09 Dec, 2014

Agrahayan 25, 1421 Safar 15, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 245

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

20 pages | Price: Tk12

B1 | BUSINESS

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

12 | SPORT

CONFUSION OVER FIRE SAFETY TOOLS INSTRUCTION

FOLLOW THE DRAGON

THE MUSLIMAH PAGEANT AND A FEW OTHER THINGS

WHO ON EARTH ARE THEY?

PM hints at DCC polls this winter

T H E R O A D N O T TA K E N

Proposal for extending city administrator’s tenure sent back n Muhammad Zahidul Islam The long awaited polls for the bifurcated Dhaka City Corporation are likely to take place early next year, following fresh directives from the prime minister to the authorities concerned.

During the weekly cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina reportedly asked authorities to arrange elections by this winter for the Dhaka North City Corporation and Dhaka South City Corporation – polls that were originally slated for May 24, 2012.

Two ministers and a state minister – who were present at yesterday’s meeting – confirmed the news to the Dhaka Tribune.

P3 EC AWAITS GAZETTE Meeting sources added that the premier also rejected a proposed amendment to the local government (city corporation) act, which moved to extend the tenure of both city administrators to one year from the existing six months.

A ruling party minister quoted Hasina as saying: “We are not concerned about the result [of the election]; please arrange elections for the two city corporations immediately.”

After the amendment to the bill was placed before the cabinet, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader reportedly objected to it, claiming that extending the city administrators’ tenure would send a wrong signal to the people.

Water Resources Minister Anisul Islam Mahmud also voiced his support to Obaidul’s remarks and said the govern-

RMG growth to help Bangladesh get middle-income status n Tribune Report Political stability, value added chains, education and increased labour productivity have been emphasised as the keys to speeding up growth in Bangladesh’s apparel sector, which can help the country achieve the middle-income status by 2021.

Other factors such as improving workers’ living condition, flow of investment, infrastructure development, backward integration, research and training, and human resource development are also equally important for sustaining the RMG growth trend.

The growth could also result in gaining competitive advantages over apparel giants like China and India, said speakers at a seminar styled “Can RMG sector help Bangladesh to become a middle-income country?” in the final session of the Dhaka Apparel Summit yesterday.

The Bangladesh Garments Manufacturers and Exporters Association (BGMEA) organised the seminar at the Bangabandhu International Conference Centre in the capital.

Speaking in the event, Jatiya  PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

ment should not approve the amendment.

Following the discussion, the prime minister recommended that instead of amending the act, the government should go for arranging the elections.

Without commenting on the election issue, Cabinet Secretary M Musharraf Hossain Bhuiyan said the proposed amendment has been sent back to the LGRD Ministry following the cabinet decision.

“The cabinet thinks amending the bill needs more consultation,” Musharraf said during his official press briefing after the meeting.

Meanwhile, Local Government Division Secretary Monzur Hossain, who was also present in the cabinet meeting, said: “It [the proposed amendment] has very little chance to go back to the cabinet again.”

Refusing to comment on the announcement of schedule for the elections, Monzur said: “Election to the local administration is Election Commission’s mandate and if they want our assistance we can oblige.”

Sources said the Election Commission had planned to announce a poll schedule for the split DCC after Ramadan this year, but eventually scrapped the plan. EC sources also told the Dhaka Tribune that there were still disputes surrounding the delimitation of wards 55, 56 and 57.

Before the 10th national election, the commission had sent letters to the LGRD Ministry to carry out the delimitation of the wards on an emergency basis; but those calls reportedly were unheard.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Parts of the under-construction four-lane Dhaka-Mymensingh Highway near the Joydebpur intersection has turned into a stand-in parking lot for pickup vans, covered vans and trucks owned by the RMG factories located in the area. The photo was taken yesterday MEHEDI HASAN

Chhatra League linked to yaba trade in DU n Arif Ahmed The police have found links of Chhatra League leaders in yaba trading on the Dhaka University campus, after having arrested – with help from DU authorities – seven people yesterday near the university’s Mohsin Hall and seized 1,250 yaba pills from their possession.

“Acting on a tip-off, we arrested them near the Mohsin Hall when they were returning from the hall after buying yaba at around 1:45am,” said Shahbagh police station Officer-in-Charge Sirajul Islam. Two CNG-run auto-rickshaws and a motorcycle – which were

used by the arrestees – were also seized at the time, he added.

A case has been filed under the Narcotics Control Act 2013 with the police station in this connection, Sirajul added.

The arrestees are Subroto Kumar Bhowmik, Sanjoy Biwswas Sujon, Md Bachchu, Shahidul Islam, Kabul Kha, Akbar and Kazi Shahidul Islam. None of them are students of the university.

The OC said the detained men confessed to purchasing the yaba pills from Wasim, Mehedi, Maksud, Titu and Suman – all residential students of the hall who live in rooms 311, 337 and 338.

The names mentioned by the ar-

restees include Chhatra League’s Mohsin Hall unit president Maksud Rana Mithu – a boarder of room 337, as well as Chhatra League’s DU unit Organising Secretary Maksudur Rahman – who lives in room 338.

Although the arrestees mentioned Mithu’s name immediately after they were arrested, they later reportedly skipped saying the name during interrogation, sources said.

Seeking anonymity, a Chhatra League leader of the hall unit admitted to the Dhaka Tribune that Mithu had been running yaba business in the hall for the past year, using room 311 to

Jamil Khan with our n Mohammad n AFP Shariatpur Correspondent

Convict Rajon uploaded these photos on his Facebook profile on Sunday

They are active on Facebook and have attended party programmes recently. But police claim they have no clue about the fugitives convicts of the Bishwajit Das murder case.

Two years have passed since tailor Bishwajit was barbarically killed in front of law enforcers and civilians in Old Dhaka and almost a year since the verdict. But 13 out of the 21 convicts – all activists of Jagannath University unit Chhatra League – are still at large.

Of the 13 absconding convicts, two were awarded death penalty while others given life-time imprisonment by a speedy trial tribunal on December 18 last year.

Such a state of affairs has put the family members of Bishwajit into anxiety. They have demanded immediate arrest of the killers and execution of the verdict to ensure justice.

Bishwajit died shortly after being beaten and hacked by the convicts in Bahadur Shah Park area near the Judge’s Court on December 9, 2012.

The incident was widely publicised in the media as many camerapersons and photojournalists had been present in  PAGE 2 COLUMN 2

Half of the nearly $8bn in climate finance given to the developing world since 2003 went to just 10 countries, and nations most at risk got the short end of the stick, a report said.

The top recipients were Morocco, Mexico and Brazil, each getting more than $500m of the $7.6bn total, according to an analysis of spending over the last decade in 135 countries.

The report of the Overseas Development Institute (ODI), a UK think-tank, was released ahead of the second and final week of UN negotiations in Lima for a world pact to curb potentially disastrous global warming.

“Mexico and Brazil are among the top 10 emitters of greenhouse gases, and with Morocco, all have huge renewable energy potential,” said a statement.

However, many of the poorest countries were left behind.

“Conflict-affected and fragile states such as Ivory Coast and South Sudan, where it is generally difficult to spend finance, received less than $350,000 and $700,000 respectively,” said an ODI statement.

“Several middle income countries

3 | News

The Election Commission is still waiting for a government gazette notification to hold election of the bifurcated Dhaka City corporation.

Mayor Lokman Hossain Dakua of Bakerganj Municipality in Barisal has taken up a project to build drains and culverts in the historic Jail Khal (Jail Canal) in the upazila, ignoring a High Court ruling to preserve the canal.

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 5

Active on Facebook and party forums, Poorest countries ‘left 13 killers of Bishwajit live above the law behind’ in climate finance

INSIDE

5 | News

sell the contraband drug to customers.

The pills were brought from Teknaf to be sold to different yaba distributors in the city, he added.

However, Mithu and Maksud both denied allegations of running the drug racket in the hall, terming the claims as a conspiracy against them.

Yesterday’s arrests were made on a tip-off, following which Shahbagh police station Sub-Inspector Sohel Rana stationed a team of law enforcers in front of the Basunia gate near the hall in the early hours.

The team stopped and frisked

4 | News

Bangladesh has taken steps to implement the anti-corruption charter, but it would not be possible to get rid of corruption without the support of civil society and the people, says TIB.

6 | Nation

A hill is allegedly being illegally cut down to make way for a rubber factory and its staff quarters in Bandarban’s Naikhangchhari upazila.

8 | World

Angry crowds hurled objects at police who retaliated in a second night of clashes in California following the death of a black man who was put in a chokehold by an NY police officer.

15 | Entertainment

Dhallywood stars pay rich tributes to Khalil Ullah Khan, a dominating figure on both the small and the silver screen, who passed away on Sunday at the age of 80.

that are vulnerable to the impacts of climate change and have significant clean energy potential, such as Namibia, El Salvador and Guatemala, also received less than $5m each.”

The aid from rich nations is meant to help poor and vulnerable countries adapt to climate change impacts and curb Earth-warming greenhouse gas emissions through a shift away from fossil fuels like oil, coal and gas.

To date, nearly $10bn in start-up capital has been promised to the Green Climate Fund Funding for adaptation rocketed from $3.8m in 2003 to $2bn this year, said the report.

“While not enough, the trends in spending are positive,” it said.

“Poor countries such as Niger, Bangladesh and Nepal have received nearly $400m over the last decade to help them cope up with this growing threat.”

However, the 10 most vulnerable nations, including Somalia, the Solomon Islands, Burundi, Niger and  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Foreign Secretary: Dhaka, Thimpu agree to negotiate free trade agreement n UNB Bangladesh and Bhutan have agreed to boost trade and negotiate a free trade agreement (FTA) between the two countries apart from strong collaboration in the power sector, especially hydroelectric power.

Foreign Secretary M Shahidul Haque said this at a press conference arranged for the members of the Diplomatic Correspondents Association, Bangladesh (DCAB) at the Foreign Ministry yesterday.

“Bhutanese side has proposed to negotiate an FTA with Bangladesh…our prime minister has agreed on the proposal,” he said.

The foreign secretary said they hoped the negotiation will start soon and the FTA will be signed which will play a vital role in boosting and minimising the trade gap between the two countries.

Sharing the outcome of Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay’s three-day visit, Shahidul Haque said power sector collaboration, especial-

The Bangladesh side agreed to consider Bhutan’s request for sharing internet redundancy ly hydroelectric power, came up very strongly at the discussion table. “Bangladesh expressed its desire in both areas – either for joint investment or procuring power from Bhutan.”

The foreign secretary also said four major areas – power sector collaboration, boosting trade, connectivity and capacity building – came up largely during the bilateral talks.

On connectivity, he said they focused on connectivity in a broader sense not concentrating on physical or road connectivity rather connectivity in terms of sharing thoughts, ideas and people to people connectivity. “Both countries agreed to work together in this area.”

He also said the two neighbouring nations agreed on going for transit among Bangladesh-India-Bhutan allowing movements of goods, services and people.

The foreign secretary said the issue of climate change also came up for discussion at the meeting.

Responding to a question, the foreign secretary said the bilateral agreement between the two countries has been renewed for another 10 years.

He said a new university, ‘Rangamati Science and Technology University’, will be set up and the Bangladesh prime minister sought support for the architecture of the university following the Bhutanese design.

Shahidul Haque also said the Bhutanese embassy will also be built following Bhutanese architecture. “A land of around 2.4 bighas has been given as a gift to Bhutan and its people.”

Meanwhile, both Bangladesh and Bhutan discussed ways to further intensify their mutually beneficial cooperation, including inter alia, in hydropower, water resources management, trade and commerce, connectivity, climate change, tourism, culture, education, agriculture, health and human resources development, according to a joint statement.

Recognising the utmost importance of enhancing regional connectivity, both sides agreed to jointly work towards that end both bilaterally and sub-regionally.

The two countries also agreed to work together to enhance collaboration in Water Resources Management and power/hydropower and connectivity in the sub-regional context.

Emphasising the need for enhancing trade relations for mutual benefit and recognising the huge potential it holds in bringing prosperity, the two sides agreed to diversify bilateral trade and take further trade facilitations measures for a deeper market access.

Bangladesh offered to export more products such as readymade garments, pharmaceuticals, ceramics, jute and jute goods, agricultural produce to Bhutan, while Bhutan agreed to look into that.

The Bangladesh side agreed to consider Bhutan’s request for sharing internet redundancy.

Recognising Bangladesh’s lead role in developing global awareness and international partnership on autism and other neuro-developmental disorders, the two sides agreed to work together to contribute to the process regionally and internationally.

Both sides laid emphasis on having a cultural exchange programme to further strengthen the common and unique cultural linkages that date back to history.

Recognising the huge potential of tourism, the two sides agreed to further increase cooperation in this sector. It was also agreed to enhance collaboration in other sectors namely, education, health and human resources development.

Voicing concern about the adverse impacts of climate change on the two countries, the both sides stressed securing climate justice and equity based on the principles of UNFCCC; balanced allocation between adaptation and mitigation; clear provision of new, adequate and predictable financing; and enhanced technology development and transfer.

The Bhutanese prime minister left Dhaka yesterday afternoon, wrapping up his three-day visit. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina hands over a donation of Tk6 crore to Shamantalal Sen, head of the burn and plastic surgery unit at Dhaka Medical College Hospital, at Ganabhaban yesterday. The donation will be used to acquire equipment to provide Hyperbaric Oxygen Therapy to patients with severe burn injuries BSS

Prime Minister extends support to ailing artistes n UNB

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday provided financial support to a number of ailing senior and renowned cultural personalities of the country.

The recipients are ailing film actor Abdus Samad, popularly known as Tele Samad, film director Shahidul Islam Khokan, film actor Abdus Sattar who acted in colour film Rangin Rupban, and flute player Basudev Das. Sheikh Hasina handed over cheques in the form of family savings certificates amounting to Tk20 lakh to each of the recipients at her official residence Ganabhaban.

