17 nov, 2014

Agrahayan 3, 1421 Muharram 23, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 223

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages | Price: Tk12

B1 | BUSINESS

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

12 | SPORT

PM TO DECIDE ON RELEASE OF STRANDED CARS IN PORTS

‘THE TRUTH WAS MORE COMPLICATED’

FRESH POLLS, OR ELSE …

ALL-ROUND SHAKIB CONTENT WITH HIS PERFORMANCE

Cyber jihadis claim second murder

Ansar al Islam 2 Facebook page shows three targets hit, with two more to go Jamil Khan and n Mohammad Ashif Islam Shaon A little known extremist outfit has claimed responsibility for the murder of Rajshahi University (RU) professor, Shafiul Islam Lilon, on a Facebook community page named Ansar al Islam Bangladesh 2.

The responsibility for the killing, within hours of his death on an anonymously operated social media page, is the second such claim on Facebook in recent times.

Investigators believe it to be a high-tech avatar of Ansarullah Bangla Team The social scientist was hacked to death outside his house in the Chauddapai area of Rajshahi city on Saturday afternoon and succumbed to his injuries in hospital some hours later.

Earlier, a Facebook page run under the name Ansar al Islam, took responsibility for the killing of Daffodil University student Ashraful Alam, the Dhaka Tribune reported on November 4.

The 22-year-old was killed in Savar, on the outskirts of Dhaka. The Facebook

page claiming responsibility for his murder was shut down on October 28.

Barrister Mahbubur Rahman, commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP), said his force was aware of the Facebook page and had started an investigation into the murder claim.

“We will seek from Facebook details about the ownership and authorship of the page and details of Facebook users who liked the page or posted comments on it,” he said.

Observation of activity on the page over several hours suggested that most comments and likes on the page came from people claiming to reside in London, with a smaller number claiming to reside in Dhaka.

Many of the those whose present location was listed as London claimed Sylhet or Dhaka as their places of origin.

A Detective Branch (DB) high official of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) told the Dhaka Tribune that investigators learned about the outfit from its Facebook page last month. Speaking on condition of anonymity, he said the outfit apparently targeted bloggers.

Who likes murderers?

Believed by investigators to be a high-technology avatar of Ansarullah  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

The Tigers roar triumphantly over their victory against Zimbabwe in the final game of the Test series at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday

Series sweep completes Tigers turnaround n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong Bangladesh were finally able to bury the ghosts of a disappointing year as they coasted to a 186-run win over Zimbabwe on the fifth day of the third and final Test at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday to record their second series sweep in five-day cricket.

The first time the Tigers sealed a series whitewash was back in 2009 against the West Indies in the Caribbean although that was a two-Test series.

Resuming the final day’s play on 71/1, Zimbabwe required a further 378 runs for a consolation victory. The Bangladesh bowlers, however, had other ideas as the visitors were all out for 262, falling short by 184 runs to give the hosts the much-anticipated and much-needed series sweep.

It was a moment of pride, happiness and relief at the same time for the Bangladesh cricketers and fans. After experiencing countless defeats and controversies throughout 2014, the series sweep

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

came at just the right time. The 3-0 series win will give the Tigers double cause for joy as it came against their arch rivals.

The Bangladesh players though started celebrating a bit too early when they uprooted the stumps after the umpire had judged Natsai M’shangwe leg-before wicket off paceman Shafiul Islam. The Tigers’ jubilations were on hold temporarily as M’shangwe asked for a review. It was in vain as the third umpire agreed with the decision of the on-field umpire.

n Tribune Report

Vehicles are stuck in traffic on the rail tracks in the capital’s Moghbazar yesterday, posing a threat to passengers

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The Appellate Division of Supreme Court asked the government yesterday to increase the retirement age of lower court judges as a good number of judges will go on retirement within a few months, which the court thinks will create a “vacuum” in the judicial system.

The court came up with the opinion during a hearing of Masder Hossain case, known as the judiciary separation case. The eight-member court (full court) headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain fixed the next date for the hearing on December 14.

During the hearing, Barrister Amir Ul Islam told the court that 48 senior district judges would go on retirement soon, and a vacuum may be created in the judiciary. It will also affect in the case disposal rate and the quality of judgement, he said.

A minor boy, who sustained serious injuries in an arson attack a little over a month, died at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) yesterday morning.

4 | Nation

The drive against unfit vehicles is necessary, but the way it is conducted across the country is wrong, making it a ‘futile’ exercise, say experts. “The drive against unfit and illegal vehicles must be a round-the-year exercise.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Agreeing with Barrister Amir Ul Islam, the chief justice said: “It is true that if this number of judges go on retirement soon, it will create a problem.

Especially to dispose civil cases, where will we find this many experienced judges?”

On June 2, 2009, the Judicial Service Commission recommended the government to increase the retirement age of lower court judges from 59 to 62 years.

The chief justice asked the attorney general about the progress of the recommendation’s implementation.

In reply, Attorney General Mahbubey Alam said the chief executive of the state (the prime minister) agreed to increase the retirement age, but the process would take some time.

At one point of the hearing, the attorney general sought time until December 14 from the court. An associate  PAGE 2 COLUMN 4

Unidentified gunmen did just what law enforcers do during raids n Ashif Islam Shaon The “unidentified gunmen,” who abducted two brothers from the capital’s Darussalam area on Friday, did everything that law enforcers would normally do during a raid to arrest criminals.

In the early hours on Friday, they seized mobile phones from some rickshaw pullers and security guards, who

were drinking tea nearby, cleared an alley that led to the house of the two brothers, before eventually abducting Omar Faruk, 32, and Firoz, 27, both book traders by profession.

Witnesses said 10-12 men, equipped with firearms and walkie-talkies, appeared on white microbus around 2:15am in the Bholartek area. They parked the microbus at the mouth of an alley.

“They showed us guns and asked where Faruk and Firoz lived. They frisked the seven people who were at the tea stall at that time and found three mobile phones. They seized the phones and ordered everyone to not leave the place until they told us to,” a witness said.

“We know Faruk and Firoz since the time they rented two apartments here seven years ago. Faruk lives with

his parents, wife and two sons on the ground floor of a two-storey building.

Firoz lives on the ground floor of a three-storey building with his wife and two kids. Both buildings are owned by the same person and the buildings are surrounding by a common wall,” the witness said.

After seizing the mobile phones, the armed men then climbed over the wall to enter the compound of the building.

8 | World

14 | Sport

15 | Entertainment

INSIDE 3 | News

This three-Test series will be a memorable one for Bangladesh for a long time to come. The Tigers created and broke several records but one piece of history is likely to give them the ultimate satisfaction besides being the perfect riposte for the critics who doubt Bangladesh’s place in five-day cricket.

With the exception of England, no other Test nation have been able to register a series sweep in a three-Test series or more in their first 14 years in

SC: Raise retirement age of lower court judges

Islamia College principal held in Shafiul murder case n Tribune report Police yesterday detained a local college principal along with 19 others over the killing of Rajshahi University (RU) Professor Dr AKM Shafiul Islam Lilon.

Humayun Ahmed, principal of Islamia College located in the Jamaat stronghold of Binodpur in Rajshahi city, and several others were taken into custody from Binodpur, Rajshahi Metropolitan Police Commissioner Barrister Mahbubur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune.

Professor Shafiul Islam was hacked to death outside his house in the Chauddapai area of Rajshahi city on Saturday afternoon. He died several hours later while undergoing treatment for his wounds.

A Facebook page, apparently representing an unknown militant group, has claimed responsibility for the murder.

Professor Shafiul had a long standing suspicion that Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir men might physically assault him.

The professor, who has always been vocal against Jamaat-Shibir’s activities on campus, shared his fear of an attack over the last eight years with family members, relatives and close associates several times, one of his relatives told the Dhaka Tribune.

Shafiul is not the only teacher of the university to have been killed. On December 24, 2004, Dr Md Yunus, a

MUMIT M

5 | News

When a special drive against unfit vehicles and unlicensed drivers is taking place across the country, police in Gazipur district are carrying out their daily responsibilities using the shabby vehicles driven by fake licence holders.

6 | Nation

A mayor has illegally built a kitchen market on a vested property and named it after him in Brahmanbaria. The market houses seven sheds, 80 plots and a toilet.

G20 leaders wrapped up an annual summit Sunday vowing to reinvigorate the economy, but frictions remained as Russia’s Vladimir Putin brushed off Western anger over Ukraine.

England captain Wayne Rooney promised never to follow the examples of former teammates such as Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand by retiring from international football.

Indian actress Paoli Dam arrived in the capital on Saturday to attend the muhurat of the film “Swatta.” She will play the female lead opposite Dhallywood superstar Shakib Khan.

“After about half an hour, they came out of the compound with the two siblings and walked them to the white microbus. Before leaving the area, they gave back the mobile phones they had seized from the security guards and the rickshaw pullers,” he said.

Hakim Ali, father of Faruk and Firoz, described what had happened that night while talking to the Dhaka Tribune.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, November 17, 2014

Strong action against VOIP business recommended n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The parliamentary standing committee on posts, telecommunication and information technology ministry has recommended the Bangladesh Telecommunications Regulatory Commission (BTRC) to take tough legal against those who are involved in illegal call termination, even if they are political personalities or government officers.

The parliamentary watchdog came up with the recommendation in a meeting at the parliament secretariat yesterday.

Zunaid Ahmed Palak, state minister of the information commission and technology, said the BTRC have been given the authority to take legal action against anyone involved in the illegal activity.

“We authorised the BTRC at today’s (Sunday) meeting, to take legal action against anyone, even a political leader or a government official,” Zunaid Ahmed told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.

In the existing legal framework, the BTRC has limited scope to take strong action. But now they will be more powerful in taking action against anyone involved in the illegal activity, he said.

The BTRC will also introduce a Centralised Monitoring System (CMS) for monitoring the whole process, he added.

The legal call minutes has recently increased to 9.7 crore minutes from about 6 crore minutes in the country as the government cut the call termination rate to US$ 0.015 from US$0.03 per minute, said Zunaid Ahmed.

Earlier on July 23, the parliamentary watchdog in a meeting recommended the BTRC for installing a system that can audit international calls in the country.

The BTRC had also floated an international tender for installing the CMS. But the telecom regulator canceled the tender suddenly before awarding the contract.

If the CMS is introduced, illegal calls would be brought down to zero and mobile operators would accurately be monitored, according to experts.

At today’s meeting, the committee also asked the BTRC to submit a report within a week about installation of the CMS, said Imran Ahmed, chairman of the parliamentary standing committee.

The committee also recommended that the country’s telecommunication policy be updated soon. The existing policy was introduced in 1998.

“We have achieved most of the goals of the existing telecommunication policy. By this time, technology has been improved significantly. So, the policy should be modernized,” Imran Ahmed said. l

Jubo League leaders and activists remove posters attached on billboards in the capital on the occasion of the organisation’s founding anniversary in the wake of harsh criticisms from different quarters, The photo was taken yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

A team of India’s NIA comes to Dhaka today n Rafe Sadnan Adel

A four member delegation of India’s National Investigation Agency (NIA) is arriving in Bangladesh today as part of its investigation into the Burdwan blast.

Sate minister for Home Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal confirmed the news at a media briefing at the ministry yesterday.

Sources said the delegation would be led by Sanjeeb Kumar Singh, a highranked Indian security official.

“Bangladesh has already formed a committee comprising the heads of the Detective and Special Branches of po-

lice. The plan is to investigate the matter jointly,” the junior minister said.

During the visit, the two sides would share intelligence data regarding the blast and the NIA delegation might interrogate some people here, he said.

On October 2, an improvised explosive device (IED) went off in a house in Burdwan, killing two suspected JMB militants. It also gave rise to fears that the Indian state of West Bengal might have turned into a major militancy hub.

A huge stash of bomb-making substances was seized from the spot of the blast. India subsequently warned

Dhaka that the bombs being assembled there were for use in subversive activities in Bangladesh. Later, the NIA claimed that it had uncovered a JMB plot against Bangladesh Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s life because her stance against militancy had been very firm.

The state minister however did not say anything about whether they were going to launch any joint drive at the field level or how long the NIA team would stay in Bangladesh.

He said: “Bangladesh and India have been very strict in dealing with terrorism in this part of the world. We will ob-

viously holds talk to improve mobility.”

West Bengal police have already arrested Sajid, a Bangladeshi national and a key commander of banned Islamist militant outfit Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangaldesh (JMB).

Sajid said in interrogation that he and his wife Fatima had been training people up at the Shimulia Madrassa, teaching them jihadi doctrines and getting them ready to take part in terror attacks.

Sajid allegedly paid Rs8.75 lakh to another accused Kausar, also a Bangladeshi national, for the purchasing of land for a madrasa in Burdwan. l

AL, other parties got rebirth because of Zia: B Chy Schoolgirl rescued in capital n UNB

President of Bikalpa Dhara Bangladesh (BDB) Dr AQM Badruddoza Chowdhury yesterday said the country’s political parties, including Awami League, got a rebirth as BNP founder Ziaur Rahman had introduced multiparty democracy.

“Ziaur Rahman had been brought to power through the November 7 revolution to take the responsibility of the country’s people. He subsequently restored people’s right of expression and introduced the politics of free thinking.

Political parties, even Awami League, got a new life because of him,” he said.

B Chowdhury, also a former presi-

Series sweep completes Tigers turnaround  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

five-day cricket. The Tigers became the second Test-playing country, and the first from the subcontinent, to record such a feat.

Zimbabwe might have seen it coming as one of their overnight batsmen, Hamilton Masakadza (38), perished early. The second wicket pair of Hamilton and Sikandar Raza (65) added just 26 runs to their overnight score before the former was dismissed by part-time spinner Shuvagata Hom. Not only did Shuvagata initiate the floodgates early on in the morning session, the rightarm off-spinner also accounted for the wicket of Sikandar.

While Hamilton was caught behind

by Test skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, Sikandar smashed a full toss straight into the hands of Taijul Islam at deep mid-wicket.

The duo were one among a few bright spots for the visitors throughout the series, especially Sikandar, who is the first Zimbabwe opener to hit two half centuries in a Test since 2001.

19-year old leg-spinner Jubair Hossain then came to the party removing Zimbabwean skipper Brendan Taylor (24) for the third time in the series. The youngster went on to dismiss the highest scorer of the first innings for the visitors, Elton Chigumbura, for five as Bangladesh started to scent victory with Zimbabwe heading to lunch on 182/5.

Zimbabwe wicketkeeper-batsman Regis Chakabva only tried to delay the inevitable hitting his second fifty of the Test match. Chakabva rode his luck as he was dropped by Mushfiq on 21. But it was just a matter of when not if.

The visitors were soon reeling on 237/7 as Craig Ervine (16) and Richmond Mutumbami (two) departed in quick succession. Both were adjudged plumb in front, off the bowling of Mahmudullah and Taijul Islam respectively.

Paceman Rubel Hossain picked up Tinashe Panyangara’s (two) wicket and Shafiul mopped up the tail to spark celebrations among the Bangladesh players. l

dent, made the remarks while addressing a discussion titled ‘National Revolution and Solidarity Day’ organised by Zia Parishad at the Jatiya Press Club.

He said Zia with his revolutionary thoughts took the country much forward. “Those who couldn’t tolerate the advancement of Bangladesh killed Ziaur Rahman.”

The BDB president said politicians these days do politics only to go to power instead of taking the responsibility of people. “That’s why, they forget about people after assuming office.”

He claimed that the government fears BNP as the party enjoys huge popularity.

Turning to PM’s adviser HT Imam’s recent comments about the January-5 election, B Chowdhury said, “HT Imam is certainly also the Imam of Awami League. He has now disclosed the facts.”

“By holding the January-5 election, the government has stabbed in the chest of democracy,” the BDB chief observed.

He slammed Finance Minister AMA Muhith for his comment that receiving bribe is not illegal, saying it is the worst comment of the year. “‘How come a minister like him (Muhith) made such a comment’?

Referring to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina’s son Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s com-

ment that BNP is a party of Razakars and Ziaur Rahman was not a freedom fighter, the founding BNP secretary general urged all not to react to his remarks as he is a in the learning process of politics.

B Chowdhury said, “He (Joy) was brought up and educated in America.

He doesn’t understand the language of people. He needs time to get acquainted with the culture and reality of Bangladesh politics.”

Ex-VC of Dhaka University Prof Imajuddin Ahmed and BNP joint secretary general Ruhul Kabir Rizvi, among others, addressed the programme held with Zia Parishad chairman Kabir Murad in the chair. l

19 days after abduction n Our Correspondent, Gazipur A schoolgirl who has been abducted 19 days back from Gazipur’s Tongi rescued from Moghbazar in the capital yesterday.

Police also arrested a man who was identified as Sohel Rana Babul, 22, in this connection.

Yesterday, Sohel Rana was produced before a court from where he sent to jail.

Sub-Inspector of Tongi police station Sahadat Hossain said a gang of

abductors had kidnapped the schoolgirl, a student of Class IX at Rajuk Uttara Model School and College, from in front of her residence on October 27.

Father of the victim filed a case with Tongi police station on the following day.

Acting on a tip off, a team of police conducted a raid at T&T colony area of Moghbadar in the early hours of the day and rescued the girl.

During preliminary interrogation, Babul told police that the girl was willingly staying at his residence as they were in a relationship. l

Islamia College principal held in Shafiul murder case

Unidentified

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professor of economics, was hacked to death while jogging in the Binodpur area near the campus.

On February 1, 2006, Professor S Taher of the Department of Geology and Mining went missing from his residence in the teachers’ quarters. His body was found in a sewer outside his residence two days later.

Shock waves across campuses nationwide

The students and teachers of Dhaka University (DU), Chittagong University (CU), Rajshahi University (RU) and Jagannath University (JU) issued statements and held demonstrations to demand swift punishment for Shafiul’s killers.

The teachers and students of the Mass Communication and Journalism department of DU, where Professor Shafiul Islam Lilon’s son is a first-year journalism student, formed a human chain around 11am to urge authorities to take necessary measures against the perpetrators of the crime.

Akhtar Sultana, head of the DU journalism department, said: “Assassinations of university teachers cannot go on. Authorities must ensure safety for teachers.”

Teachers and students of other departments also joined in to express solidarity.

RU students and teachers staged a rally in front of the central library on the university premises around 10am.

Management Professor Moloy Bhowmick said: “Ansar al Islam Bangladesh 2 claimed they killed Professor Shafiul. We demand immediate arrest of the perpetrators.”

A press release signed by Chittagong University Teachers’ Association General Secretary Professor Mustafizur Rahman, said teachers at public universities were gripped by a sense of insecurity after the killing of Professor Shafiul Islam Lilon.

Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) and Progotishil Chhatra Jote brought out two separate processions at DU demanding punishment for the slain professor’s killers.

In response to his killing, the RU Teachers’ Association announced a boycott of classes and exams yesterday.

The general secretary of the association, Professor Pranab Kumar Pandey, said the programme was held in order to demand swift justice.

Meanwhile, Jagannath University

SC: Raise retirement age of lower court judges  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

of the attorney general then asked him if he would be able to do it by that time.

The justices of the court heard the question, and Justice Md Abdul Wahhab Miah said: “If you (the attorney general) cannot do it by this time, we can fix the date until December 16 (the court remains closed that day). We can also fix December 16, 2016 if needed.”

Soon after, Justice Md Imman Ali said to the attorney general: “Have you ever watched Hindi series? They take a minimum of five years to end. We

Cyber jihadis claim second murder  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Who likes murderers?

Bangla Team (ABT), the Ansar al Islam Bangladesh 2 page claimed responsibility for Professor Shafiul Islam Lilon’s murder in a post at 7:09pm on Saturday.

“Our mujahideen have killed an atheist of RU who prohibited the wearing of the burqa in his department, made a rule of appointing teachers who shave regularly and do not wear the pajama and panjabi,” the status read.

The page contained over 1,035 likes as of yesterday.

One sympathiser of the murder-claim page, Ariful Islam Hridoy, wrote: “Bravo Brothers Muhammad Bin Kashem and Tarek Bin Ziad. Allah will give you the best reward. What you have done can only be an act of Allah’s pure followers. Insha’allah it will be you who will establish the Islamic state.”

Hridoy also likes Basher Kella and several Shibir Facebook pages.

Abdul Hamid Khan, who praised the killing of the RU teacher, also liked a Shibir page on his Facebook account.

Khaledul Islam, another Facebook user who liked the Ansar al Islam 2 page, shared text from the Basher Kella page, Islami Chhatra Shibir pages, videos of Delwar Hossain Sayedee and pictures of Abdul Quader Mollah’s janaza on his account on several occasions.

Ansar al Islam 3, a back-up Facebook page, went up around 12pm yesterday.

A single status update gained 483 likes as of 9pm yesterday.

The status reads: “Welcome to our ALFA team’s back-up page. To hear the news of sending murtad and anti-Islam [people] to hell, stay tuned with us.”

Private television channel Ekattor reported that after the Ansar al Islam 2 page was created, follower Shahriar was the first to like the page.

A visit to his Facebook account showed that he, apparently an expat, was once a “sathi” of Shibir’s Rangpur Unit, who had posted derogatory sta-

Teachers Association (JnUTA) yesterday protested the RU professor’s slaying.

The organisation, in a press statement, demanded punishment for the those directly and indirectly involved in the murder and announced that it would hold a human chain on November 18. l

tuses, pictures and comments about the prime minister’s family.

Ekattor television reported that the Ansar al Islam 2 page was opened from Rangpur.

The page featured a photograph of Shafiul crossed out in red, with a caption saying, “File closed, Crime in 2010 and Punished in 2014.”

It warned all “anti-Islam” people and non-believers of dire consequences.

The page also featured photographs of slain blogger Rajib Haider and Ashraful Alam, crossed out in red, and captioned with a single, bloodcurdling word: “Finished.”

In addition to the photographs of the three slain men, pictures of blogger Ashif Mohiuddin and Rakib Mamun were also posted on the Facebook page, along with text saying a first attempt at assassination had been made and a second was coming.

The Facebook page’s author, aside from posting original material, makes

failed to end this in 15 years.”

After the hearing, Barrister Amir Ul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune that a total of 179 judges of district and equivalent ranks are currently serving, most of whom are newcomers.

The Supreme Court had ordered the government to update the Judicial Service Rule on October 1, 2012, providing provisions for the member of the judicial service by increasing the retirement age to 62 years. The government has yet to take any action regarding this recommendation. l

references to the Daily Sangram, a newspaper widely acknowledged to be sympathetic to Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh.

The author’s personal details section on the page reads: “We are the Helpers of Shariah in Bangladesh. We are Mujahideen fi Sabilillah.”

The group, which calls itself Ansar al Islam, is believed by a DB official to be none other than militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team (ABT).

It could be a reformulation and regrouping of the ABT following crackdowns on the outfit by law enforcement agencies, the official added, on condition anonymity.

The relation of ABT to Ansar al Islam seemed more plausible after the arrest of ABT spiritual leader, Mozaffor Bin Mohosin, 35, on the charge of killing Channel I presenter Shaikh Nurul Islam Faruqi. The investigation revealed that he frequently visited mosques and madrasas in Rajshahi, even visiting the region the day before the Faruqi killing. l

He said: “They first knocked on Firoz’s door. When his wife opened the door, four to five men stormed in, went to Firoz’s room and dragged him out.

“Then they started looking for Faruk.

When they knocked at our door, I opened it came out. They asked me where Faruk was. Faruk then came out and they asked him where he had kept his mobile phone.

Then they took Faruk away and his wife Sonia’s mobile phone,” he narrated.

When Hakim asked their identity and why they had come, they replied: “Old man, you will know about it later.”

The two brothers have been running a bookshop named Nobojatra Library in the city’s Nilkhet area for six-seven years. Their father claimed that his sons were not involved in politics or any criminal activities.

“My sons go to work every morning and return by 11pm. They even do not attend any political rallies or programmes,” he claimed. When contacted, Officer-in-Charge of the Darussalam police station Rafiqul Islam said they were yet to know who had picked them up.

“First we have to know whether they are from the Detective Branch [DB] or whether they are any criminals. We have been looking for the siblings,” he said.

He also said the brothers did not have any criminal records with the police station.

The Darussalam police station is just 200 yards from the victims’ house, but law enforcers from that station claimed that they had not sensed anything that night.

On Friday morning, a few hours after the incident, victims’ father Hakim went to the head office of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police’s Detective Branch (DB) in the capital’s Minto Road.

Then he went to the office of the local RAB unit and the Darussalam police station. But none of them could give him any clue about his sons’ whereabouts.

The DB office advised Hakim to file a general diary with the local police station.

When contacted, Saiful Islam, an additional deputy commissioner of DB, told the Dhaka Tribune on Saturday that no DB teams had been involved with the incident.

He also said police had been trying to trace the brothers. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Monday, November 17, 2014

Clockwise: Closed classrooms of the Rajshahi University Sociology Department in the wake of ongoing boycotts and protests by its students and teachers. The Teachers’ Association, Kendriyo Shangskritik Jote and Dhaka University students bring out mourning processions on the campus condemning the killing of Professor AKM Shafiul Islam yesterday AZAHAR UDDIN/MEHEDI HASAN

Second arson victim of Satkhira family dies n Ashif Islam Shaon A minor boy, who sustained serious injuries in an arson attack a little over a month, died at the burn unit of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) yesterday morning.

The death of Tanvir, 12, came after the death of his seven-year-old brother Tanim, who died at the burn unit six days after the incident.

Their 35-year-old mother Jhorna Begum also received injuries when miscreants set fire to their house on October 8.

Jhorna, who is now being treated at the burn unit in a critical condition, did not know until yesterday that neither of her sons is alive as her husband Khalilur Rahman told her that Tanim

IO testifies against war crimes accused Jabbar n Tribune Report The last prosecution witness and investigation officer (IO) of the case against fugitive war crimes accused Abdul Jabbar testified in the International Crimes Tribunal-1 yesterday.

The three-member tribunal led by Justice Enayetur Rahim adjourned the proceedings of the case until today.

The IO, Helal Uddin, said in his investigation he found a list of Razakars of Mathbaria Upazila.

The name of Jabbar is on the top of the list.

In the list, Jabbar is mentioned as chairman of Mathbaria Thana Peace Committee and chief of Razakar, the IO said.

Helal also exhibited a list of martyrs of Angulkata, Noli, Phuljhuri. The martyrs were buried at Surjamoni mass graveyard.

The IO also showed the tribunal a list of arson victims of Tushkhali and Phuljhuri villages.

Earlier, different prosecution witnesses testified on the massacre allegedly led by Jabbar and Pakistani occupation army with the help of Razakars.

Jabbar, former Jatiya party lawmaker, is facing five charges for his alleged involvement in the crimes against humanity during the Liberation War in 1971. l

had been transferred to a private hospital for better treatment. She fainted after overhearing Khalilur informing the relatives of Tanvir’s death over phone shortly after the boy breathed his last.

“After she came round, she showed little reaction as she watched her son suffering immensely because of the burn injuries for more than a month.

She consoled herself thinking that her son has eventually got some peace, said Khalilur, a lecturer at Sheikh Amanullah Degree College in Kolaroa of Satkhira.

On the night of October 8, the four were asleep, with Jhorna sharing the bed with her sons while Khalilur slept on the floor. The house suddenly started burning with a bang and neighbours later rescued them.

The victims were first admitted to Satkhira Sadar Hospital and were later taken to DMCH. Khalilur sustained minor injuries in the arson attack and recovered shortly afterwards.

Khalilur’s brother Tobibur Rahman, his son and some relatives carried out the attack as they were in dispute with Khalilur over lands. Tobibur was arrested and sent to prison as Khalilur had filed a case against him and several others after the incident. The other accused are on the run.

Sheikh Abu Saleh Masud, officer-in-charge of Kolaroa police station, said police were trying to nab the other accused.

“Its really horrible that relatives can subject a family to such brutality,” he added. l

Court issues arrest warrant against police constable in rape case n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu The acting judge of Nari-O-Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal 3, Tanjina Ismail, yesterday ordered the issue of an arrest warrant against a police constable in connection with a rape case filed with the tribunal.

Constable Pulak Halder, 38, of Gendaria police station is accused of raping a house wife of Dhalkanagar of the same area.

The counsel of the victim, Dulal Mittra said, Pulak Halder assured the victim to marry her but never did so.

That is why the victim filed the case with Nari-O- Shishu Nirjatan Daman Tribunal 3 on September 18.

According to the case details, the

constable took advantage of the victim when she went to get her husband released in a case in 2010.

The constable told her to forget her husband as he would be jailed for 14 year in the case.

The accused proposed to marry her and later they started to live together.

A girl child was born in 2011.

However, the constable refused to marry her and did not acknowledge the child.

Instead, he threatened to sue the victim if she ever disclosed the matter.

