08 Dec, 2014

Agrahayan 24, 1421 Safar 14, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 244

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages | Price: Tk12

B1 | BUSINESS

7 | SPECIAL

11 | OP-ED

12 | SPORT

SME LENDING RISES OVER 15%

THE MAESTRO OF MOVING TIMES

HOW BHUTAN DOES IT

INVINCIBLE BANGLADESH LIFT MEN’S JR AHF CUP

RMG in concert with $50bn export target Despite recent tragedies and existing obstacles, Bangladesh is still regarded as a popular global apparel sourcing destination and have the potential to hit the top of buyers’ priority lists.

There are also predictions that at the 17% average annual growth rate achieved in the last 25 years, Bangladesh needs only to elevate its current global market share to 7% from the existing 5% to reach the self-righteous target of $50bn yearly apparel export 2021.

But to achieve that target, some key obstacles including infrastructural and productive deficiencies, low worker productivity and safety compliance, need to be overcome.

by the progress, local and international conspirators are trying to destroy the sector. I urge the owners, workers, global buyers and consumers to remain alert,” she said before opening the Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014.

To move ahead, Bangladesh has to increase productivity, come up with  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

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Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday told a summit in Dhaka that local and international conspiracies are being hatched against Bangladesh’s apparel sector.

“Bangladesh is the world’s second largest apparel exporting country.

Many people do not like this. Envied

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The photograph taken yesterday makes it hard to believe it is one of our most important highways. With only six months before deadline expires, less than 50% of the 4-lane Mymensingh-Joydevpur Highway project has been completed MEHEDI HASAN

STORY OF A SURVIVOR

50

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n Shohel Mamun Almost half of the construction work in much-hyped Joydebpur-Mymensingh four-lane upgrading project is yet to be completed with only six months to go before inauguration of the 87km-long highway.

In February, Road Transport Minister Obaidul Quader told reporters that the project would be finished by December this year. In the middle of June, he had said: “The four-lane project work will be completed by March 2015.”

Around 47% construction work is yet to be done, as per the project’s latest progress report (until September 15) prepared by the Roads and Highways Department and signed by Project Director Hafizur Rahman. It was sent to the Prime Minister’s Office recently.

Hafizur yesterday told the Dhaka Tribune: “After placing the report to the PMO, more than 4% work has been complete. But it is not possible to complete the work within the scheduled time because of different reasons including crisis of construction materials and some instruments.”

He said they were trying their best.

The infrastructure project began in July 2010 under the supervision of the RHD with acquisition of some 8.66

PM urges sector stakeholders to remain alert about conspiracies Hossain Ovi and n Ibrahim Rajib Bhowmick

Joydebpur-Mymensingh 4-lane project half-done

4.34

1999-00 2009-10 2013-14

2020-21

Child trafficked to India for sex speaks out n Tazlina Zamila Khan A 14-year-old child with olive skin and big black eyes sits in a chair, speaks briefly with her lawyer, and then turns to me.

“My name is Rinku. I am a victim of trafficking. I was sent to there to be forced into prostitution,” she says, her eyes wet with tears.

She described how she was taken to India illegally to be forced into prostitution and how she managed to escape.

Rinku’s lawyer, Advocate Shahin Momtaz of the Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers’ Association, said her client had been traumatised by her ordeal.

“We are trying to give her courage,” she said.

Her tale began eight months ago in March. Between March and November, Rinku was all by herself in India, far away from her family.

Rinku Akhter Simu, a student of class VII, studies at a local school in Niltek Shingashur of Kolatia Bazar in Keraniganj.

On March 15, she came to visit her elder sister Rehana Khatun and brother-in-law Ashraf Uddin at a house in Dhaka Udyan.

There Rinku met a girl, Sathi, wife of Raju, who lived in the next room of the building. Sathi was pregnant.

The man who turned out be her trafficker, Sirajul Islam, 18, son of Ashraf Ali of Natore, was staying in another room of the building.

Rinku told the Dhaka Tribune: “A day after I got there, Sirajul proposed to me. He said he wanted to have an affair with me and wanted to marry me.”

Rinku says she never responded to Sirajul’s proposal.

Her brother-in-law Ashraf Uddin said: “I forbade her to talk with Sathi, but Sathi used to visit our place and bring Rinku over to gossip.”

Sirajul met Rinku at Sathi’s place on March 15.

On March 26 around 7am, Rinku

was getting ready to leave for home, as her mother was on her way to pick her up. She went to Sathi’s place to say goodbye.

Sathi offered her snacks, and Sirajul suddenly arrived. He asked her: “Where are you going?”

When Rinku replied that she was going home, Sirajul placed a handkerchief over her mouth and she fainted.

Rinku later found out that Sathi had told Sirajul that if he managed to take Rinku, then he had to pay her Tk500.”

According to Ashraf Uddin, Sirajul paid Tk500 to Sathi, over the kidnapping and trafficking of the girl.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, December 8, 2014

seeks Bhutan’s support for connectivity Sluggish progress President n in solving Prof Shafiul’s murder Tribune Desk

n Mohammad Jamil Khan Investigation into the gruesome murder of Rajshahi University Professor AKM Shafiul Islam is going on at a sluggish pace, with no significant development in the case since the arrests of five people by the RAB two weeks ago The Rajshahi Metropolitan Police (RMP), the authority in charge of investigating the murder, claimed that they were still analysing the RAB findings which were disclosed on November 23, but were yet to get any lead or confirmation.

Iftekharul Alam, spokesperson for the RMP commissioner and also an assistant commissioner of the Detective Branch, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that they had interrogated the five arrestees – Ariful Islam Manik, Sabuz, Pintu, Kalu and Al Mamun – during a two-day remand.

“During interrogation, the arrestees gave us the same information that they gave to the RAB after their arrest on November 23; but the arrestees did not agree to provide any confessional statement before court,” said Iftekharul, who is coordinating the sensational murder case.

Asked about the type of information provided by the arrestees, Iftekhar said they claimed of planning to teach Prof Shafiul a “good lesson” for misbehaving with the wife of Pintu – one of the arrestees.

Replying to a query on why the police were not taking any action against Jubo Dal leader Uzzal and Chhatra League leader Moon, whose involvements were also mentioned by the detainees after their arrests, the DB official said the police were currently looking into the involvement of other people in the murder and would take action once the process was completed.

On November 15, unidentified assailants hacked Prof Shafiul to death in

broad daylight near his Chohoddipara residence in Rajshahi city.

Soon after the incident, the police arrested 11 people who were actively involved with the politics of Jamaat-Shibir.

At the time, law enforcers also claimed that an organisation’s Facebook page which took the responsibility of the killing – was also operated by Shibir supporters.

However, on November 23, the Rapid Action Battalion arrested five people and briefed the media that Prof Shafiul was killed for personal reasons.

Although the RMP at first refused to accept the RAB findings, it changed its tune to match that of the elite force on November 27.

Since then, no significant progress has been made in the case, while the real motive or the identity of the perpetrators behind the murder was yet to be confirmed.

Alamgir Hossain, officer-in-charge of Motihar police station and the investigation officer of the case, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that the police were taking more care in probing this case as it was a sensational murder case. The results will be disclosed once all the information was analysed, he added.

Meanwhile, teachers at the Rajshahi University continue to express their dissatisfaction over the investigation process.

Kamrul Hassan Majumder, president of Rajshahi University Teachers Association, termed the progress of the probe “unacceptable.” Claiming that the investigation seemed to be headed towards an inconclusive result like two previous killings of RU teachers, Kamrul told the Dhaka Tribune that the teachers did not want the failure of justice to be repeated.

Prof Ananda Kumar Saha, a senior member of a platform of the university’s progressive teachers, also demanded justice to be ensured so that no one ever dared to commit such a crime again. l

President Abdul Hamid sought support from Bhutan in improving regional connectivity within and beyond South Asia.

The president also stressed on Bhutan’s active and effective role in the regional cooperation in water resources management, and electricity and hydro-power connectivity, BSS quoted his Press Secretary Ihsanul Karim as saying.

Abdul Hamid spoke on these issues when the visiting Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay called on him at Bangabhaban yesterday.

The Bhutanese premier expressed hope for more cooperation between the two countries and extended an invitation to Abdul Hamid to visit Bhutan.

The delegation of the Bhutanese PM, and the foreign secretary of Bangladesh were present at the meeting.

Meanwhile, Opposition Leader Rawshan Ershad also met Tobgay at the Pan Pacific Sonargaon Hotel and discussed bilateral issues, including possibilities of Bhutan using the Mongla seaport.

The Bhutanese premier requested Rawshan to explore the possibilities of setting up a special economic zone in the northern region of Bangladesh for use of Bhutanese businessmen. l

Khaleda urges youths to take to the streets n Mohammad Al-Masum Molla

Asking the young generation to take to the street to oust the government from office, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia yesterday said she would be with them as she believed she was still young enough.

“You all have to take to the street. I am not that much old yet … I will join you,” she said at a view exchanging programme with the Blue-Band Call Online Activists at her Gulshan office.

“Before the January 5 election, the road to my house was barricaded with sand-laden trucks … people were shot at, many were killed. But this time I will be on the street. I do not think I am too old to be in the field to protect the country,” she said.

Khaleda said Awami League was a

Child trafficked to India for sex speaks out  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Rinku told the Dhaka Tribune: “When I woke up, I was in a boat with Sirajul and two others, Sakib and Moinul.”

“I was crying and shouting, ‘I want to go home,’” she recalls.

Siraj told her that he was taking Rinku to his mother’s house to marry her.

“I cried and said, ‘I don’t know you, why would I marry you? I want to go home. I couldn’t shout properly as I had not eaten since the night before. I was feeling very weak,” Rinku told the Dhaka Tribune.

After getting down from the boat, Sirajul pulled the boat in. On the main road, I saw a man standing with a microbus.

Rinku said Sirajul pulled her hand and kept saying: “I am taking you to my home.”

She walked around 10 minutes to reach the main road. She overheard Sirajul’s partner say: “Do not take this road, there are police there.”

Ibrahim, the person standing next to the microbus, is one of the most notorious traffickers on the border.

With the help of Sakib and Moinul, Sirajul took Rinku to Nabinagar of the Dhaka district. They took a Hanif Pari-

bahan bus around 11pm. On March 27 around 7am, they got down to Benapol and, with the help of Ibrahim, all of them entered India without any trouble.

Rinku said: “There was a pond in the area and big banana trees beside the road. I did not know that I was in India.”

On reaching the main road, Sirajul took Rinku to a car.

After about 30 minutes of travel, the car reached a two-storey building. Rinku did not yet know that she was in the Shibpur, West Bengal.

Rinku’s mother Aisha Begum said: “Sakib, Sirajul and Moinul sold my daughter to brokers for big money.”

Sirajul took Rinku to the first floor of the building, where she saw a woman.

Rinku told the Dhaka Tribune: “I got scared looking at her. She looked horrible.”

Sirajul told Rinku: “You stay here for two days. I will come again to take you to my mother’s house.”

There were 5 or 6 other girls of her age at the building. Rinku did not know that she had been taken to a brothel, where the woman and her nephew’s wife ran the sex business. The woman, she later found out, forced her own

nephew’s wife into prostitution.

“The woman asked me if I had had an affair with Sirajul. I said, ‘No. I want to go home.’ Then the woman said, ‘You were not brought to this house to go home.’”

“Then I saw the woman give a lot of money to Sirajul and he left,” said Rinku.

She could not say what the woman’s name was.

The woman asked her if she had any physical relations with anyone before and Rinku said no.

The woman then said: “Then you can be sold for a huge amount of money. Such girls have a high demand in this business.”

Rinku told the Dhaka Tribune: “The woman called someone on the phone. She said she had a virgin. The person talking on the other side of the phone said something and the woman laughed. She urged the person on the other end to come quickly and get me.”

Rinku was taken to the room where the other girls were staying. She was crying when a girl asked if Rinku came here of her own free will. She replied that she had been forced.

Then the girl told me: “You do not

RMG in concert with $50bn export target  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

new designs and explore new markets to remain globally competitive, she recommended.

In the HSBC Trade Confidence Index published in September, Bangladesh’s score rose sharply to 141 in 2014 from 103 a year back, marking the second highest in the sample of 23 countries.

The report said the hefty rise was underpinned by strong demand from the West for Bangladeshi garments and textiles. The HSBC index also appreciated the authorities’ efforts to introduce better safety regulations to the garments sector which appeared to have provided an additional boost to confidence.

According to a June-2014 forecast by the United States Fashion Industry Association (USFIA), one of the most respected voices of the US fashion industry, apparel retailing companies are not leaving Bangladesh and are committed to compliance there and elsewhere.

Despite the recent tragedies like those in Rana Plaza and Tazreen Fashions, Bangladesh was still regarded as a popular sourcing destination with growth potential.

A vast majority of nearly 77% of the respondents of what USFIA called its “Benchmarking Study” have been sourcing from Bangladesh. More than half of the respondents say they expect to “somewhat increase” this sourcing

in the next two years, and 5% expect to “strongly increase” sourcing. Another 15% expect no change in their current scale of sourcing in Bangladesh.

In 2013, US-based global management consultancy firm McKinsey & Company, which has 105 offices around the world, surveyed 29 chief procurement officers (CPOs) at leading apparel companies responsible for a combined €28bn in purchasing volume.

They found that Bangladesh remained at the top of the list of apparel-sourcing markets expected to grow in importance in the next few years.

A 2011 McKinsey forecast showed that Bangladesh was on the radar-screen of all European and US apparel buyers and likely to grow nearly three times its current size, that is $45bn, by 2020.

That forecast is well in concert with Bangladesh’s vision 2021 of reaching $50bn apparel export target.

Data from the Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh shows that in FY1989-90, apparel export volume was only $624.16 million which increased a staggering eight times to reach $4.34 billion in FY1999-2000.

In FY2009-10, export volume increased to reach $12.5bn, marking a 300% growth in these 10 years.

In FY2013-14, the volume exceeded $24bn, marking another 200% growth in just four years.

President Abdul Hamid shakes hands with Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay during a courtesy call made by the latter at the Bangabhaban in the capital yesterday PID

Shahidullah Azim, vice-president of Bangladesh Garments Exporters and Manufacturers Association (BGMEA), told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is true that we have many obstacles now. But, there is no reason to think that we did not have any hurdles in the past. Still, we have achieved impressive growth in the last few decades.”

He also said with conviction: “I believe that things will only improve in the coming years. We have already taken a lot of measures to ensure workers’ safety and improve productivity. Hurdles will always be there. But we are very much up to it.”

Hurdles and way out

Yesterday, stakeholders discussed in detail the hurdles facing Bangladesh’s clothing sector on the first day of the 3-day Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014 at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

“To meet the export target [of $50bn], the RMG sector needs a lot of entrepreneurs, governance, education, workers efficiency, value added products and above all, branding Bangladesh,” said Francois de Maricourt, chief executive officer of HSBC Bangladesh, at the summit yesterday.

Wajedul Islam Khan, general secretary of Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra, said: “It is very unfortunate that

party of cowards – if they had courage, they would face the people. “People would have done something on December 29 last year. But fearing this, the government cordoned me off in my house for three days so that I could not go out.”

The former premier alleged that the government had been destroying the country’s industries one after another, which resulted in unemployment.

“Bangladesh was in the second position in the global RMG sector, but now it is in the fourth. Industrialists face losses due to the government’s inefficiency and irregularities,” she said.

The BNP chief also said the government had no friends internationally any more. “It is not prudent to keep good ties with only one country. Relations should be maintained with all the countries.”

Khaleda alleged that the government has been supplying modern weapons to Bangladesh Chhatra League leaders and activists and turned the public universities into armouries.

Khaleda said a levelled field was necessary for fair play, and demanded election under a non-partisan interim government.

Meanwhile, leaders and activists of BNP’s Khilkhet unit staged a demonstration in front of Khaleda’s office against the party’s Standing Committee Member Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, alleging that he had disbanded the unit by taking bribes from other faction leaders.

Goyeshwar, however, refuted the allegation and said: “I have to reconstitute 57 unit committees in 10 thanas.

Some may be happy with the changes,

some may not. I think everything will be fine in due time.”

know where you are. This is a brothel and all of us here must sell sex.”

“I was crying when the girl said she would teach me how to escape from the place. She give me Tk600. When I asked her why she did not flee although she knew the way out, she replied that she came here of her own will in order to earn money,” Rinku recounted.

It was March 28. The woman in charge was in the wash room. Her nephew’s wife was also absent. Taking advantage of the situation, Rinku opened the lock and fled the house.

She ran for an hour and a half until she got to Seyaldah bus stand.

At one point she took a rickshaw for a fare of Tk20 to reach the bus stand.

After reaching the bus stand, she bought a ticket for Bongaon in West Bengal, India.

As she was getting on the bus, Rinku’s would-be-madam grabbed her by the wrist.

“You have a lot of courage. Come with me. I will teach you a lesson.”

Rinku was crying and a crowd surrounded them. Rinku told the gathering crowd that the woman was in the sex trade and that she had been forced

to come to India.

When the woman tried to escape, she was caught and beaten up by the public.

Javadpur police took them to the police station. The next day, Rinku was produced before the court. But the woman managed to escape by bribing the police.

Rinku was later handed over to Indian NGO Sanlaap.

Meanwhile, Rinku’s parents were searching for her everywhere when a neighbour of Ashraf’s said he saw Rinku with Sirajul around 12pm on the day she went missing.

Sirajul’s phone had been switched off for several days. After three days, Sirajul reappeared and told Rinku’s parents that he had married the girl and she was staying at Natore.

When Rinku’s family called Sirajul’s home, his parents denied it.

Sakib’s brother-in-law, Babu, who lives at the same house, said Rinku and Siraj were in Pabna.

Ashraf and Babu went to Moinul’s house in Pabna. They told Moinul’s father, Abul, about the missing girl.

On March 28, they found Sirajul and

beat him up. They then took him to the Gonigacha union chairman, Md Nurul, where Sirajul admitted that he sold Rinku for Tk13,000.

Sakib, Sirajul and Moinul took Tk5000, Tk4000 and Tk4000 respectively. He demanded another Tk40,000 to bring Rinku back.

Sirajul was taken to Dhaka and handed over to Mohammadpur police station.

A case was filed on April 5 against four people including Sirajul. The investigation officer of the case Sub-Inspector Jalal Uddin told the Dhaka Tribune: “Sirajul is an FIR-listed accused. He was produced before court on April 6.”

Sirajul told the police that he took Rinku to Savar for an outing. They were in a love relationship, he claimed.

After remaining in India in a Sanlaap safe house for eight months, Rinku was brought back to Dhaka on December 5.

Rinku told the Dhaka Tribune: “Those were the worst days of my life, far away from my family. I did not do anything wrong, why did this happen to me? Only a trafficked girl can understand my pain. I want justice. I want the criminals to be punished.” l

when we discuss RMG, workers are kept outside. Workers and trade union are an integral part of the sector. Workers’ participation should be ensured so that they can raise their voice.”

Employers should not treat workers as enemies, said Islam. “If workers do not work properly and do not show their responsibility, then reaching the target will be impossible,” he added.

Regretting the high interest rate of bank loans, Mostafa Golam Quddus, former president of BGMEA, said: “We are in the belly of banks and they are eating us out...We cannot be competitive enough because we are paying more interests than our competitors.”

In reply, Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said the government is looking into the matter.

“A comprehensive action plan has been taken to provide all the facilities to the RMG sector,” the minister assured.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday unveiled the curtain of the “International Trade Expo for Building and Fire Safety 2014” and the Centre of Excellence for Bangladesh Apparel Industry aimed at boosting workers productivity through research and development and to chalk out roadmap for the country’s RMG sector.

BGMEA in association with Bangladesh Brand Forum has jointly organised the summit. l

Non-stop programme if gas and power prices are hiked

The BNP-led 20-party alliance threatened to wage a non-stop programme if the government decided to go ahead with its plan to hike the prices of gas and electricity.

“Non-stop movement will be launched on the day the gas and electricity prices are hiked,” Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of the party, said yesterday.

The Power Development Board sent a proposal to Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission to raise the electricity tariff by 18.12%, or Tk0.81 per unit at bulk level. l

Joydebpur-Mymensingh 4-lane  PAGE 1 COLUMN 3

hectors of land. Due to extension of the project deadline twice, the cost was re-estimated too. Finally, the cost is estimated at Tk1,815.12 crore.

The project work comprises four packages.

Construction of the first package, 12.25km Joydebpur intersection-Rajendrapur intersection, sees 47.54% completion while 51.82% of the second package – 17.6km road between Rajendrapur and Nayanpur.

Bangladesh Army’s Special Works Organisation (West) is implementing these two packages. Even though the project had begun in July 2010, the army was given the work in 2012.

According to the report, the army has been working smoothly, but the two other companies lagged behind, until February, when they started implementing the project quickly.

In the third package that involves 29.6km Nayanpur-Raimoni, 50.99% work has been finished while 60.55% in the fourth package of 27.32km stretch between Raimoni and Mymensingh.

The third package is being executed

by China Major Bridges Company in association with local firm Project Builder’s Limited (PBL). The other package is being implemented by the consortium of MCC, SEL and Toma Construction Limited-JB.

With all these, the average progress of the construction of the four packages stands at 53.53%.

Secretary MAN Siddique said work in only package three was delayed while the others would be completed before the time frame.

“We have already arranged a meeting to solve this problem. We think it is also possible to complete within the stipulated time.”

About the slow progress of the project, the project director in the report pointed out at sluggish utility shifting, political instability, inadequate supply of money by the contractor, long absence of lead partner, insufficient supply of required equipment and lack of effective management.

PBL Chief Engineer Rafiqul Anam said: “We are responsible for constructing 30km of the project. There are different reasons behind the delay but now more than 50-60% work has been finished. The project cost was earlier estimated at Tk3bn but it will finally go up to Tk4bn.”

In the 2014-15 fiscal year, though the government allocated Tk397.94 crore for the project under the annual development programme (ADP), it has released only Tk99.49 core.

As of September 15, a total of Tk896.23 crore has been spent for the project. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Monday, December 8, 2014

Tribunal probe body submitted ‘flawed’ report n Ahmed Zayeef

The prosecution, for the first time, has found some “serious inconsistency” in the investigation process of the war crimes tribunal’s probe agency in the case of two alleged razakar siblings of Kishoreganj.

Claiming that it is “harmful” for the case, they sent back all the documents regarding the case to the agency for re-investigation.

The two accused are Nasir Uddin Ahmed alias Captain ATM Nasir, 62, and Shamsuddin Ahmed, 60, a member of Kishoreganj Bar Association. Nasir is on the run while Shamsuddin was arrested on November 26. The probe agency submitted its report to the prosecution the following day.

Sheikh Mosfeq Kabir, one of the prosecutors of the case, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We sent back the probe report and all the documents through the chief prosecutor as found some complexity and serious inconsistency in the investigation were identified.

“Their have been some contractions in the case documents and also in the deposition of witnesses. In an application, we have asked them to reinvestigation the case and provide more information.”

The Dhaka Tribune obtained a copy of the application where the prosecutor has showed some inconsistencies about the birthday and profession of the two accused. Mosfeq also pointed to some inconsistencies in the witness statements.

The investigation report says the current age of Nasir is 62 while his birth date February 9, 1954. He was 19 years’ old in 1971.

But if the birth date is correct then his current age is 60 years nine months and 15 days while he was 17 years’ old in 1971, as per the day of submission of the report. But the agency did not clarify on what basis they mentioned his age 19 years in the year of 1971.

The probe body submitted a copy of tabulation sheet collected from a private school where it shows that Nasir’s

birth date is February 9, 1954. But the agency did not mention whether they had checked the matter with the Dhaka Education Board about his attending the SSC examination.

On the other hand, according to Nasir’s National Identity Card and SSC certificate, his birth date is December 1, 1957. He joined the Bangladesh Army on the basis of this date. According to this date, his age was 14 in 1971.

On the other hand, according to the NID and the investigation report, Shamsuddin was born on December 1, 1958 and he was 13 years’ old in 1971.

But the agency mentioned that his age to be 17 years at that time. They also did not provide any documents about it.

Even though the arrestee is a lawyer, the probe agency did not provide any certificate about his joining the occupation. They also did not mention what was his previous occupation though the report says he joined the current profession recently.

Prosecutor Mosfeq also mentioned five inconsistencies about the statements of the possible witness, references and the crime time situations.

“Two boys of 13 and 19 years’ age led the Pakistani Army [to commit crimes] is totally irrational,” he said.

Mosfeq also asked the probe body to take a decision about whether a person aged below 18 could be made accused according to the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973 and the Rome Statue of the International Criminal Court.

The prosecutor said the investigation process had been faulty and that the case would be hampered if the formal charges were pressed without fixing the flaws.

“The prosecution will also be affected. In this situation, it needs to gather clear opinion of the chief prosecutor urgently,” he wrote.

Sanaul Huq, assistant co-ordinator of the probe agency, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is true that the prosecution is asking for reinvestigation for the first time. But it is not unusual. We will clarify all the issues and provide the prosecution with all necessary documents.” l

Pedestrians, including a policeman, are seen crossing the road instead of using the nearby foot over-bridge. The situation seems back to square one with the end of the much-talkedabout drive against jaywalking. The photo was taken from the Airport Road in the capital yesterday SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

‘Poor infrastructure major barrier to industrialisation’ n Shohel Mamun The lack of infrastructural facilities – which is a by-product of bureaucratic tangles – was one of the major barriers to the industrialisation of the country, speakers at a programme said yesterday.

They also observed that the complexity of getting bank loans, insufficient road and rail services, political instability and lack of proper planning were some of the other barriers for the development of business in the country.

The observations were made at a programme titled “Infrastructure – The Road to Chittagong & Beyond” held at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre, organised by garment manufacturers’ apex body BGMEA on the occasion of the first Dhaka Apparel Summit.

Toufiq-e-Elahi Chowdhury, energy adviser to the prime minister, said the

government was thinking about importing gas from Myanmar to meet the demand of garment factories, as part of the need to double the country’s power generation for providing electricity to everyone.

Terming the incumbent government a “qualitative one,” Toufiq said: “We have fixed our goals. In the ready-made garments sector, our plan is to achieve $50bn business target, and it is possible by 2021.”

He said the government was planning to set up a deep-sea port for the betterment of trade, adding that it has also set a target to become a middle-income country by 2021.

Also speaking at the programme, BNP Standing Committee member Abdul Moyeen Khan claimed that it was possible to achieve the export target if the bureaucratic tangles were removed.

“Achieving the export target is not a challenge, the challenge is resources.

We have to develop infrastructures and resolve bureaucratic tangles to achieve export target,” he said.

Moyeen Khan, also a former minister, said policymakers repeatedly talked about progress of the six-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway, but the much expected highway was yet to be completed.

“Among the six lanes, four lanes are yet to be completed. If this continues then it might take seven more years to complete the expected six lanes.”

Former US ambassador James F Moriarty, also a board member of the Alliance for Bangladesh Worker Safety, said industries should ensure safe workplace and workers’ rights to achieve the vision of reaching the $50bn business target.

SM Fazlul haque, former president of BGMEA, said political stability was needed to achieve the vision of $50bn by 2021.

Mikio Hataeda, chief representative of JICA, said the Japanese organisation has identified a few sites and conducted feasibility study to support the establishment of a special economic zone and some road and rail infrastructure.

World Bank’s lead economist in Bangladesh, Dr Zahid Hussain, said: “We need minimum $74bn and maximum $100bn to develop the infrastructure in the south Asian region.”

Zaidi Sattar, chairman of Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh (PRI), said energy, transport and port were crucial elements to maintain the export growth.

The programme was presided by BGMEA representative Asif Ibrahim, who called for taking effective steps to expedite the implementation of the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway project and ensuring upgrades and regular maintenance of the existing roads for smooth transportation of RMG products. l

Third witness Nine years on, families of Netrakona SCBA moves against forgery testifies at at top court blast victims still reeling in pain n tribunal in ‘Siraj n Kosai’ case Our Correspondent, Netrakona

n Tribune Report A martyr’s wife yesterday told the International Crimes Tribunal 1 that war crimes accused Sheikh Sirajul Haque alias Siraj Master, accompanied by razakars, had killed her husband and other relatives during the 1971 Liberation War. Kamala Rani Chakrabarty, 60, who was 16 years’ old during the war, testified as the third prosecution witness in the case filed against three war crimes accused of Bagerhat including Siraj Master, who was also known as “Siraj Kosai” for his brutality.

