19 nov, 2014

Agrahayan 5, 1421 Muharram 25, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 225

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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7 | SPECIAL

11 | OP-ED

12 | SPORT

TALES OF ANCIENT GREECE

‘OF COURSE, WE KILLED HIM ...

HE HAD TO GO’

WITH GREAT POWER ...

TIGERS CLAW UP THE TEST RANKINGS

Same group acted in Trishal, Bardhaman

CONCRETE CRADLE

Bangladeshi and Indian agencies trade intel on terrorism n Ashif Islam Shaon Bangladeshi and Indian intelligence agencies agree that the same group was behind the Trishal police van attack and the Bardhaman blast, a top official said yesterday following a meeting with visiting Indian intelligence officials.

The Indian National Investigation Agency (NIA) team and Bangladeshi intelligence and law enforcement agencies shared names, images and other details of militants presumed to be behind the attacks and are now believed to be operating in the two countries.

Queried on reports in several Indian news outlets that militants were planning to kill Prime minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, he said, NIA had differences with what Indian media was reporting.

According to an official, the NIA provided a list of 11 suspects including Yusuf Sheikh, Talha Sheikh, Rezaul Karim, Amjad Ali Sheikh, Abul Kalam, Burhan Sheikh, Habibur Rahman Sheikh, Nasirullah, Johirul Islam

Sheikh, Shahnur and Kawser, which the Agency had during interrogations of suspects believed to be involved with the Bardhaman blast.

The Bangladesh side handed over the details of Sohel Mafuz, believed to be the current chief of the JMB, two JMB fugitives, Mizan and Salehin, the man said to have coordinated the Trishal prison van attack, Anwarul Islam Faruk, and Tarikul Islam.

“In the NIA list they have suspected Salehin, Mizan and Farukh, who we are also looking out for. It is suspected that they were behind the explosion in Bardhaman after fleeing from Bangladesh,” said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) joint commissioner (detective branch) Monirul Islam at a press briefing following the meeting with the NIA team.

Monirul said: “We have given relevant information and pictures of three Jama’at-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) terrorists, who escaped in a jail break, to the NIA team, and had fled to India after their escape.”  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

A child sleeps on a footpath in front of the Secretariat building in the capital with a begging bowl placed by its side yesterday. It is suspected that he was put to sleep with sleeping pills to earn handouts as he remained quite still even hours after the picture was taken MEHEDI HASAN

Police: Shafiul’s killers may have come from outside n Mohammad Jamil Khan,

Bangladesh among countries worst affected by terrorism

Analysing the escape route and learning that the machete used for the murder was not made in Rajshahi, local police have said the killers of Prof Shafiul may have come from a neighbouring district.

Tracking mobile phone records and witnesses statements, police have guessed that the killers might have fled towards the neighbouring district of Chapainawabganj.

An official of the Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that they had also learned that Prof Shafiul had received death threats a few days ago.

He said the Rajshahi University sociology teacher had received a packet

An international ranking of countries worst affected by terrorism during the past year placed Bangladesh in the 23rd slot out of 162 countries, with Iraq ranking first.

Bangladesh sustained 130 terrorist attacks in 2013. These acts of terrorism resulted in eight deaths and 110 injuries, and 52 incidents of property damage during 2013.

The country was in closer proximity to world leaders UK, which came in at 27th place, and the US, which came in at 30th place, than from its own neighbours which fared far worse in the rankings.

The previous year, 2012, saw Bangladesh in the 35th slot with just 17 in-

from Rajshahi

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 6

n

Tribune Report

cidents of terrorism resulting in seven deaths and 31 injuries. In 2011, three people were killed in terrorist attacks in the country, earning it a rank of 31.

The Global Terrorism Index 2014 is compiled by The Institute for Economics and Peace (IEP), a UN– accredited NGO in special consultative status to the United Nations Economic and Social Council, established in Australia with offices in Sydney, New York City, Mexico Distrito Federal and Oxford.

Bangladesh’s near neighbours on the west and the east were very significantly impacted by terrorism in 2014.

Globally, Afghanistan ranked 2nd, Pakistan 3rd and India 6th among nations hardest hit by terrorism.

Its neighbours in the east fared badly this year with the Philippines ranked

Ershad brings back Ranga to JaPa presidium

9th and Thailand 10th, globally, among the worst affected countries.

The top ten list is rounded out by usual suspects Nigeria, under attack from Boko Haram, in fourth, Syria, with IS at its gates, in fifth place, Somalia, under siege from al-Shabab, in seventh place, and Yemen, facing al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, in eighth place.

The significant political dislocation in the aftermath of international conflict contributed to the severity of terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan, with Pakistan affected mostly along the shatter belt of the northern territories and the Khyber range.

India, Thailand and the Philippines sustained significant terror activity emanating from ethno-national separatist  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Jatiya Party Chairman HM Ershad, known for changing his decisions in matters of minutes, yesterday brought back his party’s presidium member Moshiur Rahman Ranga whom he had expelled just a few months ago.

Insiders say Ranga’s return is a proof of Raushan’s mounting supremacy in the party. This idea got reinforced as Ershad did not give any explanation behind his decision to bring him back.

As Ranga, who is closer to Raushan Ershad than the party chief, completes his hat-trick comeback to JaPa, some leaders and activists, mostly close to the chief, have expressed disappointment.

Although HM Ershad is the party chief, his wife and presidium member Raushan is currently the leader of

the opposition in parliament. A few days before the January 5 election, two streams of influence – one loyal to Raushan and the other to Ershad – have surfaced within the JaPa ranks.

Sunil Shuvo Roy, press and political secretary of Ershad, announced Ranga’s return in a press release yesterday.

Sources said since the expulsion, Ershad had been under constant pressure from Raushan and also the government, of which Ranga is a state minister.

Reportedly, Ershad’s decision to bring him back was propelled by a strong recommendation from a government high-up.

On Monday, Ranga held a meeting with Ershad at his residence and discussed the issue of his return, sources said.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Fakhrul: BNP’s movement cannot be stopped with false cases n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla The BNP yesterday warned that its movement to restore democracy in the country could not be stopped with false cases filed against its leaders and activists.

“The Awami League fears Tarique Rahman as he represents the 16 crore people of the country. The government has been filing false cases one after another against him. It will not be possible to stop the movement with these cases or sending BNP leaders and activists to jail,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, said.

Addressing a discussion at the National Press Club to mark the 50th birth anniversary of BNP Senior Vice-Chairman Tarique Rahman, Fakhrul called upon party leaders and activists to make all-out preparations for waging a movement.

The spokesperson of the party alleged that there was no democracy in the country and even people’s right to express themselves was gagged.

Regarding the press briefing by prime minister’s political Adviser HT Imam on Monday, Fakhrul said the conspiracy of the January 5 election

3 foreigners held n Tribune Report Members of Rapid Action Battalion (RAB) yesterday detained three African nationals from the capital’s Moghbazar area on charge of staying illegally in Bangladesh.

The detainees are — Nigerian nationals Zordge Martin, 35, David Kon, 44, and Jabir Khamis of Chand, said RAB 3 Operation Officer Ashrafuzzaman. A team of RAB 3 raided a house in Nayatola area around 4am, and detained the foreign nationals The detainees could not show valid documents, including passports and visas, to stay in the country. l

has been disclosed and no clarification would work now.

“Like HT Imam, Abdul Latif Siddique also unveiled two things – the Awami League does not believe in religion and Sajeeb Wazed Joy takes one crore sixty lakh taka [Tk16 million] per month as salary. Latif Siddique has lost his job. We asked the government to clarify Joy’s salary but the government has not said anything.”

Fakhrul claimed that the BNP had been waging the movement not to assume office but to restore democracy in the country. The BNP leader alleged that the army-backed caretaker government had tortured Tarique and that is why Tarique was now in London for treatment. “A fasicst government is now in power. We have to bring back Tarique Rahman ousting the government. We are waiting for his return.”

Speaking at the event, Jafrullah Chowdhury, founding trusty of Gonosasthy Kendro, criticised the aged leadership in the Chhatra Dal. “Those who are aged 50 want to be leaders of Chhatra Dal. I ask them to leave Chhatra Dal. You go join the BNP and Jubo Dal and do politics. To intensify the movement, Chhatra Dal has to be more active,” he said. l

A bus stops in the middle of Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue near Farmgate to board passengers, disrupting the flow of traffic and creating congestions. The photo was taken yesterday RAJIB DHAR

Ershad brings back Ranga to JaPa presidium  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

On September 10, Ershad expelled Ranga, state minister for local government, and Tajul Islam Chowdhury, opposition chief whip in parliament, from their JaPa presidium posts because they had criticised his leadership.

Ranga and Tajul were also removed from their top positions in the Rangpur district and city corporation units and Kurigram district units of JaPa. Mustafizur Rahman Mostafa, convener of Rangpur city unit JaPa, said: “Mr Ershad has the power and he exercised it.

What else can we say? It [bringing

back Ranga] is frustrating and the people of Rangpur did not take it well. It will simply backfire and affect the party’s activities. The party has been trying to regroup but that process will be hampered now.”

When contacted, Ranga told the Dhaka Tribune, “Mr Ershad is the party chief. He has the authority to both expel and bringing anyone back for the sake of the party. So, he did what he thought was right. I am very grateful to him.

“I met him yesterday [Monday] and talked to him even today. Although I was relieved of party duties, I always

Same group acted in Trishal, Bardhaman  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

He said the officials of the two countries got positive results when they cross-matched the names and images of wanted suspects.

“The NIA team has assured us that Indian law enforcers will help arrest them if they are hiding in India,” Monirul said.

On February 23, JMB operatives mounted an operation to snatch Salahuddin alias Salehin Sani alias Sajeeb, Zahidul Islam alias “Boma” Mizan and Rakib Hasan from police custody in an attack on a prison van in Trishal, Mymensingh when they were being transported out of Kashimpur Jail in Gazipur.

This attack broke three top JMB leaders out of police custody. JMB men killed a police constable in the raid. One of out-

laws, Rakib, was re-arrested and killed in a “gunfight” with police the next day.

The two others, Salehin and Mizan, managed to escape. The Detective Branch (DB) of police recently claimed that an Indian citizen was involved in the jailbreak operation. The Indian national was in charge of arranging to get the prison-break JMB leaders to India.

A DB official told the Dhaka Tribune the Indian national was identified as “Leku,” but said his identity would be verified in further investigations.

Information about the Indian co-conspirator surfaced during invstigations into the role of JMB commander Sheikh Rehmatullah alias Masum alias Sajid in the Bardhaman bomb blast.

West Bengal police have arrested

Sheikh Rahmatullah Sajid, a Bangladeshi national, and a commander of the banned Islamist militant outfit JMB. Monirul yesterday told journalists that after cross matching they are now almost sure Sajid is none other than Narayanganj’s Masum. Masum went to India and is believed to have run militant activities there.

Sajid, son of late Siddique Miyan, is a resident of Lahorbari of Farajikandi in Narayanganj. He was known as Masum alias Masud Rana. In Bangladesh, Sajid was arrested by police in two separate cases filed in two districts – Bogra and Chittagong – under the Explosives Act. Sajid is considered one of the main leaders of the West Bengal Module of the JMB. Several fake identity documents

Police: Shafiul’s

maintained contact with Mr Ershad,” Ranga said.

When asked about might have pursue Ershad to withdraw the expulsion order, Ranga said: “I do not know.”

Party insiders said Tajul would also get back his presidium position as soon as Ershad realised that this was not the right time to mess with Raushan as she was now in real good terms with the government.

When asked if there was any pressure from Rangpur to bring Ranga back, Mostafa, who is loyal to Ershad, said: “Not at all. There might be pressure from Raushan Ershad or the gov-

ernment.” Mostafa apprehended that Ranga might interfere with the Rangpur district committee too. “When he was expelled, he was in charge of the district committee.

“But now that he got back his presidium position, he may corner the pro-Ershad leaders.”

He also alleged that even after being expelled, Ranga, who is a state minister, used local administration and police to occupy the Rangpur office but was later evicted by Ershad’s supporters. “Now the supporters of Ershad might face music and the party might be the eventual loser here.” l

were recovered from his possession.

On Monday, the home ministry formed a high-power committee to liaise with NIA in light of allegations that Bangladeshi nationals were involved in the Bardhaman explosion last month.

Two suspected militants died in a bomb blast on October 2 at a house in Bardhaman town in India’s West Bengal state. The house reportedly had been turned into a factory to make Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) by the JMB. The Indian agency is investigating jihadist networks following the bomb blast.

During interrogation by Indian law enforcers, Sajid said he and his wife, Fatima, had been training people at the Shimulia madrasa, teaching them jihadi doctrine and getting them ready to take part in

terrorist attacks. Sajid also paid Indian Rs8.75 lakh to another accused, Kausar, also a Bangladeshi national, to purchase land for a madrassa in Bardhaman.

Sajid’s close associate and key ‘jihadi motivator’ Zia-ul-Haque and key operative Amjad Sheikh are also in NIA custody.

The NIA team on Tuesday visited police and Rapid Action Battalion headquarters and discussed the blast and rising militancy in the region. Both sides reached an understanding on working together to combat militancy, sources said.

Sources said, Bangladesh has handed over a list of 41 absconding criminals and seven militants believed to be in India, to the NIA team while India handed over the names of 11 militants who they are looking for. l

Bangladesh among countries worst affected by terrorism  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

movements operating in India’s north east, the southern Philippines and the southern Malay-dominated areas of Thailand.

India saw significant politically motivated acts of terror carried out by Maoists, especially in Bihar, Chhatisgarh and Jharkhand.

Islamists carried out attacks in Hyderabad in the south, and Kashmir in the north of India. About a third of acknowledged terrorist attacks in the Philippines was carried out by the New People’s Army, an armed communist insurgency.

Bangladesh risk factors

Terrorism in Bangladesh is by no means a case of a simple upward trend. In the index’s inaugural year, 2002, Bangladesh lost 21 people with 440 injured in just four terrorist attacks. But in 2010, the country lost 10 people in 16 attacks.

How did incidences of terrorism correlate with election years? It is hard to say. Data for 2001 and for the current year was not available. But in 2009, there were six deaths and 45 injuries sustained during 16 acts of terrorism – not a dramatic difference from most other years.

During the emergency years of 2007 and 2008, the number of terrorist incidents and fatalities was quite small.

Seven terrorist attacks left one dead in 2007, while four fatalities were recorded in 14 attacks in 2008.

Bangladesh has been highlighted as country that is not in conflict but at major risk of increased levels of terrorist activity, according to the GTI. The country’s high level of extra-judicial killings, lack of women’s political rights, intergroup cohesion and political stability put it at high risk for increased levels of terrorism in the future.

Significantly, the GTI found that there is no strong statistical link between poverty and terrorism.

But it found that the countries worst affected by terrorism also had high levels of corruption, especially higher levels of bribery than the international average.

Ninety per cent of the countries that suffered major terrorist incidents also had the highest levels of political terror – which includes state-sanctioned killings and politically motivated imprisonment – and political instability.

The report said high levels of disappearances and extra-judicial killings were common in 70% of the countries that were targeted by major terrorist attacks.

Global trends

The onset of terrorist activity usually takes place in the context of an ongoing conflict. Seventy per cent of fatal attacks have taken place in countries already involved in major political, civil, ethnic or international conflicts, according to GTD data on 40,000 terrorist

attacks having one or more fatalities, between 1970 and 2013 and spanning 178 countries.

The number of deaths from terrorism has increased fivefold since the beginning of the millennium. In 2013, 60% of all attacks occurred in the top five countries of the index.

Terrorist attacks in 2013 had an 85% success rate, down from 90% the previous year. Success, in this case, is defined as successful deployment of the attack regardless of actual number of casualties, or tactical and strategic gains.

Worryingly, the number of countries, 24, that had lost 50 or more lives to terrorist attacks achieved an all time high in 2013, since 2000.

For instance, globally, the number of people killed in homicides was 40 times greater than those killed in a terrorist attack.

The number of terrorist acts that kill more than 100 people is quite rare, occurring in just one in 1,000 terrorist incidents.

“Black Swan” attacks, severely devastating or even catastrophic acts of terrorism, account for a disproportionately high proportion of deaths from terrorist attacks. Eighty per cent of all terrorism deaths resulted from just 17 per cent of all attacks. Around half of all terrorist incidents result in no fatalities.

Trade and foreign direct investment (FDI) are negatively affected by terror-

ism, but single, even catastrophic, incidents do not make much of a difference and can even be followed by increased investment.

The 9/11 attacks had little effect on US foreign direct investment but FDI after the Madrid train attacks in 2004 went up in 2005 and again in 2006.

Continuous, long-term terrorist activity raises security premiums, upping the cost of investment and doing business and diverts investment elsewhere at sometimes devastating cost to a country’s economy. This was the case in Greece and Spain in the 1980s and 90s.

The GTI and its methods

The GTI describes itself as a comprehensive study of the direct and indirect impact of terrorism in 162 countries, accounting for 99.6% of the world’s population, in terms of lives lost, injuries, property damage and the psychological after-effects of terrorism.

Since there is no universally agreed upon definition of exactly what constitutes terrorism, the Institute for Economics and Peace has used the terminology and definitions adopted by the Global Terrorism Database (GTD) and the National Consortium for the Study of Terrorism and Responses to Terrorism (START) and its advisory panel.

The GTI defines terrorism as “the threatened or actual use of illegal force and violence by a non-state actor to attain a political, economic, religious, or

social goal through fear, coercion, or intimidation.”

The definition recognises not just the physical act of the attack but the psychological impact it may have on society for a considerable length of time afterwards.

The GTD requires that an incident be an intentional act or threat of violence by a non-state actor to be considered a terrorist act. Also, incidents must meet three further criteria to be counted as a terrorist act. It must be intentional – a conscious calculation on the part of the perpetrator; it must entail some level of violence or the threat of violence against people or property; the perpetrators must be sub-national actors.

Acts of state terrorism are not included in the database.

Moreover, the acts in question must meet requirements to be “goal-oriented,” “coercive,” and “outside the precepts of international humanitarian law.”

Terrorists acts, furthermore, are understood to convey a message of fear to a larger audience, meaning most battlefield activities, even those conducted by sub-national actors, are not counted.

The GTI classifies violent acts as terrorism only when they are outside the context of legitimate wartime activities and therefore beyond the pale of international humanitarian law. Acts of violence against non-combatant civilians by non-state actors are counted. Government acts are not. l

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

containing a note and a white shroud a few days before the murder. Police however was not yet sure who had sent him that packet.

Police yesterday also said they had recovered two syringe needles from the crime scene which they believed might have been used to sedate the professor so that he could not make any noise during the killing.

Unidentified assailants hacked Prof Shafiul Islam Lilon to death on Saturday afternoon in broad daylight near his Chouddopai residence in Rajshahi city.

Soon after the murder, a Facebook community page titled Ansar al Islam Bangladesh – 2 claimed responsibility.

Many among the over 3,000 people that had liked the page of the “cyber jihadists” have shared contents generated by Jamaat-e-Islami and its student wing Chhatra Shibir, whom police are suspecting for the murder.

The Rajshahi area and the University (RU) are both known as Jamaat-Shibir strongholds. Slain RU Prof Shafiul have had several standoffs with the supporters of Jamaat-Shibir in the past.

In 2010, some pro-Jamaat newspapers circulated a news item that he had banned burqa – the Islamic veil – as the then chair of the university’s sociology department. At that time, Shafiul had sent rejoinders to some of those newspapers claiming that he had only expelled one female student from his class because she was cheating using her burqa.

In the rejoinder, paper cuttings of which the Dhaka Tribune reporter had accessed, he also explained that expelling a student wearing burqa from his class did not mean he banned the dress at his department. The Dhaka Tribune has learned that two of Shafiul’s junior colleagues, who were recruited when he was the chair, have been following that practice of not allowing burqa in examination halls in order to curb cheating.

A teacher of the university told this Dhaka Tribune correspondent that the recruitment of these two teachers had also sparked conflict between Shafiul and pro-Jamaat teachers. It was alleged that Shafiul had left out two pro-Jamaat candidates during that recruitment.

“At the moment, we are trying to confirm Jamaat-Shibir men’s involvement with the murder. Secular-minded people have always been the targets of this group,” KM Nahidul Islam, deputy commissioner of RMP, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday. Asked if any militant group could be behind the murder, Nahidul said Jamaat was synonymous to militancy. “Keeping these in mind, we are now analysing the professor’s personal profile and his on-campus activities and affiliations,” he said.

On Monday, Rajshahi police showed 11 people arrested in the murder case filed in connection with the killing. The local chapter of Jamaat has confirmed that all of them were their supporters.

Shafiul, who researching on the sufi Bangla folk tradition Baul that Jamaat does not endorse, is the third teacher of the university killed in more or less the same fashion since 2004. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Progressive RU teachers in attack scare Jamil Khan n Mohammad from Rajshahi Rajshahi University teachers with progressive and secular minds have been passing days in fear of attack since the killing of a colleague, with a few already shifting their living places.

“We do not know who is targeted next and if a teacher like Professor AKM Shafiul Islam Lilon can be killed, then who knows who is the next target,” Md Nazmul Haque, assistant professor of sociology, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Nazmul, who is not only a close colleague of Prof Shafiul but also a direct student of him, used to live with his wife and only son just beside the building where Shafiul lived. In fact, he rented the house with the help of Prof Shafiul.

A group of killers attacked Shafiul just in front of Nazmul’s house last Saturday around 2:30pm. Nazmul, however, refused to share anything else regarding the murder. He only said: “Please, brother, do not ask me anything right now as I am very much scared.”

This correspondent met Nazmul in front of his house yesterday when he was busy shifting to a university teachers’ quarter. He had written to the vice-chancellor for a residence, saying his life was under threat where he was living and needed a secure place.

This correspondent accidentally stepped over the lawn where Shafiul was attacked and where there still was blood. Nazmul shouted, asking not to go over there as “this is the blood of my teacher.”

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Mashiur Rahman, an associate professor at journalism department, also expressed similar fear. “If the authorities

concerned do not take any significant step to ensure punishment to the killers, our existence will be at risk,” he said.

Earlier, two more teachers had died but the trials were yet end. “If this situation continues, the killers will only be encouraged to repeat such acts.”

After three days of Shafiul’s killing law enforcers were yet to arrest any major suspect. The post mortem examination report handed over to the police says Shafiul had died from excessive blood loss.

Prof Dr Zubaedur Rahman, forensics head at Rajshahi Medical College, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the killers had hit Shafiul’s head with something heavy and the head bore seven injury marks. No poison or other things were found on the body, he added.

Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Motihar police station, said they were investigating the murder, considering it a very sensitive one, and hoped to unearth clues shortly.

Meanwhile, no classes and exams were held at Rajshahi University yesterday like the previous two days.

Teachers, students and staffs formed a human chain in front of the sociology department. They later silently marched for around an hour, parading the roads of the campus. Addressing a rally, speakers demanded immediate arrest of the killers of Shafiul and punishment.

A tense situation was prevailing on the campus centring the death of Prof Shafiul. The tea stalls on the campus, which are usually crowded with students and even teachers until midnight, were found empty just after sunset.

Additional police forces were deployed at different points of the campus. l

Hawkers have illegally erected a makeshift toilet for their use inside the historically significant Suhrawardy Udyan of the capital

MEHEDI HASAN

Lawmakers criticise ministers for absence from JS session n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Three lawmakers yesterday came down hard on some senior ministers for being absent from the ongoing parliament session.

Jatiya Party lawmaker Fakhrul Imam at first pointed the matter out and then former minister Abul Kalam Azad and independent lawmaker Hazi Mohammad Selim followed him.

Sources said Industries Minister Amir Hossain Amu, Health Minister

Mohammad Nasim, and State Minister for Home Affairs Asaduzzaman Khan Kamal were absent from the Jatiyo Sangsad session while public notices concerned their ministries were read out.

“The ministers are absent while the state ministers are present. I want to draw their attention to my notice,” Imam told the parliament.

According to the Rules of Procedure, the lawmakers read out notices on important public issues and the ministers

concerned are obliged to make statements in this regard in response to the issues raised by the MPs. “We read out important notices there, but the ministers have remained absent. One minister is present although he is newly married,” Hazi Selim said.

Promptly after the remarks, Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah, who chaired the session, to warned him of making such “provocative and unparliamentary language” remarks which hurled

at newly-married Railways Minister Mazibul Haque.

Later, the deputy speaker ordered to expunge the statement of Hazi Selim from the proceeding.

On the other hand while reading out a notice on food security, former minister Abul Kalam Azad criticised home, health, and industries ministries for the absence.

He demanded a special committee to look into the food security issues as the ministers were absent. l

ACC summons WDB DG over fake freedom fighter certificate n Adil Sakhawat

After losing properties in river bank erosion, this destitute family of Abdul Huq was further victimised by land grabbers in Savar area.

Yesterday they try to grab attention of the prime minister by standing in front of the National Press Club MEHEDI HASAN

Watchdog threatens BCIC chairman with suspension

Human rights seminar ends with Dhaka declaration

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

n Tribune Report

A parliamentary watchdog yesterday threatened Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) Chairman Tapan Kumar Datta with suspension for alleged corruptions and irregularities in the appointments against different posts at the state-owned body.

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on Industry Ministry made the threat at a meeting. A sub-committee was formed to investigate into the BCIC malpractices over the appointments.

Chairman of the standing committee Omar Faruk Chowdhury placed the BCIC corruption issue at the meeting, with Industries Minister Amir Hossein Amu in the chair.

After the meeting, he told reporters that the three-member subcommittee would be headed by former food minister Abdur Razzak. Two other members were hsanul Haq Chowdhury and Fahtema Tuzzohura.

“We found that BCIC had uploaded three different results on its website at different times, which was done with an ill-motive,” he said, adding that each results sheet was signed by the BCIC chairman himself. l

The two-day regional seminar titled “Towards a South Asian Human Rights Mechanism: Prospects and Challenges” ended yesterday at Dhaka University’s Nabab Nawab Ali Chowdhury Senate Bhaban.

The seminar, organised by the National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) in Bangladesh, ended with the Dhaka declaration – an agreement among the Saarc countries to establish a human rights protection mechanism in the South Asian region.

At the closing ceremony, chief guest Justice ABM Khairul Haque, Law Commission chairman said: “We must keep in our heart the message of human rights, and we must feel it by heart to become a human being. Therefore, we must work together, otherwise no declaration will ensure the rights of people.”

He concluded saying: “If people in the Saarc countries know each other and respect each other, I believe no battle or war will take place in the future.”

Representatives of participating countries expressed solidarity to work together against all challenges and obstacles for human rights promotion in

the South Asian region, The delegates agreed on eight points in the Dhaka declaration, resolving to amplify efforts made by civil society in developing discussions relating to the need for a South Asian human rights mechanism.

The declaration, read by full-time NHRC member Kazi Reazul Hoque, included supporting and providing constructive inputs to other national human rights (NHR) institutions towards better protecting human rights at the domestic level. The declaration strongly urged each Saarc member states without its own NHR institution to establish one in accordance with Paris Principles, and strengthen the existing institutions.

The participants also agreed to protect children’s rights, focusing on restraining child marriage.

Among the speakers, India’s NHRC Chairperson Shri KG Balakrishnan, Maldives’ Human Rights Commission President Marayam Azra Ahmed, Nepal’s NHRC Commissioner Mohona Ansari, Sri-Lanka’s NHRC Secretary Samanthi, and Afganistan’s IHRC Commissioner Ahmad Zia Langari also spoke, while NHRC Chairman Dr Mizanur Rahman made the concluding speech. l

Anti-Corruption Commission issued a notice to Bangladesh Water Development Board Director General Md Shahidur Rahman yesterday for his alleged involvement in freedom fighter certificate forgery.