After filling of the case, an investigation suggested that the constable might be the father of the child. On the basis of the report, the court issued the arrest warrant. l

War crimes charges submitted against two n Tribune Report

Three charges were pressed against two alleged war criminals of Chapainawabganj for crimes committed against humanity in the district during the 1971 Liberation War. Prosecutor Sahidur Rahman submitted the charge-sheet before the International Crimes Tribunal 2 yesterday.

The accused are Mahidur Rahman, 84, of Dadanchak village, and Afsar Hossain alias Chutu, 65, of Satrosia village in Chapainawabganj.

The accused, who were arrested on September 16 in a criminal case, were produced before the court yesterday.

The charges brought against the duo include mass killing, arson, looting, abduction, torture, confinement, and murder committed in the district in 1971.

The Tribunal-2 led by Justice Obaidul Hassan fixed November 24 to decide whether it will accept the charges. It also directed the jail authorities to keep the war crimes suspects detained until that date.

According to the prosecution, as

members of Muslim League that opposed the independence of the then East Pakistan during the war, Mahidul and Afsar had links with the Razakar Bahini and allegedly conducted mass killings in Chapainawabganj.

Charges

On October 6, 1971, Mahidur Rahman, Afsar Hossain and over hundred razakars along with the Pakistani Army, cordoned off Chadshikari, Chama Tola, Kobiraj Tola and Eradot Tola villages. They detained 39 pro-liberation people, some

ACC approves charge sheet against seven people for EFT forgery n Adil Sakhawat The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) approved chargesheet against seven accused, including a Finance Ministry official, for swindling Tk1.31 crore through electronic fund transfer (EFT) forgery.

The commission approved the chargesheet against the accused in its regular meeting at its headquarters in capital’s Shegunbagicha area yesterday.

Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, public relation officer of the ACC, confirmed the matter to reporters after the meeting.

The accused are: Shariful Islam, SAS super (CAO) of the Finance Ministry who is currently suspended, Sadequl Islam, owner of Siam Crop Group,

Tanvir Sarker, Khadija Khatun Dina, Firoze Kabir, Murad Morshed and Sufia Sarker. All the accused are relatives, Pranab said.

Pranab Kumar Bhattacharya, public relation officer of the ACC, confirmed the matter to reporters after the meeting “Shariful, the main accused, is trained in EFT procedure, which is used to disburse salaries to government officials. He illegally transferred a total of Tk1.31 crore to six Dutch Bangla Bank accounts of his relatives, the

other accused, through connecting their accounts with the EFT accounts of the government officials,” Pranab told reporters.

“In order to do this, Shariful showed his relatives as fake government high officials. He has already withdrawn Tk69 lakh from those accounts. After complaint was filed against them with the ACC, the anti-graft body freezed the remaining amount,” he said.

The commission filed a case against eight people with Ramna police station on July 17, 2012 in this regard.

After completing investigation, the commission released the eighth accused, Siddqur Rahman, due to lack of evidence against him.

ACC Deputy Director SM Shahidur Rahman investigated the case. l

of them being supporters of the Awami League and shot 24 of them to death.

On October 13, 1971, the razakars led

by Mahidur and Afsar attacked Kobiraj Tola and Eradot Tola villages and looted 50-60 houses. Later they set fire to those houses.

On November 2, 1971, the two accused along with Pakistani Army and razakars attacked the house of Kalu Mondol. They detained Kalu Mondol, his brother Ilias Ali Mondol and two others, tortured them and murdered them the next day. l

Boy dies after being beaten up over trivial matter n Ashif Islam Shaon

A teenage boy, who was beaten up by his neighbors over a trivial matter in Rayerbazar area of Mohammadpur in the capital, died at Dhaka Medical College Hospital on Saturday night.

The victim Md Shakil Khan,15, son of Md Rafique of Sultanganj area in the capital. He used to work at a tailoring shop at Rayerbazar.

On Thursday, one Kamal and his two sons Akash and Sagor beat up Shakil as Kamal’s wife got injuries in her lip by Shakil’s head at one stage of dancing at a wedding ceremony, said Shakil’s uncle Moniruzzaman Khan.

On Friday, Akash and Sagor along with their friends again attacked Shakil with a road, he said.

Shakil’s family members first admitted him to a local clinic as he complained of pain in his head.

Later, he was shifted to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) as his condition deteriorated.

Mohammadpur Police Station SubInspector Kamal Krishna Saha said the body was sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue for an autopsy.

Police detained Achhia Begum, 38, who received injury by Shakil’s head, her sister Nazma Begum,42, nephew Nazim, 24, and her brother Shahjahan,30.

All of them were present at the wedding party. A case was filed with the police station in this connection. l

Govt targets ‘electricity for all’ by 2030 n UNB State Minister for Power and Energy Nasrul Hamid yesterday directed his ministry officials and those working for subordinate bodies to work with a pro-people outlook.

He said the officials who work at the field level must work with positive mindset, and behave in a pro-people manner with positive outlook to provide best service to the electricity consumers.

The directive came from the state minister while he was addressing a meeting to review the implementation status of different projects under annual development programme (ADP). The meeting reviewed total 68 projects and found the implementation progress at 25.68 percent until October, 2014.

Nasrul Hamid, however, expressed

dissatisfaction over delay in some important and priority projects’ implementation. Power Secretary Monwar Islam, top officials of the ministry and chiefs of different entities in power sector were present at the meeting.

The State Minister asked the officials to work keeping in mind the government target of improving the per capita electricity consumption to 1000 kilowatt hours from the present level of 300 plus kilowatt hours.

He also announced the government’s target to ensure electricity for all by 2030. He directed the officials to install pre-paid meters for all the power consumers within the next three years.

The state minister asked the Rural Electricity Board (REB) to set up a public relation cell to receive the consumers’ complaints and opinions. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, November 17, 2014

DU admission seekers continue hunger strike n DU Correspondent

The Roads and Highways Department conducts an eviction drive to remove illegal structures at the Shimrail bus stand in Siddhirganj in Narayanganj yesterday

FOCUS BANGLA

Dhaka University admission seekers continued their fast-unto-death programme for the fifth consecutive day at the Central Shaheed Minar premises yesterday.

Eight of the participants fell sick at one point while protesters continued chanting slogans in demand of restoration of the previous system that allowed aspirants to appear in the DU intake test twice. They called upon the DU authorities to equalise access to higher education for all.

In the afternoon, they brought out a protest rally from the premises with participation of cultural personality Kamal Lohani, DU Economics Professor MM Akash, Jahangirnagar University Economics Professor Anu Mohammad, Jagannath University Professor Shamoli Shaily and leaders and activists of a number of left leaning student organisations.

Professor MM Akash said: “Dhaka University authority cannot take such a sudden decision as there has to be a rule to make a rule. DU should implement its latest decision from 2016.”

Among the participants of the hunger strike, 29 fell sick in last four days while six of them were given saline.

Police snatched away a sound sys-

DRIVE AGAINST UNFIT VEHICLES

Right decision, wrong strategy n UNB

The drive against unfit vehicles is necessary, but the way it is conducted across the country is wrong, making it a ‘futile’ exercise, say experts.

“The drive against unfit and illegal vehicles must be a round-the-year exercise. If the drive is intensified through a prior announcement, it only creates public sufferings rather than yielding any effective output as most of the faulty vehicles disappear from the streets fearing case, fine or dumping,” urban planner Prof Nazrul Islam told UNB. Prof Nazrul Islam, a former UGC chairman, also finds corruption at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and its lack of manpower as the other reasons behind the swelling

number of unfit vehicles in the country.

“The BRTA is an understaffed organisation. That’s why it needs more time to get fitness clearance from the BRTA. Besides, faulty vehicles would not have been able to manage fitness certificates if the people concerned at the BRTA had remained free from corruption,” he said.

The urban planner, however, stressed that vehicles without fitness must be stopped as those are responsible for most of the fatal accidents across the country, but the drive should be carried out without announcement.

The government’s drive against unfit, unregistered vehicles is proving to be a failure as the number of vehicles dumped from the streets during the first two days of the drive turn out to

be extremely low compared to the estimated number of unfit vehicles that exist.

Sources at the Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) told UNB that only 99 unfit vehicles were dumped during the first two days of their drive on November 10 and 11, though it was estimated before the drive that about 3.4 lakh vehicles were plying the roads without taking the fitness certificates.

According to BRTA statistics, nearly 21 lakh registered vehicles, including 11 lakh motorcycles, ply the roads and streets across the country after having BRTA registration.

Among those, around 3.40 lakh vehicles are plying the roads without taking fitness certificates.

The BRTA started the drive against

AL: BNP leaders’ Bangla-English translation sentiment hurt workshop at ULAB as Joy spoke n truth Tribune Report

n Abu Hayat Mahmud Awami League’s publicity and publication secretary Dr Hasan Mahmud said, the BNP leaders were making derogatory remarks about Sajeeb Wazed Joy as he spoke the truth about Ziaur Rahman.

The ruling party leader made the comment at a press conference at the party’s Dhanmondi office yesterday.

“BNP’s sentiment was hurt

by Joy’s comment. So the party leaders, including acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, are making derogatory comments about the prime minister’s son,” Hasan said.

He advised the BNP leaders to concentrate on their characters, adding that Joy was a famous computer scientist and had been serving as the prime minister’s ICT adviser without any remuneration.

Earlier at a discussion programme on Friday, Joy alleged that the BNP founder Ziaur Rahman was a Pakistani agent in disguise during the liberation war.

Joy labelled the BNP as a party of collaborators “as the party collaborates with Jamaat-e-Islami and opposes the trial of the war criminals.”

In the press conference Hasan Mahmud echoed Joy and said, “A Pakistani Brigadier sent an appreciation letter to Ziaur Rahman during the liberation war. It proves that Zia was a Pakistani agent.”

“Zia was also involved in Bangabandhu’s murder as a Pakistani agent,” he added. l

A translation workshop titled “Bangla-English Literary Translation Workshop” started at the University of Liberal Arts, Bangladesh (ULAB) on Saturday. Organised by the university’s Dhaka Translation Centre (DTC), the five-day event was inaugurated by ULAB VC Professor Imran Rahman.

Participants will be assigned stories to translate for an anthology of Bangladesh fiction, which will be published both in Bangladesh and the UK Organised in partnership with the British Centre for Literary Translation, Commonwealth Writers and English

PEN, the workshop will be attended by 10 participants from across the country, selected to represent a range of ages and experience levels. The workshop will be led by the award-winning Indian literary translator Arunava Sinha.

During the workshop, participants will work on a consensus translation of a short story by celebrated Bangladeshi writer Shaheen Akhtar, who will be present during the sessions to guide the process.

Speakers at the workshop include Emma D’Costa of Commonwealth Writers, Fakrul Ala, professor of English at Dhaka University, Kate Griffin, international programme director at the British Centre for Literary Translation, Kaiser Haq, DTC director and eminent poet and translator, and Khademul Islam, editor of Bengal Lights Books.

Following the workshop, participants will be assigned stories to translate for an anthology of Bangladesh fiction, which will be published both in Bangladesh and the UK. l

vehicles without fitness across the country from November 10. As the announcement was made prior to starting the drive, most of the unfit vehicles went off the roads.

The BRTA sources said a total of 105 mobile court drives were conducted across the country on November 10.

Only 65 unfit vehicles were dumped, 2249 cases were filed and the fine of Tk 16,71,410 was collected on the first day drive.

Besides, 21 drivers were sentenced to various jail terms on the first days of the drive.

But the number of cases reduced to 1,345 on the second day on November 11. The number of vehicles dumped as well as collection of fines also reduced on the day.

The BRTA sources said around Tk

9.33 lakh was collected as fine, while 34 vehicles were dumped and five drivers were sentenced to different jail terms by the mobile courts.

The sources noted that the dumping of vehicles and filing of cases further reduced on Thursday.

Transport specialist Prof Dr Shamsul Hoq said such drives were conducted many times in the past, but it did not bring any success.

Dr Shamsul Hoq, a professor of the Civil Engineering Department of Buet, emphasised modernising the certification process of the BRTA as well as bringing the process under the purview of an independent regulatory body to prevent corruption.

He also suggested that the fitness system should be decentralised across the country. l

tem used during yesterday’s rally, alleged the protesting admission seekers.

“We will continue our strike despite obstacles created by police or DU authority,” said Raju, one of the protesters who passed HSC from Notre Dame College this year.

‘Dhaka University authority cannot take such a sudden decision as there has to be a rule to make a rule. DU should implement its latest decision from 2016’ However, the DU authorities warned them to leave the spot for the sake of maintaining honour of the Language Monument, in a press release issued on Saturday. DU acting proctor Amzad Ali said: “Defying the High Court’s order, the protesters are continuously disrespecting the Shaheed Minar. They should leave the place immediately.”

Gonotantrik Bam Morcha Convener Abdus Sattar, Bangladesh Samajtantrik Andolon President Saiful Haque, Gonojagoron Moncho faction convener Imran H Sarker have expressed solidarity with the protesters. l

Teacher jailed for helping student during JDC exams n FM Mizanur Rahaman A mobile court yesterday jailed a madrasa teacher for three months on charges of helping a girl student in Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) examinations to solve a mathematics question.

The court, led by Executive Magistrate Ruhul Amin of Chittagong district, passed the order, according to a press release.

Harun Ur Rashid, teacher of Darul Ulum Madrasha, was an on- duty invigilator at the mathematics examination at an examination venue in the district yesterday.

He went to another examination hall and helped the female student to solve a mathematics question. He was caught red handed by a mobile court.

The court punished him under Public Examination Act 1980. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Gazipur police turn blind to unfit vehicles They also ride the shady vehicles while on duty, claiming shortage of police transport n Our Correspondent, Gazipur When a special drive against unfit vehicles and unlicensed drivers is taking place across the country, police in Gazipur district are carrying out their daily responsibilities using the shabby vehicles driven by fake licence holders in their areas.

A section of road transport owners in Gazipur are building a particular type of vehicle, popularly known as Leguna, using the chassis of unfit or invalid microbuses, re-attaching body parts as they like, and then putting them back on the road for public use, said Alamgir Hossain, resident of Salna area in Gazipur.

“These vehicles are being rebuilt at a few workshops beside Dhaka-Mymensingh highway near Salna Rail Overbridge. They do not have number plates, nor do they carry the plates of the microbuses they are built from,” he

told the Dhaka Tribune.

“The vehicles are used by both the common people and police,” Alamgir said, “and are driven by drivers with fake or no driving licence. Some of them do not have head lights , let alone the signal lights.”

Asked about the re-assembling of Leguna, Masud Alam, assistant director of Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) in Gazipur, said building such vehicles using scrap microbuses was illegal.

“However, in case of vehicles in good condition, colour change and any other renovations can be done, but that requires BRTA permission as well,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

When contacted, several police officials claimed they were forced to use Leguna for police activities because their stations lacked adequate number of police vehicles.

Rezaul Karim Reza, officer-in-charge

of Joydebpur police station, said his police station needed around 12-14 vehicles to carry out daily activities properly, but it only had two pick-ups.

“Due to this vehicle shortage, we have to use 10-12 Legunas for police activities every day. This does not happen in anywhere else in the world,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

Asked if he knew about Legunas being unfit, he said: “I do not care whether they are fit or unfit. We have severe deficit of vehicles, so we are using those Legunas,” the OC said.

Reza’s claim was reiterated by the OCs of Kapasia, Tongi, Kaliganj, Kaliakair and Sreepur police stations when the Dhaka Tribune contacted them, who all said the number of vehicles at their stations was grossly inadequate.

The Dhaka Tribune talked to Leguna driver Sentu Miah, who said he had bought a microbus and had his Leguna

built out of it at a workshop in Salna.

“I had to invest around Tk5 lakh to get the microbus and make the Leguna. Now I drive on the Chandna-Mirzapur route,” he said. Sentu does not have a driving licence, but that is not a problem, he said.

“I give a token of Tk160 to the local transport leader Sultan Uddin Sarkar everyday. He takes care of police, so I do not have to face any problem on the road. Besides, I work for police round the clock every 7-15 days, so they do not say anything to me about my vehicle’s fitness, or my lack of documents,” he told the Dhaka Tribune.

But when the Dhaka Tribune asked the police officials about it, they denied the allegation.

“We do not take any token money from such vehicle owners or drivers,” the Joydebpur OC claimed.

Sultan, the transport leader made similar claims when the Dhaka Tribune

contacted him.

“We have to lend around 70-80 Legunas to police for use every day. But none of those vehicles are unfit. And I do not collect money from the Leguna drivers for police either,” he said.

This correspondent visited the workshops in Salna where the mechanics were seen working on Legunas.

The owner of one of such workshop, Jewel, said decrepit microbuses and pick-ups are brought in to the workshops from Habiganj, Sylhet, Moulvibazar, Chittagong and many other areas.

“We buy the vehicles for Tk4-5 lakh and then break them down to build Legunas. Turning a microbus into a Leguna costs around Tk40,000-50,000, and for a pick-up it takes around Tk70,00080,000,” he said.

However, when asked, Jewel could not show any document that permitted him to build Legunas. l

ULAB’S 3RD CONVOCATION

Nahid for quality education at private universities n Tribune Report

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid yesterday urged the authorities of the country’s private universities to ensure quality education and run their institutions by following relevant laws.

He also urged them to charge tuition fees at a certain level so that poor but meritorious students could get access to higher education alongside the students from well-off families.

Nahid was addressing the 3rd convocation of the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh (ULAB) at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

The minister praised the university’s authorities for their initiative to include subjects on Bangladesh studies and sustainable development in its curriculum at undergraduate level.

A total of 1080 graduates were conferred degrees at the convocation ceremony where Nahid awarded gold medals to two students for their extraordinary academic performances.

The students are Saima Akter of English department and Azizur Rahman of business administration department.

Delivering the convocation speech, renowned writer and poet Syed Shamsul Haq said academic education is a first step for a life long learning process.

Suggesting the students to be knowledge seekers, he said they must learn to question the existing system and the society where they live in.

Speaking on the occasion, ULAB Vice Chancellor Prof Imran Hossain said the university had started its journey on October 1 in 2004 to produce skilled manpower by providing with quality education in the country.

“We are trying to be a part of building a knowledge based society through providing quality education,” he said.

Dr Kazi Anis Ahmed, vice-president of the board of trustees of ULAB, also spoke at the convocation. l

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:12PM SUN RISES 6:15AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 29 29 28 29 29 28 30 29

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

19 20 15 17 15 17 16 21

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

30.6ºC Cox’s Bazar

13.6ºC Srimangal

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

4:56am 6:14am 11:43am 3:36pm 5:12pm 6:30 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

5

Monday, November 17, 2014

Teacher jailed for helping JDC examinee to cheat n Our Correspondent, Gazipur One teacher was sentenced with two years imprisonment for providing answers to an examinee during Junior Dakhil Certificate (JDC) exam in Gazipur’s Kaliganj upazila yesterday.

A mobile court led by Executive Magistrate Bhaskar Debnath Bappi sentenced Hadiur Rahman, 40, math teacher of a local madrasa, for providing answers to an examinee during invigilation.

Upazila Secondary Education Officer Nargis Sultana caught him red handed while providing a filled up additional answer sheet to an examinee at a centre in Durbati Kamil Madrasa, Magistrate Bappi said.

The court sentenced Hadiur with two years imprisonment without hard labour under the Public Examinations (Offences) Act, 1980. l

Drive against illegal billboards starts in port city n Tribune Report

Graduate students at the third convocation ceremony of University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh held at capital’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre yesterday RAJIB DHAR

The Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) along with the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) yesterday jointly started an eviction drive against illegally set up billboards in the port city which have been obscuring the city’s exquisite natural landscape for long time.

Earlier, the CMP has given a threeday deadline to remove illegal billboards, which ended on Saturday.

On the first day of the drive, a total of five illegal billboards were demolished from the city’s Wasa Intersection to Ispahani Intersection from 10:30am to 5pm, said CMP Additional Commissioner (traffic, administration and finance) AKM Shahidur Rahman.

The CCC Executive Magistrate Nazia Shirin led the joint drive while this drive would be continued until the city would be free from illegal billboards, said CMP Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandal.

According to the CCC, a total of 422 illegal billboards out of 6,485 billboards are set up in the city’s roadsides and road dividers.

On November 13, the CMP after a meeting with the CCC and Outdoor Billboard Owners’ Association, gave a three-day deadline for removing illegal billboards, placards and posters in the city. l

Normalcy yet to come on CU campus Jessore court send n 43 local BNP leaders, activists to jail On November 12, CU Correspondent

An unstable situation is still remain on Chittagong University campus because of BCL’s showdown which created panic among general students.

Two factions of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) of CU unit yesterday staged demonstrations for several times on the campus.

Activists and leaders of Amit group, led by CU BCL dissolved committee’s vice-president Amit Kumar Bashu and another Varsity Express (VX) group, led by the same committee’s office Secretary Jalal Ahmed paraded different points of the campus.

However, both the groups agreed to maintain peaceful coexistence on the campus after a meeting with Awami League (AL) high-ups on Saturday night.

Senior leaders of Awami League including city unit of AL President ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury and city unit of AL General Secretary AJM Nasir Uddin, CU Vice-Chancellor Professor Anwarul

Azim Arif, Superintendent of Police (SP) of Chittagong AKM Hafiz Akhter held a meeting with student leaders around 9pm.

during a visit in Chittagong, Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina directed local AL leaders to fix the BCL infighting

After the meeting, Amit Kumar Bashu and SM Ariful Islam said their feuds were resolved by the meeting.

AJM Nasir Uddin said both the groups had agreed to keep congenial atmosphere on the campus.

During the meeting, Awami League leaders suggested the university authorities to take stern action if anyone would

Bangladeshi teenager returned by BSF n Our Correspondent, Chuadanga A Bangladeshi teenager was returned to the country yesterday who remained at a safe home inside India for last one year and four months.

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) handed over the boy Omar Faruq, 16, to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials through holding a flag meeting at the Dorshona checkpost of Damurhuda upazila under Chuadanga district yesterday.

Dorshona BGB camp commander Khorshed Alam, who was present at the meeting on behalf of BGB, said last year on July 31, Omar had been caught from near pillar no 61 in Shyamkur border while trying to enter India illegally.

The BSF officials of Fatehpur camp

in India caught him and later on handed over to the Krishnanagar police station.

Later, a court has ordered to send him to the Krishannagar Safe Home for being a minor.

Omar had left his home after having a quarrel with his parents.

He is the son of Shamsuddin Ahmed hailing from Shyamkur village in Maheshapur upazila under Jhenaidah district, said the camp commander.

Yesterday at aboput 1pm, members of the respective border guard forces held the meeting with AC Dipok Thappa from the Indian side.

Omar was handed over to the Damurhuda police station. BGB sources said he would be sent to his family as soon as possible. l

try to create unrest on the campus.

Asked about showdown, Amit Kumar Bashu said after a long time he had returned to the campus and he just visited the campus along with leaders and activists.

On the other hand, SM Ariful Islam said they would only allow students to stay on the campus. If any untoward incident happened university authority would be responsible for that.

Academic activities of Chittagong University (CU) came to a halt as two factions of BCL had recently observed agitation programmes on the campus over establishing supremacy.

On November 12, during a visit in Chittagong, Prime Minister Shiekh Hasina directed local AL leaders to fix the BCL infighting as the two BCL factions had repeatedly engaged with clashes with each other which was ruining university’s environment.

The BCL Central Command dissolved CU unit of BCL on this June 10 after a factional clash. l

n Our Correspondent, Jessore

A Jessore court yesterday sent 43 leaders and activists of local units of BNP and its front organisations and Jatya Ganatantrik Party (Jagpa) in two cases filed by police for obstructing them from performing their duties in Jessore on September 1.

Judge Maruf Ahmed of senior judicial magistrate amali adalat (Ka Anchal) passed the order after a hearing of the cases, cancelling their bail petition.

Maruful Islam, mayor of Jessore City Corporation and also president of BNP Jessore city unit; Abdus Samad Biswas, mayor of Keshabpur municipality and also president of BNP Keshabpur unit; Nistar Faruk, chairman of Manirampur

Sadar Union Parishad, among others, appeared before the court seeking their bail.

On September 1, Asgar Ali, the then sub-inspector at Katwali police station, filed the cases against 143 people by name and several others unnamed after a clash between police and leaders activists of BNP and its alliance parties on charges of obstructing police from performing their duties and opening fire at them.

On that day, at least 15 people, including journalists, were injured during the clash.

A clash ensued in Jessore district town between police and BNP activists following a human chain programmed organised by the local BNP. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Monday, November 17, 2014

Kitchen market illegally built on vested property Correspondent, n Our Brahmanbaria A mayor has illegally built a kitchen market on a vested property and named it after him in Brahmanbaria.

The market houses seven sheds, 80 plots and a toilet.

Brahmanbaria Municipality Mayor Md Helal Uddin, after whom the market is named, inaugurated it at Madhyapara Border Bazar area in the district town on October 20.

Allocation of shops at the market immediately began, drawing deputy commissioner Mosharraf Hossain’s attention to it. On October 27, he wrote to the mayor to stop any allocation of shops at the market.

DC Mosharraf explained in the letter that the land, covered by Dag Nos 1367 and 1369 under Brahmanbaria Mauja,

Salon owner killed n Our Correspondent, Meherpur A salon owner was killed at Ballavpur village in Mujibnagar upazila of the district yesterday. The deceased identified as Paresh Das,40, a resident of Chuadanga district and son-in-law of Kartik Das of Ballabhpur village of the upazila was proprietor of a hair salon.

Police said local people spotted the body of Paresh, with the throat slit, lying in a mango orchard of one Badal Mondal at the village in the morning and informed police. Later, the police recovered the body and sent it to Meherpur General Hospital morgue for an autopsy.

Rabiul Islam, officer-in-charge of Mujibnagar poolice station, said Paresh might have been killed at some time on Saturday night over previous enmity.

A case was filed in this connection. l

15 injured in clash over land n Our Correspondent, Kushtia At least 15 people were injured yesterday in a clash between two rival groups over land dispute in Daulatpur upazila of the district.

Enamul Haque, officer-in-charge of Daulatpur police station said there had been a longstanding enmity between Tazibur Rahman and Yusuf Ali of Garua village in Adabaria union of the upazila over possessing a piece of land. l

is vested property and so no structure can be established on such property without government permission.

As for the kitchen market, the mayor did not take any permission from the government to establish it on the vested property and so this market itself is illegal.

Meanwhile, DC Mosharraf consulted Deputy Land Secretary Mohammad Habibul Kabir Chowdhury about it and the deputy secretary advised him that the market be declared as a government property and be run in the public interest.

In the circumstances, the mayor is losing a large sum of money what he invested in building the market.

When Mayor Helal was asked about this all, he said: “We have stopped allocating shops at the market after the deputy commissioner wrote to me about this. Besides, we built this market in the interest of the public.” l

5 injured in Chhatra League faction clash n Our Correspondent, Kurigram At least five persons were injured when two factions of Kurigram Polytechnic Institute Chhatra League locked in clash over forming a new committee. Police charged baton and used tear gas shells to bring the situation under control.

The clash broke out when one of the groups tried to bring out a rally yesterday in support of the newly formed Chhatra League committee of the district. The other group, mostly consisting of the deprived activists, swooped on the rally. At that time, president of the newly formed committee Wahidunnabi Sagor and general secretary Shafiqul Islam Sakib got injured. Agitated students vandalised university property in protest of the attack.

Police super Mohammad Tobarok Ullah said, the situation was in control and extra police force had been appointed to avert any untoward incident. l

As harvest of paddy has ended a few days ago, farmers of Jaypurhat become busy cultivating potato on their land. The photo was taken from Kujail village yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Moulvibazar 250-bed hospital vacant of physicians n Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar

Despite having modern equipment to provide top-notch medical service, the 250-bed district hospital in Moulvibazar have been unable to do so due to huge number of vacancies in the posts of physicians and medical staff in the hospital.

Sources said the hospital – which was upgraded to 250-bed from 100-bed in 2012 – currently has 52 posts for physicians, 19 of which have been vacant for a long time. The hospital has not been able to open its intensive care unit as there are no medical experts to run the facility. Due to lack of anaesthetists, not more than six surgeries could be arranged every day at the hospital.

Most of the posts that are vacant are that of consultant physicians in many departments, as well as some posts in the management. The hospital is also short of nursing staff, with 13 posts for male and female nurses still vacant.

Sources at the hospital’s administration said in order to provide proper medical service to patients, a 250-bed hospital needs to have at least 122 physicians.

Under the existing system, a 250-bed hospital runs quite similarly as a medical college. So a proposal to add 70 ad-

NEWS IN BRIEF Seven held for extortion At least seven people were held for extortion in the Meghna River under the district yesterday. Coast Guard officer Humayun Kabir said:“Members of Coast Guard in a drive arrested seven people for extortion in the river around 7am.” During the drive two trawlers and Tk26,500 were also seized from their possession, he said.