She said Siraj Master along with his seven or eight associates attacked their house and shot dead her husband Poritosh Chakrabarty and father-in-law Nishikanto Chakrabarty.

“They hacked to death my grandfather-in-law Binod Chakrabarty. They also looted our house and set it on fire,” the witness said adding that she and some other neighbours were hiding in a nearby garden.

“As my two-month-old daughter was crying, villagers who took shelter with me asked me to stop her fearing that the razakars might find and kill them. Then I stuffed cloths in my daughter’s mouth.”

Kamala said after the razakars had left, she with the help of villagers buried the bodies. Later she left for India as a refugee.

State-appointed defence counsel Mohammad Abul Hossain cross examined the witness.

The case was adjourned until today.

Sirajul is facing six charges for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity.

Meanwhile, the prosecution yesterday completed placing opening statement in the case against fugitive accused Syed Mohammad Hassan alias Hassan Ali. Hassan is facing six charges for his alleged crimes against humanity in Kishoreganj during the war. l

Nine years have passed but the families affected by the deadly bomb blast in front of the Netrakona Udichi office have not got any financial support – neither from the government nor from any non-government organisation.

On this day in 2005, nine people were killed and more than 50 injured in a suicide bomb blast by outlawed Islamist militant outfit Jama’atul Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB).

That blast near the office of cultural organisation Udichi Shilpi Goshthi on the Azhar Road in Netrakona town killed its joint secretary Khaza Haider, organisational secretary Shudipta Paul Shelly and member Jadav Roy. Victims’ families said not a single

government official had ever come even to condole them.

On February 17, 2008, a speedy trial tribunal of Dhaka sentenced three JMB members – Salahuddin, Asaduzzaman and Yunus – to death for the killings. But that sentence has not been executed in nearly seven years.

Police have not even managed to identify the local godfathers of those JMB militants. Some of the dead victims of the blast were the only earning members of their families.

Shahnaz Begum, widow of Khaza Haider, said in exasperation: “You people [journalists] come to talk to us only when this day comes every year. The pain is still unbearable when we talk about it. But, we have never got any help from the government. People finish their

‘Govt probing Khaleda’s meeting with public servants’ n Rafe Sadnan Adel

The December 4 meeting of BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia with a number of government officials at her office would be “illegal” if they had discussed political matters, State Minister of the Public Administration Ministry Ismat Ara said yesterday.

BNP denies having any meeting with former or current government officials on December 4 According to the constitution, government official cannot be involved with any political party directly or indirectly when he/she is in service, she said.

“We are investigating the matter and legal steps will be taken if anyone is found to have violated the law. The government will not take the issue lightly as it is a matter of discipline within the service,” Ismat added.

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina too has warned of taking legal steps against the public servants after investigation.

Even though the BNP has been denying having any meeting with former or current government officials, mainly the OSDs (officer on special duty), on the December 4 night, media reports say at least 20 officials led by Joint Secretary AKM Jahangir met with Khaleda at her Gulshan office. To topple the government, Khaleda allegedly asked the officials to launch a platform – similar to the one organised by the Awami League when it was in opposition in 1996.

On November 24, 2006, Khaleda’s then energy adviser Mahmudur Rahman held an alleged secret meeting with around 50 people including 15 government officials at his Uttara office of Artisan Ceramics. Later from a press conference, Mahmudur termed it a social gathering and blasted the media for violating his privacy.

In 2010, a sedition case was filed against Mahmudur and 15 other government officials in this connection.

The case is now pending because of a High Court stay order. l

Tribune Report

Those who have already been doing apprenticeship would have to wear “pupillage badge” provided by the SCBA, Khandker Mahbub Hossain, president of the association, said.

“We observed that wearing black coats and ties, some people are lobbying for cases and committing forgery in the court arena. They are not members of the Supreme Court Bar Association or any district Bar. They also do not have any certificate of the Bangladesh Bar Council.

“They are just ruining the dignity of the court.”

He also came down heavily on the clerks who assist the lawyers. “Some clerks are also found to have been involved in forgery. We will begin preparing a list of them. Without having permission and registration, no one will be able to become a clerk.” l

duties by giving speeches in discussions.

Why? Is not there a single person in this society who can help my family? I have got tired of talking to media.”

According to witnesses, on that day in 2005, the JMB militants first set off a bomb in front of the Udichi office.

When people gathered to see what had happened, they blasted another suicide bomb in the middle of the crowd, killing and injuring those people.

Mostafizur Rahman, president of the Netrakona unit of Udichi, urged the government to identify and bring to trial the local sponsors of the JMB militants.

To commemorate the day, Netrakona Udichi has chalked out programmes including placing of wreaths, hoisting black flag, , protest processions and an anti-terrorism rally in the evening. l

From now on, lawyers attached with any association of the lower court will be able practice with the High Court lawyers as an apprentice only after securing a certificate of the Bangladesh Bar Council.

The Supreme Court Bar Association made the announcement yesterday through a press conference where its leaders warned that without fulfilling this criteria, no one would be given permission to enter the High Court arena or any chamber of a High Court lawyer.

Dhaka Tribune yesterday ran a report on forgery practices in the Supreme Court, committed mainly by clerks who prepare fake documents and choose low-profile lawyers to move bail petitions for notorious criminals.

Latif Siddique’s bail pleas rejected n Tribune Report

Corruption links found against IRD officials

A Dhaka court yesterday rejected two bail petitions of former minister Abdul Latif Siddique in cases filed for hurting religious sentiments.

Dhaka Metropolitan Magistrate Muhammad Asaduzzman Nur passed the order following a bail petition submitted by Latif’s counsel Barrister Jyotirmoy Barua. Metropolitan Magistrate Md Younus Khan rejected bail petition in another case filed by Alhaj Badal Miah, a cattle-hide trader and a resident of Chawkbazar in Mawartek of the capital on October 1.

During the bail petition hearing, Latif’s counsel told the court that he had filed the petitions as the charges brought against his client was bailable and also because he was ill.

Latif was not produced before the court yesterday as he was admitted to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) hospital on Saturday because of chest pain and high blood pressure. The court fixed March 15 as the next date for hearing on charge framing and ordered the prison authorities to produce Latif before the court on that day. l

n Tribune Report A parliamentary body has found evidence against officials of the Internal Resources Division (IRD) who allegedly misappropriated public funds during the tenure of the last caretaker government.

The incidents of corruption by officials of the IRD – which falls under the Finance Ministry – were revealed at a meeting of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts yesterday at the parliament building.

The meeting, presided by former home minister Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, discussed a report by the Comptroller and Auditor General of Bangladesh (CAG) on its audit objection against the IRD during the 2008-09 fiscal year.

Sources at the meeting said the CAG report revealed that IRD officials had given rebate worth Tk14.64 crore to private firms beyond the jurisdiction of the division, causing significant financial harm to the government.

Unscrupulous IRD officials also did not use Tk39.97 lakh worth of imported products – a fact which was also

revealed in the annual audit objection report by the CAG. Officials of the income tax office also showed low sale figures of application forms, causing losses worth Tk1.98 crore.

The parliamentary body directed the IRD to arrange a tripartite meeting among the IRD, the CAG and other officials concerned to recover the misappropriated funds with the help of the audit office within 30 days, sources at the meeting added.

The IRD also did not find the existence of a firm which had caused the government revenue losses worth around Tk8.47 crore along with losses in VAT worth Tk6.78 crore. The committee also asked the IRD to find the firm within the stipulated time and recover the money.

The public accounts committee also found that the Green Line transportation company did not pay Tk54.40 lakh worth of value added taxes during the 2008-09 fiscal year and directed the IRD to recover the money within a month.

The body also directed the CAG to place its audit objection report before the parliament. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, December 8, 2014

Asia Energy could shut its doors soon if mining deal not reached n Aminur Rahman Rasel Amid resistance to its proposed open pit mining project at Phulbari, Asia Energy Corporation, Bangladesh subsidiary of the UK-based GCM Resources, may wrap up its business within two or three years, company sources said.

The company has reduced its capitalised project-related expenditure this year to £0.8 million from £1.9 million in the last financial year and minimised its Dhaka office, the company’s 2014 annual general meeting (AGM) will be told tomorrow in London.

But Gary Lye, chief executive officer of Asia Energy Bangladesh and chief operating officer of GCM Resources, sound a positive note, saying: “There is considerable support from local people for the project and it is growing. People are now well convinced that the project will bring significant positive changes in their life and livelihoods including jobs, business opportunities and higher living standards.”

Two weeks ago, protesters against the open pit mining proposal attacked and vandalised the mine site offices and imposed a day-long road and rail blockade of the area during a visit to the area by CEO Gary Lye and his wife Nana Lye. According to Asia Energy, about 40,000 people will be relocated and 5,933 hectares of land will be directly affected, of which around 4,000 hectares is agricultural land.

The National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports, an activist organisation, has joined local protesters for the last few years against Asia Energy’s bid to conduct open pit mining at Phulbari coal mine.

“We are yet to take decision on whether Asia Energy will stay or not,” Secretary of Energy and Mineral Resources Division Md Abu Bakar Siddique said.

The Phulbari coal project has been on hold since 2006 due to intense local opposition. Three people were killed

7-day HC stay order on CCC mayor’s house construction n Tribune Report The High Court yesterday issued a seven-day stay order on the construction of a house for the Chittagong City Corporation (CCC) mayor by cutting down hills in the Tigerpass area in Chittagong.

A HC bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman passed the order in response to a petition filed by Human Rights and Peace for Bangladesh (HRPB).

The court also ordered the Chittagong DC and the DoE director (enforcement) to visit the area and submit a report within seven days.

Besides, the court issued a ruling asking the authorities concerned and the CCC to explain why they should not be ordered to stop the cutting of hills and the removal of construction materials from the site.

The court fixed December 14 for passing further order in this regard. l

and many more injured when paramilitary officers opened fire on a protest against the mine in 2006.

On November 12, 2014 Michael Tang, executive chairman of GCM, stated: “We have restructured operations from a cost perspective and I am pleased to advise that the loss for the year ended 30 June 2014 was £1.3 million, compared to £3.2 million in the previous financial year.”

“Capitalised project-related expenditure during the year was £0.8 million compared to £1.9 million in the last financial year. Whilst reducing costs has been a key focus for the company, we have also ensured that the necessary expertise and resources are in place to continue pursuing project approval,” he said.

GCM has identified a coal resource of 572 million tonnes at the Phulbari coal project in North-West Bangladesh. They are awaiting approval from the Bangladesh government to develop the project.

“The ruling Awami League-led alliance government did not implement the Phulbari deal because there is public opposition to open pit mining. If they allow extraction of coal by the open pit method there will be massive environmental destruction,” Anu Mohammad, member secretary of the National Committee to Protect Oil, Gas, Mineral Resources, Power and Ports said.

Lye, explaining the expenditures to date told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is common for a project which is still in developing stage and not generating any revenues. For Phulbari coal mine, it will require significant capital investment of about US$1 billion to get the first coal on the ground.”

“In total, we have expended about US$68 million as of June 30, 2014. Most of these expenses were incurred for resource definition and social and environmental studies associated with mine development,” he said.

“We are still awaiting project approval and we have an obligation to keep the local community fully informed on the project,” he said. l

Police bar the Dhaka University aspirants who have been demonstrating for a second chance to appear in the admission tests in Shahbagh area of the capital yesterday as they headed to the Prime Minister’s Office to submit a memorandum MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

DU admission seekers submit memo to PM n Arif Ahmed Students demanding the restoration of a system that allowed admission seekers to sit for entrance exams for a second time at Dhaka University (DU) yesterday submitted a memorandum to Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina.

Mohammad Nizam Uddin, an official at the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO), received the memorandum around 2:00pm.

Earlier around 11:00am, some 100 to 150 agitating students gathered in front of the Raju Monument on the university campus and later marched towards the PMO to submit the memorandum.

Police intercepted the students at the Shahbagh intersection around 11:30am and charged batons to disperse them.

Some 8-10 students were injured in the incident. The injured are Farzana Akthar Eti, Shakil Ahmed, Ahasan Habib, Alamin, Ratul, Tanjid, Imon, Delwar and Nishi. They took primary treatment at the Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

Selima Rahman’s motorcade attacked in Barisal; four injured n Our Correspondent, Barisal At least four BNP activists sustained injuries as the motorcade of BNP vice-chairperson and former minister Begum Selima Rahman was attacked at Muladi upazila in Barisal yesterday.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Selima claimed that activists of the Bangladesh Chhatra League attacked her motorcade when she was passing by Muladi Degree College, on her way to the upazila to attend a rally.

“They damaged four motorcycles and injured four BNP activists,” she said.

Seeking anonymity, a witness told the Dhaka Tribune that the Chhatra League members chased and attacked the motorcade with sticks around 11:30am.

However, Jubayer Ahmed Jewel, president of Chhatra League’s Muladi

upazila unit, denied the allegation of Chhatra League’s involvement in the incident.

“BNP’s Muladi unit has factions which are rivals. It may have been the rival factions that attacked the motorcade, and now the BNP leader is shift the blame on the Chhatra League,” he said.

Alauddin Milon, officer-in-charge of Muladi police station, also said that the Chhatra League was not involved in the incident.

“The Chhatra League activists assembled in front of the college to receive Awami League-backed upazila Vice-Chairman Mainul Hasan Sabuj, who returned home from abroad,” the OC said.

Chaos ensued as the panicked BNP activists were seen on a rush to move away from the conflict, witnesses said. l

JS body annoyed by delay in dredger purchase

2nd death anniv of Khan Sarwar today n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

The second death anniversary of prominent educationalist Prof Khan Sarwar Murshid will be observed today, says a press release.

He was also one of the organisers of the Liberation War .

A Doa Mahfil, placing wreaths at his grave in Mirpur Shahid Buddhijibi Graveyard and distributing food among the destitute s have been chalked out to mark the occassion. Khan’s family members urged people to join the programmes.

Khan Sarwar was an adviser of the country’s first prime minister Tajuddin Ahmed and a member of Mujibnagar commission. Later, he served as ambassador to Poland and Hungary and chairman of Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB). l

The Parliamentary Standing Committee on the Water Resources Ministry yesterday expressed annoyance as the government has yet to procure dredging machines to improve river navigability, even after two years of tender call.

At the parliamentary watchdog’s sixth meeting, it asked the ministry to procure the machinery soon that are facing loss of navigability due to siltation.

The ministry invited tender for 11 dredgers in 2011, but none of them has arrived yet.

“We recommended the ministry to finish the procurement task soon, although it should have been done by now,” said AKM Fazlul Haque, one of the members of the standing committee.

“The ministry informed us that five of the machines would arrive by March next year,” he added.

He also told the Dhaka Tribune that the committee suggested the ministry to procure more dredging machines as most of the existing machines have gotten old and inefficient, and their operation duration has expired.

There are around 230 rivers in the country that are considered its lifelines, as the country’s agriculture system is largely dependent on these for irrigation.

However, most of them, including the Brahmaputra, Padma and Meghna, face siltation every year which decreases their navigability, causing overflow of water during the monsoon, which results in floods.

The committee also suggested that the government implements the proposed project on developing the drainage system of Chhoto Feni River in Noakhali in a sustainable manner so that the people living in the area can be benefited. l

Police, however, allowed six representatives of the students to go to the PMO to submit the memorandum. The six members are Salman Khan, Raidul Islam, Razu Hasan, Aziz-ur Rahman, Emon Ahmed and Delowar Hossain.

At one stage, the rest of the students tried block the entrance road of DU in front of the National Museum.

To disperse the agitating students, police used water cannons. They also arrested three from the spot on charge of attacking the law enforcers by pelting brick chips around 2:00pm.

The arrestees are admission seekers Riadul Islam, a HSC graduate from University Laboratory College, and Ahasan Habib from Camilla Victoria College; and Bangladesh Chhatra Union Central Committee organising secretary Zilani Shuvo.

Shahbagh Police Station Inspector Md Habil said: “Bhutan’s prime minister is in Bangladesh now. Many VIPs are using the road [the Shahbagh road]. We used water cannons to disperse them when they tried to block the road,” he said.

3 Bangladeshi teens returned

by BSF Correspondent, n Our Chuadanga

Two Bangladeshi teenagers returned home through Chuadanga’s Dorshona border yesterday after serving twoand-a-half years in an Indian safe home.

Indian Border Security Force (BSF) handed them over to the Border Guard Bangladesh (BGB) officials by holding a flag meeting at a no man’s land near Dorshona’s Joynagar check-post yesterday around 12:30pm.

The two boys named Sumit Saha, 14 and Jewel Rahman, 15, hailed from Charraninagar-Bokchar village of Chapainawabganj.

They said two and a half years back, they had gone to Murshidabad’s Lalgola and Maldaha to work at construction sites crossing the border illegally. A team of BSF caught them while they were returning.

An Indian court awarded Jewel and Sumit two-anda-half years and one-anda-half years of jail term respectively. As they were under 18, they were kept at a safe-home under local jail custody in Baharampur of Murshidabad.

Darshana Immigration In-Charge Sub-Inspector Mahbubur Rahman said after the end of their jail term, Bangladesh National Woman Lawyers Association and Prajok, a non-government organisation of India, jointly took the initiative to bring them back home.

The two were handed over to Damurhuda police station in Chuadanga from where they were handed over to their family members, said Damurhuda police station OC Kamruzzaman. l

“The arrestees will be freed soon,” he said.

However, an official at the police station told the Dhaka Tribune in the evening that a process of filing a case against the arrestees was underway.

Salman Khan, an admission seeker, said: “The authorities of the university are using police to control us. But we will not stop our movement until the authorities change their decision”.

On October 14, the DU university authorities decided not to allow admission seekers to appear in the first year honors entrance exams for the second time.

Since then, the admission seekers have been demonstrating for over one and half months demanding the cancellation of the decision.

They also observed a hunger strike for five days at the Central Shaheed Minar last month.

The admission seekers and some progressive student organisations brought out two separate processions on the DU campus in the evening, demanding immediate release of the arrestees. l

Tortured domestic help rescued n Tribune Report Police rescued a teenage domestic help in an injured state from an apartment in the capital’s Segun Bagicha yesterday.

The victim Shampa Banu, 13, daughter of Hamidul Islam of Naogan district, was tortured allegedly by her employers, Shams Bayazid, a businessman and his wife Taposhi Rabeya, an employee of a private bank.

After primary treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH), she was taken under police custody.

Tejgaon police station OC Md Selim Miah said Shampa had worked at the couple’s house for last five months.

They rescued her after neighbours informed them that she was going through continuous torture.

Quoting Shampa, police said the couple used to beat her up with sticks whenever she made a mistake, who had also cut her hair as a punishment, l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

5

Monday, December 8, 2014

Significant war sites in need of preservation n Our Correspondent, Barisal Many historical sites in Barisal, which bear witness to the tumultuous times of the Liberation War in 1971, are in shambles and in urgent need of restoration and preservation, freedom fighters and concerned locals said on the occasion of the “Liberation Day” of Barisal today.

“We demand immediate preservation of these sites and memorials connected to the Liberation War,” said Mokhlesur Rahman, commander of Barisal Sadar Upazila Muktijoddha Parishad.

One of the most important sites related to the war is the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) complex on the bank of Kirtankhola River.

When the Pakistan Army took over Barisal town on April 25, 1971, they made the Wapda complex their regional headquarters and cantonment.

During the war, the occupation army and its local collaborators ran their operation in the surrounding areas from the Wapda complex. It was also the detention and torture centre and the killing ground for the captured freedom fighters and their sympathisers.

After killing the freedom fighters, the occupiers dumped their bodies in the Kirtankhola River.

On the night of December 7, as the Pakistan Army realised they were losing control over Barisal, they along with some of the collaborators tried to flee via the river, but their vessels were gunned down by the Indian Air Force.

After the freedom fighters took back control of Barisal on December 8 afternoon, the rest of the Pakistan Army collaborators took shelter inside the Wapda complex. Later on December 18, they surrendered peacefully to Nurul Islam Manjur, the then district Awami League secretary and organiser of liberation movement in Barisal, and Mah-

Minor girl violated n Our Correspondent, Jhenidah A second-grader was allegedly molested by a 40-year-old man at Radhakantapur village in Sadar upazila on Saturday. Later, she was admitted to Jhenidah Sadar Hospital.

The girl’s father who is a farmer said one of his neighbours named Afajul Shah, son of Monta Shah, had forcefully picked up her daughter to an isolated betel leaf garden around 3pm while she was collecting dry leaves and raped her.

When she returned home, her mother witnessed the severe bleeding and got admitted her to the hospital in critical condition. In this regard, the victim’s father yesterday filed a case with Jhenidah Sadar police station against Afajul Shah.

Dr Imdadul Islam, senior consultant of Gynaecology department of the hospital, said the condition of the girl has been improving gradually. l

fuz Alam Beg, sub-sector commander.

A site of such a historical significance, it is on the verge of total destruction, said Enayet Hossain Chowdhury, former joint convener of the Barisal District Muktijoddha Parishad.

Many locals and freedom fighters also claimed that negligence of the authorities concerned was a major reason behind the current state of the Wapda complex and other memorial sites.

Sources said the city corporation is supposed to look after these sites and build memorials where appropriate, but they hardly took any action in this regard.

Only three memorials – an unnamed memorial adjacent to the Wapda complex, Shahid Smriti Pholok – containing the names of the martyrs – near the deputy commissioner’s office, and Bijoy Bihongo (the bird of victory) at Amtala crossing in the city were constructed in 2004, 2006 and 2009, respectively.

Officials at Barisal City Corporation told the Dhaka Tribune that lack of funds hindered the process of building new and maintaining the existing memorials in Barisal city.

“The Ministry of Liberation War Affairs allocates the funds required for tasks like this. When we get the money, we will be able to do something in this regard,” Nikhil Chandra Das, CEO of Barisal City Corporation, told the Dhaka Tribune.

Liberation Day to be celebrated

Barisal District Muktijoddha Sangsad is organising a rally today from Barisal Government Girls School to mark the 43rd anniversary of Barisal’s liberation.

A discussion and cultural function will also be held at Muktijoddha Sangshad auditorium in the city.

Besides, Bangladesh Udichi Shilpi Gosthi’s Barisal unit will arrange a discussion and cultural event at the Bijoy Bihongo in Amtala in the afternoon. l

Fire service officials carry an injured college student out of a bus rented by the Rajshahi College that fell into a roadside ditch yesterday following a collision with another bus in front of the Rajshahi Katakhali Jute Mills AZAHAR UDDIN

Three college killed in Rajshahi road accident n RU Correspondent

Three female students were killed and 30 others injured as a bus fell into a roadside ditch after a head-on collision with another bus on the Dhaka-Rajshahi Highway in Rajshahi city yesterday.

The deceased were identified as Mahmuda Akter Tania, a 1st year student of the Social Work department of Rajshahi College, Shima and Sharmin, 2nd year students of the History and

the Management departments of the college.

Police said the bus locally known as “Lucky” was carrying female students of the Rajshahi College. It fell intothe ditch in front of Katakhali Jute Mill after a head-on collision with a Rajshahi-bound bus belonging to Islam Paribahan, killing the three girls on the spot and injuring 30 others.

On receiving information, fire fighters rushed to the spot, recovered the

Our Correspondent, Sylhet

n

Our Correspondent, Comilla

Road Communication and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader yesterday said that the BNP, after failing to wage movement, was trying to hatch conspiracy against the government and the country in the middle of the night.

The minister made the remark on a visit to the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway in the Comilla Cantonment area.

A group of incumbent and former government officials held a meeting with BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia at her Gulshan office on Thursday.

At the meeting, around 20 government functionaries, mainly OSDs (Officers on Special Duty) and BNP-minded officials, were asked to form a Janatar Mancha-like platform to mount pressure on the government, meeting sources said.

But the BNP issued a press release on Friday claiming that the reports on the meeting were false and baseless About the meeting, the minister said the government officials who should obey rules and regulations, violated them and held a meeting with the BNP chairperson who is neither the opposition leader nor a lawmaker. l

Sushasoner Jonno Nagorik (SHUJAN) yesterday demanded the strengthening of the Election Commission to conduct free and fair elections across the country.

Civil society members came up with the demand at a dialogue arranged by SHUJAN in Sylhet.

They said as the January 5 election this year was not held under the caretaker government, it could not achieve credibility both at home and abroad.

The giant political parties need to play stronger roles to ensure political stability in the country.

Chairman of SHUJAN Sylhet unit Faruq Mahmud Chowdhury conducted

n Tribune Report

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8 DHAKA

TOMORROW SUN RISES 6:30AM

FORECAST FOR TODAY 27 29 27 26 28 28 28 28

16 18 13 14 13 15 15 19

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

30.0ºC Syhlet

12.9ºC Sitakunda

Source: Accuweather/UNB

The IDEB Women and Family Welfare Associarion forms a human chain in front of the National Press Club yesterday, demanding arrest of the killers of physician Shamarukh Mahjabin Shama NASHIRUL ISLAM

Ambulance strike at CMCH called off n Tribune Report

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

5:09am 6:28am 11:50am 3:35pm 5:11pm 6:32 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

the session while Central Coordinator of Shujan Dilip Kumar Sarker presented a national draft proposal to resolve key political issues.

In the draft, he made suggestions for three political stages – pre-election, at election and post-election. He called on the political parties to reach a consensus over the democratic practices for conducting elections.

“No” votes should be sustained in order to signify the voters’ choices and re-elections should be arranged accordingly, he said.

The speakers presented four proposals for strengthening the Election Commission: political parties must adopt a democratic attitude, follow

proper electoral rules and proceedings, filter corrupt politicians through fair probe when giving nominations, and stern action to be taken by the Election Commission to implement the electoral code of conduct and empower voters by providing necessary information.

Although the January 5 election was boycotted by the then opposition party, scores of violence took place while casting of votes. Violence during vote casting and post-election unrest was a common practice in our political scene, they said.

A memorandum of understanding to resolvesuch issues, should be signed by all the political parties, they suggested. l

Dense fog disrupts ferry services on Kawrakandi, Daulatdia routes

PARTLY CLOUDY

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

Others members of the body included Prof Al Faruk and Oliur Rahman of Bangla, Dr Kamal Hossain of History and Prof Abdur Razzak of Management department.

Prof Habibur Rahman, the principal of the college, told the Dhaka Tribune that they had filed a case in this connection.

The probe body has been asked to submit its report within 8 working days, Habibur added. l

'Failing to wage movement SHUJAN for strengthening EC for fair polls BNP is hatching conspiracy' n

WEATHER

TODAY SUN SETS 5:11PM

bodies and rescued the injured people.

Of the injured, 13 people were sent to Rajshahi Medical College Hospital in critical condition.

The bodies were sent to hospital morgue for a post-postmortem examination. Later, fire fighters salvaged the wreckage of the bus.

However, a five-member probe body has been formed by the college authorities in the evening with Prof Mosharraf Hossain of Mathematics department as head.

The private ambulance owners-employes called for a halt their strike yesterday following an assurance from the Chittagong Medical College Hospital (CMCH) authorities to meet their demand.

When asked, Dr Muzibul Haque, president of Bangladesh Medical Association (BMA) in Chittagong confirmed it to the Dhaka Tribune, saying the decision is result of a meeting between

the leaders of Chittagong Halka Mortorjan Ambulance Malik-Sramik Somonnay Committee and them at CMCH around 2:30pm.

During the meeting, city Awami League General Secretary AJM Nasir Uddin, CMCH Principal Dr Selim Md Jahangir and BMA Vice-President Dr Md Mahbub Haque were also present among others.

The committee’s Joint Secretary Anwar Hossain said their service was resumed around 5pm when the CMCH

authorities allowed them to park ten ambulances inside its boundary. “From now we can park ten vehicles on the east corner of the CMCH,” he added.

The organisation went into the strike from Wednesday as police had seized their three ambulances from a road in front of the CMCH and lodged two cases against them for illegal parking.

During the strike, the patients and the relatives of the deceased visiting the hospital have experienced immense sufferings. l

Ferry services on the Daulatdia-Paturia and Shimulia-Kawrakandi routes came to a halt yesterday for several hours because of dense fog.

The ferry services between the Shimulia-Kawrakandi route along the Padma River resumed after five hours, causing tailback on both sides of the river, our Munshiganj correspondent reported.

Hundreds of vehicles, including perishable goods-laden truck, waited in long queues in the morning.

Assistant Manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) in charge of Shimulia pontoon Shekhar Chandra Roy said they had been compelled to suspend the ferry services around 4am due to thick fog.