ACC Assistant Director Selina Akhter issued the notice to the DG, asking him to be present at the ACC headquarters on November 20 at 10am, said a source in the ACC. The job tenure of Shahidur expired in December 2013 but he allegedly extended his retirement age posing himself as a freedom fighter. He submitted a forged freedom fighter certificate and was accordingly promoted to the post of DG of the WDB on February 19 this year.

On April 25, 2010, the WDB sent a list of 160 freedom fighters to the Ministry of Liberation War Affairs, asking it to verify if their certificates were real.

The ministry in reply sent approval for 32 freedom fighters. The remaining

128 included the name of the incumbent DG. Shahidur in his documents said he had taken part in the Liberation War in Sector 2 led by commander Major Haider. But the ministry did not find any proof of his involvement in the Liberation War. DG Shahidur Rahman joined the WDB as an assistant engineer in 1977.

The ACC is now also scrutinising if he has any illegal assets.

Meanwhile, the anti-graft body launched inquiry against two more high officials of the government – Main Uddin Khandakar, member of the Public Service Commission and a former additional secretary of the home and public administration ministries, and Sheikh Hemayet Hossain Miah, chief additional inspector general of Armed Police Battalion – to look into forgery allegations of their freedom fighter certificates.

Main Uddin also allegedly extended his job tenure in 2010 by showing him-

UNFPA: Bangladesh must reap demographic dividend n

Tribune Report

Young people matter, policy makers are advised to note, since a third of Bangladeshis are between 10 and 24 years old. Reaping the benefits of this large demographic dividend requires timely investment in human capital.

The United Nations Population Fund unveiled the 2014 State of the Word Population (SWOP) report at the National Press Club in the capital yesterday.

Titled “The Power of 1.8 Billion: Adolescents, Youth and the Transformation of the Future,” it emphasised that investments in the ability of young people to realise their own potential now will enable society to pay its way as the population begins to age in coming decades.

The country’s current demographic configuration offers tremendous opportunity for change. The sheer numbers of younger people, if their creative, productive, and consumer power is harnessed, could drive tremendous change and growth.

But the window of opportunity is

not to be missed: it is projected that just 10-19 per cent of the country’s population will be made up of young people in 2050.

The country must invest now in human capital, the UNFPA report stressed.

At the top of the list of sectors requiring serious attention is sexual and reproductive health, in order to bring down high current rates of maternal mortality and morbidity.

Health services must gear up to becoming more adolescent friendly – in order to give young people accurate and affordable information without being judgemental, the report said.

In addition to preventing adolescent pregnancies, health services must be able to cater to the special needs of adolescent mothers.

As the UN’s My World poll showed, the top three priorities for youth, globally, were better education, an honest and responsive government, and better healthcare. Accessing the tremendous potential of Bangladesh’s emergent demographic dividend requires investment in education and healthcare. l

self as a freedom fighter. He was made the PSC member in April 2014 when he was on post retirement leave.

Hemayet Hossain, who was only 10 years old in 1971 according to his date of birth of 1960, also allegedly expanded his job tenure submitting forged freedom fighter certificate.

The commission on October 23 launched an inquiry against Hemayet over the allegation of obtaining freedom fighter certificate through forgery.

Hemayet was asked to submit documents, including dossier, personal data sheet, and freedom fighter certificate,

by November 16.

But the commission has yet to receive any kind of document from him.

However, the police official told this reporter that he had not received any notice from the ACC through the police headquarters.

A source said the commission had already found proofs of the involvement of the two government officials in the certificate forgery. l

HC frowns at 7-murder case delay

n Tribune Report

The High Court expressed its dissatisfaction over slow progress in the investigation into the abduction and killing of seven people in Narayanganj.

The HC observation came after three separate progress reports of police, RAB and a high-powered probe body were submitted before it yesterday.

Additional Attorney General Mumtaz Uddin Fakir submitted the three separate progress reports.

THe HC bench comprised of Md Rezaul Haque and Justice Gobinda Chandra Tagore fixed December 10 for passing order and expressed its disappointment after RAB and the government-formed committee sought more time to submit the complete investigation report on the murders.

Citing from RAB’s report Momtaj Uddin Fakir said: “RAB recorded statements of 87 people including police officials. Now they are cross-examining them and it will take one more week to prepare the full report.

About the report prepared by the high-powered probe body led by public administration ministry Mumtaz Uddin Fakir said: “The probe body needs four more weeks to prepare the full report.”l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

‘Bangladesh a big market for power plant equipment’ n Aminur Rahman Rasel Wartsila Corporation, a sustainable power solution company based in Finland, sees Bangladesh as a big market for power plant equipment and says it will offer technology at affordable cost with high-efficient engines to overcome power crisis.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Bjorn Rosengren, president and chief executive officer of Wartsila, said they were optimistic about Bangladesh being an expanding business sector for them in the future.

“Our aim is to be a globally recognised leader in liquid fuel and gas power plants. We will promote the smart power generation concept to the increasingly dynamic and environmentally conscious global energy market to enable more sustainable, affordable and reliable power systems,” he said during his first-ever visit to Bangladesh.

“We know that without power, emerging countries like Bangladesh will not be able to achieve its desired growth. Bangladesh plans to double its electricity generation capacity in the

next 15 years,” he said.

“Bangladesh has become an important part of us. They have the patience to continue the growth. We hope that they have chances to grow,” he added.

Wartsila’s Executive Vice-President and Chief Financial Officer Marco Wiren, President of Power Plants and Executive Vice-President Rakesh Sarin, and Global Communicator Khan Imran Hossain also accompanied Rosengren on his two-day visit, which started Monday.

The delegates also attended a meeting with key customers and stakeholders in the country’s energy sectors during the visit.

“Wartsila is a global leader in complete life cycle power solutions for the marine and energy markets. Globally, we have installed around 55,000MW power generation capacity at 200 locations in 70 countries,” the Wartsila CEO said.

“Wartsila has about 135 employees in Bangladesh, who are not only highly qualified and trained, but also have the highest sense of dedication to provide life cycle support to our customers.

“We have a significant stake in the power plant sector of Bangladesh. In

Bangladesh, we installed plants with 2,200MW capacity, and several other plants with 500MW power generation capacity will be installed by the company in the coming days. Approximately 20% of the national grid’s power is being supplied from Wartsila plants.

At present, we have 5% business here, out of a total of 4.8 billion euros in 70 countries across the globe,” Rosengren told the Dhaka Tribune.

“Wartsila started its activities in Bangladesh in the early 90s. As its business grew, Wartsila formed a locally incorporated company named Wartsila Bangladesh Limited in 1998 to ensure necessary services to its customers in the country,” said Jillur Rahim, managing director of Wartsila Bangladesh.

Wartsila’s two workshops in Chittagong and Gazipur offer various specialised services to customers, he added.

During the visit, Wartsila also signed a deal with Bangladesh’s Summit Group to supply main equipment in Summit’s two power plants under construction in Narayanganj and Barisal. The plants are expected to generate 180MW of power. l

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Foreign Ministry proposes raising outfit allowance of mission staff n Asif Showkat Kallol The Foreign Ministry is looking to raise outfit allowance for officials at Bangladeshi embassies abroad by up to eight times, say Finance Division officials.

The ministry had last revised this allowance 15 years ago.

M Allama Siddique, a director general of the Foreign Ministry, sent the proposal to Senior Finance Secretary Mahbub Ahmed last week.

The finance division official said the expenditure control wing was examining the proposal. When asked about the high increase, Foreign Secretary Md Shahidul Haque said the proposed outfit allowance was not at all high considering inflation and devaluation of the taka over the last 15 years.

According to the proposal, the Foreign Ministry wishes to raise outfit allowance under foreign service rules so that first time ambassadors would receive about $750 instead of just $100.

The outfit allowance applies when staff and officials are posted to a Bangladeshi mission abroad for the first time.

Salaries and allowances of government employees had been raised in 2005 and 2009 but that had no effect on the outfit allowance of officials in foreign missions.

The foreign ministry proposal seeks to raise an ambassador’s outfit allowance to Tk60,000 from the current Tk8,000, which is about $100.

According to the proposal, a firsttime ambassador will receive Tk60,000, married embassy official Tk80,000, unmarried official Tk45,000, married staff member Tk35,000 and unmarried staff member Tk25,000. Besides, special allowance will be given to staff and officials of Bangladeshi missions in Moscow, Ottowa, Beijing and Stockholm.

The first appointment of a married chauffeur and non-clerical staff members in foreign missions will fetch them Tk20,000 while unmarried chauffeurs and non clerical staff members would receive Tk12,000. The current allowances are Tk10,000 for married official, Tk4,800 for unmarried official, Tk4,000 for married staff members, and Tk2,000 for unmarried staff members. l

Two held over old woman’s murder in Barisal n Our Correspondent, Barisal Police yesterday arrested two people, including a local Jubo League leader, on charge of their involvement in the murder of a sexagenarian woman in Barisal.

The arrested are Jahidul Islam Hawladar Babu alias ‘Handle-Babu’, 26, joint secretary of Barisal City Corporation’s Ward No 25 unit of Jubo League, youth wing of ruling Awami League, and Joynul Abedin Rubel, 30, younger brother of Enamul Huq Bahar, secretary of Ward No 23 unit of Awami League.

On November 10, police recovered the body of Mamtaj Begum, 65, wife of Abdul Karim Haoladar, from her room at Mamtaj Villa on Sagordi Karikar Biri Branch Road under Ward No 25 in Barisal City Corporation.

There were several stab marks in her body, mostly on face and head. A sharp weapon was also seized from the spot.

On November 13, police arrested one Babul Haoladar,35, a neighbor of Mamtaj, in this connection.

On the basis of information provided by Babul, police conducted drives at different places to arrest the duo yesterday, said Sub Inspector Abdur Rahman Mukul who is the investigation officer of the case.

Remands would be sought after producing the duo before the court, said Golam Rouf Khan, deputy commissioner of Barisal Metropolitan Police.

November 11, Alamgir Shikdar, elder bother of the victim, lodged a murder case with Kotwali Police Station without mentioning anybody’s name. l

StanChart gives scholarships to 60 DU students n Tribune Report The Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh has recently awarded the “Governor Scholarship” to 60 students of Dhaka University (DU).

Of the award wining students, 50 are from economics department and 10 are from development studies department, said a press release.

On the occasion, a programme was organised at the university’s Professor Muzaffar Ahmed Chowdhury auditorium at social sciences faculty building.

Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Shitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury attended the programme as the chief guest.

DU Economics Department Chairman Prof Mohammad Ali Taslim, Social Science Faculty Dean Prof Farid Uddin and Standard Chartered Bank Head of Legal and Compliance Sarwar Chowdhury were also present there.

Earlier in 2009, the Standard Chartered Bank signed agreements with the two departments and the Dhaka University Economics Department Alumni Association to provide financial supports to meritorious students of the university.

This scholarship was named ‘Governor Scholarship’ to recognize the contribution of the governor of Bangladesh central bank in the country’s economic development.

Standard Chartered PLC is listed on the London and Hong Kong Stock Exchanges as well as the Bombay and National Stock Exchanges in India. l

HC: No sand extraction from Kirtonkhola river for 6-month n Tribune Report The High Court yesterday asked the government to immediately stop the desperate sand extraction from the Kirtonkhola river of Barisal for six months.

In this regard, the court issued a rule upon 12 government officials, including Barisal DC, officials of BIWTA and the DoE concerned, secretaries of land, water resources and environment ministries, asking them to explain why it should not be directed to protect the river from the encroachment and riverbank erosion.

A bench of Justice Moyeenul Islam Chowdhury and Justice Md Ashraful Kamal issued the order and the rule following a writ petition filed by Bangladesh Environmental Lawyers Association (BELA).

In the rule, the court also asked the government to explain as to why the sand dunes on the river banks near the Shahid Abdur Rob Serniabad Bridge, known as Dapdapia bridge, should not be declared illegal.

In the petition, Bela said: “A privately-owned company named Hasan Hossain Enterprise has been extracting sand illegally from Kirtonkhola river for long, causing serious riverbank erosion and hampering free water flow of the river.”

On behalf of BELA advocate Iqbal Kabir Liton moved for the petition while Deputy Attorney General advocate Motahar Hossain Saju stood for the government. l

Brac University convocation tomorrow n Tribune Report

Different organisations gathered in front of the Dhaka City Corporation building with ‘bodna’ (a spouted vessel used for cleansing process in Bangladeshi toilets) yesterday in demand of adequate number of public toilets in the city SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

BNP: Liberation War a commodity to government n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Jatiyatabadi Muktijoddha Dal, a front organisation of BNP, yesterday alleged that the government was preparing a fresh list of freedom fighters.

The organisation termed the government move to prepare a fresh list “illegal” alleging that the government was using the Liberation War as a commodity.

“The government is using the Independence War to achieve its political gains. In 1971 the number of freedom fighters was around 1,00000 but now it has stood at 3,00000,” Hafizuddin Ahmed, vice-chairman of the BNP, said.

Addressing a press conference at the National Press Club, the freedom fighter said none had the right

to play with freedom fighters.

It is pathetic that freedom fighters are to take certificates signed

by Sheikh Hasina. The commander-in-chief of the Liberation War is now dead but the deputy chief of commander AK Khandaker is still alive. He can issue the certificates, he said. “It is not acceptable when a political party chief issues freedom fighters certificate.”

The former minister alleged that over 150 government senior officials had the privilege of unjustly labelling them as freedom fighters.

“Five secretaries obtained freedom fighters certificates by furnishing fake information courting controversy amongst true freedom fighters but the government has remained silent.”

Alleging that the government is

making a mockery of the freedom fighters Hafiz called upon the freedom fighters to wage a movement against it.

When asked about whether the freedom fighters list was correct prepared during the BNP-led four-party alliance government, he said: “There were no fake freedom fighters on that list.”

Mukktijoddha Dal President Ishtiak Aziz was present in the press conference while Joint Secretary General of the party Sadek Khan read out the written statement.

“The government is playing a dreadful game by incorporating government-loyal officials and Awami refugees in the new list of freedom fighters excluding the freedom fighters who fought in the battlefield,”Sadeq Khan said. l

Purdue University professor meets DIU students

n Tribune Report

Brian R Mylrea, director of International Education at Indiana University and Purdue University in USA, addresses students at DIU yesterday

Brian R Mylrea, director of International Education at Indiana University and Purdue University in USA, shared his experience of global education with the students of Daffodil International University (DIU) at session yesterday.

Presided over by Prof S M Mahbub Ul Haque Majumder, acting vice-chancellor of DIU, the function was addressed

by Prof Md Fokhray Hossain, director of DIU International Affairs among others.

Brian discussed the global education scenario and highlighted different agreements, student exchange programmes, research collaboration and partnerships among universities. He expressed willingness to sign a Memorandum of Understanding with DIU. l

Ninth convocation of Brac University will take place tomorrow at 2pm at the Army Stadium in the capital.

President Abdul Hamid, also the chancellor of Brac University, will preside over the convocation ceremony where Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid will be present as the special guest.

Chairperson of the Brac University Board of Trustees Fazle Hasan Abed and Vice-Chancellor of the university Professor Syed Saad Andaleeb will be present at the event. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

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Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Adequate safety measures taken to protect Bangladeshi peacekeepers from Ebola

CUTA demands arrest of RU Prof Shafiul’s killers n CU Correspondent

Over 500 Bangladeshis are posted in the high risk zone for Ebola point of entry, be it Liberia, or Dhaka. n Tribune Report Rabiul was part of a five-member dele-

Chittagong University Teachers’ Association (CUTA) yesterday formed a human chain held on the campus demanding the immediate arrest and exemplary punishment of the killers of Rajshahi University (RU) Sociology Professor AKM Safiul Alam.

Around 150 teachers wearing black badges took part in the programme held on the university’s Shaheed Minar premises around 11:30am, where CU Vice-Chancellor Professor Anwarul Azim Arif and Pro VC Prof Dr Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury were present. Afterwards, they brought out a silent procession on the campus protesting the heinous crime.

The VC said anti-liberation forces repeatedly carried out brutal attacks on the progressive teachers to create an intellectual vacuum in the country, a situation similar to 1971.

The Pro VC said three teachers of RU had been killed in last the ten years and the murder trend has been still going on because exemplary punishment to the killers was not ensured earlier. Other speakers too demanded the quick arrest of the culprits who killed Prof Safiul Alam, and bring them to book. l

Preventive measures, such as training in protection procedures, protection related clothes and equipment given to Bangladeshis working for the UN Peace-keeping missions have kept them at bay from Ebola, said Major General Rabiul Hossain at a press briefing yesterday.

Rabiul, a consultant physician general for the army, made the statement while presenting a key note address for the Inter Service Public Relations Directorate at the IFMI auditorium, Dhaka.

The briefing announced that Bangladeshi soldiers posted across Africa have been trained in procedures that should protect them against the virus; they have been given protection related clothes and equipments as well.

The personnel are performing their roles well, and are not afraid of Ebola.

They travel back and forth between Bangladesh and their stations as scheduled without any difficulties, but are checked and cross checked at every

gation of medical specialists that recently returned from Liberia after inspecting the health situation of the Bangladeshi personnel posted to UN missions.

During the visit the team spoke to high officials of the UN on the Ebola issue, were assured that the UN is vigilant about the risks. All medical facilities required to tackle Ebola are set up within a few kilometers from Bangladesh’s UN base.

The delegation visited Liberia only as over 500 Bangladeshi’s are posted in the high risk zone for Ebola. There have been almost 6900 confirmed cases of the virus in Liberia; almost half of the infected have died.

However, the general said that since no Bangladeshi has been affected so far, the morale of the soldiers posted Africa, in countries like Congo, Ivory Coast, and Mali, is not low. The defense forces are keeping constant tabs on the situation, and there should not be any need to panic. l

Policeman hurt in transport workers’ attack n CU Correspondent

BAU students boycott classes, exams Domestic help decamps with valuables after making protesting outsiders’ showdown employers unconscious

A police constable was injured in an attack by transport workers in Chittagong city’s Purba Madarbari area yesterday, and vandalised a police vehicle.

The victim, Md Sohag, was admitted to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH), said Sadarghat Police Station Sub-Inspector Bikash Chandra Chowdhury.

Police arrested two workers, including a truck driver, on charge of their involvement in the attack, he said.

The transport workers attacked the constable and vandalised a vehicle when he tried to remove a truck from the road.

Earlier, the workers parked their trucks on the road in front of the Shuvopur Bus Station in the Madarbari area, that created a huge gridlock. l

Robbers gun down youth n Tribune Report

n BAU Correspondent

Boycotting all classes and examinations, students of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) staged a demonstration yesterday demanding the immediate arrest and punishment of outsiders who allegedly staged a showdown on the campus on Monday evening.

Campus sources said some activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) Mymensingh district unit led by its president Md Jasim Uddin with around 20-25 motorbikes staged showdown on the campus on Monday around 6pm. They also exploded two crude bombs and fired two rounds of bullets in front of the Shaheed Nazmul Ahsan Hall.

Protesting the incident, students staged a ‘sit-in’ in front of ViceChancellor Prof Dr Md Rafiqul Hoque’s residence, around 9:30pm. The agitated students declared a boycott all classes and examinations until arrest

Major General Rabiul Hossain speaking at a press brief on Ebola preventive measures for Bangladesh’s UN-peacekeepers, held at the AFMI Auditorium of the Dhaka Cantonment yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

of the miscreants.

They later withdrew their sit-in as the university administration assured them of the arrest the culprits within 24 hours, the sources further said.

Meanwhile, boycotting classes some 1,500 students under the banner ‘Sharbostarer Chhatra Janata’ formed a human chain.

Different political students’ organisations, including BCL, Samajtantrik Chhatra Front and Chhatra Union unit of the BAU expressed their solidarity with their demand.

They also demanded foolproof security for students, teachers and staff of the university.

The aggravated students blamed the university authority’s negligence for the frequent attacks and armed showdown by outsiders, sources said.

They vowed to continue the agitation until the hoodlums are brought to book.

The BCL Mymensingh district unit President Md Jasim Uddin refuted

the allegation and said: “I did not go through university’s hall road yesterday.”

He also claimed that when some of my men went through the dormitory road to attend a programme near university area, some BCL followers of the university unit tried to attack them by blasting hand-made bombs and firing bullets.

But BAU unit BCL President Md Mursheduzzaman Khan Babu blamed the district unit BCL for recent unrest on the campus.

“The BCL district unit is trying to establish supremacy and create an anarchy on the campus by hampering the security of the common students,” he said.

BAU Proctor Prof Dr Md Harun-ur Rashid said, “We have already discussed the overall security on the campus with the district administration.”

Additional police personnel were deployed at different points on the campus, the BAU proctor added. l

n Tribune Report A domestic help has allegedly decamped with valuables from her employer’s house having made the family members unconscious by mixing sleep-inducing pills in their dinner in the capital’s Chowkbazar area yesterday.

Family members said their domestic help Shopna, who was employed three days ago, had fled the house with two gold chains, two gold bangles and two mobilephone sets on Monday night.

The domestic help had served their dinner that night and might have mingled some sleep-inducing pills into the curry, family members said.

After dinner, the family members Anowara, 50, Reshma Akhter, 30, Yasin, 12, Hamim, 9, Salma, 10, Shahanara, 35, Faysal, 42 and their two guards Abdul Hannan, 50 and Abdul Halim, 55 went into deep sleep.

Reshma’s elder son Hoshem Uddin Tashi said: “They went to bed after din-

Aggrieved Sylhet BNP leaders demand cancellation of new committee

Robbers reportedly shot dead a young man in his house in Purba Binajuri area of Raozan upazila here yesterday.

The deceased, Suman Dash, 30, son of Junu Chowdhury, was a barber by profession, police sources said.

Raozan police station SI Khalilur Rahman said a gang of robbers burst into Suman’s house in the middle of the night and shot him as he starting shouting for help, leaving him dead.

Police rushed to the spot and sent the body to Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) morgue for an autopsy. l

n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:11PM SUN RISES 6:17AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 30 30 28 29 30 29 30 30

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

19 20 14 16 14 16 16 21

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

31.4ºC Sylhet

14.5ºC Srimongal

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

ner but, none of them woke up in the morning.”

The main gate of the house on Joinal Road was found opened in the morning and Shopna was nowhere in the house, he said.

The unconscious victims were admitted to the Dhaka Medical College and Hospital around 9:30am yesterday.

Similar incidents had taken place in many houses in the capital even earlier.

Around 10 gangs of robbers engaged in looting valuables in the guise of domestic aides are active in Dhaka city, police said.

RM Faizur Rahman, senior assistant commissioner (Lalbagh zone) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), said despite several initiatives to raise awareness requesting the city’s house owners to collect a photo and detailed information of their domestic helps and guards, the employers had not collected anything.

“We we trying to locate the domestic help,” he said. l

Graduates cheerfully pose for a group photo during the fourth convocation ceremony of Rajshahi University of Science and Technology yesterday

AZAHAR UDDIN

President for bringing killers of RU teacher to book n Tribune Report President Abdul Hamid asked authorities concerned to take prompt steps to arrest killers of Rajshahi University (RU) Professor AKM Shafiul Islam and ensure exemplary punishment.

“It is unexpected that a scholar like Prof Islam was killed by miscreants and I am shocked with the nation at an incident,” he said addressing the 4th convocation of Rajshahi University of Engineering and Technology (Ruet) yesterday.

Congratulating the new graduates,

he said these graduates should dedicate themselves to nation building activities.

He stressed the need for combining joy with education and said affection for people, humanity, culture, tradition, knowledge and technology-based techniques must be infused in education.

The objective of higher education is to disseminate and innovate new knowledge apart from building skilled manpower, the president said “Country’s universities have to play role in creative activities, practicing free-thinking and flourishing the free-

dom of thinking so that students can develop themselves with non-communal spirit and leadership quality”.

The president laid special emphasis on research and said there is inextricable link between education and research because new knowledge is created through research which plays important role in fulfilling the existing demands of the society.

“University teachers have to engage themselves in research,” he added.

Terming the present times as the age of information technology, the president said that there is no alternative

but to develop efficient engineers to face the challenges.

Bangladesh has huge human resources, he said and hoped that they would contribute to the national development once they are able to enrich themselves with knowledge on information technology, reports BSS. Noted educationist Dr Jamilur Reza Chowdhury delivered the convocation speech while Ruet Vice-Chancellor Dr Rafiqul Alam Beg gave the welcome speech.

A total of 2513 graduates were conferred degrees at the convocation. l

Aggrieved leaders demanded immediate cancellation of the newly formed convening committee of BNP Sylhet City unit, and declared a demonstration and other programmes to support the cancellation.

Abdul Kayum Jalali Ponki, immediate past general secretary of BNP Sylhet city unit made the announcement at a press conference in a city hotel yesterday.

The programmes include exchange of views with elected representatives and grass roots level leaders and activists, rallies at different city points and processions.

BNP leader and newly formed convening committee member Ponki read a written statement at the press conference. He termed newly formed committee a pocket committee and demanded its immediate cancellation.

“Dedicated leaders were not selected to posts in the committee and party’s central Vice President Shamser Mobin Chowdhury is responsible for it,” he said.

He requested party’s Chairperson Begum Khaleda Zia and Senior Vice Chairman Tareq Rahman to look into the matter and remove Shamser Mobin from being in charge of the Sylhet BNP’s unit.

BNP leader Professor Moksud Ali, Saleh Ahmed Kosru, Tareq Chowdhury, Abdul Wasah Chowdhury Juber, City Councillor Forhad Chowdhury Shamim among others attended the press conference.

On November 8, the BNP central committee announced a convening committee consisting of 33 members for the city unit. Dr Shahriar Hossain Chowdhury and Badruzzam Selim were made convenor and member secretary respectively. Soon after announcement of the new committee aggrieved BNP leaders brought out a procession in the city carrying brooms. l

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Nation

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Juba Dal leader grabs Hindu’s land

The Jubo Dal leader claims that he had bought the land from two expatriates in favour of Bappi. n Our Correspondent, Narsingdi verdict “Despite the court’s verdict handed A Juba Dal leader has forcibly occupied a piece of land of a Hindu family in Satirpara area under Narsingdi district.

Locals said on 15 October, 2010, Bappi Kumar Saha of Purba Brahmandi area bought 1.63 decimal land from Sawpan Malik and Joy Malik with Tk15 lakh.

After selling the land Sawpan and Joy went America.

Nazrul Islam, district unit Join Convenor Juba Dal used to live in the house as tenant and ran his aluminum business from there.

After few days, Nazrul claimed that he had bought the land from Sawpan and Joy. He forced Bappi to leave the house and filed a case against him mentioning that he had been living in the house illegally.

Bappi also filed a case against Nazrul for occupying the land by making fake documents.

Bappi had shown necessary documents in support of his ownership, but Nazrul could not produce any.

After examining the documents and witnesses, the court handed down the

down in favour of me, I cannot stay in my house as Nazrul has created a panic-stricken situation in the area and his people threaten to kill me.” said Bappi.

He said: “Local arbitrators arranged arbitration over the issue but Nazrul did not attend the meeting.”

Azizur Rahman, 2 No-Councilor of Narsingdi Municipality said:“ The local elites several times called Nazrul to meet up the issue but he did not give any heed.”

Sadar upazila chairman, also BNP vice president Monjur Elahi said that the issue could not be solved as the Nazrul did not response the call of arbitration.

KM Abul Kashem, officer-in-charge of Sadar model police station said no body lodged any complain in this regard.

The OC then said they would take legal actions in this regard after lodging case.

When contacted, Nazrul did not comment over the issue.