– Our Correspondent, Munshiganj

Firearms, ammo recovered Police in drive recovered two pipe guns, bullets, 10 bombs and local weapons in Barguna district yesterday. Mizanur Rahman, officer-in-charge of Taltoli police station said on information, the police conducted a drive in Kabiraj Para and recovered the firearms and ammo from the scout building in the district.

– Our Correspondent, Barguna

Teen student commits suicide A Class IX student committed suicide at Katakhali in Sadar upazila yesterday. SI Fazlu Mia of Sadar police station said: “Sharmin, the student hanged herself with her own cloths in the bathroom around11.30am.” She was the student of AVJM Govt Girls’ High School and daughter of Abdul Rob of Katakhali. Deceased’s relatives alleged that Sharmin committed suicide after being teased by a youth named Anik, 22.

– Our Correspondent, Munshiganj

Tk1 crore Indian clothes siezed Members of Border Guard Bangladesh recovered smuggled clothes worth about Tk1 crore on the Dhaka-Benapole Road in Jessore district yesterday. BGB commnder Lieutent Jahangir said: “ On a tip-off, a team of the BGB conducted a drive in the area and reovered the clothes from a truck.”

– Our Correspondent, Jessore

Tk5 lakh smuggled goods seized Members of Border Guard Bangladesh recovered smuggled goods worth about Tk5 lakh from various places of the district yesterday. BGB battalion-6 commander SM Moniruzzaman said the law enforcers conducted drives in various places in the district and recovered Indian wine, television, fertilizer and phensidyl worh about Tk5 crore.

– Our Correspondent, Chuadanga

Schoolteacher killed in road accident A school teacher was killed in a road accident at Kulaura upazila in Moulvibazar district on Saturday night. The deceased was identified as Md Shafiqur Rahman headmaster of Yousuf-Taiyabun Girls’ High School of Brahmin Bazar. Amal Kumar Dhar, officer-in-charge of Kulaura police station said Shafiqur died on the spot.

– Our Correspondent, Moulvibazar

ditional physicians to the existing 52 in such a hospital has been filed by 250-bed hospital administrations to the Ministry of Health and Family Welfare, they said.

There are no specialists at the hospital’s radiology and ultrasound departments, and trained staff from other departments are running these departments. Due to this, the normal function of their own departments are hampered as well.

The dialysis unit is in a standstill as well, but the hospital authorities have taken initiative to run the department, sending a medical officer, seven nurses and two technicians have been sent to Rangpur Medical College to get training on dialysis. Interestingly, there is no post of an urologist in the hospital, even though urologists specialise in kidney-related problems.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Dr Haripada Roy, director of the hospital, the higher authorities had been notified of the situation in Moulvibazar hospital, and more physicians would be appointed soon.

Sources said around 800-1,000 patients come to the hospital’s outdoor every day, while at least 300 patients are in the indoor. l

Indigenous perching system gains ground n Our Correspondent, Noakhali The perching system introduced by the agriculture department for keeping Aman-paddy fields pest free has been gaining popularity and ensuring success among the farmers of Noakhali’s Subornochar.

According to the local agriculture office, farmers of Subornachar have planted 23 kinds of transplanted Aman (T-Aman) in a total of 37 thousand hectares land in this season.

Upazila agriculture officer (acting) Mizanur Rahman said, perching system had proved to be very popular among the farmers as it requires almost no money and yields a high result in keeping the fields pest free.

Perching system is basically about placing pieces of tree branches randomly in the rice field. The idea is to attract birds to perch on the branches and eat up the insects. Usually three branches are placed in every 10 decimal of land.

The black drongo, locally known as Finga, is the commonly seen bird in the paddy fields. It helps keep the field pest free by eating up harmful Majra poka, Ghash Foring and other insect.

This indigenous method has been in use for a very long but recently gained much attention due to the promotion

and motivation by Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE). “Farmers are using the system for at least 20 thousand hectares out of 37 thousand hectares of paddy field in the Upazila,” Mizanur Rahman said.

Perching system is basically about placing pieces of tree branches randomly in the rice field The most positive aspects of the perching system are that it is very environment friendly, easy to do and economically profitable for the farmers.

Farmer Mostafa Kamal, Abdur Rob, Main Uddin and Biplob Chandra Das and many others acknowledged the effectiveness of the perching system.

They said, it used to be difficult to control pest with the low quality insecticides from various companies. It was also harmful for the soil and other living beings.

The farmers urged the government to emphasise on finding alternative and environment-friendly ways of controlling pests and boosting production. l

Truck driver beaten to death n Our Correspondent, Bogra A truck driver was beaten to death by his friend at Bharanshahi village in Dhunat upazila early yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Mantu Mandol, 28, son of Abdus Samad.

Locals said, Mantu Mandal and Mintu Miah both are friends from their chilhood. For this, Mantu Mandal used to go to Mintu’s house. But he had and extra-marital affair with Mintu’s wife.

On Saturday midnight, Mantu Mandol went to meet Mintu’s wife. Sensing his presence, the inmates of the house caught him and beat him, leaving Mantu dead on the spot.

Ziaur Rahman, officer-in-charge-of Dhunat police station confirmed the incident. l

Man shot in Jessore n Our Correspondent, Jessore A youth named Mirza Zulfikar Ali Setu, 40, was shot by miscreants at Jessore town’s Bablatola area on Saturday night.

Police rushed him to the hospital when Setu took shelter at a journalist’s house nearby.

Journalist Milton said, Setu was spending time with his friends in front of his own residence when 10-12 miscreants riding motorcycles came there and opened fire. Setu received bullet injury in his lower abdomen.

Office in-charge of Kotwali police station Inamul Haque said, there had been allegations of violence against Setu. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Monday, November 17, 2014

‘The truth was more complicated’ Salil Tripathi is a London-based Indian journalist and writer, currently serving as contributing editor for The Caravan and Mint. His most recent work, The colonel who would not repent, a ground-breaking history of Bangladesh’s history, focusing especially on the seminal years of 1971 and 1975, and what led up to them and their aftermath, has received rave reviews and been featured on the cover of Newsweek Pakistan and has been excerpted in many other publications. In this exclusive interview, Tripathi shares with Shahidul Islam Chowdhury why he wrote a book on the Liberation War and his thoughts on the Bangladesh-India relationship

More important than the number of deaths is the tragic fact that so many people died for no reason, and regardless of the actual number, these crimes against humanity must be acknowledged and never forgotten

What prompted you to write a book on the 1971 War of Independence for Bangladesh?

I decided to write about the war for several reasons. First, it is a war I remember as a child. I grew up in India, in a city that was then known as Bombay. I remember the air raid sirens at all times, the calls for “lights out” by home guards; I remember helping my parents paste black paper on our windows; I remember staging a play with my friends to raise funds for the refugees who had come to India. I also remember how we saw the struggle for independence in Bangladesh as one between good and evil. The election results in 1970 were clear; by right Sheikh Mujibur Rahman should have been elected prime minister, but that did not happen. Bangladeshis suffered

Suppose the number of deaths was a tenth of what is estimated - 300,000 deaths - does that make the conflict any more humane or any less lethal?

hugely; millions were driven out as refugees, hundreds of thousands died, many women were raped, and I felt proud of the role India played in helping Bangladesh achieve its freedom – a war in which the sacrifices of Bangladeshis were enormous.

I also have a deep, personal interest in Bangla language and culture. My father studied Rabindrasangeet and would sometimes take me to the classes. My parents chose Bangla names for me and my two younger brothers.

And when I turned 16, I studied Bangla language for two years voluntarily, partly so that I could see Satyajit Ray’s cinema without subtitles.

Can you recall specific incidents that remind you of the days of the 1971 War in Bangladesh?

I have vivid memories of seeing photographs and reading about the refugees from Bangladesh in India. I heard about the Concert for Bangladesh at Madison Square Gardens. As I said earlier, I staged a play in Bombay, in Gujarati, which raised funds for an organisation called the Bangladesh Aid Committee.

This committee collected funds for the refugees in India. I also remember taking food cooked by mother, and the

mothers of my school friends, to the railway station in Bombay, for soldiers who were travelling to the battlefront, once India joined the battle. As school children, we often shouted the slogan, “Joi Bangla,” to each other.

Were your classmates in school aware of the war in Bangladesh? Would they talk about it?

Yes, as I said, we were familiar with the basic facts of the war; we knew the main leaders – Sheikh Mujib and Tajuddin Ahmed; we had also heard of Osmani, and later, of Kader Siddiqui and of course, of the Mukti Bahini.

According to a rough estimate, about three million people were killed during the 1971 War of Independence. I think you have done extensive research for your book. Do you have any information to support the number as a fact?

It is extremely difficult to estimate the number of deaths in any conflict.

The correct estimate of the number of deaths in the 1971 war is made harder due to the passage of time. I have examined the Chuknagar massacre, and what I have discovered is that many of those who were killed had come from other villages to Chuknagar, to go from there to Satkhira and cross the border to India. Many of those people were not known to anyone in Chuknagar; their relatives in their villages would not know where they were; their remains would have remained unidentified. In many cases the bodies of the people who were killed were thrown in rivers and the bodies disappeared.

There were also deaths due to illnesses in refugee camps. The conflict was felt in all parts of the country, and unless there had been a serious effort to count the number of deaths soon after the war, it would be extremely difficult to arrive at an accurate number of deaths. In my personal view, more important than the number of deaths is the tragic fact that so many people died for no reason, and regardless of the actual number, these crimes against humanity must be acknowledged and never forgotten.

Have you come across any indication that the number of deaths was grossly exaggerated?

I do not have any information that suggests that the numbers were grossly exaggerated. Estimating a large number of people in any context is difficult. You have to recognise that if three million people died during those nine months, you are talking of between ten and twelve thousand deaths per day. The most lethal conflict we know of in the past few

decades is in the Democratic Republic of Congo, where the average number of deaths was about 700-800 per day.

Was the Bangladesh conflict 10 or 15 times more lethal? I don’t know, but think of the probability - how likely is it? Think also of the fact that detailed records of deaths in 1971 do not exist.

And if we take a step back from the issue of numbers, the question to ask is: suppose the figure was a tenth of that - 300,000 deaths - does that make the conflict more humane or less lethal? Does that not mean that what Pakistani army did, aided by domestic collaborators, was a crime against humanity, regardless of numbers?

Let us come to the points of bilateral relations between Bangladesh and India. India had supported Bangladesh immensely during the Liberation War of 1971. It is widely believed that the two countries have failed to explore potentials for relations with the spirit of cooperation in 1971. Why do think that is?

This is an important and complicated question. I’m no expert on India’s bilateral relations with any country.

But if I were to see the situation from the Indian perspective, I’d think it is because India was stunned by the assassination of Sheikh Mujib, and the trajectory of politics in Bangladesh since then. India also had domestic compulsions over what Indians call “infiltration” of Bangladeshis in India, initially in the northeast. There were unsubstantiated allegations over Bangladeshi immigrants’ involvement in criminal activities, although the large majority of them were law abiding. There was also resentment in India over border trade that was unregulated. And India, being larger, probably expected Bangladesh to accept that India was the big brother.

I’m not saying any of this is necessarily true, nor that it is justified. But it is how India saw it. With growing Hindu fundamentalism in India, many in India do not differentiate between Pakistan and Bangladesh – which is not only unfair to Bangladesh, but shows fundamental illiteracy about Bangladesh and its history.

On the other hand, Bangladesh too had expectations of India which India did not fulfill – the sharing of waters is one such; the concern over dominance of Bangladesh’s economy by Indian business is another. In the post-Mujib years, Bangladeshi governments too attempted to distance the country from India, a trend that continued for at least two decades. There was also a sense of denial in Bangladesh about Bangladeshis migrating into India and the consequences in host regions in India. Bangladesh is a proud country,

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The BSF has a legitimate role in defending India’s border. But no army has the right to use disproportionate force at any time

and did not like seeing itself referred to as India’s little brother. And Bangladeshi governments sometimes blamed India for its problems – such as the recent power outage in parts of Bangladesh, which were immediately blamed on Indian power suppliers, when the truth was more complicated.

Huge potentials for bilateral relations have been overshadowed by suspicion among politicians and bureaucrats in particular, and sections of the people in general, of the two countries for the last four decades. A section of people in Bangladesh believe that India, being a powerful neighbour, may dominate things in Bangladesh. Do you think that hegemony by India is a major reason for the rise of suspicion?

Whenever there is a relationship between a large country and a smaller one, there are mutual suspicions.

Besides the political factors, we should not underestimate the power of some large Bangladeshi businesses to stall closer business relationship with India, because of fear that Indian businesses may dominate the Bangladeshi economy. The lesson we’ve learned from economics over the years is that whenever any economy is protected, consumers lose, because costs remain high. But in this Bangladesh isn’t alone; just as Bangladeshi companies fear Indian businesses, Indian companies too fear large western – and even Chinese – businesses. And the result is consumers lose – in India and in Bangladesh.

How can the two countries remove this suspicion?

Ideally that can be achieved through closer people-to-people contacts.

Indians and Bangladeshis usually meet outside the region, unless they visit each other’s countries. They often go on official business, or to visit relatives. But there are relatively few tourists from Bangladesh in India – and vice-versa. I was amused when a young Bangladeshi woman asked me at a dinner at a friend’s place in Dhaka if I had ever eaten a mango.

She thought the fruit was Bangladeshi (which it is) and a rarity in India.

Likewise, Indians have no idea how beautiful the riverine landscape of Bangladesh is.

The two countries have decided at the highest political and diplomatic levels to stop border killing by the Indian Border Security Force. Indian authorities have also decided to use non-lethal weapon along the border.

But BSF men have continued border shooting killing people almost everyday. Indian authorities have consistently failed to implement their decisions in this regard.

I don’t know why the BSF acts the way it does. I have heard horrendous stories; I’ve seen graphic videos on YouTube; and I’ve read the report by Odhikar. India’s civil society must hold the BSF to account to ensure that civilians are not harmed, regardless of their legal status. The BSF has a legitimate role in defending India’s border. But no army has the right to use disproportionate force at any time.

How would you assess the potential of SAARC? For SAARC to succeed, India’s neighbours have to stop seeing India as a hegemony, and India should act with its neighbours with respect. Increasing people-to-people contacts, and improving and expanding trade will go a long way in making SAARC as critical as ASEAN.

What are the hindrances faced by SAARC when regionalism has emerged as a common feature in different parts of the world, ASEAN being an example?

In one word, politics. Suspicions, history, and leaving contact between the countries only in the hands of governments and politicians are responsible. Think how hard it is to get visas to travel within SAARC for SAARC nationals. l Shahidul Islam Chowdhury is Planning Editor, Bangla Tribune

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Monday, November 17, 2014

US, Australia, Japan slam Russia on Crimea

Nigerian army recaptures Chibok n AFP, Abuja

Ukraine conflict has killed more than 4,000 people this year

n Reuters The leaders of the United States, Japan and Australia lined up together against Russia on Sunday, vowing to oppose Russian incursions into Crimea during a rare trilateral meeting held at the G20 summit in Brisbane.

President Barack Obama, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said they would oppose “Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea and its actions to destabilise eastern Ukraine,” and were committed to “bringing to justice those responsible for the downing of Flight MH17.”

Western leaders warned Putin that he risked more sanctions if he failed to end his country’s backing for the separatists Russian President Vladimir Putin has come under intense pressure from other G20 leaders over his government’s backing for pro-Russian rebels in Ukraine, where a conflict has killed more than 4,000 people this year.

On Saturday, Western leaders warned Putin that he risked more sanctions if he failed to end his country’s backing for the separatists. Russia

has denied any involvement.

In addition to Ukraine and the Ebola crisis, the three leaders discussed “eliminating the North Korean nuclear and missile threat” and “addressing human rights in North Korea including the abductions issue,” they said in a joint statement.

Obama’s meeting with Abe and Abbott was arranged at Washington’s behest, a senior administration official said on Saturday evening under condition of anonymity.

Obama, in Asia for the second time this year, wants to reassure allies about Washington’s strategic shift towards the region. China views greater military cooperation between the three parties warily.

The three leaders discussed the need for the “peaceful resolution of maritime disputes in accordance with international law,” an oblique reference to disputes between China and its neighbours over islands in the South China Sea. In a speech on Saturday, Obama alluded to Beijing’s maritime disputes with its neighbours and growing concern about its military build-up, insisting that the United States would not back down from its commitment to the region.

Australia is leaning towards buying as many as 12 stealth submarines from Japan, a major portion of Australia’s overall A$40bn ($35bn) submarine programme. Washington supports the deal. l

(Left to right) US President Barack Obama, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott and Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe meet at the G20 in Brisbane yesterday REUTERS

Putin resists Western offensive as testy G20 closes n AFP G20 leaders wrapped up an annual summit Sunday with a vow to reinvigorate the global economy, but geopolitical frictions sparked anew as Russian President Vladimir Putin brushed off Western anger over Ukraine.

Host Tony Abbott insisted that everyone including Putin – who left the Brisbane summit a little early – was on board the campaign to enact reforms that could infuse more than two trillion dollars into the global economy.

“I’m happy to be on a unity ticket with Vladimir Putin on that subject,” the Australian prime minister told a news conference after the two-day

summit, during which the two leaders put aside days of sniping to share a photograph with cuddly koala bears.

Nevertheless, Abbott insisted that he had had “very robust” discussions with Putin on the summit sidelines, and described the July downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine as “one of the most terrible atrocities of recent times.”

Putin broke protocol by delivering remarks to the media before the host leader’s closing news conference, and then flew out shortly before the summit formally closed.

The Russian strongman said “some of our views do not coincide, but the discussions were complete, construc-

tive and very helpful.”

But Western pressure redoubled earlier Sunday with a joint declaration from the United States, Australia and Japan.

The trio’s leaders said in Brisbane that they were united in “opposing Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea and its actions to destabilise eastern Ukraine, and bringing to justice those responsible for the downing of Flight MH17.”

The West says the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, using a missile supplied by Russia. Moscow angrily denies the charges. The plane was carrying 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens and residents. l

Philae: ‘I’m feeling a bit tired, did you New US-led strikes on get my data? I might take a nap’ Syria’s Kobane n Agencies

It began with a bumpy landing and ended with a touching tweet. “I’m feeling a bit tired, did you get all my data? I might take a nap …” tweeted @ Philae2014.

It was early Saturday morning, and after 57 hours performing science experiments on the surface of comet 67P/ Churyumov-Gerasimenko the audacious Philae mission was coming to an end. Not enough light was hitting its solar panels and the spacecraft was preparing to hibernate but, in true Hollywood style, Philae heroically managed to send back all of its data just before the curtain fell.

Contact was lost at 00:36 GMT, a few minutes before the scheduled end of the communications window.

Within the last blocks of data that Philae returned were readings from

an instrument called Cosac. They could reveal the molecular ingredients that became life on Earth, since comets are remnants from the formation of the planets 4.6 billion years ago. Their icy bodies preserve the primordial organic molecules that were incorporated into the Earth and led to the origin of life.

“The data collected by Philae and Rosetta is set to make this mission a game-changer in cometary science,” said Matt Taylor, ESA’s Rosetta project scientist.

Although now in deep hibernation, there is still a chance that Philae could revive. The comet is currently beyond Mars, but in August 2015 it will be close to Earth’s orbit and the sunlight will be much stronger.

“We still hope that at a later stage of the mission, perhaps when we are nearer to the Sun, we might have

enough solar illumination to wake up the lander and re-establish communication,” said Stephan Ulamec, Philae lander manager at the DLR German Aerospace Centre.

In the meantime, the science teams are beginning to analyse the data sent back by the pioneering spacecraft. The first results are expected to be presented at the American Geophysical Union conference in San Francisco next month. The Rosetta orbiter mission will continue for another 20 months, studying the comet and listening for Philae to wake up.

It was a week of high anxiety and exhilaration for the scientists involved.

Philae touched down on Wednesday afternoon after a seven-hour descent from the Rosetta orbiter. Earlier in the day, engineers had realised that the thruster system on Philae was not responding. l

n AFP, Beirut The US-led coalition against the Islamic State jihadist group carried out a series of air strikes overnight in the embattled Syrian town of Kobane, a monitor and activists said Sunday.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported intensifying clashes between Kurdish fighters defending Kobane and IS jihadists in the south of the town, which lies on the Turkish border.

Kurdish activist and Kobane resident Mustefa Ebdi reported at least seven international air strikes overnight. He said the explosions could be heard 20 kilometres from Kobane, and shook the cars of people with him on the border between Turkey and Syria.

In southern Kobane, meanwhile, the Britain-based Observatory said

fierce clashes underway for the past three days were continuing with reports of injuries on both sides.

The group said Kurdish YPG forces and Iraqi Kurdish peshmerga fighters were also shelling IS positions during the clashes.

Ebdi also reported the clashes, saying the situation in Kobane “has progressed from defence to attack because of the air raids and the support the peshmerga and the (Arab rebel) Free Syrian Army are giving the YPG fighters.”

“The Kurdish fighters are advancing slowly because of the mines laid by IS. They are trying to retake territory,” he said.

The Islamic State began advancing on Kobane two months ago, hoping to seize the small Kurdish town and cement their grip over a large stretch of the Syrian-Turkish border. l

The Nigerian army said Sunday it had recaptured and “secured” the northeastern town of Chibok, where Islamic militants abducted more than 200 schoolgirls in April.

The army recaptured the town Saturday evening from Boko Haram militants, spokesman General Olajide Olaleye told AFP in a text message.

“Mopping up ops ongoing. (The) town is now secured,” he said.

Leading elder Pogu Bitrus told AFP the town was re-taken in a joint operation with local vigilantes known as the Civilian Joint Task Force, who back up the military in several parts of the northeast where Boko Haram is active.

He said the vigilantes fought inside the town while army soldiers “stayed outside the town to mop up the insurgents trying to escape.”

Boko Haram had captured the town on Thursday after a battle lasting several hours.

Several inhabitants said the army had fled the assault, leaving the vigilantes to fight on their own.

Control of Chibok is crucial to the reputation of the army and the government, which have come under harsh criticism for their failure to rescue the schoolgirls.

The Islamists stormed the Government Girls Secondary School in Chibok on the evening of April 14 and forced 276 students onto trucks in a mass abduction that caused global outrage.

Fifty-seven managed to escape.

The insurrection by Boko Haram, which wants to create an Islamic state in mainly Muslim northern Nigeria, has claimed more than 10,000 lives in the past five years.

They have seized more than 20 towns and villages in the northeast in recent months. l

Four dead as heavy rains batter north Italy, Switzerland n Reuters, Rome Four people died when mudslides hit their homes in the border area between Italy and Switzerland overnight on Saturday, and a fifth was missing near the Italian port city of Genoa after days of torrential rains and flooding.

Severe storms over the past few weeks have again exposed the fragile state of infrastructure in many parts of Italy, where poor planning and widespread illegal building greatly increase the threat posed by flooding.

Heavy rains for much of the past month have caused chaos in many areas of Italy, flooding city streets and causing hundreds of millions of euros damage, three years after seven people were killed in severe floods in 2011.

Authorities said a 70-year old man and a 16-year-old girl died when their house in Cerro di Laveno, near the border with Switzerland collapsed in a landslide late on Saturday night.

Swiss authorities reported two women died when a mudslide hit a building in Davesco-Soragno, on the Swiss side of the border. l

Erdogan: Muslims discovered Americas n AP, Istanbul Turkish President Recep Tayyip Erdogan is claiming that Muslim sailors reached the Americas more than 300 years before explorer Christopher Columbus.

Speaking Saturday at a gathering of Muslim leaders from Latin America, Erdogan said that contact between Islam and Latin America dates to the 12th century.

“It is alleged that the American continent was discovered by Columbus in 1492,” Erdogan said. “In fact, Muslim sailors reached the American continent 314 years before Columbus, in 1178.”

“In his memoirs, Christopher Columbus mentions the existence of a mosque atop a hill on the coast of Cuba,” Erdogan said, adding that he’d like to see a mosque built on the hilltop today.

Scholars have disputed the claim in Columbus’ writings, saying there is no archaeological evidence of Muslims having lived in the Americas before Columbus, an Italian, made his expedition in 1492 on behalf of the Spanish crown.

Who discovered the Americas has long been a controversial issue with various scholars and historians claiming that others arrived before Columbus. l

Israeli police up alert level after Arab protests n AP, Jerusalem

A picture shows red roses layed at the monument dedicated to the 1973 students uprising against the former Greek military junta yesterday in Athens, on the eve of the 41st anniversary of the event. Greece on November 17 commemorates 41 years since a violent crackdown of a student uprising against the millitary junta AFP

Israeli police went on heightened alert Sunday following protests across the country over the fatal shooting of a 22-year-old Arab Israeli who appeared in video footage to be retreating from police, as the prime minister vowed a tough response to any further unrest.

Thousands of Arabs took to the streets Saturday to protest the shoot-

ing, with many hurling rocks and firebombs at police. The protests continued Sunday with a general strike called

by Arab Israeli community leaders and demonstrations outside universities and other institutions. The tensions add to those already raging in Jerusalem, where Palestinians from the eastern part of the city have been clashing almost daily with police over access to a disputed holy site. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

India, EU to sign civil nuclear pact

Maoists seek Chhattisgarh CM’s resignation n Agencies

India has signed nuclear deals with Russia, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom, South Korea, Mongolia, and France ences over the “language” to be used n Agencies in the draft.

In a major step towards realisingits nuclear energy ambitions, India is engaged in talks with the European Union to sign a civil nuclear cooperation agreement and the deal is expected to be inked by next year.

“An agreement is expected to be signed between the India’s Department of Atomic Energy and Joint Research Centre of the European Union.

It will mostly focus on areas of research and energy,” EU’s Ambassador to India Joao Cravinho told PTI at the sidelines of an event last week.

Cravinho said talks between the two sides are on and the agreement should be signed next year. He, however, did not give any specific time frame on when the agreement will be inked.

“There were concerns raised by few countries about signing an agreement because India is not a signatory of the Non- Proliferation Treaty, but there is a consensus on this now,” he said.

Both the sides and countries within the EU are ironing out the differ-

“The countries are now discussing the language to be used in the draft. This should be resolved and the deal could be signed next year,” Cravinho said.

India and the EU have been cooperating on various aspects like environment, sustainable development, renewable energy and clean technology.

The deal would provide a major boost to India’s efforts in getting an entry to the elite Nuclear Suppliers Group, considering the clout of the EU on the global platform.

The technology transfer in various aspects related to nuclear sector, especially in the health sector, would benefit India, sources said.

After the landmark Indo-US nuclear deal, India has signed nuclear deals with Russia, Kazakhstan, United Kingdom, South Korea, Mongolia, and France.

It also signed a nuclear cooperation agreement with Australia in September, paving way to import uranium for its reactors. l

27 militants, five soldiers killed in Pakistan n Agencies Five Pakistani soldiers and at least 27 militants, including some foreigners, were killed on Sunday in clashes and air strikes in the restive northwestern tribal belt, where the military has launched a major offensive against the Taliban.

Five soldiers, including one officer, were killed and many others injured in a clash between militants and security forces in Datakhel area, the Dawn re-

ported on Sunday.

27 militants, including some of their important commanders and foreigners, were killed in precise aerial strikes in Dattakhel, it said. Pakistan military launched Khyber-I operation last month against Lashkar-i-Islam (LI) hideouts.

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

9

Monday, November 17, 2014

Former Naha mayor Takeshi Onaga (2nd L) and his supporters open a barrel of ‘awamori’, or rice brandy, to celebrate his victory in the Okinawa gubernatorial election in Naha, capital of Japan’s southern island of Okinawa yesterday AFP

The outlawed CPI (Maoist) has blamed Chhattisgarh chief minister Raman Singh and state health minister Amar Agrawal for the deaths of 13 women during a recent sterilisation drive and sought their resignation.

The Maoists dropped pamphlets and put up banners in Chhattisgarh’s insurgency-hit Dantewada district protesting against the sterilisation tragedy. “The pamphlets and posters were recovered from a road near Kumharras village under Dantewada police station limits last evening,” Dantewada superintendent of police Kamlochan Kashyap told PTI. In the pamphlets, the West Bastar division committee of the banned outfit has alleged that the chief minister and the health minister were responsible for the deaths of the poor women during the sterilisation camps in Bilaspur district.

“They have lost the moral ground to continue in their positions,” it said. The Chhattisgarh government has constituted a probe panel under a retired judge to investigate the botched surgeries that have also left 138 women ill. l

Japan ruling party candidate loses Okinawa poll, setback for US base move

China to host G20 summit in 2016 n AFP, Brisbane, Australia

n Reuters, Tokyo

Asian powerhouse China will host world leaders for the G20 summit in 2016, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott said on Sunday at the conclusion of two days of talks in Brisbane.

Turkey takes over the presidency from Australia and will host the event in Antalya next year, but in a communique the group of the world’s biggest economies said China would be home to the G20 in 2016.