“We started ferry services around 9am,” he said.

Dense fog forced nine ferries left from both ghats to anchor in the middle of the river causing about 1,000 passengers and 200 vehicles to spend the night in the middle of the river.

“About 200 hundred vehicles got stuck on both sides because of the disruption, creating immense suffering to the commuters,” he added.

Meanwhile, ferry services on the Daulatdia-Paturia route along the Padma River resumed in the morning after

a four-hour disruption for thick fog, reports UNB. Mahiuddin Rasel, manager of Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Corporation (BIWTC) at Aricha, said the ferry services as well as the plying of other

Dense fog forced nine ferries left from both ghats to anchor in the middle of the river causing about 200 vehicles to spend the night in the middle of the river water vessels came to a halt at 4am due to blurred visibility caused by dense fog.

Two ferries with a large number of vehicles and passengers were kept anchored at Daulatdia while three were at Paturia.

Eleven ferries stood in the middle of the Padma river since 4am.

Passengers and a good number of vehicles were waiting to cross on either side of the river.

Ferry services on the important route resumed around 8am as fog started disappearing after sunrise. l

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DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Monday, December 8, 2014

SSC candidates count extra fees n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj Students in Kishoreganj’s Sadar and Tarail upazila are allegedly being made to pay fees more than what the board has set for sitting secondary school certificate examinations next year.

This correspondent found such allegations at different schools in the district’s Tarail upazila and Sadar upazila , but he focused on one school only since the allegations are not much different among students and their guardians from school to school.

Sources said the Purura High School, which falls under 2 No Rauti Union Parishad, held preliminary exams to see how prepared its 216 students this year. Only 10 students passed the examinations.

Of 206 students, some 190 passed in less than five subjects while some 20 others passed in five subjects in the

qualifying examinations. However, none was being left out of the next year exams, they said.

Guardians termed this result frustrating and said this result was made up and the school teachers and managing committee might have made it up only to earn money illegally by charging fees from students who had failed in the exams.

Guardian Khokon Uddin Bhuiyana said his daughter Reshma Akhter from arts group had failed in four subjects and so she had to pay Tk1800 to fill up her form while other students had paid more than her ranging from Tk2500 to 2800.”

Student Tamanna Akhter from commerce group said she had to pay Tk2500 to fill up her form because she had failed in more than one subjects in the exams.

Guardian Jahirul Islam, who does business in the Pururha bazar, said his

son had to pay extra fees for filling up his form because he had failed in three subjects in the examinations.

Former teacher of the school Sojatullah Sujon said he had heard from quite a number of students that they had to pay the total fees ranging from Tk2800 to 2900 to fill up their forms.

However, none could show any receipt for it.

The Dhaka Education Board has fixed Tk1085 as board fee for a student from science group and Tk995 for a student from commerce or arts group.

It has set Tk300 as centre fee and Tk100 as late fee for any SSC candidate.

The board fee and centre fee all-inclusively must not cross Tk1400 on any excuse for coaching or anything else, according to a notice found on the board’s website yesterday.

Teacher Mohiuddin of the school said there were only 10 teachers for

1808 students at the school. There were six teacher vacancies in the school but they could not be being filled up for lack of cooperation from locals.

To make up the teacher crisis, ten teachers had been appointed and just for paying them some salary, the school was charging some extra fees from students, he added.

When asked, Pururha High School Headmaster Md Mujibur Rahman admitted that they were charging extra fees, adding: We are also charging no fees or not more than Tk300 from students who are poor, such as no fees have been charged from three students.”

SV Government Girls’ School, Hashmat Uddin High School, Azim Uddin High School and Zilla Smarani Girls’ School are also allegedly Tk2500 to4500 as form fill-up fees in the district’s Sadar upazila. l

Irregularity in school teacher recruitment n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj A number of applicants who applied for teaching jobs at Noiarbari Bahumukhi High School in Kotalipara but were rejected have alleged irregularities in the recruiting process.

They claimed the two candidates securing the first place in business studies and computer studies tests were not appointed, adding that those who paid bribes were recruited eventually.

The tests were held on November 10, where Animesh Baroi and Naresh Chandra Biswas scored the highest marks in tests for business studies and computer studies respectively.

But Madhusudon Baroi, headmaster of the school, allegedly took bribes and appointed Basudev Baroi in the subject of business studies and Uttam

Adhikary in computer studies.

The headmaster denied any wrongdoing, saying he did not take bribes and also avoided clarifying why the appointees were recruited despite scoring less.

Animesh Baroi claimed the headmaster asked him to pay bribes but he did not.

“This is why I did not get the job,” he said.

President of the school committee Komol Haldar also denied the allegation of bribery, saying the recruitment was done in compliance with the rules.

“There have been no irregularities in the recruitment,” he claimed.

Upazila Secondary Education Officer Mahabubur Rahman said action would be taken if the allegation was found to be true. l

Newborn falls victim to vengeance n Our Correspondent, Narsingdi

A newborn baby died because of the vengeful act by a ward boy of Narsingdi Bhelanagar Supreme General Hospital yesterday.

Father of the child Bishwajit Chandra Das said: “My wife gave birth to a healthy boy via cesarean on Tuesday.

Today we were supposed to take release from the hospital.”

He alleged that the manager of the hospital and also a ward boy Uzzal had demanded Tk200 from him.

“As I refused to pay him the money, he administered a wrong injection into my son which killed him within a while,” said Bishwajit.

Following the incident, the relatives of the dead and locals besieged the hospital around 10am yesterday.

By 12noon a team of police brought

the situation under control.

“No high rank officer of the hospital was found around during the agitation,” said Narsingdi Sadar Model police station Assistant Superintendent Billal Hossain. Police had arrested the accused Uzzal and another ward boy of the hospital, said the ASI. “We are trying to find out the reason behind the death of the newborn,” he said. l

Attack on journalist protested n Our Correspondent, Bandarban

Journalists formed a human chain in front of Bandarban Press Club yesterday, protesting an attack on journalist Jahir Raihan, a correspondent of Dainik Bir Chattagram Mancha, a daily published from Chittagong.

Local journalists working in different media organisations, including print, television and online, took part in the programme.

Bandarban Press Club President Os-

Outlaw killed in gunfight Correspondent, n Our Kushtia An outlawed leader of Purba Bangla Communist Party (PBCP) was killed in a gunfight with police in Bhanga Battala area under Mirpur upazila in Kushtia yesterday The deceased was identified as Enamul,35, a regional commander of Janajuddho (ML-Lal Pataka), a faction of the PBCP. Kazi Jalal Uddin Ahmed, officer-in-charge of Mirpur police station said Enamul and his cohorts demanded a large sum of money as illegal toll from Shahidul Islam, owner of a brick field in the area.

“Tipped-off, a joint team of Detective Branch (DB) of police and Mirpur police station conducted a drive in the area aroundt 3:15am to arrest them when the gang came to the area to take the toll money from Shahidul,” he said.

Sensing the presence of the law enforcers, Enamul and his associates attacked the law enforcers, triggering a gunfight.

The OC Uddin said at least 30 to 35 bullets were exchanged between the law enforcers and the PBCP activists, leaving him dead.l

AL leader killed in train accident Correspondent, n Our Habiganj

A local Awami League leader was crushed under the wheels of a train at Harashpur Railway Station in Madhabpur upazila yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Murshed Kamal Moshahid, 36, joint secretary of Lakhai upazila AL unit and former chairman of Bulla union council.

When Kamal got down from a train for water and crushed under the wheels of another train. He died on the spot. SI Osman Gani of Shaistaganj Railway police outpost said. l

man Gani, General Secretary Minarul Haque, Prothom Alo Bandarban Correspondent Debajoyti Chakma, Chanel24’s Faridul Alam and Dainik Janakantha’s S Basu Dash, among others, spoke on the occasion. The speaker said they would launch tougher movement if the attackers were not brought under law soon.

On December 6, some miscreants attacked Jahir Raihan, also a correspondent of Baishakhi television in Bandarban, with sticks in Bandarban Stadium area following publication of a

series of news articles in the Dainik Bir Chattagram Mancha.

The news articles said some leaders and activists of Bandarban district unit and Naikhangchari Upazilla unit of the ruling Awami League were involved in the activities of Rohingya Solidarity Organisation (RSO), an insurgent group in the Arakan state of Myanmar.

On December 4, leaders and activist of Chhatra League, Jubo League, and Shramik League brought out a protest procession against Jahir in Bandarban town. l

Two growers take care of a cabbage field at Sagordighi in Tangail yesterday. Many farmers of the district have cultivated vegetables at mango orchard this year DHAKA TRIBUNE

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Special

7

Monday, December 8, 2014

The maestro of moving times In memory of Professor Khan Sarwar Murshid (July 1, 1924 – December 8, 2012), a distinguished member of the generation that travelled through turbulent times to wrest rich rewards for the nation

Professor Khan Sarwar Murshid

COURTESY

T

n Mizanur Rahman Shelley eacher, writer, diplomat, a top international official Professor Khan Sarwar Murshid is the epitome of his exciting times. His life and work capture the essence of culture and refinement which constitute the mark of modernity and progress.

He happens to be a distinguished member of the generation that travelled through turbulent times to wrest rich rewards for the national society.

Born during the British Colonial rule

Education, the first flame of his life continued to be the last even as he passed the twilight of his life in the second decade of the 21st century

in South Asia, Khan Sarwar Murshid was a young man when the British retreated and the subcontinent achieved freedom.

The price of independence in 1947 was the partition of the land into the new born states of India and Pakistan.

As an inhabitant of the newly created Pakistan, Murshid began his carrier as lecturer of English language and literature in the Dhaka University.

The year was 1948. Savage communal clashes that accompanied the partition created virtual rivers of blood and fire.

Hundreds of thousands were killed, millions displaced. The painful memory of unparalleled human suffering caused by communal frenzy profoundly shocked and hurt the progressive segment of youth to which Murshid belonged. The tragic experience did not diminish these young men and women. If anything, it made stronger their resolve to protect and preserve human values from all savage and barbaric onslaughts.

Murshid remained unflinchingly devoted to the cause throughout his life. As a teacher and cultural activist he worked resolutely to espouse the cause of humanity united in diversity. The vision he pursued from the dawn of intellect is that of a society thriving in harmony despite communal and ethnic differences. A quiet and thoughtful man, he conducted his mission away from the noise and glitter of publicity.

Education, the first flame of his life continued to be the last even as

he passed the twilight of his life in the second decade of the 21st century. Despite a brief though eventful adventure, in other words his prime, his abiding commitment has been to enlightenment through education.

He served as Ambassador of Bangladesh for sometime from 1975 and then as Assistant Secretary-General of the Commonwealth from 1977 to early 80s. He worked in these exalted stations with characteristic competence and patience. The gloss and glitter of those high offices could not hold him captive for long.

He returned to teaching in the Dhaka University in 1982. Earlier, immediately after the liberation of Bangladesh in 1972, he was appointed Vice-Chancellor of the war-ravaged Rajshahi University and virtually rebuilt and rehabilitated it physically and psychologically.

These short sojourns into the worlds of administration and management, national and international, must have put him to stress and strains.

This, however, is the lot of men of contemplation who are compelled by moral imperatives to venture in the world of action. Plato depicts the predicament of the philosophers who have to act when their societies make such action compelling for achievement of the greater good.

In Murshid’s case such compulsions came early. As a young teacher he headed cultural organisations such as Samaskriti Samsad, Dhaka University (1951-53), edited and brought out the prestigious, progressive journal New Values (1949-66) and organised the centenary celebrations of poet Rabindranath Tagore as Secretary General of the celebration committee (1961).

It is to be noted that this was an act of courage in the prevailing situation in which the military regime of the Pakistani dictator Ayub Khan was opposed to such expressions of distinctiveness of Bangali cultural identity.

The zenith of Professor Murshid’s activism for the national cause was reached during the period between 1960s to 70s. At that time he participated, with all dedication in the multi-dimensional process of liberation of Bangladesh.

In 1969 he accompanied Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman to the abortive Round Table Conference held in Rawalpindi. In 1971 he served the Mujibnagar Government as a member of the Planning Commission and untiringly worked for the liberation of the country.

His participation in the challenging and rewarding endeavours for national liberation not only enriched his expe-

rience but also equipped him better to carry on his mission as a teacher first and teacher last.

My encounters with Professor KS Murshid were always encouraging and memorable. As a student of Political Science I did not have the opportunity to be directly taught by him. Nevertheless, our paths crossed time and again from 1959 when I was a student of the first year BA Honours class.

Many of us, though belonging to other disciplines regularly attended the seminars of the English Department which were lively and enriching.

Most of these were chaired by Professor Murshid and his enlightening and witty observations constituted a source of varied knowledge and lasting joy. Classmate Syeda Umme Sufia, student of English who later became my wife, was a devoted student of Professor Murshid and never ceased to praise his capacity and skill as a gifted teacher.

I came closer to Professor Murshid during the period 1964-1967 when I served as teacher of the Political Science department of the Dhaka University. The love and affection he used to bestow upon me as a student continued uninterrupted even after I was inducted into the ranks of his junior colleagues.

His participation in the challenging and rewarding endeavours for national liberation not only enriched his experience but also equipped him better to carry on his mission as a teacher first and teacher last

I was delighted beyond measure to see it published in the next issue of New Values. Before the journal came out Prof Murshid did not say anything but while handing over the number containing my writing he smiled as if to say, “OK, you have made the grade.”

l It was a black day in the history of Dhaka University when noted economist, Chairman of the Department of

Murshid remained unflinchingly devoted to the cause throughout his life. As a teacher and cultural activist he worked resolutely to espouse the cause of humanity united in diversity

I was delighted, almost enthralled, when in 1965 he asked me to review a book for the New Values. The work, “The Invisible Government” by Wise and Ross had created a stir in the intellectual and political circles at that time. It was a well-documented and scathing exposure of the dubious and deceitful operations of the US Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) in furthering the aggressive domination of the American establishment over the world in general, and the US in particular.

I worked hard and produced a critical review but felt apprehensive that Prof Murshid might find it inadequate.

Economics, Professor ANM Mahmud was beaten up by a few hooligans with connections to the government-backed students’ organisation that disliked him because of his leftist views. All teachers of the university and right-thinking students were shocked and outraged.

Dr Murshid was the Secretary-General of the Dhaka University Teachers’ Associations (DUTA) at that time. We the teachers met at the Teachers Club and resolved to condemn the incident.

Representatives of the press were waiting for the press release from the DUTA. Many of them pleaded with us for the statement.

I went to Prof Murshid who was finalising the draft with characteristic caution and care. That took time and the pressmen were impatient. So was I. At one point as the clock ticked on, my impatience spilled over and I blurted out, “Sir, they are waiting. It’s getting late.” “Don’t fret, young man,” said Prof Murshid, “These things need to be prepared with great care.”

In impertinent sarcasm I retorted, “Sir, if you were the editor of a daily it would have come out once in a fortnight!” He stopped correcting the draft, took off his glasses, stared at me with a look of great sadness and pain but did not say anything. He worked quietly on the draft for few more minutes, put the finishing touch on it and gave it to me for typing and distribution.

I did the needful but felt greatly reduce by my unforgivable impudence.

Throughout all these years, almost half a century now, he has never mentioned that sad incidence and has not let it strain our relationship. I have not forgotten. Professor KS Murshid on his part has evidently forgiven me.

Such is the everlasting sense of value of a generous and loving teacher who treats his students and juniors with unparalleled kindness.

As an inspiring teacher of English literature Professor Murshid has taught moving poetry to many generations. “Poets,” he quoted PB Shelley, “are unacknowledged legislators to the world.”

He can add, “So are teachers, because they also shape the destinies of nations and the world by moving the minds of men.” Like many great teachers Professor KS Murshid may not be a poet but, as the noble rhythm of his extraordinary life tells us, “there is a poet in him.” l Mizanur Rahman Shelley is a social scientist, educationist and litterateur.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Monday, December 8, 2014

Chokehold death protest gets violent in California

Syria accused of using chlorine gas on ISIL n Agencies The Syrian government has been accused of using chlorine gas against the Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL), the latest allegations of chemical weapons use in the country’s bitter conflict.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said on Saturday that ISIL fighters showed the effects of a chlorine gas attack as government forces repelled an offensive on a key air base in the country’s east.

The UK-based watchdog, which opposes the government, said some the groups fighters had breathing problems as they attempted to close in on the strategic Deir Ezzor military airport.

Syrian State TV quoted an unnamed military official as saying troops repelled attempts by “terrorists” on several areas near the city of Deir Ezzor

and killed “tens of them and destroyed their vehicles and weapons.”

The station later aired footage of Syrian troops standing near bodies of dead fighters it said were ISIL members who were killed.

SOHR said since ISIL launched their assault on Thursday, 51 of Assad’s forces and 68 ISIL fighters had been killed, including two French citizens.

One of the last government-held areas in Deir Ezzor province, the outpost is used by the regime to mount raids on ISIL positions in several areas across the country.

ISIL controls most of Deir Ezzor province, but half the provincial capital remains in government hands.

The oil-rich province lies between ISIL-controlled Raqqa province and the border with Iraq, and is a key prize for ISIL which declared an widely unrecognised Islamic “caliphate” straddling the two countries in June. l

Iran ‘confirms strikes against ISIL’ n Agencies A protester flees as police officers try to disperse a crowd comprised largely of student demonstrators during a protest in Berkeley, California early yesterday

n AP, New York Mostly peaceful protests of a grand jury’s decision not to indict a white police officer in the chokehold death of an unarmed black man continued around the country, but authorities said a march in California turned violent when demonstrators smashed windows and threw bricks and rocks at police.

A Berkeley police officer received hospital treatment for a dislocated shoulder after being hit with a sandbag, while another sustained minor injuries,

police spokeswoman Jenn Coats said.

She said several businesses were looted and damaged during the march Saturday night, and officers attempting to get the crowd to disperse used tear gas. Some squad cars were also damaged.

Authorities did not provide further details of any injuries or arrests. “The total number of arrests and injuries is not known at this time,” Coats said.

Thousands of demonstrators have protested peacefully in New York and elsewhere since the announcement Wednesday that a grand jury declined to

indict a white officer in the death of Eric Garner, a black man who gasped “I can’t breathe!” while being placed in a chokehold as he was being arrested for selling loose, untaxed cigarettes. The decision closely followed a Ferguson, Missouri, grand jury’s choice not to indict a white officer in the fatal shooting of Michael Brown, an unarmed black 18-year-old.

The scope of the demonstrations and the lack of violence were moving to Garner’s mother and widow, they said Saturday.

“It is just so awesome to see how the crowds are out there,” said Eric

At least 13 killed in failed US bid to rescue hostages in Yemen n Reuters, Sanaa/Aden A woman, a 10-year-old boy and a local al Qaeda leader were among at least 11 people killed alongside two Western hostages when US-led forces battled militants in a failed rescue mission in Yemen, residents said on Sunday.

US special forces raided the village of Dafaar in Shabwa province, a militant stronghold in southern Yemen, shortly after midnight on Saturday, killing several members of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP).

American journalist Luke Somers, 33, and South African teacher Pierre Korkie, 56, were shot and killed by their captors during the raid intended to secure the hostages’ freedom, US officials said.

US special forces who tried to rescue photojournalist Luke Somers from al-Qaeda in Yemen were not aware of the identity of the other hostage held with him, a US official has told the BBC. A charity working with Mr Korkie said he was to have been freed on Sunday.

Its statement said the US rescue attempt had “destroyed everything.”

The US says the raid in southern Yemen was launched because they believed there was an immediate threat to Somers’ life. AQAP, formed in 2006 by the merger of the Yemeni and Saudi branches of the network, has for years been seen by Washington as one of the movement’s most dangerous branches.

Western governments fear an advance by Shi’ite Muslim Houthi fighters with links to Iran has bolstered support among Yemeni Sunnis for AQAP, which has established itself in parts of south and east Yemen. l

Six Guantanamo prisoners sent to Uruguay for resettlement n Reuters, Washington Six men held for more than a decade at the US military prison at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, were sent to Uruguay for resettlement on Sunday, the Pentagon said, the latest step in a slow-moving effort by the Obama administration to close the facility.

The release of the four Syrians, a Tunisian and a Palestinian, who were flown to South America aboard a US military plane, represented the largest single group to leave the internationally condemned US detention camp since 2009.

President Barack Obama took office nearly six years ago promising to shut the prison, citing its damage to America’s image around the world. But he has been unable to do so, partly because of obstacles posed by the US Congress. l

Tests confirm remains of one of 43 abducted Mexican students

n Reuters Tests have identified the remains of one of 43 trainee teachers abducted 10 weeks ago in southwestern Mexico, a source close to the investigation said on Saturday, apparently confirming a feared massacre the government has blamed on drug gang henchmen.

The brazen attack has sent shockwaves through Mexico, shining a spotlight on the nexus between impunity, corruption and drug gangs that has blighted Latin America’s No.2 economy for years.

President Enrique Pena Nieto is facing his deepest crisis over his government’s handling of the probe. The government says the students were murdered and incinerated, their remains then tipped into a garbage dump and a river.

Thousands marched in Mexico City on Saturday evening, chanting “Out Pena” and “They were taken alive, we want them alive.”

“If these disappearances and executions have grown over the years, it is because the authorities have permitted this to happen,” said Itzel Silva, a 38-year-old human rights lawyer. “People are fed up with impunity.” l

REUTERS

Garner’s mother, Gwen Carr, who added that she ended up stuck in her car after protests shut down traffic.

“I was just so proud of that crowd,” Carr said. “It just warmed my heart.”

Garner’s widow, Esaw Garner, said she saw demonstrators from her apartment window and told her son, “Look at all the love that your father’s getting.”

Officers have said the outcry over the grand jury decision has left them feeling betrayed and demonised by everyone from the president and the mayor to throngs of protesters who scream at them on the street. l

A senior Iranian official has confirmed his country carried out air strikes in neighbouring Iraq against Islamic State of the Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) fighters at the request of Iraqi authorities, Britain’s Guardian newspaper has reported.

It quoted Deputy Foreign Minister Ebrahim Rahimpour as saying the strikes were not coordinated with the United States, which is also waging an air campaign against the armed group that controls large parts of north and west Iraq.

Meanwhile, Iraq’s defence ministry, on Sunday, denied that any Iranian fighter jets had targeted ISIL hideouts in Iraqi airspace.

The purpose of the strikes was “the defence of the interests of our friends

in Iraq,” the newspaper quoted Rahimpour as saying in an interview in London on Saturday.

“We did not have any coordination with the Americans. We have coordinated only with the Iraqi government,” he said.

“In general, every military operation to help the Iraqi government is according to their requests.”

Rahimpour’s reported comments were the first from an Iranian official confirming Iran’s role in the air strikes in the Iraqi province of Diyala, which borders Iran, in late November.

On Wednesday, an Iranian official had denied that Iran had launched any such strikes.

Iraq’s Prime Minister Haider al-Abbadi said on Wednesday he had no knowledge of Iranian air strikes. l

Unholy row as nativity scene ban divides France n Guardian It has been called the nativity war. A French court’s ban on a nativity scene in a town hall in order to preserve France’s secular traditions has triggered a fierce backlash.

“Why not ban Christmas and the public holidays that go with it?” thundered Le Parisien on Sunday. Its headline read: “Spare us a nativity war.” According to the newspaper, 86% of more than 12,000 readers surveyed were in favour of keeping nativity scenes in public places.

The court in Nantes ordered regional authorities in the western town of La Roche-sur-Yon to remove the crib from its building’s entrance hall, after a complaint from the secular campaign group Fédération Nationale de la Libre Pensée.

The council is appealing against the decision with the support of national politicians including the Front National leader Marine Le Pen, who described it as “stupid and blinkered secularism.”

The local senator, Bruno Retailleau, issued a statement saying: “Next we’ll be banning epiphany cakes at the Élysée Palace.”

The Nantes tribunal invoked a 1905 law that enshrines the separation of state and church. But other town halls are fighting similar decisions. In the southern town of Béziers, the FN-supported mayor, Robert Ménard, is refusing to dismantle a crib in the town hall in defiance of a letter from the prefect ordering him to respect the constitutional and legislative principles guaranteeing secularism. Authorities in Melun, south-east of Paris, where a nativity scene has been set up in the town hall gardens for the past 10 years, are awaiting

Picture taken of a nativity scene displayed at the Beziers city hall on December 5. The mayor of Beziers, supported by the French far right Front national party (FN), Robert Menard wants to keep the Christmas creche installed in the town hall, despite of a letter of the Herault’s prefect urging him ‘to reconsider his project’ arguing that it violates the principles of secularism AFP a court ruling.

The controversy comes as the government is anxious not to be seen as discriminating against only Muslims, who have been banned from wearing burqas or niqabs in public. But critics say the government is leaning too far the other way to protect the country’s secular traditions.

Nadine Morano, an outspoken deputy with the centre-right UMP party, said “secularism must not kill our country, our roots and our traditions.”

A sociologist, Jean Baubérot, claimed the upholding of France’s religious “neutrality” had become an increasingly

aggressive and repressive secularism affecting Islam.

“The anti-Islamic climate is causing a crackdown on other religions,” he told Le Nouvel Observateur weekly magazine.

But, he added, the law is the law, and “cribs are a religious symbol that has no place in a public space.”

France is struggling to contain sectarian tensions. The interior minister, Bernard Cazeneuve, speaking after the brutal robbery of a Jewish couple in a Paris suburb last week, announced on Sunday that the fight against racism and antisemitism would be a “national cause.” l

Israel opens new investigations into Gaza war n Agencies The Israeli military has ordered eight new criminal investigations into cases involving Palestinian civilian casualties in this summer’s Gaza war, a move that is seen as another attempt to head off international probe into the case.

More than 2,100 Palestinians, mostly civilians, were killed during the 50day conflict, according to Palestinian and UN estimates.

While Israel is accused of deliberately targeting civilian infrastructures, Tel Aviv says the number of civilians killed was much lower than reported and accuses Hamas, the group ruling the strip, of using them as human shields.

On the Israeli side, 66 soldiers and six civilians died.

“While we’re all pleased about this development, we can’t really expect that these investigations will be effective,” Emily Omer-Man, legal director of the Yesh Din Security Forces Accountability Project, told Al Jazeera from Tel Aviv.

“Previous investigations carried out by the Israeli Defence Forces have really fallen short of international standards of investigating,” Omer-Man said, adding that two key elements are independence and impartiality.

She added that Israel’s penal code has no room for holding commanders accountable, which means higher ranks

are never investigated or indicted.

Israel has referred about 100 cases to legal examination and 85 of them are currently under various stages of review.

“During and in the aftermath of the operation, the Military Advocate General received complaints regarding alleged incidents on behalf of Palestinian residents or by non-governmental organisations, Israeli, Palestinian and international,” Major General Danny Efroni said in a statement from the Israeli army.

Israel’s military advocate general says a professional fact-finding mechanism has helped decide which cases to investigate. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Monday, December 8, 2014

Typhoon howls through Philippines More than 1 million flee

n Reuters, Manila

Strong winds and waves brought by Typhoon Hagupit pound the seawall in Legazpi City, Albay province southern Luzon yesterday

REUTERS

China slams Philippines over South China Sea n AP, Beijing

Ponzi schemes resurface as multistate cooperative societies

China on Sunday again rejected an attempt by the Philippines to challenge its vast territorial claims over the South China Sea through international arbitration, a week before a deadline for Beijing to respond to the case.

China prefers to settle its disputes in discussions with the countries directly involved. However, after China took control of a disputed shoal following a naval standoff with the Philippines near its coastline, Manila filed a case early last year with a tribunal operating under the UN Convention of the Law of the Sea. It provides a regulatory framework for the use of the world’s seas and oceans.

Xu Hong, director general of the Foreign Ministry’s Department of Treaty and Law, said the Philippines was “obstinately pushing forward arbitration procedures” and urged it to negotiate with Beijing instead. He told reporters that China was committed to rejecting and not participating in the arbitration proceedings.

However the arbitration works, “it won’t change the history or the facts of China’s sovereignty over the South China Sea islands as well as the adjacent waters,” Xu said.

The document released Sunday elaborates on China’s previous arguments that territorial sovereignty is beyond the scope of the tribunal.

The Philippine government will study China’s paper and may issue a response later. l

n Agencies

US hands Pakistan senior militant detained in Afghanistan n Reuters, Kabul The United States has handed to Pakistan three prisoners including a senior Taliban militant held in Afghanistan, as Washington rushes to empty its Afghan prison before losing the legal right to detain people there at the end of the year.