Mohsin Hossen, Juba Dal convenor of the district said they would take action against the Nazrul, if found guilty. l

3 teens jailed in India back home

Orange growers demand government support for further expansion of cultivation

n Our Correspondent, Jessore Three Bangladeshi teenagers returned home through Putkhali border yesterday after serving one year in an Indian jail.

Indian Border Security Force handed them over to Border Guard Bangladesh.

Subedar Shamsur Rahman of Putkhali camp of BGB 23 said, a team of Indian police had arrested the trio from Kolkata, hailed from Barisal. They were doing job there illegally.

Later, they were sent to Kolkata central jail where they were awarded one year jail term.

Later, the BGB handed over the trio to Benapole port police. l

NEWS IN BRIEF Fish trader hacked to death A fish trader was hacked to death at Jhaudia village in Sadar upazila yesterday. The deceased was identified as Shahidul Islam, 45, of the village. Sub-inspector Shahinur Rahman of Kotwali police station said, locals found the body in the morning and informed police. The police recovered the body and sent it to hospital morgue. Quoting the victim’s brother Ejaj, police said, Shahidul had an altercation with his rival Sabuj group few days before. He might have been killed as a sequel to the rivalry, he added.

– Our Correspondent, Jessore

Youths rescued from rail tracks dies in hospital

An unidentified youth who was rescued from the rail tracks near Baligaon area of the district’s Kaliganj upazila on Monday afternoon, died in a hospital yesterday morning.

Sub-Inspector Mohammed Shafikul Islam of Kaliganj police station said locals had found the youth injured, lying beside the rail tracks near the Dhaka-Chittagong highway on Monday around 3pm. He said: “The youth was later taken to Kaliganj Upazila Health Complex but he succumbed to his injuries around 6am today [yesterday]. The SI said the youth was wearing a gray coloured t-shirt and a lungi (sarong). “It is suspected that he might have fallen from the rooftop of a train or muggers injured him and left him near the rail tracks,” the SI added.

However, the emergency doctor of Kaliganj Upazila Health Complex, Jesmine Rahman, said there were no injury marks on the youths body but his nose was bleeding.

– Our Correspondent, Gazipur

n Our Correspondent, Panchagarh

Commercial cultivation of orange is gaining popularity in various upazilas of the district due to bumper production in recent years.

The Department of Agricultural Extension (DAE) said, the soil, topography and annual rainfalls of 2,500mm to 3,000mm, acidic PH contents of 4.5 to 5 points in the district are favourable for commercial cultivation of the popular fruit.

Orange farming has flourished since its commercial production began under a five-year (2007-2011) Orange Development Project (ODP) of the DAE. During that time farmers were provid-

As harvest of Aman paddy ended recently, farmers are now passing busy days to prepare land for cultivating winter crops. The picture taken yesterday from Daudkandi village of Poba upazila in Rajshahi shows that a farmer takes rest on a tractor as he had to work hard in the day AZAHAR UDDIN

ed with necessary support including quality sapling.

However, farmers had been facing some problems in setting up of new orchards and gardens since the project expired in June 2011.

Shahiruddin Ahmed, Deputy Director of Panchagarh said, orange had the potential to become a cash crop for farmers in these districts. “A large number of farmers have begun orange production this year improving their livelihood to a great extent.”

“After the end of the project, we cannot do more than just giving advice to the orange growers’, he said.

The country is spending a good amount of foreign currency every

year for importing oranges from India and some other countries. But a large quantity of it can easily be grown in Panchagarh and its adjacent districts if government patronised. This would also help to improve the economic condition of the poverty stricken people of the northern region.

According to Agriculture Department, at least 7,000 people have so far been trained and 41 thousand orange trees are now growing in 100 orange orchards on 100 hectares land and homesteads in five upazilas of Panchagarh.

These farmers suggested more government assistance for expanding the fruit’s commercial production, as they got excellent yield of oranges that are

rich in colour, tastes and quality.

Achinta Kumar Karkun, one of the successful farmers said, “I planted one orange tree given by the horticulture centre and it started to bear fruits after three years. In the fourth year the tree bore about 200 fruits. Then I bought and planted 15 more saplings. The yield is really good and I am making a good profit.’

Habib Un Nabi Prodhan, a grower of Panchagarh Sadar upazila said, he had been successfully cultivating orange in his orchard for the last six years and selling those at a good price. Witnessing his success, a number of farmers had engaged themselves in the cultivation. l

Teacher sent to jail for molesting student in Kushtia n Our Correspondent, Kushtia A mobile court in Kushtia sentenced a teacher to one year imprisonment for molesting a female student of a primary school in Mipur of Kushtia yesterday.

Magistrate Sirajum Monira passed the order on Abdul Halim, 45, assistant of Chuniapara Govt Primary School, around 1:30pm.

The court sources said Abdul Halim tried molest the student of class V finding her alone in a classroom.

Earlier, locals kept the teacher under lock and key. Other students of the school said the teacher often disturb them on various pretext and they had informed headmaster the school. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Special

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

7

‘Of course, we killed him ... he had to go’ 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 study 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. Here is an excerpt from the book which will also be launched in Dhaka at the Hay Festival on November 20

A

little more than a quarter century ago I met a man who calmly told me how he had organized the massacre of a family.

There was no sense of remorse in his confession. He was bragging about it, even grinning as he spoke to me.

I was a young reporter at that time, on assignment in Dhaka, trying to figure out what had gone wrong with Bangladesh. Fifteen years earlier, as a schoolboy in India, I had followed its blood-splattered struggle for independence. I remembered the images of ten million people who had crossed the border seeking refuge in India; I had collected funds for the refugees by staging a play in Bombay, as the city I grew up in was known at that time; we shouted ‘Joy Bangla’, the Bangladeshi cry for independence, for no apparent reason (10-year-old kids do such things); and we eagerly listened to the radio and read newspapers over two weeks in December, as India defeated the Pakistani army, assisting Bangladeshi Mukti Bahini forces to gain independence. During those days, I remember going with my family to the railway station with home-cooked food for Indian soldiers going to the front.

The man I was interviewing that day in Dhaka lived in a well-appointed home in Banani, a tony part of Bangladesh’s capital. Soldiers protected his house, checking the bags and identification of all visitors. A week earlier he had been a presidential candidate, losing by a huge margin to the eventual winner, President Hussain Muhammad Ershad.

The man I met wore a Pathani outfit that looked out of place in a country where civilian politicians tended to wear white kurtas with black waistcoats if they belonged to the Awami League, and safari suits if they were part of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party, while working class men on the streets went about in lungis. The Pathani outfit was more in tune with what men from Pakistan wore, and as I was to learn later, many Bangladeshis who had lost their loved ones during the war hated that outfit, just as they hated the slogan ‘Bangladesh Zindabad’. They preferred ‘Joy Bangla’.

The man I had come to interview had a thin moustache and wore gold-rimmed glasses. He stared at me eagerly as we spoke, curious about the notes I was taking, trying to read what I was writing in my notepad. He sat straight on the sofa, his chest thrust forward, as if he was still in uniform.

He looked self-assured and confident; not like someone who had overwhelmingly lost the presidential poll.

He was part of a high stakes game, and he looked as if he was certain he would win, as if he was assured that someone important held all the cards.

His name was Farooq Rahman, and he had been a major, and later, lieutenant colonel in the Bangladeshi army. He had returned to Bangladesh only recently, after several years in exile in Libya. What he had done in the past was not in dispute.

Before dawn on 15 August 1975, he had led the Bengal Lancers, the army’s tank unit under his command, to disarm the Rokkhi Bahini, a paramilitary force loyal to Sheikh Mujib. As Farooq left the Dhaka Cantonment, he had instructed other officers and soldiers to go to the upscale residential area of Dhanmondi, where Mujib lived. Soon after 5 a.m., the officers had killed Mujib and most of his family.

I had been rehearsing how to ask Farooq about his role in the assassination. I had no idea how he would react or respond. After a few desultory questions about the country’s political situation, I tentatively began, ‘It has been widely reported in Bangladesh that you were somehow connected with the plot to remove Mujibur Rah-

man from power in 1975. Would you…’

‘Of course, we killed him,’ he interrupted me. ‘He had to go,’ he added, before I could complete my hesitant, long-winded question.

Farooq Rahman thought he was a patriot. He believed he had saved the nation. The governments that followed Mujib reinforced this self-belief and perception, rewarding him and the other assassins with respectability by giving them political space, and to some, plum diplomatic assignments.

Farooq himself stood in presidential elections, which he lost badly.

The Oxford-trained lawyer, Kamal Hossain, who was Mujib’s law minister and later foreign minister, told me, ‘The impunity with which Farooq operated was extraordinary. Presi-

l Sometime in the afternoon of 27 January 2010, Mahfuz Anam received a call from a government official, saying that the end was imminent. Anam was in the newsroom of Bangladesh’s leading English newspaper, The Daily Star, where he is the editor.

He knew what the message meant: perhaps within hours, five men—Lt. Col. Farooq, Lt. Col. Sultan Shahriar Rashid Khan, Lt. Col. Mohiuddin Ahmed, Maj. Bazlul Huda, and army lancer A.K.M. Mohiuddin—would be hanged by the neck until they died at the city’s central jail. Anam told his reporters to be prepared, and sent several reporters and photographers to cover the executions.

Sheikh Hasina was at her prime ministerial home that night. She was informed when the executions began, she reportedly asked to be left alone and later offered namaz-e-shukran, a prayer of gratitude.

Many people, most of them supporters of the Awami League, had gathered outside her house that night, but she did not come out to meet anybody

dent Ershad encouraged Farooq to return because he wanted a candidate to stand against him in the rigged elections, so that the process would seem fair. In the face of the refusal of the opposition parties to participate in the elections which would legitimize his rule, Ershad encouraged Farooq to contest in the elections to give Ershad credibility.’

Farooq was able to operate with impunity for many years because the governments that followed Mujib were not keen to prosecute the killers and in the late 1970s, during the rule of Gen. Zia, the 5th Amendment to the constitution was passed, granting them immunity.

The political landscape in Bangladesh after Mujib’s murder was unstable. In its forty-two-year history, there have been several coups, and the form of government has switched from parliamentary to presidential to parliamentary again. The country has had eleven prime ministers and over a dozen heads of state, and there have been times when it has been ruled by generals, or by a caretaker government comprising unelected officials.

Mujibur Rahman’s daughter Sheikh Hasina Wajed had first come to power in 1996 but her majority was precarious at that time—her party, the Awami League, had won 146 of 300 seats, and relied on the support of other parties to rule. But when she came to power with an absolute majority in 2009, Hasina was determined to redeem her father’s reputation and seek justice.

Her quest has larger implications for Bangladesh’s citizenry.

Hundreds of thousands—and by Bangladesh government estimates perhaps three million—people were killed during the 1971 war. Tens of thousands of Bangladeshis now wait for justice—to see those who harmed them and their loved ones brought to account. But the culture of impunity hasn’t disappeared.

Even for Sheikh Hasina, it took more than three decades before she received some measure of vindication, and one reason she was elected in 2008 was because she promised to set up tribunals to prosecute individuals accused of having committed international crimes, such as war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide.

‘We had hints that the end was near, particularly when the relatives of the five men were asked to come and meet them, and given hardly any notice,’ Anam told me during a long telephone conversation a week after the executions.

‘The authorities had told the immediate families that there were no limits on the number of relatives who could come, and they were allowed to remain with them until well after visiting hours. We knew that the final hours had come,’ he said.

Once the families left, the five men were sent to their cells. They were told to take a bath and offer their night prayers. Then the guards asked them if they wanted to eat anything special.

An imam came, offering to read from the Quran.

cally decamped en masse to the jail to “experience a historic moment” firsthand.’ Anam told me, ‘By 11:35 p.m., we knew it would happen that night. We held back our first edition. The second edition had the detailed story.’

Bazlul Huda was the first to be taken to the gallows. He was handcuffed, and a black hood covered his face. Eyewitnesses have said Huda struggled to free himself and screamed loudly as guards led him to the brightly lit room. An official waved and dropped a red handkerchief to the ground, the signal for the executioner to proceed. It was just after midnight when Huda died. Mohiuddin Ahmed was next, followed by Farooq, Shahri-

His name was Farooq Rahman, and he had been a major, and later, lieutenant colonel in the Bangladeshi army. He had returned to Bangladesh only recently, after several years in exile in Libya.

What he had done in the past was not in dispute

Around 10:30 p.m., a reporter called Anam to say that the city’s civil surgeon, Mushfiqur Rahman, and district magistrate Zillur Rahman had arrived at the jail. Police vans arrived 50 minutes later, carrying five empty coffins.

The paramilitary force known as the Rapid Action Battalion, took positions at various nodal points in the city that were prone to strikes and stoppages at the slightest political pretext, providing support to the regular police force to prevent demonstrations.

Other leading officials came within minutes: the home secretary, the inspector general of prisons, and the police commissioner. Rashida Ahmad, who was at that time news editor at the online news agency, bdnews24.com, recalled: ‘Many media houses practi-

ar, and A.K.M. Mohiuddin. It was all over soon after 1 a.m.

Earlier that day, the Bangladesh Supreme Court had rejected the final appeal of four of the five convicts.

Shahriar was the only one not to seek presidential pardon. His daughter Shehnaz, who spent two hours with her father that evening, later said: ‘My father was a freedom fighter; and a man who fights for the independence of his country never begs for his life.’

Sheikh Hasina was at her prime ministerial home that night. She was informed when the executions began, she reportedly asked to be left alone and later offered namaz-e-shukran, a prayer of gratitude. Many people, most of them supporters of the Awami League, had gathered outside her

house that night, but she did not come out to meet anybody. A few days later, she told a party convention that it was a moment of joy for all of them, because due process had been served.

Many governments oppose the death penalty on principle and consider it violates human rights, and the European Union had appealed to the Bangladeshi government to commute the sentence of Mujib’s assassins. The human rights group Amnesty International had also sought clemency, while agreeing that the men should face justice. These appeals met with no response.

The mood in Dhaka was sober and subdued, although Dhaka residents spoke of celebrations in certain localities. Ahmad, who was at her news desk until late at bdnews24.com, described the mood in the newsroom as sombre. Many in the city could understand Hasina thanking God, and other politicians welcoming the closing of a dark chapter, but some felt it a bit much that parliament itself thanked God and adjourned for the day, she told me.

It had taken thirty-four years for this saga to end. The first politician to grant these men immunity was Khondaker Mostaq Ahmad, who took over as Bangladesh’s president after Mujib’s assassination. He had even praised the assassins, calling them ‘shurjo shontan’ or ‘sons of the sun’.

Gen. Ziaur Rahman, who later became president, confirmed their immunity and later amended the constitution to entrench this. In the years that followed, their political rehabilitation had begun. Lt. Col. Shariful Haq Dalim, a decorated liberation war veteran who had played a major role in the conspiracy, held diplomatic positions in Beijing, Hong Kong, and became high commissioner to Kenya, even though he was implicated in a coup attempt in 1980.

Lt. Col. Aziz Pasha served in Rome, Nairobi, and Harare, where he sought asylum when Hasina first came to power in 1996. She removed him from his diplomatic post but he stayed on in Harare, and died there. (A month after the executions, Awami League activists ransacked and set afire the

home of his brother in Dhaka.) Maj. Huda was briefly a member of parliament, and also served as diplomat in Islamabad and Jeddah.

Other conspirators at various times served Bangladeshi missions in Beijing, Buenos Aires, Algiers, Islamabad, Teheran, Kuwait, Abu Dhabi, Bangkok, Lagos, Dakar, Ankara, Jakarta, Tokyo, Muscat, Cairo, Kuala Lumpur, Ottawa, and Manila.

The government said it would now try to bring the surviving officers back to Bangladesh from the countries where some of the conspirators reportedly continued to live. These were often identified as the United States, Canada, Pakistan, South Africa, Thailand, and Kenya. They have been tried in absentia and some face execution.

Bringing all of them back is not going to be easy for Bangladesh, because some countries where they reportedly live, like Canada and South Africa, have abolished the death penalty, and Kenya has placed a temporary moratorium on the death penalty. They are unlikely to extradite them, unless Bangladesh guarantees that they will not be executed.

Bangladesh is unlikely to offer such guarantee.

Bangladesh is among fifty-eight countries (including India) that retain the death penalty. In 2008, five people were executed in Bangladesh.

Bangladeshi human rights lawyers have found it hard to challenge the death penalty on a matter of principle because there is public support for the death penalty in Bangladesh.

Lawyers do appeal individual cases, but there is no concerted major human rights campaign against the death penalty. There are also political compulsions. One human rights activist told me, ‘We are against [the] death penalty but the dilemma is that we are in a country where life imprisonment really means imprisonment guaranteed only until your party comes to power. The death penalty is almost seen as the only way to guarantee justice for such a grisly crime.’ l “The Colonel Who Would Not Repent” was published in India in 2014 by Aleph Book Company.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Merkel and Putin square off over Ukraine Putin says west is provoking Russia into new cold war as ‘spies’ deported n Agencies The leaders of Russia and Germany squared off over Ukraine from opposite sides of the globe, with Vladimir Putin warning that Moscow will not accept a defeat for the pro-Russian rebels and Angela Merkel accusing the Kremlin of undermining peace across Europe.

But despite the harsh rhetoric, European Union foreign ministers refrained from increasing the sanctions against Moscow, voicing support for a floundering peace deal in eastern Ukraine that has been undermined by continuing hostilities.

At least 10 people were killed and 17 others wounded in the latest fighting, authorities reported Monday.

In an interview with German ARD television broadcast late Sunday, Putin said he still believes in the success of peace efforts in eastern Ukraine, where pro-Russian rebels have been battling Kiev’s troops in a conflict that has claimed more than 4,000 lives.

Merkel, the German chancellor, spoke Monday in Sydney after the G-20 summit, which Putin left early after receiving a chilly response from Western leaders.

In unequivocal terms, she said Russia’s annexation of Crimea had raised the threat of more conflicts in Europe.

“Who would have thought that, 25 years after the fall of the Berlin Wall, after the end of the Cold War and the end of the world’s separation into two blocks, something like this could have happened in the middle of Europe?” Merkel said.

“Old ways of thinking in spheres of influence, which spurn international law, must not become accepted.”

The German leader warned that regional conflicts like the one still raging in eastern Ukraine “can very quickly broaden to major fires.”

“It’s not only about Ukraine. It’s about Moldova, it’s about Georgia, if it continues like this ... one has to wonder about Serbia, one has to wonder about the countries in the western Balkans,” Merkel said.

Merkel insisted that European Union and US sanctions against Russia

Nato leader sees ‘serious military buildup’ in Ukraine n Reuters, Brussels Nato Secretary-General Jens Stoltenberg denounced on Tuesday what he called a serious Russian military buildup both inside Ukraine and on the Russian side of the border and urged Moscow to pull back its troops.

Stoltenberg said Nato saw movement of troops, equipment, tanks, artillery and also of advanced air defense systems in violation of a ceasefire agreement.

Russia denies providing arms or troops to support a separatist pro-Russian rebellion in eastern Ukraine, which began after the removal of a Kremlin-oriented Ukrainian president by mass protests in February. A ceasefire was agreed in early September, but

Russia’s President Vladimir Putin speaks during a meeting with his core support group, the People’s Front, in Moscow, yesterday REUTERS

would remain in place “as far and long as they are needed.”

‘The new cold war’

Vladimir Putin has suggested to a German interviewer that the west is provoking Russia into a new cold war. The airing of the interview, which was recorded by the German channel ARD in Vladivostok last week, followed Russia’s tit-for-tat expulsions of German and Polish diplomats, as well as the deportation of a Latvian accused of spying.

Asked whether the accusatory rhetoric between Moscow and Washington and a noticeable increase in Russian displays of military strength near western countries points to a new cold war, Putin said two rounds of Nato expansion in central and eastern Europe had been “significant geopolitical game changers” that forced Russia to respond.

Moscow resumed strategic aviation flights abroad several years ago in response to US nuclear bomber flights to areas near Russia that had continued after the cold war, he added.

“Nato and the United States have military bases scattered all over the globe, including in areas close to our

borders, and their number is growing,” Putin said. “Moreover, just recently it was decided to deploy special operations forces, again in close proximity to our borders. You have mentioned various [Russian] exercises, flights, ship movements and so on. Is all of this going on? Yes, it is indeed.”

Putin has previously been accused by western leaders of fanning cold war-style tensions, most recently by the Australian prime minister, Tony Abbott, who said he told Putin at the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Beijing last week that Russia should stop “trying to recreate the lost glories of tsarism or the old Soviet Union.” In August, Barack Obama told the late-night talk show host Jay Leno that the Russians often “slip back into cold war thinking.”

During the ARD interview, Putin dodged a question about whether Moscow had supplied weapons to the separatists and deployed troops to eastern Ukraine, as Nato and Kiev have argued. “Nowadays people who wage a fight and consider it righteous will always get weapons,” he said, blaming the west for supporting the govern-

BEAUTY IN CALAMITY

ment forces’ use of ballistic missiles.

“You want the Ukrainian central authorities to annihilate everyone there in eastern Ukraine,” Putin said. “Is that what you want? We certainly don’t.

And we won’t let it happen.”

But a report on the weapons used in the Ukrainian conflict released on Monday by the consulting group Armament Research Services (ARES) suggested that rebels were “very likely” to have received arms from Russia “however the level of state complicity in such activity remains unclear.”

Putin also said Russia’s “friendship” with Germany was stronger than ever.

German business groups have been among the most adamant opponents of sanctions. But in a sign of slipping political relations, Russia’s foreign ministry confirmed to the news agency RIA Novosti on Monday that it had expelled an employee of the German embassy in Moscow in response to Berlin’s “unfriendly actions toward an employee of one of Russia’s foreign institutions in Germany.” A Russian diplomat in Bonn had previously been expelled on suspicion of spying, Der Spiegel reported. l

In this Nov 16, 2014 picture an aerial view shows the floods at Lake Maggiore near Mogadino, in southern Switzerland. Heavy rainfalls caused flooding in southern France, northern Italy and landslides in southern Switzerland AP

Kurds seize Islamic State arms near besieged town n Reuters, Beirut Kurdish fighters captured six buildings used by Islamic State fighters besieging the Syrian town of Kobani on Tuesday, and seized a large amount of the militant group’s weapons and ammunition, a group monitoring the war said.

Islamic State has been trying to take control of the town, also known as Ayn al-Arab, for more than a month in an assault that has driven tens of thousands of Kurdish civilians over the border into Turkey and drawn strikes by US-led forces.

The hardline Sunni Muslim group, an offshoot of al Qaeda, has captured large areas of Iraq and other parts of Syria and declared an Islamic caliphate.

Kurdish fighters seized six buildings used by Islamic State on the edge of the town and took rocket-propelled grenade launchers, guns and machine gun ammunition, the Britain-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

The clashes killed around 13 Islamic State militants, including two senior

Iran uses China bank to transfer funds to Qudslinked companies n Reuters

There is no trace of Shenzhen Lanhao Days Electronic Technology Co Ltd at its listed address in the beige and pinktiled “Fragrant Villa” apartment complex in this southern Chinese city. The building’s managers say they’ve never heard of it.

But a Western intelligence report reviewed by Reuters says Shenzhen Lanhao is one of several companies in China that receives money from Iran through a Chinese bank. Such transfers help to finance international operations of the Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps’ elite Quds Force, the report said.

The Quds provides arms, aid and training for pro-Iranian militant groups in the Middle East, such as Hezbollah, Hamas and Shi’ite Muslim militias in Iraq. They have also armed and trained government forces in Syria’s civil war in violation of a UN arms embargo, US and European officials say.

Washington designated the Quds a supporter of terrorism in 2007. The European Union sanctioned them in 2011.

The report said that the Central Bank of Iran (CBI) holds accounts with the Bank of Kunlun Co Ltd, a China National Petroleum Corp unit. Quds-controlled Iranian companies, including one called Bamdad Capital Development Co, initiate transfers from these accounts to either Chinese entities directly controlled by the Quds or to Chinese entities owed money by the Quds, such as Shenzhen Lanhao.

“The money transfers from accounts held by the CBI with Bank Kunlun are initiated by the Quds Force and transferred to Chinese companies connected to the Quds Force in order to meet its financial needs,” the seven-page report said. Reuters could not independently verify the claims in the report.

The suspected movement of Iranian funds linked to the Quds Force through a Chinese bank and Chinese companies is a reminder of the difficulty of enforcing sanctions on Iran at a time when the United States and other world powers hope to clinch a nuclear deal with Tehran by Nov. 24.

The US Treasury sanctioned Kunlun in 2012 for conducting business with Iran and transferring money to an entity linked to Iran’s Revolutionary Guards, but there was no mention then of any link to the Quds.

fighting flared again recently.

Stoltenberg told reporters as he arrived for a meeting with European Union defense ministers he had information on a buildup inside Ukraine.

“But we also see a military buildup on the Russian side of the border ... This is a serious military buildup and we call on Russia to pull back its troops,” he said.

Russia denied similar accusations last week by Nato’s top military commander, US Air Force General Philip Breedlove, who said Nato had spotted military equipment arriving from Russia in regions of east Ukraine held by pro-Russian separatist rebels.

General-Major Igor Konashenkov, a Russian Defense Ministry official, dismissed Breedlove’s comments last week as anti-Russian “hot air.” l

Once the money is transferred from Kunlun to other entities, the intelligence report said, the Quds can use it for acquisitions in China and to finance all sorts of covert activity in other countries. The report does not say how specific funds moving out of the CBI’s accounts at Kunlun would be used by the Quds.

The report does not suggest that either the Chinese government or Bank of Kunlun were aware of the possibility that there could be a Quds Force connection to Kunlun’s transactions.

But the report’s assertions underline Tehran’s complex and economically close relationship with Beijing: Iran is China’s third-largest crude oil supplier, making China the Islamic Republic’s biggest oil client.

Beijing picked Kunlun

The exact amount of money the Quds could have received from the Kunlun channel is unclear. But the sums flowing from the Iranian central bank to Kunlun over the past year have been in the hundreds of millions of dollars, the report said.

As Western sanctions tightened on Iran in 2012, Beijing picked Kunlun as its main bank to process billions of dollars in oil payments to Iran, shielding other banks from penalties. Kunlun had assets of 246.5 billion yuan ($40 billion) at the end of 2013, according to its annual report.

The US Treasury’s 2012 sanctions targeted money Iran was being paid for oil exports, including $22 billion held at Kunlun. However, there was an easing in the restrictions on Iran’s access to the money in November 2013 under a bilateral agreement with China, and as an interim nuclear deal was reached with six world powers in the same month.

The deal between Iran and the United States, Britain, France, Germany, Russia and China gave Tehran access to several billion dollars in assets frozen at banks worldwide in exchange for assurances it would curtail a nuclear program that Western powers suspect will give it the ability to build nuclear weapons.

Negotiators gather in Vienna this week to try to reach a comprehensive deal that would prevent Iran from building a nuclear bomb while eventually lifting sanctions that have badly hurt its economy. Hopes of a breakthrough are slim. l

fighters, according to the Observatory which tracks the conflict using sources on the ground.

Kurdish forces appear to have made other gains in recent days of fighting.

Last week they blocked a road Islamic State was using to resupply their forces, the first major gain against the jihadists after weeks of violence.

“During the last few days we have made big progress in the east and southeast,” said Idris Nassan, an official in Kobani.

Speaking by telephone, he estimated Islamic State controlled less than 20 percent of the town. Last month, officials said Islamic State controlled around 40 percent as it pushed further into the town.

The defense of Kobani has drawn in Kurdish peshmerga fighters from Iraq as well as Syrian rebel fighters. The US military said on Monday it carried out nine strikes near Kobani since late last week, destroying seven Islamic State positions, four staging areas and one unit belonging to the group. l

NEWS BITES Governor declares state of emergency ahead of ruling on Ferguson shooting Missouri’s governor declared a state of emergency on Monday and authorised the state’s National Guard to support police in case of violence after a grand jury decides whether to indict a white police officer who fatally shot an unarmed black teenager.

