21 Nov 2014

Agrahayan 7, 1421 Muharram 27, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 227

FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

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WEEKEND

9 | SPECIAL

11 | OP-ED

12 | SPORT

THE HAY HYPE

ARMED FORCES DAY

CONGRATS TO OUR DEMOCRATIC ARMED FORCES

BANGLADESH KEEN FOR FIRST ODI WIN IN 2014

DB suspects bigwigs behind gold racket Arrestees thought law enforcers could never touch them n Ashif Islam Shaon Senior Biman officials arrested Wednesday are only a small part of a big gold smuggling racket that may involve bigwigs such as ministers, lawmakers, high-ranked government officials and influential businessmen.

Detectives have got this impression after interrogating the three national flag carrier officials and the two outsiders on the first day of the four-day remand yesterday.

P2 JS ACCUSES BIMAN BOSS An official of the Detective Branch (DB) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) told the Dhaka Tribune that the officials arrested generally looked after the implementation of a smuggling assignment. They involved officials from some other departments of Biman such as engineers who know the ins and out of the aircraft structure.

Engineers are fully aware of the areas of an aircraft that are best for hiding smuggled goods. Technicians are utilised to make space inside aircrafts to keep gold and other smuggled objects.

The DB official, a member of the interrogation team, also said this could be the biggest smuggling racket currently active. There are some other airport-based rackets as well where those involved sometimes got engaged in feuds over sharing and negotiation.

In a 12-hour operation, detectives have arrested five members of the rack-

et from the Dhaka airport, Uttara and Bashundhara in the capital since Tuesday evening.

Of them, three were Biman highups – Captain Abu Mohammad Aslam Shaheed, chief of Biman’s planning and scheduling, a pilot - Emdad Hossain, deputy general manager of flight services, and Tozammel Hossain, manager of scheduling.

The other two arrested were Mahmudul Haque Palash, an influential contractor known for having close ties with Biman top officials, and Md Harunur Rashid, owner of a money exchange firm in Uttara.

“They never believed that someone could arrest them. When we went to get Shaheed from his residence, he talked to some government bigshots right in front of us to avoid getting arrested,” the DB official said.

“Palash calls himself a contractor but in reality, he is a broker. He has close ties with Biman officials. He never thought we went to arrest him. He thought we were there to settle a feud among some corrupt Biman officials.

He suggested that we contact Shaheed Bhai,” he said.

“They [the arrestees] did not believe that we had actually arrested him until our car turned towards the DB office in Minto Road. They thought we were escorting them to the Airport police station where a meeting was scheduled among Biman officials regarding a feud,” the detective said.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

For the smooth passing of a VVIP motorcade, traffic police put the whole traffic system around Shahbagh intersection in the capital into a chaos yesterday, barring an ambulance carrying a patient in critical condition. Relatives of the patient requested a traffic sergeant to let the ambulance go, but it remained stuck until the motorcade passed. While a tailback was created on one side of the road, a double-decker of Dhaka University took up the wrong side SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

One killed in Chhatra League clash; university closed sine die

RU progressive teachers fear walking after sunset

Seven years in jail for reckless driving restored

n Mohammad Serajul Islam, Sylhet

Jamil Khan n Mohammad from Rajshahi

n Ahmed Zayeef

A private university student was killed yesterday during a gunfight between two Chhatra League factions of Shahjalal University of Science and Technology (SUST) over establishing supremacy on the campus.

Following the incident, SUST authorities declared the university closed for an indefinite period in an emergency syndicate meeting around 12:30pm.

Victim Sumon Roy was a third-year BBA student of Sylhet International University, said Officer-in-Charge Akter Hossain of Jalalabad police station.

Chhatra League sources claimed that Sumon was a follower of SUST BCL vice-president.

Prof Faruk Uddin said at least nine students including Proctor Prof Himadri Shakor Ray received bullet injuries during the clash.

Of the injured, Kholilur Rahman was a first-year student of Sociology and Kamrul Hasan, a Master’s Degree student of Political Science and Public Administration.

The others injured were named as Hossain Mohammad Sagor, Abdus Salam Monju, Nazrul, Selim, Ahad and Mizan.

Seeking anonymity, some SUST students said there was a previous enmity between the university’s Chhatra League President Sanjib Chakrabarti

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

Progressive teachers of Rajshahi University (RU), who currently dominate teachers’ politics, including the administration of the campus activities, do not dare walk alone outside after sunset.

“Many of the teachers, including myself, bring along two of our department staff members or attendants when going home after dusk,” Dr Ananda Kumar Saha, a professor of the geology department, said.

Ananda, a former convener of the progressive teachers body, said there are 644 teachers registered with the association. They do not feel secure, he said, despite their importance on the campus.

The murder of Professor AKM Shafiul Islam Lilon, the most recent murder of a teacher at the university, is the reason so many academics are in fear, the liberation war participant and thirty-year veteran teacher at the university said.

Nazmul Haque, assistant professor of sociology, who changed his address mid-month out of fear of an attack, said: “If teachers like Shafiul can be killed in broad daylight, then anything is possible at RU.” Unidentified assailants hacked Shafiul while he was returning home

The head of the UN nuclear agency said yesterday that Iran had again failed to provide explanations about suspected atomic bomb research.

Shahidul Islam, founder of Chobi Mela and Drik Gallery, discusses the magic of amateur photographers in Bangladesh yesterday at the Hay Festival.

Armed activists of a group of Chhatra League take position on Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet, yesterday in the presence of policemen FOCUS BANGLA Partha and its Vice-President Anjan Ray. Students who witnessed the gunfight said followers of SUST BCL unit president, who were absent from the campus for quite a long time, entered the university around 10:30am. They

had vandalised the library, academic building, and the Shah Paran Hall.

The clash erupted as students loyal to Vice-President Anjan Roy arrived at the scene.

5 | News

7 | World

from the RU campus on November 15.

University sources said RU has been dominated by progressive professors and staff since 1981. However, they said changes came this year after the killing of Chhatra League leader Meer Mostak Elahi.

Another teacher, a veteran professor of RU who came to the university in 1974 as a student before ultimately becoming a teacher there, told the Dhaka Tribune that since 1981, anti-liberation forces have been trying to rise up.

“We progressive minded teachers let

this happen by dividing into factions, including Awami League, Jasod Awami League and Basod Awami League,” he said, requesting not to be named, out of fear for life.

After 1992, Jamaat-Shibir gained in strength and were bolstered by the BNP-led government that came to power in 2001, he said.

We lost two of our teachers, Professor Dr Younus in 2004 and Professor SA Taher in 2006 from attacks by anti-liberation criminals, the professor said.

“After 2009, progressive minded teachers’ once again started to rise following the Awami League (AL) poll victory but anti-liberation forces attacked

The High Court yesterday restored the highest punishment of seven years’ imprisonment for reckless driving, scrapping the existing three-year term.

The High Court bench of Justice Salma Masud Chowdhury and Justice Md Khasruzzaman also observed that the punishment should be increased further to ensure people’s right to life.

The order came following a writ petition moved by Supreme Court lawyer Manzill Murshid.

On October 10, 1985, the government of HM Ershad brought amendments to the Code of Criminal Procedure (CrPC) and the Penal Code, reducing the jail term to three years for reckless driving that had already killed and maimed countless people.

After the passage of the order yesterday, Manzill Murshid said: “The High Court bench scrapped the amendment.

The previous provision of seven years in jail for road accident will remain in force from now on.

“In its observation, the High Court mentioned that the highest punishment should be more than seven years’ imprisonment.”

During the hearing, Manzill argued that incidents of road accidents and death due to reckless driving have been

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 PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

P16 POLICE TO MANHUNT

INSIDE

B1 | Business

Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said Bangladesh will come out of poverty by 2018, terming the country’s poverty reduction rate extraordinary.

Jaago Foundation, an organisation that offers positive and brighter futures to underprivileged children, celebrated the Universal Children’s Day (UCD) for the sixth year in a row.

8 | Hay Festival

15 | Entertainment

Angelina Jolie has confirmed she plans to retire as an actor to focus on her budding career as a film-maker. Speaking to Du Jour magazine in an interview.

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, November 21, 2014

Probe report: Bheramara tripping caused blackout n Aminur Rahman Rasel Tripping of the Bheramara grid sub-station caused the entire national electricity grid to collapse on November 1, according to the report of a government committee formed to investigate the reasons.

The report is supposed to be submitted yesterday, but it could not be as State Minister for Power Nasrul Hamid was not in country.

‘We will place 20-point recommendations to the state minister about the blackout’ Nasrul will return on November 24.

Mohammad Hossain, director general of the Power Cell and member secretary of the investigation committee, yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “We will place 20-point recommendations to the state minister about the blackout.”

Inefficiency of the maintenance staff of the national grid and widespread mismanagement had also contributed to the nationwide blackout, a govern-

ment probe committee has found.

On November 12, the committee, formed by the Power Ministry, finished investigation by visiting the Ghorashal power plant at Narsingdi.

The eight-member probe body, comprising one former and seven current government high officials, said they would now analyse the data they had collected and submit a report within a few days.

On November 6 – a day after the first deadline expired – instead of submitting a report, the committee placed some “primary information” about the blackout to the state minister for power and sought 10 working days’ time.

Reportedly, the committee is still analysing the data it had collected by visiting the National Load Despatch Centre in the capital’s Aftabnagar, the Bheramara sub-station and the Ashuganj, Haripur and Ghorashal power plants.

On the day of the blackout, officials of the Power Grid Company of Bangladesh, the authority that owns and runs the national power grid, said the Bheramara sub-station tripped first and caused some power stations in Ashuganj to fail. l

Current students and alumni of Holy Family Red Crescent Medical College form a human chain in front of the National Human Rights Commission in the capital yesterday demanding a fair probe into the death of Shamarukh Mahajabin Kona MEHEDI HASAN

GOLD SMUGGLING

Biman chairman accused in Jatiya Sangsad n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Jatiya Party lawmaker Kazi Feroz Rashid has directly accused the Biman chairman of being involved with gold smuggling.

Feroz made the allegation while speaking during an unscheduled discussion in parliament yesterday after independent MP Hazi Md Selim raised the issue.

Both MPs demanded strict actions against all Biman officials involved in the recent, frequent smugglings of the precious metal. Customs officials say that they have seized around 650kg of gold – worth more than Tk 200 crore – in the last 15 months.

The smugglings have been mak-

ing news headlines frequently. On Wednesday, detectives arrested five people in connection with the smugglings, three of whom work for Biman.

Feroz Rashid said all of the 42 names of people involved in smuggling that have come up in recent news, should be arrested, and no bail should be allowed to the arrestees. “I think that the senior management team of Biman might be engaged with the smuggling and I am sure that the Biman board chairman is involved with it,” he said.

“Jamaluddin [Biman’s chairman and a retired air marshal] has been in charge of Biman for the last six years.

Three ministers [Civil Aviation and Tourism] have since come and gone.

Several managing directors have been

changed. The entire board of Biman has also been changed. But Jamaluddin has remained in the charge with absolute dominance,” he added.

Firoz Rashid asked the Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Civil Aviation and Tourism Ministry to seek explanations by summoning the Biman Chairman.

“The Chairman has not given any statement in this regard as yet. I have spoken with the civil aviation Minister recently. He told me that Jamal has not called him on his telephone even after such sensational incidents have occurred.”

He urged the law minister, who was present in the House, to take steps so that no detainee got released on bail.

One killed in Chhatra League clash at SUST  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

Both factions started exchanging gunshots at each other and exploded handmade bombs leaving at least 20 injured.

OC Akter Hossain said: “Police fired 93 rounds from shotguns and three rounds of tears-gas shells to bring the situation under control.”

Additional police forces were deployed on the campus to avert further untoward incidents.

But around 3pm the two groups made a come back and chased each other leaving police constable Ibrahim Ali injured,” he said adding that police quelled the violence after half an hour.

Male students were asked to vacate dormitories by 4pm yesterday and female students by 9am today.

A regular syndicate meeting was going on till the filing of this report at 5:30pm.

Earlier, on May 9, 2013 SUST BCL new committee was formed with Sanjibon Chakrabarti Partha its president, Anjan Ray vice-president and Imran Khan member secretary.

Soon after the announcement of the committee, on May 13 new Secretary Imran who was loyal to Partha was attacked by Anjan group. He was severely injured and is now undergoing treat-

ment in India.

Following the attack the Partha group lost their control and the Anjan group established their supremacy on the campus including the three dormitories – Shahporan Hall, Second Student Hall and Syed Mujtoba Ali Hall.

On September 23, 2014, miscreants attacked Chhatra League leader Uttom Kumar Das, 30, a student of Master’s Degree level of Social Welfare Department and also the group leader of Anjan, leaving him critically injured.

He is now undergoing treatment at Square Hospitals Dhaka.

After the incident, the Anjan group

RU progressive teachers fear walking after sunset  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

and killed one of our teachers to get their message across,” he said.

Professor Dr Ananda Kumar Saha said: “They killed a professor in broad daylight and if they want to, they could enter our houses and kill us.”

“We understand that if the present government falls, we will be destroyed as well,” he said.

Management studies professor, Kumar Bhowmick, said Shafiul was killed to threaten all like-minded academics.

“You see, the murder was committed just as the International Crimes Tribunal started handing down its verdicts to war criminals,” the professor said.

Mashihur Rahman, associate professor of journalism, said: “If the authorities do not take action against the killers, they will be further encouraged.

Two of our teachers who were killed brutally have not received justice as yet.”

Professor Dr Pronob Kumar Pandey, general secretary of the RU teachers’ association, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We teachers, stand together and are doing our best to ensure justice for our slain colleague. We have observed a number of programmes in support of our demand for justice.”

The RU vice-chancellor, Professor Muhammad Mizanuddin, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We are doing our best to ensure a safe and secure environment on campus. We hope the authorities

DB suspects bigwigs behind gold racket  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

“They had no fear. This can only happen if they have strong backing from people in the government. We have so far got the names of four to five politicians and will scrutinise the information. These politicians have ensured that these particular officials remained posted at the Dhaka airport for years, having even got the service tenure of some officials extended illegally.

“As they have been working at the airport for many years, they can manipulate everything. They used to handpick people for various jobs including flight staffers and pilots,” the DB official said.

“These senior Biman officials sometimes got share of gold just for turning a blind eye towards smuggling activities,” he said.

In July this year, a huge consignment of abandoned gold was recovered from a Biman aircraft. Customs intelligence found that out of the 14 people involved with the assignment, 10 were members

of the engineering department. Within a period of one year, the aircraft had been taken to the hanger nine times just to hide gold packages inside.

“The syndicate not only controls the smuggling, but also contracts, flight schedules and promotion of Biman staff. We found that every corrupt official owns more than one flat and car in the capital,” the DB official said.

DB now believes that although the arrestees control a lion part of the smuggling and the airport-based syndicate, they never owned any of the consignments.

“It is actually a cut-based system.

Some 20-25 men based in Dubai mainly own the consignments. Using brokers, they make deals with officials, who use their ring members to ensure safe passage,” he said.

“The smugglers have political connections in our country. They also have muscle power...Most of the time, they use insignificant people as carriers. If a carrier tries to misappropriate gold

in Bangladesh, they use their goons to recover that. They sometimes even use law enforcers to catch the betrayers,” the DB official said.

Wednesday’s arrests came a couple of days after detained Biman crew member Mazharul Afsar Russel gave a magistrate the names of people allegedly involved in gold smuggling. He was arrested on November 12 with five gold bars weighing 2.6kg.

In his confessional statement on November 17, Russel gave names of 61 members of Biman and Caab allegedly involved in gold and currency smuggling.

According to investigators, Palash studied up to higher secondary. His father was a member of the ruling Awami League’s previous central committee.

Both his ex and current wives are Biman’s flight stewardesses.

“He built a network of Biman crew and flight attendants. On the outside, he used his father’s connections to get acquainted with Biman Chairman

The chair of the session Deputy Speaker Fazle Rabbi Miah said no comments should be made is case any criminal case is lodged in this regard.

“If no criminal case is filed, I will discuss the matter with the civil aviation minister,” he assured the house.

Feroz’s comment came after independent MP Hazi Md Selim raised the issue saying: “A cat has been entrusted to guard dried fish.”

He made the comment after remarking that the repeated recoveries of smuggled gold, and the arrests were a threat to Bangladesh’s reputation. His comment may have been a concealed dig at the Biman Chairman, even though he refrained from giving out names. l

Joy, Iqbal Sobhan made PM’s advisers n UNB

Sajeeb Wazed Joy and Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury have been appointed as advisers to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

According to a gazette notification of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), Sajeeb Wazed Joy, son of Sheikh Hasina, has been made PM’s information and communication technology affairs adviser.

While discharging his duties, Joy

would work as per the directives and advice of PM, according to the gazette notification dated November 17. The appointment of Joy is a part-time one and carries no salary. Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury has been made the PM’s media adviser and his appointment is also without salary and a part-time one.

While discharging his duties, Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury will take seat with persons having status equivalent to that of ministers. l

Seven years in jail  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

ensure proper justice for the murder victim.”

The newly appointed commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police, Mohammad Shamsuddin, said he was aware of security concerns at the university and ordered additional forces and night patrols to cover the campus.

Security would be enhanced at the teachers’ residence area, Bihas, near the place where Shafiul was fatally assaulted, the commissioner said. l

on the rise because of the reduction in punishment.

“The situation is so worse that people’s lives are at high risk in the street.

That is why the amendment is a violation of article 32 of the constitution.

“The punishment [for reckless driving leading to road accidents] is more than 10 years in Australia, Pakistan, Canada and many other countries. That is why the road accident is under control in those countries. But because of the lower punishment reckless driving and road accidents are rising in our country,” he said.

On January 3, 2011, the Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh filed the writ petition as a public interest litigation, seeking High Court directives for the government to cancel the amendments.

The next day, the bench of Justice AHM Shamsuddin Chowdhury Manik and Justice Sheikh Md Zakir Hossain issued a ruling upon the government to explain why the reduction in punishment for reckless driving should not be declared illegal and unconstitutional.

Secretaries to the Cabinet Division, secretariat of the president, the Prime Minister’s Office, the Ministry of Law, Ministry of Home Affairs, and the Parliament Secretariat were made respondents to the ruling.

Deputy Attorney General Khurshidul Alam, who moved for the government, yesterday said: “After receiving the copy of the High Court order we will decide whether to move further.”

According to the government statistics, on an average eight people die every day because of road accidents.

The World Bank statistics say around 30 people die every day in road accidents while the number is 48 according to the World Health Organisation.

Bangladesh has witnessed some gruesome road accidents in recent years. Most of these occurred because of reckless driving.

On July 11, 2011, 41 schoolchildren and two college students were killed in a tragic accident at Mirsarai, Chittagong.

On August 13 that year, acclaimed filmmaker Tareq Masud and cinematographer and ATN News chief executive officer Mishuk Munier were killed along with three others in a car crash on the Dhaka-Aricha Highway at Ghior upazila of Manikganj on their way to Dhaka after visiting a filming location.

On February 15 this year, seven schoolchildren drowned when a bus carrying them home from a picnic veered off the road and plunged into a pond in Chougachha upazila of Jessore.

A total of 49,847 road accidents occurred in the country in the last 15 years, killing 42,526 people and injuring around 39,000, says a report of the Accident Research Institute at Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology.

The report was prepared on the basis of police records. The actual number is presumed to be much higher as many accidents remain unreported. l

Jamal Uddin Ahmed. Both Palash and Jamal are from Comilla. Palash soon became a powerful and fearless broker because he came to be known as ‘close to the chairman’,” said another DB official involved with the interrogation.

Palash got a boost in 2010 by brokering the hiring of Nigerian airline operator Kabo to carry extra passengers during the Hajj. That year, he even chose the 100 temporary crew members that were hired for 90 days for Hajj. He took Tk10 lakh from each of them for getting them the temporary jobs.

Biman DGM Emdad Hossain came to Dhaka airport in 2005. Since then, incidents of smuggling by Biman aircraft has increased. Capt Shaheed worked as the chief dealer.

Investigators said Harun was basically a hundi trader. Using his currency exchange firm, he received and passed on the illegal money that were being transferred from foreign countries in favour of the corrupt Biman officials.

Sheikh Nazmul Alam, a deputy

commissioner of DB, told the Dhaka Tribune last night that at least 10 gold smuggling rackets are active in various airports in Bangladesh.

“Of them, six are in based in Dhaka, three in Chittagong and one in Sylhet.

They are all controlled by people who live in Dubai with families.

“Bangladesh is being used as transit route and consignments enter either directly from Dubai or via Singapore or Malaysia. Biman employees and officials are involved with every smuggling consignment. Indian Agents give the money to the main smugglers in Dubai,” the DC said According to another DB senior official involved with the interrogation, Biman officials get Tk2,000 commission for every gold bar weighing 10 tolas.

A big share goes to an influential politician of the ruling party. Seven other leaders also get shares.

Some of the well-known smugglers in Dubai are from Bangladesh – Shafiul Azam Talukder Mintu from Chittagong

and Masum Al Azad alias Sumon from Dhaka. They operate one racket each.

Others named Abbas, Hasan, Pintu and Shahin also have smaller rackets, the detective said.

From the confessional statement given by Biman crew member Russel, detectives have picked up names of Biman, Caab and Airport Security staff involved with the racket.

Some of them are – Schedule Manager Motin Sarwar, Assistant Manager Siddique, cockpit crew members Captain Ali, Imran, Ishtiaque, Rafique and Hasan Imam; and first officers Ahmed Imran, Rashedul, Gafur, Amin.

Apart from them, 24 cabin crew members, 15 stewardesses, Junior Executive Officer Kamrul, Engineer Officer Jafor, Inspection Officer Shahjahan and aircraft mechanic Masud, Anis and Goni are also involved with the racket.

Airport Civil Aviation Security staffers Amir, Jahir, Mostafiz, Jalil and Zia’s names have also come up in the investigation. l

weakened and the Partha group tried to establish their control over the campus.

When contacted Partha said: “As some of our activists went to Shahporan Hall yesterday some terrorists launched an attack on them who just resisted”.

He said deceased Sumon Ray was an outsider. He also claimed that Suman was killed by his own gun.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted Anjan Ray. One of his relatives received the cell phone and said Anjan was sick. He advised this reporter to make a phone call later. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Friday, November 21, 2014

Fakhrul: Hasina repeating her father’s mistakes n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla Claiming that it was a big mistake for Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to introducing Baksal in the country, BNP acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir said Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina is making the same mistake.

“The government has been conspiring to reintroduce the one-party rule in the country. The Baksal system introduced by her father killed the country’s democracy and now she is following in his footsteps,” Fakhrul said yesterday while addressing a discussion organised by National Awami Party at National Press Club to mark Abdul Hamid Khan Bhashani’s death anniversary.

Slamming the prime minister’s claim that people have full confidence in the Awami League-led government, Fakhrul said: “Sheikh Hasina, the illegal prime minister, told the parliament that people are not responding to BNP’s agitation.

310 people were killed, and 56 were abducted centring the January 5 elections, yet the voter turnout was below 5%. The

Blogger Rajib murder case hearing deferred until January 21 n Tribune Report A Dhaka court yesterday deferred the charge framing hearing in the Rajib Haider murder case to January 21, next year.

Dhaka Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge Md Ruhul Amin deferred the hearing following a time petition from the defence counsel.

On October 14, Dhaka’s Metropolitan Sessions Judge took the charges into cognisance, and transferred the case to the Fourth Additional Metropolitan Sessions Judge’s Court.

The first charge framing session was scheduled on October 30.

Ahmed Rajib Haider, a blogger, an architect, and an activist of the Shahbagh Gonojagoron Mancha movement, was hacked to death in the capital’s Pallabi on February 15, 2013. Five alleged killers were arrested two weeks after the killing happened. Later, two more arrests were also made.

Earlier on January 28, detectives submitted a charge sheet against eight people to the Dhaka chief metropolitan magistrate court.

According to the charge sheet, Mufti Jasimuddin, the chief of the militant outfit Ansarullah Bangla Team, is the instigator, and Redwanul Azad Rana is the planner of the sensational murder.

Rana is on the run while Mufti Jasim and the other six – Md Faisal Bin Nayem alias Dweep, Maksudul Hasan alias Anik, Md Ehsan Reza alias Rumman, Nayem Sikdar alias Iraj, Nafis Imtiaz, and Sadman Yaseer Mahmud – are now in custody. All accused, except Mufti Jasim, used to be students of North South University.

On June 1, Sadman had been granted bail from the High Court; later, he was ordered to surrender, and sent to jail. l

boycott proves that they do not support the government in any way.”

The BNP acting secretary general observed that the tenth general election was not accepted locally and internationally. “Nonetheless, the prime minister has been claiming that her government has gained widespread legitimacy.”

“The European Union, the United Nations, the United States, the United Kingdom and many other countries the January 5 election was not an election,” he added.

The way our activists are being continuously repressed by the government has left us with no choice but to orchestrate vigorous street agitations to demand elections be held under a non-partisan government, Fakhrul said.

He also alleged the ruling party leaders are involved with gold smuggling.

“Every day, gold bars were seized at airport, and Bangladesh Biman and civil aviation officials have a hand in this illegal act. A fair probe will reveal that ruling party men are involved with gold smuggling,” added the BNP leader. l

The human chain and the journalists busy in covering it in front of the National Press Club obstruct traffic movement on the road. The premises, which have been a common spot to raise voices against injustices and irregularities, itself becomes chaotic when demonstrators occupy most part of the road SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

50 Bangldeshi expatriates awaiting Siblings kidnapped from freed unharmed death penalties in prisons abroad Darussalam n Ashif Islam Shaon

n Tribune Report Around 50 Bangladeshi expatriates who had flown to the foreign lands in search of employments, are currently waiting for execution of their death penalties while serving in prisons across the globe.

Among them, the verdict for 29 death row inmates have been put to a halt through negotiations held in between the Bangladeshi embassies and the governments of the respective countries.

Such negotiations mainly focuses on compensating the victim’s families.

The numbers were revealed through a written statement issued by Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment Minister Engineer Khandker Mosharraf Hossain issued to the parliament yesterday.

All of the death row inmates were convicted for committing murders.

Among the death sentence awardees, 12 Bangladeshi migrants are in Saudi Arabia, 23 in Dubai, 12 in Kuwait, one in Bahrain, one in Singapore and one in Abu Dhabi.