US forces captured Latif Mehsud, the former number two commander in Pakistan’s faction of the Taliban, in October 2013, in an operation that angered then Afghan president Hamid Karzai.

Mehsud, a Pakistani, and his two guards were secretly flown to Pakistan, two senior Pakistani security officials told Reuters. The US military confirmed it transferred three prisoners to Pakistan’s custody on Saturday, but would not reveal their identities.

“TTP senior commander Latif Mehsud who was arrested was handed over to Pakistani authorities along with his guards,” one Pakistani security official said. “They reached Islamabad.”

The transfers coincide with a visit by outgoing US Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to Afghanistan.

They also follow a spate of US drone strikes against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP), or Pakistani Taliban, and al Qaeda. On Saturday, the Pakistani military killed an al Qaeda commander accused of plotting to bomb the New York subway.

The TTP is separate but allied to the Afghan Taliban. Both work alongside al Qaeda. l

After having made themselves scarce for more than a year in West Bengal, Ponzi schemes seem to be back in business in the state under a new garb, that of the ‘multi-state cooperative society’.

“We recently conducted an inquiry and found that certain organisations, by obtaining registration as a multistate cooperative credit society (MSCS) from the Centre, are raising money from the common public by promising huge returns. Neither do they have a no-objection certificate from the state nor any kind of RBI permission,” State Cooperative Minister Jyotirmoy Kar told PTI.

“We suspect that chit-fund companies/Ponzi schemes which used to operate in the eastern states may be using the guise of MSCS to raise money. These companies may be taking advantage of the MSCS Act to evade legal action,” he said.

After the Saradha bubble burst in April, 2013, several Ponzi schemes and chit-fund companies had to wind up their operations as central and state agencies cracked the whip amid protests by lakhs of defrauded investors.

MSCS is cooperative society which operates in more than one state and has a minimum of 50 members in one state.

According to officials of the state

cooperative department, the MSCS acts as a good option for chit-fund companies as it more or less matches their pattern of collecting money and operations.

Kar said the matter first came to light a few months ago when he received a complaint from a woman in East Midnapore district that a MSCS organisation took Rs 70 lakh with a promise of huge returns but was now untraceable.

According to Kar, it was found that around 100 MSCS are functioning in various districts of the state and are raising money from the common people with promises of huge returns on recurring and fixed deposits. l

Switzerland tells India: Come with proof, not for ‘fishing expedition’ n Agencies As India continues its pursuit of black money allegedly stashed abroad, Switzerland has said it would not entertain any “fishing expedition” and authorities cannot ask for names of all Indian account holders in Swiss banks without doing their own independent investigations.

Switzerland’s Ambassador to India Linus von Castelmur also said the past cannot be undone, while promising full support of his country in cases where at least some proof is provided on tax frauds.

He, however, agreed that all the money deposited in Swiss banks might not have always been “taxed money” in the past, as Switzerland was a major destination for several decades when money would flow in from different sources.

The Ambassador said cooperation

by Swiss authorities cannot take place on the basis of stolen lists of account holders and would need independent probes by Indian agencies and at least a prima facie proof of tax frauds.

“We understand and appreciate India’s concerns on the matter. We need clear understanding on the issue,” Castelmur told PTI in an interview.

“I think one part of the issue is dealing with the past and Switzerland was destination for several decades where money flowed in from difference sources and that was no always a tax money,” he said.

The issue of black money suspected to be stashed abroad, including in Swiss banks, has been a matter of intense debate in India for years.

The matter has been in focus recently with the Opposition parties accusing the government of going back on its promise to bring back black money from overseas within 100 days of its coming to power. l

A powerful, slow-moving typhoon pounded through the central Philippines on Sunday, bringing howling winds that toppled trees and power lines and cut off communications to areas still scarred by a super-storm just over a year ago.

Typhoon Hagupit did not appear to have wreaked devastation on the same scale as last year’s deadly Typhoon Haiyan, but officials cautioned that the picture remained incomplete with many of the first areas to feel the storm’s force still cut off.

More than 1 million people had fled to shelters away from coastal areas and landslide-prone villages by the time Typhoon Hagupit slammed into the town of Dolores, on the eastern coast of Samar island, on Saturday night.

“We need to punch through up to Dolores to see the impact there, that’s where the landfall was, we need to see

so we can report back to Manila,” Interior Secretary Manuel Roxas told a local radio interview from Samar.

The radio report described Roxas as traveling by motorbike to oversee workers using chainsaws to clear huge fallen trees.

Most of the houses, made of light materials, on both sides of the road were destroyed and residents lined the route asking for food, water and other supplies. Roofs were blown away while thatched houses were lifted and dumped meters away.

Hagupit, which days earlier had reached category 5 “super typhoon” strength as it churned across the Pacific Ocean, weakened on Sunday to category 2 as it made a second landfall at Cataingan town in the south of Masbate island.

There were no initial reports of the kinds of storm surges that were so destructive during Typhoon Haiyan, which killed more than 7,000 people across the central Philippines. l

Mamata: ‘BJP are men of riots’ n Agencies Launching a scathing attack on the BJP, West Bengal Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee said on Saturday that the BJP leaders were “men of riots.”

Addressing a rally organised by the TMC’s minority cell to observe “Babri Masjid demolition day,” she slammed the BJP for playing communal politics and said, “The Lotus party only loves the Lotus religion and spews out venom about all other religions.”

While Mamata was not scheduled to attend the meeting, she sprung a surprise by cancelling prior commitments and reaching the venue. “I was not scheduled to attend this meeting as I had some other programmes. But I could not resist myself from attending this meeting. So I came here to speak to you,” she said.

Reiterating her stand on the NIA in-

vestigation into the Burdwan blast, Mamata said, “These people are destroying the communal harmony here. They are arresting people from here and there and then they are labelling them as terrorist. They are terming all the madrasas as terror centre … Who are these people?

They have spent their whole life instigating communal violence and riots.

They are made of riots from head to toe and kidney to liver,” she said.

Saying that criminals do not have any religion she said, “The criminals should be punished. But one should not blame an entire community for one person’s crime. In Bengal, we have our minority brothers, who are 30% of the total population. We have to look after them and we are always with them.” Her remarks at the meeting came at a time when the people from minority community in the state were reportedly started joining the BJP. l

Uber taxi driver held over alleged rape in India n AP Indian police have arrested a driver from the international taxi-booking service Uber over an alleged rape in the capital, Delhi.

Shiv Kumar Yadav, 32, was held in his home town of Mathura, about 100 miles away. He is due to appear in court in Delhi on Monday.

Police said the complainant was returning from a dinner engagement on Friday night and used Uber’s mobile app to hire a cab to drive her home.

She said she fell asleep during the ride,

then when she woke up the car was parked in a secluded place and the driver threatened and then raped her, the Press Trust of India reported.

Uber said on Saturday that it had suspended the driver’s account and was cooperating with authorities.

On Sunday dozens of students scuffled with officers as they tried to enter the police headquarters in Delhi to protest against the rising number of rapes in the capital.

The protesters, from the All India Students Association, dispersed after an hour-long demonstration.l

N Korea denies ‘righteous’ Sony hack n AP, Seoul North Korea released a statement Sunday that clearly relished a cyberattack on Sony Pictures, which is producing an upcoming film that depicts an assassination plot against Pyongyang’s supreme leader.

While denying responsibility for an attack last week that disrupted Sony’s computer system and spewed confidential information onto the Internet, an unidentified spokesman for the North’s powerful National Defense Commission acknowledged that it “might be a righteous deed of the supporters and sympathizers” of the North’s call for the world to turn out in a “just struggle” against U.S. imperialism.

“We do not know where in America the Sony Pictures is situated and for what wrongdoings it became the target of the attack, nor (do) we feel the need to know about it,” the statement carried in state media said.

“But what we clearly know is that the Sony Pictures is the very one which was going to produce a film abetting a terrorist act while hurting the dignity of the supreme leadership of” North Korea.

North Korea has built a cult of personality around the Kim family, which has ruled for three generations, and sees any outside criticism or mockery

of its leader as an attack on its sovereignty. It recently opened fire on anti-Pyongyang propaganda balloons that North Korean defectors in the South were floating across the border into the North.

The Sony movie in question, “The Interview,” is a comedy starring Seth Rogen and James Franco, and its plot concerns an attempt on the life of leader Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang is not amused.

The statement said the North’s enemies, the United States and South Korea, had “groundlessly linked the hacking attack with” Pyongyang, but the denial also included a threat.

The United States should know that “there are a great number of supporters and sympathizers with (North Korea) all over the world as well as the ‘champions of peace’ who attacked the Sony Pictures,” the statement said.

“The righteous reaction will get stronger to smash the evil doings.”

Some cybersecurity experts say they’ve found striking similarities between the code used in the hack of Sony Pictures Entertainment and attacks blamed on North Korea that targeted South Korean companies and government agencies last year.

Experts are divided, however, over the likelihood that North Korea or independent hackers were involved. l

Visitors stand next to a JF-17 Thunder fighter jet during the last day of the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar ‘IDEAS 2014’ in Karachi December 4 REUTERS

Pakistan aiming for jet boost to defence exports n AFP A revamped version of Pakistan’s JF17 jet fighter took centre stage at a defence exhibition in Karachi this week as the restive nuclear-armed state looks to boost its role as a military exporter on the world stage. Pakistan’s large, well-funded military has long been a major importer of defence equipment, particularly from key ally China.

But Pakistan is hoping the updated JF-17, conceived and initially developed with the help of China, along with Pakistani-made tanks and surveillance

drones, will help grow military exports and bring in much-needed foreign exchange revenue. Pakistan’s forex reserves are slowly recovering after falling to just $3bn in November 2013, from nearly $15bn in 2011.

But the economy is still shackled by a long-running energy crisis and growth remains sluggish, predicted at 4.3% this financial year.

The new JF-17, which is manufactured at the Pakistan Aeronautical Complex (PAC) just west of Islamabad, was among the key exhibits at the four-day International Defence Exhibi-

tion and Seminar (IDEAS) event.

The plane will initially be handed over to the Pakistan Air Force (PAF), which is currently carrying out air strikes against Taliban militants in the northwest. “We will hand over 16 Block-II JF-17s to the PAF every year,” said Air Marshal Javaid Ahmad.

He said the first five would be delivered this month and the plant has the capacity to produce 25 aircraft per year.

The air force started using the first edition of the JF-17 in 2010, having historically relied on US imports during its wars with India. l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Monday, December 8, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Listen to our exporters

Be heard

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eak infrastructure and overstretched port facilities are major bottlenecks to our economy’s ability to grow exports.

The government needs to listen to pleas from exporters and make faster progress on developing new deep sea port facilities.

It should give more priority to following up the interest expressed by China and major port companies such as DP World in improving connectivity and developing a new deep sea port.

We need to improve our port capacity anyway to meet the growing needs of our economy. Bangladesh also needs to catch up quickly with progress being made by competing nations such as Myanmar and Sri Lanka, in order to take full advantage of our key location between the markets of South and South East Asia.

For Bangladesh’s RMG industry to meet the Apparel Summit’s target of $50bn in exports by 2021, the work being done by stakeholders to improve safety and working conditions needs to be matched by increasing national investment in infrastructure.

The BGMEA is right to have highlighted the four Ps of port, power, place (land), and politics (stability and low-cost funds) as the major obstacles holding back investment in the economy.

Only about 3% of our GDP is currently spent on infrastructure, compared to up to 15% in China. The ADB has estimated that to sustainably grow the economy and help reduce poverty, Bangladesh should invest $7bn to $10bn in infrastructure annually over the next 10 years.

The government needs to act on the concerns expressed by exporters and release these bottlenecks to growth.

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

Space for radicalism?

Develop deep sea port and infrastructure to remove bottlenecks to investment

Secure land for sustainable factories

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he BGMEA is to be commended for supporting initiatives to reduce the negative environmental impacts of factories.

Its promotion of the Partnership for Cleaner Textiles (Pact) at this week’s Apparel Summit provides a welcome sign that sustainability is being addressed with the seriousness it deserves.

Projects to ensure zero discharge of hazardous chemicals, by building modern effluent treatment plants alongside RMG factories, and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by increasing energy efficiency and renewable generation, are essential to improve environmental sustainability.

While the spotlight is focused on vital government and stakeholder initiatives to improve factory safety and working conditions, it is equally timely and important that the BGMEA raise awareness of the value of incorporating sustainability into future planning decisions.

Consumers, buyers, and investors all around the world will increasingly prioritise long-term sustainability in their business decisions. As Bangladesh’s leading industrial employer, the RMG sector has to take and show a lead in adopting the best practices and technologies to improve business and environmental sustainability.

Many of the problems of poor safety and weak infrastructure which have cost lives and held back the industry, are a legacy of the way it historically developed in non-purpose-built residential buildings.

The government owns or controls a lot of idle or unproductive state land. It should lease or sell more of these lands for building modern, safer, cleaner factories such as at the planned 470 acre RMG Industrial Park at Bausia in Munshiganj.

By helping relocation in this way, it can secure jobs and growth by building a safer, more sustainable industry.

Government should lease or sell idle state land for building cleaner, new, safe factories

November 23

Richard Parker You are right on the money in your assessment of the threat of religious militancy.

Yes, the current state of polity, with the hallmark of a single-party setup, has a lot to do with it. It’s as if the government is inviting militancy by denying space to political opponents.

Paraphrasing Lyndon Johnson: It’s prudent to have the religious parties inside the tent urinating out, than outside the tent urinating in. Certain members in the governing party don’t get it, I guess.

PM: Take action against foreigners staying illegally

December 2

Bijoy Fahim Kono “The duration of visa and work permit of every foreign national should also be verified by the authorities concerned, the prime minister said.”

Just watch. There won’t be any action implemented.

Cement tanker topples over

December 2

S M Intisar Kabir “Carrying far more weight than its capacity, a cement tanker finally gives up and turns over near Bangabhaban in the

RS Such religious parties should not get the chance to spread terrorism in the country. Effective measures should be taken to eliminate them.

Karl Hungus There should be a more poignant way to tackle this thorny issue than just another “my way or the highway” solution.

December 2

Nazmul Khair “The woman was reportedly raped by an assistant kazi when she came to collect her nuptialdocument (Kabin nama).”

How funny! What a nation we live in!

Moghbazar is one of the busiest areas of the city. In the middle of Dhaka, during office hours, a woman is violated and no one can hear her scream.

SUDOKU How to solve: Fill in the blank spaces with the numbers 1 – 9. Every row, column and 3 x 3 box must contain all nine digits with no number repeating.

Put pedestrians first November 24

SE Apart from training the pedestrians to make use of walkways and footbridges, the police should also be stringent with the reckless drivers and provide instructions to them as well.

Anjali Khatun “Bad and reckless driving is the prime cause of accidents and congestion. It is naive to scapegoat pedestrians.”

Jaywalking is a ridiculous concept. The whole point of cities is that people should be able to go around on foot/public transport easily. Putting selfish car users first is pure folly for a denselypopulated city such as Dhaka.

November 23

Woman allegedly raped at capital Kazi office

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

PNB IMO, the premise that shrinking political space is driving extremists underground, and hence removing them from any accountability, is overstated.

The extremists in the form of Jamaat were members of the cabinet when the August 21 grenade attack on the then leadership of the opposition took place. In politics, one cannot be more mainstream than as an active part of the government.

They worked actively to entrench extremism and fundamentalism in our body politic from a highly visible political space and full government patronage. The time has certainly come to redress the balance.

Get ready for more start-ups

capital’s Gulistan area.”

That cement tanker is very popular in Dhaka.

Whenever it enters a narrow lane, a huge jam occurs.

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 21 represents H so fill H every time the figure 21 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.

Foxymophandlemama “Cut red tape and encourage clusters of expertise to help entrepreneurs.”

This is some good, good advice to the powersthat-be.

Be nice to your neighbours

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Landed property (6) 4 Spoil (3) 7 Permission (5) 8 Leaping antelope (6) 11 Tear (3) 12 Sporting side (4) 13 Require (4) 15 Wander off (5) 16 Airman (5) 20 Domestic animals (4) 23 Not any (4) 24 Resinous substance (3) 25 Seesaw (6) 26 Nimble (5) 27 Marry (3) 28 Incentive (6)

DOWN 1 Sends out (5) 2 Unyielding (7) 3 Dash (4) 4 Female horse (4) 5 Greedy (4) 6 Corded fabric (3) 9 Came into contact (3) 10 Equality (3) 14 Distinguished (7) 17 Fate (3) 18 United (3) 19 Concise (5) 20 Wired enclosure (4) 21 Sour (4) 22 Plant’s support (4) 24 Jurisprudence (3)

November 23

Srinivasan Krishnaswamy As an Indian who can speak Bengali, I really hope that India-Bangladesh relations improve. Free movement of goods is desirable. However, free movement of people can be dangerous. As we have seen in the last two months, a lot of terrorists have been moving freely across the border and planning attacks on both countries. The visa application process must be made easier, but there should be a record of the people crossing.

Tazreen Fashions Fire: Accused still free to walk the streets

CALVIN AND HOBBES

November 24

Dr Ahsan Habib Still, our commerce minister, continues to claim all issues regarding the garments industry are resolved, and continues to blame the US for not giving GSP privileges to Bangladesh. First of all, clean up your own act, minister. Then point fingers.

Make child rights a living reality November 24 rose Every child has the right to achieve education, and our society should take every measure to ensure that.

PEANUTS

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Time to enact the law

November 24 Lisa Yes, the government should definitely enact the judges’ recruitment law, like our neighbouring countries and Great Britain, as the writer discussed.

The past is not a foreign country for us

November 24 Evil People Politics “As people do not see the benefits of change in the future, going back to the past may not be unacceptable.” The past really is not a foreign country to us, but maybe that’s not such a

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Monday, December 8, 2014

Music slowing down for banks n Abdullah-Al-Rezwan

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Taking shelter in nature

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How Bhutan does it

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n Towheed Feroze haka streets are adorned with unique flags featuring a dragon. The only difference is that this dragon hardly spews fire. It releases (or so we are made to believe) peace and harmony. Bhutan, the state nestled within the Himalayas, is hardly in any negative news. Let peace be intertwined with living – the mantra has worked to a great degree.

However, I was a bit surprised when a report on rising suicide cases in Bhutan caught my eye a few years ago. As per the report, there had been cases of suicide in the face of old-age complications, unemployment, and stress.

But then, only one report can’t smear the country’s image as a place where the pursuit of mental peace supersedes most other concerns. At least Bhutan is not inexorably sucked into the vortex of rapacious capitalism and its endless by-products of woe.

To cut the clichés – it’s no spotless paradise either, but in a world where most cities and towns reek of selfish consumerism, Bhutan’s airport city Paro, and the capital Thimphu, still manage to ignite the dormant philosopher in a person.

Despite the insidious entry of the lure of capitalist comforts, the GNH (Gross National Happiness) issue still manages to be the prime objective. Of course, to keep pace with the world, one simply cannot remain a recluse; and opening up means allowing a lot of elements – both good and bad – to enter the country.

Surprisingly, Bhutan has managed to cling on to its unique identity because, despite the inclusion of TV and other modern-day gadgets, extracting purity from nature is unquestionably a major part of their lives, advocated diligently at all levels of education and social life.

Interestingly, while Bhutan exports a large amount of fruit-based products to Bangladesh, for most Bangladeshis, the Himalayan Kingdom is a bit of an enigma. After talking to a tourist agency, I found out that very few people ever think of Bhutan as their first choice for a holiday destination.

Once the happiness philosophy is taught to our bickering politicians, some sense will begin to develop

The GNH stresses on the idea where a bond between man and nature intertwine to create moments of unsullied peace. Be practical – this definitely does not imply that one leave all material pursuits, become an ascetic or a mendicant. The problem is that sometimes, the spirit of GNH is misunderstood to an extent where people think that it only espouses spiritual fulfilment. Creating a balance between the two is the essence.

Even in the capital, the word “rush” will seem incongruous. As a visitor a few years ago, what struck me was the relaxed poise of the canine group on Thimphu’s main roads. They looked happy and well-fed. A tourist remarked: “See, even the dogs look happy.”

Maybe, we are not comfortable with the idea of a tourist spot without major shopping options. Immersion in nature and breathing clean air do not spring to mind when the plans for a getaway are made. Hence, for many of us, the concept of GNH is a bit elusive.

As Dhaka is hosting the Bhutanese PM, and talks are underway to import hydro-power from the mountainous state, efforts need to be made to bring some of their philosophies here too, because as days go by, we become overwhelmed by machinations, treachery, double-dealing, and the soul-destroying pretences of urban life.

The smiles we wear are makebelieve, the lines we utter cautiously chosen, the moves we make very strategic, and eventually, life is just

a well-choreographed stage piece.

Communion with nature is not in the picture.

I have nothing against materialism.

In fact, growth will be spurred when people want more from life. However, inner peace can come only through introspection within natural settings.

In Thimphu, there are plenty of places to forget the drudgery of life. Sorry, but Dhaka only has a few.

Our city, which was once a town of ponds, greenery, and haunting shades formed by countless rows of large trees, is the capital of cacophony now.

To be realistic, Dhaka will only become more mechanised. So, maybe if we try to culture the notion of GNH, some rural areas can be transformed into weekend sanctuaries.

I am certain that once the happiness philosophy is taught to our bickering politicians, some sense will begin to develop. For instance, leaders won’t make obtuse remarks in public that smell of autocracy and refrain from lighting a cigarette at a public forum, or use the roads with their VIP sirens to muscle out others.

No, I am not hoping for wonders.

Just a few basic changes so we don’t look coarse in front of the world. One last thing: How about sending some of our aviation officials to serve at the Paro airport? At least for some time, they will have to speak softly, smile wide, and adopt a friendly demeanour.

You never know, some of these good habits may become permanent. l

he extended party for banks in the last decade seemed almost ceaseless. The night continued to seem young. But as it happens, after a night full of wild but vague memories, the morning sun doesn’t always come with the enlightenment you would have liked.

Thanks to an unprecedented compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 20.3% in credit in emerging Asia, compared to the global credit growth of 7.2% in the last decade, the profitability of many emerging Asian banks skyrocketed. In fact, the collective revenues of emerging market banks saw a meteoric rise from $268bn in 2002 to $1.4tn in 2012. Even the global financial crisis didn’t hit hard in many emerging markets.

As the global financial crisis deeply affected the Eurozone and other developed economies, capital inflows increased significantly to emerging markets. While the quantitative easing resulted in an influx of capital inflows, the reversal of it, which is known as “tapering,” poses some serious questions to future credit growth in emerging economies.

Following the credit boom, almost everyone in the emerging market is finding it difficult to rein in the rising Non-Performing Loans (NPL). The focus has now shifted to creating a strong culture of risk within the banks.

Bangladeshi banks too have found themselves in the myriad of NPLs, and the banks’ profitability took a severe hit in the process. But like I already mentioned, we are hardly in a unique situation here. The banking sector of almost all of the countries in the subcontinent are troubled with rising NPLs. Of course, it’s not the exact same factors that are affecting these countries simultaneously. For example, the change in loan classification policy in 2012 and an extended political instability have been among the predominant factors in the rising NPL here in Bangladesh. NPL has actually increased further to 11.6%, as the effect of a relaxed rescheduling policy

Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

formulated in December 2013 has been diminished.

In fact, banking regulations throughout the world are getting even more stringent with the impending implementation of Basel III. Basel III prescribes banks to maintain a liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) of at least 100%, which requires banks to have high quality liquid assets to fully cover total net cash outflows over the next 30 days. LCR is mainly intended to equip banks in maintaining stability in a short-term stress scenario.

Basel III does not only stop at maintaining short-term bank stability, it has also suggested a net stable funding ratio (NSFR) to be above 100% so that banks remain stable even in the long-term. Stable funding sources, by definition, must be reliable over a one-year period under conditions of extended stress.

In addition to the capital conservation buffer of 2.5%, Basel III introduces another capital buffer – the countercyclical capital buffer – in the range of 0-2.5% of the RWA which could be imposed on banks during periods of excess credit growth.

Basel III recommends a minimum leverage ratio of 3% for banks. In 2013, except for five banks, all the banks in Bangladesh had leverage ratios of more than 5%.

This barrage of regulations will be phased in by the next five years. Of course, developed market banks will be affected too. But many emerging market banks, in addition, will have to deal with the rising NPL first. If the banks become extra conscious in lending, it may result in credit crunch. This is not really a concern for us at the moment though, as our banking sector has excess liquidity at the moment.

McKinsey estimates the credit growth in emerging Asia to be 10.7% in 2012-2020, which is still higher than the estimated global credit growth of 7.7% in the same period. Therefore, the music hasn’t totally stopped yet, but it sure won’t be as loud in the next decade. l Abdullah-Al-Rezwan is a freelance contributor.

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Towards an unforeseen sanction n Khawaza Main Uddin

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any of our senior citizens use the word “sanction” to denote the allocation of money for a project. A different connotation of the word is “economic embargo,” which comes from America’s deliberations on a state which Washington has considered to be an aggressor or at least dangerous.

Such punitive action was being discussed, rather speculatively, during the tumultuous days of the one-sided ballot in Bangladesh, although no country had threatened to do so.

The United States has exerted its influence by imposing sanctions on countries such as Iran and North Korea on grounds of nuclear stand-offs, and Russia for annexing Crimea.

Despite the effectiveness of the blockade in weakening a “hostile” regime, it has a price, which is paid by the people of that country. Bangladesh was lucky not to have been perceived as a rogue state.

It’s not in the limelight of crisis either, unlike the cases of Syria, Iraq, Afghanistan, Yemen, Palestine, Egypt, Libya, Sudan, Somalia, Mali, Nigeria, Zimbabwe, and Ukraine which invited global actions. So, given Washington’s long list of priorities, a sanction

against Bangladesh over a boycotted election was not likely.

Communiqué and interactions with diplomats further suggest that the West was unwilling to punish the people by using economic weapons, thanks to our progressive track record, in spite of the undemocratic policies of the party in power.

That kind of stance has presented the Awami League with some much needed relief that it has at least survived in office in the post-January polls period.

The party is, however, reluctant in acknowledging that nobody forgets a two-fold reality: Bangladeshis have been deprived of the opportunity to vote for choosing their representatives, and the main contender for power has been pushed out of parliamentary politics.

Dodging harsh international actions, the administration of Premier Sheikh Hasiina has tried to create the impression that a number of important countries like China and Japan, though not India and Russia, were joining her initiative to build rapprochement, and hence, strengthen economic ties with Bangladesh.

Dhaka is already marketing its stance against Islamist militancy to the West and the Indians to make

Hasina’s stay in power be “taken for granted,” irrespective of her autocratic attitude towards all dissenting voices.

Thus, the regime has amassed enough self-confidence-turned-arrogance.

Simultaneously, it is ignoring the fact that the heart of the national economy is being bled continuously, with a decline in remittances and uncertainty in the export market, stagnation in investment, shrinkage in the domestic job market, fall in sales of apartments, rising corruption, embezzlement of bank money, a sick share market, and revenue shortfalls being observed.

The AL, once again proven poor in economic management, is confident that the commoners won’t understand the technicalities of the economy.

Yet, struggling with depleted popularity at home and occasional embarrassment abroad, Premier Hasina’s trusted men have turned increasingly audacious in their policy pursuit; they don’t care about anyone's opinion, including the lone superpower of the world.

Following suit with his colleagues, AL general secretary and LGRD minister, Syed Ashraful Islam’s “poohpoohing” of Washington’s call for a fresh, inclusive election has exposed the party's collective frustration and

its deliberate policy of embarking on power(s) other than the US for its global pampering.

Awami intellectuals are trying to discover in his discourteous statement a “strong message” which can be sent to the US. Ah! Unpopular regimes often become super-patriotic, smell conspiracies everywhere, or resort to crusades to find an escape route.

The Hasina regime has embraced the “Look East” policy, by attempting to get closer to China, Japan, and also India from where Bangladesh does most of its importing, suffering a huge trade deficit.

Conspicuously, the AL government is not being received cordially in the countries where we export goods and manpower, enjoying a healthy balance

Illegitimate regimes can never ensure a fair share for the nation in any deal with foreign players

The costs of Syed Ashraf’s derogatory remarks may have to be borne by the people alongside the rulers if Washington decides to take any punitive measures. Will his abusive words about American officials help Dhaka in any way to regain the GSP facility in the US market? His cabinet and his party boss too have expressed readiness to sacrifice America’s amity.

of surplus payments. In the multilateral forums, the Padma Bridge corruption scandal remains a stigma for this regime.

