09 Nov, 2014

Kartik 25, 1421 Muharram 15, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 215

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages | Price: Tk12

B1 | BUSINESS

7 | CAREER

11 | OP-ED

13 | SPORT

GP EYES TK10,000CR REVENUE IN 2014

HOW DOES THE HR DEPARTMENT IN AN MNC WORK?

CAN WE HAVE A NEW POLITICAL CONVERSATION?

CRICKETERS VISIT RANA’S HOME, FLIES OFF TO CHITTAGONG

Chhatra League make a name as muggers in DU

N E V E R S AY N E V E R

Outsiders hanging around at Suhrawardy Udyan and Fuller Road are top targets

n DU Correspondent Some Dhaka University students have since long been engaged in snatching valuables from people at different spots on the campus. Law enforcers say most of the perpetrators belong to Bangladesh Chhatra League, the ruling party’s student wing.

Such incidents have been on the rise for the past few months reportedly due to negligence of the Chhatra League central committee, university authorities and the police.

Shahbagh OC says police are not always free to take actions against students General students, teachers and outsiders are targets of these groups.

Although the university authorities and law enforcers have assured stern action after every occurrence, no measures have actually been taken in most cases, victims allege.

The involvement of Chhatra League leaders and activists is confirmed by sources in the police, NSI, DGFI, general students and several leaders of Chhatra League’s DU unit.

The accused groups are led by Chhatra League leaders mainly from Salimullah Muslim (SM), FH, Zahurul Haq and Surya Sen Halls.

Identities of the prominent gang

leaders have also been an open secret on the campus. Mahbubul Islam Apon and Ahmed Tahsan, organising secretaries of the SM Hall unit, Aman, joint secretary, and another Chhatra League leader Nazmul Karim Shuvo have frequently been mugging on the campus.

All of them are followers of Chhatra League SM Hall unit President Mehedi Hasan and General Secretary Didarul Islam.

The snatchings take place mainly in the Suhrawardy Udyan, the Polashi roundabout, Doyel Chhatar, Shishu Academy, Bangla Academy, Shahbagh and Fuller Road, which have turned into hotbeds of mugging after sunset.

A sub-inspector of Shahbagh police station told the Dhaka Tribune that most of the recent crimes have been committed by the activists of the SM Hall unit Chhatra League.

Sub-Inspector of Nilkhet police station Shaheb Ali claimed that Chhatra League leaders and activists of SM Hall had been behind the snatching of more than 100 mobile phones and laptops, and motorcycles of university students and outsiders.

None of those could be recovered although general diaries with Shahbagh police station have been filed.

A recent victim of mugging was Associate Professor of Mass Communication and Journalism Dr Sudhangshu Shekhor Roy, on October 16 evening in the TSC area.

Two muggers stopped his rickshaw  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Students of Samajik Shikkha Kendro, who have been attending classes under open sky for last eight months, stage a demo in capital’s Bailey Road yesterday demanding reconstruction of their school building DHAKA TRIBUNE

DB police: Zubair murder mystery solved n Mohammad Jamil Khan Seventeen-year-old Uttara O-level student Zubair Ahmed was strangled to death by Abuubaida Kadir, an Algerian citizen who has been living in the country illegally for the last fourteen years, police announced yesterday.

“We determined the cause of death by analysing the forensic department report of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH). The victim died as a result of asphyxiation brought on by applying pressure to the throat

and cutting off his supply of oxygen.

In layman’s terms that means he was strangled to death,” SM Nazmul Alam, senior assistant commissioner (AC) of the Detective Branch of Police, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Senior AC Nazmul, who is coordinating the investigation of the murder case, said Kadir pressed down on Zubair’s throat from behind – killing him – at some time during the act anal intercourse.

He said the teenage boy had been sexually assaulted.

The DB officer said evidence of anal intercourse and finger marks on both sides of Zubair’s vocal chords was contained in the medical report.

A high detective official, requesting anonymity, told the Dhaka Tribune that an appeal would be made to the court to quiz Kadir about possible links to suspected militant organisations and to determine whether he was working as a representative of any foreign organisation.

The same official also said Kadir would be quizzed further about exact-

Bangladeshi migrants eke out a living in the Italian capital

CJ: Deal corruption with zero tolerance

Chugh, Al Jazeera, n Nishtha Rome

kar Ali Manik and n Julfi Ahmed Zayeef

Al Jazeera ran a special story this week.

We are running it for our readers to have a glimpse at the plight of Bangladeshi migrants in Italy.

“Tourists in groups never buy anything.” Ignoring the large group of American tourists sauntering back towards his stall, Faisal pulls out a photo of a boy from his wallet. “This is Sifat, my son. I send him to an English school and he’s at the top of his class,” the 30-year-old migrant from Bangladesh and a school dropout said.

At 3pm the autumn sun in Rome is still harsh and the crowds near the Trevi fountain are thinner than usual.

Walking past his stall, a few stragglers in the American group slow down to look at Faisal’s shining “Chanel” and “Prada” handbags arranged in neat rows on the ground, then shuffle on hurriedly.

“They don’t like getting separated from the group. The best time to approach them is when they are alone and have time to negotiate,” Faisal volunteers his business strategy.

A few yards away, his partner Rafiq, another migrant, is furtively scouring their surroundings for signs of plainclothed policemen. Every few minutes the two men exchange uneasy glances.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain has asked district and sessions judges and chief judicial magistrates to show zero tolerance towards corruption and any irregularity in providing justice and other services in courts.

In a closed-door meeting with district and session judges and chief judicial magistrates in the Supreme Court auditorium yesterday, the chief justice (CJ) also asked them to keep themselves above corruption, ensure integrity and utilise their time at the office in discharging duties.

Several participants told the Dhaka Tribune that these were among the major issues discussed in the meeting.

“We shall not accept any irregularity in dispensing justice and court services,” a participant quoted the CJ. The district judges and chief judicial magistrates yesterday came to the SC to attend a daylong national seminar on “Case Management Committees: Objectives, work modality and way forward.”

The seminar, organised by the Judicial Strengthening Project (JUST) and jointly implemented by the SC and the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), had an open inaugural session in the morning and a work-

Candles lit up the streets of the central Philippine city worst-hit by the strongest storm to make landfall as thousands remembered more than 6,300 people who died a year ago.

For the first time, a Bangladeshi film, which was not a joint venture project, saw its commercial release in India on Friday at Mumbai’s Anand Chitra Mandir in Ratnagiri area.

Nearly every other roadside vendor in Rome appears to be of Bangladeshi origin NISHTHA CHUGH/AL JAZEERA

They haven’t sold a single bag today.

“Sales are down for the last threefour months and at times it feels very desperate. But we have no choice.

Who is going to feed our families back home?” said Rafiq, shifting his gaze towards three men standing near an expensive restaurant not far from him.

Their hardened faces and sunken eyes scanned the busy tables impassively as they stood beside their worn tarpaulin sheets on the ground, laden with tour-

ist souvenirs and cheap leather goods.

Like Rafiq and Faisal they are from Bangladesh too, and entered Italy on forged documents.

Growing migrant population Oddly, it is a familiar sight across Rome. A quick visual audit of the city and nearly every other roadside vendor, souvenir seller, shop worker and restaurant waiter appears to be of Bangladeshi origin.

5 | News

9 | World

ing session until 4:30pm.

The closed-door meeting was held between the two sessions. It mostly focused on how judges and magistrates could reduce trial time, solve the longstanding problem of huge case backlog and better utilise office time to discharge duties, meeting sources said.

The chief justice asked the district judges to take all necessary measures if they received any allegation of corrup-

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

A row between DMP and NHRC has erupted over a youth injured in a “police shooting.”

The argument started after NHRC Chairman Mizanur Rahman visited the youth at the DMCH yesterday.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday underscored the need for better training for Air Force members to attain professional excellence .

12 | Entertainment

Indian police arrest suspect in plot to kill Hasina, Khaleda n Tribune Desk

tion against their subordinate judges, said a source.

The CJ suggested that if the district judges could not take action or face any obstacle in taking steps against corruption, they should let the Supreme Court know about it. The apex court would then take the necessary actions.

According to several sources, case backlog was one of the major issues of discussion in the meeting. At present, a staggering total of 2.7 million cases are

The judges, whose families live in Dhaka, leave their workplaces early on Thursday and return late on Sunday morning

3 | News

Rapid Action Battalion (RAB 1) yesterday arrested three people suspected of killing a currency exchange businessmen at an upscale hotel in the capital’s Gulshan area.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Indian police have arrested a 36-yearold woman suspected of being involved in a plot to assassinate Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and carry out a coup, Indian police said yesterday.

Meanwhile, West Bengal police arrested the main accused in Burdwan blast, Sajid, allegedly a Bangladeshi national and chief commander of terror group Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB), according Indian media reports.

The arrest of the 36-year-old woman comes days after Indian security officials said they had uncovered a plot by members of the Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen, accused of carrying out scores of attacks in Bangladesh, targeting Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, according to a report by Reuters.

The group also planned to assassinate opposition BNP’s leader, Khaleda Zia, Indian officials said.

Pallab Bhattacharjee, additional director general of police in the northeastern Indian state of Assam, said the woman had also been charged with collecting arms with an intention of waging war against India.

“She has been arrested by the special operations unit of the Assam Police and will be produced in court today,” he said.

INSIDE

4 | News

ly when and where he had sexually assaulted Zubair and whether he had assaulted other boys.

Senior AC Nazmul said no outside organisation or embassy had contacted the authorities about Abuubaida Kadir.

Kadir told us that he went to India before the year 2000 and then entered Bangladesh on a student visa. He started living in this country after destroying his passport, said Senior AC Nazmul.

“Kadir has strong feelings for teenage boys, especially if they are

15 | Sport

Leaden-footed Aussies find themselves bamboozled by Pakistan’s wily spinners and their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand can expect similar treatment.

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Makeshift police camp at Sohagpur to boost security n Our Correspondent, Sherpur A temporary police camp was set up at Sohagpur village in Nalitabari upazila on Friday night to ensure security of villagers as the Appellate Division upheld the death sentence of Jamaat-e-Islami leader Mohammad Kamaruzzaman.

The villagers include widows, family members of martyrs and witnesses.

President of Bidhoba Kalyan Samity (Widow Welfare Association) Jalal Uddin said the camp had provided the villagers with a sense of security.

“The widows who testified in war crimes cases were threatened by some locals. The women were scared and

feared that something bad might happen to them. But now they feel quite secure,” he said.

Officer-in-Charge of Nalitabari police station AKM Aminul Haque said the makeshift camp was set up at Kakarkandi union parishad to avoid any possible untoward situation.

On July 25, 1971, Pakistani forces in a gruesome attack killed 187 males in Benupara, turning the place into a village of widows.

Of the 57 women who were widowed on the day, 31 are still alive. Three widows among the 31 and also a child of a martyr family testified against Kamaruzzaman in the International Crimes Tribunal 2. l

Speakers at a discussion on food safety organised by Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) at capital’s Judicial Administration Training Institute auditorium yesterday

RAJIB DHAR

Chhatra League makes name as muggers in Dhaka University Visible actions against food adulterators suggested  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

near the Bangla Academy around 7:15pm and snatched his valuables showing arms.

Businessman Mahbubul Alam Antu submitted a written complaint to the university’s acting proctor Amzad Ali on October 18 accusing Apon, Tahsan and four accomplices of mugging and torturing outsiders near the British Council on Fuller Road recently.

On the second day of Eid-ul-Azha, he, along with a friend, went to Fuller Road and sat on the footpath near the British Council.

“In the evening, a man came to the place in a private car and sat beside us.

After sometime, five or six men came to the place on two motorcycles and snatched belongings from the car owner and beat him up. They also assaulted me since I protested,” Antu told the Dhaka Tribune.

He later informed his friend Ashiqul Pathan, the programme and planning secretary of DU unit Chhatra League, who later identified Apon and Tahsan on the basis of statements given by several witnesses.

Ashiq told the Dhaka Tribune: “I later talked to SM Hall unit General Secretary Didarul Islam about the accused.

He replied that they do not care about my concerns.

“What else could I do?”

In the last week of August, DU unit Chhatra League Joint Secretary Rezaul

Islam Reza told this reporter that one of his friends named Ratan Mahmud fell victim to mugging on an evening while walking along Fuller Road with a female friend.

Later Reza went to the spot and according to the description of his friend, found some leaders of the SM Hall unit involved in the incident.

A third-year student of Jasim Uddin hall, who used to accompany the SM Hall syndicate in the past, told the Dhaka Tribune that they usually gather at Fuller Road in the evening.

If they see any couple, who are DU students, they blame them for doing “unacceptable” things on campus and demand money and valuable things. If they refuse, they snatch.

“Sometimes the muggers wait for people coming in private cars and motorcycles, assuming that they are rich,” he said.

Police said during Eid and Puja, the SM Hall syndicate, led by Apon and Tahsan, had been involved in several incidents of extortion and mugging on the campus.

They also set a goat hut near the Polashi bazar before Eid. Backed by Mehedi and Didar, they collected toll from the businessmen.

Sub-Inspector of Shahbagh police Alamgir Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune that on September 30 evening, while on duty at Suhrawardy Udyan, he heard a woman scream. Reaching

the spot, he heard from the vendors that the SM Hall unit Chhatra League activist Shuvo had snatched valuables from the woman.

Shuvo was detained by police from his dormitory on May 27 after he had abducted a salesman. He was then suspended from the university. Shuvo is now on bail.

A few months back, Choyon of Zahurul Huq Hall and Mamun of Mohsin Hall were detained by police over an alleged snatching of a motorcycle from Suhrawardy Udyan.

Choyon and Mamun later confessed their involvement to a magistrate. They also disclosed the names of Apon and Aman, who had been present at the time of the crime. Police did not arrest Apon and Aman, but Choyon and Mamun were sent to jail.

In September 2012, a first-year student of SM Hall was detained by Shahbagh police from the Suhrawardy Udyan. He also named Apon, Tahsan and 15 others in connection with the mugging.

On April 14 last year, some Chhatra League leaders and activists of SM Hall led by Apon, Tahsan, Aman, Asif, Shuvo, Tapash, Oitijjiho and Pikul among others extorted people who were celebrating Pahela Baishakh. Some journalists who protested were beaten up.

Police arrested six from the spot and identified 15 others in that connection.

Apart from the SM Hall unit Chhatra League men, there are similar allega-

tions against Mamun of Mohshin Hall; Twaki, Shah Alam and Arifur Rahman Leyon of Surya Sen Hall; and Mostafizur Rahman and Shomit Shahariar of Shahidullah Hall.

On September 30, Shahbagh police arrested three students of the Fazlul Haque Hall at Suhrawardy Udyan while they were trying to snatch mobile phones and money from a couple. The arrested were Arif, Mamun and Tanjim, who claimed to be followers of the hall unit President Hasanuzzaman.

OC of Shahbagh police Shirajul Islam said: “Sometimes we have to free the perpetrators despite catching them red-handed as they show their identity cards and even disclose political backings.”

He said police were not always free to take action against the university students.

Acting proctor Amzad Ali acknowledged the allegations against Chhatra League activists, especially those from the SM Hall.

“The university authorities will take stern action against those responsible,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

However, DU unit Chhatra League President Mehedi Hasan told the Dhaka Tribune that he had not heard anything regarding the involvement of Chhatra League men in mugging and extortion.

“If any allegation is proved, proper steps will be meted out to them from the organisation,” he said.l

Chief Justice: Deal corruption with zero tolerance  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

pending with various courts across the country.

The CJ said the judges, whose families live in Dhaka, leave their workplaces early on Thursday afternoon and return late on Sunday morning, thus wasting working hours.

The judges are expected to work from 9am to 4pm everyday with a break for lunch. But the CJ yesterday said that they had information about many judges who did not come to their courts on time in the morning and leave early.

A participant of the meeting said case disposal had become a lengthy process and huge backlog of cases was causing further delay. As a result, cost of litigation for justice seekers had also been rising.

While discussing this, the performance of the Mymensingh district court had been cited as model. The Mymensingh district court reportedly disposed of around 57,000 cases in a

year. Considering this performance as a model, other district courts could develop their case management system, the meeting reportedly discussed.

The source also said except for criminal cases, importance was given to discussions on the prospects of disposing of civil cases through alternative mediation.

Meanwhile, in the inaugural programme of the seminar, which media was allowed to cover, the issues of mediation and backlog were widely discussed.

The CJ said: “Oral submissions or argument hearing in the court have been made time bound. The culture of unnecessary and lengthy court hearing has to end.”

The CJ emphasised on reducing backlog of cases and asked the law minister, who was present at the programme, to take necessary steps to amend existing laws to bring changes to the trial procedures.

“There is no denying the fact that

the number of cases in the subordinate courts and tribunals has increased manifold...The growth in population, coupled with increased rights awareness at the grassroots, are also responsible for this unusual rise.”

Citing Malaysia’s example, the CJ said some countries have replaced courtroom examination of key witnesses with signed statements in some cases. “This has significantly reduced trial time in those countries without compromising the equality of justice,” he said.

The chief Justice stressed implementation of “mediation” - a way of resolving disputes between two or more parties with concrete effects – in every civil case. He said it had become an important tool for reducing backlog of civil cases. “It is neither feasible nor desirable that all civil cases shall go through trial process and be ended with a judicial verdict,” he said.

“The judiciaries in USA, Canada, Australia, Malaysia and Philippines are tackling the waves of new civil cases by

adopting the court-annexed mediation for disposal of civil cases and appeals.

In Canada, about 80% and in the USA, about 90% of the civil cases are disposed of through mediation,” he added.

Law Minister Anisul Huq said: “We all must admit that there has been an unusual rise in the number of cases of every class. Nearly all cases are disposed of through judicial process of trial or hearing...Trial process itself takes some time, therefore it is not realistic to expect that every case instituted in the court shall go through judicial trial process.”

He also said: “We have made mediation compulsory for every civil case by amending section 89A and 89C of the Code of Civil Procedure in 2012. But the date of commencement of the amendment has not been notified through publication in the official gazette.”

Yesterday’s seminar was facilitated

by SM Kuddus Zaman, acting registrar of the Supreme Court. Paulin Tamesis, UNDP country director, also addressed the inaugural session. l

Bangladeshi migrants eke out a living in the Italian capital  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

The striking ubiquitousness of these South Asian men, however, is no coincidence but arguably the face of another migrant crisis than the one Italy is battling on its shores.

The Mediterranean nation is now home to a growing number of Bangladeshi migrants, many of whom have been smuggled or trafficked into the country.

According to the Italian Bureau of Statistics (ISTAT), in 2009, 11,000 Bangladeshi migrants were living in the country on unverified documents.

New estimates released since then by various independent sources suggest their number could now be as high as 70,000. With 122,000 residents, Italy has the second largest Bangladeshi community in Europe after Britain.

“In scale it may not seem comparable with the crisis involving migrants from North Africa making a perilous attempt to reach Italy in overcrowded boats. But due to fewer economic opportunities at home, many Bangladeshis are resorting to equally desperate measures and fac-

ing similar levels of risk in the hope of a better life in Europe,” said Dr Md Mizanur Rahman, senior research fellow in migration studies at National University of Singapore.

Poverty and high unemployment have made migration an integral part of Bangladeshi society and culture, Rahman said. “Male members are now invariably expected to migrate to cities or overseas to uplift the family financially,” he said.

It took Faisal 11 months and 1,600,000 Bangladeshi takas ($20,535) to reach Rome from Dubai, where he and his father were employed as construction workers. By air, the two cities are six hours apart and a one-way ticket costs about $400.

In 2011, things took a turn for the worse when his father lost use of his hands in an accident months before Faisal’s visa was due for renewal. The responsibility for providing for his elderly parents, four sisters, wife and two children now rested on him.

“Poor men have poorer luck, you see,” Faisal tries to force a smile. “I

didn’t get my [visa] extension and going home was not an option. I had too many mouths to feed.”

After his family back home made a flurry of arrangements with adam byaparis - Bengali for “human merchants” - in exchange for one million takas ($12,780), raised from selling family land and loans from moneylenders, Faisal was then set off on a boat from Dubai with nearly 20 men, headed for Europe.

“The overland expedition through Oman, Iran, and Turkey was fraught with risks and exacted a heavy toll on the men, both physically and mentally,” he told Al Jazeera.

They covered long distances in overcrowded jeeps or on foot for days, often after dark. Every few hundred kilometres, the group - which once swelled to 200 men - was handed down to local smugglers, who routinely banded them with other groups that also included girls before arranging crossings across borders.

“They [smugglers] never stopped for anything except when hiding us in

safe-houses. Two men died due to exhaustion but their bodies were abandoned by the roadside. No prayers were said for the Muslim brothers, let alone give them a decent burial,” Faisal said.

‘Slash our throats’

After reaching Istanbul, the migrant from Noakhali district in southern Bangladesh found himself in the hands of a gang who subjected him to beatings, starvation, and blackmail for days.

“This is how they would tie electric wires into knots on one end,” Faisal wraps a thin strap from a fake Chanel bag around his knuckles, “and whip us”.

“They demanded another million [takas] for the journey forward or they would ‘slash our throats and throw us in the Bosphorus, [the strait that divides Europe and Asia]’,” he said.

After his family paid 400,000 takas ($5,180), borrowed from relatives, to local handlers, Faisal was dropped off in Greece, where he spent another seven months in hiding and waiting for his travel documents. Three failed at-

n UNB Observing that there is no difference between sudden murders and the deaths caused by slow poisoning of food adulteration, Law Commission chairman ABM Khairul Haque yesterday called for visible legal actions against the food adulterators.

“There’s no difference between sudden murders and the deaths caused by slow poisoning of food adulteration.

Both are punishable crimes,” he told a discussion in the capital.

Porisbesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) organised the discussion on ‘ensuring poison-free food: taken measures

and way forward’ at Judge Administration Training Institute in the morning.

Speaking as the chief guest, Khairul Haque said food is the basic and moral right of people born into this world and this right is repeated only in the country’s constitution.

Referring to a court verdict, he said the High Court in 2007 directed the authorities concerned to set up ‘Food Court’ across the country to check food adulteration, aiming to protect the public health.

“The courts have been set up but no food analyst has been appointed yet.

So, laws remain nonfunctional.” l

Indian police arrest suspect  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

The alleged assassination conspiracy was discovered after two members of the outlawed group were killed in an explosion while building homemade bombs at a house in Burdwan in West Bengal in eastern India last month.

Indian police say the militants were Bangladeshis and were using India as a safe haven to plan the attacks.

With the arrest of Sajid, on whose head the National Investigation Agency (NIA) had announced a cash reward

of Rs10 lakh, the exact plan of the terror group is likely to come to fore, according to a Hindustan Times report.

Sajid was arrested by West Bengal Police a couple of days back, official sources said yesterday but refused to immediately divulge the exact location and circumstances leading to his arrest.

Sajid had been extensively questioned by the police and sleuths of central agencies about the functioning of JMB and its plans within the country and in Bangladesh. l

Zubair murder mystery solved  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

the capital’s Uttara neighborhood on October 4. Police recovered his body from the pond after Abuubaida Kadir, an Algerian national, showed them where it was on October 5.

Police arrested Kadir on the same day based on a murder case filed by the victim’s mother. Kadir was directly implicated in the murder when the sole eyewitness to the incident, a 17-yearold boy, gave his confessional statement to investigators.

The murder had remained a mystery pending the findings of the medical report last week.

Based on the report, investigators are now claiming that the mystery has been solved.

Senior AC Nazmul said: “Besides being charged for the murder of Zubair, Kadir faces a charge of staying illegally in Bangladesh and a case has been filed against him under the Passport Act. We will submit charges against Kadir soon.”

The Algerian citizen is now behind bars following the conclusion of two remand sessions. l

tempts later, he eventually succeeded in boarding a flight to Rome with a fake agriculture worker visa.

“In recent years a lot of men have gone to Sicily and Venice. They are now crossing on boats from Libya,” said Rafiq, who arrived in Italy in 2008 on a six-month agriculture visa. “Overland routes have become more dangerous and expensive,” he adds.

According to Rahman, Italy has become a highly desirable destination for Bangladeshi immigrants due to its lax entry controls and mass drives to legalise migrants. Since 1986, its government has absorbed over a million immigrants under its quota system.

“That Italy is now attracting university-educated, urban Bangladeshi youth says a lot about its appeal,” he told Al Jazeera.

ing blood and dignity”.

“You work 16-17 hours a day, take abuse, submit to exploitation and say nothing,” Rafiq said. In his first job, the 28-year-old migrant from Dhaka picked fruit on a farm for 2 euros ($2.50) an hour.

“I toiled for a local shoe manufacturer from 4am to 5pm. He paid me 23 euros [$28.77] per day,” Faisal said.

Last year both men decided to start their own “business” after meeting in a three-bedroom flat, which they shared with 18 other migrants.

They now make roughly 1600-1700 euros ($2,001-$2,126) a month, slightly more than their previous earnings. At 450 euros ($562) per person, food and rent are still their biggest expenses.

The remainder is wired home.

While Rafiq is happy that “no one is sucking their blood”, Faisal would like to see bigger savings at the end of the month.

“I would like to send Sifat a smartphone but it’s hard to slash expenses any further,” Faisal said. “I am sure I will find a way,” he said. l

attractive. Interestingly, Kadir says neither he nor his three brothers have married,” a DB police officer said, on condition of anonymity.

“Kadir said there was a curse over his family and neither he nor any of his brothers had married out of fear of the curse,” said the DB official.

An analysis of Kadir’s phone calls and Facebook use shows he had regular communication with his family and friends in Algeria but he never wanted to go back to his country, said the DB official.

Senior AC Nazmul said: “We have come to know from Kadir that some of his friends had visited the country during the last 14 years. We are suspecting that there may be others living in the country like Kadir who are involved in anti-social acts. We are trying to track down foreigners residing illegally in the country who are doing such activities.”

Zubair Ahmed, known to be a good swimmer, allegedly drowned in a shallow pond inside a park in Sector 4 of

Remittance

As per Bangladesh’s central bank, migrants have remitted nearly $1bn from Italy between 2000 and 2010.

For Rafiq and Faisal, however, sending money home is no less than “sell-

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Police are at loggerheads with NHRC boss n Mohammad Jamil Khan

A row between Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) has erupted over a youth injured in a “police shooting”.

The argument started after NHRC Chairman Mizanur Rahman visited the youth at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) yesterday.

After his visit the NHRC in a press statement said the chairman of the watchdog received a complaint on November 5 that a youth was undergoing treatment in a critical condition after he was shot by police in the capital’s Mohammadpur area on October 17.

Based on the complaint, the chairman visited the hospital on November 6 to see the youth for himself.

The chairman talked to the youth named Nafis Salam, 30. He also enquired about his health condition. After that he placed his observation to journalists at the hospital.

In his observation he said the shooting of the youth was a violation of hu-

man rights and not at all accepted.

Even if anyone is guilty of a crime the person cannot be shot and it is also violation of human rights. However, the commission statement was presented incorrectly, said the statement.

As the DMP blamed the NHRC for siding with militancy for Nafis is a member of banned militant outfit Hizbut-Tahrir the human rights watchdog defended its stand saying that if anyone is a member of a banned organisation police have no right to shoot him.

Referring to the DMP statement issued on November 6 that reads “NHRC chairman is instigating militancy” the NHRC statement says the DMP statement is totally baseless as it misinterpreted the statement of the NHRC chairman.

On the other hand, the DMP statement said the NHRC chairman’s visit to an injured accused was unlawful as he did not take permission from the court.

In a counter statement, the NHRC said it did not require any permission as it a state organisation that functions under

separate laws.

Earlier after his visit to the youth at the DMCH, NHRC Chairman Mizanur Rahman on November 6 said police in a certain district did not adhere to the chain of command in the organisation nor to the country’s laws.

“Police in this particular district are consistently committing offences ignoring the chain of command taking ill-advantage of the district’s name,” he said. However, he did not mention the name of the district.

When asked about the district’s name he said: “You journalists are sharp. You know even better than me.”

The NHRC chairman went on to say that this particular district’s police were disgracing Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina with their wrongful conduct.

“No civilized country’s police can behave in such a way. Police in Bangladesh are showing arrogance and disrespect to the laws and rights of people,” he said.

At the DMCH, he visited Nafis Salam, 30, who was shot by police on October 17 afternoon during a demonstration

3

Sunday, November 9, 2014

in the capital’s Mohammadpur area.