“Our goal here is to keep the peace and allow folks’ voices to be heard,” Governor Jay Nixon told reporters on a teleconference.

“People need to feel safe and to achieve those goals, we need to be prepared.”

The order also puts the St. Louis County Police Department, rather than police in Ferguson, Missouri, in charge of policing protests.

Mass murderer Charles Manson gets marriage license Mass murderer Charles Manson has been granted a marriage license, and would be allowed to wed in prison, a spokeswoman for the California Department of Corrections and Rehabilitation said on Monday.

Manson, 80, was issued a marriage license by Kings County, California, where he is serving a life sentence at the California State Prison, Corcoran, corrections spokeswoman Terry Thornton said.

Manson, a charismatic ex-convict who assembled a group of runaways and outcasts into a “family” in the late 1960s, directed his mostly young, female followers to murder seven people, including actress Sharon Tate, in 1969 in what prosecutors said was part of a plan to incite a race war.

He was also convicted in the murder of an acquaintance, Gary Hinman.

Unusual nature of Kassig video suggests he fought captors A former roommate of Peter Kassig, the former US Army Ranger and American aid worker who was beheaded by Islamic State militants, says the unusual nature of the video released by the group announcing his killing Sunday suggests the 26-year-old fought his execution.

Previous videos released by the Islamic State follow a grisly formula, with masked militants carrying out public beheadings of hostages, including American journalists James Foley and Steven Sotloff and British aid workers David Haines and Alan Henning. In the video released Sunday, a severed head believed to be Kassig’s is shown near the end of a 15-minute montage boasting of the group’s killings of Syrian soldiers. But Kassig’s body and videotaped killing are not. Also not shown are images of other hostages that the group typically sets up as its next victims. l Source: Agencies,

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Musharraf warns Pakistan of proxy war with India in Afghanistan n AFP, Karachi The departure of Nato combat forces from Afghanistan could push India and Pakistan towards a proxy war in the troubled state, Pakistan’s former military ruler General Pervez Musharraf warned in an interview with AFP. As Pakistan’s ruler, Musharraf was a key US ally in its “war on terror”, but he now lives under tight security in his Karachi home, facing Taliban death threats and a litany of criminal cases dating back to his near decade-long rule that ended in 2008.

The 71-year-old — who seized power in a bloodless coup in 1999 — praised new Afghan President Ashraf Ghani, who made his first official trip to Pakistan last week in a bid to reset fractious ties with Islamabad.

Pakistan’s support is seen as crucial to Afghan peace as US-led forces pull out by the end of this year after 13 years battling the Taliban.

But the former strongman said calming tension between India and Pakistan — running high at the moment after some of the worst crossborder firing in years — is key to peace in Afghanistan.

“The danger for Pakistan is... the Indian influence in Afghanistan,” he told AFP at his house in Karachi.

“That is another danger for the whole region and for Pakistan because Indian involvement there has an antiPakistan connotation. They (India) want to create an anti-Pakistan Afghanistan.”

Nuclear-armed neighbours India and Pakistan — bitter and sometimes bloody rivals since gaining independence from Britain in 1947 — have long accused each other of using proxy forces to try to gain influence in Afghanistan.

While India has tried to gain traction with the Tajik ethnic group, which dominates in northern Afghanistan, Pakistan has sought to use its leverage with the Pashtuns of the country’s south and east who make up the majority of the Taliban.

“If Indians are using some elements of the ethnic entities in Afghanistan, then Pakistan will use its own support for ethnic elements, and our ethnic elements are certainly Pashtuns,” Musharraf said.

“So we are initiating a proxy war in Afghanistan. This must be avoided.”

Musharraf blamed India for supporting separatist rebels in Pakistan’s southwestern province of Baluchistan via training camps in southern Afghanistan — a common accusation in Pakistani military circles.

Former Afghan president Hamid Karzai routinely accused Pakistan of secretly backing the Taliban as a hedge against Indian influence in his country.

Pakistan denies the accusation, though it was one of only three countries to officially recognise the Afghan Taliban regime, in power from 1996 until 2001 when the US-led invasion resulted in its overthrow.

Musharraf criticised former Afghan president Hamid Karzai for sending officials for training in India and not Pakistan, saying “these small things add up to strategic problems”.

Ghani and Pakistani Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif pledged at the weekend to move on from the sniping and bitterness of the Karzai years, with the Afghan leader saying three days of talks had undone 13 years of differences.

But Musharraf warned that regional rivalries could flourish again once Nato’s 34,000-strong combat contingent leaves by the end of next month. l

The Sabarmati express on fire – the torching of this train started the deadly communal violence that killed more than 1000 people, mostly muslims

GUJARAT RIOTS

Nanavati panel submits final report n Agencies More than 12 years after it was constituted, the Justice Nanavati Commission submitted on Tuesday its final report on the 2002 Gujarat riots to state chief minister Anandiben Patel.

“We have submitted the report, which runs into more than 2,000 pages,” Justice Nanavati told PTI, but refused to divulge any contents of the report.

The commission members - Retd Supreme Court Justice GT Nanavati and Retd high court Justice Akshay Mehta - drove to the residence of Patel and submitted the report to her, officials at the Chief Minister’s Office said.

Japan PM to seek Who is Haryana ‘godman’ Rampal? fresh mandate n Agencies n Reuters, Tokyo

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe said on Tuesday that he would call an early election to seek a fresh mandate for his economic policies, and postpone an unpopular sales tax rise, a day after data showed the economy had slipped back into recession.

The world’s third-biggest economy unexpectedly shrank for a second consecutive quarter in July-September, a sign the pain from an initial rise in the sales tax to 8 percent from 5 percent in April was lasting longer than expected.

Abe said he would delay a second increase to 10 percent that had been scheduled for October 2015 for 18 months. He added he would dissolve the lower house on Nov. 21 for an election that must be held within 40 days.

The vote is expected on Dec. 14.

The prime minister - who returned to power in December 2012 pledging to revive growth with a radical mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, spending and reform - insisted his policies were working and challenged the opposition to come up with an alternative.

But Abe pledged that the sales tax rise, needed to fund swelling social security costs and curb Japan’s massive public debt, would be implemented without fail in April 2017. l

Indian state Hariana’s Police on Tuesday stormed into the ashram of controversial godman Rampal here, damaging the main gate of the compound, Times Now reported.

With the situation at the ashram of ‘godman’ Rampal in Hisar district’s Barwala town turning volatile, state DGP S N Vashisht on Tuesday said the police was committed to bring out the godman who was “still inside” even as he described the operation as “very tough.”

Hariana Chief minister Manohar Lal Khattar was also closely monitoring the situation and was being given constant updates.

Thousands of supporters of controversial sect leader Rampal staged a protest and demanded a CBI probe into allegations of his involvement in a murder conspiracy.

The police had earlier given a 30 minute deadline for Rampal to surrender. It is still unclear if the godman is inside the ashram. During the day, several persons, including security personnel and mediapersons, were injured as clashes erupted at the ashram of controversial godman Rampal here on Tuesday with police lobbing tear gas shells and using batons to disperse his supporters who allegedly

fired back. Born to a family of farmers in Sonepat district, Rampal claims to be an incarnation of the 15th century mystic poet Kabir.

The Rohtak district administration had sealed Satlok Ashram at Karontha village after clashes between Rampal disciples and Arya Samaj followers in July 2006 in which a youth was killed and 59 injured.

Another FIR was registered against Rampal and his followers for forgery when a complaint was filed against him a day after the clash with Arya Samajis in 2006.

An FIR was registered against seven supporters of Rampal, including a woman, on May 5, 2013.

Another FIR was registered on May 9, 2013 against the followers of Rampal for issuing threats to Arya Samajis.

Three people, including a woman, were killed and around 100 injured in police firing on activists of Arya Samaj who were protesting against handing over the possession of an ashram to Rampal in Karontha village on May 12, 2013. A day after this, a murder case was registered against Rampal for allegedly killing an Arya Samaj activist Promila Devi.

Satlok Ashram spokesperson Raj Kapoor alleged that Arya Samajis were behind all complaints lodged against Rampal and his followers. l

Virginity tests on Indonesia police condemned n Agencies Human Rights Watch has urged Indonesia’s national police to halt “discriminatory” virginity tests for women applying to join the force in the world’s most populous Muslim-majority country.

The rights group said on Tuesday that women applicants were required to be both unmarried and virgins, and that the virginity test is still widely used despite the insistence of some senior police officials that it has been stopped.

I don’t want to remember those bad experiences. It was humiliating. Why should we take off our clothes in front of strangers?

A woman subjected to the test

In a series of interviews with HRW, young women - including some who underwent the test as recently as this year - described the procedure as painful and traumatic.

The women told how they were

forced to strip naked before female medics gave them a “two-finger test” a practice described by HRW as archaic and discredited.

“I don’t want to remember those bad experiences. It was humiliating,” said one 19-year-woman who took the test in the city of Pekanbaru, on western Sumatra island, and whose identity was not disclosed.

“Why should we take off our clothes in front of strangers? It is not necessary. I think it should be stopped.”

Nisha Varia, associate women’s rights director at HRW, described the tests as “a discriminatory practice that harms and humiliates women.

“Police authorities in Jakarta need to immediately and unequivocally abolish the test, and then make certain that all police recruiting stations nationwide stop administering it.”

Virginity valued

The tests contravene the police’s own

INTERNET

guidelines on recruitment and violate international human rights to equality, non-discrimination and privacy, HRW said. Police did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

While senior police have insisted in recent years that virginity tests for female applicants have been stopped, HRW said a posting on the force’s own website this month noted that female applicants must undergo the procedure.

Women currently make up about three percent of the 400,000-strong force, HRW said, but added the police had launched a drive to increase the number of female officers.

Society is deeply conservative in parts of Indonesia and some still value female virginity highly.

The issue hit the headlines last year, when the education chief of a city sparked outrage by suggesting that teenage schoolgirls should undergo virginity tests to enter senior high school. l

The final report of the commission on the 2002 riots, in which more than 1,000 people - mostly of a minority community - were killed, comes after extensive investigation which ran over a period of more than 12 years.

Last month, Justice Nanavati had said that, “There is no need to seek 25th extension, as our final report is ready. It is now being printed and will come to us in coming days. We will submit the report to the government soon.”

In 2008, the inquiry panel had submitted one part of its finding with regard to the Godhra train burning incident, in which it had concluded that the burning of S-6 coach of Sabarmati

Express near Godhra railway station was a “planned conspiracy.”

Initially, the Terms of Reference (TOR) of the commission were to inquire into the facts, circumstances and course of events that led to the burning of the S-6 coach of Sabarmati Express.

The panel had been constituted by the state government on March 3, 2002, under the Commission of Inquiry Act, comprising Justice KG Shah in the wake of the Godhra train carnage on February 27, 2002, and the subsequent communal riots across the state.

In May 2002, the state government appointed retired Supreme Court Justice GT Nanavati as the chairman of the

commission and the TOR were further amended in June 2002, as per which the panel was also asked to inquire the incidents of violence that took place after the Godhra incident.

In 2008, after the death of Justice KG Shah, retd high court Justice Akshay Mehta was appointed to the panel. The commission was given 24 extensions of around six months each to complete its investigations. The commission investigated roles of then chief minister Narendra Modi, as per the TOR, his Cabinet colleagues of that time, senior government and police officers along with functionaries of some right wing organisations during the period of 2002 riots. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Use solar to get electricity for all sooner

T

he government’s pledge to deliver “Electricity for all” by extending high tension power cables to all rural households by 2030 is welcome, but also not ambitious enough.

Bangladesh urgently needs reliable power supplies to create the jobs and improvement in living standards which we need to develop the economy and increase people’s resilience to the negative consequences of climate change.

Speeding up the pace of improvement is vital if the economy is to take advantage of the demographic dividend created by the large numbers of young people who will be entering the labour market in the next two decades.

While it is right that the government set targets for extending the national grid, it is evident that much of the unmet demand for power in households can be met more speedily and cheaply by solar-powered LED lights.

The government should seek to deliver such needs quicker by supporting and subsidising the supply of solar panels and LED lights.

These would be relatively cheap and quicker to implement, as can be seen by the success of IDCOL in delivering millions of solar-powered home electricity systems.

They would pay for themselves by delivering social and economic benefits more speedily to the households which need them.

At the same time, the government also needs to cut wasteful subsidies for fossil fuels and raise power prices to ensure more funds are available for the major investments which the country certainly needs.

Thinking long term is the best way to ensure we achieve this vital national target.

Much of the unmet demand in households can be met more speedily and cheaply

Stop interfering with private universities

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he new education law includes clauses giving government officials powers to set or limit fees charged by private educational institutions.

We believe these powers do not deliver any net public benefit and indeed are counterproductive to the aim of improving access to good quality education.

By their nature, private colleges need to be free to decide for themselves what fees they charge in order to operate effectively.

Forcing them to charge lower fees can only force them to compromise on quality and resources.

Giving bureaucrats powers to set or limit fees in private education institutions is not only antithetical to free-market policies, but also against the public interest. It both hampers the ability of better institutions to grow, and may help to keep poorer quality providers open. It also opens the way to corruption among officials responsible for setting fees.

The private sector delivers a valuable public service which helps fill the gap provided by the state’s failure to ensure universal access to good quality education. It is irrational to compromise the quality it can provide by interfering with its fee structures.

Controlling fees does not serve anyone’s best interest. The government’s role should be limited to helping the private sector ensure institutions deliver education of an acceptable standard and using its powers only against rogue institutions which are merely “selling” degrees.

The government can help students from poor families gain access to private institutions by funding education voucher schemes and increasing the incentive for private universities to provide scholarships to meritorious students.

It hampers the ability of better institutions to grow, and is against the public interest

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

Branded

November 5 Gallagher or a working-class autodidact from Essex, Rubayat I think we should both just stand with our own I was always quite willing to dismiss Brand for the opinions, don’t you? very reasons the writer posits in the first half of this piece, but there is a definite argument to be made Waqar that people of his nature play a crucial role. The Momoaswan: I think that was what I was aiming at writer is correct in stating that there is a need for a in the first place, but I don’t think snide remarks are “revolution of thought,” because that is the only way necessary. In case you didn’t realise, I didn’t take for us to tackle our current societal issues. issue with you disagreeing with him; I had an issue with the attitude you had when you did so. (And Madiha yes, a little respect would be nice.)

Whether we like it or not, celebrity culture has a strong Also, it’s an op-ed. Like Brand’s political opinions, effect on our society. I agree that individuals like Brand the writer has a right to use terms like this to express are far from messianic, and also that he has been what he feels. Disagree all you want with him, but able to engage a politically apathetic youth with real don’t resort to name-calling. That was my point. issues. What is important to remember is that there is a difference between politics as a system and political Talbia issues as a means of affecting our daily interactions.

Momoaswan: Let me get this straight. You’re The vote would be in the former; civil rights would happy to defend Brand, who also makes sweeping be in the latter. Brand might not be a fan of the statements and, more often, without actually former, but he and his ilk certainly remind us of the building on them, but you’re going to nitpick an importance of the latter. As does the writer. op-ed that uses language for effect? Or did you miss out on the fact that the writer is actually defending Momoaswan Brand, despite not using your direct approach?

A rather humourless and tedious way to write about a fine comedian. Russell Brand is bright and Momoaswan articulate enough not to need defending.

Talbia: You say nitpick. I say, I made a comment Does the writer really believe the common man criticising the author’s use of the phrase “common in Bangladesh is “wallowing in self pity?” man wallowing in self pity.” Feel free to say that was I see ordinary people in Bangladesh work an apt phrase; I’ll disagree. really hard to get by every day without wallowing I doubt you really think that I missed that the in anything but sweat and dirt. If Pew is to article defends Brand, when I specifically said Brand be believed, they are both perfectly aware of does not need defending. inequality and injustice, and believers in the free I was clearly criticising a phrase in the article and market. It is our corrupt elites that make both hence the piece. You don’t do the writer a service capitalism and state enterprises in Bangladesh a by implying I didn’t understand the piece. Nuff said. graft-ridden crony-driven affair.

Waqar Momoaswan: Here’s a thought – maybe accept the possibility that neither of us speak for the “average” Bangladeshi, and that Brand is definitely a divisive figure? Even his biggest fans cannot deny that at least. Or are you happy to sling mud at someone who seems to be defending his position despite not being a fan of his comedic work? Moreover, are you happy to do so towards someone who is a lawyer (therefore, nominally qualified in the field of rights) and is in Britain (therefore, not oblivious to Brand’s merits and flaws)?

Momoaswan Waqar: Ooh er, the writer’s a lawyer and is in Britain; shall I doff my cap then?

How do you know I haven’t met Brand, and know quite a few UK lawyers – er, you wouldn’t.

Happy to accept I don’t speak for the average Bangladeshi, but then I’m not the one who pontificated about the common man wallowing in self pity. Unless one of us is secretly either Noel

Tk7.5cr gold recovered from toilet at Dhaka Airport November 8

Shammi Huda The DT should do a follow-up as to what happens to this impounded gold, ie does it go to Bangladesh Bank? Is it auctioned to jewellery shops? Is all of this on verifiable public record? Readers are curious!

Shabnaz Good, strong piece that points out a glaring issue in global politics – that there seems to be only one established “way” or “group” for any of us to get involved. Whether the writer or the readers like Russell Brand or not, the fact remains that he has helped break down walls which this piece acknowledges. jishan I actually think wallowing in self pity nicely sums up the world’s population, not just the average Bangladeshi. If not, we’d have fixed our social problems by now and not allowed a small (admittedly powerful) minority to make our decisions for us. I include myself, the writer, and all the commentators here in this assessment, simply because we are here arguing on a newspaper thread instead of going out and doing something. We seem to be initiating our revolution of thought; I’d like to see us taking that a step forward into a revolution of action. And hopefully, that won’t take too long.

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 5 represents R so fill R every time the figure 5 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

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.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Bludgeon (4) 5 Sovereign (5) 9 Chant (6) 10 Respectful fear (3) 11 Sporting side (4) 12 Speech sound (5) 14 Measuring instrument (5) 16 Region (4) 19 African river (4) 21 Reposes (5) 24 Frequently (5) 27 Ill-mannered (4) 29 Digit (3) 30 English river (6) 31 Prophets (5) 32 Female swans (4)

DOWN 1 Quote (4) 2 United (3) 3 Pollen-bearing organ (6) 4 Habitual dwelling (4) 5 Venerates (7) 6 Jurisprudence (3) 7 Female sheep (3) 8 Become less tense (5) 13 Metal-bearing rock (3) 15 Natural gifts (7) 17 Take for granted (6) 18 Concretions of blood (5) 20 Anger (3) 22 Snare (4) 23 Untidy state (4) 25 Enemy (3) 26 Golf mound (3) 28 Lair (3)

Closure may be the best option for state banks November 5

rose The government can obviously look into the matter of bankrupt state banks and take viable action.

Adventure thriller ROAR premiers at Star Cineplex

CALVIN AND HOBBES

November 9

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

PEANUTS

Rabiul Alam Just because the movie plot revolves around a subject that might be something close to our heart, I hope they are not using it as a selling pitch to show the Hindi movie in Bangladeshi theaters. Today, if they can show “Roar of the Tiger,” what’s stopping them from bringing “Ëk Tha Tiger” tomorrow? Though I’d prefer they have an English version.

Two secretaries retire to escape punishment November 7 Nazmul Khair Cancel all their final payments. They have already taken enough through bribes.

SH Should lose all retirement benefits to set an example. Better they “voluntarily” donate it to the liberation museum.

CROSSWORD

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

The G20 duels n Mohammad Ali Sattar

T

The responsibility lies in our hands

BIGSTOCK

With great power ...

D

n Risalat Khan uring the time it took me to read the November 15 op-ed published in the DT titled “True lies of climate change,” my reaction underwent three phases. Amusement, followed by incredulity, and then sadness.

Amusement at the arguments presented in the article trying to discredit climate science. Incredulity that this was not just a comment in some popular blog that was riddled by good old Internet trolling. Finally, sadness that at a time when we must move swiftly towards solutions, people are still mired in the propaganda engineered over decades by the fossil fuel industry.

Responding to all the inaccuracies would take much longer than one response article, and is also unnecessary.

So instead, I will address some of the most glaring ones before moving on to more substantial matters.

The author mentions: “The debate is primarily on the root cause, ie whether it is due to human-induced carbon emission or natural climate variability.” This fundamental premise is false.

There is no debate. The Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) – arguably the largest collective scientific inquiry in human history – unequivocally states in its recently published Fifth Assessment Report: “It is extremely likely that human influence has been the dominant cause of the observed warming since the mid 20th century.”

As a geologist myself, I can tell you that scientists don’t take the term “extremely” very lightly, and that is com-

ing from the IPCC, a consensus-based body known to be quite conservative with its conclusions.

Furthermore, the author writes: “Man’s contribution is as small as 0.2% to 0.3% of the total greenhouse effect.”

I cannot be certain where this statistic comes from, but there are plenty of websites full of misleading figures supported by specious reasoning that fail to withstand even the most basic scrutiny.

and other issues with the article, but they have already received more attention than they deserve. In the meantime, something big is happening all around the world. Just within the last month, the European Union announced that it will reduce emissions by at least 40% by 2030.

Last week, the US announced that it will cut emissions by 26-28% by 2025, and China, for the first time ever, announced a date for its emissions to

This is a time of unprecedented consequences.

It is each of our duty to do our best and push the boundaries of what is possible

The relevant fact about greenhouse gases is that humans have pumped enough CO2 into the atmosphere to raise its concentrations from about 270ppm (parts per million) in preindustrial times to roughly 400ppm now (yes, you can track the CO2 molecules which come from humangenerated sources).

This is the highest it has been for the last 15 to 20 million years. If we don’t change course and fast, the IPCC writes that we risk “severe, widespread, and irreversible impacts.”

And to know what that means, we don’t have to look beyond our own borders.

There are many other pseudo-facts, irrelevant facts, unsupported claims,

peak, by 2030 if not earlier.

At the G20 summit that just ended, Obama pledged $3bn to the Green Climate Fund (and Japan committing an additional $1.5bn), with what amounts to a slap in the face to Australia’s rogue Prime Minister Tony Abbott after he refused to include climate in the G20 agenda.

These announcements inject much needed momentum into the climate change negotiations to resume in two weeks in Lima, Peru at the UNFCCC 20th Conference of Parties. Make no mistake, the scale of the challenge of addressing climate change is still massive and dwarfs any of the actions that have yet been announced. But, it is clear that after decades, the rusty

cogs of global bureaucracy are finally creaking.

As I have written before, this is a time of unprecedented consequences.

Creating a world powered by clean energy, in a matter of 30-40 years – after centuries of fossil fuel addiction – is going to be as disruptive as quitting cocaine is to an addict. But the results can be just as transformative and rewarding.

At this time, it is each of our duty to do our best and push the boundaries of what is possible, and not concede to special interests that will not take kindly to these massive changes that threaten their influence.

Nowhere is this more applicable than for the media, which can be the best gatekeeper to our democracies. With the great power of shining the light on darkness and shaping public opinion, comes the great responsibility of serving the interests of the people.

Climate change denialism has long become obsolete, and yet mainstream media continues to allocate it space.

Sometimes, it is done deliberately, such as when one of Murdoch’s numerous media outlets try to undermine any climate action. At other times, it is done with the justification of “telling both sides of the story.”

But that argument is largely invalid when one side of the story is science, and the other side is a fear-mongering fairytale. It is far past time media outlets recognise so.

I end with the hope that responsible journalism wins, and that the story changes from whether we act on climate to how we do. Because, trust me, there are many sides to that story. l

he sudden burst of activities of world leaders has given the world a sense of amusement.

The flurry of so-called democracy acts put up by world leaders was a treat to the eyes. It’s been an interesting showdown of global powers in Brisbane at the G20 meet.

The US president is flying around meeting leaders at various venues in the East. The latest debacle with the Democrats in the congress and Senate has turned the table for Barack Obama at home.

He is floundering. His speech has lost the bite and sting that we could hear only a few weeks ago. After all, he doesn’t have the necessary hands to carry out his reforms in and outside the country. The US is at a turning point now.

Obama’s last term in office is sure to be an uneventful affair. Obamacare is under heavy pressure. Americans believe that it did not work. The outside world is somewhat weary with the US. The decision of whether or not to fight in the Middle East has been the mainstay of US foreign policy. The issue of Israel is there. The Tel Aviv gunman is not listening to the US. That is quite clear.

John Kerry has been a failure. It was a wrong choice by President Obama.

Kerry is just not fit to be the foreign affairs man. He lacks the wit and intelligence. He is unimpressive on many counts. Thus, the unassailable influence of the US over the region has perished.

Rather, the president and the team are confused as to what to do with the current situation. It was a different story a year ago, now it’s all so murky. Every day, a new fighting force is emerging in the deserts of the ME; the US will not find it easy to draw out strategies to take on the new militants.

Vladimir Putin is the man of the moment now. He suddenly comes out with challenges facing the West. He has been literally alone in his face off against the Western allies and the US. Crimea has been taken, Ukraine is in turmoil.

With the blame games on, Putin met the world leaders at the G20 meet.

Leaders of USA, Canada, and Australia rebuked him. It was a rare moment for the Russian leader to have faced such an awkward situation.

Putin has made his intention clear. Russian belligerence is unlikely to stop now

Risalat Khan is a campaigner for Avaaz. He can be reached on Twitter @risalat_k.

He found himself in thick soup. He couldn’t care less. He flew off early to be in the comforts of the cold mansions of Moscow.

On his part, nothing will change.

Russian olden days will be revisited and her imperial design is hardly to

Bangladesh (WBB) jointly organised a seminar at POBA’s office in Kalabagan.

I came to know through this discussion that it is the legal obligation of our city corporations to ensure public toilets for citizens. When each year, our city corporations spend thousands and crores of taka, how can a citizen accept that public toilets are never provided?

If people have to pay for using public toilets, why should they pay taxes to the city corporations?

in ensuring free, healthy toilets at every public venue and commercial building in Bangladesh.

Existing toilets are not usable as most of toilets are not clean and comfortable. Meanwhile, these toilets are not safe for women and physically challenged individuals; so people, mostly women, drink less water which causes all sorts of physical problems.

Most women even avoid public toilets, even if it is absolutely necessary. As a

change. A Soviet Union is still the dream of many.

In this end, we have Chinese power rising like the phoenix. President Xi Ji Ping is calling the shots. He has been stealing the global show everywhere.

He has managed to impress or influence the world to turn towards China – the great middle kingdom of the past.

In only 50 years, China has become a real power to reckon with

China will not sit idle on anything. The character of the past Chinese leaders should not be forgotten. The leaders were always aggressive and they had the intention of becoming a superpower.

The rise of China has been simply awesome. In only 50 years, China has become a real power to reckon with.

The US will have to knock Beijing’s door quite often. When you become a strong economy, political powers settle in automatically. China is building its power all around.

Japan is apprehensive. Japan will not be able to match China in any way. At least, it appears so for now.

For Japan, its foreign policy has been one of introverted diplomacy. While industrialisation and materialistic advancement has been achieved, there was never a stable political climate in the country.

So many governments ended prematurely, many ministers and politicians have been forced to quit in disgrace. The internal turmoil goes on.

The inner squabbles hardly allowed foreign policies to grow. There needs to be robust overseas action in place to tackle the likes of Xi. India will have to come to terms with China as well. Narendra Modi will have to plan accordingly. India can hardly play the fool along the borders.

Modi will have to team up with Jinping to be partners for a stronger Asia.