While talking to the renowned actors and artistes of the country, the prime minister said she came to know

about their problems from her younger sister Sheikh Rehana who had collected the information from national dailies.

Expressing gratitude to the prime minister, the ailing cultural personalities thanked her for extending support during their bad times. Tele Samad in an emotion-choked voice said throughout his career he had strived to give pleasure to people but now he is seriously sick.

In reply, the Prime Minister mentioned that the government has some responsibility for the ailing cultural personalities who gave pleasure to general people through their performance.

Sheikh Hasina also mentioned a number of dialogues of actor Tele Samad like “Darjiling, Darjiling”.

Basudev Das said Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur

PM hints at DCC polls this winter  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Following the bifurcation of the Dhaka City Corporation on November 30, 2011, fresh elections were originally slated for May 24, 2012, but the High Court issued a three-month stay order as there were complexities regarding area delimitation and preparation of the voter list.

The stay order was finally lifted by

the court on May 13 last year, paving way for the election.

The last city corporation election in April 2002 was won by BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka – who went on to serve as mayor until the splitting of the corporation in 2011. Awami League’s Mohammad Hanif was elected the first mayor of the city in the first DCC poll in 1994. l

Rahman gave the National Flag to his daughter Sheikh Hasina and it is now her responsibility to protect it and uphold the dignity of the nation.

Abdus Sattar with tears in his eyes said he acted in various films including Rangin Rupban and also made a film on Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman. Today, he feels proud that the daughter of Bangabandhu came forward with the financial assistance for him, Abdus Sattar said.

Joya Chowdhury - wife of ailing film director Shahidul Islam Khokan briefed the Prime Minister about the physical condition of her husband.

Prime Minister’s Press Secretary AKM Shameem Chowdhuri and PM’s Special Assistant Mahbubul Hoque Shakil were, among others, present. l

Chhatra League  PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

two auto-rickshaws and a motorbike coming out of the hall gate to find the yaba pills with the passengers.

Mohsin Hall Provost Prof Ali Akkass, on the other hand, confirmed the involvement of DU students and Chhatra League activists in the incident. “Surely the students were involved with it; otherwise how could outsiders come to the hall corridors for this business?

“A formal letter will be sent to the students of those particular rooms and

PM donates Tk 6cr to DMCH’s Burn Institute n UNB Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday donated Tk6 crore to the National Institute of Burn and Plastic Surgery (NIBPS) of Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) to procure hyperbaric oxygen therapy (HBOT) for critically injured patients.

The prime minister handed over a cheque for the donated money to Project Director of the institute at her official residence Ganobhaban on Sunday evening, PM’s Press Secretary AKM Shameem Chowdhuri said.

The HBOT will extend most modern treatment facilities to the critically injured patients as the system involves breathing pure oxygen in a pressurized room or tube.l

appropriate action will be taken against them,” the provost added.

Amzad Ali, acting proctor of the university, also assured of taking steps against those involved.

When asked about the possible involvement of Chhatra League men, the student wing’s DU unit General Secretary Omar Sharif claimed that Chhatra League activists could not be involved in the yaba trade. He, however, said action would be taken against any “misguided” activist. l

Poorest countries Active on Facebook and party forums, 13 killers of RMG growth to help Bangladesh ‘left behind’ in get middle-income status Bishwajit out of police radar climate finance  PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

Eritrea, benefited from just 7% of the adaptation aid.

“Effective use of climate finance will help win the support of poor countries which have contributed the least to climate change but bear the brun of its impacts,” report author Smita Nakhooda said.

Lives depend on it

Finance is a sore point at the UN climate talks, with developing nations insisting that rich economies show how they intend to honour promises to muster up to $100bn in climate finance per year from 2020.

To date, nearly $10bn in start-up capital has been promised to the Green Climate Fund, the main vehicle for channelling the money.

On Friday, a UN report said developing countries may need up to $500b per year by 2050 for adaptation alone.

“There is substantial scope to improve results and learn from experience” on climate financing, said the ODI statement.

Funds need to become less risk averse and more flexible when it comes to donor conditions and scrutiny.

“There are now too many small climate funding ‘pots’ with substantial overlap and finance is spread too thinly between them,” added Nakhooda.

“The lives of millions of people in poor countries affected by climate change depend on getting this right.” l

the area to cover the BNP’s blockade programme.

It also raised an outcry over the credibility of the law enforcers in containing crimes committed by activists of the ruling party.

Following the incident, police filed a case with Sutrapur police station accusing 25 unidentified people. Detective Branch (DB) of police investigated the case and accused 21 people in the charge sheet pressed on March 5 last year. Formal trial began on June 2 at Dhaka’s Speedy Trial Tribunal 4.

The death row convicts are Md Rafiqul Islam Shakil, Mahfuzur Rahman Nahid, Emdadul Haque Emdad, GM Rasheduzzaman Shaon, Quiyum Miah Tipu, Saiful Islam, and absconding Rajon Talukder and Mir Md Noor-e-Alam Limon.

Golam Mostafa and AHM Kibria, currently in police custody, and fugitives – Monirul Haque Pavel, Obaidul Quader Tahsin, Imran Hossain, Khondoker Md Yunus Ali, Tarique Bin Zohor Tamal, Azizur Rahman Aziz, Al Amin Sheikh, Mosharraf Hossain, Rafiqul Islam, Md Alauddin and Kamrul Hasan – were sentenced to life-term imprisonment.

Among the convicts, those who are in custody have appealed with the High Court against the judgement. The appeals are pending for hearing.

Although the law enforcers have so far failed to arrest the fugitives, many of the convicts were attending party programmes, a Jagannath University (JnU) unit leader of the Chhatra League – the ruling party’s student wing – said seeking anonymity.

Lifer Kamrul was seen attending a Chhatra League rally held at the capital’s Suhrawardy Udyan on August 31. Imran participated in a programme held at the JnU central auditorium on August 25.

University correspondents of two different media confirmed to the Dhaka Tribune that they had talked to Imran while he was going out of the campus.

Aziz was also seen in front of the Awami League’s central office on Bangabandhu Avenue on August 15 – the National Mourning Day, several Chhatra League leaders of the JnU unit confirmed.

However, President of the unit FM Shariful Islam claimed that no Chhatra League leader was ever involved in the murder. “All of them are intruders,” he said.

Asked about convicts joining party programmes, he said there was no such scope. “Still, if anyone is found attending any Chhatra League programme, they will be handed over to the police,” Sharif told the Dhaka Tribune.

Apart from attending programmes, the killers are also active on Facebook.

One of the fugitive death row convicts Rajon Talukder posted on Facebook that he had left the country on July 15 last year.

The latest status posted by Rajon on Facebook says: “The person whose total life has been spent in clashes, attacks, gunfights, blasts and playing blood game, someone is threatening of beating him up. Totally gone confused.”

On Sunday, he uploaded some photos. Several sources confirmed that he is now living in Kolkata – the West Ben-

gal capital.

Sanowar Hossain, additional deputy commissioner of DB police and coordinating officer of the case’s investigation, said arrest warrants had been sent to the permanent addresses of the convicts, and that basically the police stations concerned would take action.

“We are aware of the fugitives and will arrest them as soon as we get valid information,” he added.

Family panicking

Bishwajit’s elder brother Uttam Kumar Das, who was happy after the verdict, said he is in fear of attack all the time as he has to stay in Old Dhaka and run his tailoring shop in Shankhari Bazar.

“Since many of the killers are still absconding, I am scared as they may harm me any time,” he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

A bust of Bishwajit was erected at his village home in Shariatpur’s Naria after he was cremated. His parents say they are afraid of the fugitive killers.

Local police, however, claimed that they were safeguarding the family.

Mother Kalpana Rani Das has urged the government to take immediate steps in executing the verdict after arresting the criminals.

Ananta Das, Bishwajit’s father, said his one last wish was to see the execution of the court verdict.

“I have come to know from media that my son’s killers are moving around freely. I do not understand how the killers dodged the police. If such a situation continues, we will never get justice,” he said with a sigh. l

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

Sangsad Speaker Shirin Sharmin Chaudhury claimed that Bangladesh was moving on the right track to obtain the target of becoming a middle-income country by 2021.

She put emphasis on ensuring a congenial investment environment, political stability, removing red tapism and developing skilled manpower to make the dream of $50bn annual export earning from the RMG sector by 2021 come true.

“We need to focus on women’s empowerment because it is not only for the welfare of women but also is must for the economy,” Shirin said.

Commerce Minister Tofail Ahmed said Bangladesh’s economy had leapt forward in the past five years and if the momentum continued, Bangladesh would be able to become a middle-income country in the next six years.

He said the government was making efforts to remove infrastructural bottlenecks by taking steps to bolster electricity and gas production.

Bangladesh Bank Governor Atiur Rahman said the central bank aimed at an inclusive growth by 2021, which matched with the BGMEA’s goal of earning $50bn from RMG exports.

He said: “We need to put all hands together to craft a comprehensive strategy for taking the RMG sector to a new height. The RMG industry has been growing over the years in an unplanned way; it needs to grow in a planned manner to reduce the risks associated with structural deficiencies.”

He assured financing with soft loans

for developing the sector further. He said he had recently discussed with the World Bank the arrangement of longterm funding for the sector.

BNP leader and former commerce minister Amir Khoshru Mahmud Chowdhury said political stability was the most important factor, lacking which nothing would work.

“We need to ensure the democratic process, while controlling law and order and securing workers’ rights are also the prerequisites for a sustainable development,” he said.

He also underscored the need for education to boost RMG production.

“Only education can bring changes in the industry. Buying capacity of workers should be increased by improving their living condition to create demand for stimulating the economy.”

Green Member of European Parliament Jean Lambert said engagement of more women in the economy was extremely important for the economic growth as well as the RMG. She focused on food security in line with the climate change, education, IT, democratic development, value added chains and skills for the apparel industry to achieve the middle-income status.

Vice-President of Global Responsibility, Human Rights and Business, Gap Inc Wilma B Wallace said workers’ dormitories, childcare, training and wage equality were the fundamental elements for the future of the apparel sector.

Managing Director of Mohammadi Group Rubana Huq moderated the seminar. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

3

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

EC awaits amended gazette for Dhaka City Corporation elections Mamun and n Shohel Abu Hayat Mahmud The Election Commission is still waiting for a government gazette notification to hold election of the bifurcated Dhaka City corporation.

In a recent cabinet meeting, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina has reportedly given go ahead to holding the Dhaka City Corporation polls this winter, in February next year to be specific.

Election Commission (ECC) officials said it all depends on when the Local Government Ministry publishes an amended gazette notification.

The last election of DCC was held in April 2002. Awami League, then main opposition, did not participate, and Khoka, then a minister of BNP government, became mayor “We are always ready to hold the polls.

But it has not been possible due to a delay in getting the amended gazette centring the inclusion of a new ward in Sultanganj under the Dhaka South City Corporation,” Election Commissioner Mohammad Abdul Mobarak told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

In June last year, Chief Election Commissioner Kazi Rakibuddin Ahmad also said: “If the gazette is amended, the EC will announce the schedule.”

According to sources, the EC had asked officials of the LGRD Ministry to amend the gazette by June 3 last year.

When contacted, Local Government Division (LGD) Secretary Manjur Hossain told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday: “The process of solving the complication centring demarcation of the two city corporations’ areas is under way now. Apart from this, others problems

will also be solved soon.”

Asked how soon it can be, Manjur, who was present at the cabinet meeting, said it cannot be predicted accurately. But he said they would discuss how polls could be held immediately.

Following drawn-out bickering between the EC and the ministry over the inclusion of 13 new areas in Sultanganj to DSCC, the ministry on May 30 published a gazette announcing the areas as Ward 57, a new ward, and suggested that the seats be put under the reserved women councillor seats of Ward 19.

The EC wanted an amendment because there was a language error in the gazette.

Citing a section from the Local Government (City Corporation) Act 2009, an election commissioner explained that when announcing the new ward, the ministry should have mentioned “amending the first schedule to include new areas in the city corporation” in the gazette.

He also said the EC had already started making preparations for holding the polls.

On May 13 last year, the High Court withdrew its stay order on holding the split DCC polls.

Six days later, the LGRD Ministry sent a letter to the EC asking for holding the polls excluding the 13 new areas. But the EC refused, saying legal complications might arise.

The Dhaka City Corporation was split on November 29, 2011, through the passage of a bill that amended the 2009 local government act. The then-mayor Sadek Hossain Khoka and 92 ward councillors left their offices after the amendment and the government subsequently appointed two administrators for the Dhaka North and South City Corporations.

The last election of DCC was held in April 2002. Awami League, then main opposition, did not participate, and Khoka, then a minister of BNP government, became mayor. l

Police disperse students of Rajshahi College who blocked both sides of the road at Zero Point in Rajshahi city yesterday pressing 11-point demands in protest against the death of three fellow students in a road accident on Sunday AZAHAR UDDIN

Ex-Jubo League leader suspected in Tk20 lakh mugging n Ashif Islam Shaon Police are suspecting involvement of a former Jubo League leader in the mugging of Tk20 lakh from a store manager in Goran of the capital.

As for the mugging of Tk90 lakh from a private car by shooting the driver at Rupnagar in Mirpur, police are suspecting the three who were in the vehicle and were taking the money to deposit in two different banks.

Both the crimes were committed on Sunday.

Police said they suspect the accomplices of Galib, who was the president of ward no 23 of Jubo League, snatched the money in his presence from the store manager.

Officer-in-Charge of Khilgaon police station Mostafiz Bhuiyan said some suspects would soon be interrogated

over Sunday’s mugging.

On Sunday afternoon, muggers shot Abdus Salam, 30, and took away the money. He was taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital. Salam also filed a case accusing six to seven unnamed people.