Nafis, claimed that he was protesting the controversial remarks made by former minister Abdul Latif Siddique when police suddenly intervened and opened fire on the procession.

Police also filed a case against him with Mohammadpur police station where they claimed he was a member of Hizb ut-Tahrir and had attacked police on the day of the incident.

Abdus Salam, Nafis’s father, refuted the police’s claim and said Nafis was studying MBA at Dhaka University, and before that he had graduated from Queensland University in Australia.

In response to the comment, DMP issued a press statement on the same day mentioning that the youth is a member of banned militant outfit and police opened fire in self defense.

But the NHRC chairman’s remarks went against investigation and inspired militancy. It also hampered the investigation process. His comment against a certain district hurt the sentiment of people and would give a

wrong message to the world about Bangladesh’s stance on militancy, the DMP statement said.

In this regard, Monirul Islam, joint commissioner at the DMP and also its spokesperson, told the Dhaka Tribune that there was no problem with the chain of command in police, and they were performing their duties within the laws and regulations of the country.

“Before commenting on an organisation’s chain of command, a person should have a clear understanding of the chain of command first,” he said.

Masudur Rahman, deputy commissioner (media and public relation) of the DMP, yesterday said at least 17 members of police were killed in political violence of 2013. Over hundred were amputated and around 3,000 policemen were injured in that period.

But the NHRC chairman did not visit the wounded policemen or the family members of the deceased cops.

“Is there no human rights of policemen? Why is he taking the side of the offenders?” asked Masud. l

Body exhumed after 4 months on murder charge

n Our Correspondent, Mymensingh In presence of authorities concerned, a worker’s body that had been buried about four months ago was exhumed from his family graveyard at Chowdhurykanda village in Gaffargaon upazila here yesterday noon.

On a plea made by Shariful Islam, the worker Shimul’s brother, for re-autopsy in a case filed on charge of killing his brother, Gazipur district court Senior Judicial Magistrate Farzana Aktar on October 21 ordered the exhume. The district’s Senior Judicial Magistrate Sher Mahbub Murad, the case’s IO Md Mahiuddin and Gaffargaon police station SI Anwar Hossain were present. Shimul, 22, worked at a poultry farm in Aktarpara village in the Sreepur upazila of Gazipur. A brawl erupted with the owners as he pressed them for six months’ arrears.

On July 16, the owners informed Shimul’s family that he had committed The local CID has been investigation into it for two months. l

3 Barapukuruia coal mine officials withdrawn n Aminur Rahman Rasel Barapukuria Coal Mining Company Limited (BCMCL) has withdrawn its three officials on charges of showing negligence in selling 300 tonnes of coal to a private company.

BCMCL Managing Director Md Aminuzzaman confirmed this to the Dhaka Tribune and said they were now attached to his office.

The three officials are General Manager Md Abdul Mannan Patwary, Deputy General Manager Gopal Chandra Saha and Deputy Manager Md Kamrul Hasan. They all work at the company’s finance and accounts division.

A BCMCL general manager said a bank draft of Tk27.6lakh in favour of Masum Ali, proprietor of Robin Traders at Zirani Bazar of Savar, was submitted to the accounts division of the company to purchase 300 tonnes coal in May this year.

When the company officials

submitted the bank draft to Phulbari branch of Agrani Bank for encashment, it was found to be fake, he said.

The three-member committee that had been formed to investigate into the matter has recently submitted their report to the managing director, who placed the report at the company’s board meeting on November 2, when it was decided to withdraw the three officials.

A new three-member investigation committee was formed headed

by General Manager A K M Serajul Islam for more investigation in this regard.

General Manager AKM Serajul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “We have investigated this and will submit our report within 10 working days.”

Meanwhile, the Energy Ministry has formed a three-member with its Deputy Secretary Siddiqa Akhtar in the lead to investigate the issue. l

Members of Blogger and Online Activist Network form a human chain protesting the recent reports published by Al Jazeera on war crimes trial in Bangladesh

RAJIB DHAR

Firing, explosion Disgruntled BNP leaders brings foil AL meeting in broom procession Mymensingh n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

BD-Russia nuke infrastructure dev meeting begins in Moscow Nov 10

n Our correspondent, Mymensingh

n UNB

Two factions of local Awami League leaders got into a clash during the party’s extended meeting and they hurled crude bombs and fired blank shots at the party’s Shibbari Road office yesterday.

Witnesses said around 8pm, the meeting was going on in the office but the supporters of Mymensingh municipality Mayor Ikramul Haq suddenly began chanting slogans outside the office against district Awami League President and Religious Affairs Minister Principal Motiur Rahman.

Supporters of the minister came out of the office when slogans were being chanted.

Supporters of the mayor fired blank shots at the time. Several crude bombs were also exploded.

The minister left the party office with the help of police, who arrived on the scene shortly.

Abu Mohammad Fazlul Karim, officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station, said security had been ramped up in the town to avert any untoward situation. l

A 33-member convening committee of Sylhet city unit BNP was formed yesterday.

Soon after the announcement of the committee a section of deprived and aggrieved BNP leaders brought out a protest procession with brooms in their hands demanding the committee cancellation. Police dispersed them, and arrested four activists from the spot.

Shahriar Hossain Choudhury and Badruzzaman Selim were made convener and joint convenor of the new committee respectively.

The other convening committee members are Shamsher Mobin Chowdhury, Ariful Huq Choudhury, M A Huq, Nasim Hossain, Professor Moksud Ali, Abdul Kaium Jalali Ponki, Rezaul Hasan Koyes Ludi, Forhad Choudhury Shamim, Emdad Hossain Choudhury.

Party leaders said most of the new com-

mittee members are followers of Shamser Mobin Chowdhury. As BNP leaders Maksud Ali and Farhad Chowdhury Shamim’s followers did not secure major positions, they brought out the procession demanding annulment of the new committee.

The aggrieved and deprived BNP leaders brought out a broom procession around 8pm from city’s Mira Bazar area chanting slogans against Mobin.

When the procession reached Jindabazar area parading through Naiorpoll, Jail road, Barutkhana and Jindabazar court point, police had obstructed the procession.

The procession then made an about turn and marched towards Jindabazar area. Police dispersed them and detained former student leader Abdul Ahan Khan from the spot but released him after sometimes but arrested four others.

Shah Mobashir, Sub-Inspector of Kotwali police station, said they arrested four persons from the spot. l

The second four-day meeting of the Bangladesh-Russia Joint Working Group on Nuclear Infrastructure Development begins in Moscow on Monday.

A five-member Bangladesh delegation will participate in the meeting.

Joint Secretary of the Ministry of Science and Technology Rabindranath Roy Chowdhury and the Cochairman of the Working Group will lead the Bangladesh side to the meeting.

During the meeting, Bangladesh will present a report on the current status of nuclear industry in Bangladesh and the country’s expected support from Russia for the sector.

Russia is expected to make several presentations on Quality Assurance, Budgeting and Cost Management,

The primary construction of the project is underway while the second phase is expected to begin in 2016 Besides, the Bangladesh delegation will visit various facilities at Novovaronez Nuclear power plant, including Control Room, Turbine Hall, Full Scale Simulator, Training Center

and Emergency Preparedness Center as well as ongoing constructions process.

They will also be acquainted with Visual Prototyping and Crisis Centers of Rosenergoatom, a Russian nuclear power station operation company.

The Joint Working Group was formed following a decision at the first meeting of the Russia-Bangladesh Joint Coordinating Committee (JCC), held in Moscow on July 22-23, 2014.

Under an inter-governmental agreement between Russia and Bangladesh, signed in November, 2011, Russia’s state nuclear energy corporation -Rosatom – will build and operate Rooppur Nuclear Power Plant at Ishwardi having two units, each with 1,000MW capacity.

The primary construction of the project is underway while the second phase is expected to begin in 2016. l

Dhaka University admission seekers demand attackers’ arrest, punishment

Gold worth TK 7.5 crore seized at Dhaka airport

n Arif Ahmed

n UNB Customs officials seized 12 gold bars and chains weighing 15 kg from Shahjalal International Airport in the city on Saturday.

On a tip-off, customs officials searched the ladies toilet at the immigration clearance around 1:45 am and seized the gold bars and chains in an abandoned condition, said Umme Nahida, assistant director of the Customs Intelegence and Investigation Directorate.

However, no one was arrested in this connection. The market value of the gold is TK 7.5 crore. A case has been filed in this connection. l

Preparation of General Contract, Project Management in Implementing NPP Constructions. Both sides will thoroughly discuss the work plan for developing nuclear infrastructure.

BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir addresses an urgent press meet called at the party’s headquarters in capital’s Naya Paltan yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Admission seekers yesterday demanded that those who attacked them during their Friday demonstrations at Dhaka University (DU) be arrested immediately and punished exemplarily.

They made the demand around 10:45am while staging demonstrations in protests against the attack on the campus.

The protesters were attacked by some alleged Chhatra League activists around 11:20am on Friday while they were forming a human chain at the altar of Raju Memorial sculpture at the university’s TSC intersection.

They claimed that the attackers were activists of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman Hall Chhatra League unit and they launched the attack on them by the order of the

university authority.

DU acting proctor Amzad Ali however termed Friday’s attack an internal affair and said: “The university authorities do not have any idea of the attackers. Our students cannot attack them.”

The demonstrators yesterday said they would submit a memorandum to the vice chancellor after he arrived back home from abroad.

DU authority last month decided that an eligible student can take its entry test for admission into its honours programme only in the year they pass Higher Secondary Certificate examinations from next year.

Since then, the admission seekers who had failed to get admission into the university this year have been staging demonstrations demanding cancellation of the decision. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Sunday, November 9, 2014

3 arrested for trader’s murder n Mohammad Jamil Khan Rapid Action Battalion (RAB 1) yesterday arrested three people suspected of killing a currency exchange businessmen at an upscale hotel in the capital’s Gulshan area.

“The arrestees were identified as Rakibul Islam, 32, Helal Uddin, 36, and Aminul Islam Sohag, 20. Helal Uddin committed the murder,” Lt Col Tuhin Mohammad Masud, commanding officer (CO) of RAB 1, said.

On October 13, the assailants invited Md Nazrul Islam, a money exchange businessman, to room 702 of the Amari Hotel in Gulshan 2, where they killed him and stole a large amount of foreign currency, police sources said. Nazrul was the owner of Paltan Money Exchange, located beside the Gulshan Shopping Centre.

“Video footage from the hotel’s security cameras helped identify the killers,” Lt Col Tuhin said at a media briefing at RAB 1 headquarters yesterday.

“Rakib was arrested from house 40/A in Basila in the capital’s Mohammadpur area and Helal was taken into custody from the Muktarpara area of Gaffargaon in Mymensingh along with a private car used in the murder,” Lt Col Tuhin said.

“Obtaining information from Helal, we arrested Aminul from the Rasulpur area of Devidwar upazila in Comilla district. All the arrests were made yesterday,” the CO of RAB 1 said.

“During interrogation, the arrestees said they lured money exchange businessman Nazrul to the hotel by telling

him they wanted to buy a large amount of rupees from him. When Nazrul entered the hotel room, they locked the door and tried to make him unconscious by injecting him with anaesthetics,” Lt Col Tuhin said.

The RAB 1 commanding officer continued: “As he was being injected, Nazrul tried to save himself by biting a finger on Helal’s right hand. During the struggle, the remaining anaesthetic was injected into the victim causing him to fall unconscious. Nazrul’s hands and feet were then bound and Helal strangled him to death.”

“The killers robbed the victim of rupees worth around Tk52 lakh,” Kamrul Hasan, assistant superintendent of police (ASP) and operation officer of RAB 1, told the Dhaka Tribune citing the First Information Report (FIR) filed with Gulshan police station by Nazrul’s family.

The assistant superintendent of police said one of the main planners of the murder, Rafiqul Islam, a brother of arrestee Rakibul Islam, bought the anaesthetics from a pharmacy in the capital’s Mitford area along with arrestee Helal.

A white Toyota, whose number plates had been changed, was used as the getaway car, he said.

“Rafiqul left with his family for Malaysia on October 13. He had planned the murder for a long time and fled the country leaving behind no evidence of his involvement in the murder,” ASP Kamrul said.

Legal action is being taken against the arrestees, he said. l

A group of students form human chain in the TSC area on Dhaka University campus yesterday demanding second chance to sit for admission tests of public universities of the country DHAKA TRIBUNE

Traffic sergeant suspended for beating up truck driver n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong A traffic sergeant was suspended on the charge of beating up a truck driver in Chittagong city yesterday morning.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police Assistant Commissioner (Traffic-West

Zone) Mahmuda Begum confirmed this to the Dhaka Tribune.

Traffic Sergeant Nur-e-Alam beat up truck driver Ali Hossain, 44, allegedly after he got Tk100 less that what he had demanded of him as bribe around 10am.

He had demanded the truck driver

Primary school running under the open sky for eight months

JSD’s role in Bangladesh’s politics questioned

n Tribune Reports

n Tribune Report

For last eight months, students of Samajik Shikkha Kendro, a government run primary school in capital’s Bailey road are taking classes under open sky.

Girl Guides Association, an autonomous body under the Education Ministry, demolished the 52-year-old school on its premises during the Eid-ul-Fitr vacation this year following a verdict of High Court.

A High Court bench of Justice Quazi Reza-ul Hoque and Justice ABM Altaf Hossain. in its verdict on February 20,

2014, declared that the property belonged to Bangladesh Girl Guides Association, following a petition filed by the association in 2008.

On October 30, the Appellate division of the Supreme Court stayed the order.

Yesterday the school authority hold a press conference demanding cancellation of the decision and rebuilding the school as early as possible where Rasheda K Chowdhury, executive director of Campaign for Popular Education, was the keynote speaker.

She said with 52 students, the four

teachers of the primary school were running the educational activities amid manifold difficulties everyday.

“For rebuilding and re-contracting this school, the Ministry of Primary and Mass Education should act strongly and we expect that the government will take steps to help this primary school return to its earlier form,” she said.

As the students of this school come from low income families, healthy environment needs to be ensured to run the activities, demanded the school authorities at the press conference. l

Plea for help n Tribune Report A 13-month-old baby, named Ekram Hossain Ornab, son of Ekbal Hossain, a resident of Mughaltuli Shahsuja Masjid road area in Comilla city, has been suffering from cardiac blood vessel complications for ten months.

There is a need for around Tk6 lakh for Ekram’s cardiac operation. Since Ekbal Hossain is a salesman of Otobi Furniture Shop in the capital, he is unable to bear the cost.

The couple have urged the country’s solvent people and philanthropists to extend their helping hand for their son’s treatment.

Those who want to donate are requested to contact over the mobile phone number 01966-485115. l

Dhaka University Professor MM Akash has questioned the role that the Jatiya Samajtantrik Dal, brainchild of Liberation War hero Col (retd) Taher, have played in the country’s politics over the years.

“The Awami League was JSD’s political enemy once.

But now they are coalition partners. JSD used to talk about scientific socialism, but that cannot be heard from them anymore. The party once looked to bring a radical change to the society, but today they have adopted a slow and steady approach,” Prof Akash said.

Addressing a programme at the TSC roundabout on the DU campus yesterday, Prof Akash also said it was now hard to understand whether the Awami League was using JSD for serving its political purposes or vice versa.

JSD President and Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu was present at the programme when he made the remarks.

In reply, minister Inu said his party got tagged with the Awami League because they both were fuelled by the spirit of independence and thus they believed that they could bring the social change.

Since the JSD had never participated in any military government or partnered with any anti-liberation force, Inu said there was no reason to think that the party had deviated from its basic ideologies.l

Prof Saeed Alamgir Jafar’s Bogus ASP arrested in the capital Qulkhani today

Police officials present Kazi Masum, who was arrested for posing as an assistant superintendent of police, at the Media Cell of DMP yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

Police arrested a fake Assistant Superintendent of Police (ASP) from the capital’s Bansree area Yesterday.

The arrested was identified as Kazi Masum.

Three police uniforms, seal on different ranks, pad, police cap, hanging badge, PATC’s 39th FTC written training bag, four phone sets, visiting cards of ten high police officials and a passport were recovered from his possession, said DMP Media and Publication Deputy Commissioner Masudur Rahman.

“Based on complain from a man on Friday that a police official demanding ransom of Tk5 lakh confining two persons named Dulal Ray and Rajon Biswash, a team from Khilgaon police station arrested the fake ASP and rescued the two from a house of Bansree,” Masudur went on. l

Professor Saeed Alamgir Jafar’s Qulkhani will be held at his Labonee residence at House 24 on Road 9/A in the capital’s Dhanmondi area.

Prof Alamgir’s family members urged to join the programme to seek eternal peace for the departed soul.

On Wednesday, Prof Alamgir’s passed away in a cardiac arrest at Ibrahim Cardiac Hospital (Birdem). l

of Tk 400.

Transport workers heard of it and took to streets blocking Dhaka-Chittagong Highway from Chittagong city’s Colonel Hat area to City Gate area around 11am, resulting in a huge traffic jam.

Akbar Shah Police Station Officer-in-Charge Abdul Majid told the Dhaka Tribune that they lifted the blockade around an hour after police assured them of taking action against the police and looking into this incident. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

PM for further development of Air Force members n UNB Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday underscored the need for improved training for members of the Air Force for attaining professional excellence saying they will have to develop themselves as efficient and ideal Air Force personnel.

“Attaining professional efficiency is very important for members of the Air Force as it increases self-confidence on one hand while helps earn fame and dignity for the organization on the other,” she said addressing a function of awarding the National Standard to Bangladesh Air Force Base Zahurul Haque here.

Alongside this, Hasina said, they will have to keep in mind the history and the supreme sacrifices of lakhs people for the country’s independence.

Terming the country’s Air Force as a traditional one, the Prime Minister said it has a glorious history of sacrifices during the country’s great Liberation War and its members with only one Alouette helicopter, One DC-3 and one Auter Biman fought with unprecedented efficiency against the occupation forces.

The nation will ever remember the courageous contributions of the Air Force officials, including those who performed their responsibility as sector commanders, she said.

Recalling the great contribution

2 held with 2,500 yaba tablets n Tribune Report

of Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman in developing the Air Force, Hasina said Bangabandhu collected supersonic MIG-21 and took massive initiatives to modernise it.

Following the footprint of Bangabandhu, the Prime Minister said, the government has been working to make the Air Force a time-befitting and smart one in the light of ‘Forces Goal 2030’.

She said the government implemented massive programmes for the development of Air Force after assuming office in 1996 and collected the Fourth Generation MiG-29 Fighter Planes, large capacity C-130 Cargo Planes and high powered Air Protecting RADAR system.

During its 2009-2013 tenure, 16 fighter planes from China and 3 Mi171 helicopters from Russia were purchased while a new Air Forve Base was set up at Cox’s Bazar with surface to air missile system there for the first time, she said.

Besides, Bangabandhu Aeronautical Center has been established at the Bangabandhu Airbase and two modern Maritime Research and Rescue Helicopter AW-139 will soon be added to the Air Force which will be conducted from this base, the Prime Minister said.

Hasina said the use of ICTs has been ensured in every tire of the Air Force and an IT Department has been set up to train up all members of the Air Force in Com-

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina watching an attractive parade of the Bangladesh Air Force held on the parade ground of the Zahurul Hque Air Base during the National Standard Awarding ceremony in Chittagong yesterday PID puter based technologies. New units under the Air Force are being set up increasing its manpower while step has been taken to set up Bangabandhu Complex at the Air Force Academy at Jessore to provide improved training and research facilities for the force, she said.

Referring to the maritime disputes with India and Myanmar, the Prime Minister said Bangladesh’s sovereign rights have been established in the huge maritime area in the Bay of Bengal, opening up huge opportunities to extract sea resources.

In this connection, she mentioned the assistance provided by the Air Force in determining the maritime boundary by flying for 29 hours with judges of International Tribunals as well as lawyers of Bangladesh and India.

She expressed her belief that the Air Force will be able to contribute more to the development of the country and the nation through its modernisation.

The Prime Minister hoped that the patriotic armed forces, including the Air Force, imbued with the spirit of the War of Liberation would uphold Bangladesh’s “red and green coloured” National Flag before the world.

During the national standard award ceremony, Hasina witnessed the parade at the parade ground of Air Base Zahurul Haque.

The parade was commanded by group captain Syed Sayeedur Rahman.

During the parade, the Prime Minister was given ‘National Salute’ while a helicopter flew past with the national flag.

On the occasion, the Prime Minister signed a visitors’ book and attended a photography session with the selected senior officers of Armed Forces and Airmen.

Earlier, on her arrival at the parade ground, she was received by chief of Air Staff Air Marshal Muhammad Enamul Bari and Air Officer Commanding of Air Force Base Zahurul Haque Air Commodore Md Humayun Kabir. l

BANES OF DEVELOPMENT

In two separate drives police yesterday arrested two persons in connection with yaba peddling and recovered a total of 2,500 pieces of yaba tablets from their possession.

One of the arrested is Md Abu Sayed, a staff of a bus that was going to Chittagong from Teknaf around 3am yesterday.

Being tipped off, police stopped the bus near Karnaphuli Bridge area in Bakalia upazila of Chittagong and caught Sayed with 2,000 yaba tablets that were kept inside a toolbox inside the bus.

Another detained, Enamul Haque alias Joy, was held with 500 pieces of yaba tablets from another Chittagong-bound bus during the early hours yesterday, said Mohammed Mohsin, officer-incharge of Bakalia police station. l

WEATHER

LIGHT RAIN SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9 DHAKA

TODAY SUN SETS 5:15PM

TOMORROW SUN RISES 6:10AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY 31 31 31 31 31 31 32 30

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

24 24 17 18 21 20 18 24

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

34.4ºC Srimangal

18.2ºC Dinajpur

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:52am 6:08am 11:42am 3:39pm 5:15pm 6:33 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Lighter vessel workers’ flash strike halts river transports n Tribune Report

The workers of the lighter vessels yesterday morning abruptly went for an indefinite strike suspending activities to and from the Chittagong port as well as elsewhere in the country on the river routes demanding safety during voyage.

Sources at Water Transport Cell, 100 goods-laden lighter vessels were seen standing idle at 16 private jetties in the port city while 500 other vessels were at different waterways and river ports of the country due to the strike.

Nabi Ahmed, general secretary of the Bangladesh Lighter Vessel Workers’ Association, said a lighter vessel named MV Karnaphuli 5 came under attack of pirates in Kamalnagar area of Lakshmipur on Friday night, leaving seven crew missing.

He said the incident took place around 7pm while the fertiliser vessel was heading for Bagabari from Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Jetty.

He went on that the lighter vessel workers had initiated work abstention spontaneously soon after getting the message in the morning. “Although we have not announced any strike from our organisation formally, we are expressing solidarity with the demand of the workers,” he added.

Meanwhile, Kamalnagar police station OC, told the Dhaka Tribune that they found blood stain on the vessel. However, no goods was missing from the vessel.

“We have assumed that a clash erupted among the crew of the vessel.

However, we will be able to unearth the mystery following rescuing the missing crew,” the OC continued. l

Youth dies fighting life for two days at KMCH n Our Correspondent, Jessore A young man, who had been prey to an attack by miscreants two days ago in Shankarpur area of the district town, succumbed to his injuries at Khulna Medical College Hospital (KMCH) yesterday.

The victim is Md Ali Suman, 20, son of Rokan Bepari, a resident of the area.

In the incident, Suman’s father filed a case against nine people, including Jessore Municipality no 7 Ward Councillor Advocate Julfiker Ali Julu.

According to the case statement, some locals, namely Mahabub, Mantu, Roni, Julu, Tutul, Shorafat, Polash, Apo and Azizul hacked his three sons, including Suman, as sequel to the previous enmity while they were moving towards mosque for prayers, leaving them injured.

Later, they were admitted to Jessore Medical College Hospital from where Suman was referred to the KMCH as his condition deteriorated.

When contacted, the councillor denied the allegation hurled against him. l

2 held for cheating in CU admission test n CU Correspondent Two admission seekers were held for adopting unfair means during the written test of C unit in the Chittagong University admission test yesterday.

They are Md Faizul Islam and Md Dalim Mia. Faizul Islam was held from room no 306 of the Social Science Faculty while Dalim Mia was held from the Law Faculty building inside the campus.

CU Proctor Siraj Ud Dowla said the invigilators caught them while trying to see answers sent through text messages in their mobile phones. However, the messages did not contain answers to any of the questions that appeared in the test. l

5

Sunday, November 9, 2014

The ongoing construction work of the Moghbazar flyover has occupied lion’s share of the Moghbazar intersection, one of the busiest intersections of the capital, leaving little space for smooth movement of vehicles and pedestrians MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

National master plan Call for implementing formulation demanded Safe Food Act 2013 n Tribune Report Urban planners and government officials yesterday urged the government to formulate the national master plan for planned urbanisation in cities and towns across the country.

In a four-point demand, they also demanded immediate steps for protecting waterbodies, wetlands and also open spaces in the capital as well as in cities and towns elsewhere in the country, arguing that encroachers continue to grab these.

The demands were raised at a seminar organised by Bangladesh Institute of Planners (BIP) in association with the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) and Sheltech (Pvt) Ltd. Held at the BIP secretariat in the capital, it was arranged on occasion of the World Urban Planning Day 2014 and was chaired by BIP President Professor Dr Golam Rahman.

“We have heard enough about the Detailed Area Plan (DAP) for the capital but where is the result? I think political influence is hindering the proper implementation of the DAP,” said Selina Hayat Ivy, mayor of Narayanganj city.

Blasting influential political leaders, she said she failed to undertake planned development projects in 11 years of serving as the mayor of Narayanganj City Corporation and the

former municipality.

“Property developers and big business firms like Bashundhara, Ashiyan and Akij are building residential facilities and industries by filling up agricultural lands as well as wetlands in Dhaka and also in Narayanganj,” Ivy said.

“If this continues, it will be impossible to turn the capital into a planned city,” she added.

Ivy also urged the government to seriously consider implementation of DAP in order to make Dhaka a planned and habitable city in the future.

Md Nurullah, additional chief engineer (urban management) of LGED, said: “Most of the cities in the country were built in an unplanned way. Of the 11 city corporations and 324 municipalities, none was built according to the master plan. How can we expect citizen services from these offices?”

“Every community has to be involved when implementing the master plan,” he added.

At the end of the seminar, students of Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Jahangirnagar University and Chittagong University of Engineering and Technology were given awards for a range of accomplishments.

Earlier in the day, the BIP held a rally in the capital in observance of the World Urban Planning Day. l

n Tribune Report Civil society members yesterday urged the government to implement the Safe Food Act 2013 immediately in order to stop the ongoing trend of food adulteration in the country.

They made the call at a discussionon food safety organised by Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba) at capital’s Judicial Administration Training Institute auditorium yesterday.

“The government should make immediate moves to implement the Safe Food Act 2013 to bring the culprits linked with food adulteration to book in Bangladesh,”said former Chief Justice ABM Khairul Haque.

He claimed that the delay in the implemention of the act was caused because of the “indifference” of the government adding that food adulteration was a process of “Silent Mass Killing”.

However, the action should be taken against the main culprits rather than the poor retailers who play a negligible role in the process to earn their livelihoods, National Human Rights commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman said.

He urged the government to recognise food as a fundamental right of people in the constitution so that the government can be held accountable to ensure safe food.

An unscrupulous section of busi-

nessmen have been mixing different types of chemicals including formalin in food in the name of preservation making fresh food highly unavailable these days, he added.

Abu Naser Khan, chairman of Poba called upon the government to finalise the draft of Formalin Control Act immediately to check the excessive import and

Alongside formalin, excessive usage of fertilisers and pesticides during cultivation process were also causing harm to the foods produced usage of formalin and also implement all kinds of international agreements and protocols made on food safety.

The panelists stressed that alongside formalin, excessive usage of fertilisers and pesticides during cultivation process were also causing harm to the foods produced in the country.

Dr Lenin Chowdhury, chairman of Health and Hope Hospital, suggested that the government provide proper trainings to the farmers on usage of such chemicals in collaboration with the field level officers of the agriculture department. l

8th International Women’s SME Expo Bangladesh kicks off

n Tribune Report The 8th International Women’s SME Expo Bangladesh 2014 kicked off at Pologround field in Chittagong city yesterday.

Chittagong Women Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CWCCI) organised the month-long fair and was inaugurated by Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed around 7:15pm. The inauguration programme was presided over

by CWCCI President Kamrun Malek.