The Wage Earners’ Welfare Board under the Ministry of Expatriates’ Welfare and Overseas Employment, was active enough in order to free the convicts from the trial in the respective countries, said the minister.

In the statement, he informed that an “understanding” has been reached through negotiations with the concerned countries to cancel the death penalty for 29 Bangladeshi expatriate workers.

Letters seeking mercy have already been sent to the Bangladeshi Missions

in those countries, according to the statement by the Expatriates’ Welfare Minister.

Except for the countries mentioned above, 35 more are facing trials in different countries on murder charges – 15 in Dubai, 10 in Saudi Arabia, three in Oman, three in Qatar, one each in Kuwait, Egypt and Bahrain.

Khandker also highlighted that 2,759,541 people from Bangladesh received employment in different countries across the world in between January 2009 and September 2014.

“The number was 137,088 during the BNP-Jamaat regime from 2001 to 2006,” he said.

The ministry had undertaken construction work of nearly 400 centres for providing technical trainings at the upazila levels, said the minister. l

84 hours in captivity

President against turning education a commodity n UNB President Abdul Hamid yesterday warned those trying to make business by turning education a commodity and told them to invest in any other sector that will benefit the country and the nation.

“An education institution is no way a business establishment… those trying to make business by turning education as a commodity should rather invest in any other sector that will benefit the country and the nation,” he said, addressing the 9th convocation of Brac University at the Army Stadium in the city.

A total of 1,495 students received degrees at the convocation while two students were given gold medals for their outstanding performance.

The president said university is a “gateway to the greater kingdom of knowledge,” rather than a place to cut good figures in examinations following a restricted curriculum.”

Professor Emeritus of Dhaka University Anisuzzaman delivered the convocation speech. l

Two siblings – Faruk and Firoz Sardar, both book traders – kidnapped on Friday by people allegedly dressed as detective police, have been freed unharmed by the captors on Monday evening.

A micro-bus, after dropping the still-blindfolded abductees at the Malibagh intersection, sped away before anyone could react. On Tuesday, the detective branch of police took their statements at a Dhaka court and filed a case on the incident.

“After we reached home, we went to the Darussalam Police Station and spoke to the officer in charge. The OC sent us to the DB office as the case had already been transferred there. DB officials sent us to court the day after,” said Faruk.

The eyewitnesses of the abduction said that one of the abductors were wearing a vest that had a two letter inscription on its back. Only detective police wear such jackets with DB written at the back.

When contacted, DB Inspector Anwar Hossain claimed they were yet to know for sure who had abducted them – criminals or not. The DB is still investigating the kidnapping.

Faruk, Firoz, and their family has been living in Darussalm for the last seven years. Faruk lives on the ground floor of a two-storey building with his wife, two children, and parents while Firoz lives on the ground floor of an adjacent three-storey building with his wife and twin sons.

The cinematic raid at their house that night panicked their family members and neighbors. They are happy that the abductees are back home safely.

Police has confirmed that no complaint against the siblings with any police station is registered.

Dhaka University accounting department students perform a rag day flash mob in the TSC area yesterday

SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

The two brothers, yesterday, decribed their 84-hour ordeal: On Friday, more that 10 armed men stormed their house, behaving exactly like policemen on raids, and forced the two siblings into a white microbus.

Before the “arrest” the “law enforcers” cared to cease the cell-phones of the rickshaw-pullers and guards present in the alley that leads to the house.

“They blindfolded our eyes as soon as they forced us into a white micro bus. The vehicle started moving and I asked one of them...Sir, what have we

done? Where are you taking us?” said Faruk, 32, the elder of the two brothers.

The armed men ordered that Faruk shut his mouth, saying: “We will tell you in right time.”

After almost an hour, the microbus stopped, and the blindfolded brothers had to walk for five minutes to an unknown location. Faruk sensed that they had arrived at a building as he had to make his way up a slope. “Perhaps it was close to the airport as I used to hear heavy sound of plane engine after few minutes,” he added later.

After his blindfold was removed, Faruk found himself inside a 20ft by 12ft room, being received by a young man, aged between 20-22 years. His brother was nowhere to be seen.

No one asked him any questions. He was served parathas and veggies in the morning, rice and beef for lunch, and rice with egg curry for dinner.

‘I grabbed the legs of a youth who came with food, and pleaded to see my elder brother.

He kicked me away’ “No one tortured me. When I needed to go to the privy, I would knock on the room’s door that was always kept locked from outside. Two youths would come, blindfold me and take me to the washroom. “Every time I went to the washroom, they threatened me not to shout or ask questions; otherwise, they would kill me,” he added.

Firoz, 27, also described a similar room where he was kept seperately.

“I thought I would be killed. So, I grabbed the legs of a youth who came with food, and pleaded to see my elder brother. He kicked me away,” he said.

The youths had asked him about their earnings and the rent of their houses; no questions regarding them being involved in any criminal activity were asked.

On Monday evening, a new group of people appeared at their rooms. They blindfolded both of them again, and boarded them into a vehicle. After 45 minutes, they were freed, still blindfolded, at the Malibagh intersection.

Just before they were released, their cell phones were returned. l

Special probe body to investigate human trafficking via sea n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong Police Headquarters has formed a four-member special probe committee to collect information – from the root level to the top – on the human trafficking gangs active in the Bay of Bengal.

The probe body, headed by Chittagong Metropolitan Police (CMP) Additional Commissioner (Crime and Operation) Banaz Kumar Majumder, was formed a few weeks ago following a directive by the government, aiming to stop the increasing trend of human trafficking and illegal voyages by the sea route, sources at the CMP said.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Banaz said they were given a 15-day deadline at first to collect the necessary informa-

tion on human traffickers, trafficking routes and transports, and other relevant information.

“But we sought an extension as we need more time to gather all the information,” he said, adding that the government would take necessary preventive measures based on the committee’s report.

At least 3,000 people have been detained on their way to Malaysia, Thailand and others countries through the Bay of Bengal this year, according to sources at different law enforcement agencies.

In the latest incident, Bangladesh Navy rescued 625 people from the Bay of Bengal – 135 nautical miles southwest of the St Martin’s Island – on Monday.

The navy found the detainees while

they were travelling to Malaysia illegally on an unnamed trawler with a Myanmar flag hoisted. The detained comprise both the traffickers and the victims.

Arrested traffickers spill the beans

The arrested traffickers, both Myanmar and Bangladeshi nationals, confessed during interrogation that some trawler owners on both sides of the border were involved in human trafficking. A number of Bangladeshi and Myanmar expatriates are involved with the trafficking as well.

The trawlers wait in deep sea for 1215 days, while the local brokers fetch people in small groups from different areas in the countries and bring them to the trawlers.

One such broker is Anwar, son of the chairman of Merulla in Myanmar’s Mongdu area, who is quite influential.

He collects people who want to go abroad and supplies them to the trafficking trawlers, assisted by his agent Selim Majhi, the traffickers said during interrogation, the traffickers said.

On the Bangladeshi side, Rahimullah and Khulla Miah from Teknaf, Cox’s Bazar run one of the Bangladeshi rackets in the region, said Gul Mohammad, one of the traffickers and a Myanmar national illegally residing in Patiya, Chittagong.

Another trafficker, Mohammad Hashem said a group of fishermen aid the traffickers with food and water supply and other assistance, as well as information on the movement of law

enforcement agencies.

“We (the fishermen) also try to convince other fishermen to join the business, or take the offer of going to Malaysia at a cheap rate themselves,” the Patiya native, fisherman-turned-trafficker told the Dhaka Tribune on Wednesday.

The traffickers mainly target the poor, illiterate and unemployed people from the northern districts and rob them of huge amounts, alluring them to give job in abroad.

According to the law enforcement agencies, a good number of human traffickers use the coastal areas of Chittagong’s Bashkhali, Sitakunda, Anwara, Sandwip, Boalkhali, and Cox’s Bazar’s Maheshkhali, Kutubdia, Teknaf, and St Martin’s Island as embarkation points. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Friday, November 21, 2014

ACC requests 14 countries for info on money laundering n Tribune Report The Anti-Corruption Commission sent letters to 14 countries, requesting them for information regarding alleged money laundered to those countries by Bangladeshi businessmen, politicians, industrialists, and government officials.

“The commission has already received replies from five [of those] countries,” ACC Secretary M Maksudul Hasan Khan yesterday told a monthly press briefing held at the commission’s headquarters at the capital’s Segunbagicha.

He, however, did not disclose the names of those 14 countries and the suspected money launderers.

Foreign Ministry sources said at least 648 people had applied for the second home project in various countries during the previous term of the Awami League government. Among them 287 are from the Awami League, 96 from the BNP and Jamaat-e-Islami and the remaining 265 persons are government officials, businessmen and industrialists.

An official of the ACC requesting anonymity told the Dhaka Tribune:

Bapex top official gives deposition in Mosharraf-Niko bribery case n Tribune Report One more prosecution witness yesterday gave deposition against former state minister for energy AKM Mosharraf Hossain in a case filed on charge of taking bribe from Niko, an international oil and gas exploration and production company of Canada.

Dhaka second special judge Hosne Ara Begum recorded the statement of Mostafa Kamal, general manager of Bangladesh Petroleum Exploration and Production Company (Bapex) as fourth of 26 witnesses in the case.

The court also fixed November 24 for cross-examination of the manager in the case filed with Shahbagh police station against the former BNP lawmaker and Kashem Sharif, former vice-president of Niko, by the Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) on February 12, 2012 under the Penal Code and Anti Corruption Prevention Act. l

“Through this second home project many businessmen and political figures siphoned off large chunks of money to other countries. They converted Taka into US dollar through money exchange and then siphoned those off.”

“The commission will take action against the money launderers after getting information from those countries,” ACC Secretary Maksudul Hasan said at the press briefing yesterday.

Responding to a query, he said the commission had launched a probe to collect information about 16 bureaucrats who had allegedly obtained freedom fighter certificates through forgery.

“The commission will take action against them if they are found guilty after the inquiry,” he added.

In a report of the Global Financial Integrity published last December last year, Bangladesh ranked 47 among 150 developing countries and second in South Asia.

The report revealed that during 2002-11, $1,608 million was laundered from Bangladesh to other countries through translucent business transactions, corruption and tax evasion. l

Sufia Kamal’s death anniversary observed n Tribune Report

Speakers at a remembrance programme arranged by the Samajik Protirodh Committee at capital’s CIRDAP Auditorium yesterday on occasion of 15th death anniversary of celebrated poet Sufia Kamal MEHEDI HASAN

Climate change policy outline demanded n Tribune Report Civil society groups yesterday urged the government to play a strong role at an upcoming climate change conference to press for the interests of developing countries.

They urged the government to publicly disclose its position on the international climate negotiations, at a seminar titled, “CoP 20 Lima Climate Conference: Challenges for Bangladesh in Leadership” held at the city’s Dhaka Reporter’s Unity auditorium.

The 20th session of the Conference of Parties (CoP 20) under the United Nations Framework Convention on Cli-

Solar panel manufacturers place 11-point demand to boost local industry n Aminur Rahman Rasel Local solar panel manufacturers placed an 11-point demand urging the government to make use of locally made solar panels mandatory in every government project, including the projects of the Infrastructure Development Company Limited.

“As we are facing strong competition from imported panels, we seek government support to ensure consumers’ rights and protect the interest of local manufacturers,” Tanjil Chowdhury, President of Solar Module Manufacturers Association of Bangladesh (SMMAB), said at a press conference in the capital yesterday.

The 11-point demand calls upon the government to discourage solar panel import by imposing 20-25 percent customs and supplementary duty, to provide 20-30 percent cash incentives

for export to facilitate growth of the industry, and relaxing VAT for local manufacturers. They also demanded bank loan facilities with a 4-5 percent interest rate for this promising sector.

“Consumers are being cheated.

These panels, that produced cheaply in various countries are sold under the name of high quality manufacturers.

Despite a warranty of 20 years, they do not last more than two to three years, due to the poor manufacturing quality,” Tanjil Chowdhury said.

“If the government does not protect the local manufacturers and frame a time-bound policy, the country’s vision of installing 60 lakh solar panels by 2017 will not be fulfilled,” he added.

“The country does not need to import solar panels as the local companies can produce around 80 megawatt solar panels against the demand of 60 megawatts a year,” he added. l

mate Change will be held from December 1 to 12 in Lima, Peru.

According to the Inter-governmental Panel on Climate Change, Bangladesh is among the counties most vulnerable to the negative impacts of global warming.

Discussions to prepare a legally binding international agreement to reduce carbon emissions is a main objective of CoP 20. It is expected such an agreement will be signed at next year’s conference, CoP 21, to be held in Paris, France.

Discussants called on the government to keep up pressure on developed nations so that polluters could not retreat from emission reduction targets.

Mosharraf denied bail in money laundering case

n Tribune Report A Special Judge’s Court in Dhaka yesterday denied bail to BNP Standing Committee member Khandaker Mosharraf Hossain in a case filed for siphoning off over Tk9.53 crore to the United Kingdom.

Dhaka’s first Special Judge Md Dalil Uddin passed the order after hearing a bail petition filed by the defence counsel in the case.

On August 14, Anti-Corruption Commission Director Nasim Anwar, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate’s Court.

According to the first information report, Khandaker Mosharraf laundered Tk95,495,000 to the UK. l

BAU students back to classes on minister’s assurance n BAU Correspondent Students of Bangladesh Agricultural University (BAU) who had been holding demonstrations on campus since Monday, yesterday went back to classes upon Religious Affairs Minister Motiur Rahman’s assurance.

However, they gave the minister a three-day ultimatum to meet their demands.

The agitated students, most of whom are allegedly backed by the university’s Chhatra League unit, called for the movement under the banner of “Shorbostorer Chhatra Janata.”

Their demands include ensuring security of students on campus and immediate arrest of the miscreants who staged a showdown and exploded crude bombs on the campus on Monday.

Sources in BAU said a delegation of the protesting students met with the Religious Affairs Minister Motiur Rahman, also a syndicate member of BAU, at his residence on Wednesday where the minister assured them to resolve the issues as early as possible.

“We have joined classes as the Religious Minister has assured us that necessary

steps will be taken against the goons who carried terrorist acts inside our peaceful campus,” said Tayaf Riyad, spokesperson of the movement.

“However, we have given the authorities concerned an ultimatum until Sunday.

Considering the enrollment process of the freshers for 2014-15 academic sessions starting from November 23, we have decided to withdraw our programme,” he said.

Some alleged activists of BCL Mymensingh unit led by its president Md Jasim Uddin staged a showdown on the campus on 20-25 motorbikes on Monday around 6pm.

They allegedly blasted two cocktails and fired two rounds of bullets in front of the Shaheed Nazmul Ahsan Hall of the university.

On November 8, they tried to enter Husain Shaheed Suhrawardy Hall by breaking its gate.

Yesterday a three-member probe body led by Mymensingh BCL Vice-President Nazmul Huda hold talks with the BAU Proctor.

“We are here to investigate the incident to ensure discipline among our party men. We will submit our report within next two days,” said Huda. l

“The government should ensure the participation of all stakeholders in the CoP 20 process,” said former environment and forest minister Dr Hasan Mahmud. Dr Abdul Matin, secretary general of Bangladesh Poribesh Andolon (BAPA), expressed concern over the negative attitude of the forest and environment minister towards the role of civil society in climate change and other environmental issues.

The programme was jointly organised

by Equity and Justice Working Group, BAPA, Campaign for Sustainable Rural Livelihood and Bangladesh Indigenous Peoples’ Network for Climate Change and Bio-Diversity, among others. l

A seminar was held in remembrance of late poet Sufia Kamal on the occasion of her 15th death anniversary yesterday at CIRDAP auditorium in the capital, with the theme “We want effective participation of men and young generation to prevent and eliminate aggression against women.”

Addressing the event, Sultana Kamal, executive director of Ain O Salish Kendra, said: “The current situation is not safe for women. They are getting sexually assaulted everywhere. Even older women are not spared from the torture.”

“Women have progressed in the fields of science, education, culture and politics everywhere. Yet they are suffering from prejudice against them. Our men and young generation have to come forward to resolve this situation,” she said.

Ayesha Khanam, chairman of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, said: “Sultana Kamal dedicated her life to eradicate discrimination against women, build a secular society and establish democracy. We have to implement her ideals in our lives.”

Abdul Qaiyum, associate editor of Prothom Alo, said: “Sufia Kamal endured two struggles at the same time: one was against the Pakistan government, and the other was against our society to establish women’s rights.”

A minute of silence was observed in the late poet’s memory as well.

Organised by Samajik Protirodh Committee, the seminar was attended by more than 70 women’s and human rights organisations. Selina Khalek, former chairman of Bangladesh Mahila Parishad, presided over the event. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Friday, November 21, 2014

Government to build 1,400 overpasses at railway crossings n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The Bangladesh Railway has decided to construct over 1,400 overpasses at railway crossings across the country with an aim to avoid frequent accidents that claim the lives of hundreds of people every year. The information was disclosed before the parliamentary standing committee meeting held in the parliament secretariat yesterday.

The watchdog body, had earlier, at a meeting recommended the railway ministry to take immediate steps to construct overpasses at level crossings to avoid accidents.

There are 2,541 level crossings in the country and of them 1,128 are illegal.

“High officials of the railway ministry informed the meeting that the ministry has decided to construct nearly 1,400 overpasses in line with the rec-

ommendations made before the committee earlier,” said ABM Fazle Karim Chowdhury, standing committee chairman of the railway ministry, after the meeting.

He said the committee made the recommendations in August this year as the accidents at level crossings have taken an alarming turn.

“The Local Government Engineering Department that was supposed to maintain and monitor the illegal crossings, has failed to do so,” he said.

He said the railway ministry would soon start demolishing illegally-built establishments along rail tracks and on railway land.

Railway Minister M Mujibul Hoque and members – Khalid Mahmud Chowdhury, Md Ali Azgar, Yasin Ali, Fatema Begum and Begum Zohra Rani attended the meeting. l

Children enjoy some hearty moments at the carnival arranged by Jaago Foundation at capital’s Gulshan Youth Club playground yesterday marking the Universal Children’s Day MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

3.5pc pregnant women carry HBV in country

Sagar-Runi murder accused sent to jail

n Tribune Report

A Dhaka court yesterday sent two accused in the journalist couple Sagar Sarowar and Meherun Runi murder case to jail when they were produced before it after a two-day remand.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Md Younus Khan passed the order while investigator Assistant Superintendent of Police from RAB 1 Md Wares Ali Miah produced them before the court seeking to keep them behind bars for the sake of proper investigation.

Besides, the investigator submitted a report to the court, in which he claimed of getting imported informa-

While four to seven percent people in Bangladesh are affected by the hepatitis B virus (HBV), two-thirds of acute hepatitis cases are caused by the hepatitis A and E viruses and almost 3.5 percent of the country’s pregnant women carrying the disease, said National Professor MR Khan yesterday.

Prof Khan, founder director and chairman of Institute of Child Health and Shishu Hospital, was addressing the third International Hepatology

Conference at the Hotel Sonargaon in the capital.

Some 2,000 participants from home and abroad are attending the conference that began on Wednesday.

Prof Mobin Khan, president of Hepatology Society Dhaka, Bangladesh, said the management of the chronic HBV infection has improved in the country in the past 15 years.

Professor Ching-Lung Lai of the University of Hong Kong said: “The ultimate aim of the treatment of chronic hepatitis B is to decrease the development of complications.”

The disease is transmitted by contaminated food and water. Maintaining personal hygiene is the key to prevent the spread, he said.

Around 350 million people in the world are chronically infected by Hepatitis B virus (HBV). Almost 75% of the affected people are living in the Asia-Pacific region.

Hepatology Society Executive Committee Member Prof Dr Md Abu Sayeed, Vice President Prof AKM Khorshed Alam, and General Secretary Dr M Motahar Hossain, among others, spoke at the occasion. l

n Tribune Report

tion in the case from the accused during interrogation.

On November 11, the court granted the remand of the accused – Enam Ahmed alias Humayun Kabir and Palash Rudro Paul, security guards at the couple’s rented residence. Police have so far arrested eight accused in the case.

Sher-e-Bangla Nagar police started investigating the sensational murder, but later it was shifted to the Detective Branch of Police.

Sagar, a news editor of private TV channel Maasranga, and his wife Runi, a senior reporter of ATN Bangla, were killed at their West Rajabazar’s rented flat on February 11, 2012. l

Unrest looms over controlling CU Shah Amanat hall n FM Mizanur Rahaman

A tensed situation hovers about the Chittagong University (CU) campus over establishing supremacy over the Shah Amanat Hall which was reopened on Wednesday after nearly 10 months.

Campus sources said the university unit of two factions of the Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL), students’ wing of the ruling Awami League, may lock themselves in a clash over the issue.

Supporters of the two groups – Su-

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY FRIDAY, NOVEMBER 21 DHAKA TODAY

TOMORROW

SUN SETS 5:11PM

SUN RISES 6:18AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY Dhaka

29

20

Chittagong

29

20

Rajshahi

28

14

Rangpur

28

15

Khulna

29

14

Barisal

28

16

Sylhet

29

16

Cox’s Bazar

29

20

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

31.2ºC Cox;s Bazar

13.3ºC Chuadanga

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr

4:59am

Sunrise

6:16am

Jumma

11:44am

Asr Magrib Esha

3:35pm 5:11pm 6:30 pm

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

mon-Amit and Varsity Express (VX) factions – got into a chase and counter-chase over taking control of the dormitory - the largest male hall of the university.

The sources said the VX men equipped with lethal weapons chased away the activists of Sumon-Amit group who were inside the Shah Amanat hall around 2:30pm. No none was injured in the incident. Police later brought the situation under control dispersing the two groups from the spot.

Additional Superintendent of Police

in Chittagong (north) Md Shahidullah said: “Additional police have been deployed in the campus area to avert any untoward incident.”

Soon after the reopening of the Shah Amanat dormitory, hall authorities allegedly allowed the Amit-Sumon group to enter while the VX men have been trying to take control of the hall since its reopening, said the sources.

Shibir gives 72-hour ultimatum

Meanwhile, activists of the Islami

Chhatra Shibir gave a three-day ultimatum to the university authority to allow Shibir men, who had been earlier given allocation as residential students, to enter the hall.

They also demanded the reopening of the Suhrawardi Hall which was closed after a gunfight between BCL and Shibir men.

In a press release signed by Ershadul Haque Robin, who claimed to be a residential student of the hall, said the CU authorities technically allowed the

outsiders to enter the Shah Amanat hall ignoring the genuine residential students.

Around 30 teachers of BNP-Jamaat backed White Panel formed a human chain on the campus in front of the CU Administrative Building demanding assurance of allowing only actual residents of the hall to enter the premises.

Shah Amanat has 632 only seats whereas the hall accommodates around 1,500 students, CU sources said. l

Jaago observes Universal Children’s Day n Tribune Report Jaago Foundation, a pioneering organisation devoted towards offering a positive and brighter future to the underprivileged children of Bangladesh, celebrated the Universal Children’s Day (UCD) for the sixth year in a row.

With the theme “Invest in Education, the campaign was carried out from November 15 in various district finally ending on November 20 in Chittagong, Narayanganj, Gazipur and Dhaka. Around 10,000 volunteers participated from all across Bangladesh to observe the day in 28 districts.

This year’s theme underlie the concept of supporting education in any form that can help spreading the light of education among all and build an educated nation in future. The volunteers in their yellow T-shirt took to the street and invested their time and energy to raise awareness about education.

Meanwhile, a total of 4000 children were taken to various amusement parks where they spent a playful time. In Dhaka more than 500 children were escorted to the Gulshan Youth Club Playground, where a carnival was arranged for them. A medical camp was arranged for providing medical care to all the kids.

Akku Chowdhury, freedom fighter and Managing Director of Transcom Food limited and Wasfia Nazreen. l

Prof Zillur Rahman remembered at JU

n JU Correspondent A remembrance programme in memory of former Jahangirnagar University (JU) Vice Chancellor and caretaker government’s ex-advisor Prof Zillur Rahman Siddiqui was held at the Zahir Raihan Auditorium of university yesterday.

Vice-Chancellor (VC) Prof Dr Farzana Islam presided over the programme Prof Amirul Islam Chowdhury also a former JU VC said Prof Zillur Rahman Siddiqui played a significant role in the academic development of the university.

Prof Dr Saleh Uddin Ahmad, another former vice-chancellor, said Prof Zillur worked all his life for expansion of education.

Born on February 23, 1928 in Jhinaidah, Prof Zillur Rahman acted as an advisor to the Bangladesh Caretaker Government from 1990 to1991.

He was the fourth consecutive VC of Jahangirnagar University who took the charge of the university on May 1, 1976 and ended his tenure on April 30, 1984. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Friday, November 21, 2014

Banglabandha needs all-round shape n Our Correspondent, Panchagarh Banglabandha Land Port is yet to be turned into a full-fledged one despite its huge revenue earning possibility at Tetulia upazila in Panchagarh.

There are no electricity connections, residential hotel, restaurants or security system at the land port.

In view of expanding bilateral trade with Nepal and the country’s economic development, the port was inaugurated on September 1, 1997.

Lack of adequate number of infrastructure and immigration facilities have stood in the way of utilising it fully, land port officials said.

And trading with India through the land port began on January 22, 2011, but the volume is very low, which is because of lack of proper facilities here,

they said.

Seeking anonymity, an official said immigration check post is yet to be established here though Bangladesh government has approved it at a joint meeting in India’s New Delhi.

Businessman Nasim Mahmud, who exports and imports goods though the port, said the government has plans to earn Tk1000 million but it does not seem to be working towards that goal because there is no progress in giving it a complete look.

According to the officials, revenues worth around Tk24 crore were earned through Banglabandha land port and goods worth Tk. about 130 crore were exported to Nepal and India in fiscal 2013-14 years.

Port officials also said that as there is no immigration facility in this port,

many Darjeeling-bound Bangladeshi tourists now have to take up circular trips only to waste money.

About two million Bangladeshis visit Darjeeling while ten million visits Nepal every year through different long routes, they said.

Besides, those who are eager to travel Darjeeling, Nepal and Bhutan would prefer to travel through this port route if the immigration facilities were offered here.

Custom Official said Nepalese businessperson had been trying a cheap seaport service as Kolkata seaport was failing to provide it. In the circumstances, Bangladesh can attract them to use Banglabandha port by improving its infrastructure facilities.