Requesting anonymity, an investigator said he learned that Salam would go to the bank to deposit the money on Sunday.

“In the morning, Galib’s accomplices took position near the store Salam works at. Salam, accompanied by an employee of the store, headed for the local branch of Dhaka Bank on a rickshaw in the afternoon to deposit the money. A few minutes later, Galib and his abettors swooped on them, fired Salam and fled with the bag the money was in,” he said.

Police suspect the three passengers of the car had connections with the muggers in the Mirpur case.

The probe team led by an additional commissioner of Dhaka Metropolitan Police has already quizzed 13 people, including the three car passengers and the four who were riding two motorbikes to escort the vehicle.

“The escorts witnessed the whole incident but took no action. They did not even ask any passer-by to do something,” said an investigator. He said video footage obtained from CCTV cameras installed in nearby buildings was scrutinised and a mugger was identified.

“We have interrogated some youths and we hope the case will be solved shortly,” Nisharul Arif, deputy commissioner (Mirpur division) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The three passengers in the car work at a distribution firm that has business with bKash and Airtel. l

CMP chief to Khaleda: Have patience n Tarek Mahmud, Chittagong

Dumped garbage, occupying more than half of the road, impedes the passage of vehicles, and the resultant odour causes suffering for the residents of nearby areas. The photo was taken from Harjir Pukur on the Gazipur highway MEHDI HASAN

Chittagong Metropolitan Police Commissioner Abdul Jalil Mandal has suggested that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia should keep patience as the police will obey her order too if she forms government.

“Keep patience, please keep patience. The election will be held at the right time. If you [Khaleda] win the election, you will form the government. Then people will abide by your orders. We will also work according to your instructions,” the CMP commissioner said at Bakalia police station’s Open House Day and Cleaning Drive held at a local community centre yesterday.

He also warned that if anyone hurled bricks at the law enforcers, the “police’s sticks are kept ready for them too.”

Saying the country was enjoying democracy at the highest level, Jalil said: “My government is a democratic government. Setting vehicles on fire and

attacking law enforcers are not signs of democracy.”

Urging people to work together to strengthen the Sheikh Hasina-led government, the commissioner said: “After a stormy journey, the government has started the journey of democracy followed by an election [on January 5].

“The election may have created controversy... every election had controversies. Controversy is also seen in any good work. Some miscreants are trying to create obstructions on the way to development but they cannot do this any more.”

Warning against militant activities, he said: “Police in plain clothes and in uniform will be positioned at mosques to arrest militants who distribute anti-state leaflets among people entering the prayer houses like thieves.”

The commissioner also criticised the participants of TV talk shows, alleging that they misguide the nation by “delivering unnecessary speech in exchange for Tk2,000.” l

Charge sheet submitted Trouble-making forces court to adjourn Khaleda hearing against Khoka in n sedition case Tribune Report

n Tribune Report The police yesterday submitted a charge sheet against former Dhaka mayor and BNP leader Sadeque Hossain Khoka in a sedition case filed for provoking party members to indulge in violent activities.

Paltan police station Officer-in-Charge (investigation) Tofail Ahmed, also the investigation officer of the case, submitted the charge sheet to the Dhaka Chief Metropolitan Magistrate Court.

In the charge sheet, the investigator also named 24 people as prosecution witnesses.

After receiving the charge sheet, the court fixed December 14 to decide

whether it would accept the charge or not.

According to the charge sheet, at a joint meeting in the capital’s Bhashani Auditorium on October 14 last year, the BNP’s the then Dhaka city convener Khoka asked party men to get ready with “machetes and axe to resist any ploy to foil” a BNP rally scheduled for October 25 last year.

In this connection, police at the Paltan station filed a general diary against Khoka.

Later on December 7 last year, Paltan police station Sub-Inspector Khairul Md Shohidullah Prodhan filed the case against Khoka. The BNP leader is currently out after securing bail in the case. l

A Dhaka court had to adjourn court minutes after starting to record deposition of the complainant in two corruption cases against BNP chief Khaleda Zia, amid chaos by defence counsels.

Judge of the Special Judge’s Court 3 Basudev Roy also had to adjourn hearing until December 17 in the Zia Orphanage Trust and Zia Charitable Trust corruption cases.

The also court rejected six adjournment petitions submitted by Khaleda’s lawyers as the day’s proceedings started. But later Khaleda’s non-appearance petition was granted which said she could not appear before the court due to security reasons.

After rejecting the petitions, the court asked plaintiff Harun-ur-Rashid, deputy director of the Anti-Corruption Commission, to give his deposition.

Before he could start, Khaleda’s lawyers submitted two separate petitions seeking reconsideration of the previous adjournment appeals. A chaos ensued over the appeals as the recording

The anti-graft watchdog filed the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in 2011 accusing four people went through.

Harun could speak for barely five minutes before the court had no choice but to adjourn the hearing.

In previous hearings, the court rejected four petitions filed by Khaleda seeking time for recording deposition on December 1 and on October 13. On September 22, the court began pro-

ceedings in the cases in absence of the BNP chief, and recorded a partial statement of the complainant.

The BNP chairperson had also skipped appearances in the court on December 1 citing the same security reasons.

After recording the statement for around a quarter of an hour, the judge was forced to postpone the hearing until December 8 due to the uproar created by defense lawyers.

On 2009, the Anti-Corruption Commission filed the Zia Orphanage Trust graft case charging Khaleda and others of embezzling over Tk2.1 crore by forming a “fake” trust which existed only on papers.

The anti-graft watchdog filed the Zia Charitable Trust corruption case in 2011 accusing four people, including Khaleda, for abusing power in setting up the charity organisation. l

Dipu Moni marks her birthday by sweeping college campus n Our Correspondent, Chandpur On her 50th birthday, former foreign minister Dipu Moni picked up a broom and took part in the “Clean Campus, Save Campus” campaign at Chandpur Government University College yesterday.

The event was organised by the college unit of the Chhatra League.

Speaking at the inaugural event, Dipu Moni said a clean campus was imperative to the well-being of the students. And that is why Sajeeb Wazed Joy launched the campaign.

“The aim is to keep the campus safe and clean, so that students can learn in a proper environment. Such small initiatives can encourage all to make a positive change,” she said. l

Bergman pays his fines n Tribune Report Dhaka-based foreign journalist David Bergman yesterday paid Tk5,000 fined by the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) for contempt of court.

Arunava Chakraborty, deputy registrar of the ICT told the Dhaka Tribune: “Bergman paid the fine at the Supreme Court branch of Sonali Bank. Today [yesterday], he submitted the invoice through his lawyer. We have informed the tribunal about it.”

On December 2, Bergman was imprisoned in the courtroom until its rising as the three-member ICT 2 found him guilty of contempt of court for circulating “derogatory criticisms and remarks about the tribunal” in articles he published on his blog in 2011 and in January last year.

He served a 10-minute sentence given in line with the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act of 1973, and was fined Tk5,000. l

14 injured in clash over land dispute n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha At least 14 people were injured in a clash over a land dispute between two rival groups at Panchgachi village in Sundarganj upazila of Gaibandha yesterday.

Of the injured Abdus Sattar,50, Saiful Islam, 44, Ambia Begum, 38, Malika Khatun, 28, Anarul Islam, 30, Jhantu Mia, 33, Samiran Bewa,55, Motijan Begum, 40, Ayub Ali,50 were undergoing treatment at the Sundarganj Upazila Health Complex.

Police arrested three people from the spot. The arrestees are Rawshan Ali, Rubel Mia, and Ratan Mia. Sundarganj Police Station Officer-in-Charge Mojammel Haque said there was a long standing dispute between Abdul Jabbar and Abdus Sattar over a piece of land at the village.

Sattar erected a building structure on the disputed land on Saturday, he said. The clash ensued when some people led by Jabbar went to remove the structure, while some people led

by Sattar tried resist them, the OC said.

On information, police went to the spot and took the situation under control. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Witness: Siraj Master killed my father

Liberation war veteran Alam dies n Tribune Report

The alleged war criminal is facing six charges of crimes against humanity n Tribune Report A new prosecution witness yesterday told the International Crimes Tribunal 1 that he had been stabbed by war crimes accused Sheikh Sirajul Haque alias Siraj Master for begging his father’s life who later shot dead by the accused during the 1971 Liberation War. Tapan Kumar Das, 57, from Ranjitpur of Bagerhat gave his deposition in the case against Siraj Master and two others as the fourth prosecution witness.

After being resisted by the villagers in the morning, the colaboartors led by Siraj Kosai attacked the village again at noon, and committed atrocities He said: “After the March 7 speech of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, we formed a committee to guard our village.”

Citing Siraj Master as “Siraj Kosai,” the witness said: “It was around 10pm of May 13 in 1971 when the accused and his associates gathered in the nearby village of Khanpur to attack our village.

But the resistance of around 400-500 people drove them away.”

But as many people went back home, the collaborators led by Siraj attacked Ranjitpur again around 2pm.

“They first attacked the house of Monindra Nath and set it on fire. They also started to shoot.

“I along with my father Kanai Lal Das, my mother and other brothers took shelter in the nearest jungle. Siraj and his associates confined us from there and started to torture. We begged Siraj to leave my father. At that time, he stabbed in my right thigh.”

Saying this, the witness showed the mark before the court.

“Then Siraj killed my father by firing. He also killed Nishi Kanto and Dulal who were with us. They later looted our hose and set it on fire.”

The witness said the collaborators had killed around 50-60 people on that day, of who only 24 bodies could be identified. “Villagers buried the bodies and after two days we left Bangladesh for India and took shelter in a refugee camp.”

The local people later built a memorial at the place where the bodies had been buried.

Siraj is facing six charges for his alleged involvement in crimes against humanity and genocide. He was called Siraj Kosai for his brutality perpetrated against the pro-liberation peole.

The proceeding of the case was adjourned until today.

Meanwhile, Renu Chandra Paul gave his deposition in the war crimes case against fugitive Syed Mohammad Hassan alias Hassan Ali as the first prosecution witness.

Hassan is facing six charges of crimes against humanity he allegedly committed in Kishoreganj during the Liberation War. l

Anti-corruption campaigners form a human chain at Dhaka University’s TSC yesterday ahead of the International Anti-Corruption Day today RAJIB DHAR

Suranjit: No chance for BNP to stage movement against government n Abu Hayat Mahmud Awami League Advisory Committee member Suranjit Sengupta yesterday said the BNP would be given no chance to wage movement against issues such as hike in oil and gas prices, and January 5 general elections.

Responding to BNP leaders’ threat of non-stop movement in case energy prices are hiked, Suranjit said: “Prices of oil, gas and electricity will be adjusted in line with prices in the international market.”

“Threats from BNP leaders cannot dictate whether prices will be increased or not which means the party will have no option to stage movement over this,” he said while addressing a discussion organised by Nauka Samarthak at Diploma Engineers Institution

in the capital.

Referring to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, Suranjit said she has the right to stage movement, but that should be done democratically.

“She [Khaleda] cannot perpetrate violence in the name of movement,” he said.

The Awami League leader said he wondered how the BNP could stage movement when it has got many dissenting voices within the party and cannot even think of forming a committee.

The BNP chairperson on Sunday called on activists to unite and work with the party leaders for the upcoming movement, which she said is likely to be waged in January next year.

She also said she too would be on the streets to be a part of the movement.

But Suranjit said the BNP chairper-

RU Prof Ataur Rahman Khan dies

n RU Correspondent

A cultural body from Narayanganj lights candles at a human chain urging the prime minister to take necessary steps to ensure justice against the killers of Twoki, who was killed 21 months ago FOCUS BANGLA

One killed and two HC reinstates suspended injured in city road Faridpur mayor for six months accidents suspension of Mahtab should not be n Tribune Report n Tribune Report declared illegal.

A man was killed and two others, including a child, were injured in separate road accidents in the capital yesterday.

The dead was Arafat Islam Mahin, 25, and the injured were Abu Taleb, 36, and Irin Akhter,11.

Sabujbagh police station Sub-Inspector Abul Kalam said: “Mahin lost control of his motorcycle when he tried to avoid contact with a rickshaw near the Khilgaon flyover.

After the accident, Mahin and Taleb, who was riding on the back of the bike, were taken to Dhaka Medical College Hospital where duty doctors declared Mahin dead at 2:40pm. The body was sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue.

In another incident, Irin was hit by a bus at Mirpur 1 while crossing the road, leaving her critically injured.

Her uncle, Sajib, said: “The accident occurred when she was going to her school in Mirpur 2 around 1pm. When she was crossing the road near Sainik Cinema Hall, a bus of Shakalpa Paribahan hit her and she fell on the road.”

She was rushed to DMCH right after the incident, he added.

Following the accident, an angry mob vandalised the bus and its driver, Muminul Islam Mumin, 30, was arrested by the police. l

The High Court has stayed the suspension of Shaikh Mahtab Ali Methu from the post of Faridpur municipality mayor for six months.

The bench of judges Naima Haider and Md Jahangir Hossain passed the order in response to a writ petition challenging the suspension yesterday.

The court asked the government to explain in four weeks as to why the

Deputy Attorney General Mokhlesur Rahman opposed the writ petition, saying there were specific allegations of misappropriating money against Mahtab.

On December 7, Mahtab was suspended from his mayoral post and served a show-cause notice for committing irregularities, including increasing tax and VAT without considering people’s interests. l

Court takes cognisance of defamation plea against ETV chairman and three journalists n Md Sanaul Islam Tipu A Dhaka court has taken cognisance of a defamation petition against the chairman and three journalists of Ekushey Television.

Mohammad Abu Taher Bhuiyan, senior data entry control operator of the central bank’s Green Banking and CSR Section, filed the petition yesterday.

The accused are: ETV Chairman Abdus Salam, Chief News Editor Md Ibrahim Azad, Staff Reporter Faruk Hossain

and Video Journalist Abdur Razzak.