Modi’s plan to rope in the smaller neighbours is okay. But that will not serve the greater Indian purpose.

Nepal, Bhutan, and Myanmar cannot be strong partners in fighting the biggies like China or the US. Don’t forget the sudden surge of Russian power. Putin has made his intention clear. Russian belligerence is unlikely to stop now. Modi will have to further cement ties with Russia.

We have the US-Russia duel, EU-Russia animosity, US-China rivalry, and India–China struggle, all going on at the same time. We have not witnessed this kind of situation for many years. We are witnessing a change in global leadership. In the final shaping, it will be a weak US on one end, and stronger Russia and China on the other. l Mohammad Ali Sattar is a journalist and a DT columnist.

When nature calls n Aminul Islam Sujon

T

oday is World Toilet Day. The theme this year is “Equity and Dignity.” World Toilet Day has been celebrated globally since 2001 by the World Toilet Organisation. The organisation is based in Singapore and now has a worldwide network which includes Bangladesh. The United Nations approved this day as a UN Official Day last year.

This year’s theme focuses on safe sanitation for girls and women. It is evident that one in three women around the world are victims of violence at least once in their lifetime.

The connection between toilets and violence against women may not initially be obvious, but consider a woman without access to a toilet in her home.

When travelling to and from public toilets, using the toilet, or venturing from her home to defecate out in the open, she is vulnerable to violence.

This vulnerability is becoming increasingly recognised and talked about.

Reports of attacks or harassment near or in toilet facilities, and out in the open, are not uncommon. The consequences of such violence are

both physical and psychological to the victim, and extend to families and communities that persist in living with gender-based inequalities and the lost economic potential of the victims.

It is our duty to protect vulnerable women. Universal access to safe toilets has a clear role to play in defending women’s safety and dignity.

It needs to be remembered that, 1 billion people around the world still do not have access to toilets, and are forced to go out in the open. Having to defecate openly infringes on human safety and dignity. This holds particularly true for women and girls, who lose privacy and face shame – after painfully holding their bladders and bowels all day – risk getting attacked by waiting until nightfall.

Since 2000, the world has been working towards ending open defecation by improving access to toilets through the United Nations Millennium Development Goals.

However, significant progress, particularly that of which is equitable, is still needed.

Where toilets do exist, additional inequalities are present in terms of usability. Toilets generally remain inadequate for populations with special needs, such as the disabled

and the elderly, and women and girls requiring facilities to manage menstrual hygiene. Without accessible toilets for these sub-sections, they remain excluded from opportunities to attend school and gain employment.

World Toilet Day is about the 2.5 billion people who lack access to improved sanitation. It is about the 1 billion people who have to defecate out in the open. And it is about you, who can’t wait to change this situation.

Lack of sanitation are the causes of cholera, typhoid, hepatitis, polio, diarrhea, worm infection, reduced physical growth, impaired cognitive function, and malnutrition. Around 340,000 children die every year from diarrhea caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation – that’s nearly 1,000 children a day.

Teenage girls leave school when they start menstruating because they don’t have any privacy in toilets at schools. Open defecation also pollutes rivers, and every minute 1.1 million litres of human excrement enters the Ganges river. Lack of access to sanitation, including the practice of open defection, costs the world’s poorest countries $260bn a year.

On November 17, Poribesh Bachao Andolan (POBA) and Work for a Better

1 billion people around the world still do not have access to toilets, and are forced to go out in the open

Not limited to city corporations, everywhere in Bangladesh there are local government bodies present, including pourashavas, upazila parishads, and union parishads. These local government bodies should take responsibility

result, they suffer a lot.

About half the people are women, and about 10% are physically disabled. But in reality, there are no public toilets for the physically challenged and the women in Dhaka, or indeed

anywhere in the country.

Each city corporation has a sanitary inspector, but they are not monitoring public toilets. According to observations made by POBA, most public toilets are not secure for women.

Public toilets are not clean, there are not enough lights, and water crises are a regular occurrence.

These shortcomings should be addressed by our city authorities. The government should ensure public toilets for hawkers and homeless persons, as most of them have no facilities provided. City corporations should monitor and ensure free public toilets instead of providing a lease to privatised ones.

Toilets and sanitation systems are the symbol for quality of life to any nation. To ensure quality of life, equity, and dignity, a healthy, environment-friendly, clean, and comfortable sanitation system everywhere in Bangladesh, with a focus to safe and separate toilets for women and physically challenged people, should be provided. This is our expectation from the government on World Toilet Day 2014. l Aminul Islam Sujon is a member of Poribesh Bachao Andolon.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Wednesday, November 19, 2014

13 DOHS lose three

in a row, MSC move second

14 Messi should beat

Ronaldo to Ballon d’Or, says Martino

14 Japan edge

Australia in warm-up

Sport

Did you know?

Tim Southee has hit 35 sixes batting at numbers 9 to 11, more than anyone else in Test history

n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong It took Bangladesh cricket team head coach Chandika Hathurusingha six months to taste the sweetness of a victory but the high profile former Sri Lankan cricketer is not relaxed with the positive outcome, rather he is looking forward to the future hurdles.

Hathurusingha had little time to settle in as he witnessed a terrible display from the Tigers as soon as he took charge through the three-match oneday home series against India in May. Returning from a win-less Caribbean tour in September, a drastic change in fortune was essential ahead of the 2015 ICC World Cup. Zimbabwe are the first real challenge for Hathurusingha (given the time he received to settle down) and didn’t the players fit in their mentor’s strategy in style!

Bangladesh outplayed Zimbabwe in all three departments to enjoy their first-ever 3-0 whitewash in Tests at home. However, the experienced coach seemed to put the triumph behind as he looks to overcome the upcoming challenges.

“I won’t use the word relieved because I am thinking about the next challenge. We did well, we have to move, for me bigger challenges will come up in the future. The main thing is to do well for the challenges up front,” said Hathurusingha after their practice session yesterday.

“I think it does justify our home advantage as well as we played as a team, we played to our plans and it’s a good win. I think the better team won, we dominated most of the sessions in all the three Test matches,” he added.

A genuine batsman of his time, Hathurusingha seemed pleased to have found the missing piece in the puzzle as the ever-so restless batters, who earlier succumbed to pressure easily, displayed great character to lead from the front.

“I think the batting of course (pleasing), our batters put runs on the board, and how we handled pressure situations, that’s one of the things. I was pleased about it because one thing when I came over, we sat down and talked about areas, we were very much concerned,” said Hathurusingha, who has over 1000 runs and eight 50s in 26 Tests for Sri Lanka, before adding he shuffled with a few combinations of players during the recent series that clicked.

However, the former coach of Sydney Thunder put the success behind and is looking forward to a competitive one-day series. He feels the shorter format is much more suitable for the visitors and said, “Yes, different format so definitely it’s going to be competitive even the Test series you can’t say it’s one sided, they gave us a good run in the first Test and even in the second Test they were in the game, I expect them to play differently because I think their bowling and batting is suited for one-day cricket, stronger batters and good decent bowlers. So I expect good competition.”

The 46-year-old does not believe the rotation in the captaincy will hamper the team momentum and opined that good communication is enough for maintaining the flow. He also termed the upcoming series as an opportunity for the players to perform and cement their place in the World Cup squad. l

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Hathurusingha puts maiden success aside

Bangladesh’s newly appointed ODI captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza (R) and his deputy in the format Shakib al Hasan in action during their practice session at ZACS yesterday evening

Tigers claw up the Test rankings n Tribune Desk A sensational turnaround for Bangladesh in the Test arena saw their performers rise in the ICC rankings.

Mominul Haque, the most impressive Bangladesh batsman in the series, moved up 14 places to a career high 19th position after racking up scores of 48 and 131 not out in the third Test

KING’S CUP, BHUTAN

Abahani denied by last-gasp Ugyen strike n Shishir Hoque A morale-shattering goal in the dying stages of the game saw Abahani Limited suffer a shocking 1-0 defeat against a young Bhutan National League side Ugyen Academy in the King’s Cup at Changlimithang Stadium in Thimphu yesterday.

Ugyen forward Tshering Wangdi netted the all-important goal just three minutes before the end of normal time as the traditional Sky Blues missed a host of chances throughout the game.

While the Sky Blues won their first game against Assam Electricity, a defeat in their second game against Ugyen dented Abahani’s chances of qualifying for the semifinals. Abahani’s two remaining games are scheduled for this Saturday and November 25 against Nepal A-Division League champions Manang Marshyangdi Club and I-League outfit FC Pune respectively.

Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu rued the defeat after the game.

“It is really a great shock for us. If we had won the game it would have been a great opportunity for us to move to the semifinals. Now we have to fight hard and win the remaining two matches. I hope the boys will realise it,” said Rupu yesterday.

“They (Ugyen) played a good brand of football. They played with the same pace throughout the 90 minutes and did not allow our team to play free-flowing football.

“We created lots of chances in the first half and maybe failed to take advantage of four or five clear-cut chances. The opponents created one chance, our defender made a mistake and they scored the goal,” added a frustrated Rupu.

Another Bangladeshi club, Sheikh Jamal, earlier began their King’s Cup campaign with a resounding 3-0 win against Druk United FC last Saturday.

Sheikh Jamal’s next game is scheduled for this Sunday against Mazda. l

Zimbabwe head coach Stephen Mangongo (C) briefs his players after a practice session at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium, Chittagong yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

‘Tigers in their own jungle are dangerous’ n Mazhar Uddin from Chittagong

Disappointed Zimbabwean coach Stephen Mangongo credited the Bangladeshis for their strong display and hoped his charges will bounce back from the dismal Test series.

Mangongo, who has been in charge of the national side since early 2013, reasoned their poor batting behind the unsuccessful run of form and urged his players to come up top in all the three departments.

“Well I am very disappointed by our failure in the three Tests, it’s never good to lose whitewash but we must give credit to Bangladesh. They really played very good cricket in their home conditions, but now its water under the bridge,” said Mangongo after their practice session at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium yesterday.

“It’s a new chapter, going to the oneday series, we are looking forward. I think it will be a close-fought competition, most of the one-day games are always bitter and tough between these two nations and I expect the same,”

said the 44-year-old before adding, “The Tigers (Bangladesh cricket team) in their own jungle are dangerous, we still have to be worried because they hunt very well in their territory.”

“We need to make sure the batsmen come to party because that’s the reason why we lost, when we bowled well in the first Test we didn’t bat well, when we batted well in Khulna we didn’t bowl well, so yes the jigsaw puzzle is that we need to make sure all our three departments come to the party so that we can get a good result.”

The young spinners did not perform to their potential in the Test series, but Mangongo sounded confident with the rookies ahead of the five-match oneday series. Four players have recently joined the ODI squad as Mangongo said, “We hope that the young guys will bring freshness into the team, we hope that they will start their international career on a bright note. We have got Peter Moore, Solomon Mire, who played in Australia, these boys are starting their international career and we wish them well.” l

ICC Test rankings for batsmen Rank (+/-) Player Points 19 (+14) Mominul Haque 644 33 (-3) Shakib al Hasan 592 34 (+3) Tamim Iqbal 591 37 (-3) Mushfiqur Rahim 563 53 (-2) Mahmudullah 479

against Zimbabwe while his teammate, opening batsman Tamim Iqbal, climbed three places to 34th thanks to his knocks of 109 and 65 in the same match.

In the ICC rankings for Test bowlers, Shakib al Hasan remains Bangladesh’s highest ranked bowler in 16th position.

However, leg-spinner Jubair Hossain is the biggest mover in the rankings

with a staggering 55-place jump to 58th place after claiming combined match figures of seven wickets for 152 runs in the third Test in Chittagong.

Shakib remains the No 1 player in the ICC Test all-rounder rankings after scores of 71 and 17 in the third Test while he also chipped in with a wicket to extend his lead over India’s Ravichandran Ashwin to 41 points. l

Cagers 4th in Asian Beach Games n Raihan Mahmood

Bansal uncertain as hockey coach

Bangladesh basketball team basked in glory as they defeated China in the quarterfinals but a loss in the semifinals against India yesterday ousted them from the 4th Asian Beach Games being held in Phuket, Thailand.

The brave Bangladeshi cagers edged past their Chinese opponents 20-19 but could not sustain their winning rhythm against India and conceded a 21-6 defeat. Later in the third-place decider, Bangladesh again put a brave fight before going down to a narrow 17-15 defeat against the hosts.

In beach volleyball, Bangladesh beat Tajikistan 21-10 in both the games to win the match 2-0. l

n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh are all set to feature in the second round of the upcoming Hockey World League under the guidance of a local coach. The Bangladesh Hockey Federation (BHF) was earlier keen to acquire the services of Indian coach Ajay Kumar Bansal following the departure of Pakistani Naveed Alam but all hopes vanished as Ajay informed of his delay.

The Indian coach yesterday informed the BHF that he is yet to manage a long-term vacation from his employers and therefore the federation should explore other options.

Khwaja Rahmatullah, the general

ICC Test rankings for bowlers Rank (+/-) Player Points 16 (-2) Shakib al Hasan 673 42 (-8) Taijul Islam 378 58 (+55) Jubair Hossain 305 69 (-1) Mahmudullah 261 88 (+12) Shafiul Islam 178

secretary of the BHF, spoke to International Hockey Federation consultant coach Michael Keenan for the job and informed, “Keenan wants to come for a short stint and he has also asked for some additional facilities. We have to discuss the issue in the Governing Body meeting and then take a decision.”

The federation in the meantime decided to start the national team’s training camp from this Saturday at BKSP. The second round of the forthcoming Hockey World League is scheduled to be played in Singapore from January 17-25 with the participation of Bangladesh, Japan, Malaysia, Oman/Poland, Singapore and Ukraine. l

MSC top of Premier Chess League n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh Navy chess team registered an outstanding performance to beat last three years’ champions Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited by 2.5-1.5 points in the 7th round of the Walton Home Appliance Premier Division Chess League at the media center of Bangladesh Olympic Association yesterday. With this win the Navy team crawled into pole position with 12 points.

The rout was initiated by GM Enamul Hossain Razib who beat Mohammedan GM Ziaur Rahman. Playing with white pieces, Razib posted his victory in 39 moves. The winning streak was continued by rising star IM Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar who outplayed GM Niaz Murshed by 66 moves as Navy took a 2-0 lead. Navy GM Abdullah al Rakib drew with Georgian GM Merab Gagunashvili in the third board while Mohammedan’s other Georgian GM, Mikheil Mchedlishvili, won against FM Taibur Rahman in the fourth board.

Mohammedan are now in second position with 10 points.

Titas Club chess team are third with eight points after beating Leonine

Chess Club by 3-1 points. FMs Saif Uddin Lavlu, Shafiq Ahmed and Mohammed Abdul Malek of Titas Club won against FM Mehdi Hasan, CM Monir Hossain and Uten respectively.

Only CM Sohel Chowdhury of Leonine won against FM Debaraj Chatterjee of

Titas Club.

In the other two matches of the day, Pritam-Prism Chess Club-Narayanganj drew with Sreejan Chess Club by 2-2 points while Fire-Service & Civil Defense Sports Club drew with Sultana Kamal Smriti Pathagar by 2-2 points. l

IM Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar (L), GM Enamul Hossain Razib (Top L), GM Ziaur Rahman (Top R) and GM Niaz Murshed in action during the 7th round of the Premier Division Chess League at the media centre of the Bangladesh Olympic Association yesterday COURTESY

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

13

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Women face Nepal in semis today n Shishir Hoque Bangladesh women will be targeting a place in the final for the very first time when they take on Nepal in the second semifinal of the 3rd Saff Women’s Championship at Jinnah Football Stadium in Islamabad today.

With a fully-fit squad, a confident Bangladesh trained at Jinnah Lone Tennis Sports Complex yesterday afternoon.

Bangladesh’s opponents in the last four, Nepal, will be looking to repeat their performance at the same stage in the tournament’s first edition hosted by the former four years ago. Nepal had defeated the hosts 3-0.

However, the current Bangladesh women’s team are totally different to the one in 2010. And they have been backed up by their performances.

Assistant coach Golam Rabbani Choton said on the eve of the game that they will be looking to create history.

“We will give full effort in this match, this is our do-or-die match in order to reach the final. All the players are physically and mentally prepared to give their best.”

Captain Suinu pru Marma echoed the same sentiment. “We are all very serious and it is a very important match for us. We will try our best and put up 100% effort to win the match in order to qualify for the final.” l

QUICK BYTES

Modric facing threemonth injury break Real Madrid midfielder Luka Modric could be sidelined for up to three months after injuring his left thigh while playing for Croatia in a 1-1 draw with Italy, press reports said Tuesday. Modric hobbled off just before the half-hour mark of the Euro 2016 Group H qualifier at a packed San Siro on Sunday and was replaced by Inter Milan midfielder Mateo Kovacic. “Modric, three months KO,” headlined Spain’s top sports daily Marca, whils rival As cited “experts” as saying he would not play again this year and would be sidelined for between six and eight weeks. Real Madrid confirmed that Modric had torn a muscle in his thigh, but gave no estimate of how long he would be out of action for. If the press reports are confirmed Modric would miss several league games as well as Real Madrid’s two remaining Champions League games away to FC Basel on November 26 and at home to Ludogorets on December 9.

–AFP

Bayern’s Lahm out for months with broken ankle

Bayern Munich captain Philipp Lahm will have surgery after breaking his right ankle in training on Tuesday and will be out for up to three months, the German champions said. The Bayern captain, who retired from international football after Germany’s World Cup win in July, was injured in the morning session and had to be stretchered off in a golf cart. “Lahm broke his right ankle and will need to undergo surgery soon,” Bayern said in a statement. “The 31-year-old pro will be out for two-anda-half to three months.” He has been a key player for Pep Guardiola’s team this season, successfully switching between his new midfield role and the right back position he played for years. This is the first serious injury for the player since 2006 when he suffered an elbow problem. The Bavarians are already without injured midfielders Thiago Alcantara and Javi Martinez as well as David Alaba, Holger Badstuber and forward Claudio Pizarro. Substitute goalkeepers Pepe Reina and Tom Starke are also sidelined. Bastian Schweinsteiger, who returned to team training days ago, has also not played for months.

–Reuters

DAY’S WATCH Star Sports 2 9:15AM Australia v South Africa Third ODI 7:30PM Indian Super League Chennai v Pune

Ten Cricket 12:00PM Pakistan v New Zealand Second Test, Day 3

Sony Six 4:30PM World Kabaddi League Ludhiana: 42 NBA 14-15: Regular Season 6:00AM Cleveland v San Antonio 8:30AM Houston v LA Lakersw

Monjur Hasan Mintu no more n Raihan Mahmood Renowned sports commentator and former National Sports Council treasurer Monjur Hasan Mintu died of cardiac arrest in Azmir, India yesterday.

He was 75.

He was touring Azmir on personal grounds and fell at the bathroom of his hotel before being rushed to the nearby hospital. The attending doctors declared him dead.

A former footballer, Mintu played for Dhaka Wanderers and the East Pakistan team. The versatile Mintu was also a former member of the Bangladesh Olympic Association’s (BOA’s) executive committee and a National Sports Award winner. He retired as a commissioner of income tax.

BOA and the Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association expressed deep shock over the death of Mintu and prayed for the salvation of his departed soul. l The Prime Bank players celebrate the fall of a Kalabagan Cricket Academy wicket in the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League at SBNS yesterday

DHAKA TRIBUNE

DOHS lose three in a row, Mohammedan move second n

Minhaz Uddin Khan

Mohammedan SC, Partex SC and Prime Bank CC all confirmed their second victories of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League 2014-15 season after winning their respective third round matches yesterday.

It was a grim day for Old DOHS and Kalabagan Cricket Academy as they tasted their third successive loss in the premier 50-over tournament of the country.

MSC v Brothers Union, BKSP 3

Twin half-centuries by Ezaj Ahmed and Naeem Islam, followed by a disciplined bowling performance, enabled Mohammedan to register their second win

of the season as they defeated Brothers by 44 runs.

Mohammedan batted first and riding on Ezaj’s 84 and Naeem’s 52, the traditional Black and Whites posted 259 runs on the board losing nine wickets. Batting at No 6, Ariful Haque complimented Ezaj and Naeem’s efforts adding 47 off 36. Ariful’s blazing innings included a boundary and four sixes. Left-arm spinner Asif Hasan bagged five wickets for Brothers.

Later, slow run rate saw Brothers end their chase on 215 in their stipulated 50 overs. Nazmus Sadat topped the innings with 46 runs while Ahmed Sadiqur posted an unbeaten 32. Amit Kumar and Rahatul Ferdous picked up two wickets each for MSC.

Pakistan lose openers early after Kiwis score big n Reuters, London New Zealand’s batting tail wagged to take them to 403 in their first innings before they returned to dismiss Pakistan’s openers on the second day of the second test in Dubai on Tuesday.

After frustrating the Pakistani bowlers with his defiant unbeaten 32, Kiwi leg-spinner Ish Sodhi spun a ball past Shan Masood’s (13) bat and hit the middle stump.

Sodhi’s spin partner Mark Craig then drew the other opener Taufeeeq Umar (16) out of his crease to get him stumped. Pakistan were 34 for two wickets at stumps, 369 runs behind their opponents with eight first innings wickets in hand at the Dubai International Cricket Stadium.

Younus Khan, who has hit three centuries and a double hundred in his last six test innings, was batting on one with Azhar Ali (four) at the other end.

Resuming on 243 for three, New Zealand conceded the morning session to Pakistan, who claimed three wickets for 52 runs to peg back the Kiwis.

Tom Latham could not add to his career-best overnight score of 137, caught behind in the next over off a beautiful Rahat Ali delivery that lured the batsman into a drive before the slight away movement took an edge.

Left-handed Latham’s 269-ball knock included 11 fours and a six.

Jimmy Neesham (17) resisted the Pakistani spinners for almost an hour before chipping a Yasir Shah delivery to rival captain Misbah-ul-Haq at midwicket.

It was the 68-run seventh wicket stand between BJ Watling (39) and Mark Craig (43) that propped up New Zealand in the second session.

For Pakistan, left-arm spinner Zulfiqar Babar (4-137) wrecked the Kiwi lower order after his limited success against the frontline batsmen.l

Kalabagan CA v Prime Bank CC, SBNS

Dilshan Munaweera’s all-round heroics guided Prime Bank to a 113-run victory against Kalabagan.

Taking first strike, Dilshan’s 80ball 72 allowed Prime Back to 274. The top-order batsman’s innings included seven boundaries and four sixes. Opener Shadman Islam’s 53 was the second best score for Prime Bank. Right-arm spinner Mahmudul Hasan took three wickets.

Later, Dilshan took charge again, this time with the ball and scalped five wickets as Kalabagan ended their chase on 161 in 40.5 overs losing all wickets. Middle-order batsman Jeevan Mendis’ 36 was the highest for Kalabagan.

SCORECARD, DAY 2 New Zealand Ist innings (Overnight 243-3) T. Latham c Ahmed b Rahat B. McCullum c Masood b Adil K. Williamson b Babar R. Taylor c Masood b Shah C. Anderson c Ali b Adil J. Neesham c Misbah b Shah B.J. Watling c (sub) Sohail b Ali M. Craig lbw b Babar T. Southee b Babar I. Sodhi not out T. Boult c Rahat b Babar Extras: (lb9) Total: (all out; 156 overs)

137 43 32 23 9 17 39 43 17 32 2 9 403

Bowling Rahat 32-8-69-1, Adil 29-9-73-2, Babar 45-8-137-4, Shah 41-7-92-2, Ali 9-1-23-1 Pakistan Ist innings Shan Masood b Sodhi Taufeeq Umar st Watling b Craig Azhar Ali not out Younis Khan not out Total: (for two wkts; 19 overs)

13 16 4 1 34

Bowling Boult 5-1-9-0, Southee 3-0-5-0, Craig 6-3-8-1, Sodhi 5-0-12-1

Partex SC v Old DOHS, Fatullah

Old DOHS’s poor showings continued as the promoted side fell to their consecutive defeat of the season losing by 12 runs against Partex in a lowscoring tie.

Partex batted first and posted 189 on the board in their allotted 50 overs with Mehrab Hossain Jr top-scoring with 48.

Shahidul Islam picked up three wickets for Old DOHS. Later, Partex successfully defended their total restricting Old DOHS to 177.

Partex bowlers Nurujjaman Masum and Shafiul Alam shared six wickets between them.

Old DOHS skipper Kafi Khan scored 33 runs. l

South African paceman Dale Steyn played down his rift with Australia captain Michael Clarke on Tuesday, saying their supposed feud had been “a bit silly”.

Clarke has been ruled out of the last three matches of the one-day series against the Proteas by a hamstring injury and Steyn said he wished the Australian a swift recovery.

The row started in March when Clarke sledged Steyn when the South African and team mate Vernon Philander were batting to try, ultimately unsuccessfully, to save both the Cape Town Test and the series.

Clarke, who was fined for threatening England paceman James Anderson with a broken arm during the Brisbane Ashes Test at the end of last year, apologised in Cape Town for the sledge.

Steyn said after a triangular series in Zimbabwe later in the year, however, that he would not forgive the personal slight until Clarke shook him by the hand and apologised - comments he said had been blown out of all proportion.

“It’s got nothing to do about, ‘I’ll see you in the car park and we’ll beat the crap out of each other’,” Steyn told reporters in Canberra on Tuesday.

“Maybe I just said too much in Zim. The issue with Michael Clarke got

South Africa’s Dale Steyn (2R) and Australian skipper Michael Clarke (3L) engage in a heated on-field exchange during the Cape Town Test in March this year INTERNET

Mohammedan v Brothers Union Mohammedan 259/9 in 50 overs (Ezaj 84, Naeem 52, Asif Hasan 5/47) Brothers 215/7 in 50 overs (Nazmus 46, Amit 2/28, Rahatul 2/45) Mohammedan won by 44 runs

Kalabagan CA v Prime Bank Prime Bank 274 allout in 49.4 overs (Dilshan 72, Shadman 53, Mahmudul 3/26) Kalabagan CA 161 allout in 40.5 overs (Jeevan 36, Dilshan 5/40, Taijul 2/10) Prime Bank won by 113 runs

Old DOHS v Partex Partex 189/8 in 50 overs (Mehrab Jr 48, Shahidul 3/41, Nehaduzzaman 2/23) DOHS 177 allout in 49.1 overs (Kafi 33, Masum 3/46, Shafiul 3/23) Partex won by 12 runs

Swiss Davis Cup dreams clouded by injury, row n Reuters, London Switzerland’s potential Davis Cup fairytale this weekend has become clouded by uncertainty over the fitness of Roger Federer and suggestions of strained relations between the all-time great and his team mate Stanislas Wawrinka.

The country is on tenterhooks to learn whether its favourite son Federer, struggling with a back injury, can recover from injury in time to cap his matchless individual career by joining Wawrinka and winning a first team ‘World Cup’ for his nation against France in Lille.

Everything had been going swimmingly in Federer’s historic quest until Saturday evening’s semi-final of the ATP World Tour finals, in which he ousted his equally in-form pal Wawrinka in an epic three-setter.

Yet not only did the draining final moments of Federer’s win reawaken his

Steyn plays down ‘silly’ Clarke feud n Reuters, Sydney

BRIEF SCORES

blown out completely, it was like two schoolgirls the way the media got hold of it.”

Although Steyn said that he believed there was “a line” in sledging that should not be crossed, he was happy to put the disagreement with Clarke behind him.

“I didn’t want it to start a massive thing. It did, it doesn’t matter. He’s not playing now. He’s obviously injured.

Hopefully he gets well,” Steyn added.

“He’s a great player and I think there’s enough respect from both of us, we’ve played against each other for long enough now and it’s just kind of got blown out of the water. It’s a bit silly really in all honesty.”

