand slipped to five- and six-month lows, respectively, with overseas orders shrinking slightly on a monthly basis.

“There remains downward pressure on the economy, and monetary policy will remain easy,” economists at China International Capital Corp said in a note to clients after the data.

Noting that inventory levels of unsold goods rose last month even as factories cut output levels and drew down on stocks of raw materials, the investment bank argued that the economy still faced tepid demand.

It has been a tough year for China’s economy. Growth fell to 7.3% in the third quarter, its lowest level since the 2008/09 global financial crisis, as the housing market sagged and domestic demand and investment flagged.

The cooldown, expected to be China’s worst in 24 years this year according to a Reuters poll, came despite a flurry of government support measures.

Saturday’s PMI suggested no imminent recovery in demand.

An index for new orders - a proxy for foreign and domestic demand - retreated to 51.6 in October from September’s 52.2. New export orders edged down to 49.9 in October, pointing to a contraction, from 50.2 in September.

An employee works at the production line of an automobile factory in Dalian, Liaoning province

Better off big

The PMI followed warnings from China’s industrial ministry on Friday that factories were under pressure from high borrowing costs, which were further exacerbating the sector’s slowdown.

Like other economies around the world, smaller-sized companies in China are often ignored by banks when they need financing, forcing them to turn to pricier alternatives for funds.

More costly funding, up 13.5% in the first nine months of this year compared with a year ago, according to the government, adds to the burden of factories which are already battling shrinking profit margins.

Still, the PMI showed big Chinese factories were weathering the downturn better than their smaller counterparts, as banks prefer to lend to larger state-owned firms, assuming the government will bail them out to prevent

Yen plunges to near seven-year low in Tokyo after BoJ easing n AFP, Tokyo The yen plunged to a near seven-year low in Asia on Friday after the Bank of Japan said it would expand its already vast asset-purchasing programme in a bid to kickstart the economy.

The dollar rallied to 110.68 yen - its highest since January 2008 - in Tokyo after the surprise announcement, up from 109.36 yen in the morning and 109.22 yen in New York Thursday.

“We are getting a bunch of orders” including those from hedge funds, said a senior dealer at a Japanese bank.

“Everyone is jumping around with the surprise,” the dealer told Dow Jones Newswires. The euro rose to 139.13 yen from 137.79 yen in earlier Tokyo trade and 137.75 yen in New York. The single European currency slipped to $1.2580 against $1.2612 in US trade.

The central bank said it would ex-

pand the monetary easing scheme following a string of poor data that has fanned fears the economy may contract again in the third quarter.

After a one-day meeting, policymakers said they would add up to 20tn yen ($182bn) to the bank’s assetbuying scheme, bringing it to 80tn yen annually. The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It rose to Sg$1.2805 from Sg$1.2788 Thursday, to Tw$30.42 from Tw$30.39 and to 1,065.95 South Korean won from 1,053.42 won but fell to 32.54 Thai baht from 32.56 baht. It declined to 61.41 Indian rupees from 61.44 rupees, to 44.86 Philippine pesos from 44.89 pesos and to 12,094 Indonesian rupiah from 12,120 rupiah.

The Australian dollar rose to 87.95 US cents from 87.65 cents while the Chinese yuan firmed to 18.01 yen from 17.81 yen. l

any defaults.

Large manufacturers grew last month with their PMI little changed at 51.9, data showed, while business shrank for small- to medium-sized factories.

The PMI for mid-sized factories fell to 49.1 in October from September’s 50, and the index for small manufacturers was little changed at 48.5.

“There is a need to carry out more quickly the policy measures related to ‘stabilizing growth’”, said Chen Zhongtao, an official at the China Logistics Information Centre, which helps publishes the PMI. Chen was referring to recent government announcements aimed at supporting the economy.

To encourage more growth, China has cut taxes, quickened some investment projects, lent short-term loans to banks, instructed local governments to spend their budgets and reduced the

REUTERS

amount of deposits that some banks hold as reserves to spur lending.

