13 nov, 2014 copy

Kartik 29, 1421 Muharram 19, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 219

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages plus 16-page T-Mag tabloid | Price: Tk12

TMAG

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

14 | SPORT

REALITY IN CELLULOID

THE FIGHT FOR FREEDOM FROM EXTREME POVERTY

WHO OWNS DHAKA UNIVERSITY?

RONALDO: MESSI NICKNAME CLAIMS ‘FALSE’

Owners create artificial transport crisis

HT Imam: Pass BCS written Bus drivers say crisis will weaken drive against unfit vehicles; BRTA says strategy won’t work test, I will see the rest n Abu Hayat Mahmud

Public transport owners have created an artificial crisis by limiting the number of vehicles on roads as well as trips with the aim of compelling the BRTA (Bangladesh Road Transport Authority) to make the ongoing drive against unfit vehicles lax, alleged some drivers.

The drivers, who were sitting in a tea stall at Gabtoli bus terminal yesterday, told the Dhaka Tribune they would not return to work until the BRTA drive stopped.

They also challenged that the BRTA would take no action against transport owners as most of them belong to the ruling party leaders.

Ashraful, driver of a bus company offering services from Azimpur to Gazipur, said the bus owners not allowing their vehicles on roads now would change decision once the ongoing drive stopped.

Khandaker Enayet Ullah, president of Bangladesh Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity and secretary general of Dhaka Sarak Paribahan Malik Samity, denied the allegation, saying there was no reason to support drives against unfit vehicles.

Enayet is the owner of Ena Paribahan, a city bus service running between Mirpur and Motijheel. A few unfit buses of his company were also seen on the roads yesterday.

Interference from interest groups,  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

n DU Correspondent

With the drive against unfit vehicles under way for the past few days, the number of public transports have fallen drastically in the capital. As a result, Dhaka residents are being forced to choose risky alternatives. A man, pictured wearing a striped shirt, was sitting on the back of a pickup van near Karwan Bazar yesterday and when suddenly the tailgate of the vehicle popped open the man falls with his face down on the road. Luckily, he avoided any serious injury as there was no other vehicle behind the van MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Khaleda asks party men to resist oppression with swords and shields

Verdict in Khokon’s war crimes case today n Ahmed Zayeef A war crimes tribunal has fixed today for delivering the verdict in the war crimes case against fugitive BNP leader MA Zahid Hossain Khokon Alias Khokon Razakar for the alleged crimes he has committed against humanity in 1971.

The first International Crimes Tribunal (ICT), led by Justice M Enayetur Rahim, fixed the date yesterday.

According to the prosecution, Khokon led the razakar bahini, an auxiliary force of the Pakistan army, in the Faridpur district in 1971.

The 70-year-old faces 11 charges, including genocide, torture, abduction, rape and confinement. He was also involved in forced conversion of Hindus, torching houses and temples and deporting seven people.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Al-Masum Molla and n Mohammad Tafsilul Aziz from Kishoreganj

Imrul Kayes

BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday asked leaders and activists of her party to face the government’s repressive acts with swords and shields if needed.

“Kishorganj is the home of the brave hero Isa Khan. You surely have not forgotten Isa Khan’s sword. So, if the government intensifies its repression, you

Tamim Iqbal

Tamim, Imrul stamp their authority n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong Centuries from openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes propelled Bangladesh to a commanding position by the close of the opening day’s play of the third and final Test against Zimbabwe in Chittagong.

The hosts piled up 303 runs for the loss of two wickets in their first innings at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday with in-form batsmen Mominul Haque unbeaten on 46 and Mahmudullah undefeated on five.

That the home side are heading towards a big first innings total is down to the opening pair of Tamim and Imrul,

not only Bangladesh’s most successful opening pair but the most prosperous Tigers duo in Test match cricket. The left-handers shared 224 runs for the opening wicket and created numerous records, maintaining the trend of the ongoing three-match Test series that has already given birth to countless feats.

It will not take a rocket scientist to assert that the day totally belonged to Tamim and Imrul. Tamim struck 109 from 171 balls with the help of 14 boundaries and a six while Imrul hit 130 from 257 deliveries featuring a dozen fours and two sixes.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

INSIDE

B1 | Business

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed criticised US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena for saying Bangladesh pays zero tariff for RMG export to the US market.

3 | News

Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad yesterday said BNP founder Ziaur Rahman was a freedom fighter but he destroyed the spirit of the Liberation War. He said the BNP founder’s wife Khaleda Zia had handed the national flag over to anti-liberation forces.

HT Imam, political adviser to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, yesterday told Awami League-backed student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists to simply pass the BCS written test and he would see the rest.

He also advised them to engross themselves in studies.

“You need to prepare yourself properly for the written part in the BCS examination and I will see the rest,” Imam said speaking at a seminar at the Teacher-Student Centre of Dhaka University.

The Bangladesh Chhatra League organised the seminar marking the Jail Killing Day. “Whenever we approach the prime minister with a request for a job she asks if the man requiring a job has a BCL background and then she tells us to manage it by all means,” Imam said.

Chhatra League contributed to all the epoch-making movements of the country. “You need to prepare yourself as efficient men so that you can contribute mostly to the developing sectors.

Chaired by BCL President HM Boduzzaman Sohag, the event was also addressed, among others, by former liberation war affairs minister AB Tajul Islam, prominent columnist professor Momtaz Uddin Ahmed and BCL General Secretary Siddique Nazmul Alam. l

6 | Nation

About 5 lakh residents of Phulchhari and Saghata upazilas have been suffering as the Bonarpara-Saghata road became almost unusable because of not having any repair works of it for long.

4 | News

A speedy trial tribunal will now deal with the case filed over the murder of Special Branch inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman in the capital last year.

15 | Entertainment

The 66th birth anniversary of famous Bangladeshi director, author, dramatist, screenwriter, playwright and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed is being observed today.

8 | World

The US and China announced a largely symbolic plan Wednesday to implement new limits on carbon emissions, the highlight of a summit between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in which both leaders played down suggestions of differences and rivalry.

will have to counteract with swords and shields,” she said.

She was addressing a massive rally at the Gurudayal College playground in the Kishorganj district town yesterday organised to drum up public support in favour of the demand for election under a non-partisan government.

Shariful Alam, acting president of the Kishorganj district chapter of BNP chaired the programme.

Branding the police as a corrupt

force on which people have lost faith, Khaleda called upon the foreign countries and organisations to stop extending support to police and RAB. “I call upon foreign countries to not sell arms, ammunition, tear gas and provide other logistic support to police and RAB because they are being used to kill and abduct opposition men, common people and students...The arms and ammunitions are not being used  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, November 13, 2014

JS body: Make BADC more functional

It suggests arranging more compensation for recent flood-affected farmers

n Abu Bakar Siddique The Parliamentary Standing on Agriculture Ministry yesterday suggested that the government make Bangladesh Agriculture Development Corporation (BADC) more functional by enabling it with proper plan to extend proper services to the farmers.

The BADC usually provides essential agricultural inputs like seed, fertiliser and irrigation to farmers though different channels.

“We suggested that the government make the autonomous body more functional and modern so that farmers can receive the services,” Md Mokbul Hossain, chairman of the committee, later told reporters.

Citing an example, he said farmers are yet to receive rice varieties tolerant to extreme climate such as salinity, drought and submergence properly although Bangladesh Rice Research Institute (BRRI) has developed and released these varieties a few years ago.

The BADC is supposed to produce and distribute the varieties on time to introduce the new technology to the farmers.

The suggestion came at the fourth meeting of the parliamentary watchdog with Agriculture Minister Matia Chowdhury, and lawmakers Md Abdur Razzaque, Abdul Mannan, Md Nurul Islam Omar and Umme Kulsum Smriti present.

The committee suggested appointing adequate and qualified manpower in the corporation that directly gives support to the farmers to boost farm production.

The parliamentary watchdog recommended building new warehouses to store the produced seeds and imported fertiliser in different regions of the country to enhance the capacity of the corporation.

In addition, it suggested that the government take steps to recover warehouses that had been occupied by different government agencies such as the Food Ministry for their use. The BADC had no use of these warehouses, so they were given to the government agencies.

On fertiliser import, the committee suggested that the government import the essential agricultural input by properly evaluating their effectiveness on the country’s soil so that farmers can get the best output.

In addition, it suggested importing different types of fertilisers from different countries considering the varying nature of soil in different regions of Bangladesh.

Currently, the country imports urea and non-urea fertiliser such as the TSP and MoP from different countries, including Tunisia and Egypt.

Earlier on October 12 this year, the Ministry of Agriculture declared an incentive package worth around Tk24 crore for farmers who had lost their crops during the late monsoon floods.

The parliamentary committee suggested that the government should arrange more compensation, if needed.

According to the Ministry of Agriculture, the country has a total of 8.52 million hectares of arable land and its annual crop production stands at 37.26 million tonnes. l

Afsana Begum, pictured with tubes in her nose, and her relatives were waiting for an ambulance near the Dhaka Medical College Hospital yesterday as she needed to be moved to a different medical facility. With traffic jam causing the ambulance to be late, they were forced to ignore the risks to her health and take a rickshaw instead MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Ismail abduction: Three sacked Rab officials, Nur Hossain sued in Narayanganj n UNB

A case was filed with a local court yesterday against 16 people, including Nur Hossain and three sacked RAB officials, all accused in the sensational seven-murder case, on charge of abducting an Awami League leader.

Abdul Mannan, brother of victim Ismail Hossain, lodged the case with the Senior Judicial Magistrate’s Court.

Taking cognisance of the complaint, Senior Judicial Magistrate KM Mahiuddin ordered the Detective Branch to submit a report along with that of the sensational seven-murder case.

The former RAB officials accused in the case are Lt Col Tareque Sayeed Mohammad, Major Arif Hossain and Lt Commander MM Rana.

The plaintiff alleged that Nur Hossain, the prime accused in the sev-

Two muggers put on remand

Comilla medical students boycott n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu classes protesting A Dhaka court yesterday placed two on a 4-day remand in a case corporal punishment muggers filed in connection with a mugging in-

n Our Correspondent, Comilla

Students of Comilla Medical College boycotted classes and examinations yesterday protesting corporal punishment.

The students lay siege to academic building where they staged demonstration demanding removal of Principal Dr Mosleuddin Ahmed.

A fifth year student who preferred to be unnamed said the principal often beat students with broom, threw duster towards them and slap them.

“Yesterday (Tuesday), he also assaulted a student of first year over a trivial matter,” he said.

The protesting students threatened that they would continue their protest until college authority remove the principal.

Dr AKM Abdul Mannan told the Dhaka Tribune that the students who had waged a movement against the principal had helped admission seekers to adopt unfair means and college principal rebuked them for their misdeeds.

He said they were looking into the matter and hoped that the students would go back to classes soon.

Dr Mosleuddin Ahmed who was in Dhaka for official purpose told the Dhaka Tribune over phone that students tried to ruin congenial atmosphere of the campus and he was compelled to take some steps which went against them. l

Joint secy sent on forced retirement over FF certificate scandal n UNB The government sent Joint Secretary (OSD) Abul Kasem Talukder, who had obtained fake freedom fighter certificate, on forced retirement.

The Public Administration Ministry issued a notification in this regard on Sunday. However, the order was made public yesterday.

The order said as officer on special duty Abul Kasem Talukder completed 25 years in service and as the government thinks he should be sent on retirement in the public interest, the government sent him to retirement.

It, however, said he will enjoy all post-retirement privileges as per the law. l

cident that left Ayesha Akhtar Ripa, a housewife, dead in the capital’s Sobhanbagh.

Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Alamgir Kabir Raj passed the order after Officer-In-Charge Md Helal Uddin of Dhanmondi police station pro-

duced Hemayet Hossain Himu and Abul Kalam Azad before the court, seeking ten days remand for interrogation.

Earlier, police arrested the duo from the capital’s Mirpur area on Tuesday in connection with the mugging incident and the killing of Ayesha.

Ayesha was killed around two weeks ago when muggers in a microbus snatched her handbag and dragged her along the Mirpur road near Sobhanbagh mosque.

According to the case statement, on October 28, Ayesha, 27, wife of Shimul Ahmed and a resident of Lalmatia, sustained severe injuries after she fell from a rickshaw during the mugging and was dragged on the road.

Later, she succumbed to her injuries in Bangladesh Medical College Hospital.

After the incident, Ayesha’s brother Rafsanzada Robi filed a case with Dhanmondi police station on October 29. l

Khaleda asks party men to resist oppression  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

to fight militancy and crime,” she said.

Khaleda urged the United Nations to not recruit RAB personnel to its peacekeeping missions and international organisations to not provide training to police members.

She affirmed that her party would officially send documents and reports to international rights watchdogs, as proof of the repressive acts of the two law enforcement agencies.

Alleging that the Detective Branch (DB) of police had been turned into “contract killers,” she said getting good posting and promotions now depended on their successes in contract killing assignments.

Terming the Awami League government as the “new Mir Zafar” (who betrayed Nawab Sirajuddowla in the 18th century and is synonymous to traitor), the former premier said traitors have never won.

Talking on the judiciary, she said the people of the country would take good care injustices done by judges no matter how powerful a judge might be.

She then quoted a couple of lines from the famous Liberation War-era song “Bicharpati tomar bichar korbe jara, aaj jegeche shei janata” which roughly translates as “people, who will bring judges to justice, have woken up today.”

Assuring that the BNP would always be by their side, she also asked the judges to not fear anyone in performing their duties towards justice.

Labelling the Awami League and its associate bodies Chhatra League, Jubo League and Swechchasebak League as the most powerful entities in the country, the BNP chief said the ruling party would have to face worse consequences than what autocrat HM Ershad had faced after stepping down.

She also bashed the government for what she said was foiling her party’s

Tamim, Imrul stamp their authority  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

Their 224-run association broke Bangladesh’s previous record for the opening wicket, 185, which was put up by the same pair against England at Lord’s in 2010.

Tamim and Imrul’s 224-run stand was also the fourth time a Bangladesh duo added 200 runs for any wicket and features in third place in the list of highest partnerships for Bangladesh for any wicket.

The two southpaws’ record-breaking feat is now the highest partnership for any wicket between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe, breaking the previous record of 150 set by Brendan Taylor and Tatenda Taibu in January 2005.

It was a good toss to win for Bangladesh’s Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim who immediately opted to bat on a pitch which has always proven itself to be a batting paradise. Imrul, coming back to the Test side after two months in place

of the outgoing Shamsur Rahman, and Tamim provided their side a dream start.

Tamim started from where he had left off against Zimbabwe in the second Test in Khulna while Imrul played sensibly at the other end. Imrul exuded sheer confidence from the very beginning as he smashed the very first delivery that he faced to the boundary fence. Tamim on the other hand was compact and a model of patience.

Imrul though had the rub off the green when he was 19. The left-hander tried to blast a full toss bowled by Natsai M’shangwe only to present it to the hands of Brian Chari who missed a simple chance at the deep square-leg boundary.

However, since then both the Bangladeshi openers dominated the Zimbabwean bowling attack and reached their half centuries just after lunch.

Both Tamim and Imrul remained calm and resolute and played the ball ac-

scheduled November 8 rally in the capital.

A man riding an elephant, reminiscing Isa Khan with his kingly attire and a wooden sword, welcomed the former premier upon her arrival at the Kishorganj Circuit House around 3pm.

This was Khaleda’s 8th visit outside the capital since the January 5 election that her party and alliances had boycotted.

On the occasion of Khaleda’s visit, the Kishorganj town was redecorated to give it a festive look, with central points covered with colourful banners, posters, festoons and placards.

Several hundred archways were erected on the road from the Bhairab-Megna bridge to the rally venue.

The BNP chief last visited Kishorganj in 2006 when she was in the office. While campaigning for the 2008 election, she visited Bhairab, an upazila under Kishorganj. l

cording to its merit.

Tamim soon reached his sixth Test century, his first at his hometown. Tamim has now equaled Mohammad Ashraful’s tally of six Test centuries, the highest by a Bangladesh batsman. Tamim’s 252-minute vigil at the crease ended when Sikandar Raza dismissed him.

Imrul at the other end remained focus and smote his second Test century before the tea interval with both of his tons coming at this ground. The lad from Meherpur, Kushtia gave a timely reminder of his talents to the selectors as another opener, Anamul Haque, was also in contention for an opening berth prior to the start of this Test. Hamilton Masakadza might have dismissed him for 130 but by then the opening duo had already done their job and how. Tamim and Imrul have now added 1453 runs as an opening pair in 33 Test innings at an average of 44, easily Bangladesh’s best opening pair in Test matches. l

en-murder case, and the three RAB officers were involved in the abduction of his brother.

According to a case filed with Sonargaon police station after the alleged abduction, unidentified miscreants abducted Ismail, a contractor by profession and a resident of Kutubpur area of Sonargaon upazila, on his way to Dhaka in a microbus on February 7 this year.

Family members alleged that the

three RAB officials sacked for their alleged link to the seven murders had also kidnapped Ismail Hossain to realise Tk2 crore as ransom.

After the abduction, the family members said, then RAB 11 Commanding Officer Lt Col Tareque sent a letter written by Ismail to them by two members of the elite force demanding Tk2 crore in ransom for his release. l

Owners create artificial crisis  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

politically connected stakeholders and corrupt officials has thwarted efforts by successive governments to get unfit vehicles brought up to standard or banned from the roads but the government appears to be much stricter this time.

The latest drive which began on Monday continued yesterday as three mobile courts operated in three separate zones in Dhaka and adjacent areas.

BRTA Director (enforcement) Bijoy Bhushan said two mobile teams worked at Kalabagan and Banglamotor while and another at Chowrasta in Gazipur.

“A large number of vehicles in the capital are unfit. The BRTA warned about the drive around six months ago, and suggested transport owners to recondition the unfit vehicles and collect fitness certificate. But they did not do it,” he said.

“The owners are now trying to create artificial crisis on the roads to garner public support against the drive but it would prove futile,” he added.

Traffic police sources yesterday said vehicles that looked fit on the outside but either lacked fitness certificates or actually were not up to the mark in terms of condition had returned to roads.

Passengers, however, still complained about the availability of buses on the third day of the drive but many said they were content with the action.

Abdul Alim, who works at a private bank, said the transport shortage was temporary and hoped the problem would be solved soon.

He also thanked the government for taking such an initiative, saying: “The transport owners must fix their vehicles and do everything else necessary if they want to be in the business.”

“Passengers face numerous troubles especially during the rainy season as a large number of buses have no glasses in windows beside passenger seats.

Cracks are also seen in the bus roofs,” Alim added.

BRTA data shows some 313,000 motor vehicles without fitness certificates are operating across the country. Besides, some 93,600 out of around 800,000 motor vehicles carrying passengers in Dhaka do not have fitness certificates.

In the last three days, around 3,000 cases were filed, fines amounting to Tk3,000,000 were imposed and around 50 people were sent to prison across the country, said BRTA officials. l

Verdict in Khokon’s war crimes  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

As vice-president of the Nagarkanda unit of BNP, Khokon won the municipality election in 2011 to become mayor. He went into hiding after taking oath, and the investigation agency assumes that he is now in Sweden with his son and daughter.

On July 18 last year, the ICT-1 accepted the 11 charges and issued an arrest warrant against him. Khokon was indicted in absentia on October 9 last year.

During the proceedings, the prosecution called 24 witnesses against Khokon, while none were produced for the fugitive accused.

On April 17 this year, after both prosecution and defence finished placing their arguments, the tribunal kept the case as Curia Advisari Vult (CAV), meaning “verdict would be delivered later.”

According to the investigation agency, Khokon was a close associate of death row fugitive war criminal Abul Kalam Azad and took part in electioneering on behalf of a Jamaat-e-Islami candidate in 1970. He was involved with the Jamaat and later joined the BNP.

Charges

The charges include confinement, torture, looting and arson in the village Banagram under the Nagarkanda po-

lice station in Faridpur on April 27, 1971.

The second charge involves looting, arson and realising money in Nagarkanda on a day between April 28 and May 6.

The third charge states forced conversion and deportation of Hindu community people in village Jangurdi-Bagutia in between May 16 and May 28.

The fourth charge accuses Khokon of looting, arson, destruction of temples and houses and rape in the village Chandghat on May 27 while the fifth charge is about genocide, looting and arson in village Shahidnagar-Kodalia on May 30.

According to the sixth charge, Khokon is accused of murder, genocide, seriously injuring and arson in village Ishwardi on May 30.

The seventh charge is for murder, genocide and looting in three villages Shahidnagar-Kodalia, Banagram and Meherdia on May 31.

The eighth charge is for murder, looting and arson in village Goaldi on May 31 while the ninth involves murder, genocide, looting and arson in village Purapara the same day.

The 10th charge states murder, genocide, looting and arson in village Bagat-Churiarchar on June 1 and the 11th and the last charge is for seriously injuring one by shooting with the intention of killing in village Jangurdi-Bagutia. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Ershad: Zia destroyed Liberation War spirit Khaleda Zia handed the national flag over to anti-liberation forces, he says ful politics. It is the one and only nan Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong tionalist party which believes in the Jatiya Party (JaPa) Chairman HM Ershad yesterday said BNP founder Ziaur Rahman was a freedom fighter but he destroyed the spirit of the Liberation War. He said the BNP founder’s wife Khaleda Zia had handed the national flag over to anti-liberation forces.

“Misrule, terrorism, anarchism and vindictive politics destroy peace,” he said, adding that JaPa wants another chance to make a new Bangladesh by forming government after the next election with the support of people.

Ershad was addressing a rally at Laldighi ground in Chittagong city around 4pm. JaPa Chittagong city unit President Mahzabin Morshed presided over the rally while hundreds of activists and supporters gathered joined it.

The JaPa chief said he had begun a new campaign for the next election from the port city and his party would contest the election from 300 constituencies.

“The JaPa does not follow terrorism-based politics. It believes in peace-

Liberation War and sovereignty of the country,” he said.

“We will give people back the golden past which they experienced during my regime. At the time, people were provided with all kinds of citizen rights,” he also said.

Ershad said he had spearheaded many developments for the port city, including the second Karnaphuli bridge, Chittagong Urea Fertiliser Limited and Karnaphuli Fertiliser Company Limited, and would turn it into the business capital if his party could assume power for one more time.

The former president claimed the country had been experiencing the worst period since his tenure ended.

JaPa lawmaker Anisul Islam Mahmud said the party would form government after the next election as only it could change the country.

The party’s Secretary General Ziauddin Bablu, also a lawmaker, said the JaPa is the party that works for the common people. l

Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority (BIWTA) conducts an eviction drive with excavators near the city embankment in the capital’s Mohammadpur yesterday to free part of the Buriganga River from encroachment SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Nine Islami Bank Huji leader Bakar placed on remand officials quizzed n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu over loan scam n Adil Sakhawat

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday interrogated nine top Islami Bank officials in connection with Ananda Shipyard’s alleged loan scam of nearly Tk1,300 crore.

They are Senior Vice-President Nurul Islam, Vice-Presidents Kazi Moinuddin Khadem and Mizanur Rahman Bhuiyan, Assistant Vice-Presidents Musleh Uddin, Alimur Rahman, Abul Kalam Azad and Monir Hossain, officer AKM Borhan Uddin of Karwan Bazar branch and Deputy General Manager Abul Kashem.

ACC Senior Deputy Director Mir Jainul Abedin Shibly quizzed the bank ers at the commission headquarters.

In a notice issued on November 6, the anti-graft body summoned 26 Islami Bank officials for interrogation, on suspicion that they were involved in issuing Ananda Shipyard loans of Tk456.34 crore without any security.

Ananda, in the name of exporting ships, allegedly borrowed Tk1,300 crore from 14 banks and financial institutions without adequate security deposits. The company reportedly did not have experiences in exporting ships.

The irregularities were unearthed by a Bangladesh Bank investigation. ACC initiated inquiry in April.

In response, the bank authorities sent a reply claiming that the loan was provided in compliance with rules and upon submission of required security deposit.

The ACC will interrogate 17 more officials of the bank today and on November 16. l

A Dhaka court yesterday placed Maulana Abu Bakar Siddique, a deathrow convict in Ramna Batamul carnage case, on a 5-day remand in a case filed under the explosive substance act.

Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Erfanullah passed the order when CID inspector Ashraf Ali produced him before the court seeking a 10-day remand for interrogation.

According to the case statement, Sub-inspector Abdur Razzak filed the

case with Chakbazar police station on August 22, 2004 in connection with the recovery of an unexploded cocktail from near the Dhaka central jail.

Earlier on November 6, the Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) arrested the fugitive death-row convict in Ramna Batamul killing case, about 13 years after the incident which claimed 10 lives.

Abu Bakar was arrested from Keraniganj area. He is a top leader of the banned Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI) and also an accused in the

August 21 grenade attack case.

Abu Bakar was a close associate of HuJI Chief Mufti Hannan. He had been hiding in different parts of the country for the last 13 years.

On June 23, this year, Dhaka Second Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Ruhul Amin gave death sentence to eight persons, including Abu Bakar and life imprisonment to six others for killing 10 celebrants of Pahela Baishakh at a Chhayanaut event at the foot of a banyan tree in Ramna Park on April 14, 2001. l

Ekram murder: Arrest warrant issued against 27 fugitives n Our Correspondent, Feni A local court yesterday, on receiving the charge sheet, issued arrest warrants against 27 accused, still on the run, in the murder case of the Fulgazi upazila chairman Ekramul Haque Ekram.

Judicial Magistrate Alamgir Mohammad Faruqui passed the order after receiving the charge sheet where 56 people were indicted. The court fixed November 26 for the next hearing of the case.

Feni model police station OC and also the case investigation officer Abul

Kalam Azad said: “29 accused, who were already behind bars, have been sent to jail when they were earlier produced in the court.”