They also said this port could also be developed as an attractive tourist

resort if the government wants.

Tetulia Upazila Parishad Chairman Md Rezaul Karim Shaheen said the benefit that has so far been achieved from this port is minimal and there is no plausible reason to believe that things will take a positive turn in the near future.

Seventeen years have already elapsed since the inauguration of the this port, but no step has been taken yet for its infrastructural development, he said.

Banglabandha Land Port Ltd Manager Kazi Al Tarik however is very much hopeful about the opening of the port.

Panchagarh Chamber & Commerce & Industry President Iqbal Kaiser Mintu said a new horizon would open up in the country’s economic sector if the Banglabandha land port started operation in full swing with immigration check-post introduced here. l

MP’s meddling forces to halt Nachol AL council Correspondent, n Our Chapainawabganj Despite having passed nine years, a triennial council of Nachol upazila unit Awami League has been postponed as a local lawmaker allegedly interfered to the matter.

The decision came from Chapainawabganj district unit General Secretary Mainuddin Mandol as per direction of the AL central committee.

Sources said the council was scheduled to be held on Monday, aiming to pick young activists and leaders for the party from the root level, where AL central executive committee member and President of Rajshahi city unit AL AHM Khairuzzaman Liton was sup-

posed to attend as the chief guest.

When asked, Nachol upazila Chairman and general secretary of the upazila unit AL Abdul Quader acknowledged the meddling, saying the council was finally postponed due to meddling of Golam Mostafa Biswash, the party’s lawmaker from Chapainawabganj 2.

Quader also stated that the MP and President of the upazila unit AL Abu Bakkar Siddique have long wanted to pick up young activists selectively in the council, but they demanded the election method to ensure democratic practice inside the party to make a way for the qualified candidates. However, the lawmaker and the president could not be reached for their remarks in this regard despite repeated attempts. l

Swechchhasebak League leader killed n Our Correspondent, Natore

Imported rubber threatens local industry n Our Correspondent, Bandarban

Miscreant hacked an upazila-level leader of Swechchhasebak League to death in Lalpur of the district yesterday.

According to soucres, Ashraful Islam, 45, a resident of Boro Beelshalia village, was religious affairs secretary of the ruling Awami League’s voluntary organisation of Lalpur upazila unit.

The victim’s wife Chompa Khatun and daughter Nilima Ashraf Asha said some unidentified people called Anisur over cell phone at night.

Lalpur police station Officer-inCharge Abdul Hai Talukder said locals found the body in a paddy field in the morning and informed the police.

Quoting party activists, Ishaq Ali, secretary of Lalpur upazila unit of ruling Awami League, said local BNP men Quamrul, Titu, Jeker, Anarul and Kalu stabbed Ashraful to death.

Denying the allegation, Aminul Haque, BNP secretary of Natore district unit, said a mob killed Ashraful when he went to commit robbery at Kachua village in a marriage function.

The police also said several cases of robbery were pending against Ashraful.

“The police have got some clues behind the murder but cannot disclose those for the sake of investigation,” the OC said.

The victim’s wife filed a case in this connection. l

Once-thriving rubber industry in Bandarban is now facing a shut down threat as the locally produced rubber was going unsold because of the imported rubber.

Rubber plantation owners said for the last few years they sold rubber at a price of Tk250 per kilogram, which has now lowered to Tk120 to Tk130 per kilogram.

Md Alauddin Company, owner of Arif Enterprise Rubber Plantation in Naikkhangchhari, said it was becoming more and more difficult for him to pay the wages of the plantation workers, as the production was not turning out the expected amount of profit.

Senior Manager of PHP Latex and Rubber Product Limited Aminul Haque Abul said they could not pay the workers employed at the factory owned plantations, as the rubber produced in the previous month was lying unsold.

Md Rahim, a local worker at the rubber plantation said he and his family members were going through hardships as the plantation owners could not pay their wages.

Al Amin, manager of Nazma Khatun Rubber Plantation, said rubber produced in the plantation was lying unsold in their warehouses.

The plantation owners demanded that the Ministry of Industries would take initiatives to save the industry. l

Luring farmers with good prices owners of brick kilns buy surface layers of farmlands during dry season to manufacture bricks. This could lessen fertility of land, but farmers little know about the adverse impact of it. Around 50 brick kilns are now running at Godagari and Poba upazilas in Rajshahi. The photo taken on Wednesday shows that labourers are cutting soil at a brick field located at Utpur village under Godagari upazila AZAHAR UDDIN

Motive behind AL leader murder yet to be known

Housewife found dead in Barisal city n Our Correspondent, Barisal

n Our Correspondent, Naogaon

Hanging body of a housewife was recovered from her residence in Muslim Gorosthan Road area of Barisal city yesterday afternoon.

Sub-Inspector of Kotwali police station Abdul Malek said Jhumur Begum, 20, wife of vegetable vendor Jamal Hossain, was living with her family at the house.

Neighbours noticing her hanging body informed police and family members about the matter around 1:30pm.

Police rushed to the spot and recovered the body.

Sahkawat Hossain, officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station, said an unnatural death case was filed with Kotwali police station in this connection.

The body was sent to Sher-e-Bangla Medical College Hospital morgue for a post mortem examination. l

One more person was held in connection with the murders of Naogaon Swechhasebak League vice-president and his brother.

RAB 5 members held Showkal Ali, 32, from Kalikapur village under Atrai upazila on Wednesday.

Showkat, son of late Osman Gani of Chawkprachi village, is currently under RAB’s custody at Bagmara camp for interrogation. Till date, nine people have been held in the case however, police is still not sure about the motive behind the killing.

On Sunday, Ohidul Islam, 45, vice-president of Swechhasebak League, a voluntary unit of ruling Awami League, and his younger brother Shahinul Islam, 40, were hacked to

death while returning home through a wheat field in Durgapur area.

Another brother of the deceased, Shahidul Islam, filed a murder case accusing eight identified and 10-12 unidentified people with Naogaon Model police station.

OC of Naogaon sadar police station Md Zakirul Islam said police received some information from the arrested but those would be revealed upon completion of the case investigation. Establishing supremacy could be a reasons.

The residents of Durgapur and Chawkprachi area are passing days amid fear. Many living by the murder spot have left their homes. Currently all the activities of Naogaon sadar upazila unit of Swechhasebak League is at halt as part of the ongoing mourning programme. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

7

Friday, November 21, 2014

Thai fishermen convert boats to carry people n Reuters The smuggling of Rohingya Muslims fleeing persecution in Myanmar is so lucrative that Thai fishermen are converting their boats to carry humans, police and officials in southern Thailand said.

In recent weeks, thousands of Rohingya, a mostly stateless people, have sailed across the Bay of Bengal to the west coast of Thailand, from where human-smugglers deliver them to neighboring Malaysia, a Muslim-majority country where they can find jobs.

Some boat operators in Ranong province, which has a large fishing industry, were adapting to profit from the exodus, said Sanya Prakobphol, chief of police in Kapoe district.

“The fishing business isn’t so good so the fishermen make their boats people-carrying boats,” Sanya told Reuters. “Some converted Ranong boats can carry up to 1,000 people.”

Boat operators can earn up to 10,000 baht ($300) per person by ferrying illegal migrants from Myanmar to Thailand, he added.

The Royal Thai Navy told Reuters last month that most smuggling and trafficking ships plying the Bay of Ben-

gal were from Thailand. The navy also said it had increased patrols.

According to the Arakan Project, which plots migration across the Bay of Bengal, about 100,000 Rohingya have left Rakhine State since 2012. Violent clashes with ethnic Rakhine Buddhists that year killed hundreds and left 140,000 homeless, most of them Rohingya.

Ranong’s provincial capital, which goes by the same name, is a port city just 40 minutes by boat from Myanmar. Migrants have historically formed the backbone of its seafood industry.

Hanif, who uses only one name, said he had helped a fellow Ranong fisherman strip the interior of a boat to hold people.

“He is getting very rich,” said Hanif as he sorted shimmering piles of ribbon fish and mackerel. “He wanted to make as much room as possible to carry more in one trip.”

Many locals saw nothing wrong with transporting boat people, said Manit Pianthong, chief of Takua Pa district in neighboring Phang Nga province.

“Villagers and fisherman have been living with migrants coming in and out of Thailand for more than 30 years because of our proximity to Myanmar,” he said. l

UN: Eastern Ukraine fighting kills 13 per day n Reuters, Geneva

IAEA Director General Yukiya Amano arrives for a board of governors meeting at the IAEA headquarters in Vienna yesterday

IAEA chief: Iran not providing explainations on nuclear claims n Reuters, Vienna The head of the UN nuclear agency said yesterday that Iran had again failed to provide explanations about suspected atomic bomb research, as a deadline looms for a comprehensive deal between Iran and six world powers to end the long-running controversy.

Iran is holding talks with the United States, France, Germany, Britain, Russia and China in Vienna this week in a

Nawaz: Pakistan to talk to Kashmiri leaders before dialogue with India n Agencies Pakistan will speak with Kashmiri leaders before it enters into dialogue with India, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said yesterday.

Nawaz was speaking at a session of the Kashmir Council in Muzzafarabad, where he earlier arrived for a one-day visit.

“Blaming Pakistan’s agencies for involvement in extremism is an utter lie,” the prime minister said, adding

that Pakistan itself was “the biggest victim of terrorism.”

He expressed satisfaction with the international community’s acknowledgement of India’s “biased attitude” towards its neighbour. “The United Nations should play its role in this regard.”

“It is our fundamental belief that the Kashmir issue should be resolved through dialogue. My government initiated dialogue with India but India cancelled the scheduled foreign secre-

tary talks,” he added.

The prime minister was referring to the cancellation of secretary level talks between India and Pakistan, which India called off following criticism of a meeting between Pakistani High Commissioner to New Delhi Abdul Basit and Hurriyat leader Shabir Shah in August.

Nawaz also said that the international community must play its role in bringing India to the dialogue table on the Kashmir issue. l

Nepal group protests crackdown n Agencies

Nationalist strains have emerged along Nepal’s southern border with India as Madhesis who make up the majority of inhabitants in the region seek improved conditions.

Many Madhesis say they are victims of discrimination and rights abuses, and protests seeking repairs to crumbling infrastructure have been met with a forceful response by Nepali police and paramilitaries, reports al-Jazeera.

Jailed intellectual Chandra Kant Raut, or CK Raut, has emerged as a figurehead rallying Madhesis with growing grievances against the government in the capital Kathmandu. Although Raut’s agenda has yet to gain widesread support, he is increasingly being

seen as a bargaining chip in the political struggles now unfolding in the region.

“Intellectuals see Raut’s agenda as a means to ensure the state gives attention to marginalised Madhesis,” says Vijay Karna, a former Nepalese ambassador to Denmark.

Despite constituting one-third of Nepal’s population, many Madhesis remain stateless and are also under-represented in the bureaucracy, judiciary, and police. Official statistics show Madhesis comprise a mere 1.5% of Nepal’s army, and even the British and Indian armies recruiting for their Gurkha brigades do not consider Madhesis warrior material.

The Postal Road traverses the length of the country from east to west as it runs through the villages of the

REUTERS

area known as Madhes, but also called Terai, inhabited by Madhesis as well as other indigenous groups and the Pahadis, Nepali-speakers from the hills.

But travellers using this road - Nepal’s oldest highway - cannot fail to spot its neglected condition and the closer one gets to the Indian border, the more decrepit the infrastructure becomes.

To the north, however, another road built in the 1960s and also stretching from east to west along the foothills where the great Indo-Gangetic plain ends and the mountain range bordering China begins, offers a stark contrast.

In October, students in the Madhesi town of Simraungadh near the border with the Indian state of Bihar signalled that they had had enough of the poor condition of the roads. l

push to reach an agreement by Nov. 24.

The deal is intended to set limits on Iran’s nuclear program in return for an end to international sanctions.

As one of the conditions, Western officials say Iran must stop stonewalling the International Atomic Energy Agency’s (IAEA) 12-year-old investigation into allegations that Iran may have worked on designing an atomic bomb.

But IAEA director general Yukiya Amano made clear the agency was still

far from satisfied.

“Iran has not provided any explanations that enable the agency to clarify the outstanding practical measures,” he told a meeting of the UN agency’s 35-nation board of governors.

He was referring to two steps that Iran had agreed to carry out by late August, by providing information to the IAEA concerning allegations of explosives tests and other activity that could be used to develop nuclear bombs. l

Ferguson protesters and police clash before jury decision on shooting n Agencies Police in riot gear clashed with a small group of protesters in a sub-freezing Ferguson, Missouri, on Wednesday night, as tensions grew over a coming announcement on whether a white officer will be charged for killing an unarmed black 18-year-old.

About 50 officers wearing riot helmets and carrying batons and shields repeatedly charged at demonstrators, who were gathered outside the Ferguson police headquarters to demand the indictment of officer Darren Wilson, who shot dead Michael Brown on August 9.

In the most serious confrontation since a grand jury decision on Wilson became imminent in mid-November, protesters sounded sirens, shouted abuse at police and revived chants of “hands up – don’t shoot” from the nights of unrest in the St Louis suburb after Brown’s death.

“I will stand here because I have the right to stand here,” said Walter Rice, 75, who was banging a large metal bucket with a spoon in time to the chants. Several other stalwarts of the demonstrations in August were also among the crowd.

After sharp criticism of the militarised response to the summer demonstrations, police chiefs had in recent days stressed that officers would reserve the right to put on riot gear when

their safety was at risk. Yet the protest on Wednesday night posed no apparent threat and had even begun thinning out before the situation escalated after police put on a show of force.

They arrested at least six people including Bassem Masri, an activist-journalist who officers said had a series of outstanding warrants to his name. Others were grabbed by officers from the ground on South Florissant Road after refusing to retreat to the pavement underneath a “Season’s Greetings” banner in temperatures of -2C. Although small in scale, the clash is likely to be viewed as a foretaste of actions likely to follow the announcement of whether Wilson, 28, is to be indicted. The widespread assumption among protesters, informed by leaks from the jury hearings, is that he will not be charged.

Governor Jay Nixon earlier this week declared a state of emergency and authorised the Missouri national guard to assist the policing of any protests. Francis Slay, the mayor of St Louis, said on Tuesday that he expected “widespread civil disobedience” following the announcement of the grand jury’s decision.

Wilson repeatedly shot Brown in sharply disputed circumstances after an altercation that followed the officer stopping him and a friend for jaywalking. l

Fighting in Eastern Ukraine has killed an average of 13 people each day in the eight weeks since a Sept. 5 ceasefire agreement, UN High Commissioner for Human Rights Zeid Ra’ad Al Hussein said in a statement yesterday.

At least 4,317 people have died and 9,921 have been wounded in the conflict in Eastern Ukraine between mid-April and Nov 18, the statement said.

It cited Ukraine’s State Emergency Service as saying the number of internally displaced people in Ukraine had increased from 275,489 as of Sept. 18 to 466,829 on Nov 19. l

Myanmar army attacks Kachin rebel stronghold n AFP Myanmar’s army has launched a new offensive against ethnic Kachin rebels around their headquarters near the Chinese border, killing more than 20 people in a mortar attack and skirmishes that lasted the whole day, rebel officials said.

Most of the casualties occurred when government troops hit an officer training academy used by the rebels near the frontier city of Laiza, leaving 22 fighters dead and 15 more wounded, according to La Nan, a spokesman for the Kachin Independence Army.

La Nan said the army fired from a nearby hilltop about 50km outside Laiza. He said at least one Kachin villager was also killed in skirmishes in the area that began in the morning.

Myanmar’s government could not immediately be reached for comment.

Fighting between the army and Kachin fighters broke out in 2011, ending a truce between the two sides that had held for 17 years. l

Sri Lankan leader calls early presidential polls n AP, Colombo Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa yesterday called early elections to seek a third term in office amid growing criticism of his wide-ranging powers.

The move, two years before his current term expires, is seen as an attempt by Rajapaksa to prevent an expected loss of public support if an election were held according to schedule.

He continues to enjoy much of the popularity he gained by ending a 25-year civil war in 2009, but recent provincial elections showed signs of a slide in support amid rising living costs, corruption allegations and a deterioration in law and order.

Rajapaksa had earlier promised to abolish the presidency because of widespread criticism that the office has too much power and lacks accountability. l

Hunger Games screenings cancelled in Bangkok N Korea responds to UN with nuclear test threat over salute protests n Agencies A cinema chain in Bangkok has cancelled screenings of the new Hunger Games film after protestors adopted the movie’s defiant three-fingered salute against totalitarian rule.

Activists say police ordered the move after hundreds of students planned to protest at an opening day screening of The Hunger Games: Mockingjay Part 1 on Thursday. Thailand has been under military rule since May, and authorities have banned the salute as part of an ongoing crackdown on pro-democratic dissent.

The protest, organised by the League of Liberal Thammasat for Democracy, was due to take place at Bangkok’s Scala cinema.

The league purchased 200 tickets on Sunday and had planned to distribute many of them for free via Facebook, according to the Bangkok Post. Anyone interested in tickets had to answer the question “How does the Capitol resemble Bangkok?,” a reference to the authoritarian rulers of the future dystopian state of Panem in The Hunger Games series of books and films.

Reports suggest screenings have now been cancelled at cinemas run by the Apex group, which owns the Scala and Lido chains. Other cinemas are not yet believed to be affected.

Thailand’s military rulers warned in

June that they would arrest large groups of protesters using the three-fingered salute, which has become a popular form of protest following the junta’s seizure of power on 22 May. The sign is used by citizens of fictional Panem to silently protest against their authoritarian overlords in The Hunger Games series.

Several Bangkok newspapers today also published front-page photographs of five university students who yesterday used The Hunger Games’ salute during a public appearance by junta leader Prayuth Chan-ocha, who has named himself Thailand’s prime minister. The students, wearing T-shirts bearing anti-coup slogans, were arrested by military police following the protest in Khon Kaen province, 450km north-east of Bangkok and taken away for “attitude adjustment,” reports the BBC. The junta says its coup was vital to restore peace following violent clashes earlier in the year between rival red and yellow-shirted factions supporting former PM Thaksin Shinawatra and the monarchist opposition. It says it will restore democracy via a general election late next year, but Amnesty International has criticised the military rulers for widespread human rights violations which include a clampdown on free speech and arbitrary arrests to quell dissent. l

n Agencies North Korea has threatened to conduct a nuclear test in response to a United Nations move towards a probe into the country’s human rights violations.

Its foreign ministry yesterday accused the United States of orchestrating a recent UN resolution calling for the investigation.

North Korea previously conducted nuclear tests in 2006, 2009 and 2013.

Its threat comes as new satellite images emerge indicating fresh activity at a North Korean nuclear facility.

A UN human rights committee on Tuesday passed a resolution calling on the Security Council to refer North Korea to the International Criminal Court for alleged crimes against humanity.

Pyongyang said the resolution was based on “fabricated testimonies” from North Korean defectors and “slander against Pyongyang.” l

Qadri: Will surrender to police if they arrest Sharifs n Agencies

Student flashes a three-finger salute inspired by the movie ‘The Hunger Games’ in front of a billboard of the film outside the Siam Paragon cinema in Bangkok yesterday REUTERS

Pakistan Awami Tehreek (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri said yesterday that he was willing to surrender to police if Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif were arrested in relation to the Model Town tragedy.

Speaking to media representatives in Lahore, the PAT chief said the joint investigation team (JIT) constituted to probe the Model Town tragedy was merely formed to give a clean chit to plotters and killers, adding that it was

against the principles of justice and law.

Earlier on Tuesday, the government finalised the formation of a five-member JIT to probe the killings of PAT workers on June 17. The PAT rejected the probe, saying that Abdul Razzaq Cheema has personal relations with Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and would not be impartial.

Qadri said the party had demanded that the JIT be formed in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, adding that none of the names proposed by the PAT had been included in the team. l

8

Hay Festival

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Friday, November 21, 2014

TODAY AT HAY On the Main Stage 9:30-10:30 AM | Past Lives Three writers talk about their multiple identities, and how they came to novel writing Zia Haider Rahman, Namita Gokhale and Shashi Tharoor talk with Salil Tripathi 11-12pm | Spheres of Cricket The award-winning journalist discusses the real stories that equally shaped and disturbed the world of cricket in the last decade.

Gideon Haigh with Ahsan Akbar 12:15-1:15pm | A Love Divine Expressions of devotional yearning in Hindu, Buddhist, Christian and Islamic traditions David Burrell, Patrick Laude and Namita Gokhale with Shankar Nair 1:15-1:45pm | Top Ten Buzzes of the Year A speedy introduction to the addictive, impossible to resist top 10 format Isaac Fitzgerald, the literary editor of Buzzfeed 2-3pm | Science Matters The challenges and excitement of making science popular Lucy Hawking, popular sci-fi writer Muhammad Zafar Iqbal and Marcus du Sautoy, with Hossain Zillur Rahman 3:15-4:15pm | China Old and New The rapid transformations underway in China, and how these transformations are being represented in literature within and about China Bestselling author and academic Jung Chang and renowned China scholar Michael Puett, with Patrick French 4:30-5:30pm | In conversation with Joy Goswami and Shamim Reza Bangladeshi authors Joy Goswami and Shamim Reza 5:45-6:45pm | Return of the King William Dalrymple tells us about his explosive new book, about the First Anglo-Afghan War and its many repercussions William Dalrymple, followed by Q&A with Somnath Batabyal

Audiences filled the seats for the inaugural address today, the first day of Hay Festival Dhaka, at Bangla Academy (above), delivered by PEN International President John Ralson Saul (left). Author Abeer Hoque enjoys one of the many bookstalls setup by publishers and bookshops (right) SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

GOOD LINES

Our favourite quotes of the day

We embraced amateur photographers in this book for the magic they are able to create Today 7-8pm Storytelling in the Digital Age KKTea Stage Shahidul Alam provides insights into the craft of storytelling through pictures in this digital age

“I left Dhaka in the late 80s and I feel like I missed the party.”

–Javed Jahangir, Cities “We tend to think that there is a book in everyone, but everyone does not have a book in them.”

–Meru Gokhale, Lessons from the Slushpile “People send manuscripts to me on Twitter and ask me to read them immediately. I don’t know if it’s because of social media that people think they can get away with being very, very rude.”

–Olivia Smith, Lessons from the Slushpile “Rabindranath Tagore and Kazi Nazrul Islam both have distinguished the role of literature to simultaneously stand high and keep uniqueness.”

–John Ralston Saul, Inaugural “Bangla literature has its root among the people since long before, unlike many other places, where literature used to be something of the ruling people.”

–William Dalrymple, Inaugural “The odds have to be fought with literature, as the nation has done before.”

–Syed Shamsul Haq, Inaugural “You need to move beyond what the booksellers are giving you” –Naveen Kishore, The Future of the Independent

MARCUS DU SAUTOY: Busting the myths of maths

SHAHIDUL ALAM: Bangladesh from within

“Coexistence of classes is one of the biggest challenges for cities today.”

–Rana Dasgupta, Cities

MD TANVEER HASSAN ROHAN

n Tasnuva Amin Nova

series, which you edited. Tell us about it.

Shahidul Islam, founder of Chobi Mela and Drik Gallery, discusses the magic of amateur photographers in Bangladesh.

Yesterday at the Hay Festival, Drik launched an anniversary book from the series Bangladesh. Seen From Within.

What is the idea behind the series?

Over the last few years, Bangladesh has seen a dramatic shift in the field of photography. There was a time when Bangladesh was largely represented by the images of visiting photojournalists and NGOs befitting the imagery of a failed nation. Despite all the things that are not right in our nation, there is much reason for hope.

This rich, nuanced, insightful look at our community is the look of pride of a nation with self-belief. It celebrates both the power of photography and it celebrates the power of our photography.

To mark the 25th anniversary of Drik, we will be launching one book every year for the next five years, portraying the positive and promising aspects of today’s Bangladesh through photographs. Each of the books will act as an ambassador of our country to the world.

Ways of Life was the first book of the

7-8pm | Towards Light Dance and recitations celebrating the prose, poetry and music of Rabindranath Tagore Production by Shadhona

If you flip through the pages of Ways of Life, you will come across photos by amateur photographers about ordinary life.

The book combines their work with a limited number of images produced by professionals. These are images from everyday life, which are made special by the trained eye of photographers.

This anniversary book, the first of a series presenting Bangladesh today, is an ode to photography and Bangladesh seen from within. It is also a celebration of life.

Why have you chosen to highlight the work of amateurs over professionals?

We embraced amateur photographers in this book for the magic they are able to create with images.

The joy of making an image is the only reward the amateur seeks, which helps them to consistently produce fresh, vibrant and original images that their professional peers would be proud of.

By embracing the amateur, it also ensures that such dynamic art forms will not merely remain restricted to the reach of the elite, and that the transformative power of the medium will be an agent for positive change. l

n Tausif Sanzum Marcus du Sautoy, the Simonyi Professor for the Public Understanding of Science, and professor of maths at Oxford University talks about the stories maths tells. He is a pioneer in popularising maths among the younger generation.

The Hay Festival is usually considered a literary arena. How do maths fit into this?

One of the greatest strengths of the Hay Festival is that they realise that literature and storytelling is much broader than just the conventional fiction you might get at a literary festival. Science and mathematics have amazing stories to tell.

Personally I feel maths is its own box of mysteries...

Yes maths has its own mysteries. In a way I feel that I am telling stories when I am doing mathematics and my characters are numbers and shapes.

When you write a piece on mathematics, you take the readers or listeners on a journey of surprise and excitement. These are the same characteristics that one expects in a book – you want to see the characters developing, becoming something else, and you too change with them.

I think people are surprised when they listen to me because they don’t realise that there are quite interesting stories to tell in mathematics.

When we are taught maths in school, we just limit ourselves to 2+2=4.

This is the same with literature, if we teach it to be just about grammar and spelling. But this is the big tragedy with maths education across the world, not just in England or Bangladesh.

We think that we need to teach spellings and grammar before we teach the big story, but I have three children at home and they are learning Shakespeare and romantic poetry. It is difficult, but they can still experience the

I am telling stories when I am doing maths, and my characters are numbers and shapes

Today 11am-12pm The Number Mysteries | Cosmic Tent Talking with maths olympiad’s Munir Hossain talk about the magic of numbers Today 2-3pm Science Matters | Main Stage great works of literature, even though they are just beginners. In mathematics we are not brave enough. We do not show them the Shakespeare of maths.