It said on Friday that it would invest at least 200bn yuan ($32.7bn) on three new railway lines to move goods and passengers across the country.

But the raft of measures - which were issued over a space of a few months - have failed to sustain momentum in the economy, prompting authorities to take one of their most drastic policy actions this year by cutting mortgage rates in September.

And even lower mortgage rates have not revived the housing market as quickly as some had hoped.

Home prices in China dropped for a sixth consecutive month in October, a private survey showed on Friday, a trend that should continue to weigh on the Chinese economy, which derives about 15% of its growth from the real estate sector. l

n Reuters, New York

The survey’s barometer of current economic conditions dipped to 98.3 from the 98.9 in September and was below the forecast of 98.9. The survey’s gauge of consumer expectations rose to 79.6 from the preliminary 78.4 reading and the 75.4 at the end of September, topping the expected 78.2.

The gains in confidence over the past three months point toward improved holiday spending by consumers The survey’s one-year inflation expectation fell to 2.9 from the 3% view in September, but ticked up from the 2.8% expectation in the preliminary reading. The survey’s five-to-10-year inflation outlook held steady at 2.8%. l

Oil prices down in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore

Oil prices fell in Asia Friday, pressured by a stronger dollar as dealers speculated over whether the will Federal Reserve lift interest rates sooner than later, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 37 cents to $80.75 while Brent crude for December was down 36 cents at $85.88 in afternoon trade.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said crude prices faced downward pressure “as expectations that US interest rates may rise sooner than previously thought pushed the dollar to its highest in more than three weeks”.

The US Commerce Department on Thursday said the world’s largest economy grew at an annualised 3.5% in

July-September owing to stronger exports and defence spending. The figure exceeded expectations for a 3% rise.

The reading, coupled with upbeat comments about the jobs market from the Fed on Wednesday, stoked speculation that the bank could hike interest rates earlier than its timetabled mid2015 date.

With rates widely expected to rise next year, traders have piled back into the dollar, pushing it back above 110 yen.

A stronger greenback makes dollarpriced oil more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, denting demand and pushing prices lower.

A slew of US economic data to be released later Friday, including on personal spending, personal income and consumer sentiment, will next be in focus among investors, analysts said. l

Euro zone inflation edges up to dim chance of new ECB action n Reuters, Brussels Inflation in the 18 countries sharing the euro edged up slightly in October, reinforcing the view that the European Central Bank will hold fire on any additional policy action at its meeting next week.

A first estimate on Friday from the European Union’s statistics office showed consumer prices in the euro zone rose by 0.4% in October, in line with market expectations. A day earlier, German data showed inflation in Europe’s largest economy slowing in October to 0.7%, its lowest reading since May. Nick Kounis, head of macro research at ABN AMRO, said a number of factors meant ECB action as early as next week was unlikely, but that he expected further measures by the first quarter of next year.

“We still think that the ECB is likely to further step up its monetary easing,” he said “If you get any kind of economic shock with inflation this low, there is a risk, albeit a small risk, of deflation.”

ECB policymakers still appear somewhat divided on the likelihood of defla-

An employee sits next to crates of peaches at a vegetable market in Athens tion in the euro area.

The central bank’s chief economist Peter Praet told Belgian media earlier this week that the possibility was limited, but Governing Council Member Ignazio Visco said on Friday that policymakers needed to remain cautious.

“We are not in deflation but we cannot ignore the concrete risk of it,” the

REUTERS

Italian said in a speech to a conference in Rome shortly after Eurostat published its data.

The statistics office said prices rose fastest for services, up 1.2%, followed by a 0.5% increase in food, alcohol and tobacco costs.

Unprocessed food prices fell 0.1% year-on-year in October while energy

was 1.8% cheaper, a slowdown in the rate of decline from September when prices for these goods dropped 0.9 and 2.3% respectively.