The fair was jointly associated by Export Promotion Bureau (EPB), the Federation of Bangladesh Chamber of Commerce and Industry, SME Foundation and Jute Diversification Promotion Centre (JDPC). The expo will remain open for all from morning hours till night.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, addressing as chief guest, said Bangladesh would touch the Tk50 billion milestone of income from export in its 50th anniversary of independence in 2021.

Land Ministry Junior Minister Saifuzzaman Chowdhury Javed said women were advancing in the business sector which was an indicator of the country’s development.

“The Awami League has vast plans to make the country a developed one within 2040 and the government is working with the vision, giving priority to the port city especially,” he said.

Chittagong Development Authority Chairman Abdus Salam, Lawmaker Wasika Aeysha Khan, FBCCI President Kazi Akram Uddin and Vice-President Helal Uddin were present at the inauguration programme, among others l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Girl gangraped by UP members n Our Correspondent A girl with speech impediment has been raped recently, allegedly by three members of Doshokia Union Parishad under Kalihati upazila of the district.

Locals and police sources said Fazila Begum, 28, wife of Lal Mia of Dholkan village under Doshokia union, took the 14-year-old dump girl to the union parishad building to bring birth registration certificate on 25 October. Village police Krishna Chandra Das called her into the hallroom. Afterward, Fazila Begum talked to Abdul Aziz of Ward No. 6, Korban Ali of Ward No. 4, Shahjahan Mia of Ward No. 2 and Shahidul Islam of Ward No. 9 and asked them to enter the room.

Entering the hall room, they raped the speech-impaired girl one after another. At that time, village police Krishna Chandra Das guarded the hall room from outside. After the rape, the girl was given Tk 300 and asked to leave the place. At the same time, the rapists threatened her to kill if she disclosed anything else to anyone.

On Thursday, Asma Bewa, mother

30 injured in clash n Our Correspondent, Brahmanbaria

At least 30 people were injured in a clash over plucking fruit in Brahmanbaria Sadar upazila yesterday.

Sadar police station Officer-inCharge Akul Chandra Biswas said the clash started around 9am in the upazila’s Aminpur area.

Ten of the injured were admitted to Brahmanbaria Sadar Hospital in critical condition. Three youths from Aminpur were beaten up for plucking fruit from a tree at neighbouring Chandalkhali village, said the OC. Several hundred people from Aminpur, armed with crude weapons, then came and clashed with people in Chandalkhali following the incident, in which at least 30 people were injured, he added. l

of the girl, in consultation with lawyer Abul Kashem, filed a case against rapists Abdul Aziz, Korban Ali, Shahjahan Mia and Fazila Begum with Kalihati police station under the Women and Children Repression Act. Police arrested Fazila Begum on Friday morning.

When the incident was exposed, the rapist UP members tried to conceal the incident by paying Tk10,000 to one Abdul Jalil, a local influential man.

Meanwhile, a number of sources said an influential quarter was trying to suppress the sensational rape incident.

They said the Doshokia UP chairman lives in Dhaka permanently and signs in the attendance registrar coming at the UP office once or twice a month.

Kalihati police station officer-incharge (Investigation) Mahbubul Huq said: “Broker Fazila was arrested after filing the case.”

“However, the accused were absconding. Police have been conducting raids to arrest the accused,” he said.

Fazila appeared before the court yesterday. The girl was sent to Tangail Hospital. l

3 Jubo League men hurt in attacks n Our Correspondent, Chuadanga

Students sit for the admission test for 2014-15 academic session at Bangladesh Agriculture University yesterday

Abducted girl rescued after 6 months n Our Correspondent, Savar

Police have rescued a girl from a house at Zirani in Ashulia six months after her abduction.

‘Mukul held her captive for six months and assaulted her’ Fatema Akhter Akhi, 14, daughter of Akidul Molla, was found alive at the house of Lokman Mia yesterday morning.

Police have arrested Mukul in connection with the abduction. The

30-year-old is the son of Mujibur of Bhangura area in Sirajganj.

Akhi, a seventh-grader at a local madrasa, was abducted by a gang in Nabinagar on May 11 while she was on her way to madrasa. Her family scoured nearby areas but to no avail.

Akidul went to police after he got a call from his daughter three months later. Police began the search operation and took three months to rescue Akhi.

Sub-Inspector of Ahulia police station Jakaria Hossain said Akhi and Mukul were detained at the same time.

“Mukul held her captive for six months and assaulted her,” he said, adding that a case was filed with his police station in this connection. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Three Jubo League activists were injured in two separate attacks in the district on Friday.

Ruhul Amin Shopon was hacked with sharp weapons in his house at College Para moments before Friday midnight while Raju Ahmed Raja and Imran Ali were attacked on the street in the afternoon.

Chuadanga Sadar police station Officer-in-Charge Kamruzzaman said miscreants entered Shopon’s residence, hacked him indiscriminately and blasted two crude bombs before fleeing the scene.

Shopon was taken to Chuadanga Sadar Hospital but doctors said he should be taken to Dhaka for treatment, said Kamruzzaman.

“Unidentified miscreants intercepted Raja and Imran who were riding to Farmpara on a motorcycle and hacked them, leaving the two seriously injured. They were taken to Chuadanga Sadar Hospital,” he said.

“A case will be filed in connection with the attack on Imran and Raju while we have identified who assaulted Shopon. The attackers will be nabbed soon,” he added. l

NEWS IN BRIEF Driver held for rape

Boy kidnapped for ransom

A driver was arrested for raping a six-year old girl at Sonakur village under Sadar upazila yesterday. The mother of the victim said her daughter went to the house of Hiru Molla, 32, a bus driver in the area, to play with his child. At one stage, Hiru took her inside the house and raped her. On information, locals rescued the girl in critical condition and admitted her to Gopalganj Hospital.

– Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

Abductors have demanded a ransom of Tk2 lakh from the family of a boy who was abducted from Bhaluka two days ago. The family of Mahbub Akand, 15, got the call early yesterday. Mahbub, son of Jamal Uddin Akand of East Bhaluka village, went out of the house on Wednesday and remained missing since then. His father filed a general diary with Bhaluka Model police station on Thursday night.

Jamal Uddin and the abductee’s cousin Sabuj received calls yesterday morning, with the caller asking for Tk2 lakh in ransom.

– Our Correspondent, Mymensingh

Tk one crore Indian clothes seized Members of Border Guard Bangladesh seized smuggled Indian clothes worth Tk one crore from Nabharan area on the Benapole-Jessore road in Sharsha upazila yesterday. Lieutenant Colonel Jahangir Hossain, commanding officer of BGB Battalion-26, said on a tip-off, they launched a drive in the area in the dead of night. Sensing the presence of the border force, the smugglers fled the scene leaving behind the truck. Later, BGB members recovered huge Indian sarees and three-pieces from the truck.

– Our Correspondent, Jesore

One jailed for selling fake medicine A man was sentenced to two month’s jail for selling fake medicine in Temunishta area in the district yesterday. The convict was identified as Murad Hossain Patoary, director of Alico Pharma in the area. On a tip-off, a team of police went to the area and seized a huge amount of fake medicines from the pharmacy. Later, they arrested Murad and sent him to the mobile court led by magistrate Al Mamun.

– Our Correspondent, Lakshmipur

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Career

7

Sunday, November 9, 2014

How does the HR department in an MNC work?

Maintaining a global environment, having similar rules across all branches and having similar company policies can go a long way in ensuring that the HR department does what it is supposed to do smoothly place disasters and health epidemics.

In the MNCs particularly, HR is tasked with the enormous responsibility of uniting its own colleagues across international business units before it can build a global employee community. Regardless of national boundaries, policies and procedures on recruitment, hiring, benefits administration and compensation – all core HR functions – must be consistent across com-

pany divisions and aligned with the company’s long-term vision.

In “Global Challenges to Replicating HR: The Role of People, Processes, and Systems,” a team of researchers concluded that a unified HR function helps multinational companies to succeed by using the same information technology systems, business forms and processes for handling employee-related matters across the global community.

In order to unify the global workforce, HR concentrates on the integration of cultures. HR must build a global employee community that’s in step with a parent company’s values and identity. To secure this alignment, companies often send their star performers abroad to head financial divisions or sales teams.

But diverse languages, cultures and customs can prove to be a herculean

n Career Desk

n Ahsan Sajid

Start the conversation earlier

It’s easier to use impersonal networking prior to an event; for example, email or message someone from the organising team with a relevant question such as expected dress code, if you can bring a plus one or directions to the venue.

This gives you an excuse to start a conversation with the person who helped you, and also gives you someone who might introduce you to people.

Get online

The chances are that the event will have a Facebook event page or a message thread at the very least. For the morbidly shy, this is the ticket – use this opportunity to have relevant discussions online about the event. These discussions will be easier to pick up at the event than starting fresh ones. Furthermore, you’ll have somewhere to go back and talk to the people again right after the event.

Research

While this sounds immensely creepy, it is something we all do to an extent.

Work events are not your average social gathering; everyone is there to get to know their colleagues better and you don’t get points for being mysterious. Instead of waiting for people to greet you, take the initiative and introduce yourself. Keep your first contact with people simple. Make eye contact, smile, say hello, extend hand for a handshake and introduce yourself, it’s the simplest ordering of events for a first introduction.

The amount of tasks at work sometimes seems insurmountable. This often happens through no fault of your own – you did everything on time to make sure tasks didn’t pile up, you skipped a lunch break or two to stay ahead of the game, and yet you still cannot go home in time. Moments like these would try anyone’s patience.

Patience is one of the most difficult virtues to practice at work. This is truer in instances of frustration, for example when a single weak link in the chain is slowing everyone down, or the nonchalant attitude of a supervisor despite it being a good few hours beyond your workday.

It is common human nature in such situations to become volatile and impatient.

People who cannot control their impatience in these situations tense up, start sweating, get agitated, and may become unduly rude with colleagues, doing irreparable damage to their reputation. Losing your patience at work is doing yourself the biggest disservice.

Impatience is a weakness. Your colleagues may view your impatience as arrogance, insensitivity, and impulsiveness.

Your seniors will most probably view it as a sign that you are likely to make poor decisions, quick judgments or interrupt others.

If people know you to be impatient, they will be reluctant to come to you for assistance, and bosses will hardly regard you for new projects or promotions.

If you want to manage your impatience, and take it in stride instead of letting it ride you till you lose your temper and do lasting damage at work, try some of the suggested tricks.

Don’t hijack conversations

Breathe easy

BIGSTOCK

Not everyone is a social butterfly; if you are more of a wallflower, it can be extremely frustrating and demanding to successfully get along with people at work events Research the people that you expect or hope to meet at the event on their Facebook and Twitter; Google their names in case they have blogs or accounts on other social networking sites.

When you speak with them, they will not only be impressed with how well informed you are, but the conversations will flow easier than if you made a cold call and started talking with someone you don’t know at all.

Also, people love to talk about themselves, and they will love you for taking an interest. Make sure you don’t get carried away with your “research” work; it’s a thin line between that and flat out stalking.

Prepare talking points

This is something that politicians, celebrities and anybody else in the limelight does. Prepare some topics of discussion in advance that are pertinent to the people you are going to be talking to. Discuss current affairs without getting too opinionated so as not to step on any toes; you can search relevant current events online and read up.

Read different opinion pieces on the same subject.

Most people love to talk about what they think, or what they believe is right; ask them open-ended questions about their thoughts and opinions on an issue.

Find a counterpart

You are probably not the only introvert at work. Find someone you think is in the same place as you, and you can become each other’s personal PR agents.

Simply having a friendly face beside you can boost your confidence while conversing with others. Additionally, during a conversation you can slip each other praises and talk one another up in front of others. You can also meet people individually and introduce each other to the new acquaintances. Having a partner is a big plus.

Do not be late

There is no fashionably late for work events. No one cares how swamped you have been all day. Arriving early means being there before people have created conversation groups. Once a conversation group has been created and it is heated up, it is not an easy task to break into it. Being early also allows you to welcome people as they arrive, which is the easiest conversation starter.

Juggle between conversation types

At any work event you will have two kinds of conversations – long and short conversations. Long conversations take place at low traffic regions such as corners, the terrace or balcony, smoking area etc. Short conversations take place at high traffic areas such as the

ally promote from within the home office.

All multinational firms encounter complex legal and ethical issues when doing business abroad. Don Mayer and Ruth Jebe, University of Denver professors and authors of the 2010 report, “The Legal and Ethical Environment for Multinational Corporations,” cite cronyism, bribery and unfair competition as some of the most challenging issues.

Multinational firms can also expect to confront human-rights, social-equity and environmental problems, which often undermine their ability to compete fairly in the global marketplace. HR is responsible for keeping companies compliant with employment-related laws and tax codes, and that includes complicated – and sometimes conflicting – laws and regulations abroad.

As organisations grow and become more prevalent, it is highly essential that these organisations remain firm to their roots in terms of recruitment and company standards and policies. Maintaining a global environment, having similar laws across all branches and having similar company policies can go a long way in ensuring that the HR department does what it is supposed to do smoothly.

Needless to say, global businesses are shaped by employing the best available practices that have been tried and tested all over the globe. This implies that these organisations have the opportunity to put these practices into effect. For HR, the horizons have increased drastically in this age of extreme competition and perfectionism.

However, at the same time the stakes are high as well. This is why multinational corporations are now focusing on building world-class employee relations that can culminate in organisations with a loyal and trustworthy workforce. l Ishaqur Rahman is a Content & Analytics Associate for GradInsights, the career intelligence service of GradConnect. Nakibul Hoq is the Lead Manager of Content & Analytics, GradInsights. Please visit www. grad-insights.com for more articles.

Rising above the pressure

Make industry nights work for you School and university curriculum are set up in a way that even introverted individuals will have to come out of their shells – be it through presentations, team assignments, debates, research presentations, etc. Since these are all a part of the curriculum one has no choice but to give them a hundred percent effort if one wants to pass.

When we are older and starting our first jobs, our need to socialise, to break the proverbial shell is no longer motivated by passing a class or earning a grade – everything hangs on the balance. You can be the best at what you do but if no one at work knows you, chances are you will keep getting overlooked for promotions, uninvited to lunches and other office gatherings and not regarded as a team player. The motivation to become more forthcoming becomes fueled by the desire to succeed and move ahead at work.

Not everyone is a social butterfly; if you are more of a wallflower, it can be extremely frustrating and demanding to successfully get along with people at work events.

They can be overwhelming for an introvert. Following is a compilation of tips that may help you navigate the waters successfully through an office event, such as a dinner or a picnic.

cultural hindrance. Philip Berry, a global management consultant, cautions multinational firms against overlooking nationals when filling key positions.

In an article for Global HR News, titled “How Global Megatrends Are Shaping Global Talent Development Strategies,” he writes that companies risk losing the chance to develop overseas employees when they tradition-

washroom queue or around the buffet table. Both types of conversations have their importance and it is important to have a bit of both.

Take the initiative

If there are more than four people talking in a group, the chances are that the group is already too full. If there are two people talking, they most probably do not want a third person shimmying in. Be mindful when joining a group for conversation.

Stand about an arm’s length away, listen to the conversation of the group and make eye contact with a friendly face.

Join the conversation if you are invited, and if not, move on within a minute.

Take deep, slow breaths, and count to 10 in

Make nice

Think optimistically and be sociable with everyone; everyone is at the event for the same reason as you, to get to know their colleagues better and hopefully further their career in the process.

Everyone is a stranger before they become an acquaintance; the easiest way to look at it is to see everyone as a potential friend. l

BIGSTOCK

Today’s global corporate benchmark is derived from multinational organisations which have abolished centralisation in favour of a more open work culture. These pioneering organisations – examples of which include but are not limited to Google, Unilever, Boston Consulting Group etc – were instrumental in challenging the status quo and venturing into a new world order where employee relations were pivotal in creating value. This is why, consistently, they have ranked as the most sought after employers all across the globe.

The nature of employee relations is such that returns from HR cannot be directly monetised and estimated.

Traditional Bangladeshi businesses, since they haven’t been able to connect the dots and employ foresight, have consequently fallen behind in this area compared to their multinational counterparts. They have not entangled employee growth with company sustenance, and hence MNCs have progressed forward in this country with excellent employment options for the country’s young population.

A multinational company has an obligation not only to flourish but also, at the same time, to expand to different markets where it can cement its position and achieve long-term growth. In order to do this, an MNC must adhere to quality service and recruit employees who are well-aligned with the company’s goals.

Thus the human resources department in such an organisation would be tasked with the enormous responsibility of supervising the recruitment procedure and ensuring that the employees who are recruited comply with the standards set by the organisation.

Human resources departments have the unique challenge of setting uniform company policies and employees to form one single community where camaraderie, equality and diversity concoct to create a productive combination. HR is responsible for complying with local employment laws and to keep the workplace safe from conflict, work-

BIGSTOCK

n Ishaqur Rahman and Nakibul Hoq

your head or out loud if it helps. This one is the most obvious trick but the most likely to work. This works because doing it helps slow your heart rate, relaxes your body, and emotionally distances you from the offending situation. Do it several times, till you feel calmer. Doing this out in the open has added advantages.

Take charge of your body When you become impatient, your body manifests this impatience in ways that you are not consciously aware of. Impatience causes you to tense your muscles against your will. Consciously focus on relaxing your body. Like the previous tip, take slow, deep breaths while consciously trying to relax your muscles, starting from your toes and all the way up to the top of your head.

Slow down If you start by acting patient, you will soon feel patient. When things are not going your way, simply slow down – speak and move slowly. Submit to the fact that it is beyond your power to change things around and relax.

Listen Impatience causes one to stop listening.

Be sure that you are practising active and empathic listening. Give other people your full, undivided attention and plan your response.

Don’t get in the way Much of what impatience may make us do, such as yelling at someone or being pushy, it does not help the situation but adversely affect it. Remind yourself that your impatience does not get others to work faster or better. Instead, it interferes with their ability to perform well and may slow you down even more. l

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Iran’s uranium stockpile grows Obama to send 1,500 before deadline for nuclear deal more troops to Iraq Iran would now be able to amass enough high-enriched fissile n Reuters, Washington President Barack Obama has approved material for one bomb in a few months, say western experts sending up to 1,500 more troops to the main sticking point in the talks - Iraq, roughly doubling the number of tration of up to 5% stood at 8,390 kg, a Reuters, Vienna n rise of 625 kg since its previous report Iran’s overall enrichment capacity - re- US forces on the ground helping Iraqi Iran’s stockpile of low-enriched uranium gas has grown by 8% to nearly 8.4 tonnes in about two months, UN atomic inspectors say, an amount world powers probably will want to see cut under any nuclear deal with Tehran.

The International Atomic Energy Agency issued a confidential report on Iran to IAEA member states on Friday, less than three weeks before a Nov. 24 deadline for Iran and six world powers to resolve their stand-off over Tehran’s atomic activities.

Iran’s holding of refined uranium gas is one of the factors that could determine how much time it would need for any attempt to assemble nuclear weapons. Iran says it has no such goal but the West wants verifiable action by the Islamic Republic to make sure it cannot produce an atomic bomb any time soon.

Iran and the six states will meet in Vienna from Nov. 18 to try to seal a long-term agreement to end a dispute that over the last decade has often raised fears of a new Middle East war.

The IAEA report said Iran’s stock of uranium gas refined to a fissile concen-

in September.

Iran says it produces enriched uranium to make fuel for nuclear power plants. But if processed to a high degree, 90%, the material could also provide the fissile core of a nuclear weapon, which the West fears may be its ultimate aim.

Iran halted its most sensitive enrichment work - of 20% refined uranium - under an interim deal with the powers last November. But it is still making the lower-grade uranium.

Western experts say Iran would now be able to amass enough high-enriched fissile material for one bomb in a few months, if it opted for such a weapon of mass destruction. The United States wants this “breakout time” extended to at least a year.

One way to help achieve that, Western officials and experts say, is for Iran to ship out a large part of its stockpile to Russia where it would be turned into nuclear fuel rods, making it much more difficult to process into bomb material.

Diplomats said there was as yet no agreement on this issue and that

EU foreign chief calls for Palestinian state n Agencies The European Union’s new foreign affairs chief has called for the establishment of a Palestinian state, saying the world “cannot afford” another war in Gaza.

“We need a Palestinian state - that is the ultimate goal and this is the position of all the European Union,” Federica Mogherini said on Saturday during a visit to Gaza.

Her statement comes against a backdrop of soaring Israeli-Palestinian tensions in occupied east Jerusalem, where there have been near-daily clashes in flashpoint neighbourhoods in recent weeks.

Tensions were further heightened

by Israeli raid of the al-Aqsa Mosque, and the decision of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government to

A group of scientists including three Nobel laureates in medicine has proposed that US health officials chart a new path to developing Ebola drugs and vaccines by harnessing antibodies produced by survivors of the deadly outbreak.

The proposal builds on the use of “convalescent serum,” or survivors’ blood, which has been given to at least four US Ebola patients who then recovered from the virus. It is based on an approach called passive immunisation, which has been used since the 19th century to treat diseases such as

and Kurdish forces battle the militant group Islamic State, US officials said on Friday.

Obama’s decision greatly expands the scope of the US campaign and the geographic distribution of American forces, some of whom will head into Iraq’s fiercely contested western Anbar province for the first time to act as advisers.

It also raises the stakes in Obama’s first interactions with Congress after his Democratic Party was thumped by Republicans in mid-term elections this week. The White House said it would ask Congress for $1.6bn for a new “Iraq Train and Equip Fund” and billions more for operations to battle the group.

Pentagon spokesman Rear Admiral John Kirby said those funds would need to be approved before the first additional forces head to Iraq, something one official speculated could happen in just weeks. “(Iraqi forces are) going on the offense now. And what this is designed to do is to help them continue to be able to do that, to improve their capability and their competence on the

n Reuters, Sanaa/Dubai

battlefield,” Kirby said, stressing no American ground forces will take on combat roles.

Alarmed by the advance of Islamic State militants across Iraq, Obama began sending non-combatant troops back to Iraq in the summer for the first time since he withdrew US forces from the country in 2011.

At the time of the withdrawal, the Pentagon boasted of Iraqi military capabilities. But Iraqi forces crumbled in the face of Islamic State’s offensive, exposing the toll sectarian strains and mismanagement took on the military.

Officials denied the new US troop buildup amounted to “mission creep” and said it was justified partly because of new Iraqi Shi’ite Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi’s efforts to reach out to Sunni tribesmen and new calls from Iraq’s most senior Shi’ite cleric to rush to the Sunni tribes’ aid.

One Obama administration official, speaking on condition of anonymity, pointed to an Iraqi plan to “organise and equip 5,000 tribesmen in Anbar.”

“This is now being openly discussed in Iraq and it’s starting to happen,” the official said.

About 1,400 US troops are now on the ground, just below the previous limit of 1,600 troops. The new authorisation gives the US military the ability to deploy up to 3,100 troops. l

Mexico gang suspects confess to killing 43 missing students

diphtheria but has been largely surpassed by vaccination.

The scientists propose using new genetic and other technologies to find hundreds or thousands of different Ebola antibodies, determine their genetic recipe, grow them in commercial quantities and combine them into a single treatment analogous to the multi-drug cocktails that treat HIV-AIDS. That contrasts with current drug development, which focuses on finding one molecule, or a small number, to defeat the Ebola virus that has killed nearly 5,000 people in West Africa and infected thousands more since March. l

A man walks past a billboard with the photographs of the 43 missing students of Ayotzinapa Teacher Training College in Tixtla

n Agencies Suspected gang members in Mexico have confessed to killing more than 43 missing students and burning their remains, Mexico’s chief prosecutor has said.

Three Guerreros Unidos gang members confessed to killing the male students after police handed them over between Iguala and the neighbouring town of Cocula, Attorney General Jesus Murillo Karam said on Friday, showing videos of the taped confessions.

The bodies were set on fire down a hill from a Cocula garbage dump with gasoline, tires, firewood and plastic, in a 14-hour-long inferno, he said.

“I know the enormous pain the in-

formation we’ve obtained causes the family members, a pain we all share,’’ Karam said at a news conference.

“The statements and information that we have gotten unfortunately points to the murder of a large number of people in the municipality of Cocula.’’

He said authorities would continue to consider the students as missing until DNA tests confirm the identities.

But the chief prosecutor added that there was “a lot of evidence... that could indicate it was them.”

Al Jazeera’s Rachel Levin, reporting from Mexico City, said the remains have been sent to Austria for forensic examination.

“This case has gripped not only Mexico, but also the international

An advance into Yemen’s Sunni Muslim heartland by Shi’ite Houthi fighters has galvanised support for al Qaeda among some Sunnis, deepening the religious hue of the country’s many conflicts, with potential consequences well beyond its borders.

Yemen’s tribal, regional and political divisions were widened by the rapid fall of the capital Sanaa to Houthi fighters on Sept. 21 after weeks of protests against the government and its decision to cut fuel subsidies.

“The Houthi expansion has created a sectarian problem,” said Bassam al-Barq, a Sunni Muslim resident of the religiously mixed Sanaa, attending a protest by local activists held every week to demand the Houthis quit the capital.

“It has created sympathy with al Qaeda, as we see in Ibb and al-Baydah,” Barq said, referring to two provinces in central Yemen where some local tribes have allied themselves with al Qaeda’s local wing, Ansar al-Sharia.

Ahmed al-Kalaz, a former Yemeni diplomat who comes from al-Baydah, agreed: “The expansion of the Houthis to al-Baydah has created a suitable environment for al Qaeda.”

Sectarian bloodshed has spread across the Middle East. Now Yemen, ancestral homeland of the Saudi-born al Qaeda founder Osama bin Laden, looks to be edging closer to civil war. l

Yemen president sacked from party leadership n Agencies

allow entry of far-right Jewish groups in the mosque, one of the holiest sites of Islam.

Israel has deployed more than 1,300 police across occupied East Jerusalem to prevent the violence.

On Saturday, Israeli security forces shot and killed a young Palestinian man during an alleged confrontation, triggered by the attempted arrest of a relative near Nazareth in Israel.

Dozens of angry youths set up barricades and set fire to tyres on the outskirts of the village of Kfar Kana following the killing of Kheir Hamdan.

Israeli police from the nearby Nazareth station claimed that the 22-yearold intervened in the arrest of one of his relatives, threatening the officers with a knife, according to a police statement. l

‘Find recipe for Ebola cure in survivors’ blood’ n Reuters, New York

mained unresolved.

“It’s a piece of the puzzle,” one Western diplomat said. “The Iranians agree on the principle, but it’s a point that doesn’t resolve everything.”

Iran agreed under last year’s temporary accord with the United States, France, Germany, Russia, Britain and China to limit its reserve of low-enriched uranium gas by converting new production into a less proliferation-sensitive oxide form, which it started doing a few months ago.

The stockpile is now above the defined level but Iran still has time to reduce it before the temporary deal expires this month, when it is supposed to be replaced by a long-term one.

Mark Fitzpatrick, director of the non-proliferation program at the International Institute for Strategic Studies think-tank, said he believed the powers would want to see the holding sharply reduced in any permanent settlement.

“If the stockpile is eliminated, then it may be possible to allow Iran a larger number of centrifuges,” he said, referring to the machines that produce enriched uranium. l

Houthi expansion puts Yemen on edge of civil war

REUTERS

community,” she said. “Once again, it highlights the violence that Mexicans live with day in and day out.”

If the confessions are proven true, the mass murder would rank among the worst massacres in a drug war that has killed more than 80,000 people, and left 22,000 others missing since 2006.

Facing angry protests in the biggest crisis of his administration, President Enrique Pena Nieto vowed to hunt down all those responsible for the “horrible crime.”

But the parents said they would not accept that their children are dead until they get a final ruling from independent Argentine forensic experts who are taking part in the investigation. l

Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi has been dismissed from the leadership of his party after being accused of soliciting UN sanctions against his predecessor Ali Abdullah Saleh.

The General People’s Congress on Saturday said it appointed two members to the posts of vice president and secretary general in place of Hadi, who became president after Saleh was forced to resign in February 2012 after a year of bloody protests.

The UN Security Council a day earlier imposed sanctions on Saleh and allied two Shia Houthi rebel commanders for threatening the peace and stability of the country and obstructing the political process.

The three men, including military leaders Abd al-Khaliq al-Houthi and Abdullah Yahya al-Hakim, are now subject to a global travel ban and asset freeze.