Do you feel that teaching the history of maths is important?

Yes that’s how I try to write my books – by giving readers a historical narrative, as it helps them to understand where these ideas came from. They need to understand that these ideas aren’t some abstract, God-given ideas.

If you understand the difficulty people historically had in understanding the concept of a number like zero, it will give you a sense of appreciation about your learning process.

Zero emerged from this part of the world, something we are quite proud of...

I think it’s absolutely right to celebrate the mathematics that were part of your culture.

You may be surprised to know that

With Lucy Hawking and Muhammad Zafar Iqbal on making science popular Tomorrow 11:15-12:15am | The Art of Maths/The Maths of Art | Cosmic Tent The interconnections of mathematics with the world of literature and art some of the very early forms of calculus, which today is very important to any engineer or scientist, were being done in this part of the world before Newton was doing it in England. I actually did a programme with BBC about the history of mathematics, and one of the episodes was about how much mathematics was done in this region.

Most people think that the concepts of maths is a very European invention, but that is a wrong concept.

What do you want the audience to take back from your sessions?

I love coming and talking to literary festivals, because I get to talk to an audience that is not necessarily exposed to scientific and mathematical ideas.

I am hoping that there will be poets and novelists who will enjoy coming to the sessions, because I want them to get a surprise. I want them to say: “Oh, I didn’t realise that this is what mathematics is about.” l

CHILDREN’S PROGRAMMES

“I write for the broken. I hope one day some kid in prison will find my book, that my words will resonate, and that he’ll find hope.”

–Kosal Khiev (in an interview, speaking at Against All Odds today at 12:30pm)

9:45-10:45 AM Honey Hunters KKTea Stage The launch of a beautifully illustrated book on the Sundarbans Authors Karthika Nair and Joelle Jolivet, with Munize Manzur

“People ask me how it feels to be born as Stephen Hawking’s daughter, and now I can go can tell them to just watch the movie The Theory of Everything.”

–Lucy Hawking (in an interview, speaking at Science Matters, today at 2pm)

11-12pm Honey Hunters Pala Bottola A performance based on The Honey Hunters in traditional Bangla storytelling form Production by BotTola Theatre Company

12-1pm Canvas Bottola Tell your own story of the Bonbibi myth through painting in this interactive session for children 6-14 years 1-1:30pm Tiger, Tiger and Other Short Stories Bottola The launching of Sanjana Sadique’s book by Bengal Publications

10-4pm Interactive Science Cosmic Tent Interactive session for children 6-12 years 4-5:30pm Cosmic adventures Cosmic Tent Discover the universe with Lucy Hawking, who has co-written books for children with her world-famous cosmologist father, Stephen Hawking. This is an Author Lucy Hawking with festival co-director Sadaf Saaz Siddiqi

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Special

Armed Forces Day

9

Friday, November 21, 2014

A grateful nation remembers those who answered and continue to answer the call of duty

PHOTOS: SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Armed Forces Day commemorates November 21, 1971, when, eight months into the War of Liberation, all three forces led a joint operation simultaneously, resulting in large areas along the border being liberated and brought under freedom fighter control.

From that momentous day onwards, more and more areas could be liberated every day, allowing the Bangladesh armed forces to disrupt enemy lines of communication, providing a turning point in the war.

This milestone day bears special significance in the history of Bangladesh and is celebrated every year with due solemnity and importance, to honour the sacrifices made by the members of the Bangladesh armed forces, who fought and gave their lives in the Liberation War that we might live as a free and independent nation.

Notable battles in the 11 Sectors

6

5 11

7

4

SECTOR 2

3

2

8

1 9 10

SECTOR 1

Commander: Maj Ziaur Rahman, Captain Rafiqul Islam Aug 28, Mirersarai: An FF group lead

by Mizan mined a railway track around Mirersarai. At 8:45am, a train carrying Pakistani troops were derailed. 35 enemy soldiers were reportedly killed Dec 9, Nazirhat: The guerrilla company operating in Nazirhat, lead by Lt. Shawkat, attacked Pakistanis. The freedom fighters killed 20 and inflicted heavy casualties. 5 of our soldiers were martyred and 3 were wounded.

Pak army surrendered on Dec 16, at Chittagong, Sitakundu and Kumira

Commander: Major Khaled Mosharraf, Major ATM Haider Jun 7, Feni: While the Pak army was advancing towards Belunia, they confronted the K force, led by Brigadier Khaled Musharraf – after a day of fierce battle; the Muktibahini killed almost 60% people of an entire battalion. 300 bodies were found, many others washed off by the Chilonia river Dec 15, Siege of Mynamoti cantonment: 9th Bengal regiment. 150 Pak soldiers surrendered and many fled. The ultimate surrender happened on Dec 16

SECTOR 3

Commander: Major KM Shafiullah, Captain ANM Nuruzzaman Aug 7-16, Katiadi ambush: After an unsuccessful battle in Belabo, the Pak army was high in confidence. On Aug 16, Pakistani

army was advancing towards Katiadi on a few steamers. The waiting S-force soldiers opened fire and destroyed many of these steamers. 143 Pak soldiers were reported dead, many fled.

This ambush was lead by Habildar Akmal Ali Dec 13-16: KM Shafiullah’s S force were the first to take Dhaka. On Dec 16, at Demra, 0431 hrs, the Pak forces surrendered. The commander of the opposition was Colonel Khiljee

SECTOR 4

Commander: Major Chittarajan Datta, Lt Col Md Abdur Rob June 19, Latitila Operation: Rob’s company prepared for a dawn attack and was in position since 2pm. At 5:45 in the morning, the forces totally surrounded the Pakistani camp and the combat started.

The soldiers of 22 Baloch fled to the woods indiscriminately. Most of them were killed Dec 15, Khademnagar: Joint troops sieged the Pakistani HQ at Khadimnagar.

Fighting continued all day. Finally, on Dec 16, the enemy surrendered

SECTOR 5

Commander: Major Mir Shawkat Ali Gourinagar, October 30:Major Taheruddin Akhanzee led the attack on the Pakistani camp at Gourinagar. 175 soldiers were at the front of the attack. The Sector commander himself covered the troops with 120mm mortar fire Dec 9-16: Mir Showkat Ali attacked Govindaganj and drove the Pak army as far as Lamakazi. On Dec 12, 4 Indian Army jets bombarded lamakazi and within days, the

pak army surrendered

SECTOR 6

Commander: Wing Commander Khademul Bashar Nov 26-30, Pachagarh: 1 battalion Muktibahini and 2 batallions of the Indian army attacked the strong Pakistani post at Pachagarh at night, Navember 26. One of the Major battles of the war, this siege lasted 4 days Dec 13, Syedpur: The joint forces advanced to take Syedpur. At about 5 miles from Syedpur, tanks engaged the opposition. 3 pakinstani tanks were destroyed while 1 Indian tank was also lost.

Around evening, 107 Pak soldiers including the commander of the 48 Punjab regiment and another officer, surrendered

SECTOR 7

Commander: Major Nazmul Haque, Major Quazi Nuruzzaman Nov 13, Train blast in Shihipur: Led

by Dulu, from Mahimaganj, locals Bably, Khaleque, Hamid and other charged a Pakistan army train in Shihipur. More that 150 enemies were killed Dec 16: Brigadier Ghiasuddin Chowdhury attacked Nawabgang with his troops at 6am and emerged victorious

SECTOR 8

Commander: Major Osman Chowdhury, Major MA Manzoor Nov 24, Gharibpur: Major Alik Kumar Gupta led Joint forces engaged 14 Pakistani tanks. All Pak tanks were destroyed. The Joint forces lost 5 tanks

Dec 7: Jessore and Narail were liberated

SECTOR 9

Commander: Major M A Jalil, Major MA Manzur, Major Joynal Abedin Aug, Date unknown, skirmish at Panpatti: Freedom Fighter Nurul Huda said that in a two day fierce battle, the Muktis came face to face with the Patuakhali region Pak army commander, Major Yamin. Yamin Dec 13-Dec 17: Blockade of the Khulna Newsprint Mill The joint command met stern resistance from Brigadier Hyatt Khan. No notable progress was being made. There was heavy firing and air strikes even.

Hyatt refused to surrender even after Dec 16. In the end, the Pak troops dropped their arms on December 17

SECTOR 11

Commander: Majors Ziaur Rahman, Abu Taher, Squadron Leader M Hamidullah Khan Sep10-11, Kamalpur base, Mahendraganj: The ambush was long, hard and ultimately futile. Taher’s troops systematically drew the enemy to a swamp and the siege turned into an ambush, according to the man himself, the LMG fire “killed” them like sitting ducks December 10-16, Jamalpur to Dhaka, with love: Freedom fighter Johurul Haque Munshee was sent to the commander of the 31st Baloch regiment, asking the enemy to surrender. The commander sent a bullet wrapped in paper as an answer. By the time the surrender happened at 5am next morning, 212 Pak soldiers had died and 200 further were injured

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Friday, November 21, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Let the media help

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he ruling party has a duty towards the public to take stern action against BCL criminality. Sajeeb Wazed Joy’s recent call to the BCL to hand in all criminals within its ranks to the police is a good start and we congratulate him for it.

If he and the party are indeed serious about this kind of reform, we are confident that they can make it happen.

We would urge him and other young leaders of the ruling party to make this a priority. Nothing would enhance the stature of the party and the government more than to be seen to be cracking down on the criminality within its own student front.

The ruling party should understand that the media is its friend in this regard. If it is truly serious about rooting out criminality from its ranks, the place to start is to encourage and support the media in its reporting of such transgressions, and to follow up with determination wherever such wrong-doing is reported.

We take Sajeeb at his word and believe that he and the other well-meaning members of the ruling party – including the thousands of BCL activists who joined politics to serve the public interest – are as unhappy as the general public with BCL violence and law-breaking, and want nothing more than to put an end to criminality that takes place in the ruling party’s name and tarnishes its reputation.

The media can be a powerful tool for those who would like to clean up politics from the inside and thus transform the image of the ruling party. It can create the pressure needed to help bring the bad apples into line and to support conscientious politicians in their efforts.

We in the media look forward to the continuing support of the political parties as we continue to help them in their drive to create a politics worthy of the Bangladeshi people.

Create the pressure needed to help bring the bad apples into line and to support conscientious politicians

Hampering market forces helps no one

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t is short-sighted for the government to be pressuring traders to sell edible oil at a lower price.

As we have seen before, this type of distortion of the market does not actually end up delivering lower prices to consumers.

Basic economic forces of supply and demand mean that forcing food oil suppliers to reduce prices inevitably leads to shortages and produces no long term benefit. As entrepreneurs receive lower profits, they have less incentive to import edible oil and invest in oilseed crushing plants, so in the long term prices go up.

Goods should be sold at prices determined by free markets, so that entrepreneurs have an incentive to increase production and imports of goods which are in short supply, and an incentive to reduce production (and imports) of goods which are in surplus. It is no accident that the industries which have grown fastest over the last few decades are those like RMG which produce goods sold at market prices.

Keeping the market free of interference is necessary for economic growth.

For Bangladesh’s economy to develop to its potential, bureaucrats and politicians need to stop viewing the economy as something that can be controlled by command. This mindset has been proven time and again to fail in practice and be a major deterrent to natural business growth and development.

Free competition is the best way to deliver competitive prices for food. People on very low incomes can be be helped better by the government channeling funds used for food subsidies into targeted welfare payments and voucher schemes, rather than by interfering with market prices.

Bureaucrats and politicians need to stop viewing the economy as something that can be controlled by command

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

Competitors go past Bangladesh in US apparel market November 8

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 25 represents B so fill B every time the figure 25 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

The Turminator Vietnam rules. You can get wicked iced coffees in Vietnam. The caffeine in the coffee helps their garment workers to be much more efficient than other countries. Coffee is good for you.

Dr Ahsan Habib I bought a shirt today at Macy’s in Detroit, Michigan. I was surprised to see the shirt be made in Vietnam, not Bangladesh. A year or two ago, “Made in Bangladesh” garments were found all over the stores here, but they have since gone down.

Richard Parker Dr Ahsan Habib: The downturn has many causes, but the suspension of GSP by the US did not help matters. I suspect the suspension has something to do with “punishing” the Hasina administration for the dubious January election. However, at the end of the day, this punishes the poor people of Bangladesh, and to be frank, dubious as it might have been, Bangladesh’s election is her internal affair – my take is that with a relatively free press, vocal civil society, and hard-nosed electorate, Bangladesh will find a way out of this political hiccup.

Now, Dr Habib, people like you can help. The US has a sizable population of Bangladeshi decent. You can do a lot to persuade the US administration to restore GSP without further delay. It’s hurting our people, mostly the poor female factory workers; also important to note, Bangladeshi garment factories have made significant improvements in matters of safety. A condition of the restoration, for instance, might be that part of the tariff benefit is spent on further improvement of workplace safety.

2 held on cyber crimes charge November 13 Nazmul Khair “A team of the elite force conducted a sudden raid at ST Digital Studio, and seized a monitor, a CPU, a keyboard, and a mouse.

The hard drive contained some pornographic film of a local schoolgirl.” Good, please carry out the punishment as a lesson for others.

Also, it’s very important to delete that video immediately.

Death for war criminal Khokon November 13 Chowdhury Aktaruzzaman We have a need for this. This is the right thing to do. Thanks for this verdict.

Hand over criminals to police, Joy to BCL November 13 NK Who will hand over the goons in the Chhatra League to the police? Are any of the Chhatra League leaders in jail now? Wouldn’t be surprised if the answer is no.

SUDOKU For a start, you can write op-eds to your local or national newspapers, write to your senators and congressmen, and use any other means at your disposal to lobby the Obama administration. How about a “Restore-GSP-for-Bangladesh” movement, and start getting signatures for petitions. You might be surprised by the amount of goodwill Bangladesh has among the wider US society.

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.

Dr Ahsan Habib Richard Parker: I have been to some political gatherings in Detroit where sitting House and Senate members attended. The issue of GSP and duty-free privilege to Bangladesh was conveyed to them and they said that they were aware of the issues.

Time to seek forgiveness November 7 TJ The truth is, all the major political parties of our country formed allies with Islamist parties comprising of war criminals at one point or another. What I don’t understand is that how we, the millions of citizens of the country, allowed that. nds TJ: Because the politics in this country is basically based on opportunism, not on ideology and commitment.

RS Yes, the BNP should not have appointed war criminals as ministers. Perhaps it showed disrespect to the martyrs by doing that.

Review system for employment injury insurance

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Servant (4) 3 Gem weight (5) 8 Wan (4) 9 Exhibit (4) 11 Outlets (5) 12 Fruit (4) 14 Obtained (3) 15 Inward feeling (5) 18 Foot lever (5) 19 Hail! (3) 21 Drug-yielding plant (4) 24 Of the kidneys (5) 26 Bird (4) 27 Male deer (4) 28 Cavities (5) 29 Attic (4)

DOWN 1 New wine (4) 2 Worshipped image (4) 4 Monkey (3) 5 Scope (5) 6 Singer (4) 7 Irritable (5) 10 Sagacious (4) 11 Corruptly mercenary (5) 13 Decoration (5) 16 Not fast (4) 17 Morass (5) 18 Of punishment (5) 20 Power of rejecting (4) 22 Therefore (4) 23 Single entity (4) 25 Mature (3)

November 8 RE “There is merit in looking at suggestions to make compensation timelier and more effective.”

The authorities ought to look into this matter and take effective measures in order to avert accidents.

Fire at Dhaka jail compound guts factory

CALVIN AND HOBBES

November 8

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

ES This is not the first time a fire has broken out in a building; nowadays, this is very prevalent. So, proper precaution should be taken in order to avert such incidents.

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

Until death do them apart November 7

Lisa “Why would a younger woman marry a much older man? This is an age-old question pondered by many.”

I wonder how people would have reacted if a 67-year-old woman married a 29-year-old guy.

TIB: Health sector sickened with bribery and corruption November 7 rose If such bribery continues to take place, then who will trust the health services in Bangladesh?

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

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Op-Ed L

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Friday, November 21, 2014

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Congrats to our democratic armed forces

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n Nadeem Qadir

t is Armed Forces Day today.

When it comes to anything that involves the armed forces, I cannot help but take pride in it. It possibly runs in my blood, as my father was an army officer martyred in the 1971 War of Independence.

Born in 1971 with the start of the Independence War at the call of the Father of the Nation, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, it has grown steadily with only a few incidents that tarnished its image temporarily. One must remember that the 1975 coup that killed Bangabandhu and most of his family was the act of only a few derailed personnel.

With regards to the 1981 and 1986 abortive coups, it was the same case.

In the 1981 abortive coup, General Ziaur Rahman was killed along with a few others. But in 1996, the attempt was nipped in the bud before it could cause any national disaster, thanks to the steps taken by the larger section of the armed forces.

elder brother, a lieutenant colonel, was picked up by the soldiers and had remained missing for a long time. He returned home late in the evening after being harassed the whole day.

It was labelled “sepoy mutiny.” The batman in our home turned ferocious overnight, but spared us as there was no officer to kill. But for a few scanty benefits, including the withdrawal of batmen from officers’ residences, it only benefitted a handful of those who rose to power and randomly sacked or killed freedom fighters in the forces.

The armed forces are an important national institution, and individuals as well as organisations must address it with deep respect. During the widespread violence in the run-up to the January 5, 2014 elections, BNP chief Begum Khaleda Zia, pointing at the forces, said they could not sit “idle” in such a situation.

But her call was ignored and the three service chiefs told a parliamentary committee that they would uphold the constitution. It was in tune with what Prime Minister

Talking of UN missions is nothing but a matter of great pride. Our soldiers have won the hearts of the people wherever they have gone

The November 3, 1975 killing of four national leaders in jail was also an act of coup leaders who wanted to wipe out the Awami League leadership,for which they also killed almost the entire Sheikh family. What happened on November 7, 1975 is a heartrending episode for the force.

Very early in the morning, one of my friends telephoned me, and he was crying. His army officer mother, who was serving as a doctor, was shot and bayonetted to death by soldiers.

Then came the news that my mother’s

Sheikh Hasina told the BBC in an interview. She said she would reject any such adventurism.

The days of adventurism and power greed are over. Senior army officers told me that there has been a sea-change in the forces. The officers and troops now have the opportunity for special education and training, besides many overseas missions with the United Nations. The members of the armed forces understand that being professional would help them as well as the country. Politics are for

SYED LATIF HOSSAIN

politicians, and they would uphold the constitution and serve the political government of the day.

Some had hoped for a development like 1/11 when the military-backed caretaker government of Fakhruddin Ahmed took charge of the country.

But a major reason that it happened, as I have been told by some officers, was because of the way the forces were treated by the BNP-Jamaat government. Those who led the takeover were all trusted and appointed by the BNP-Jamaat government.

In contrast, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina followed the rules, and her appointment of army chief General Iqbal Karim Bhuiyan, over other aspirants said to be close to the government, was appreciated by the rank and file. It also gave the message

to those who would have tried to exploit a different appointment that she was strictly following the rules in the best interests of the forces.

I had the opportunity of working with General Bhuiyan when he was the chief of general staff (CGS) in the army headquarters. A soft-spoken man with forward looking ideas, he gave me valuable suggestions when I was making the first ever themed documentary on the forces, called “Our Glorious Armed Forces.” He gave me ideas on how to cover the Hill Tracts so that it helped in restoring peace in the southeastern region.

The armed forces have built roads and bridges as well as other infrastructure in the country, besides their praiseworthy role during natural calamities. I witnessed their hard work during the major 1988 and 1998 floods.

Members of the armed forces delivered food and medicine to the remotest areas by boats and helicopters day and night, saving millions of lives.

Many flood-hit people were taken to safety. In 1998, an international UN organisation had said that it feared 2 million people may die unless proper food and medicine was delivered on time. The forces, along with volunteers from across the society, delivered, and only a few died, mostly from snake bites or drowning.

Talking of UN missions is nothing but a matter of great pride. Our soldiers have won the hearts of the people wherever they have gone. I was on a few missions to shoot for documentaries and came back proud.

In Liberia, local people wrote songs dedicated to our troops, while in some other places, roads and towns have

been named after our men in uniform.

This maturity of the forces has resulted in many advantages.

First, it has brought international respect for the forces as well as the country, and the confidence of the people in general, that they truly are supporters of democracy as well as professionals without political ambition.

Second, they can compete with any other country as professionals.

Nobody is going to tell them that they are powermongers.

Third, the leadership has warned that any attempt to tarnish the image of the forces will be dealt with a tough hand.

Salute to our armed forces. l

world, we too are doomed in a conflict-ridden part where living is getting dangerous every day. Apart from four full-fledged wars in the past, between India and Pakistan, we have witnessed a series of conflicts within the national frontiers – something that has not spared any South Asian nation state.

The recent border clashes between the two big brothers are tellingly evident that we have refused to learn any lessons from the past. Continually haunted by militant religious fundamentalism, majoritarian dominance, and acute democratic deficit, our region is synonymous with endemic poverty, chronic hunger, mass undernourishment, abysmal illiteracy, and ill health; the scenario is replete with social deprivation and marginalisation resulting in systemic exclusion. The youth wake up every morning to discover themselves “well placed” in overwhelming underemployment and rising unemployment.

Rampant environmental degradation caused by “development” efforts in the interest of the regional elites and the ruling classes, looms large.

Home to around half of the world’s poor, perhaps no other location encounters more acute threats from global warming than South Asia.

Therefore, it is already beleaguered by unpredictable levels of internal security threats from food, water, and energy crises; livelihood and unemployment crisis, etc.

With its closer integration into the global capitalist economy, the informal and family-provided social security and safety nets have collapsed without any formal arrangement to substitute it. South Asia exists on the faultlines of a fragile internal security threat that can potentially compound with the existing external security threats and apprehensions for each state with its own internal dynamics and complications.

To be more precise, the progress, or a progressive evolution of Saarc, is dependent on the settlement of the Kashmir issue. A genuine settlement of this question and the Kashmiri interest of self-determination is nowhere in sight in the near future, as Kashmir is sandwiched between two powerful states that only look at the valley as a strategic “real-estate” that has to be retained at any cost or human sacrifice.

Therefore, Saarc appear as an entity held ransom by its founders.

and politically.

This region is termed “poor” not because it lacks any potential – natural or human – but it has not been able to guarantee accountable democracy, an end to oppression, and external interventions. Even with galloping economic growth, we would not be able to lift ourselves out of poverty if each one of us in the region does not have the opportunity to realise the fullest development of human potential.

A society free from exploitation can create a climate in which all of us live in accord and prosperity; re-establish the ecological balance and harmony with environment; abolish the artificial and human barriers that divide lands, people, and minds; and transcend all boundaries. The convergence would bring all such issues to prominence, which could ensure sustainable development in the region.

Nadeem Qadir, a senior journalist, is a UNCA Dag Hammarskjold Scholar in journalism.

Has Saarc failed? n Sushovan Dhar

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n a few days from now, the 18th Saarc summit will be held in Kathmandu, Nepal. November 26-27 will witness the head of states arriving at this Himalayan capital with their cavalcades, engage in wishful conversations, momentarily setting aside their mutual distrust, hostility, and enmity.

This indeed is a time for celebration for most South Asians. The pious declarations to tackle the immediate problems of the region, to lift us out of poverty, deprivation, and exclusion would certainly create an immediate happiness.

We wish that the South Asian realities would reflect the contents of those sanctimonious declarations made in the previous 17 summits, and also the one to be made soon. We wish we can be eternally happy.

There are also more reasons to feel proud of our economy, our political

systems, and the governance. For instance, recent estimates made by the World Bank projects South Asia as the second fastest growing region in this planet after East Asia and the Pacific. It assures us of an economic stability and a pick-up in growth.

The “growth happy” Chinese would surely spare no chances to nourish us with growth, from breakfast to dinner.

The figures projected by the bank are rosy, undeniably. We can be contented by the fact that this part of the world has arrived at the world stage with a bang. South Asia looks ready to reap enormous economic gains, finally.

The optimism portrayed by the bank is enough to raise our expectations for the next two years and leave us contented in abstraction.

The reality and issues

However, beyond this bright picture, the region is mired in a pale gloom of darkness. While we hear of brutal internecine confrontations around the

People’s Saarc

It’s in this context that a number of South Asian people’s movements (women, youth, peasants, labour, socially marginalised groups, and civil society organisations) have planned to converge in a people’s assembly at Kathmandu from November 22-24.

People’s Saarc Regional Convergence 2014, being held in parallel to the official Saarc summit, would involve

This region is termed ‘poor’ not because it lacks any potential – natural or human – but it has not been able to guarantee accountable democracy

The creation of Saarc

Saarc has failed more than just these Kashmiris

REUTERS

It was assumed that a regional forum created to foster regional goodwill and reduce intra-regional disagreements and discords could steer the region away from this embroilment and impasse. The official forum of the South Asian states, Saarc, created in 1985 for the advancement of peoples’ welfare and collective self reliance, has miserably failed in this account.

This 29-year-old entity has too little to show in terms of political consolidation, conflict mitigation, regional harmony, free movement of citizens, intra-regional trade and economic cooperation, financial and monetary integration, etc.

participation from grassroots seeking answers to various issues and problems that they endure.

With the dreams of a “People’s Movements Uniting South Asia for Deepening Democracy, Social Justice & Peace” and being motivated by visions of alternative political, social, economic, and cultural systems, the convergence would attempt to seek alternatives to majoritarianism, violence, and oppression based on gender, caste-ethnicity, religion, etc.

We are faced with the worst forms of developmentalism (at times mutually competing) ensuring a catastrophic future for all of humanity – economically, ecologicallly, socially, culturally,

The road ahead

It is in this context that people’s movements of the region, in collaboration with the global ones, need to play an immense role in the future of South Asia. Since it is only they who can compel Saarc to put more importance on human security in lieu of “national” security, and trade agreements which follow the neoliberal paradigm.

An organic alliance and the unity of people’s movements and organisations while retaining their autonomy, can bring changes through a sustained movement for a just, sustainable, and egalitarian society.