Excluding unprocessed food and energy, prices rose 0.8% in October, a stable rate from September. This number is referred to as core inflation by the European Central Bank.

The euro =EUR initially strengthened against the dollar and the pound following the release of the data but quickly gave up these gains and remained below levels seen at the start of the trading session.

The ECB, which has a mandate to keep inflation below but close to 2%, has committed to an expansionary policy, including an asset-buying plan, and has said it will consider further measures if needed.

Better-than-forecast economic sentiment figures on Thursday, which also showed higher inflation expectations among consumers and producers, may give the central bank an incentive to hold off on further policy action before the end of the year. l

Bangladesh Commerce Bank Limited has recently opened its 46th branch in Kaliakoir, Gazipur. The bank’s director Md Farhad Uddin inaugurated the branch as chief guest

Pubali Bank has recently held a yearly conference for all its managers of Moulavibazar Region. The bank’s managing director and CEO, Helal Ahmed Chowdhury was present at the conference as chief guest

Association of Bankers, Bangladesh Limited has organised a daylong national seminar on banking at a hotel in Dhaka yesterday. Governor of Bangladesh Bank, Dr Atiur Rahman was present as chief guest while chairperson of the association and Eastern Bank MD, Ali Reza Iftekhar presided over the seminar

Swansoft Limited has recently launched its new product www.launchbd.com in its Motijheel office. The company’s managing director, Ashfaq A Rahman was present at the inaugural ceremony among others

The managing director of First Security Islami Bank Limited has recently held a meeting with the bank’s Khulna and Barisal Zone employees in Khulna. The managing director, AAM Zakaria presided over the meeting

Rotary has recently held its TRF Conference in Dhaka. The conference was presided by District Governor, Safina Rahman while former Rotary International President, Rajendra K Saboo was present as the chief guest

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Bank of Japan expands monetary easing plan as economy slows n AFP, Japan The Bank of Japan ramped up its vast monetary easing programme Friday sending the yen plunging and stocks soaring - in a surprise move aimed at reviving growth just as the Federal Reserve winds down its own stimulus spree.

After a one-day meeting, policymakers said they would add up to 20tn yen ($182bn) to the central bank’s current asset-buying scheme, bringing it to 80tn yen annually.

The decision sent the yen sinking to 110.90 against the dollar, levels not seen since January 2008, while Tokyo’s Nikkei 225 stock index soared more than five percent.

The move is the first since the bank launched its huge bond-buying scheme in April last year as part of Tokyo’s wider plan to conquer years of deflation and jumpstart the economy.

Friday’s decision throws into focus the sharp contrast of fortunes for the US and Japanese economies after the Federal Reserve on Wednesday brought an end to six years of bond-buying and considers an interest rate hike.

And on Thursday the Commerce Department said the US economy expanded an annualised 3.5% in JulySeptember, beating expectations of 3%.

Japan’s economy, on the other hand, contracted 7.1% on an annualised basis in the second quarter - its steepest quarterly drop since the 2011 quaketsunami disaster - as it was hit by a sales tax hike in April.

PM: France ‘determined’ to drive economic reforms

n AFP

French Prime Minister Manuel Valls on Friday said Paris was “absolutely determined” to drive economic reforms and that France was not “Europe’s sick man”.

Valls was visiting the Netherlands for talks with Dutch counterpart Mark Rutte on how to kickstart the continent’s economy.

“I want to tell you that we’re absolutely determined to carry through our reforms,” Valls said after Dutch complaints that Paris was breaking the European Union’s spending rules.

France has said that next year’s deficit - the shortfall between revenue and spending - will hit 4.3% of annual economic output, far above the EU’s 3% ceiling.

Valls said Paris was committed to reducing public spending while “turning its back on political convenience”.

It planned to save 21bn euros ($26bn) in 2015 “because we respect the rules of the game” in the eurozone and that France “had a commitment to ourselves”.

Valls stressed however that it was a tough target to make with slow economic growth.

Brussels has written to France to demand explanations for the overshoot, according to a letter confirmed by President Francois Hollande this week.