Metropolitan Magistrate Ashok Kumar Datta ordered the Tejgaon police station OC to look into the complaint and submit a report by January 8.

The petition termed as fake, baseless and fabricated - a series of reports by the ETV on November 22 and 23, which claimed that the central bank official had become an owner of New Tex Limited “through astonishing activities” and that he had withdrawn Tk24 crore from Janata Bank in the name of the company. l

Ataur Rahman, a professor of Botany department of Rajshahi University (RU), died at the age of 63 yesterday.

He was undergoing treatment at the Rajshahi Medical College Hospital. He was suffering from several complications after a brain stroke, said a press release.

He left behind his wife, a son and a daughter to mourn the death.

RU Vice-Chancellor Prof Muhammad Mizanuddin and Pro-VC Prof Chowdhury Sarwar Jahan expressed their deep condolence at the death.

Prof Ataur joined the Botany department in 1974 as a lecturer. He also served as chairman of the department. l

US Embassy: Diversity Visa emails are fraudulent

n Tribune Desk

Emails claiming that the recipient has won a US Diversity Visa lottery are fraudulent and are not sent by the US Embassy, a press statement from the embassy in Dhaka said yesterday.

Visa lottery, commonly known as the Diversity Visa (DV) Programme, ended for Bangladeshi citizens in September 2012. The press statement mentioned that some Bangladeshi citizens were still receiving DV emails.

“Please note that the US Government does not communicate via email or telephone that an enrollee has won the visa lottery, nor advertise to enrol in the lottery. These emails are fraudulent and are not sent by the US Embassy,” the press statement read.

It advised citizens to visit the website of the embassy at http://travel.state.gov for any inquiries and information about travel to the US. l

son should regroup her party first.

“Address frustration of the leaders and activists, and then think about movement. Otherwise the month of January will come and go repeatedly, but you will fail to stage movement,” the Awami League leader said, referring to Khaleda.

“Moreover, the people will join a movement only when they will be discontented with the activities of the government. But the incumbent government is prioritising the demands and needs of the public in its activities. So why would they respond to the BNP’s illegal call for violence?” said Suranjit.

The senior Awami League leader advised the BNP policymakers to put their house in order before thinking about waging movement against the government. l

Veteran freedom fighter Md Shamsul Alam, who fought for Bangladesh’s liberation in Barisal, died yesterday night in Birdem hospital.

Alam, 66, was a suicidal squad member under Sector 9 of the Liberation War in 1971.

Shamsul Alam died after he experienced a brain stroke. He also had some other physical complications. He was brought to Birdem a month ago from Barisal after he had his first stroke but he went back home when he was released.

Alam was again brought to Birdem after another stroke in the third week of November and remained under treatment in the Intensive Care Unit of Birdem till he breathe his last, according to his son.

Liberation war hero Alam left a wife, a son and a daughter behind. His son Najmul Alam Nobin, who was once a journalist, is an assistant commissioner and executive magistrate currently.

Alam was student of Barisal BM College when he joined the Liberation War. He was a leader of Barsial district branch of Chhatra League and later he also became vice-president of the central body of the student organisation which had a glorious role in the Liberation War. His relatives, friends and admirers in Dhaka rushed to Birdem hospital after hearing the news of Alam’s departure.

Alam was also a leader of Bangladesh College Shikkhak Samity and Barisal Shilpakala Academy.

Alam’s body was taken to Barisal on an ambulance before midnight yesterday. His body will be buried at Barisal central graveyard after a Namaj-e-Janza which will be held after Asr prayers at Town Hall premises of Barisal city.

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Bakerganj mayor ignores HC ruling Illegal constructions put 300-year-old Jail Canal in danger n Our correspondent, Barisal Mayor Lokman Hossain Dakua of Bakerganj Municipality in Barisal has taken up a project to build drains and culverts in the historic Jail Khal (Jail Canal) in the upazila, ignoring a High Court ruling to preserve the canal.

Sources at the municipality said the mayor, who is also the secretary of Awami League’s Bakerganj unit, took up the project without the approval of the municipality or any other authorities concerned.

The constructions, if finished, will shrink the canal’s width to around five or six feet and severely hamper its navigability, they said.

This correspondent recently visited the spot and talked to the local residents, who claimed the project was illegal as well as hazardous for the canal.

“We did not even demand for any such

Capital punishment demanded over the death of 3 students n RU Correspondent

constructions as it will shrink the canal,” said Kamrul Hasan, a local businessman.

Locals also said the canal, which is around 300 years old, was originally 2530 feet wide and surrounded Bakerganj.

It was named after Mughal Subadar Aga Baker. Later, it became known as the Jail Canal as prisoners were transported to and from the Barisal Jail via the canal.

“Even after the Liberation War, the canal was around 15-20 feet wide, but over the years it shrunk to 10-12 feet due to illegal encroachment,” said local residents Nannu Miah and Amir Hossain.

“This canal is vital for our town as it protects it from waterlogging,” Nannu said.

Hosneara Begum, who lives near the canal, said: “The water of this canal is used for various purposes, including irrigation. It must be preserved.”

To protect the dying canal, a division bench of the High Court ordered relevant

authorities to take steps for preserving the canal and stopping filling and dumping waste in it on October 20 this year, in response to a writ petition filed by Advocate Asaduzzaman Siddique.

The Dhaka Tribune contacted local ward councillor and panel mayor of Bakerganj Municipality, Mashiur Rahman, yesterday in this regard, who said Mayor Lokman took the project for his personal benefits and without the approval of the municipality itself or any other relevant authorities.

Shahidul Islam, assistant engineer at Bakerganj municipality, said, the project was a part of municipal development and would ensure smooth water flow.

But when the Dhaka Tribune asked him about the project’s details, he refused to answer.

The Dhaka Tribune also contacted the mayor himself, who denied the allegation of illegal encroachment. “The

municipality decided to construct a concrete drain and culvert by narrowing the canal for smoother water disposal and road expansion,” he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

Asked about the matter of taking approval from the Department of Environment in this regard, he said he did not know that it was required.

He also denied his personal involvement with the project, saying contractor Syed Siddik Ahmed was given the job after winning the tender called by the municipality.

Sukumar Biswas, director of the Department of Environment’s Barisal office, told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday that encroachment and filling of the canal was prohibited by the water body act.

“The municipality does not have the authority to do it, and my department will investigate this matter,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. l

BCL men confine Madan Mohan College principal for fee cut n Our Correspondent, Sylhet Madan Mohan College unit Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) activists yesterday confined its principal in demand of allegedly registration access without fee for some students of the degree (pass) course.

Sources at the college said the registration of the all degree (pass) courses started from December 1 and the poor, distress and disabled pupils as well as the children of the freedom fighters got a reduction as per the promise of Finance Minister AMA Muhith as the college’s governing body chairman.

Some BCL activists led by its one leader named Rumel came to Principal Dr Abul Fateh Fattah’s room around 10am and demanded full registration

Armed muggers has reportedly snatched Tk 10 lakh from a stone trader in the city’s Zindabazar area yesterday afternoon.

The victim is Delwar Hossain, 30, son of Abdul Khaleq, Tilagram under Goainghat upazilla and a stone trader of the Jaflong area.

A gang of four armed muggers attacked Delwar when he was going to Zindabazar on a rickshaw after drawing the money from Pubali Bank, Dorgha gate branch and took away a bag containing around Tk 10 lakh after beating him up around 1:30 pm, according to Delwar’s uncle Monsur Ahmed. l

WEATHER

PARTLY CLOUDY TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:12PM SUN RISES 6:30AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 27 28 27 26 27 28 28 28

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

17 17 13 12 12 15 14 20

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

29.5ºC Box's Bazar

10.2ºC Rajshahi

Source: Accuweather/UNB

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

5:09am 6:29am 11:51am 3:36pm 5:12pm 6:32 pm SourceL IslamicFinder.org

Traffic jam is a common phenomenon for city dwellers and road digging by different utility service providers adds to the suffering. The photo snapped yesterday from Mirpur 10 in the capital shows the Dhaka Wasa has dug a portion of a road which is not only creating tailback but also causing sufferings for pedestrians MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Muggers attack mobile sales exec with spray, robs 40 sets n Tribune Report A group of muggers incapacitated a sales executive of a mobile phone company and robbed 40 mobile phones from him in the capital’s Gulistan area yesterday.

The victim, Azhar Ali, 23, territorial sales executive of Mycell Mobile, told the Dhaka Tribune that the robbery occurred in front of Gulistan Shopping Complex around 11:30am.

“The miscreants sprayed an unknown substance at my face, which temporarily paralysed me, and snatched away a package from me that contained 40 sets of mobile phones by

my company,” he said.

Mahbubur Rahman, general manager of Mycell Mobile, told the Dhaka Tribune: “Azhar and Tutul Saha, our regional sales manager in Dhaka zone, were assigned to deliver 130 mobile phones at two places in Dhaka and one place in Narayanganj today [yesterday].”

After delivering the ordered consignment at Gulistan Shopping Complex, one of the destinations, they parted ways – Tutul went to deliver at Baitul Mukarram and Azhar started for Narayanganj, he said.

“As Azhar attempted to cross the road in front of the shopping complex, four or five goons attacked him with

the spray, rendered him temporarily paralysed in the middle of the road and stole the mobile phones away from him,” Mahbub said.

Azhar said locals rescued him and took him to the nearby Islamia Hospital for primary treatment. He was later referred to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital.

Md Habib, sub-inspector at Paltan police station, said they had heard about the incident.

“But no one has come to us to file a complaint or a case. We will take actions when we receive a complaint about this incident,” he told the Dhaka Tribune. l

fee waiver for 25 students.

When the principal turned down the plea, the activists locked his room. Being informed, police rushed to the spot and unlocked the room around 11am.

When asked, Abul Fateh confirmed the untoward incident, telling they have already decreased the registration fee to Tk4,000 from Tk8,500.

When contacted, Lamabazar police outpost SI Sirajul Islam said they brought the situation under control through rescuing the principal from the confinement.

Earlier on September 24 last year, the minister heavily scolded the college unit BCL leaders for allegedly looting around Tk70 lakh through illegal admission-related business and a case in this connection was also launched accusing 16. l

Road accidents take lives of six n Tribune Report

DIGGING PUTS COMMUTERS ON PATIENCE TEST

Students of Rajshahi Government College yesterday staged a demonstration in the city demanding capital punishment to the drivers who are responsible for the death of three students of the college in a road accident on Sunday.

Several hundred students wearing black badges gathered in front of the college gate around 10:30am demanding the punishment to the drivers of the two buses that collided on the Dhaka-Rajshahi highway in the city, leaving three students of the college dead and some 30 others injured.

The students also staged sit in front of the college blocking the road causing traffic congestion on both sides.

The three female students were killed in the accident when a bus carrying the students plunged into a roadside ditch after collided head on with another bus coming from Sirajganj to Rajshahi city.

However, the college authority formed a five member probe body to investigate the incident. l

TK1O lakh mugged in Sylhet n Our Correspondent, Sylhet

5

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

At least six people were killed in separate road accidents in Barisal, Mgura and Bandarban yesterday.

A man was killed and 20 others were injured at night as a bus plunged into a roadside ditch at Bashtola under Barisal airport police station.

The deceased was identified as Kartik, 30, a resident of Ganopara of Kashipur under Barisal airport police station.

The bus fell into a roadside ditch as it’s driver lost control over steering, leaving Kartik dead on the spot.

In Magura, a bus and a truck collided head-on on the Dhaka-Khulna highway in Kalnagar area of Sadar upazila around 9:30am, leaving three persons in the truck dead on the spot and ten others injured.

The deceased are Nazrul, 34, of Katcherkhol village in Jhenidah, Jinnu, 40, of Charshandha village in Manikganj, and Shaheb Ali, of Chirkunia village in Comilla.

In Bandarban, a man, namely Md Kabir Hossain, 29, got killed instantly and ten people were injured as a micro-bus carrying tourists fell on a roadside ditch in Sadar upazila at noon after losing control, says Sadar police station OC Imtiaz Ahmed.

On Sunday night, a man named Foysal Mahmud, 30, was killed and three others were hurt when a Jeep carrying tourists on the same destination from Nilgiri fell on a roadside ditch. l

Police bar Chhatra Federation from holding rally n Tribune Report Police attacked the activists of the Chhatra Federation of Chittagong University (CU) unit yesterday, leaving five of them injured.

The students’ organisation arranged a sit-in programme in front of CU vice-chancellor office demanding resumption of shuttle train service from Chittagong Railway Station.

Of the injured, Chhatra Federation’s General Secretary Bikul Tazim, second year student of Bangla department, and Publicity Secretary Mirza Fakrul received primary treatment from CU medical centre, said campus sources.

Witnesses and leaders of Chhatra

Federation said police swooped on the demonstrating activists during their scheduled programme in front of CU administrative building around 12:30pm.

“Police attacked on us during the programme in presence of assistant proctor of Ziaul Islam, a teacher of Islamic History and Culture department,” said Bikul Tanzim.

Later, the activists held a protest rally in front of CU Proctor’s office around 1:30pm protesting the police action on them in presence of the assistant proctor.

CU Proctor Siraj Ud Dowla said police had locked into scuffle with the Chhtra Front activists while law enforces were dispersing them from the VC office. l

RU TEACHER SHAFIUL MURDER

Teachers, students for speedy investigation n RU Correspondent Students and teachers of Rajshahi University (RU) formed a human chain yesterday demanding speed up the investigation into the murder of Prof AKM Shafiul Islam who was hacked to death on November 15 on the way to his residence.

Over 400 hundred students and teachers participated in event organised by sociology department on Pairs Road of the campus around 11am.

In the human chain, teachers said masterminds behind the killing were yet to be identified and investigation process to bring the real culprits to the book was not satisfactory.