They would be able to confront all anti-democratic forces like some businesses, communal and religious fundamentalists, patriarchy, caste systems, and discrimination of all kinds. A unity of movements through shared ideology and strategies has the potential to give rise to a strong political force that can alter the current regionalism of the ruling class. It can also create conditions for developing an alternate regionalism and building South Asia from below. l Sushovan Dhar is an activist. He is based in Kolkata.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Friday, November 21, 2014

13 Jacko’s shallow

promise annoys boxing officials

14 Taylor rescues

Kiwis after Sarfraz ton

14 Messi’s father plays

down son’s ‘Barca exit’ comments

Sport

Did you know?

Sarfraz Ahmed is the first Pakistani wicketkeeper to score three Test centuries in a calendar year

Bangladesh keen for first ODI win in 2014 Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Chittagong The home advantage, the sound mood the players are in and the momentum should be enough for Bangladesh’s re-appointed one-day captain Mashrafe bin Mortaza for a winning start in the fivematch ODI series against Zimbabwe which will also be the first win in the 50 overs in 2014.

The first one-day at the Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium today will be the start of the third spell as skipper for the veteran Bangladeshi fast bowler who will be relying on his batsmen to continue with the run-spree that started in the Test series.

However, one cannot rule out Zimbabwe’s chances in the game as their combination of players are more suited for the limited format while with the winter creeping in dew is also expected to play a major role in the outcome of the match.

The ball gets wet and soft and hard-

PROBABLE XI Bangladesh Tamim Iqbal, Anamul Haque, Imrul Kayes, Mominul Haque, Mushfiqur Rahim, Shakib al Hasan, Mahmudullah, Mashrafe Mortaza (C), Sabbir Rahman, Rubel Hossain/Shafiul Islam, Al Amin Hossain Zimbabwe Vusi Sibanda, Sikandar Raza, Hamilton Masakadza, Brendan Taylor, Timycen Maruma, Craig Ervine, Elton Chigumbura (C), Neville Madziva, Richmond Mutumbami, Shingi Masakadza, John Nyumbu

er to grip in the evening, especially for the spinners, and Zimbabwe’s one-day captain Elton Chigumbura, who is very much familiar with the conditions in this country, should not hesitate a bit to bat first if they win the toss.

The hosts are also aware of the dew factor, for which they included seamer Shafiul Islam as the 14th member in the sqaud and it won’t be surprising to see the spin dominated team play with three quickies.

A lot will also depend on the impact the newly appointed deputy Shakib al Hasan makes. The world No 1 all-rounder was instrumental behind the Test success with 251 runs and 18 wickets and is needless to say the 27-year old’s return to the ODIs after serving the three-month suspension is a relief for both the Tigers coach and captain.

Tigers middle-order batsman Nasir Hossain, who literally spent a quiet year with the bat, was overlooked for the first two games which is crucial for the right-handed’s place in the team.

Incoming player Sabbir Rahman should be morally boosted as a good performance in the series might see him get in Bangladesh’s plan for the World Cup. Meanwhile, the visitors, who also had a dismal year on the field, will be keen for their batters to fire and hope for a positive result. Zimbabwe have won only 11 times out of the 28 one-dayers they played in Bangladesh. With the firepower in the bowling department, they just need their batting to click which can cause enough trouble for the home side.

Bangladesh (9th) and Zimbabwe (10th) are the bottom teams in the ICC ODI rankings and though the hosts outplayed the touring party in the longer format, the same cannot be said for today’s encounter. l

Bangladesh skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza (L) and Zimbabwe captain Elton Chigumbura pose with the ODI series trophy in Chittagong yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Dew factor worries Mashrafe and Chigumbura Shakib expected to Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Chittagong

Prior to the three-Test series against Zimbabwe, Bangladesh had experi-

enced a turbulent year owing to countless defeats and controversies. The Tigers though somewhat improved on their flagging fortunes following a series sweep against Zimbabwe in the Tests.

Shakib al Hasan (L), Rubel Hossain (R) and Mushfiqur Rahim indulge themselves in a game of football during a practice session at ZACS in Chittagong yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Going into the five-match ODI series that begins in Chittagong today, the Tigers, therefore, will be brimming with confidence after creating and breaking several records and feats in the just-concluded Test series not to mention their second ever clean sweep in the longer version.

Regular skipper Mushfiqur Rahim, who led the Tigers to their first ever series sweep at home, will now relinquish captaincy to the new ODI captain, Mashrafe bin Mortaza. The Bangladesh Cricket Board recently decided to appoint specialist captains for Tests and ODIs and Mashrafe will now take over the reigns of the ODI side for the first time since 2009.

Following a disappointing 2014, Mashrafe’s first task will be to land Bangladesh’s first ODI win this year.

And he admitted that it will be a difficult challenge.

“Captaincy is a challenge to be honest. However, we had a very good Test series. It (Test performance) might help me and the team but that does not mean that we will win all the five games,” Mashrafe told the media in the pre-match press conference yesterday.

“We will have to play well on the field, just like the Tests. Here, planning will change as it is a different format.

We will have to execute them. If we can do it then all will be good,” he said.

All the five one-day internationals will be day-night affairs, hence, dew

will be a crucial factor so Mashrafe reckons the toss will be really important.

“I am more worried about the toss,” said Mashrafe light-heartedly.

“Due to the dew factor, we will discuss the team combination later in the day (yesterday) because our genuine spinners will face problems. But then again, both the teams will have to play and adjust. Having said that we have to plan and go ahead. And I believe we can do well,” he added.

The bilateral series will be Bangladesh’s last before the upcoming 2015 ICC World Cup and Mashrafe informed they will try to make the best use of the opportunity.

“We played quite bad in 2014 so now is the time to come back. Especially before the world cup, so, we are all focused,” said Mashrafe.

Zimbabwe ODI captain Elton Chigumbura on the other hand believes his side will be a tougher proposition in 50-over cricket as opposed to the longer version.

“They (ODI replacements) can’t wait for the first game. They are still fresh (newcomers). Everyone is looking forward to the first game tomorrow (today),” said the 28-year old all-rounder.

“Now it’s a different version so we will be looking to start well. I know Test matches didn’t go the way we wanted to but that’s in the past now. We have to focus on these five games coming up,” he added.l

come up trumps Uddin Khan n Minhaz from Chittagong There is hardly any doubt that ace all-rounder Shakib al Hasan is an x-factor for Bangladesh whenever the Tigers take the field in any form of cricket.

His latest exertions were instrumental behind Bangladesh’s series sweep over Zimbabwe in the just-concluded threeTest series. It goes without saying that similar heroics will be expected from Shakib once again when the two sides face each other in the first of five oneday internationals at Zahur Ahmed Chowdhury Stadium today.

Cricket has always been a team game and contributions from all the members of the side will be required if the Tigers are to clinch the ODI series, if not even better.

However, anticipating good things from Shakib will be a norm rather than expectation as he is not only the vice-captain in ODIs but also the highest run-scorer and second best wicket-taker against Zimbabwe in 50-over cricket.

With 1158 runs in 37 one-dayers at an average of a little more than 42, Shakib is the highest Bangladeshi run-scorer against Zimbabwe. And with 52 wickets, Shakib is second behind

fellow left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak in the list of highest Bangladeshi wicket-takers against the Southern African nation.

Bangladesh ODI skipper Mashrafe bin Mortaza is fully aware of Shakib’s many talents. However, Mashrafe believes Shakib alone will not be able to script a series victory all on his own.

“As a captain I expect Shakib to perform just like every other player, including myself. He (Shakib) can do a lot alone but he cannot win us a match all on his own,” Mashrafe told the media yesterday.

“Shakib needs a supporting role so I think the entire team need to play well. There are major players in every team and I do not have any problems saying Shakib is a top player. There will be expectations upon him and I think he knows it very well and will play his role,” he said.

The series will also provide Shakib with the opportunity to become the first Bangladesh cricketer to reach 4000 ODI runs. Shakib has 3835 runs to his name in 130 ODI innings, at an average of 34.86.

On another note, opener Tamim Iqbal with 3824 runs will also get the chance to go past 4000 ODI runs. l

ODI rating points up for grab Navy lift maiden Premier Chess League title n Tribune Desk

Bangladesh possibly have the best opportunity ahead of them to turn the tables around in 2014. The year has dished out some poor results, one after another for the first 10 months, but it seems the only triumph of the season has opened up several gates of achievement for the future.

Carrying the momentum from the Test series, the home side have the glorious opportunity of rising in the ICC ODI rankings with another outright victory in the one-day series against Zimbabwe starting today in Chittagong.

At ninth place with 1940 points and a rating of 69, Bangladesh currently lead Zimbabwe (10th) by 11 points.

A five-nil result for the hosts will see

them avail an advantage of 22 points over Zimbabwe and more importantly close the gap with Pakistan (6th), New Zealand (7th) and West Indies (8th) – all of whose ratings are hovering in the 90s as opposed to Bangladesh’s 69.

A 4-1 series win will give the Tigers a lead of 17 points over their rivals while a 3-2 series win will see Bangladesh retain a nine-point advantage.

On the other hand, the visiting Zimbabwe side will be eyeing to move up the rankings as well and a 5-0 series sweep in their favour will see them leapfrog Bangladesh by six points. In the event of a 4-1 series win for the visitors, the two sides will be level on 63 points with the hosts holding a fractional advantage. A 3-2 win for Zimbabwe will reduce Bangladesh’s lead by five-six points.l

n Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh Navy, in only their second season at the top flight, lifted their maiden Premier Chess League beating Navy Junior by 4-0 points at the media center of Bangladesh Olympic Association yesterday.

The undisputed champions, comprising of FM Taibur Rahman, GM Abdullah al Rakib, GM Enamul Hossain, IM Minhazuddin Ahmed Sagar, FM Nasir Ahmed and FM Aminul Islam, bagged a total 14 points. In the 9th and the last round Rakib, Razib, Nasir and Amin beat Masum, Sharon, Sharif and Sagar respectively.

Rakib termed the success as an awesome feat and said, “Frankly speaking, we had some limitations, but we overcame

the limitations with pure team spirit.”

Meanwhile, IM Sagar cherished defeating the sub-continent’s first GM Niaz Murshed and said, “I had never beaten Niaz Murshed before and this

win was the turning point of the tournament, it turned the tide towards Navy.”

Champions in the previous three editions Dhaka Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited had to remain content at

Bangladesh Navy chess team pose for a photograph after winning their maiden Premier Chess League title yesterday at Bangladesh Olympic Association COURTESY

second place with 14 points. Mohammedan team included two Georgian Grand Masters – Merab Gagunashvili and Mikheil Mchedlishvili – Bangladeshi GM Ziaur Rahman, GM Niaz Murshed, IM Abu Sufian Shakil and FM Syed Mahfuzur Rahman Emon.

The remaining spots were grabbed by – Titas Club finished (3rd with 10 points), Bangladesh Navy Junior (4th with 8 points), Pritam-Prism Chess Club Narayanganj (6th with 6 points), Sreejan Chess Club (7th with 6 points), Leonine Chess Club (8th with 4 points), Sultana Kamal Smirity Pathagar (9th with 4 points) and Fire-Service & Civil Defense Sports Club (10th with 4 points). Fire Service and Access Group, who did not participate in the league, were relegated to the first division.l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Federer set to face France in Davis Cup final

QUICK BYTES

Mesbah fifth in Asian Beach Games, Shirin sixth

n Reuters, Lille

Mesbah Ahmed and Shirin Akhter, the fastest male and female sprinters of the country, finished fifth and sixth respectively in the 60-metre sprint of the Asian Beach Games in Phuket, Thailand yesterday. There were eight participants in the men’s and six participants in the women’s section.

Meanwhile, Bangladesh women’s kabaddi team conceded a 64-33 defeat against hosts Thailand in beach kabaddi. However, it was a reverse picture in the men’s section as Bangladesh defeated the hosts 54-33. In the event of beach handball, Bangladesh lost to Hong Kong 2-0.

–Raihan Mahmood

Buffon, Chiellini extend Juve contracts

Juventus veterans Gianluigi Buffon and Giorgio Chiellini extended their respective contracts with the club on Thursday, the Serie A giants announced. With 14 seasons at Juventus already under his belt club captain and goalkeeper Buffon has extended his contract until 2017, while central defender Chiellini has signed to play on until 2018. “This is a very special day for the club,” Juventus president Andrea Agnelli told media. “Our captain and vice-captain have announced their contract renewals. “The first (Buffon) is in his 14th season with us and will stay until 2017, and the second (Chiellini) until 2018.” Juventus, who have won 30 Italian league titles, including the past three in succession, lead Italy’s top flight with a three-point advantage on title challengers Roma.

–AFP

Reus to Bayern talk doesn’t bother Ribery

Bayern Munich veteran Franck Ribery says he is not concerned about the possible arrival of Germany winger Marco Reus at the Bavarian giants for next season.

Bayern chairman Karl-Heinz Rummenigge last month drew attention to the release clause, worth 25 million euros, in Reus’s Borussia Dortmund contract, which means the 25-year-old could join the Bavarian giants at the end of the season. But France winger Ribery says he would have no problem battling the Germany star for a place on Bayern’s left wing. “He’s a good player, but I have been here for a while, even if I will be 32 (next April),” Ribery told German magazine Kicker. “I feel good, things are going well here. “I’m still an important player, you still have to reckon with me here.” Ribery has won all possible trophies with Bayern since joining Munich in 2007. He was part of the team which won the treble of European, league and cup titles in 2013 and with Pep Guardiola’s side currently four points clear in the table, they are on course to win a third straight Bundesliga title. “I know what I have brought this club and what I can still bring to the side,” said Ribery.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH BTV, Gazi TV 1:30PM Bangladesh v Zimbabwe 1st ODI

Ten Cricket 12:00PM Pakistan v Zimbabwe 2nd Test, Day 5

Sony Six Champions Tennis League 05:30PM Punjab v Delhi 08:30PM Bangalore v Hyderabad 11:30PM Ram Slam T20 Warriors v Knights

Star Sports 2 9:15AM Australia v South Africa 4th ODI 7:30PM Indian Super League Kerala v Kolkata

Star Sports 4 3:00PM, 7:00PM F1: Abu Dhabi Grand Prix Practice Session 1:45AM Spanish La Liga Athletic Bilbao v Espanyol

13

Friday, November 21, 2014

French team player Gael Monfils (L) shakes hands with Swiss team player Roger Federer in front of the Davis Cup trophy after the draw of the Davis Cup final in Lille yesterday AFP

Switzerland’s Roger Federer, who has been hampered by back problems, has been named to play in the second singles rubber of the Davis Cup final against France’s Gael Monfils on Friday.

The 17-time grand slam champion, looking to give the Swiss a maiden title in the team competition, withdrew from the ATP World Tour final against Novak Djokovic in London last Sunday.

But the world number two was back in training on Thursday at Lille’s Pierre Mauroy stadium, where the tie will be played indoors on clay in front of some 27,000 fans.

“Things have been going well out there this morning. I was really happy with the way I felt,” Federer, who made his decision to play after Thursday’s early practice session, told a news conference following the draw ceremony.

Asked if he was 100 percent fit, Federer said: “Only the match gives you the answer. I’m just pleased that I can play tomorrow, give it a go. Things have been going well.”

Federer’s inclusion did not surprise the French.

“It is not a surprise for us, we prepared ourselves to play against Roger and Stan,” said France captain Arnaud Clement.

“He’s had three days to rest and before that he played his best tennis (in London) so it’s all good for him,” said Monfils, who lost to Federer in five sets in the U.S. Open quarter-finals in September and has never beaten him in five matches on clay.

Switzerland’s world number four

Jacko’s shallow promise annoys boxing officials n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh Boxing Federation (BBF) has expressed frustration over the dilly-dallying of former kick-boxing champion Ali Jacko in the selection process of the boxers intending to acquire advanced training in England.

BBF general secretary MA Quddus Khan is upset with the proceedings so far. “Our four-member selection committee has selected eight boxers and they are ready for trials. However, it is unfortunate that Ali Jacko has not yet arrived at the boxing federation since the first trial was held recently. We are in the dark over what to do next. I do not know whether the boxers will get training in England,” said Quddus.

Djokovic to make Davis Cup return n Reuters, Belgrade Serbia’s world number one Novak Djokovic will return to Davis Cup action after a season’s absence when he leads his country against Croatia in the first round in March, he said on Wednesday.

“Novak returns to the Serbia Davis Cup team for the first-round tie against Croatia from March 6-8,” said Djokovic’s official website.

Djokovic, who steered Serbia to the 2010 Davis Cup title, skipped the tournament last season after Serbia fell short in the 2013 final against the Czech Republic, losing 3-2 in Belgrade despite Djokovic winning both his singles rubbers. The 27year old finished top of the 2014 world rankings after winning the season-ending ATP World Tour Final in London.l

It was also learnt that the boxing federation is yet to grasp information on the number of boxers who will eventually be picked for training. Initially the number was five but now it has come down to two. The boxers are also frustrated with the scenario.

A few eyebrows have been raised due to the activities of Jacko as he has no license of professional boxing training owing to the fact that he was only a kick-boxer. However, Jacko recently said he will be able to arrange training for the local boxers. The boxing federation, therefore, is not at all impressed with the kick-boxer’s shallow promise.

The former lightweight world-kick boxing champion maintains a website

named “CA Foundation” that was established in 2011. Jacko had stated on previous occasions that the foundation has been based on a charity dedicated to his father Chamak Ali. Jacko said the foundation’s objectives were to build hospitals and football stadiums besides creating jobs for the poor people.

Training boxers, however, did not feature in his pre-stated agenda.

The website included a letter to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina that detailed his conflict with a local member of parliament, Mohibur Rahman Manik. Manik had filed a case of forgery against Jacko and subsequently halted the boxer’s plans to build a football stadium at the cost of TK110 crore. He then requested the PM’s interference.l

Ramiz questions PCB support for Aamer n AFP, Dubai Former Pakistan captain turned commentator Ramiz Raja on Wednesday criticised the lobbying for the return of paceman Mohammad Aamer, banned for spot-fixing, saying his return would expose the team to the “virus”.

Aamer, along with Salman Butt and Mohammad Asif, was banned in a spot-fixing scandal on Pakistan’s tour of England in 2010.

The International Cricket Council (ICC), at the request of Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB), earlier this month revised its anti-corruption code, paving the way for all the banned players to feature in first-class cricket a few months before their bans expire.

The PCB said it would launch an appeal for Aamer later this month and a

final decision on when he can return to domestic cricket is expected at the next ICC meeting in January.

Ramiz questioned why Aamer’s return was fast-tracked.

“Why is the world so keen to see Amer back? The managers of the game, who for whatever reason are trying to fast-track him into the very system that he had wronged, have obviously not experienced the pangs of betrayal and cheating that fixing causes,” wrote Raja in his cricinfo column.

Raja said the current players needed to be asked would they like to play alongside Aamer.

“Someone needs to ask the Pakistan players if they at all want Aamer back.

After years of perseverance, Misbah-ulHaq and his men have been able to salvage Pakistan cricket and its image,” said

Raja of the current Pakistan captain.

“Should they be exposed to a virus now? How unjust would it be to the performers who have toiled long and hard to make way for a man whose integrity is still suspect,” said Aamer.

“The argument put across in Aamer’s favour is that his talent was compromised at a young age due to poor judgement and his naivete, and because he comes from a poor family.

“If that is the case, there are millions of other Pakistani youth who have had a tough start in life, and less than ideal upbringings. During my conversation with him regarding the offer, I realised that because the offer was a few thousand pounds short of what he expected, he was willing to let go of an opportunity to play and establish himself at a renowned and historic county. l

Stan Wawrinka will open proceedings against Jo-Wilfried Tsonga on Friday in what is expected to be a close battle.

“We always play close matches, determination will be the key,” said Tsonga, who has a 3-2 record against Wawrinka.

“It’s going to be a bit different here, it’s on indoor clay and there will be more pressure,” said Wawrinka.

Switzerland captain Severin Luthi named Marco Chiudinelli and Michael Lammer to play in Saturday’s doubles against Julien Benneteau and Richard Gasquet but he has until one hour before the start of the match to change his lineup.

Federer will face Tsonga in the reverse singles with Wawrinka playing Monfils in the potentially deciding fifth match.

France are trying to win the Davis Cup for the 10th time, having last lifted the title in 2001. They lost in their last two finals against Russia in 2002 and Serbia in 2010.

The team led by Clement beat holders Czech Republic in the semi-finals while Switzerland defeated Italy. l

MATCH SCHEDULE Friday (from 7pm) Tsonga (FRA) v Wawrinka (SUI) Monfils (FRA) v Federer (SUI) Saturday (from 8pm) Gasquet/Benneteau (FRA) v Chiudinelli/Lammer (SUI) Sunday (from 6pm) Tsonga (FRA) v Federer (SUI) Monfils (FRA) v Wawrinka (SUI)

Jamal to play in AFC Cup play-offs n Raihan Mahmood According to the new regulations of Asian Football Confederation defending Bangladesh Premier Football League champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club will feature in the play-off of the AFC Cup in 2016.

After the abolition of AFC President’s Cup, where the Bangladesh league champions played in the last couple of years, the Bangladesh champions will play in the AFC Cup but has to cross the hurdle of the play-offs first.

Meanwhile Sheikh Russel KC, who reached the final round of the last edition of the President’s Cup, got ticket of next years play-off slot. l

Retired Hussey to lead PM XI against England n AFP, Sydney Former Test batsman Mike Hussey will captain the Prime Minister’s XI against England in Canberra early next year, Cricket Australia said on Thursday.

Hussey, 39, who retired in 2013, played 79 Tests for Australia and 185 one-day internationals.

The match will take place on January 14 at Manuka Oval, four days before England’s opening clash of the tri-oneday series against Australia and India.

“It’s a tremendous honour to be selected to captain the Prime Minister’s XI,” Hussey said.

“Having played in the Prime Minister’s XI before, I know how important this fixture is on the Australian cricketing calendar, and it is a great tradition.”

In the past two years, Ricky Ponting and Brett Lee captained the team.

The rest of the XI will be chosen by Cricket Australia’s selection panel with input from Prime Minister Tony Abbott in the coming weeks. l

Siddikur posts 71 in return J Sports Academy seal rugby crown n Tribune Desk Bangladesh golfer Siddikur Rahman scored an one-under-par 71 on his return after withdrawing from the Chiangmai Classic last week.

Siddikur was joint 32nd following the opening day of the Resorts World Manila Masters in the Philippines yesterday.

Siddikur, who finished fifth in his last competition in India a couple of weeks ago, carded four birdies along with three bogeys in $1m showpiece tournament while Singapore veteran Mardan Mamat and Daisuke Kataoka of Japan overcame gusty winds to post seven-under-par 65 to share the firstround lead.

The 47-year old Mardan, a threetime Asian Tour winner, was rock sol-

id at the Manila Southwoods Golf and Country Club, hitting all but one green in regulation which yielded eight birdies against a lone bogey.

Kataoka, 26, needed only 25 putts in his seven-birdie round as he put himself in contention for a maiden Asian Tour victory in what is the richest golf tournament in the Philippines.

Reigning Asian Tour number one Kiradech Aphibarnrat of Thailand and seasoned Malaysian campaigner Danny Chia carded 66 to trail the leader by a shot while 2011 Order of Merit champion Juvic Pagunsan led the Philippines’ charge with a 67 to share fifth place with American Anthony Kang, Chinese Taipei’s Hung Chien-yao and Aussie duo Terry Pilkadaris and Sam Brazel.l

n Raihan Mahmood J Sports Academy lifted the title of the Home Tech five-a-side rugby beating Kanchan Rugby Warriors at Paltan Ground yesterday.

The eventual champions won 36-10 and had led the first half 26-nil. Sabuj of J Sports Academy was adjudged the best player. Quamrunnahar Dana, the general secretary of the Bangladesh Women’s Sports Association, distributed the prizes as the chief guest. Hossain A Sikder, the managing director of Home Tech, was the special guest.

Rugby federation general secretary Mousum Ali, vice president Abdullah al Zahir, joint secretary Saeed Ahmed and members Parvin Nahar Putul and Deen Islam were also present on the occasion. l

J Sports Academy along with the officials of the Rugby Federation pose with their title of the five-a-side rugby at the Paltan ground yesterday COURTESY

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Friday, November 21, 2014

Taylor rescues New Zealand after Sarfraz’s superb ton SCORECARD, DAY 4

n AFP, Dubai

New Zealand 1st innings 403 (T. Latham 137, M. Craig 43; Zulfiqar Babar 4-137)

Ross Taylor hit a return-to-form half-century to help New Zealand recover after Sarfraz Ahmed hit a fighting hundred for Pakistan in the second Test in Dubai on Thursday.

Taylor was 77 not out for his 23rd fifty to help his team recover from a shaky 79-4 to close the fourth day on 167-6, having an overall lead of 177 with four wickets intact.

Mark Craig (nought) was in Taylor’s company as New Zealand will seek a series-levelling win in the three-Test series on an intriguing final day.

Pakistan won the first Test by 248 runs in Abu Dhabi last week.

Sarfraz’s 112 led Pakistan’s fightback as they managed 393 in their first innings in reply to New Zealand’s 403, conceding a slender 10-run lead.

Pakistani spinners Zulfiqar Babar (3-60) and Yasir Shah (3-65) had jolted New Zealand but Taylor stood firm.

Babar removed Brendon McCullum (45), Kane Williamson (11) and Jimmy Neesham (11) in another display of beguiling leftarm spin on a Dubai stadium pitch which is taking notable turn.

Yasir Shah dismissed Tom Latham (nine), Corey Anderson (nought) and BJ Watling (11).

McCullum hit six fours in his 62-ball knock and when on 39 became New Zealand’s second top Test run-scorer, overhauling Martin Crowe’s 5,444 runs in 77 Tests.

Taylor added 46 with Jimmy Neesham (11) and hit Babar for a boundary to complete his fifty and then added 41 for the sixth with Watling. He has so far hit ten fours in his 93-ball knock.

Earlier, Pakistan owed their fightback to Sarfraz who hit a brilliant 112 for his third hundred -- all scored this year.