France shocked its European partners in September by going back on a pledge to get its deficit to below the three percent ceiling by next year. l

Bank of Japan (BOJ) Governor Haruhiko Kuroda walks into a news conference at the BOJ headquarters in Tokyo REUTERS That has stoked fears about another downturn in July-September, which would technically put the country in

recession. A BoJ statement said the decision on Friday passed by a narrow 5-4 majority vote.

The bank acknowledged that the sales tax hike had put in trouble its target of 2% inflation by next year, and said that had prompted Friday’s decision.

“Japan’s economy has continued to recover moderately as a trend and is expected to continue growing at a pace above its potential,” it said.

“However, on the price front, somewhat weak developments in demand following the consumption tax hike and a substantial decline in crude oil prices have been exerting downward pressure recently.

“If the current downward pressure on prices remains, albeit in the short term, there is a risk that conversion of deflationary mindset, which has so far been progressing steadily, might be delayed.”

It added: “To pre-empt manifestation of such risk and to maintain the improving momentum of expectation formation, the Bank judged it appropriate to expand the quantitative and qualitative monetary easing (QQE).”

The move came after official data earlier Friday showed September inflation slowed and household spending slumped in September as consumers tighten their belts.

The BoJ is expected to release its outlook for the economy later Friday, which could see it downgrade its view.

The bank has already lowered its growth forecast for the fiscal year to March to 1%, well down from a 1.5% prediction in late 2013. l

Sunday, November 2, 2014

World Bank to cut 500 jobs in some units as part of revamp n Reuters, Washington

The World Bank said it plans to cut 500 jobs over the next three years as part of a broad restructuring meant to make it more efficient but that has rattled employees.

The long-expected layoffs, along with budget cuts and internal reorganization, have sparked regular staff protests and fears of a broader revolt at a time when the bank is trying to ramp up its work in fighting the Ebola outbreak and other global challenges, and maintain its relevance.

The cuts, announced on Thursday, represent about an 11% reduction in the 4,500-employee workforce of the bank’s internal-facing divisions, including finance, human resources, research and security. These divisions employ about a quarter of the bank’s total staff.

The bank also plans to cancel 70 vacant job openings, though it wants to hire 250 to 300 new people, largely in its Chennai, India office, which runs some of its administrative and other operations.

Some of the 500 employees whose jobs will be cut will also be able to apply for jobs in other World Bank divisions, said the bank, which provides financial and technical assistance to developing countries. The net result will be a loss of about 250 positions, World Bank President Jim Yong Kim said in a note to staff on Thursday.

“Staffing decisions are always challenging,” Kim said in the note, which

was obtained by Reuters. “But we feel confident that the changes we are making will help us better align our staffing to our strategy, which is what our clients want and what we must deliver.”

Kim launched the first major reorganization for the lender since 1996, to make it more selective and better attuned to the needs of the governments it serves.

The reorganization has entailed $400m in budget cuts to make the institution more competitive with development rivals and allow it to boost lending to middle-income countries.

Employees complain the bank is overly focused on minor cuts to areas such as breakfast allowances and parking instead of dealing with meaningful changes to the quality and efficiency of the bank’s lending.

Staff were also incensed after discovering the bank’s chief financial officer, who has pushed much of the cost-cutting, received a $94,000 bonus this year. To quell staff discontent, Bertrand Badre earlier this month said he would forego the $24,000 or so of the bonus that he had not yet received. l But that has not stopped employees from organizing regular work “stoppages” on Thursdays, advertised via yellow flyers of unknown provenance.

About 300 staff showed up at the latest meeting earlier this Thursday, according to one attendee, to discuss the declining quality of World Bank projects and the so-called “expenditure review,” among other issues. l

Samsung Electronics seeks China’s shadow banking sector growing China comeback with first rapidly, third largest in world metallic smartphones n Reuters, Beijing

n Reuters, Seoul Samsung Electronics Co Ltd unveiled two mid-tier handsets with a premium design as it prepared to deliver a riposte to its low-priced Chinese rivals and reclaim its title as the top brand in the world’s biggest smartphone market.