They said police were reluctant to bring Shafiul killers’ into the light.

Chairman of Sociology department Prof Owardatul Akmam presided over the programme while General Secretary

of RU Teachers’ Association Prof Pranab Kumar Panday and Vice-President Prof Martuza Khalek addressed the rally.

A day after the murder, RU registrar Prof Entajul Haque filed a murder case with Motihar police station and 17 suspects now in jail in connection with the case.

Officer-in-Charge of Motihar police station Alamgir Hossain who is also the investigation officer of the case told the Dhaka Tribune that police had been working over the murder case with due responsibilities.

Iftekharul Alam, spokesperson for commissioner of Rajshahi Metropolitan Police and also an assistant commissioner of the Detective Branch, told the Dhaka Tribune they were analsing the informations got from the arrestees.

He also said the police were currently looking into the involvement of other people in the murder. l

The Bangladesh Inland Water Transport Authority conducts a drive in Sadarghat area in Old Dhaka yesterday. During the drive, the BIWTA demolished illegal structures built along the Buriganga River MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Hill being cut down to make way for rubber factory n Our Correspondent, Bandarban A hill is allegedly being illegally cut down to make way for a rubber factory and its staff quarters in Bandarban’s Naikhangchhari upazila.

To make it clear that there is no ownership dispute over this hilly land, he himself said this land belonged to nobody but the company The hill has been being cut down in the middle of the residential area to the eastern side of the road adjacent to Dhabankhali Marma Parha for 20 days, locals.

Residents Mongkiu Master, Md Ali, Abdul Haq and Belal Uddin of Dhabankhali Marma Parha said the hill

cutting would put over 50 houses at the risk of collapse during the next rainy season.

They questioned the role of the administration apparently for not taking any action against the hill cutting which is totally banned in all three Chittagong Hill Tracts.

They explained that the administration kept silent last year, when the same rubber company cut down another hill for building a rubber factory here.

When Manager Jamal Hossain of the AG Lutfar Rahman Rubber Garden was asked about the hill cutting, he said they were cutting down this hill just a little bit and it should not affect any house nearby.

To make it clear that there is no ownership dispute over this hilly land, he himself said this land belonged to nobody but the company.

When Upazila Nirbahi Officer Abu Shafayed Md Shahidul Islam was asked about this, he spoke for launching a drive against hill cutting in the upazila. l

The recently taken photo shows labourers cutting a hill to make way for a rubber factory and its staff quarters in Bandarban’s Naikhangchhari upazila

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Tension in Khagrachhari Question paper leak halts primary over killing of AL leader school exam in Chuadanga

BCL leader’s house attacked over Juba League leader killing Correspondent, n Our Khagrachhari n Our Correspondent, Jessore A tensed situation has been prevailJubo League activists set the house of BCL Sharsha unit president on fire at Nabharan Bazar in the upazila yesterday following the killing of a leader of the wing.

Sources said Tozam, 37, general secretary of Juba League’s Nabharan working committee, sustained injuries in an attack by miscreants at the bazar on Sunday night, died in hospital.

Police said a group of miscreants attacked Tozam and beat him indiscriminately while he was going to the bazar around 7:30 pm, leaving him seriously injured. Juba League sources also said he was injured in a clash between Chhatra League over a mobile phone snatching incident.

He was admitted to 250-Bed Jessore Sadar Hospital from where he was sent to Dhaka Medical College and Hospital. He succumbed to his injures around 6:30 am.

As the news spread around, supporters of Tozam vandalised the house of Sharsha upazila unit Chhatra League president Abdur Rahim and set it ablaze.

They alleged that the Chhatra League president was responsible for the killing.

They also blocked the Benapole-Jessore Highway for an hour. On information, police went to the spot and brought the situation under control.

ASP Reshma Sharmin said additional police forces were deployed in the area.

Joint Secretary of Sharsha upazila Awami League Md Ibrahim said: “I heard that Jubo League supporters torched Rahim and his three relatives’ houses.”

However, Sharsha police station duty officer Shahidar Rahman said no causalities were reported in the incident. l

Girl abducted from Bagerhat rescued n Our Correspondent, Tangail Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-12) rescued an abducted six-year-old girl from Elenga Bus Terminal area in Kalihati upazila of Tangail early yesterday.

They also arrested two members of an abductors’ gang for their involvement in the crime. The arrestees are Zakir Hossain and Sheikh Ali Azam, Rab officials said.

On November 27, the victim, Sumaia Aktar Meem, daughter of Hawladar Ishrat Ali, was abducted from her village Chakoshree in Rampal upazila of Bagerhat.

Md Muhiuddin, commander for crime prevention company-3 at Rab-12, said acting on a secret information a team of Rab conducted drives in Jokar Char and Elenga Bus Terminal area of Kalihati on Sunday night.

The Rab personnel arrested Jakir from Jokar Char. Later, they arrested Azam from the bus terminal area following Jakir’s confessional statement.

On November 30, Sumaia’s father Ishrat Ali filed a case with Rampal Police Station.

He also informed the Rab-6 in Khula about the abduction of her doughtier.

Quoting Ishrat, Rab official Muhiuddin said the kidnapers demanded Tk5 lakh as ransom. In failure of the payment, they threatened to kill the girl.

In a primary interrogation, the arrestees confessed to involvement in the crime, he said. l

ing in Khagrachhari since an Awami League leader was killed by some unidentified miscreants on Saturday.

Protesting the killing, local people of Manikchhari enforced a daylong hartal yesterday which was passed off peacefully. Local people from a rally called the hartal on Sunday.

Chingsamong Chowdhury, headmaster of Manikchhari Collegiate High School and also vice-president of Manikchhari upazila unit Awami League, was shot dead on Saturday. President of Janasanghoti Samity Mongsajai was

also injured in the attack.

Local people said it had been two days since the killing of Chingsamong, but police could not arrest anyone in this connection.

Protesting the killing, classes and examinations at all the educational institution was suspended.

Meanwhile, the Parbatya Chhatra Sangram Parishad put up barricade on Khagrachhari-Panchhari road protesting shooting at a Bangali couple on Saturday. The protester made the United Peoples Democratic Front responsible for recent violence in the district.

However, the organisation denied their involvement with any kind of violence in the district. l

n Our Correspondent, Chuadanga The year final examination of class four of all schools in Damurhuda upazila of Chuadanga was marred by allegation of question paper leak.

The authorities cancelled the English examination while the test on Mathematics suspended as the news of question paper leak of those subjects surfaced yesterday. The upazila education officer Nurjahan Begum was issued a show-cause notice in this regard.

A common set of question papers for classes one to four was prepared for all the primary schools of the upazilla in a bid to hold the year final exam in one

go. The test of English was held on Sunday while the Mathematics test was due on Monday. Despite the information about question leak, the English test was still held. When the same allegation was made for the Maths exams, the authorities decided to cancel the tests.

Local people claimed that question papers of both English and Maths were sold in the photocopy shops on Saturday. This correspondent was also able to secure copies of the question papers.

When contacted, Golam Nabi, primary education officer (acting) of the district said they could not stop the English test as they heard about the leak later. But they acted immediate-

ly when they heard about the Maths question paper.

“There are about 115 primary schools in the upazila. Students of class four of all schools could not attend the Mathematics test as it was suspended.

We have already served show-cause notice to the education officer Nurjahan Begum.”

Acknowledging the show-cause notice, Nurjahan Begum said: “The final exams started on December 7 and we have handed over the question papers to the concerned teachers only three days before. I do not know the questions were leaked. The reason can only be known after an investigation.” l

Sexual harassment allegation against schoolteacher n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

A man is seen mixing chemical with molasses in Baneswar area under Puthia upazila, Rajshahi yesterday. Local sources said molasses producers of Taherpur, Durgapur, Bagha and Charghat villages mixed harmful chemicals with molasses to get good colour AZAHAR UDDIN

NEWS IN BRIEF RMG workers block road over fellow’s death Readymade garment workers yesterday blocked the road in front of Dhaka Export Processing Zone in Savar over the death of a fellow worker in a road accident. The dead was identified as Mukta, 27, was an operator of Yangone Garment.

Inspector Azharul Islam of Ashulia police station said, a bus rammed into Mukta, 27, an operator of Yangone Garment, on the Nabinagar-Kaliakoir highway in the morning when she was crossing the road, leaving her dead on the spot.

Following the incident, workers of DEPZ took to the street and blocked the highway, disrupting the traffic movement for about an hour. They set fire on the bus and vandalised 10 to 12 vehicles. On information, police went to the spot and brought the situation under control. Police recovered the body and sent it to Dhaka Medical College Hospital morgue.

– Our Correspondent, Savar

10 hurt in clash in RMG factory At least 10 workers were injured yesterday as two groups of a garment factory were locked in a clash in Savar centering payment of a worker. Afrosa, Monir and Farid workers of Padob Jeans Ltd said the authority paid the workers’ due payment on Sunday. But Russel, a worker named Russel at the factory was not given his full payment. Following the incident, 25-30 co-workers of Russel formed a human chain in front of the factory in the morning. At one stage, some workers loyal to the factory owner attacked the agitated workers, leaving 10 injured. Deputy Director of Ashulia Industries Police Shahid Ullah said: “Being informed, the police

rushed in and brought the situation under control. Additional police have been deployed in front of those factories to avert any further untoward situation.” The authorities declared the factory closed for an indefinite period.

– Our Correspondent, Savar

Cancellation of BNP’s convening committee demanded A group of activists of the BNP in Sunamganj called for the cancellation of the convening committee in the district yesterday. They made the demand in press conference around 11am in the morning. Former general secretary of BNP’s Sadar upazila unit Selim Uddin Ahmed said: “The one-sided committee has been formed with the opportunists.” “But the dedicated activists of the party were excluded from the committee,” he also said.

– Our Correspondent, Sunamganj

Signature campaign on to save Bhairab River Jono Uddog, a non government organiztion has commenced a signature campaign to save the Bhairab River, an important river in the moribund delta area which they fear is degrading rapidly. The organization’s convenor MR Khairul Umam said they had already collected one lakh signatures in this regard.

“Despite approaching every government authority only cosmetic measures have been adopted,” he said. A memorandum was sent to the Prime Minister through the deputy commissioner yesterday in this connection.

– Our Correspondent, Jessore

Female students of Purbo Kotalopara Union Government High School have raised sexual harassment allegation against a teacher.

School authority has formed a three-member probe committee to investigate the matter.

Students of the school and local people staged demonstration on the school premise yesterday, demanding actions against the teacher Subrata Lal Madhu.

Students of the school told the Dhaka Tribune that the teacher had recently sexually harassed a Class X student of the school.

The girl submitted a written complaint to headmaster against the teacher on Thursday.

The agitators said it had been four days since the girl made the complaint, but the school authority was yet to take action against him.

Some students who preferred to be unnamed said the teacher earlier harassed three students of the class, but the school governing body did not take action against him.

Headmaster, Monoj Kumar Majumdar, said: “We have received two letters against the teacher, school governing body would take action against him as soon as possible.”

But Madhu Lal differed with the allegation saying that it was a conspiracy against him. “I did nothing,” he said.

President of school governing body Lakshmi Kanto Hawladaer said they had discussed the issue at a meeting on Sunday. The probe committee would start working soon. “If he (Madhu) is found guilty we would take action against him,” he said.

Shyamal Kanti Das, a resident of Kandi village, said if the school authority did not take action against him they would not send their children to the school. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

7

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Follow the dragon Bangladesh has the opportunity, by deepening its ties to Japan, China, South Korea and ASEAN, of what I term as a new ‘Look East Policy’ to achieve an acceleration in GDP growth to 7-8%

B

n Ifty Islam

angladesh’s growth and export performance has been impressive and resilient in the face of both external shocks, such as the global financial crisis, as well as internal one’s such as hartals and the Rana Plaza disaster. GDP growth has consistently had an average of around 6%, while the expansion of RMG exports from around $10bn in 2010 to around $24bn today speaks for itself.

Nonetheless, I believe that Bangladesh has the opportunity, by deepening its ties to Japan, China, South Korea and Asean, of what I term as a new “Look East Policy” (LEP), to achieve an acceleration in GDP growth to 7-8%. This would be driven by an expansion of export sectors on the back of a rapid increase in FDI and infrastructure development.

Last week, I attended a seminar hosted by Jetro (Japan External Trade Organization) on Look East Policy where Professor Fukunari Kimura, Chief Economist of the Economic Research Institute for Asean and East Asia (ERIA), outlined new growth opportunities for Bangladesh.

In this article I want to discuss three core themes: 1) The China relocation trade 2) Japanese PM Abe’s “Big B” growth corridor concept 3) Professor Kimura’s key theme of international production networks and a new approach to economic development I will then conclude with some suggestions on how Bangladesh should move forward.

growth in others such as footwear and shipbuilding and spawn whole new export sectors such as toy manufacturing, light engineering and electronics/ appliance assembly.

Professor Gus Papanek noted in a speech in Dhaka in 2010 that: “Bangladesh has a unique opportunity within the next year and a half or two years because it has the possibility of taking over part of the world market that China is going to abandon.”

Former World Bank Chief Economist, Justin Li-fu Lin has echoed a similar theme in several articles and speeches stating that “industrial upgrading has increased wages and is causing China to graduate from labour-intensive to more capital and technology-intensive industries.

These industries will shed labour and create huge opportunities for lower wage countries to start a phase of labour-intensive industrialisation.

This process, called the Leading Dragon Phenomenon, offers an unprecedented opportunity to … (developing countries) … where the industrial sector is underdeveloped and investment capital and entrepreneurial skills are leading constraints to manufacturing.”

There is a major opportunity for those countries that can resolve investment constraints by attracting some of the FDI flowing currently from China, India and Brazil into the manufacturing sectors of other developing countries.