Premier Hasina is about to exhaust all options to persuade foreign investors and governments by only making “fervent calls.” She will have nothing to do if investors go to Myanmar, evading Bangladesh, or if the Middle East

doesn’t come to terms with Dhaka on how to resume recruitment of Bangladeshi workers.

Also, if the government can’t deliver on what it pledges with ample lipservicing – land, gas, infrastructure, proper regulatory atmosphere, and stability – Chinese and Japanese investors may eventually shy away.

Still, a section of investors will come in, but only for predatory gains, like the way some multinational corporations go to Nigeria or Iraq for windfall profits. Illegitimate regimes can never ensure a fair share for the nation in any deal with foreign players.

We fear that lest Bangladesh – despite its strategic blessing in Asia and the potential of emerging as a bridge between global powers – is lost in the narrow personal interests of the powermongers who have shown no hesitation in quarantining the country itself.

The current leadership, clearly incapable of matching the thinking of the new generation, may not foresee the undeclared sanction it is courting by its increasing isolationism and missed opportunities for the nation in the global arena. l Khawaza Main Uddin is Executive Editor at ICE Business Times.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, December 8, 2014

13 Hafeez suspended

over bowling action: ICC

14 More records as

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14 Aguero injury

overshadows Man City win

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Kumar Sangakkara has become the 4th player after Tendulkar, Ganguly & Ponting to score 1,000+ ODI runs in a calendar year 6 times

DHAKA PREMIER LEAGUE 2014

Great power, zero responsibility n Minhaz Uddin Khan “With great power comes great responsibility” is a very popular quote derived from Hollywood movie Spiderman, but sometimes the responsible people tend to forget that. Dhaka Premier League – the most (?!) prestigious and the lone 50-over domestic tournament of the country – is considered as the platform for the future cricketers. But, has the team officials acted according to the spirit of cricket in recent times?

A cricket league cannot be based upon the national players only. It has often been the case that a dispute between a club and the cricket board puts a halt in the league as the club refuse to play without the national ‘star’ they signed for the season.

However, one can possibly understand the logic behind refusals of that sort, but the relationship that exists between Lutfur Rahman Badal and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) is hard to explain.

Badal, owner of Legends of Rupganj, has the reputation of building a team comprising big names. He is not shy to flash the wallet and it will also not be wrong to label his side as the “Real Madrid” of Bangladesh cricket. He is amongst the few club owners who clear full payment of the cricketers he hired – a rare appraisal and a good example indeed for the game of cricket.

However, Badal has also proved to be very unsporting and unprofessional when it comes to losing a match.

Frustrations and fingers of blame have always been pointed at the umpires in the game of cricket whenever a team encounter an unwanted result – but Badal seem to have taken the “I am a bad loser” to a whole new level.

He recently used abusive words in

a statement against the BCB while his choice of words has also stunned the cricketing circle. Every action has an opposite and equal reaction – as BCB president Nazmul Hasan responded threatening to take legal action if necessary for LRB’s “disgraceful” comment.

Meanwhile, Rupganj manager Tarikul Islam Tito claimed of being assaulted by some unruly people during his team’s match against Mohammedan Sporting Club at BKSP last Saturday.

Tito claimed the people were sent by irked members of the BCB to create an uneasy and fearful atmosphere around his team’s dressing room throughout the game. According to Tito the group were abusing the players and the officials from the beginning of the match.

What is more alarming is that the unruly bunch chased the players to the dressing room as soon as the match ended while Titu was held inside his own car at the time of departure.

“They asked me to apologise, but when I asked whom will I say sorry to, those unidentified people did not answer back,” said Titu.

This is not the only season Badal has been in the center of trouble in the “not-so-regular” Dhaka Premier League. In 2011-12, Badal, at the helm of Victoria SC, was accused of forging clearance of Pakistani recruit Mohammad Yousuf which saw the league encounter being halted for over a month.

The battle and exchange of heated words between Badal and the BCB are proving nothing but internal politics and personal issues among the two parties. This should not have come thus far. Not only will it affect the sport and the cricketers, the uncalled-for incidents will tarnish the country’s domestic scene too. l

Bangladesh Under-21 hockey players and officials celebrate with the trophy at the Maulana Bhasani Hockey Stadium yesterday

Invincible Bangladesh lift Men’s Jr AHF Cup n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh continued their clinical performance in the Islami Bank Men’s Junior AHF Cup to lift their maiden title of the tournament beating Oman 4-0 in the 1st place decider at the Maulana Bhashani National Hockey Stadium yesterday.

Bangladesh participated in the inaugural edition in 2003 in Karachi and finished third but did not appear in the following editions in 2007 and 2011. In 2004, Bangladesh clinched the title of an invitational Under-21 tournament organised by the Bangladesh Hockey Federation which was, however, not

recognised as an AHF event.

Oman, who lost 0-7 to the hosts in the group stage, forced their way in to the Bangladesh defence in the early minutes with Muhanna Naser Ali and Shafi Talib Nasib while they could have surprised the home side in the third minute, but Salmeen Ahmed Said dragged the ball wide of the side post from a penalty corner.

Bangladesh settled in and adopted a counter attacking strategy which nearly paid off in the ninth minute. Forward Milon Hossain, floating unmarked a few feet away from the Oman post, failed to flick a neat cross of Moinul Islam Koushik.

However, Bangladesh took the expected lead in the 16th minute with Khorshedur Rahman, the penalty corner specialist, hitting the target.

Defender Ashraful Islam doubled the margin in the 24th minute off another beautifully planned penalty corner.

Khorshed Hossain, who usually takes the final drag, pushed the ball to Ashraful as he used the space to rattle the net.

In their fourth penalty corner of the match and three minutes after the resumption, Khorshed deceived the Omani defence with another low drag to increase the margin while the final nail on the coffin was hammered by

Faruk emphasises on stand-by options Mamun hails his n triumphant charges Minhaz Uddin Khan

Chief of the national selection panel, Faruk Ahmed, stressed on the importance of stand-by players in the wake of the announcement of the 30-man preliminary squad for the 2015 ICC World Cup to be co-hosted by Australia-New Zealand.

The three-member selection panel, also comprising former national cricketers Minhajul Abedin and Habibul Bashar, named the Bangladesh squad last Saturday and Faruk said they wanted to select as many back-up players as possible.

“We tried to pick back-up players for each position,” Faruk told the media at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday. “As there are adequate backup players for each position, in the case of injury, I do not think we will suffer much.”

The notable inclusion was that of right-arm off-spinner Sohag Gazi.

Gazi has been undergoing remedial work ever since his bowling action was found to be illegal by the International Cricket Council (ICC).

With a little over two months to go to the global showpiece event Down Under, Gazi still had time to script a comeback. However, Faruk said the off-spinner’s form has not been pleasing enough.

“He (Gazi) is in the remedial process but the fact is he could not show any eye-catching performance. He could have put forth a stronger case for his selection,” said the chief selector.

“Moreover we got some good spinners in the meantime and they have been performing well. We cannot keep a specialist off-spinner in the team as we have Mahmudullah, who is effective in the one-day format. He is bowling well. We have Nasir Hossain, who is a part-time off-spinner,” he added.

Also a former captain, Faruk informed that the final 15-man

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

squad will be put together without drastic changes.

“Every country have a core team.

There are no more chances to bring wholesale changes ahead of the mega event. When we form our final squad within the ICC’s time-frame, we will try to pick the best possible squad,” he explained.

Expressing his satisfaction over the form of the players, he added, “We do not have to face any problem while selecting the final squad as maximum players are in sublime form.”

“First, we will take the players’ performance into consideration. The performances that will be counted starts from the recent tour of the Zimbabwe A side in Bangladesh, the Zimbabweans’ recent bilateral series in Bangladesh and the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket league.

Most of the players will get seven more matches (in the premier league) before going to Australia-New Zealand.” l

n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh Under-21 coach Mamunur Rashid labelled his charges as the future of Bangladesh hockey after they beat Oman to clinch the Islami Bank Men’s Junior AHF Cup at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium yesterday. Meanwhile, the defeated coach, former German international Oliver Kurtz, acknowledged Bangladesh’s superiority but slammed the umpires behind their downfall.

“We worked hard for the title and we wanted to prove our superiority in this level. Bangladesh U-21 team have a lot of potential and we always believed that we will be the champions. We want to continue the trend in the Junior Asia Cup also. I believe this team, if properly groomed, can play in the Youth World Cup hockey as one of the top-four finishers in the Junior Asia

Cup,” said a calm and resolute Mamun after the final.

Oliver termed lack of experience as the main difference and said, “Bangladesh had a good number of players who played in the senior level and had international exposure.

It created the difference but I am not happy with the umpiring. They demoralised my players and at the end Bangladesh goalkeeper made some super saves to deny us.”

Highest-scorer Khorshedur Rahman expressed his elation and said, “Scoring 10 goals in five international matches definitely boosts my confidence, I hope to continue the trend in the national team also.”

Hsu Ching of Chinese Taipei emerged as the most talented player in the tournament while Ashim Gope of Bangladesh was adjudged the best goalkeeper. l

Bangladesh captain Sarwar Hossain in the 50th minute. It was Koushik’s galloping run down the left flank which paved the way for Sarwar who was in a perfect position to unleash a cracking hit at the 18-inch board.

Oman piled up considerable pressure in the dying stages to earn four penalty corners, but Bangladesh goalkeeper Ashim Gope shielded the threats with superb positioning and reflex saves as the home side completed the tournament without conceding a single goal in five matches.

Both Bangladesh and Oman qualified for the Men’s Junior Asia Cup to be held next year in May in Malaysia. l

BD women lift handball title in Pakistan n Raihan Mahmood Bangladesh women’s handball team clinched the crown of the International Handball Federation Trophy after defeating hosts Pakistan 34-22 in the final held in Faisalabad yesterday.

Six teams – Bangladesh, Pakistan, India, Nepal, Afghanistan and Yemen – participated in the women’s category of the tournament.

On their way to the final, Bangladesh outplayed Afghanistan 52-5, overpowered Nepal 35-19 and thrashed Yemen 48-13 in the group stage matches.

Bangladesh Handball Federation congratulated the women’s team on the feat of being the champions.

Meanwhile Bangladesh’s men’s team also competing in the same tournament bowed out in the semifinals losing to Yemen. l

Clubs not losing sleep over transfer window n Shishir Hoque

Brothers Union player Roman Ahmed (R) poses with Abahani player Hamilton Masakadza during their DPL match in Fatullah yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

The deadline day of the inter-club players’ transfer window for the upcoming football season 2014-15 is just three days away and yet, not a single premier league club have completed their official registration process till yesterday.

It is nothing new in Bangladesh football as the past few seasons showed that most of the clubs hurried to the BFF House on the deadline day or a day before to complete the players’ registration.

This is, however, due to the fact that the top premier league clubs have already formed their team well in advance although the official formalities are still to be completed.

While talking to the club officials most of their response were almost the same. “Yes, the local players’ recruitment is done. But there is still time before the deadline day,” said Sheikh Jamal manager Anwarul Karim yesterday.

He added that most of the clubs will seal their deals this Wednesday or Thursday.

Among the big clubs, Sheikh Jamal have once again formed a title-winning team. Their squad contain 12 national players -highest amongst the top-flight clubs - who were recently selected to represent Bangladesh in the upcoming friendly against the Japan Under-21 side scheduled for December 18 at Bangabandhu National Stadium. They have strengthened their squad by signing Denmark-based Bangladeshi defensive midfielder Jamal Bhuiyan who recently shone for the men in Yellow and Blue in the King’s Cup in Bhutan.

The premier league champions will exclude the names of Haitian international Vaniel Sirin and Emmanuel Yogo from their squad. “The players will resume training tomorrow (today). Vaniel and Yogo will leave and we are looking to add two quality foreign players. The recruitment of local players is done,”

said Anwarul.

Four-time professional league champions Abahani Limited have also formed a better team compared to the last season. The Sky Blues’ squad are a mixture of youth and experience. They have roped in goalkeeper Ziaur Rahman, defenders Ariful Islam, Mamun Mia, Nahid and Jahid, midfielders Emon Babu, Omar Faruk, Atikur Rahman and Shakil Ahmed and promising national forwards Wahed Ahmed and Aminur Rahman.

“We have formed a good team for the upcoming season and have already started our preparations. Our target will be the same as before, which is, to regain the championship title,” said Abahani manager Satyajit Das Rupu yesterday.

Sheikh Russel Krira Chakra seemed to have taken lessons from their downfall in the previous seasons by confirming the services of several star national players from Mohammedan. Emily, Zahid Hossain, Hemanta Vincent, Topu

Barman, Yousuf Sifat and Nahidul Islam have already joined the club.

On the other hand, Mohammedan Sporting Club Limited are all set to disappoint their fans by drafting a weakened team. The traditional crowdpullers of Dhaka are heading into the deadline day without any national player in contention having excluded all of their best players from the previous seasons.

“We spent a lot of money on players and formed a quality team last season but what we have got in return is nothing. We will see what we can do with the new team,” said Mohammedan’s director in charge, Lokman Hossain Bhuiyan, yesterday.

Meanwhile, the conflict between Mohammedan and Abahani regarding Ariful has not been solved yet. Mohammedan said they have complained about Ariful to the Bangladesh Football Federation, claiming that the Sky Blues were involved in behind-the-doors dealing.l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

QUICK BYTES

Rodgers faces tough task to replace Gerrard Brendan Rodgers knows he faces a huge task to successfully replace Steven Gerrard after leaving the Liverpool captain out of his team’s starting line-up for the 0-0 draw with Sunderland at Anfield. Reds boss Rodgers was left to rue his decision to rest Gerrard on Saturday in order to have the former England midfielder fully fit for Tuesday’s vital Champions League clash with Basel. It was a move that followed on from resting Gerrard eight days earlier, when Liverpool laboured to beat Stoke City 1-0, and, on this occasion, Rodgers was forced to use his talismanic midfielder as a substitute after 67 minutes as his team attempted to record what would have been a third consecutive league victory. Instead, they were left frustrated and Liverpool fans were left to wonder what life will be like for their team should Gerrard reject the one-year, rolling contract that is currently on offer from his boyhood club. “That’s something we’re looking for but it’s very hard to replace that quality,” Rodgers said.

–AFP

AFC bans North Korea coach for a year North Korea coach Yun Jong-Su has been banned for a year for a furious rant at the Asian Games in October, severely denting the team’s preparations for next month’s Asian Cup. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) threw the book at Yun after he launched a tirade of abuse at match officials following North Korea’s 1-0 defeat by bitter rivals and hosts South Korea in the Asian Games final in Incheon. The confederation cited “offensive behaviour” in suspending him from all AFC competitions for 12 months. The AFC said on its website that Yun was still permitted to register as a team official and attend training sessions, but was banned from the dressing room or the area surrounding the field of play. Asia’s governing body also suspended North Korea player Kim Yong-Il for six months for misconduct after being shown a red card at the end of a tempestuous final on October 2, which hosts South Korea won 1-0 with virtually the last kick of extra time. North Korea have been drawn alongside China, Saudi Arabia and Uzbekistan in Group B at the Asian Cup in Australia, which takes place from January 9-31.

–AFP

Dhoni’s captaincy under the microscope Tours of Australia have traditionally been tests of character for visiting Indian cricketers and skipper Mahendra Singh Dhoni will no doubt be put through the wringer when the four-Test series starts in Adelaide on Tuesday.

Dhoni, having recovered from a thumb injury, joined his team mates on Saturday and is expected to lead them in Adelaide after the series was pushed back following the tragic death of Australia batsman Phillip Hughes. Virat Kohli had been in line to lead the team in the first Test but with the match being rescheduled Dhoni has had enough time to recover. Dhoni took over the captaincy of the limited overs side in 2007 after Rahul Dravid cracked under the pressure of leading a team representing a country of 1.2 billion cricket fans, arguably the most difficult job in the game. Under Dhoni’s captaincy, India won the Twenty20 World Cup in 2007 and the 50-over World Cup four years later and remained the top ranked Test team for a year and half in between. But India’s most successful captain has also presided over a series of dismal away performances. When India beat England at Lord’s in July, it was their first away Test victory in over three years.

–Reuters

DAY’S WATCH

Sport

Abahani, Kalabagan CA keep on winning Victoria deepen Old DOHS’ woes n Mazhar Uddin Abahani and Kalabagan Cricket Academy continued to impress while Old DOHS capitulated to yet another defeat in the ninth round of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League yesterday.

Abahani registered a comfortable 69-run win over Brothers Union, Kalabagan CA beat fellow namesake Kalabagan Krira Chakra by 37 runs while Victoria posted a six-wicket victory against bottom side Old DOHS.

BRIEF SCORES Kalabagan KC v Kalabagan CA Kalabagan CA 215 allout in 49.2 overs Sabbir 73; Razzak 3/40, Nasum 3/36 Kalabagan KC 178 allout in 45.4 overs Tasamul 60*; Imtiaz 3/24, Mehedi 2/19, Bishwanath 2/41 Kalabagan CA won by 37 runs Victoria v Old DOHS Old DOHS 159/6 in 34 overs (maximum) Nehaduzzaman 54*; Haider 2/26, Marjan 2/27 Victoria 161/4 in 28.3 overs Mahbubul 68, Jasim 48; Joyraj 2/14 Victoria won by six wickets Abahani v Brothers Union Abahani 191/9 in 42 overs (maximum) Liton 40; Denly 3/19, Younus 2/31, Asif 2/52 Brothers 122 allout in 41.2 overs Nasir 3/15, Saqlain 2/20, Apu 2/35 Abahani won by 69 runs

Abahani v Brothers Union, Fatullah

Due to early-morning fog, the match was reduced to 42 overs-per-side but Abahani were hardly affected by the disruption as they maintained second position in the 12-team points table.

Sent in to bat first, Abahani put up 191 runs on the board losing nine wickets in their allotted overs. Opener Liton Kumar Das scored 40 off 42 balls while the other opening batsman, Abdul Majid, chipped in with 37. The opening pair added 84 runs in 16 overs.

The traditional Sky Blues lost their remaining nine wickets for 107 runs and were it not for Saqlain Sajib (31*) coming in at No 9, they would have been restricted to a much lower total.

However, it did not make any difference as Brothers were skittled out for 122 with four balls remaining. Nasir Hossain scalped three wickets while Saqlain and Nazmul Apu shared four wickets between them.

Kalabagan CA v Kalabagan KC, Mirpur

The much-anticipated derby did not live upto its billing as Kalabagan CA, third in the points table, overcame Kalabagan KC, who tasted their seventh loss of this campaign.

Asked to bat first, Kalabagan CA were dismissed for 215 in 49.2 overs.

National cricketer Sabbir Rahman was the highest scorer with 73 from 67 deliveries, his knock featuring half a dozen boundaries and two sixes.

Left-arm spinner Abdur Razzak

n Reuters, Melbourne

The first Test Australia hosts against India this week is set to be fraught with conflicting emotions as players return to battle with a mixture of relief and apprehension after the tragic death of Phillip Hughes.

The Adelaide Oval was Hughes’ adopted home ground after his move from New South Wales, and both teams will pay tribute there to the batsman who died in hospital last month, two days after being struck by a short ball during a Sheffield Shield match.

A number of his Australia team mates were fielding for New South Wales when Hughes was felled at the Sydney Cricket Ground and all were present at his funeral last Wednesday, along with India batsman Virat Kohli.

Though the first Test was delayed and switched to Adelaide to allow players time to grieve, Tuesday’s opening day will be a leap into the unknown for a number of them.

“It’s been the most challenging, mentally, couple of days I’ve had to go through in my career,” Australia all-rounder Shane Watson, who was

fielding when Hughes was struck, told reporters at training in Adelaide on Sunday.

“Trying to process everything that happened, especially being there at the SCG. “But there’s no doubt I’ll be ready to go on Tuesday.”

Among a number of tributes, the Australian team will wear armbands and the number 408 on their playing shirts, a reference to Hughes, the 408th cricketer to play a Test match for Australia.

The fast bowler’s use of the bouncer has come under scrutiny in the wake of Hughes’ death, with some pundits calling for it to be further limited or even banned altogether.

Few expect either team’s pacemen to eschew the delivery at Adelaide, however, and former Australia players have called on them to send down a bouncer first thing to “clear the air”.

Australia have long prided themselves on “tough, aggressive” cricket, particularly on their fast and bouncy home pitches, but their approach to the game will be under heavy scrutiny.

India will head into the match un-

Belgium player John-John Dohmen (L) tussles with Australian player Fergus Kavanagh during their Hero Hockey Champions Trophy 2014 match yesterday AFP

n AFP, Bhubaneswar

Star Sports 4

Tom Boon slammed in a last-gasp penalty corner to help Belgium force a dramatic 4-4 draw from world number ones Australia in the Champions Trophy field hockey tournament in Bhubaneswar on Sunday.

Ruthless England destroyed Pakistan 8-2 in another pool A match of the eight-nation tournament at the Kalinga stadium, to build on the 3-1 win over World Cup holders Australia in their opening game. Australia, who have won the last five Champions Trophy titles, appeared headed for an easy victory over Belgium when they ran up a 3-0 lead by the 21st minute.

9:50 AM Ranji Trophy 1:50 AM English Premier League Southampton v Manchester United

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derdone, having had only one two-day tour match against a rookie local XI to warm up, with cricket virtually halted in Australia after Hughes’ death.

Uncertainty pervades both sides in terms of their lineups, with fitness queries over captains Michael Clarke and Mahendra Singh Dhoni.

Clarke returned to training on Saturday as he races to recover from his third hamstring injury in three months.

Dhoni was expected to train on Sunday after being sidelined with a broken thumb.

Team mates have backed both to lead on Tuesday, but vice-captain and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin will take over if Clarke fails to prove his fitness, with batsman Kohli standing in for Dhoni.

India, who were whitewashed 4-0 in their last tour Down Under in 201112, have won only once from 10 Test matches against Australia at Adelaide Oval, their sole victory coming in 2003.

They are likely to need to record their second win at the ground this week if they are to have any hope of a breakthrough Test series win Down Under. l

n Reuters, Colombo

Spanish La Liga Levante v Getafe

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(3/40) gave a timely reminder of his credentials while Nasum Ahmed also accounted for three wickets.

In reply, Kalabagan KC were bundled out for 178 with 26 deliveries of their innings still to be completed.

Middle-order batsman Tasamul Haque’s unbeaten 60 was inadequate as the Kalabagan CA bowlers – Imtiaz Hossain (3/24), Mehedi Hasan Miraz

(2/19) and Bishwanath Halder (2/41) – ran the show.

Victoria v Old DOHS, BKSP 3

Although the match was curtailed to 34 overs, the light at the end of the tunnel continued to desert promoted side Old DOHS. Victoria coasted to the win with their openers – Mahbubul Karim (68 off 58 balls) and Jasim Uddin (48) – putting

But the fast-improving Belgians, ranked fourth in the world, scored twice in quick succession to make it 2-3 at half-time. Flynn Ogilvie scored his first international goal to extend the Kookaburras’ lead to 4-2 in the 37th minute, but John-John Dohmen narrowed the margin for Belgium soon after.

The determined Belgians forced a series of penalty corners in the last quarter and were rewarded with just three seconds remaining in the match when Boon recovered a miscued dragflick after a penalty corner and smashed in the equaliser.

Belgium, who defeated Pakistan 2-1 in their opening match on Saturday, have four points from two games.l

Kumar Sangakkara laid the foundation before Angelo Mathews completed a nervy chase as Sri Lanka beat England by six wickets in the fourth one-day international to go 3-1 up in the seven-match series on Sunday.

Sangakkara hit a sparkling 86 but it was Mathews' fine, if not flawless, captain's knock of 51 not out that helped the hosts overwhelm the 266-run victory target with two balls to spare at Colombo's R Premadasa Stadium.

James Taylor's career-best 90 and Eoin Morgan's belligerent 62 had powered England to 265 all out in 50 overs, nine of the wickets claimed by spinners.

Sri Lanka looked in trouble at 69 for two but Sangakkara and Mahela Jayawardene, who have played over 800 ODIs between them, added 96 runs for the third wicket to put the chase back on track.

Jayawardene dragged a Chris Jordan delivery onto his stumps to depart, while Sangakkara perished chasing a wide delivery from the same bowler.

England maintained the pressure and were nearly rewarded but Alex Hales spilled a Mathews catch in the 46th over from an exasperated Jordan.

Despite conceding 20 extra runs including 12 wide balls, the visiting bowlers showed enough fight to take the game to the last over but Mathews hit Steven Finn for a boundary to bring up his 50 and seal victory.

Earlier, regular England captain

on 124 runs on the board, in pursuit of 160 for victory. Victoria cantered to their target with six wickets intact and 33 deliveries remaining.

Earlier, Old DOHS scored 159/6 in their stipulated overs with skipper Nehaduzzaman blasting an unbeaten 54 off 43 balls. The total proved insufficient at the end as Old DOHS suffered their ninth defeat in as many matches. l

Hafeez suspended over bowling action: ICC n AFP, Dubai All-rounder Mohammad Hafeez was suspended for an illegal bowling action the International Cricket Council said Sunday, becoming the second Pakistan player after Saeed Ajmal to face sanction in the past three months.

Hafeez, 34, had his action reported during the first Test against New Zealand in Abu Dhabi last month.

“The ICC confirmed that an independent analysis has found the bowling action of Pakistan’s Hafeez to be illegal and, as such, the off-spinner has been suspended from bowling in international cricket with immediate effect,” the ICC said.

The analysis revealed that all his deliveries exceeded the 15 degrees level of tolerance permitted under the regulations, the ICC added.

Hafeez can apply for a reassessment after he has modified his bowling action in accordance with the rules, the ICC said. The analysis was performed on 24 November by the ICC’s accredited team of human movement specialists using the National Cricket Performance Centre in Loughborough, England.

The suspension is a further blow for

Sri Lanka edge England to go 3-1 up in ODI series

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Abahani batsman Liton Kumar plays a lofted shot during their Dhaka Premier League match against Brothers Union at the Khan Shaheb Osman Ali Stadium in Fatullah yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Australia brace for emotional test against India in Adelaide

Belgium hold Aussies in Champions Trophy thriller

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Monday, December 8, 2014

Alastair Cook's suspension, due to a slow over-rate offence, handed Taylor an opportunity and the 24-year-old grabbed it.

Opting to bat first, England wobbled early as Hales fell for a golden duck and the in-form Moeen Ali (19) was sent back by Tillakaratne Dilshan (3-64).l

Pakistan before the next year’s World Cup as they are already reeling from leading off-spinner Ajmal’s suspension in September.

Hafeez, who also opens the batting, gives balance to the one-day international side having taken 122 wickets in 149 matches.l

SCORECARD England: M. Ali c Sangakkara b Dilshan 19 A. Hales c Jayawardene b Prasad 0 J. Taylor c K. Perera b A. Mendis 90 J. Root b Herath 36 R. Bopara b Dilshan 22 E. Morgan c Sangakkara b Dilshan 62 J. Buttler c Jayawardene b Herath 15 B. Stokes c T. Perera b A. Mendis 6 C. Woakes b Herath 6 C. Jordan c T. Perera b A. Mendis 1 S. Finn not out 1 Extras: (lb1, w6) 7 Total (all out, 50 overs) 265 Fall of wickets 1-5, 2-29, 3-122, 4-170, 5-173, 6-203, 7-219, 8-238, 9-245, 10-265 Bowling Mathews 6-0-21-0, Prasad 6-1-29-1 (w2), Dilshan 10-0-64-3 (w2), T. Perera 2-019-0 (w1), Herath 10-0-36-3, J. Mendis 7-1-39-0, A. Mendis 9-0-56-3 (w1).