“Australia looks forward to working with Turkey over the next year and it is my very great pleasure to announce that China will be the G20 host in 2016,” Abbott told a press conference at the conclusion of talks. l

A candidate backed by Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s party was soundly defeated in a key local election on Sunday, Kyodo news agency reported, in a blow to plans to relocate a controversial US air base on Okinawa island, home to the bulk of US military forces in Japan.

Delays in relocating the US Marines’ Futenma air base in Okinawa have long been an irritant in US-Japan relations.

Abe is keen to make progress on the project as he seeks tighter ties with Washington in the face of an assertive China.

Kyodo said after the polls closed

that its projections showed a former mayor, Takeshi Onaga, was certain to defeat incumbent Okinawa Governor Hirokazu Nakaima.

Nakaima, who ran with the backing of Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party, had approved a US-Japan plan to relocate Futenma to a less populous part of the island.

Onaga, a conservative who once supported the base move to coastal northern Okinawa, later changed his mind to say he wanted it out of the prefecture. His platform was also critical of other Abe policies, such as the use of nuclear power.

Nakaima’s loss is a headache for Abe, but was unlikely to affect his expected

decision to postpone an unpopular sales tax hike and call a snap election to try to secure his grip on power while his voter support is still relatively robust.

Ruling party politicians have said Abe could announce as early as Tuesday that he will delay a planned rise in the sales tax to 10% from next October and call a general election for December 14.

Politics in Okinawa, where many residents associate the US military bases with crime, accidents and noise pollution, often operate on different dynamics than elsewhere in Japan. Many want the base removed entirely, rather than simply relocated. l

Afghan female MP survives suicide attack, three dead n AFP, Kabul

Afghan investigators inspect wreckage at the site where a suicide bomber targeted a vehicle convoy of Afghan lawmakers in Kabul yesterday. A suicide bomber targeted a vehicle convoy of Afghan lawmakers that included a prominent female MP, killing three civilians and injuring 17 others, officials said AFP

Forced to have sex

by Bangalore jail authorities? n Agencies The infamous Parappa Agrahara Central Jail has hit a new low with two shocking anonymous complaint letters surfacing in the women’s section of the jail, alleging that female inmates are forced into sex by jail authorities.

The letters are part of a dossier, full of shocking revelations, submitted to the Karnataka high court by a judicial officer who was investigating irregularities in the prison.

The two letters, written in barely legible Kannada by women inmates, allege that they are forced to have sex with male inmates who pay the jail authorities between Rs. 300 and Rs. 500 for the ‘service’.

Addressed to the chief justice of Karnataka, the letters paint a dystopic picture of life in the jail. The inmates have to pay bribes to meet their visiting relatives.

The investigation also pointed that although 24 convicts jumped parole since June, jail authorities had not brought this to the notice of the courts or lodged a complaint with the police.

Allegations have often surfaced that high-profile prisoners are given special facilities but they are never followed up.

However, according to the enquiry, there is a well oiled rent collection system in the prison. Inmates are charged an advance of Rs. 20,000 and pay a monthly rent of Rs. 10,000 for special cells, the report submitted to the HC says.

VS Raja, additional inspector general of prisons, dismissed the allegations saying the prison was covered by CCTV cameras and it was a conspiracy to defame the prison authorities by rival officers.

The jail has housed many high profile inmates, including former chief minister BS Yeddyurappa, mining baron G Janardhan Reddy and recently, former Tamil Nadu CM J Jayalalithaa. l

A suicide bomber on Sunday targeted a vehicle convoy of Afghan lawmakers that included a prominent female MP, killing three civilians and injuring 17 others, officials said.

The blast, in which the attacker detonated an explosives-packed car, left the MPs’ vehicles badly damaged on a main road in the west of Kabul, close to the parliament. “(Shukria) Barekzai – she is fine and suffers small injuries,” interior ministry spokesman Sediq Sediqqi said of the politician via Twitter.

“Unfortunately three civilians (were) martyred and around 17 injured in today’s attack.”

Barekzai is renowned as a campaigner for improved women’s rights in Afghanistan, a stance that attracts

UAE lists scores of groups as ‘terrorists’ n Agencies The United Arab Emirates (UAE) has formally designated scores of groups, including the Muslim Brotherhood and local affiliates as “terrorist groups.”

The list, which includes about 80 groups, was approved by the cabinet and published on Saturday on the official WAM news agency. Al-Qaeda, al-Nusra Front, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) and al-Islah were among other groups on the list.

The announcement echoes a similar move by Saudi Arabia in March and appears to underscore concern in the US-allied oil producer about religiously-affiliated groups.

Al-Islah, a UAE-based group, is banned in the country for its alleged links to Egypt’s Muslim Brotherhood.

UAE authorities have cracked down on members of al-Islah and jailed scores of its members convicted of forming an illegal branch of the Brotherhood. Al-Islah denies any such link, but says it shares some of the Brotherhood’s ideology.

In an unprecedented public move, Saudi Arabia, Bahrain and the UAE recalled their ambassadors to Qatar in March, accusing Doha of failing to abide by an

agreement not to interfere in one another’s internal affairs.

The three states fell out in part over Qatar’s alleged support of the Muslim Brotherhood. Qatar says it backs all Arabs, not just Brotherhood members.

Saudi Arabia has banned the Brotherhood, accusing it of seeking to overthrow the Gulf monarchies.

The UAE has been taking part in US-led air strikes against the ISIL group in Syria, along with fellow Arab states Bahrain, Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar.

Yemen’s Houthi rebels, Nigeria’s Boko Haram and Afghanistan’s Taliban are among the groups listed by the UAE. Jim Walsh, an expert in international security, described the list as “very odd,” noting that some of the groups listed were merely cultural and civic organisations.

Several organisations listed are based in the US and Europe. The list includes the Federation of Islamic Organisations in Europe, as well as several other Muslim groups - for example Islamic Relief, a UK-registred charity that is working with the British government.

“You have people from across the spectrum, some completely devoted to

violence and some who don’t seem to be involved in violence at all,” Walsh, a Research Associate at MIT’s Security Studies Program in Boston, told Al Jazeera.

He said that with some groups, like al-Qaeda, ISIL and al-Nusra Front, UAE had taken a long time to act, but “now they’ve sort of switched and gone over to the other side, listing all kinds of groups they think are terrorists.”

In Washington, the Muslim American Society said it was “shocked” by news reports that it was on the list.

“The Muslim American Society is a religious community service organisation that serves people in the United States.

We have no dealings with the United Arab Emirates, and hence are perplexed by this news,” the group said in a statement.

The Muslim Association of Sweden was also on the list. Its chairman, Omar Mustafa, called it “frightening that a small regime known for human rights abuses defines European civil society organisations as terror groups.”

In August, the UAE toughened anti-terrorism laws in a bid to stamp out terror financing, hostage-taking, human trafficking and money laundering. l

fierce opposition from many Islamist groups and Muslim conservatives.

She has spoken about receiving regular death threats.

Shinkay Karokhil, another female MP, told AFP: “The target was a convoy of MPs who were driving toward the parliament. Shukria Barekzai was affected by the attack but she is fine.”

The attack came the day after President Ashraf Ghani ended a two-day visit to neighbouring Pakistan, which is blamed for sheltering insurgent leaders behind many of the attacks in Afghanistan.

Ghani, a supporter of better women’s rights, said improved relations with Pakistan could aid security in the troubled region as US-led Nato combat troops leave Afghanistan after more than a decade of fighting the Taliban. l

Chinese team lands in Liberia to fight Ebola

n Reuters

About 160 Chinese health workers have arrived in Liberia, where they are due to staff a new $41m Ebola clinic that, unlike most other foreign interventions, is being built and fully run

by Chinese personnel.

China, Africa’s biggest trade partner, had come under fire for the level of its response to the Ebola crisis. But it said this week it would send 1,000 personnel to help fight an outbreak that has killed over 5,000 people in West Africa.

“Up to now in Liberia, China is the only country which provides not only the construction of an ETU (Ebola treatment unit), but also the running and operation and the staffing of an ETU,” Zhang Yue, the Chinese ambassador to Liberia, told the Reuters news agency.

Yue said the new team in Liberia included a mix of doctors, nurses, technicians and engineers.

“They experienced SARS (severe acute respiratory syndrome). They are very knowledgeable in this area,” he said, referring to the contagious illness that was first identified in China in 2002 and killed several hundred people across the world. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Monday, November 17, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Invest in infrastructure to break bottlenecks

A

n RMG roundtable organised by the Dhaka Tribune, and attended by the commerce minister, industry owners, buyers, and the ILO, has highlighted the need for the government to be more far-sighted in developing the country’s infrastructure.

Overcoming the challenges faced by RMG is vital to sustaining the future growth of our economy.

While some obstacles, such as US tariffs, are specific to the sector, the challenges it faces in improving productivity and working conditions are of relevance to all major businesses.

These include lack of reliable power and bureaucratic hurdles hindering the development of new factories. There is also a chronic lack of investment by the industry itself in developing the skills base of its workforce, which makes it difficult to fill mid and higher management posts, despite the large number of business graduates produced by our universities.

Poor infrastructure was identified as the major bottleneck to growing exports. In a country of our size, it should not take a whole day to transport goods from Gazipur to the Chittagong port.

Improving transport across the country could reduce delays through faster speeds and by allowing more new factories to be built in closer locations. This needs to be matched by increasing container capacity by building a new deep sea port.

If Bangladesh is to sustainably grow the industry to meet the target of $50bn exports by 2021, then the work being done by stakeholders to improve safety and working conditions needs to be matched by increasing national investment in infrastructure.

Build a deep sea port and improve transport to help exporters

Increase tobacco taxes to curb use

T

he government needs to take a more joined-up approach to its efforts to reduce tobacco use.

Lucrative incentives offered by tobacco product manufacturers are encouraging more farmers to cultivate tobacco instead of traditional winter crops. This is undermining efforts by the Department of Agriculture Extension to curb tobacco farming because it reduces the acreage of land for Boro and maize, and is implicated in increasing soil infertility by reducing crop diversity and encouraging unsafe pesticide use.

While tobacco companies have a right to argue that it is not illegal to grow tobacco, it is clearly in the public interest to discourage addiction to this deadly but legal product.

The only effective way to reduce tobacco farming in the country is to increase efforts to discourage smoking and reduce the demand for tobacco.

Over 60,000 people die annually from tobacco-related diseases in Bangladesh and it is a major contributor to the growing numbers of people affected by heart disease.

Health education efforts should be matched by higher prices to encourage more smokers to quit and deter younger people from taking up the habit.

So long as large numbers of people keep taking up smoking, the impetus will remain for tobacco companies to use their huge resources to encourage farmers into growing tobacco and setting up often hazardous processing facilities on homesteads.

The government must do more to discourage tobacco use by progressively raising taxes and by outlawing all marketing efforts directed at recruiting new, young smokers.

Health education efforts should be matched by higher prices

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

Policeman’s son runs over a pedestrian in Banani November 4

Arosh Ali Yes, it is a policeman’s son, probably driving under the influence of drugs. So, why should we, the ordinary public, dare to cross a road when high-up criminals are going down that very road?

Maruf Hassan Why was the guy crossing the road just beneath the Banani foot-over bridge, which even has an escalator?

Osmania Maruf Hassan: He was 50 years old, the roads were clear, and it was broad daylight. He had every right to be there.

You’re on the wrong side here – how many escalator footbridges are there elsewhere – and doesn’t the fact people get killed when the roads are not busy prove that Dhaka’s traffic problem is the fault of selfish dangerous drivers, not congestion? Stop seeking to blame the victim.

Rodders Osmania: Not exactly. Both parties are to blame here. Empty road or not, to cross such a normally congested road, plus one that is multi-laned, is not only irresponsible, it is also immensely dangerous. Age is not a factor here. True, there are loads of pedestrians who openly flout the rules on this, but it does not make it right. I am speaking as someone who never crossed a road like that. I used a foot-over bridge every single time. That’s why they are there in the first place.

Mikail Sattar Ah yes, let’s all blame the driver when it clearly states the person killed was jaywalking, and that too right underneath an over-bridge. I don’t care what argument you use – the driver was driving recklessly – the person killed had no right to be walking across a 4-5 lane road whether or not it was full or empty.

Osmania Mikail Sattar: You said it; you don’t care for the pedestrian. Jaywalking is a daft concept only suited to car-based cultures. In more civilised, denselypopulated cities, like Amsterdam or London, the pedestrians’ rights are paramount (and I say this as someone who does always use footbridges).

Car drivers there know they have to proceed with care and won’t speed dangerously, even when traffic is light. The fact people get killed here and drivers/car owners blare their horns even when roads are empty shows Dhaka”s traffic problem is down to antisocial, dangerous drivers. Car owners and drivers who are a tiny minority are arrogantly misguided if they think they have a right to own the roads, given the reckless way they use them.

Mikail Sattar Osmania: Although I agree with your statement, this article is about a particular accident, not about the Dhaka traffic/driver situation in general.

F138 Mikail Sattar: Drivers must always yield to

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 8 represents D so fill D every time the figure 8 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

pedestrians. Doesn’t matter in which country they are. Two wrongs do not make a right. And you are wrong if you think there are any 4-5 lane roads in Dhaka.

Mikail Sattar F138: Airport road (also known as the Dhaka -Mymensingh Highway) is officially a four-lane road.

If someone decides not to use the overheadbridge and decides to walk across a highway, where cars are going at 60-80km/h, and manages to get hit, then even before looking at whether the driver was or was not driving recklessly, I will blame the pedestrian for being in the middle of the road. If the person wasn’t walking/running past the middle of the road and used the overhead-bridge like they were supposed to, then the accident wouldn’t have happened in the first place.

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.

Ahmad Faraz Mikail Sattar: And had he not hit the poor man who just happened to make the wrong move at the wrong time, his reckless driving could potentially cause a whole wide variety of mishaps.

And your claims to not giving a flying damn about pedestrians can quite wonderfully land you in a heap of trouble. And oh, I am a practicing lawyer. nobody Mikail Sattar: Then why was he driving without a driver’s license? He was driving without a proper driver’s license and killed an innocent pedestrian.

His family has and still is abusing power, and you are advocating him.

Mikail Sattar nobody: He didn’t have his license in hand. But that does not mean he did not have a license at all.

“Jafar was not carrying his driving licence at the time of the accident. His lawyer produced the licence before the court.”

F138 Mikail Sattar: I think it’s illegal to drive a car without having your license on you. Also: 1) The definition of a “lane” in international civil engineering standards has a specific measurement which is not met by most roads in Dhaka. Only the road in front of Sangsad Bhaban is a true four-lane road. Just because you can fit four cars side by side does not meant it’s a four-lane.

2) You always yield to a pedestrian. If the driver does not yield, it’s his fault for not yielding. Even if the pedestrian is a jaywalker. In a proper justice system, the jaywalker would get taken to court for jaywalking, and the unyielding driver needs to be arrested; ie both are crimes and need to be punished. Two wrongs do not make a right.

3) A car is a lethal weapon. If you are driving it, you bear a greater share of the responsibility towards the safety of other human beings. In simple words, the guy driving the car has to be more careful about not hitting someone, with respect to the person being hit. It is part of the responsibility of driving a 120hp car that weigh about 1.5 metric tonnes. Don’t be ignorant.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Bricks carrier (3) 3 Facts given (4) 6 Look narrowly (4) 7 Flow back (3) 9 Money drawer (4) 10 Annex (3) 11 Attack (4) 13 Garden tool (5) 16 Fruit of the oak (5) 18 Jetty (4) 19 Possess (3) 20 Graceful bird (4) 21 Seize suddenly (3) 23 Holly (4) 24 Precious stones (4) 25 Lyric poem (3)

DOWN 1 Pays attention (5) 2 Sphere (3) 4 Keenly desirous (4) 5 Boring tool (3) 6 Schemes (5) 8 Clamp (5) 9 Layer (4) 12 Embellish (5) 14 Suffering (4) 15 Subjoin (5) 17 Illustrious (5) 18 Tree (4) 20 Droop (3) 22 Help (3)

Magic in the moonlight

CALVIN AND HOBBES

November 3

Momoaswan Thoughtful and evocative.

RS The power failure that day indeed appeared to be horrendous and grotty for everyone in Bangladesh.

23 public holidays in 2015 November 3

rose I personally feel public holidays in this country should be lessened in order for people to work harder.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Agitation breaks out over death of domestic help November 7

Chowdhury Aktaruzzaman “We did not found any injury mark on her body. It seems like she committed suicide, OC Shahjahan says.”

Without a postmortem, how can he say that?

Thanks for sharing this report.

Free our entrepreneurs November 8

Ehesan Kabir “The government needs to stop wasting funds on unproductive enterprises.”

They never waste funds. They rig it.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Monday, November 17, 2014

Being inhuman n Saleh Md Arman

P

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Fresh polls, or else …

W

n Khawaza Main Uddin hy can’t we refrain from talking about the national polls?

It is not nonsensical to demand a ballot that is reasonably acceptable to all.

And no one denies that the absence of participatory elections is at the centre of all the crises in Bangladesh today.

Otherwise, why don’t the ruling party leaders stop assuring themselves that Sheikh Hasina’s is a government mandated for five years?

The situation in the aftermath of the January 5 polls can’t be considered stable. It’s rather an uncomfortable status quo, which has constantly been threatened to be broken. You’ve restored order, your Excellency, but couldn’t earn the confidence of any of the stakeholders, save for those seeking corrupt gains from state power.

Investors are waiting for assured stability. The domestic job market is not widening. Dhaka can’t unlock the potential of overseas employment.

Tourists are eluding Bangladesh during the winter. The education and financial sectors are at stake, and so are the prospects of Bangladeshi youths.

The prime minister’s adviser, HT Imam, has given proof of the quality of governance by assuring Chhatra League activists of being favoured in the viva voce section of the civil service examinations, given the role “Awami recruits” played in the manipulated voting on January 5. We have to see some shameless faces at the helm

of public institutions, who are living in an El Dorado of their own.

They are disturbed by criticism, not by acts of crime or scams in banks and the share market. These people, who have employed all efforts to secure power until 2041, can’t focus on the small things – declining sales in the market, production losses in industries, or extortion by their “golden boys.”

Is it not high time to start over? To hold fresh elections in order to give fair opportunities?

If we sum up many such realities, there is only one conclusion – the loss of hope of a resilient nation. A political system devoid of democratic latitude can’t provide the people with the incentive to become optimistic about their future. Axiomatically, the years of undemocratic rule have been the darkest era for Bangladesh – economically, culturally, socially, and politically.

Challenged by rivals and hated by the people, the AL administration can offer nothing better than corruption at

all levels. It’s an opportune moment for the evils to shine. The majority, not being party to the corrupt system, is bound to suffer.

Mindful of their “high-voltage” performance, the rulers are getting increasingly scared of public wrath and doggedly unwilling to relinquish power. Awami League, as a party, is lost to the police, and BNP and other opposition forces are reduced to seminar rooms.

It’s a situation which can be defined by a complete isolation of the regime, pent-up anger among political elements, and wholesale frustration of the masses. It all tells us the story of a political impasse that is leaving dampening effects on every other sector.

When we don’t have an elected parliament, influential leaders of the two sides of the political divide compete with abusive words, and the governing party is the undisputed champion there. Away from home, the teasing of this government by foreign players for a flawed ballot, and the representation of the country by an anti-people regime, has bowed our heads in shame for hardly any fault of our own as citizens.

So, is it not high time to start over?

To hold fresh elections in order to give fair opportunities to people of a few generations, especially the fresh blood, to come to the electoral race and forge a social contract for bringing qualitative change in democratic politics?

However, Bangladeshis can’t be so naïve to believe that premier Hasina’s

government would volunteer to hold a snap poll. As a clever politician, she, speaking at a recent press conference, gave a broad hint at mid-term elections as an option, should her administration be forced to do so, despite her outright rejection of any dialogue with BNP. Under the circumstances, if AL’s ego wins, democracy loses. If BNP defeats the AL as the ruling party, the victory may not be “of the people” unless there is a greater national dialogue to accommodate demands of all stakeholders. Only a participatory ballot, following a consensus on future political order, can provide an equitable platform for current leaders, sidelined politicians, and new entrants.

If such an arrangement can’t be agreed upon shortly, it is AL that will be the most endangered party. In the case of a mid-term election, however, it will enjoy the space to manoeuvre politically and stay in the electoral race all over the country and surely in the next parliament.

As BNP has a compulsion to secure an election for political revival, the party will presumably play all-in to unseat the AL regime. Even if BNP is subdued by witch-hunting, AL will not be safe either. The rise of an extremist force that AL often refers to, to earn international sympathy, may be inevitable to oust a fascist party from power, as AL proved its autocratic nature in 1975 and 2014. l

People now take lives over vanity bags or cell phones. It seems they are not human at all

Some of the muggers come from very prestigious and rich families. Whenever law enforcers catch them, they are cock-a-hoop with all their money and muscle power, and in the aftermath, they escape. It seems that family background and money could not teach them about humanity.

However, it makes us worried about our law and order situation.

None of us feel safe when we are on the roads. Our families keep praying to the Almighty when we are outside our homes. This kind of anxiety is not acceptable in an independent country.

Basically, we are habituated to such news. We allow these miscreants to flee from the crime zone and cannot even stop them. We are even reluctant in taking their license plate numbers.

Ironically, we always think about ourselves. But, who could say that their next target might not be you or your kith and kin?

So, it is time to eradicate these nuisances from society. Whoever they are, stern action should be taken against them and they should be subjected to exemplary punishment. And, in the long run, societal reform is paramount.

Families, educational institutions, religious hubs, government authorities should all play pivotal roles. We should remember that without humanity, we lag behind, no matter what progress we achieve. l Saleh Md Arman is an independent researcher.

BIGSTOCK

Respect our right to choose

erhaps we are all familiar with the sad fate of Ayesha, who breathed her last because of muggers a couple of days ago in Dhaka city. This news went viral in the mass media. Some bag-snatchers, who were in a microbus, tried to snatch her purse right in front of the Sobhanbagh mosque, and eventually, she fell from the rickshaw. Despite her fall, the assailants did not leave her purse and kept dragging her up to the junction of Dhanmondi road 27, on Mirpur road.

Immediately after her death, they successfully managed to grab their targeted vanity bag and flew off on their vehicle. Everyone mourns for her and her offspring. Personally, I am very disappointed that we have to observe such crude news. I thank Allah for keeping me and my near and dear ones safe from such awful transpirations.

These muggers are ubiquitous in Bangladesh. Every day, throughout the country, lots of people have to suffer at the hands of these miscreants. But we get only a handful of news on muggings, because the media mostly circulates news where the victims are dead. So, the real picture remains concealed.

A few days ago, I met a man, Dr Muntahid Ahsan, in front of the ICU of BSMMU when I was visiting the hospital to see my father-in-law, who had been admitted there as he was suffering from GBS, a rare neuro disease. His wife Sanjana Zerin, also a doctor, had been on life support for approximately two months.

He told me that they were going to join their workplace as newly appointed government doctors. As they went towards the bus stand by rickshaw, suddenly, thugs who were in a private car snatched her vanity bag.

As a result, she fell from the rickshaw onto the road. This left her brutally injured and she subsequently lost her consciousness due to brain haemorrhage. The medics lost hope and told him to wait for some sort of miracle from Allah. At present, her situation is getting worse than before.

One of my students told me another sad story about his maternal aunt which occurred about a year ago. She was on a rickshaw and talking over her cell phone when miscreants snatched it, and she lost her balance and fell on the road. She died in the ICU 14 days after the incident.

These are the anecdotes of our deteriorating moral and societal values.

People now take lives over vanity bags or cell phones. It seems they are not human at all. Rather, they have turned into a species that we cannot even recognise. They don't care about the victims at all.

Khawaza Main Uddin is Executive Editor at ICE Business Times.

The past is a foreign country n William B Milam

P

hillip Stephens wrote recently in the Financial Times of the unraveling – perhaps segmentation is a better word – he sees in the British polity. The emergence of the far right, anti-immigrant, anti-Europe UKIP party leads him to conclude that a growing portion of the British population wants only to look back to some imagined, glorious past. My response would be: “Well, welcome to the club.”

I think of the Tea party in the US and the growth of such parties as UKIP all over Europe.

We live in an era which, in some ways, is eerily reminiscent of the first half of the previous century. Democracy, where it is truly practiced, appears to be failing. The democracies are surely not meeting the needs of their citizens, neither their material and/or their psychic needs. In both of these failings, onrushing globalisation plays a large role.

The number of practicing democracies is falling as more and more countries turn toward authoritarian governance. Most of these authoritarians have their own favorite, and often misleading, golden age to look back to, which they promise to reconstruct.

Many governments that look back

to a golden age are concerned with regaining “lost” territory. Somehow, the dream of regaining lost territory embodies an absolutist memory of greater glory and power that was connected with a more extensive territorial writ.

The poster child of this group is President Putin of Russia, who talks boldly of a “New Russia” which would at least encompass the greater European territorial grip of the now defunct, but obviously not forgotten, Soviet Union. (Perhaps there is also a memory of the expansionist Tsarist regimes of the 18th and 19th centuries.)

Russia’s neighbours, most of whom were part of that Soviet Union, to their everlasting regret, worry about whether Putin’s dream is not their next nightmare, a recurring one at that. In his seizure of Crimea, and his covert efforts to seize Eastern Ukraine, he seems to want to return to the 20th century European way of doing things, using force to establish and change borders.

The power to carry out his dream, however, has disappeared along with the Soviet Empire. If Putin believes that controlling more territory will reverse the demographic and economic decline of Russia since he took over, he is, as they say, putting the cart before the (dead) horse.

South Asia has its share, and maybe

more, of governments and parties which dream of some preferred past and, no matter how far those dreams depart from historical accuracy, aim to turn back the clock.

Their dreams relate primarily to an idealised view of how the nation was founded

The present Awami League government in Bangladesh has no revanchist motives, no territory to recover, but yearns instead for the imagined past of total power. It is driven by selective memory of its first two-and-a-half years in charge of the new state of Bangladesh, and motivated by the fluke of an inept opposition without vision, which, this year, gave the Awami League sole power by refusing to participate in the January election.

The AL has ended up, by default, in total charge of the country; but in a context totally different from 42 years ago. Perhaps encouraged by the worldwide retreat from democracy and regression toward authoritarianism, or perhaps by its own DNA, the AL is charging ahead to consolidate its one-party government into a one-party state by closing the political space for any kind of opposition.

Whether the Bangladeshi civil society, as well as the political opposition, will find the will to resist this, is a more important question than it would appear on the surface, as it may have wider implications around the region.

The answer is not yet evident, but the outlook is discouraging.

India is now run by a party which also looks to an idealised past for general guidance. But as yet, the BJP seems to be trying to modernise the country instead of regressing back to the past. It is early days yet in India.

In Pakistan, dreams of a glorious past abound. With governments, these dreams, though slightly mendacious, are aspirational, but probably deleterious because they create impossible goals for political leaders of either major party.

Their dreams relate primarily to an idealised view of how the nation was

founded and/or governed in its first decade-and-a-half. Much more pernicious dreams of the past are those that are held by the many militant groups, all of which, in one way or the other, see the political/economic/social structure of the 7th and 8th century Islamic world as what they would try to return to, if in power.

Although the modern-day manifestations of this nostalgia have been ugly and totally alien to the predominant spirit of this century (Taliban-controlled Afghanistan in the 1990s, and ISIS-controlled Syria and Iraq today), the unfortunate fact is that many disaffected young men and women from many countries have been drawn to this retrogressive vision.

The reasons for why people are attracted to a retrogressive and false dream of the past are complex and mysterious. Social scientists are still trying to work them out. Clearly, the past has always helped to shape our lives. Over the centuries, it has been both a nurturing and burdensome force, allowing people to make sense of the present, but at the same time, to shape change.

The past was once a sanction for inherited power or privilege, but in many countries that has changed dramatically, all for the good. The past remains, of course, in many coun-

tries as the bedrock of personal and national identity. But today’s fascination with an idealised past by so many governments and movements can be explained, at least in part, by the fact that it can also be a bulwark against massive and distressingly rapid change in the lives of people.

And such change seems to be the rule of the late 20th and early 21st centuries. The past will remain a potent force in our lives, and it is up to our political leaders to ensure that we use it to make the present better, and the best way to do that is to present the past as it really was, with all its warts and potholes as well as its parts worth preserving.

Many readers will recognise that the title of this piece is the opening line of JP Hartley’s classic 1953 novel, The Go-Between. The narrator, looking back to a boyhood trauma of a half century earlier, that led him to feel cursed and withdraw emotionally from life, calls the past foreign because “they do things differently there.” But he learns in the end that “there is no spell or curse [of the past] except an unloving heart.” l William B Milam is a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson Centre in Washington, DC, and former US Ambassador to Pakistan and Bangladesh.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, November 17, 2014

13 Klitschko KOs

Pulev for 17th defence

14 I won’t walk

away from England: Rooney

14 Federer hangs

tough to set up Djokovic clash

Sport

Did you know?