Samsung’s smartphone woes began late last year and persisted through July-September, with its global market share down on year for the third straight quarter and its profit scraping at a three-year low.

Its struggles were prominent in China, the world’s biggest smartphone market, where Samsung was dethroned by local upstart Xiaomi Inc as the top smartphone maker in the second quarter. It does not help that Samsung’s lower-end products are too expensive and not sufficiently distinctive compared to those touted by Xiaomi and Lenovo Group Ltd, analysts say.

The Galaxy A3 and A5 are seen by analysts as Samsung’s first counterstrike. Initially launching in China in November, they will be Samsung’s first devices to feature fully metallic bodies and its thinnest smartphones to date.

In size, the A3 and A5 are comparable to those of the top-of-the-line Galaxy S5, though of lesser screen resolution quality.

“I think improving specs on the mid-tier products by using features

like a full metal body is something that Samsung needed to do to respond to the Chinese rivals,” said Seoul-based IBK Asset Management fund manager Kim Hyun-su, who holds Samsung shares.

Samsung classified the new phones as mid-tier, and said they will be launched in other “select markets”, without disclosing the pricing.

The announcement, combined with hopes for an earnings recovery and bigger dividends, pushed Samsung’s shares in Seoul to the highest close in more than two months. The stock has gained 10% since Thursday.

Line-up revamp

Success for the devices remains to be seen in China and elsewhere as Samsung’s rivals continue to make strides.

In comparison to the A5, for example, Xiaomi’s Mi4 device is thicker but sports a faster processor and a higher quality display.

“We’ll have to wait and see how well these phones sell,” said Seoul-based CIMB analyst Lee Do-hoon, adding that the lack of disclosure on pricing makes the devices’ success harder to predict.

Samsung is expected to launch more devices in the near term. The company on Thursday admitted that it was too slow to respond to “rapid shifts in the competitive landscape” and vowed to deliver new products. l

China’s shadow banking sector continued to grow at breakneck speed in 2013 and now ranks as the third largest in the world, a report released by the Financial Stability Board showed on Friday.

The FSB’s report nevertheless appears to underestimate China’s sprawling shadow banking sector, although analysts said this type of debt is not yet at a level that could threaten the stability of the overall financial system.

The country vaulted ahead in the rankings under a new, more targeted definition of shadow banking adopted by the FSB, a task force set up by G20 economies in the wake of the 2008/09 global financial crisis to improve financial regulations.

The report comes amid a series of shadow banking defaults in China, including that of a 4bn yuan ($652m) credit product backed by China Evergrowing Bank in September, which brought increased scrutiny of the industry and the risks it poses to the world’s second-largest economy.

China’s government is now weighing new rules to tame this less-regulated, riskier type of lending, while trying to ensure that more money from the shadow banking system is invested in the real economy rather than speculative activities.

“Among emerging markets, the size and rapid growth of shadow banking in

China warrants particular attention,” the report said.

In China, assets of “other financial intermediaries” - which exclude traditional financial institutions such as banks, pension funds and insurance companies - grew more than 37% yearon-year in 2013 to just under $3tn, data released with the report showed.

That’s a slight moderation in growth from roughly 42% growth in 2012, according to the FSB. Still, China’s growth in assets of non-bank financial intermediaries in 2013 was second only to Argentina. But the figures may be overly conservative.

Shadow banking may involve up to 27tn yuan ($4.39tn) of assets, equivalent to one-fifth of China’s formal banking sector, according to the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences.

The sector’s assets have grown further since that estimate to 30tn to 40tn yuan ($4.91tn to $6.54tn), or about 60% of total yuan loans by financial institutions, said Chen Xingyu, a Beijingbased banking analyst at Phillip Securities (Hong Kong) Limited.