He was last man out in the second over after lunch from McCullum, hitting 16 fours in

Pakistan 1st innings (Overnight 281-6) Shan Masood b Sodhi Taufeeq Umar st Watling b Craig Azhar Ali b Sodhi Younis Khan c Craig b Neesham Misbah-ul Haq c Taylor b Boult Asad Shafiq c Taylor b Southee Sarfraz Ahmed c and b McCullum Yasir Shah c Watling b Southee Ehsan Adil lbw b Southee Zulfiqar Babar c Watling b Boult Rahat Ali not out Extras: (b7, lb2, nb1) Total: (all out; 147 overs)

13 16 75 72 28 44 112 2 0 5 16 10 393

Fall of wickets 1-28, 2-32, 3-145, 4-195, 5-220, 6-279, 7-285, 8-287, 9-312 Bowling Boult 30-8-69-2 (1nb), Southee 30-5-67-3, Craig 28-5-117-1, Sodhi 39-9-92-2, Anderson 7-0-26-0, Neesham 11-2-12-1, McCullum 2-1-1-1 New Zealand 2nd innings T. Latham c Shafiq b Shah 9 B. McCullum lbw b Babar 45 K. Williamson c Umar b Babar 11 R. Taylor not out 77 C. Anderson b Shah 0 J. Neesham b Babar 11 BJ Watling Shafiq b Shah 11 M. Craig not out 0 Extras: (lb3) 3 Total: (for six wkts; 48.2 overs)

167

Fall of wickets 1-42, 2-63, 3-78, 4-79, 5-125, 6-166 Bowling Rahat 4-0-19-0, Adil 5-1-20-0, Babar 21.2-560-3, Shah 18-1-65-3

Ligue 1 resumes after turbulent week in France n AFP, Paris Ligue 1 leaders Marseille can put their off-pitch worries aside on Sunday as they carry a slender one point lead into the weekend with a top of the table clash against Bordeaux.

During a week that saw the Marseille president Vincent Labrune taken into custody as part of a probe into transfers including star striker Andre-Pierre Gignac, French football was struck by a double scandal after match-fixing accusations in Ligue 2 last season.

Labrune was taken into custody in Marseille along with the club’s director-general Philippe Perez and former president Pape Diouf.

Another former president, JeanClaude Dassier, was being held in Paris and a total of ten people, including agents and middlemen, were held overnight at the investigators’ headquarters.

Dassier and Diouf were released late Wednesday.

The investigation is looking into “contentious” money transfers “made in recent years”, sources close to the investigation said. A police source spoke of “fraud linked to several transfers”.l

a 215-minute stay, his innings balancing the match after New Zealand looked set for a big lead.

Sarfraz added a record 81 runs for the tenth wicket stand with Rahat Ali (16 not out). Sarfraz hit three fours in one Craig over and then two more off leg-spinner Ish Sodhi to come within four runs of his hundred.

He then cut seamer Tim Southee towards deep point for his 15th boundary to complete the three-figure mark off 153 balls, the first Pakistani wicketkeeper-batsman to score three hundreds in a year.

He ran a full circle in jubilation, thumped his bat in the air to warm applause from his team-mates in the dressing room.

It was Sarfraz, 28 overnight, who anchored the batting after Pakistan resumed the day on 281-6.

Paceman Tim Southee (3-67) removed Yasir Shah in the third over of the day, caught behind for two and just two runs later Trent Boult (2-69) trapped Ehsan Adil leg-before for nought, leaving Pakistan in danger of conceding a big lead.

But Sarfraz added an invaluable 25 for the ninth wicket with Babar (five) and then frustrated the Kiwis, then bettering the tenth wicket stand record against New Zealand of 65 which Salahuddin Ahmed and Mohammad Farooq set in Rawalpindi in 1965.l

Blatter tells FA there could be a way to release Garcia report n Reuters

Pakistan wicketkeeper batsman Sarfraz Ahmed celebrates after scoring his century during the fourth day of their second Test against New Zealand in Dubai yesterday AFP

FIFA president Sepp Blatter has told English FA chairman Greg Dyke that Michael Garcia’s report into the bidding process for the 2018 and 2022 World Cups could be made public if people named in it waive any right to any subsequent legal action.

Dyke had written to every FIFA executive committee member calling for Garcia’s report to be published in full.

Blatter said in a letter to Dyke, published on FIFA’s official website on Wednesday, that FIFA was bound by an “obligation of confidentiality” and would violate its code of ethics if it made the report public.

But he said the publication of the report “might be permissible if the persons and entities included in the report consent to such publication and waive any legal action they may be entitled to bring due to the publication”.

“Against this background,” Blatter said, “I would therefore like to ask you whether we may interpret your letter as providing consent on behalf of any natural or legal person affected by the parts of the report relating to the England World Cup bid to publication of the report and as a corresponding waiver of any legal action in the event of such publication.”

FIFA was plunged into chaos on Thursday when its ethics judge Hans-Joachim Eckert said in a statement there were no grounds to reopen the controversial bidding process which led to Russia being given the 2018 World Cup and Qatar the 2022 finals.

But hours later former U.S. prosecutor Garcia, who led the investigation over an 18-month period, said Eckert’s 42-page statement had misrepresented his 430-page report.l

Messi’s father plays down Holders Nigeria knocked out as son’s ‘Barca exit’ comments African Nations Cup field settled n Reuters, Barcelona

Lionel Messi’s father Jorge has sought to play down comments his son made this week which suggested the fourtimes World Player of the Year could consider leaving Barcelona.

Lionel Messi said in an interview published in Ole newspaper on Tuesday if it was up to him he would stay at the club he joined as a 13-year-old for his entire career.

However, he added that “sometimes not everything happens in the way you would like” and said the situation was “complicated”.

“The thought is to stay here (in Barcelona),” Jorge Messi was quoted as saying by Spanish newspaper La Vanguardia on Wednesday.

“But as people read between the lines there is exaggeration,” he added.

“It’s clear that if tomorrow the club says to you ‘we have this offer, we want to sell you’, it would have to be studied.

Although right now it is not even on the agenda.”

Lionel Messi has not been at his scintillating best over the past 18 months and, along with his father, has also had problems with the Spanish tax authorities.

Now 27, Messi probably has at least five years left at the top of the game and if the right offer was made, likely to be a world record fee in excess of 100 million euros (125.5 million US dollars), it is not inconceivable Barca could cash in or he could himself decide to leave.

Barca have a new coach this season in former Spain midfielder Luis Enrique, who replaced the discarded Gerardo Martino, now Messi’s coach for Argentina.

They are second in La Liga, two points behind Real Madrid after 11 matches, and have qualified for the Champions League knockout round. l

n Reuters, Cape Town Holders Nigeria were bundled out of the African Nations Cup qualifiers on Wednesday as the final six places for the 2015 finals were decided.

Congo, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ghana, Guinea, the Ivory Coast and Mali all made certain of their spots and join the 10 countries who had already booked their places at the tournament in Equatorial Guinea.

Nigeria had to beat Group A winners South Africa in their last qualifier at their new stadium in Uyo to stand a chance of defending their title at the Jan. 17 to Feb. 8 continental championship.

Nigeria pulled one back from Sone Aluko with 22 minutes remaining and the Hull City striker then equalised deep into stoppage time against opponents, who had been reduced to 10 men for the last 19 minutes.

Congo finished second behind South Africa after a 1-0 win in Sudan, where Francis Ndanga’s second-half free kick ensured that veteran coach Claude Le Roy will go to a record-extending eighth tournament.

Guinea beat Uganda 2-0 in Casablanca to finish second in Group E behind Ghana, who topped the standings after

Uruguay win in Chile without Suarez, Mexico lose to Belarus n Reuters, Manchester

Mauricio Pinilla of Chile reacts after missing a goal opportunity during their friendly against Uruguay in Santiago on Tuesday

REUTERS

Uruguay made light of the absence of striker Luis Suarez to recover from a goal down and beat 2015 Copa America hosts Chile 2-1 in a friendly in Santiago.

In a spate of friendlies on Tuesday involving Latin American teams, Colombia beat Slovenia 1-0 in Ljubljana but Mexico followed last week’s impressive away win over the Netherlands with a 3-2 loss to Belarus in Borisov.

Alexis Sanchez headed Chile into the lead close to the half hour from Fabian Orellana’s cross but Uruguay snatched an equaliser on the stroke of halftime when Diego Rolan headed in Carlos Sanchez’s cross. Midfielder Alvaro Gonzalez scored the winner 10 minutes from time with a low shot.

In Borisov, four goals in the space of seven minutes early in the second half including two from striker Raul Jimenez had Mexico level at 2-2 with Belarus.

However, the home side scored a late winner through Pavel Nekhaychik.l

a 3-1 home win over Togo.

Guinea had to move their match to a neutral venue because of a ban on playing at home where the deadly Ebola virus has claimed more than 1,000 lives.

Mali ended Algeria’s 100 percent record in Group B to book their place with Seydou Keita scoring a first-half penalty and Mustapha Yatabare adding a second after the break in a 2-0 win in Bamako.

Ivory Coast needed only to draw

with already-qualified Cameroon and squeezed through in a goalless clash against a side reduced to 10 men for the last half-hour after captain Stephane Mbia was sent off.

Algeria and the Cape Verde Islands qualified after just four group matches last month and were joined after the weekend’s penultimate round by Burkina Faso, Cameroon, Gabon, Senegal, South Africa, Tunisia and Zambia.l

Ivory Coast supporter gestures in Abidjan on Wednesday during their 2015 Africa Cup of Nations group D qualifying match against Cameroon AFP

Once-feared Italian player now ‘dying out’: Conte n AFP, Milan

Angry Azzurri coach Antonio Conte responded to Italy’s critics following a 1-0 friendly win over Albania by claiming the once-feared Italian footballer is now “dying out”.

Italy are unbeaten in six games since Conte replaced Cesare Prandelli as coach in the wake of a second consecutive first-round exit from the World Cup last summer.

The four-time World Cup winners sit second in Group H of Euro 2016 qualifying following three successive wins over Norway, Azerbaijan and Malta and a hard-fought 1-1 draw in Milan with leaders Croatia last Sunday.

But after Sampdoria striker Stefano Okaka’s late winner saved a second-string Italy against Albania on Tuesday, Conte lashed out at Serie A’s clubs and the young players they are currently producing.

Talking directly to reporters after the game in Genoa, he said: “You do not want to face up to certain things, that is the big problem. Our product is dying out. We’re going through a difficult generational change.

“We’re happy to have 10 points from our group games thanks to the pride of players who have put in the hard work.

“But we need to improve on everything: strength, fitness, and an overall desire to dig deep.”

“I knew it wouldn’t be easy: I’m putting a lot of enthusiasm and desire into helping the younger players develop,” added Conte, who led Juventus to three straight league titles before taking the Italy job.

“People want results immediately but often forget the climate we’re working in. We now struggle to churn out talent and those who do come through often don’t have the right attitude.”l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Friday, November 21, 2014

Counter Foto to celebrate second anniversary

15

Gravity

HBO Defined, 9pm

n Entertainment Desk Dhaka-based photography academy Counter Foto has organised a gala event in celebration of the second anniversary of its photography department. The event starts today in the capital.

The three-day programme includes unveiling of the hundreds of photography books, portfolio presentations by the students of Counter Foto, commemoration of Azizur Rahman Peu, and several seminars on different topics.

The celebration will commence with the launch of the hundreds of photography books at Counter Foto’s Mirpur campus today at 10am. Renowned photographer-cinematographer Anowar Hossain will uncover the books.

The celebration will end with the Grand Program and Lifetime Achievement Award ceremony at RC Mojumder Auditorium in Dhaka University on November 23, starting at 5:30pm.

Counter Foto’s department of photography was established on November 23, 2012. Offering diverse study programmes on photography, it has become the most sought after photography school in the city within a short period of time. l

A medical engineer and an astronaut work together to survive after a catastrophe destroys their shuttle and leaves them adrift in orbit.

Batman Begins WB, 9:30pm

PEYA stars in Indian music video

Batman begins his war on crime to free the crime-ridden Gotham City from corruption that the Scarecrow and the League of Shadows have cast upon it.

The Golden Compass HBO Hits, 10pm

n Shadma Malik

A photograph by Andrew Biraj, one of the founding members of Counter Foto

Model and actor Jannatul Ferdoush Peya will soon appear in the music video of a song titled “Morey Saiyaan” by Indian band Roots, pairing up with Indian model Himangshu. Peya is currently in India to wrap up the shooting of the music video, which has been directed by Ashish Joshi.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted Peya via

Facebook to ask about the plot of music video. She said: “It is basically about a Christian couple who really love each other. One day, the girl finds out that the guy cheated on her and she tries to commit suicide. But the guy goes after her to rescue her.

“I feel a special attachment with this video, because it was filmed in Dehradun, a beautiful place which is like heaven,” she said.

Asked whether it was a different experience, she said: “I will not say it was different, but it is a very common story in real life. This song will touch everyone.

Hopefully it will go on air on the Indian music channels soon.”

Peya has worked in numerous music videos. After her debut film “Chorabali,” she starred in films such as “Gangster Returns,” “The Story of Samara” and “Probashir Prem.” l

Lyra Belacqua journeys to the far North to save her best friend and other kidnapped children from terrible experiments by a mysterious organization.

JOLIE confirms retirement from acting n Entertainment Desk

Prachyanat staged its ‘Raja…ebong Onnanno,’ alternatively called ‘The King and the Dark Chamber…and others,’ on November 19 at the Experimental Theatre Hall of Shilpakla Academy. Written by Rabindranath Tagore and directed by Azad Abul Kalam the play drew a good number of theatre enthusiasts at the venue KHAN HASAN MD RAFI

JAATISWAR: A musical tribute to Anthony Firingee n Ahmed Tahsin Shams In his national award film “Jaatiswar,” director Srijit Mukherji perhaps spoke through the character of Maya (Swastika Mukherjee) when she said, “Both the Bengals are mine, from Rupom Islam to Nazrul Islam,” clearly hinting at his anti-racist approach.

Moreover, Srijit’s masterstroke narrative technique pays homage to the artiste who is lost in the lap of time – Anthony Firingee (Prosenjit Chatterjee), a Portuguese Christian whose immense contribution in Bangla Kobi Gaan, a poetic musical genre that became popular in the late 18th century and early

19th century, who is an asset of the language as well as the Bangla culture. Rohit Mehta (Jishu Sengupta) represents Antony of the 21st century.

Maya, the woman Rohit is in love with, considers Bangali intellectuals as the supreme in the universe and so challenges Rohit, a Gujrati boy born in Kolkata, to learn Bangla and to write and recite a Bangla lyric with perfect pronunciation.

During his research, Rohit comes across a librarian named Kushal Hazra, who claims that he was Anthony Firingee in his previous life. While Rohit is sceptical at first, Kushal’s keen description of Anthony’s views, personal and professional life which can hardly be found in any historical book or internet, puts him in a dilemma.

The screenplay has been penned astoundingly, letting viewers experience the two different periods simultaneously. The life and struggle of Anthony and Rohit, which is a struggle against border and race, are depicted beautifully.

Srijit chose to tell the story of Anthony Firingee when he was almost lost in the history of Bengal. He chose to pen Anthony’s ideology, rather than his biography. Antony’s affection towards Hinduism, though he was a Catholic Christian, and his musical homage to Goddess Durga, brought his tragedy. His house and family were destroyed by extremists.

Talking about the technical aspect, cinematography must be mentioned.

Most of the scenes are pointof-view shots, as the theme relates to the director’s attitude towards culture and border. The cinematographer Soumik Halder deserves profound acclamation.

The camera work itself narrates a story. In addition, all props and costumes fits the story well.

The music adds much to the storytelling itself. Kabir Sumon won the Indian National Award for Music Direction for this film. The music splendidly binds the tale of two people living in two poles, their journeys in the name of love and music. The barriers of space and time have been uprooted by music. The present Kolkata and 19th century’s Gangetic Bengal are warmly depicted via Sumon’s music. The film itself has made the primary selection of the Indian Oscar committee.

The contrasting climax of the film is an extra add-on for the viewers. Though both the characters of Rohit and Anthony have similar beginning, their end is drastically different. This difference undoubtedly proves the broadness and the enlightenment that cultural practice provides in contemporary period. l

Film

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Angelina Jolie has confirmed she plans to retire as an actor to focus on her budding career as a film-maker. Speaking to Du Jour magazine in an interview to promote her new film “Unbroken”, the Oscar-winning star of “Girl Interrupted” said she “absolutely” planned to move permanently behind the camera and revealed she did not enjoy being the centre of attention.

“I’ve never been comfortable as an actor; I’ve never loved being in front of the camera,” said Jolie. “I didn’t ever think I could direct, but I hope I’m able to have a career at it because I’m much happier.”

Jolie said in June that a planned appearance as Cleopatra in a long-gestating biopic could be her final acting role. “It’s one of those that you think maybe that’s the one you put everything into and that’s where you end it, that’s where you finish - in a great way,” she said on BBC Radio Five Live.

“What could you do beyond that one?”

The film-maker also told Du Jour she had a tough time convincing her husband Brad Pitt that “Unbroken”, the wartime era story of a former Olympic track star who survived a plane crash over sea and spent two years in a Japanese prisoner-of-war camp, was the right project to spark her second turn in the director’s chair.

“I saw these four sentences on Unbroken,” she said, referring to a list of potential films provided by studio Universal. “I went home and I said to Brad, ‘I’m really curious about this film — it’s a triumph of the human spirit finding faith and forgiveness, and this man’s life seems so interesting.’ And Brad said, ‘Oh, honey, that project has been around forever.’ ” l

LANA DEL REY becomes last-minute Oscar hopeful n Entertainment Desk After missing out on an Academy Award nomination for “Young and Beautiful” from last year’s “The Great Gatsby,” the melancholy pop star could enter the awards race this winter with two new songs, written for the upcoming “Big Eyes,” will release on December 25, according to The Hollywood Reporter.

Title track “Big Eyes” plays prominently mid-film and “I Can Fly” appears over the end credits, although a representative from The Weinstein Co. told the Reporter that the studio hasn’t determined which they will push comes awards season. Directed by Tim Burton, the biopic traces artist Margaret Keane played by Amy Adams, whose husband, Walter played

by Christoph Waltz, falsely took credit for her big-eyed paintings in the ‘50s and ‘60s.

“Big Eyes” marks the second movie that the “Ultraviolence” singer has contributed music to this year, following her cover of “Once Upon a Dream” for “Maleficent,”released in May. l

ESHA DEOL to make her TV debut with Roadies n Entertainment Desk Bollywood actress Esha Deol who is away from limelight from quite some time will make her debut on small screens with popular reality TV show “Roadies” on MTV India.

A leading Indian publication reports that Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman, who have been the pillars of the reality show, have quit the show and Esha will be replacing them. A source close to “Dhoom” star also revealed that “she has a no-nonsense image and doesn’t get carried away with emotions.

She fits the bill perfectly.”

Raghu Ram and Rajiv Laxman has voluntarily quit the show as they want to do something different now, but some of the media outlets are claiming that MTV has ousted the “Roadies” stars due to their spoilt behavior. Raghu took to Twitter to express his anger and said, “I’ve my own company and am doing very well for myself, thank you. MTV source please get over my quitting roadies”.

MTV Roadies is a youth-based popular reality television show on MTV India. The 11th season of the show titled “Roadies X1” completed on May 2014. l

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Beggars shun ‘no begging zones’ Mobile courts send over 100 beggars to Mirpur beggars’ shelter since October n Abu Hayat Mahmud

will be sent to the Mirpur shelter,” he said.

DSS Director General Mohammad Saisur Rahman said more than 100 beggars had been sent to the Mirpur shelter since the drive started on October 31, adding that almost 15 child beggars were handed over to their parents.

“The Mirpur shelter can accommodate 200 people. Those who were sent there were taken to the training and rehabilitation centre in Gazipur and other districts a few days later,” he said.

The social welfare minister told the Dhaka Tribune in February those forcing or encouraging poor people to become beggars would be arrested as part of the initiative.

He also said beggars who would face detention would be rehabilitated in their hometowns to help them quit begging.

Beggars in the capital now avoid begging in some ten VIP areas as they fear they will end up in the Sarkari Asroy Kendra, a government-run shelter for vagrants, in Mirpur, a decision taken by the Social Welfare Ministry in February.

The areas include Hazrat Shahjalal International Airport, Radisson Blu Water Garden Hotel, Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel, Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, Bailey Road, parliament building, and diplomatic zones in Gulshan, Banani and Baridhara.

A few warning signs which read “No begging zone” have been placed at the spots.

Beggars, who are mostly seen in open spaces, parks, footpaths, in front of shopping centres, footbridges and even in public transports, often cause embarrassment by touching poeple’s hands and legs while asking for money.

This is something foreign nationals on Dhaka streets has also faced.

The decision, taken during an inter-ministerial meeting on drives against beggars and their rehabilitation across the country, was part of the government’s initiative to make a beggar-free society and to ensure that beggars do not annoy foreigners on roads.

Social Welfare Minister Syed Mohsin Ali chaired the meeting at his office in the Secretariat.

100,000 beggars in capital

‘Begging is better’

Faridul Mia, a beggar who was begging near Panthakunja Park across Sonargaon Hotel, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday he no longer begs near the hotel as a policeman told him about the consequences of being there.

“The police official told me I would be detained and sent to the Mirpur shelter,” he said.

The 55-year-old said he makes about Tk5,000-6,000 a month by begging.

“But I will only be provided food at

Police to launch manhunt Jamil Khan n Mohammad from Rajshahi

Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP) is to form a special team to find out and nab the killers of Rajshahi University sociology professor AKM Shafiul Islam.

“We are considering all the possibilities as we carry out the investigation and we are hopeful about finding out who killed the man and why,” newly-appointed RMP Commissioner Mohammad Shamsuddin said after visiting the crime scene and meeting Shafiul’s family members yesterday evening.

He said police would analyse “raw” information received from the 11 arrestees, who were put on a two-day remand, before launching the manhunt.

It is better not to disclose the information as this is a sensational murder, Shamsuddin said.

On Saturday, unidentified assailants killed Shafiul in front of his rented house at noon.

Before visiting the crime scene yesterday, Shamsuddin at his office held a meeting with the investigating officer in the case at noon to discuss the progress with the probe made so far.

A RMP official who was present in the meeting told the Dhaka Tribune the police had come to know among other things that the main target of the killers was to take away Shafiul’s mobile phone.

But he could not say why the professor firmly held his phone in his hand until he lost the strength to maintain the grip.

The official, who asked not to be named, also said there might be any video or text massage in the slain teacher’s phone that could help trace the killers.

RMP’s Detective Branch Inspector Abdul Mojid refused to comment on this, saying it was not the appropriate time to do so.

“We are now zeroing in on two aspects – involvement of Jamaat-Shibir in the killing and the victim’s lifestyle,” he said.

Meanwhile, it sparked controversy when Advocate Ekramul Haque, convener of Awami League Lawyers’ Parishad, chose to represent the 11 arrestees, who belong to Jamaat and Shibir.

But Ekramul claimed he is working for them as part of his professional duty and the decision to represent them was not based on any political reason. l

Warning sign ‘beggar free zone’ put up in front of the Ruposhi Bangla Hotel, one of the 10 VIP spots selected by the Social Welfare Ministry as part of its initiative to build a beggar-free society SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN the Mirpur shelter. This is why begging, to my mind, is better,” he added.

Not all beggars, however, despise the life in shelter. Hamida, who was taken to the Mirpur shelter, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday she had been there for nearly a month.

The 35-year-old said: “I used to

beg in Shahbagh but now I am here. I am getting food and receiving sewing training. Compared to the previous times of my life, I feel better. One of my children is also with me.”

Hamida said she was forced to beg as she found herself in a quandary after her husband had divorced her.

A concerted initiative

The beggar-free project is where several authorities are working in conjunction with each other, including the Department of Social Service (DSS) under the Social Welfare Ministry, Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC), Dhaka South City Corporation (DSCC), and a

Son blames Islamist militants for Shafiul’s murder Jamil Khan n Mohammad from Rajshahi Son of slain professor AKM Shafiul Islam blamed the Islamist militants for the murder of his father saying that his life was too in danger.

Soumin Shahrid Javin said as he believed in the ideology of his father the militants might also attempt to kill him.

Javin was speaking at a memorial meeting organised by the Sociology Department of the RU where he demanded exemplary punishment of the killers of his father.

With the clock striking 11am the Sociology Department of Rajshahi University (RU) became packed with peo-

ple including teachers, students and journalists.

“Please, don’t let my father go out of your memory,” he urged the audience saying that “he was not only my father, he was a friend, mother, everything to me.”

Washim Rumana Lipi, sister of deceased professor, while speaking at the ceremony, said the evil forces of liberation war had once again raised their heads.

She urged all people to stand united against these evil and dark forces. She said: “I demand only justice.”

Vice-chancellor of the university Prof Muhammad Mizanuddin also attended the programme. In his speech

he asked all to continue their protest demanding justice.

Meanwhile Bangladesh Chhatra League activists of RU unit formed a human chain in front of the university central library around 12.00pm.

The BCL supporters also issued a 72hour ultimatum to university authorities to arrest the Islami Chhatra Shibir President of RU unit Ashraful Alam Imon.

Shafiul Islam was stabbed near the university campus on Saturday and later succumbed to the injuries at the hospital.

Shafiul Islam was a follower of Lalon, the influential 18th century Baul poet. l

Javin, son of slain RU teacher Shafiul Islam, bursts into tears as he demands exemplary punishment to his father’s killers at a memorial meeting yesterday. Right, family members, students, university teachers and staff attend the programme AZAHAR UDDIN

Govt seeks NBR chief’s account info n Tribune Report The government has asked the management of the state-owned Agrani Bank for providing account information of National Board of Revenue Chairman Md Ghulam Hussain within seven days.

The Central Intelligence Unit of the NBR yesterday sent a letter, signed by the NBR unit’s Joint Director Dr Nurul Amin, to the deputy general manager of Agrani Bank, asking him to send information about the NBR chief’s personal and joint bank accounts, longterm deposits, FDRs, STDs, foreign currency accounts, credit cards, saving certificates, deposit schemes, and any other type of accounts.

All the accounts will be counted from July 1, 2007 to June 30 of the last fiscal year, according to the provision of 113(f) under the Income Tax Ordinance 1984.

However, it is not yet clear why the step has been taken; NBR officials would not also comment on this.

When contacted, Ghulam Hussain said it was a routine procedure of getting information on bank accounts of Bangladesh citizens.

“No one is beyond the existing income tax law,” he said.

Ghulam Hussain’s contract as the NBR chairman is to expire on January 9 next year and the government has decided not to extend the tenure, sources

in the Finance Division said.