Lin concludes that “all low-income countries will compete but to catch the jobs spilling over from China, the winner must implement credible economic development strategies that are consistent with its comparative advantage.”

‘Big B’ growth corridor

To enable greater industry, trade, and energy production, the Dhaka-ChittagongCox’s Bazar transport artery needs to be strengthened and even extended to neighbouring countries

The China relocation trade Let us first start with what has been termed as the China relocation trade.

The evolution and rebalancing of Chinese macro-economic policy looms large as potentially the most important influence on the future growth and investment opportunities for frontier markets like Bangladesh.

It has already begun to trigger a major expansion in existing export sectors such as RMG, will spurn dramatic

It’s also important to recognise that the China relocation trade will not be driven by China alone. Indeed, counter-intuitively, China may play a lesser role than countries such as Japan, Korea and Taiwan.

The reason for this is that companies from these three countries, and to a lesser extent those from the US and EU, have established lower cost factories in China in the past two decades. Their re-appraisal of the attractiveness of those destinations as a result of higher wages will drive both the movement of existing facilities from China as well as the re-direction of future FDI. It is also worth adding that geo-political tensions between China and Japan as well as other countries over territorial disputes in the resource rich South China Sea is also likely to influence FDI decisions in terms of reducing political risk to investments.

In this context, the initiative taken

by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina to visit Japan in May 2014 and the subsequent return visit by Japanese PM Shinzo Abe in September, is especially significant.

At the joint press conference, Prime Minister Abe, as part of the “Japan-Bangladesh Comprehensive Partnership,” committed Y600bn (approx $5bn) over 4-5 years in the form of development loans. He also noted that “Bangladesh has great economic potential. In order to realise its potential and expedite further growth, Japan has come up with the concept of the Bay of Bengal industrial growth belt …” or what he termed “The BIG-B.” This concept was clarified in a

WIKIMEDIA

speech by JICA president Professor Akihiko Tanaka at Dhaka University in June 2014 in which he stated that: “Perhaps it is high time for the Bay of Bengal to be considered as a coherent strategic region within the broader framework of the Indo-Pacific.

Bangladesh’s renewed focus to “look east” would be timely and appropriate in this sense. Bangladesh, in other words, is the linchpin of the Indo-Pacific region. It stands to gain a great deal from the shift in global economic dynamism toward the Indian Ocean.

Indeed, the Bay of Bengal Industrial Growth Belt initiative (BIG-B) seeks to take full advantage of this trend.

It foresees Bangladesh transcending its national borders to become a “node & hub” of the regional economy, so that she may reshape herself as a sparkling trading nation deeply incorporated into inter-regional and global value chain networks. This transformation is imperative if its national target of becoming a middle-income country by 2021 and a developed country by 2041 is to be achieved.

Professor Tanaka went on to outline the three pillars of “Big B” policy as follows: 1) Trade and Industry: This pillar mainly consists of constructing a long-awaited deep sea port at the Matarbari Island which would offer Bangladesh an important trade gateway to the rest of Asia and beyond; 2) Energy: Matarbari Island can be developed into a massive supply base of primary energy (such as coal, LNG, and oil). The electricity produced from those sources can support a quantum leap in industry and trade, not only within the area covered by BIG-B but also all over Bangladesh.

JICA has already committed $1.8bn plus to the Matarbari Coal-Fired Power Project which has two key components, a deep sea port 18m in depth for importing coal and a coal-fired power

plant with an electricity generation capacity of 1,200MW. That is equivalent to 15% of current electricity demand.

The deep sea port will enable 80,000 ton class ships (panamax size) to directly enter the port for coal unloading. Its construction is expected to be completed in 2020. The coal-fired power plant should start commercial operation in 2022, or perhaps even earlier.

3) Transportation: To enable greater industry, trade, and energy production, the Dhaka-Chittagong-Cox’s Bazar transport artery needs to be strengthened and even extended to neighbouring countries. More and better national highways and railways are an absolute must to accelerate the movement of goods and people that is essential for highly vibrant industrial agglomeration.

Finally, Professor Tanaka, formerly of Tokyo University, who is also recognised as a leading development economist, highlighted the lessons for Bangladesh from the development experience of Thailand. He noted that JICA’s Eastern Seaboard Development Programme in Thailand is a model of how Japan’s experience and a progrowth development strategy can bear fruit elsewhere.

From the 1980s to the early 1990s, JICA supported efforts by the Thai government to pursue industrialisation through the promotion of industrial parks and networks of ports, highways and railways with ODA loans and technical cooperation. Thailand has now become a big manufacturing hub in the global supply chain.

He gave the example of the automobile sector, where Thailand’s auto production has reached 2 million units per annum in 2012, led by a cluster of major makers with 640 parts suppliers and 1,700 auto-parts subcontractors.

The Eastern Seaboard itself has grown into a large industrial and export base with 14 industrial complexes, 1,300 factories and 360,000 workers. It is now the country’s second largest economic area next to Bangkok.

International production networks and a new approach to economic development This brings us to Professor Kimura’s paper “International Production Networks and a New Development Strategy in East Asia” that he presented at the Jetro seminar on December 1. His core theme was that Asean countries in the past decade have benefited from the formation of international production/distribution networks.

He noted: “The international production/distribution networks consist of vertical production chains extended across the countries in the region as well as distribution networks throughout the world.

“The major players are corporate firms belonging to the machinery industries, including general machinery, electrical machinery, transport equipment, and precision machinery, though some firms in other industries, such as textiles and garment, also

develop the networks.”

It sounds complicated but the concept is more straightforward. Let’s use the example of something we are all familiar with, the Apple Iphone 6.

It is assembled by Taiwanese companies, Foxconn/Honhai and Wistron in Southern China, using screens supplied by Japanese companies Sharp and Japan Display as well as LG from Korea. Memory chips come from arch rival Samsung and the camera from Taiwan Largan precision.

But most of these companies have offshore production factories in cheaper countries. For example,

was unveiled by Chinese President Xi Jinping at the recently concluded APEC Summit in Beijing. These are not competing concepts, notwithstanding geopolitical rivalries between the regions’ great powers. They are both largely about enhancing regional integration and connectivity for the mutual benefit of all countries in the region; 4) Infrastructure – to ensure improved energy, roads, rail and sea networks are economic growth enablers and not constraints.

Maintaining ongoing dialogue with our key Asian trading partners is critical. Since PM Abe’s visit on September

Bangladesh stands at a critical juncture in its economic development and an enhanced focus on LEP could be the transformational factor in accelerating growth and reducing poverty

Iphone 6 touchscreen supplier Wintek has factories in China, Taiwan, India and Vietnam. We could do a similar analysis or breakdown for autos, electronics, heavy machinery and many other sectors.

The chart from Professor Kimura shows the breakdown of machinery exports and imports between final products and parts and components by region in millions of US dollars.

You can see that in Asean, parts and components have an even larger share than final products.

The way forward The key point is that international production has become increasingly specialised. What economists call production “fragmentation,” has been driven by reduced transport, telecommunications and other costs between countries that allows economies of scale from specialisation.

What are the conclusions for Bangladesh policy of the three themes of China Relocation, “Big B” and production networks I have outlined above?

I would suggest that we adopt more explicitly a Look East Policy centred around the four core themes: 1) Investment – to include Special Economic Zones policy, FDI promotion/attraction, regulatory environment; 2) Trade policy – to ensure tariffs are reduced to allow our products to integrate into regional networks as well as a goal of developing new Free Trade Agreements (FTA) with key trading partners such as Japan, China, Korea, Asean; 3) Regional connectivity – including concepts such as Japan’s “Big B” or China’s Maritime New Silk Route that

6, it appears that there has been a substantial increase in Japanese companies visiting and/or expanding their local presence in Bangladesh. The presence has been broad, ranging from larger conglomerates such as Sumitomo, Mitsubishi, Mitsui, Itochu, Marubeni as well as medium sized companies.

A 38 member Japanese business delegation also concluded a visit to Bangladesh last month. The first Bangladesh-Japan Public-Private Economic Dialogue was held on August 21 in preparation for PM Abe’s visit with a focus on boosting bilateral trade, investment and economic cooperation between the two countries.

Japanese Vice-Minister (International Affairs) of METI Norihiko Ishiguro led a 38-member Japanese delegation, while Senior Secretary of the Prime Minister’s Office (PMO) Abul Kalam Azad led a 32-member Bangladeshi delegation. It is important to maintain the momentum and I would recommend that the Bangladesh Government request the second Bangladesh-Japan dialogue be held in Tokyo in Q1 2015.

Finally, I would suggest that the government consider setting up a Look East Policy cabinet sub-committee headed by the prime minister and also establish a dedicated unit that focuses on the four key LEP components I have highlighted above.

Bangladesh stands at a critical juncture in its economic development and an enhanced focus on LEP could be the transformational factor in accelerating growth and reducing poverty.

Let’s not miss the opportunity! l Ifty Islam is the managing partner of Asian Tiger Capital, and can be reached at ifty. islam@at-capital.com.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

California police, protesters clash again

THIS IS NOT GAZA; IT’S CALIFORNIA

n Reuters, Berkeley

A demonstrator throws backs a teargas canister toward the police line during the fourth night of demonstrations over recent grand jury decisions in police-involved deaths on Saturday, in Berkeley, California AFP

US sanctions aimed at changing power, Russian envoy says n Reuters, Moscow A senior Russian diplomat accused the United States on Monday of trying to bring down President Vladimir Putin with the sanctions it has imposed on Moscow over the crisis in Ukraine.

Deputy Foreign Minister Sergei Ryabkov told parliamentary deputies that ties between Moscow and Washington were in a very deep chill and were likely to remain so if the sanctions remained for a long time.

“It is hardly a secret that the goal of the sanctions is to create social and economic conditions to carry out

a change of power in Russia,” Sergei Ryabkov told a hearing in the lower house. “There will be no easy or fast way out of this.”

He said he did not expect the United States to recognise Crimea as part of Russia “for decades to come” and accused Washington of trying to drive a wedge between Russia and the other former Soviet republics.

Ties between Russia and the United States took a dive this year as the Cold War-era foes traded accusations over the crisis in Ukraine, and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov has accused Washington of seeking “regime change.”

President Vladimir Putin has portrayed Western sanctions as an attempt to contain Russia and punish it for becoming strong and independent.

State media have often repeated this message and an opinion poll released by the independent Levada research group on Monday showed 74% of Russians have negative views of the United States, compared to 18% who think the opposite.

Levada said the figures marked the lowest point in Russians’ attitudes toward the United States since 1990, the year before the Soviet Union collapsed. l

Angry crowds hurled objects at police who retaliated in a second night of clashes in northern California following the death of a black man who was put in a chokehold by a New York police officer.

Police fired gas after being targeted by what they called “explosives.” They moved in to clear roadways as protesters swarmed freeway overpasses at two locations in Berkeley, a Reuters reporter saw.

Police made several arrests among the demonstrators who numbered well over 500, and a number of stores in Berkeley were looted. One demonstrator who tried to prevent the looting was assaulted, police said.

Reuters could not immediately obtain further information from police, who some demonstrators said on Twitter had fired rubber bullets.

Protesters have demonstrated daily in several US cities since a grand jury’s decision on Wednesday not to bring criminal charges against the white police officer whose chokehold contributed to Eric Garner’s death in New York City in July.

The killings of Garner and of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, in Ferguson, Missouri, have highlight-

Syria says Israeli jets hit Damascus n Agencies

Syria has accused Israel of carrying out air strikes against two government-held areas in Damascus province, one of them near the Damascus international airport.

There was no immediate reaction to Sunday’s report from the Israeli authorities.

“The Israeli enemy attacked Syria by targeting two safe areas in Damascus province, namely the Dimas area and the area of Damascus International Airport,” state TV said.

The state-owned Al Ikhbariya TV station reported no casualties, but said “the Israeli enemy committed a heinous attack by targeting two peaceful areas in the Damascus countryside.”

Al Jazeera’s Jane Ferguson, reporting from Beirut in neighbouring Lebanon, said the Syrian government issued a statement shortly after the news of the attacks broke.

It said the attacks were evidence that Israelis were supporting what it called “terrorists,” she said.

“The statement also said the Syrian government would respond in a way the military saw it.

But they have said this before and they have not responded militarily against Israel.”

The Israeli military has launched several air raids against Syrian military positions since the outbreak of the country’s armed uprising in 2011.

The Britain-based Syrian Obser-

UN declares 2014 a devastating year for millions of children n Reuters The United Nations children’s agency UNICEF declared 2014 a devastating year for children on Monday with as many as 15 million caught in conflicts in Central African Republic, Iraq, South Sudan, Syria, Ukraine and the Palestinian territories.

UNICEF Executive Director Anthony Lake said the high number of crises meant many of them were quickly forgotten or failed to capture global headlines, such as in Afghanistan, Democratic Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Pakistan, Somalia, Sudan and Yemen.

Globally, UNICEF said some 230 million children were living in countries and regions affected by armed conflict.

“Children have been killed while studying in the classroom and while sleeping in their beds; they have been orphaned, kidnapped, tortured, recruited, raped and even sold as slaves,” Lake said in a statement. “Never in recent memory have so many children been subjected to such unspeakable brutality.”

Significant threats also emerged to children’s health and well-being like the deadly outbreak of Ebola in the West African countries Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone, which has left thou-

sands orphaned and some 5 million out of school.

“Violence and trauma do more than harm individual children - they undermine the strength of societies,” Lake said.

In Central African Republic, where tit-for-tat sectarian violence has displaced one-fifth of the population, some 2.3 million children are affected by the conflict with up to 10,000 believed to have been recruited by armed groups during the past year and more than 430 killed or maimed, UNICEF said.

Some 538 children were killed and 3,370 injured in the Palestinian Gaza Strip during a 50-day war between Israeli troops and Hamas militants, it said.