The firm factors in certain shadow banking activities by traditional financial institutions such as off-balance sheet bank loans and insurance company financial products in its estimate, he said.

To rein in the sector, China’s banking regulator published draft rules in August aimed at strengthening oversight of financing activities including securities firms and trust companies

and such products as entrusted loans and wealth management products.

“The trend as we have seen it in the last four or five years is not sustainable, as in China cannot see another three or four years of credit growth at that pace,” said Louis Kuijs, chief China economist at Royal Bank of Scotland.

“However, when taking a step back and looking at this whole system, looking at what it would mean for overall financial risk, for overall macroeconomic stability, then I would still feel comfortable saying I don’t feel China is at the risk of systemic financial crisis because of (shadow banking).”

Although risks are rising, Chen said if shadow banking became a threat to the banking system it would appear in rapid growth of non-performing loans at banks, which hasn’t happened yet.

The government does not want to completely quash this riskier lending.

A central bank vice governor said last month that the benefits of shadow banking to areas of the economy generally starved for financing such as small and medium enterprises were undeniable.

Under the broadest measure of nonbank financing, China’s share of global shadow banking quadrupled between the end of 2007 and 2013 to 4%, the report showed.

The broad measure shows that shadow banking assets in developed countries continue to dwarf China’s both in absolute terms and as percentage of GDP. l

India’s fiscal deficit in H1 almost 83% of full-year target n Reuters, New Delhi India’s fiscal deficit reached nearly 83% of its full-year target in the first half of the year, giving the government a tough job meeting its budget target even with help from a fall in global crude prices that will reduce the oil subsidy bill.

A 25% fall in oil prices since June has helped Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government contain oil and fertiliser subsidies, but revenue growth has been slow.

In his maiden budget, Finance Minister Arun Jaitley had targeted a reduction in the fiscal deficit to 4.1% of the gross domestic product in the current fiscal year, down from 4.5% in the previous

DILBERT

year. On Thursday, Prime Minister Modi ordered bureaucrats to stop flying first class, as part of a austerity drive aimed at reducing discretionary spending by 10% in the fiscal year to March 2015.

India’s fiscal deficit was 4.39tn rupees ($71.5bn) during April-September, or 82.6% of the full-year target, government data showed on Friday.

The deficit was 76% during the comparable period in the previous fiscal year. Net tax receipts totalled 3.23tn rupees ($52.60bn) in six months of the fiscal year. Officials are worried that slow growth in tax collections could force the government to cut capital spending as it has done in the past two years, in order to maintain its credit ratings.

The government aims to raise about $9.5bn from the sale of shares in staterun companies and minority stakes in private companies this fiscal year, but it has still to start the process.

“With tax revenue growth underperforming the budgeted target in H1 FY15, revenue buoyancy will crucially hinge upon the success of the telecom auction and disinvestment offerings in the remainder of this fiscal,” said Aditi Nair, an economist at ICRA, the Indian arm of rating agency Moody’s.

While welcoming the government’s efforts to boost growth, Moody’s said on Thursday it wanted to see more momentum in reforms for at least the next two years, in order to have a positive impact on India’s credit rating.

Moody’s rates India at “Baa3”, or the lowest investment grade, with a “stable” outlook. It was the only one among the three major global credit agencies not to downgrade India’s outlook to “negative” over the past three years.

“Even though the fiscal deficit reached nearly 83% of the budgeted amount in H1 FY15, a sharp slippage relative to the target of 4.1% of GDP is unlikely in 2014-15,” Nair said. l

Google's lead designer for 'Inbox by Gmail' Jason Cornwell shows the app's functionalities on a nexus 6 android phone during a media preview in New York on October 29. Google ramped up its mobile arsenal, upgrading its Nexus line with a new tablet and smartphone, and unveiling its revamped Android software, to be dubbed 'Lollipop.' The US tech giant also announced the launch of a streaming media player for music, movies and videos, which can also allow users to play games via the Android TV device AFP