On May 20, Ekram, also former president of the Fulgazi upazila unit Awami League, was shot dead and his body was set on fire in his car in broad daylight in the district town.

Police have arrested 29 people, including Jihad Chowdhury, an alleged mastermind and joint secretary of Fulgazi upazila unit AL, along with BNP leader Mahtab Uddin Chowdhury Minar, the alleged financier. l

Parliament to begin fourth session today n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

BNP chief Khaleda Zia addresses a rally at Kishoreganj’s Gurudayal College ground yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

The fourth session of the current parliament is scheduled to start today, with ten bills including a four-year extension for the Speedy Supply of Power and Energy Bill expected to be tabled during the session.

Before the parliament starts its session at 5pm, the Business Advisory Committee will hold a meeting at 3pm – chaired by Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury and attended by both Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and opposition leader Raushan Ershad – to decide the duration of the new session.

Sources, however, told the Dhaka Tribune that the upcoming session may be a short one.

Questions for the session have

already been collected for eleven working days up to November 27, parliament sources said. They added that the session was only being arranged because of a constitutional requirement.

According to the constitution, the president must convene a session within 60 days of the last day of the latest session. The legislative support wing of the parliament said they have so far received ten bills to be placed, including four fresh bill and six existing bills that may see amendments.

Since its first sitting on January 29, three sessions have so far taken place.

The second session started on June 3 and ended on July 3; the third session started on September 12 and ended on September 18. l

National Memorial architect buried Two more currency counterfeiters n arrested in capital Mohammad Abu Bakar Siddique

Syed Moinul Hossain, architect of the National Memorial at Savar, was laid to rest at the Mirpur Intellectuals’ Graveyard in the capital yesterday.

His daughters, close relatives and former relatives were present at the burial service of Moinul, who had led a mysteriously solitary life before his death. Moinul was buried around 2:40pm after a namaz-e-janaza at Dhaka University’s central mosque.

Earlier in the day, Sammilito Sangskritik Jote kept his body at the Central Shaheed Minar at 11:30pm for people to pay their last respect to the architect. People from all walks of life – renowned citizens, scholars, cultural activists, family members – paid tribute to Moinul.

After paying his tribute, Culture Minister Asaduzzaman Noor said: “Honoring him [Moinul] has been insufficient because he had secluded himself from society...It was difficult to reach him.”

Actor Pijush Bandyopadhyay said paying respect at the altar of the National Memorial would be also a tribute to Moinul.

Artist Mustafa Monowar said: “Applying all my aesthetic knowledge, I am sure that there can be no better memorial than ours – the one Syed Moinul Hossain designed.”

The famed architect died at 2:35pm on Monday at the National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases, where he had been admitted the day before.

Born on March 17, 1952 in Dampara vil-

lage, Munshiganj, Moinul was the eldest among three children of Syed Mujibul Hossain and Syeda Rashida Haque. His father was a professor of history at Rajendra College in Faridpur. Poet Golam Mostafa, Syed Emdad Ali were his grandfathers.

Moinul graduated from Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (Buet) in architecture in 1976.

In 1978, his design won a competition for the National Martyrs’ Memorial’s design, beating 56 other design proposals.

Moinul designed around 38 large establishments between 1976 and 1998.

In 1987, he was awarded the Ekushey Padak, one of the highest civilian awards in Bangladesh, for his outstanding contribution to the country.

According to architect and poet Rabiul Hussain, after passing out from the university, Moinul had started working with architecture firm Shahidullah and Associates Limited.

“When he submitted works for the competition, we were colleagues. He shared with me many things about how he was planning to implement the work. Moinul had a deep commitment to the collective, which was completely reflected in the design and work of the National Memorial,” Rabiul said.

“He had a calm and quiet kind of a personality, but the emotion surrounding the historic event had stirred him deeply which could be sensed,” Rabiul said.

Badrul Haider, a lifelong friend of

Moinul, said their fathers had also been friends and he and Moinul had been roommates at a Buet hall.

“After seeing his design, I decided to drop the idea of submitting my work,” he said.

Badrul said Moinul was introvert but would always think of big things. “For instance, he would ask about the effects of foreign aid on the post-Liberation War economy.”

Friendship with Badrul lasted even during Moinul’s phase of self-enforced mysterious solitude. “Moinul was sad after his divorce. So he secluded himself.”

Art critic Moinuddin Khaled said the design of the National Memorial was a significant work and “Architects of Moinul’s quality do not come very often. The media should have highlighted him more along with all his his contributions.”

Teacher and architect Ashik Bhaskor said: “If you look at the National Memorial, you would discover seven structures emerging out of a tremendous pressure but maintaining an incredible harmony.

He wanted to keep these seven structures that symbolise seven important steps and movements in the history of Bangladesh’s struggle for liberation, at the centre of everything.

“He was deeply saddened and frustrated after some incidents. He was threatened for his work. He was not even invited to the opening of the memorial in 1982. These may have led towards the seclusion.” l

n Tribune Report Detective Branch of Police, as a part of their ongoing drive against note forgers, arrested two more people from the capital’s Bashabo and Narayanganj’s Paidani area early yesterday.

The arrestees were Md Alauddin, 44, and Md Mamun, 42.

At the time of arrest, fake notes of Tk22.7 lakh, one laptop, three colour printers, 10 printer-ink cartridges, three frames, two steel covers, two chemical bottles, 20 security ropes, 14 colour bottles, two packets of utility knives (anti-cutters) and one old iron were seized from their possession, said Monirul Islam, joint commissioner of DB police.

Monirul said based on information, detectives conducted a drive in the capital’s Bashabo area and arrested Mamun. The DB team later arrested Alauddin after receiving information of his whereabouts from Mamun, he said.

“In interrogation, both Alauddin and Mamun confessed that earlier they used to buy and sell fake notes but recently they have started making fake notes themselves. Alauddin and Mamun are already accused in two separate cases filed with Mirpur and Kalabagan police station but after getting bail from court, they once again started

Detective police yesterday presents two counterfeiters before media after recovering Tk23 lakh fake notes and fake note-making equipment MEHEDI HASAN the same business,” Monirul said while addressing a briefing at Dhaka Metropolitan Police media centre.

In reply to a question, the DB official said members of note forger gangs have changed their tactics of trade. He said: “Earlier, they used to target and take advantage of festival rush for the forgery but now they make fake notes round the year and spread it in little

amounts.”

In the latest drive against note counterfeit gangs, the detectives have so far arrested a total of 31 people involved with the crime since last Eid. “The arrestees have given information on some more members of the gangs and we are analysing them to find out the criminals, the joint commissioner added. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Oishee’s trial shifted to speedy trial tribunal n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A speedy trial tribunal will now deal with the case filed over the murder of Special Branch inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman in the capital last year.

The much-talked-about murder case was sent to Dhaka Speedy Trial Tribunal 3 from the Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court yesterday as per a decision of the Home Ministry.

Additional Public Prosecutor Shah Alam Talukder of the Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court acknowledged the transfer, saying they had received the gazette in this regard.

Defence counsel Mahabub Hasan Rana said: “On October 21, the Home Ministry issued the gazette notification for the quick disposal of the case.”

The murdered couple’s only daughter Oishee Rahman and her two friends – Asaduzzman Jony and Mizanur Rahman Rony have been in police custody

for their complicity in the killing.

On May 6, Dhaka Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Jahrul Haque framed charges against Oishee, Jony and Rony in the case. The court has so far recorded depositions of 19 of the 57 prosecution witnesses since the trial began on July 8.

DB Inspector Abul Khair Matubbar – who is investigating the case – pressed two separate charge sheets with the court on March 9, accusing Oishee alone. Jony instigated the incident and Rony gave her shelter after the murder.

On August 16 last year, the bodies of SB inspector Mahfuzur Rahman and his wife Swapna Rahman were recovered from their Malibagh residence. Later police arrested Oishee, her friends Rony, Jony and housemaid Khadiza Khatun Sumi.

Oishee, Jony and Rony are now in jail while Sumi was freed on bail. A Dhaka juvenile court is conducting Sumi’s trial as she is under 18 years. l

Students stage a demonstration on Dhaka University campus demanding candidates be given a second chance to take intake tests at public universities yesterday. Story on Page 5 MEHEDI HASAN

Amu warns of punitive measures against tannery owners

Smuggler killed in reported Satkhira shootout

Steel mill fined Tk15 lakh n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

n Tribune Desk

n Our Correspondent, Satkhira

The Department of Environment (DoE) has fined Tk 15 lakh to a steel mill for operating the factory without licence.

The DoE charged the fine after a hearing at its headquaters in the capital yesterday.

According to the Department of Environment, a team of the department led by Director (monitoring and enforcement) Mohammed Alamgir had visited the SS Steel Private Ltd located in Machhimpur area under Gazipur City Corporation recently and found that the factory authority was operating it without taking lisence.

For polluting environment, the authority called its owner and stakholders to its Dhaka office where a hearing was conducted. During the hearing, the DoE has taken decesion that the factory would have to give Tk15 lakh.

Owner of the factory was present in the hearing and admitted his guilty. l

Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu again yesterday yesterday warned of punitive measures against the owners who would fail to move their tannery to Savar within the stipulated time.

“All the tanneries in city’s Hazaribag would be shut down alongside cancellation of the allotted plots in Savar if the owners fail to relocate their tanneries on

time,” he told leaders of different associations related to leather industries during a meeting at his office in the capital.

Leaders of the associations feared if all the tanneries and allied industries along with skilled workers and technologists are not moved, countries leather export would be dropped by 40%.

They requested the minister to allocate sufficient space for all the industries related to leather sector. The

industries minister said he will direct BSCIC to initiate necessary measures for land allocation.

Barrister Fazle Nur Tapash, MP, joint-chief of the ministry M Lutfar Rahman Tarafder, convener of the coordination committee of leather industries related associations Abul Kalam Azad and member secretary M Sujaul Karim, among others, were present at the meeting. l

Four get life imprisonment n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court yesterday sentenced four people to life imprisonment for killing Sumanta Mandal, 18, a goldsmith of Nababgonj Thana in Dhaka.

Dhaka Additional District and Sessions Judge-8 Md Ahasan Tarique pronounced the verdict yesterday afternoon.

Those who got life imprisonment are Sanjit, Ranjit, Sankar Hawlader, and Sunil Hawlader of Gollah Gobindapur

village in Nababgonj upazila of Dhaka district.

Of them, two accused Ranjit and Sanjit have been on the run since the case was filed. Sangkar has been absconding after he secured bail.

After the judgment the court sent Sunil Hawlader to jail.

The court also fined them Tk10 thousand each and in default they have to suffer six months more in jail.

On December 13, 2005 Sumanta Mandal went back to his home at Golla-

bazar for lunch. As soon as he reached home the accused swooped on him and chopped him with locally-made sharp weapon.

Monindra Mandal, father of Sumanta, lodged a case with Nababgonj police station in this connection the following day.

Investigation Officer and also Sub-Inspector of DB police Kanchan Kumer Roy submitted a charge sheet against the accused on August 27, 2006.

The court framed charges against the accused on January 15, 2009. l

Police claimed that a smuggler was gunned down in an alleged shootout between his accomplices and law-enforcers at Gozaria Shikari village in Sadar upazila on Tuesday night.

A team of DB police, on a tip-off, intercepted a microbus carrying some smugglers along with phensidyles The victim is Manirul Islam, 27, son of Md Rajab Ali, a resident of Kaliani village of the upazila, had been involved in smuggling for long, says police.

Sadar police station OC (investigation) Nasir Uddin confirmed the incident, saying a team of DB police, on a tip-off, intercepted a microbus carrying some

Tk1crore Indian clothes seized n Our Correspondent, Jessore

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina inaugurates construction of a flyover named after late Awami League leader Akhteruzzaman Chowdhury Babu in Chittagong yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Members of Border Guard Bangladesh seized smuggled Indian clothes worth about Tk one crore from Rajganj area in Manirampur upazila of Jessore district on Tuesday night.

Lieutenant Colonel Jahangir Hossain, commanding officer of BGB Battalion-26, said on a tip-off, the law enforcers launched a drive in the area.

Sensing the presence of the border force, the smugglers fled the scene leaving behind a truck.

Later, BGB members recovered huge Indian sarees and three-pieces worth Tk one crore from the truck.

A case was filed in this connection. l

Rana Plaza victim dies after 19 months Correspondent, n Our Savar A Rana Plaza victim named Kuhinur Islam Kajol, 45, died of his injuries on Tuesday night after fighting the life for about 19 months.

Kajol’s wife Saleha Begum claimed that her husband, a resident of Sharifbag area in Dhamrai, cardiac complications had developed after being injured in the collapse that took place on April 24 last year and he finally died at National Institute of Cardiovascular Diseases and Hospital in the capital.

Earlier, Kajol rescued on the second day of the col-

lapse had been hospitalised at a stretch at Centre for the Rehabilitation of the Paralysed, Savar and later referred to the capital when his condition deteriorated more.

The victim’s wife also stated that Kajol used to work as operator at a garment factory on the third floor of the building and he sustained severe pressure on the whole body, particularly on the chest, in the disaster.

On the other hand, Saleha alleged that she just received Tk10,000 from the government and Tk50,000 from different charity organisations to bear the treatment cost of her husband. l

smugglers along with phensidyles to the district town around 10:30pm from the Indo-Bangla frontier Boikari area.

At one stage, the smugglers swooped on the law enforcers triggering a fierce clash that left ASI Aminul Islam and constable Abdur Rahim critically injured and then the former was admitted to the district hospital.

In retaliation, the plainclothes police fired five shots at the smugglers to bring the situation under control and moved away from the spot with the injured.

Afterwards, a police team led by SP Chowdhury Manjurul Kabir started a drive in search of the smugglers and found Monirul laying on the scene holding a firearms and whisked off him to Satkhira Sadar Hospital where duty doctors declared him dead.

During the clash, the ASI sustained severe stab injuries while a hand of the constable was broken. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Clockwise: Two elderly people are compelled to walk as they did not get any vehicle. The women wait for bus in Farmgate area. Two workers paint the unfit vehicle in the face of the BRTA drive to show it fit so that punishment could be shunned. The photo was snapped from Bhadra area in Rajshahi yesterday. Transport owners park buses at Rajshahi Shiroil bus stand to evade punishment. Commuters struggle to get on a bus as there was a scarcity of public transport in the capital SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN / AZAHAR UDDIN

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:14PM SUN RISES 6:13AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 31 31 30 30 31 31 31 31

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

18 21 15 16 17 19 17 23

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

33.3ºC Cox’s Bazar

17.2ºC Chuadanga

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:54am 6:10am 11:43am 3:38pm 5:14pm 6:32 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Blackout in some areas DU admission seekers start hunger strike on Shaheed Minar premises as Ashuganj power n plant catches fire DU Correspondent

n Aminur Rahman Rasel Four out of the seven units of the Ashuganj Power Plant caught fire yesterday because of a fault in the grid auxiliary transformer, plunging a number of areas under the plant into several hours of darkness.

It took two hours of frantic effort for firefighters to tame the blaze that had reportedly caused losses worth hundreds of thousands of taka.

The fire incident comes in just over two weeks after the countrywide blackout, whose reasons, the government say, are still not clear.

“Around 3am yesterday, four out of the seven units were shut down after the lightning arrester of the 132/33 KV grid auxiliary transformer at the power station caught fire. It took our engineers 12 hours to repair the transformer and restore power generation,” Md Nurul Alam, managing director of the Ashuganj Power Station Company Limited (APSCL), told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The lightning arrester is a protective device for electrical equipment that re-

duces excessive voltage resulting from lightning to a safe level by grounding the discharge.

Nurul said the fire had spread quickly because of the oil spill from the exploding transformer.

“Now there is no problem with the power supply from the station because the faults had been fixed. The four affected units started regular generation around 3pm,” he said.

“The units are capable of producing 260MW of electricity. Unit 2 with 50MW capacity, GT 2 with 40MW, Unit 3 with 130MW and the 40MW gas engine unit were shut down immediately,” he added.

He informed that a fault finding committee, headed by AMM Sazzadur Rahman, executive director of APSCL, had been formed.

“Repairing work of two other units at the power station have been going on for two years. We have already repaired 80% of those units,” he said.

The station at Ashuganj is the second biggest power station in Bangladesh. The current generation capacity of its seven units is 671MW. l

Dhaka University admission aspirants, who had been on protest for one month seeking reinstatement of the second time admission test facility, commenced hunger strike at Central Shaheed Minar as per their pre-scheduled programme.

Earlier, the protesters flocked in front of Raju Monument around 10:30am on the campus to submit a memorandum in this regard to President Abdul Hamid.

During their move, police halted them at Doel Chattar and finally allowed only five protesters to enter Bangabhaban, who handed over the memorandum Md Sentu Rahman, on-duty security official of the President’s official residence.

At last the protesters gathered on Central Shaheed Minar premises and started hunger strike around 12:45pm, who warned of keeping it continued until the university authorities retreat from the decision.

Meanwhile, left leaning student or-

ganisations Bangladesh Chhatra Union, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front and Bangladesh Chhatra Federation expressed solidarity with the demand of the students.

When contacted, DU Proctor Amzad Ali said the students have no legal rights for the programme and he would meet them to stop it.

On October 14, the university authorities decided not to allow any admission seeker to appear in its admission tests for first year honours courses more than once. l

Wagon derailment halts Chittagong rail services for four hours n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Rail communication of Chittagong with other parts of the country was suspended for four hours following the derailment of three compartments of a wagon at Fouzdarhat Railway Station in Chittagong yesterday morning.

The train services resumed around 2pm after a salvage train removed the three bogies from the tracks, said Bangladesh Railway (East) Divisional Traffic

Office (DTO) Firoz Iftekhar.

Chittagong Railway Station Manager Abul Kalam Azad told the Dhaka Tribune that the compartment of the wagon, coming from Dhaka for Chittagong Port, had derailed around 10am near the station.

On receiving information, a rescue team with a salvage train from Chittagong city’s Pahartoli area rushed to the spot and brought the three bogies to the track, he said.

Due to the derailment, Meghna Express had to stop at Kumira Railway Station and Karnaphuli Express at Pahartoli Railway Station till the resumption of the rail communication, he added.

Several hundred commuters had to wait for four hours in the stations which delayed their journey for their respective destinations, said the stations sources, he said. The reason behind the derailment could not be known immediately, he added. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Run-down Saghata road brings misery for commuters Accidents often take place on the road as their lip service. n Our Correspondent, Gaibanda remains A college student named Ziaul HoAbout 5 lakh residents of Phulchhari and Saghata upazilas have been suffering as the Bonarpara-Saghata road became almost unusable because of not having any repair works of it for long.

Consequently, accidents repeatedly were taking place in the potholes of the road and wasting valuable time to cross it.

It was learnt that the 30km road stretches to the district town via Phulchhari upazila and there is no alternative road except it to reach the town. In 1992, the road had been paved with asphalt and since then it remained without any renovation task.

Sources at Roads and Highways Department (RHD) said 25km of the road is very poor and it takes 1-1.5 hours to cross in lieu of the required time of 45 minutes.

A local cultural activist, namely Jakirul Islam, said the road has turned into an electoral issue during elections while all candidates seek votes from the residents on promise of renovating the road assuming power and finally it

que echoed the voice of Jakirul.

In this regard, Lal Miah, a local rickshaw-puller, said he has to spend Tk30 from his income of Tk100 to repair his vehicle because of the unbearable jerks in the potholes of the road.

The upazila’s Jumarbari UP Chairman Mahfuzar Rahman said the authorities concerned have not paid any heed to their repeated applications for repairing the road.

Acknowledging the road’s sorry state, Gaibanda RHD Executive Engineer Mahbub Alam Khan said: “The road has remained without any renovation due to budget crunch. Tk10 crore is needed for the road while there is an allotment of Tk3 crore only for the whole district at present and that is why a tender of Tk80 lakh has been primarily floated just for the spots that have already went into very poor condition.”

While the renovation works of the rest spots of the road would depend on further budget allocation from the state authorities, the engineer continued. l

Accident can happen at any time as Bonarpara-Saghata road has become almost unfit for vehicular movement for lack of repair work

NEWS IN BRIEF Boat capsizes in Sunamganj A boat with 150 passengers, including some students, capsized in Surma river in Sadar upazila on Wednesday morning. Sources said, the accident occurred around 9:15am while the people were going to Sunamganj town from Haluaghat by boat. At least ten were injured critically during the incident while maximum people could reach the bank by swimming. The injured were sent to Sadar hospital. Deputy Commissioner Sheikh Rafiqul Islam visited the area. – Our Correspondent, Sunamganj

One held with firearm A man was held with a pistol, two magazines and three bullets yesterday in Kironganj frontier area under Shibganj upazila of Chapainawabganj district. BGB Commander Cornel Abuzafor Sheikh said on a tip-off, the law enforcers raided a mango orchard in the area recovered the firearm and ammo while the miscreants managed to flee the scene. – Our Correspondent, Chapainawabganj

Two fake manpower traders held

Rapid Action Battalion arrested two fake manpower businessmen with 43 passports and American

dollar from Bheramara upazila of the district yesterday. The arrested were identified as Anwarul Islam of Rathpara area and Azirul Pramanik of Arkandi village in the upazila. RAB-12 commander Major Haider Zaman said the law enforcers arrested the two as they were cheating with people in the name of giving job in Malaysia and another countries. – Our Correspondent, Kushtia

Five women held for theft Police arrested five women on charge of theft in Jamalpur Railway Station yesterday. SI Jaharul Haque said police arrested Nasima, Rahela, Azufa, Arufa and Rashida from the station as they had been involved with snatching of passengers’ goods for long time. – Our Correspondent, Jamalpur

Youth held with pistol Police arrested a youth with a pistol from his residence in Ratnai Maradhar village under Baliadanga upazila in Thakurgaon district yesterday.

The arrested was identified as Abdur Rahim, 23, son of Abdur Mannan of the village.Acting on a tip off, the police raided the house and detained him with the pistol.Baliadanga police station Sub-Inspector Joglol Ahmed said: “A case has been filed against Rahim with the police station.”

– Our Correspondent, Thakurgoan

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Three held while entering into country illegally n Our Correspondent, Satkhira Police arrested three Bangladeshi students, who are studying in India, from Laxmidari border point in Sadar upazila on Tuesday night while they were returning home from India illegally.

The arrested are identified as Abdur Rahim,27, son of Abdul Motaleb, Mahmud Hossain, 21, son of Abdul Momin, and Yeasin Ali, 22, son of Zaker Hossain of Fatika village in Hathazari upazila of Chittagong district.

Of them, two studied at Shahrampur Madrasah in Uttar Pradesh of India while another at a local college in the area.

SI Abdul Momin of Sadar police station said on a tip-off, a team of police arrested the three while they were entering Bangladesh from India through the border point around 9pm without passport.

Police also said, the students went to study in India without passport and were returning home after long days.

Inspector (Investigation) Sheikh Nasiruddin said police were investigating the matter whether the arrested were involved in any militant activities. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Thursday, November 13, 2014

The fight for freedom from extreme poverty Poverty simply means people who lack the basic necessities of life. The solution is to fill this economic deficit either through earned income or through some form of direct income support. This is the second part of a four part series PART TWO – THE BATTLE PLAN

Social protection transfers are not intended exclusively for the extreme poor, but it is difficult to deny that if anyone is receiving these benefits it should first be the poorest and most needy members of society

I

n Colin Risner

t seems strange that so much time and intellectual effort is spent debating the nature of poverty. Surely poverty is very simple and stark, it simply means people who lack the basic necessities for life. If this is the case then the solution is as simple, to fill this economic deficit either through earned income as a result of employment or self employment or, where people have insufficient earning capacity, through some form of direct income support.

In essence this is indeed the approach taken by both the government and non-government poverty reduction schemes. Hence there are many projects that help poor households to establish micro enterprises to initiate or increase the recipients’ own income

A ‘hard’ transfer of cash or assets is often combined with ‘soft’ interventions all intended to increase the likelihood of a successful and sustainable micro business venture

earning potential. These projects typically involve asset or cash transfers providing the minimal capital needed to set up a productive enterprise.

For example, the shiree programme encompasses a diverse range of over 250 such income generating activities (IGA), from rickshaw pulling to crab fattening.

This “hard” transfer of cash or assets is often combined with “soft” interventions such as training, counselling and the mobilisation of mutual support groups, all intended to increase the likelihood of a successful and sustainable micro business venture. Other projects aim at helping members of poor families transition

into formal employment through, for example, vocational training, provision of tools and linking with private sector employers. Variations include cash for work where transfers are associated with, usually limited duration, public employment schemes.

Direct income enhancing transfers take various forms and have been given several names including social protection, safety nets, social security and humanitarian relief. All essentially involve a transfer from one section of the population (usually taxpayers) to another (the recipients). Long term social protection benefits such as old age pensions or disability benefits are usually state financed and this will increasingly be the case for Bangladesh as economic development generates expanding tax revenue and further reduces dependency on donor funding.

Transfers may be one-off (eg flood relief) or recurring (eg widow’s allowance). Whether a cash transfer is used for consumption purposes or to invest in a productive enterprise is the choice of the recipient. In any case it is not always easy to distinguish consumption from investment, for example spending on improving basic diet, rebuilding a shelter or meeting health related outlays, while perhaps defined as consumption, may also be essential to the future productive capacity of the household.

Social protection transfers are not intended exclusively for the extreme poor, but it is difficult to deny that if anyone is receiving these benefits, it should first and foremost be the poorest and most needy members of society. Hence targeting of such benefits should start with the poorest and the greatest and most direct impact can be their contribution to extreme poverty reduction.