Saleh denied seeking to destabilise Yemen and his party had warned that any sanctions on the former president or “even waving such a threat would have negative consequences on the political process.”

The UN decision came after thousands of Saleh and Houthi supporters filled the streets of Sanaa to protest the move to punish the ex-leader, accused of being the main backer of the rebels.

“GPC party’s sacking of Hadi is obviously the first reaction to UN sanctions against Saleh. But how significant is the decision [remains to be seen],” Al Jazeera’s Hashem Ahelbarra, reporting from the capital, said.

“Hadi has never had huge sway in the party, now he will try to reach out to other political factions to strengthen his position,” Ahelbarra said. l

Analysis: Building Berlin’s Wall helped avoid a nuclear confrontation n Reuters

Pedestrians pass by the installation ‘Lichtgrenze’ (Border of Light) along a former Berlin Wall location on the banks of the river Spree opposite the Reichstag in Berlin November 7.

A part of the inner city of Berlin is being temporarily divided from November 7 to 9, with a light installation featuring 8000 luminous white balloons to commemorate the 25th anniversary of the fall of the Berlin Wall REUTERS

Twenty-five years ago Sunday, Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev refused to use force when thousands of people from East and West converged to pull down the Berlin Wall. He taught us all a great lesson: No wall can hold back democracy. Since then, however, Russian President Vladimir Putin has taught another lesson: If a country’s people don’t want democracy enough, no Berlin Wall is needed to keep it out.

The Russian public strongly supports Putin’s argument that the West is to blame for the current hostility between Moscow and the North American Treaty Organisation. He has undermined the rule of law in Russia, attacked the country’s free press, annexed Crimea and destabilised eastern Ukraine while insisting that Nato’s unwelcome expansion forced his confrontational policies.

Never mind that the Cold War’s ideological divide is long gone. Putin may be resolute on the West’s animosity toward Russia, but the ill will he talks about is largely imaginary — or even hypocritical. It reflects a hurt pride that the Soviet Union lost the

Cold War rather than any real danger to his rule.

“Russia strived to engage in dialogue with our colleagues in the West,” Putin complained in his March 17 Crimea annexation speech, “… and for our relations to be equal, open and fair.

But… they have lied to us many times, making decisions behind our backs.”

This is far from the situation that Soviet Premier Nikita S. Khrushchev faced in 1961, when he built the Berlin Wall at the height of the Cold War. Then, the Soviet leader faced off against a genuinely hostile West.

Khrushchev, my great-grandfather, had seriously hoped that the Soviet Union could build more positive relations with the United States and Western Europe. He was not deterred even when relations were poisoned after Moscow shot down a U-2 spy plane over Soviet territory, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower lied about the affair. Khrushchev and President John F. Kennedy, Eisenhower’s successor, still held a summit in Vienna to bridge the nations’ differences.

My great-grandfather sought to protect the Soviet Union from the serious military threat he believed Washington

posed. At home I was told (unofficially) that Khrushchev was afraid the German region closest to the Soviet border might gain access to nuclear weapons.

So he pushed for a peace treaty signed by the four powers that had occupied Berlin since the war — France, Great Britain, the United States and the Soviet Union — to give the city international legitimacy.

Washington could not accept his plan, however, fearing that if Berlin became a free demilitarised zone, the Soviets might later swallow it whole.

Therefore, building a wall seemed a lesser risk to both sides — even if Kennedy was “officially” against it.

Yet Khrushchev was in fact reluctant to divide Berlin. He saw it as a defensive act — not as a show of force. He feared it would destroy his goal of ultimately improving relations with Western Europe – that instead of averting nuclear war, Kennedy might respond with a confrontation that could lead to it.

In addition, as a leader of world communism, Khrushchev had to support his East German counterpart, Walter Ulbricht, in his effort to save face.

East Germany had already lost 4 million people who had fled to the West.

Hundreds more were leaving Soviet Berlin every day.

Though improving relations with the capitalist West was Khrushchev’s aspiration, defense of international communism turned out to be his primary foreign-policy goal.

Years later, Gorbachev told me he learned a great deal from Khrushchev’s contradictions – since he was both a reformer and an enforcer. What he learned helped Gorbachev avoid taking harsh countermeasures as the Berlin Wall fell. He considered my great-grandfather a role model because he had pressed for reform. But Gorbachev also said he’d learned a vital lesson from Khrushchev’s harsh actions in Berlin — Moscow couldn’t maintain the Soviet empire at the barrel of a gun.

Just as Ulbricht had pushed Khrushchev for military support him, Gorbachev explained to me, Nicolai Ceausecu, Romania’s hardline communist leader, had asked Moscow to send tanks into Berlin to preserve the wall in 1989. “But,” Gorbachev recalled, “I already promised George [H.W. Bush] that the Kremlin wouldn’t intervene.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Sunday, November 9, 2014

IS recruiting thousands in Pakistan, says ‘secret’ report The IS plans to attack military installations and government buildings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa

n Agencies, Karachi The provincial government of Balochistan has conveyed a confidential report to the federal government and law enforcement agencies warning of increased footprints of militant organisation Islamic State (IS), also known by the Arabic acronym Daish, in Pakistan.

The ‘secret information report’, a copy of which is available with DawnNews, is dated October 31, and states that IS has claimed to have recruited a massive 10 to 12,000 followers from the Hangu and Kurram Agency tribal areas.

“It has been reliably learnt that Daish has offered some elements of Lashkar-e-Jhangvi (LeJ) and Ahle-Sunnat Wai Jamat (ASWJ) to join hands in Pakistan. Daish has also formed a ten-member Strategic Planning Wing,” the report from the Home and Tribal Affair Department of Balochistan says.

Parsekar takes oath as Goa CM n Agencies Laxmikant Parsekar was on Saturday sworn in as the chief minister of Goa, succeeding Manohar Parrikar who is becoming a Union minister.

Parsekar was administered the oath of office and secrecy by state governor Mridula Sinha soon after the BJP succeeded in persuading deputy chief minister Francis D’Souza to accept his leadership and continue at his current post.

And so, while Parsekar’s name was formally proposed by Parrikar, D’Souza seconded it at a meeting of party legislators. D’Souza had earlier said he would not serve in the government under anyone else including Parsekar.

Earlier, Laxmikant Parsekar was unanimously elected the leader of the BJP legislature party in Goa. Announcing the decision at the end of a series of meetings with the MLAs and the contenders, central emissary Rajiv Pratap Rudy said that Parsekar’s name as the leader of the party’s legislature wing, was decided “unanimously.” l

The report states that the IS plans to attack military installations and government buildings in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa in retaliation to the army-led Zarb-i-Azb operation in North Waziristan and also plans to target members of the minority Shia community.

The Balochistan government called for heightened vigilance and security measures in the province as well as the northwestern province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to prevent and pre-empt such attacks.

It has moreover called for sensitising law enforcement agencies on the issue and an increased monitoring of LeJ members.

The warning comes days after six top commanders of the outlawed Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), including its now defunct spokesman Shahidullah Shahid, have announced their allegiance to IS’s caliph Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi Al Qureshi Al-Hussaini..

The Taliban spokesman said he, along with TTP chief for Orakzai Agency Saeed Khan, TTP chief for Kurram Agency Daulat Khan, TTP’s Khyber Agency chief Fateh Gul Zaman, TTP’s Peshawar chief Mufti Hassan and TTP’s Hangu chief Khalid Mansoor, have announced their allegiance to Abu Bakar Al-Baghdadi.

Earlier in the week, Shahidullah Shahid was replaced by Mohammad Khurasani as the new TTP spokesperson The Islamic State’s presence has not been officially established so far.

Security expert Dr Ejaz Hussain believes that Pakistan faces a perceived threat from the IS but it can mature into a real threat if they succeed in aligning themselves with the splinter groups of mainstream militants groups, including the TTP. “If the Pakistan security apparatus fails to check their footprints, it could be a setback for them in future. l

India’s Modi set for first Philippines remembers thousands killed a year after typhoon Haiyan cabinet reshuffle n AFP India’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi is on Sunday expected to carry out the first major reshuffle of his cabinet since storming to power in May, with the key defence portfolio likely to go to a new minister.

Manohar Parrikar, a sauve regional leader of Modi’s right-wing Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP), is tipped to take over as defence minister after resigning Saturday as chief minister of the resort coastal state of Goa. Parrikar’s likely appointment would ease the burden on Arun Jaitley, who has been juggling both the defence and finance ministries while battling ill-health.

A government source told AFP on Saturday that Parrikar had accepted the offer to “head a key ministry” but the portfolio would only be announced

the next day.

Analysts said the cabinet rejig would come as a relief to several of Modi’s ministers who have been handling multiple portfolios.

“Jaitley, for example, was given two key portfolios – each of which required a full-time minister,” K.G. Suresh, a senior fellow with the Delhi-based Vivekanand International Foundation think-tank, told AFP. “Modi was trying to experiment with the idea of having very few ministers,” Suresh said.

“But it seems he has realised that his ministers are perhaps over-burdened and not able to do justice to their work.”

Suresh pointed to recent developments on India’s borders with giant neighbours Pakistan and China as underscoring the need for a full-time defence minister. l

APEC countries agree to establish network to curb corruption

Chinese President Xi Jinping extradition, mutual legal assistance and the recovery and return of proceeds of corruption.”

The agreement comes as Chinese President Xi Jinping seeks to widen his far-reaching graft campaign to nab suspects who have fled abroad, particularly those who have taken

India army says sorry over teenager deaths n Agencies The Indian army has issued an unusual apology for shooting dead two teenage boys in Indian-administered Kashmir.

The army says it made a mistake in firing at a car they were travelling in on the outskirts of Srinagar on Monday.

Correspondents say it is rare for the army to admit such an error in such speedy and unambiguous terms.

A senior army commander based in the Jammu region flew especially to Srinagar to address the media in the aftermath of the deaths.

“We take responsibility for the death of the two boys in Kashmir,” the chief of the army’s northern command, DS Hooda, told reporters late on Friday.

“We admit a mistake was made...

There was some information about a white car with terrorists. Obviously, the identity was mistaken in this case,” he said.

Gen Hooda promised an enquiry into the deaths would be carried out with “the highest standard of transparency.”

Anger has been rising in the Muslim-majority Kashmir valley over the killings. Indian newspapers including the Hindustan Times have reported that the army’s swift apology was aimed at dampening public anger.

The newspaper reports that the car in which the teenagers were travelling was hit by 32 bullets. It quotes a senior army officer as saying it should not have been shot at with automatic weapons when no threat was posed to the soldiers concerned. l

n Reuters, Tacloban City

Candles lit up the streets of the central Philippine city worst-hit by the strongest storm to make landfall as thousands remembered more than 6,300 people who died a year ago when typhoon Haiyan smashed into the country.

Before dawn on Saturday, more than 5,000 people holding white balloons and candles mournfully walked around the regional capital Tacloban City, passing through areas flattened

by Haiyan’s 250 kph (155 mph) winds and seven-metre high storm surge.

Church bells peeled and sirens wailed at the start of a Roman Catholic mass at the city’s almost half-hectare mass grave site where nearly 3,000 people storm victims are buried. Hundreds are still unaccounted.

“It’s important that we make it meaningful, so for the next generations people will remember this,” the

city’s mayor, Alfred Romualdez, told Reuters.

Typhoon Haiyan wiped out or damaged practically everything in its path as it swept ashore on Nov. 8, 2013, destroying around 90% of the city of Tacloban in Leyte province.

More than 14.5 million people were affected by the storm in six regions and 44 provinces. More than four million people still remain homeless.

Hundreds of people, most of them fishermen, staged protests in the city on Saturday, demanding the government provide new homes and jobs, and accusing officials of diverting aid and reconstruction funds.

“We have felt a year’s worth of the government’s vicious abandonment, corruption, deceit, and repression, and have seen a year’s worth of news and studies that confirm this situation,” Efleda Bautista, a leader of People Surge, a group of typhoon survivors, said.

MH17: Nine crash victims still unaccounted for n Agencies

n Reuters, Beijing Asia Pacific countries agreed on Saturday to cooperate on the extradition of corrupt officials, enhance asset recovery efforts and establish an anti-corruption transparency network to share intelligence on graft.

The network, called the APEC Network of Anti-Corruption Authorities and Law Enforcement Agencies (ACTNET), is the first such network that members of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation group had worked to set up. It is led by China but also pushed forward by the United States.

The network would be an informal one “for sharing information” among anti-corruption and law enforcement authorities in the Asia-Pacific region, according to a statement issued by the APEC members.

The agreement commits the 21 member economies in the Asia-Pacific region, including China and the United States, to “deny safe haven to those engaged in corruption, including through

Typhoon survivors light candles along a sidewalk and display a placard to commemorate the victims who perished during the onslaught of Typhoon Haiyan a year ago in Tacloban city, central Philippines, November 8 REUTERS

REUTERS

their ill-gotten gains with them. Last month, China said it had captured 180 people suspected of committing economic crimes in its campaign called “Operation Fox Hunt.”

“We believe that this cooperation is a major step forward,” US Secretary of State John Kerry said at a news briefing. l

Nine of the 298 victims of July’s MH17 crash in eastern Ukraine are still unaccounted for, Dutch Foreign Minister Bert Koenders has said.

He was speaking after a ceremony in Kharkiv as another five coffins with remains were flown to the Netherlands.

The Boeing 777 Malaysian Airlines was flying from Amsterdam to Kuala Lumpur when it crashed in territory held by pro-Russian rebels.

The majority of the victims - 193 were Dutch.

Both rebels and their supporters in Russia have denied shooting the aircraft down.

Investigators have struggled to gain access to the site as clashes continue nearby between Ukrainian government forces and the separatists.

Mr Koenders said experts had already come “a long way” with the identification process and would do everything they could to find more remains.

“We cannot say at this moment in any certain way... at what moment and even if we can recover the last nine, but we will do everything we can in co-operation with authorities here to make that happen,” he said, quoted by AFP news agency.

He added that investigators still hoped to recover more remnants of the plane, but it was unclear when this would happen because of uncertainties about the security situation.

Initial investigations at the site were suspended in August because of heavy fighting in the area.

They resumed in September after a ceasefire deal was signed, with experts making four visits to the site.

A report issued in September by Dutch investigators found MH17 was hit by multiple “high-energy” objects.

The report did not apportion blame but it is believed to have been hit by a surface-to-air missile fired from an area controlled by pro-Russian rebels.

Russian officials have denied the allegations and instead suggested Ukrainian fighter jets were culpable. l

Pakistan offers help China to fight Xinjiang militants n Agencies, Beijing Pakistan will help China with its fight against extremists that Beijing says are active in its unruly far western region of Xinjiang, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said on Saturday during a meeting with Chinese President Xi Jinping.

China blames the East Turkestan Islamic Movement for carrying out attacks in Xinjiang, home to the Muslim Uighur people, though many foreign experts doubt the group’s existence in a cohesive group.

China, a major Pakistan ally in the region, has long urged Islamabad to weed out what it says are militants from Xinjiang, who are holed up in

a lawless tribal belt, home to a lethal mix of militant groups which include the Taliban and Al-Qaeda.

Hundreds have died in unrest in Xinjiang in the last two years or so. Exiles and activists say that Chinese control on the religion and culture of the Uighur people is more a cause of the violence than well-organised militant groups.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif told Xi that his country would “continue to resolutely fight the East Turkestan Islamic Movement terrorist forces,” China’s foreign ministry said in a statement following the meeting in Beijing.

Pakistan will increase its coordination with China on Afghanistan as well, so as to “jointly maintain regional

peace and stability,” Sharif said.

Pakistan will also do all it can to guarantee the safety of Chinese companies and workers in the country, he added, who have in the past been attacked by militants.

China and Pakistan call each other “all-weather friends” and their close ties have been underpinned by long-standing wariness of their common neighbour, India, and a desire to hedge against US influence across the region.

China’s foreign ministry said the two countries had signed more than 20 agreements on Sharif’s trip, including nuclear power and on the deepwater port of Gwadar, which China is developing. l

The protesters, some covered with mud to dramatise their plight, say they will burn a nine-foot effigy of the president later on Saturday in protest.

The government estimates it needs almost 170 billion pesos ($3.8bn) to rebuild the affected communities, including the construction of a four-metre high dike along the 27-km coastline to prevent a repeat of the disaster.

President Benigno Aquino, in a visit to nearby Samar island on Friday, unveiled a plan to relocate Tacloban airport away from the coastline and the building of more than 205,000 permanent homes to resettle displaced families.

“This is not politics,” Aquino told reporters, defending his government against criticism it was slow to respond to the disaster, citing reports showing reconstruction work was moving at a faster pace than the 2004 tsunami in Aceh. l

17 suspected militants’ bodies recovered from Khyber’s Tirah n Agencies Bodies of 17 suspected militants were recovered from the Spin Qabar area of Khyber Agency’s Tirah valley on Saturday. However, these claims could not be independently verified as journalists have limited access to the restive tribal agency.

The Inter Service Public Relations has confirmed that at least 60 suspected militants attacked a security checkpost. During the encounter at least 17 suspected militants were killed and the rest fled, leaving the bodies of their comrades behind. The attack was successfully repulsed.

In a separate incident, one militant was killed and four security personnel were injured in a clash in Lower Dir district.

According to sources, the militant — who was a suicide bomber — blew himself up when he was rounded up for a security check. Four security personnel also sustained injuries.

Security forces also seized 10 hand grenades and other weapons during a search operation carried out in the Chakdara area of Lower Dir. Khyber is among Pakistan’s seven semi-autonomous tribal districts near the Afghan border, rife with homegrown insurgents and foreign militants. These are also home to religious extremist organisations including the al Qaeda.

Pakistan’s military launched the operation ‘Khyber-1’ last month with air strikes against LI hideouts in areas under the Mangal Bagh-led group’s control in Tirah and Bara.

The latest operation was launched amidst Zarb-i-Azb, a full-fledged military operation being conducted by the army against Tehreek-i-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) and other militants in the North Waziristan tribal region.

One terrorist has been killed and four others arrested during a search operation conducted by security forces in the Mamond Tehsil of Bajaur Agency on Saturday.

The security forces also seized large cache arms and ammunition during the search operation. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Sunday, November 9, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Use market to boost green investment

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nitiatives by the Bangladesh Bank to increase financing for environmentally-friendly projects have led to over Tk82,600 crore being disbursed as green financing in the last two years.

This is welcome and sorely needed as Bangladesh stands to be massively affected by climate change.

However, we do not think the central bank’s proposal to mandate banks and financial institutions to dedicate a part of their total loan disbursements for green investment is appropriate or practical.

Experience from the Bangladesh Bank’s efforts to mandate charitable donations by banks through its CSR rules suggests that this may be both overly prescriptive and difficult to monitor.

The Bangladesh Bank should stick to its current practice of setting public targets for financial institutions and encouraging disclosure of green investments made.

This is a proven approach that is likely to be more effective.

In any case, the Bangladesh Bank should be focusing its resources on controlling and ending the endemic corruption and losses incurred by our state-owned banks, by either privatising them or finding a means to close them down.

The laudable aim of increasing green investment will be quicker and more efficiently achieved by the government dropping costly subsidies and increasing the price of fossil fuels.

Using this approach would make investments in more efficient emery use and renewable energy production automatically become far more attractive to entrepreneurs and banks.

This would help drive the cleaner green growth the economy needs to help Bangladesh develop in a sustainable manner.

Increasing the price of fossil fuels is a more proven method to boost green finance than mandatory rules

Invest for better healthcare

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survey by Transparency International Bangladesh highlights how the country’s chronic shortage of sufficient health professionals to fill vacant public health postings is made worse by the collusion of some doctors and public officials in bribery.

We hope the Health and Family Welfare Minister will act on his promise to investigate any specific allegations of corruption that are reported in the health sector.

The bigger underlying problem highlighted by the TIB report is the limited resources allocated to healthcare in the country. If there were more well-funded hospitals and services across the whole country, it would be easier to root out the bribery associated with some coveted posts.

The World Health Organisation recommends Bangladesh should be looking to spend 5% of GDP on the health sector, but only 0.84% of GDP was allotted in the last financial year.

While we have been relatively successful over the last 40 years in increasing life expectancy and ensuring high rates of immunisation and treatment coverage, and the essential drugs policy has helped create a thriving and efficient pharmaceutical industry, the government cannot afford to be complacent.

The country faces many healthcare challenges, including both malnutrition caused by poverty and obesity caused by growing wealth. We need better health education and prevention to mitigate some of the challenges presented by a growing and ageing population.

We also need to invest more to ensure more people have access to good healthcare across the nation.

Invest in prevention and improving access across the nation

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

Don’t panic October 27

OM “Panic does occur during emergencies or disasters. Sometimes, panic is responsible for ending human lives too.”

Rana Plaza was caused by criminal negligence, not panic. Give our fire and emergency services more money to do their job and educate children about safety. People do not need to be patronised about the definition of panic by consultants.

MS OM: Keep calm and carry on with a better article.

President off to Dubai October 27

Arafat Rahman “A regular flight of Emirates Airlines carrying the president took off from Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport at 9:55am.”

Why could he not use Biman Bangladesh??

Golam Rumi Arafat Rahman: Because he doesn’t want to get crash-landed in middle of nowhere.

Arafat Rahman Golam Rumi: lol but Biman Bangladesh has a better record of not crashing, in comparison to any other airline. :) Golam Rumi Arafat Rahman: Yeah, when you fly so rarely, then you can have the best record. But if you don’t fly, then when is there even a chance to crash?

Arafat Rahman Golam Rumi: lol

Hatirjheel to join with Gulshan lake soon October 28

Nurul Huda Sumon Good job on this project. Look forward to it.

Fahad Muzaffar Finally, after so many days!! Still, good stuff!

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 1 represents H so fill H every time the figure 1 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

Evil People Politics OM: Panic is still a very distressing thing, though.

It’s important to be aware of your surroundings in dire situations, that is all what this article suggests.

OM Evil People Politics: Which is why we should teach that to seven-year-olds.

But “panic is an excessive feeling of alarm or fear.” Really? Oh my days.

Labour rights start at home October 28

Rainer Ebert Thank you very much, Dhaka Tribune! An important and much neglected issue.

Two years ago, Dhaka University Professor Hasna Begum and I wrote an article about the plight of child domestic workers in Bangladesh.

If you are interested, you can find it at http:// wp.me/p3c7xq-U (in Bangla) and at http://wp.me/ p3c7xq-y (in English).

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.

rose Domestic workers really work hard and their rights should be recognised, and those who abuse them ought to be punished. There is an international labour organisation which is working for the rights of domestic workers. Other organisations could also come forward and work towards this particular cause.

The unrepentant man

October 28 Shawkat Hussain Thank you for your wonderful article. I almost didn’t read it simply because I’m not interested in another opinion on the infamous man. But I continue – and I’m glad I did – and in the middle of the piece I realised whose son you are. That information is vital for it raises the opinion to a different level.

Karl Hungus “Azam went to his grave thinking his choices were the right ones.” It’s quite a rarity to see any semblance of balance in articles such as this one.

Props to the writer for getting it just right.

Say cheese? Say cherries?

October 27

Zebrul Hossain How long do we have to wait for this?

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 20 quires (4) 6 Extinct bird (3) 7 Furniture item (4) 9 Cause to flow (4) 10 Tree (5) 11 Within the law (5) 12 Monkey (3) 14 Without brightness (5) 17 Water lily (5) 20 Sheltered side (3) 21 Poke gently (5) 23 Strong fabric (5) 25 Specialised skills (4) 26 Mine entrance (4) 27 Liable (3) 28 See at a distance (4)

DOWN 1 Annul (6) 2 Talisman (6) 3 Additional (4) 4 School of whales (3) 5 Spoil (3) 7 Vend (4) 8 Ridiculous sham (5) 10 Taxi (3) 13 Prodded gently (5) 15 Makes watchful (6) 16 Coarse woolen cloth (6) 18 Single entity (4) 19 Result of addition (3) 22 Stare openmouthed (4) 23 Water storage (3) 24 Pinch (3)

Matt Islam Great move. Needs to be replicated nationwide.

Two-thirds fail in medical, dental admission tests October 28

SK Lord, save the quality of education.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

Karl Hungus “What else can a smile mean, if it doesn’t carry any intention but that of just smiling?”

I smiled at a random passerby out on the streets once … it didn’t end well.

Saying goodbye October 28

Ekram Kabir Thanks to the author for remembring Ali-Amin.

RS It is indeed difficult to say goodbye to a loved one. We remember them always in our hearts.

Nadeem Qadir Thanks you for the piece. May Ali Amin’s soul rest in peace. Will continue to remember him over the years as long as you write.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Abellard the Greek-Lover He sounded like a wonderful individual. My condolences to his family.

PEANUTS

Homegrown foreign aid site launched October 27

Osmania “Homegrown aid web-portal ‘Aid Information Management System,’ or AIMS, has been launched for better, efficient and transparent foreign assistance management.”

Homegrown sounds so 90s stoner, but that’s not my point. It actually looks an interesting website that will hopefully be maintained properly (otherwise it will just be garbage in, garbage out). Will be good if it eventually gives full disclosure to ordinary members of the public and in Bangla with names of managers.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Sunday, November 9, 2014

The future of banking n Mamun Rashid

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Imagine something new

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

Can we have a new political conversation?

N

n Farid Bakht arrow nationalism.

Appeasement to religious power. An unwillingness to embrace new thinking.

All combine to destroy our politics. Killing off or incarcerating a few elderly war-criminals is not going to expunge theocratic politics from the scene. It is not meant to.

It is too useful. The political elite thrive on the battles of generations past to divert the people from focusing on present problems. The question is: How long can one string along this agenda? One by one, political parties are imploding as biology catches up with once-evergreen leaders. A generational change is unfolding and uncertainty and instability loom.

A blast from the past

How ironic that a Bengali left-wing hero and a disgraced war criminal both pass away within days of each other. Both prominent in the volatile era of the 1950s and 1960s and instrumental in the events leading to the creation of Bangladesh. A clash of ideologies: Progressive nationalism, social transformation, with an eye to the East, versus a pro-Big Business, pro-Western orientation founded on the logic of religion and division.

Both Bhasha Matin and Ghulam Azam won and lost. The former saw the triumph of independence but he wanted “national liberation,” to see meaningful change in the lives of the majority.

Maybe not initially, but certainly ultimately, Azam and Jamaat wanted to retain the imperial construct of

Pakistan, grounded in religion. That project died forever in 1971, but within seven years he and his ilk were welcomed back into the fold.

Ever since, there has been appeasement towards theocratic identity and orientation. Geography, culture, and secularism have faded in contrast.

What might have been? The heady days of the Jukto (United) Front in 1954. The great Maulana Bhashani saying “Assalam Alaikum,” or goodbye to “Pakistan.” True, there will never be an East Pakistan again, but then again, was this the kind of Bangladesh they gave everything for?

The Famine of 1974. The massacre of August 15. The left-wing rebellion of Colonel Abu Taher. His betrayal and hanging by General Ziaur Rahman.

The end of secularism with the return of Jamaat. 15 years of failed military rule followed by over two decades of dysfunctional “democracy.”

system is stacked against a politics which represent the interests of the majority.

It is great for the top 3% but not the educated Bengali middle class.

Could there be debate at a popular, grassroots level about what our social, economic, and technological options are? Profound questions about the 90 degree orientation towards Lahore and Delhi, rather than 360 degrees to all our next-door neighbours.

There will never be an East Pakistan again, but was this the kind of Bangladesh they gave everything for?

What’s there to talk about?

A mature political class could instigate a rapprochement across bitter divides in the spirit of reconciliation. They could offer a project of national and regional development, benefitting the majority. Do you see that happening from the present configuration? This has to come from people not tainted by current allegiances. That means we have to place our hopes on new blood and the Next Generation.

That also means thinking beyond the limits of representative democracy, in its current format. This is not about choosing any particular political party. Neither is this about creating a new political party. That seems to be a dead end because the

A re-education about geography where we learn what is happening in Myanmar, Assam, and China and how we can seize the opportunity. An analysis of how East Asia developed and how we could emulate them, within our own conditions.

A willingness to reach out to West Bengalis for historic, commercial, and environmental reasons, bypassing the parochialism of Mamata Banerjee.

The Old Left is in inexorable decline in Kolkata, but a new progressive form will have to emerge.

It has to. We have to forget old ways of interference in the nation-

alist struggles in the Seven Sisters.

We must not, however, deny their aspirations. We have to consider the formulae of “deep decentralisation” across districts, provinces, and states.