Sri Lanka: T. Dilshan c Morgan b Woakes 16 K. Perera c Jordan b Ali 31 K. Sangakkara c Woakes b Jordan 86 M. Jayawardene b Jordan 44 A. Mathews not out 51 L. Thirimanne not out 19 Extras: (b4, lb4, w12) 20 Total (for 4 wickets, 49.4 overs) 267

Sri Lankan batsman Sangakkara plays a shot during their fourth ODI against England in Colombo yesterday AFP

Fall of wickets 1-28, 2-69, 3-165, 4-214 Bowling Finn 9.4-1-61-0 (w3), Woakes 9-0-53-1 (w1), Ali 10-0-44-1, Jordan 10-0-35-2 (w3), Root 6-0-29-0 (w3), Bopara 3-016-0, Stokes 2-0-21-0 (w2) Sri Lanka won by six wickets; lead 3-1 in seven-match series

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Monday, December 8, 2014

Dream draw for defending women’s WC champions Japan n AFP, Ottawa

Real Madrid forward Cristiano Ronaldo attempts a bicycle kick during their La Liga match against RC Celta de Vigo at the Santiago Bernabeu stadium in Madrid on Saturday

More records as Ronaldo’s 23rd treble cheers Real n Reuters, Barcelona Cristiano Ronaldo grabbed a record 23rd La Liga hat-trick to guide leaders Real Madrid to a 3-0 victory over Celta Vigo at the Bernabeu on Saturday.

It also helped the European champions extend their club record winning streak to 18 matches in all competitions and equal the record run of victories set by Barcelona between October 2005 and January 2006.

Elsewhere, a ferocious drive by Jose Maria Gimenez set Atletico Madrid on the way to a 2-0 triumph at Elche that lifted them into second place.

With his latest treble he overtook greats Alfredo Di Stefano of Real Madrid and Athletic Bilbao’s Telmo Zarra and he has three more hat-tricks than his present day rival Lionel Messi at Barcelona.

Ronaldo, the inspiration behind Real’s blistering form this season, struck the opening goal from the penalty spot nine minutes before the break after he was felled by Jonny Castro.

There was no stopping Ronaldo though as he blasted a volley from the centre of the penalty area after 65 minutes to make it 2-0 before adding a third goal from close range nine minutes from the end.

Real have 36 points from 14 games, four ahead of Atletico and five in front of Barcelona who host Espanyol on Sunday.

LA LIGA

Elche

0-2

Atletico Madrid

Gimenez 16, Mandzukic 53

Athletic Bilbao

0-1

Cordoba Ghilas 23

Real Madrid

3-0

Celta Vigo

Ronaldo 36-P, 65, 81

Diego Simeone’s Atletico side are better known for their aerial threat at set-plays but they showed versatility

AFP

to work a short corner to centre back Gimenez on the edge of the area and he lashed into the back of the Elche net after 15 minutes.

Mario Mandzukic finished clinically eight minutes into the second half to seal a victory that sees them leapfrog Barcelona who take on city rivals Espanyol on Sunday.

Cordoba picked up their first league win of the season, beating Athletic Bilbao 1-0 with a Nabil Ghilas strike to climb off the bottom of the table.

A rocket shot by Sergi Darder from 30 metres gave sixth-placed Malaga a 1-0 victory over Deportivo La Coruna.l

Defending champions Japan gained a dream draw on Saturday for the 2015 Women’s World Cup in Canada while the United States face a rocky road to a potential third title.

The Nadeshiko, seeded atop Group C, will face Switzerland, Cameroon and Ecuador, all first-time qualifiers for the tournament.

The United States face a tough firstround path against Australia, ranked 10th in the world by FIFA, Nigeria and Sweden - a European powerhouse ranked fifth in the world and only unseeded for “geographic” reasons.

Their Group D, with most of its firstround matches in Winnipeg, immediately appeared the toughest but US forward Sydney Leroux took to Twitter to indicate the Americans are up for the challenge.

US coach Jill Ellis said the challenging group was good preparation for the latter stages of the tournament, when the Americans hope to be challenging for a third World Cup title but their first since 1999. They and Germany are the only two-time winners of the event first played in 1991.

Adding intrigue to the match-up between the United States and Sweden, the Europeans’ manager Pia Sundhage guided the Americans to back-to-back Olympic titles before taking the helm in her native country in September of 2012.

The former Sweden international admitted before the draw she thought it was “weird” that sixth-ranked Brazil, rather than fifth-ranked Sweden, got the nod as a seeded team.

The seventh edition of Women’s World Cup will feature 24 teams for the first time -- up from 16.

The first and second-placed finishers in each group automatically advance to the round of 16.

Hosts Canada will open the tournament in Edmonton on June 6 against

Aguero injury overshadows City win Ribery’s 100th goal keeps n AFP, Manchester Manchester City manager Manuel Pellegrini admits it’s impossible to know how long knee ligament injury victim Sergio Aguero will be sidelined after the star striker hobbled off in the 1-0 win over Everton.

The Argentina international, the Premier League’s top scorer with 14 goals, limped out in the second minute when he jarred his knee as he stretched for the ball in a challenge with Muhamed Besic.

EPL

Man City

1-0

Everton

Toure 24-P

Manchester City’s Argentinian striker Sergio Aguero suffers an injury during their EPL match on Saturday AFP

Late Moteab goal makes Egyptian history for Al Ahli n Reuters Emad Moteab struck in the sixth minute of added time as Al Ahli landed their first African Confederation Cup title with a 1-0 second-leg victory over Sewe Sport de San Pedro in the final in Cairo on Saturday.

The striker’s late header made the aggregate score 2-2 but Al Ahli won on the away goals rule amid joyous scenes as they became the first Egyptian team to lift the trophy.

Ivory Coast side Sewe Sport had the best chances in the second leg and hit the crossbar in the first half with a thunderous shot from midfielder Souleymane Dembele.

However, they invited pressure in the latter stages of the match and the only goal came when a cross from the right by Walid Soliman was met by the unmarked Moteab.l

City’s medical staff will assess Aguero on Sunday to determine the extent of the injury and how long they expect the 26-year-old to be on the sidelines.

Pellegrini has already ruled Aguero out of Wednesday’s decisive Champions League game against Roma in which City must better CSKA Moscow’s result against Bayern Munich to progress to the knockout stage.

“It is not good news, I don’t think he will be able to play,” Pellegrini said.

“We must wait for the diagnostic, the important thing he will not play against Roma and that is a very important game. It’s impossible to know how

long he will be out.

“He has a problem with his ligament in his knee and on Sunday we will know better how serious it is.

“It’s very difficult if you have trouble in your ligament to recover in a few days.

Of course it’s a big problem, because Sergio was in a very good moment and is an important player for our team.”

Premier League leaders Chelsea slipped to a 2-1 defeat to Newcastle United earlier in the day which meant City’s victory moved to them within three points of the London club.

The victory over Everton came thanks to a Yaya Toure’s 24th-minute penalty and Pellegrini said it proved his side are not just one-man team reliant on Aguero.

“The way we won was important for what we showed in defence. Sometimes it’s important to just win 1-0.

“We had a chance to score another goal and didn’t so I am pleased for the defence because they are criticised a lot, but I thought they did very well.

“It was important for a lot of things.

Chelsea lost their game and it was important to recover the points and to be near the leaders.

“December is a very different month where we have to play a lot of games.

It’s a month where maybe you don’t win the title as such, but it is a key month to try to start the next year near the top.”l

Bayern seven points clear n AFP, Berlin

Bayern Munich continued their seemingly relentless march towards a 25th German title as Franck Ribery’s 100th goal for the Bundesliga leaders secured Saturday’s 1-0 win over Bayer Leverkusen.

BUNDESLIGA

M’gladbach

3-2

Jantschke 9, Raffael 53, Hazard 83

Hanover 96

Schieber 45, Kalou 90+2

1-3

Joselu 45+1

VfB Stuttgart

Hertha Berlin

VfL Wolfsburg De Bruyne 4, Dost 69, Arnold 85

0-4

Schalke 04

Choupo-Moting 1, 21, 61, Meyer 10

Cologne Ujah 13

Paderborn

1-2 1-1

Kachunga 89

Bayern Munich

Augsburg

Djurdjic 53, Esswein 90

Freiburg Darida 18-P

1-0

Leverkusen

Ribery 51

Pep Guardiola’s side remain seven points clear of nearest challengers Wolfsburg after defeating Leverkusen, who remain the last team to beat Bayern at the Allianz Arena, back in October 2012.

The visitors threatened after four minutes when Juan Bernat was forced to clear off the line after Karim Bellarabi pounced on a rare mistake.

But Bayern took the lead when winger Ribery volleyed home from a corner on 51 minutes to claim his 100th competitive goal for the club in all competitions on his 186th league appearance - the most for a French player in the Bundesliga.

This was an off-key performance from Bayern, who managed just two first-half shots, as they began a busy period of five matches in 14 days, including Wednesday’s final Champions League group game at home to CSKA Moscow.

Earlier, second-placed Wolfsburg came from behind to claim a 3-1 win at Lower Saxony rivals Hanover 96 to briefly trim Bayern’s lead to four points.

However, Wolfsburg coach Dieter Hecking gave a grumpy reply when asked about his side’s supposed role as ‘Bayern hunters’.

Meanwhile, Roberto Di Matteo’s Schalke warmed-up for Wednesday’s must-win Champions League clash at Slovenia’s Maribor with a 4-0 mauling of VfB Stuttgart as Cameroon striker Eric Choupo-Moting claimed a hattrick in exactly an hour.l

China, with New Zealand and the Netherlands rounding out Group A. Germany, who won it in 2003 and 2007, could also breathe a sigh of relief at their draw in Group B, which includes dangerous 1995 champions Norway but also inexperienced Ivory Coast and Thailand.

Brazil, led by five-time women’s world player of the year Marta, launch their bid for a first World Cup crown against South Korea, fast-improving Spain and Costa Rica in Group E while France, ranked fourth in the world, will face England, Colombia and Mexico in Group F. First-round matches will be played in Vancouver, Edmonton, Winnipeg, Ottawa, Montreal and Moncton, with the final in Vancouver on July 5.

Japan lifted the trophy with a dramatic win over the United States in Germany four years ago, delivering a boost to their country months after a deadly earthquake and tsunami.

But the United States gained revenge by winning the Olympic gold ahead of Japan in London, with Canada taking bronze and France finishing fourth.

Despite controversy over the plastic pitches for the event, Japanese head coach Norio Sasaki insisted they can adapt after beating Canada in a friendly on the surface in Edmonton in October. l

WOMEN’S WC DRAW Group A (Edmonton) Canada, China, New Zealand, Netherlands Group B (Ottawa) Germany, Ivory Coast, Norway, Thailand Group C (Vancouver) Japan, Switzerland, Cameroon, Ecuador Group D (Winnipeg) USA, Australia, Sweden, Nigeria Group E (Montreal) Brazil, South Korea, Spain, Costa Rica Group F (Moncton) France, England, Colombia, Mexico

In-form United eye podium place at St Mary’s n AFP, London Louis van Gaal’s resurgent Manchester United will have their eyes on third place in the Premier League table when they tackle Ronald Koeman’s sputtering Southampton at St Mary’s on Monday.

After winning only three of their first seven league games, a run of four consecutive victories has taken United to within touching distance of early-season surprise package Southampton.

Victory for United will lift them above Southampton into third place and allow Van Gaal’s team to close to within eight points of leaders Chelsea, who crashed to a 2-1 defeat at Newcastle United on Saturday.

Van Gaal’s relationship with his fellow Dutchman Koeman provides one of the sub-plots for Monday’s game.

Koeman, 51, successfully worked under 63-year-old Van Gaal at Barcelona, but the pair fell out at Ajax in 2004, when Koeman was coach and Van Gaal technical director.

Van Gaal described Koeman as “weak” in his autobiography, but the two men have refused to discuss their relationship in the build-up to the game, with both declaring the matter “private”.l

Ibra brace takes PSG top n AFP, Paris Paris Saint-Germain leapfrogged Marseille into top spot in Ligue 1 on Saturday by coming from behind to beat Nantes 2-1 at the Parc des Princes thanks to a Zlatan Ibrahimovic brace.

Nantes had led thanks to a stunning early strike by United States interna-

LIGUE 1

PSG

2-1

Ibrahimovic 34, 48

Bordeaux

3-2

Khazri 43, Diabate 64, 66

Caen Duhamel 39-P, Nangis 45

Rennes

Nantes Bedoya 8

Lorient Jeannot 31, Le Goff 51

2-3

Nice

Amavi 32, Bautheac 64-P, Plea 74

0-4

Montpellier

Martin 23, Sanson 55, Barrios 60, Mounier 90+2

Saint-Etienne Van Wolfswinkel 58

1-0

SC Bastia

tional Alejandro Bedoya, but Ibrahimovic equalised before the interval and then got what proved to be the winner with a ferocious free-kick three minutes after the restart.

The result maintained PSG’s unbeaten record this season - the only one left in Europe’s leading leagues after Premier League leaders Chelsea lost earlier in the day - and allowed the defending champions to move provisionally two points clear at the top of Ligue 1.

Laurent Blanc’s side had been held at Lille in midweek but they bounced back to make it just one defeat in their last 39 home league games despite several leading players being rested ahead of Wednesday’s Champions League clash with Barcelona. Of his team’s unbeaten record, Blanc added: “It doesn’t give you anything, no extra points, no qualification for any competition. It just means that you are having not too bad a season.”

Scorer of eight goals in his last nine games, Cavani was left on the bench at kick-off along with Luiz and Matuidi.l

Paris St Germain striker Zlatan Ibrahimovic celebrates after scoring during their French Ligue 1 match against FC Nantes at Parc des Princes stadium in Paris on Saturday REUTERS

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Monday, December 8, 2014

MOUSHUMI to play crime reporter

15

The Master

HBO Defined, 10am

n Shadma Malik

Looking up and above with Ranjit Das n Nadira Sultana Ava

Promising actress Moushumi Hamid is going to appear as a journalist on big screen.

Under the direction of Hasan Fuad, she will be seen in a film titled “Lukochuri Prem,” shooting of which is going to start from the beginning of next year.

About the plot, Moushumi says: “Lukochhuri Prem is a triangular love story. I will play the character of a crime reporter. Arzoo and Irin will play the roles of my colleagues. We will be sharing a good emotional bond on screen.”

“As a crime reporter I will do investigative stories, I will delve into the world of crime, the underground world. The role is a challenging one that overcomes risks and thousands of barriers,” she said.

Asked if she was ever interested to become a journalist, the popular actress said: “Never ever in my life. I have seen political events where female journalists are humiliated. It is a challenging profession indeed.”

“For doing this film, I will be getting in touch with some of the crime reporters, I believe that will enhance my skills to do justice to the script.”

Moushumi’s upcoming film “Blackmail” is expected to release in this month. Besides, she is working for “Black Money” and the squeal of “Purno Doirgho Prem Kahini.” l

Humans are surrounded by different elements of nature – be it living beings or inanimate objects, in all kinds of shapes, colours and sizes. To some, these variations may mean nothing, but to some others, these are inspirations of artistic endeavour.

In such a setting, artists are spokespersons of what is happening around them, and Ranjit Das is one such artist.

He has portrayed his surroundings in 34 paintings, currently on display at his solo exhibition titled “Looking Up and Above” at Gallery Kaya in the capital, which began on Friday.

“My paintings are my constant endeavour to capture the true characteristics of my surroundings. Nature has various shapes and forms. As an artist, I tried to translate those aspects of nature into a humanitarian form on the canvas,” Ranjit said about his paintings.

A proficient artist, Ranjit paints using different media, such as acrylic on canvas, ink on paper, charcoal on paper, and graphite and chalk pastel on paper. However, in the exhibit most of the paintings have been done in acrylic.

In the present world, when artists are relying more on abstract concepts, Ranjit has adopted figurative style to make his paintings pleasing for the layman’s eyes.

One of the acrylic paintings on display, titled “Rhythm and Distortion 1,” depicts three images of a female face in milieu of birds, insects and trees. The best part of the painting is assorted shades of red that dominates the composition of the faces.

In” Harmony 2,” another acrylic painting, the artist has portrayed a man and some women in modern outfits, depicting urban life.

However, regardless of the subjects

A Naval veteran arrives home from war unsettled and uncertain of his future - until he is tantalized

by The Cause and its charismatic leader.

The Fugitive

WB, 8:57pm

Dr Richard Kimble, unjustly accused of murdering his wife, must find the real killer while being the target of a nationwide manhunt.

The Polar Express HBO, 11:36pm

and the media, one aspect is common in all the paintings – they are equally captivating, boldly demanding the viewers’ attention when they pass them by.

The exhibition, which will run until December 19, is open for all from 11am to 8pm every day. l

On Christmas Eve, a doubting boy boards a magical train that’s headed to the North Pole and Santa Claus’ home.

AAMIR says PK has been the toughest role n Entertainment Desk Bollywood star Aamir Khan says his character in upcoming film “PK” does not suffer from autism and is one of the toughest roles he has done in his career. “’PK’ is not autistic. He has a reasonable approach to life. He does not blink. It is one of the toughest roles I have played in my career,” said the actor. PK is a comedy of ideas about a stranger in the city, who asks questions that no one has asked before. PK makes loyal friends and powerful foes. Finally, it is a moving saga about a friendship between strangers from worlds apart.

The film, scheduled to hit theatres on December 19, is produced by Vidhu Vinod Chopra and Rajkumar Hirani, who has also directed the movie. Oscar Award winner Resul Pookutty is the sound designer for the film.

Aamir said that Hirani is the force behind the film. “This particular film was a special challenge to me and the experience of that journey is quite satisfactory. PK has been really an amazing experience for me. The film has shaped up pretty much as we desired,” he said. l

The show of dance drama ‘Badi-Bandar Kahini’ was ended at the National Theatre Hall of Bangladesh Shilapakala Academy on Saturday. Based on the fairy tale ‘Alibaba and the Forty Thieves’, the Srishti Cultural Centre produced and premiered the dance drama. Kolkata-based choreographer Sukalyan Bhattacharya directed the two day long production. Local dance artistes Shibly Mohammad (as Alibaba), Shamim Ara Nipa (as Morzina), Sakhina (as Sabrina Nisha), Dolly Iqbal (as Fatema) Anisul Islam Hiru (as Abdullah), among others, performed on stage

Lux-Channel i Superstar second runner up 2014, Nilanjona Nila is going to play a role in a Telefilm titled ‘Taroi Prothikkhai’ based on the country’s War of Liberation in 1971.

She will share the screen with Jayanta Chattopadhyay, Saberi Alam and Wasek in the TV play which is scheduled to be aired in the Channel i on the victory day on December 16

NICOLE KIDMAN: WHITNEY HOUSTON’s TV 2014 has been a biopic to premiere in January really hard year for n me personally Entertainment Desk

n Entertainment Desk Nicole Kidman has said that 2014 has been a really hard year. Speaking at the Australian premiere of “Paddington” in Sydney, the actor said it felt good to close out the year with a film that makes people smile, following the grief of losing her father, Australian clinical psychologist Antony Kidman, to a heart attack in August.

“Personally [it’s been] really really really hard,” she told Guardian Australia. “My family underwent a massive tragedy. So not my favourite year. But I try not to be ungrateful – I’m grateful to be alive.”

It has been a mixed year for Kidman on screen, too, with Oliver Dahan’s biopic “Grace of Monaco” critically panned in February, but “Paddington” topping the UK box office after universally warm reviews.

The film is released in Australia on 11 December and in January in the US. “My whole career is always a roller-coaster,” she said on the red carpet.

“I’m so random and spontaneous and unusual in my choices – I never expect anything.”

Kidman, who has two daughters with her husband, Australian country music singer, Keith Urban, and an adopted son and daughter with former partner Tom Cruise, said: “I hadn’t made a film that had made people feel good for a long time. I’d made films that are darker in tone. So, it’s really nice to be able to make a film where you can say: “yeah, bring your kids’.”

The Oscar-winning actor is set for a busy 2015, starring opposite Robert Pattinson in Werner Herzog’s Queen of the Desert and opposite Hugo Weaving and Joseph Fiennes in the Sundance-bound Strangerland,

by Australian director Kim Farrant in her feature debut. l

The TV biopic on late singer Whitney Houston, titled “Whitney,” will air on January 17, reported Ace Showbiz. The film, directed by Angela Bassett, stars Yaya DaCosta as the much-loved singer, and actor Arlen Escarpeta playing Bobby Brown.

“Whitney” will follow the pair’s relationship from their first meeting to their headline-making marriage, while also showing the difficulties they faced as Ms Houston rose to fame around the world.

The film will include hit singles including “I Will Always Love You,” “I’m Every Woman and The Greatest Love Of

All,” all sung by the Grammy-nominated singer. Deborah Cox Brown’s “Every Little Step” will also feature.

Meanwhile, Lifetime has also announced that the premiere will be followed by an hour-long documentary Beyond the “Headlines: Whitney Houston.”

The programme will feature interviews with industry insiders, colleagues and friends including Darlene Love.

“American Horror Story” star Bassett recently defended the film, after Whitney’s mother Cissy Houston criticised it for going ahead without the family’s blessing. “Whitney” will premiere on Lifetime on Saturday, January 17, 2015. l

LANA DEL REY begins work on third album n Entertainment Desk Lana Del Rey has confirmed that work has begun on her new album. The singer released her second album “Ultraviolence” in June of this year but has already started recording its follow up, according to an interview she gave to Galore. Interviewed by her sister, Chuck Grant, Del Rey discussed her recent film work and her next studio album.

“I just wrote two songs for Tim Burton and Harvey Weinestein’s film called ‘Big Eyes,’” she said in relation to material that was debuted earlier this week, “and I’m working on a new record.”

And that’s not all Del Rey has on at the moment, “I’m also always writing

small pieces for independent films etc.

Dan Heath and Rick Nowels are two of my dearest friends and producers and we are always up to something.”

“Big Eyes” tells the story of American artist Margaret Keane, whose paintings, characterised by their illustrations of large eyeballs, were falsely credited to her husband. The movie stars Amy Adams and will hit cinemas at Christmas.

It was recently announced that Lana Del Rey will tour the US with Courtney Love in 2015. The two acts will hit the road together as part of the Endless Summer Tour. The joint stint will begin at the Woodlands Festival in Texas, before heading to Dallas, Phoenix, Los Angeles and other cities. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, December 8, 2014

Khasia villagers gripped by eviction fear They fear arrest at any time following a case filed by a tea garden against ‘unidentified Khasia people’ Jahan Mithun back n Morshed from Sreemangal Arkid Pohshyad was scared hearing the growl of an approaching car around midnight one night last month. The 10-year-old ran to warn his mother.

“Tell father to hide deeper in the forest.

The police are coming.”

Arkid’s Khasia neighbourhood has been living in fear of eviction since end May. He was afraid that the police would arrest his father in a murder case filed by the nearby Nahar Tea Garden management. They had mentioned “unidentified Khasia people” immediately putting them under the radar.

The local Khasia chief, however, says there is nothing to it. “It was only to harass us.”

Two adjacent Khasia villages (Punji) of Moulvibazar with 79 families have been gripped with such fear that the sound of approaching engines sends a chill down their spines.

“My son was a residential student of class IV at Classic Ideal School in Sreemangal. But he had to come back as we feared he might be kidnapped. I do

not want to lose my son,” said Arkid’s mother Asrin Pohshyad.

The tension began on the morning of May 30. It was around 11am when about 200 armed tea garden workers and outsiders led by Nahar Tea Garden Manager Pijush Kanti Bhattacharya marched towards the two punjis in an apparent attempt to grab the Khasia lands.

At least 20 Khasia villagers including women were seriously injured in the ensuing skirmish. One Nitai Tanti, 45, a casual labourer who was injured, died in a hospital two days later.

Pijush lodged a murder cases naming 18 and 160 unidentified Khasia people. The garden manager alleged that Nitai had died from a gunshot fired by the Khasia chief. But the autopsy report, seen by this correspondent, concluded that his death was due to a strong blow to the back of the head.

The Khasias also wanted to lodge a complaint having lost many betel leaf plants from the attack. But the police did not let them. Instead the Khasias had to be content with just a general diary.

Pijush’s assistant manager, Mizanur

Rahman, filed the second case on August 30 accusing 28 villagers of burglary, use of illegal firearms, and destruction of tea estate property.

“The 28 villagers included a dead man, a physically handicapped person and another who was already in police custody. How can a physically challenged man ruin their tea garden?” wondered Dibarmin Potam, the local Khasia chief.

Pijush did not have an answer when asked how a deceased or a physically-challenged man could be involved in vandalising a tea garden.

Mizanur Rahman lodged another “false” case with the Sreemangal police against the Khasia villagers on September 2.

The Khasias allege that tea garden officials along with miscreants regularly threaten them and vandalise their betel vines – the lifeline of the matriarchal indigenous community – to destroy their main source of income.

Each vine takes three to four years to mature after which it yields betel leaves for the following 10-12 years.

“We are Bangladeshi citizens and

have been living on this land for long.

But the garden authorities claim to be the owners,” Dibarmin said alleging that they were not even allowed to use the road that runs by the Nahar Tea Garden after dusk.

Pijush denied barring the Khasias from using the road beside the garden.

“Everyone is allowed to use the road.

But we cannot allow criminals.”

Asked whether all 700 Khasias living in the villages were criminals, Pijush remained silent.

The tea garden authorities sold 4,000 trees of the Khasia villages to a local trader named Selim Uddin in September 2008. The forest and environment ministry put a stop to felling trees following protests by the Khasia people.

But when the same ministry on June 15 this year approved cutting down “old and harmful” trees, Selim felled 200 trees most of which had betel vines on them.

Nahar Tea Garden was set up in 1960 on 350 hectares. The Khasia community leased out 80 hectares and established the Aslom Punji. Later more people set-

tled in what is now the Kylin Punji.

The Khasia have been paying the tea garden authorities Tk25,000 as yearly rent.

However, the garden authorities reportedly forced the Khasias to abandon eight hectares every year to expand the garden.

“The media is favouring the Khasias.

They are not publishing the truth that the government ordered us to expand the tea garden by 2.5% every year,” Pijush Kanti told the Dhaka Tribune.

“The land belongs to the tea estate, not the indigenous people who are occupying it. We will expand our garden by hook or by crook.”

A civic group comprising activists, journalists and researchers visited the Khasia dwellings from November 15 to 16.

Pavel Partha, a researcher who was on the team, said the tea garden authorities were moving in the wrong direction denying the Khasia their rights. “The problem is deepening as the corporate tea business is expanding. The rising demand for tea is another reason why such conflicts have been on the rise.” l

Actor Khalil dies n Tribune Report

Renowned actor Khalil Ullah Khan died of heart ailments at the age of 80 yesterday. The revered actor died around 11am in the coronary care unit of Square Hospital.

Khalil was honoured with the Lifetime Achievement Award at the National Film Award Ceremony 2012.

Received Lifetime Achievement Award in 2012 Khalil Ullah Khan was born on February 1, 1934. He made powerful appearances both on silver screen and small screen. Beginning his career as a theatre activist, he made his debut in Zahir Raihan’s Sonar Kajol.

His films include Preet Na Jane Reet, Bhawal Sannashi, Jongli Phool, Bini Sutar Mala, Wada, Bou Kotha Kow, Sonar Cheye Dami, Megher Pore Megh, Modhumoti and many more. Besides acting in more than 800 films, Khalil earned appreciation for his role “Miya” on the famous play on BTV “Sangsaptak.”

He was also the president of Bangladesh Film Artistes’ Association. l

Biggest mobile Hackathon finds solution to national problems n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

The Jahangirnagar University plays host to flocks of migratory birds which is a sign that winter is here. The photo was taken yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

After 36 straight hours of programming, mobile applications found solutions to 10 social and national problems at the National Mobile Hackathon that started on Saturday morning and concluded last night.

Also termed the biggest of its kind in the world, the event churned out around three hundred projects, out of which one was selected as the best solution for each of the problems.

The participants were asked to find mobile-based solutions to question paper leakage, corruption, sexual harassment, traffic jam, security on the highways, sanitation, water transport safety, cyclone centre management, reproductive health, and personal health problems.

The Information and Communication Technology Division will announce the winner among the selected 10 in a day or two, who will receive a Tk20-lakh award from the Access to Information (a2i) Programme’s innovation fund to materialise their project, sources said.

The other nine projects will receive financial assistance from the innovation fund as well.

All 10 teams are supposed to turn in their solution paper by today noon.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, Jabec, a team from Dhaka City College that worked on highway security, said their project included a list of accident-prone areas across the country, and whenever a vehicle neared one of such areas, the app would send an alert message to the app user.

Innovation, a team from Patuakhali Science and Technology University, built an app to tackle sexual harassment.

“Users of our app will be able to send emergency message to the nearest relative when under the threat of sexual harassment,” team leader Zahid Hasan told the Dhaka Tribune.

The most popular problem at the Hackathon was traffic jam – 40 teams worked on this problem alone.