The experience of shiree is that a mixed mode of intervention may provide the best option for a sustained route out of extreme poverty at the household level. Hence a mix of micro enterprise establishment through asset transfer, along with accessing social protection transfers where eligible and ideally eventual transition into formal employment for at least one household member is a winning combination. The good news is that this combination is eminently feasible for most extreme poor households.

PROFILE OF A TYPICAL SUCCESSFUL HOUSEHOLD

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Criteria

Actionable

1

Multiple income sources

Project interventions show proven success in helping the extreme poor to establish multiple income generating activities in both rural and urban contexts.

These programmes are currently mainly donor funded and NGO implemented but could be scaled up with increased government participation

1

Multiple income sources

2

A social protection benefit providing a regular and dependable, even if small, cash transfer

2

A resilience fund of gradually increasing individual and/or group savings

Social protection benefit

A social protection reform strategy is in preparation and there is a commitment to both increase the value of benefits and to improve targeting.

3

Individual and/or group savings

Banking sector reforms and technological advances (eg mobile banking) are making savings instruments available to all. The Bangladesh Bank has taken a lead, working in partnership with financial institutions to increase access to finance for the poor- including currently “unbanked” groups such as street children.

There are also many examples of successful group savings schemes.

4

Formal employment

Growing industries, including RMG and footwear, are hungry for labour. Vocational training schemes have successfully overcome barriers for the extreme poor to access these opportunities and could be scaled up. A critical issue is the need to provide secure accommodation close to workplaces.

5

Health, education and other basic services

Each public sector service provider should audit their services to identify if they are reaching the poorest and take corrective action. Achieving universal access to quality basic services is the most challenging and resource intensive element of the agenda for change, and the most dependent on an expanding tax revenue.

6

An upward economic and social trajectory with the self confidence to succeed

Kick-starting economic empowerment builds confidence. The ongoing advice and problem solving support of field staff and of the community helps to sustain this trajectory.

7

A respected place in the community

People who become economic actors become visible and earn respect but may also become vulnerable to new forms of exploitation.

3

4

A household member already in or progressing towards formal employment

5

Access to Health, Education and other basic services

6

An upward economic and social trajectory

7

The self confidence to succeed

8

A respected place in the community

All of the above characteristics are amenable to project and public service interventions – if the desire is there and the resources are made available.

The amount of resources needed to solve the problem of extreme poverty is a moot point The amount of resources needed to solve the problem is a moot point. There are several brilliant and experienced economists and policy planners in Bangladesh, some of whom have already endorsed the Manifesto for the Extreme Poor, who are capable of doing the necessary sums and providing robust cost estimates.

This article does not try to provide a detailed cost analysis. An estimate of $3bn is based on establishing six million micro productive enterprises at household level at $500 per household (including project implementation costs). This does not however include the cost of ensuring that all the extreme poor have access to public services, such as, education and health, or that of additional (in

The above table does not encompass all that is needed to overcome extreme poverty but it should be apparent that extreme poverty is a solvable problem. coverage and value) social protection transfers. However, I doubt if any economist, donor or policy maker can make the case that, assuming continuing rapid economic growth, expanding tax revenues and ongoing donor commitment to poverty reduction, a policy objective of rapidly eradicating extreme poverty is ruled out on cost grounds alone.

In other words, while total cost estimates may vary considerably depending on what is included in the equation and the underlying assumptions made, the range of possible outcomes are all eminently affordable through a combination of government, donor and private sector funding.

Given a strong policy commitment backed up by the application of

sufficient resources and a planning and implementation regime that draws on and scales up already successful approaches, it will be possible to achieve the rapid eradication of extreme poverty from Bangladesh. Despite the severity of the multiple challenges facing the extreme poor described in part one, the outlook is essentially optimistic.

However, even if the policy commitment is genuine and the means to achieve the objective are known, available and affordable, the optimistic scenario is by no means inevitable. l The author has 25 years of experience working in the development sector and he has spent nine years in Bangladesh. He was former CEO of shiree. colinrisner@gmail.com.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Ukraine crisis: Russian troops crossed border, says Nato n Agencies Nato has seen columns of Russian military equipment and Russian combat troops entering Ukraine this week, its top commander said.

“Russian tanks, Russian artillery, Russian air defence systems and Russian combat troops” were sighted, US Gen Philip Breedlove said in Bulgaria.

Russia has consistently denied sending troops into eastern Ukraine to bolster pro-Russian separatist rebels there.

However, the rebels have admitted being helped by “volunteers” from Russia. Heavy artillery fire rocked the east Ukrainian city of Donetsk, the industrial hub held by pro-Russian separatist rebels, on Wednesday morning.

It was unclear whether the fire came from besieging government forces or the rebels themselves, or both.

There were also reports of fighting near the rebel-held city of Luhansk.

One Ukrainian soldier was killed and another injured north of Luhansk, when rebels fired on government positions near the village of Schastya, Ukrainian security forces said.

Unmarked convoys The Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) has reported seeing unmarked convoys in

the region in recent days.

Asked about the purpose of the alleged Russian troop deployment, Gen Breedlove replied: “As to their intent, I’m not sure. My strategic team believes that there is a possibility that, as you know, this pocket of separatist Russian-backed forces and Russian forces in the east of Ukraine - it’s not a very contiguous pocket. There are lines of communications that are interrupted. There are airports that are not held by the Russian-backed forces etc.

“And so it is our first guess that these forces will go in to make this a more contiguous, more whole and capable pocket of land in order to then hold on to it long term.”

More than 4,000 people have died since government forces moved in April to put down an armed insurrection by the rebels in the two regions, which border Russia.

A fragile ceasefire was agreed in Minsk on 5 September, although hundreds of people have been killed since then.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said on Tuesday her government was “not satisfied” with the progress in implementing the Minsk agreement, but added that there were no plans at present for further economic sanctions against Russia over its involvement in Ukraine. l

A column of tanks drive from a rebel-territory to Donetsk near the town of Shakhtarsk, eastern Ukraine. New unidentified armoured columns rumbled toward the pro-Moscow rebel stronghold in eastern Ukraine on Monday as fears grew of a return to all-out fighting in the war-torn region AFP

At least 33 dead in Yemeni clashes, drone kills seven militants n Reuters, Sanaa At least 33 people have been killed in central Yemen in fighting in the past two days between Shi’ite Muslim Houthi fighters trying to expand their control and Sunni tribes allied with al Qaeda, residents said on Wednesday.

Separately, a US drone killed seven suspected al Qaeda militants in southern Yemen while they were on their way to carry out an attack, Yemeni military sources said.

The expansion of the Houthis, who hail mainly from northern Yemen, has unsettled Sunni tribes in central al-Bayda province, threatening to provoke sectarian conflict.

Residents reported intense fighting in the Qifa area, home to powerful al-Bayda Sunni tribes who joined hands with the local al Qaeda wing, Ansar al-Sharia, to halt the Houthi advance.

In the city of Radda in the same province, which fell to the Houthis earlier this month, a car bomb apparently targeting a local tribal leader allied with the Houthis was blown up safely before it reached its intended destination, residents said.

They said the vehicle was halted by a security barrier erected some distance from the home of Sheikh Mohammed Muqbel al-Aywei and his followers blew it up without casualties.

Yemen, a US ally which shares a long border with the world’s top oil exporter, Saudi Arabia, has been engulfed in political turmoil since mass protests ousted its veteran president, Ali Abdullah Saleh, in 2011.

The Houthis, who captured the Yemeni capital Sanaa almost without a fight in September and forced the government to resign, are continuing to expand across the country despite the formation of a new government

bringing in supporters of the group and representatives of southern Yemeni separatists.

The Houthis have objected to some members of Prime Minister Khaled Bahah’s new team, saying they do not meet criteria agreed in a September power-sharing deal.

On Monday, two people were killed in a clash between Houthi fighters and security guards at Sanaa airport over who has the right to control security at the terminal.

In the southern Shabwa province, Yemeni military sources said a US drone destroyed a Hilux truck carrying at least seven militants on their way to an attack in the city of Azzan.

Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula often attacks government troops in southern Yemen, which sometimes draws drone strikes. Washington acknowledges using drones in Yemen but does not comment publicly on the practice. l

Russia sees chance of deal at nuclear talks with Iran

US-led strikes have killed 865 in Syria n Reuters, Beirut

n Reuters, Moscow

Air strikes by US-led forces in Syria have killed 865 people, including 50 civilians, since the start of the campaign in late September against Islamic State militants, a group monitoring the war said on Wednesday.

The Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the majority of the deaths, 746, were Islamic State fighters and that the actual figure could be much higher.

Islamic State has seized tracts of territory in Syria and neighboring Iraq, where it has also been targeted by US-led forces since July.

Eight of the civilians killed were children, the Observatory said. It said 68 members of al Qaeda-affiliated Nusra Front were also killed in the air strikes, which started early on Sept 23.

Coalition strikes have hit the Syrian provinces of Aleppo, Deir al-Zor, Hasaka, Raqqa and Idlib, the Observatory said.

The United States has said it takes reports of civilian casualties seriously and says it has a process to investigate each allegation.

Washington justified its action in Syria under Article 51 of the UN Charter, which covers an individual or collective right to self-defense against armed attack.

Around 200,000 people have been killed in Syria’s conflict, which is now in its fourth year, according to the United Nations. l

A senior Russian diplomat expressed optimism on Wednesday that a deal could be reached this month between world powers and Tehran on curbing Iran’s nuclear programme despite “deep gaps” on some issues.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov said Russia, which agreed on Tuesday to build up to eight new nuclear reactor units in Iran, was doing all it could to help secure the agrement which would provide assurances to the West that Tehran’s programme was not intended to build weapons.

The six powers - the five permanent members of the United Nations Security Council plus Germany - and Iran face a Nov. 24 deadline for agreement that could also allow an easing of Western economic sanctions on Iran.

“We aren’t looking at the possibility of not reaching a deal by Nov. 24,” Ryabkov, who was present at the latest talks in Muscat this week, was quoted

as saying by the Russian news agency Interfax. “We are focused completely on the task before us, in so far as we have a chance, and it’s not small. We can’t miss (the opportunity).”

Russia has traditionally warmer relations than other powers leading the talks with Tehran, which says its nuclear work is for peaceful purposes. It is closely involved in developing Iran’s nuclear energy programme, having already opened one generator in Bushehr.

One of the chief Western concerns is Tehran’s capacity to refine uranium quickly that could open the way to arms production.

Iran confirmed it had tested a new centrifuge that could speed uranium enrichment, but dismissed suggestions this may have breached last year’s interim deal with world powers.

That deal said Tehran could continue its “current enrichment R&D (research and development) practices,” language that implies it should not expand them. l

Kerry to visit Jordan for talks on Jerusalem n Reuters, Dubai

Students demonstrate against the deployment, at Sanaa University campus, of armed Yemani militia from the Shi’ite Huthi movement in the capital Sanaa yesterday AFP

West Bank mosque torched in suspected revenge attack n AFP, Jerusalem Israeli settlers torched a West Bank mosque in an apparent revenge attack on Wednesday, Palestinian officials said, as the US top diplomat headed to Jordan to discuss the spiralling violence.

Months of unrest have escalated in recent days, spreading from annexed east Jerusalem to the occupied West Bank and Arab communities across Israel, and raising fears of a new Palestinian uprising.

In a televised address late on Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin

Netanyahu said he had ordered a raft of additional security measures nationwide to tackle escalating Arab protests.

The pre-dawn arson attack on a mosque near the Jewish settlement of Shilo came after separate Palestinian knife attacks on Monday killed a settler in the southern Western Bank and an Israeli soldier in Tel Aviv.

“The settlers set fire to the whole of the first floor of the mosque” in Al-Mughayir village near the West Bank city of Ramallah, a security official said. Police confirmed the incident and opened an investigation. l

US Secretary of State John Kerry will travel to Jordan on Wednesday for discussions with King Abdullah about tensions in Jerusalem and the fight against the Islamic State militant group in the region, the State Department said.

Kerry will go on to the United Arab Emirates (UAE) on Friday to participate in the Sir Bani Yas Forum, an annual private gathering of world leaders focused on international security, a department statement said.

Kerry returns to the Middle East after he attended an Asia-Pacific summit in Beijing on Tuesday. He was in Oman

earlier this week for two days of talks on the Iranian nuclear dispute with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammad Javad Zarif and European Union envoy Catherine Ashton.

Jordan recalled its ambassador from Israel on Nov. 5, the first time it has taken such action since the two countries established diplomatic relations in 1994, denouncing what Amman called “violations” at the al-Aqsa mosque.

Tensions over the compound, the third holiest site in Islam and the holiest place in Judaism, have fuelled repeated clashes between Israeli police and Palestinians in recent weeks, culminating in a one-day closure of the mosque last month. l

US nurses to protest, strike over Ebola measures n Reuters, San Francisco Nurses across the United States will stage protest rallies and strikes on Wednesday over what they say is insufficient protection for health workers dealing with patients possibly stricken with the deadly Ebola virus.

The California-based nurses’ union, National Nurses United, says hospitals still lack enough hazardous materials suits which leave no skin exposed and sufficient powered air-purifying respirators to properly protect nurses from exposure.

“Inadequate preparedness for Ebola symbolizes the erosion of patient care standards generally,” National Nurses United spokesman Charles Idelson

said on Tuesday.

The US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says it has ordered $2.7 million worth of personal protective equipment to help hospitals care for Ebola patients.

National Nurses United expects some 100,000 nurses in more than a dozen US states, in Washington DC and also in several other countries including Australia and the Philippines to take part in the day of action on Wednesday.

Most nurses in the campaign will not walk off the job but will hold rallies and demonstrations to bring the issue of inadequate Ebola protection to public attention, Idelson said. Some nurses will hold a vigil outside the White House.

The Ebola-related protests kicked off in the United States on Tuesday, when National Nurses United said nearly 20,000 nurses began a two-day strike in California. Their local union is also locked in acrimonious contract talks.

The Californian action targeted nearly 90 hospitals and clinics, mostly operated by Kaiser Permanente, the union said.

A Kaiser Permanente representative could not be reached for comment on Tuesday, but the organization has previously accused the union of using Ebola as a pretext to justify labor action.

The last US patient being treated for Ebola recovered from the disease on Tuesday. l

Bomb attacks kill 23 in Iraq n Reuters, Baghdad Suicide bombings and car bombs, including an attack on federal police headquarters, killed 23 people in Iraq on Wednesday, police, military and medical sources said.

A car bomb, followed shortly afterwards by a suicide bombing, killed 11 people at the police building in al-Nisour Square in Baghdad, including six policemen. Twenty-one people were wounded.

In Diyala province north of Baghdad, Army Colonel Faisal al-Zuhairi was killed when a suicide bomber in a Humvee attacked his convoy. Five of his men also died.

A suicide bomber in a car packed with explosives attacked an army checkpoint in the town of Yusifiya, 15 km (9 miles) south of Baghdad. Six people were killed and 20 wounded, police said.

Islamic State militants swept through northern Iraq in June and took control of large areas of the Sunni Muslim west of the country, seizing Humvees, tanks and armored vehicles from defeated Iraqi government troops.

Prime Minister Haider al-Abadi said on Tuesday he intended to remove concrete security barriers from Baghdad and give a greater role to police in protecting the capital, despite little respite from the car bombs the barriers were designed to thwart. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

US, China sign symbolic emissions plan n Reuters, Beijing The United States and China announced a largely symbolic plan on Wednesday to implement new limits on carbon emissions, the highlight of a summit between Barack Obama and Xi Jinping in which both leaders played down suggestions of differences and rivalry.

US officials said the commitments by the world’s two biggest carbon polluters came after months of backroom negotiations and would set the tone for a global climate control pact, but experts said the limits did not break significant new ground.

The two largest economies in the world have strong commercial ties but have been at odds over everything from China’s pursuit of territorial claims in East and Southeast Asia to cyberspying, trade and human rights.

Obama, meeting Xi in Beijing’s Great Hall of the People for their first formal talks in more than a year after a dinner the previous night that went two hours longer than scheduled, said he welcomes a China that is peaceful, prosperous and stable.

“In other words, a strong, cooperative relationship with China is at the heart of our pivot to Asia,” Obama said, shrugging off criticism that the United States sought to counter China’s rise in the region.

“If the United States is going to continue to lead the world in addressing global challenges, then we have to have the second largest economy and the most populous nation on Earth as our partner,” Obama said, adding that he was encouraged by Xi’s “willingness to engage constructively.”

Xi called for expanding cooperation despite differences.

“The Pacific Ocean is broad enough to accommodate the development of both China and the United States and our two countries should work together to contribute to security in Asia,” he said.

US President Barack Obama (L) shakes hands with China’s President Xi Jinping in front of US and Chinese national flags during a joint news conference at the Great Hall of the People in Beijing yesterday REUTERS “The bilateral relationship is mature enough that we understand even if we don’t have political trust for another five to 10 years, we need to live and work together. That’s a new way of thinking by Chinese leaders,” Sun said.

In another centerpiece of the visit, the White House announced on Tuesday that the two countries made a breakthrough on eliminating duties on information technology products, a move cheered by US software and technology trade groups that could pave the way for a major deal at the World Trade Organization.

Xi downplayed controversy over competing visions for free trade in the Asia-Pacific which had been an undercurrent at the Asia Pacific Economic

Instruments ‘rusty’ at Indian sterilization camp where 13 died

Cooperation (APEC) forum earlier in the week.

Washington is working on a 12-country Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) deal which excludes China and is widely seen as the economic backbone of Obama’s pivot.

But Beijing had used APEC to push forward a study on the Free Trade Area of the Asia-Pacific (FTAAP), a framework which some had seen as a counter to the TPP. “I don’t see any of the regional free trade agreements as targeting China.

China is committed to open regionalism and we believe the various regional cooperation initiatives should positively interact with each other. That is currently the case,” Xi said. l

n AFP, Hong Kong

Myanmar ‘backsliding’ on reforms, says Obama n Reuters, Yangon

Women who underwent botched sterilization surgeries at a government mass sterilization “camp” receive treatment at a district hospital in Bilaspur, in the eastern Indian state of Chhattisgarh REUTERS

Nem Bai was told getting a tubectomy would be an easy process -that she’d be home by sunset, a few hundred rupees richer and back to work in the fields within two days.

Instead, the 35-year-old mother-offive was incapacitated within hours of having the surgery at a mass sterilization camp in the Indian state of Chhattisgarh on Saturday, her widower told Reuters. She was one of 13 women who have died since.

“The entire night she was in tremendous pain,” said Ramavtar Suryavan-

shi, while waiting in his village for his wife’s body to be delivered from the hospital.

By early morning, when Suryavanshi rushed Bai to a private hospital nearby, his wife was unable to speak.

Within 20 minutes of being admitted to intensive care, she was dead.

Dozens more women remain in hospital and 20 are critically ill after the operations performed by a doctor accused of using rusty equipment in a dirty operating room, highlighting the dangers of the world’s largest surgical contraception program.

“They are in a state of shock,” said

K.N. Choudhary, a doctor at Chhattisgarh Institute of Medical Science (CIMS), where several women were being treated.

R.K. Gupta, an experienced doctor, carried out more than 80 surgeries that day at a village family planning camp in Bilaspur district, police say. Such camps are held regularly as part of a long-running effort to control India’s booming population.

The cause of the deaths was not immediately clear, but officials said the victims showed signs of toxic shock, possibly because of dirty surgical equipment or contaminated medicines. l

BJP shakes up election race in disputed Kashmir n Reuters, Srinagar Accompanied by half a dozen guards, Hina Bhat knocks on doors in Srinagar, the heart of a revolt against Indian rule, to persuade Kashmiris to vote for the Bharatiya Janata Party in this month’s state election.

After winning the biggest national mandate in 30 years, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s Hindu nationalist BJP has launched its most audacious election

project yet - to win power in Muslim-majority Jammu and Kashmir and integrate the disputed region fully into India.

It is Modi’s toughest test - his party has no base in the Kashmir Valley where it is seen as anti-Muslim. Even more of a red rag is the BJP’s long-held demand to abrogate the Himalayan region’s special status in the constitution.

Its aggressive posture toward Pakistan which also claims Kashmir is just as menacing to the people sandwiched

between the two countries.

And yet, within weeks, Modi has shaken up an election race dominated by two regional groups and the Congress party. A former separatist leader, Sajjad Lone, met Modi this week and said the BJP leader could change Kashmir’s fortunes.

A poll on Tuesday said the BJP would win the most seats ever in Jammu and Kashmir but fall short of its goal of 44 in the 87-seat state assembly. l

Southeast Asian leaders will welcome China’s Prime Minister Le Keqiang with fanfare on Wednesday but behind closed doors will push their giant neighbour to take a less bellicose approach to overlapping claims in the South China Sea. Myanmar hosts summits of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) followed by the East Asia Forum, which US President Barack Obama and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will attend.

China, Taiwan and four ASEAN nations have competing claims in the sea where concern is growing about an escalation in disputes even as the claimants work to establish a code of conduct to resolve them, Le Luong Minh, ASEAN secretary-general, told Reuters in Myanmar’s capital.

“We are seeing a widening gap between the political commitments and the actual actions, the real situation at sea,” he said.

In May, China sent an oil drilling rig to waters claimed by Vietnam leading to weeks of cat-and-mouse manoeuvres by both sides. Vietnam and the Philippines have sought closer US ties to counter what they see as China’s aggression.

Philippines President Benigno Aquino has said he would address what was a pressing security issue in Myanmar, but indicated some progress on Tuesday during a “meeting of minds” with Chinese counterpart Xi Jinping at an Asia-Pacific summit in Beijing.

The 10 ASEAN members held a plenary session on Wednesday but officials declined to comment afterwards.

China should focus on resolving disputes through international law and dialogue, US deputy national security advisor for strategic communications Ben Rhodes said on Tuesday.

“There cannot be a situation where a bigger nation is simply allowed to bully smaller nations,” he told reporters in Beijing, where Obama attended the summit.

Singapore sees the maritime disputes as one of the region’s biggest threats to security, Foreign Affairs Minister K Shanmugam told reporters.

There cannot be a situation where a bigger nation is simply allowed to bully smaller nations Singapore will push for progress on a code of conduct that will reduce the potential for disruption to trade, he said.

Obama will use talks with Myanmar President Thein Sein to push for changes to the apartheid-like living conditions of Myanmar’s ethnic Rohingya minority, as well as democratic reform.

Myanmar’s military-drafted constitution bars opposition leader Aung San Suu Kyi from becoming president.

Obama will meet Suu Kyi in the city of Yangon on Friday.

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi will meet Suu Kyi in Naypyitaw on Wednesday, a member of the Indian delegation told Reuters.l

Hong Kong protesters plan to occupy British consulate Hong Kong students plan to occupy roads surrounding the city’s British consulate in anger at a lack of support from London for their pro-democracy movement, as authorities ramp up pressure on protesters to go home.

The city’s government has urged protesters to leave the main rally sites after more than six weeks of demonstrations that have brought parts of Hong Kong to a standstill.

Police were authorised Monday to

n Reuters, India

ASEAN to pressure China to stick to diplomacy on maritime disputes n Reuters, Myanmar

“The two sides should respect the other’s core interests and major concerns, and persist in managing differences in a constructive fashion.”

Despite US officials projecting low expectations for any major outcomes in the run-up to the trip, the two sides managed to roll out a series of modest to fairly significant achievements over the course of the visit, on visas, trade, climate and military-to-military ties.

The outcomes of the visit were “more than expected,” with Xi keen to use the opportunity to show he wants improved ties despite Obama being on his way out in two years, said Sun Zhe, head of the Center for US-China Relations at Beijing’s elite Tsinghua University.

9

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Myanmar’s transition from military rule has not been as fast as hoped and the government is “backsliding” on some reforms, US President Barack Obama said in an interview published on Wednesday, hours before he was due to visit the country.

Obama cited the persecution of members of the ethnic Rohingya Muslim minority, a crackdown on journalists and reports of abuses in ethnic minority areas where autonomy-seeking insurgents have operated for decades.

“Even as there has been some progress on the political and economic fronts, in other areas there has been a slowdown and backsliding in reforms,” Obama told the Irrawaddy, a website and magazine that was published in neighboring Thailand while the generals ran Myanmar, which is also know as Burma.

“In addition to restrictions on freedom of the press, we continue to see violations of basic human rights and abuses in the country’s ethnic areas, including reports of extrajudicial killings, rape and forced labor. These kinds of abuses represent the painful history that so many people in Burma want to move beyond.” l

back up bailiffs charged with clearing barricades.

They are expected to start the operation in the next few days, with thousands of officers put on standby over the weekend according to local media.

But seemingly undaunted, activists have put up large posters around the protest areas announcing the consulate occupation on November 21 and a Facebook page for the event has more than 700 likes.

Organisers say they want to show

their anger at Britain for not standing up to China over “breaches” of the agreement the two countries made before Hong Kong was handed back to China by Britain in 1997, designed to protect Hong Kong’s social systems and way of life.

“We are angry at the way that the British government has for many years denied that China has actually breached the declaration by interfering with Hong Kong politics,” Anna-Kate Choi, the coordinator for the Occupy British Consulate group told AFP. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Thursday, November 13, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

An inspiration for all

W

e congratulate mountaineer Wasfia Nazreen on being selected as one of the ten National Geographic adventurers of the year.

She has already achieved much in her relatively short career.

After becoming the second Bangladeshi woman to scale Everest, she became the first Bangladeshi to scale Mount Denali (aka McKinley), the highest peak in North America, as part of her goal of climbing the seven highest peaks of the world’s seven continents.

The challenge, which she started to celebrate 40 years of independence in Bangladesh, has been a tremendous success, with only one summit left for her to reach.