Here’s the thing: The Chinese economic juggernaut could be coming this way. At the moment, it is all about dreamy, big projects for Big Business, with no planning for how the majority benefit. It is taking place above our heads and there is no popular input about this. This is the Last Chance Saloon for this region.

While the Language Movement was taking off here, Korea was dirt-poor and way behind this region. Two generations later, we are still entrapped within the politics of that era. South Korea is now light years ahead in terms of prosperity with the infrastructure of a 21st century economy.

That reality check is painful and puts into context the current ambitions of the elite. Korea reached “middle-income” status several decades ago. We set ourselves very low goals.

The next generation, across all classes, creeds, young men and women, is aware. Many are unimpressed with what is on offer domestically, frustrated with the permanent impasse. Increasingly impatient for something that not only benefits the 3% but them, their families and their nation. They have been promised a digital future but the current conversation speaks the language of an analog era. If they want a future, they need to take control of a new conversation. l Farid Bakht is a political activist and can be reached at @Liquid_Borders.

was talking to the CEO of a regional bank in Hong Kong a few days back. He was aware of the increasing greater China-Bangladesh trade traffic. In spite of that, he thought Bangladesh’s banking lacked depth – its governance was weak, the level of automation was low, and only plain vanilla products were in use with the least number of structured solutions or retail client offering.

Since the gentleman spent many years with top-notch American banks, I didn’t debate with him. However, I did refer to the increasing numbers of debit and credit card-holders, the dramatic increase in mobile banking, and the increasing number of process centralisation happening in Bangladeshi commercial banks.

The gentleman, having spent many years in Africa and Eastern and Central Europe in senior roles, was very much aware of the mobile banking successes in Kenya, and lately Bangladesh.

However, to my utter surprise, he thought mobile banking to be a very good domestic remittance product or transporter, not doing much for financial inclusion.

He was rather appreciative of the microfinance institutions which are bringing visible changes in the lives of the rural people and are helping with the rise of entrepreneurship at the “bottom of the pyramid” – he thought of that to be more about financial inclusion.

I asked him what was keeping him busy. He answered that, apart from allocating too much of his time towards ensuring governance and compliance to regulatory warrants, they were busy with developing structured solutions for large Chinese corporate houses, wealth management products for emerging rich groups in the greater China, and IT-driven transaction banking products.

Bangladeshi banking has come a long way over the last 43 years. However, it is also true that, other than the management of cross-border trade volume increasing, we were unable to do much. Large classified loans, low automation, the least possible number of retail banking solutions, low access to Internet banking, concentration of banking limits, or exposure to few groups or families (that too in cash credit) hypothecation of assets, import loans, and term loans are synonymous of Bangladeshi banking.

The lowest possible number of large

Mobile is the future

corporate houses is present in the capital market.

If we consider the booming mobile banking sector, with almost 50 million clients and a Tk10,000 crore turnover per month, we have reasons to rejoice.

However, cellphone companies had more to do here than banks.

Yet, it could not do much to create access to wealth or better products for rural folks. Again, the MFIs played a significant role here. 90% of the bank loans go to urban areas, where only 15% of the bank deposits come from rural areas. Banks are apple-polishing a few wealthy or politically influential groups, denting the dreams of anybody who is less than their regulatory boss.

Too many banks and far too few banking solutions or products are also not helping the banks maintain or strengthen their profitability. Banks’ shares are being traded at a sub optimum level, forcing the eyebrows of international investors to raise, making them doubt their ability to make decent returns for the investors.

Continuously weak governance is not helping the regulatory seniors to sleep well. Surprises may appear from any corner any day, with more HallMark or Bismillah syndromes. Lower profitability is not helping the banks to invest much on people-development, process re-engineering, or an upgraded IT delivery platform.

What should we do then? Improve supervisory capacity of watchdog agencies; foster increased interaction and liaise between the central bank, capital market, insurance agencies, the MFI, and revenue board seniors; reduce or stop overzealous board interference in day-to-day bank affairs, and let the independent directors work independently of the sponsors or directors; link bank borrowing with clients’ capital bases, and allow wealth-management products to flourish.

Banks should be seen investing more in information technology, the creation of new educated entrepreneurs through venture capital funding, alternate banking channels, and capital market-linked product development. Time has also come to focus more on insurance-linked products or bank assurance, bio-metric banking, data mining, and backbone process development. Quality should speak, not quantity always. l Mamun Rashid is a business professor and financial sector entrepreneur.

BIGSTOCK

Unification or division of a nation? n Ziauddin Choudhury

T

here is a serious need for soul-searching now in the country. This is not to say that we have all lost our souls and we need to find them somewhere. The search is for who we are, and where we are headed. This is not just about politics, not about who will be our next ruler, or how our economy will shape. This is about our net worth as a nation, our beliefs, and the principles that would guide our next generation. This is about our identity, nationhood, heritage, and history.

The divisive politics that has been ruling our country for the last two decades has shown its ugly side many times, mostly in the form of violence and breakdown of law and order.

However, this division has been mostly for grabbing power and control.

Now, this division has to come to fore in light of the ongoing war crimes trial and the succession of protests and counter-protests following sentencings in a number of trials.

On one hand, there have been protests by people calling themselves pro-liberation forces where the sentences have been denounced as too

weak. On the other hand, the sentences have been rejected as unjust and politically motivated.

The division would not have been so pronounced if these protests and counter-protests were limited to simply the trial venue and vicinity, but the protests on both sides spread countrywide early this year, focusing on issues that some of us thought should have been settled long before, following our independence.

A more prominent display of this division came through two recent events – the deaths of Professor Ghulam Azam of Jamaat-e-Islam, and Professor Piash Karim, an academic and a political commentator who professed a different line of politics.

The disputes about how they should be treated after death led to unfurling of emotions by both their critics and supporters, showing an ideological divide which resurfaced issues affecting our identity as a Bengali nation, and the values for which the war of independence was fought.

It is possible to have a country or a society that has views on opposite ends of the spectrum, be it politics or societal norms. Liberals and progressives want a country or a society that

adheres to changes and adapts to these changes; the conservatives tend more to avoid changes and cling to traditions.

In democracies, each group floats their ideas and tries to win others to their way of thinking through platforms of their choice, but with some basic agreement on nationhood, identity, and national heritage. In mature nations, the fundamentals of nationhood or national identity are not called into question, nor is there a debate on its history and heritage.

A key factor why we still have a debate on identity and nationhood is we have failed to inculcate in our next generation and educate them properly in the genesis of the liberation war, the principles for which it was fought, and about the fighters for freedom who straddled religion, political beliefs, and ethnic backgrounds.

Much of this failure lies on our political leaders, but a good part of it also belongs to individuals and families who could not transmit to the next generation the pride of our Bengali heritage and culture. Another very significant reason why we have this recurring debate, however, is the narrating of our history of liberation

from a partisan perspective, and dispensing it to the next generation from that view. A national war that was fought by most Bangladeshis came to be appropriated by one or the other political party as solely its effort, and its achievement.

The war crimes trial should not be a cause for revival of the issues that led to our independence struggle

In times of national crisis, such as war or a natural calamity, political adversaries relegate their differences to the background and unite to fight the common danger. This had happened in our liberation war when liberals, progressives, and die-hard conservatives united to confront the common danger posed by the Pakistan army.

The independence of Bangladesh was the result of a joint fight irrespective of party, religion, or ethnic affiliation. Our independence was not the sole achievement of a single political party or a small group of people.

It was the achievement of a whole people, across all faiths and political persuasion.

When national leaders fail, other dormant forces prop up. Our leaders were more busy claiming ownership of independence and belittling or denigrating other’s contribution than teaching people values and principles of the war of liberation.

Their bickering and constant maligning of their founders helped to erase from people’s minds the real perpetrators of war atrocities. In many ways, this political feud helped to rehabilitate the anti-liberation forces, sometimes to spite each other.

It is a great pity that the division of the country today affects the largest segment of our population who do not carry any baggage from the pre-liberation days. They have no memory either of the atrocities of Pakistan and its collaborators, or of the great sacrifices of their previous generation.

Their knowledge of the war and its

participants on either side is derived from books that may or may not have the right accounts or from political parties they patronise. In other words, what they have is not real history, but an interpretation of history with a political bias. No wonder many from this generation will be confused about their identity. Some may even want to seek a completely different one.

Politics is never about unity, it is about political power. But a nation is about unity, it is about identity and pride in nationhood. It is a cry in the wilderness in today’s politics in Bangladesh to call upon our leaders to rise above partisan interests and prevent a division of the country along lines that should have disappeared after independence.

The war crimes trial should not be a cause for revival of the issues that led to our independence struggle. The believers in our war of independence and its values will be a waning minority and a new identity for Bangladesh will be established if our political leaders do not heed the message now being written. l Ziauddin Choudhury is a political analyst and commentator.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Sunday, November 9, 2014

In tune with the classical dance festival

The Bourne Identity Movies Now, 3:00pm

n Entertainment Desk

A scene from ‘Boishommo’

Bangladeshi film Boishommo releases in Mumbai For the first time, a Bangladeshi film, which was not a joint venture project, saw its commercial release in India on Friday at Mumbai’s Anand Chitra Mandir in Ratnagiri area.

The film “Boishommo”, alternatively styled “Journey to the Heart”, is a 120-minute feature film directed by Adam Dawla.

The youth-oriented film tells the story of a rich father, who makes his spoiled son face a challenge and sets him out on the streets of Dhaka. Spending a few days on the streets, the boy not only suffers under harsh conditions but also learns about the living conditions and mindset of the common people in his city.

Show Motion Ltd, who run the Star

A wounded man found by fishermen tries to rebuild his memories beginning with the Swiss Bank safe deposit box number that has been surgically implanted in his hip.

Monsters University Star Movies, 9:30pm

Cineplex in Dhaka, has exported the film to India as part of an exchange programme with Indian film “Roar: Tigers of the Sunderbans”, an extraordinary Indian film partially shot in the Sundarbans in Bangladesh. The film was imported from India.

Abir Hossain Ankon donned the central character of the film while Sajjad Hossain Rony, Adam Dawla and Mita Chowdhury formed other major casts. Released in Bangladesh on March 21 this year, Boishommo marks the advent of specialised film-making in Bangladesh.

From the acting to cinematography to background score and ambient sound, everything in the film demonstrates the director’s intention to make a film that boards as a rare example in the Bangladeshi cinema industry. l

Mike Wazowski was a little monster, he has dreamed of becoming a scarer and he knows better than anyone that the best scarers come from Monsters University.

Legendary

Zee Studio, 11:36pm

KHAN HASAN MD RAFI

n Entertainment Desk

A two-day classical dance festival ended yesterday at the Chhayanaut.

An array of Indian classical dance forms like Manipuri, Bharatnatyam, Gaudiya and Kathak was featured by both promising and renowned dancers performed at the event.

Dancers from Kolkata and Dhaka presented the glory of Manipuri dance in a conventional styles. Like previous year, Amit Chowdhury and Puja Sengupta’s performances were characteristically patent in techniques, with movement in sync with complicated counter rhythms.

Captivating dancer Rachel Priyanka Paris presented a solo performance at the festival. She took the breath way of a houseful of audience through her graceful performance on Gaudiya form.

Tabassum Ahmed and Kathak Nritya Sampradayee Kathak dance were dazzling with mesmeric recitals. l

ALIA BHATT likely to star in Rock On!! sequel

The Big Bang Theory is about to get Lego-ed

n Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk The Big Bang Theory is getting the Lego treatment, joining the pop-culture likes of Harry Potter, Star Wars, and Jurassic Park.

Lego is releasing a set based on the massively popular CBS sitcom, which follows a group of scientists—Leonard, Sheldon, Howard, Raj, Bernadette,

and Amy — and their one non-scientist friend, Penny.

The set proposal was submitted to the Lego Ideas program by Alatariel and GlenBricker. Its description reads: “This LEGO set proposal is based on the popular American sitcom The Big Bang Theory created by Chuck Lorre and Bill Prady. The set represents the living room of Sheldon Cooper and

Cal Chetley is trying to get back in touch with his brother and the only way he thinks he can do it is join the wrestling team and take coaching from his brother Mike.

Bollywood actress Alia Bhatt, 21, is said to be playing the heroine for the sequel to “Rock On!!,” an award-winning film about friendship and, well, music.

Rumour has it that the movie’s producers are looking for a young actress with a vibe to carry the leading role, as well as someone who can sing. Since

Leonard Hofstadter, which is the core location of the series. It’s filled with geeky details accurate to the show including Sheldon’s board, Green Lantern lantern, Rubik’s cube tissue box, DNA model, mini LEGO Death Star and more!”

Upon receiving 10,000 votes, Lego approved the proposal, though final details have not yet been announced. l

Film

Onek Sader Moyna, Dracula Untold Hundred-Foot Journey Pipra Bidda Star Cineplex

“Rock On!!” was a musically-charged film so its sequel would probably head in the same direction.

Alia made her musical debut performing AR Rahman’s songs in the Imtiaz Ali movie “Highway.” She also sang in “Humpty Sharma Ki Dulhania.”

Shujaat Saudagar is set to direct the film, as Abhishek Kapoor, who helmed the first film, is busy working on another project called “Fitoor.” l

Annabelle, Pipra Bidda Jack Ryan: Shadow Recruit Amra Korbo Joy, The Maze Runner Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3D Blockbuster Cinemas

CHARM OF KOREA n Entertainment Desk As a part of the cultural exchange programmes between Korea and Bangladesh, a two-day concert “Charm of Korea V” was organised by Embassy of the Republic of Korea in Dhaka.

The concert was performed by a Korean band Coreyah, a musical group comprising six musicians.

On November 6, the concert was inaugurated at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy and the following day it successfully finished at the Ambassador’s Residence.

The musician group performed a variety of beautiful folk songs with a contemporary style.

The songs features work, love and beauty.

The highlight of the concert was a Bangla song performed by the musicians “Ami Banglay Gann Gai” sung by the Korean artists. The mu-

sician received storm of applauds warm receptions when audience’s standing ovation.

Coreyah is a Korean folklore music ensemble. Rooted in Korean traditional music, Coreyah combines different ethnic musical styles such as African, Brazillian, and Mid-eastern and modern styles such as jazz and rock.

Lee Yun-young, Ambassador of the Republic of Korea to Bangladesh said that, through the success of these music events, two countries could become much closer by the power of culture, further boosting our bilateral friendship, also the concert provided a good opportunity for Bangladesh people to taste and enjoy the performance of the international music.

This was the sixth music event since last year to celebrate the friendship between Korea and Bangladesh. l

Jared Leto circling joker role n Entertainment Desk

Band members of Coreyah

MARION’s heartbreaking drama in Two Days, One Night n Entertainment Desk Oscar-winning French actress Marion Cotillard gives perhaps her best-controlled — and maybe most heartbreaking — performance as a solar panel factory worker struggling to keep her job in “Two Days, One Night.”

The film is the latest and one of the best looks at working class desperation from Belgium’s Jean-Pierre and Luc Dardenne (“La Promesse,” “Rosetta”). “Two Days, One Night” follows Cotillard’s depression-prone Sandra over a weekend of lobbying co-workers to vote for her to remain

employed, even though that means giving up their yearly bonus.

It sounds like a downer, but the array of ethical/pragmatic responses Sandra gets spotlights the best as well as the understandable worst in people. And Marion’s every subtle, perfectly judged move is exhilarating.

Marion’s performance has won praise, with the BBC observing that she ought to be up for another Oscar nomination.

The film has also been selected as Belgium’s submission for the Academy Award for Best Foreign Language Film at the 87th Academy Awards. l

Jared Leto, who won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his performance in “Dallas Buyers Club,” has not officially signed on to his next project, but there’s a chance it could be a big superhero film.

The actor may be under consideration for the role of the Joker in the Warner Bros. and DC Entertainment project “Suicide Squad.”

David Ayer is attached to direct the project. The “Suicide Squad” team, also known as “Task Force X,” was created by Robert Kanigher and Ross Andru and first appeared in “Brave” and the “Bold No. 25.” Its most recent iteration includes characters Deadshot, King Shark, Captain Boomerang and Harley Quinn.

The DC property about convicted supervillains who are given a chance to redeem themselves through dangerous missions has been in the works for some time at Warner Bros., but it has really picked up steam in the past few months. The film is slated for release on Aug. 5, 2016.

After the Oscars, Leto spent time focusing on his music as the lead singer of Thirty Seconds to Mars while he looked for his next project. l

Did you know?

Diego Costa has reached 10 PL goals in just nine games; the only player to reach double figures in fewer games is Mick Quinn (6)

Sport

Sunday, November 9, 2014

14 Pellegrini

dismisses Toure exit rumours

14 Old guard

primed for new generation

DHAKA TRIBUNE

13

15 Pakistan roll out

spin trap for Kiwis

Cricketers visit Rana’s home, flies off to Chittagong Hossain and n Hedait Mazhar Uddin A number of Bangladesh cricketers including Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim visited the home of late national all-rounder Manjarul Islam Rana yesterday.

Mushfiq and the accompanying cricketers met Rana’s mother, Jamila Khatun, and had a look at all the cricket awards and different memoirs of the late national cricketer.

Jamila broke into tears upon the visit of the national cricketers. “I could not say anything. I just cried. Mushfiq requested me to see them like my own sons. He (Mushfiq) consoled me,” said Jamila.

Following their visit to Rana’s home, the national cricket team flew to Dhaka in the afternoon before leaving for Chittagong in the evening.

The Tigers are now eyeing a series sweep against Zimbabwe. If the hosts are to seal the whitewash, this will only be their second series sweep. The only time Bangladesh registered a whitewash was against the West Indies in the Caribbean in 2009 when the Tigers swept the two-Test series 2-0.

Once again, the home side will be banking on their three spinners led by Shakib al Hasan. Left-arm spinner Taijul Islam and young leg-spinner Jubair

Ali Jacko to inspect local boxers today n Raihan Mahmood

Hossain are also expected to play their part in the third and final Test starting this Wednesday in Chittagong.

The batting department, meanwhile, will be spearheaded by Mushfiq, Shakib, Mahmudullah and opener Tamim Iqbal, who struck his fifth Test century and first after four years in the just concluded second match in Khulna.

Jamila broke into tears upon the visit of the national cricketers.

‘I could not say anything. I just cried.

Mushfiq requested me to see them like my own sons,’ said Jamila Tamim’s opening partner in the first two Tests, Shamsur Rahman, however, failed to impress in the recent past and subsequently paid the price as he has been replaced in the squad by left-handed Imrul Kayes. Another opener Anamul Haque is also in the running for the opening slot alongside Tamim.

The third and final Test will be followed by five one-day internationals. l

Bangladesh Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim waves the Khulna fans goodbye as they leave for Jessore Airport yesterday

COURTESY

Former world lightweight kickboxing champion Ali Jacko will conduct a trial among Bangladeshi boxers that might enable them to enter the professional circuit. The trial will take place at Mohammad Ali Boxing Stadium today.

The Bangladesh Boxing Federation confirmed that the United Kingdom-based former kick-boxing star will be scrutinising the local boxers for the boxing circuit and not for kickboxing.

The federation will present to Jacko around 50 top boxers of the country in all weight categories. The selection will totally depend on Jacko. The selected boxers will get the opportunity to avail training in the UK. On May 26, 1996, Jacko defeated Frederic Pierre to win the WKO World Lightweight Kickboxing title at the Island in Ilford. In June 2000, Ali clinched his second World Lightweight Kickboxing crown, this time in the World Kickboxing Network belt.

Abdul Kuddus Khan, the general secretary of the boxing federation expressed his hope that a number of local boxers will impress Jacko. Walton agreed to assist the whole programme. l

Salahuddin demands more from players Marcel Corporate Cricket n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh beat Sri Lanka in the two-match SS Steel Fifa International Friendly Series last month, but the result hardly moved Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) president Kazi Salahuddin. The BFF chief expressed his lack of contentment and demanded more from the players.

After being held to a 1-1 draw in the first game in Jessore, Bangladesh defeated visiting Sri Lanka 1-0 in the sec-

ond match in Rajshahi to lift the trophy and also register a victory to end their 19-month winless drought at home.

The federation felicitated the national players for the series win at the BFF House yesterday where Salahuddin said he expects the players to raise their game.

“I’m not so much satisfied with the recent performances. I am sad. I expected Bangladesh to do much better,” said the former national footballer before saying, “I am sad because we lost

one and won one against Nepal. I am sad because we suffered to beat Sri Lanka in the friendly series.”

“My team is much better than Nepal and Sri Lanka. But they could not prove it. I think something is lacking somewhere.

“People are not talking about your (players) performance,” he said addressing the players.

Salahuddin urged the players for a better display in the coming friendly match against Japan Under-21 and

Bangladesh national footballers and federation officials pose for a photograph at a felicitation programme at the BFF House yesterday

Bangabandhu Gold Cup. Meanwhile, chairman of BFF District Football League Committee and president of Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club, Manjur Kader handed over a prize money of $10,000 to the team at the ceremony.

“We have seen the tide of football in Sylhet, Jessore and Rajshahi. I went to the dressing room in Rajshahi and told them to win the match. I told them if you win I will give you $10000 as bonus,” said Kader.l

COURTESY

Siddikur in joint second going into final round today n Tribune Desk

Waller reported with suspect bowling action

BHF looks to get back Jimmy n Shishir Hoque

n Mazhar Uddin

Premier Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman was tied for second place alongside three others following the conclusion of the third round of the Panasonic Open India at Delhi Golf Club yesterday.

Siddikur hit four-under-par 69 in the third day to take his overall score to 10-under-par 206 heading into the final round’s play today. Siddikur is just a shot behind leader Rahil Gangjee of India.

Siddikur struck five birdies and two bogeys while another Bangladesh golfer, Zamal Hossain, is tied for 18th position alongside four others after smashing three-under-par 70 in the third round of the $300,000 event. Zamal blasted three birdies and as many bogeys to go with his eagle in the 18th and final hole. Zamal has an overall score of three-under-par 213. l

Zimbabwean off-spinner Malcolm Waller became the latest cricketer to be reported by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for a suspect bowling action following their second Test defeat to Bangladesh at Sheikh Abu Naser Stadium in Khulna.

The governing body of world cricket informed through a press release yesterday that the part-time offspinner will now have to undergo a bowling test within 21 days in an ICCaccredited facility.

The match officials handed over the bowling assessment report to Zimbabwe team manager Mufaro Chiturumani after the conclusion of the second Test. The 30-year old, however, will be able to continue bowling in international cricket until the result of his

The Working Committee of Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) decided to withdraw the suspension of national star striker Russel Mahmud Jimmy during a meeting yesterday.

The final decision will be taken by the executive committee in the next governing body meeting this month.

“We discussed about the three suspended players in the meeting. The members of working committee decided to recommend the name of Russel Mahmud Jimmy to the executive committee to lift the ban,” said BHF general secretary Khwaja Rahmatullah yesterday.

The BHF at the end of last year suspended Jimmy, Zahid Hossain, Imran Hasan Pintu and Quamruzzaman Rana from the national side. Midfielder Rana’s suspension was withdrawn on October 27 while the BHF are also mulling to get Zahid and Pintu. l

bowling test is published.

The off-spinner scalped six wickets against Bangladesh in the second Test, including four in the second innings.

Among his four second innings dismissals included that of man-of-thematch Shakib al Hasan.

Waller is the second Zimbabwean bowler to be reported for a suspect bowling action in recent times after experienced right-arm off-spinner Prosper Utseya.

The ICC has been strictly monitoring suspect bowling actions recently.

Its recent crackdown mainly includes off-spinners with the exception of Bangladesh paceman Al Amin Hossain. Al Amin though has been cleared by the ICC as his bowling test suggested that his elbow flex is within the 15-degree level permitted by the governing body of world cricket. l

starts November 14 n Raihan Mahmood With a promise towards providing a breath of fresh air amidst the day-today corporate activities, the Marcel 4th Twenty20 Corporate Cricket Tournament comprising 28 renowned corporates of the country begins at the Residential Model School ground from November 14.

The organisers - Udaychal Club of Mohammadpur – are looking forward to hosting another successful edition after three worthy completions. The 28 teams have been split into seven groups containing four teams each with the seven group champions and runners-up sides going through to the round of 16 alongside the two best third-placed teams.

All the matches will be held at the Dhaka Residential Model School, Lalmatia School ground and Mohammadpur Eidgah ground. The champions will receive a purse of Tk100,000 while the runners-up side will pocket Tk50,000.

AHM Mustafa Kamal, the Minister for Planning and the president of the International Cricket Council, will inaugurate the event as the chief guest.

The participating teams are - Philip Morris International, IFIC Bank, Europa Group, Marico Bangladesh Limited, Eastern Bank Limited, Beximco Pharmaceuticals Limited, Computer Source Limited, DBL Group, Anowara Group, Bangla Cat Limited, Walton, Apollo Hospitals Dhaka Limited, Nitol Motors

Limited, Confidence Group, Runner Group, Reliance Insurance Limited, LM Ericsson, Okapia Mobile, Lankabangla Securities, Bando Design, Race Management, Robi, Energypac, Beximco Textile, Coca-Cola Bangladesh, Alif Group, Green Delta Insurance and IDLC Finance.

As the title sponsors Marcel will distribute a purse of Tk1m while the budget of the tournament has been set at Tk1.6m. Asems, the event management company of the tournament, has roped in Marcel as the title sponsors besides being able to tag in Oilio as the co-sponsor. Asian TV, Dhaka Tribune, Radio Dhaka FM 90.4, Bishwa Darpan and Risingbd.com are the media partners. Coca-Cola Bangladesh is the beverage partner while fragrance company Al-Haramain is the life-style partner of the tournament. Green Delta Insurance will work as the insurance partner.

The details of the tournament were presented to the media in a press conference held at the Bangladesh Olympic Association auditorium yesterday. Chief co-ordinator of the tournament, Abul Ahsan Ahmed, executive director Humayun Kabir, Walton additional director FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn, Green Delta Insurance Company Limited senior executive director Wafi SM Khan, head of marketing Monir Hossain and Marcel first assistant senior director Robiul Hasan Sumon were present on the occasion. l

Walton additional director FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn (2R) speaks during the press conference of the Marcel Corporate Cricket at the BOA auditorium yesterday COURTESY

Sport Costa paints Liverpool blue 14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Super-sub Mata revives United, Southampton march on as Burnley win at last in Premier League

n AFP, Liverpool Diego Costa scored his 10th goal of the campaign as unbeaten Premier League leaders Chelsea continued their excellent start to the season by winning 2-1 at Liverpool on Saturday.

Bidding to avenge their costly 2-0 loss in last season’s corresponding fixture in April, scene of captain Steven Gerrard’s infamous slip, Liverpool took an early lead through Emre Can’s deflected shot.

But Gary Cahill equalised almost immediately before Costa slammed home

RESULTS Burnley

1-0

Hull

Barnes 50

Liverpool

1-2

Can 9

Man United

Chelsea Cahill 14, Costa 67

1-0

Crystal Palace

2-0

Leicester

0-0

Aston Villa

Mata 67

Southampton Long 75, 80

West Ham

23 minutes from time to silence Anfield and safeguard Chelsea’s four-point advantage at the summit.

Runners-up to Manchester City last season, Liverpool have now lost three successive games in all competitions and trail Chelsea by a huge 15 points.

Liverpool manager Brendan Rodgers felt that his side should been awarded a late penalty after a shot from Gerrard struck Cahill on the arm in front of the Kop. Rodgers restored a host of the firstteam players controversially rested for the mid-week loss to Real Madrid in the Champions League and saw his team go ahead in the ninth minute.

Can had a shot deflected over by John Terry in the first minute, but Chelsea did not heed the warning and when he took aim from similar range moments later, the ball cannoned off

(L-R) Chelsea’s Gary Cahill, Nemanja Matic, Cesar Azpilicueta, Diego Costa, John Terry, Ivanovic and Eden Hazard celebrate their second goal against Liverpool at Anfield yesterday Cahill and into the net.

But five minutes later Chelsea levelled from a corner, with goal-line technology required to show that Liverpool goalkeeper Simon Mignolet had narrowly failed to prevent Cahill’s effort from crossing the line.

Chelsea were on course to move six points clear until substitute Shane Long scored a quick-fire late brace to earn

second-place Southampton a 2-0 win over Leicester City at a soggy St Mary’s.