In Syria, UNICEF said more than 7.3 million children have been affected by the civil war, including 1.7 million who fled the country. In neighboring Iraq an estimated 2.7 million children have been affected by conflict, it added, with at least 700 believed to have been maimed or killed this year.

“In both countries, children have been victims of, witnesses to and even perpetrators of increasingly brutal and extreme violence,” UNICEF said.

Some 750,000 children have been displaced in South Sudan with 320,000 living as refugees. l

n

The blood of two militants killed during IS’s rout in the Iraqi town of Jalawla has yet to be washed away, but a turf war is already brewing between Kurdish and Shi’ite forces that jointly drove the insurgents out.

The recapture of disputed territory and towns such as Jalawla is reopening rivalries over the boundary between areas of Kurdish control and those administered by the Shi’ite-led Baghdad government.

Local Sunni Arabs displaced in the

fighting have little choice but to align themselves with one side or the other.

Not long after IS began its offensive across Iraq this summer, Kurdish commanders in the eastern province of Diyala invited the head of the largest Sunni Arab tribe in Jalawla to discuss jointly resisting the insurgents.

“We sat with them here in this very building,” said Brigadier General Barzan Ali Shawas, describing the meeting with Sheikh Faisal al-Karwi in a Kurdish peshmerga barracks.

“We said: What do you want? True,

vatory for Human Rights, which monitors the conflict, said one of the sites targeted, Dimas, was a military position.

Operations at the international airport are both civilian and military.

Activists posted footage online purporting to show government air-to-air missiles targeting Israeli fighter jets over the Dimas region.

Before Sunday, the most recent air raid was in March and targeted military positions in the Quneitra region that borders the Israeli-occupied Golan Heights.

Syria and Israel are officially in a state of war, and Israel has since 1967 occupied the Golan Heights.

The occupation is not recognised by the international community. l

South African court clears Briton of honeymoon murder n Reuters, Cape Town

Los Angeles County firefighters battle a fire at an apartment building under construction in Los Angeles, early yesterday

AP

Crews battle 2 large fires in Los Angeles n Agencies Crews are at the scene of two massive fires in Los Angeles, including one downtown that closed down portions of two major freeways and blanketed the area in heavy smoke.

Los Angeles Fire Department said more than 250 firefighters were battling the blaze on Monday.

David Ortiz, Los Angeles fire department spokesman, told Al Jazeera the

Rivalries resurface in Iraqi town recaptured from Islamic State Reuters

ed the strained relations between police and the black community and rekindled a national debate over US race relations.

New York was quieter over the weekend, but West Coast cities had braced for trouble after clashes in Berkeley and Seattle, Washington on Saturday.

On Sunday, police in Berkeley fired gas after some demonstrators began hurling objects, the California Highway Patrol’s Golden Gate division said.

Arrests were made, but exact numbers were not available. Patrol vehicles were vandalized, the division said on Twitter. It also displayed photos of rocks it said were hurled.

Authorities closed the local Bay Area Rapid Transit station for a second night due to the unrest.

The two nights of looting and rock-throwing on the West Coast contrasted with mostly peaceful demonstrations elsewhere.

The decision by a grand jury not to return an indictment in Brown’s killing ignited two nights of arson and rioting in the St. Louis suburbs.

Earlier on Sunday evening hundreds of protesters began marching down a main thoroughfare in Berkeley after massing on the campus of the University of California. l

you are Arabs and we are Kurds, but the unity of Iraq is in our interest.” The sheikh had replied he would consider the Kurds’ offer to set up a unit for local Sunnis under peshmerga command, but he never came back with an answer.

Since that June day, Jalawla changed hands several times, until the peshmerga and Shi’ite militia drove the militants out on Nov. 23. According to Shawas, they agreed before the offensive that the Shi’ite militia would withdraw as soon as it was over and hand full control to the Kurds, but that has yet to happen. l

fire had affected thousands of people in the city.

“It is under control, but it did cause extensive damage to two buildings,” Ortiz said.

The fire was burning a building planned to be a tall residential structure.

Ortiz added he didn’t think anyone was living or working there.

The city’s 101 Freeway was closed in both directions, while the California Highway Patrol says transition lanes

between the 110 and 101 freeways were shutdown.

The fire department spokesperson said that the cause and extent of the fire are not yet known.About 3 hours later a fire was reported at a mixed-use building about 2 miles (3 kilometers) to the west. About 100 firefighters are on that scene.

No injuries are reported from either fire. Terrazas says there's no indication the two incidents are connected. l

US to continue hostage raids n Reuters Despite three failed raids to free US hostages held by militants, the United States will continue to conduct such operations, officials indicated on Sunday, as President Barack Obama grapples with a spate of kidnappings and killings of American citizens.

The latest setback came in a remote area of Yemen early on Saturday, when al Qaeda militants shot American photo journalist Luke Somers and South African teacher Pierre Korkie during a raid.

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel defended the operation and the intelligence that lay behind it."I don't think

it's a matter of going back and having a review of our process. Our process is about as thorough as there can be. Is it imperfect? Yes. Is there risk? Yes," Hagel said on a visit to Tactical Base Gamberi in eastern Afghanistan.

"But we start with the fact that we have an American that's being held hostage and that American's life is in danger and that's where we start. And then we proceed from there," he said.

An earlier raid in mid-November to free Somers also was unsuccessful - he wasn't present when US and Yemeni forces arrived - as was a July attempt to rescue American journalist James Foley, held by Islamic State in Syria. l

A South African court cleared British businessman Shrien Dewani on Monday of charges that he paid hitmen to kill his wife while they were on honeymoon in Cape Town four years ago.

State prosecutors had argued that Dewani paid 15,000 rand ($1,300) in a plot with taxi driver Zola Tongo and others to kidnap and murder his wife, Anni, in November 2010, charges he has consistently denied.

Three South Africans, who had implicated Dewani as part of plea bargains for reduced sentences, are serving lengthy jail terms for her murder.

“The application is granted. The accused is found not guilty on this charge,” Judge Jeanette Traverso told a packed courtroom. Dewani is expected to be released and could fly home to Britain later on Monday.

Anni Dewani’s family said they were “deeply disappointed” with the judge’s decision, especially because Shrien never had to take the stand to give his version of events.

“Today we feel as a family that the justice system has failed us,” Anni’s sister, Ami Denborg, told reporters outside the courtroom as family members wept nearby.

Traverso earlier said Tongo, the prosecution’s chief witness, gave testimony “riddled with contradictions” and it was difficult to know where “the lies end and the truth begins.”

She added that the evidence provided by two hitmen also convicted of Anni Dewani’s murder “contradict Mr Tongo on about every aspect of their interaction.”

Prosecutors had argued that Dewani agreed to pay for a staged hijacking in Gugulethu township on the edge of Cape Town.

Mziwamadoda Qwabe, a South African serving 25 years in jail for murdering Anni Dewani, told the court he commandeered the car in which the Dewanis were travelling. Police later found her body in the back seat with a single gunshot wound to the neck.

Dewani lost a three-year legal battle in Britain to avoid being extradited to and tried in South Africa. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Clashes erupt in Pakistan ‘shut down’ protest n Agencies Police have clashed with hundreds of protesters from the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party, who were attempting to shut down the eastern city of Faisalabad as part of its leader Imran Khan’s movement against the federal government.

Police used water cannons, wooden batons and tear gas on Monday against protesters in several areas, including the central Millat Chowk area, local news television footage showed.

The situation remains tense, as supporters of the PTI, also known as the Movement for Justice party, refuse to back down.

Protesters conducted sit-ins at main intersections in the city, a major economic hub, and shouted slogans against the Pakistan Muslim League (PML-N) government.

They burned tyres and blocked roads, while PML-N workers threw rocks and used wooden batons, prompting owners of businesses in areas where the protests were taking place to shut down their shops.

Small groups of PTI supporters have clashed with PML-N workers as well.

The protest is part of a call Khan made on November 30, calling for “shut down” protests to be held in several Pakistani cities to increase pressure on the PML-N government, before a countrywide strike on December 18.

Khan, a former cricketer, alleges that the PML-N government rigged the 2013 general elections, internationally recognised as largely free and fair, in order to sideline his party.

Since August this year, he has been leading protests around the country calling for Nawaz Sharif to resign as prime minister. l

Nuts? No nuts! Stop the plane n BBC Indian Prime Minister Narinder Modi waves during an election rally at a stadium in Srinagar yesterday

AFP

Modi takes political campaign to Kashmir separatist stronghold n Reuters, Srinagar Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Monday took his political campaign to the troubled northern state of Jammu and Kashmir, promising jobs and water supplies to win support in a region at the heart of nearly seven decades of hostility with Pakistan.

Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party is making a bold attempt to win power in a state election under way in Muslim-majority Kashmir and bring it closer to the Indian mainstream, a long-running goal of the right-wing party.

But the BJP’s “Mission Kashmir” has already raised tension, with political rivals and separatists accusing the party of fomenting divisions in the region, which includes Hindu-dominated Jammu and Buddhist Ladakh.

Militants have also stepped up violence coinciding with the election, killing 11 soldiers and policemen in an attack on an Indian army camp on Friday, the worst losses for security forces in six years, and inflaming

sentiment across India.

Strong voter turnout in early poll rounds showed people had rejected violence and seek development, Modi told a huge campaign rally in Jammu.

The BJP has long sought to end Kashmir’s special status under the Indian constitution “The power that you have is greater than those holding the AK-47 (assault rifle),” he said. “He can only kill, while you can change the fortunes of a country with your vote.”

Tens of thousands of people applauded Modi as he promised greater development if his party won.

“People want jobs for the youth, water for the farms, medicines for the elders,” he said. “Even those who have

Afghan students find inspiration in IS n Reuters A quiet student at Kabul University, 25-year-old Abdul Rahim has a dream: to join Islamic State in Syria and fight for the establishment of a global caliphate - a new, alarming form of radicalism in war-weary Afghanistan.

“When hundreds of foreigners, both men and women, leave their comfortable lives and embrace Daish, then why not us?” he asked, using a word for IS common in the region.

Although IS is not believed to have operations in Afghanistan, its influence is growing in a country already mired in daily bombings and attacks

by Taliban insurgents.

With most foreign combat troops leaving the country by the end of the year, there is growing uncertainty over what direction Afghanistan will take, with the emergence of IS ideology adding a new risk.

A few dozen students have set up an underground group a few months after IS started making inroads into Central and South Asia this year. Some have already traveled to Syria.

Several hardline insurgent groups in tribal areas between Afghanistan and Pakistan have pledged allegiance to IS, propaganda leaflets have been distributed and some local commanders are said to have met IS members.

But the clandestine student group is the clearest indication yet that IS ideas are taking hold more broadly.

“Several students who are close to us went to Syria to join our brothers for a holy cause,” said student Gul Rahman, holding a mobile phone with IS’s black flag logo on the screen.

Islamic State is a violent Sunni group which controls large areas of Iraq and Syria. It announced the establishment of a caliphate in June.

IS also declared an intention to bring Afghanistan, Pakistan and India under its control, although so far only eight Afghan citizens have traveled from Afghanistan to fight in Syria, security sources told Reuters. Among them are two sisters from Kabul University recruited to IS over Facebook and now in Syria.

The number is tiny compared with the thousands of recruits from Europe fighting with IS, with its influence in South Asia still embryonic.

Taliban compromised?

The students, speaking at a tea-shop away from campus and fearing arrest if they are identified, said they drew inspiration from IS’s success in the Middle East and saw it as the best chance of bringing Asia under Islamist rule.

They were willing to give their names because they were so common the authorities could not identify them, they added. Kabul University has long been a cauldron of radical views - both under Soviet occupation when students sided with rebels and later when the hardline Taliban took control in the 1990s.

Now IS ideology appears to be spreading, although there is no evidence yet the trend goes beyond gatherings where students discuss ideas and graffiti daubed on university walls. None of the men who met Reuters were armed, nor appeared bent on attacks within Afghanistan.

Rahim and Rahman said they want to fight in Syria and Iraq because IS does not yet have enough presence in Afghanistan to challenge national and foreign armed forces. They have also abandoned support for the Taliban, saying it strayed from religious doctrine in the pursuit of power.

“The Taliban are more of a political movement but Daish (IS) is purely Islamic,” said Rahim, sporting a bushy beard and shaved moustaches. l

strayed and taken up the gun are feeling burdened by it.”

Modi’s harder test was in Srinagar, the state’s summer capital, which is at the heart of the 25-year revolt against Indian rule.

Modi promised to help rebuild Srinagar and nearby areas that suffered the worst flooding this year in more than a century. He said he had turned Kutch in his native western state of Gujarat into India’s fastest growing district after a devastating earthquake in 2001.

About 3,000 paramilitary troops and sniffer dogs guarded a cricket stadium where he spoke on a cold, overcast day. Militants have in the past tried to stage attacks during visits by Indian leaders.

The BJP has long sought to end Kashmir’s special status under the Indian constitution, seeing the region as key to its vision of a strong, united India.

Pakistan calls the election meaningless, urging instead talks to resolve a dispute that has festered ever since independence from Britain in 1947. l

9

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

A Korean Air executive is under investigation over claims she delayed a plane over the way she was served nuts.

Heather Cho demanded the removal of a crew member from a flight last Friday for failing to serve nuts on a plate.

Ms Cho, a vice-president of the firm, forced the Incheon-bound flight to taxi back to the terminal in New York.

The airline said checking service standards was part of her job, and she had the pilot’s backing. But officials said she was a passenger at the time.

Local media reports said that a junior attendant had offered Ms Cho macadamia nuts in a bag, instead of serving the nuts on a plate.

Ms Cho, daughter of company boss

Cho Yang-ho, then questioned the chief flight attendant over in-flight service standards and ordered him off the plane.

Korean Air said the plane arrived 11 minutes late, and that the decision to expel the senior flight attendant had been made in consultation with the pilot.