According to the sources, the NBR chairman had been lobbying for a contract extension.

Recently, Ghulam transferred 27 tax commissioners, including the director general of the NBR’s Central Intelligence Unit, to different tax offices across the country.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith on November 2 said the outgoing chairman should not have issued the transfer order.

“The NBR chairman called on me at my office and admitted his mistake,” he said.

The order was later suspended, Muhith said. l

number of NGOs. DSCC Social Welfare and Cultural Officer Khandker Millatul Islam told the Dhaka Tribune four mobile teams, led by an executive magistrate each, pay regular visits to the spots where begging has been prohibited.

“Any beggar found in those areas

According to the ministry’s data, there are around 100,000 beggars in Dhaka, a city which is home to well over 1.2 crore people. Many of the beggars are physically challenged.

In 2012, a survey was run on 10,000 beggars in the capital to find out the key reasons they had become beggars for and also offer them alternative livelihoods.

The DSS tasked 10 NGOs with carrying out the survey where the beggars were divided into different categories such as seasonal, regular, disabled, women and child.

According to the Bengal Vagrancy Act 1943, the first shelter for beggars was established in Chandpur in August 1947 but it was closed later. In 1961, such shelters were set up in Dhaka, Mymensingh Pubail and Gazipur.

At present, the DSS is running six shelters, two in Gazipur and one in each of the districts - Dhaka, Mymensingh, Narayanganj and Manikganj. l

Silver jubilee of Child Rights Convention: Little for kids here to celebrate n Abid Azad With the State of the World’s Children 2015 report just released by Unicef on the occasion of the International Convention on the Rights of the Child (CRC) silver jubilee, experts met to elucidated Bangladesh’s challenges at the BIAM foundation auditorium in the capital yesterday.

The Child Rights Advocacy Coalition Bangladesh seminar’s view of the country’s standing was clear in its title: 25 years of the Child Rights Convention: Miles to go.

Of over 57 million children in Bangladesh – more than the entire population of the United Kingdom – just under half, or 26 million, live below the national poverty line.

Those living in poverty are typically deprived of access to safe water, proper sanitation, adequate nutrition, education, health, information and shelter.

Ten million Bangladeshi children do not officially exist because they have not been registered.

Birth registration is a critical precursor to guaranteeing all other rights, according to Unicef.

According to Unicef, Bangladesh has one of the lowest rates of birth registration in the world making it difficult to protect children from trafficking, child labour and child marriage.

Unicef reports that a quarter of Bangladeshi children between 6 and 10 years old are out of school and 14% of infants between 12 and 23 months old were not fully vaccinated.

Unicef data on Bangladesh, India and Nepal shows that little has improved between 1995 and 2008 in improving sanitation coverage to the poorest 40% of households.

Bangladesh has one of the highest rates of child marriage in the world with 66 per cent of women aged 20 to 24 married before they turn 18-years-old.

Save the Children Bangladesh Deputy Director Shamsul Alam said: “Child marriage is still a major concern for our country; we need to coordinate activities to end child marriage.”

Severe acute malnutrition currently affects an estimated 600,000 children

in Bangladesh, according to the Unicef report. Around 18% of infants had a low birth weight and 36% of children under-five years are underweight.

Malnutrition and stunting cost “US$1bn a year – around 2-3% of national income – in lost economic productivity,” according to Shamsul Alam.

He said 7.9mn children between 5 and 14 years are engaged in child labour.

Child labourers are often preferred to adult workers, even for hazardous jobs, because children are cheaper to employ, he said.

Working children are frequently denied schooling and face violence and abuse.

According to Bangladesh Shishu Adhikar Forum, 183 children were raped in 2013 while another 134 had gone missing or were kidnapped.

Two hundred sixty-six children were tortured to death while another 350 were killed in accidents.

Speakers at the seminar expressed concern over security for chldren, highlighting torture in schools, where laws on corporal punishment and child abuse required upgrades.

The Save the Children Mapping and Situation Analysis Report 2013, says 90% of children are verbally abused and threatened regularly by their parents and 31% of school-going children said were physically punished.

Seminar speakers called for educational opportunities for indigenous, special-needs and underprivileged children to be equal to those available for the mainstream of society.

They said since children had no place to seek assistance or seek redress if they are wronged, a directorate for children should be established.

Speakers strongly demanded that the statutory minimum age of 18-years of age for girls to marry be retained.

The information minister, Hasanul Haq Inu, said: “Till now 18 years is the minimum age for marriage for girls.

The government holds a strong position against child marriage.”

A report, “25 years of the CRC in Bangladesh: Snapshot of Success” was unveiled at the seminar calling for increased budget commitments by government on children’s issues. l

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New agricultural insurance on the cards n Asif Showkat Kallol The government has decided to introduce a coordinated agricultural insurance system taking financial and technical supports from the World Bank.

The proposed insurance will cover three agricultural sectors – fisheries, livestock and crops.

Officials said once implemented, the insurance system is expected to draw local and foreign investments in the country’s agricultural sector.

Earlier, a pilot project on crop insurance was launched with the help of Asian Development Bank.

‘After receiving the study findings, we will go for launching the crop insurance in private sector’

After failure of that project, another pilot project of weather index-based crop insurance is now going on, officials said.

A meeting was held between Banking Division officials and the World Bank scoping mission for agricultural insurance in Bangladesh on November 18.

The meeting sources said the World Bank mission would make a report on agriculture insurance for giving fund and technological assistance to the government of Bangladesh.

The meeting observed that 99% of the country’s insurance market remained still unexplored and the country has huge potentials to flourish

the business.

It said the proposed agricultural insurance will help to expand the business as it is expected to attract foreign and local investors in the country’s agriculture sector.

Banking Division Secretary M Aslam Alam presided over the meeting.

He said: “As the earlier pilot project yielded no good result, we went for a new one in 2013.”

The state-run Sadharan Bima Corporation came up with those projects – the first one in 2009 and the second is in 2013.

The secretary said the government is also planning to launch crop insurance in private sector too under the Public-Private Partnership initiative.

IFC, an arm of the World Bank, has already signed an agreement with Green Delta Insurance for the project.

Nasir A Choudhury, adviser and founder managing director of Green Delta Insurance, said the company initiated conducting a study on crop insurance in rural areas.

“After receiving the study findings, we will go for launching the crop insurance in private sector,” he said.

In September, the government signed four primary deals with the World Bank to help develop financial sector of Bangladesh and ensuring better facilities for the stakeholders. Agriculture insurance project was one of them.

The agreements were signed on the sidelines of a seminar on the bank’s financial assistance programmes in Washington DC. The crop insurance project will be extended across the country in association with the commercial banks.

The Japan Fund for Poverty Reduction provided a $2m grant for the pilot project on weather index-based crop insurance while the Bangladesh’s government is also providing in-kind support worth $420,000. l

The lake flowing between Gulshan-Banani posh area and Karail slum in the city marks a stark difference to people’s status living there. Now is the time to observe whether the slum dwellers could be rid of poverty by 2018 SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

Muhith: There will be no poverty after 2018 n Tribune Report Finance Minister AMA Muhith yesterday said Bangladesh will come out of poverty by 2018, terming the country’s poverty reduction rate extraordinary.

“Poverty will be no more in Bangladesh in the next four years,” he told a seminar on “Poverty Reduction Programme in Bangladesh: Role of Social Development Foundation (SDF)” in the city. SDF, a state-owned poverty reduction organisation under the Ministry of Finance, hosted the seminar.

In the next four years, the number of people living below poverty line will stand at 15%, which means there will be no poverty in the country in accordance with the international standard, said the minister. “It is not possible for

any country to reduce poverty to zero percent as some people are always dependent on society.”

After saying firmly that poverty will be eliminated after 2018, the finance minister added: “You can call me mad, but I will tell you the story how I got this idea.”

He went on saying SDF helped 20 lakh families get out of poverty in 14 years and now the number of poor families in the country is 80 lakh.

Alongside SDF, many other non-government organisations have also been working to wipe out poverty with their innovative ideas, he said. “So, poverty rate will not only be cut to 15% but below 14% by 2018.”

About extreme poverty, Muhith said the World Bank’s target is to elim-

inate extreme poverty by 2030, which is good, but this is not applicable for Bangladesh.

“As we will get out of poverty by 2018, poverty situation will improve much better by 2021,” he said.

Deploring the quality of health services in Bangladesh, he said health services should be promoted as health disaster might drag a family to acute poverty from moderate poverty.

Operation adviser to World Bank in Bangladesh, Christine E Kimes, said some 30% of the total loan provided by the World Bank has so far gone to poverty alleviation.

Bangladesh has made remarkable progress in reducing poverty over the last 40 years, but extreme poverty eradication still remains a challenge.

She said more works needed to be done in the areas of ensuring food security and education.

State Minister for Finance MA Mannan stressed the need for increasing social investment for enhancing employment generation to help people lift out of poverty.

Research director at the Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies Binayak Sen said wage rate in rural area has increased due to activities of various organisations which also help reduce the poverty. He said people in rural areas are slowly entering into informal economic activities from formal activities like agriculture.

“We should not only focus on poverty alleviation, but equally on reducing vulnerability,” said Binayak. l

Mongla port profit soars 16 times in 6 yrs BB signs deal to install RTGS n system in Bangladesh Muhammad Zahidul Islam

Rajeev Sethi

GP gets new CEO n Tribune Report Mobile phone operator Grameenphone (GP) has appointed Rajeev Sethi as its new chief executive officer.

Replacing the current CEO Vivek Sood, Rajeev will take the helm of the market leader company from December 1, said a statement issued in Dhaka yesterday.

Rajeev had been serving as the chief  B3 COLUMN 1

Mongla port has witnessed Tk48 crore of net profit in last fiscal year, 16 times higher than six years ago.

It said the port’s net profit jumped to Tk48 crore in 2013-14 fiscal from about Tk3 crore in 2008-09.

The ships, cargoes and containers handling also increased more than three times during the period.

The parliamentary standing committee on shipping ministry disclosed the figures in a meeting yesterday.

It recommended constructing a five-star hotel near Mongla port to accommodate businessmen and a fourlane high way from port to Mawa ghat for faster communication with Dhaka.

“Overall performance of Mongla port is satisfactory. It (the port) has enormous prospect,” Major (Retd) Rafiqul Islam Bir Uttam, chairman of the committee, told the Dhaka Tribune after the meeting.

He said Mongla port is potential to

n Tribune Report 120

105 86

90 58

66

60

be utilised more than now, from which, the government can earn larger profit amounts.

According to working paper of the

meeting, the Mongla Port Authority earned a revenue of Tk58 crore in 2008-09 fiscal and the net profit was  B3 COLUMN 2

Bangladesh Bank would soon introduce Real Time Gross Settlement (RTGS) system to make interbank transactions faster as well as risk-free.

It signed a contract with a Swedish company, CMA Small Systems AB, yesterday to install the system.

Bangladesh Bank (BB) Executive Director and RTGS Project Director Subhankar Saha and CMA Managing Director Alex Nazaroff signed the agreement on their respective sides at the central bank headquarters yesterday. Governor Atiur Rahman was present.

Asian Development Bank is providing the financial assistance for implementing the RTGS system in the country’s banking sector.

CMA has installed more than 20 RTGS system in 35 countries. The project is expected to accomplish within

September 2015.

Through RTGS system, clients will be able to make inter-bank transactions by using ATM cards. RTGS will accommodate banks’ own transactions, customer transactions and transaction of other sub-systems.

“A total of 28 banks have so far joined the National Payment Switch (NPS) and we will bring Mobile Financial Service (MFS) providers into this NPS,” Atiur told the function.

He said: “We have now 2 crore MFS accounts and Mobile Financial Services were introduced for accommodating the unbanked strata of the society.”

Through the introduction of RTGS, we are going to improve the high-value time critical payments in the country.

RTGS will accommodate local currency transactions, government security transactions and domestic foreign currency transactions. l

Call for infrastructure development to boost growth n Tribune Report

Planning Minister AFM Mostafa Kamal yesterday said it is high time for the people of all walks of life to participate in the development process of the country.

If the country had proper infrastructure, its potentials would have been much better, he told a seminar on “Prospect of Bangladesh Economy: Infrastructure Challenges.”

Bangladesh Institute of Development Studies (BIDS) and Bonikbarta, a Bangla daily, jointly hosted the programme.

Kamal gave credit to the private sector and common people, especially farmers for the country’s development. Over Tk80,000 crore is spent on the development programmes.

Where does the money go if there is no corruption? Kamal

posed a question.

The other participants at the programme stressed the need for engaging people in infrastructure development as they describe it as a major obstacle to flourishing business in the country.

They also suggested reigning in corruption in the sector as a section of corrupt officials in collaboration with political leaders embezzle a big portion of development budget.

Nazneen Ahmed, senior research fellow of BIDS, presented the keynote paper.

In her keynote speech, Nazneen said according to the projections of perspective plan, growth will increase to 8% in 2015 while poverty will decline to 22.5% by the year.

To meet the target, Bangladesh needs rapid private investment but due to lack of infrastructure expected investments are not seen in

the country, she observed.

Syed Abdul Maksud, a civil society member, said: “We lag behind in infrastructure development due to corruption.

“No progress could be made unless there is zero tolerance for corruption.”

State Minister for Finance and Planning MA Mannan focused on political stability which he said a must for development.

He said since political stability is a political mater, it should be handled politically, otherwise it would lead to wrong direction.

Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Abul Kashem stressed encouraging private sector in infrastructure development and concentrating on social and environmental issues during project implementation.

At the programme, the discussants emphasised on undertaking

Public Private Partnership, which he thought could play an important role in infrastructure development.

In this regard, former cabinet secretary Inam Ahmed Chowdhury called for an all-inclusive and equitable development plan.

For sustainable economic growth, Bangladesh needs proper monitoring, said Zafrullah Chowdhury of Gonoshasthaya Kendra.

If there is no rural development, it will be impossible to develop city, he said.

Bangladesh cannot come out of its 6% GDP growth due to lack of capacity building and implementation of policies, said Mohammed Nurul Amin, managing director and chief executive officer (CEO) of Meghna Bank.

BGMEA former president Anwarul Alam Chowdhury Parvez called for steps to set district-wise

industry development plans which would help reduce pressure on the capital and other major cities.

The country’s stock exchanges can be a great source of fund for infrastructure development, said Swapan Kumar Bala, managing director of Dhaka Stock Exchange.

He added that currently 12 companies are listed with stock exchanges while some are in the pipeline to collect fund from the capital market.

Infrastructure development must see a coordinated effort and every one’s participation is a must, said Abdul Mazid, former chairman of the National Board of Revenue.

“We should consider public health and environmental impact while implementing infrastructure development programmes.”

Dewan Hanif Mahmud, editor of the daily Bonikbarta, moderated the seminar. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

DSE GAINER

Stocks down as DSE turnover dips 3-week low

DSE key features November 20, 2014

Traded Issues

295

n Tribune Report

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

79

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

213

Turnover (Million Taka)

Stocks suffered losses again yesterday with volatility in the market following the previous session’s moderate gain.

The market stayed in positive territory in the morning but fell into the red just before mid-session. The trend continued till the closing.

After rising more than 35 points in first session, the benchmark DSEX lost 26 points or 0.6% to close at 4,899.

Lack of any clear indication, the market slid down again The Shariah index DSES dropped marginally 8 points or nearly 0.8% to 1,145. The comprising blue chips DS30 ended at 1,814, shedding 11 points or 0.7%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 9,254 with a fall of 58 points.

The DSE turnover stood at Tk490 crore, the lowest in three weeks and 15.6% less than that of the previous session.

Investors maintained their concentration on fuel and power, pharmaceuticals and engineering sectors, holding 48.2% of total trade value.

Shahjibazar Power Company Ltd

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSER Company National Polymer -A Alltex Industries -Z Samorita Hospital -A Shahjibazar Power-N Khan Brothers-N GeminiSeaFood-Z SAIF Powertec-N Apex Foods -A Khulna Printing-N Malek Spinning-A

Closing (% Change) -15.22 -14.09 -13.09 -8.73 -7.84 -7.00 -6.41 -6.12 -5.84 -4.37

CSE LOSER Company National Polymer -A Alltex Industries -Z Samorita Hospital -A LR Global BD MF1-A GQ Ball PenA Khulna Printing-N Khan Brothers-N SAIF Powertec-N Malek Spinning-A Apex Foods -A

Closing (% Change) -16.37 -12.84 -11.62 -6.78 -6.25 -6.15 -5.64 -5.50 -4.31 -4.18

4899.60805

(-) 0.54%

1814.69121

(-) 0.65%

15141.72490

(-) 0.64%

12399.93090

(-) 0.60%

9254.00810

(-) 0.63%

Average (% Change) -18.46 -10.31 -10.76 -8.73 -17.85 -7.91 -6.48 -7.09 -4.68 -2.31 Average (% Change) -16.13 -11.75 -11.66 -5.77 -8.13 -5.24 -15.60 -8.69 -3.32 -3.08

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 66.98 19.57 84.27 282.20 59.81 216.36 73.05 105.55 29.72 20.28

ClosingAvg. 68.04 19.31 85.16 5.55 113.31 29.48 59.45 73.93 20.07 107.29

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 387.15 354.03 44.17 513.14 276.46 1196.91 11.18 328.81 685.31 66.12 94.07 25.37 42.36 114.68 36.92 26.93 63.17 180.66 51.55 364.38 3.69

DHIGH 70.50 21.70 87.00 282.20 63.50 231.00 77.90 110.00 30.90 20.60

DHIGH

65.90 19.00 85.20 5.50 112.50 29.00 58.60 72.10 20.00 107.80

71.50 21.50 86.10 5.70 117.90 30.50 63.20 77.70 20.70 110.00

95,951

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,612.75

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.67

CSE key features November 20, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

308.63

Turnover (Volume)

8,238,749

Number of Contract

11,479

Traded Issues

213

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

60

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

146

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,519.38

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.54

Turnover in Million

DLOW 64.40 18.20 81.00 282.20 56.00 210.10 71.00 103.00 28.70 19.00

Latest EPS

38.764 15.652 11.208 1.524 244.220 0.595 47.514 7.932 58.555 14.721

2.76 3.28 2.32 9.00 1.36 1.39 2.36 3.64 2.60 1.84

Turnover in Million

DLOW 64.30 18.20 82.40 5.40 111.50 28.80 56.20 71.70 19.80 105.00

% change 7.95 7.27 0.91 10.54 5.68 24.59 0.23 6.76 14.08 1.93 0.52 0.87 2.36 0.76 0.55 1.30 3.71 1.06 7.49 0.08

Million Taka 25.70 17.62 3.52 37.59 9.00 56.22 23.16 37.63 10.10 10.66 4.27 2.56 6.68 2.23 0.78 2.03 7.64 8.53 51.35 0.01

CSE

% change 8.10 5.55 1.11 11.85 2.84 17.72 0.00 7.30 11.86 3.18 3.36 1.35 0.81 2.11 0.70 0.25 0.64 2.41 2.69 16.18 0.00

Latest EPS

1.606 2.066 0.298 0.580 0.623 6.809 39.650 6.239 3.031 0.504

Million Taka 412.84 371.65 47.69 550.73 285.46 1253.13 11.18 351.97 722.94 76.21 104.74 29.64 44.92 121.37 39.15 27.71 65.20 188.30 60.08 415.73 3.70

GSP Finance-A National Housing Fin.-B BD. Thai Alum -B Standard Ceramic -A Intl. Leasing-B Monno Ceramic -B Delta Brac HFCL-A Meghna PET Ind. -Z Union Capital -A Northern Jute -Z

Closing (% Change) 7.61 6.83 5.47 4.92 4.55 4.51 3.99 3.70 3.45 3.22

CSE GAINER

2.76 3.28 2.32 0.69 2.21 2.60 1.36 2.36 1.84 3.64

Latest PE 24.3 6.0 36.3 31.4 44.0 155.7 31.0 29.0 11.4 11.0

Total

Company Kay & Que (BD) -Z GSP Finance-A Janata Insur -A National Housing Fin.-B Union Capital -A First Lease- A Imam Button -Z Argon Denims Limited-A FAS Fin. & Inv. Ltd-B Intl. Leasing-B

Closing (% Change) 9.84 9.70 6.59 5.72 4.88 4.21 3.90 3.37 3.17 2.99

Average (% Change) 7.61 5.86 0.71 4.22 3.06 4.39 3.80 1.65 2.53 3.26 Average (% Change) 9.84 8.86 5.77 6.10 5.08 3.10 2.43 2.99 4.00 2.90

ClosingAvg. 29.42 30.88 46.80 46.90 13.81 29.93 70.17 5.56 21.09 285.00

ClosingAvg. 13.40 29.13 17.78 31.13 21.50 19.61 8.00 43.01 19.48 13.85

Closing 29.70 31.30 48.20 46.90 13.80 30.10 70.30 5.60 21.00 285.00

Closing 13.40 29.40 17.80 31.40 21.50 19.80 8.00 43.00 19.50 13.80

DHIGH 30.30 31.90 49.00 46.90 14.10 30.50 72.00 5.80 21.50 285.00

DHIGH 13.40 29.40 18.20 32.00 21.50 20.00 8.00 43.20 20.50 14.20

DLOW 25.00 29.00 41.50 46.90 12.00 29.10 61.00 5.60 19.20 285.00

DLOW 13.40 27.00 17.00 30.40 21.50 19.00 8.00 42.90 18.60 13.40

Turnover in Million

Latest EPS

77.703 21.390 69.750 0.023 8.152 3.422 13.614 0.025 4.014 0.057

Turnover in Million

1.59 1.88 1.09 0.60 -0.09 0.32 5.36 -0.44 0.89 1.00

Latest EPS

0.007 2.230 0.032 1.354 0.065 0.921 0.004 1.712 0.205 1.731

-1.41 1.59 0.37 1.88 0.89 1.27 -1.72 3.79 1.27 -0.09

Latest PE 18.5 16.4 42.9 78.2 -ve 93.5 13.1 -ve 23.7 285.0

Latest PE -ve 18.3 48.1 16.6 24.2 15.4 -ve 11.3 15.3 -ve

News, analysis and recent disclosures MPETROLEUM: The Board of Directors has recommended 95% cash dividend and 10% stock dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2014. Date of AGM: 16.01.2015, Time of AGM: 10:30 AM. Venue: Main Installation, Guptakhal, Patenga, Chittagong.

Record date: 04.12.2014. The Company has also reported profit after tax of Tk. 2,359.83 million, Basic EPS of Tk. 23.99, EPS of Tk. 21.81 (restated), Basic NAV per share of Tk. 70.78, NAV per share of Tk. 64.35 (restated), Basic NOCFPS of Tk. 32.27 and NOCFPS of Tk. 29.39 (restated) for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

ENVOYTEX: The Board of Directors has recommended 12% cash dividend and 3% stock dividend for the year ended on September 30, 2014. Date of AGM: 24.12.2014, Time: 10:00 AM, Venue: Samarai Convention Center, 23/G/7, Panthapath, Dhaka-1205. Record date: 02.12.2014. The Company has also reported EPS of Tk. 2.21, NAV per share of Tk. 38.43 and NOCFPS of Tk. 1.52 for the year ended on September 30, 2014.

JAMUNAOIL: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 30th September 2014 (July'14 to Sep'14), the Company has reported profit after tax of Tk. 711.27 million with basic EPS of Tk. 7.09 as against Tk. 511.73 million and Tk. 5.10 respectively for the same period

of the previous year. However, considering proposed bonus share @ 10% for the year 2014, restated basic EPS will be Tk. 6.44 as on 30.09.2014 and Tk. 4.63 as on 30.09.2013.

CVOPRL: The Company has informed that they have signed a buy/sale agreement with Sylhet Gas Fields Ltd. to procure the allotted condensate of 15,000 MT today on 19th November, 2014.

GPHISPAT: The Company has informed that it has credited the bonus shares for the year ended on April 30, 2014 to the respective shareholders' BO Account.

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

AFTABAUTO: 17% cash, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record date: 30.11.2014.

JAMUNAOIL: 90% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 07.02.2015, Record date: 11.12.2014.

GEMINISEA: 7.50% cash, AGM: 22.12.2014, Record Date: 08.12.2014.

KBPPWBIL: 10% stock, AGM: 29.12.2014, Record Date: 08.12.2014.

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.

Latest PE 24.7 5.9 36.7 8.0 51.3 11.3 43.7 31.3 10.9 29.5

After passing the week mostly under selling pressure, the market showed lack of participation in early trading and closed in the red

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▲ ▲ ▲ ▲ ▲

66.30 18.90 81.70 282.20 58.80 212.60 71.60 104.30 29.00 19.70

Closing

104,625,973

Number of Contract

continued to suffer having no buyer for the second consecutive day after the regulator put a number of conditions on its share trading.

Among the large-cap sectors, only non-banking financial institutions gained. Other major sectors went down. Power and telecommunication witnessed heavy correction of 1.59% and 1.47% respectively.

Pharmaceuticals also declined.

Food and allied and banks edged down by 0.33% and 0.32% respectively.

LankaBangla Securities said after passing the week mostly under selling pressure, the market showed lack of participation in early trading and closed in the red.

It said the losses on the day partly offset the strength seen in the previous session. It said the investors remained cautious as the market was yet to get any direction.

IDLC Investments said lack of any clear indication, the market slid down again.

Besides, the investors reacted pessimistically, following the news published in national dailies about the CEO change in largest market cap Grameenphone which fell 1.5%, IDLC said.

It said the investors pursued more cautious stance and the volatility returned with consistent fluctuation in some of the mini-cap scrips that endured major hits, it said.