A total of 1,675 young developers, freelancers, students and mobile application developers participated in the event, divided into 288 teams, each containing five members – both coders and designers. The participants worked on Android, IOS and Firefox OS platforms to build the solutions. l

Bangladesh sends water to Maldives JMB planning to make rocket launchers n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Bangladesh has sent 100,000 litres of drinking water and five desalination plants to the Maldives in a bid to assist the country during its ongoing emergency over drinking water crisis.

Bangladesh Navy Ship (BNS) Samudra Joy at left Chittagong yesterday with the aid, read a press release of Bangladesh Navy.

The move came in reply to a call by the Maldives government, which requested international assistance after a devastating fire at Male’s sole water

Cuban doctor cured of Ebola, returns home n AP, Havana A Cuban doctor successfully treated for Ebola at a Swiss hospital returned home Saturday.

Felix Baez Sarria contracted Ebola while working with a Cuban government medical team in Sierra Leone and was flown to Geneva for treatment on November 20.

In a brief meeting with journalists at Havana's international airport, Baez said that he and his colleagues in Africa are committed to fighting the Ebola outbreak.

"I will return there to finish what I started," said the doctor, who was welcomed home by his wife and two sons.

The Geneva University Hospital said Saturday that tests this week showed Baez was cured.

The chief medical officer of Geneva c, Jacques-Andre Romand, said in a statement that "the total recovery of the patient, confirmed by thorough laboratory tests, now allows him to leave the country and travel with no risk of contagion." l

sewage treatment plant on December 4 led to the halt of drinking water supply to around 100,000 people in the Indian Ocean archipelago.

To assist during the crisis, India has already sent two ships with spare parts for the damaged plant, while the Maldives government has also appealed to Sri Lanka, China and the US for help.

“The ship [BNS Samudra Joy], with about 200 crews led by Captain Kutubuddin, is scheduled to reach Maldives’ capital Male on December 11 and will conduct their water distribution staying in Male,” the release read.

The navy ship and the navy personnel would distribute the water while the five desalination plants are capable of supplying about 30,000 litres of purified water per day and the ship’s own water plant will also provide about 10,000 litres of purified water to the people of Male, the release added.

Bangladesh Navy (Chittagong region) Area Commander Rear Admiral Mohammad Akhter Habib, Commodore Commanding of Chittagong Flotilla Commodore M Khalid Iqbal and other navy officials were present during the departure of the ship. l

n Tribune Desk

Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh (JMB) was planning to make rocket launchers with lathe machines, using designs downloaded from the internet on mobile phones, Indian counter-terror agencies investigating the October 2 blast at Bardhaman in West Bengal have uncovered, reports Hindustan Times.

Two alleged bomb makers — Shamim Shakil Ahmed and Sopan Mondal – died in the explosion.

Abdul Hakim – also injured in the blast – confirmed that the entire group,

including the two dead, belonged to the outlawed militant outfit JMB. But Hakim refused to disclose further, saying he did not trust Indian police.

Ahmed’s wife Rumi Bibi said the group was trying to reproduce the weapons using a lathe machine, investigators said.

Photos of rocket launcher designs and projectiles were found in the records of phones destroyed in the blast.

Investigators have pieced together evidence using IMEI numbers of the mobile phones to trace JMB operatives.

Meanwhile, the Indian detective agency CID on Monday intensified its search of a Bangladeshi national and JMB operative named Kausar who took delivery of a consignment of IEDs. Rumi Bibi had told security agencies that they sent four consignments of bombs in the last three months through Kausar and another man called Rasiq.

Investigations showed Kausar was the main motivator and carried bombs in a black rucksack along with Rasiq.

Despite having their phone records, Indian and Bangladeshi agencies haven’t been able to trace the duo. l

Tk1.1 crore snatched in two incidents n Ashif Islam Shaon In two separate armed mugging in the capital yesterday, unidentified miscreants took away Tk1.1 crore.

The first crime was committed in Mirpur, where muggers shot the driver of a private car in his leg and snatched Tk90 lakh from the three passengers, who work at a distribution firm that has business with bKash and Airtel.

The driver, Jahidul Islam, was sent to the National Institute of Traumatology and Orthopaedic Rehabilitation.

The three passengers - Akhter, Yahiya, and Moha - were on the way to Brac Bank and Standard Chartered Bank in Mirpur 11 to deposit the money, said Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) Assistant Commissioner (Pallabi zone) Md Kamal Hossain.

“Tk76 lakh of bKash was supposed to be deposited in Brac Bank while the remaining Tk14 lakh in Standard Chartered Bank. The car had motorcycle escorts provided by the company but they stopped following the vehicle after it

moved around 700 yards from the office,” he said.

A group of muggers intercepted the car near Proshika Bhaban, and one of them broke the windshield by hitting with a shovel.

“They wanted to hijack the car along with the money and asked the driver for the key at gunpoint.

They shot him when he refused to hand the key,” said Matlubur Rahman, Rupnagar police inspector (investigation).

“They also fired a shot in the air as a passer-by was watching the incident,” he added.

Deputy Commissioner of DMP’s Mirpur division Nisarul Arif said CCTV footage was collected from some nearby shops which would help identify the muggers.

“We have also quizzed five people in this connection,” he said.

Arif said city dwellers have repeatedly been advised to ask for police escort while carrying large amounts of money but the company did not do it.

Four local youths own the company, he added.

In another incident in Khilgaon, criminals in the afternoon shot Abdus Salam, general manager of Ekota General Store, and snatched Tk20 lakh from him while he was going to bank to to deposit the money.

Three to four muggers intercepted Salam’s rickshaw near the tempo stop in Goran, shot him in the leg and fled with the money immediately.

Rickshaw puller mugged

A 30-year-old rickshaw puller named Abdul Aziz was stabbed in Rupnagar around 5am yesterday when he was returning home from Sayedabad bus stop in a CNG-run autorickshaw.

The attackers intercepted the vehicle near his residence, stabbed him indiscriminately and snatched Tk2,000.

He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital.

“Aziz brought the money from his hometown in Bagerhat to migrate abroad,” his wife Rabeya told reporters at the hospital. l

Editor: Zafar Sobhan, Published and Printed by Kazi Anis Ahmed on behalf of 2A Media Limited at Dainik Shakaler Khabar Publications Limited, 153/7, Tejgaon Industrial Area, Dhaka-1208. Editorial, News & Commercial Office: FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Shukrabad, Dhaka 1207.

Phone: 9132093-94, Advertising: 9132155, Circulation: 9132282, Fax: News-9132192, e-mail: news@dhakatribune.com, info@dhakatribune.com, Website: www.dhakatribune.com

B3 More than $150bn of oil projects face the axe in 2015

B4 ILO: Blame your boss,

not China, for stagnant wage growth

MONDAY, DECEMBER 8, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Russian firm’s slot to be taken for first satellite Showkat Kallol and n Asif Muhammad Zahidul Islam The government has decided to procure 119.2 east longitude orbital slot from Russian company Intersputnik to launch the country’s first ever satellite, Bangabandhu Satellite-1.

The cabinet committee on economic affairs yesterday approved a proposal of Post and Telecommunication Division to acquire the slot at $28m under procure from single source method.

Finance Minister AMA Muhith presided over the cabinet committee meeting.

“Bangladesh has no other choices other than procuring the slot from the Russian company,” said cabinet division joint secretary Mustafizur Rahman.

BTRC commissioner ATM Monirul Alam thinks if the country wants to launch its inaugural satellite by 2017, there is only option which is taking slot from Intersputnik.

“Time is very limited and options are also limited. If we want to launch the satellite on time, the only option is Intersputnik,” he told Dhaka Tribune.

Finance ministry sources said if the deal was not signed with Intersputnik

by December 31, the company would sell the slot to another interested party.

The project’s consultant Space Partnership International, a US company, has rated the slot as the best among remaining options for the satellite.

Monirul Alam said though a cost of $45m was sought, it has now been proposed at $28m.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) is the implementing agency of the project.

BTRC commissioner said the slot will be bought for a 15-year period which can be extended twice for same years each time with no additional payment.

The Russian company Intersputnik is willing to give full control of the satellite to Bangladesh, a feature not provided in other available orbital slots, according to the Telecom Division’s proposal.

There is a scope to launch three satellites in a line from the slot and it will be possible to provide many planned quality services to Bangladesh and other countries in the region through it.

If the second and the third satellites are not launched in near future, the country can earn revenue by leasing out or selling the remaining frequency to other countries across the world.

Currently, the country’s demand for a satellite is met by renting bandwidth from different satellite operator, which cost almost $14m each year, with the amount increasing progressively.

On November 25, Executive Committee of the National Economic Council (ECNEC) approved Tk2,967 crore for the Bangabandhu project, of which, Tk1,652 crore come from foreign aid.

The remaining amount will be raised through bidder fund.

The proposal said the satellite would minimise the digital divide as it would take broadcasting and telecommunication services to the most rural areas and introduce profitable and promising services such as direct service to homes throughout the country.

The government has planned to launch the satellite in the middle of 2017 although the launching was supposed to take place at the end of 2014. l

Experts at a discussion on apparel industry following inaguration of the Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014 at BICC in Dhaka yesterday

Experts show path to achieve $50bn apparel export n Tribune Report Speakers at a session of the country’s first Apparel Summit 2014 have made a series of recommendations, which include branding Bangladesh, for reaching US$50bn export target by 2021.

The other recommendations are enhancing workers’ productivity, developing infrastructure, ensuring good governance, education, and penetrating to high-end products.

The speakers came up with the recommendation at the first session styled “Bangladesh RMG 2021 – reaching $50bn on 50th anniversary of Bangladesh – A collaborative and coordinated approach” during the apparel summit being held in the city.

BGMEA President Md. Atiqul Islam moderated the session.

SME lending rises over 15%

The session focused on devising a strategic action plan to overcome the existing challenges and realise the potentials to make the RMG sector sustainable and to reach the $50bn export target by 2021.

“To meet the export target, RMG sector needs lot of entrepreneurs, governance, education, workers efficiency, value-added products and above all Branding Bangladesh,” said Francois de Maricourt, chief executive officer of HSBC Limited, Bangladesh.

He noted that Bangladesh stands in second position in 25 countries in terms of trade confidence as per the latest HSBC Trade Confidence Index, which is very positive for the country.

Kihak Sung, founder chairman and chief executive officer of Youngone Corporation said: “Bangladesh can eas-

n Asif Showkat Kallol

Workers at a small light engineering factory in the city’s Dholaikhal from industrial sector, said a senior executive of a private bank.

He said banks are now trying to come out of traditional banking and concentrating on the SMEs to achieve credit growth.

According to the central bank data, a major share of total disbursed SME loan goes to business. In last nine months, 64% of total SME loan went to business sector, 28% to industrial sector and 8% to service sector.

Loan disbursement to women entre-

ily earn $50bn by 2021 if the workers’ efficiency is increased by 10% and the infrastructure is improved further.”

Achieving $50bn should not be the goal; rather profit and better life should be the main target. Efficiency is the key element of reaching the target. “I have increased the workers efficiency by 200% in the last seven years,” he said.

General Secretary of Bangladesh Trade Union Kendra Wajedul Islam Khan said, “It is very unfortunate when we discuss RMG sector, keeping the workers out of the scene, although both the workers and trade unions play an integrated role in this sector.”

“As opportunity for Bangladesh is growing and if the progress continues with the present pace, there is no question about reaching the export target of $50bn by Bangladesh,’’ said

Rick Darling, executive director of Li and Fung.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said: “Comprehensive action plan has been undertaken by the government to provide all the facilities to the RMG sector, so the sector can be full-fledged compliant one within the next three years.”

Speaking on the impact of high bank interest rate, Mostafa Golam Quddus, former president of BGMEA said: “We are becoming less competitive due to high interest rates compared to our competitors.”

“Infrastructure, energy and education need to be ensured to achieve the target,” said Ellen O’Kane Tauscher, independent chair to board of directors of Alliance for Bangladesh Workers’ Safety. l

Beza’s Tk3,000cr land acquisition proposal rejected

n Tribune Report Loan disbursement to Small and Medium Enterprises rose over 15% in first nine months of the current year as banks focused the sector to achieve expected credit growth set in monetary policy by Bangladesh Bank.

Banks and non-bank financial institutions disbursed a loan of Tk72,062 crore between January and September this year which was 81% of a total annual target of Tk89,030 crore, according to the central bank data released yesterday.

The loan of Tk62,472 crore was disbursed in the same period last year against the target of Tk 74,186 crore.

Bangladesh Bank has taken several steps to encourage banks and nonbank financial institutions for financing the SME sector.

As part of its effort, the central bank awarded the best SME promoter on October through arranging “SME Banking Award and SME Financing Fair 2014”.

It also held a seminar in November titled “SME development: role of an effective SME association” as part of its drive for developing SMEs in the country.

Banks are now focusing the SME sector as they are burdened with surplus money amid lack of loan demand

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

RAJIB DHAR

preneurs increased by 13% to Tk2,651 crore between July and September quarter compared to the same period last year.

Of the total disbursed SME loan in the last quarter, Tk6203 crore went to rural area and Tk18,750 crore to urban area, according to the central bank data.

The number of new entrepreneurs increased by 27% to 61,210 in the first nine months compared to the same period last year. l

The Ministry of Finance has rejected a Tk3,000cr proposal from the Bangladesh Economic Zones Authority (Beza) to acquire land, saying that private capital be raised for it.

The ministry suggested the creation of a Bangladesh Bank fund to raise private capital, explaining that it had declined to allot the funds in order to maintain fiscal discipline, official sources said.

The decision was made at an inter-ministry meeting at the Finance Division office last week after the Prime Minister’s Office sought Tk2,917cr in urgent allocation from the Finance Division to acquire land to set up the five economic zones under Beza.

The meeting was presided over by Additional Secretary of Finance Division Jalal Ahmed.

The Prime Minister’s Principal Secretary Abdus Sobhan Sikdar told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “It may put massive pressure on this year’s budget to provide nearly Tk3,000cr for Beza, so we will take an alternative path.”

“We will amend the economic zone investment policy to allow private sector firms that have three years’ experience to develop the economic zones,” Sobhan said.

In some cases funds from the government exchequer will not be required, he said.

The PM’s principal secretary said: “Japanese investors are keen on developing economic zones surrounding Dhaka city, but the government wants to provide 8,000 acres of land at Mirsarai in Chittagong.”

Korean investors have developed 500 acres of land at the Korean Export Processing Zones (KEPZ) out of the 2,492 acres of land allotted to KEPZ 16 years ago, he added.

He said: “The rest of the land allotted to the KEPZ will be given to other foreign investors interested in developing export processing zones.”

Meanwhile, an official of the Finance Division said it had already asked Beza to start talks with the authorities about financing the development of the economic zone sites.

It called for Beza, the Financial Institutions Division and Bangladesh

Bank to work together to set up the fund.

According to the decision last week, loans from local commercial banks will not be viable for Beza since their interest rates are so much higher than foreign banks.

The meeting decided that stateowned commercial banks would guarantee any foreign loans that Beza takes.

Of the total Tk2,916cr Beza has sought, Tk2,700cr is for the development of economic zones at Mirsarai in Chittagong, Gohira in Anowara of Chittagong and Moulvibazar in Sylhet.

The remaining Tk216cr is to acquire land in Mongla and Sirajganj.

The Mirsarai, Anowara and Moulvibazar zones are 6615.12 acres, 611.47 acres and 354.99 acres in area, respectively.

The five zones are Sirajganj, Rajshahi, Mirsrai of Chittagong, Gohira in Anowara of Chittagong and Moulvibazar in greater Sylhet.

At the first Beza board meeting held on April 18, 2012, the body, headed by the prime minister, decided to establish five economic zones in the country within the next two years. l

WB to support VAT modernisation n Tribune Business Desk The World Bank will provide $60 million to modernise Bangladesh’s value added tax (VAT) administration and to boost tax revenue, according to an agreement signed in Dhaka yesterday.

Economic Relations Division (ERD) Additional Secretary Kazi Shofiqul Azam and World Bank Lead Economist and Acting Country Director Salman Zaidi signed the deal on behalf of their respective sides, reports UNB. The credits from the International Development Association (IDA) – the arm of the World Bank Group that helps the world’s poorest countries – have 40 years maturity time with a 10-year grace period, and carry a service charge of 0.75%.

The Washington-based lending agency is giving the fund

under the VAT Improvement Programme Project which will introduce automation, including online VAT taxpayer services, and improve transparency in the VAT administration system.

The project eyes the ratio of VAT to Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to increase by at least one percentage point of GDP by 2019. The VAT to GDP ratio for 2012-13 is 3.7%. l It will support the government to implement the new VAT law which comes into effect in 2015 and aims to provide better services and reduced administrative costs for taxpayers.

The project will include a campaign to raise awareness of the need to register and file for VAT. The project will seek to increase the number of active registered taxpayers to 85,000 within the next five years compared to

around 35,000 VAT payers today.

It will introduce modern business processes and Information Technology systems as well as a more transparent service-oriented tax administration, registration, return processing, and tax payment will become possible online. This will reduce compliance costs for taxpayers.

The project will also support the VAT administration system to become fully compliant with Bangladesh’s Right to Information (RTI) Act. The introduction of vigorous Management Information System will enable the administration to detect irregularities and initiate remedial measures.

An ERD official said the project will improve taxpayer services, encourage better compliance and increase tax revenue by automating the VAT system. l

A fireman briefs a visitor on fire safety equipment at a programme held on the sidelines of the Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014 at BICC yesterday MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

B2

Stocks down for 2nd day with volatility n Tribune Report

than 25% over the previous session.

All the major sectors ended lower except non-banking financial institutions that rose marginally.

Pharmaceuticals lead the way falling almost 1%, followed by power 0.8%, life insurance 1.6%, telecommunication 0.7% and banks 0.6%. Food and allied closed at flat shedding.

Hamid Fabrics Ltd in its second trading day closed flat slightly falling 0.4% to Tk55.9 a share, after rising more than 40% in its debut day.

Gainers and losers remained almost same as out of 299 issues traded, 135 advanced, 132 declined and 32 were unchanged.

IDLC Investments said the market was still going through correction mood. Hence, market remained stagnant at opening hours and turned negative at the later part, it said.

However, some positive news related to Textile sector, like robust export target of garment products and rebranding of Bangladesh put an upbeat vibe, it said.

Consequently, six stocks from the textile sector appeared at top 10 gainers’ list. Accordingly, the sector led the performance as well as turnover chart, gaining 1.9% and capturing 17.5% of total trade value.

Beximco Pharma, the country’s leading drug maker, was the most traded issue with shares worth almost Tk25 crore changing hands, followed by Hamid Fabrics, Summit Alliance Port Limited, AB Bank and Keya Cosmetics. l

Stocks registered losses with volatility for the second session in a row yesterday, as late-profit booking selling pressure cut early gains.

The market initially moved between red and green with a band of 20 points and from the mid-session, it dived.

All the major sectors ended lower except non-banking financial institutions that rose marginally

The benchmark DSEX shed 31 points or 0.7% to settle at 4,930, hitting highest 4,978 in the open and lowest 4,930 at the end.

The Shariah index DSES edged 9 points or 0.8% lower to 1,151. The comprising blue chips DS30 ended at 1,822, falling 21 points or 1%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, closed at 9,261 with a drop of 48 points.

Turnover decreased sharply as it came down to Tk400 crore after hovering over Tk500 crore in the previous two sessions. The DSE turnover stood at Tk383 crore, down more

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSER Company Meghna Petroleum -A Shurwid Ind. -N Khan Brothers-N Eastern Lubricants -A Anwar Galvanizing-B WesternMarine -N Apex SpinningA Berger Paints-A Fu-Wang Food A Deshbandhu Polymer-A

Closing (% Change) -14.05 -5.67 -5.44 -5.20 -5.11 -4.41 -4.19 -4.02 -3.77 -3.74

CSE LOSER Company Meghna Petroleum -A Apex SpinningA Khan Brothers-N Fu-Wang Food A Shurwid Ind. -N Apex Foods -A WesternMarine -N Prime Insur -A AIBL 1st Is. M. F.-A Orion Infusions -A

Closing (% Change) -14.35 -7.20 -5.44 -4.98 -4.79 -4.72 -4.39 -4.26 -4.08 -3.77

4930.37096

(-) 0.63%

1822.37632

(-) 1.16%

15195.08340

(-) 0.47%

12443.75230

(-) 0.97%

9261.72660

(-) 0.52%

Average (% Change) -12.57 -4.55 -6.85 -5.60 -4.64 -4.30 -4.23 -3.86 -1.89 -1.86 Average (% Change) -12.67 -4.96 -6.75 -1.27 -3.51 -4.72 -4.20 -4.26 -4.08 -4.07

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 230.23 32.29 40.50 365.00 34.12 55.13 71.97 1186.67 23.36 21.12

ClosingAvg. 229.84 71.04 40.17 23.37 32.45 99.00 55.18 18.00 4.70 46.46

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 342.58 368.60 41.17 380.15 130.27 473.72 3.86 674.92 640.09 33.39 154.12 33.33 30.35 67.99 49.42 24.23 47.64 58.38 49.57 230.10 0.08

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

DHIGH

227.00 31.60 40.00 366.20 33.40 54.20 70.90 1183.80 23.00 20.60

Closing

237.30 33.60 41.90 370.00 35.40 57.50 75.90 1186.10 24.80 21.80

DHIGH

226.20 69.60 40.00 22.90 31.80 99.00 54.40 18.00 4.70 46.00

243.00 73.00 41.50 24.20 33.30 99.00 57.30 18.00 4.70 48.00

Company

Turnover (Million Taka)

3,833.94

Turnover (Volume)

104,605,795

Number of Contract

107,056

Traded Issues

300

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

110

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

181 9

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,634.89

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.94

CSE key features December 7, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

441.85

Turnover (Volume)

18,307,396

Number of Contract

16,488

Traded Issues

226

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

96

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

125

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,535.52

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.73

Turnover in Million

220.00 31.50 39.80 365.00 33.00 53.50 70.30 1180.10 22.90 20.00

81.491 14.015 71.071 0.073 3.480 84.634 6.895 0.178 27.745 15.151

Turnover in Million

DLOW 225.50 69.00 39.30 22.90 31.70 99.00 53.60 18.00 4.70 45.70

5.171 0.128 6.990 1.370 0.957 0.040 13.993 0.005 0.002 3.475

% change 8.94 9.61 1.07 9.92 3.40 12.36 0.10 17.60 16.70 4.02 0.87 0.79 1.77 1.29 0.63 1.24 1.52 1.29 6.00 0.00

Million Taka 27.38 120.42 4.55 36.30 11.34 28.46 115.39 41.30 7.87 8.80 6.10 3.66 5.20 1.98 2.27 2.95 6.42 5.75 22.57 0.04

CSE

% change 5.97 26.25 0.99 7.91 2.47 6.20 0.00 25.15 9.00 1.72 1.92 1.33 0.80 1.13 0.43 0.49 0.64 1.40 1.25 4.92 0.01

Million Taka 369.96 489.02 45.72 416.45 141.61 502.18 3.86 790.31 681.39 41.25 162.93 39.42 34.01 73.19 51.40 26.50 50.58 64.80 55.32 252.67 0.12

ISN Ltd. -Z R. N. Spinning-Z Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z Bangladesh Welding -Z Fine Foods A Premier Leasing-Z Alltex Industries -Z Shahjibazar Power-N Kay & Que (BD) -Z Midas Financing-Z

Closing (% Change) 9.91 9.73 9.15 9.09 9.09 9.09 8.73 8.72 8.51 8.23

CSE GAINER

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

DLOW

Monday, December 8, 2014

DSE GAINER

DSE key features December 7, 2014

Latest EPS 23.44 0.76 1.36 2.08 0.84 1.80 0.86 49.25 1.80 1.52

Latest EPS 23.44 0.86 1.36 1.80 0.76 3.64 1.80 1.81 -0.08 3.64

Latest PE 9.8 42.5 29.8 175.5 40.6 30.6 83.7 24.1 13.0 13.9

Company Bangladesh Welding -Z ISN Ltd. -Z Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z R. N. Spinning-Z Fareast Finance-Z Alltex Industries -Z Sonargaon Tex -Z Shinepukur Cera-Z Aziz PipesZ Premier Leasing-Z

9.94 9.91 9.88 9.76 9.59 9.56 9.17 9.15 9.13 9.09

Average (% Change) 10.35 7.92 5.14 11.57 8.51 10.12 8.42 8.94 7.78 8.20

ClosingAvg.

Closing

12.04 32.69 17.57 17.88 10.62 9.48 29.39 268.06 15.05 17.01

ClosingAvg.

12.20 32.70 17.90 18.00 10.80 9.60 29.90 268.10 15.30 17.10

Closing

17.49 11.99 17.39 32.60 15.81 29.49 11.85 15.47 22.43 9.50

17.70 12.20 17.80 32.60 16.00 29.80 11.90 15.50 22.70 9.60

DHIGH 12.20 32.70 18.00 18.10 10.80 9.60 30.00 268.10 15.40 17.30

DHIGH 17.70 12.20 17.80 32.60 16.00 29.90 11.90 15.60 22.80 9.60

DLOW 11.20 28.30 15.00 16.70 10.00 8.10 27.50 268.00 14.20 15.00

DLOW 17.00 11.50 15.00 32.60 14.40 28.00 11.30 15.00 18.80 9.20

Turnover in Million 1.583 18.858 50.464 12.230 0.637 7.105 27.788 2.627 0.745 0.894

Turnover in Million 1.287 0.186 5.801 5.200 2.878 4.099 1.007 0.552 0.047 0.888

Latest EPS 0.13 2.19 0.08 0.44 -0.48 0.08 3.28 9.00 -1.41 -7.00

Latest EPS 0.44 0.13 0.08 2.19 1.08 3.28 -0.84 0.39 -0.37 0.08

Latest PE 92.6 14.9 219.6 40.6 -ve 118.5 9.0 29.8 -ve -ve

Latest PE 39.8 92.2 217.4 14.9 14.6 9.0 -ve 39.7 -ve 118.8

News, analysis and recent disclosures PHOENIXFIN: Alpha Credit Rating Limited (AlphaRating) has rated the Company as "A+" in the long term and "AR-2" in the short term along with a stable outlook based on audited financial information of the Company up to December 31, 2013 and quantitative and qualitative information up to November , 2014.

AFTABAUTO: The Company has sent notice of its 34th AGM to DSE from which it has been revealed that the Company will transact the following 'Other Business' in the forthcoming 34th AGM scheduled to be held on December 24, 2014: 1) to adopt divestment of Navana Furniture Limited and Navana Paints Limited at Net Asset Value Tk. 28,64,59,719 and Tk. 11,40,88,261 respectively, and 2) to consider transfer of around 86.46 Kathas of leasehold land from Aftab Automobiles Limited to its wholly-owned subsidiary, Navana Batteries Limited for a total consideration (including costs of registration) at Tk. 10,22,57,971.

FUWANGFOOD: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to go for commercial operation of Fu-Wang Chocolate Bar and different types of Chocolate Coated Products from December 07, 2014 and its annual turnover is expected to be around

Tk. 20.00 Crore.

UNITEDAIR: The Company has further informed that the 9th AGM of the Company will now be held on December 24, 2014 at 9:30 AM at Polwel Convention Center Plot: 9/B, Sector # 08, Abdullahpur, Uttara, Dhaka-1230.

IPO Subscription: 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.

Shasha Denims Limited subscription date 14 to 21 December 2014, NRB upto 30 December 2014. @ taka 10, face value taka 35 and market lot 200. Zaheen Spinning Limited subscription date 28 December 2014 to 04 January 2015, NRB upto 13 January 2015. @ taka 10, face value taka 10 and market lot 500.

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. 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 KEYACOSMET: 20% cash, Record Date: 21.12.2014. Date, Time and Venue of the AGM will be notified later.

RECKITTBEN: 175% interim cash dividend

(second time), Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 15.12.2014.

BATASHOE: 175% interim cash dividend, Record Date for entitlement of interim dividend: 04.12.2014.

ICB: 45% cash, AGM: 20.12.2014, Record Date: 03.12.2014.

BATBC: 100% interim cash dividend, Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 03.12.2014.

BENGALWTL: 23% cash, AGM: 28.12.2014, Record Date: 02.12.2014.

MPETROLEUM: 95% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 16.01.2015, Record date: 04.12.2014.

ENVOYTEX: 12% cash and 3% stock dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record date: 02.12.2014.

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.