It is encouraging to see a Bangladeshi citizen earn recognition at a global level for their work and accomplishments. This is particularly so because Wasfia has always been associated with using her fame to promote women’s empowerment.

Her achievements in promoting developmental work, especially in helping to fight violence against women and sex workers, makes it particularly welcome that she is representing Bangladesh in this world-renowned publication.

No doubt, many people will hope that she earns enough votes to be selected and honoured further under National Geographic’s People’s Choice Award.

This would be a highly deserving honour given her dedication to empowering women through her work.

She is an inspiration for all Bangladeshis. Her efforts show that ambition and dedication can help anyone reaching for peaks. We hope people of all ages will emulate her example by setting new and bolder challenges for themselves.

Wasfia Nazreen’s achievements and dedication are an example to emulate

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

How much longer do we wait?

October 30

RS Women in this society must come forward and declare that we have our own rights, and injustice and torture upon women should be stopped from taking place. I strongly feel that we women really need to endeavour again and again in order to achieve our rights in this society. We need to struggle a lot. sm RS: It is not just women who need to pursue this

Chirkutt to perform in the 8th South Asian Bands Festival 2014

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 3 represents L so fill L every time the figure 3 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

endeavour. Women and men, together, need to work to change the social and political norms to achieve this.

RS Obviously, men can support us or work together along with us, but first I feel women need to understand that we have our own rights and we need to work hard in order to achieve this goal. I basically don’t find that all women are aware of their rights.

Farewell Ghulam Azam?

November 1

November 6 SM Hats off to this band for this amazing opportunity!

Would like to see other local bands step up their game and get recognised for their efforts.

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.

Gridlock in a hartal November 6

Silk Road fund a step forward for trade

C

hina’s announcement, that it will contribute $40 billion to set up a Silk Road infrastructure fund to boost connectivity across Asia, is of major potential importance to Bangladesh.

The fund for investing in infrastructure, resources, and industrial and financial cooperation is squarely targeted towards countries in Central and South Asia.

While it is to be hoped that the promise of a road map towards world free trade by the 21 large economies’ meeting in China at the APEC summit this week will help Bangladesh by facilitating world economic growth and lowering trade barriers, the Silk Road fund is potentially of more immediate benefit.

Its vision of reviving the historical Silk Road between China and the Mediterranean, in which Bangladesh is located at a key position close to major population centres, makes it of both practical as well as symbolic significance.

The fund, which will be open to other countries’ investors, is intended to help China’s Silk Road Economic Belt and 21st Century Maritime Silk Road initiatives.

These aim to build roads, railways, ports, and airports across Central Asia and South Asia. Talks were held last weekend between China and leaders from Bangladesh, Cambodia, Laos, Mongolia, Myanmar, Pakistan, and Tajikistan on how these moves can help “break the connectivity bottleneck” in Asia.

Bangladesh’s participation is of utmost importance. Our economy needs a new deep sea port to serve our growing economy and to optimise use of our geographical location at the crossroads between South and South East Asia. We need to seek the opportunities heralded by this major new fund.

China’s support in improving connectivity in Asia offers major practical benefits

RZ The ICT should be sped up before more such convicts pass away without facing trial. maqsud Jamil RZ: Yes, shame on us! The author is right! He and many others are in shame, for they could not do anything to these war villains. Rather, these villains lived and ruled over people.

Sheikh Jinat Mahmid “Dhaka streets continue to experience their usual gridlocked state despite the fresh round of hartals called by Jamaat-e-Islami protesting the upholding of the death penalty against its leader, Kamaruzzaman. The photos were taken at the capital’s Karwan Bazar and Farmgate intersections.”

Exactly. This is a hartal photo, believe it or not!

Complaint against RAB-9 commanding officer

November 6 PB “According to the complaint statement, a RAB team led by Srimongol Camp Commanding Officer Mosabbir Hossain detained Din Islam, nephew of the plaintiff, without any charge on November 4.”

It’s the killer group, #RAB. Don’t mess with them!

Gender equality: Bangladesh ranks 8th in Asia-Pacific

October 31 ER I believe Bangladesh can move forward in maintaining gender equality, in attaining education, and so on.

RMG should learn from Germany

October 31 ES Yes, Germany is a developed country and the business sector can learn from it, as learning never stops.

CALVIN AND HOBBES

Make Bangladesh better for business November 1

Osmania World Bank indicators can be ideologically driven, but there’s no getting away from these rankings. In the bottom 20, when we are meant to be in the top 50. And it hurts Bangladeshi businesses the most, as foreign investors can usually find an advocate.

Maus The government needs to work harder in order for foreign investment to take place.

Nusrat Government should develop its infrastructure and institution to attract the foreign investors.

Bangladesh world’s 2nd most pro-free market country November 2

riazo Even though many Bangladeshis may not be aware of this, the confluence of Asia’s three greatest rivers in Bangladesh means that our region thrived on global trade from a very early time. And that in essence contributed to our cultural and linguistic heritage. It also contributed to an amount of wealth considerably greater than the rest of the world at that time. Of course, we gradually lost all that wealth but hey, we are now on track to become a middle income country by 2021. :o)

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Book of the Bible (4) 5 Thunder god (4) 10 Welsh national emblem (4) 11 Wrath (3) 12 Representative (5) 13 Eye protector (3) 14 Hackneyed (5) 16 Conditional release (6) 18 Expels by legal process (6) 21 Worship (5) 23 Top card (3) 24 Send money (5) 26 Regret (3) 27 Quote (4) 28 Catch sight of (4) 29 Consumes (4)

DOWN 2 Unclouded (5) 3 Perfect score (3) 4 Colonist (7) 6 Sword handle (4) 7 Far East (6) 8 Colour (3) 9 Stringed instrument (4) 15 Daydream (7) 17 Counting frame (6) 19 Heavenly body (5) 20 Satisfy fully (4) 22 Far down (4) 23 Part of the verb “to be” (3) 25 Greek letter (3)

3 cattle traders killed in Habiganj border October 29

PB #Border #killings are too frequent, so much so that I wonder whether #India #Bangladesh will be fighting for years!

Progress on deep sea port essential October 29

Petros Mendes “DP World’s interest is welcome as a new deep sea port is a national priority.”

DP World may prove to be the best option for deep-sea ports in Bangladesh.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Jamaat’s hartal on Thursday, Sunday, Monday October 29

Humaira Chowdhury They need to be straightened out. We don’t approve of hartals.

Blind to justice November 1

rose The heroes of the war and the women who were raped or tortured during the war time should have been taken into consideration years back.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Op-Ed

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Thursday, November 13, 2014

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Who owns Dhaka University?

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n Matthew Islam illiam Shakespeare once most wonderfully put it: “Lawless are they that make their wills their law.”

It’s no secret today who the lawless are in the context of Dhaka University.

The powers of the few immoral, criminal, and moronically pretentious vigilantes amongst thousands of sincere seekers of knowledge within the largest bastion of traditional Bangladeshi education remain completely unchecked, and the impunity with which they commit various crimes, staggering.

It’s clear who owns DU. The question that remains unanswered now is: Should they be allowed to?

The ideological identities of these evil, misled, and deeply dishonourable bunch of criminals within DU is forever shifting. These destructive elements that police the corridors of our largest educational institute have alliances with everyone.

Their nexus and changing loyalties are always with those who deal with politics, influence, money, and violence. They recruit passionate innocents to boast larger numbers in movements, who invariably fall for their luring stories of heroism and who find actionable purpose in protecting our culture, heritage, and whatever the prevailing dominant political structure is.

Unlike student politics way before I was born, student politics today, practiced by reckless, overweight old

men and women, is devoid of honour, purpose, a moral compass, and students.

The leadership of the new recruits within any particular political umbrella have admitted to a lack of control on extremists within their groups and ranks, yet they do nothing to expel them. I leave it to your imagination as to why that is so.

The single largest dormant tumorous cancer waiting to activate in our nation today is student politics. It’s the premiere breeding ground for crimes, negative politics, and viral cynicism that affects the very foundation of Bangladesh’s future.

This tumour, regardless of nostalgia for a golden era, must be removed. In Bangladesh’s present circumstances, there is no place for student politics. It does tremendous harm to the student class and to the quality of politics in general.

Our honourable prime minister has to take a positive step to reign in and bring to book these criminals, and ban student politics from Bangladesh on a priority basis.

What happened to Imtiaz Alam Beg, Saba Ahmed, and Rubaiya Ahmed at DU is not tremendously surprising to people like me, who have been spotting events like this at the university premises for over a decade now.

There has been an uptick of residence hall-based raids by student political activists, interrogation of fellow students, corporal punishment, violent ragging, assault on women, and policing of conduct within DU. I was once interviewing an artist for a project at Charukola in March 2010, when a group of six guys approached us at the gates, told us to keep it down and show IDs. I explained our purpose and after a brief lecture on correct conduct within DU premises, we were told to scoot off.

Similar events have happened to friends of mine and there are countless stories like this that you may find from your own friends affiliated in some way with DU now. It’s all over the place. What happened recently isn’t an isolated event, as many will have you

Heroically standing their ground think. So to that extent, it’s clear who owns DU. The question that remains unanswered now is: Should they be allowed to?

It is Beg, Saba, and Rubaiya today who faced violent assault within DU, tomorrow invariably others will. Today the attackers committed the crimes within DU and tomorrow they will do so outside the boundaries of DU. As long as politics is allowed within universities, events like this will continue to happen, and the responsibility for all that results from it lies with all of us and the government overseeing this trend.

Like most tragic events that find social resonance and viral participation, this will surely also be forgotten, left to the urban archival memory banks

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

as yet another sign of the deterioration of Bangladesh’s social power balance.

The violent minority prevailing over the silent majority yet again.

It is therefore, tremendously brave of Beg, Saba, and Rubaiya to seek justice against the attack and encroachment of their beloved university by crass criminals and further politicisation; that stands, if successful, to benefit everyone who loves DU, knowing full well that the end result might not change anything at all.

Very rarely have people ventured to fight against such incidents at DU, or for that matter any national university in Bangladesh. For the three on the receiving end of this assault, I am sure they are standing up with hope that someday the social power balance will

change for the better because of these small ripples created by people just like them, in the hope for a tsunami in the future.

It was downright heroic of Beg, Saba, Rubaiya, friends, and well wishers this past Monday (November 10, 2014) to stand their ground in protesting for terrorism of this nature to no longer exist at DU; in the face of tremendous intimidation, threats of violence, and verbal abuse from a counter-protest that had no permission or business being at the Shaheed Minar, at the same time having been organised by a student political body.

The counter group with sandals raised towards the Brotee protestors (a civil rights group supporting Beg,

Punished unto death?

Do not enter

n Mahmudul Islam

n Shabnam Nadiya

T

he incident of Panir, a seventh-grader at Jurain Hazera High School, who was hospitalised after the head teacher punished him by making him do 500 squats, is utterly deplorable.

But what is really obnoxious is the comment made by the head teacher, one Alfaj Hussain, who told Panir’s father that he should come to him for an explanation to his actions only if his son died from the punishment he had received. A teacher expecting a guardian to approach him in the event of a student’s death stemming from corporal punishment can by no means be considered rational.

Panir said he, along with some of his friends, had ridiculed their classmate Shahin. Shahin complained to his uncle. When Shahin’s uncle complained against Panir and his friends Nahid and Arif, the next day, Alfaj punished them with his bare hands, after which he asked the three to do 500 squats.

Alfaj, on the other hand, gave a different account, saying the boys had teased a female student of the school and her brother, along with some friends, who came to beat them up in retaliation. He said he had to punish the boys to dissuade the girl’s brother and his friends from beating them up.

The statements are contradictory.

There has been no investigation into who’s telling the truth and who’s lying.

Nevertheless, there are several factors here that need to be mulled over.

To begin with, the head teacher should have been far more sensitive while handling the affair. If we consider Panir’s statement to be true, then a student ridiculing his peer is certainly not a serious offence. Shahin, the student who was ridiculed, acted quite maturely by complaining about Panir to his uncle. He could have gotten into a quarrel or even a scuffle with Panir at school, and things could have gotten much worse, but he sought the intervention of a guardian instead.

Not all seventh-graders will be offended by what Panir did in the classroom. On the other hand, Shahin cannot be blamed for taking his

friends’ remarks seriously either, seeing as how one handles mockery from peers varies considerably from individual to individual. Clearly, the incident involved more psychological and social issues than academic ones, and hence should have been dealt with accordingly. There is no doubt that Alfaj failed to do so.

Another interesting aspect here is Alfaj’s account of the incident: He also said he had punished Panir and his friends after he saw the girl’s brother and two of his friends looking for the seventh-graders to beat them up.

Even if it is true, one needs to ask how humorous can the head teacher of a school get. What convinced him to think that he could save three students of his school from getting beaten up by hitting them himself and making them do 500 squats afterwards? Which official rule or law did he follow while taking action to “save” Panir and his friends?

Alfaj told Panir’s father that he should come to him for an explanation only if his son died from the punishment

Alfaj said the girl’s brother, whom he identified as Bashar (Panir said Bashar was Shahin’s uncle), and his friends could not be stopped from entering the school when they came to beat the three seventh-graders because they were former students of the institution. If this is something that the head teacher thinks is justified, then it needs to be seriously looked into if such an act is permitted by our country’s legal system.

Then comes the issue of the prevalence and the severity of corporal punishment in schools. If not all, the majority of our educational institutions, especially primary and

secondary schools, dole out corporal punishment.

According to a judgement made on January 13, 2011, the High Court Divisional bench, comprising Justice Md Imman Ali and Justice Md Sheikh Hasan Arif, said corporal punishment constituted a clear violation of children’s fundamental rights to life, liberty, and freedom from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment.

In the wake of the judgement, the Education Ministry directed district education officers and upazila education officers to stop corporal punishment involving infliction of physical pain. It also ordered that effective measures be taken against this practice.

However, the subsequent incidents of corporal punishment, including the case of Panir and his friends, lucidly illustrate how schools have measurably failed to comply with the court order.

Teachers have also shown flagrant disregard for a legal ruling by acting against what the court said.

Although the court issued a directive to inspect educational institutions for complaints of corporal punishment, and to take action following investigations, official proceedings are hardly carried out, as most of the cases are settled through arbitration. And even if a case is dealt with officially, the usual outcome remains limited to just warning the accused teacher.

Finally, what made Alfaj think that a student could die after receiving corporal punishment from him, and that it would be the appropriate time for the student’s guardian to seek an explanation from him? Is there any rule or law that permits a teacher to explain his actions to the parents of a student who died after being punished by him?

Not only were Alfaj’s actions yet another example of the High Court's orders on corporal punishment being violated, but they have also raised questions that demand official proceedings, provided the authorities concerned are eager to learn what actually happened rather than ruling it out as an “isolated” incident. l Mahmudul Islam is a journalist.

T

here’s a photo making rounds on Facebook, of a sign posted

by Mohakhali DOHS authorities, stating the rules for entering and enjoying a park located in the DOHS premises. Rule no 4 is this: House-servants and buas are prohibited from walking on the park walkways. This rule follows rule no 3: No dogs are allowed in the park.

Facebookers have been commenting in droves on this image. People are sharing it widely, and it was good to see most of the comments being condemnatory. A few (fortunately, from what I’ve seen, a minority) have argued that the DOHS authorities have the right to put up whatever rule they feel is right for that area, that the park isn’t a public place to begin with, and that the very first rule (ie the park is only for the use of DOHS residents) makes that clear.

Of course, this raises the question of why household help who live in their workplaces are not to be considered residents. Or, will the authorities ban or penalise residents, who, say, bring non-resident guests (as long as they are not buas) along for a quick walk.

The online blog Women Chapter (http://womenchapter.com/) quotes a DOHS official (who preferred to remain anonymous) as saying that the reason for the prohibition is because “the families of army officers usually walk in that park. The rule was put into place to safeguard their children from eve-teasing and other incidents.”

So according to the DOHS authorities, street harassment perpetrators are only those belonging to a certain class?

Brig Gen (Retd) Mosharef Hossain is quoted as saying: “Since the children of officers usually walk in the park, the servants or buas do not have permission to enter.” For many of us, the first part of this statement does not necessarily lead to the second, (ie why the presence of the offspring of army officers must preclude the presence of domestic help) which leads us to wonder what happens in the DOHS households where both officer-offspring and household help live: Whether they are allowed

to be in the same room at the same time, what happens if the twain do happen to occupy the same ground simultaneously, etc.

There are more questions. But we’ll leave those aside for the moment. We can leave aside trying to parse the logic or suss out how exactly these rules would play out because we all know where these “rules” really come from.

The class privilege inherent in such a sign is mind-boggling.

This attitude is not uncommon among us privileged Bangladeshis

I’ve been sitting at my desk trying to imagine being at a committee meeting, no doubt where all members were educated, moneyed, and bhodrolok or bhodromohila. Where these people drew up these rules, wrote them down, and assigned someone to actually make a sign that proudly proclaims: We are superior, and the people who work for us do not deserve the same rights and privileges that are inherently ours; they are no better than dogs. Because that is, essentially, what the sign is saying.

It isn’t that surprising. This attitude is not uncommon among us privileged Bangladeshis, and I’ve lived in or seen several apartment buildings with signs banning house-help from using lifts. A similar sign, briefly, was displayed in the Dhanmondi building where I lived for several years. I won’t go into the really horrible and irrational arguments other residents put to me when I tried to bring up why this was wrong. Or, how what I said made no difference because I was merely a tenant and not an owner.

The sign also proudly proclaims: “Courtesy of Banglalink.” My question is this: Why is a corporate entity proudly sponsoring such discrimina-

Saba, and Rubaiya’s stand) and the Shaheed Minar (in a exhibition of their true nationalist standing) kept chanting the most crude words at Saba and Rubaiya, who simply countered back along with friends with traditional Bengali songs – the stark contrast of their approaches in protest making it abundantly clear whose culture needed reprimanding and whose was truly representative of Bangladesh and it’s indomitable spirit of never giving up in the face of bullying, adversity, and cruelty. l Matthew Islam is the Founder of UV Happnotic Retail, a textile businessman, a Barrister-at-Law, and a columnist at the Dhaka Tribune. He can be contacted on twitter via @matthewislam.

tory behaviour? Cellphone technology has been a great leveler in Bangladesh. The cheap and reliable services provided by the phone companies have revolutionised communication and access to information like nothing before. A bua or a grihobhrityo or a rickshaw-driver is just as likely to be carrying a cellphone, as is a homeowner in a posh part of the city.

But shouldn’t these telecom providers, an industry which prides itself on customer service, accord the same respect to all customers? Or, are buas and grihobhrityos worth less respect and rights?

It’s quite likely that Banglalink is unaware of the content of the DOHS signboard they’ve sponsored. Such signboards, proudly displaying various corporate sponsorships, are to be found all over the city. While it seems counterintuitive for companies not to scrutinise exactly what they’re sponsoring, it’s understandable as these signboards are not part of any “official” advertising campaign.

A quick perusal of Banglalink’s website details projects they’ve undertaken to serve the underprivileged, such as providing aid at orphanages, setting up computer labs in underprivileged schools. Would a company like Banglalink, which self-describes as “a responsible corporate citizen,” whose Customer Service page proudly states: “Apnar jonnoi amra!” (We are for you!), knowingly endorse such an elitist standpoint evident in the DOHS signboard and follow-up response?

The DOHS authorities or board is a different creature. Banglalink, however, as a responsible corporate citizen is accountable to its customers, to its community. A customer base of us, the aamjanata, comprises of impecunious writers, salaried workers, homemakers, rickshaw wallahs, factory laborers, factory owners – all sorts.

How about it, Banglalink? Here is the moment you can make real your slogan: Apnar jonnoi amra. Here is the moment when you can show your customers that you are for them, for all of them, not just the privileged ones. l Shabnam Nadiya is a writer and translator.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Thursday, November 13, 2014

13 Abahani

cruise past Mohammedan

14 Messi nickname

claims ‘absolutely false’: Ronaldo

Sport

14 Federer eyes

1,000 win landmark

109

TAMIM IQBAL

Did you know?

Bangladesh’s Mominul Haque is just 4 runs shy of his 11th fifty in 12 Tests

130

IMRUL KAYES

PARTNERSHIP 2 2 4

The dominating southpaws

Javed Omar – Nafees Iqbal (Tamim’s elder brother) against Zimbabwe at Dhaka in 2005 Tamim Iqbal – Imrul Kayes, against England at Manchester in 2010

Tamim Iqbal back where he belongs n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong The ongoing three-match Test series between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe have been a memorable one to say the least for opening batsman Tamim Iqbal. Not only did the left-hander register his fifth and sixth Test century, the southpaw has also posted back-toback hundreds for the second time in his career. The last time he achieved the feat was against England at Lord’s and Old Trafford in 2010.

Tamim’s twin hundreds against the English bowling attack, comprising Jimmy Anderson, Steven Finn, Tim Bresnan and Graeme Swann enabled the cricketer from Chittagong to be named as one of the five Wisden Test cricketers of the year in 2010.

Renowned cricket writer Scyld Berry justified the swashbuckling opener’s selection by saying, “There was no question about Tamim Iqbal, the first Bangladeshi to be a Wisden Cricketer of the Year. Not once in Australia were England’s Test bowlers crashed and trashed as they were by Tamim in his two hundreds at Lord’s and Old Trafford.” Berry was referring to England’s Ashes tour of Australia that preceded Bangladesh’s tour of England.

In comparison, Tamim’s hundreds

against Zimbabwe were workmanlike.

The 25-year-old grafted hard but got his due rewards as he equaled Mohammad Ashraful for the highest number of Test centuries by a Bangladeshi batsman.

However, despite all the records, one feat that had eluded Tamim prior to the start of the third and final Test in Chittagong was a hundred at his hometown.

Having scored his first century in the portcity, a responsible 171-ball 109 yesterday, Tamim was expectedly over the moon.

“I have been repeatedly telling the coaches about scoring a hundred at this ground, which is a dream for every player. I have come close a few times in ODIs and Tests. To be able to do it finally, is a great feeling. If I get another chance, I will definitely try to score another century. I celebrated more because it is my home ground. I do not think my family came to the ground but I am sure they prayed for me,” Tamim told the media in the post-day conference.

When asked to describe his feelings upon scoring back-to-back centuries, Tamim said it was anything but easy.

“Khulna (second Test) was a lot of hard work. The wicket looked flat there but it was not easy to bat. Both are different. I got a lot more boundaries here than in Khulna. I never thought I would score only 75 runs batting the entire day (first

day, second Test). I should have made at least a hundred. It was a very tough innings but both are special to me,” he said.

The left-hander also thanked his skipper and head coach Chandika Hathurusingha and said, “I want to thank Mushfiq from the bottom of my heart. He backed me in my tough period. I would also [like to thank] the coach. When he started working here, I was not batting well. But he backed me, told me some very good things. Sometimes words are more effective than action when you are going through a lean patch,” concluded Tamim. l

267

Tamim Iqbal – Junaid Siddique, against New Zealand at Dunedin in 2008

Mohammad Ashraful-Mushfiqur Rahim (5th) against Sri Lanka at Galle, 2013

232

Tamim Iqbal – Imrul Kayes, against England at Lords in 2010

DOUBLE CENTURY STANDS FOR BANGLADESH IN TESTS

Imrul Kayes-Shamsur Rahman (2nd) against Sri Lanka at Chittagong, 2014

224

Eighth hundred runs partnership by a Bangladeshi pair against Zimbabwe

Tamim Iqbal – Imrul Kayes, against Zimbabwe at ZACS in 2014

He spent slightly over four hours at the crease for a second consecutive hundred in this series, after his 109 in Khulna.

The last time Tamim had scored consecutive hundreds was in 2010 in Lord’s and Manchester, but he spent more than four years without his next hundred.

Kayes was a reminder of how he had been part of Bangladesh’s most consistent opening stand between 2008 and 2011 before he was dropped. He started off with more boundaries than Tamim but held on through lean phases throughout the day. He reached his fifty off 123 balls before reaching his second hundred in three Tests. l

Tamim Iqbal-Imrul Kayes (1st) against Zimbabwe at Chittagong, 2014

200

80th opening pair in Test history to score over 200 runs in the opening wicket. Highest ever opening partnership record is South Africa’s Neil McKenzie and Graem Smith adding 415 runs against Bangladesh in Chittagong back in February 2008.

224

First ever Bangladeshi opening pair to score centuries in an innings in Test cricket.

(Tamim involved in the previous three highest opening partnerships)

185

Breaks their own highest opening partnership record after the pair added 185 runs against England at Lords, 2010.

HIGHEST OPENING STANDS FOR BANGLADESH IN TESTS

161

Highest ever partnership between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe for any wicket after Brendan Taylor and Tatenda Taibu scored 150 for the fifth wicket in January, 2005.

133

TAMIM-IMRUL 224-RUN STAND AND SOME RECORDS

individual centuries and record opening stand dominated a beautiful day in Chittagong where the only disappointment for them was a very small crowd witnessing these milestones, one of which belonged to one of their own men.

Tamim’s sixth Test hundred, equal with Mohammad Ashraful for most hundreds by a Bangladeshi, was his first international hundred in his hometown.

126

I want to thank Mushfiq from the bottom of my heart. He backed me in my tough period and so did our coach.

Hathurusingha backed me, told me some very good things.

Sometimes words are more effective than action when you are going through a lean patch

Imrul Kayes and Tamim Iqbal elevated Bangladesh and themselves to a new high in the Test series against Zimbabwe.