Long curled home from Graziano Pelle’s lay-off in the 75th minute before running clear and beating Kasper Schmeichel five minutes later to keep Ronald Koeman’s side on Chelsea’s tail.

Manchester United had substitute Juan Mata to thank after they secured a 1-0 win at home to Crystal Palace that

Mueller hattrick lifts Bayern n AFP, Berlin Defending champions Bayern Munich opened a seven-point lead at the top of the Bundesliga on Saturday as Thomas Mueller netted a hattrick in their 4-0 romp at Eintracht Frankfurt.

With main rivals VfL Wolfsburg and Gladbach playing Sunday, Pep Guardiola’s Bayern made sure of their eighth win in 11 league games to pull clear of the chasing pack.

Having been rested for Wednesday’s 2-0 home win over Roma which confirmed Bayern’s place in the Champions League’s last 16 as group winners, Mueller opened the scoring in Frankfurt when he converted a Franck Ribery pass at the second attempt on 23 minutes.

The 25-year-old then boosted his tally with two goals in three minutes after converting another Ribery pass after the Frenchman sprinted though the defence with Poland striker Robert Lewandowski also queueing up to score

on 64 minutes.

Mueller bagged his third to leave him with nine goals in all competitions and the league’s joint top scorer when he finished off a move from a quick Ribery throw-in to claim his sixth Bundesliga goal.

Xherdan Shaqiri grabbed Bayern’s fourth on 86 minutes after fellow second-half replacement Arjen Robben had pulled the Frankfurt defence to pieces to leave the Swiss winger to tap into an empty net.

Werder Bremen can move off the bottom, and leave last season’s runners-up Borussia Dortmund last before hosting third-placed Borussia Moenchengladbach on Sunday, with just a point at VfB Stuttgart on Saturday evening.

Hoffenheim dropped to fifth after a lively 4-3 defeat at home to Cologne with Nigeria striker Anthony Ujah netting his third goal of the season for the visitors and Poland defender Pawel Olkowski scoring twice, including the 83rd-minute winner.

Leverkusen, who won 2-1 at Zenit St Petersburg on Tuesday to stay top

of their Champions League group, were held to a goalless draw at home to Mainz and drop to sixth having suffered a shock 1-0 league defeat at Hamburg last weekend.

Robert di Matteo suffered his second consecutive defeat as Schalke coach when his side lost 2-0 at Freiburg, who pulled clear of the relegation places to move up to 13th with Christian Guenter and Jonathan Schmid scoring their goals.

The 44-year-old Di Matteo has now lost three and won three of his six games since taking charge of the Royal Blues last month and his side drop to 11th in the table -- exactly where they were when he took charge.

Augsburg moved up to seventh with a 3-0 win at mid-table Paderborn as midfielder Tobias Werner scoring twice.

Second-placed Wolfsburg can pick up their eighth straight win when they host strugglers Hamburg on Sunday.

Hanover 96 moved up to fourth in the table with a 2-0 win at Hertha Berlin on Friday, but both top six sides Hoffenheim and Bayer Leverkusen both lost ground to Bayern. l

lifted Louis van Gaal’s side up to sixth place, 13 points below Chelsea.

United toiled in the first half and saw former player Fraizer Campbell spurn a chance to put Palace ahead when he lobbed over following a mixup between auxiliary centre-back Danny Blind and 19-year-old Paddy McNair.

But Mata scored just four minutes after coming on in the 63rd minute to

give United victory, deceiving visiting goalkeeper Julian Speroni with a deflected 22-yard shot after a one-two with Angel di Maria.

West Ham United inched above Arsenal into fourth place despite drawing 0-0 at home to Aston Villa, while Ashley Barnes’s solitary header earned bottom club Burnley a first win of the campaign at home to Hull City. l

Paris Saint-Germain can close within one point of leaders Marseille with victory over their arch-rivals on Sunday which would cap a week in which they also guaranteed their place in the Champions League knockout phase.

Laurent Blanc’s unbeaten champions won their fifth straight match on Wednesday, when a narrow 1-0 win over APOEL Nicosia was enough to seal their place in the last-16 of Europe’s most prestigious competition.

However Blanc realises Marseille, who are currently four points clear, will benefit from their extra rest this week and the fact that they are taking no part in European competition this season.

Marcelo Bielsa’s Marseille side equalled a club record with eight straight wins on their rise to the top of Ligue 1 but a tough 1-0 defeat at Lyon snapped that run which was then followed by League Cup elimination by Rennes.

Edinson Cavani has picked up the PSG slack, with Swedish star Zlatan Ibrahimovic still struggling with a foot injury.

The Uruguayan has scored in his last four matches to equal his best streak with the club.

Ibrahimovic may return for the high-profile match at the Parc des Princes and Blanc confirmed there is a real chance their talisman could be in the starting line-up.

Lyon have quietly climbed the table into third spot and a home victory over 16th placed Guingamp on Sunday will draw them within two points of Bielsa’s side ahead of the clash in the capital.

Bordeaux are level with Saint-Etienne and seven adrift as Willy Sagnol’s controversial week finishes with a trip to Lens on Saturday. l

LIGUE 1 Lyon Saint-Etienne Reims PSG

v v v v

Guingamp Monaco Lille Marseille

Wenger expects Suarez inspires Barca Arsenal to bounce back from slump revival at Almeria Real Madrid at the top of La Liga, but Los n AFP, Swansea n AFP, Madrid Blancos can reclaim top spot when they

midweek.

However, both men were called into action at half-time after Thievy Bifouma had fired Almeria into the lead eight minutes before the break.

Suarez squared for Neymar to level the scores 18 minutes from time and his cross then teed up Jordi Alba to seal the three points nine minutes later.

Victory takes Barca a point ahead of

host Rayo Vallecano later on Saturday.

Enrique’s decision to make a host of changes handed Pedro Rodriguez and Munir El Haddadi a start alongside Lionel Messi in attack.

But they did little to justify their selection, although Munir did force Ruben Martinez into a low save after the Almeria ‘keeper had blocked Messi’s effort from close range.

Martinez had to be at his best to stop Barca taking the lead just before the half hour mark as he scrambled to keep out Ivan Rakitic’s downward header and from the rebound Messi nodded onto the crossbar.

However, the visitors were caught out eight minutes before half-time as Messi lost possession deep inside the Almeria half and with one pass Barca were undone as Jonathan Soriano released Thievy and he raced past Bartra before calmly slotting past Bravo.l

Injury-hit Juve set for revolution against Parma

Pellegrini dismisses Toure exit rumours n AFP, London

Arsene Wenger believes Arsenal will make an immediate recovery from their European meltdown when they return to Premier League action at Swansea on Sunday.

Wenger’s side squandered a threegoal lead as they crumbled in spectacular fashion in the final 29 minutes against unheralded Belgians Anderlecht on Tuesday.

Gunners boss says his team’s morale has not been affected by either the result or the abuse and he is confident of returning to winning ways at the Liberty Stadium this weekend.

“I have managed 2000 games and can anticipate what people will say. If you defend and get back to 3-3, people will ask why you defend and not continue to play a normal game. If you continue to attack, people ask why you attack. It is so predictable,” Wenger said.l

n AFP, Milan

Bayern Munich forward Thomas Mueller shoots to score his second goal against Eintracht Frankfurt during their German Bundesliga match in Frankfurt yesterday REUTERS

AP

PSG fear fatigue factor in Marseille showdown n AFP, Paris

Juventus coach Massimiliano Allegri is expected to continue tinkering with his injury-hit side on Sunday when the Italian giants host Parma looking to reinforce their lead over title challengers Roma.

Champions Juve opened up a threepoint gap at the top of Serie A last week when an unrecognisable Roma succumbed to a 2-0 defeat away to resurgent Napoli.

Allegri’s men host Parma, who moved off bottom spot with a shock 2-0 win over Inter, on the back of a morale-boosting 3-2 Champions League win over Group A rivals Olympiakos in midweek.

However injuries among the defence mean Allegri could again deploy the 4-3-1-2 formation that effectively kept Juve in the race for a place in the last 16 of Europe’s premier competition.

But the big news from Juve’s training ground on Thursday was the prospect of striker Carlos Tevez being moved back a notch to play in the hole behind front pair Fernando Llorente and fellow Spaniard Alvaro Morata.

Two assists from Luis Suarez inspired Barcelona to come from behind and snap a two-game losing streak in La Liga with a 2-1 win at Almeria on Saturday.

Suarez had started the game on the bench alongside Neymar as Barca boss Luis Enrique made five changes from the side that defeated Ajax 2-0 in

RESULT Almeria

1-2

Thievy 37

Barcelona Neymar 73, Alba 82

European commitments also proved costly to Roma, who prepare to host Torino at the Olympic Stadium on Sunday with major injury worries.

Roma lost defender Jose Holebas (ribs) to injury in a 2-0 defeat away to Bayern Munich on Wednesday, when attacking midfielder Alessandro Flo-

SERIE A Cagliari Chievo Empoli Juventus Palermo Fiorentina Inter Roma

v v v v v v v v

Genoa Cesena Lazio Parma Udinese Napoli Verona Torino

renzi (ankle) hobbled off.

Roma are already without defenders Davide Astori, Leandro Castan, Maicon and there are now doubts over Malian midfielder Seydou Keita.

Lazio have dropped only two points in their last six games, moving up to third place in the process only six points adrift of Juventus, three behind Roma and one ahead of fifth-placed Napoli.l

Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini dismissed media reports on Friday claiming that influential midfielder Yaya Toure could be sold to another club.

Toure, 31, top-scored for City with 20 goals as they won the Premier League last season, but the Ivory Coast international’s form has dipped since the start of the current campaign.

He hit a low on Wednesday when he was sent off for a petulant shove against CSKA Moscow in the Champions League, but despite his recent struggles, Pellegrini says the club are not looking to sell him.

“There must be a lot of reports telling (the story) that Yaya will be sold.

Maybe (it is) all the other teams that want Manchester City to be a weaker team,” the Chilean told.

“Yaya is a very important player. He played very well in the first half (against CSKA). He scored a goal. In the second half, he made a mistake and he was sent off, but I am sure nobody at the club is talking about selling Yaya Toure.”

Toure joined City from Barcelona in 2010. He was won two Premier League titles, one FA Cup and one League Cup in his four years at the club. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Old guard primed for new generation

QUICK BYTES

Sachin wants more of review system India may continue to resist the Decision Review System (DRS) but there is a place for technology in cricket as long as it is the same for every leading nation, former captain Sachin Tendulkar said on Friday. DRS consists of Hawk-Eye, Hot Spot and the Snickometer although the use of the last two components varies around the globe. Hot Spot, for example, did not feature at the 50-over World Cup in 2011. The International Cricket Council (ICC) says the use of the review system is not mandatory and is only used when there is agreement between national boards. The Board of Control for Cricket in India (BCCI) refuses the use of technology in their international matches, saying the system is not foolproof and is expensive. Tendulkar, the leading run-scorer in test history who is now retired from the sport, supports technology but only if Hot Spot and the Snickometer are used in tandem. “I don’t know right now what BCCI’s stance is. From an individual point of view I can definitely say that we can’t have bits and pieces in different parts of the world,” said Tendulkar as he spoke at the launch of his autobiography ‘Playing It My Way’ at Lord’s.

–Reuters

n Reuters, London

Drugs charge against Adriano thrown out A Rio de Janeiro judge has dismissed charges laid against former Brazilian international Adriano that accused him of involvement with drug-traffickers, a court spokesman told AFP Friday. The former Inter Milan, Fiorentina, Parma and Roma striker, 32, who is trying to revive his career in France, was charged Tuesday with buying two motorbikes between 2008 and 2009 that were later used by drug dealers in Rio’s Vila Cruzeiro favela, where he grew up.

Judge Maria Tereza Donatti threw out the charge, partly because of evidence irregularities. Sources in the prosecutor’s office in Rio de Janeiro told AFP that attorneys will appeal the ruling. In a statement, the former international, who scored 27 goals in 48 appearances for Brazil, said he had never been worried. “I knew everything would be okay... I’m honest, I pay my taxes and I’m proud of my origins,” he said. He faced up to 15 years in prison if found guilty. Adriano’s last contract, with Atletico Paranaense, was terminated six months ago after he missed several training sessions.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Ten Sports 3:00PM Panasonic Open India Day 4

Star Sports 1 2:00PM India v Sri Lanka 3rd ODI

Star Sports 4 6:00PM Australia v South Africa 3rd T20I 9:30PM F1: Brazilian GP Main Race

Ten Cricket 12:00PM Pakistan v New Zealand 1st Test, Day 1

Sony Six 4:30PM World Kabaddi League Ludhiana: 34 12:00AM NFL 2014 New Orleans Saints v San Francisco 4:00AM Major League Soccer Columbus Crew v New England Revolution

Star Sports 2

15

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Tomas Berdych (R) takes a ‘selfie’ with fellow tennis players (L-R) Roger Federer, Stanislas Wawrinka, Novak Djokovic, Andy Murray, Milos Raonic, Kei Nishikori and Marin Cilic at the O2 Arena in London on Friday REUTERS

A season that produced the biggest shake-up in men’s tennis for more than a decade draws to a close next week with three ATP World Tour Finals debutants striving to sign off breakthrough years with a large exclamation mark.

U.S. Open champion Marin Cilic, the man he beat in New York Kei Nishikori and Milos Raonic, the freshfaced Canadian with dynamite in his serving arm, will all add plenty to the mix at the glitzy season-ender now in its sixth year of residence at London’s eye-catching O2 Arena.

However, three of the world’s established “big four” will be only too happy to slap down the young upstarts.

Serbia’s Novak Djokovic is seeking a third consecutive title alongside the River Thames, one that would seal the world number one ranking and complete a memorable year for the 27-yearold who recently became a father for the first time.

Effervescent Roger Federer, at 33 the oldest player in the eight-man event, is targeting a seventh title at the ATP’s blue riband tournament, and few would bet against the majestic 17-times grand slam champion achieving it.

Britain’s Andy Murray, who produced a dazzling late surge to qualify for London with three titles in his last six tournaments, will also be hungry to launch himself into next year with a first ATP World Tour Finals crown.

And why not? After all, it has been a year of firsts.

Murray, absent last year because of back surgery, will open the tournament on Sunday against Japan’s Nishikori with Federer and Raonic, the other two members of Group B, facing off later.

Djokovic, unbeaten in 27 indoor

matches, begins his Group A challenge on Monday against Cilic after Wawrinka takes on O2 regular Czech Tomas Berdych.

Djokovic warmed up for the tournament by retaining his Paris Masters title without dropping a set -- his first tournament since his wife Jelena gave birth to son Stefan.

On the subject of new arrivals, Djokovic said the three first-timers in London underlined a sense of change in men’s tennis which since 2003 has been dominated by Federer, the currently sidelined Rafa Nadal, himself and Murray.

ROLL OF HONOUR 2013 2012 2011 2010 2009 2008 2007 2006 2005 2004

Novak Djokovic (SRB) Novak Djokovic (SRB) Roger Federer (SUI) Roger Federer (SUI) Nikolay Davydenko (RUS) Novak Djokovic (SRB) Roger Federer (SUI) Roger Federer (SUI) David Nalbandian (ARG) Roger Federer (SUI)

Federer, twice a champion at the O2, said this year’s grand slam roll of honour made for exciting times, while firing a subtle psychological salvo at Raonic who he lost to at the Paris Masters last week.

Raonic was outclassed by Federer in the Wimbledon semi-finals this year but it has still been a superb year for the Canadian who reached as high as world number six in July.

Croatian Cilic, still not completely recovered from a nagging shoulder problem, said his win at the U.S. Open, and Wawrinka’s over Nadal at the Australian Open, had given “new breath” to the ATP Tour.l

ICC poised to clear way Pakistan roll out spin trap for Kiwis n for Aamer return Reuters

n

AFP, Abu Dhabi

Pakistan seamer Mohammad Aamer, banned and jailed for spot fixing in one of cricket’s darkest episodes, is set to be handed a dramatic return to the sport.

The International Cricket Council (ICC) is expected to revise its anti-corruption code at a two-day board meeting starting in Dubai on Sunday, allowing all banned players to feature in domestic matches before their suspensions expire.

Sources told AFP that the ICC chief executives’ committee has already approved the new provision and has recommended the full board to do the same.

Although the revised code will apply to all banned players, it could specifically benefit the 22-year-old Aamer,

who was exiled from cricket after a spot-fixing scandal during Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

“The ICC Board will discuss the recommendations from the executive committee, including in respect of a revised anti-corruption code and a revised ICC anti-doping code,” said an ICC statement.

ICC chief executive David Richardson hinted last month that the revision to the code would feature at the November 9-10 meeting.

“There is a provision now in the revised code which will allow a player who has been banned internationally to play domestic cricket for a certain period from his ban coming to an end,” said former South Africa wicketkeeper Richardson. l

The leaden-footed Australians found themselves bamboozled by Pakistan’s wily spinners and their trans-Tasman rivals New Zealand can expect similar treatment from Misbah-ul-Haq and his men in a three-test series starting in Abu Dhabi on Sunday.

Left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar (14) and leggie Yasir Shah (12) shared 26 of the 40 Australian wickets between them to help Pakistan secure a comprehensive 2-0 win on the slow, turning wickets in the United Arab Emirates last week.

By retaining the same 16 who gave them their first test series victory over Australia in 20 years, Pakistan have suggested they would employ the same tried-and-tested formula against the Brendon McCullum-led Black Caps.

“No changes have been made to the

side that won the second test against Australia. This is to ensure there is consistency, which will bring more stability and strengthen team bonding and combination,” chief selector Moin Khan said.

The slow nature of tracks in the UAE negated much of the threat posed by Australian pacemen, including Ashes hero Mitchell Johnson, while run-machine Younus Khan and his nimble-footed batting colleagues milked the touring spinners dry.

Australia’s specialist slow bowler Nathan Lyon bled 422 runs for his three wickets in the series that saw Younus hit two centuries and a double ton while Misbah and top order batsman Azhar Ali hit hundreds in both innings of the Abu Dhabi test.

Misbah also equalled West Indies great Viv Richards’s fastest test century record by blasting his second hundred

in 56 balls in the Abu Dhabi contest.

New Zealand coach Mike Hesson knows what it would take to upstage a formidable Pakistan team eying a second successive whitewash to close their current 12-point gap on second-placed Australia in test rankings.

“I’d like to see us develop in two areas on this tour,” Hesson wrote on his blog on New Zealand Cricket website.

“The first is our ability to take wickets on un-responsive surfaces, and the second is that our batsmen all have a method to cope when the ball starts turning, to both defend and to score.”

Leggie Ish Sodhi and off-spinner Mark Craig will have to be at the best of their craft against a Pakistani batting order who play spin extremely well.

“Australia struggled to take wickets and it’s going to be hard. It’s important that we stick to our plan,” Craig, who has played only three tests, said. l

Fed Cup kicks off on December 19

BFF says pending Super Cup will not take place out the possibility of staging last seamittee at the BFF House yesterday. n Shishir Hoque The committee announced that the son’s Super Cup but admitted dejectThe much talked about money-spinning Super Cup of the previous season is unlikely to be held due to the national team and premier league clubs’ commitments. The upcoming football season of 2014-15, however, will kick off on December 19 this year through the Federation Cup. The Bangladesh Premier Football League 2014-15 will begin in the first week of February next year following the conclusion of the Bangabandhu Gold Cup football tournament. These decisions were taken at a meeting of the Bangladesh Football Federation’s (BFF) professional football league com-

season’s first professional tournament, the Federation Cup, will get underway on December 19, a day after the friendly match between Bangladesh and Japan. The season-opening tournament will feature 12 clubs - 11 from the top flight and one invitee.

The registration window of the foreign players for the forthcoming season has been increased to January 30, 2015.

The initial deadline was December 11 this year which is still effective for the local players.

Meanwhile, professional football league committee chairman Abdus Salam Murshedy did not directly rule

Indian Super League

edly that it would be almost impossible to hold the tournament this season due to the engagements of the both the national side and two premier league clubs – Sheikh Jamal DC and Abahani Limited – who will take part in the King’s Cup in Bhutan.

“I cannot say the Super Cup will not be held this season but it will not be possible to manage time for the tournament due to the transfer window, the friendly match against Japan and the Bangabandhu Gold Cup. Sheikh Jamal and Abahani will also leave soon for the King’s Cup,” said the BFF senior vice president yesterday. l

Pakistani captain Misbah-ul-Haq (L) and his New Zealand counterpart Brendon McCullum hold the Test series trophy in Abu Dhabi yesterday AFP

10:00PM

Tendulkar urges Indian players to follow his English example

English Premier League Swansea v Arsenal

n AFP, London

12:00AM

Sachin Tendulkar may have written off England’s chances of winning next year’s World Cup but that hasn’t stopped the India great urging his compatriots to broaden their horizons with a spell in English county cricket.

England have never won the World Cup in nearly 40 years of trying and, having lost five out of their last six oneday international series, few expect them to end that sequence in Australia and New Zealand next year.

Tendulkar, who retired from cricket last year having become the first man to score 100 international centuries

5:00PM Goa v Mumbai 7:30PM Kerala v Delhi

Spanish La Liga Valencia v Athletic Bilbao 2:00AM Real Sociedad v Atletico Madrid

Ten Action French Ligue 1 8:00PM Olympic Lyon v De Guingamp 10:00PM Saint-Etienne v Monaco 2:00AM PSG v Olympic Marseille

Petra Kvitova of Czech Republic reacts after defeating Andrea Petkovic of Germany during their Fed Cup final match in Prague yesterday. Kvitova won 6-2, 6-4 AFP

and been India’s leading run-scorer during their march to the 2011 World Cup title, was among the sceptics when it came to assessing England’s chances.

“I think Australia, South Africa, New Zealand are a dark horse, and India -these four should be my semi-finalists,” Tendulkar said at a press conference at London’s Lord’s Cricket Ground on Friday, where he was promoting his autobiography, ‘Playing It My Way’.

“I feel India can surprise a lot of people and I also believe the spinners will come into play.

“People talk about the pitches for fast bowlers but because of the size of the grounds, I think spinners could be

important.”

“I grew up watching cricket being played in England and the reason I wanted to start playing cricket was because of the 1983 World Cup (that India won in England),” Tendulkar said.

“My first Test 100 also took place in England at Old Trafford, which was a big moment for me.

“And in 1992, the first time I played for Yorkshire was a turning point in my career because it taught me about the conditions but it also taught me a lot as a person.

“I thoroughly enjoyed my time at Yorkshire -- they were all very supportive and welcoming and I can never forget that experience, the warmth I felt there.l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Lalon stanza lands BCL man in jail On Friday, villagers held a protest march and vandalised five local temples Islam Shaon with n Ashif Brahmanbaria Correspondent Five Hindu temples at Lalpur village in the Ahuganj upazila of Brahmanbaria were attacked on Friday at the incitement of a local Chhatra League leader.

Yusuf Murshed instigated villagers to make the attack after Debashish Das Sohel, a Hindu Chhatra League leader, posted a stanza from a Lalon song on his [Sohel’s] Facebook wall.

Sohel is the general secretary of the Lalpur Union unit of the Chhatra League.

His house was attacked on Wednesday, the day he had posted the verse.

A former Chhatra League leader of the union, seeking annonimity told the Dhaka Tribune last night Sohel copied a stanza of a Lalon song from the book “Lalon Beder Gopon Khobor” and posted it on his timeline on November 4.

“Only a handful of villagers have Facebook accounts. But Yusuf, who wants to hold Sohel’s post, printed Sohel’s Facebook status and distributed it to the village people, claiming that the lines had defamed Prophet Muhammad,” he said.

“Sensing that something unpleasant

was going to happen, Sohel deleted his post after a few hours and wrote some lines again offering an apology. But Yusuf’s incitement had already infuriated the villagers who attacked Sohel’s house on Wednesday afternoon. A case was lodged against him under the ICT act. The police arrested him and sent him to jail,” he added.

It was alleged that the Chhatra League committee was formed six years back and those who could not secure posts in the committee were envious of Sohel.

On Friday evening, a group of villagers held a protest march and vandalised five temples of the village.

“Yusuf’s incitement just went out of control as some people from nearby Birgaon village, the hometown of war criminal Ghulam Azam, joined in the march,” the former Chhatra League leader said.

District Police Super Md Muniruzzaman said the Loknath, Kali, Ramthakur, Doyamoy and Anukul Thakur temples were attacked. He, however, said no vandalism took place.

“The people just threw brick chips from outside, breaking some windows,” he said.

“After Sohel’s house was vandalised, additional police were deployed outside the house and an 18-member committee comprised of local influential figures from the Muslim and Hindu communities was formed to settle the issue. The attack on the temples was abrupt, and were made by teenagers and outsiders,” he added.

Muniruzzaman said some of the attackers had been identified while police had detained three Lalpur residents Md Babul Mia, 21, Md Rasel Mia, 20, and Md Jewel Mia, 18 - for the attack.

“We learned about the rivalry between Sohel and Yusuf. We are looking into this,” he said.

Sohel’s father Pramath Das alleged that UP Chairman Murshed Master also fuelled the incident. The chairman, however, denied.

Sohel’s counsel Advocate Nasir Mia said it was still not clear whether his client had posted the stanza or someone tagged him in that.

“It should not be counted as an offence under the ICT act as no Lalon song is banned in the country. Anyone can share it without making any

change. If the song was defamatory then the government would have banned it,” he explained.

“The case against Sohel is clearly a misuse of the ICT act,” he said.

Sohel is a follower of Sadhok (saint) Mohorshi Mommohon Dutt. He believes in monotheism.

“He is a modest and polite person. I do not believe he has defamed the Prophet,” said the owner of a footwear store in the village requesting anonymity.

Several traders of the village said Sohel was a victim of propaganda. They alleged that Mazharul Islam Shafi, a teacher at Flower Garden International School, Towfiq Ali and Ismail Hossain Hamidi, imam of a local mosque, were among those who led the attackers.

Officer-in-Charge of Ashuganj police station Md Abu Zafar said Sohel had defamed Prophet Muhammad and locals had marched in protest against the defamation.

“They also took part in vandalism,” he said.

Zafar also said the court would decide whether Lalon songs were defamatory or not. l

Nizami’s son, two lawyers meet him

IN SEARCH FOR SOLACE

n Tribune Report Death row convict and war criminal Motiur Rahman Nizami’s son Nazim Momen and his two lawyers Matiur Rahman Akand and Afaz Uddin met him at Kashimpur High Security Central Jail in Gazipur yesterday.

Superintendent of Jail Mizanur Rahman confirmed this to the Dhaka Tribune and said: “Upon their application, we arranged the meeting at the room of Deputy Jailer Shah Mohammad.”

They talked about filing an appeal with the Supreme Court against Nizami’s death penalty and received instructions from him about it, he said, declining to go into details about the talks.

The International Crimes Tribunal-1 on October 29 handed down death penalty to Nizami on four charges of war crimes including killings of intellectuals at the fag end of the 1971 Liberation War. He was also awarded life sentence in four other charges in the historic trial.

Nizami, though claimed to be an Islamic scholar, misinterpreted the Quran to encourage his followers to conduct a massive genocide, the court had said in its verdict. l

President Abdul Hamid in a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at the Great Hall of the People yesterday PID

President seeks greater market access to China n UNB, Beijing President Abdul Hamid yesterday sought further concession for the access of Bangladesh products to China and greater Chinese investment in Bangladesh, aiming to address the trade imbalance between the two countries.

The president said this in a bilateral meeting with his Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping held at the Great Hall of the People.

“We’re happy to see some of the remedial and preferential measures taken by the Chinese government to address the existing trade imbalance. We look forward to further concession for the access of Bangladesh products, including more jute and jute products to the Chinese market as discussed during our Prime Minister’s meeting with you (Xi Jinping) in June this year,” he said.

President’s Press Secretary Ehsanul Karim told UNB after the meeting.

During their 30-minute meeting, he said, both the presidents emphasised further strengthening the economic and other cooperation between the two countries for their mutual benefits.

Mentioning China a natural and tested friend of Bangladesh, Hamid said the excellent friendly and good neighbour-

ly relations between Bangladesh and China. “Our friendly relations, based on the principles of peaceful coexistence, mutual trust, respect for each other’s sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs, have steadily deepened and become multifaceted,” Hamid added.

Describing China as a leading country in the field of oceanography and construction and managing parts, the president said: “We look forward to enhance collaboration of China with Bangladesh in the sectors.”