Shakib al Hasan bagged 18 wickets and scored 251 runs in the 3-match Test series against Zimbabwe

All-round Shakib content with his performance n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong When he was about to start his bowling in the first Test against Zimbabwe at Mirpur the cheer from the crowd “Shakib..Shakib” needs to reason to explain. The 27 year old returned from a six months suspension after reducing it to three the poster of Bangladesh cricket immediately took the limelight from others not for his off the field incident but by his performance.

Shakib Al Hasan who lead the Tigers from the front on their first ever whitewash win against West Indies in 2009 the star all rounder once again stand tall and concluded the three match Test series with the man of the series award on his hands.

The numero uno all rounder in Test cricket once again proved his mettle by scoring 251 runs including a century and picked up 18 wickets with three five-for is the second cricketer to score 250 runs and taking 15 wickets in a three or less Test match series.

Australia’s Mitchell Johnson is the only other cricketer to score 255 runs and picked up 16 wickets against South Africa in 2008.

However the Magura lad had the chance to register his name as the only

cricketer to pick twenty wickets and scoring 250 runs in a three match series but surprisingly skipper Mushfiqur Rahim used his premier bowler for only eight overs on the fifth day.

But usually an outspoken person Shakib informed that he had no regrets not to achieve the feat, “I have no regrets if I wouldn’t take ten wickets instead of seventeen in the first two Tests? It requires luck which I did not had in this match. I had no regrets for that but I would feel good if I could take the wickets,” said Shakib.

The champion all rounder who seems to hide his emotions since he returned from his suspension informed that he never set any target before a series, “I never set any target before a series and at times the target varies according to situation. As I previously told that it feels good to contribute for the side similarly I feel bad if I could not perform,” he said.

Shakib who still thinks he could have perform better than what he did however said he is satisfied by his performance in the series, “Actually I never analyze this things before what I think is if I could bowl a bit better or score some more runs but overall I am satisfied with my performance,” told Shakib. l

Man of the series Shakib al Hasan receives his deserved trophy from BCB president Nazmul Hasan at ZACS yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

SCORECARD, DAY 5

Tigers rejoice while collecting the memorabilia of the clean sweep against Zimbabwe at ZACS yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Old habits die hard for Mushfiq n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong A dismal 2014 for the national cricket team on and off the field created a lot of controversies inside the Bangladesh Cricket Board that ultimately saw cricket’s governing body make big overhauls. Among the changes were the issue of split captaincy. Mushfiqur Rahim, who led the Tigers across all formats for around two years, only retained his Test captaincy while Mashrafe bin Mortaza was re-appointed as the skipper of the ODI side.

The outcome – the first ever 3-0 whitewash at home soil. However, theoretically it may seem the decision to spilt the leadership might have made the impact here but the actual reason is the rise in confidence level of the senior players.

Mushfiq, who is yet to grow out of the old habit of leading the Tigers in all formats, always believed they had the potential to bag the three-match Test series 3-0 and it was only possible with the seniors contributing more in the game.

The wicketkeeper-batsman also informed he almost started planning for the upcoming one-day matches when he realised he doesn’t need to any more.

“After the first one-day maybe the realisation (of not leading the side) will come. Generally I try to make a plan early and stay a week ahead with my homework, I was about to do something like that this time as well but then I realised that I am not the captain. If I play as a keeper, obviously if Mashrafe bhai wants I can help from there,” said Mushfiq.

“Yes, 3-0 was always in the thoughts, but the reality was that if we could execute ourselves we would get this result. It’s nothing unbelievable, this is quite normal for Bangladesh’s cricket, because against our spinners it was going to be difficult for them.

Credit goes to the bowlers, especially, but the batsmen - the runs they scored, even they have to be thanked. Our key players performed and that’s why this 3-0 was possible,” said Mushfiq during the post-match conference at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.

Mominul Haque has simply been

phenomenal while the return to form of Tamim Iqbal with back-to-back hundreds and Shakib al Hasan’s 251 runs and 18 wickets in the series helped Mushfiq become the most successful Bangladesh captain.

The skipper, however, did not forget to praise the fresh blood in his troop – Taijul Islam, the most valuable Bangladeshi player of the series with 17 wickets, and leg-spinner Jubair Hossain, who picked 11 wickets including his maiden five-for in the first innings of this Test.

“We tried to set a platform for the juniors so that they could enjoy. And they did that for instance Taijul. Obviously, a leg-spinner is a big asset for the team, a bright future, but he (Jubair) has plenty of areas to improve, I am not saying Zimbabwe are a weak team that’s why he has done well but if he wants to progress, he has the ability to do better and he has to do better. Me and the coach, we will try to give him the reminders and hopefully he can fulfill the leg-spinning gap that has been there in Bangladesh,” Mushfiq said.l

Nazmul urges players to remain focused Tigers breaks ZACS jinx n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong

Bangladesh Cricket Board president Nazmul Hasan is delighted with the Tigers’ first Test series sweep at home and expressed happiness alongside his expectations at a press conference held at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium after the game.

After the second Test win in Khulna, Bangladesh climbed the ICC Test rankings for the first time and replaced

Zimbabwe at ninth position. The series win means Bangladesh have bettered their ratings and in the correct path of their target – 8th place by 12 September 2016 in order to avoid disqualification from five-day cricket and subsequently participating in the ICC Test Championship in 2019.

Nazmul informed that the national team are aware of the fact and has been told to better their position in the rankings table with positive results at least

Our spin is like chalk and cheese, says Taylor n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong Spin made all the difference in the Test series as crestfallen Zimbabwe captain Brendan Taylor opined they lack experience in the department while Bangladesh have world-class spinners. The 186-run thumping defeat also completed the home side’s clean sweep of the three-match series, a series that Taylor dubbed as “Ashes” of the minnows.

“When you got a quality spin attack, on day five, it’s certainly going to be a massive challenge. I think that’s certainly the difference between the two sides, they have got world class spinners and we are struggling for a couple,” said Taylor at the post-match press conference at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium in Chittagong yesterday.

“I think Bangladesh is a slightly better side in their conditions, the difference is in the spin department like chalk and cheese. The first Test match

set the tone, in hindsight had we gotten 20-30 runs, it could have been a different result. But that’s not the reason why we lost the series, we lost the series because Bangladesh have been better than us in the three Tests,” said Taylor.

The Bangladesh spin trio - Shakib al Hasan, Taijul Islam and Jubair Hossain - bagged 46 wickets in the series as Taylor said, “Yeah it certainly hurts as an individual, it hurts the team. It’s tough to comprehend that but Bangladesh have played better cricket so we got to give them credit.

“They made it difficult for us, in all three Test matches batting first in the last two Tests and getting 450, 500, it’s always tough to try and comeback and win from there so we fought pretty hard but the better team held in over the end and got the results.”

The 28-year-old also chalked out the positives for his side from the Test series and hoped to bounce back in the five-match one-day series. l

from the home series.

The BCB boss also informed that the board has also taken measures to improve the side’s standing in the ICC ODI rankings and move to the first eight spots.

“Or else we will have to play the Continental Cup in order to qualify for the ICC Cricket World Cup 2019. We have already got the plans ready for this and hope our cricketers will be able to meet them,” said Nazmul. l

Blue turf reaches Dhaka n Raihan Mahmood

The new blue hockey turf provided by the International Hockey Federation (IHF) reached Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

It will be the third artificial turf placed at the prime venue of the country’s hockey arena. The first was laid in 1995 and the second one in 2005. IHF president Leandro Negre promised to assist the process of laying the new turf. It will be installed next month.

Dhaka will host the AHF Under-21 Hockey from November 30-December 7 that will be followed by the National Hockey Championship. The installation is likely to start on December 20 and it will take three weeks to complete the process.

Khaja Rahmatullah, the general secretary was upbeat with the development. “Its the beginning of the new era, Bangladesh enters the latest level with the blue turf” said Rahmatullah.

The budget to install the blue turf is more than $300,000. Half of the money will be provided by the IHF and the IOC. The rest of the money will come from the government’s coffers. l

n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong Prior to the start of the third and final Test between Bangladesh and Zimbabwe at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium (ZACS), the Tigers achieved everything possible at the venue other than a win.

The final Test of the three-match series was the 13th time Bangladesh played a five-day game at ZACS. Although the Tigers boast several individual records to their name, they were never victorious at the south-eastern venue drawing four Tests and losing eight.

The 186-run win over Zimbabwe yesterday was, therefore, a much-comforting victory for the Tigers breaking the 12-winless Test drought at this venue.

Through the third Test victory, ZACS is now one of Bangladesh’s most luckiest venues, taking into consideration all the individual and team records. The Tigers posted 503 in their first innings of the third Test which is their third highest innings score and second highest at home.

Bangladesh openers Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes both struck centuries in the first innings which is the first instance of two Tigers opening batsmen scoring a hundred in the same innings.

Tamim and Imrul in the process stitched together a record-breaking 224run stand for the opening wicket which is

Bangladesh’s highest ever for the opening wicket and third highest for any wicket.

The 224-run stand of the pair is also the highest stand for any wicket in Bangladesh-Zimbabwe Tests.

Moving forward now to Mominul Haque, Bangladesh’s diminutive left-handed batsman. Of his four centuries in just 12 Tests, three came at this venue. The pocket dynamo will ne doubt long for more Tests at this venue.

19-year old leg-spinner Jubair Hossain, playing only his third Test, picked up his maiden five-wicket haul in the first innings. Suffice to say that the young leggie will cherish this venue for a long time to come.

Bangladesh’s right-arm off-spinner Sohag Gazi might be out of the limelight for the time being but no one will ever forget his ton (coming in at No 8) and six-wicket haul – including a hat-trick - at this venue last year against New Zealand.

In the second and final Test against Sri Lanka earlier this year at this venue, Bangladesh earned a creditable draw with three centuries belonging to the Tigers’ batsmen – Tamim, Imrul and Mominul.

The venue has so far witnessed 26 centuries, four double hundreds and a triple century (Kumar Sangakkara) in 13 Tests.

Among those 26 centuries, the Bangladesh batsmen have smashed 11. l

Bangladesh 1st innings 503 (Imrul Kayes 130, Tamim Iqbal 109, Shakib Al Hasan 71; Sikandar Raza 3-123, H. Masakadza 2-23, T. Panyangara 2-70, S. Masakadza 2-77) Zimbabwe 1st innings 374 (E. Chigumbura 88, S. Raza 82, H. Masakadza 81, R. Chakabva 65; Jubair Hossain 5-96, Shafiul Islam 2-50) Bangladesh 2nd innings 319-5 decl (Mominul Haque 131 not out, Tamim Iqbal 65; T. Panyangara 2-31, N. M’shangwe 2-77) Zimbabwe 2nd innings (Overnight 71-1) S Raza c Taijul b Shuvagata 65 B Chari lbw b Rubel 0 H Masakadza c Rahim b Shuvagata 38 B Taylor c Shakib b Jubair 24 R Chakabva not out 89 E Chigumbura c Imrul b Jubair 5 C Ervine lbw b Mahmudullah 16 R Mutumbami lbw b Taijul 2 T Panyangara lbw b Rubel 2 S Masakadza b Shafiul 0 N M’shangwe lbw b Shafiul 0 Extras (b14, lb6, w1) 21 Total (all out; 85 overs) 262 Bowling Shafiul 9-1-17-2 (w1), Rubel 4-2-16-2, Taijul 22-4-48-1, Jubair 19-3-56-2, Shakib 11-2-35-0, Shuvagata 16-1-66-2, Mahmudullah 4-1-4-1 Bangladesh won by 186 runs; sweep series 3-0

Abahani begin King’s Cup with win n Shishir Hoque Guinean striker Ismael Bangoura shone on his debut for Abahani Limited as the Sky Blues began their King’s Cup campaign with a hard-fought 1-0 victory over Assam Electricity Limited at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu, Bhutan yesterday.

Former Team BJMC striker Bangoura netted the all-important goal in the 20th minute of the game on his debut for the Sky Blues to get them off to a winning start. The margin could have been bigger if the Guinean had not missed a penalty in the second half.

The four-time professional football league champions started the match brightly and controlled ball possession from the beginning. The Assamese defenders put up a solid display and did not allow the opponents in their territory for 20 minutes.

The Sky Blues went ahead with their first shot on target. After a controversial incident inside the penalty area that saw an Assamese defender get away with a foul on Bangoura, the Guinean striker recovered admirably from the challenge and slotted the ball to the back of the net.

Another new Abahani recruit, Wahed Ahmed, wasted a glorious opportunity to double the lead in the 40th minute.

Abahani struggled to maintain their lead as three of their players received yellow cards including Ariful Islam for simulation. Two chances in the second half came Assam’s way but they could not utilise either of them. The Dhanmondi-outfit could have doubled their lead once again in the 67th minute when Bangoura missed a penalty. Abahani will take on Bhutanese National League outfit Ugyen Academy in their second match at the same venue tomorrow. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Sparkling Morkel sets up Proteas win over Aussies

QUICK BYTES

Ajmal getting better by degrees Suspended Pakistan spinner Saeed Ajmal has substantially improved his suspect bowling action but he still needs work to return to being within the legal limit, the Pakistan Cricket Board said Saturday. The 37-year-old was reported during the Galle Test against Sri Lanka in August this year and after a biomechanical analysis in Australia the master spinner was suspended until another official assessment by the International Cricket Council (ICC). The Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) has even hired former off-spinner Saqlain Mushtaq to work on removing the flaws in Ajmal’s action. Under ICC rules a bowler is allowed 15-degree elbow extension, a point visible to naked eye. But August’s tests on Ajmal showed he extends his elbow nearly 43 degrees and, as a result, needed a major overhaul. Before going for his official test with the ICC, the PCB sent Ajmal to Loughborough, England, to have an unofficial assessment as a precautionary measure and the Pakistan board said the unofficial test was satisfactory.

–AFP

n Reuters

Bryan brothers reach year-end final in style

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

Ten Cricket 12:00 PM New Zealand Tour of Pakistan Second Test, Day 1

Total (all out; 41.4 overs)

0 8 11 10 25 67 19 0 3 2 0 9 154

Fall of wickets 1-1 (Warner), 2-14 (Finch), 3-27 (Watson), 4-34 (Smith), 5-92 (Bailey), 6-125 (Wade), 7-125 (Maxwell), 8-129 (Johnson), 9-138 (Coulter-Nile), 10-154 (Marsh).

Bowling M. Morkel 8-0-21-5 (2w), V. Philander 9-216-1, D. Steyn 7.4-1-35-3 (1w), F. Behardien 8-0-40-1 (1w), I. Tahir 9-0-37-0.

South Africa Q. de Kock c Watson b Hazlewood 4 H. Amla c Wade b Johnson 10 F. du Plessis c Wade b Hazlewood 19 R. Rossouw c Smith b Maxwell 30 AB de Villiers c Wade b Hazlewood 48 F. Behardien c Warner b Hazlewood 0 D. Miller not out 22 V. Philander c Johnson b Hazlewood 0 D. Steyn not out 4 Extras (lb1, w19) 20 Total (seven wickets; 27.4 overs) 157 Fall of wickets 1-6 (de Kock), 2-21 (Amla), 3-64 (Rossouw), 4-113 (du Plessis), 5-113 (Behardien), 6-141 (de Villiers), 7-153 (Philander).

Bowling M. Johnson 8-1-47-1, J. Hazlewood 9.4-2-31-5, N. Coulter-Nile 6-0-54-0, M. Marsh 1-0-4-0, G. Maxwell 3-0-20-1.

South Africa wins by three wickets Series Level 1-1

Indian captain Virat Kohli celebrates his 21st hundred during the 5th ODI aganist Sri Lanka in Ranchi yesterday AP

“We’re playing for pride, and we’re not the kind of team to lose 5-0,” Angelo Mathews had said at the toss. Though the remainder of the top order did not live out those words on a spin-friendly track in Ranchi, Mathews took on the job himself. His intelligently paced 138 not out off 114 balls was first the spine, then

Klitschko KOs Pulev for 17th defence n AFP, Hamburg

Wladimir Klitschko earned the 17th defence of his world heavyweight crowns with a fifth round knock-out of Kubrat Pulev on Saturday to secure the 53rd KO of his career.

The 38-year-old inched closer to the legendary Joe Louis’ record of 25 heavyweight defences when he put the Bulgarian down for the fourth time after two mins, 11 seconds of the round.

Klitschko dominated the fight in one of the most impressive displays of his career as he prepares to become a father next month with his girlfriend, actress Hayden Panettiere, a star of hit US series, “Heroes” and “Nashville”.

The Ukrainian champion paid tribute

to his countrymen in their ongoing military struggle against Russia after the bout in his adopted home town of Hamburg.

“I want to dedicate this victory to my compatriots in the Ukraine, who are experiencing difficult times,” said Klitschko, whose brother Vitali, the mayor of Kiev and an ex-world champion, was in his corner.

“Pulev put in a good performance and I give him respect. He made it hard to land the left hook by staying out of range, but I managed to land a lot of punches and I’m glad it worked out in the end.”

The Ukrainian retains his IBF, IBO, WBA and WBO belts to remain the undisputed heavyweight champion of the world after the 63rd victory of his career.l

2 Players to have hit at least 250 runs and taken 15 or more wickets from three or fewer Tests in a series.

Shakib Al Hasan, with his 251 runs and 18 wickets against Zimbabwe, joins Mitchell Johnson as the only players to achieve this. Johnson took 16 wickets and made 255 runs against South Africa in 2008-09.

356

Number of whitewashes Bangladesh have completed before this series.

They had beaten West Indies 2-0 in 2009.

Runs scored by Hamilton Masakadza, the most any Zimbabwe batsman has hit in a series since Andy Flower’s 422 runs in a two-Test series against South Arica in 2001.

Masakadza has also gone past Murray Goodwin to become the Zimbabwe batsman with the second-most runs in Tests at No. 3, and is only 38 runs short of going past Alistair Campbell who leads this list.

503

BRIEF SCORE India 288 for 7 (Kohli 139*, Rayudu 59; Mendis 4-73) Sri Lanka 286 for 8 (Mathews 139*, Thirimanne 52, Kulkarni 3-57) India won by 3 wickets and won the series 5-0

BANvZIM TEST SERIES IN NUMBERS

Bangladesh’s first-innings total in this Test, which was only the fourth time they scored 500 or more runs in a Test innings. Two of these have come in Chittagong and five of their top-ten Test totals have come in the last two years.

1

India captain Virat Kohli smashed 139 not out as they chased 289 runs against the visiting Sri Lanka during their 5th and final ODI of the series at Ranchi yesterday. India also won their previous 4 ODIs of the series.

the muscle of Sri Lanka’s first competitive score, of 286 for 7, this series. Other batsmen contributed in spurts - Thirimanne the most notable among them, sticking by Mathews in Sri Lanka’s biggest partnership of the series, as he collected a second fifty on the trot himself.

Both times India batted first in the series, they had conquered the opposition by conserving wickets, then surging powerfully in the last 15 overs, and Mathews adopted that blueprint as he hit a long-awaited maiden ton. Having arrived at the crease at 73 for 3, he was cautious at the outset, sinking 36 balls into his first 15 runs, and seeing out 41 deliveries before hitting his first boundary.

His 128-run stand with Thirimanne was measured work. Sri Lanka did not lose a wicket in the batting Powerplay for the first time in the series, but they were also thoroughly unambitious through that stretch. Mathews hit a six off the 40th over to reach his half-century, and yet Sri Lanka scored only 26 with the field pulled in. l

Bangladesh will face Maldives today in a do-or-die Group A encounter in the 3rd Saff Women’s Championship at Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad, Pakistan.

While Bangladesh and Maldives defeated Afghanistan 6-1 and 1-0 respectively, both the teams were beaten by India 5-1 and 8-1 respectively.

Hence, Bangladesh have a better goal difference and only a draw will be enough for them to go through to the semifinals alongside defending champions India.

Bangladesh’s Japanese head coach Norio Tsukitate said they will “do their best to win the game” while assistant coach Golam Rabbani Chotton elaborated, “We will give more effort in this match, this is our do-or-die match in order to reach the last four. All the players are physically and mentally ready to give their full effort.”

Bangladesh captain Suinu pru Marma also uttered words of confidence and determination.

“Tomorrow’s (today’s) match is very serious and important for us. We will try our best and put up our 100 percent effort to win the match.” l

The first innings of the Chittagong Test provided the first occasion of Bangladesh’s openers hitting centuries in the same innings. Tamim Iqbal and Imrul Kayes also recorded only the third time Bangladesh’s top-two hit fifty-plus scores in a Test innings, and were responsible for the last time it had happened at Lord’s in 2010, when Tamim got a century and Kayes scored 75.

Number of Bangladesh batsmen to accumulate more than 300 runs in one series, including Mominul Haque and Tamim Iqbal in this series.

While this is the first time Tamim has aggregated 300-plus in a series, Mominul had scored 376 runs in two Tests against New Zealand last year. Habibul Bashar’s 379 runs in a three-Test series against Pakistan in 2003 is the most by a Bangladesh batsman.

Number of consecutive fifties for Mominul in Tests. Only six other batsmen have had longer such sequences. Mominul has hit 1198 runs at an average of 63.05 in the 12 Tests he has played and has 11 fifty-plus scores, including four centuries.

Mominul’s batting average in second innings, when he has produced three of his four centuries and three fifties as well. With a 500-run cut-off, only Don Bradman’s second-innings average of 104.50 is higher than Mominul’s. His overall average of 63.05 too, is currently second to Bradman among batsmen with at least 20 Test innings.

224

n Cricinfo

n Shishir Hoque

Zimbabwe’s total in their first innings - the highest they have scored in an overseas Test since 2001, when they hit their highest score of 541, against the same opposition and at the same venue.

4

DAY’S WATCH

Australia D. Warner c de Kock b Morkel A. Finch c Morkel b Steyn S. Watson lbw Behardien S. Smith c Tahir b Morkel G. Bailey c du Plessis b Philander M. Marsh c Morkel b Steyn M. Wade c de Kock b Morkel G. Maxwell b Morkel M. Johnson c de Kock b Morkel N. Coulter-Nile c du Plessis b Steyn J. Hazlewood not out Extras (lb5, w4)

take on Maldives today

1

Kohli 139* outdoes Mathews 139*

Henman questions Mauresmo-Murray partnership

British great Tim Henman believes Andy Murray might need to question his coaching relationship with Amelie Mauresmo unless the former Wimbledon champion can quickly return to peak form. A disappointing 2014 campaign came to a suitably downbeat end for Murray on Thursday when he was eliminated from the ATP Tour Finals in humiliating fashion after a 6-0, 6-1 thrashing by Roger Federer. Former British number one Henman is a good friend of Murray’s, but he has been frustrated by his lack of aggression in recent weeks and claims there could be cause for the Scot to reassess whether Mauresmo is the right person to revive a career which has stagnated since he won Wimbledon last year. “When you reflect on the match, for me his game had no identity,” Henman said. “What was the plan out there? It was really the Federer show. The two-time Grand Slam winner appeared to have turned a corner after the US Open.

–AFP

a Corey Anderson’s bouncer in the first Test, during which he made a career-best 176.

They are also in danger of losing the second opener Mohammad Hafeez who is doubtful for the second Test after suffering a hamstring injury.

Experienced Taufeeq Umar, who played the last of his 43 Tests in July 2012, and Shan Masood are likely to fill in as openers.

The rest of the batting is expected to flourish after Younis Khan, Misbah-ul Haq and Hafeez scored centuries in the first Test.

New Zealand captain Brendon McCullum said he hoped his team would be able to implement some changes.

The third and final Test will be played in Sharjah from November 26-30. l

2

Pakistan will continue to attack a hapless New Zealand with spin as they eye a series win in the second Test starting in Dubai on Monday.

Pakistan inflicted a big 248-run defeat on the Kiwis in the first Test in Abu Dhabi for a 1-0 lead in the three-match series with left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar and leggie Yasir Shah posing serious problems.

Besides a spin web, paceman Rahat Ali, man-of-the-match for his six wickets in the game, reverse swung the ball to pile further problems on the New Zealand batting, which folded for 262 and 231 on a flat Sheikh Zayed Stadium pitch.

There seems to be no change in fortune for the tourists as the Dubai stadi-

um pitch promises more help for spin and in turn multiplies the problems for the struggling New Zealand batsmen.

New Zealand’s best batsmen against spin, Kane Williamson (3 and 23) and Ross Taylor (nought and eight), were both all at sea against the Pakistani bowling.

Opener Tom Latham showed some grit against spin, scoring his maiden hundred in the first innings but that wasn’t enough to thwart Pakistan.

Skipper Misbah-ul Haq said he was still not eyeing a white-wash, like his team did against Australia with a 2-0 scoreline just a week before the New Zealand series.

Pakistan will be without opener Ahmed Shehzad, ruled out of the remaining two Tests after suffering a fractured skull when he was hit by

4

AFP, Dubai

9

Under-21 coach Kostas Tsanas will be in charge of Greece on Tuesday in a friendly against Serbia, replacing Claudio Ranieri who was sacked from the position on Saturday, the Greek football federation announced Sunday.

Italian Ranieri was sent packing the day after a humiliating 1-0 home loss to the Faroe Islands in a Euro 2016 qualifier played on Friday. Originally he had been expected to coach the national squad for a final time in the friendly against Serbia, but the federation, fearful of a negative reaction from fans, opted for 47-year-old Tsanas instead.

The federation has said it is in the process of looking for a replacement for Ranieri and the local media have speculated on two Greek coaches, Giorgos Donis who is currently at APOEL in Cyprus and Angelos Anastasiadis who is with PAOK Salonica.

–AFP

SCORECARD

SAFF WOMEN’S CHAMPIONSHIP Pakistan eye series win in Dubai Bangladesh women n

88.14

Greece picks interim coach for friendly

South Africa pacer Morne Morkel celebrates after dismissing Australia opener David Warner for a duck during their 2nd ODI at Perth yesterday

South Africa paceman Morne Morkel thrived on a fast WACA pitch to capture five wickets but the tourists made hard work of a three-wicket victory over Australia in the second one-day international in Perth on Sunday.

Morkel’s return of 5-21 was his best in one-day cricket and helped skittle Australia for a paltry 154 runs from only 41.4 overs on a day of brilliant sunshine in Perth.

Although losing both openers cheaply in reply and stumbling to 1537, captain AB De Villiers (48) and David Miller (22 not out) ensured a regulation victory with over 22 overs to spare and levelling the five-match series 1-1.

Australia’s innings began disastrously, with Morkel having the dangerous David Warner caught behind for a duck before the same bowler caught Aaron Finch for eight at mid-on off the bowling of Dale Steyn (3-31).

Shane Watson (11) and Steven Smith (10) also went cheaply before George Bailey (25) and Australia’s top scorer Mitchell Marsh (67) steadied the innings with a 58-run partnership.

Vernon Philander broke the stand, however, with Faf du Plessis taking a fine catch low at mid-on to remove Bailey, before Morkel had wicketkeep-

er Matthew Wade caught behind for 19 and Glenn Maxwell bowled for a duck in the same over.

Morkel captured his fifth wicket when Mitchell Johnson edged behind for three, leaving the hosts reeling at 129-8 and their hopes of building a solid total in tatters.

Australia quicks Josh Hazlewood and Johnson struck early to remove openers Quinton de Kock (4) and Hashim Amla (10) before Rilee Rossouw contributed a valuable 30 before swiping a nick behind off part-time spinner Maxwell.

Du Plessis and De Villiers drove South Africa to a comfortable 113-3 before Hazlewood struck to remove Du Plessis for 19 and Farhaan Behardien for a duck in successive balls.

David Miller survived the hat-trick ball and an onslaught of short-pitched bowling from left-armer Johnson, but Hazlewood struck again to remove De Villiers and Vernon Philander for a duck for another chance at a hat-trick.

Steyn defied Hazlewood, however, and slogged his third delivery over the bowler to the fence to bring up the winning runs.

Hazlewood was the pick of the Australian bowlers with 5-31. The third ODI will be played in Canberra on Wednesday. l

374

Bob and Mike Bryan thrashed French duo Julien Benneteau and Edouard Roger-Vasselin 6-0 6-3 to reach the final of the ATP World Tour Finals on Saturday. The American twins will be going for their fourth title at the season-ender on Sunday against Brazil’s Marcelo Melo and Croatia’s Ivan Dodig, although they have not triumphed since 2009 when the event first switched to London. Melo and Dodig, who lost to the Bryans in last year’s Wimbledon final, beat Pole Lukasz Kubot and Sweden’s Robert Lindstedt in a deciding set tiebreak. The Bryans dropped only seven points in a one-sided opening set, an unusual occurrence this week when the doubles matches have been fiercely contested, but they had to work a bit harder in the second set against the fourth seeds.