With the one-day series nicely poised at 1-1 after the first two matches in Perth, the tourists face Australia in the third match at Manuka Oval on Wednesday. l

old back trouble, forcing him to withdraw before Sunday’s final against Novak Djokovic, but the late tension of the match also caused Wawrinka to offer sharp, unimpressed words towards his opponent’s support team at courtside.

John McEnroe, the former American firebrand now commentating for ESPN, only threw more fuel on the flames with his revelations that the two players were engaged in a long postmatch debate.l

Messi hints he may one day leave Barca n Reuters, Barcelona Argentina captain Lionel Messi has given the strongest hint yet he could consider leaving Barcelona, saying in an interview published in Ole newspaper on Tuesday “things can change a lot in soccer”.

Probed about his future plans, Messi told Ole he was living “in the present” and was focusing on winning titles with Barca after failure to secure major silverware in 2013-14.

“After that we’ll see,” he said, when asked if he was still planning to stay at Barca for his entire professional career.

“Things can change a lot in soccer.

While I have always said I would like to stay there (at Barca) forever, sometimes things don’t work out the way you would like.”

“The more so in football, which is so volatile and where so many things happen.l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Ex-Brazil skipper Silva makes peace with Neymar, Dunga n AFP, Vienna

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi (3R) stands with (L-R) Australian cricketers Steve Waugh, Allan Border, Glenn McGrath, Australian Prime Minister Tony Abbott, state Premier of Victoria Denis Napthine, Victorian opposition leader Daniel Andrews and former Indian cricketer Kapil Dev during a reception at the MCG yesterday. Modi is on a three-day official visit to Australia following the G20 leaders’ summit which was held in Brisbane last weekend REUTERS

Ex-Brazil captain Thiago Silva on Monday revealed he has made peace with current skipper Neymar and national coach Dunga, a day after expressing his dismay at being stripped of the armband.

Silva lost the captaincy after hosts Brazil’s World Cup campaign, which included a humiliating 7-1 loss to Germany in the semi-finals before falling 3-0 in the third-place playoff against the Netherlands.

“It wasn’t up to me to approach the matter first,” said Silva, who missed the first two call-ups to new coach Dunga’s squad after the World Cup because of injury.

“He (Neymar) didn’t come to talk to me. Nobody talked to me about it. It happened without explanation. That’s what upset me.”

However, Silva, 30, insisted that his comments had been taken out of context and that he has since made peace with Neymar and Dunga although he has been overlooked for Tuesday’s friendly against Austria.

“I consider Neymar like a brother and that’s not going to change because of an armband,” Silva told reporters.

Neymar had expressed his “surprise by the comments” of his teammate.

“I told him along with all the players that we have to be careful what we say,” said the Barcelona forward.

“He (Silva) phoned me to discuss things and its not going to call our friendship into question.”l

film pulls in crowds Fifa whistleblower says report WC despite bad reviews violated confidentiality n Reuters, Berlin

n Reuters, Washington A former employee of Qatar’s 2022 World Cup bid has accused Fifa investigators of violating confidentiality promises made when she agreed to provide evidence of alleged corruption related to the bid.

On Sunday, former Qatar bid employee Phaedra Almajid sent Michael Garcia, a New York lawyer hired by Fifa to investigate corruption, a two-page complaint.

It alleged that soccer’s world governing body breached its own ethics code by making public information which unmasked Almajid as one of more than 70 witnesses who had cooperated with Garcia’s investigation.

In a report made public earlier this month, Hans Joachim Eckert, a German judge hired by Fifa to evaluate a still-secret investigative report prepared by Garcia about Fifa’s decisions to award the 2018 World Cup to Russia and the 2022 tournament to Qatar, examined “allegations of corruption” which a “whistleblower” had made to Garcia beginning in December 2012.

Eckert’s report said “serious concerns” about the informant’s credibility had been “apparent from the outset”.

It noted that the person at first made public allegations of corruption, then issued a sworn statement retracting them.

Eckert said Garcia’s report concluded that the evidence provided by the

informant “could not be relied upon to corroborate” their story and that Garcia also expressed concerns that the informant had “altered evidence”.

Eckert added that Fifa could therefore not rely on the evidence of alleged corruption by the Qatar bid that the informant had supplied.

Almajid said that while Eckert did not identify her by name, in practice his report pointed to her as the informant because it mentioned she was the person who made allegations in public in 2011 about corruption related to the Qatar 2022 bid.

“Within hours of publication of Herr Eckert’s summary, I had already been widely identified as one of the ‘whis-

tleblowers’ in German and British media,” Almajid’s complaint said.

She said this violated public “assurances of confidentiality” that a Fifa lawyer reiterated as recently as “two months ago.”

Almajid reportedly was the source for allegations that Qatar’s World Cup bid paid bribes to three Fifa executives from Africa to secure their support for Qatar’s bid.

Fifa spokeswoman Delia Fischer said in a statement to Reuters that allegations of confidentiality breaches “should be examined” by its disciplinary committee and Fifa “cannot prejudice any decision that said Committee could take in this or any similar situation.” l

A behind-the-scenes documentary film about Germany’s successful campaign to win the 2014 soccer World Cup in Brazil pulled in the crowds in Germany on its opening weekend, despite woeful reviews.

Critics assailed “Die Mannschaft” (The Team) as a sugar-coated, corporate PR-style production, a far cry from a more critical and stirring movie by independent filmmaker Soenke Wortmann about the 2006 World Cup, which Germany hosted.

But that didn’t stop 420,000 people from packing cinemas, according to distributor Constantin, to see forward Thomas Mueller serving teammates in a pink Bavarian dirndl dress after losing a bet, and his fellow striker Lukas Podolski pushing a reporter into a pool.

The 85-minute film, which premiered on Thursday on 600 of Germany’s 2,000 cinema screens, includes some of the key moments of Germany’s six wins and one draw en route to winning the cup with a 1-0 victory over Argentina.

But it also has many tedious scenes of coach Joachim Loew looking moody as he walks along a beach, and of players fiddling with mobile phones while lying around the pool or waiting in airport lounges.

“It’s shallow, banal and doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know,” wrote Fabian Scheler in the national weekly Die Zeit. “It’s nothing more than 90 minutes of uncritical self-congratulation. There’s nothing new in this film - unless you’re interested in knowing what Philipp Lahm ate for breakfast after the final or how Mario Goetze plays table tennis.”l

Messi should beat Ronaldo to Ballon d’Or, says Martino n Reuters, Manchester Debates about who is world’s best player will rage when Lionel Messi faces Cristiano Ronaldo as Argentina play Portugal at Old Trafford on Tuesday, but for Argentina coach Gerardo Martino there is only ever one choice.

Barcelona’s Messi and Real Madrid’s Ronaldo continually go head-to-head to top the scoring charts in La Liga and the Champions League, and FIFA’s Player of the Year award has become a two-horse race between the pair in recent years.

Martino said Messi would get his vote every year for the award, officially known as the Ballon d’Or, over current holder Ronaldo. He did admit, though, he was more than a little biased.

“You can’t take out of the deciding process I am Argentinian, my heart lies with Messi,” Martino, who previously managed Barcelona, told a news conference on Monday.

“I am not the best person to judge, I cannot separate sentiment from my objective decision. Whatever season Messi has had on footballing grounds, I would still vote for him.

“I would vote for him on footballing terms. You can’t separate what he is like as a human from what he is as a player.”

Sven takes over Shanghai n AFP, Beijing Former England manager Sven-Goran Eriksson was unveiled by cash-rich Shanghai East Asia as their new coach Tuesday, on a contract that reportedly puts him among the top earners in football management.

The Swede was presented by officials at the Chinese Super League (CSL) club after intense speculation following his exit from fellow top-flight outfit Guangzhou R&F last week.

The well-travelled coach was reported to have been paid up to $3 million at Guangzhou, and Chinese media said his new bosses were willing to double the coaching team’s salaries.

“I am very happy and very proud that it is finally official that we are here and I am going to be the head coach of this club,” Eriksson told a news conference.

“I am looking forward to start work and looking forward to a new challenge.” l

Messi and Ronaldo top the billing for the game but the performance of Manchester United and Argentina winger Angel Di Maria will provide an interesting subtext.

The 26-year-old, a British transfer record signing of 59.7 million pounds ($93.41 million) from Real Madrid in the close season, will play at Old Trafford hoping for an upturn in the fortunes he has enjoyed there in a club shirt.

Martino believes that the winger will overcome a dip in his recent form once he gets used to the Premier League.

“Angel is one of the top, top players in world football,” Martino said.

“His start (at United) was exceptional. But generally when players go to a new club and have to get used to a new league, a new team, a different style of football and different team-mates, I think the form that he is showing now is possibly more typical of that player.” l

Caen, Nimes set to be expelled n Reuters, Paris Caen and Nimes could be expelled from Ligue 1 and Ligue 2 respectively should match-fixing allegations be proven, the French League (LFP) president said on Tuesday.

“If corruption, match fixing were to be proven, the League would impose the necessary sanctions with the greatest severity and I remind you that it could go as far as the exclusion from the league,” said Frederic Thiriez. Caen chairman Jean-Francois Fortin was among nine people arrested on Tuesday morning on suspicion of fixing the result of a game between his team and Nimes last season.l

Japan forward Shinji Okazaki (L) shoots the ball while Australia midfielder Mathew Leckie attempts to block during the international friendly match in Osaka yesterday AFP

Japan edge Australia in warm-up n Reuters Japan banged in two goals in an eight-minute blitz to set-up a 2-1 win over Australia in a key Asian Cup warmup in Osaka on Tuesday.

The Australians created the better chances in a scoreless first half but were overrun by the Blue Samurai in the second term.

Japanese substitute Yasuyuki Konno opened the scoring in the 61st minute when he headed the ball into the Australian net after being left unmarked then striker Shinji Okazaki added a second with a spectacular back heel.

Japan missed a string of chances to increase their lead before the Austra-

lians pulled one back in stoppage time when the Socceroos’ best player Tim Cahill, who only came on as a late substitute, scored off a header.

“I said last week, I’ll affect the game in a positive way and I did,” Cahill told reporters.

“We played fantastic tonight. We just got to believe. We’re fearless. We have nothing to lose. I’m just buzzing for the Asian Cup.” Despite Cahill’s confidence, Japan are looming as the likely favourites to defend their Asian Cup title when the tournament takes place in Australia in January.

The teams met in the final in 2011, with Japan winning 1-0 in extra-time,

and Tuesday’s match was both country’s last warm-up before the 16-nation tournament.

The Australians have lost eight of their last 12 matches and head coach Ange Postecoglou said they clearly needed to improve if they hoped to win on home soil but there were some good signs.

“We lost our shape in the second half. Our first half was positive but the way we let ourselves down, it’s disappointing,” he told reporters.

“I don’t regret bringing Timmy on that late. I needed to blood players. We let ourselves down. We still have to get details right. I thought tonight against a really good opponent, for 45-50 minutes we were good.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

SHAFI MONDOL: I follow the core value of Lalon’s philosophy n Shadma Malik

Entertainment

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

15

NEXT LEVEL: Uniting cultures through hip-hop Pain and Gain HBO, 9:30pm

A year after his debut album “Gurukey Goponey Rakhbo,” Baul Shafi Mondol’s second album “Bhaab” came out on July 18 this year. Initiated by Anusheh Anadil and produced and composed by Seth Panduranga Blumberg, the album consists of 10 original songs of folk legend Lalon Shah. Dhaka Tribune caught up with the artist.

A trio of bodybuilders in Florida get caught up in an extortion ring and a kidnapping scheme that goes terribly wrong.

What is the story behind the album title?

There is a song of Lalon Shah, titled “She Kotha Ki Korar Kotha Janitey Hoi Bhaab,” where his verses explain that Bhaab is God’s presence. As a follower of Lalon, it is my spiritual approach to spread Lalon’s philosophy through music.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Zee Studio, 5:45pm

How is this album different from the previous one?

The previous one had more of a traditional approach, whereas this album has western influences. Also, it is a research-based project on Lalon Shah.

n Hasan Mansoor Chatak

I am a baul. My father, late Maolana Ahad Ali Mondol, was a fourth-generation (following the “guru-shishya” tradition) disciple of Lalon. I would like to establish myself as a baul rather than a performer. I follow the core value of Lalon’s philosophy, which is humanism.

Do you follow Lalon’s lifestyle?

I put my best efforts to follow his lifestyle. I follow his ideologies, food habit, attire and way of living. I feel content and have little desire for anything. I have no bad feelings about any human being.

How do you think Lalon’s legacy can be preserved?

It is not possible for the commercial artistes who sing Lalon’s songs. Bauls are always trying to preserve the originality of Lalon’s music. In musical sessions, his followers share their views with each other through his songs and philosophy.

“Bhaab” is available at all the outlets of Jatra, Deshal and Probortona as well as all Audiovision showrooms. l

Anacondas: The Hunt for the Blood Orchid Star Movies, 7:30pm

KHAN HASAN MD RAFI

Do you want to establish yourself as a baul or as a performer?

The outcome of the two-week hip-hop dance and music workshop with four American hip-hop artistes shaped a momentous period in the history of hip-hop culture in Bangladesh.

50 Bangladeshi hip-hop artistes took part in the final demonstration with the American artistes – vocalist Asheru, dancer and choreographer Amirah Sackett, vocalist Jocelyn Ellis, and DJ André “DJ A-Minor” Barden – at the show titled “Next Level Bangladesh,” held at Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy in the capital on Monday.

The long-anticipated evening started with a seven-minute Kathak dance piece, performed by dancers from Shadhona. The performance seemed to be synchronised with the theme of the project, which is building a cultural bond through hip-hop.

Then a hip-hop break dance routine was performed, which featured around 20 local break dancers, which was followed by the rendition of a folk song titled “Shona dia bandhayachi ghor,” with rapping and beatboxing by three local artistes. An unusual sight was Black Zang, a local hip-hop artiste, rapping with a script in his hand.

Speaking during the event, Muhammed Abdullah, artist and owner of Wreck Records – a record label solely dedicated to hip-hop productions – said Bangla hip-hop was incarnated in the hands of the country’s National Poet Kazi Nazrul Islam. Abdullah with other artistes performed a hip-hop version of “Chal Chal Chal,” a popular Nazrul song.

The three major manifestations of hip-hop culture: rapping, turntablism or DJ mixing, and breakdance – were demonstrated profoundly on the stage. The fourth manifestation, graffiti art, was also noticeable, with two graffiti boards on the stage which read “Bangladesh hip-hop forever” and “hip-hop.”

Then a beatboxing battle took place on stage among with six beat producing groups. The audience were handed the authority of judging the participants, who picked the best group by cheering and even whistling.

Asheru, the African-American artiste, sang two songs titled “Chup Chup” and “More Swing,” leaving a long lasting impression on the audience when he left the stage. The audience also applauded and cheered a relatively popular local hip-hop track titled “Ai Mama Ai”

by Uptown Lokolz.

However, the most crafted performance of the evening was an-

A young fugitive prince and princess must stop a villain who unknowingly threatens to destroy the world with a special dagger that enables the magic sand inside to reverse time.

other fusion performance of a Lalon folk song titled “Chatok Bache Kemone,” performed by Shafi Mondol, Amirah Sackett, Asheru and Jocelyn Ellis, which featured of breaking, DJ mixing and rapping.

However, talking to the Dhaka Tribune after the show, Muhammed Abdullah said that it was too early for the local artistes to delve into hip-hop fusion. “We should get used to the raw version of hip-hop first,” he said.

Next Level is an initiative of the US Department of State and the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, which selects hip-hop artistes and educators to participate in the programme to use hip-hop as a tool for cultural diplomacy and conflict resolution. l

JOLIE gives her son his first job n Entertainment Desk

Two stage magicians engage in competitive one-upmanship in an attempt to create the ultimate stage illusion.

Bollywood actress Jacqueline Fernandez’s double role in her upcoming movie “Roy” will grip the audience, says Bhushan Kumar, the producer of the film.

The 29-year-old will be sporting two completely different looks—one of a movie director and the other of an art director alongside her co-stars Arjun Rampal and Ranbir Kapoor.

“This is the first time one will see Jacqueline in a double role.

Both her roles are contrasting and will grip the audience attention,” Bhushan Kumar said in a statement.

As an art enthusiast named Tia, Jacqueline will be seen in a sophisticated classy look with cropped hair opposite Ranbir Kapoor in the film.

As movie director Ayesha in the film, the Sri Lankan beauty will be dressed very casually with her long tresses and accessories including bands and bracelets.

She will complete her look with a tattoo on her neck and wrist.

Directed by debutant Vikramjit Singh, the film’s ending parts are currently being shoot in Mumbai.

The film is set to release on February 13, next year. l

HRITHIK ROSHAN: Separation is worse than death n Entertainment Desk

Theatre troupe Padatik Nattya Sangsad (TSC) will stage William Shakespeare’s master-piece tragedy “Macbeth” today at 7pm at the Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy (BSA). The play has been translated by littérateur Syed Shamsul Haq, and is directed by Sudip Chakrobrothy.

The destruction wrought when ambition goes unchecked by moral constraints—finds its most powerful expression in the play’s two main characters. Macbeth is a courageous Scottish general who is not naturally inclined to commit evil deeds, yet he deeply desires power and advancement. He kills Duncan against his better judgment and afterward stews in guilt and para-

WB, 7pm

n Entertainment Desk

Padatik Nattya Sangsad stages Macbeth

noia. Toward the end of the play, he descends into a kind of frantic, boastful madness.

Lady Macbeth, on the other hand, pursues her goals with greater determination, yet she is less capable of withstanding the repercussions of her immoral acts. One of Shakespeare’s most forcefully drawn female characters, she spurs her husband mercilessly to kill Duncan and urges him to be strong in the murder’s aftermath, but she is eventually driven to distraction by the effect of Macbeth’s repeated bloodshed on her conscience.

In each case, ambition—helped, of course, by the malign prophecies of the invisible evil power — is what drives the couple to ever more terrible atrocities. l

The Prestige

JACQUELINE FERNANDEZ’S double role in Roy

Hollywood actress Angelina Jolie has reportedly hired her eldest son Maddox as production assistant for her movie “By The Sea.” According to a new report, the 13-year-old will help out on the set of the movie in which Jolie is working with her husband and actor Brad Pitt, reports mirror.co.uk.

The couple has been shooting for the film in Malta.

“Maleficent” star who is the director of the movie, has allegedly given Maddox his first job after he joined her on the set of her movie “Unbroken” in Australia earlier this year.

Maddox was seen around the set of “Unbroken” quite a bit, watching the goings-on and also talking to the movie actors as they shot in Sydney. l

n Entertainment Desk

A scientific expedition sets out for Borneo to seek a flower called the Blood Orchid, which could grant longer life. Meanwhile, they run afoul of snakes and each other.

In the last one year, ever since Hrithik Roshan and Sussanne Roshan have publicly come out in the open, and released statements about their separation, the “Bang Bang” star has been questioned about his split several times. The actor who chose to maintain a strict silence on the matter, has finally opened up about the same in an interview to a popular magazine.

Previously when Hrithik was questioned about his divorce, Hrithik tried to dodge the question with his philosophical statements. Usually a little reluctant, Hrithik does not like creating headlines with spicy one liners and strong statements. But in the interview given to Filmfare, he clearly made one.

When Hrithik was asked about how his separation with wife Sussanne has affected him, he said, “Separation is worse than death.” This one line stands as a testimony of the hardships and the inner battles the actor has gone through in the past one year.

Although Hrithik usually tries to keep things to himself, the actor has hardly ever spoken how difficult it was for him to deal with the tough situation back at home. But now that the couple are mutually separated, and Hrithik has finally come out of the pain. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Army wants ISP licence of its own Existing law neither necessitates nor prohibits the facility for a security force all garrisons in the county through suitan Muhammad Zahidul Islam ble gateway at major locations.”

The Bangladesh Army has applied for an internet service provider’s licence to the country’s telecom regulator for better running their own services, sources say.

The existing telecom act neither necessitates a defence force to have a separate ISP licence, nor prohibits it. The act says security forces, including the army, will not need to have ISP licences; they can enjoy the facilities under existing arrangements.

A senior official of the Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) said they had recently

The Bangladesh Army says in the application that the licence will not be used for any commercial purposes received an application in this regard from the General Staff Branch under the Information Technology Directorate of the Army Headquarters.

According to the application, the army says the ISP will not be used for commercial purposes.

The Army Headquarters claims that it has one of the largest data networks in the country which it now wants to expand.

“Bangladesh Army maintains one of the largest data networks in the county, extending its network and data services to the remotest locations of the county including the Chittagong Hill Tracts,” the application reads.

It also says: “In addition to customised data services and applications, the organisation also provides internet services to

The application says currently the army is using a 324-Mbps bandwidth and their requirements are increasing every day.

The application has already been discussed at a meeting of the BTRC. The commission has reportedly wanted to know more about why the army needs the licence for, the areas the dedicated ISP will be used and the future plans.

“As per a decision made in the commission meeting, we have sent a letter to the Army Headquarters. Once we get the reply, we will place it before the commission again,” a senior BTRC official told the Dhaka Tribune seeking anonymity.

Another senior official says since there is no bar, the army, upon fulfilling necessary conditions, can get a no objection certificate (NOC) from the BTRC and proceed with getting its own ISP licence.

The meeting also reportedly discussed that the army would need to submit to the commission an interconnection agreement with an international internet gateway (IIG) operator. If the BTRC does not vet, any such agreement will not be effective.

The army would also have to agree to not bypass the licenced IIG in transmitting international incoming and outgoing data, meeting sources said.

Commission’s approval would be needed for importing ISP equipment as well. In case, the army decided to sell any of the equipment, it would have to again get permission from the BTRC explaining the reason and prospective buyers and other particulars.

The BTRC has awarded 535 ISP licences in six different categories. l

Guarded by Bangladesh Navy officers, this warship carrying more than 600 human traffickers and victims reached Chittagong yesterday. The group on a ship bearing the national flag of Myanmar, was caught on Monday while trafficking its human cargo to Malaysia through the Bay of Bengal DHAKA TRIBUNE

Rescued migrants were offered free journey n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

A total of 625 people were seen huddled onboard a 25-metre long fishing trawler with the Myanmar flag when the vessel arrived at the Bangladesh Navy Ready Response Berth at Patenga, Chittagong, yesterday evening.

Most of them had been in the trawler for 10-15 days before being rescued by the navy from deep sea area of the Bay of Bengal on Monday morning.

They had food that would hardly last two to three more days.

“We wanted to take money and other belongings before starting the journey but the brokers only allowed two to three dresses for each,” said one of

the rescued.

These people were heading to Malaysia by the trawler after receiving offers from human traffickers of going abroad without any cost.

Elam Bahar of Teknaf in Cox’s Bazar told the Dhaka Tribune that her husband was in Malaysia and she attempted to go to her husband. A broker named Selim had come to her with the offer.

“Selim hired me a boat and some others from Teknaf 10 days ago while we got on the trawler three days ago.

The cost of the entire journey was supposed to be paid after reaching Malaysia,” she said.

A boy named Munna, along with her mother Monwara Begum, of Dohazari

The detainees were handed over to Patenga police upon arrival at the jetty yesterday around 6:30pm.

Officer-in-Charge Quazi Shahabuddin said they had already made preparations to verify the identities of the detainees, but most would be released as they were victims.

He said they would interrogate the traffickers to find out more information about the racket.

Different law enforcement agencies have rescued more than 1,000 people from Chittagong and Cox’s Bazar since September this year.

The agencies say traffickers have become active taking advantage of the calm in the Bay. l

Mamata open to antiBJP platform to fight communalism

Palestinians kill four in Jerusalem synagogue attack n Reuters, Jerusalem Two Palestinians armed with a meat cleaver and a gun killed four people in a Jerusalem synagogue yesterday before being shot dead by police, the deadliest such incident in six years in the holy city amid a surge in religious conflict.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged to respond with a “heavy hand,” and again accused Western-backed Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas of inciting violence in Jerusalem.

Abbas condemned the attack, which comes after a month of unrest fuelled in part by a dispute over Jerusalem’s holiest shrine.

A worshipper at the morning service in the Kehillat Bnei Torah synagogue in an ultra-Orthodox neighbourhood of West Jerusalem said about 25 people were praying when shooting broke out.

“I looked up and saw someone shooting people at point-blank range.

Then someone came in with what looked like a butcher’s knife and he went wild,” the witness, Yosef Posternak, told Israel Radio.

Photos distributed by Israeli authorities showed a man in a Jewish prayer shawl lying dead, a bloodied butcher’s cleaver on the floor, several overturned prayer tables and prayer books covered in blood. Israel’s ambulance service said at least eight people were seriously wounded.

The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) said it carried out the attack. “We declare full responsibility of the PFLP for the execution of this heroic operation conducted by our heroes this morning in Jerusalem,” said Hani Thawbta, a PFLP leader in Gaza.

Police identified one of the dead as Rabbi Moshe Twersky, who taught at a Jerusalem seminary. Twersky was from a Hassidic rabbinical dynasty and a grandson of Joseph Soloveitchik, a renowned Boston rabbi who died in 1993.

In a statement, Abbas said: “The presidency condemns the attack on Jewish worshippers in one of their places of prayer in West Jerusalem and condemns the killing of civilians no matter who is doing it.” l

upazila, said his father was in Malaysia and they also had taken the free offer from a person in their locality.

A middle-aged woman from Mangdu in Myanmar got on the trawler seven days ago to go to Malaysia to attend the wedding of an acquaintance.

The stories of Tayeba and her three children from Teknaf, and Aeysha and her two kids from Merulla in Myanmar are also same. Bangladesh Navy ship Durjoy rescued 614 people and 21 boatmen from deep sea, 135 nautical miles southwest of the Saint Martin’s Island.

A total of 555 were men while 49 were Myanmar nationals, 31 female and 26 children, said a press release of Bangladesh Navy.

n Tribune Desk

Kazi Anis Ahmed, an adviser of the Hay Festival Dhaka, addressing a press conference at Dhaka Reporters’ Unity yesterday prior to the international literature festival that takes off tomorrow DHAKA TRIBUNE

Hay Festival Dhaka brings new colours this year n Syeda Samira Sadeque With its themes expanding the horizons to fields of science, mathematics, journalism and the arts, Hay Festival Dhaka, the first international literature festival of Bangladesh, is all set to take off tomorrow.

Now in its fourth year, the festival will feature artists and thinkers from as many as 13 countries and hold more than 70 sessions over the course of three days, beginning tomorrow morning.

“We know of the rich heritage of Bangla literature, but we have not been able to carry to the world the beauty we experience in reading Bangla literature,” festival adviser Kazi Anis Ahmed said during a press conference held yesterday.

“From Tolstoy to Jaruki Murakami, Kafka to Orhan Phamuk, we are experiencing world literature at its best. So

why should we not hold up our literary heritage for the world to see and experience? In order to do that, we need to have an exchange with the rest of the world,” he said.

In this spirit of exchanging Bangladeshi literature, language and heritage with the rest of the world, this year’s Hay Festival Dhaka is bringing speakers who come from varying backgrounds including journalism, politics, science, academia, publishing and many more.

There are panels focusing on science and literature, mathematics, journalism, the supernatural, the mystic – and many more, and have the potential to serve a wide range of audience.

“Some of the most important faces of Bangla literature such as Michael Madhusudan Dutt to Rabindranath Tagore, to more recent writers such as Shamsur Rahman and Syed Huq – they

all share one thing: they defied tradition, they did something new,” Anis said during the conference.

“We believe there is magnitude and breadth in people’s thoughts and expressions, and when new things happen, they must be given a chance.”

And the festival is doing just that – giving chance to a new form of literature, providing a platform for an intersection between literature and science, history, culture, mysticism and literature through sessions focusing on issues such as lost languages, radio show on horror stories, Bangla rap and many more.