9.8 82.6 29.5 13.0 42.7 27.2 30.7 9.9 -ve 12.8

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

Total

Closing (% Change)

Average (% Change) 8.47 10.55 4.96 10.99 7.06 8.10 9.87 9.53 6.51 6.51

Latest PE

Market was still going through correction mood. Hence, market remained stagnant at opening hours and turned negative at the later part

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

% change 8.62 11.39 1.07 9.70 3.30 11.70 0.09 18.41 15.87 0.96 3.80 0.92 0.79 1.70 1.20 0.62 1.18 1.51 1.29 5.89 0.00

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

Beximco Pharma -A Hamid Fabrics -N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A SummitAlliancePort.-A AB Bank - A Keya Cosmetics -A WesternMarine -N Meghna Petroleum -A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A Jamuna Oil -A

GSP Finance-A Khan Brothers-N Square Pharma -A People`s Leasing-A Mozaffar H.Spinning-A Alltex Industries -Z CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Midas Financing-Z Hamid Fabrics -N Mozaffar H.Spinning-A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A WesternMarine -N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Beximco Pharma -A Khan Brothers-N AB Bank - A Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z

Keya Cosmetics -A MJL BD Ltd.-A SummitAlliancePort.-A R. N. Spinning-Z Meghna Petroleum -A

VolumeShares 3,651,763 3,839,200 2,850,170 1,274,409 2,797,936 3,031,154 1,535,100 353,950 3,511,500 299,710

Value in Million 248.37 210.67 116.29 98.77 88.56 87.07 84.63 81.49 80.79 75.92

% of TotalTurnover 6.48 5.49 3.03 2.58 2.31 2.27 2.21 2.13 2.11 1.98

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

2,162,896 1,755,000 225,851 2,225,119 2,048,250 4,845,000

7,505,000 836,000 766,375 618,000 253,600 287,067 167,331 174,000 196,026 333,500

199,000 44,150 68,692 159,500 22,500

71.69 71.07 58.90 55.53 53.10 113.67

105.08 45.67 18.85 14.21 13.99 11.73 11.43 6.99 6.22 5.80

5.72 5.36 5.32 5.20 5.17

1.87 1.85 1.54 1.45 1.38 1.51

23.93 10.40 4.29 3.24 3.19 2.67 2.60 1.59 1.42 1.32

1.30 1.22 1.21 1.18 1.18

ClosingP 67.20 55.90 40.40 77.70 31.40 28.60 54.20 227.00 23.20 252.80

33.20 40.00 259.20 24.80 26.10 22.90 ClosingP

15.90 55.50 25.80 23.30 54.40 40.50 67.60 40.00 31.40 17.80

28.50 119.80 77.40 32.60 226.20

Change % 0.00 -0.36 0.00 3.05 0.00 -1.72 -4.41 -14.05 5.94 -0.59

4.40 -5.44 -1.44 0.81 3.16 4.09

Change %

8.16 0.00 6.61 6.39 -4.39 0.25 1.35 -5.44 -0.63 9.88

-2.06 -3.00 2.38 9.76 -14.35

ClosingY 67.20 56.10 40.40 75.40 31.40 29.10 56.70 264.10 21.90 254.30

31.80 42.30 263.00 24.60 25.30 22.00 ClosingY

14.70 55.50 24.20 21.90 56.90 40.40 66.70 42.30 31.60 16.20

29.10 123.50 75.60 29.70 264.10

DHIGH 69.40 58.90 41.50 78.80 32.30 29.30 57.50 237.30 23.40 257.60

34.00 41.90 263.00 25.40 26.40 24.20 DHIGH

16.10 59.50 25.80 23.40 57.30 42.50 69.40 41.50 32.20 17.80

29.20 127.00 79.00 32.60 243.00

DLOW 62.00 52.20 37.00 72.50 30.00 26.30 53.50 220.00 22.20 244.00

29.20 39.80 240.00 22.20 23.50 20.50 DLOW

15.80 51.60 24.20 22.20 53.60 36.40 66.40 39.30 31.20 15.00

28.30 119.50 76.30 32.60 225.50

AvgPrice 68.01 54.87 40.80 77.50 31.65 28.73 55.13 230.23 23.01 253.30

33.14 40.50 260.78 24.95 25.92 23.46 AvgPrice

14.00 54.63 24.60 22.99 55.18 40.86 68.30 40.17 31.75 17.39

28.73 121.40 77.50 32.60 229.84

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

More than $150bn of oil projects face the axe in 2015 n Reuters, London Global oil and gas exploration projects worth more than $150bn are likely to be put on hold next year as plunging oil prices render them uneconomic, data shows, potentially curbing supplies by the end of the decade.

As big oil fields that were discovered decades ago begin to deplete, oil companies are trying to access more complex and hard to reach fields located in some cases deep under sea level. But at the same time, the cost of production has risen sharply given the rising cost of raw materials and the need for expensive new technology to reach the oil.

Now the outlook for onshore and offshore developments - from the Barents Sea to the Gulf or Mexico - looks as uncertain as the price of oil, which has plunged by 40 percent in the last five months to around $70 a barrel.

Next year companies will make final investment decisions (FIDs) on a total of 800 oil and gas projects worth $500 billion and totalling nearly 60 billion barrels of oil equivalent, according to data from Norwegian consultancy Rystad Energy.

But with analysts forecasting oil to average $82.50 a barrel next year, around one third of the spending, or a fifth of the volume, is unlikely to be approved, head of analysis at Rystad Energy Per Magnus Nysveen said.

“At $70 a barrel, half of the overall volumes are at risk,” he said.

Around one third of the projects scheduled for FID in 2015 are so-called unconventional, where oil and gas are extracted using horizontal drilling, in what is known as fracking, or mining.

Of those 20 billion barrels, around half are located in Canada’s oil sands and Venezuela’s tar sands, according to Nysveen.

Assessing the economics

Geographically, the projects on the balance are widespread.

Chevron’s North Sea Rosebank proj-

Morgan Stanley slashes Brent price forecasts

n Reuters

Morgan Stanley on Friday slashed its Brent price forecasts, citing oversupply and inaction by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries in curbing production.

The investment bank cut its average 2015 Brent base case outlook by $28 to $70 per barrel and for 2016, by $14 to $88 a barrel.

The bank expected over-supply to peak in the second half of next year.

“Unlike 2009, this is a self-inflicted ‘crisis’, and the coming oversupply is grossly exaggerated. With only a modest fix required, the market is complacent about potential upside risk, particularly in light of lower prices,” analyst Adam Longson said in a note.

US crude oil closed on Friday at its lowest since July 2009, as Brent averaged below $70 a barrel in the week for the first time since 2010, as strong US employment data did little to lift the oil market’s bearish mood. l

ect is among those with a shaky future and a decision on whether to go ahead with it will likely be pushed late into 2015 as the company assesses its economics, analysts said.

“This project was not deemed economic at $100 a barrel so at current levels it is clearly a no-go,” said Bertrand Hodée, research analyst at Paris-Based Raymond James. He estimates a development cost of $10bn for Rosebank, with potential reserves of 300 million barrels - meaning the Chevron would only recoup $33 a barrel.

Even with oil at $120 a barrel, the economics of some projects around the

world were in doubt as development costs soared in recent years. Chevron’s Rosebank project has already been delayed for several years.

In response to a question from Reuters, the company said “the Rosebank project is in the Front End Engineering and Design phase. The review of the economics and the additional engineering work is progressing ... It is premature to make any statements on an FID date.”

Hodée said any offshore project with a development cost above $30 a barrel would most likely be put on hold in current oil prices.

REUTERS

Norway’s Statoil this week said it had postponed until next October - a six-month delay - a decision to invest $5.74bn in the Snorre field in the Norwegian Sea as its profitability was under threat.

New oil fields typically require four to five years to be developed and billions before the first drop of oil is produced.

Any cutbacks in oil production bodes ill for international oil companies that are already struggling to replace depleting reserves as exploration becomes harder and discoveries smaller. It also points to tighter supplies by the end of the decade. l

US bank JPMorgan retained its crown as the top performing investment bank in the first nine months of the year, having made revenue of $17.1bn in the year-todate, new data showed on Friday.

In a ranking compiled by industry analytics firm Coalition, US banks dominated the top spots, with Goldman Sachs coming second. The only

With its warm, fluffy brown grains, buckwheat is the ultimate comfort food for Russians and as sanctions hit home, it is flying off the shelves in a shopping frenzy dubbed the “buckwheat panic”.

Hard-hit by falling oil prices and Western economic sanctions imposed over the Kremlin’s role in the Ukrainian crisis, Russia is seeing a catastrophic depreciation of the ruble and steep inflation.

But while Russians grumble about the rising price of chicken, cheese or sausage, it was only when rumours spread of buckwheat supplies running low that shoppers dashed out to fill their trolleys.

Buckwheat “is not just a food, it is a national idea,” Russia’s leading business daily, Vedomosti, wrote recently in an editorial.

While in the West buckwheat is more seen as a trendy food for the health conscious, in Russia it is a traditional staple, predating potatoes.

The cereal, which originates from India and Nepal, was first introduced to the Russians in the 13th century by the Mongol invaders. It was cultivated by Byzantine monks, leading to its name in Russian of “grechka,” which sounds like Greek.

Buckwheat can be eaten at any meal in Russia, whether simmered with milk as a porridge for breakfast, served with chopped liver for lunch, or even stuffed inside a roast piglet at a special dinner.

It is ubiquitous in the cafeterias of Russian schools and kindergartens, hospitals, military barracks and prisons.

This autumn as Russians began to feel the effects of sanctions and the retaliatory embargo on most Western foods ordered by President Vladimir Putin, news spread of a low harvest in Russia’s buckwheat heartland - the Altai region in Siberia.

Due to a drought, Russia’s buckwheat harvest fell this year to just under 600,000 tonnes, against the usual 700,000 tons.

Buying just in case

That was hardly a disaster, but media reports were enough to spark panic demand among consumers with people storming shops across several regions.

“In Moscow, people see a television news report about a buckwheat crisis in Penza”, a city 600 kilometres (350 miles) away, and “in just four days they buy up buckwheat stocks that would normally be enough for two months,” the Moskovsky Komsomolets daily wrote.

One supermarket chain in the northwestern city of Saint Petersburg even introduced a five-pack limit for buckwheat purchases.

Even though buckwheat is homegrown and so little affected by sanctions or the falling ruble, the price of a packet of buckwheat rose from around 30 rubles to 50 rubles ($0.93) in Moscow and doubled in some regions.

“People store up on buckwheat which can be kept for a long time - because they do not know what to expect from the (Western) sanctions,” said Galina, a trader at a Saint Petersburg food market.

There have been “buckwheat crises” in the past, most recently sparked by a 2010 drought, said Alexei Makarkin, a political analyst with the Centre for Political Technologies.

But what is different now is that “there is no question of a real shortage of buckwheat,” said Dmitry Rylko of the Institute for Agricultural Market Studies.

While initially there was no problem with supplies, “excessive demand sparked” the buckwheat crisis, said Alexey Alexeyenko, a senior official at Russia’s food safety agency, Rosselkhoznadzor.

Russian media called the phenomenon “hysteria” or even “buckwheat psychosis.”

A survey conducted in late November by the Levada Center pollster found that almost a third of the Russians had stocked up on buckwheat in recent weeks. l

ILO: Women in Europe, Oil down after Saudi Arabia Russia, Brazil should earn slashes crude price more than men n AFP, Singapore

n Reuters, Geneva Women in work in large parts of the world are better educated, more experienced and more productive than their male counterparts on average, but are still paid less, the International Labour Organisation said on Friday.

In its latest Global Wage Report, the ILO found men were paid more than women in all of the 38 countries examined, showing the ‘gender pay gap’ remains firmly entrenched around the world.

The biggest pay gap was in the United States, where women earn $64.20 on average for every $100 earned by a man.

That discrepancy could largely be explained, however, by factors such as the men’s greater productivity, education or experience, the ILO said. However, in Europe, Russia and Brazil, women

scored higher than men for such attributes, but the pay gap still existed.

“One of the factors that will account for that is discrimination,” ILO Deputy Director-General Sandra Polaski said.

“It may reflect different factors in different countries, but certainly discrimination is part of it.”

On average, in the 26 European countries in the survey, women should expect to get paid 0.9% more than men, based on those factors, but they actually earn 18.9% less.

In Brazil, Russia, Denmark, Sweden and Lithuania the pay premium for women would amount to more than 10%. In Slovenia the figure was 18.5%.

In China, women and men’s pay should be virtually the same based on those factors, with women due a 0.2% premium. But Chinese women are actually paid 22.9% less than men. l

Oil fell in Asia on Friday after major producer Saudi Arabia slashed the price of the crude that it sells to Asia and the United States, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery tumbled 31 cents to $66.50 a barrel in late-morning trade and Brent crude for January dropped 38 cents to $69.26.

“Saudi Arabia has just cut the price of the oil it sells to Asia and the US and this is going to have a big effect on the market today and early next week,” said Daniel Ang, an investment analyst at Phillip Futures in Singapore.

Saudi Aramco, the kingdom’s stateowned oil company, said Thursday it had slashed its official selling price for Arab light grade oil bound for Asia in January by $1.90 a barrel from December’s level.

It also reduced the price of Arab light

JPMorgan continues run as top ranked investment bank n Reuters, London

‘Buckwheat panic’ grips Russians as economic sanctions bite n AFP, Moscow

Vehicles wait in line at a gas station in Turnersville, New Jersey

B3

Monday, December 8, 2014

European bank to make the top three was Deutsche Bank DBKGn.De, which shared third place with Citigroup and Bank of America Merrill Lynch.

Coalition, which only reports revenue figures for the top-ranked banks, said that total investment bank revenue earned so far this year was 6 percent lower than a year earlier, driven largely by a downturn in fixed income, currencies and commodities (FICC) divisions. l

Millennium Group, a conglomerate in the automobile industry of the country has recently opened its showroom of SsangYong under its company, Millennium SsangYong Motors Ltd at Tejgaon I/A in Dhaka. The company’s managing director, Shareq Fahim Haque inaugurated the showroom

grade oil bound for the United States by 70 cents.

“They’re definitely fighting for market share,” Ang told AFP.

'Saudi Arabia has just cut the price of the oil it sells to Asia and the US and this is going to have a big effect on the market today and early next week' Saudi Arabia is the biggest and most influential member of the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC), which late last month decided to maintain output levels despite a global oversupply.

OPEC’s decision at its November 27 meeting in Vienna sent oil prices tum-

bling to their lowest point in five years.

Singapore’s United Overseas Bank said Saudi Arabia’s move was “reinforcing concerns that the world’s leading exporter is now more focused on defending its market share than increasing price”.

“Saudi reportedly believes oil prices could stabilise at $60 a barrel and there is also rife speculation that Saudi is also trying to drive high-price producers out of the market,” it said in a market commentary.

But French bank Credit Agricole said lower prices should give emerging markets a boost.

“Oil-intensive economies, including the bulk of Asia, would benefit from lower inflation, larger monetary leeway to support the recovery, and lower corporate and household costs,” it said.

“Against such a backdrop this could support a scenario of a slight recovery in emerging market GDP growth in 2015.” l

Standard Chartered Bank Bangladesh has recently been awarded the 'Bank of the year' award at The Banker Awards 2014.

The award was handed over to Abrar A Anwar, head of corporate & institutional clients of Standard Chartered Bangladesh at a programme held recently in London

Trust Bank Limited has recently opened its Hobigonj branch. The bankk’s MD and CEO, Ishtiaque Ahmed Chowdhury inaugurated the branch

Dr Md Enamur Rahman has recently inaugurated Muktijoddha Dr Mohammed Haider Ali Miah Road at Pathalia, Savar in Dhaka

Education Minister Nurul Islam Nahid has recently visited Mirza Ahmed Ispahani High School situated at Pahartali in Chittagong. The school’s headmaster SM Mojibur Rahman greeted Nurul Islam

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, December 8, 2014

ILO: Blame your boss, not China, for stagnant wage growth n Reuters. Geneva Stagnant wage growth in rich countries is a result of corporate penny-pinching and not competition from cheap Chinese labour, the International Labour Organization said on Friday.

Average wages in developed countries have grown only 0.4% since 2009 despite a 5.3% increase in workers’ productivity, the ILO said in its latest Global Wage Report.

Globally, wages are slowly converging as poor countries close the gap with rich countries. Wage growth in developed economies was a 0.1% in 2012 and 0.2% in 2013, while developing economies saw increases of 6.7% and 5.9% respectively.

But it is not cheap labour competi-

tion that is causing wages to stagnate in more advanced economies, said Sandra Polaski, the ILO’s deputy director for policy.

“If productivity levels are increasing you can accommodate the competition because the productivity of your firm will allow you to continue to pay good wages and still be able to compete.”

Profits have recovered since the global financial crisis but that income was not being reinvested at the rate that was seen previously, Polaski said.

“It’s sitting on this retained profitability that’s not producing good results for the global economy.

“Those lower incomes in these advanced economies are reducing household demand which is decreasing overall aggregate demand.” l

S&P lowers Saudi, Oman outlook on low oil price n AFP, Dubai

A worker arrives at his office in the Canary Wharf business district in London

REUTERS

Rate cut calls grow as Australian economy falters n AFP, Sydney Pressure is building on Australia’s central bank to cut interest rates from their record lows as growth in the resourcesdriven economy, already faltering on the back of China’s slowdown, takes a further hit, analysts say.

The Reserve Bank of Australia (RBA) has repeatedly said it will continue to maintain a “period of stability in interest rates”, but softening GDP growth figures last week sparked a flurry of economists forecasting further monetary policy easing.

That would take the cash rate below 2.5%, where it has been for 16 months.

“The GDP read ... is creating a very dark shadow over the state of the Australian economy with income growth now in recession,” IG markets strategist Evan Lucas said.

The data showed the economy expanded by just 0.3% in the third-quarter, far below consensus estimates of 0.7%, to take the annual growth rate to a below-trend 2.7%.

“The pressure on growth in 2015 is ratcheting up as key commodities re-

main in bear markets and if housing cools, this will only accelerate,” added Lucas.

The slowdown in China, Australia’s largest trading partner, is already weighing on the resources sector and hurting the wider economy.

Continuing fears about the health of the world’s second-largest economy, which helped fuel Australia’s unprecedented mining investment boom, has been reflected in the local dollar’s high sensitivity to fluctuating Chinese data.

Just last week, the exchange rate slumped to a fresh four-year low after weak manufacturing figures raised concerns about China’s growth outlook.

Tumbling commodity prices

The new forecasts are in part driven by a plunge in commodity prices and the lack of a similar decline in the exchange rate to soften the blow.

Lower prices, particularly for Australia’s biggest export iron ore, were also eroding the national income, Treasurer Joe Hockey said.

The mining investment boom has helped Australia avoid recession for more than two decades, but the rebalancing towards non-resources led growth has been uneven.

While record low interest rates have fuelled a surging housing market, consumer confidence has floundered amid tepid wages growth and following a tough federal budget in May in which the government pledged to cut back on welfare and spending.

There has also been a slower-thanexpected pick-up in business investment outside the mining sector, while the unemployment rate has been rising, hitting an almost 12-year high of 6.2 percent in October.

These factors have seen Australians continue to save at near record levels and balk at taking on more debt.

“The baton change in the economy has been delayed and we are now facing the environment where mining is a lot weaker than expected because of commodity price falls globally,” Macquarie Bank’s head of Australian economic research James McIntyre told AFP.

“And we haven’t been positioned adequately on the non-mining side to pick it up.”

Bearish outlook

The RBA’s willingness to consider measures to curb investor lending for housing, which would allow the central bank to drop the cash rate without fearing that residential property would become overheated, has also opened the door to easing.

Deutsche Bank, Goldman Sachs and Westpac Bank all last week forecast 50 basis points of cuts next year to take the cash rate down to 2%.

They were joined by AMP Capital, which predicts a 25 basis points easing in February or March and a 50% chance of another cut in 2015.

If one or more cuts do occur next year, the RBA is hopeful they play a key role in encouraging activity in nonmining industries.

A lower cash rate could also help make the Australian dollar less attractive to investors and thus weaken the exchange rate, especially if commodity prices continue to tank, McIntyre said.

“In terms of rate cut impacts on the economy ... what you haven’t seen is the currency fall, which then shifts demand back onshore and gives the non-mining sector a catalyst to begin investing,” he said.

“I think that’s the one that the RBA is going to have to - reluctantly - focus monetary policy on next year.”

Not all analysts believe lower rates are needed, with some gaining cheer from stronger-than-expected October retail sales data released Thursday.

HSBC’s chief economist for Australia Paul Bloxham, who continues to forecast an extended period of unchanged rates, warned commentators needed to be careful not to overstate the impact of falling commodity prices.

“Unlike the previous sharp, negative terms of trade shock where commodity prices fell, this time around, the key offset is that there’s still a strong rampup in export volumes on the horizon,” Bloxham told AFP. “The biggest part of this is the (liquefied natural gas) sector, where we expect to see a 330% rise in exports over the next three to four years.” l

Standard and Poor’s has lowered the outlook for the world’s top oil exporter Saudi Arabia to stable from positive and its Gulf partner Oman to negative on sliding oil prices.

However, the ratings agency affirmed the strong “AA-/A-1+” long- and short-term foreign and local currency sovereign credit ratings for Riyadh over the “strong external and fiscal positions” it has built up in the past decade when oil prices were too high.

“We base our outlook revision on our view that, although real economic growth remains relatively strong, we think Saudi Arabia is unlikely to achieve sufficient levels of nominal income to raise the ratings over the next two years,” S&P said.

It said low oil prices will place pressure on the kingdom’s gross domestic product (GDP) and per capita income which was reduced for the 2014-2017 period to $23,400 from $25,600 in June.

“We view Saudi Arabia’s economy as undiversified and vulnerable to a sharp and sustained decline in the oil price, notwithstanding government policy to encourage non-oil private sector growth,” S&P said late Friday.

Although Riyadh built fiscal reserves of around $750bn from surpluses from high oil revenues, its public spending rose to record highs that raised the breakeven price for oil to between $85 and $93 a barrel. Saudi Arabia pumps around 9.7 million barrels per day. S&P said the hydrocarbons sector contributes about 45% of GDP. The agency said the stable outlook reflects that Saudi Arabia will keep its very strong fiscal balance sheet and net external asset position, while monetary policy flexibility remains limited and dependence on hydrocarbons stays high.

For non-OPEC member Oman, S&P said the negative outlook was based on the view that the deterioration in the fiscal or external positions could be sharper than currently expected because of the steeper fall in oil prices.

S&P also affirmed Oman’s satisfactory “A/A-1” long- and short-term sovereign ratings on “strong net external and general government asset positions”.

“The ratings are constrained by our view that the quality of Oman’s public institutions and governance is moderate, that high fiscal, external and economic dependence on volatile hydrocarbons receipts will persist, and that monetary policy flexibility is limited by the (US dollar) pegged exchange rate,” it said. l

China 2015 GDP target in focus as stimulus expectations heat up n AFP

Morning commuters are seen outside the New York Stock Exchange

REUTERS

Assessing the fallout from the fall in oil prices n Reuters, New York With crude oil prices hitting five-year lows, investors are scrambling to gauge the impact of the sharp drop in petroleum costs on companies beyond the energy sector.

Determining the effects of the decline in commodities prices for ancillary industries is difficult. So it will be instructive to see what kind of comments come out of a number of analyst meetings being held in the next few weeks from major industrial companies, some of which have substantial businesses that supply the energy industry.

On Monday, Dover Corp, which develops pumps and sensors used in oil and gas extraction, will hold an analyst day. Its shares have fallen 9% in the last eight trading sessions.

“In the next couple of quarters, should drilling and the build-out of in-

frastructure slow down, these are the guys that are going to get hit,” said Kim Forrest, senior equity research analyst at Fort Pitt Capital Group in Pittsburgh.

Goldman Sachs pointed out in a note this week that some big manufacturers have significant exposure to the oil and gas industry. Dover’s annual report notes that its energy business comprises about a quarter of its annual sales, and its annual report last year said it expected to continue expanding.

“It could be early for a number of these companies to announce or speculate on how the decline in oil prices has impacted or will impact their results, either positively or negatively,” said Tim Ghriskey, chief investment officer of Solaris Group in Bedford Hills, New York.

Energy earnings expectations have continued to crater. On Monday, the fourth-quarter estimate was for a year-

over-year decline of 11.2% for S&P energy stocks. By Friday, that had dropped to 14.7% decline, according to Thomson Reuters data. Whether the drop in energy prices will have an effect on other sectors is yet unclear.

Sector behemoths Honeywell and General Electric have a 15% exposure to oil and gas each while United Technologies, also with an upcoming analyst day next week, is “less tied to oil trends,” according to Goldman Sachs.

Honeywell and GE will have analyst days the week after next. Volatility in GE’s shares has been lower than usual of late, which means anything unusual out of the company could affect the stock.

The same goes for Honeywell, whose shares Goldman notes have moved, on average, 3.4% after its last seven fiscal outlook calls, compared with an average 1.9% move after its last eight earnings releases. l

China is poised to cut its growth target for the first time in three years and ramp up stimulus as the economy comes under increasing downward pressure, analysts say ahead of a key policymakers’ conference expected this week.

President Xi Jinping and other top leaders are trying to put China’s increasingly affluent consumers at the centre of the world’s second-largest economy, rather than investment and exports, and are ready to tolerate slower expansion in GDP to achieve more sustainable growth.

But how much lower is the question, with China’s economy assailed on multiple fronts including a deflating property bubble, high debt levels, and the threat of deflation hovering in the background.

Economists will be looking for clues in next year’s gross domestic product (GDP) growth target, which is likely to be decided at the annual Central Economic Work Conference.

The gathering - which is not announced in advance - is expected this week, although its conclusions will probably not be formally unveiled until March.

Separately, main monthly economic statistics are due this week, with analysts expecting weakening industrial production growth and chronically low inflation.

The closely watched economic conference brings together key officials to decide policy for the coming year, with topics expected to include monetary policy, the consumer price index (CPI) target, and further economic reforms.

“We expect the government to lower its 2015 economic targets for GDP growth to 7% from 7.5% in 2014 and CPI inflation to 3% from 3.5%,” Nomura economists wrote.

“We believe the government will need to ease policy further - even to meet a lower GDP growth target - due mainly to strong headwinds from the

property market correction, severe overcapacity in upstream industries and high local government debt.”

China last lowered the target in 2012 to 7.5% from 8% and a drop to 7% would be the lowest since 2004.

Slowing growth this year prompted the central bank to carry out a surprise interest rate cut last month, reducing benchmark borrowing costs for the first time in more than two years.

The move wrong-footed many economists, who had expected policymakers to continue with a series of finetuning measures introduced from April onwards on concerns that the economy needed a boost.

The cut showed that top leaders “are certainly worried to a certain point” about the economy, Bank of America Merrill Lynch economist Lu Ting told AFP. They are likely to take a similar step during the first half of next year, he added, while also reducing the amount of cash banks must keep on their books -- the reserve requirement ratio -- to free up money for lending.

Shares soar

The Chinese Communist Party’s powerful Politburo gathered Friday ahead of the economic conference, with the official Xinhua news agency citing a statement that in 2015, the government will “keep the economy operating within a reasonable range”.

It gave no details on precise measures that might be taken.

ANZ economist Liu Li-Gang said

DILBERT

that authorities need to push broader reforms beyond tweaks to monetary policy.

“China should allow rapid development of its capital markets in the future to replace banks as the pillar of the financial system,” he said. “Or else it’s very likely that a credit contraction-led economic slowdown will emerge.”

But the slowing growth outlook has not dented enthusiasm for Chinese shares, with the benchmark Shanghai Composite index leaping 38.8 percent so far this year. Much of the improvement has come in the wake of the interest rate cut and amid expectations for more stimulus.

Growth in industrial production, which slowed in October, is likely to have taken another hit in November, economists say, as China ordered factories in and around Beijing to close to ensure blue skies for the APEC summit.

The figure is due on Friday, two days after the monthly inflation statistics.

Consumer and producer price inflation have both been weak in China, and the latter has been negative for more than two years.

Capital Economics economists Julian Evans-Pritchard and Mark Williams see CPI falling to a near-five-year low of 1.5% in November, down from 1.6% in October, with further falls ahead.

Still, they described worries about the threat of deflation as “overdone”.

“With the prices of industrial inputs falling, but factory gate prices of finished consumer goods flat, many firms are actually better off,” they wrote. l