–Reuters

13

Monday, November 17, 2014

Runs added by Tamim and Kayes for Bangladesh’s first wicket in the first innings. This was Bangladesh’s first 200-run opening partnership and only their fourth double-century stand for any wicket. The same pair had put on a partnership of 185 runs at Lord’s in 2010, which was Bangladesh’s previous highest for the first wicket.

Number of fifty-plus scores in Zimbabwe’s first innings, which was the ninth time four or more Zimbabwe batsmen had got to the mark in an innings. The last such instance, which was more than ten years ago, was also against Bangladesh, in Harare when six of their batsmen got fifties.

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Monday, November 17, 2014

England, Spain win as San Marino claim famous draw n AFP, Paris England and reigning champions Spain both secured home victories in Euro 2016 qualifying on Saturday as some of the continent’s minnows again enjoyed outstand-

ing results.

A turgid Group E encounter between England and Slovenia at Wembley came to life in the second half as Roy Hodgson’s side fought back to win 3-1 and make it four wins from four games in Group E to remain firmly on track for a place at the finals in France.

Slovenia took the lead just before the hour mark when Jordan Henderson headed into his own net, but England were back on level terms moments later thanks to Wayne Rooney, who won and then converted a penalty to mark the occasion of his 100th international appearance with his 44th goal for his country.

Danny Welbeck of Arsenal then netted a brace to seal the victory.

Spain will go into a friendly with World Cup winners Germany fresh

RESULTS Luxembourg

0-3

Ukraine

Yarmolenko 33, 53, 56

Macedonia

0-2

Slovakia Kucka 25, Nemec 38

Spain

3-0

Belarus

Isco 18, Busquets 19, Pedro 55

England

3-1

Rooney 59-P, Welbeck 66, 72

Slovenia Henderson 58-og

San Marino

0-0

Estonia

Switzerland

4-0

Lithuania

Arlauskis 66-og, Schaer 68, Shaqiri 80, 90

Austria

1-0

Russia

0-1

Liechtenstein

Okotie 73

Moldova

Burgmeier 74

Montenegro Jovetic 80-P

1-1

Sweden Ibrahimovic 9

from a routine 3-0 victory against Belarus in Group C, a result that saw the current European champions make it three wins from four qualifiers.

Real Madrid midfielder Isco marked his first start for La Roja by scoring a brilliant first-half opener and Barcelona duo Sergio Busquets and Pedro Rodriguez added further goals in a game played in the southern town of Huelva.

Meanwhile, after the Faroe Islands recorded a stunning 1-0 win in Greece on Friday, prompting the demise of Claudio Ranieri as coach of the 2004 European champions, San Marino and Liechtenstein claimed famous results of their own.

San Marino, ranked 208th and jointlast in the world by FIFA alongside Bhutan, ended a run of 61 consecutive defeats by holding Estonia to a 0-0 draw at home in Group E. After seeing his side gain their first ever point in a European Championship qualifier and avoid defeat in a competitive match for the first time since 2001, San Marino coach Pierangelo Manzaroli said: “This result is a reward for the players and it will be an incentive to gain other good results sooner than in 12 years’ time.”

Liechtenstein fared even better, a second-half goal by captain Franz Burgmeier securing a 1-0 victory in Moldova in Group G. In contrast, Europe’s largest nation Russia went down 1-0 in Austria in the same group to increase the pressure on coach Fabio Capello.

Austria are now four points clear at the top of the group from Sweden, who were held to a 1-1 draw in Montenegro.

Captain Zlatan Ibrahimovic marked his first start in a competitive match for almost two months after injury by giving the visitors an early lead, but he later struck the post from a free-kick before Stevan Jovetic equalised from the penalty spot 10 minutes from time.

Elsewhere, Ukraine claimed their third consecutive win in Group C as Andriy Yarmolenko scored a secondhalf hat-trick to secure a 3-0 victory in Luxembourg. l

Loew warns Podolski to consider future at Arsenal n

AFP, Berlin

Joachim Loew believes striker Lukas Podolski, who has complained of the fun being squeezed out of him at Arsenal, may need to quit the London giants if he is to keep his place in the Germany squad.

Podolski has made just eight appearances for Arsenal this season, only one of which was over 90 minutes.

After scoring 47 goals in 121 international appearances, only national legends Miroslav Klose and Lothar Matthaeus have played more matches for Germany.

But Germany coach Loew has suggested his two-year stint in north London may need to come to an end if 29-year-old Podolski is to keep his place after more than a decade in the Germany squad.

“I know it’s difficult for him at the moment to play at full pace for 90

minutes, that’s just the way it is,” said Loew, with Germany to play Spain away in a friendly on Tuesday.

“Lukas needs lots of matches to show his qualities, which he hasn’t had for the last six months.

“He didn’t play much at the World Cup or after that, which you can see in his game. So I can’t really blame him for that, but we, just like he does, need to consider what the coming year holds for him.”l

England captain Wayne Rooney shoots to score from the spot against Slovenia during their Euro 2016 Group E qualifying match at Wembley Stadium in London on Saturday

I won’t walk away from England: Rooney n AFP, London England captain Wayne Rooney has pledged that he will never follow the examples of former team-mates such as Steven Gerrard and Rio Ferdinand by retiring from international football.

The 29-year-old Manchester United striker marked his 100th England appearance with a goal as Roy Hodgson’s side came from behind to win 3-1 at home to Slovenia in a Euro 2016 qualifier on Saturday.

Gerrard, Ferdinand, Frank Lampard and Ashley Cole have all retired from England duty over the past 18 months, but Rooney hopes to emulate former captain David Beckham by playing on for as long as he can.

Asked if he would ever contemplate retiring from international football, he said: “No, I don’t think so. A lot of the

Zidane promotes his son Enzo to Madrid reserves n AFP, Madrid Real Madrid reserve team coach Zinedine Zidane has drafted his 19-yearold son Enzo into the side for a league match on Sunday, the club have announced.

An attacking midfielder already called up by the French under-19s, Zidane junior has until now been playing with Real Madrid’s third team.

But on Sunday fans will be licking their lips to see if the old man gives his eldest son a run out for the second team, known as Castilla, against UB Conquense of Cuenca in Spain’s third tier.

Zidane has four sons and Enzo, the eldest of them, has been on the books with the Madrid giants since 2004, while Luca (16), Theo (12) and Elyaz (8) are also on the books at Real. Zidane senior, now 42, joined Real Madrid as a player in 2001 for a then record fee of around 75 million euros 9$93m). l

players I’ve played with over the last 10 years -– Steven, Frank, Ashley, Rio –have retired (from internationals).

“I actually spoke to my wife about it.

I said, ‘It’s mad how all the players are retiring.’ When you get to a certain age, you almost feel like you have to do it to extend your club career.

“She was actually very good. She was the one who said to me, ‘It’s a short career, you’ve got plenty of time to have your time off with us as a family when you finish playing and you’ll regret it if you do.’ I thought, ‘Yes, I would.’ Football is what I love doing. I love playing for England. I would regret it, so I don’t think I ever would walk away.”

Rooney is often described as a ‘naturally gifted’ player, and he says that watching one-year-old Klay kick a football around in the garden has convinced him that talent may indeed be

something innate, rather than something that can be acquired.

“I’ll be honest, I always thought you have to work at it, but I’ve now seen my youngest lad and from the minute he was born, he wanted the ball,” Rooney told journalists during a briefing this week.

“It’s incredible to watch him. He’s just over one and a half and without any teaching, his technique was unbelievable. Then I started thinking, you must be born with something. Then it’s obviously how you use it, how you work on it when you get older. Before that I would have said it was something you work on and pick up and learn.”

Having become the ninth player to reach the 100-cap threshold for England, Rooney hopes to make his 101st international appearance when Hodgson’s side tackle old foes Scotland in a friendly at Celtic Park on Tuesday. l

Goalkeeper Joe Hart has been released from the England squad for their friendly against Scotland in Glasgow on Tuesday, manager Roy Hodgson revealed on Saturday.

The Manchester City man kept goal in England’s 3-1 win over Slovenia in Euro 2016 qualifying, but he will be rested for the game at Celtic Park. In Hart’s absence, Hodgson will have to choose between Southampton goalkeeper Fraser Forster, who used to play for Celtic, and Ben Foster of West Bromwich Albion.

Left-back Leighton Baines had already withdrawn from the squad due to a hamstring injury, and when asked if any other players would be released, Hodgson told journalists at Wembley: “The other is Joe Hart because I have still got the other two goalkeepers.

“They will come with us up to Scotland and one of those will play. Joe will go home. They are the only ones.

“Obviously we have got players that I would like to see, so there is a potential for me to change things, but it is not going to be a question of sending the bulk of these players home because Scotland is a tough game and we want to go up there with a big team.”l

Roger Federer survived a late-night Swiss semi-final thriller against Stanislas Wawrinka on Saturday to set up an ATP World Tour Finals showdown against Novak Djokovic.

After a week of one-sided group stage action at London's O2 Arena, the season-ender burst to life with world number one Djokovic battling past Japan's Kei Nishikori after a mid-match meltdown before Federer saved four match points in a near three-hour duel with compatriot Wawrinka.

Federer eventually prevailed 4-6 7-5 7-6(6) against the man he will join forces with when Switzerland take on France in next week's Davis Cup final.

Djokovic, bidding for a third consecutive season-ending title having already secured the number one ranking, beat Asian trailblazer Nishikori 6-1 3-6 6-0 after losing his cool with another capacity crowd at the O2 Arena.

The real drama was saved to last, however.

Federer, sublime in a 6-0 6-1 thrashing of home favourite Andy Murray in his final group match on Thursday, was the big favourite to claim a 15th victory in 17 career clashes with Wawrinka, but

he was in for a rollercoaster ride.

Australian Open champ Wawrinka seemed determined to tear up the script, which had Federer and Djokovic lined up to contest the final match of the ATP season on Sunday.

He outplayed 17-times grand slam champion Federer in the opening set and went toe-to-toe in the second before cracking in the 12th game when a missed

Advocaat quits as Serbia coach n AFP, Belgrade Much-travelled Dutchman Dick Advocaat resigned as Serbia coach on Saturday, a day after a 3-1 Euro 2016 qualifying defeat at home to Denmark, the national football federation said.

“I regret that our joint work ends in this way,” Advocaat said in a Serbian Football Federation statement.

The 67-year-old Advocaat was only appointed coach of the Balkan country in July.

Last season he coached Dutch side AZ Alkmaar, while his long coaching career has seen him have stints with his native Netherlands, Belgium, South Korea and Russia.

Serbia are currently at the bottom of Euro 2016 qualifying Group I with just one point. l

Balotelli ‘fine’ at Liverpool: Mancini n AFP, Milan

New Inter Milan coach Roberto Mancini said he had no plans to bring Mario Balotelli back to the Serie A club after beginning his second spell with the Nerazzurri on Saturday.

Mancini, who spent four success-laden years at Inter between 20042008, succeeded Walter Mazzarri who was sacked on Friday after Inter had slipped to ninth in the league with only four wins from their opening 11 games.

But as the Italian prepares to talk over likely tactical and possible personnel changes with his current crop of players, Mancini said Balotelli -- currently enduring a difficult start to the season at Liverpool -- was not on his radar.

“Mario’s doing fine at Liverpool and should do well there. He should do everything to make the best of his opportunity there,” Mancini told reporters in Milan on Saturday.

Balotelli started his senior career under Mancini at Inter and, after falling

out with subsequent Inter coach Jose Mourinho, followed Mancini to Manchester City in 2010.

However Balotelli’s notorious disciplinary problems meant the pair clashed regularly and City eventually sold the Italy striker to AC Milan in January 2013.

Now at Liverpool, where he has failed to score a league goal so far, Balo-

Federer hangs tough to set up Djokovic clash

Hart released from England squad n Reuters, London n AFP, London Six-times champion

REUTERS

smash gave Federer three set points.

Federer was riled by a line call when he dropped serve in the first game of the decider and the 33-year-old's mood darkened further when, serving at 4-3, Wawrinka saved one of two break points with a fluky volley off the frame.

But Wawrinka will have nightmares about 10th game. Match point arrived but he watched a Federer forehand whis-

Djokovic and Federer celebrate after winning their respective singles semi-final on day seven of the ATP World Tour Finals in London on Saturday AFP

tle past him. Another came, and this time Wawrinka netted a feeble volley. Wawrinka's nerve failed him again on a third match point when he could only spoon a volley, which Federer fizzed back past him before going on to win the game.

A tiebreak was needed to settle it and Wawrinka eeked out another match point, but this time his service return went long.

He will now do battle with Djokovic for a 37th time, though he has precious little recovery time.

That said, Djokovic was complaining of "mental exhaustion" after ending Nishikori's impressive debut at the Tour Finals.

The Serb was rattled by a mid-match onslaught from the Japanese, who came back from a poor start to dominate the second set, only for his challenge to fizzle out in the decider.

After dropping only nine games in group stage wins against Marin Cilic, Wawrinka and Tomas Berdych, it looked like plain sailing again for the Serb but a double-fault, loudly cheered by the crowd who wanted a Nishikori fightback, threw Djokovic off track early in the second set.

He gestured sarcastically to the fans and admitted his tetchy loss of focus could have cost him dear.l

telli is likely to the last player on Mancini’s Christmas wish list.

Instead, Mancini is expected to focus on reinstilling confidence and belief among a squad of players that has suffered few highs and plenty of lows under Mazzarri in the 53-year-old coach’s 17-month tenure.

Asked if he would find space in his future team for Japanese wingback Yuto Nagatomo, Mancini replied: “He’s a top player and a Japanese international. I will definitely try to use him.”

A number of leading Inter players, including forward Fredy Guarin and defender Nemanja Vidic, have been subject to fierce criticism amid Inter’s poor start to the campaign.

But Mancini said: “They (Guarin and Vidic) are both great players. Vidic is still getting used to things here after playing for so many years in England with Manchester United.

“Guarin can be a very important player for Inter. I have to talk to him.”

Mancini, meanwhile, hailed the relatively young age of Inter’s squad. l

Injured Neuer out of Spain friendly n AFP, Berlin Germany goalkeeper Manuel Neuer will miss Tuesday’s away friendly for the world champions against Spain with discomfort in his right knee, the German Football Association (DFB) confirmed on Saturday.

“I’d have liked to have played against Spain with the best team, but we didn’t want to take any risks with Manuel,” said Germany head coach Joachim Loew.

Neuer was Germany’s stand-in skipper in Friday’s 4-0 win over Gibraltar in a Euro 2016 qualifier, which left the world champions third in their qualifying group, as Loew’s first-choice captain Bastian Schweinsteiger recovers from a knee injury.

Loew will now use either Borussia Dortmund’s Roman Weidenfeller or Hanover’s Ron-Robert Zieler as goalkeeper against Spain and will be down to his third-choice captain against the European champions.

“We have two excellent alternatives, who have more than deserved their chance to play against Spain,” said Loew.

“I know that I can completely rely on both of them.”l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Monday, November 17, 2014

PAOLI DAM: I feel an emotional bond with Bangladesh n Entertainment Desk Indian film actress Paoli Dam arrived in the capital on Saturday and attended the muhurat of the film “Swatta” on the same day. She will play the female protagonist in the film, paired up with Dhallywood superstar Shakib Khan.

An adaptation of Sohani Hossain’s novel “Ma,” the screenplay has been written by Hasibur Reza Kollol, who is also directing the film. The shooting started yesterday.

Speaking at the muhurat, Paoli said: “After Goutam Ghose’s film ‘Moner Manush,’ I feel I have an emotional bond with Bangladesh. Whenever I visit this country, I receive warm welcome from everyone. I thank my cast and

crew for putting me where I am. I also apologise to the director for not giving time for ‘Swatta’ before, as he has been asking me for a year. I could not find time due to my tight schedule, but it eventually worked out and I am glad to be a part of this project.”

Paoli will stay in Bangladesh for a week this time, and later will come back for the rest of the filming.

Talking about working here, she said: “Bangladeshi people, art and artists are great.”

She also said: “I am originally from Faridpur. I have never been able to visit my roots before, but this time I will make time for it.”

Paoli’s film “Parapaar” was released on Friday. l

8MM

Star Movies Action, 10pm

A private investigator is hired to discover if a “snuff film” is authentic or not.

Death Race

Star Movies, 11:30pm

HIP-HOP DANCE presentation today at BSA n Entertainment Desk A hip-hop music and dance performance will be held today at the National Auditorium of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA) at 6:30pm.

The performance is the outcome of the two-week hip-hop dance and music workshop.

Organised by the American Centre of the US Embassy in Dhaka, four artists are visiting Dhaka as part of a cultural exchange programme called Next Level. Their visit is sponsored by the US Department of State, Bureau of Education and Cultural Affairs.

Four American hip-hop musicians

Film

Interstellar, Annabelle, Kistimaat Amra Korbo Joy Into The Storm, Hercules 3D Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles 3D Valkyrie, Most Welcome 2’ Blockbuster Cinemas Jamuna Future Park Ka- 244, Pragati Avenue, Kuril Pipra Bidda How to Train Your Dragon 2 Guardians of the Galaxy Million Dollar Arm, Tarzan Star Cineplex, Level 8 Bashundhara City

Festival

Shikhondikotha National festival Time : 6:30pm-8:30pm Music and Dance theatre hall of Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy, Shegunbagicha

will be performing with 50 hiphop rappers and Bangladeshi youths.

The four-member group is comprised of Asheru, born Gabriel Benn, an African American hip-hop artist, educator, and youth activist, Amirah Sackett, dancer and choreographer, JocElyn Ellis, vocalist, songwriter and music producer, and André “DJ A-Minor” Barden, an educator, DJ, and producer.

Cultural Affairs Officer of the US Embassy in Dhaka Calvin Hayes, who helped to coordinate Next Level’s cultural connections and facilitated workshops at EMK Center, told the

The Wolf of Wall Street star Leonardo DiCaprio may join Jennifer Lawrence in David O Russell’s upcoming film “Joy.” The director is reportedly revising the script for DiCaprio, who has expressed fleeting interest in the true-story inspired drama, according to the Hollywood Reporter.

Russell is also expanding the small role of a QVC executive for his fre-

quent collaborator Bradley Cooper.

On top of that, Russell wants to bring in Robert De Niro after working with the actor in “Silver Linings Playbook.”

De Niro has reportedly entered negotiations to play the father to Lawrence’s character.

Lawrence won the Best Actress Oscar for her role in “Silver Linings Playbook” and earned a nomination for American Hustle, also directed by Russell. l

Dhaka Tribune: “Today, four American artists along with Bangladeshi choreographers, dancers and rappers will be performing hip-hop break dance, hip-hop rapping, beatboxing, beat making and so on.”

Next Level, an initiative of the US Department of State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, has selected the hip-hop artists and educators to participate in the programme.

It will take teams of artists to six countries in Africa, Eastern Europe, and South Asia to use hip-hop as a tool for cultural diplomacy and conflict resolution. l

Ex-con Jensen Ames is forced by the warden of a notorious prison to compete in our post-industrial world’s most popular sport.

World War Z HBO, 9:30pm

Brad Pitt race against time as he plays a UN employee who is trying to prevent the deadly outbreak of a Zombie Pandemic.

Debolina Sur’s debut album released n Entertainment Desk Singer Debolina Sur’s debut solo album titled “Jol Phoring” was released on Friday.

Released under the label Agnibina, the album consists of seven modern songs, six of which were written and composed by the singer herself. The other song was written

by Sumon Saha and composed by Emon Saha.

The track list includes “Tomar kotha bhebey bhebey,” “O jol phoring tor byasto din,” “Icchegulo aj melechhe dana,” “Bhalo achhi bhalo theko,” and “Probhater snigdhota.”

Talking about the album, Debolina said: “It is expected of me to release an album on Tagore songs, as I have an academic degree

DICAPRIO and LAWRENCE pairing up in Joy

n Entertainment Desk

15

on Rabindra Sangeet from Visva-Bharati University. But I thought with an album of modern songs, I would be able to reach a wider audience. That is why I worked on an album of modern songs, which blend with other genres such as classical, jazz and soft melody.

Some of the tracks have been influenced by folk music too.

But I do want to bring out an album on Tagore songs in future.”

Earlier, Debolina was playback singer for a song titled “Priyo tomar kisher obhiman” in the film “Brihonnola,” which came out in September. l

SHAILENE WOODLEY to star as EDWARD SNOWDEN’s girlfriend

SCHWARZENEGGER: I might do a Running Man sequel n Entertainment Desk Arnold Schwarzenegger has revealed that there could be a sequel to “The Running Man.” The action hero said at a special Q&A in London on Saturday that there are rumblings of a follow-up to his 1987 sci-fi movie, while also giving updates on other sequel projects.

Speaking about returning to the role of Conan the Barbarian in “The Legend of Conan,” he said: “It’s an honour to be asked back after all these years, back to the franchise. This is rePoster of Running Man ally wild.

“Harrison Ford was recently asked to get back to ‘Star Wars,’ but it’s very rare to come back after so many years.”

He continued “They’re doing a Twins sequel, to be called Triplets. I’ve read the first draft.

“There’s rumblings of a new ‘Running Man’ movie, so it’s a great honour to be asked back.”

Schwarzenegger will star in “Terminator: Genisys,” to be released in the UK on July 3, 2015 and in the US on July 1. l

n Entertainment Desk Shailene Woodley is in talks to star as the female lead in Oscar-winning director Oliver Stone’s untitled drama on US whistleblower Edward Snowden.

Snowden is an American computer professional who leaked classified information from the National Security Agency (NSA), starting in June 2013. He has been a subject of controversy as his leaked documents revealed numerous global surveillance programmes, said the Hollywood Reporter.

Woodley, 22, would star opposite Jo-

seph Gordon-Levitt, who is tackling the NSA whistleblower in the film, which will be distributed by Open Road in the US, said The Hollywood Reporter.

The project is based on Luke Harding’s “The Snowden Files: The Inside Story of the World’s Most Wanted Man” and “Time of the Octopus,” the upcoming novel from Snowden’s Russian lawyer Anatoly Kucherena.

Stone is producing the untitled film with longtime producing partner Moritz Borman. The project is currently in preproduction in Germany with principal photography set to start in January. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, November 17, 2014

Ex MP son on 3-day remand for wife ‘murder’ Former lawmaker, wife granted bail n Tribune Report A Dhaka Court yesterday remanded a son of former MP Khan Tipu Sultan for three days over alleged involvement in his wife’s murder. The MP and his wife, however, were granted bail.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Anwar Sadat passed the order after Sub Inspector Shafiqul Islam, also the investigation officer, sought a 10-day remand.

Humayun Sultan, son of the Jessore MP, was arrested on November 14 for allegedly murdering his 24-year old wife, Dr Shamaruf Mahzabin Kona.

Kona’s uncle claimed that her knees were touching the floor when she was found in the washroom; he said it would be impossible for a person’s legs to be touching the ground in such a case Kona had been found hanging, according to her in-laws, in a bathroom of her in-law’s Dhanmondi house on November 13.

Her father, Nurul Islam, filed a murder case against Humayun and also implicated the former MP and his wife Jesmin Ara Begum.

Both the MP and his wife were granted a four-week anticipatory bail by the High Court yesterday.

Kona’s father, Nurul Islam, filed a murder case against Humayun and also implicated the former MP and his wife.

Kona’s mother-in-law Jesmin Ara Begum, also a doctor at the Dhaka’s Holy Family Hospital, said Kona went out in the morning and returned home around noon and locked her bedroom from inside. When she did not respond to the domestic help’s calls for lunch, the door was broken and Kona’s body was found hanging in the washroom.

“She hanged herself with her scarf from the washroom window,” claimed the mother-in-law. Jesmin Ara took Kona to the Central Hospital where

doctors declared her dead at around 3:30pm.

However, Kazi Firozur Rahman, uncle of the deceased, claimed that Kona’s in-laws were staging a drama after killing her. Claiming that Kona’s knees were touching the floor when she was found in the washroom, he pointed out that it was impossible for a person’s legs to be touching the ground in such cases.

Kona’s father Nurul Islam had told the Dhaka Tribune that his daughter often complained about her in-laws barring her from sitting for the BCS exams and opposing her decision to study for a higher medical degree.

Nurul added that he spoke to Kona for around half an hour the very morning she was found dead, when Kona expressed her discontent about how she was treated.

An MBBS from Holy Family Medical College, Kona had been murdered in a planned manner by Tipu Sultan, her father claimed.

The autopsy report stated that the victim bore black spots around her neck and another spot in her left wrist.

Police have collected tissues from the victim’s neck for further tests.

Prof Habibuzzaman Chowdhury of Forensic Medicine Department told the Dhaka Tribune that after the test is done they would be able to say if the victim had hanged herself or was killed.

Abu Bakkar Siddique, officer-incharge at Dhanmondi police station, said Kona’s husband – Humayun Sultan – was summoned to the police station for interrogation where he told the police that he had had a fight with Kona on Wednesday night centring an anonymous phone call. Humayun, however, told the police that the couple had made up the same night.

Asked about the incident, Humayun refused to elaborate on the issue to the Dhaka Tribune, saying he had submitted a written statement to the police.

Tipu Sultan, the former MP, said he was out the entire day and was notified about Kona’s death over phone.

Asked about his son’s possible involvement, Tipu said if his son was found guilty he would have no objection to see him tried. l

Teachers, students and alumni formed a human chain in front of Holy Family Red Crescent Hospital in the Moghbazar area of the capital yesterday demanding a fair probe into the death of Shamarukh Mahajabin Shyama MEHEDI HASAN

Protesters demand justice for Kona Jamil Khan and n Mohammad Ahmed Zayeef

Hundreds of people, wearing white aprons and holding banners and festoons, formed a human chain in front of the capital’s Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College Hospital yesterday, demanding justice for Dr Shamarukh Mahjabin Kona.

Teachers, students and staff from the hospital stood in line in front of the hospital for at least an hour. Speaking at the human chain, Shamarukh’s uncle, Kazi Firozur Rashid, alleged that the family members of former lawmaker Khan Tipu Sultan had killed her after mentally and psychically torturing her.

On Thursday, police recovered the body of Kona, wife of ex-MP Tipu Sultan’s son Humayun Sultan, from the Central Hospital at Dhanmondi in the capital. Later, Kona’s father filed a murder case with Dhanmondi police station accusing Humayun, Tipu and Tipu’s wife Jesmin Ara Begum, a doctor of the Holy Family Hospital.

At the human chain, citing an entry from Kona’s personal diary, Firoz alleged that Tipu had been demanding money from her. He killed her because he did not get the money, Kona’s uncle alleged.

Claiming that former lawmaker

Tipu’s family took a large bribe during the wedding of Kona and Humayun, Firoz said the leader should be expelled from the Awami League for such an attitude.

After the human chain programme, a special prayer was offered seeking salvation for Kona’s departed soul.

Justice-seekers opened a page on Facebook titled “Justice for Dr Shamarukh Mahjabin.” The page had received 1,413 likes as of yesterday evening.

The members of the group, posting different pictures and statuses, demanded justice for what they said was the killing of Kona. A Dhaka court yesterday granted a three-day remand for Humayun in connection with the murder case.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Anwar Sadat passed the order yesterday after Sub-Inspector Shafiqul Islam, also the investigation officer, sought a 10-day remand for Humayun.

Humayun, son of the Jessore MP, was arrested on November 14 for his alleged involvement in the murder of his wife.

In another development, the High Court yesterday granted four weeks’ anticipatory bail to ex-MP Tipu and his wife.

The court of Justices AB Mahmudul Hossain and Md Akram Hossain Chowd-

Mother, son killed in road accidents n Tribune Report

Two died on spot, seven sustained injuries when a bus losing control ploughed onto a footpath in capital’s Uttara yesterday morning.

The dead are Ruma, 30, a resident of Gazipur, and her son Ali Hossain, 2.

After hitting a bus of Balaka Paribahan on the street, the bus of route number 3 ploughed onto the crowded pavement at a great speed where the mother-son duo were begging. They died on spot while seven others received injuries who are currently under treatment at different local hospitals, said Rafiqul Islam, officer-in-charge of Uttara (west) police station.

Police seized the bus and held the driver Billal Hossain, 22. In another accident, three including two journalists of private satellite TV channel Ekushey Television sustained injuries in capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar area yesterday.

The victims are Ekushey Television’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar correspondent Hakim Morol, videographer Abdur Razzak and Delwar, the chauffeur.

The accident occurred around 3am when a truck hit the car with the channel’s sticker on it, carrying them to their office in Karwan Bazar. l

Tribunal slams prosecutor

SC stays HC bail granted to ex-judge’s son n Tribune Report The Appellate Division of the Supreme Court yesterday upheld its previous stay order on the High Court bail granted to the son of a former HC judge.

The four-member bench headed by Chief Justice Md Muzammel Hossain passed the order yesterday.

On September 24, former HC Judge Abdus Salam Mamun’s 26-year-old son Asif Adnan Shuvo and a senior bureaucrat’s son, Fazle Elahi Tanzil, were arrested from their residences in the capital.