On the first day of the third Test, their

Tamim Iqbal-Junaid Siddique (2nd) against India at Dhaka, 2010

3RD TEST, DAY 1 Bangladesh 1st innings Tamim c H. Masakadza b Raza 109 Imrul c sub (Sibanda) b Masakadza 130 Mominul not out 46 Mahmudullah not out 5 Extras (b2, lb5, w6) 13 Total (for two wickets; 90 overs) 303 Fall of wickets 1-224 (Tamim), 2-272 (Imrul) Bowling Panyangara 14-1-46-0, Chigumbura 10-3-29-0 (w4) S. Masakadza 15-3-500(w2), M’shangwe 25-3-85-0, Raza 21-0-74-1, Chari 2-0-9-0, H. Masakadza 3-1-3-1

Tamim Iqbal (L) and Imrul Kayes in the post-day conference at ZACS yesterday COURTESY

Sometimes it is frustrating not to have an established place in the side and I had to perform exceptionally well to catch the eyes of the selectors. But these things never bothered me and I said to myself that whenever I get the opportunity I have to score big

Imrul utilises opportunity as promised before n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong The fighting spirit and the eagerness of utilising the opportunity of playing a Test saw Imrul Kayes register his career’s second century on the opening day of the third match against Zimbabwe yesterday.

The call-up in place of Shamsur Rahman in the squad was unexpected for Imrul who otherwise had a decent outing in 2014. After scoring his maiden hundred against Sri Lanka in February, Imrul lost his place from the national fold in the series against the West Indies two months back. He made nine and 25 in the last Test that he played in the Caribbean island before a poor ODI series was followed by skin disease which saw him fly back to Bangladesh.

Getting the call, Imrul had been saying of making use of this opportunity to seal a place in the line-up and the rest, as they say, is history as the left-hander struck 130.

“I was watching Bangladesh play quite well in this series. I did not expect to play in this series. I knew that next time I get a chance I cannot be stable without scoring a hundred. I have

to score runs. There is no alternative to scoring runs. You have to perform,” said a confident looking Imrul at the post-day conference.

“Sometimes it is frustrating not to have an established place in the side and I had to perform exceptionally well to catch the eyes of the selectors. But these things never bothered me and I said to myself that whenever I get the opportunity I have to score big,” he added.

The 27-year-old partnered Tamim Iqbal to register the highest ever partnership by a Bangladeshi opening pair in Tests, breaking their own record of 185 against England at Lord’s in 2010.

“We talk a lot when we bat together.

When he (Tamim) is facing a problem, I talk to him and he does the same. He was telling me how (Elton) Chigumbura would bowl as we were walking in to bat. It does make batting easier with better communication,” said Imrul.

Imrul is considered as an opening batsman but also offers the option of batting at No 3. The left-handed, however, said, “It is slightly tricky to bat at No 3, you have to wait wearing your pads, which makes you uneasy.” l

Bangladesh face Afghans in Saff opener Sk Jamal, Abahani fly off to Thailand

Bangladesh team practise ahead of their 3rd Saff Women’s Championship opener in Pakistan yesterday COURTESY

n Raihan Mahmood

n Shishir Hoque

Bangladesh and Afghanistan will face each other in the opening match of the 3rd Saff Women’s Championship at Jinnah Stadium in Islamabad at 3:30pm today. It is also the first time Bangladesh will be meeting the war-torn country in the premier women’s football tournament of the region.

All the eight countries from SAARC are taking part in the championship with twotime champions India, Afghanistan, Maldives and Bangladesh in Group A. Group B comprises two-time runners-up side Nepal, Pakistan, Bhutan and Sri Lanka. Bangladesh will be taking on defending champions India this Saturday and will wrap up their group commitments this Monday against Maldives. The top two sides from each group will progress to the semifinals.

The final is slated for November 21.

In the previous two editions, Bangladesh reached the semifinals and were eliminated in the group stages in 2010 at home and 2012 in Sri Lanka respectively. l

With an aim to achieve the title, Bangladesh Premier Football League champions Sheikh Jamal and Abahani Limited will leave here for Bhutan today to take part in the King’s Cup which is scheduled to kick off at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu this Saturday.

Sheikh Jamal will leave the country in the morning and will first go to Kolkata before flying to Bhutan while fourtime professional league champions Abahani will fly directly to Thimphu in the afternoon.

Both the Dhanmondi-based clubs have set their main target to return home as champions. Sheikh Jamal began their preparation camp a month ago while Abahani started their camp three weeks ago. The traditional Sky Blues, who are treating this tournament as preparation for the new season, have been boosted by the arrival of Ghanaian defender Samad Yusuf.

“As the Federation Cup will get underway on December 19, we are

going to play in this tournament as preparation period for the upcoming season. We did practise for three weeks which is not enough but the condition and fitness of the players are not bad.

If they remain fit and adapt to the new conditions quickly and utilise their chances, I expect us to do well,” said Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu yesterday.

Abahani have been pitted in Group B alongside India’s Assam Electricity, Nepal’s A-Division league champions Manang Marshyangdi Club, Osotspa FC from Thailand and Bhutanese club Ugyen Academy. Rupu said their toughest opponents are expected to be the Thai club that had defeated the Bangladesh football team in a practice match last year.

The new shape of Abahani team is a mixture of youth and experience. Their latest signing Victory Anthony and Guinean striker Ismael Bangoura, along with national striker Wahed Ahmed, will lead the forward line while Obam Henry, Samad Yousuf, Arif and Nahid

are likely to shore up the defence.

Sheikh Jamal on the other hand have been placed in Group A with Indian league side Mohun Bagan, Druk United from Bhutan and Nakhon Ratchasing Mazda from Thailand. Sheikh Jamal are targeting nothing but a title win with a star-studded squad at their disposal.

“The team are in very good shape.

We have been training for a month and the players are doing great. Our main target is to come out as champions. If we give our best on the pitch and play as a unit we will make it,” said Sheikh Jamal coach Maruful Haque yesterday.

Sheikh Jamal, however, defeated Mohun Bagan in the IFA Shield earlier this year but this time their last-season’s best player Haitian forward Sony Norde will be playing for the Indian side.

Sheikh Jamal have some good news at last as previous season’s top scorer Emeka Darlington arrived in Dhaka and joined the club last Monday although he is yet to regain his match fitness. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

13

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Athletes depart for Beach Games n Raihan Mahmood

QUICK BYTES

ICC to trial broadcast of umpire communications Cricket fans will soon be able to experience what their rugby counterparts enjoy after the game’s governing body decided to trial the broadcast of conversations between match officials for important decisions. Viewers and spectators will be able to hear the consultations between the on-field and television umpires during the upcoming one-day international series between Australia and South Africa, the International Cricket Council (ICC) said on Wednesday. The umpire communications during referrals, consultations and player reviews might be extended to some matches during next year’s World Cup if the trial was successful. “For years, viewers have enjoyed seeing the same pictures as the TV umpire and making their own decisions during a referral or review,” Geoff Allardice, ICC general manager cricket, said in a statement. “Now they will be even closer to the game, hearing what the umpire is saying when making those decisions.” Australia and New Zealand will co-host the 50-over World Cup from Feb. 14-Mar. 29.

–Reuters

Scott has ‘score to settle’ with McIlroy Adam Scott says he has a “score to settle” with Rory McIlroy when they clash at the Australian Open in Sydney in two weeks. Scott missed a chance for a perfect ending to 2013 when he bogeyed the final hole of last year’s Open at Royal Sydney to allow McIlroy to capture the historic Stonehaven Cup when the Northern Irishman holed a 16-foot birdie putt at the same hole.

They will return for a rematch from Nov. 27-30 most likely as the two topranked players in the world, though the venue will change to another course in Sydney’s eastern suburbs, The Australian Golf Club where Jack Nicklaus won the 1978 Open.

After making history in 2013 when he become the first Australian to win the Masters at Augusta National, Scott almost claimed Australia’s “triple crown” that year when he won the country’s other two big tournaments prior to the Open. “It’s great for me that Rory’s going back,” he told reporters at the WGC-HSBC Champions tournament in Shanghai last weekend.

–Reuters

Podolski to seek talks with Arsenal Germany star Lukas Podolski will seek talks with Premier League side Arsenal about his future as Gunners’ boss Arsene Wenger continues to leave him on the bench, he said Tuesday. “I have to worry about what will happen in the winter and will look for talks with the club,” he said in a Berlin press conference ahead of Germany’s Euro 2016 qualifier against Gibraltar on Friday in Nuremberg. “I’m not happy with my position at the moment and it would also be rubbish for that to continue. “I am still having fun with football, but when you take away the competition (of regular matches) from me, which I find so awesome, then I am not happy. “But if nothing happens in the winter, then I’ll stay. It’s not as though I am completely unsatisfied.” Podolski was again left out of Arsenal’s side for the 2-1 league defeat at Swansea on Sunday and has been used just a handful of times off the bench by Wenger this season. “I don’t know why, for that you’ll have to ask the coach in England,” said Podolski.

“You can’t even say I am in a crisis, because I don’t have the possibility to show what I can do.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH BTV, Gazi TV 9:30AM Bangladesh v Zimbabwe 3rd Test, Day 2

Ten Cricket 12:00PM Pakistan v New Zealand 1st Test, Day 5

Ten Sports 7:30PM Barclays ATP finals Men’s Round Robin, Day 5

Star Sports 1 2:00PM India v Sri Lanka 4th ODI

Star Sports 2 7:30PM Indian Super League Delhi v Goa

Sony Six 5:30PM World Kabaddi League Ludhiana: 38

BRIEF SCORES Prime Bank CC v Victoria SC Victoria: 301/4 in 50 overs (Kapugedara 161*, Nadif 70, Taposh 2/43) Prime Bank: 235/10 in 50 overs (Taiabur 77, Saumya 43, Kapugedara 4/41) Victoria won by 66 runs

Abahani v Mohammedan Mohammedan: 168/9 in 50 overs (Mashrafe 61, Naeem 45, Shuvashish 3/18) Abahani: 169/5 in 37.5 overs (Liton 55, Rakibul 41, Alauddin 2/26) Abahani won by 5 wickets

Kalabagan CA v Brothers Union Brothers: 153/10 in 48/1 overs (Milinda 57, Nabil 2/12, Jeevan 2/30) Kalabagan: 145/10 in 47.1 overs (Mahmudul 55, Sabbir 36, Asif 4/28) Brothers won by 8 runs

Abahani’s Liton Kumar bats while Mohammedan skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza (L) looks on during their DPL match at SBNS yesterday

Abahani cruise past Mohammedan

A 33-member Bangladesh contingent flew to Thailand yesterday to participate in the 4th Asian Beach Games scheduled for November 14-23 in the coastal city of Phuket, Thailand.

Bangladesh will participate in athletics, basketball, handball, swimming, kabaddi, volleyball and wrestling. Among the disciplines it is only in women’s kabbadi that the Bangladesh athletes harbour any hopes of winning a medal. Cager Mithun Biswas will be the flag-bearer in the opening ceremony.

Athletics will be held on the beach but the two participants – the fastest male and female sprinter of the country, Mezbah and Shirin – are hardly aware of the craft. “Running on sand is a little tricky.

We have practised on makeshift sand pitches at Army Stadium,” said Shirin.

The Games in Phuket has drawn a record 2,583 athletes from 43 countries participating across 26 different disciplines.

With a team of 343 members, Thailand have the largest number of competitors.l

MSC start with win in premier chess Kapugedera powers Victoria past Prime Bank, Kalabagan CA collapse against Brothers n Tribune Desk discard Sohrawardi Shuvo also bagged Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited put in to bat first as they lost the open- Prime Bank v Victoria, Fatullah n Minhaz Uddin Khan ing pair with just three runs on the Kapugedera dominated the opposition three wickets for Victoria. began their Premier Division Chess The start to the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League could not have been better for Abahani Limited as they comprehensively beat archrivals Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited by five wickets yesterday.

Sri Lankan Chamara Kapugedera smashed his List A career best 161 not out before registering his best bowling figures (4-41) to power Victoria Sporting Club to a 66-run win over Prime Bank Cricket Club.

Meanwhile in a low scoring affair, Brothers Union handed Kalabagan Cricket Academy an eight-run defeat.

Abahani v Mohammedan, SBNS

Mohammedan were in all sorts of trouble right from the moment they were

scorecard.

The Abahani pacers – Shuvashish Roy and Al Amin Hossain – maintained the pressure by picking up wickets at regular intervals leaving MSC reeling at 46 for six before Mashrafe bin Mortaza (61) showed his class with the bat.

The Bangladesh ODI skipper added 71 runs with Naeem Islam (45) for the seventh wicket to help the Motijheel-based club reach 168 for nine in 50 overs.

The run chase was made easier for the Sky Blues after wicketkeeper-batsman Liton Kumar struck seven fours and a six to score 55. Rakibul Hasan contributed 41 runs as Abahani reached their target in the 38th over.

bowling in the morning before rattling Prime Bank’s batting like-up with his quickies to single handedly land an easy win for Victoria.

Victoria rode on his 136-ball hurricane that included 13 fours and seven huge sixes to post 301 for four.

The right-hander was also involved in a massive 173-run stand with skipper Nadif Chowdhury (70) for the fourth wicket.

Prime Bank in reply never looked comfortable chasing the mammoth total and were reduced from 59 for four before Soumya Sarker (43) and Taibur Parvez (77) came to their rescue. Lefthander Taibur was the last wicket to fall as Prime Bank were all out for 235 in the last ball of their innings. National

Pakistan on brink of mammoth victory against New Zealand n Reuters Pakistan are two wickets away from a comprehensive victory over New Zealand in the first Test after the tourists slumped to 174-8 in their second innings at stumps on the fourth day in Abu Dhabi on Wednesday.

After their first-innings run feast of 566-3, Pakistan declared their second innings at 175-2 to set New Zealand a nominal 480-run victory target in the first match of the three-Test series.

Openers Brendon McCullum (39) and Tom Latham (20) made a bright start before Pakistani spinners Yasir Shah (2-49) and Zulfiqar Babar (2-30) wrecked their top order.

The only possible consolation for New Zealand is that they were not beaten inside four days.

The conTest could have been over on Wednesday but Mark Craig and Ish Sodhi, both unbeaten on 27, showed the kind of fighting spirit that was lacking in some of their team mates.

They will return at the Sheikh Zayed Stadium on Thursday hoping to delay an imminent defeat.

Earlier, Pakistan declared their second stint in the middle as soon as opener Mohammad Hafeez (101 not out) brought up his sixth Test century.

Australia paceman Mitchell Johnson is expecting a fiery encounter with South Africa in the upcoming one-day series but thinks to say the teams “hate” each other would be to overstate the case.

The bad blood between the sides goes back to Australia’s test triumph in South Africa at the start of the year and Johnson conceded that it could spill over into the five-match series which starts at the WACA in Perth on Friday.

“There’s always tension between the two sides,” Johnson told reporters in Perth on Wednesday.

“But in the end we’re going to play them on skill. That’s what we’re about.

We want to beat them with bat and ball.

“It’s probably going to be fiery again but we want to play the best cricket we can. Both teams don’t like to lose and

Milinda Siriwardana’s 57 off 59 balls enabled Brothers to post a respectable 153 on the scorecard, a score that proved enough in the end.

Kalabagan in pursuit of the small target lost their openers early but cruised to 99 runs with Mahmudul Hasan (55) and Sabbir Rahman (36) adding 76 runs. However, Sabbir’s dismissal in the 28th over triggered a major collapse which saw them getting bundled out for 145 runs.

Left-arm spinner Asif Hasan was the architect behind the destruction as his three-wicket haul, all grabbed in the 32nd over of the innings, made all the difference. l

SCORECARD, DAY 4 Pakistan 1st innings 566-3 declared (Ahmed Shehzad 176, Misbah-ul Haq 102 not out, Younis Khan 100 not out; C. Anderson 2-68) New Zealand Ist innings 262 (R. Latham 103; Rahat Ali 4-22, Zulfiqar Babar 3-79) Pakistan 2nd innings (overnight 15-0) Mohammad Hafeez not out Azhar Ali lbw b Sodhi Younis Khan lbw b Sodhi Sarfraz Ahmed not out Extras: (b6, lb2, w2)

101 23 28 13 10

Total: (for 2 wkts; 39.2 overs dec)

175

Bowling Boult 7-2-25-0, Southee 9-0-33-0, Sodhi 13-1-66-2, Anderson 5-1-11-0, Craig 5-0-29-0, McCullum 0.2-0-3-0

Pakistan opener Mohammad Hafeez celebrates his century during the fourth day of their first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi yesterday AFP This was the fifth successive occasion when Pakistan declared their innings, underlining their new-found batting depth on the slow, turning pitches in the United Arab Emirates.

Hafeez, who fell four runs short of his hundred in the first innings, made amends in the second and celebrated the landmark by kissing the turf.

His unbeaten 130-ball knock included 12 fours and two sixes in it.

‘No hate but plenty of fire in Proteas rivalry’ n Reuters, Sydney

Kalabagan CA v Brothers, BKSP 3

that’s where you see the fire in the game (but) I think hate’s a pretty strong word.”

Johnson has not been as devastating in one-day internationals at his home ground as he has in test matches, where he has taken 42 wickets at 20.19 in six matches.

That compares to 11 at 32.54 in nine international matches with the white ball but Johnson is confident that his contribution to the team goes beyond knocking down wickets.

“I always enjoy playing at the WACA and if I play my role in being aggressive and don’t get any wickets, I’m happy and hopefully the team will be happy too,” he said.

The 33-year-old said he would be bowling “pain free” despite a bandage on one of his fingers, damaged when he caught a ball awkwardly in the United Arab Emirates.l

Younus Khan (28), who has recorded three centuries and a double ton in his last five innings, was trapped leg before by leg-spinner Sodhi, who had earlier dismissed Azhar Ali (23) in similar fashion.

McCullum and Latham, who scored his maiden Test century in the first innings, added 57 runs for the opening stand before Pakistan’s slow bowlers took over.l

New Zealand 2nd innings T. Latham c Shah b Babar B. McCullum b Shah K. Williamson st Sarfraz b Hafeez R. Taylor lbw b Shah C. Anderson lbw b Khan J. Neesham c Sarfraz b Rahat BJ Watling b Rahat M. Craig not out T. Southee b Babar I. Sodhi not out Extras: (lb2) Total: (for eight wkts; 54 overs)

20 39 23 8 23 0 0 27 5 27 2 174

Bowling Rahat 9-1-38-2, Khan 7-0-34-1, Babar 18-6-30-2, Shah 13-1-49-2, Hafeez 7-0-21-1

League campaign with a 3.5-.5 point victory over Leonine Chess Club in the 1st round at the media centre of Bangladesh Olympic Association yesterday.

GM Ziaur Rahman was the only one from Mohammedan who was unable to win as he was held by CM Monir Hossain while Georgian GM Mekheil Mchedlishvili, IM Abu Sufian Shakil defeated FM Mehdi Hasan and CM Sohel Chowdhury Uten of Leonine respectively. Spanish GM Anton Guijarro David did not take part in the opening round.

In the other matches, last year’s runners-up Bangladesh Navy outplayed Fire Service & Civil Defence Sports Club 4-0, Titas Club defeated Sultana Kamal Smriti Pathagar 3-1 and Pritam-Prism Chess Club beat Bangladesh Navy (Junior) 3-1.l

France name Davis Cup final team to face Switzerland n Reuters, Paris France will send Jo-Wilfried Tsonga, Gael Monfils, Richard Gasquet and Julien Benneteau to take on Switzerland in the Davis Cup final this month as Les Bleus seek their first triumph in the competition since 2001.

The Nov. 21-23 event, in which Roger Federer and Stan Wawrinka are likely to team up for the Swiss, will be played on clay in Lille under the closed stadium roof of the Ligue 1 club’s Pierre Mauroy stadium. Gilles Simon was named as the replacement player.

“For the moment, I had to make a choice,” captain Arnaud Clement told reporters in a telephone conference call. “Gilles had really good results this last week, but ... ultimately you have to make a choice and this is it.”

France beat holders the Czech Republic 4-1 in the semi-finals, while 17-times grand slam champion Federer led Switzerland to only their second final by knocking out Italy.

None of the French players qualified for the season-ending ATP World Tour Finals in London this week which Federer and Australian Open champion Wawrinka are both competing in.

France do, however, boast impressive strength in depth with six players ranked in the world’s top 30. l

Zimbabwe players boycott domestic competition n Reuters, Harare Zimbabwe’s four-day domestic season did not get under way as planned on Tuesday when players from four teams refused to take the field.

The boycott was confirmed by Zimbabwe Cricket (ZC), who received communication from the Professional Cricketers Association (ZPCA) suggesting the players were unhappy at “contractual issues and the memorandum of understanding between ZC and the ZPCA”.

“It came as a surprise to ZC that when umpires went on to the field for the first day of Logan Cup matches at the two venues, the players refused to come out,” ZC said in a statement on Tuesday.

“The boycott by the players has left ZC with no option but to suspend domestic matches until the players make themselves available.” l

Canadian tennis player Eugenie Bouchard attends the game between Orlando Magic and Toronto Raptors on Tuesday at the Air Canada Centre in Toronto, Ontario AFP

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Federer eyes 1,000 win landmark n AFP, London Roger Federer has set his sights on another memorable milestone as the 17-time Grand Slam champion eyes the 1,000th win of his illustrious career.

Federer’s 6-3, 6-2 victory over Japan’s Kei Nishikori at the ATP Tour Finals on Tuesday took him to 70 match wins for the season -- the sixth time he has hit that mark -and up to 993 career victories from his 1,219 matches.

The 33-year-old can add three more wins at the Tour Finals if he goes all the way to take the title for the seventh time.

That would leave him needing only four more victories to join Jimmy Connors, who had 1,253, and Ivan Lendl, with 1,071, as the only men to have broken the 1,000 barrier.

With seven Wimbledon titles, five US Open crowns, four Australian Opens and one French Open on his glittering CV, Federer has already experienced almost every high the sport can offer.

But he believes making to 1,000 wins would be an especially significant moment because it is a tribute to a player’s longevity at the very top. l

Switzerland’s Rodger Federer returns to Japan’s Kei Nishikori during their Group B singles match on day three of the ATP World Tour Finals tennis tournament in London on Tuesday AFP

Murray keeps semi bid alive n AFP, London Andy Murray kept alive his bid to reach the semi-finals of the ATP Tour Finals with a crucial 6-3, 7-5 victory in his shoot-out with Milos Raonic on Tuesday.

Murray knew he would have been eliminated from the prestigious season-ending event at London’s O2 Arena if he lost to Canada’s Raonic, but the world number six produced a strong performance to secure his first Group B win and remain in the hunt for a last four berth.

The former Wimbledon champion now has to beat six-time winner Roger Federer in his final group match on Thursday to qualify, while Raonic, having lost both matches, is almost certain to be knocked out.

Murray’s victory also meant Federer is

not 100 percent certain to make the semis despite winning both his group matches, including a 6-3, 6-2 stroll against Japan’s Kei Nishikori earlier on Tuesday.

After playing for six consecutive weeks in a successful bid to qualify for the Finals after briefly falling out of the top 10, Murray chalked up titles in Shenzhen, Vienna and Valencia to salvage his ranking.

Yet he looked totally devoid of inspiration and energy in his lacklustre loss against Nishikori on Sunday.

Murray knew he had to improve dramatically against Raonic, who had won three of their four previous meetings.

Raonic had hit 1,103 aces this year and he tried to send a statement of intent with a venomous 138mph ace in his first service game.

Murray wasn’t intimidated by the

early barrage and carried the fight back to the world number eight, earning two break points in the fourth game.

Although Raonic got out of trouble on that occasion, he wasn’t landing enough first serves in to keep Murray on the back foot and the Scot, taking advantage of a series of forehand errors from his opponent, eventually broke for a 4-2 lead. That proved decisive as Murray closed out the first set and he kept up the pressure in the second.

At 33, Federer is the oldest player to qualify for the Tour Finals in his 13th consecutive appearance, but he has been in age-defying form over the last three days.

The 17-time Grand Slam champion has defeated Raonic and US Open finalist Nishikori without dropping a set and will guarantee top spot in the

group, which would bring the added bonus of likely avoiding a semi-final showdown with Novak Djokovic, if he beats Murray.

Federer, who last won the Tour Finals in 2011, didn’t need to be at his very best against Nishikori, who made 30 unforced errors in a sloppy effort that left him with one win from two matches.

“I’ve know Kei since he was 17 years old and always thought he was a great talent. He’s going to have a great future so I’m very pleased with the way I played,” Federer said.

Nishikori needed treatment on his right wrist during the match, but he hopes to be fit to face Raonic.

“It was just a little bit of soreness. I have one more day off, so I will try to recover well and hopefully I can win the next one,” he said. l

Messi nickname claims ‘absolutely false’: Ronaldo n BBC Cristiano Ronaldo has denied claims that he has an obscene nickname for Lionel Messi.

In a new book about the Barcelona forward, it is suggested that the Real Madrid player routinely refers to the Argentine with an offensive expression.

Tensions between Ronaldo, 29, and Messi, 27, have long been rumoured.

“This is absolutely false and I have assured my lawyer takes action to sue those responsible,” the Portuguese wrote on Facebook.

“I have the utmost respect for all my professional colleagues, and Messi is obviously no exception.”

Ronaldo ended Messi’s run of three consecutive Ballon d’Or victories

last year.

Furthermore, the pair are split by just one goal in their bids to become the Champions League’s all-time record goalscorer. The Barcelona man last week moved level with former Real Madrid striker Raul on 71 goals.

Messi needs just two more goals to become La Liga’s all-time top scorer, having netted 250 times in 285 games and is one behind Telmo Zarra’s record for Athletic Bilbao in the 1940s and 1950s. l

Fabregas out of Euro qualifier, Germany clash n AFP, Madrid

Red card for Nations Cup hosts Morocco

Ozil settles with father out of court n AFP, Berlin

n AFP, Cairo

Spain suffered a blow on Tuesday when Cesc Fabregas had to pull out of their Euro 2016 qualifier with Belarus and the friendly against Germany with a hamstring injury.