Hamid said Bangladesh would also appreciate Chinese cooperation in the fields of training on UN peacekeeping and peace-building operation, enhancing defence production capability of Bangladesh Armed Forces, Chinese support in strengthening Bangladesh’s capacity to address the challenges related to climate change and disaster risk reduction.

He also invited his Chinese counterpart to visit Bangladesh anytime next year to celebrate the 40th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between Bangladesh and China.

The Chinese president said Bangladesh is a long-time friend of China and China is a reliable friend of Bangladesh based on trust and cooperation. l

BNP denied rally permission, calls demo across the country n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Thousands of Hindu devotees light up prodips (lamps) and offer special prayer in capital’s Shri Shri Lokanath Temple during the festival called “Rakher Upobash” yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

The BNP was denied permission to hold a rally in the capital and in protest the party has announced countrywide demonstration for today.

“Our leaders went to the DMP office on Friday night and waited for more than an hour for permission; but in vain. We sent two separate letters to the PWD [Public Works Department] and the DMP authorities on October 29 asking for permission,” said Mirza Fakrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of BNP. “We have been barred from holding a rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan.

We condemn it. In protesting this we will stage demonstrations in every ward of the capital and all the district headquarters across the country,” he

said at a press conference at the party’s Nayapaltan office yesterday.

The party spokesperson also said: “Such attitude of the administration proves that we do not have the permission to express our opinions. There is no scope for continuing democratic activities in the country.

“Police officials are talking like politicians. They are so powerful that they do not give permission to hold a rally.

Police have adopted a dual policy – they allow Awami League to hold rally and do not give permission to BNP to hold rally,” he said.

Referring to Human Rights Commission Chairman Mizanur Rahman’s statement that the chain of command of police had broken down, the BNP leader said: “This statement claifies where power belongs. The government

has been running the country banking on police and RAB. They have turned the country into a police state.”

Criticising journalists, he said: “Some newspapers always publish negative reports about our party. They intentionally overlook truth and portray our weak points.

Some newspapers today published reports saying we had cancelled the rally. But the truth is that the illegal government is not letting us hold our programmes.”

Earlier, the party chalked out a 10day programme schedule including a rally at the Suhrawardy Udyan on Saturday to mark November 7 National Revolution and Solidarity Day. BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia was expected to attend the rally as the chief guest. l

Study: Feelings of ghostly presence lie in the mind n BBC Feelings of a ghostly presence - the sense that someone is close-by when no-one is there - lie in the mind, a study has concluded.

Scientists say that they have identified the parts of the brain that are responsible for generating these spooky sensations.

They have also created an experiment that makes some people feel like there is a ghost nearby.

The research is published in the journal Current Biology.

There are many tales of the paranormal, but an often-reported phenome-

non is that of the invisible apparition.

Dr Giulio Rognini, from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL), says: “The sensation is very vivid. They feel somebody but they cannot see it. It is always a felt presence.”

He said it was common in those who experience extreme conditions, such as mountaineers and explorers, and people with some neurological conditions, among others.

“What is astonishing is that they frequently report that the movements they are doing or the posture they are assuming at that specific moment is replicated by the presence. So if the patient is sitting, they feel the presence is sitting. If

they are standing, the presence is standing, and so on,” he explained.

To investigate, the researchers scanned the brains of 12 people with neurological disorders, who had reported experi-

Researchers scanned the brains of 12 people with neurological disorders encing a ghostly presence.

They found that all of these patients had some kind of damage in the parts of the brain associated with self-awareness, movement and the body’s posi-

tion in space.

In further tests, the scientists turned to 48 healthy volunteers, who had not previously experienced the paranormal, and devised an experiment to alter the neural signals in these regions of the brain.

They blindfolded the participants, and asked them to manipulate a robot with their hands. As they did this, another robot traced these exact movements on the volunteers’ backs.

When the movements at the front and back of the volunteer’s body took place at exactly the same time, they reported nothing strange.

But when there was a delay between

the timing of the movements, one third of the participants reported feeling that there was a ghostly presence in the room, and some reported feeling up to four apparitions were there.

Two of the participants found the sensation so strange, they asked for the experiments to stop.

The researchers say that these strange interactions with the robot are temporarily changing brain function in the regions associated with self-awareness and perception of the body’s position.

The team believes when people sense a ghostly presence, the brain is getting confused: it’s miscalculating the body’s position and identifying it

as belonging to someone else.

Dr Rognini said: “Our brain possesses several representations of our body in space.

“Under normal conditions, it is able to assemble a unified self-perception of the self from these representations.

“But when the system malfunctions because of disease - or, in this case, a robot - this can sometimes create a second representation of one’s own body, which is no longer perceived as ‘me’ but as someone else, a ‘presence’.”

The researchers said that their findings could help to better understand neurological conditions such as schizophrenia. l

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B3 IMF, US encourage

ECB, Japan monetary stimulus

B4 China pledges policy support as risks to growth rise

SUNDAY, NOVEMBER 9, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

GP eyes Tk10,000cr revenue in 2014 n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Chief Executive Officer of Bangladesh’s largest mobile phone operator said the company’s annual revenue would exceed Tk10,000 crore landmark in 2014.

The earnings expectation rides on the last three quarters’ revenue figure of Grameenphone when it achieved over 6% growth compared to the same period last year.

In 2013, the operator secured Tk9,662 crore revenue and already reported Tk7,674 crore in last three quarters of the current year.

As Grameenphone boasts having an average quarterly revenue of more than Tk2,500 crore with over 6% growth rate, it expects the figure to cross the landmark at the end of the year.

Such expectation has been disclosed days after the country’s leading mobile phone operator announced bagging 5 crore customers.

If Grameenphone exceeds Tk10,000 crore, it will be the second listed firms in DSE after British American Tobacco Bangladesh Company Ltd (BATBC) to enjoy such a yearly revenue.

According to the Dhaka Stock Exchange, among the listed firms, only BATBC has so far generated a yearly revenue of the amount. In 2013 BATBC reported Tk10,968 crore revenue.

“Securing revenue of Tk10,000 crore, increasing internet penetration and offering more and more mobile financial services with different mobile applications are now in our pipeline,” said Vivek Sood, chief executive officer of Grameenphone.

He was talking to a few of journalists at the Grameenphone’s head office GP House Thursday.

Vivek Sood said the operator also targets to have 5 crore Internet users in next two years.

“Not many companies in the world, especially the so-called least developed countries, have such a large customers base, and that also brings an obligation to us to offer more and more better services.”

In mid-September, Grameenphone became Bangladesh’s first mobile operator to have 5 crore subscribers which holds a 42% market share of the country’s mobile users.

Vivek Sood Grameenphone started its journey in Bangladesh on March 26, 1997.

Vivek Sood said there are 60 lakh people using Facebook with Grameenphone’s network. He believes this social networking site can be the main factor of Internet penetrations in Bangladesh.

According to him, the customers now surf mainly Facebook, YouTube and two other messaging service Viber and Whatsapp and are using 65 terabytes

of data everyday using the Grameenphone’s network, which was only 14-15 terabytes in the middle of last year.

Presently, Grameenphone has more than 1.09 crore Internet users and 57 lakh of them have got 3G connected.

Sood said as per the Grameenphone’s own method, the subscribers who used at least 150 kilobytes of data in last three months were counted as Internet users.

“A lot of users have activated Internet service. But they are not using so much of data. We count the number of Internet users according to our own system in which the customers have to use a minimum level of data to get counted,” said Grameenphone boss.

The operator introduced 3G services in September last year and has brought all 64 districts under the fast mobile broadband coverage by March this year as the first mobile phone operator in the country. It was done under its “Internet for All” programme.

The market leader took special programmes to supply 3G-enabled mobile handsets, various mobile applications and contents to pursue the goal.

Vivek Sood clearly stated that price is a big challenge to see further growth in 3G customers in Bangladesh, and so the company aims to reduce the handset price to $40 by next year from $50 on an average now with the partnership of different device makers.

However, he said the Grameenphone would continue to satisfy its big 2G customers base with offers like low cost handsets at Tk1,400 etc.

Grameenphone CEO said the country has already started to feel hungry of 4G mobile broadband. “But BTRC should announce a road map and prepare an investment policy for new technologies like 4G and LTE.” “If the government allows us technological neutrality for 2G spectrum, we can offer 4G on 1800 band and offer the services faster,” Sood said.

On the issue of mobile number portability, he said they have no problem with it, but “most of the users in India, Pakistan and Bangladesh feel no loyalty to their numbers being used for long.

They can easily change numbers. So, it (number portability) may not be successful in these countries.” l

WIEF vows to promote Islamic finance to bridge economic gap n Tribune Business Desk The World Islamic Economic Forum (WIEF) has vowed to continue to promote the development of Islamic Finance to bridge economic gap through strengthening economic activities and growth.

It also agreed to promote and enhance the development of women and youth entrepreneurship. The decisions emerged from the 10th WIEF held recently in Dubai, BSS reported yesterday, quoting a press release of South East Asian Cooperation Foundation (SEACO).

The WIEF recommended establishment of the WIEF-IDB International Working Group on Waqf Development that acts as an information depository centre as well as a clearing house of information. In the WIEF, six heads of State and Governments and President of IDB took part. Besides, eight global Leaders, 12 Ministers, four central Bank Governors and 3215 participants from 104 countries attended the forum.

Bangladesh had one of the largest Delegations with over 80 members from SEACO Foundation, Islamic Banks Consultative Forum, BMCCI and the Private Sector. The Leaders provided useful and important guidance for the planning and conduct of the Forum’s activities in order to sustain its continued relevance and impact for the future.

Key messages of the forum included: Dubai’s aspiration and initiatives to become the global hub of Islamic economy and innovation and a gateway to Asia and Africa, importance of universal education & literacy to ensure inclusive economic growth, development of transport and infrastructure to unlock economic potentials, need to develop localized technologies in health, food and agriculture for poverty alleviation and importance of business partnerships in building genuine global human relationship. l

A group of economists share their views at a workshop on ‘Policy Making and Institutions in Bangladesh’ at Policy Research Institute in Dhaka yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Economists say political interference eroding credibility of public institutions n Tribune Report Political interference makes public institutions lose their credibility, economists have said.

They said political will and accountability are crucial to making public institutions functional.

The observations came yesterday at a workshop on Policy Making and Institutions in Bangladesh organised jointly

by Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI) and Bangladesh Economists Forum at PRI conference room in Dhaka.

The economists suggested that Statistical Department should be kept free from political interference as it is the key to attract overseas investment.

They also recommended that before making any policy, opinions of multi-sector stakeholders should be taken into consideration to make the policy effective.

PRI Vice-Chairman Sadiq Ahmed conducted the workshop while Deputy Chairman of the first Planning Commission of Bangladesh and Research Fellow Emeritus of International Food

Policy Research Professor Nurul Islam presented the keynote paper at the function.

Former Bangladesh Bank Governor Salehuddin Ahmed said political will is one of the main elements to make institutions functional. He said political interference is no good for public institutions and it makes them (public agencies) handicapped.

It results in negative impact on the economy in the long run. Statistical Department must be kept free from political interference for the betterment of the economy and the country as well, added Salehuddin.

“We need political feasibility that means political will, efficiency and policy continuity to make things best.”

Former caretaker government adviser Wahiduddin Mahmud said good policy might be ineffective if accountability is not ensured.

Pointing fingers of political interference to public institutions, he said if the Anti-Corruption Commission makes selective action, it will lose its credibility.

He termed the National Statistical Agency the main capital to attract foreign investments.

If statistics is not reliable and trusted, investment will be hampered, said Wahiduddin. Urging political leaders to come out of the conflict of party interest, he said development activities have now been confined to election-based areas to win votes, he said.

Former finance adviser Mirza Azizul Islam said time has come to discus the efficiency of political leadership.

“There should be balance between ambition and reality,” he said.

Knowledge-based independence and personal integrity are the two critical issues to turn institutions into successful domains.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman admitted that the central bank is working under political pressure.

“Despite political pressure, Bangladesh Bank is being able to scale down the capital exposure of banks,” he said.

He said the government interferences in performing statutory licencing and disciplining responsibilities of

Bangladesh Bank and other financial sector regulators have obstructed them in their jobs of fostering corporate governance excellence in banking and financial and capital market segments.

“Public institutions can be held accountable for performance lapses only when they are left with free hand. This is something still largely amiss for policy making public institutions in Bangladesh, needing to be addressed.”

All macro sectors and most of the micro sector issues are interrelated with host of others, thorough understanding of trends of these interrelationships is essential for meaningful and a useful policy making, the governor said.

He said good quality research based on reliable data clearly brings out interrelations, policy options in the areas needing intervention and potential gainers and losers from those interventions.

He said multi-level stakeholders’ consultations can often be useful as advocacy initiatives creating constituencies in support of intended policy reforms. l

Rupali Bank fined for irregularities n Jebun Nesa Alo

Bangladesh Bank has fined the state-run Rupali Bank for flouting rules in loan formalities.

The bank has been penalised Tk1 lakh for providing loans to two companies exceeding single borrower exposure limit and for not submitting statements related to large loan for these companies to the respective section of Bangladesh Bank.

According to a letter sent to Rupali Bank, the board of directors approved loans against Galco Steel and Virgo Pharmaceuticals in 939th and 941th board meeting, violating single borrower exposure limit set in MoU. As of June, a total of Tk114.98 crore loan facility was provided to Virgo Pharmaceuticals, violating the exposure limit, according to a report of central bank.

Moreover, Virgo Media Limited, an associate company of the client, holds a loan of Tk144.74 crore to the bank. As a result the total loan balance against the two companies stood at Tk259.72 crore which exceeded the exposure limit at wide scale.

The bank did not report to the central bank about the large loan of these two companies.

Galco Steel, a sister concern of S Alam group, was allowed to hold loan of Tk133 crore by the board of the bank, which was beyond 15% of the bank’s paid up capital.

The report also noted that Bangladesh Bank signed MoU for the year 2013-14 with Rupali Bank to improve its financial indicators and to ensure compliance of prudential guidelines by the bank’s management, but the bank was found repeating irregularities at the board meetings.

The central bank has called for explanation for violating rules on August 07.

The Rupali Bank explanation sent to the central bank on August 19 said at the time of approval, principal loan balance against Virgo Pharmaceuticals was within the single borrower exposure limit.

The allowed principal loan amount was Tk88.82 crore in the period between 20092012, but the total loan amount including interest stood at Tk114.98 crore as of June which was beyond the exposure limit.

The board of the bank renewed the loan

account and extended the repayment period further against the loan account without taking NOC from Bangladesh Bank inadvertently, though, the loan balance was beyond the exposure limit.

The bank in its explanation expressed sorrow for not reporting about the large chunk of loans to the central bank.

It also requested the governor through a letter to waive penalty.

Only Bangladesh Bank board has authority to consider the remission of punishment, according to the bank company act.

The central bank fined the Rupali bank as the explanation was not accepted, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank.

He said the bank, however, sought waiver, but the central bank did not accept it till now as the bank has tendency to violate the single borrower exposure limit repeatedly.

Though the violation of single borrower exposure limit is not a capital offence, the central bank strictly monitors it since the Hallmark loan scam, said Rupali Bank Managing Director Farid Uddin. l

HBFC to lend at 6% in rural areas n Asif Showkat Kallol

Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) is set to provide housing loans in the rural areas at an interest rate of only 6% as part of its expansion plan for house financing activities.

Banks and Financial Institutions Division has recently finalised the project titled “Financial and Technical Assistance for Rural Housing of Bangladesh” at a meeting held at the finance division with Banking Secretary M Aslam Alam in the chair.

Under this project, a total of 360 four-storied buildings will be constructed across the country and later on, those flats will be sold out to the BHBFC clients with only 6% interest.

According to banking division officials, though the private and stateowned banks along with NGOs are providing loans to the rural poor, the interest rate is too high for them to afford.

The private housing companies are not going to the rural areas with bigger projects as the market is not yet lucrative for them. But, the rural poor people will be able to make good use of their agriculture land, taking BHBFC rural housing loans, officials said.

“If we can get low-cost fund from the government, real estate developers will also definitely go to the rural areas for constructing of flats and houses,” REHAB President Alamgir Shamsul Alamin told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

As per the project proposal, the interest rate will be 6%, which will be repayable in 20 year and maximum amount of loan will be Tk10 lakh.

Monthly instalment will be only Tk717 against each lakh of the loan amount while duration of the project will be five year, starting from 2014-15 and would end in 2018-19 fiscal year.

Total amount of money involves in the rural housing project will be Tk384.31 crore.

Of the total, the government will provide over Tk324 crore from public exchequer while rest of the fund will be collected from the equity of the clients, said the proposal. The government will provide Tk10 crore during the first year while Tk75 crore will be disbursed in the next four years.

“We have already sent the Development Project Pro-forma to the Planning Commission for approval,” said the banking secretary, expecting the government would come up to finance the project from its exchequer.

During the fiscal year 2012-13, the BHBFC got only Tk40 crore as loan from the government. It could not mobilise any further government fund for its lending purposes. l

GP, Robi offer iPhone 6 and 6 plus for their clients

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Grameenphone and Robi, top two cellphone operators in the country, have offered iPhone 6 and iPhone 6 Plus from Apple for their customers only.

The customers of both the operators could pre-book the new generation smartphones respectively from November 14 and November 20, operator sources said.

The Apple branded phones have been launched in different countries in late October and are waiting to be unveiled in other parts of the world.

Neither Grameenphone nor Robi disclosed the prices of the two handsets, but said they will provide their customers with the handsets less than the market price. The price would be close to Tk80,000 and to Tk100,000 respectively with some data packages, said a source.

According to another source, nearly one thousand phone sets may be launched by these two operators.

According to Robi website, most important features of iPhone 6 contain operating system iOS 8, A8 Chip with M8 motion coprocessor, 3G enabled, 4.7-inch retina display, 8MP iSight camera with 1.5 micro pixels, touch ID fingerprint sensor, facetime HD camera with 1080p HD video recording etc.

Features of iPhone 6 Plus include iOS 8, A8 Chip with M8 motion coprocessor, 3G enabled, 5.5-inch retina display, 8MP iSight camera with 1.5 micro pixels, touch ID fingerprint sensor, facetime HD camera with 1080p HD video recording etc. l

B2

Stocks plunge in political setback last week n Tribune Report

proach.

Lanka Bangla Securities said the benchmark index, DSEX lost 148 points during the week as investors went selling frenzy amid week-long countrywide strike.

It said at the last trading session of the past week index got support near 5,000-level which indicated investors’ reluctance to sell stocks at this price level.

The main reason for this slide in price seemed to be the stale performance by most of the listed entities in July to September quarter, it said, adding that looking at the earnings figure one can infer that business environment in local market has not yet got its momentum.

However, newly listed companies dominated throughout the week registering hefty returns, according to Lanka Bangla.

Among the major sectors, cement lost 6% while engineering sector registered astounding 8% gain in the market cap.

All the major sectors yield negative returns in the past week. Telecommunication posted the highest loss of the week, going down by 6%, power 2.6% and pharmaceuticals 2.8%.

In the financial sectors – banks and non-banking financial institutions – both closed in red, losing more than 2% each.

Losers took a strong lead over the gainers as out of 313 issues traded, 218 declined, 75 advanced and 20 remained unchanged in the past week. l

Stocks fell sharply with volatility in the past week as new political development worried investors.

The benchmark index DSEX tumbled 148 points or nearly 3% to 5,025 after edging higher over the previous week.

The comprising blue chips DS30 index fell 82 points or 4% to 1,867.

The DSE Shariah Index closed at 1,180, shedding 40 points or 3%.

The Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, declined sharply over 258 points or 2.7% to close at 9,442.

The bourse shortened trading sessions to four instead of five on account of public holiday to mark the Holy Ashura. Of them, first three sessions saw steep decline while the last one managed to close slightly higher.

The past week’s total turnover, however, remained almost same.

The daily turnover for the past week averaged Tk694 crore, registering an increase of over 25% over the previous week.

Investors concentrated their position on engineering, power and pharmaceuticals – the sectors that accounted for 22%, 20% and 14.6% respectively of the week’s total value.

IDLC Investments said fear of political anarchy amid nation-wide strikes slashed market movements as well as investors’ confidence.

It said the investors streamlined their portfolio allocation very carefully and pursued ‘wait and see’ ap-

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSERS Company Fine Foods A Daffodil Computers -Z Al-Haj Textile -A Agni Systems -A Tung Hai Knitting -N Metro Spinning -A Samata LeatheR -Z BD Submarine Cable-A CVO PetroChem RL-A Desh Garments -B

Closing (% change) -27.15 -18.12 -17.04 -14.01 -13.94 -13.41 -13.25 -12.70 -11.66 -11.45

CSE LOSERS Company Fine Foods A Daffodil Computers -Z Agni Systems -A Tung Hai Knitting -N Metro Spinning -A BD Submarine Cable-A Zahintex Ind.-N FAR Chemical-N Standard Insurance-A ICB AMCL 1st NRB -A

Closing (% change) -28.10 -19.21 -13.92 -12.62 -12.20 -11.47 -10.26 -9.75 -9.33 -9.09

5025.10257

(-) 2.86%

1866.98398

(-) 4.23%

15500.5536

(-) 2.88%

12688.3876

(-) 3.32%

9442.8119

(-) 2.66%

Average (% change) -28.02 -20.55 -15.22 -14.28 -14.10 -12.10 -12.74 -10.49 -12.42 -11.50 Average (% change) -29.80 -22.98 -15.40 -13.66 -11.02 -9.79 -10.95 -10.74 -9.33 -9.09

ANALYST

Closing average 10.97 12.22 109.72 26.65 18.04 14.39 20.35 127.62 526.91 78.80

Closing average 10.79 12.20 26.64 18.01 14.62 128.86 17.49 36.23 27.20 22.00

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 1888.84 1097.15 228.75 6216.21 1030.91 5624.01 7.10 1344.37 4081.07 599.35 1609.73 164.95 406.61 683.37 310.57 163.78 471.24 902.93 343.49 599.74 0.62

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ Weekly high

11.00 12.20 107.60 26.40 17.90 14.20 20.30 125.80 522.10 78.10

Weekly closing

12.10 13.00 129.70 30.50 21.00 15.50 23.20 144.90 619.00 89.50

Weekly high

11.00 12.20 26.60 18.00 14.40 126.60 17.50 36.10 27.20 22.00

12.70 13.00 29.20 20.50 15.80 146.00 19.50 39.50 27.20 22.60

DSE key features November 02-06, 2014

DSE GAINERS

Turnover (Million Taka)

Anwar Galvanizing-B SummitAlliancePort.-A Quasem Drycells -A ICB Islamic Bank-Z Shurwid Ind. -N SAIF Powertec-N BD. Thai Alum -B Deshbandhu Polymer-A Northern Jute -Z Beach Hatchery -A

Company

27,774.80

Turnover (Volume)

622,213,151

Number of Contract

742,849

Traded Issues

313

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

80

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

227 6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,682.94

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.52

CSE key features November 02-06, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

2,365.23

Turnover (Volume)

56,890,597

Number of Contract

132,322

Traded Issues

250

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

60

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

185

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,578.40

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.25

Turnover in million

10.50 10.50 100.00 24.50 17.70 13.00 20.10 123.90 512.00 78.00

Weekly low 10.00 11.00 26.30 17.80 14.30 125.90 17.30 36.00 27.20 22.00

Latest EPS

7.766 9.414 32.879 124.587 50.291 30.083 0.531 162.079 212.933 9.197

Turnover in million

Closing (% change) 30.42 24.62 23.58 22.45 20.35 16.12 14.77 12.57 11.65 10.12

CSE GAINERS

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

Weekly low

Sunday, November 9, 2014

-0.48 1.16 1.68 1.01 1.19 0.84 0.05 0.96 5.24 1.05

Latest EPS

1.525 1.452 3.998 10.352 2.833 35.480 1.457 31.738 0.014 0.045

-0.48 1.16 1.01 1.19 0.84 0.96 1.04 1.48 3.07 4.57

Latest PE -ve 10.5 65.3 26.4 15.2 17.1 407.0 132.9 100.6 75.0

Latest PE -ve 10.5 26.4 15.1 17.4 134.2 16.8 24.5 8.9 4.8

Company SummitAlliancePort.-A Anwar Galvanizing-B Quasem Drycells -A Shurwid Ind. -N Sonargaon Tex -Z SAIF Powertec-N BD. Thai Alum -B Prime Islami Life -A Deshbandhu Polymer-A Orion Infusions -A

Closing (% change) 25.94 22.49 19.87 18.48 15.69 15.33 14.36 12.39 11.89 10.36

Average (% change) 26.16 24.03 21.14 23.94 19.47 12.68 9.20 9.13 11.54 7.04 Average (% change) 24.03 23.05 19.96 18.09 7.61 13.00 7.89 12.45 9.00 9.87

Closing average 35.64 73.14 57.60 6.16 53.68 92.67 43.55 20.32 181.25 26.61

Closing average 72.88 35.39 57.16 53.60 11.31 92.56 42.80 92.55 20.35 57.66

Weekly closing 37.30 73.40 58.70 6.00 55.00 95.80 44.30 20.60 181.10 27.20

Weekly closing 73.80 35.40 57.30 54.50 11.80 94.80 44.60 92.50 20.70 57.50

Weekly high 37.40 75.40 59.50 6.30 56.50 99.40 45.50 22.10 184.50 27.50

Weekly high 75.00 36.70 58.80 56.80 13.00 97.00 45.60 94.60 21.40 63.00

Weekly low 27.50 54.00 47.50 5.00 46.00 76.00 35.00 16.00 170.00 21.40

Weekly low 58.00 27.70 49.60 46.10 10.40 80.10 37.50 85.00 17.00 52.40

Turnover in million

Latest EPS

43.048 647.188 311.430 35.756 455.122 821.424 358.484 112.168 0.400 207.227

Turnover in million

0.50 0.88 2.24 -0.71 1.64 2.54 1.09 1.05 1.69 1.29

Latest EPS

56.876 1.208 10.098 53.102 1.016 93.279 19.918 0.410 10.699 10.271

0.88 0.50 2.24 1.64 -0.84 2.54 1.09 4.95 1.05 4.81

Latest PE 71.3 83.1 25.7 -ve 32.7 36.5 40.0 19.4 107.2 20.6

Latest PE 82.8 70.8 25.5 32.7 -ve 36.4 39.3 18.7 19.4 12.0

Weekly news from trade server AGM/Dividend ANWARGALV: 7.50% cash dividend to the general shareholders, AGM: 12.01.2015, Record Date: 13.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.50, NAV per share of Tk. 8.11.

DAFODILCOM: No dividend, 24.12.2014, Record Date: 20.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.73, NAV per share of Tk. 11.71.

SAMATALETH: No dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 23.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.05, NAV per share of Tk. 14.98.

AMCL(PRAN): 32% cash dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 13.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 6.93, NAV per share of Tk. 60.88.

METROSPIN: 5% stock dividend, AGM: 30.12.2014, Record Date: 17.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 0.84, NAV per share of Tk. 19.29.

PRIMETEX: 10% cash, AGM: 27.12.2014, Record Date: 13.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.17, NAV per share of Tk. 56.56.

AGNISYSL: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 23.12.2014, Record Date: 16.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.01, NAV per share of Tk. 15.87.

FINEFOODS: No dividend, Date, Time and Venue of AGM will be notified later. Record Date: 24.11.2014. EPS of Tk. -0.475, NAV per share of Tk. 9.94.

NTLTUBES: 20% cash and 10% stock dividend, AGM: 20.12.2014, Record date: 20.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 4.96, NAV per share of Tk. 315.87.

CVOPRL: The Company has informed that the Energy & Mineral Resources Division of the Ministry of Power, Energy & Mineral Resources of the Govt. of Bangladesh has allotted 15,000 MT Condensate per year in favour of CVO Petrochemical Refinery Ltd.

vide their letter dated 30th October 2014.

POWERGRID: 10% cash dividend, AGM: 17.01.2015, Record Date: 25.11.2014. EPS of Tk. (0.06), NAV per share of Tk. 63.61.

DULAMIACOT: No dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 27.11.2014. EPS of Tk. -4.15, NAV per share of Tk. -34.17.

Audited/unaudited Financial Reports: NCCBANK: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 557.97 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.69 as against Tk. 385.22 million and Tk. 0.48 (restated) respectively.

NBL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,327.43 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.85 as against Tk. -3,856.20 million and Tk. -2.47 respectively.