Asif was allegedly recruited as an Islamic State fighter by a UK citizen of Bangladeshi origin. The duo confessed during interrogation that they were planning to go to Syria through with the UK citizen’s help posing as members of Tabligh Jamaat, a peaceful movement for spreading Islamic values. l

hury granted the bail following a petition.

Advocate Fazlul Huq Khan Farid and Md Nurul Islam Shujon moved the bail petition for the Khans while deputy attorney general Md Boshir Ullah moved for the state.

Advocate Fazlul Huq Khan Farid told the Dhaka Tribune: “There is no specific allegation against Khan Tipu Sultan and Jesmin Ara Begum in the first information record [FIR] of the case. On the other hand, the two accused persons informed the plaintiff about the incident. Khan Tipu Sultan is also a member of the Supreme Court Bar Association. On these, grounds the court granted them bail.”

When contacted, Abu Bakkar Siddique, officer-in-charge of Dhanmondi police station, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are interrogating the suspect, Humayun, about the incident but are yet to get any major breakthrough. But we are hopeful.

“Moreover, we are awaiting the autopsy report. Once we get that, we will be able to get a clear picture,” he said.

Asked about the progress of the autopsy report, Sohel Mahmud, assistant professor of the Forensic Department of Dhaka Medical College, said more time was needed because they were waiting for a test report from the haematology department. l

n Tribune Report

Doctors treat students who fell ill while protesting the Dhaka University’s decision to not allow undergraduate candidates to sit for the admission test twice. The photo was taken at the Central Shahid Minar yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

The International Crimes Tribunal 2 yesterday came down heavily on a prosecution lawyer as he was not seemingly prepared enough to place his legal arguments before it in the case against Jamaat-e-Islami leader Abdus Subhan.

While placing his legal arguments, prosecution lawyer Ziad Al-Malum was trying to show the accused’s key role in all nine charges.

Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah then asked him why it was necessary to show Subhan’s “superior status” in the charges if the prosecution could prove that Subhan had committed the crimes by himself.

Prosecution lawyer Malum failed to give any satisfactory answer and he was seen trying to look at the case documents to give answers.

Mozibur said: “You [Malum] have to have the knowledge about the case [when placing your legal arguments]. If

you give answers by reading case documents, the whole time will pass by doing it.”

At another point, quoting from the fifth charge brought against Subhan where it is said that Pakistani Army was Subhan’s subordinate, Justice Mozibur asked how Pakistany Army was Subhan’s subordinate.

Ziad Al-Malum replied that Subhan showed Pakistani army in the crimes.

It proves that Pakistani army was Subhan’s subordinate.

Mozibur Rahman expressed his dissatisfaction with the answer, saying it could not be “superior responsibility”.

Prosecution lawyer Malum replied that he was not a pea nut vendor.

Mozibur Rahman again said, “It cannot be your legal arguments.”

Justice Obaidul Hassan, chairman of the tribunal, advised the lawyer to use legal language before the court.

The three-member tribunal adjourned the case proceedings until today. l

Emotional letter

Nicholas Henin about Mr Kassig

US hostage Abdul-Rahman Kassig ‘killed by IS’ n BBC

A video posted online claims to show that Islamic State militants have killed the captured US aid worker Abdul-Rahman Kassig.

In the video, a masked militant stands over a severed head which he says is that of Mr Kassig. The US says it is working to determine the authenticity of the video, which also shows a mass killing of Syrian troops.

Mr Kassig, also known as Peter, was captured last year.

His family, who live in the US state of Indiana, said they were awaiting confirmation of the reports about their “treasured son” and had nothing more to say at this time.

This is perhaps the most elaborate

and graphic of all the murder videos posted online by IS. Much of it is taken up with a recent history lesson on Iraq and Syria as seen through the eyes of the jihadists. But the latter part shows a mass beheading of Syrian prisoners in revolting, lingering detail.

Unlike earlier videos, this one revels in gore. Amongst the boiler-suited captives murdered in cold blood is a man IS says is the former US soldier Peter Kassig, who converted to Islam and changed his name to Abdul-Rahman.

Neither his conversion nor the fact that he was helping refugees when he was captured a year ago, appear to have saved him.

Mr Kassig’s murder shows that IS have no intention of toning down their blood lust to appeal to more followers.

It is also a sign of frustration that they are unable to hit back at the coalition air strikes that have driven them off key sites like the Mosul and Haditha dams, and prevented them from seizing the town of Kobane.

An idealist ‘simply trying to help people’

The US National Security Council said the intelligence community was working as quickly as possible to determine the latest video’s authenticity “If confirmed, we are appalled by the brutal murder of an innocent American aid worker and we express our deepest condolences to his family and friends,” NSC spokesperson Bernadette Meehan said.

If his death is confirmed, the 26-yearold will be the fifth Western hostage to

have been killed by IS, following the murders of British men Alan Henning and David Haines, and US journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff.

One of the masked militants pictured in the video appears in size and dress to resemble so-called Jihadi John, a man believed be from Britain who carried out the killing of the four Western hostages.

The video emerged on the same day as an unconfirmed report in Britain’s Mail on Sunday newspaper suggested he had been injured in a recent US-led air strike on a gathering of IS leaders.

British PM David Cameron said he was “horrified by the cold blooded murder” and said that Islamic State militants “have again shown their depravity.”

Mr Kassig’s parents last month released extracts of a letter written by their son, in which he told of the strains of captivity.

“This is the hardest thing a man can go through, the stress and fear are incredible,” the aid worker wrote.

“They tell us you have abandoned us and/or don’t care but of course we know you are doing everything you can and more.

“Don’t worry Dad, if I do go down, I won’t go thinking anything but what I know to be true. That you and mom love me more than the moon and the stars.”

Jump media playerMedia player helpOut of media player. Press enter to return or tab to continue.

Mr Kassig was a former US Army Ranger who served in Iraq.

He later trained as an emergency medical technician, travelling to Lebanon in May 2012 to work in border hospitals treating Palestinian refugees and later those fleeing the Syrian conflict.

Later that year, he founded the Special Emergency Response and Assistance (Sera) organisation and subsequently moved its base of operations to southern Turkey, near the border with Syria.

Mr Kassig sourced and delivered supplies to camps on both sides of the Syrian border, and helped to treat civilian casualties and train medics inside Syria.

He was undertaking a project for Sera when he was captured in October 2013 while travelling to eastern Syria. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

B3 China’s Xi: China

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pressure to deliver on growth

MONDAY, NOVEMBER 17, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Default loan rises further

Classified loan rises to 11.6% in September quarter as relaxed reschedule policy fails

RISING TREND OF DEFAULT LOANS 15

12.79% 11.6%

12

10.45% 10.75% 9

6

8.93%

Sep ‘13

Dec ‘13

March ‘13

n Jebun Nesa Alo Despite Bangladesh Bank efforts in bringing out business from default culture, the uptrend in classified loans continue for the consecutive third quarter in September.

It rose to 11.6% in July-September quarter from 10.75% in the previous quarter, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

The rate had dropped to 8.93% in December last from 12.79% in the previous quarter, thanks to huge loan rescheduling taking advantage of a relaxed policy.

The central bank measure failed to help sustain the reduced default loan and got back to the previous uptrend from March quarter, rising to 10.45%.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith recently said the country’s business has come out of default loan culture and expressed the hope it would be re-

ACI to market leather chemicals from Turkey n Tribune Report ACI Chemicals, a subsidiary of Advanced Chemical Industries Limited (ACI Limited), is set to market leather chemical products from Turkey’s biggest leather chemical manufacturer SOSA Chemical.

The local business conglomerate in health care, consumer brands, agribusiness and retail chain, ACI has entered into an agreement with SOSA Chemical for working as their agent in Bangladesh for marketing their leather chemical products, said the company in a statement yesterday. However, the news failed to attract investors, as its share prices at the Dhaka Stock Exchange fell more than 2%.

Founded in 1979, SOSA Chemical produces chemicals for raw leather to finished leather. ACI formulates and markets a comprehensive range of more than 387 products covering all major therapeutic areas, which come in tablets, capsules, powder, liquid, cream, ointment, gel, ophthalmic and injection forms.

Currently, ACI markets world-renowned branded pharmaceutical products like Arimidex, Casodex, Zoladex, Atarax etc. from world-class multinational companies like ASTRAZENECA, UK, Akzo Nobel, India and UCB, Belgium, in Bangladesh. l

June ‘13

Sep ‘14

Only four state-owned banks, including Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali, rescheduled Tk8,012 crore which was 43% of the total rescheduled amount duced further to 8% from existing 11%.

The amount of total default loans stood at Tk57,300 crore in September, increasing by around Tk6,000 crore from Tk51,344 crore in June, according to Bangladesh Bank data.

The four state-owned banks accounted for 36% or Tk20,800 crore of the total default loans.

Of the state-owned banks, the default loan rate of Sonali Bank rose to 37.65% in September from 36.27% in June while

Janata Bank 14.81% from 13.46%.

The default loan rate of Agrani Bank and Rupali Bank reduced slightly to 21.05% and 15.13% respectively in September from 21.17% and 15.60% in June.

The rate of classified loans of private banks rose to 6.34% or Tk22,134 crore in September from 5.7% in June while it reduced for foreign commercial banks to 6.19% or Tk1,422 crore from 7.10% or Tk1,638 crore during the same period.

Loans of approximately Tk18,000 crore have been rescheduled under the relaxed policy during December 2013 to June this year, according to the central bank data.

Considering the political unrest, Bangladesh Bank relaxed its loan reschedule policy in December last year with an aim to help banks reduce their default loans. The clients received advantages of relaxed policy till June this year.

Of the total rescheduled amount, eight state-owned commercial and specialised banks accounted for Tk9,174 crore.

Only four state-owned banks, including Sonali, Janata, Agrani and Rupali, rescheduled Tk8,012 crore which was 43% of the total rescheduled amount.

According to the central bank data, Sonali rescheduled Tk756.41 crore loan while Janata Tk2,057 crore, Agrani Tk2,061 crore and Rupali Tk3,137 crore.

It was apprehended that the banking sector would face a rise of default loan in September as a series of indiscipline took place in the rescheduling process, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank.

Over 30% of the clients who rescheduled their loans taking advantages of the relaxed policy have already failed to pay their installments and became defaulter again, he added. l

Sugar pours on at a grocery in Dhaka. The government plans to increase duty on sugar import to protect local industry SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Irrational profiteering on essentials prompts Tofail to warn traders n Tribune Report Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has urged the traders and businessmen not to make extra profit from selling the essential commodities at higher prices.

“Though the government does not fix the prices of the essentials in the age of free market economy, it will, however, take stern measures to stop manipulation and price volatility in the market,” Tofail told the reporters yesterday, after a meeting of the national committee on storage, price situation and overall market condition of the essential commodities, held at the commerce ministry in the capital.

Presided over by Senior Commerce Secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc, the meeting was attended, among

others, by the importers of different essential items, producers, distributors and wholesalers.

“The job of the commerce minister is to sit with the businessmen to solve their problems facing in doing their business and strongly monitor the market, so the prices of essentials do not go beyond the reach of the common people,” said Tofail.

In response to a question, commerce minister said: “We are now examining Bangladesh Tariff Commission (BTC) report over the allegation that edible oil importers are making extra profit.”

According BTC report, the cost per litre of soybean oil is only Tk86 while it is being sold at Tk140 per litre.

In this regard, Tofail Ahmed said BTC would re-exam the production

PM to decide on release of stranded cars in ports n Tribune Report

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed has categorically said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina will take decision on the release of around 500 cars stranded for a long time in Mongla and Chittagong seaports.

The cars were stuck in legal complexities that prevented the vehicles from being released so far.

“We have already received recommendation from the Prime Minister’s Office for the release of the cars,” the minister told a group of reporters.

Earlier, a committee headed by the principal secretary of Prime Minister’s Office was formed to make recommendations for the stranded vehicles.

The minister said the committee recommended either realising fine for their release or put them up for auction.

“The premier will take decision on it,” said Tofail.

He said the government will not take any decision which may be referred to as an example in future.

Md Abdul Hamid Sharif, general secretary of Bangladesh Reconditioned Vehicle importer and Dealers Association, told the Dhaka Tribune those stranded cars belong to re-conditioned car importers.

The cars remained stranded for a long time in Mongla and Chittagong

A huge number of cars lying unreleased at Chittagong and Mongla ports for a long time Ports, which would be worth not more than Tk60 crore and most of them are stranded in Mongla Port due to discrepancies in the import documents, he said.

In December last year, the importers despite having clean import documents could not deliver reconditioned vehicles worth Tk500 core from ports due to continuous blockades and har-

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

tals across the country.

There was a target to import 13,000 vehicles in 2013, but the total import stood up to 7,000 by the end of the year, according to the Barvida data. l

World Bank to train poor rural women for apparel industry employments n Tribune Report The World Bank has launched a project to train up hundreds of poor and vulnerable women from five northern districts to facilitate their access to jobs in the readymade garment sector.

The project will offer training, transitional housing, counseling and facilitate formal employment in garment factories for around 10,800 women from Gaibandha, Kurigram, Lalmonirhat, Nilphamari, and Rangpur, says a press release of the bank yesterday.

It said the project titled the Northern Areas Reduction-of-Poverty Initiative (NARI) aims to economically empower

poor and vulnerable women from the northwestern region by facilitating their access to jobs in the RMG sector.

The construction of dormitories and training centers (DTCs) in three sites in Dhaka, Karnaphuli, and Ishwardi Export Processing Zones (EPZ) are completed and ready for handover, the statement said.

It said the first batch of training for around 900 beneficiaries is expected to commence on January 2015. “The training centers will accommodate cohorts of 300 trainees; the trainings will be for three months period and technical curriculum would include training in cutting, sewing, and quality control.”

The Bank will provide stipend of $10 every month to trainees (for three training period) in addition to secure housing, food, training, job placement facilities.

“Once they find a job they may continue staying at the DTCs for three additional months but will pay subsidised amounts for food.

The dormitories attached to the training center will accommodate 600 women for a transitional period of six months at a time.”

The trainees will also receive life skill training covering topics such as adjustment to city life, savings and remittances, safety and security, rights and responsi-

bilities at the work-place, finding appropriate housing and contract negotiation and health among others, according to the statement.

A World Bank team and the government jointly reviewed the NARI project and urged to expedite the implementation of the project, which faced an initial delay on start up.

The statement said if the current pace is continued, then it is possible to achieve the objectives with the extended project completion period.

Earlier, the Bank has approved concessional IDA financing of US$29.29m for this project. The project closing date has been extended to October 31, 2017. l

cost of per liter soybean and prices of plastic bottles and extra price should not be imposed on the essential soybean oil as well. He also said prices of edible oil, sugar, wheat and flour are now stable in the market.

“We are planning to increase the duties on sugar import as a total of 1,41,000 MT sugar stored in government sugar mills. Besides, a total of 3 lakh MT sugar stored at industry ministry,” he also added.

City Group Chairman Fazlul Rahman urged the minister to reduce the existing 3-tier tax system to a single stage one as saying, “Country’s businessmen are paying tax in three-tier but it should be fixed at a single stage.” In response the commerce minister said, “We will inform the matter to the finance minister”. l

NBR to look into rising gold smuggling cases n Tribune Report National Board of Revenue (NBR) would look into the repeated incidents of smuggling gold in the country as a section of the people considers Dhaka as a transit route, says Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed.

“I wonder seeing how often such huge amount of gold is being smuggled into Bangladesh without any solid reasons although most of the jewelry business points finger at higher tax on gold import,” Tofail told reporters yesterday, after a meeting at his secretariat office in the capital.

The minister said the government imposed Tk3,000 duties on import of 100 gm gold from aboard while it was only Tk150 tax on import of 100 gm gold in the last year.

He said: “Smuggling of mobile phones has been stopped now because of the lower import tax.”

Earlier, the commerce minister at a coordination council meeting said the high import tax was responsible for gold smuggling in the country and asked for inter-ministerial meeting on this matter.

“The rate of gold smuggling is so high now just because of the higher import tax,” Bangladesh Jewelry Association President Quazi Sirajul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. l

Energy giant Wärtsilä CEO arrives today n Tribune Report Björn Rosengren, president and chief executive of Wärtsilä Corporation, is due to arrive in Dhaka today on a twoday visit.

The corporation’s chief financial officer Marco Wiren and president of power plants and executive vice president Rakesh Sarin will accompany the CEO, said a statement. They are scheduled to meet the country’s key customers and stakeholders in the energy sector.

The Finnish corporation embarked on its journey in Bangladesh in early 1990s and main activities here include power plant sales, ship power sales and supporting services.

In Bangladesh, Wärtsilä’s total installed power generation capacity is more than 2000 megawatt. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

DSE GAINER

Stocks drop for second straight session

DSE key features November 16, 2014

Traded Issues

303

n Tribune Report

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

103

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

189

Turnover (Million Taka)

Stocks suffered losses for a second consecutive session with volatility yesterday, as late profit booking selling pressure cut early gains.

The market was in the positive territory almost the whole session, but sell-off in the final session pulled it down.

The benchmark DSEX fell 20 points or 0.5% to close at 4,963, hitting the highest 5,012 just before middle of the session.

The market breadth also remained negative as out of 303 issues traded, 113 advanced, 156 declined and 34 remained unchanged The Shariah index DSES was slightly down 7 points or 0.7% to 1,166. The comprising blue chips DS30 shed 7 points or 0.5% to 1,852.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 9,360 with a fall of almost 11 points.

Strong buying and selling pressure has helped turnover increase, as the turnover at DSE stood at Tk753 crore, up 8.4% over the previous session.

Fuel and power sector took the lion’s share of the turnover, followed by engineering and pharmaceuticals.

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSER Company Orion Infusions -A Rahim Textile -A Rahima Food -Z Tallu Spinning -Z Shurwid Ind. -N Prime Textile -A LR Global BD MF1-A M.I. Cement-A Hwa Well Textiles-N Fu-wang Ceramic-A

Closing (% Change) -15.94 -13.70 -9.07 -8.93 -8.01 -7.17 -6.67 -5.04 -4.91 -4.79

CSE LOSER Company Popular Life Insu. -A Orion Infusions -A Samata LeatheR -Z Shurwid Ind. -N Rahima Food -Z Global Heavy Chemicals-N Hwa Well Textiles-N Quasem Drycells -A ICB AMCL3rd NRB MF-A M.I. Cement-A

Closing (% Change) -31.23 -16.28 -10.00 -6.79 -6.53 -5.99 -5.61 -5.07 -4.26 -4.26

4963.89969

(-) 0.41%

1852.66288

(-) 0.40%

15313.11780

(-) 0.43%

12515.35600

(+) 0.23%

9352.50080

(-) 0.20%

Average (% Change) -12.80 -11.95 -12.59 1.21 -7.20 -5.79 -3.96 -3.40 -3.93 -3.56 Average (% Change) -31.23 -12.31 -9.84 -5.87 -8.70 -4.16 -2.74 -3.27 -1.71 -3.08

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 63.14 299.80 38.75 15.89 45.63 20.99 5.82 81.62 41.59 14.08

ClosingAvg. 158.10 63.53 20.70 46.06 40.49 46.25 41.88 58.53 4.60 81.13

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 472.22 189.91 47.93 1544.32 417.10 2114.26 17.72 519.97 1010.81 87.26 278.00 44.18 60.33 130.85 63.87 33.98 111.88 96.73 104.00 184.81 0.11

DHIGH 68.00 299.80 41.00 17.50 48.90 21.90 6.60 86.00 43.70 14.50

DHIGH

158.10 61.70 20.70 45.30 41.50 45.50 40.40 58.00 4.50 81.00

158.10 68.00 20.70 47.50 41.50 48.00 42.90 60.20 4.70 82.00

138,730

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

11

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,653.20

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

32.16

CSE key features November 16, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

515.29

Turnover (Volume)

12,353,493

Number of Contract

17,633

Traded Issues

220

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

90

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

128

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

2

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,550.16

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.91

Turnover in Million

DLOW 60.20 299.80 35.00 15.20 44.00 20.70 5.60 77.00 40.30 13.90

176.927 5.172 4.650 17.110 99.587 3.358 10.948 18.528 19.632 10.614

Turnover in Million

DLOW 158.10 60.50 20.70 44.30 38.00 44.10 40.30 57.20 4.50 80.00

0.079 14.332 0.031 9.143 0.628 1.515 0.754 0.410 0.131 0.639

% change 6.27 2.52 0.64 20.51 5.54 28.08 0.24 6.91 13.42 3.69 0.59 0.80 1.74 0.85 0.45 1.49 1.28 1.38 2.45 0.00

Million Taka 25.71 9.93 3.89 144.60 22.96 77.22 52.45 104.20 19.64 14.96 14.05 5.79 10.49 11.45 1.45 2.49 5.23 13.79 20.43 0.01

CSE

% change 4.58 1.77 0.69 25.79 4.09 13.77 0.00 9.35 18.58 3.50 2.67 2.50 1.03 1.87 2.04 0.26 0.44 0.93 2.46 3.64 0.00

Million Taka 497.93 199.83 51.83 1688.92 440.05 2191.48 17.72 572.42 1115.02 106.90 292.96 58.23 66.12 141.34 75.32 35.43 114.37 101.96 117.79 205.25 0.12

Sonali Ansh -A Kohinoor Chem -A WesternMarine -N Anwar Galvanizing-B Northern Jute -Z Pharma Aids A Ambee Pharma -A Shahjibazar Power-N Jute SpinnersA Meghna PET Ind. -Z

Closing (% Change) 9.94 9.91 9.90 9.54 8.75 8.75 8.74 8.73 7.48 7.14

CSE GAINER

Latest EPS 3.64 11.00 -0.80 -0.48 0.76 1.04 0.69 4.52 3.52 0.40

Latest EPS 4.13 3.64 0.05 0.76 -0.80 2.43 3.52 2.24 0.56 4.52

Latest PE 17.3 27.3 -ve -ve 60.0 20.2 8.4 18.1 11.8 35.2

Total

Company WesternMarine -N Anwar Galvanizing-B Ambee Pharma -A Wata Chemicals -A Aziz PipesZ JMI Syringes MDL-A Rangpur Foundry -A Provati Insur.-A Bengal Windsor-A H.R. Textile -A

Closing (% Change) 9.92 9.76 8.72 6.74 6.45 6.02 5.88 5.88 5.25 4.61

Average (% Change) 7.07 11.34 3.05 8.46 8.75 15.96 8.56 8.73 6.62 8.38 Average (% Change) 3.72 9.76 8.03 6.82 6.45 5.45 6.18 6.92 4.16 3.79

ClosingAvg. 155.59 492.56 77.00 42.32 234.90 241.20 284.97 286.60 51.67 6.08

ClosingAvg. 77.26 41.60 287.08 235.27 19.80 169.05 108.30 21.64 62.07 29.28

Closing 157.10 491.30 79.90 42.50 234.90 241.20 287.30 286.60 51.70 6.00

Closing 79.80 41.60 290.60 235.90 19.80 169.10 108.00 21.60 62.20 29.50

DHIGH 157.10 499.90 79.90 42.60 234.90 241.20 287.30 286.60 52.00 6.10

DHIGH 79.80 41.60 290.60 237.00 19.80 170.00 108.90 21.70 63.00 29.50

DLOW 145.10 420.00 72.10 40.00 234.90 241.20 269.90 286.60 50.50 5.40

DLOW 71.00 41.60 271.00 231.00 19.80 167.00 108.00 21.40 56.50 29.00

Turnover in Million 17.185 9.800 367.152 36.631 0.376 13.411 13.765 34.564 0.155 0.316

Turnover in Million 65.907 0.811 1.191 0.518 0.004 1.014 0.162 0.173 0.844 0.088

Latest EPS 0.76 10.40 2.32 0.84 1.00 9.88 4.68 9.00 -43.64 -0.44

Latest EPS 2.32 0.84 4.68 5.37 -0.37 4.48 3.23 1.97 2.60 1.75

Latest PE 204.7 47.4 33.2 50.4 234.9 24.4 60.9 31.8 -ve -ve

Latest PE 33.3 49.5 61.3 43.8 -ve 37.7 33.5 11.0 23.9 16.7

News, analysis and recent disclosers RAHIMAFOOD: No dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 04.12.2014. EPS of Tk. -0.80, NAV per share of Tk. 3.65.

DACCADYE: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 12.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.02, NAV per share of Tk. 26.58.

ORIONINFU: 15% cash dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 3.64, NAV per share of Tk. 8.15.

KOHINOOR: 25% stock dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014. EPS of Tk. 13.20, NAV per share of Tk. 29.19.

LRGLOBMF1: 5% cash dividend, Record date: 25.11.2014. Earnings per unit of Tk. 0.69.

Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag Industries Limited 10% stock dividend, AGM: 29.12.2014, Record Date: 08.12.2014.

NPAT= Tk. 74.38 Million, EPS of Tk. 1.71, NAV per share of Tk. 15.85.

Unaudited Financials:

POWERGRID: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 118.06 million with EPS of Tk. 0.26 as against Tk. 488.11 million and Tk. 1.06 respectively.

BDAUTOCA: (Q1): NpAT= Tk. 0.17 million with EPS of Tk. 0.05 as against Tk. -0.50 million and Tk. -0.14 respectively.

PREMIERCEM: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 80.02 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.76 as against Tk. 124.86 million and Tk. 1.18 respectively.

DESCO: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 373.65 million with basic EPS of Tk. 1.09 (restated 0.99) as against Tk. 18.81 million and Tk. 0.05 respectively.

BDCOM: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 15.62 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.47 ( restated 0.41) as against Tk. 13.99 million and Tk. 0.42 respectively.

FUWANGCER: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 9.68 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.11 (0.10) as against Tk. 15.88 million and Tk. 0.19 respectively.

MHSML: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 54.67 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.88 (restated 0.70) as against Tk. 24.23 million and Tk. 0.69 respectively.

METROSPIN: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 10.94 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.19 ( restated 0.18) as against Tk. 14.88 million and Tk. 0.26 (restated) respectively.

DSHGARME: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 0.69 million with EPS of Tk. 0.20 as against Tk. 0.40 million and Tk. 0.12 respectively.

DACCADYE: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 21.09 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.29 (restated 0.26) as against Tk. 20.22 million and Tk. 0.28 respectively.

NORTHERN: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 0.45 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.27 (restated 0.25) as against Tk. -4.35 million and Tk. -2.56 respectively.

SHURWID: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 7.86 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.23 (restated 0.19) as against Tk. 9.39 million and Tk. 0.30 (0.25) respectively.

ALLTEX: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 43.23 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.90 ( restated 0.82) as against Tk. -18.88 million and Tk. -0.39 respectively.

DELTASPINN: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 12.98 million with consolidated EPS of Tk. 0.15 as against Tk. 13.40 million and Tk. 0.29 respectively.

MIRACLEIND: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 2.45 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.10 ( restated 0.097) as against Tk. 0.66 million and Tk. 0.03 respectively.

KOHINOOR: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 26.37 million with basic EPS of Tk. 3.25 (restated 2.60) as against Tk. 19.90 million and Tk. 2.45 respectively.

SPCL: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 299.23 million with consolidated basic EPS of Tk. 2.36 ( restated 2.25) as against Tk. 58.09 million and Tk. 0.51 respectively.

EMERALDOIL: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 31.75 million with basic EPS of Tk. 0.68 ( restated 0.64) as against Tk. 13.29 million and Tk. 0.49 respectively.

TITASGAS: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 2,347.88 million with EPS of Tk. 2.37 as against Tk. 2,138.57 million and Tk. 2.16 respectively.

Latest PE 38.3 17.5 414.0 60.6 -ve 19.0 11.9 26.1 8.2 17.9

For the first two hours, the market was positive as encouraging earnings started to hit the screen but late-day selling frenzy dragged the market to the red zone

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▼ ▼ ▼ ▲ ▼

61.70 299.80 40.10 15.30 44.80 20.70 5.60 81.10 40.70 13.90

Closing

152,839,060

Number of Contract

Service and real estate sector was the worst sufferer losing 3.2%, followed by cement 2.5%, ceramic 1.6% and non-banking financial institutions 1%. Telecommunication and pharmaceuticals edged lower.

LankaBangla Securities said the benchmark index was corrected, as investors are still not finding any concrete direction about market movement.

It said intra-day volatility of benchmark index was observed.

“For the first two hours, the market was positive as encouraging earnings started to hit the screen but late-day selling frenzy dragged the market to the red zone.”

IDLC Investments said amid strong selling pressure from participants, the market moved into red zone at the very first day of the week.

Out of 303 traded scrips, 27 lost more than 3% value while 37 gained more than 3%.

The market breadth also remained negative as out of 303 issues traded, 113 advanced, 156 declined and 34 remained unchanged.

The state-owned Dhaka Electric Supply Company Ltd was the most traded issue with shares worth almost Tk69 crore changing hands.