The state-owned petroleum distribution company Jamuna Oil was the most traded stocks with shares worth Tk49 crore changing hands. l

Company

4,867.05

Turnover (Volume)

Friday, November 21, 2014

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

% change 7.96 7.17 0.92 10.62 5.51 24.17 0.22 6.79 13.94 1.47 2.02 0.57 0.87 2.34 0.76 0.53 1.26 3.63 1.16 8.02 0.07

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

Jamuna Oil -A Khan Brothers-N Grameenphone-A Barakatullah E. D.-A Meghna Petroleum -A BATBCL -A DESCO Ltd. -A AB Bank - A Keya Cosmetics -A Square Pharma -A

Beximco Pharma -A GSP Finance-A Pharma Aids A

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Khan Brothers-N Jamuna Oil -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A JMI Syringes MDL-A Barakatullah E. D.-A AB Bank - A Khulna Printing-N SAIF Powertec-N MJL BD Ltd.-A Keya Cosmetics -A

Meghna Petroleum -A Appollo Ispat CL -N Aftab Auto.-A People`s Leasing-A

VolumeShares 1,554,101 4,083,000 498,200 3,702,968 512,386 43,252 1,535,221 3,451,083 3,659,919 339,115

Value in Million 408.20 244.22 166.68 148.08 133.05 118.93 108.78 101.70 100.23 88.06

% of TotalTurnover 8.39 5.02 3.42 3.04 2.73 2.44 2.23 2.09 2.06 1.81

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

1,246,788 2,641,571 282,500

667,000 55,778 215,525 39,000 183,888 233,880 231,000 84,400 44,696 215,734

22,219 261,000 67,050 215,288

77.94 77.70 76.67

39.65 14.64 8.48 7.98 7.35 6.95 6.81 6.24 6.00 5.92

5.83 5.81 5.35 5.19

1.60 1.60 1.58

12.91 4.76 2.76 2.60 2.39 2.26 2.22 2.03 1.95 1.93

1.90 1.89 1.74 1.69

ClosingP 263.20 58.80 334.00 39.30 261.30 2696.80 70.20 29.10 27.50 260.20

61.90 29.70 273.30

ClosingP

58.60 263.40 39.10 203.00 39.30 29.30 29.00 72.10 132.30 27.50

261.70 22.20 79.20 24.00

Change % 2.41 -7.84 -1.47 -0.25 1.36 -0.14 -3.04 -3.64 -1.43 -0.12

-1.12 7.61 2.86

Change %

-5.64 2.69 -2.01 2.01 -0.25 -3.62 -6.15 -5.50 -0.97 -1.43

1.51 -0.89 -3.06 2.56

ClosingY 257.00 63.80 339.00 39.40 257.80 2700.70 72.40 30.20 27.90 260.50

62.60 27.60 265.70

ClosingY

62.10 256.50 39.90 199.00 39.40 30.40 30.90 76.30 133.60 27.90

257.80 22.40 81.70 23.40

DHIGH

DLOW

266.00 63.50 340.10 40.90 267.00 2750.00 73.00 31.10 28.50 262.00

245.00 56.00 328.70 36.00 68.00 2685.00 69.00 27.20 25.20 239.00

DHIGH

DLOW

63.20 265.90 40.50 214.00 40.80 30.40 30.50 77.70 136.50 28.40

56.20 260.00 38.90 196.00 38.50 29.20 28.80 71.70 121.00 25.20

64.00 30.30 280.00

267.00 22.70 82.90 24.70

56.70 25.00 260.00

260.00 22.10 78.50 23.20

AvgPrice 262.66 59.81 334.57 39.99 259.68 2749.69 70.85 29.47 27.39 259.69

62.52 29.42 271.41

AvgPrice

59.45 262.39 39.33 204.61 39.98 29.70 29.48 73.93 134.28 27.44

262.36 22.26 79.78 24.09

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Friday, November 21, 2014

China factory growth stalls, at six-month low

Firefox browsers switch to Yahoo for online search

n Reuters, Beijing

n AFP, San Francisco

Growth in China’s vast factory sector stalled in November, with output contracting for the first time in six months, a private survey showed yesterday, adding to signs that the economy may still be losing traction.

The reading is the latest in a string of weak figures in recent weeks, strengthening the case for more stimulus to avert a sharper slowdown in the world’s second-largest economy.

Hurt by a cooling property sector, erratic foreign demand and slackening domestic investment growth, China’s economy is seen posting its weakest annual growth in 24 years this year at 7.4%.

The flash HSBC/Markit manufacturing purchasing managers’ index (PMI) fell to a six-month low of 50 from a final reading of 50.4 in October and well below the 50.3 forecast by analysts.

A reading above 50 indicates expansion, while one below 50 points to contraction on a monthly basis.

“We are still expecting 7.1% growth for the fourth quarter,” said Shen Minggao, an economist at Citi.

“The economy is still under downward pressure and we expect three rate cuts from now until the middle of next year,” said Shen, who expected interest rates to be cut by 25 basis points each time.

To re-energise the economy, the government has rolled out a steady stream of stimulus since April that has put a floor beneath flagging growth.

The ailing property market, for example, is showing some tentative signs of possibly bottoming out, though it may remain weak well into 2015.

Firefox maker Mozilla announced Wednesday that it is switching to Yahoo as the default service for online searches done through the Web browser in the United States.

Google has been the default option for Firefox searches since 2004, but beginning next month that role in the US will go to Yahoo, according to Mozilla Corporation chief Chris Beard.

“We are ending our practice of having a single global default search provider,” Beard said in a blog post.

“We are adopting a more local and flexible approach to increase choice and innovation on the Web, with new and expanded search partnerships by country.”

In Russia, Firefox will start using local search engine Yandex as its default service for online queries. Baidu will continue to be the default search engine in China.

As with rival Web browsing programs, users have options to change settings to opt for competing search engines with the list typically including market leader Google.

Firefox, which is open-source and free, is reported by industry trackers to be the third most used Web browser in the world, behind Google’s Chrome and Microsoft’s Internet Explorer.

GP gets new CEO  B1 COLUMN 1

marketing officer (CMO) of Uninor, Telenor’s subsidiary in India.

Meanwhile, Vivek Sood, who had been serving the company as CEO since January 2013, will re-join Uninor as its new CEO. GP and Uninor are currently experiencing significant market growth and providing internet opportunity for all, the press release said quoting Sigve Brekke, executive vice-president and head of Telenor in Asia.

Rajeev Sethi has served as CMO in Uninor for nearly two years. Prior to that, he spent more than three years as the head of Uninor’s Uttar Pradesh East circle.

Rajeev has significant ICT industry experience, including executive engagements in companies such as Vodafone, HP, Hutchison Telecom and Asian Paints. An MBA in Marketing, Finance and Operations from the Indian Institute of Management in Lucknow, Rajeev expressed his satisfaction over the board decision.

“I’m honored to join the company and become part of the efforts to provide Internet for all in Bangladesh.

With its strong legacy of network quality and customer service, it holds a superior position in the market and I’m humble and grateful for the opportunity to join the team serving more than 50 million customers with critical mobile services,” he said. l

An employee works at a machine manufacturing factory in Huaibei, Anhui province But with large sections of the economy still listless, many analysts expect more policy support in coming months.

Some expect authorities to quietly increase money supply by giving banks more discounted loans, while others including economists at state thinktanks believe the government could act more aggressively by cutting rates before the year-end.

“Disinflationary pressures remain strong and the labour market showed further signs of weakening,” said Hong-

bin Qu, chief China economist at HSBC. “We still see uncertainties in the months ahead from the property market and on the export front. We think more monetary and fiscal easing measures should be deployed.”

Yesterday’s PMI showed overall new orders picked up slightly but new export orders slowed markedly, dragging on activity. The factory output subindex fell to 49.5, the first contraction since May. Employment also shrank slightly

Yen hits fresh lows on BoJ easing speculation n AFP, Tokyo The yen drifted lower yesterday, hitting multi-year lows against the dollar and euro as investors bet on further Bank of Japan monetary easing measures.

In Tokyo afternoon trading, the dollar rose to 118.45 yen, from 118.01 yen in New York and hovering around its highest level since August 2007. The euro bought

148.53 yen against 148.11 yen in US trade, the highest level since October 2008. The common European currency slipped to $1.2537 against $1.2551 in New York.

Wrapping up a two-day policy meeting on Wednesday, the Bank of Japan (BoJ) kept its upbeat view that the economy was recovering, despite data this week showing the country had slipped into recession. l

Mongla port profit soars 16 times in 6 yrs  B1 COLUMN 4

about Tk3 crore.

In last fiscal the revenue stood at Tk145 crore and out of that the port enjoyed a net profit of Tk48 crore.

The meeting said the ships, cargoes and containers handling also increased three-fold.

While in 2008-09 only 139 ships anchored in the port, the number increased to 345 in 2013-14.

The parliamentary body also recommended constructing more infrastructures to facilitate exportimport using modern equipment for cargo handling.

According to a press release of the Parliamentary Secretariat, the committee on shipping ministry also recommended setting up a water treatment

plant at Mongla and linking the port with railway lines.

The body urged to ensure airline facilities and build more bridges in the port area.

The working paper stated that the net profit in land ports also increased three-fold during six years.

In 2008-09 fiscal, the land ports’ net profit totalled about Tk11 crore and stood at Tk29 crore in the fiscal year 2013-14.

Rafiqul Islam thinks the land port authorities could have made more net profit.

“The land port authorities could have made more profit than they earned in last six years. We now have asked them to try for that,” said Major (Retd) Rafiqul Islam. l

REUTERS

last month, with a sub-index for jobs falling to 48.4 from October’s 48.9. Senior Chinese leaders including Premier Li Keqiang have said that keeping the labour market healthy is a crucial policy priority.

In a sign that activity could stay sluggish next year, the country’s top economic planner said on Wednesday that the economy faces increasing downward pressure in 2015, while the cabinet promised to help lower funding costs by giving banks more flexibility to lend. l

Five-year pact

A total of more than 100 billion online searches are done each year by people around the world using Firefox browsers, according to Beard.

“We are excited to partner with Yahoo to bring a new, re-imagined Yahoo

search experience to Firefox users in the US featuring the best of the Web, and to explore new innovative search and content experiences together,” Beard said.

The decision to switch to Yahoo came as a decade-long agreement with Google neared its end and Mozilla evaluated its options, according to Beard.

The partnership with Yahoo is set to last five years.

“We’re so proud that they’ve chosen us as their long-term partner in search, and I can’t wait to see what innovations we build together,” Yahoo chief Marissa Mayer said in a release.

“We believe deeply in search - it’s an area of investment, opportunity and growth for us.”

Bing in the background

Five years ago Yahoo inked a deal with Microsoft to have Bing do the heavy, behind-the-scenes search labor such as crawling and indexing online content.

Yahoo and Microsoft agreed to split ad revenue under terms of the 10-year search deal, which let Yahoo focus on customizing query results for users.

Mayer has repeatedly stressed that Yahoo remains devoted to the search market that the company pioneered but which Google grew to dominate.

Industry watchers believe Mayer may be disenchanted with the alliance with Microsoft.

Yahoo has acquired dozens of firms since Mayer became chief in mid-2012 and took on the challenge of transforming it from a faded search engine to a venue for premier, personalized digital content tuned to increasingly mobile lifestyles. l

Arizona sues General Motors, says it hid safety defects n Reuters Arizona State filed a lawsuit against General Motors Co, claiming the carmaker put the public at risk by concealing safety defects to avoid the cost of recalls.

Arizona was seeking an estimated $3bn from GM, the New York Times reported. Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne said civil penalties could be up to $10,000 per violation. Hundreds of thousands of “unsuspecting” car owners and lessees had been driving unsafe vehicles, he said in a statement.

GM was not available for comment outside of regular US business hours.

The New York Times quoted spokesman James Cain as saying GM had not had a chance to assess the complaint.

GM has been hit by a slew of lawsuits this year since it announced the recall of 2.6 million vehicles because a problem with the ignition switch could cause it to slip out of position, cutting power to air bags, steering and brakes.

The recalls have grown to encompass numerous problems affecting millions of vehicles. About 300,000 of the vehicles recalled this year were registered in Arizona, the New York Times reported.

The attorney general said the case

United Commercial Bank Limited has recently opened its 146th Sonargaon Avenue Ladies branch in Uttara. The bank’s chairperson, MA Hashem inaugurated the branch

Southeast Bank Limited has recently opented its 108th branch at Kalibari in Narayanganj.

The bank’s additional managing director, Mohammed Gofran inaugurated the branch as chief guest

Summit Power Limited and Wärtsilä Corporation has recently signed an agreement on supplying of engine at a hotel in Dhaka. MD of Summit Power Limited, Lt Gen (retd) Abdul Wadud and BengtGöran Richardsson, sales director of Wärtsilä for Asia region have signed the agreement

National Bank Limited has recently signed an agreement with DG Infotech Limited to launch the prepaid card solution for the unbanked population of the country. The bank’s executive vice president, Hossain Akhtar Chowdhury and Shafquat Matin, director of DG Infotech Limited have signed the agreement

Pinal County Sheriff Paul Babeu listens as Arizona Attorney General Tom Horne speaks about weapons and drugs seized from the Mexican Sinaloa cartel at a news conference REUTERS was the first by a US state against GM for its alleged role in suppressing knowledge of defects and not recalling vehicles in a timely manner.

The state cited ignition switches and numerous other car parts, including airbags, wiring, brake lights and seat belts.

Though many issues relate to cars produced before GM went bankrupt, Horne said “New GM” was liable because it had concealed known safety defects.

“New GM was not born innocent,” he said in the filing.

GM has argued it should not face lawsuits based on safety issues on cars

made before its 2009 bankruptcy.

The company is running a compensation program for the faulty ignition switches.

Arizona argued consumers lost money because GM vehicles fell in value. It also said GM Chief Executive Mary Barra, while head of product development, was informed in 2011 of a safety defect in the electronic power steering of several models.

“Despite 4,800 consumer complaints and more than 30,000 warranty repairs, GM waited until 2014 to disclose this defect,” the filing said. l

Standard Chartered Bank, Bangladesh has recently provided scholarships to some meritorious students of two departments at University of Dhaka. Deputy governor of Bangladesh Bank, Shitangshu Kumar Sur Chowdhury attended the ceremony as chief guest where the head of legal & compliance of Standard Chartered Bank, Sarwar Chowdhury was present

Jennys has recently opened a new outlet at Mirpur-11. The chairperson of Jennys Group, Nasir Khan inaugurated the new outlet

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Friday, November 21, 2014

Study: Banking culture creates the crooks n AFP, Paris A cesspool of fraud and lies in the banking industry has come to light since the financial crisis of 2008, raising questions about how such rogue behaviour could have happened.

What caused traders, asset managers and others in the money business to behave dishonestly?

And how can dodgy behaviour be curbed?

Scientists at the University of Zurich in Switzerland conducted an unusual psychology experiment to find out.

Their results provide the first objective data for anecdotal evidence that the risk of fraud is rooted in a bank’s culture - and changing it may be painful.

“Our results suggest that the social norms in the banking sector tend to be more lenient towards dishonest behaviour and thus contribute to the reputational loss in the industry,” said Michel Marechal, a professor of experimental economic research.

In research reported in the journal Nature on Wednesday, the team recruited 128 employees from a large international bank and 80 from other banks.

On average, the employees had 11 and a half years’ banking experience.

About half worked in core businesses like share trading, private banking or asset management, and the rest in support units such as human resources.

The scientists prepared an intriguing barometer of honesty.

In their trial, each volunteer was asked to flip a coin 10 times and report the outcome online. If it concurred with a pre-programmed choice of head or tails, there was a reward each time of $20 (16 euros).

But before each toss, the banker was tipped off about what the outcome would be. Whether he or she chose to report it faithfully was the test.

In a move meant to mimic the competitive nature of the banking profession, the trialists were also told they could only collect their winnings if they outperformed another, randomlychosen participant.

Before the experiment began, the volunteers were divided into two groups.

Cashier count notes as customers wait inside a bank A “control,” or comparison, group was asked about their everyday life and wellbeing, while the test group were questioned about their work.

One group was asked, for example: “How many hours per day do you watch television on average?” and the other: “What is your function at this bank?”

The point was to prime the second group to enter the experiment with a banker’s focus. The outcome pointed to a stark difference in honesty, driven by a sense of professional identity, according to the research paper.

The “control” group reported winning coin flips in 51.6% of cases, close to a benchmark 50% - the one-in-two statistical probability of predicting a tossed coin. In the “primed” group, though, 58.2% of tosses were claimed as winners - a number “significantly above chance”, said the paper.

The authors calculated that about 16% of the “control group” had cheated at least once, compared to 26% in the other.

The team believed the phenomenon was specific to bank employees.

They repeated the experiment with

REUTERS

two groups of non-bankers - workers and students -- whose honesty levels did not change when their professional identity was “primed”.

Changing culture

“The prevailing business culture in the banking industry favours dishonest behaviour,” the study authors said - with fraud the likely outcome. “The prevailing business culture in the banking industry weakens and undermines the honesty norm, implying that measures to re-establish an honest culture are

Japan’s trade deficit narrowed sharply in October, data showed yesterday, as a weaker yen boosted exports while lower oil prices brought down the country’s massive energy bill.

The figures marked a bright spot among otherwise gloomy data lately, including GDP figures earlier this week that showed the world’s number-three economy had slipped into recession.

Japanese exports jumped nearly 10% last month, as higher shipments of cars, ships and steel helped the trade balance, while imports ticked up 2.7%.

That translated into a monthly trade deficit of 709.9bn yen ($6.0bn), or nearly 36 percent lower than a year-before shortfall of 1,100.4bn yen, the finance ministry said.

The value of shipments to China rose 7.2%, while exports to North America climbed 8.5% and those to the European Union were up 5.4%.

Energy costs have weighed heavily on Japan as the resource-poor country struggles to plug its energy gap after the 2011 Fukushima crisis forced the shutdown of nuclear reactors that once supplied more than a quarter of its power.

That problem has been exacerbated by the yen’s sharp fall - it is currently at a seven-year low against the dollar - which hiked the cost of imports purchased in foreign currencies.

But October oil imports were down 10.8%, partly reflecting lower prices on the world market.

The country’s trade balance was likely to narrow further as commodity prices moderate while the US Federal Reserve winds up its quantitative easing plan and eyes an interest rate hike next year, said Junichi Makino, chief economist at SMBC Nikko Securities.

“The Federal Reserve is about to tighten its credit grip, sending commodities prices tumbling,” he said in a note.

“This is a reversal of what had happed before. The normalisation of the Federal Reserve’s monetary policy is expected to normalise Japan’s trade balance.” l

Analysts: Gulf to reject OPEC cuts to guard oil market share

China’s rush to green vehicles fuels bubble concerns

n Reuters, Guangzhou

China’s electric vehicle sales surged five-fold in the first 10 months of 2014, powered by Beijing subsidies. In a longawaited take-off, even unlikely firms like a metals trader and a soda ash producer are pouring money into green transportation.

As China’s demand for luxury and premium cars cools, the Guangzhou autoshow this week hosts a separate event dedicated to green vehicles. But the gold rush is fuelling concern in the industry it may add to overcapacity, leaving new entrants struggling to survive even with state support.

“China’s green vehicle market will be huge,” said Arnold Chan, Deputy Chairman of China Dynamics Holdings Ltd. The company, more than 11% owned

by Chan according to Thomson Reuters data, quit metals trading to start making environmentally friendly electric buses this year after losing money ever since its 2006 Hong Kong listing.

“There are 2 million buses on Chinese roads. A 10% share of that market would be enormous,” said Chan, whose new entrant firm is worth about $440m by market value. It’s unclear how many electric vehicles could in practice replace buses now in service, but as the world’s biggest auto market, China is a magnet for new firms.

Shanghai-listed Tangshan Sanyou Chemicals Industries Co ltd, a Chinese producer of soda ash worth $1.9bn by market capitalisation, entered the green vehicle business in March. At Shenzhen-listed auto parts maker Wanxiang Qianchao Co Ltd, shares have doubled since parent Wanxiang Group acquired bankrupt US electric car maker Fisker Automotive in February.

The concern over potential overinvestment stems from orders for electric buses and cars coming from local governments, rather than individual consumers.

Despite a flood of electric car models coming to the market this year, from BMW and Mercedes Benz to Nissan and BYD, many in China are just not yet ready to buy them, according to a survey earlier this year by consultancy AT Kearney.

Some 54% of survey participants said incentives wouldn’t be enough to override other concerns. Fully 60% of consumers said they expect a minimum driving range of 250 kilometres, much further than the range of most electric cars currently on the market. l

very important,” said the team.

Fixing the problem, though, could mean radical and unsettling choices like scrapping bonuses derived from dishonest behaviour, the scientists suggested. There could also be an oath of ethics, similar to the Hippocratic oath taken by doctors.

“Such an oath, supported by ethics training, could prompt bank employees to consider the impact of their behaviour on society rather than focusing on their own short-term benefits,” the paper said. l

Japan October trade deficit narrows sharply on export boost n AFP, Tokyo

n AFP, Kuwait

Employees fill plastic bottles with edible oil at an oil refinery plant of Adani Wilmar Ltd, a leading edible oil maker, in Mundra, 375 km from Ahmedabad REUTERS

Indians get taste for branded edible oil as prices drop, incomes rise n Reuters After years of buying cooking oil sold in plastic bags at a village store, farmer Kisan Pawar has made the jump to branded packs of soyoil from a retail chain.

Falling prices of imported oil and a marketing drive that often plays on health concerns over unbranded sales are prompting more Indians like Pawar to switch to products sold by big companies such as Ruchi Soya, Adani Wilmar, Cargill and Bunge.

India’s top edible oil importer Ruchi Soya sees the country’s $8bn branded oil market growing by up to 15% in 2015.

That’s good news for overseas suppliers to the world’s biggest edible oil importer, with shipments of palm oil from Indonesia and Malaysia, as well as soyoil from Brazil and Argentina, making up over half of branded sales.

“The quality of branded edible oil seems to be better. People also say it is healthier,” Pawar said after buying Adani Wilmar’s Fortune soyoil, sold in bright green plastic cartons with the words ‘soya health’ prominent on the label.

With international prices for palm oil, sunflower oil and soyoil dropping this year on bumper harvests, major edible oil companies have cut prices for their highermargin branded products, hoping to tempt

buyers at a time when incomes are rising.

Farmer Pawar, in the small town of Satara 250 km south of Mumbai, this month paid 70 rupees for a litre of Fortune soyoil that would have cost 88 rupees a year ago.

The push on branded oil also comes as companies look to shake losses at their Indian refining units after Indonesia and Malaysia started offering refined palm products at discounts over crude palm oil.

A TOUCH OF BOLLYWOOD Companies are spending big on marketing and setting up sales networks in rural areas, said a Mumbai-based analyst, who declined to be identified as he was not authorised to speak with media.

“We’re investing only in branding and marketing. We don’t want to build any more refining capacity,” said Dinesh Shahra, managing director at Ruchi Soya.

The company recently roped in Bollywood actress Madhuri Dixit to star in a TV advert featuring a mother happily preparing a family meal using the Mahakosh brand of soybean oil.

Such campaigns follow findings from food research companies that said some unpacked edible oil was tainted with substances like oil from argemone, a species of poppy that resembles rapeseed but can be harmful. That stoked more general concerns over the content of unlabelled oil products.

“All this is helping the shift towards consumers picking more and more brands in the edible oil category,” said Aseem Soni, a director in Cargill India’s consumer packaging team.

India’s edible oil consumption is expected to rise 5.6 percent to a record 19.3 million tonnes in the 2014/15 marketing year that began this month, estimates Govindbhai Patel, a widely respected trade expert and managing director of GG Patel & Nihil Research Co. In India, choice of edible oil often varies with region, with soyoil and sunflower oil typically favoured in the west, and rapeseed oil popular in the east.

And industry officials and analysts say India’s countryside offers huge potential growth for branded goods.

Only 9% of rural India consumes branded oils compared to 31% in urban areas, says Angshu Mallick, chief operating officer of Adani Wilmar, a venture between the Adani Group and Singapore’s Wilmar International Ltd. “I have stopped selling unbranded edible oils,” said Jitendra Kadam, who owns a grocery shop in a village in the western state of Maharashtra.

“Due to television people are becoming brand conscious. They ask for particular brands. I have to stock according to what they want.” l

Gulf oil producers led by Saudi Arabia will likely reject output cuts at an OPEC meeting next week unless they are guaranteed their market share in a highly competitive market, analysts say.

The stance of Kuwait, Qatar, United Arab Emirates and Saudi Arabia is seen as crucial for a positive OPEC decision on reducing supplies to boost crude prices, which have shed a third of their value since June.

The four pump a total 16.2 million barrels per day, or 52% of the 12-member Organisation of Petroleum Exporting Countries, but they account for two-thirds of the cartel’s exports, according to figures from OPEC and other agencies.

“OPEC members are looking at Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and UAE to shoulder the bulk of any production cuts, and they can,” said Kuwaiti oil expert Kamel al-Harami.

“But it is extremely unlikely for Gulf states to accept output cuts unless other OPEC members take the initiative ... They need assurances other OPEC or non-OPEC producers won’t fill the gap,” said the former oil executive.

“It is not in the interest of the Gulf states to cut output because they risk losing highly valuable market share,” he told AFP. Oil prices have crashed to four-year lows on dampening demand from a combination of factors including a sluggish world economy, a sharp rise in output from unconventional sources like shale oil, and a strong dollar.

This has resulted in slumping revenues for most OPEC and non-OPEC producers heavily reliant on oil for their budgets.

Venezuela has called for a meeting of both OPEC and non-OPEC countries

DILBERT

to address the price slide, joining hands with Ecuador to urge the cartel to cut output.

‘Fears over non-OPEC moves’

“The fear of non-OPEC producers boosting output will make most OPEC members very cautious in accepting cuts,” said Khaled Bodai, head of the Horizon for Administrative Consultations.

“I am not optimistic there will be an agreement for cuts,” Bodai, a former member of Kuwait’s Supreme Petroleum Council, told AFP. Kuwaiti Oil Minister Ali al-Omair said last week an OPEC decision to cut output “will be very difficult”.

Saudi Arabia, the world’s top crude exporter, has not commented on possible output cuts but in early November it sent oil prices tumbling when it eased its crude price for the United States to preserve market share.

“The focus at the moment is on Saudi Arabia and whether it will succumb to pressure from within the OPEC cartel and outside to cut production,” said Michael McCarthy, chief market strategist at CMC Markets in Sydney.

Saudi economist Abdulwahab AbuDahesh said Gulf states would “fiercely resist pressure to cut output.

“The battle now is for market share, and if they cut output, they lose market share,” he told AFP. Markets for crude oil and petroleum products have tightened due to ample supplies and waning demand.

Saudi Arabia exports two-thirds of its crude to Asia, less than 20% to the US and just 10% to Europe, according to the US Energy Information Administration (EIA).

Kuwait sends 75% of exports to Asia, while UAE and Qatar export almost all their crude to Asia. l