PREMIERBAN: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 137.83 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.24 as against Tk. (1,131.17) million and Tk. (2.01) (restated) respectively.

TRUSTBANK: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 937.28 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.20 on 30.09.2014 as against Tk. 418.19 million and Tk. 0.98 respectively.

PLFSL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 189.89 million with EPS of Tk. 0.73 as against Tk. 206.55 million and Tk. 0.80 respectively.

ILFSL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. (12.80) million with consolidated EPS of Tk. (0.07) as against Tk. (28.14) million and Tk. (0.16) respectively.

FIRSTSBANK: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 364.99 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.89 as against Tk. 426.08 million and Tk. 1.04 respectively.

BIFC: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 70.88 million with EPS of Tk. 1.06 as against Tk. 6.11 million

and Tk. 0.09 respectively.

PREMIERLEA: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 6.84 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.06 as against Tk. 2.75 million and Tk. 0.03 respectively.

MONNOSTAF: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 0.35 million with EPS of Tk. 0.88 as against Tk. 1.58 million and Tk. 3.94 respectively.

GOLDENSON: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 281.82 million with EPS of Tk. 1.85 as against Tk. 306.42 million and Tk. 2.01 respectively.

KAY&QUE: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. -5.22 million with EPS of Tk. -1.06 as against Tk. -3.31 million and Tk. -0.67 respectively.

BSRMSTEEL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 993.10 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 2.91 as against Tk. 1,120.95 million and Tk. 3.28 respectively.

Western Marine Shipyard Limited: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 151.65 million and basic EPS was Tk. 2.35 (1.38 restated) as against profit after tax of Tk. 126.01 million and basic EPS of Tk. 1.95. NAV per share would be Tk. 39.49 as on 31 March 2014.

AFCAGRO: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 109.34 million with EPS of Tk. 1.99 as against Tk. 57.59 million and Tk. 1.05 respectively.

KPCL: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 1,722.63 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 4.77 as against Tk. 1,519.59 million and Tk. 4.21 respectively.

GBBPOWER: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 92.68 million with EPS of Tk. 1.10 as against Tk. 85.69 million and Tk. 1.02 respectively.

RNSPIN: (Q3): NPAT= Tk. 406.32 million with EPS of Tk. 1.64 as against Tk. 1,112.76 million and Tk. 4.58 respectively.

The benchmark index, DSEX lost 148 points during the week as investors went selling frenzy amid week-long countrywide strike

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

% change 6.80 3.95 0.82 22.38 3.71 20.25 0.03 4.84 14.69 2.16 5.80 0.59 1.46 2.46 1.12 0.59 1.70 3.25 1.24 2.16 0.00

Million Taka 106.88 72.87 12.74 785.10 124.73 378.80 0.00 213.77 241.74 211.64 157.90 142.88 42.95 44.12 95.22 3.68 14.67 71.57 57.25 70.64 0.06

CSE

% change 3.75 2.56 0.45 27.55 4.38 13.30 0.00 7.50 8.48 7.43 5.54 5.01 1.51 1.55 3.34 0.13 0.52 2.51 2.01 2.48 0.00

Million Taka 1995.71 1170.02 241.49 7001.30 1155.64 6002.82 7.10 1558.15 4322.81 810.99 1767.63 307.83 449.56 727.49 405.79 167.46 485.91 974.51 400.74 670.38 0.67

Total

% change 6.52 3.82 0.79 22.86 3.77 19.60 0.02 5.09 14.12 2.65 5.77 1.01 1.47 2.38 1.33 0.55 1.59 3.18 1.31 2.19 0.00

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company WesternMarine -N Khulna Power-A Keya Cosmetics -A SAIF Powertec-N Grameenphone-A Square Pharma -A SummitAlliancePort.-A BD Building Systems -A Khulna Printing-N MJL BD Ltd.-A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company WesternMarine -N SAIF Powertec-N Khulna Printing-N Khulna Power-A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A SummitAlliancePort.-A Keya Cosmetics -A Shurwid Ind. -N S Purbanchol Power-N Summit Power -A

Volume shares 35,775,600 14,440,557 32,000,777 9,132,000 2,041,839 2,391,009 9,337,156 10,920,791 18,574,000 4,431,960

Volume shares 8,217,900 1,042,400 2,333,500 922,919 1,467,560 827,786 1,928,279 1,050,000 826,355 941,380

Value in million 2366.95 960.89 930.93 821.42 740.85 648.59 647.19 624.82 592.90 591.70

Value in million 531.29 93.28 74.58 61.17 57.18 56.88 55.70 53.10 49.88 41.45

% of total turnover 8.52 3.46 3.35 2.96 2.67 2.34 2.33 2.25 2.13 2.13

% of total turnover 22.40 3.93 3.14 2.58 2.41 2.40 2.35 2.24 2.10 1.75

Weekly closing 82.10 65.50 28.80 95.80 353.30 265.30 73.40 56.30 33.40 129.50

Weekly closing 81.80 94.80 33.50 65.40 38.50 73.80 28.90 54.50 59.10 43.00

Price change 0.00 0.77 7.46 16.12 -5.66 -4.81 24.62 3.30 4.05 -8.80

Weekly opening 0.00 65.00 26.80 82.50 374.50 278.70 58.90 54.50 32.10 142.00

Weekly high 83.90 70.70 32.00 99.40 379.40 285.00 75.40 60.00 33.90 145.70

Weekly low 50.00 58.00 24.20 76.00 350.00 245.80 54.00 49.00 29.40 118.00

Weekly average 77.58 65.83 29.14 92.67 358.66 266.78 73.14 57.29 32.63 131.92

Price change 0.00 15.33 4.36 0.46 -7.00 25.94 8.24 18.48 -1.50 -0.46

Weekly opening 0.00 82.20 32.10 65.10 41.40 58.60 26.70 46.00 60.00 43.20

Weekly high 83.80 97.00 33.80 70.50 42.00 75.00 31.00 56.80 63.00 48.40

Weekly low 55.50 80.10 29.10 62.90 37.70 58.00 25.90 46.10 58.00 41.00

Weekly average 77.66 92.56 32.74 65.86 38.72 72.88 29.06 53.60 59.28 43.25

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Sunday, November 9, 2014

IMF, US encourage ECB, Japan monetary stimulus n Reuters, Paris The International Monetary Fund and the United States encouraged the European Central Bank and the Bank of Japan toward greater monetary stimulus on Friday and urged governments around the world to do their share to cultivate growth in their countries.

Calling the world economy “fragile, brittle and fragmented”, IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde told a conference of central bankers in Paris it was “perfectly legitimate and appropriate” for the ECB and the BoJ to take unconventional steps to combat low inflation and economic stagnation.

US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen said central banks “need to be prepared to employ all available tools, including unconventional policies, to support economic growth and reach their inflation targets,” especially where governments have withdrawn fiscal stimulus.

The comments came a day after the European Central Bank ordered its staff to start preparing for bolder measures if needed to fight slowing inflation, on top of a range of rate cuts, asset purchases and lending operations already agreed.

However, Indian central bank governor Raghuram Rajan said whether “more stimulus is the answer” was a good question. More economic reforms were equally important, he said.

Lagarde said governments with healthy budget positions should do more to support growth, describing as insufficient a German announcement of an extra 10 billion euros in spending on public infrastructure over the next three years.

“In this part of the world, we have to repeat over and over that monetary policy cannot be the only game in town, and that there has to be a combination of sound fiscal policies, use of fiscal space for those countries that have fiscal space in order to support growth and rejuvenate that growth,”

Fall in oil prices costs Iraq 27% of expected revenues n AFP The sharp decline in global oil prices has “greatly affected” Iraq, costing the country 27 percent of its projected revenues for the year, the oil ministry said yesterday.

“The Iraqi economy and the federal budget were greatly affected by the projected decline in revenues, and more than 27% of its projected revenues for this year were lost,” the ministry said.

Oil prices have declined sharply since June, hitting the state coffers of energy-dependent countries.

Iraq is heavily reliant on oil exports, and the government is seeking to dramatically ramp up sales to fund the reconstruction of its battered infrastructure.

Though the ministry referred to the Iraqi budget, one was never approved by parliament for 2014 amid a row between Baghdad and the country’s autonomous Kurdish region over natural resources and funds. Baghdad considers the three-province northern region’s independent export of crude to be illegal, while Kurdistan says the federal government has failed to distribute required funding to the region. l

on paper, I would just caution from a market perspective not to underestimate ... the speed and size of currency moves,” he said.

No alarm over euro

US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen (right) and IMF President Christine Lagarde she said.

“Clearly, the announcement that was made yesterday was in the very small ballpark of what will be needed in order to do that.”

ECB Governing Council member Christian Noyer said central banks, including his own, should be prepared to buy public debt if needed to avert deflation or a run on sovereign bonds.

“Such an action may be vindicated if there are risks to macroeconomic or financial stability or even if self-fulfilling runs on public debt may be a threat to market access, or lastly to avoid the

deflationary consequences of a public debt event,” Noyer told the conference.

Bumpy transition

Other speakers warned that the impact of the world’s major central banks taking divergent policy directions after a long phase of easy money could cause turmoil among currencies and increase volatility across the financial markets.

Bank of England Governor Mark Carney spoke of a probable “bumpy transition” between a period when markets have been awash with cheap central bank liquidity and a return to

REUTERS

more normal monetary conditions.

“We’re in this - with some exceptions - low-volatility, compressedspread environment, particularly around liquidity premia. That’s going to change as things normalize,” said Carney, who also chairs the global Financial Stability Board.

“But that reality, or that likelihood, shouldn’t, in my view, impact the timing of the start of normalization.”

The US Federal Reserve Bank ended a multi-year bond-buying program last week, although its policymakers differ about the timing and pace of future

interest rate rises. New York Fed chief William Dudley told the conference the Fed was likely to raise US interest rates “sometime next year” and investors seemed to be getting the message of patience in this policy-tightening cycle.

Mohamed El-Erian, an economic adviser to German insurer Allianz and former co-chief of bond giant Pimco, said central bankers should not underestimate the risk of currency market swings as their monetary policies take divergent paths.

“As much as these currency moves may contribute to global rebalancing

The euro fell to its lowest level since 2012 on Thursday, below $1.24, after ECB President Mario Draghi announced the unanimous determination of the bank’s policy-setting council to take further unconventional measures if necessary to combat a slowdown in inflation.

The ECB has begun a new wave of unlimited four-year cheap loans to banks in an effort to revive lending to businesses. It has now added purchases of covered bonds and is set to buy the bundled loans known as assetbacked securities.

Draghi effectively committed the bank to boost its balance sheet by about 1tn euros ($1.24tn), toward the levels it had at the peak of the euro zone crisis in 2012, through those measures, and through others if they fell short.

But while the euro has dropped some 11% of its value against the dollar this year, it has not provoked undue alarm from Europe’s trading partners so far.

Central bankers said the issue arose on the sidelines of the annual IMF meetings in Washington last month, but other major economies understood that a weaker euro was preferable to seeing deflation in the euro area.

BOJ Governor Haruhiko Kuroda, chairing one of the sessions, hinted that the Japanese government should move faster to open up the economy to more competition to boost growth. His comments come after the Bank of Japan decided to expand its monetary stimulus policy to try to lift an economy still struggling to emerge from a decade of deflation and economic stagnation.

Lagarde said the Tokyo government should move ahead with its commitments to raise consumption tax and make more space for women in the Japanese economy. l

Most Wall Street firms still see Fed Draghi repeats ECB balance sheet to move rate hike by June 2015 n Reuters, New York Wall Street’s biggest banks remain convinced the Federal Reserve will raise interest rates by June 2015, a Reuters poll found, and economists also said the market was underestimating how aggressively the U.S. central bank will tighten policy.

Fourteen of 19 primary dealers, or the banks that deal directly with the Fed, said they expect the first rate hike

by June 2015, with borrowing costs rising to 1% at the end of that year.

The survey results show that Wall Street’s top economists were unmoved by a volatile sell-off last month and an October Fed statement that was viewed as hawkish.

In a survey taken in early October, 15 of 19 primary dealers also said the Fed would raise interest rates in June. Even in a separate survey done after stocks tumbled in a volatile week of trading last month, 24 of 47 economists still predicted a June rate hike.

The latest view, that the Fed would raise rates in seven months, comes after a strong October jobs report on Fri-

NCC Bank Foundation has recently donated Tk1.2 crore to Ahsania Mission Cancer & General Hospital for furnishing its 12 consultation rooms, as part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility. The bank’s chairperson, M Nurun Newaz Salim handed over a cheque worth Tk50 lakh as the 1st phase of payment to the resident of Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Kazi Rafiqul Alam

Executive committee of Modhumoti Bank Limited has recently held its 19th meeting. The committee’s chairperson, Barrister Sheikh Fazle Noor Taposh has presided over the meeting

day. The U.S. economy added 214,000 jobs in October, the Labor Department said, and the unemployment rate fell to a six-year low at 5.8 percent even as more people entered the labor force, a sign of a strengthening and resilient economy.

Eleven of 14 economists at these dealers also said the Fed will increase rates more aggressively than traders in the bond markets were pricing in U.S. short-term interest rates futures Friday. Fed funds futures contracts on Friday suggested traders were pricing in a 34% probability of a rate hike for June 2015 and a 63% probability in September 2015.

All but three of the 22 primary dealers participated in the latest survey.

The market selloff last month pushed some measures of US inflation lower, prompting investors to push back expectations of the first Fed rate increase to late in 2015 and even into 2016.

But markets quickly recovered and, last week, the central bank issued a confident-sounding policy statement following its October meeting

that expressed confidence in the U.S. economic recovery even as concerns mount over weak global growth. It also said underutilization of labor market resources was “gradually diminishing.”

“The further drop in the unemployment rate does put a bit of pressure on (the Fed),” said UBS Securities economist Samuel Coffin. “It’s pretty clear their change in tone on the labor market is coming a bit true - there is less slack.”

The median forecast of 18 dealers for the federal funds rate at the end of next year was 1%, compared with the median forecast of Fed policymakers of 1.38%, according to projections from the central bank’s October meeting.

The median forecast of 14 dealers for the federal funds rate at the end of 2016 was 2.5%, compared with policymakers’ median forecast of 2.88%.

By the end of 2017, 10 primary dealers projected a median federal funds rate of 3.5%, while policymakers’ median forecast was 3.75%.

Since December 2008, the Fed has targeted a range of zero to 0.25% for its key funds rate. l

toward 2012 level n Reuters, Frankfurt The European Central Bank aims to increase the size of its balance sheet toward the levels of 2012, ECB President Mario Draghi said on Thursday, repeating language that has annoyed some policymakers at the bank by essentially setting a target for the expansion.

Reuters reported earlier this week that some national central bankers were angered that Draghi effectively set a target for increasing the ECB’s balance sheet immediately after the policymaking Governing Council explicitly agreed not to make any figure public.

Draghi said during a question-andanswer session on Sept. 4 that the ECB aimed to expand its balance sheet “towards the dimensions it used to have at the beginning of 2012” at the peak of the euro zone crisis.

That implies a balance sheet level of up to a trillion euros higher than today’s levels.

On Thursday, Draghi told his monthly news conference: “(Previously announced loans and) asset purchases will have a sizeable impact on our balance sheet, which is expected to move towards the dimensions it had at the beginning of 2012.” l

Oil prices down in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore Oil prices fell in Asia Friday after the OPEC oil cartel slashed its longer-term global demand outlook, while a stronger dollar also weighed, analysts said.

The benchmark US futures contract, West Texas Intermediate for December delivery, dropped 36 cents to $77.55 while Brent crude for December eased 52 cents to $82.34 in afternoon trade.

The Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries estimated in its annual world outlook Thursday that demand for its crude will fall from just above 30 million barrels per day in 2013 to 28.2 million in 2017, before starting to rise again.

The 12-nation group said the United States and Canada are the primary drivers of non-OPEC output growth, in part due to shale-oil production.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said “US and global crude prices resumed its decline” after the release of

the report, adding to heavy losses earlier this week owing to price cuts by Saudi Arabia. Prices were also under pressure from the stronger US dollar.

The US dollar bought 115.31 yen in late-morning Asian trade, from 115.16 yen in New York Thursday afternoon.

The greenback has surged against the yen since last Friday, when the Bank of Japan ramped up its stimulus programme.

A stronger greenback makes dollar-priced commodities like oil more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, which in turn tends to hit demand and prices.

Investors are also keeping an eye on the release of October non-farm payrolls data Friday that is expected to paint an optimistic picture of the US economy.

Initial jobless claims fell 10,000 to to 278,000 in the week ending November 1, the lowest level in 14 years, the US Labor Department said Thursday. l

ACME Laboratories Ltd held recently held its 38th annual general meeting at its corporate office in Mirpur Road in Dhaka. The meeting was presided by the company’s chairperson, Afzalur Rahman Sinha

Union Bank Ltd has recently opened its Uttara branch in the purpose of providing shariah based modern banking services. The bank’s managing director, Abdul Hamid Miah inaugurated the branch

Super Star has recently introduced a new series of the latest lighting technology: AC LED for Bangladesh market at an auspicious launching programme. The company’s managing director and CEO Mohammed Ibrahim was present on the occasion

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

China pledges policy support as risks to growth rise n Reuters, Beijing China’s central bank pledged recently to maintain modest policy support to help the world’s second-largest economy weather increasing headwinds in the near term but stressed that it will not flood markets with cash.

Yet at the same time, the central bank also said publicly for the first time that it had pumped 769.5bn yuan ($125.91bn) worth of three-month loans into banks via a “medium-term lending facility” (MLF) to keep interest rates low.

The disbursement of loans was slightly more than the 700bn yuan expected by many in the market and underscored the risks faced by China’s economy, where third-quarter growth fell to a low not seen since the 2008/09 global financial crisis.

“During the process of economic adjustment, China will see rising downward pressure in its economy and increasing chances of exposure to potential risks in a certain period of time,” the People’s Bank of China said.

It promised to stick to its “prudent” stance, fine-tune policy in a timely manner to support the economy, and maintain appropriate liquidity conditions to keep reasonable growth in credit and social financing.

Indeed, to protect a wobbly economy from any painful rises in borrowing cost, the central bank said the 769.5bn yuan worth of loans that were extended to banks in September and October were issued at an interest rate of 3.5%.

That is higher than the 2.6% that banks pay to savers for three-month deposits, but well below the 5.6% that banks charge for loans that mature in six months or less.

“The funds provide liquidity and at the same time, they guide commercial banks in lowering interest rates and the cost of financing, thereby supporting the real economy,” the central bank said.

Recipients of the loans included big state banks, city banks and rural commercial banks, it said.

Alluding to an outflow of capital

A Chinese national flag flutters in front of the headquarters of the People's Bank of China from China, the central bank said the growth in China’s base money had moderated as the supply of dollars slowed. As such, it said the MLF had plugged a gap in liquidity.

New policy tool

This is the first time that the central bank has talked about the MLF, despite rumours in the market last month that it had been used as a policy tool.

To keep liquidity conditions stable, the central bank created the “standard lending facility” - or SLF - last year that involves extending to banks loans that mature in between one to three months.

Sources had said in September and October that the central bank had lent a total of 700 billion yuan worth of three-month loans to banks in the two months, ostensibly under the SLF, to keep the credit supply ample.

However, the central bank said explicitly on Thursday that it had used the MLF, not the SLF, in the past two months. It did not explain the difference between the two, though Chinese media said last month that unlike the SLF, the MLF allows loans to be rolled over under a new interest rate when the three months are up.

China’s reform-minded leaders have refrained from acting forcefully, such as by cutting interest rates to bolster a softening economy, opting instead for measures targeting support for specific sectors. Some analysts fear that may not be enough to prevent a sharper slowdown, after third-quarter data showed annual growth at 7.3% - the weakest since the height of the global financial crisis.

“Monetary policy not only aims to promote steady growth of economic operations, but also needs to avoid ex-

REUTERS

cessive flooding of the financial markets (with funds) that would worsen structural distortions, and push up inflation and debt levels,” the bank said.

It also vowed the keep the yuan, which has fallen 1% this year, “basically stable”.

Recent purchasing managers’ surveys on factory and services sectors showed the economy lost further momentum heading into the fourth quarter as export growth and the property market cooled, putting the government’s official target of around 7.5% growth for the year at even greater risk.

Most analysts believe authorities will announce further modest support measures in coming months, but they are divided over whether policymakers will take more forceful action, like cutting interest rates, unless risks of a sharper slowdown increase. l

Fed’s Yellen says weak fiscal support has slowed global recovery n Reuters

Ashleigh Bloom has a digital painting done of herself by Ryan Rhoads of DCL, Digital Caricatures Live, during the TigerDirect Tech Bash at the Miami Marlins Park on November 7, 2014 in Miami, Florida. The event gave people the chance to have a hands on experience with some of the latest technology in portable computing devices, gaming rigs, consumer electronics, home theater, networking and other products AFP

More pain ahead for Indian banks as bad loans pile up n Reuters, Mumbai India’s state-owned banks warned growth in bad loans may continue into next year as they posted a rise in troubled loans for the September quarter with a weakening economy causing debt-laden sectors such as infrastructure to default on payments.

The bleak assessment means these and other banks, including private sector banks, may have to make higher provisions in their books against the souring loans which could eat into their profits at a faster pace.

It also means lenders will need more capital to act as a buffer against the losses from the bad loans. The lenders are already estimated by analysts to need as much as $110bn in new capital through March 2019 to comply with new global regulations.

Bank of Baroda and Bank of India, two of India’s biggest state-controlled lenders, were among those that announced this week higher bad loans for

the quarter ended Sept. 30 and forecast further deterioration in asset quality in the current fiscal year to March 2015.

State Bank of India, India’s top lender, will report next week.

India’s banking sector is sitting on roughly 6tn rupees’ worth of stressed loans - or nearly 10% of the total advances - according to estimates from credit rating agency Fitch’s local unit.

About 45% of the loans have already gone sour, while the remainder is in the “restructured” category - troubled, but for now requiring banks to set aside only minimal reserves.

But from April, new rules will abolish the “restructured” category and prompt banks to either chase customers for payment or set aside billions more in reserves.

As India’s economic growth slipped below 5% in the past two fiscal years the weakest spell since the 1980s - banks’ bad loans jumped to more than 4% of their total assets this year from 2.4% in 2011. Credit growth, meantime, has fall-

en to its lowest in more than a decade.

“The stress in the sector may continue for at least one or two quarters (more),” said P Srinivas, an executive director at No 2 lender Bank of Baroda, which saw a fall in profit and higher bad loans. He expected additions to bad loans to be at current levels.

The pace of economic growth is widely expected to quicken this fiscal year and next as a new government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi speeds up clearance for big projects and implements reforms to attract investments.

That recovery, banks hope, will begin to feed through to corporate balance sheets. But results on Friday showed there will be pain to be endured until that comes through.

Of the 34 lenders that have reported their earnings for the fiscal second quarter to end-September, 25 reported a rise in bad loans as measured by gross non-performing loans as a percentage of total, according to data compiled by Thomson Reuters. l

US Federal Reserve Chair Janet Yellen on Friday called on politicians across the globe to get their fiscal houses in order during good times to prop up economies during times of turmoil.

In remarks to a symposium in Paris, Yellen blamed part of the slow global economic recovery on weak government support.

She took aim at both US political gridlock after the 2007-2009 financial crisis and the austere policies across Europe as the region struggles with persistently low inflation.

The crisis led major central banks to deploy unconventional tools to spur recovery. For its part, the Fed cut interest rates to zero and more than quadrupled its balance sheet to $4.4 trillion through three rounds of bond buying, eliciting howls of protest from some politicians who feared the monetary largesse would spark an unwanted inflation. It announced an end to its latest asset purchase program just last week.

While the unconventional tools helped support domestic recovery and global economic growth, more action from fiscal authorities would have strengthened the recovery, Yellen said.

“In the United States, fiscal policy has been much less supportive relative to previous recoveries,” she said during a panel discussion at the Bank of France.

Yellen cited data that compared the large increase in US government payrolls after the 2001 recession to the decline of 650,000 government jobs after 2008.

AS central banks seek to promote healthy economies, she said a sharpened focus on financial stability would play a key role.

Yellen did not comment on US monetary policy, specifically, but said central banks globally would need to normalize policy as economic activity and inflation return to normal.

The timing and speed of policy normalization will vary across countries, Yellen added, and could lead to financial volatility. l

Sunday, November 9, 2014

Annual China trade growth slows in October in further sign of fragility n Reuters, Beijing Annual growth in China’s exports and imports slowed in October, data showed on Saturday, reinforcing signs of fragility in the world’s secondlargest economy that could prompt policymakers to roll out more stimulus measures.

Exports have been the lone bright spot in the last few months, perhaps helping to offset soft domestic demand, but there are doubts about the accuracy of the official numbers amid signs of a resurgence of speculative currency flows through inflated trade receipts.

Exports rose 11.6% in October from a year earlier, slowing from a 15.3% jump in September, the General Administration of Customs said. The figure was slightly above market expectations in a Reuters poll of a 10.6% rise.

A decline in China’s leading index on exports in October pointed to weaker export growth in the next two to three months, the administration said.

“The economy still faces relatively big downward pressure as exports face uncertainties while weak imports indicate sluggish domestic demand,” said Nie Wen, an economist at Hwabao Trust in Shanghai.

“The central bank may continue to ease policy in a targeted way.”

Imports rose an annual 4.6% in October, pulling back from a 7% rise in September, and were weaker than expected. That left the country with a trade surplus of $45.4 billion for the month, which was near record highs.

Annual growth slowed to 7.3% in the third quarter - the weakest since the height of the global financial crisis - as a cooling property sector weighs on domestic demand.

Recent purchasing managers’ surveys on factory and services showed the economy lost further momentum heading into the fourth quarter as the property market weighed and export demand softened, putting Beijing’s official growth target for the year at even greater risk.

Suspicious trade deals

September’s surprisingly strong export growth led some analysts to question the accuracy of the official data amid signs of hot money inflows as firms tried to evade capital controls by overinvoicing precious metal sales.

The latest trade data indicated a cooldown in such speculative activity amid fears of an official crackdown.

“It’s impossible to control hot money flows. Hot money may distort trade data but it won’t affect the trend,” said Li Huiyong, an economist at Shenyin & Wanguo Securities in Shanghai.

Customs data showed China’s exports of precious metals and jewellery rose 187% in October from a year earlier. The pace eased from a 678% jump

in September.

China’s exports to Hong Kong, where over-invoicing is typically most pronounced, rose 24% in October from a year earlier, slowing from September’s 34% increase.

Exports to the United States, China’s top export destination, rose 10.9 percent in October from a year earlier, largely matching September’s rise, while exports to the European Union, the second-biggest market, grew 4.1%, slowing sharply from a 14.9% jump in September.

On track to miss trade target

China’s external trade environment may slightly improve in 2015 but still faced uncertainties, the Ministry of Commerce said in a report published on Saturday.

“It’s difficult for external demand to show a significant rebound,” the ministry said.

China’s combined exports and imports rose 3.8% in the first ten months from a year earlier, the administration said. That suggests China will miss its trade growth target for a third consecutive year.

The government missed its targets of 8% in 2013 and 10% in 2012 and aims for 7.5% growth this year.

A deluge of China data over the coming week, including factory output and investment, is likely to show a persistent cooling in the economy, reinforcing views that authorities may need to do more to fight slackening growth.

China’s reform-minded leaders have refrained from acting forcefully, such as by cutting interest rates. That has caused concerns among some analysts that the modest policy measures may not be enough to prevent a sharper slowdown.

A Reuters poll published last month forecast the economy could grow an annual 7.3% in the fourth quarter, leaving the full-year pace at 7.4% - the weakest in 24 years.

China’s cabinet unveiled detailed measures on Thursday to support imports of high-tech equipment, resource products and consumer goods, in its latest efforts to support the economy and rebalance trade.

That followed recent government steps to offer cheaper loans, tax breaks and currency hedging tools to exporters.

The government has unveiled a burst of “targeted” policy stimulus since April, including cutting reserve requirements for some banks, hastening construction of railways and public housing and allowing local governments to loosen property curbs.

China’s central bank pledged on Thursday to maintain modest policy support to help the economy weather increasing headwinds in the near term but stressed that it would not flood markets with cash. l

A view shows people visiting different booths at the Guandong Import and Export Fair in Guangzhou, Guangdong province REUTERS

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