The festival will be held on the ground of Bangla Academy and will have various sessions each day from morning till the evening.

Directed by Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi and Tahmima Anam, the event is Platinum-sponsored by KK Tea. l

Mamata Banerjee, the chief minister of West Bengal, yesterday said she was willing to join a coalition that includes her arch rival, the Left, if the Congress takes the initiative to form the group, she said in an interview with the NDTV. Ms Banerjee, who in 2011 ended the Left’s 34-year-long run in Bengal, made it clear that an understanding with the Left would not extend to her home state.

“I am ready to be part of a national platform which includes the Left to fight communalism. This is not the same as an alliance in West Bengal, we will fight alone there,” the 59-year-old leader said.

Ms Banerjee’s party, the Trinamool Congress, has been unnerved by recent gains made in Bengal by the BJP. She was present yesterday in Delhi at a conference to commemorate the 125th birth anniversary of India’s first prime minister and Congressman Jawaharlal Nehru.

The event was organised by the Congress and the ruling BJP was not invited.

Ms Banerjee said she had not found an opportunity to discuss her proposal with Congress leader Sonia Gandhi.

“I feel Congress should take the lead.

If you don’t take the lead, sometimes, other forces fill that space,” she said to NDTV. Till 2012, Ms Banerjee was part of the Congress-led coalition government at the Centre. she exited over economic reforms that she described as “anti-people.”

Describing her equation with the Gandhis, who lead the Congress, she said: “I have a good relation with Sonia.” Of Mrs Gandhi’s son, who is No 2 in the party, she said: “I don’t know Rahul... he is a “new one”.”

This year, the BJP won two of the state’s 42 parliamentary seats, allowing it a foothold in a state which votes in two years for its next government.

The BJP also won a recent assembly

by-election. It has launched a statewide recruitment drive, which is reportedly drawing a strong response from workers disenchanted by the Left and Ms Banerjee’s party, the Trinamool Congress.

Rahul Gandhi at the discussion In a veiled attack on Narendra Modi-led dispensation slammed those who were trying to “rub out” Jawaharlal Nehru from history as an international conference on the country’s first Prime Minister affirmed that democracy, inclusion and empowerment espoused by him were of “enduring relevance”, reports the Hindustan Times.

In her concluding remarks at the two-day conference called by the Congress, party president Sonia Gandhi said as the Nehruvian concepts have come under challenge now, “we must not only adhere to what Nehru had built. We must fight and fight to strengthen democracy, inclusiveness and secularism.”

Holding that Nehru’s ideas were a “matter of shared interest” that concern all sections, she said the declaration reaffirms a collective commitment to nurture these views.

“We the delegates representing 20 countries, 29 political parties and organisations participating in the international conference on Nehru’s world view and his legacy...caution the world against tendencies that are divisive or which create conflict in the society,” the declaration read by former president of Ghana John Kufuor said.

“As representatives of human kind, we take a solemn hope to nurture the values espoused by Nehru to pursue his vision, to imbibe his spirit and carry forward his legacy to the entire world to privilege peace and reject violence in all our activities...” it further said.

The conference which sought to highlight the legacy and world view of Nehru was attended by a host of international leaders and representatives of various political parties from India and abroad. l

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B3 Seven big US cos paid

CEOs more than Uncle Sam in 2013

B4 Ambitious economic goals or hollow promises?

Citycell served with final notice to pay dues n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The telecom regulator has decided to serve a final show-cause notice to the mobile phone operator Citycell stating why its licence should not be canceled if it fails to pay around Tk250 crore dues.

The notice asking the operator to reply in 10 days was issued under the Bangladesh Telecommunication Act. “We have decided to serve a showcause letter to Citycell as it has failed to pay its dues to BTRC,” Md Abdus Samad, the regulator’s legal commissioner, told the Dhaka Tribune over phone yesterday.

Over the last few years Citycell has been trying to inject new fund for survival in the market CityCell said they had not received the notice yet.

“We got the news from journalists, but are yet to receive the notice,” Mehbub Chowdhury, chief executive officer of Citycell, said.

He said they would try to manage it through discussion with Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC).

Citycell received such notices from BTRC before and responded paying Tk26 crore in March.

At that time the total amount of dues was Tk255.3 crore including Tk229 crore of 2G licence renewal fee and Tk4.78 crore of social obligation fee.

The operator sought time till September to pay the rest of the dues.

But in the meantime the dues increased to nearly Tk250 crore as revenue sharing amount from March last year was added.

CItycell sources said they had already

DITF kicks off January 1 n Tribune Report Dhaka International Trade Fair (DITF) 2015 will open on January 1 at the capital’s Sher-e-Bangla Nagar venue.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is expected to formally inaugurate the month-long fair. Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) is organising the event which will continue till January 31.

This will be 20th edition of the fair.

As many as 500 stalls will be allocated to local and foreign participants, commerce ministry sources said.

According to EPB, more than 45 companies from 16 countries are likely to participate in the upcoming DITF. The countries are Bangladesh, China, India, Iran, Japan, Malaysia, Morocco, Pakistan, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Thailand, Turkey, UAE, UK and USA. DITF has been being organised since 1995. A wide variety of consumer items, both local and foreign, are available in the fair. l

discussed the matter in their meetings and were ready to pay the outstanding amounts without 2G spectrum fee.

The officials alleged Citycell never received full of spectrum allocation BTRC made to it. For this reason they won’t pay full dues.

“Though we were allocated 10 Megahertz of spectrum, we got 6.5 Megahertz in two years,” said a senior executive of the operator also said.

BTRC sources said according to the decision if the regulator fails to pay the money, process will start to cancel licence.

Citycell came into operation in 1993 and currently has a subscriber base of 13.49 lakh as of September, lowest among the operators in Bangladesh. It currently holds 1.23% market share.

Back in July 2010, the operator had around 20 lakh subscribers and enjoyed 3.23% market share.

“We are waiting for a feedback from Citycell before recommending government to cancel licence,” another senior official of BTRC said.

He said the regulator has to think about the interest of subscribers and releasing dues at the same time.

“We can file case under public fund recovery act against Citycell authorities,” he added.

For last few years Citycell has been trying to inject new fund for survival in the market. However, they have so far failed to manage any foreign investment.

Citycell currently has 44.54% shares owned by SingTel Asia Pacific Investment Pet Ltd, 37.95% by Pacific Motors Limited shares and 17.51% by Far East Telecom Limited.

Citycell’s revenue in FY2012-13 was Tk267.63 crore ($344m), declining from Tk347.04 crore ($351m) in FY2011-12, according to BTRC data.

The operator made no investment in FY2012-13 while in FY2011-12 it had a Tk490.39 crore ($637m) investment in the market. l

WEDNESDAY, NOVEMBER 19, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Diversify economy to address financial crisis ‘A Greek economist recommends Bangladesh sharing the experience of global financial crisis’ n Tribune Report Greek politician and economist Professor Dr Louka T Kateseli has recommended Bangladesh to diversify its economy beyond textiles through pursuing active industrial policies to avert economic crisis like Greece.

She also stressed on undertaking governance and institutional reforms and building public-private sector partnerships for development, mobilising development assistance, trade and domestic taxes to finance infrastructure and other specific enablers.

“Developing countries, including Bangladesh and even many emerging economies are in a better position to reap low labour cost competitive advantages,” she told a function in Dhaka yesterday.

Dr Katseli was addressing the CPD Anniversary Lecture 2014 on “Recent Fiscal and Labour Market Adjustment Experiences in Europe and Lessons for the Low-Income Countries” with CPD Chairman Professor Rehman Sobhan presiding.

She served as member and vice president of UN’s Committee for Development Policy and currently leads the Social Pact Party and has held positions such as Greece’s Minister of Labour and Social Security and Minister of Economy, Competitiveness and Shipping.

She was invited to share her reflections on the salient features of the financial crisis in the context of globalising economies, her assessment about the way the crisis was managed, and her insights on lessons that we can draw for our own policy making.

Dr Kateseli called for building partnership among least development countries to push for major reforms in the global agenda for inclusive growth.

“I think LDCs should raise strong voice and collective action for pushing the UN in changing global agenda.”

She said some of us in the OECDs share same concern for inclusive growth. “So, it is a call for action,” said Dr Kateseli, who is an expert on international economics and development policy and served as Director, OECD

Greek politician and economist Prof Dr Louka T Kateseli addresses the CPD Anniversary Lecture 2014 yesterday at a function in Dhaka MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

Development Centre.

However, she expressed concern over the alliances by the LDCs and, on the other hand, the segregation of voices of the developed countries. “Each country is trying to resolve its own issue and to become more loyal to the large institutions in the prevailing order.”

Dr Katseli, professor of economics at the National Kapodistrian University of Athens, said the present global financial system is clearly not fit for the purpose.

“Financial crisis such as the one that hit both the US, Europe or East Asia in the past will continue to occur as long as commercial and investment activities of global financial institutions are not kept apart,” she said.

She expressed concern that there are no clear rules of conduct, standards or effective oversight to mitigate collusive practices, speculative attacks or manipulation of currency and interest

rates. “That’s why we should all join forces to push for a major reform agenda in this area.”

In response to a question, she said the exchange rate is not such a powerful tool of adjustment as we normally think. “If we have not joined in the Europe yet, we would have had the exchange rate as important tool and probably the market would have adjusted earlier devaluing currency.”

Referring to the Greek economic crisis, Dr Katseli noted that concerted action by few financial speculators can produce an unprecedented crisis for a national government. In the times of crises, policymaking is shaped by the interests of a global financial system which, in the absence of regulation, appropriate incentives or effective oversight, and caters to its narrow financial interests as opposed to the national interest.

Pointing at the unemployment sce-

nario in the Euro zone, she noted that combination of credit crunch and austerity policies resulted in dramatic reduction of aggregate demand, firm closure and surge in unemployment.

Dr Katseli said self-employment is increasing, this is probably not the outcome of the crisis, it would not be sustainable, what we need to think of how we can increase productivity by enhancing employment generation.

“We need to convert unemployment benefits into the active jobs even in social sector, this trend is tremendous potential right now in African countries where social entrepreneurship is on the rise,” she said She said social entrepreneurship fund needs to be formulated for young people to start small business. “We need to convert unemployment benefit into active jobs in municipalities and most communities need.” l

Ecnec okays power transmission project BB relaxes provisioning rules n Tribune Report The government has taken a Tk853.68 crore Ashuganj-Bhulta transmission line project to ensure sufficient power supply to Dhaka.

The 400 KV transmission line will supply power through Rampura 230/132 KV power sub-station.

Under the project, there will be a 70 kilometer Ashuganj-Bhulta 400 KV dual circuit transmission line, Bhulta Haripur-Rampura 230 KV dual circuit line-in and line-out of three kilometer, Bhulta Ghorashal-Rampura 230 KV dual circuit line-in and line-out of one kilometer and construction of a Bhulta (Narayanganj) 400/230 KV, 2x250 MVA AIS substation construction.

Of the total project cost, some Tk637.85 crore will come from the national coffer while Tk215.82 crore from the own fund of the implementing organisation. Power Grid Company of Bangladesh Limited (PGCB) will implement the project by June 2017.

The project was one of the seven projects valued Tk1,353.46 crore were approved by the Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (Ecnec) with Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina in the chair yesterday at the NEC conference room.

Briefing reporters after the meeting, Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal said of the total project cost, Tk1102.64 crore will come from the national exchequer while Tk250.82 crore from the respective organisation’s own fund.

Out of the seven projects, three are fresh while the remaining are revised projects, he said.

On Ashuganj-Bhulta transmission line project, he said the government has a plan to set up 800 KV transmission line there in future.

The meeting also gave nod to another project titled “Construction of Madan-Khaliazuri Submergible Road and PC Girder Bridge on River Balai on the 37th kilometer on Netrokona-Madan-Khaliazuri road” with Tk104 crore.

The minister said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina during her visit to the area in 2010 had pledged to build this Submergible road and PC Girder Bridge.

Roads and Highways Department will implement the project by June 2017.

The other new approved project is “Renovation and modernization of Bangladesh Institute of Marine Technology (2nd phase)” with an outlay of Tk55.48 crore.

The four other revised approved projects are construction of a fashion design, training institute and one basic center for development of hand loom textile, 2nd revised (Tk38.40 crore), construction of 60 investigation centers of Bangladesh Police into Type Plan, 1st revised (Tk174.46 crore), construction of hostel for the visually challenged children, 1st revised (Tk54.93 crore) and Modernization and strengthening the Department of Inspection of Factories and Establishments & Establishment of nine district offices, 1st revised (Tk72.50 crore). l

for agriculture and micro-credit n Tribune Report Bangladesh Bank has lowered provision requirement that is maintained against classified loans for short-term agriculture loans and micro-credit.

Provision against all unclassified credits (irregular and regular) is set at 2.5% while 5% for classified as sub-standard and doubtful, said a circular Bangladesh Bank issued yesterday with immediate effect.

Earlier, banks were required to maintain provision of 5% for all credits including doubtful, sub-standard, irregular and regular credit accounts, except bad/loss.

Provision of 100% against bad/loss account remained unchanged, according to the new circular.

“With a view to encouraging participation of the banks in disbursing agricultural loan and micro-credits, the circular has been reviewed,” said

BSEC puts bar on SPCL to control its rally n Tribune Report

The securities regulator has imposed a set of trading restrictions on Shahjibazar Power Company Limited (SPCL) to control its gaining streak since its debut more than four months back.

The commission has declared the issue as non-marginable securities with effect from today and shifted it from the main market to the spot market, said the Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission (BSEC) in a statement yesterday.

In addition, the regulator asked brokerage firms that have already exceeded single exposure limit in share transaction of SPCL to bring down the limit within three trading days, the statement said.

Every brokerage house has also been ordered to send daily trading details of SPCL following each

trading day to the Dhaka Stock Exchange (DSE) and Chittagong Stock Exchange(CSE) until further order, it said.

Since its debut on July 15, share prices of the company never fell and rather rose more than 1,200% to close at Tk338.8 a share on its offer value of Tk25 a share as of yesterday The BSEC also asked the stock exchanges to submit summery of trading details of SPCL in next trading days, it said.

Since its debut on July 15, share prices of the company never fell and rather rose more than 1,200% to close at Tk338.8 a share on its offer value of Tk25 a share as of yesterday.

On November 9 last, the commission started probing into unusual rise in share prices of Shahjibazar Power Company Limited for the second time within a span of more than three months.

The two-member committee was asked to submit the probe report by 15 working days since its formation.

Back in July 31 this year, BSEC had formed a two-member probe panel after the company’s share price climbed 61% in just nine trading sessions from its debut.

Following formation of probe panel, Dhaka Stock Exchange on August 11 suspended share trading of Shahjibazar for an indefi-

nite period, owing to its unusual price hike.

After investigation, the BSEC probe team found that the company inflated its net profit to Tk28.6 crore from its original profit of Tk16.9 crore in its financial statement for nine months (July 2013-March 2014).

For the offence, the regulator fined the company’s five directors and managing director Tk55 lakh.

It also fined collectively United Power Generation and Distribution Company, its issue manager and an auditor Tk5 lakh on the same ground.

Following completion of probe, Shahjibazar was allowed to resume share trading on October 20 and since then rally of its share prices knew no bounds despite its trade suspension and a downward revision of the net profit. l

the circular. Banks have remained far below the credit target set in monetary policy since last one year due to lack of credit demand from industrial sector amid political unrest, said a senior executive of Bangladesh Bank.

In this perspective, Bangladesh Bank instructed commercial banks repeatedly to divert their credit concentration to the agricultural and SME sector to achieve the credit growth.

As part of the central bank’s effort to boost credit growth, banks have been allowed to maintain lower provision against classified loans for agriculture and micro credit, he said.

Of the total disbursed loan, 5.53% or Tk25,951 crore went to the agricultural sector in April-June quarter, according to the Bangladesh Bank data.

The highest 39.38% of the total loan went to trade and commerce during the period. l

Steps taken to introduce share trading info SMS n Tribune Report Bangladesh Securities and Exchange Commission has taken steps to provide services of share transaction information to the beneficiary owners’ account holders through mobile text message (SMS).

The steps have been taken to make BO account more popular, user-friendly and information availability, said the regulator in a statement on Monday.

It said the BO account holders will also receive internet log-in information.

In this context, the BSEC asked the CDBL (Central Depository Bangladesh Limited) to take necessary measures within December 20 next.

The objectives of this move also include simplifying application submission and depositing fee for account holders to their respective depository participants. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

DSE GAINER

Stocks slip for fourth straight session

DSE key features November 18, 2014

Traded Issues

305

n Tribune Report

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

91

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

209

Turnover (Million Taka)

Stocks fell for the fourth consecutive session yesterday, as investors were cautious amid declaration of corporate performance.

The benchmark DSEX dipped below the ‘psychological’ threshold of 4,900 points after September 18 and lost 18 points or 0.4% to close at 4,899.

'In near terms, economic factors are acting as main trigger for market movements' The Shariah index DSES dropped marginally 6 points or nearly 0.6% to 1,150. The comprising blue chips DS30 ended at 1,815, shedding 15 points or 1%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 9,243 with a fall of 47 points.

Turnover remained sluggish and total turnover on DSE came down to Tk627 crore, registering a decline of over 9% over the previous day’s turnover of Tk691 crore.

Investors’ attention mostly focused on power, engineering and pharma, which together accounted for 25%, 17% and 15% respectively of the day’s total turnover.

Among the large cap sectors, only fuel and power closed positive with 0.6% gain. Telecommunication lost the most of 1.4%. Non-banking

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSER Company BDCOM Online-A Dulamia CottonZ Kohinoor Chem -A National Polymer -A Metro Spinning -A Premier Cement-A SAIF Powertec-N Prime Textile -A WesternMarine -N Orion Infusions -A

Closing (% Change) -18.25 -8.00 -7.16 -6.57 -6.47 -6.41 -6.18 -5.83 -5.68 -5.45

CSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

BDCOM Online-A Aziz PipesZ Fine Foods A Janata Insur -A Premier Cement-A Nitol Insurance -A SAIF Powertec-N Provati Insur.-A Kay & Que (BD) -Z Metro Spinning -A

-17.79 -9.90 -7.34 -7.19 -7.17 -6.80 -6.50 -6.36 -6.15 -5.80

4898.82235

(-) 0.38%

1814.93578

(-) 0.82%

15134.58230

(-) 0.48%

12374.63000

(-) 0.73%

9243.24330

(-) 0.50%

Average (% Change) -17.50 -7.95 -7.14 -5.15 -5.87 -6.69 -7.45 -4.27 -7.35 -4.99 Average (% Change) -19.24 -8.64 -8.47 -7.19 -7.39 -5.57 -6.90 -8.23 -6.15 -6.03

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 23.62 6.95 470.55 82.14 13.16 81.86 77.88 19.73 75.54 55.56

ClosingAvg. 23.05 17.55 10.05 15.50 80.29 28.82 78.50 20.18 12.20 13.08

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 340.56 132.79 41.91 1067.51 321.33 1478.00 25.57 391.16 938.48 71.44 201.80 42.14 40.40 113.44 53.46 22.67 74.70 97.09 63.56 761.90 0.03

DHIGH 24.90 7.50 475.00 85.30 13.50 85.00 83.00 20.40 79.00 59.00

DHIGH

23.10 17.30 10.10 15.50 80.30 28.80 76.20 20.60 12.20 13.00

23.10 17.70 10.20 15.50 81.00 30.00 83.70 20.60 12.20 13.50

132,950

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

5

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,631.19

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.89

CSE key features November 18, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

512.73

Turnover (Volume)

12,504,419

Number of Contract

18,525

Traded Issues

224

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

54

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

162

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

7

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,529.54

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.66

Turnover in Million

DLOW 22.30 6.80 468.70 75.70 13.00 81.10 75.00 19.20 74.20 53.00

2.970 0.508 3.635 63.358 4.554 6.205 107.148 1.391 215.721 68.083

Turnover in Million

DLOW 23.00 17.30 10.00 15.50 78.00 28.50 75.00 20.10 12.20 13.00

% change 5.42 2.11 0.67 17.00 5.12 23.54 0.41 6.23 14.94 3.21 0.67 0.64 1.81 0.85 0.36 1.19 1.55 1.01 12.13 0.00

Million Taka 38.52 8.80 2.34 77.10 18.12 64.16 39.46 55.69 22.22 17.67 17.35 3.10 7.44 3.41 2.13 2.82 6.16 12.02 155.74 0.05

CSE

% change 6.95 1.59 0.42 13.91 3.27 11.57 0.00 7.12 10.05 4.01 3.19 3.13 0.56 1.34 0.61 0.38 0.51 1.11 2.17 28.10 0.01

Latest EPS 1.64 -3.84 10.40 2.76 0.72 3.04 2.36 1.04 2.32 3.64

Latest EPS

0.023 0.019 0.136 0.003 0.562 1.196 11.366 0.227 0.012 0.485

Million Taka 379.08 141.59 44.26 1144.61 339.45 1542.16 25.57 430.63 994.17 93.66 219.46 59.49 43.50 120.88 56.87 24.81 77.52 103.25 75.58 917.64 0.09

GeminiSeaFood-Z GQ Ball PenA Apex Foods -A JMI Syringes MDL-A Pharma Aids A Shahjibazar Power-N Wata Chemicals -A Legacy Footwear -A Monno Stafllers -A Northern Jute -Z

Closing (% Change) 42.33 10.00 9.86 9.49 8.73 8.73 8.71 8.70 8.34 8.10

CSE GAINER

1.64 -0.37 -0.48 0.37 3.04 2.79 2.36 1.97 -1.41 0.72

Latest PE 14.4 -ve 45.2 29.8 18.3 26.9 33.0 19.0 32.6 15.3

Total

Company Apex Foods -A GQ Ball PenA Apex SpinningA JMI Syringes MDL-A Aramit -A Legacy Footwear -A Shahjibazar Power-N The Ibn SinaA Ambee Pharma -A SummitAlliancePort.-A

Closing (% Change) 9.99 9.98 9.96 9.41 8.74 8.70 8.56 8.34 8.25 7.41

Average (% Change) 36.55 7.85 4.12 10.60 5.20 7.53 5.33 4.69 6.19 8.07 Average (% Change) 6.46 8.78 9.91 11.25 8.74 3.65 5.16 4.18 2.95 5.46

ClosingAvg.

Closing

219.94 117.39 110.99 199.56 275.19 332.93 255.79 29.44 300.47 276.00

ClosingAvg.

225.60 118.80 114.80 200.80 285.20 338.80 259.50 30.00 306.50 276.10

Closing

113.39 119.34 74.00 203.17 337.00 28.97 646.85 108.18 288.67 66.27

114.50 120.10 74.00 203.50 337.00 30.00 334.70 111.70 293.80 66.70

DHIGH 250.00 118.80 114.90 200.80 285.20 338.80 259.50 30.30 307.60 277.40

DHIGH 114.50 120.10 74.00 203.50 337.00 30.20 335.20 112.00 295.00 68.30

DLOW 198.00 107.90 105.70 189.90 262.00 313.00 220.00 26.00 290.00 260.00

DLOW 108.00 111.00 74.00 197.00 337.00 27.90 322.00 106.90 285.00 63.60

Turnover in Million 7.808 27.818 47.583 77.930 104.120 187.575 29.988 14.370 1.908 0.828

Turnover in Million 0.811 7.690 0.015 13.206 0.101 3.216 5.563 0.902 0.853 5.773

Latest EPS 1.39 2.21 3.64 4.48 9.88 9.00 5.37 0.28 1.17 1.00

Latest EPS 3.64 2.21 0.86 4.48 14.12 0.28 9.00 3.77 4.68 0.88

Latest PE 158.2 53.1 30.5 44.5 27.9 37.0 47.6 105.1 256.8 276.0

Latest PE 31.2 54.0 86.0 45.4 23.9 103.5 71.9 28.7 61.7 75.3

News, analysis and recent disclosers JAMUNAOIL: 90% cash and 10% stock dividend, AGM: 07.02.2015, Record date: 11.12.2014. EPS of Tk. 23.08, NAV per share of Tk. 118.53.

GEMINISEA: 7.50% cash, AGM: 22.12.2014, Time and Venue of the AGM will be notified later. Record Date: 08.12.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.39, NAV per share of Tk. -4.31.

KBPPWBIL: 10% stock, AGM: 29.12.2014, Record Date: 08.12.2014. EPS of Tk. 1.71 ( restated 1.17), NAV per share of Tk. 15.85 (restated 14.01).

Unaudited Financials:

OLYMPIC: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. 235.73 million with basic EPS of Tk. 2.01 (restated 1.49) as against Tk. 185.57 million and Tk. 1.58 (1.17) respectively.

KBPPWBIL: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. 21.81 million and basic EPS Tk. 0.50 ( restated 0.34) as against profit after tax of Tk. 24.13 million and basic EPS of Tk. 0.55 repectively.

FINEFOODS: (Q1): NPAT=Tk. -0.48 million with EPS of Tk. -0.037 as against Tk. -0.70 million and Tk. -0.054 (restated) respectively. Accumulated profit/(loss) of the Company was Tk. (6.40) million as on 30.09.2014.

JUTESPINN: (Q1): NPAT= Tk. -18.08 million with EPS of Tk. -10.63 as against Tk. -18.86 million and Tk. -11.10 respectively.

MPETROLEUM: As per Regulation 30 of DSE Listing Regulations, the Company has informed that a meeting of the Board of Directors will be held on November 19, 2014 at 5:30 PM to consider, among others, audited financial statements of the Company for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

IPO Subscription: C & A Textiles Limited subscription date 09 to 13 November 2014, NRB upto 22 November 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500. IFAD Autos Limited subscription date 23 to 27 November 2014, NRB upto 06 December 2014. @ taka 30, face value taka 10 and market lot 200.

Right Share: ICB: Subscription period for rights issue will be from 07.12.2014 to 30.12.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 09.09.2014. BIFC: subscription period for rights issue of the Company will be from 09.11.2014 to 30.11.2014. Record Date for entitlement of rights share: 19.10.2014. FIRSTSBANK Subscription period for rights issue will be from 07.12.2014 to 28.12.2014. Record date for entitlement of rights share: 20.11.2014.

Dividend/AGM

RAHIMAFOOD: No dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 04.12.2014.

DACCADYE: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 12.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014.

ORIONINFU: 15% cash dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014.

KOHINOOR: 25% stock dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014.

LRGLOBMF1: 5% cash dividend, Record date: 25.11.2014. Earnings per unit of Tk. 0.69.

PHARMAID: 25% cash, AGM: 28.12.2014, Record Date: 02.12.2014.

TALLUSPIN: No dividend, AGM: 23.12.2014, Record Date: 01.12.2014.

MITHUNKNIT: 20% stock, AGM: 23.12.2014, Record date: 20.11.2014.

WMSHIPYARD: 5% cash dividend to the general shareholders only, and 10% stock dividend to all the shareholders, AGM: 21.12.2014, Record date: 20.11.2014.

PRIMELIFE: 10% cash and 15% stock dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 20.11.2014.

OLYMPIC: 20% cash and 35% stock, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 27.11.2014.

PADMAOIL: 100% cash, AGM: 14.02.2015, Record date: 22.12.2014.

EASTRNLUB: 30% cash, AGM: 17.01.2015, Record Date: 25.11.2014.

ATLASBANG: 35% cash, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record date: 27.11.2014.

SAMORITA: 20% cash and 10% stock dividend, AGM: 07.01.2015, Record Date: 19.11.2014.

NPOLYMAR: 18% stock, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record Date: 19.11.2014.