Coach Vicente del Bosque has called up Villarreal’s Bruno Soriano to fill the Chelsea midfielder’s place. The Spanish Football Federation confirmed Fabregas’s absence for Saturday’s Group C date with Belarus in Huelva and the prestige friendly against world champions Germany in Vigo next Tuesday.l

Morocco has been stripped of hosting the Africa Cup of Nations and flung out of the competition after saying they wanted to postpone the tournament due to fears over the Ebola epidemic, the African Football Confederation (CAF) announced on Tuesday.

The decision was taken during a six-hour meeting of the CAF executive committee at its Cairo headquarters.

Morocco has said since early October that its call for a postponement was “dictated by health reasons of the most

Arsenal’s Germany international Mesut Ozil has reached an out-of-court settlement worth an undisclosed sum in a civil case with his father, Duesseldorf’s district court confirmed Tuesday.

Ozil sacked his father Mustafa as managing director of his marketing company last year only for Mustafa Ozil to file a complaint for loss of earnings totalling 630,000 euros (US$782,724).

The current stakeholders of the World Cup-winner’s firm, Ozil Marketing GmbH, had made a counter claim, demanding repayment of a loan worth one million euros from Ozil senior.l

Spain goalkeeper David De Gea takes part in a training session on Tuesday at the Sport City ground in Las Rozas ahead of their Euro 2016 qualifying match against Belarus AFP

England proud of Al Shamrani gets AFC five clean sheets in award nod despite spit spat a row, says Cahill The Wanderers’ overlooked standn Reuters, London n AFP, Kuala Lumpur outs include goalkeeper Ante Covic, England’s shaky defence can be proud of tightening up after a dismal World Cup campaign, defender Gary Cahill said on Tuesday.

England finished bottom of their group after taking just one point and conceding four goals in three games at the tournament in Brazil in June, finishing with a disappointing 0-0 draw against Costa Rica.

Roy Hodgson’s men have since enjoyed four successive victories and have not conceded a goal. Three of those wins have come in Euro 2016 qualifiers, propelling them to the top of their group.

“Five clean sheets now, it’s something that we’re really proud of,” Cahill told Sky Sports. “From the third game in the World Cup onwards, (it is) something we’re pleased with.

“As a group we felt that we needed to tighten up after the summer. Leading up to the World Cup we did well but the crunch games were obviously in the summer (at the tournament).l

Al Hilal’s Nassir Al Shamrani has been shortlisted for Asian player of the year despite causing controversy when he angrily spat at an opponent and sparked a melee at the AFC Champions League final.

The striker’s goal-laden tournament ended on a sour note when he spat at Western Sydney Wanderers’ Matthew Spiranovic on the final whistle of their 1-0 aggregate win, prompting a shoving match.

There was no room on the shortlist for any Wanderers players, despite their achievement in becoming Australia’s first Asian champions and on their tournament debut.

The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) said the “fiery” Al Shamrani got the nod after scoring 10 goals for Al Hilal in Asia’s club showpiece.

Joining Shamrani on the shortlist are Al Ain defender Ismail Ahmed and Qatar’s Khalfan Ibrahim, the 2006 AFC player of the year who turns out for Al Sadd.

who was named the AFC Champions League’s most valuable player and pulled off a string of saves in the final.

However, Covic was also involved in one of Al Hilal’s vociferous penalty appeals when he brought down Salman Al

Faraj during the second leg in Riyadh.

The Saudi giants later called the final a “black spot in the history of Asian football” and cast aspersions over its “integrity and fairness”, claiming six disallowed penalties over the two legs.

The winners will be announced at an awards ceremony in Manila on November 30. l

dangerous kind, linked to the serious risk of the spread of the deadly Ebola pandemic”.

CAF called on the Moroccans to change their minds, but decided at Tuesday’s meeting that the response they had been given “clearly indicates that the Royal Moroccan Football Federation reiterated its refusal to hold the competition on the dates indicated.

The CAF statement also said that other countries had indicated a willingness to host the tournament and that a decision on that would “shortly” be taken.l

Russian FA says they can’t afford to pay coach Capello n Reuters, Moscow Russia’s FA does not have enough money to pay national team manager Fabio Capello, according to Sergey Stepashin who is a member of the governing body’s executive committee.

“I can say for a fact that the Russian Football Union simply does not have enough money to pay Capello’s salary,” the news agency Interfax on Wednesday quoted Stepashin as saying.

“It is not something to be proud of when we can’t pay Russia’s head coach what he is owed. However, when we signed a contract with him, we should have thought about which financial sources would pay his wages. Today we need to find these financial benefactors.”

Former England manager Capello has not been paid for the last five months according to Russian media reports.

The experienced Italian, who has also coached Real Madrid, Juventus, AC Milan and AS Roma, took over as Russia manager in 2012 and steered the country to their first World Cup in 12 years when they qualified for the 2014 finals.l

French midfielder Morgan Schneiderlin (R) vies with teammate Paul Pogba during a training session on Tuesday ahead of their friendly match against Albania AFP

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Celebrities walk down the memory lane on HUMAYUN AHMED’s birthday the morning. I saw sir standing there and he looked tense. He told me to go inside and take rest. The feeling and care I received was priceless,” he added.

Jayanto Chattopadhyay

Shaon hosts O Amar Ural Ponkhi Re n Entertainment Desk Anchored by Humayun Ahmed’s widow Meher Afroz Shaon, a musical programme titled “O Amar Ural Ponkhi Re” will be aired today on Maasranga TV at 5:02pm.

In the programme, Subir Nandi and SI Tutul will perform the songs written by Humayun Ahmed. Besides, the singers will also be sharing the stories behind the songs. l

Exhibition

Solo Art Exhibition

By Syed Hasan Mahmud Bengal Galllery of Fine Arts Reflection of Spirit

By Syed Khwaja Mukaddas Shadi Ahmed Time: 3pm – 8pm, Dhaka Art Center

Theatre

Drishtipaat Theatre Festival Time:6:30pm – 8:30pm Shilpakala Academy, Shegunbagicha

Film

Pipra Bidda How to Train Your Dragon 2 Guardians of the Galaxy Million Dollar Arm, Tarzan Star Cineplex, Bashundhara City

n Shadma Malik The 66th birth anniversary of famous Bangladeshi director, author, dramatist, screenwriter, playwright and filmmaker Humayun Ahmed is being observed today. Many actors are remembering their beloved filmmaker who changed their life with his majestic touch and charismatic personality. Dhaka Tribune caught up with the celebrities:

Mahfuz Ahmed

M a h f u z A h m e d , whose career was inspired

by Humayun Ahmed, recalled one of the incidents, saying Humayun dedicated the book ‘Ei Megh Rodro Chhaya’ to him. “There he wrote: Mahfuz Ahmed comes to my office everyday for luncheon but he does not come to eat. He comes to see me and talk to me. He is a big star now and does not

come anymore but I still wait for him with food on my table,” said Mahfuz.

“A play was later adapted from the book. The central character of the book has the name Mahfuz. I still regret I could not play the character.

Legends never die, he is still around me,” he added.

Riaz

Riaz, who received Nuhash Cholochitro Best Actor award, from Humayun Ahmed said: “Appreciation is a great way to motivate people, and sir had the heart to acknowledge art and artist.

The award which I received from sir, still works as an inspiration. I was confined to mainstream films, but after working in “Dui Duari” with Humayun sir, my notion changed completely. I believe an artistic movie has its own value. I remember an incident when I started late and reached Nuhash Palli at 3 in

Jayanto Chattopadhyaysaid his relation with Humayun was not only limited to their identities as the director and the actor.

“I never had this feeling of being professional. I always shared a friendly relation with him. We had great times hanging out at Nuhash Palli, which is an idyllic place. We learned and shared. In a humorous way, Humayun Ahmed gave me a book saying that I would never buy any of his book to read. I laughed and told him that in such a case, he should present me with his whole stock. I was touched when he dedicated the book “Misir Ali Omnibus 2” to me and wrote the words “Favourite person and a great actor.”

Tariq Anam Khan

In the early 80s, I worked with Humayun Ahmed and then in 2010-2011, I was shooting for “Ghetuputra Kamola”. Initially I was not that close to Humayun Ahmed but I observed him talking about life, philosophy, love, science and many more. I always

asked myself how a person can become so curious about such small facts.

I love the way when he could portray a serious issue in a humorous way, which points out the social awareness. While shooting for “Ghetuputra Kamola”, I was sitting alone and having my food.

He sat beside me and said no one would like to sit next to me as I had a negative role in the movie. Then he left and left a mark in my life.

Humayun Mela 2014 will begin today at the Channel i premises to mark the 66th birth anniversary of legendary littérateur and film-maker Humayun Ahmed.

Organised by Channel i, the festi-

val will be aired live on the channel starting from 11:05am to 2pm. Channel i also declared Ahmed’s birthday as “Himu Day.” Amirul Islam and Shahidul Alam Sachchu is confirmed to direct the festival and to commemorate the littérateur and cultural icon of the coun-

Shah Rukh Khan wins hearts with Bangla speech at Kolkata Film Festival n Entertainment Desk

MONROE’s lost love letters up for auction n Entertainment Desk Hollywood femme fatale Marilyn Monroe’s lost love letters are going to be auctioned off.

The auction for 300 letters belonging to the iconic actress would take place on December 5-6 in Beverly Hills. An auction for the memorabilia in “Marilyn Monroe’s Lost Archives,” held by Julian’s Auctions, comprises of some heartfelt letters from the actress’ former husband Joe DiMaggio. The letters were sent amid their separation in 1954. “I love you and want to be with you. There is nothing I would like better than to restore your confidence in me,” he told her in one letter.

The baseball player also expressed his feelings when Monroe announced their split on TV. “My heart split even wider seeing you cry in front of all these people,” he said.

Monroe talked about her insecurities in a letter addressed to her husband, playwright Arthur Miller. Letters from Clark Gable, Cary Grant and Jane Russell are also included in the collection. In her will, Monroe gave the collection to her acting mentor Lee Strasberg. l

Bollywood superstar Shah Rukh Khan on Monday urged Australian filmmaker Paul Cox and other international dignitaries to relish the experiences that Kolkata has to offer, including the variety of sweets.

Addressing a star-studded audience at the Netaji Indoor Stadium, Shah Rukh spoke in a decent smattering of Bangla, in keeping with his promise last year.

“I had promised last year that I would speak in Bengali this time, ami Bangla e kotha bole khub anondito (I am very happy to speak in Bengali). Jodi kono bhool hoye thaake amake khoma korben (forgive me if I make any mistakes),” he said to thunderous applause and series of spirited whistling at the inauguration. l

try, numerous artworks, books will be exhibited at the event along with traditional Bangladeshi handy-crafts.

Apart of these, sessions of songs, dances, discussions and recitations will be an exclusive part at the festival.

Youth-oriented television channel Agami has arranged a three-day-long

The Bling Ring

HBO Defined, 9:00pm

Inspired by actual events, a group of fame-obsessed teenagers use the internet to track celebrities’ whereabouts in order to rob their homes.

Paranoia

Movies Now, 11:58pm

An entry-level employee at a corporation finds himself occupying a corner office, he must spy on his boss’s old mentor to secure his place.

Goal!

Star Movies, 11:58pm

Bidya Sinha Mim

I heard while shooting for “Amar Ache Jol” that when Shaon and Humayun Ahmed watched me in the top ten of Lux Channel i campaign, he said I was going to be the one. I was only 15 when I worked with him. Whenever I made a mistake, he overlooked it and asked me to do in a different way. He believed in speaking in a soft tone rather than being rude. He never forced an artist to do something. He actually leads an artist where the person does it in his own way. l

Humayun Mela and Humayun Ahmed Utsob in the capital n Entertainment Desk

15

Humayun Ahmed Utsob 2014 from today with the participation of children and youngsters at the Central Library premises. The festival covers short film, photography, story-writing and art competitions which will be participated by the country’s youths of different ages. l

Santiago Munez, a simple ki, dreams of becoming a football professional.

Living in the Los Angeles, he believes it for what it is just a dream.

Super 8

Zee Studio, 9:30pm

In the summer of 1979, Ohio town, six friends spend their time making a zombie movie with an 8mm camera.

30 Days of Night HBO, 11:46pm

The usual custom that is followed in Barrow, is for 70% of the population to go away on the last sunset.

Sandra Bullock to star in film on Bolivian election n Entertainment Desk Sandra Bullock is filming a movie about Bolivian elections of 2002, a local media reported.

The film titled “Our Brand Is Crisis” will be shot after Rachel Boyton’s documentary film. George Clooney is the producer of this film.

The film is not shot in Bolivia. The shooting began in the end of September in New Orleans (Louisiana), and the next week it will continue in Puerto Rico.

The film is based upon a story about a group of American political strategists who came to Bolivia to improve President Gonzalo Sanchez de Lozada’s image ahead of the 2002 presidential elections.

He was in the end re-elected to the second term in 2002. A year later, the president was forced to resign and fled the country to settle in the

USA. Bolivia has sought extradition of the former president for several years. He is accused of ordering to disperse mass protests in October 2003 that killed 67 people and injured 400. l

Gordon-Levitt to play Edward Snowden n Entertainment Desk Actor Joseph Gordon-Levitt will play Edward Snowden in a movie directed by Oliver Stone about the former National Security Agency contractor who blew the whistle on the U.S government’s mass surveillance programs, the film’s backers said on Monday.

Stone, who won best director Oscars for “Platoon” and “Born on the Fourth of July,” has written the screenplay based on two books - “The

Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man” by Luke Harding and “Time of the Octopus” by Anatoly Kucherena.

The still untitled film goes into production in Munich in January, said independent studio Open Road Films and production and financing company Endgame Entertainment.

Producer Moritz Borman said in a statement that he and Stone chose Open Road and Endgame because “this film needs an independent in the true sense, where political pressures will not come into play.”

Snowden leaked tens of thousands of

classified intelligence documents to the media in 2013 and sparked a firestorm over the NSA’s gathering of data from the Internet activities and phones of millions of ordinary Americans and dozens of world leaders.

The recently released documentary “Citizenfour” by Laura Poitras chronicles how the former NSA contractor decided to leak the documents and the global repercussions of that act.

Gordon-Levitt, 33, most recently directed and starred in “Don Jon” and has acted in high-profile films “Lincoln,” “The Dark Knight Rises” and “Inception.” l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Buriganga land finally given to RAB The government cancelled the allocation in May ‘to save environment and river’ to establish its headquarters. The Land n Adil Sakhawat Ministry approved their proposal in The government has at last allocated a piece of land in the capital’s Kamrangirchar – that was a channel of the Buriganga River – to RAB 10 six months after the allotment was cancelled to save the environment and the channel itself.

Besides the 2.83 hectares (7 acres) of land given to RAB 10 for its headquarters, the River Police also got 1.21 hectares (3 acres) of land nearby.

Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, who was part of the six-strong ministerial team tasked with recovering the landlocked channel, yesterday told reporters: “I told the deputy commissioner of Dhaka and chairman of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority [BIWTA] to fix the land in the former channel of the Buriganga. I told them to fix 7 acres for RAB and 3 acres for the River Police.”

The minister had just finished a meeting with the River Protection Taskforce.

RAB 10 had applied in 2004 for land

2005 during the tenure of the BNP-Jamaat government. In 2007, the government handed over the landlocked channel to RAB 10.

On May 26 this year, the government cancelled the allocation.

At that time the shipping minister had said: “We will allot non-government land through acquisition if needed. But we will not give them land demolishing the environment and this is the instruction of the prime minister.

Our government is committed to saving environment and recovering the Buriganga channel.”

Asked why he deviated from his earlier decision, Shajahan Khan yesterday said: “We cancelled the land allotted by the Dhaka district administration. Now we allocated them the land as per a directive of the High Court.”

The minister said: “We have decided to allocate the land, which was a channel of the Buriganga, because the land was gobbled up by illegal encroachers.” l

Muhith annoyed at traffic jam n Jebun Nesa Alo After a long tailback caused AMA Muhith to arrive an hour late to a programme yesterday, the finance minister slammed the capital’s traffic management system and called for a reform to the city’s traffic signal system.

“Tailbacks could be easily avoided by bringing discipline in traffic,” the minister told the inaugural ceremony of SME Financing Fair 2014 at the Hotel Sonargaon.

Arriving at the event an hour late, Muhith – the chief guest at the programme – apologised for his delay that caused the start of the fair to be pushed back.

The minister said although the government had spent large amounts of

money to set up traffic lights, nobody cared about the signals. The traffic signal system should not stop, but it needed to be reformed, Muhith observed.

He also claimed that time was being wasted because of the lack of traffic management, which also needed to be improved.

Claiming that the roads in the city were not bad, the minister also criticised the people’s tendency of not following traffic signals.

Although being stuck in traffic jams for hours has become a part of the daily life for Dhaka residents, different media reports have often shown vehicles carrying cabinet members, lawmakers or other top government officials travelling on the wrong side of the road in order to escape tailbacks. l

Relatives of Syed Moinul Hossain, the architect of the National Memorial who died on Monday, break down in tears after his body was brought to the Central Shaheed Minar for the people to pay their final tributes. Story on Page 3 MEHEDI HASAN

Professor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui dies n Mohammad Abu Bakar Siddique

Eminent academic and author Zillur Rahman Siddiqui died early Tuesday at the age of 86.

As the former adviser to a caretaker government fell sick at his Banani residence around 11:45pm on Tuesday he was immediately taken to Samorita Hospital where on-duty doctors declared him dead.

Doctors at Samorita Hospital quoting family members said Zillur Rahman Siddiqui complained of severe chest pain on Tuesday night.

His body will be kept at Jahagirnagar University for an hour from 8:00am today, said his family members today.

Then the body will be kept on the premises of Central Shaheed Minar from 11:00am to 1:00pm.

He will be buried after his second namaz-e-janaza at Dhaka University mosque after Zohr prayer.

The educationist honoured with Bangla Academy Award and Swadhinata Padak left behind his wife, three sons and a daughter.

President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, Speaker Shirin Sharmin Choudhury and Deputy Speaker M Fazle Rabbi Mia condoled the death of country’s noted educationist Professor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui.

General Secretary of Bangladesh Adibasi Forum Sanjib Drong also in a message expressed his shock at the demise of Professor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui.

Dhaka University Professor Syed Manzoorul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune: “There were four prominent aspects in the life of Zillur Rahman.

Firstly he was an outstanding teacher, secondly he was a great educationist who wrote wonderful books on the country’s higher education, thirdly he was a poet, comtemporary to Shamsur Rahman, which he later couldn’t continue, and forthly he was a finest editor.

When he was at the Rajshahi University he edited a little mag called Purbamegh and later he did another – Dipankar – after coming to Dhaka through which he created many young

poets and writers.

“As a cultural activists, he had a firm belief in 1971 Liberation War. He has a significant countribution to indoctrinating people with the values of Liberation War,” he said.

“He was a man of very strong personality who had never compromised with anyone in the question of country’s liberation, said Manzoorul Islam.

Poet Mohammad Rafiq said: “His death is a great loss for the nation as he was a pillar of our conscience.”

“He was a prominent educationist and a great writer.”

Professor Dr Farzana Islam, the vice-chancellor of Jahangirnagar University, where he worked twice as VC, said the nation had lost a guardian.

Born at Durgapur in Jhenaidah in 1928, he matriculated from Jessore Zilla School in 1945 with distinction. After that he studied at Presidency College in Kolkata.

He took his BA in 1950 and MA in 1951 in English Literature with first class both from University of Dhaka.

He studied English Literature at

Worcester College of Oxford University during 1952-54.

He taught at Dhaka College and then at the University of Rajshahi from 1988 to mid-1973.

Thereafter, he taught at Jahangirnagar University and acted as vice-chancellor of the University for two consecutive terms from 1976 to 1984.

Professor Zillur Rahman Siddiqui served as an adviser to the caretaker government under justice Shabuddin Ahmed in 1990-91, being in charge of Ministry of Education.

He was honored with Alaol Shahitya Purashkar in 1977, Bangla Academy Award in 1979, Alokto Shahitya Purashkar in 1998 and Swadhinata Purashkar in 2010.

As an author Professor Siddiqui has over 30 books to his credit. He is a poet, a critic, a translator (Shakespeare and Milton in particular) an editor of, among other books, Bangla Academy English-Bengali Dictionary.

Special mention can be made of his excellent autobiography Amar Chawlar Pathey. l

Google Bus launched for students n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

In an effort to extend the benefits of internet to college and university students in Bangladesh, Google has launched “Google Bus” - an educational outreach programme targeting to reach around five lakh students across the country.

During the yearlong initiative, the Google Bus will travel to 480 colleges and universities at 35 locations and host workshops for students registering to participate.

The programme was launched at a ceremony at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre yesterday, where State Minister for ICT Zunaid Ahmed Palak said the initiative is a joint collaboration of Google and the Information Communication and Technology Division, while there are four more joint programmes in the pipeline.

The “Google Street View” - another popular feature of Google that pro-

‘Twisted light’ beamed across Vienna n BBC Physicists have sent a beam of twisted light 3km through the air above Vienna, the first time that information has been transmitted outdoors using the “twist” of a visible light beam.

This twisting property could allow very fast communication because light with different amounts of twist, encoding separate channels of information, could be sent simultaneously.

Reported in the New Journal of Physics, the technique was tested by sending black-and-white portraits of three famous Austrians: physicists Ludwig Boltzmann and Erwin Schroedinger, and composer Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Above the rooftops of Mozart’s own city, his portrait was broken down into pixels and travelled through the night inside a green laser beam. l

Justice for Jannati demanded n Tribune Report

A group of prominent citizens has urged the government to ensure immediate bail for 23-year-old entrepreneur Jannati Hossain, who has been “unjustly” kept behind bars for four months in connection with the death of her business partner in a car crash.

Thirty-one teachers, professionals and rights activists issued a press statement on Tuesday, condemning Jannati’s “unlawful detention” and calling for the withdrawal of “false accusations” of murder against her.

On June 11, Jannati was detained by the police after the car she was driving reportedly suffered a brake failure and crashed into a police van, killing her business partner Mostamsir Ashraf – who was on the passenger seat beside Jannati. Jannati suffered injuries as well, along with three law enforcers who were inside the van.

Initially, only an an accident case

was filed against Jannati for reckless driving – an offence which is bailable.

But 11 days after the incident, Mostamsir’s uncle filed a murder case against Jannati, her husband, and her brothers with a Dhaka court, reportedly after having failed to convince local police to accept a murder case.

The court later ordered investigators to merge the two cases against her, and since then Jannati has been denied bail and taken on remand for a total of 15 days.

There are allegations that Mostamsir’s father – a former district court judge and the incumbent inspector general of registration (IGR) – has been using his political influence to steer the case against Jannati.

“With evidence and testimonies that point toward nothing but accident, and without establishing intent, Jannati’s indefinite imprisonment is unconstitutional. And the court refusing to give any explanation for rejecting

bail is complicit in the abuse of power

by Mostansir’s [sic] family,” the citizens’ statement read.

“We, the undersigned, are shocked by and vehemently protest Jannati Hossain’s unlawful detention. We demand that she be immediately released on bail and that the murder charge against her be withdrawn,” it added.

An online petition is also being circulated on social media on this regard.

The statement was signed by noted activists and professionals including former adviser to the caretaker government Rokia Afzal Rahman; rights activist Khushi Kabir; Dhaka University teachers Prof Sadeka Halim, Dr Geetiara Nasreen, Dr Kaberi Gayen, Dr Samina Lutfa; Jahangirnagar University teacher Nasrin Khandokar; Jagannath University teachers Shyamoli Shill, Rajib Mir; singer Quazi Krishnakali Islam and other entrepreneurs, journalists and rights activists. l

vides panoramic views of city streets – would also be launched in Dhaka and Chittagong within the next two months, Palak added.

However, the state minister expressed disappointment at the low number of educational institutions willing to participate. Palak claimed that he himself wrote letters to 1,500 institutions urging them to participate in the programme; but only 480 colleges and universities expressed their willingness to join.

“People still consider internet as a negative thing, so the response was so little. The project will open the windows of the internet to the people,” he said.

The Google Bus has been retrofitted with stowaway seats, 3G internet connectivity and an array of monitors and sound system where audio-video training material can be displayed.

The Google Bus workshops will allow students to connect with their peers on-

line and teach them about internet utilities and the tools offered by Google.

Speaking at the programme, James McClure, head of emerging markets at Google southeast Asia, said: “Equipped with the right training, we think this young, energetic and highly motivated section of society would be able to maximise the endless possibilities of the internet and create a connected, digital Bangladesh for the global village.”

Over the next few months, the bus will make its way to academic institutions in and around Chittagong, Khulna, Sylhet, Rajshahi, Rangpur, Barisal and other major cities, he added.

An instructor will lead the training session and peer collaboration to familiarise students with the many different Google tools including Google Search, Chrome, Docs, Maps, YouTube, Google+ and others. Each student will also have the opportunity to practice what they have learnt on an internet-enabled Android devices. l

Space history made as probe lands on comet n Reuters The European Space Agency (ESA) landed a probe on a comet yesterday, a first in space exploration and the climax of a decade-long mission to get samples from what are the remnants of the birth of Earth’s solar system.

The box-shaped 100kg lander, named Philae, touched down on schedule at about 1600 GMT after a seven-hour descent from spacecraft Rosetta around half a billion kilometers from Earth.

Scientists hope that samples from the surface of 67P/Churyumov-Gerasimenko will help show how planets and life are created as the rock and ice that make up the comet preserve organic molecules like a time-capsule.

Comets come from the formation of Earth’s 4.6-billion-year-old solar system.