It was followed by Jamuna Oil, Western Marine Shipyard, Olympic Industries, RSRM Steel, Saif Power Tech, Orion Infusion and Barakatullah Electro Dynamics Ltd. Orion Infusion saw the biggest fall of 16% while Sonali Aansh was biggest gainer with about 10% rise. l

Company

7,530.24

Turnover (Volume)

Monday, November 17, 2014

% change 6.15 2.47 0.64 20.87 5.44 27.09 0.22 7.07 13.78 1.32 3.62 0.72 0.82 1.75 0.93 0.44 1.41 1.26 1.46 2.54 0.00

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company DESCO Ltd. -A Jamuna Oil -A WesternMarine -N Olympic Ind. -A Ratanpur Steel -N SAIF Powertec-N Orion Infusions -A Barakatullah E. D.-A MJL BD Ltd.-A BD Building Systems -A

Active Fine Chem.-A Keya Cosmetics -A Brac Bank -A Navana CNG-A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Alltex Industries -Z

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company WesternMarine -N Square Pharma -A Keya Cosmetics -A Jamuna Oil -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Orion Infusions -A DESCO Ltd. -A Alltex Industries -Z Appollo Ispat CL -N Ratanpur Steel -N

SAIF Powertec-N The Peninsula CTG.-N Shurwid Ind. -N Aftab Auto.-A BD Building Systems -A

VolumeShares 8,797,245 2,329,972 4,768,200 713,607 2,597,400 2,020,200 2,802,200 3,930,994 1,086,749 2,473,660

Value in Million 687.21 611.47 367.15 210.63 186.18 179.92 176.93 148.96 145.52 134.13

% of TotalTurnover 9.13 8.12 4.88 2.80 2.47 2.39 2.35 1.98 1.93 1.78

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

1,686,884 4,439,838 3,341,402 1,669,711 2,972,322 4,845,000

853,000 111,111 941,439 98,091 403,807 225,600 168,650 527,000 509,800 162,200

112,600 293,400 198,500 107,870 158,100

129.94 126.33 120.25 119.93 118.33 113.67

65.91 28.89 28.28 25.74 16.06 14.33 13.18 12.29 11.75 11.63

10.10 9.66 9.14 8.93 8.56

1.73 1.68 1.60 1.59 1.57 1.51

12.95 5.68 5.56 5.06 3.16 2.82 2.59 2.41 2.31 2.29

1.98 1.90 1.80 1.75 1.68

ClosingP 78.10 266.50 79.90 299.00 71.00 87.60 61.70 37.30 131.80 53.50

75.80 28.20 35.90 71.70 39.40 22.90

ClosingP

79.80 260.10 30.40 265.40 39.50 61.70 78.20 22.90 22.80 71.10

88.20 32.60 45.30 81.70 53.40

Change % -0.38 4.80 9.90 4.22 -1.39 4.04 -15.94 -1.32 -2.59 -2.73

-0.13 -2.08 2.87 2.87 -0.76 4.09

Change %

9.92 0.12 4.47 4.61 -1.00 -16.28 0.00 4.09 -3.39 -1.11

4.38 -2.69 -6.79 -0.37 -3.09

ClosingY 78.40 254.30 72.70 286.90 72.00 84.20 73.40 37.80 135.30 55.00

75.90 28.80 34.90 69.70 39.70 22.00

ClosingY

72.60 259.80 29.10 253.70 39.90 73.70 78.20 22.00 23.60 71.90

84.50 33.50 48.60 82.00 55.10

DHIGH 78.30 268.00 79.90 300.90 74.00 92.60 68.00 38.80 140.00 56.00

78.10 31.60 36.50 75.00 43.60 24.20

DLOW 68.00 233.00 72.10 262.00 69.80 84.90 60.20 34.10 122.00 50.00

70.00 26.00 34.00 63.00 36.00 20.50

DHIGH

DLOW

79.80 262.00 30.90 269.00 40.70 68.00 78.20 24.20 23.80 74.10

71.00 259.00 27.90 258.50 39.00 60.50 71.00 20.50 22.70 70.00

92.30 33.80 47.50 84.00 55.50

85.10 32.50 44.30 81.20 53.00

AvgPrice 78.12 262.44 77.00 295.16 71.68 89.06 63.14 37.89 133.90 54.22

77.03 28.45 35.99 71.83 39.81 23.46

AvgPrice

77.26 259.99 30.04 262.44 39.78 63.53 78.14 23.31 23.04 71.68

89.66 32.92 46.06 82.77 54.11

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Monday, November 17, 2014

China’s Xi: China economic growth to be sustainable, balanced n Reuters, Beijing Chinese President Xi Jinping said on Saturday China’s economy will maintain strong, sustainable and balanced growth, state media reported.

Xi also said China will provide more demand and investment opportunities for the global economy as it undergoes structural reforms that foster opportunities for growth, according to the official Xinhua news agency.

China’s economy grew in the third quarter at its slowest pace since the global financial crisis, sparking concern that the world’s second largest economy is faltering as the government tries to make it more driven by domestic consumption and less by exports and investment.

Xi made the comments while at a two-day meeting of the G20 in Brisbane, Australia.

Using his latest catchphrase, Xi said China’s economy has entered a “new normal”, there is plenty of growth mo-

mentum and development prospects are bright, Xinhua reported.

China will also adopt the International Monetary Fund’s (IMF) Special Data Dissemination Standards, Xi announced.

These standards are applied to the release of economic and financial data, aimed at increasing transparency and openness in order to guide countries “that have, or that might seek, access to international capital markets in the provision of their economic and financial data to the public,” according to the IMF website.

China’s provinces and regions frequently report economic growth much larger than national levels, causing doubts about the way data is compiled in China.

China’s government has vowed to tackle false reporting of economic data at the local level, but the sheer size of the country and the large number of local authorities makes this a daunting task. l

China's President Xi Jinping speaks at a news conference for the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) Summit at the International Conference Center

Putin resists Western offensive as testy G20 closes n AFP G20 leaders wrapped up an annual summit yesterday with a vow to reinvigorate the global economy, but geopolitical frictions sparked anew as Russian President Vladimir Putin brushed off Western anger over Ukraine.

Host Tony Abbott insisted that everyone including Putin - who left the Brisbane summit a little early - was on board the campaign to enact reforms that could infuse more than two trillion dollars into the global economy.

“I’m happy to be on a unity ticket with Vladimir Putin on that subject,” the Australian prime minister told a news conference after the two-day summit, during which the two leaders put aside days of sniping to share a photograph with cuddly koala bears.

Nevertheless, Abbott insisted that he had “very robust” discussions with Putin on the summit sidelines, and described the July downing of a Malaysia Airlines plane over Ukraine as “one of the most terrible atrocities of recent times”.

Putin broke protocol by delivering remarks to the media before the host leader’s closing news conference, and then flew out shortly before the summit formally closed.

The Russian strongman said “some of our views do not coincide, but the discussions were complete, construc-

tive and very helpful”. But Western pressure redoubled earlier Sunday with a joint declaration from the United States, Australia and Japan.

The trio’s leaders said in Brisbane that they were united in “opposing Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea and its actions to destabilise eastern Ukraine, and bringing to justice those responsible for the downing of Flight MH17”.

'Profits should be taxed where economic activities deriving the profits are performed and where value is created' The West says the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine, using a missile supplied by Russia. Moscow angrily denies the charges. The plane was carrying 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens and residents.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Channel Ten that Putin had come “under quite some pressure” from a number of G20 leaders because of the downing of MH17 and Russia’s behaviour towards Ukraine.

She noted that Australia had been

monitoring the presence of four Russian warships off its northern coast in recent days during the G20, which Moscow had deployed “just to remind everyone that Russia has a navy, I assume”.

The Group of 20 nations, which includes the United States and China, found agreement in vowing to “extinguish” the Ebola outbreak - albeit without any promise of hard cash - as it works to reboot growth in the world economy after the shock of the 2008 financial crisis.

‘Trench warfare’

The summit in Australia issued a declaration that the leaders, who collectively represent 85 percent of global output, are committed to structural reforms that would lift economic growth by at least 2.1% over the next five years.

That amounts to more than two trillion dollars, although economists are sceptical that many of the G20 members have the stomach for such reforms when growth is already slipping in some key countries, including China and Germany.

Nevertheless, International Monetary Fund chief Christine Lagarde welcomed Sunday’s pledge while stressing: “Implementation is now critical, with a strong accountability framework to monitor progress, supported by the IMF.” German Chancellor Angela Merkel, who held lengthy, late-night bilateral

talks with Putin in Brisbane Saturday, told reporters that the tensions over Ukraine were hindering efforts to boost economic growth.

“It’s clear that these geopolitical tensions, including relations with Russia, are not really conducive to promoting growth,” she said. “We are all striving to do everything diplomatically possible to see improvements.”

The leaders also backed efforts to squeeze out loopholes between different tax regimes that allow some multinationals to get away with paying only a pittance on their profits.

The issue has resurfaced after allegations that Luxembourg was conniving with such companies to the detriment of their home countries at a time when Jean-Claude Juncker, now the European Commission president, was its prime minister.

The G20 endorsed a “common reporting standard” so that companies cannot arbitrage differences between tax regimes, stressing: “Profits should be taxed where economic activities deriving the profits are performed and where value is created.”

The summit declaration also endorsed “strong and effective action” on climate change despite attempts to prevent its mention by Abbott, who doubts the scientific consensus that mankind’s actions are heating up the planet. l

REUTERS

G20 stresses energy security in pro-growth agenda n AFP Leaders of the world’s most powerful economies agreed on Sunday that energy security must become a G20 priority, noting that stability in the markets was “critical” to their growth.

The long-term stability of oil markets is seen as crucial to ensuring the success of reforms promised by the G20, so that it can meet its aim of lifting its combined economic growth by 2.1% over the next five years.

A summit in Brisbane had a session dedicated to global energy issues for the first time, with G20 members representing more than 80 percent of the world’s energy consumption, 60% of oil and gas production and over 90 percent of coal output.

“Increased collaboration on energy is a priority,” they said in a summit declaration.

“Global energy markets are undergoing significant transformation.

Strong and resilient energy markets are critical to economic growth.”

They asked energy ministers to meet and report back in 2015 on options that could feed discussions on reform of the international energy system.

A report in The Australian newspaper on Saturday said there could

ultimately be a new agency to protect against oil and gas supplies being exploited as foreign policy weapons, while giving a greater voice to rising economies.

If approved, the report said the agency would lay down principles of governance for all participants in energy markets and would sit above both the OPEC cartel and the International Energy Agency (IEA).

However, there was no mention of any specifics in the G20 communique.

“Energy is now at the heart of the G20’s agenda and G20 energy ministers will meet for the first time next year to take this work forward,” said Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the 2014 host. Turkey takes over for 2015.

The emergence of energy as a central G20 platform comes with oil prices diving well below the $80-per-barrel mark. Global prices have collapsed by some 30 percent since June.

In a report to the G20 ahead of Brisbane, the International Monetary Fund said the “recent appreciable fall in oil prices, if sustained, will boost growth”.

But the lower prices are hurting some crude exporters, including Venezuela, Iran and G20 member Russia.

The latter two are also struggling with the impact of Western sanctions. l

Spotlight falls on Europe’s stuttering economy

Japan's GDP catalyst for snap election n Reuters, Frankfurt n AFP, Tokyo As large parts of Europe’s economy A set of economic data due in Japan today look likely to determine the fate of “Abenomics”, with anticipation a poor showing from third quarter GDP figures will prompt a general election.

Unless the July to September Gross Domestic Product figures show an unexpected rally, Monday’s release is likely to provide the catalyst for Prime Minister Shinzo Abe to rule out a promised consumption tax rise and seek a new popular mandate, two years ahead of schedule.

The tax rises are aimed at paying down Japan’s enormous national debt, but they have put Abe in a tricky position as he tries to balance them with his pro-spending growth plan - dubbed Abenomics.

The market’s median forecast is for a 2.47% annualised growth rate, according to a survey of some 40 economists conducted by the Japan Center for Economic Research.

That would sidestep a technical recession, after Japan’s GDP shrank an annualised 7.1% in the second quarter, but it pales next to the ringing endorsement that came in during the first three months of the year, when the economy grew 6%.

Since his late 2012 election, Abe’s plan to conquer years of deflation that have held back growth in the once world-beating economy had been bearing fruit.

But those efforts stumbled as consumers closed their wallets - and nervous firms capped their own spending - after sales taxes rose to 8% from 5% on April 1. l

grind almost to a halt, attention will focus this week on the latest assessments of business confidence in the euro zone and Germany, which has just narrowly avoided a recession.

While the United States economy has accelerated and China holds a slower but steady course, euro zone countries have remained sluggish, with overall growth in output slowing to a trickle.

“The euro zone is the best part of 20% of the global economy,” James Knightley, an economist with ING, said. “The longer the stagnation goes on the more Japan-like it becomes.”

The euro zone’s problems have raised expectations that the European Central Bank is preparing to loosen its purse strings further to try to rekindle growth.

Against this backdrop, Germany’s Centre for European Economic Research’s (ZEW) monthly barometer of sentiment, due on Nov 18, will provide more insight into business confidence levels.

The Ukraine crisis is a major drag on business and investor sentiment, especially as there have been new reports of Russian troops pouring into eastern Ukraine.

Russia has denied sending military forces to help separatist rebels in that region launch a new offensive in a conflict that has killed more than 4,000 people.

German Chancellor Angela Merkel said at the G20 leaders’ summit on Saturday in Brisbane that the European Union was considering further finan-

A euro logo sculpture stands in front the headquarters of the European Central Bank (ECB) in Frankfurt cial sanctions against Russian individuals because of the crisis.

Fallout from the Ukraine conflict is exacerbating the euro zone’s problems, with European sanctions squeezing Russia’s banks and companies and having knock-on effects particularly on Germany.

A company purchasing managers’ survey on Nov 20 will offer a snapshot of whether companies are expanding in Germany, France and across the euro zone.

That follows new monthly information on international trade, due out on Monday, which will show the extent of falls in exports to Russia.

The bleak picture in Europe contrasts with brighter prospects for the United States, where an update on the how the country’s manufacturers are faring is also out on Monday.

As the U.S. economy picks up, its central bank is moving closer to raising the cost of borrowing for the first time in more than eight years.

REUTERS

Later in the week, economists will pore over the minutes of the Federal Reserve’s latest policy meeting for any hints as to when Fed Chair Janet Yellen will begin reining in cheap money.

The health of China’s economy, a growth-driver for the United States and Europe, has also been a major concern given signs that growth is faltering.

The communist country’s economy now mirrors those of its rivals in the West and is having to confront many of the problems they have faced from

rising wages and property bubbles to demands for stricter environmental standards.

As global demand for its goods has slowed, its manufacturing costs are rising, prompting some companies to shift to cheaper neighbors such as Vietnam.

The Chinese government has tried to head off a sharper slowdown in the economy, on track to grow at its slowest pace in 24 years, by easing some curbs on the property market.

Such restrictions on second homes, for instance, had been introduced to dampen runaway property prices in cities such as Beijing, where the cost of a two-bedroom flat can reach $1 million.

A further property price slowdown is likely to be confirmed when home price data is published early in the week. The downbeat picture in Europe and China’s wobble have convinced some economists that the world will have to get used to more modest living standards.

Even in countries where the recovery has been relatively robust, such as the United States or Britain, many people have barely noticed the difference between recovery and recession because their earnings have stayed low.

“There is a growing divergence between highly-skilled well-paid jobs and low-skilled low-paid jobs,” Matthew Whittaker, the chief economist at the Resolution Foundation think tank, said. “The UK recovery has been marked by pay going down.”

Price inflation in Britain, due out on Nov 18, is likely to stay around the 5-year low it hit in September.

Some economists are now convinced that low or no inflation is the new normal. l

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, November 17, 2014

G20 leaders face pressure to deliver on growth n AFP, Brisbane Australia made a last ditch call yesterday for the G20’s leaders to use all policy levers to rehabilitate global economies and generate prosperity, which could see them better their target of lifting growth by two percent.

The world’s top industrial nations have vowed to boost their combined economic output by some two trillion dollars above the currently projected level in the next five years, via domestic policy reforms.

The idea at the G20 leaders’ summit in Australia has been to flesh out how with the process due to be announced later yesterday in the “Brisbane Action Plan”. “Well, it certainly is the case that two percent target that we announced in Sydney (this year) has been met, but it will go further,” Australia’s Treasurer Joe Hockey told national television.

“We cannot rest. The world needs growth.” On Saturday, President Barack Obama made clear the United States cannot “carry the world economy”, and that other G20 nations must do more to spur growth and create jobs.

Buoyed by unemployment at its lowest level since July 2008, the US economy is motoring at a time when other parts of the global engine room, notably Europe and Japan, are starting to splutter.

“So here in Brisbane the G20 has a responsibility to act, to boost demand and invest more in infrastructure and create good jobs for the people of all our nations,” said the US president.

Hockey said moving beyond the two percent target would be possible if EU leaders start pumping billions of dollars into the stalling eurozone economy.

New European Commission chief Jean-Claude Juncker has previously outlined a reform agenda, including a 300 billion euro investment package to boost growth, employment and com-

petitiveness. Exact details have yet to be presented.

Won’t be let off hook

The treasurer added that G20 leaders would not be let off the hook when it comes to delivering on their promises to cut red tape and encourage private infrastructure investment to boost growth.

“What we have done is we’ve commissioned the IMF and the World Bank to monitor and report back on the performance of individual countries,” he said.

'No. Absolutely not. We cannot afford to deal with climate change if governments are in recession or if countries are facing huge structural challenges' “So for the first time ever, we’ve put a number on the ambition, so it is not words, it’s a number.”

In a report ahead of the summit, the International Monetary Fund said the world economy faced stiff headwinds from sluggish growth in Europe and Japan and a slowdown in emerging economies. It trimmed its growth forecast for the year to 3.3%, from 3.4%, citing geopolitical tensions and volatility in financial markets.

Host Australia has worked hard to keep the G20 focus this year on economic matters, including cracking down on global tax avoidance.

But the summit in Brisbane has been shadowed by Russia’s actions in Ukraine and a headline announcement by the United States on climate change.

Hockey said he did not accept that climate change was one of the biggest

Australia's Treasurer Joe Hockey holds a news conference after a meeting of G-20 finance ministers and central bank governors during the IMF-World Bank annual meetings in Washington REUTERS impediments to economic growth, a view that flies in the face of many other G20 powers.

“No. Absolutely not. We cannot afford to deal with climate change if governments are in recession or if

countries are facing huge structural challenges,” he said. The G20 leaders discussed free trade at a dinner meeting on Saturday, with Sunday’s meetings examining economic resilience, financial regulation, tax, the growth

agenda and energy issues.

A report on Saturday said an overhaul of the global energy market could be a surprise outcome of the summit with plans for a new agency to protect against oil and gas supplies being used

as foreign policy tools.

If approved, it would lay down principles of governance for all participants in energy markets and sit above both the OPEC cartel and the International Energy Agency. l

The coming global boom

West targets Russia over Ukraine as n Anatole Kaletsky testy G20 wraps up Back in mid-October, as stock markets around the world plunged faster than at any time since 2011, many investors and n AFP, Brisbane economists feared a meltdown. But with

A man pumps gasoline at a service station in Caracas

REUTERS

Iran, Venezuela urge oil price support ahead of OPEC meeting n Reuters, Dubai OPEC hawks Iran and Venezuela on Saturday called on fellow crude producers to shore up prices that have plunged more than 30% to four-years low ahead of an OPEC meeting later this month.

Oil prices have fallen to below $79 on abundant and weak demand from $115 a barrel in June. Scepticism that OPEC will cut supply when it meets on Nov 27 have also weighed on the prices.

So far, only Kuwait and Iran have said a reduction is unlikely, while a Libyan OPEC official, Venezuela and Ecuador have called for OPEC to cut output.

Privately some delegates are talking of the need for some action, although they warn an agreement will not be easy to reach.

In comments reported by Iran oil ministry’s news agency Shana, Venezuelan Foreign Minister Rafael Ramirez, speaking in Iran, said Tehran and Caracas hold a common stance on the oil market.

“We believe that the prices are at a very low level and instability in the market is in no one’s interest,” Ramirez told Shana. “A hundred dollars per barrel is the desirable price for Venezuela.”

Iran Oil Minister Bijan Zanganeh made similar remarks.

DILBERT

“It is difficult to go back to the old (oil) prices but we should try to fix the prices as much as the current market situation allows,” Zanganeh said.

Ramirez, Venezuela’s main representative at OPEC and until September was the country’s oil minister, has embarked on an oil diplomacy tour ahead of the OPEC meeting.

He visited Algeria and Qatar and was due to visit Russia after Iran.

Iran’s Zanganeh also visited Qatar and Kuwait this week in a bid to win support for stabilising oil markets.

Ramirez later told Venezuela’s Telesur TV channel that he would continue to coordinate actions to defend the oil price which were falling “for no apparent reason”.

Iran and Venezuela need higher oil prices to balance their budgets than fellow OPEC members Saudi Arabia and other Gulf Arab producers.

The OPEC meeting may revive memories of a 2011 meeting which Saudi Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi described as one of the worst after Gulf countries were blocked from reaching a deal by a majority including Iran, Venezuela, Algeria and Ecuador.

Naimi on Wednesday reaffirmed the kingdom’s longstanding policy of seeking stable global markets. l

Russian President Vladimir Putin yesterday shrugged off a hail of Western fire over the Ukraine crisis as G20 leaders wrapped up an annual summit focused on a drive to overhaul the global economy.

At the summit in Brisbane, Putin broke protocol by delivering remarks to the media before the host leader’s closing news conference, and then flew out a little early.

The Russian strongman said “some of our views do not coincide, but the discussions were complete, constructive and very helpful”.

Putin also thanked Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott for hosting the event, after the two leaders put aside days of sniping to share a photograph with cuddly koala bears.

While the Kremlin denied talk that Putin was walking out of the Brisbane meeting early out of pique at being ambushed over Ukraine, Western pressure redoubled earlier Sunday with a joint declaration from the United States, Australia and Japan.

The trio’s leaders said after talks on the G20 margins that they were united in “opposing Russia’s purported annexation of Crimea and its actions to destabilise eastern Ukraine, and bringing to justice those responsible for the downing of Flight MH17”.

The West says the Malaysia Airlines plane was shot down by pro-Russian rebels in eastern Ukraine in July, using a missile supplied by Russia.

Moscow angrily denies the charges.

The plane was carrying 298 people, including 38 Australian citizens and residents.

Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop told Channel Ten that Putin had come “under quite some pressure” from a number of G20 leaders because of the downing of MH17 and Russia’s behaviour towards Ukraine. l

the US economy steadily expanding, monetary and fiscal policies becoming more stimulative in other parts of the world and the autumn season for financial crises now over, a melt-up seems far more likely.

There are many fundamental reasons for believing that stock markets may have embarked on a long-term bull market comparable to those in the 1950s and 1960s, or the 1980s and 1990s, and that this process is nearer its beginning than its end. Such arguments have been discussed repeatedly in this column over the past 18 months - ever since the Standard & Poor’s 500, the world’s most important stock-market index, broke out of a 13-year trading range and started scaling new highs in March 2013. Wall Street has been setting records ever since.

These are the four most important arguments for a structural bull market: First and foremost, the worst financial and economic crisis in living memory has ended, and most parts of the world economy are enjoying decent, if unspectacular, growth. Second, economic and financial policies around the world, though far from perfect, are highly predictable and therefore unlikely to cause further market disruptions. Third, technology is continually advancing and innovation is creating new products, services and processes that stimulate both investment and consumer demand. Finally, inflation is almost nonexistent, at least in the advanced economies, meaning interest rates are guaranteed to stay low for a very long time.

Even in such benign conditions, minor corrections and panics are bound to happen. Financial markets always move in boom-bust cycles, as greed alternates with fear. We saw this in early October, when Wall Street fell by 10% in three weeks and equity prices in Europe plunged by almost 20% in relation to the US dollar. Such setbacks, however, actually reinforce the uptrend if the fears that triggered them turn out to be illusory - or less daunting

than they first appeared. That is exactly what has happened.

There were two obvious catalysts for last month’s stock-market retreat: a sudden drop in oil prices and a run of dismal economic figures from Europe and Japan. The first problem was never likely to prove more than a temporary hiccup because falling oil prices are, on balance, beneficial to consumption and corporate profits - even if they hurt energy-producing companies and countries.

By contrast, the second problem slumping economies in Europe and Japan - threatened investors with a genuine nightmare. No matter how well the US economy might perform, global businesses could not shrug off a possible recession in Europe and Japan, especially if the governments or central banks in these countries refused to follow the US model of fiscal and monetary stimulus to revive growth.

Luckily, the policy paralysis in Europe and Japan has now been broken and that, in turn, means that the risk of these vital regions falling back into recession is smaller than a month ago.

The most impressive sign of new policy dynamism came from Japan, with its dramatic Oct 31 announcement that the Bank of Japan would substantially increase its already enormous monetary expansion, while the $1.2tn Government Pension and Investment Fund would more than double its allocation to equities and foreign bonds.

These stimulus measures have been supplemented by reports that Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe might delay a tax increase planned for next October and could even call an early general election to give himself more freedom to pursue additional reforms. Abe seems to have reverted to full-scale stimulus policies after his misguided effort at fiscal tightening in April.

As a result, the favorable economic conditions of 2013 are likely to be restored in Japan next year. Investor pessimism caused

by April’s tax hike has vanished - and rightly so. When the facts change, people should change their minds.

An equally surprising, though less decisive, shift toward active policy stimulus is taking place in Europe, revealed by two recent events: last Thursday’s European Central Bank

meeting and the previous week’s announcement that the French and Italian governments would run bigger budget deficits than the European Commission had previously demanded under euro zone fiscal rules.

The European Commission, by accepting the two countries’ budget plans and ignoring German demands for tougher austerity, signalled the end of the fiscal tightening that has been a major obstacle to European economic recovery. The European Central Bank’s announcement was even more significant. European Central Bank President Mario Draghi explicitly committed himself for the first time to a 1-trillion euro expansion of the bank’s balance sheet and promised to take whatever measures were necessary to achieve this. This statement effectively meant that the central bank had finally agreed to implement largescale quantitative easing - albeit employing different techniques from those used in the United States, Japan and Britain.

The fact that Europe and Japan are finally ready to follow the US fiscal road map will not suddenly remove all the obstacles to growth in these economies. But it will make structural reforms easier and more effective. The prospects for a sustainable global expansion are therefore much brighter than expected a month ago.

This improvement in the global economic outlook is more than enough to justify the powerful rebound in stock markets since mid-October.

Even if economic conditions continue improving, equity prices are bound to fall sharply at some point, inflicting painful losses on investors. This is what happened in 1987, roughly five years into the last structural bull market. Boom-bust cycles are inevitable because improving economic conditions encourage speculative excesses, which are then blown away as greed gives way to fear.

But the bust cannot come before the boom - and global economic conditions suggest that a full-scale stock-market boom may be just starting. l Anatole Kaletsky a columnist at Reuters.

The article was initially published at Reuters.

Obama tells G20 US cannot ‘carry world economy’ n AFP, Brisbane

The United States cannot “carry the world economy”, President Barack Obama said Saturday, as the G20 readies an action plan that could boost growth prospects for rich and poor nations alike.

Leaders of the world’s top industrial economies are meeting in Brisbane to nail down ways to boost their combined growth by at least two trillion dollars via domestic policy reforms, and so generate millions of new jobs.

The US economy is finally kicking into gear just as challenges emerge else-

where to the world outlook, notably in Europe, China and Japan. Obama urged his G20 colleagues to work harder to rev up growth. “Over the last few years the US has put more people back to work than all other advanced economies combined,” he said on the sidelines of the summit, with the US unemployment rate falling to 5.8% in October, its lowest level since July 2008.

“But America can’t be expected to just carry the world economy on our back. “So here in Brisbane the G20 has a responsibility to act, to boost demand and invest more in infrastructure and create good jobs for the people of all

our nations.” The G20 leaders were initially expected to sign off on a vow to lift growth by two percent over the currently projected level in the next five years.

But a draft copy of the Brisbane Action Plan said that, owing to worries about sluggish conditions worldwide, the leaders will agree to reforms that could accelerate growth by 2.1%.

“We have developed comprehensive growth strategies that address these challenges,” the plan says, according to The Australian newspaper.

“Analysis by the IMF and OECD indicates that full implementation of these strategies will lift our collective GDP by

2.1% through to 2018 above the trajectory implied by the policies at the time of the St Petersburg summit (last year).”

‘Hope and optimism’

G20 nations, which make up 85% of the world economy, plan to meet the goal by accelerating infrastructure investment, financial reform and encouraging free trade.

Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, the G20 host, admitted global growth was fragile but said “the message that should come from us over these next two days is a message of hope and optimism”. l