Latest PE 14.1 -ve -ve 41.9 26.4 10.3 33.3 10.2 -ve 18.2

Losers outpaced gainers as out of 305 issues traded, 147 declined, 125 advanced and 33 remained unchanged on the DSE

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

23.30 6.90 470.40 78.20 13.00 81.70 75.90 19.40 74.70 53.80

Closing

122,641,620

Number of Contract

financial institutions and pharmaceuticals retraced 0.7% and 0.2% respectively. Banks and, food and allied went down marginally.

The market endured a typical bearish session and key index fell below 4,900-mark for the first time in the last two months with the investors left hanging there with hopes of a U-turn, said International Leasing Securities.

Pessimism among the investors regarding the entire market situation also dragged the market’s turnover, it said. LankaBangla Securities said stocks ended the day moderately below the flat line fading the morning gain as investors upheld their cautious mode amid declaration of corporate earnings.

It said several stocks, which declared earnings number late last week, have started reacting to their earnings. “In near terms, economic factors are acting as main trigger for market movements.”

IDLC Investments said as DSEX continued remaining below 5,000mark points ‘psychological’ level, fear condensed amid investors and subsequently taking toll on market movements”.

Losers outpaced gainers as out of 305 issues traded, 147 declined, 125 advanced and 33 remained unchanged on the DSE. The new issue – Khan Brothers PP Woven Bag was the most traded stock with shares worth Tk59 crore changing hands, followed by Jamuna Oil, Western Marine Shipyard and Shahjibazar Power Company Ltd. l

Company

6,279.95

Turnover (Volume)

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

% change 5.55 2.07 0.65 16.75 4.97 22.57 0.37 6.30 14.55 1.37 3.21 0.87 0.64 1.77 0.83 0.36 1.13 1.51 1.11 13.43 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 Khan Brothers-N Jamuna Oil -A WesternMarine -N Shahjibazar Power-N Barakatullah E. D.-A DESCO Ltd. -A Keya Cosmetics -A Olympic Ind. -A SAIF Powertec-N Pharma Aids A

CVO PetroChem RL-A Square Pharma -A MJL BD Ltd.-A Grameenphone-A JMI Syringes MDL-A CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Khan Brothers-N WesternMarine -N Jamuna Oil -A JMI Syringes MDL-A N C C Bank -A SAIF Powertec-N Orion Infusions -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Alltex Industries -Z Khulna Printing-N

AB Bank - A GQ Ball PenA Barakatullah E. D.-A Keya Cosmetics -A

VolumeShares 9,620,000 1,758,244 2,855,800 563,400 4,173,210 1,887,173 4,102,154 382,340 1,375,800 378,350

Value in Million 588.98 456.91 215.72 187.58 157.97 139.40 119.73 111.00 107.15 104.12

% of TotalTurnover 9.38 7.28 3.44 2.99 2.52 2.22 1.91 1.77 1.71 1.66

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

157,800 363,295 655,158 245,000 390,500

2,207,000 368,900 63,492 65,000 1,045,058 144,800 182,600 245,234 392,500 257,000

261,781 64,437 200,670 241,605

101.97 94.64 86.61 83.64 77.93

135.51 27.82 16.44 13.21 11.77 11.37 10.17 9.42 8.59 8.17

7.73 7.69 7.61 7.05

1.62 1.51 1.38 1.33 1.24

26.79 5.50 3.25 2.61 2.33 2.25 2.01 1.86 1.70 1.62

1.53 1.52 1.50 1.39

ClosingP 76.60 257.90 74.70 338.80 38.10 73.40 29.50 289.10 75.90 285.20

662.40 259.50 131.90 339.40 200.80

ClosingP

75.50 74.80 258.20 203.50 11.00 76.20 53.80 38.20 21.80 31.40

29.50 120.10 38.00 29.60

Change % 0.00 0.16 -5.68 8.73 2.97 0.00 6.88 -1.87 -6.18 8.73

7.50 -0.38 0.92 -1.42 9.49

Change %

0.00 -5.20 1.10 9.41 -1.79 -6.50 -5.45 -0.78 4.81 0.00

1.37 9.98 2.98 6.09

ClosingY 0.00 257.50 79.20 311.60 37.00 73.40 27.60 294.60 80.90 262.30

616.20 260.50 130.70 344.30 183.40

ClosingY

0.00 78.90 255.40 186.00 11.20 81.50 56.90 38.50 20.80 0.00

29.10 109.20 36.90 27.90

DHIGH 80.00 265.00 79.00 338.80 38.40 75.00 30.10 300.00 83.00 285.20

DLOW 47.00 235.00 74.20 313.00 34.00 67.00 25.00 278.60 75.00 262.00

662.40 265.00 140.00 345.90 200.80

629.00 250.00 120.00 339.00 189.90

DHIGH

DLOW

80.00 82.00 264.00 203.50 11.30 83.70 59.80 39.20 22.60 32.40

29.90 120.10 38.30 30.00

50.00 74.00 255.20 197.00 10.40 75.00 53.20 38.00 19.90 31.30

26.20 111.00 33.30 27.50

AvgPrice 61.22 259.86 75.54 332.93 37.85 73.87 29.19 290.31 77.88 275.19

646.19 260.50 132.20 341.39 199.56

AvgPrice

61.40 75.41 258.89 203.17 11.26 78.50 55.70 38.40 21.88 31.79

29.52 119.34 37.91 29.19

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

7 big US cos paid CEOs more than Uncle Sam in '13 n Reuters, Washington Seven of the 30 largest US corporations paid more money to their chief executive officers last year than they paid in US federal income taxes, according to a study released yesterday that was disputed by at least one of the companies.

Amid talk in Washington about corporate tax reform, the study said the seven companies, which in 2013 reported more than $74bn in combined US pre-tax profits, came out ahead on their taxes, gaining $1.9bn more than they owed.

At the same time, the CEOs at each of the seven companies last year was paid an average of $17.3m, said the study, compiled by two Washington think tanks.

The seven companies cited were Boeing Co, Ford Motor Co, Chevron Corp, Citigroup Inc, Verizon Communications Inc, JPMorgan Chase & Co and General Motors Co. The Institute for Policy Studies and the Center for Effective Government, the study’s co-authors, said its findings reflected “deep flaws in our corporate tax system.”

In reply, Verizon said it paid $422m in income taxes in 2013. “We do not provide a breakdown between federal vs. state in that total; however, I am confirming for you that the federal portion of that number is well more than Verizon’s CEO’s compensation,” a spokesman said in an email.

Boeing said its 2013 global tax bill was $1.6bn, though all but $5m was deferred due to development and production investments. A spokesman said current tax expense and cash taxes were likely to rise as 787 jet deliveries ramp up.

Both automakers Ford and General Motors said their current U.S. tax bills are reduced by tax loss carry forwards stemming from severe losses suffered a few years ago.

Energy group Chevron said its 2013 current US federal income tax expense of $15m “was much lower than normal” due to several factors. Echoing other companies, Chevron stressed it pays taxes worldwide.

JPMorgan Chase declined to comment. l

US manufacturing output rose modestly in October as motor vehicle production fell for a third straight month, suggesting some slowing in economic growth at the start of the fourth quarter.

But growth remains relatively sturdy, with other data on Monday showing a rebound in factory activity in New York State this month.

“While the solid outlook for the US economy remains, there are, however, mounting downside risks to growth this quarter,” said Harm Bandholz, chief US economist at UniCredit Research in New York.

Factory production rose 0.2% last month, the Federal Reserve said. September’s increase in factory output was revised down to 0.2% from 0.5%.

Economists said based on October’s manufacturing output gain, fourth-

ICAB signs MoU with UK-based ICAEW n Tribune Report The Institute of Chartered Accountants of Bangladesh (ICAB) has recently signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) in Rome with an aim to accelerate development of accountancy profession.

ICAB President Showkat Hossain and ICAEW Chief Executive Officer Michael DM Izza signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on behalf of their respective Institutes, said a press release of ICAB yesterday.

During their visit to Rome, ICAB delegates headed by its president joined different meetings and programmes of International Federation of Accountants (IFAC) and World Congress of Accountants, according to the release.

Earlier, ICAB signed MoU with ICAEW, UK in 2009 and since then ICAB is ICAEW’s learning and professional development partner.

ICAB Vice-President Dewan Nurul Islam, former president Anwaruddin Chowdhury, Council Members Mohammed Humayun Kabir, Syful Islam, Abdus Salam, Akhtar Sohel Kasem and Technical Director Mahbub Ahmed Siddique were present at the signing ceremony. l

Dollar steady against yen in Asia n AFP, Tokyo

Various denominations of US currency

REUTERS

US manufacturing expands, China home price fall deepens but may be losing speed despite policy support, FDI slips n Reuters, Washington

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quarter gross domestic product was running at just over a 2% annual pace.

The economy grew at a 3.5% rate in the third quarter.

A 1.2% fall in motor vehicle production restrained manufacturing output last month. There were also drops in the production of nonmetallic mineral products, as well as electrical equipment, appliances and components. Motor vehicle output fell 1.9% in September.

In a separate report, the New York Federal Reserve said its Empire State general business conditions index rose to 10.16 in November from a reading of 6.17 in October. A reading above zero indicates expansion.

“Even with the improvement in the November survey, it still points to some moderation in manufacturing activity between the third and fourth quarters,” said Daniel Silver, an economist at JP Morgan in New York. l

n Reuters, Beijing China’s home prices slumped an annual 2.6% in October, shrugging off a range of government support measures in a nationwide downturn that threatens to stifle economic growth.

October’s year on year price drop was the biggest since Reuters started calculating nationwide prices in 2011.

Falling prices will more than likely deter investors seeking capital gains, and most analysts now expect the housing market correction to continue in coming months as developers struggle with high inventory levels.

News of slowing foreign direct investment rubbed salt in the house price wound, with overseas investment down 1.2% in the January-October period from a year earlier, with the fashionable service sector attracting $53.1bn versus the modest $32.5bn that

flowed into once-rampant manufacturing businesses. Despite moderating FDI growth, China has repeatedly said it expects its FDI to hit a record high of $120bn this year, barring no sharp changes in global capital flows.

House prices in the capital Beijing dropped 1.3% year on year - the first fall since October 2012.

“China’s housing market is still on the way down in its correction,” said Bill Adams, senior international economist for PNC Financial Services Group. “Real estate corrections can persist for 5-7 years, meaning this slump in China is likely to persist into 2015 and 2016 at least. “Falling prices have led the government to cut mortgage rates and minimum down payment levels in late September for some home buyers, taking one of its biggest steps this year to boost an economy increasingly threatened by a sagging housing market, which directly impacts on

about 40 other sectors of the economy.

New home prices fell month-onmonth in 69 of the 70 major cities the National Bureau of Statistics monitors, unchanged from September. Year-onyear, home prices fell in 67 cities in October, up from 58 in September.

Liu Jianwei, senior statistician at the NBS, said recent policy relaxations may have boosted home buying interest as developers promoted sales to reduce inventories, pointing to the milder 0.8% monthon-month price decline in October, versus a 1% monthly fall in September.

(Home price figures published since January 2011 are not comparable with previous periods as the bureau introduced a new calculation method.)

Despite a range of stimulus measures unveiled since April, China’s annual growth slowed to 7.3% in the third quarter, the weakest since the global financial crisis. l

The dollar held steady against the yen in Asia yesterday after the previous day’s sell-off in response to news that Japan had slipped into recession, while speculation over European Central Bank (ECB) stimulus pressured the euro.

The greenback fetched 116.57 yen, slightly off 116.63 in New York but well up from 115.65 yen in Tokyo earlier Monday.

The euro ticked up to 145.40 yen from 145.19 yen, and to $1.2472 from $1.2448 in US trade. The single currency was trading above $1.25 in Asia on Monday.

Japanese data Monday showed the world’s number three economy contracted for a second straight quarter in July-September - putting it in a recession - as it was hammered by a sales tax hike earlier in the year.

The news sent the dollar soaring above 117 yen before reversing course and falling below 116 yen in Asia. However, the greenback clawed back most of its losses in New York.

Analysts say Prime Minister Shinzo Abe is almost certain to delay another sales tax rise next year and call a snap election for December as he tries to bolster support within his own party ahead of a planned leadership poll next year.

The surprisingly weak reading also increased the chances that the Bank of Japan will further ease monetary policy, after last month ramping up its already huge bond-buying programme.

The October announcement came soon after the US Federal Reserve brought an end to its own easing programme and prepares for an expected interest-rate hike in mid-2015. l

Shafiul Azam made AMD of Modhumoti Bank

NRB Global Bank Limited formally opens its Anowara Branch at Chittagong recently.

Mohammad Hanif Chowdhury, vice chairman of the bank, has inaugurated the branch as chief guest

Film actor and Marcel’s brand ambassador Amin Khan inaugurates an exclusive showroom of the electronics brand recently

IDLC Finance opens its 29th branch in Kanaikhali, Natore to provide a range of SME and Consumer Finance solutions to the customers. Natore DC Md Mashiur Rahman and IDLC Finance CEO Selim RF Hussain formally inaugurated the branch recently

Md Shafiul Azam recently joined Modhumoti Bank Limited as its Additional Managing Director.

He was working as Deputy Managing Director of Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited before the appointment, said a press release.

Azam started his career with AB Bank Limited in 1991 as a probationary officer after completing post graduation in marketing from University of Dhaka. He joined Shahjalal Islami Bank Limited in 2001. In 23 years of banking career, he discharged responsibilities in

Peter Chang and Global Brand’s chairman Abdul Fattah, managing director Rafiqul Anwar and director Jashim Uddin Khandoker cut a cake on 17th November on the occasion at the Brand’s head office

Industry Secretary Md Mosharraf Hossain Bhuiyan addresses the heads of various departments at Bangladesh Chemical Industries Corporation (BCIC) at its seminar hall recently. BCIC chairman Mohammad Iqbal along with directors was also present

different capacities and has been given accolade several times for his contribution to previous banks. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Wednesday, November 19, 2014

Ambitious economic goals or hollow promises? n AFP, Paris G20 leaders have set ambitious goals for raising global growth, but economists see them as mostly hollow promises as countries are too busy with their own problems to contribute to rekindling global recovery.

At their weekend summit in Brisbane, Australia, the leaders of countries accounting for more than four-fifths of the world economy pledged to undertake reform measures to lift their collective growth by an extra 2.1% by 2018.

The measures to boost investment, trade and competition are promised to add more than $2tn to the global economy and create millions of jobs.

The pledge, coming amid a gloomy global economic outlook, has left economists cold.

Erik Nielsen, Unicredit’s global chief economist, said in his weekly newsletter: “I can’t help wonder where the beef is?”

Meanwhile Saxo Banque economist Christopher Dembik said: “We’ve gotten used to G20 declarations of good intentions.

He dismissed the growth target as “completely ridiculous”.

“It would have been better (to) target the countries that have the resources to invest, spend and consume,” he said.

Dembik cited Germany and the United States, which he said should accept “making a temporary sacrifice to revive the global economy”.

Japan in recession

The example of Japan shows well just how difficult it will be to return to sustainable growth, he said.

G20 member Japan surprised the world Monday with data showing it had fallen back into recession despite its massive easy money policies aimed at lifting it out of a decade of deflation and lost growth.

Meanwhile, even the solid German

Facebook At Work talk puts pressure on LinkedIn n AFP, San Francisco Shares in LinkedIn dived on Monday as talk spread of plans by Facebook to step into its turf with a version of the leading social network tailored for the business world.

LinkedIn’s share price shed just over 10 dollars, dropping by around 4.3% to $223.71 in the wake of reports that Facebook At Work was being tested with a select cadre of businesses.

“At first blush, it seems that Facebook is following the lead of Google and moving from a pure consumer play into the enterprise,” said Forrester analyst Rob Koplowitz.

“We really don’t know how far they intend to go.”

Facebook at Work is being tested with a small group of businesses and could make its public debut in a matter of months, according to a source familiar with the project being led by a team in London.

The social network has work-centric spins on familiar Facebook features such as news feed and messaging.

It is tailored for workers to collaborate on jobs, and is limited to inside businesses. Activities or information from Facebook at Work is not shared with people’s personal social networking accounts.

Facebook is not charging any fees during the pilot project, which is adfree, but could roll it out as a paid service for businesses.

Challenge of trust

While a workplace version of Facebook would face challenges, it would be a threat to established services such as LinkedIn, Cisco’s Jabber, IBM Connections, Microsoft-owned Yammer, and tools Google offers to collaboration on the job.

The prime target would be LinkedIn, the leading social network for making and cultivating work-related connections for goals including finding jobs or employees and advancing careers.

“This would be a natural step for Facebook to make,” said analyst Rob Enderle of Enderle Group in Silicon Valley.

“It is in their area of expertise and It is a way to expand; go after someone else’s turf.”

Businesses are also seen as more willing to pay for social networking services that make workers more productive, in a break from the consumber model of surrendering user data for targeting advertising.

Concern over the privacy of information could prove a stumbling block for Facebook when it comes to courting businesses, according to analysts.

“There is a distrust of Facebook when it comes to privacy, and businesses have a high sensitivity to privacy issues,” Enderle said. l

India to take imminent steps to curb gold imports n Reuters, New Delhi India is likely to announce measures to curb gold imports as early as possible, a senior finance ministry source said, as a surge in inbound shipments threatens to worsen the country’s trade deficit.

“We are working on it. The measures to slow gold imports are almost ready and may be announced today or tomorrow,” said the source, who declined to be named because of the sensitivity of the matter.

Imports of the precious metal have risen steadily since August, boosted by jewellery demand for the wedding season

Leaders meet during a plenary session at the G20 leaders summit in Brisbane economy is expected to see “sluggish” growth for the rest of the year, the Bundesbank said Monday.

British Prime Minister David Cameron wrote in the daily Guardian following the G20 summit that there is a “a dangerous backdrop of instability and uncertainty” in the world economy.

“We cannot insulate ourselves completely but we must do all we can to protect ourselves from a global downturn,” he said in a tacit acknowledgement of the limits of the promises made by G20 leaders.

Natixis Asset Management economist Philippe Waetcher said the G20 growth target was “ambitious and clearly it won’t be easy” to achieve.

“But today the behaviour of each country is quite timid in order to protect their own position,” he observed.

Currency wars

The desire to defend national interests is most clearly visible in the policies of various central banks, which according to some economists are closer to a currency war than a coordinated rival to global growth.

The Bank of Japan decided on October 31 to step up its quantitative easing programme to stimulate the economy, and the European Central Bank has also been openly contemplating a similar massive purchase of assets to avoid deflation and recession.

REUTERS

“Pushing deflation onto others, that is what seems to be the marching order,” said Xerfi economist Olivier Passet.

With aggressive easing of their monetary policies, central banks weaken their currencies and send those of their trading partners up.

Not only does this affect trade as the value of currencies changes, but the country with the appreciated currency also suffers a deflationary effect.

In times of normal or high inflation this effect is of little concern.

However many countries, including those sharing the euro, are flirting with falling prices that would kill growth.

Faced with the aggressive move by the Bank of Japan, Pesset said the ECB,

which had been “the fall guy, seems to have decided to take to the battlefield.”

He estimated that “the complicity of the Americans is likely.”

But even “this consensual adjustment between major powers creates frictions,” Pesset said.

He noted that South Korea has been forced to drop interest rates twice in the past six months in order to avoid losing too much market share.

It also “complicates a bit more the situation for emerging countries in crisis” such as Russia and Brazil as it dampens their export opportunities.

The outlook belies the G20’s remit as an enlarged forum giving big emerging economies a voice in global affairs. l

Gold imports into India, the world’s No 2 gold consumer behind China, surged nearly fourfold in October to $4.18bn from a year ago, data showed on Monday.

Although India’s trade deficit has so far been kept in check by lower oil imports, analysts warn that is unlikely to last if inbound gold shipments continue to surge.

Struggling with high current account and trade deficits, India last year raised the import duty on gold to a record 10% and imposed other import restrictions, some of which it relaxed in May. Imports of the precious metal have risen steadily since August, boosted by jewellery demand for the wedding season, raising concerns among policymakers.

Last Thursday, officials from the Reserve Bank of India and the finance ministry met to review the country’s gold import policy, but no decision was taken. l

None of the OPEC’s options are good n John Kemp As ministers from the 12 members of the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) prepare to fly to Vienna for their 166th meeting next week, the quiet consultations and soundings have already begun.

OPEC must decide whether and how to respond to the 30% decline in oil prices since the middle of June, in what may be the organisation’s toughest test in five years. Slower oil demand growth and rising competition from non-OPEC suppliers, especially U.S. shale producers, pose a common threat to all the organisation’s members.

But formulating a common response will be hard because the slowdown in demand and the shale revolution have had a very different impact from member to member.

Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and the United Arab Emirates are producing and exporting close to their highest-ever levels of crude, according to the BP Statistical Review of World Energy.

All three countries have built large financial reserves so they could weather a prolonged period of lower prices without too much effect on their day-to-day government operations.

In contrast, production and exports from Iran, Iraq, Libya, Venezuela and Nigeria have been variously hit by war, sanctions, unrest, expropriations and mismanagement.

None of those countries has significant foreign exchange reserves and the drop in oil revenues will quickly feed through into reduced government spending and/or inflation.

The light oils being produced in the United States are not much of a direct threat to the heavier crude grades exported

by Saudi Arabia and other Gulf countries.

But they compete directly with the very light oils exported by North and West African producers, including Libya, Nigeria and Angola.

Formulating a common response is made complicated because ministers are negotiating on two separate issues: (1) OPEC’s share of the world oil market versus non-OPEC producers; and (2) how OPEC’s share is allocated among its members.

Allocating production is the age-old problem for any cartel – OPEC is a cartel, whatever its members may say, and however incomplete its market coverage.

OPEC has struggled with these issues, on and off, since the early 1980s, so it is familiar territory for the ministers.

But sharing out the market is much easier when oil demand is growing rapidly and non-cartel supplies are flat or falling - a situation that describes much of the last decade.

It is much harder when demand is stagnating and non-OPEC output is surging - putting the organisation back into the difficult position in which it found itself 30 years ago.

None of those countries has significant foreign exchange reserves and the drop in oil revenues will quickly feed through into reduced government spending and/or inflation To cut, and if so, how much Ministers must decide whether to cut production, and if so by how much, and how to share out the reductions.

The first option is to do nothing, allowing lower prices to force a rebalancing between demand and supply: the best cure for low prices is low prices.

Prices might remain stuck at current levels, perhaps even head another $10 or $20 lower in the short term.

But eventually demand will pick up as moves towards energy efficiency take a back seat in consuming countries and incomes rise in emerging markets.

And supply growth will fall as shale producers cut back and new capital spending around the world is postponed or cancelled.

The market would tighten again over a 12- to 24-month period and prices begin to rise. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi could ride out a period of lower prices with comparative ease. But for the organisation’s other members, it would be much tougher. The second option is to cut production, sacrificing market share in the hope of obtaining higher prices and higher revenues overall, and perhaps also speed the adjustment process.

But there is no guarantee production cuts would produce a big enough rise in prices to offset the fall in volumes. If prices rose too much, shale producers would be unlikely to cut back, and the necessary rebalancing might not take place at all.

Allocating production cuts If the organisation does decide to cut, the question becomes how to share the reductions.

The producers that are best placed to cut their output (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi) are also the ones with the least incentive to do so.

The countries that most need higher prices (Iran, Iraq, Libya, Nigeria and Venezuela) are the least able to afford to reduce their output.

Iran blames Saudi Arabia for taking advantage of US sanctions to increase its market share at the expense of Iranian exports, and expects Saudi Arabia and its allies to shoulder the bulk of any cuts.

In fact, Saudi Arabia’s share of global oil exports has remained broadly flat. It is U.S.

shale production (up 3 million barrels per day in the last five years) which has filled the gap left by sanctions, war and unrest across the Middle East.

If there are to be production cuts, Saudi Arabia will almost certainly insist all the organisation’s members participate. There is no reason for the kingdom to accept a significantly greater share of the cuts than its historic market share.

Cuts totalling around 500,000 barrels per day (bpd) would be too small to make a significant difference to prices or market balances in the short term.

To have any impact, the organisation would need to find cutbacks amounting to at least 1 million bpd.

Based on Saudi Arabia’s historic share of OPEC production, which has been around 30 percent since the late 1990s, the kingdom might contribute 300,000 bpd -- which could perhaps be stretched to as much as 500,000 bpd.

Close allies such as Kuwait and Abu Dhabi might contribute another 150,000 to 250,000 bpd between them based on their financial strength. That would leave the other members needing to find relatively small and symbolic cuts totalling around 300,000 to 400,000 bpd.

Production cuts would demonstrate that the organisation is not powerless to respond to the challenge posed by the shale revolution. But by propping up prices, production cuts also prop up non-OPEC suppliers who contribute nothing to the cutbacks.

The producers that are best placed to cut their output (Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and Abu Dhabi) are also the ones with the least incentive to do so Free-riding has always been the organisation’s biggest problem. In the past, it was Britain, Norway, Mexico and Russia that benefited most. Now it would be U.S. shale players.

If prices do bounce and non-OPEC supply growth continues unabated, OPEC could be forced to cut again in 12-18 months, and face the prospect of a permanent loss of market share.

OPEC must determine the best joint path for its output, prices and the output of non-members. This is fiendishly difficult, given the large uncertainties around the demand outlook and the sensitivity of U.S. shale producers to falling prices.

So there are no good options for oil ministers in Vienna next week - only a choice between poor alternatives in the hope of finding the least-bad one.

And there is no guarantee that they can reach an agreement at all. l John Kemp is a Reuters market analyst. The article was initially published at Reuters.

Japan's Prime Minister Shinzo Abe delivers a speech during a ceremony marking the 50th anniversary of the founding of the Komeito Party in Tokyo REUTERS

Japan’s Abe poised to delay tax hike, announce snap poll n Reuters, Tokyo Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe was expected to announce yesterday that he will delay an unpopular sales tax rise and call a snap election, a day after data showed the economy had fallen into recession nearly two years after he returned to power.

The world’s third-biggest economy unexpectedly shrank for a second consecutive quarter, data showed on Monday, a sign the pain from an initial rise in the sales tax to 8% from 5% in April was lasting longer than expected.

Abe was expected to announce his decision to delay the second planned rise to 10% from October 2015 - most likely for 18 months - and to state his intention to call an election for Dec 14 at a news conference after his economic advisers meet, media and ruling party lawmakers have said.

Abe - who returned to power in December 2012 pledging to revive the economy with his “Abenomics” mix of hyper-easy monetary policy, spending and reform - must tread a fine line to avoid suggesting that Japan is abandoning fiscal reform despite a public debt that is already twice the size of the economy.

Finance Minister Taro Aso, signalling that a delay was likely, told reporters on Tuesday that a sales tax hike at some point was inevitable to pay for

DILBERT

the bulging social welfare costs of Japan’s fast-ageing population.

Removing a clause in current law that allows the government to delay the tax hike if economic conditions are too severe would be one option to reassure investors that the increase would not be postponed again, Aso said.

“It’s better to have some form of guarantee,” he said.

Aso also said the government would prioritise passing through parliament a supplementary budget for the current fiscal year to fund a stimulus package, which media reports have said could be worth 2-3tn yen ($17-$26bn).

Abe has been tight-lipped in public about his plans, but repeated on Monday that beating the deflation that has gripped Japan for most of the past two decades was vital.

On Monday, he also hinted he was preparing for battle at the polls. Speaking at a reception, Abe quoted a phrase - “weather today fine but high waves” – used by a Japanese admiral in a telegram before a naval battle in the 1905 Russo-Japanese war. The Japanese fleet destroyed two-thirds of the enemy vessels.

No general election need be held until late 2016. But politicians say Abe wants to renew his mandate while his ratings are relatively high and the opposition weak before tackling unpopular policies next year. l