Scientists believe they may have brought much of the water in Earth’s oceans.

“We are ready to make science fiction a science fact,” ESA director of human spaceflight and operations, Thomas Reiter, said at the European Space Operations Centre in Germany before the landing.

Rosetta reached the comet, a roughly 3-by-5 km rock discovered in 1969, in August after a journey of 6.4 billion km that took 10 years, five months and four days – a mission that cost close to $1.8bn.

Rosetta is the first spacecraft to orbit a comet rather than just flying past to take pictures.

Yesterday’s launch went ahead despite a problem with the thruster that meant the probe had to rely mainly on its harpoons to stop it bouncing back from the comet’s surface. l

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B3 Economic headwinds threaten G20 growth pledge

B4 India waits for Modi

to dig economy out of investment hole

THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Tofail lashes out at Mozena Commerce minister says US ambassador’s zero tariff claim is ‘false’ n Abid Azad Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed criticised US Ambassador in Dhaka Dan W Mozena for saying Bangladesh pays zero tariff for RMG export to the US market.

“The envoy made a completely false statement,” he said while speaking as chief guest at a function yesterday.

Bangladesh Indenting Agents’ Association (BIAA) organised the programme in the capital’s CIRDAP auditorium to celebrate its winning of ISO certificate.

The day before, Dan Mozena said: “Bangladesh pays zero … zero … zero … zero tariff. The people of America and buyers pay the tariff.”

Tofail responded in the same manner: “Mozena is false...false....false... false. We paid $3.41bn to the US as duty in last five years and pay $828m every year now. The Bangladeshi suppliers are giving the duty at 16.8% to the US buyers.”

He said Canada, EU and Australia can claim they are providing Bangladesh duty-free facility to their markets, and Japan also makes everything but arms duty-free, while India is giving the facility to all products except tobacco and alcohol. “But this is not true in case of the US.” BGMEA vice president Shahidullah Azim also told the Dhaka Tribune on Tuesday that Bangladesh pays 16.5% tariff for apparel exports to America.

“We export garment products worth $5bn to America paying $850m every year,” he added.

Tofail Ahmed said Dhaka has been urging Washington for long to make

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed speaks at a function of Bangladesh Inventing Agents’ Association in Dhaka yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

We can never meet the US demands as they will keep issuing more and more such matters to be fulfilled Bangladeshi products free of duty.

“But the US didn’t do it, rather suspended the GSP facility.”

He claimed that despite Bangladesh had fulfilled all 16 action plans of the US to get back GSP, the US didn’t proceed on and “put us on new requirements.”

Muhith: No violence can deter investment n Tribune Report Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said there is no power that can impede investment in the country.

Businessmen have now begun to expand their business after a long break of 8-9 months and nobody has power to deter them, he said, addressing the inaugural ceremony of SME Financing Fair 2014 held at a city hotel.

The two-day fair was arranged jointly by Bangladesh Bank and SME Foundation yesterday.

Muhith said: “There is a tendency to thwart every good initiative through waging violence, but no more violence will be able to stop existing investment movement.” Private sector credit growth rose to 12%, which is a very good sign for overall economy, he added.

The finance minister described Small and Medium Entrepreneurs as lifeline of the country’s economy for their more than 70% contribution to overall economy. He called for innovative enterprises in the SME sector.

At the inaugural function, five banks and three non-bank financial institutions were awarded in 10 categories as part of recognition of their contributions to the SME sector.

IDLC Finance won two awards in two categories, women entrepreneurs

friendly of the year and SME of the year.

Union Capital was awarded for being small entrepreneurs friendly while Islamic Finance for manufacturing friendly of the year. Of the banks, award for women entrepreneur category went to Mutual Trust Bank, while Bangladesh Krishi Bank (BKB) bagged the rural entrepreneur-friendly award.

Dhaka Bank was awarded in manufacturing friendly category and Islami Bank Bangladesh in small entrepreneur-friendly category.

Mutual Trust Bank won as SME bank of the year while Eastern Bank was awarded in the category of structured SME bank of the year. Muhith handed over the awards to the MDs and CEOs of respective institutions. Bangladesh Bank and SME Foundation jointly arranged the SME award for the first time.

Around 15 lakh employments have been created in the SME sector between 2009 and 2014, said Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman.

Attending the programme as special guest, he said a loan of Tk2,62,340 crore had been disbursed among 18.35 lakh SME entrepreneurs over the last four years from 2010 to 2013.

Bangladesh Bank also formed a fund of Tk100 crore along with DCCI through which new entrepreneurs will get loan for the first time, he said. l

“In fact, we can never meet the US demands as they will keep issuing more and more such matters to be fulfilled.”

Tofail said the government is now searching new markets to bring about diversity. He said Chile had already agreed to provide us with duty-free market access from January 2015. “We are looking for more countries with such facility.”

BIAA President KMH Shahidul Haque said the country’s about 40% import comes from China while BIAA signed an agreement with Legal Affairs Department in Beijing.

He said this will help Bangladesh’s

importers and exporters get any dispute solved during the trade.

Shahidul Haque urged the government to include BIAA’s service in the Export Policy 2012-2015 as “Service Export.”

BIAA was awarded ISO certificate on May 30 this year by SAI Global Australia.

The Federation of Bangladesh Chambers of Commerce and Industry President Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Bangladesh Insurance Association President Sheikh Kabir Hossain and Dhaka Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Mohammad Shahjahan Khan were also present. l

Government body for cut in savings rates n Asif Showkat Kallol The government is determined to achieve 7.3% GDP growth this fiscal year taking “coordinated efforts,” said officials quoting finance minister.

The decision came up after discussing major economic indicators in the fiscal coordination council meeting yesterday.

According to meeting sources, Finance Minister AMA Muhith told the officials to take necessary steps to achieve the targeted economic growth.

The meeting also recommended reducing the profit rate of savings instruments with a cap on the bank’s lending rate, apparently in a strategy to stimulate the country’s private investment.

At present, profit rate of savings instruments is around 11-12% in different savings schemes.

“In response to declines in export, remittance and revenue, we should take a challenge to see the economy grow at above 7% in the 201415 fiscal,” the officials quoted finance minister.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith presided over the two important meetings.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed, finance, commerce and Economic Relations Division secretaries, NBR chairman and Bangladesh Bank governor also attended the meetings.

The sources said the meeting asked the central bank governor to reduce the spread between lending and deposit rate.

But the governor said he cannot do that in a free-market economy, according to sources.

At present, the bank lending and de-

posit rate spread is more than 10% as commercial banks are taking deposits at 6-8% rate, but lending at 16%.

During first quarter of the fiscal, the total revenue earning of the government was Tk34,785 crore, of which, NBR collected Tk27,151 crore.

The growth was 15.87% compared to 17% during the same period last fiscal.

In the meeting, finance minister asked the NBR chairman to take necessary steps to increase the non-NBR revenue, the sources said.

The overall export earnings growth in first quarter declined to 0.88% from 21.24% one year ago.

The budget was implemented at 6.85% rate in the period while the government’s bank borrowing amounted to Tk9,203 crore.

The government took loans of Tk6,821 crore from the saving instruments in the period despite it borrowed a huge amount from the banking sector.

ADP implementation rate was also slow - only 9% compared to 11% in the same quarter last year.

However, according to an official who was also present at the meeting said the government’s bank borrowing would decline if the revenue earning increased in the next quarters.

Another official said Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed told the meeting that the “low import tax” was responsible for gold smuggling in the country.

He said the government of India has imposed a tax of Tk6,000 on import of 100 grams of gold.

But Bangladesh has currently put a tax of Tk3000 on import of 100 grams gold, he cited in the meeting. l

Documentation, high risk main bar to SME financing n Jebun Nesa Alo New entrepreneurs and banks find it hard to cope with each other in dealing with small and medium enterprises.

Small entrepreneurs see it difficult to submit papers for their loan backup to start their SME business while banks are reluctant to provide them with monetary support, apprehending higher risk.

The two issues draw back both the bank and the clients to involve with small and medium enterprises, said the authorities concerned. A new entrepreneur Abul Kalam Azad, who started handicraft business two years back taking SME loan from Trust Bank, shared his experience at the fair.

He said new entrepreneurs hardly have any access to the banks as they have no financial back up.

Kalam added that despite having potential of an entrepreneur to do good business, he fails to do that due to lack of caution money, while banks seem to be reluctant to provide loan, taking risk.

Installment payment from the beginning of the is another burden for new entrepreneurs as banks start to calculate installment from the first month.

The handicraft businessman termed the monthly installment formalities difficult for the new businessmen who have just found themselves into business.

He advocated for a grace period for payment to the bank as the installment

Visitors look at the products displayed at the SME fair being held at Sonargaon Hotel in the city eats up the entrepreneurs’ returns which they receive after a certain period.

Therefore, encouraged by the SME fair, if an entrepreneur starts business, he cannot do much.

Kalam pointed out that high interest rate is also the biggest barrier to the SMEs who find limitations to submit all documents that banks require to issue loan.

A seasoned SME entrepreneur, Mahfuj, said banks never give any new entrepreneur any loan without sufficient papers. Mahfuj, a new client of South Bangla Agriculture and Commerce

Bank, has been conducting handicraft business over the last 10 years.

He said he attended the fair to draw the attention of customers through his display of some new jute products.

Echoing Kalam, Mahfuj vented the same frustration over the banks’ reluctance to issue SME loans to new entrepreneurs.

Asked about banks’ disinterest in giving SME loans, NCC Bank Managing Director Golam Hafiz Ahmed said banks hardly have enough time to groom the new entrepreneurs for business.

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

He said banks run high risk as new entrepreneurs are not experienced with business culture, and so, they charge high interest from high risk business.

The banker also admitted that the financial institutions should come of the traditional method of sanctioning loan in case of SME. In his address at the inaugural of fair at Sonargaon Hotel, Industry Ministry Secretary Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said new entrepreneurs face problem to access loan facilities for not having proper documents and caution money. l

Ruposhi Bangla renovation faces stalemate n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The state-owned five star hotel Ruposhi Bangla, previously wellknown as Hotel Sheraton, could not yet start renovation works even after two and a half month of its closure.

The authorities concerned have also failed to award any of the jobs to any contractor for the massive renovation work, which is supposed to be accomplished in four phases.

The hotel authorities missed the first deadline set for November, as it could not finish the tendering process, said the high officials.

According to sources, though the total renovation work was fixed at Tk365 crore or US$43m, it might be increased up to Tk450 crore with the extended time frame for the reopening of the hotel under a new brand name.

As per the work schedule, a to-

tal of 16 months were allocated to accomplish the entire renovation work as the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel is set to begin its new journey under a new brand Hotel Intercontinental from January 2016.

But the officials concerned hinted that the reopening of the hotel might also be delayed by couple of months as the management missed the deadline for asset disposal by October, this year.

“It is true that we couldn’t maintain the work schedule, but we think we can rightly follow a fresh schedule. And again, if we fail to manage the renovation work as per our new plan, we can launch the hotel partially,” SahidusSadiq, manager (marketing and communication) told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The hotel was closed on September 1 to implement a16-month renovation project.

The renovation is going to take place as part of a 30-year management deal between its owner, state-run Bangladesh Services Limited and Intercontinental Hotels Group signed in February 2012.

“The first phase of the physical renovation work was scheduled in November but the management is yet to complete the tender process for the work,” a senior Ruposhi Bangla official told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday on condition of anonymity.

SahidusSadiq, however, said the physical renovation work would begin as soon as the process for asset disposal and office relocation was accomplished, which will take six more weeks.

During a sudden visit to the hotel site, the Dhaka Tribune found that no process was initiated for physical renovation work.

Delayed process for the renova-

tion work might lead to a rescheduling the January 2016 deadline, said another official.

The Intercontinental Hotel Group had earlier run the historical hotel from 1966 to 1983.

In late 1983, Sheraton, owned by Starwood, took over its operations and management for the next 25 years. The agreement with Sheraton was extended to April 30, 2011 until Starwood and BSL disagreed over renovation issues.

After that the BSL took over the operations and named the hotel after Ruposhi Bangla.

“We are yet to finalise the tendering of the strip-out phases. The contract awarding and completing the asset disposal might take few more months. As a result, the reopening deadline might also be delayed,” said a senior official.

He also said the hotel also missed the October deadline set for

finishing the asset disposal work.

But SahidusSadiq clarified, “We have completed necessary paper work for asset disposal and physical execution of the work is also completed partially. I hope that the rest of it will be completed soon.”

He said that a large number of assets were distributed to an orphanage as charity and some went to Bangladesh ParjatanCorporation.

Sahidus, however, could not give any time frame for beginning of the physical renovation work.

“After completing the tender formalities, we will soon begin the physical renovation work,” he added.

After the renovation work, Intercontinental Dhaka will have 231 guestrooms instead of the existing 272, and the room size will also be expanded from 26 to 40 square metres, said am official of the hotel. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks post strong rally

DSE key features November 12, 2014

n Tribune Report

Number of Contract

Turnover (Million Taka)

However, the other largecap sectors gained with power registering the highest rally of 3.6%, followed by non-banking financial institutions 1.6%, food and allied 1.3% and pharmaceuticals 1.4%.

Telecommunication advanced by almost 1%.

LankaBangla Securities said the market continued to trade at green zone throughout the day and closed above the psychological level of 5000-mark with strong footing.

It said some encouraging quarterly declaration came on the day, which supported the market and restored confidence of investors after a week-long correction.

Zenith Investments said as stocks advanced from last trading day, investors were reasonably asking whether the bull market had begun to run its course.

Much of the price gains were driven by stock prices that hit rock bottom for the past couple of weeks, it said.

The market breadth also remained robust as out of 308 issues traded, 171 closed green, 108 red and 29 remained unchanged.

Dhaka Electric Supply Company was the most traded issue with shares worth more than Tk34 crore just a day ahead of its record date for distributing dividends.

The newly listed Western Marine Shipyard came second after remaining top position in turnover chart for the seven consecutive sessions.

The two was followed by Jamuna Oil, RSRM Steel, Keya Cosmetics, Olympic Industries, Mobil Jamuna Bangladesh Ltd and Barakatullah Electro Dynamics Ltd. l

Stocks posted strong rally yesterday, with the benchmark index crossing 5000-mark after a week.

The market opened on happy note in the morning and the momentum continued as investors availed lower prices that hit rock bottom due to week-long losses.

The DSEX closed at 5005, soaring over 70 points or 1.5% --its steepest rise in less than a month.

The Shariah index DSES gained 23 points or 2% to 1,180. The com-

The market continued to trade at green zone throughout the day and closed above the psychological level of 5000-mark with strong footing prising blue chips DS30 rose 48 points or 2.7% to 1,870.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 9,414, rising 127 points.

Trading at DSE also remained vibrant with total turnover accumulating over Tk850 crore, an increase of 26.5% over the previous session.

The heavyweight banking issues failed to sustain its previous session’s marginal rise as it saw a correction of 0.6%.

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

EXIM Bank 1 MF-A Khulna Printing-N Shurwid Ind. -N Keya Cosmetics -A Tallu Spinning -Z Meghna PET Ind. -Z Dulamia CottonZ EBL NRB M.F.-A Samata LeatheR -Z The Peninsula CTG.-N

-8.82 -7.02 -6.21 -6.17 -6.13 -5.36 -5.19 -5.00 -4.98 -4.76

CSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

Midas Financing-Z Khulna Printing-N Phoenix Insur -A Hakkani P& Paper -B ACI ZERO Bond-A Shurwid Ind. -N Tallu Spinning -Z Dutch Ban. Bnk- A Janata Insur -A Keya Cosmetics -A

-9.80 -7.25 -6.84 -6.62 -6.14 -5.82 -5.45 -5.37 -5.00 -4.56

5005.65601

(+) 1.44%

1870.94051

(+) 2.64%

15461.84580

(+) 1.59%

12569.11350

(+) 2.51%

9414.70780

(+) 1.37%

Average (% Change) -8.82 -5.11 0.08 -0.75 -7.04 -5.61 -8.23 -4.45 -5.11 2.20 Average (% Change) -9.80 -5.13 -6.76 -3.68 -3.50 -0.34 -7.23 -5.32 -5.00 -0.07

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 6.20 32.67 52.23 30.28 15.58 5.38 7.14 5.80 21.00 35.34

ClosingAvg. 13.80 32.73 35.43 28.04 1,032.50 52.29 15.66 88.10 17.10 30.57

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 315.16 309.13 56.26 1654.52 552.49 1845.06 7.34 529.68 1397.07 194.86 282.52 43.81 80.70 263.57 52.43 47.97 112.35 218.81 187.42 312.01 0.06

DHIGH

6.20 31.80 49.80 28.90 15.30 5.30 7.30 5.70 21.00 34.00

Closing 13.80 32.00 35.40 28.20 1,032.50 50.20 15.60 88.10 17.10 29.30

6.20 34.20 56.00 32.00 16.40 5.70 7.50 5.90 21.30 36.70

DHIGH 13.80 33.70 35.50 29.20 1,032.50 55.60 16.30 88.10 17.50 31.90

Company

180,671,617 159,221

Traded Issues

308

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

178

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

123

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,675.49

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.43

CSE key features November 12, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

605.33

Turnover (Volume)

15,351,881

Number of Contract

21,028

Traded Issues

223

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

121

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

99

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,571.77

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.17

Turnover in Million

DLOW 6.20 31.30 48.20 27.80 15.20 5.20 7.20 5.70 20.00 33.90

0.043 193.636 96.415 268.250 8.752 0.086 0.015 0.058 0.105 131.857

Turnover in Million

DLOW 13.80 31.80 35.40 27.20 1,032.50 48.50 15.00 88.10 17.00 28.40

% change 3.72 3.65 0.66 19.55 6.53 21.80 0.09 6.26 16.51 3.34 0.52 0.95 3.11 0.62 0.57 1.33 2.59 2.21 3.69 0.00

Million Taka 23.73 21.02 5.53 144.59 34.41 98.23 55.90 78.38 51.81 18.44 31.14 8.63 20.15 26.96 1.11 5.96 15.98 26.63 43.56 0.01

CSE

% change 3.33 2.95 0.78 20.30 4.83 13.79 0.00 7.85 11.01 7.27 2.59 4.37 1.21 2.83 3.79 0.16 0.84 2.24 3.74 6.12 0.00

Latest EPS 0.64 2.13 1.64 1.93 1.51 -0.44 -3.84 0.64 0.05 1.52

Latest EPS

0.007 24.023 0.021 0.182 0.001 10.405 1.106 0.044 0.017 12.710

Million Taka 338.89 330.15 61.79 1799.11 586.90 1943.29 7.34 585.58 1475.45 246.66 300.96 74.95 89.32 283.72 79.39 49.08 118.31 234.78 214.05 355.57 0.06

Beximco Pharma -A Ratanpur Steel -N Sonali Ansh -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A SAIF Powertec-N National Polymer -A Northern Jute -Z Al-Haj Textile -A Premier Cement-A Shahjibazar Power-N

Closing (% Change) 9.98 9.96 9.95 9.81 9.81 9.74 9.61 9.56 9.22 8.75

CSE GAINER

-6.16 2.13 3.88 0.64 0.00 1.64 1.51 9.69 0.37 1.93

Latest PE 9.7 15.3 31.8 15.7 10.3 -ve -ve 9.1 420.0 23.3

Total

Company SAIF Powertec-N Beximco Pharma -A Ratanpur Steel -N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Safko Spinning-A Nitol Insurance -A Shahjibazar Power-N LR Global BD MF1-A National Polymer -A Jamuna Oil -A

Closing (% Change) 9.96 9.95 9.90 9.81 8.81 8.45 8.41 7.02 6.96 6.95

Average (% Change) 5.50 6.06 10.35 4.91 12.46 8.75 9.52 5.97 6.88 6.89 Average (% Change) 12.29 6.82 6.84 5.02 9.05 8.30 7.44 6.84 7.24 4.07

ClosingAvg. 61.97 72.28 145.69 38.90 91.13 78.28 198.50 103.89 90.11 241.20

ClosingAvg. 90.85 62.50 72.95 38.92 28.44 30.80 568.57 6.09 76.76 247.21

Closing 63.90 74.00 145.80 40.30 91.80 80.00 198.50 106.60 92.40 242.40

Closing 91.60 64.10 74.40 40.30 28.40 30.80 239.80 6.10 76.80 251.00

DHIGH 63.90 74.00 145.80 40.30 91.90 80.10 198.50 107.00 93.00 242.40

DHIGH 91.60 64.10 74.40 40.30 28.70 30.80 240.50 6.10 78.90 253.80

DLOW 52.30 69.00 144.00 33.10 86.00 67.00 198.50 97.50 83.50 230.00

DLOW 86.50 58.90 69.00 37.00 28.00 30.80 236.00 6.00 74.00 235.00

Turnover in Million 180.827 295.758 7.299 208.423 131.896 72.810 0.040 20.550 51.001 123.012

Turnover in Million 9.412 7.256 17.289 34.374 0.313 0.015 2.843 0.034 2.429 9.025

Latest EPS 4.19 5.44 0.76 1.01 2.00 3.09 1.69 1.68 4.78 3.71

Latest EPS 2.00 4.19 5.44 1.01 1.24 2.79 3.71 0.64 3.09 16.65

Latest PE 14.8 13.3 191.7 38.5 45.6 25.3 117.5 61.8 18.9 65.0

Latest PE 45.4 14.9 13.4 38.5 22.9 11.0 153.3 9.5 24.8 14.8

News, analysis and recent disclosers Unaudited Financials: SAMORITA: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 8.56 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.63 ( restated 0.58) as against Tk. 7.58 million and Tk. 0.56 (0.51) respectively.

USMANIAGL: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 1.56 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.14 (restated 0.13) as against Tk. 15.39 million and Tk. 1.42 respectively.

MALEKSPIN: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 88.62 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.46 as against Tk. 125.87 million and Tk. 0.65 respectively.

RAHIMTEXT: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 9.52 million with basic EPS of Tk. 3.46 (restated 2.75) as against Tk. 1.05 million and Tk. 0.38 (0.30) respectively.

EASTRNLUB: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 0.51 million with EPS of Tk. 0.52 as against Tk. 1.30 million and Tk. 1.30 respectively.

PADMAOIL: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 461.87 million with EPS of Tk. 4.70 as against Tk. 669.69 million and Tk. 6.82 respectively.

RSRMSTEEL: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 72.60 million with basic EPS of Tk. 1.70 (restated 1.36) as against Tk. 35.84 million and Tk. 1.21 (0.88) respectively.

AMCL(PRAN): (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 11.38 million with EPS of Tk. 1.42 as against Tk. 10.18 million and Tk. 1.27 respectively.

EASTLAND: Credit Rating Information and

Services Limited (CRISL) has announced the CPA (Claim Paying Ability) Rating of the Company as "AA" along with a stable outlook in consideration of financials of the Company up to December 31, 2013 (audited), unaudited financials up to June'14 and other relevant quantitative as well as qualitative information up to the date of rating declaration.

Auditor Notes: NORTHERN’s auditor Malek Siddiqui Wali has given 'Emphasis of Matter' and MONNOCERA’s auditor Wahab & Company has given qualified opinion. Detail of these are available at their respective audit reports and website of the Stock Exchanges.

SOUTHEASTB: The Company has informed that BSEC vide its letter dated November 11, 2014 has given consent to Southeast Bank Limited to raise capital amounting to Tk. 300.00 crore only through issuance of 7-year Floating Rate Non-Convertible Subordinated Bond through private placement as per provisions of the Securities and Exchange Commission (Private Placement of Debt Securities) Rules, 2012. The purpose of issuance of the Bond is to increase the Tier-II Capital of the Bank and its Issue Price will be 100% at par.

ICBISLAMIC: ICB Asset Management Company Limited has informed that since

ICB AMCL Islamic Mutual Fund (closedend) managed by ICB Asset Management Company Limited will complete its 10 (ten) years tenure on December 28, 2014 and as per Rules, this closed-end fund will be de-listed from December 29, 2014, the concerned unit holders of the fund are requested to collect their unrealised dividend and refund money within December 24, 2014 from the office of ICB Asset Management Company Limited.

MHSML: The Company will be placed in "A" category from existing "N" category with effect from November 13, 2014 as the Company reported disbursement of 25% stock dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

MHSML: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on June 30, 2014 to the respective shareholders' BO Account on November 09, 2014.

DESHBANDHU: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on June 30, 2014 to the respective shareholders' BO Account. The amount from sales proceeds of fractional bonus shares have been credited to the bank accounts of respective shareholders' BO accounts through Bangladesh Electronic Fund Transfer Network (BEFTN).

Latest PE -ve 15.4 9.1 43.8 31.9 10.4 9.1 46.2 15.8

As stocks advanced from last trading day, investors were reasonably asking whether the bull market had begun to run its course

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

DSE GAINER

8,463.21

Turnover (Volume)

Thursday, November 13, 2014

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

% change 3.69 3.60 0.67 19.61 6.40 21.18 0.08 6.38 16.08 2.69 3.28 0.82 0.97 3.09 0.87 0.53 1.29 2.56 2.33 3.88 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

DESCO Ltd. -A WesternMarine -N Jamuna Oil -A Ratanpur Steel -N Keya Cosmetics -A Olympic Ind. -A MJL BD Ltd.-A Barakatullah E. D.-A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A BD Building Systems -A

Khulna Printing-N Beximco Pharma -A Grameenphone-A Square Pharma -A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company WesternMarine -N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Khulna Printing-N MJL BD Ltd.-A The Peninsula CTG.-N Ratanpur Steel -N Keya Cosmetics -A Padma Oil Co. -A Orion Infusions -A LafargeS Cement-Z

Appollo Ispat CL -N Shurwid Ind. -N SAIF Powertec-N Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z UNITED AIR-A

VolumeShares 4,433,122 4,166,500 1,183,564 4,092,000 8,857,607 943,368 1,715,690 5,738,731 5,358,390 3,572,050

Value in Million 344.30 331.00 295.96 295.76 268.25 264.63 237.76 220.92 208.42 195.20

% of TotalTurnover 4.07 3.91 3.50 3.49 3.17 3.13 2.81 2.61 2.46 2.31

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

5,926,500 2,917,886 476,600 504,380

779,600 883,113 734,000 135,854 490,600 237,000 415,831 42,400 167,000 93,000

446,600 199,000 103,600 561,575 926,288

193.64 180.83 168.71 132.12

61.81 34.37 24.02 18.83 17.32 17.29 12.71 12.51 11.77 11.55

10.87 10.41 9.41 9.19 9.07

2.29 2.14 1.99 1.56

10.45 5.81 4.06 3.18 2.93 2.92 2.15 2.12 1.99 1.95

1.84 1.76 1.59 1.55 1.53

ClosingP 78.40 76.70 252.90 74.00 28.90 282.80 139.70 37.80 40.30 54.40

31.80 63.90 354.20 263.00

ClosingP

76.90 40.30 32.00 139.80 34.00 74.40 29.30 292.00 69.60 124.70

24.10 50.20 91.60 15.90 9.90

Change % 5.52 -0.52 8.22 9.96 -6.17 8.60 4.88 -3.08 9.81 -3.20

-7.02 9.98 0.80 2.65

Change %

-0.65 9.81 -7.25 3.86 -4.76 9.90 -4.56 -1.55 -3.87 6.49

-1.63 -5.82 9.96 -3.64 3.13

ClosingY 74.30 77.10 233.70 67.30 30.80 260.40 133.20 39.00 36.70 56.20

34.20 58.10 351.40 256.20

ClosingY

77.40 36.70 34.50 134.60 35.70 67.70 30.70 296.60 72.40 117.10

24.50 53.30 83.30 16.50 9.60

DHIGH 79.10 83.00 253.90 74.00 32.00 283.10 140.40 39.80 40.30 56.00

34.20 63.90 355.00 267.50

DHIGH

82.70 40.30 33.70 140.20 36.10 74.40 31.90 301.00 75.00 126.00

24.90 55.60 91.60 16.80 9.90

DLOW 67.00 76.20 214.00 69.00 27.80 238.00 120.00 35.10 33.10 52.00

31.30 52.30 351.00 234.00

DLOW

76.10 37.00 31.80 134.00 33.90 69.00 28.40 290.00 67.00 120.00

23.90 48.50 86.50 15.70 10.00

AvgPrice 77.67 79.44 250.06 72.28 30.28 280.52 138.58 38.50 38.90 54.65

32.67 61.97 353.98 261.95

AvgPrice

79.28 38.92 32.73 138.61 35.31 72.95 30.57 295.06 70.46 124.24

24.34 52.29 90.85 16.36 9.79

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Thursday, November 13, 2014

Economic headwinds threaten G20 growth pledge n AFP, Brisbane G20 leaders will this weekend pledge to rev up combined growth by two trillion dollars but analysts are sceptical of success with key pistons of the global economic engine such as Germany and China starting to misfire, and Japan again at risk of going into reverse.

With Barack Obama, China’s Xi Jinping and Vladimir Putin of Russia among the leaders coming to the Brisbane summit, geopolitical issues will not be far from the surface given the conflicts in Syria and Ukraine, the rise of the Islamic State group and the devastating impact of Ebola.

But host Australia has worked hard to narrow the agenda and concentrate on economic issues at a time when the United States appears finally to be kicking into gear just as challenges emerge elsewhere to the growth outlook.

“It won’t be a talkfest,” Prime Minister Tony Abbott said this week, vowing robust discussions not just on growth but on G20 priorities such as going after companies and investors that profit from the differences between tax regimes around the world.

G20 members make up 85% of the world economy, so have the clout to effect far-reaching change.

Australia has focussed its presidency on a commitment by members to raise the level of their combined economic output by at least two percent above the currently projected level in the next five years, via domestic policy reforms, and so generate millions of new jobs.

But analysts are not convinced the rhetoric will be matched by results when several major economies are facing new headwinds, despite US growth perking up enough to allow the Federal

to achieve the higher growth target given slower growth in Germany and China and the end of easy money in the US and UK.”

Too many vested interests?

File photo of US President Barack Obama and Australia's Prime Minister Tony Abbott Reserve to row back from its ultra-easy monetary policy.

‘Not that scary’

Growth remains disappointing in Europe with Germany no longer immune to the pressures that have long been buffeting some of its leading trading partners. Japan is once again throwing out huge amounts of money to prop up

growth after two decades of stagnation.

Even China, the world’s economic locomotive, is starting to falter -- although Xi said at a separate summit of Asia-Pacific leaders in Beijing this week that his country’s outlook was “not that scary” as it downshifts to a more sustainable rate of growth.

G20 nations say some 900 measures on how to meet their goal have been

Japan’s current account surplus up 61.9% in September n AFP, Tokyo Japan posted a current account surplus for the third consecutive month in September as a weaker yen helped boost repatriated returns on foreign investment, official data showed yesterday.

Japan logged a surplus of 963bn yen ($8.4bn) in the current account, up 61.9% from a year earlier, the finance ministry said.

It was much bigger than a market median forecast of 532bn yen.

The current account is the broadest measure of the country’s trade with the rest of the world, measuring not only trade in goods but also services, tourism and returns on foreign investment.

Japan’s deficit in merchandise trade expanded due to higher imports of liquefied natural gas, cellphones and other telecommunications equipment.

But overall income improved with higher gains from equity and other direct investment, as well as from investment in financial items, data showed.

The rise was inflated with a weaker yen, the consequence of Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s pro-spending policy and the Bank of Japan’s massive monetary easing. l

Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri addresses the media during the presentation of OPEC's World Oil Outlook in Vienna REUTERS

OPEC Secretary-General: Don’t panic, situation will fix itself n Reuters, Abu Dhabi Markets should not panic over the recent plunge of oil prices because the situation will resolve itself, OPEC Secretary-General Abdullah al-Badri said on Monday.

“Please do not panic, things will fix itself,” Badri said during a panel discussion at a major energy industry conference in Abu Dhabi. United Arab Emirates energy minister Suhail bin Mohammed al-Mazroui, also on the panel, delivered a similar opinion: “We

Rajshahi Zone of Jamuna Bank Limited has recently held its regional business conference at a hotel in Rajshahi. The bank’s chairperson, Shaheen Mahmud inaugurated the conference as chief guest

are not seeing the price issue as a major issue that we need to panic about.”

Badri indicated that both producers and consumers would be happy with oil prices in a broad range around $100 per barrel. “In the last five to six years we don’t see any nagging by consumers or producers ... $100, $110, $95, they are happy with these prices.”

He also said, “A high price is not preferable by OPEC, a low price is not preferable by OPEC” because high prices would mean less demand while low prices would reduce investment in oil supply. l

AFP

agreed so far, including accelerating infrastructure investment, financial reform and encouraging free trade.

But observers say the details are still missing.

Mark Melatos, senior lecturer at the School of Economics at the University of Sydney, said it was important the G20 produce tangible progress in Brisbane or risk becoming a forum for

empty political statements.

“This seems to be the case with the current ‘growth and resilience’ agenda including the two percent target,” he said.

“The G20 agenda is short on policy specifics to achieve this target. It is also short on genuinely new ideas to achieve this target.

“So it’s unclear how the G20 expects

Yen struggles in Asia after drop on Japan tax talk

Oil prices down in Asian trade n AFP, Singapore

n AFP, Tokyo

Oil prices fell in subdued Asian trade yesterday following sustained speculation about the dim prospects for an OPEC oil production cut in the face of abundant global supplies.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate for December delivery fell 52 cents to $77.42 while Brent crude for December was down 51 cents to $81.16 in afternoon trade.

“Oil prices continue to tumble on concerns over modest demand and no signs of clipping supply at OPEC,” said Desmond Chua, market analyst at CMC Markets in Singapore. Trading volumes were thin in Asian trade with few fresh leads for dealers to track following the Veterans Day public holiday in the United States.

Investors are keeping a close eye on comments by OPEC members ahead of the cartel’s next meeting in Vienna on November 27, with dissent evident in the 12-nation group on the need for a production cutback.

“I hope that (oil) prices will not reach a level where they harm (the) national economy,” Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ali al-Omair told the official KUNA news agency on Tuesday. Oil income makes up around 94% of the country’s public revenues.

Omair attributed the slide in oil prices to oversupply and a weak global economy. l

The yen struggled in Asian trading yesterday after tumbling to a seven-year low against the dollar on speculation that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will delay a planned sales tax hike.

In Tokyo, the greenback fetched 115.83 yen in afternoon trade, after topping 116 yen for the first time since October 2007 in New York.

The euro bought 144.30 yen, against 144.38 yen in US trade, while it bought $1.2458 compared with $1.2474.

The dollar may stabilise around current high levels against the yen for now, with investors sitting on sidelines ahead of Abe’s final decision on next year’s tax hike, said Marito Ueda, director at FX Prime by GMO Corp.

The yen has tumbled since the Bank of Japan widened its monetary base last month, effectively printing cash, and it fell further Tuesday on speculation Abe may put off the sales tax increase.

The rumours come after an April hike hit a tentative recovery by slamming the brakes on consumer spending and now threatens to send the economy into recession.

“Both stocks and the US dollar are unlikely to jump straight to another high from here, but investors can’t sell at this point,” Ueda told Dow Jones

Newly elected committee of Bangladesh Jeweler’s Samitee (BJS) recently held an annual general meeting in Dhaka. Commerce Minister Tofaiel Ahmed MP was the chief guest at the programme

Newswires. Major Japanese newspapers also reported Wednesday that Abe may call a snap election next month if he decides to put off the sales tax hike.

Abe has said he will decide by the end of the year whether to go ahead with plans to raise the tax to 10% in October 2015.

Top government spokesman Yoshihide Suga said the premier would make up his mind after seeing preliminary July-September growth data Monday and revised figures on December 8.

Holding off the second tax hike could delay Japan’s fiscal reform and weaken the yen further.

Abe’s ruling coalition would be likely to win the election, which would be greeted positively by the stock market and trigger fresh yen-selling, analysts said.

The dollar was mixed against other Asia-Pacific currencies.

It firmed to Sg$1.2928 from Sg$1.2923 on Tuesday, to 1,099.54 South Korean won from 1,091.00 won and to 32.86 Thai baht from 32.84 baht.

It also climbed to 12,193.00 Indonesian rupiah from 12,149.00 rupiah and to Tw$30.64 from Tw$30.54.

The dollar was at 61.54 Indian rupees against 61.55 rupees while it weakened to 44.94 Philippine pesos from 44.99 pesos. l

Toshiba Singapore Pte Ltd in alliance with its Bangladesh partner, International Office Machines (IOM) has unveiled its new range of products at a ceremony held at a hotel in Dhaka. The country manager of Toshiba Singapore, Philip Wu has attended the ceremony

The 'Banks and Financial Institutions' of Finance Ministry has recently appointed Shaikh Aminuddin Ahmed as the chairperson of Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC). Ahmed has rendered his services for 43 years in banking sector

RFL has recently announced film actor, Ferdous as its brand ambassador. Md Rashedur Rahman, CEO of Rangpur Metal Industries Ltd (RMIL), a sister concern of PRAN-RFL Group and film actor Ferdous Ahmed have signed an agreement in this regard

The Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) wants the world’s leading countries to step up measures to support flagging global growth, in particular urging the European Central Bank to overcome its reluctance against Fed-style “quantitative easing”.

But Nicholas Reece, from the Melbourne School of Government and School of Social and Political Sciences, says the G20 is hobbled by its sheer size and diversity, with members at different stages of economic development.

“Put simply, there are too many diverse competing interests at the table making it very difficult to get agreement on real reform,” he said.

The Brisbane summit will also focus on reforms to the world’s financial system, such as capital rules for banks to contain the risk of systemic failures, and ways to close tax loopholes that are used by many multinational companies.

The fight against fiscal cheats took on added significance last week with revelations that Luxembourg had given huge tax breaks to hundreds of global firms.

That cast a new spotlight on the European Union heading into the G20, with OECD chief economist Catherine Mann warning that “overall, the euro area is grinding to a standstill and poses a major risk to world growth”.

But if the G20 can deliver on its pledges, she said: “The potential payoff from the structural reform agenda under consideration is tremendous.” l

Denim Mahmud Group has recently attended the Denim Expo Fair in Dhaka. The company’s MD, AKM Aminul islam was present at the fair

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Thursday, November 13, 2014

India waits for Modi to dig economy Japanese stocks soar to seven-year peak on out of investment hole tax-hike delay talk n Reuters, New Delhi

For all the bullishness gripping Indian markets since the election of Prime Minister Narendra Modi six months ago, the prospect of better times ahead has not yet persuaded firms to invest, judging by the slack demand for earth moving equipment.

Busy construction sites would be a sure sign of a revival in capital investment, needed for India to make a full fledged recovery from its longest economic slowdown in decades.

“You have to go out there and see backhoe loaders and earth moving equipment moving earth,” said Anand Mahindra, one of India’s leading industrialists.

“When you see that happening, when there is a real revival on the ground, that’s when people will start to get confidence that things are going to turn around,” the managing director of Mahindra Group told a World Economic Forum meeting in New Delhi last week.

It doesn’t appear to be happening yet, even though India’s stock market has been Asia’s best performer this year thanks to belief that the strong parliamentary majority held by Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will make it easy to pass far-reaching reforms.

Sales of equipment to the construction industry, which fell 15% in 2013, are stuck in the rut they have been in for the last two years.

During the past six months, Mahindra, a conglomerate whose revenues totalled nearly $17bn in the last fiscal year, has seen little improvement in sales of its backhoe loaders and construction kit products.

Sure, the economy picked up in the June quarter, when growth hit a 2-1/2 year high of 5.7%, but, with factories running nearly 30% below capacity,

n Reuters, Tokyo

A truck carrying construction material drives at a road construction site on the outskirts of Jammu industry’s utilisation rates are at their lowest for at least seven years.

Long fuse for big bang

Unsurprisingly, firms are not rushing to invest in new plants and machinery, particularly with high interest rates, needed to reduce inflation, dampening consumer spending.

“I’d rather wait a couple of months than suddenly come up with a new factory only for demand to come down again,” said Sunil Mathur, who heads Siemens’ Indian arm. “I won’t set up a new factory based on a few large orders.”

Capital investment, which accounts for around 35% of the economy, has barely grown since 2012/13. It posted an

annual jump of 7% in the June quarter, but was down 7.4% quarter-on-quarter.

Output data and corporate earnings suggest there was little change in investment activity in the quarter that ended in September. Industrial output data for September is due on Wednesday, and September quarter GDP data is due out on Nov 28.

The better showing in the June quarter had led some economists to forecast growth of 6% in the fiscal year to March 2015, higher than 5.5% that the Reserve Bank of India projected. But lacklustre industrial production has forced a few of them to revise forecasts down again.

The median revenue growth of Indian corporates, which have reported

REUTERS

their September quarter earnings so far, is the lowest in nearly five years and is expected to worsen this quarter, according to Thomson Reuters StarMine data.

Yet, portfolio inflows have gushed into India’s stock and bond markets on hopes that Modi’s reform agenda will unleash a new era of growth. Steps taken so far, however, have been conspicuously modest.

Gita Gopinath, an economics professor at Harvard University, says Modi will have to urgently overhaul laws related to land acquisition, labour and tax to galvanise capital investment.

“There are no ifs and buts,” She said.

“The government can’t escape the ‘big bang’ reforms for long.” l

Japanese stocks scaled seven-year highs yesterday, putting the rest of Asia in the shade, buoyed by expectations Prime Minister Shinzo Abe will postpone a planned sales tax hike to avoid damaging a fragile economic recovery.

MSCI’s broadest index of Asia-Pacific shares outside Japan was down 0.3%, after US indexes ended a holidaythinned session flat.

The Shanghai Composite Index fell 0.3% as investors locked in gains after their surge on the announcement of a tie-up that will give global investors easier access to China’s $3.9tn stock market beginning next week.

Japan’s Nikkei stole the limelight, jumping 1.6% to a fresh seven-year high after local media said that Abe will postpone a planned tax increase and call a general election for December in an effort to lock in his grip on power before his voter ratings suffer a slide.

Abe has said he will make up his mind on the tax increase after assessing the July-September GDP data due next Monday, widely expected to highlight the fragility of the rebound following a sharp contraction in the second quarter.

The first increase in the two-stage sale tax hike in April knocked the Japanese economy hard, and markets view a delay in the second-phase of the tax hike as positive for growth.

A snap election could cement Abe’s grip on power because opposition parties are too fragmented to win, despite a decline in the prime minister’s approval ratings.

“Short-term players are jumping onto this, although in the long run, this just means a delay in fiscal reform and not necessarily positive,” said Ayako Sera, senior market economist at Sumi-

StanChart to axe 80-100 branches under revival plan n Reuters, London Asia-focused bank Standard Chartered plans to cut up to 100 retail branches in 2015, or 8% of its network, to help save $400m a year to improve profitability.

The bank is under pressure to improve performance after three profit warnings this year and a 30% plunge in its shares, and is holding three days of meetings with investors in Hong Kong to spell out its plans.

“We recognize our recent performance has been disappointing and are determined to get back on to a trajectory of sustainable, profitable growth, delivering returns above our cost of capital,” Finance Director Andy Halford said in slides accompanying his presentation to investors.

Ten years of record earnings for Standard Chartered came to an abrupt halt in summer 2012 when it had to pay $667m for violating US sanctions on Iran. It has since been hit by a surging bad debts in key markets such as China and India.

Standard Chartered said in its slides

that returns at its retail bank were being held back by high costs and that it aimed to cut 80-100 branches, out of 1,248 it had at the end of June.

Halford said the bank was aware of investor concerns, including whether its cost cutting plans went far enough and whether its capital was high enough. He also acknowledged their concerns over a rise in bad debts and non-performing loans and whether management was doing enough to tackle problems.

“We understand and are responding to the challenges we are facing. You will see further progress in 2015,” he said.

The slides said the bank aimed to increase assets under management in its wealth management and private banking businesses by 10% or more next year, from $66bn and $56bn, respectively, at the end of June.

It is also aiming to get more out of its corporate finance bankers. It wants that business to show a 10% or more increase in deals and a similar rise in revenues from its eight priority markets and in revenues per banker. l

Microsoft unveils first Lumia smartphone without Nokia name n Reuters Microsoft Corp said it would roll out its Lumia 535 smartphone this month with an affordable price tag in its key markets, dropping the Nokia name just months after buying the Finnish company’s handset business.

Loaded with its latest Windows Phone 8.1 operating system, the Lumia 535 and Lumia 535 dual SIM will be priced at around 110 euros (about $137) before taxes and subsidies, Microsoft said in a statement. The phone will feature a wide-angle 5 megapixel frontfacing camera and a 5-inch qHD display screen, the company said.

Smartphones run on Microsofts’

DILBERT

Windows software, mostly Lumias, captured only 2.7% of the global smartphone market in the second quarter, down from 3.8% the year before, according to research firm Strategy Analytics.

Microsoft completed its $7.2bn deal to buy Nokia’s handset business in April. Nokia continues as a networks, mapping and technology licensing company. It owns and manages the Nokia brand and only licenses it to Microsoft.

Microsoft had said in the past it planned to license the Nokia brand for its lower-end mobile phones for 10 years and to use the name on its smartphones only for a “limited” time, without saying how long that might be. l

tomo Mitsui Trust Bank.

The yen, which has remained under pressure for nearly two years due to the BOJ’s aggressive stimulus, was steady against the greenback, which traded at 115.77 yen, after marking a seven-year high of 116.11 yen on Tuesday.

Some suggested the yen could come under pressure if Abe were to call a snap election and emerge victorious.

Japan’s Nikkei stole the limelight, jumping 1.6% to a fresh sevenyear high after local media said that Abe will postpone a planned tax increase and call a general election for December in an effort to lock in his grip on power before his voter ratings suffer a slide

“Deteriorating fiscal discipline is of course a concern, but it is a mid- to long-term matter. Expectations towards further equity market gains is a key factor weighing on the yen at the moment,” said Masashi Murata, a senior currency strategist at Brown Brothers Harriman in Tokyo.

The euro traded at $1.2462, down about 0.1 percent on the day but keeping some distance from a two-year low of $1.2358 hit on Friday. l

Gold up 2% as dollar drops, physical demand rises n AFP, London

The instrument panel of a new 2015 Ford F-150 truck is shown at the Ford Dearborn Truck Plant November 11 in Dearborn, Michigan. The new 2015 F-150 is the first mass-produced truck in its class featuring a high-strength, military-grade, aluminum-alloy body and bed AFP

Rising stars make Adidas more American, less soccer-mad n Reuters, Herzogenaurach A new generation of more international Adidas executives is trying to loosen a hierarchical structure that has held back creativity at the venerable German sports brand as it tries to retaliate against Nike.

But that is a tall order for a company of 52,500 employees still based in the small Bavarian town where it was founded in 1949, now struggling to keep pace with the fast-changing whims of the urban teens who are its target clientele “The whole organization is run so Germanically and is not fast and agile where everybody is empowered,” said Erich Joachimsthaler, head of strategy consultants Vivendi Partners.

As disappointing performance, particularly in the US market, has hammered the share price of late, long-serving Chief Executive Herbert Hainer, 60, has promoted a raft of younger managers ahead of his own expected retirement in 2017.

Leading the new guard are 47-yearold American Eric Liedtke, global brand chief since March, and Roland Auschel, the 51-year-old German named as sales chief a year ago.

Forced to ditch ambitious targets set for 2015, Liedtke and Auschel are

working with Hainer on a new five-year strategy to be presented in March, but they are taking action already.

Adidas and smaller sportswear rival Puma are still based in sleepy Herzogenaurach, Germany, where they were founded by two brothers who fell out with each other after World War Two. Liedtke has moved several executives to the firm’s US base in trendy Portland, home to Nike, as he seeks to reverse the brand’s decline in the world’s top sportswear market, important not only for sales but also for defining global cool.

Tapping into u.S. Buzz

Despite buying US brand Reebok in 2006, the German firm that is strongest in soccer has struggled to break into sports like basketball and American football, recently slipping into third place in the United States behind Nike and fast-growing Under Armour, founded only in 1996.

Its distance from the US market and top-down structure have contributed to missing trends pioneered by Nike like its “FuelBand” fitness device and “Free” barefoot-feel running shoes, as well as being slow to catch on to the “Athleisure” trend that has seen sports leggings becoming the new denim.

Liedtke, a former American football

player who joined Adidas in 1994, has therefore revived the role of global creative director, and appointed Paul Gaudio to the post in Portland. Gaudio also plans a creative studio in Brooklyn to be led by three former Nike designers.

America has long been an obsession for the Herzogenaurach sportswear firms. “The American market is about cool things that work. It’s a blend of sports and lifestyle, sports products that also have a street appeal and that is what we also see developing into Europe,” said Bjorn Gulden, a former Adidas executive now trying to revive Puma as CEO. Liedtke and Auschel have named 12 new direct reports in recent months, including Mark King as new North America head - the first American in the job for a decade. American, British and French executives now far outnumber Germans in their teams.

More products for the U.S. market will be developed in Portland in the future, while Adidas has signed top basketball players and celebrities like Kanye West and Pharrell Williams.

Even when Adidas is ahead with an innovation like the “Boost” cushioned shoes that Liedtke helped develop in his previous role, it has not done enough to follow through with Nikebeating marketing, a failing it is now addressing. l

Gold rose around 2% on Tuesday as the dollar fell and the previous session’s two-percent slide triggered physical buying interest among Asian investors, though prices remain under pressure from all-time highs in the US equity markets.

Physical buying gathered pace in Europe and China on Tuesday, traders said, supporting prices after dollar strength had knocked them lower.

In addition, sales of gold and silver investment coins and bars have also surged after bullion slid to a 4-1/2-year low at $1,131.85 an ounce last week. The yellow metal is currently down about 3% this year.

“Retail demand is very strong since prices came off,” Heraeus trader Alexander Zumpfe said. “Overall, physical demand is lending some support - Asia is also showing steady buying interest.”

Spot gold was up 1.7% at $1,169.95 an ounce by 2:41 pm EST (1941 GMT).

US COMEX gold futures for December delivery settled up $3.20 an ounce at $1,163, with trading volume about 20% above its 30-day average, preliminary Reuters data shows.

A 0.4% drop in the dollar index helped underpin gold. The greenback retreated after rallying to a 7-year peak earlier.

Analysts said gold’s safe-haven appeal could decline after the Dow and S&P 500 on Monday extended their streak of record closes to a fourth day.

US stocks hit an intraday record high at the open on Tuesday. They later eased 0.1%.

Meanwhile, gold could fall towards $800-$900 an ounce, a level not seen since the 2008/2009 financial crisis, as it is no longer regarded as a decent portfolio diversifier, hedge fund Red Kite said on Monday.

Holdings of the largest gold-backed exchange-traded fund, SPDR Gold Trust, on Monday fell 1.8 tonnes to a six-year low. The fund has seen outflows of 15.8 tonnes so far this month.

In spot market news, The London Bullion Market Association (LBMA) will stop producing its gold lending rates data from Jan. 30 as banks shy away from the risks of providing financial benchmarks, a source close to the situation said.

Among other metals, silver climbed 1.6% to $15.82 an ounce. Platinum was up 1% at $1,203.75 an ounce, while palladium gained 1.5% to $769.72 an ounce. l