The airline told Korea Times that checking of quality of service was one of Ms Cho’s jobs, as she is in charge of in-flight service for the carrier.

The transport authorities are investigating whether Ms Cho’s actions infringed aviation law.

“Even though she is senior vice president at the company, she was a passenger at that time, so she had to behave and be treated as a passenger,” a South Korea transport ministry official told reporters. l

‘Key commanders’ killed in Pakistan airstrikes n AFP Pakistani airstrikes have killed at least 30 militants including “important commanders” of a local warlord in the country’s restive northwest where the military launched a major offensive this year, officials and militant sources said Monday.

The target of the late Sunday strikes, in the Datta Khel area of North Waziristan tribal district, were local warlords Hafiz Gul Bahadur and his

ally Sadiq Noor, security officials said.

Both are aligned with the feared Haqqani network and are accused of sending fighters and suicide bombers against US and Nato troops in neighbouring Afghanistan.

“At least 30 militants have been killed. Dozens of fighters and commanders were gathered for a joint meeting of both the groups,” a militant source told AFP. An intelligence official in the area confirmed the strikes and the death toll. l

Philippine capital braces for storm, as Hagupit kills 27 n Reuters, Dolores Typhoon Hagupit weakened to a tropical storm as it churned close to the Philippine capital on Monday, after killing 27 people on the eastern island of Samar island where it flattened homes, toppled trees and cut power and communications.

Manila shut down as Hagupit, which means “lash” in Filipino, took aim at the tip of the main island Luzon, just south of the capital city of 12 million people.

“We now have a total of 27 dead, most of them in Borongan, Eastern Samar,” said Richard Gordon, chairman of the Philippine Red Cross, adding most of the dead drowned in floodwaters.

He said around 2,500 houses were totally or partially destroyed in Borongan, a town of 64,000 people.

But despite the rising death toll, there was relief that Hagupit had not brought destruction on the scale of super typhoon Haiyan, which last year killed thousands of people in the same areas of the central Philippines.

Hagupit roared in from the Pacific as a Category 3 typhoon on Saturday night, churning across Samar island and on to the smaller island of Masbate. l

Delhi bans Uber after alleged rape n AFP The Delhi city government on Monday banned Uber from operating in the Indian capital after a passenger accused one of its drivers of rape, dealing a fresh blow to the reputation of the online taxi service.

Uber is banned from operating in the capital with immediate effect and the company will be blacklisted from providing transport services in future, a government statement said. “(The) Transport Department has banned all activities relating to providing any transport service by the www.

Uber.com with immediate effect,” it said.

Friday’s alleged attack on the woman has dealt a major blow to the reputation of the company, which claims to put passengers’ safety first.

Local media reports say it failed to do a background check on the driver, who faced a separate rape allegation in 2011 and was acquitted the following year.

The 32-year-old man will appear in court on Monday after police tracked him down and arrested him on Sunday in his native Uttar Pradesh state, where he had fled.

Special commissioner Deepak Mishra, said Sunday that early investigations showed GPS had not been installed in the taxi and police background checks were not conducted on the driver. l

Scientists open Egyptian mummy coffin n AP, Chicago Once the lid was off the wood coffin holding the 2,500-year-old mummified remains of a 14-year-old Egyptian boy, scientist JP Brown could relax.

The conservator at Chicago’s Field Museum and three other scientists had just used clamps and pieces of metal to create a cradle to lift the fragile lid. Wearing blue surgical gloves, they slowly lifted the contraption containing the coffin lid and carefully walked it to a table in a humidity-controlled lab at the museum.

“Sweet!” Brown said, after helping set the lid down. He later added: “Oh yeah, god, I was nervous.”

The well-planned routine came Friday as scientists started conservation work on the mummy of Minirdis, the son of a stolist

priest. The mummy needs to be stabilised so it can travel in the upcoming exhibit, “Mummies: Images of the Afterlife,” which is expected to premier next September at the Natural History Museum of Los Angeles County. It is expected to travel to the Denver Museum of Nature and Science in fall 2016.

The Field Museum has had the mummy since the 1920s, when the institution received it from the Chicago Historical Society. It’s part of the museum’s collection of 30 complete human mummies from Egypt.

“There’s always a risk of damage,” said Brown, who did the work in a lab filled with plastic-covered examination tables set behind a large window to let schoolchildren watch his daily work. “So we like to handle these things as little as possible.”

Inside the coffin, there was expected

damage. CT scans, which make X-ray images that allow scientists to see inside the coffin before opening it, showed the boy’s feet were detached and partially unwrapped with his toes sticking out. His shroud and mask were torn and twisted sideways. Those also will be repaired.

Brown didn’t worry that the mummy would scatter to dust when opened – something common in the movies. Pieces of the coffin had previously gone missing, exposing the mummy to the elements.

“The last bit of ‘Indiana Jones’ and all that,” Brown explained before opening the coffin. “That’s not going to happen.”

And it didn’t.

Walking around the opened coffin, Brown pointed and explained the significance of a certain marking, the colored resin on the linen wrappings or the gilded

gold on the mask. If Minirdis had lived, he would have been a priest like his father, Brown said. Scientists don’t know why he died so young.

“The fascinating thing about any mummy is that it’s survived as long as it has,” Brown said. “They’re actually amazingly fragile.”

This kind of work is always painstaking, filled with pre-planning and tests so scientists are prepared for the unexpected, said Molly Gleeson, who works with mummies as project conservator at Penn Museum’s “In the Artifact Lab: Conserving Egyptian Mummies” exhibition in Philadelphia.

“These are unique individuals, unique objects,” she said. “There’s nothing else like them. If damage were to happen, we can’t put things back together exactly the way they were before.” l

In Chicago, the mummified body of Minirdis, a 14-year-old Egyptian boy lies in his opened coffin after JP Brown and his team of curators at the Field Museum opened the coffin for the first time. Brown and his team will begin conservation work on the 2,500-year-old boy before it becomes part of a traveling exhibition, photo taken on Saturday AP

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Make every day anti-corruption day

I

n the 11 years since the UN designated December 9 as International Anti-Corruption Day, Bangladesh has enacted various new laws and initiatives to tackle the curse of corruption.

The fact remains, however that these laws have made very limited progress in rooting it out from our society. Few if any people have been surprised that Bangladesh continues to be ranked very low (14th from bottom) in the latest Transparency International Corruption Perception Index.

Corruption has to be rooted out urgently to stop it from harming rule of law and hindering much needed investment in the economy.

It requires politicians and policymakers to practise what they preach when they say they will show zero tolerance for corruption. It is highly concerning that the ACC and politicians have largely reacted to the TI report by downplaying or denying its significance. This is an unfortunate indicator that the prevalence of corruption is regarded as so endemic that it is widely accepted as part and parcel of life in the country.

Denial and political point-scoring will accomplish nothing to remove the stigma of corruption which holds the country back. The government must take a tougher lead in empowering the ACC and courts to help them end impunity for corruption once and for all.

It should free the ACC from political pressures by acting on the commission’s recommendation that its powers be independently set out under the constitution. It should also reverse the changes making it mandatory for the ACC to obtain government approval for filing cases against judges and public servants.

Remove the stigma which holds the country back

Be heard Write to Dhaka Tribune FR Tower, 8/C Panthapath, Sukrabad, Dhaka-1207 Email letters.dt@dhakatribune.com Send us your Op-Ed articles: opinion.dt@dhakatribune.com www.dhakatribune.com Join our Facebook community: https://www.facebook.com/DhakaTribune

Blessed are the peacemakers November 25

B Cohen Leave the cheese-makers out of it, big nose.

Arshad I didn’t see any mention of the kind of blunders our “inefficient diplomats” made and why Bangladesh is lagging behind and in which field. The op-ed is about Model United Nations, and it should have dealt with how the MUN can play a role in building a more robust world body.

Morshed Arshad: I concur. This op-ed does not give actual examples of deficient diplomacy. In recent years, Bangladesh has been lobbying hard to become a non-permanent member of the Security Council (again), our Ambassador to Belgium has been re-elected to CEDAW, we have been implementing UN conventions, so on and so forth. The author mentions UN peacekeepers – is he aware that Bangladesh’s ubiquity in peacekeeping missions

Garment workers protest

December 4

is largely due to past and current diplomatic efforts? Such statements shouldn’t be made so blithely. I think any article on that topic should also distinguish between the UN secretariat itself and Bangladesh’s Permanent Missions to the UN in New York and Geneva.

As someone who participated in a number of MUN conferences myself, I am all for encouraging the activity in Bangladesh. But at the same time, I am curious to see how many good MUN-ers become good career/UN diplomats.

TJ Arshad: It’s pretty obvious that we do have inefficient diplomats. And it’s mentioned in the piece that recently our country hasn’t made any significant impact in the decision-making process of the UN. Thus, we are lagging behind in this field.

And this is where Model United Nations comes in. The practice of MUN can help us to overcome these shortcomings.

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.

Too used to violence November 25

SE Yes, truly, violence has really taken shape in Bangladesh; so, measures should be taken to curb it and children could be taught that any form of violence is wrong.

W

Bangladesh and Bhutan can only gain by building on our strong bilateral ties and connections

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

Ara Begum It takes humility to learn from one’s mistakes. Not sure I have it, but we would all gain if more of us did.

A timeless friendship e welcome this week’s highly successful visit by Bhutan’s prime minister, Tshering Tobgay.

As close neighbours indelibly linked by geography and history, Bangladesh and Bhutan can only gain by building on our strong bilateral ties.

The enhancements agreed on to existing trade arrangements provide a welcome boost for businesses in both our nations. They open new doors for exporters and offer considerable scope to share expertise and resources on developing tourism.

Bhutan’s support for improving connectivity matters to all countries in our region. Improving trade and development is essential to help South Asia lift its huge numbers of poor citizens out of poverty. The region’s leaders need to do more to give life to Saarc and SAFTA by bringing down the political and trade barriers which hold the region back from developing to its full potential.

Potentially, Bhutan’s interest in developing regional co-operation on water sharing and power issues is as important to Bangladesh as its role in being one of the first nations to recognise Bangladesh in 1971.

Hydropower from Nepal and Bhutan offers an environmentally sustainable way to help Bangladesh and India meet future energy needs. While hydropower is an undoubted diplomatic and engineering challenge, such a program could be a catalyst to resolving key, related issues, notably the need to ensure fairer management of common river waters.

As nations sharing the Brahmaputra basin, Bangladesh, Bhutan, China, India, and Nepal should do more via platforms such as BIMSTEC and BCIM, to get bold, mutually beneficial regional projects off the ground, to benefit all our peoples.

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 14 represents C so fill C every time the figure 14 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.

Kaosar Khan Kazal “Agitated workers of the Chunji Knit Ltd, based in the Badda area of the capital, demonstrate in front of the BGMEA building in Karwan Bazar, demanding immediate payment of four months’ due wages and allowances.”

Give the workers their money very quickly.

LS “Hundreds have died in political violence, but many people don’t feel outraged.”

It’s an interesting concept that we, as a nation, are collectively unconscious. I hope we still have it in us to build a culture of empathy.

He loves me not?

November24

‘Dead’ woman comes back to life December 5

PR “‘When we declared her dead, we could not feel a pulse. Her body had become like that of a dead person. … It was a misunderstanding. The patient is now well.”

Utter negligence of #DMCH only because the patient is #poor, alone!

A New-er Delhi November 25

vhs “Every time I go to Delhi, I notice that the city has taken several steps towards disciplined modernism.”

I always enjoy reading Towheed Feroze’s naughty musings. This one reminded me an earlier piece of his on Kolkata in the good old days.

Luna It is high time that India starts to appreciate the friendly gestures from Bangladesh, and gives us the respect that we deserve.

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Disturbance (4) 5 Mechanical man (5) 9 Much ornamented (6) 10 Drink (3) 11 Blood vessel (4) 12 Gives for temporary use (5) 14 Academy Award (5) 16 Gem (4) 19 Becomes firm (4) 21 Cries (5) 24 Young eel (5) 27 Continent (4) 29 Meadow (3) 30 Originate (6) 31 Time in grammar (5) 32 Sea eagle (4)

DOWN 1 Wander (4) 2 Choler (3) 3 Vegetables (6) 4 Makes brown (4) 5 Backslide (7) 6 Prohibit (3) 7 Of advanced age (3) 8 Irritable (5) 13 Period of time (3) 15 Clique (7) 17 Inferior (6) 18 Kind of wheat (5) 20 Female sheep (3) 22 Form walking surface (4) 23 Destiny (4) 25 Sheltered side (3) 26 Forefront (3) 28 Tavern (3)

SV “The ruling party camp got shaky, seeing the victory of Modi’s BJP in the April polls, as if he would make a U-turn from day-one in office.”

Well, no sane person would actually expect greater bilateral relations from Modi than we have had with India previously. Having said that, the man does dress well.

Tazreen Fire: They still suffer, unnoticed

CALVIN AND HOBBES

November 25

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER SR “They only received primary treatment, and were left in the sea since then, even though they were supposed to get necessary treatment at free of cost.”

The injured workers of Tazreen Fashions should be given the money they need for proper treatment by the authorities.

PEANUTS

CROSSWORD

Bus lanes are more important than VIPs November 25

Cyclechick “Give priority to the needs of the many over the comfort of the few.”

Well said. But it’s not just politicians though.

Every car owner in Bangladesh is blind to the fact that the congestion is their fault, for not funding good public transport, which yes, means giving priority to the masses, not elites.

Many a time I’ve heard one moan that congestion is all the fault of rickshaws, and buses should be banned. They’re being ridiculously selfish by saying so.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

11

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Democr@cy wanted: Dead or alive?

Really? Why? For us or for them?

S

n Farid Bakht

ome are mourning the death of democracy. When did you last spot that thing called democracy cruising the streets of Dhaka? Before democracy can die, it must first be born, so I shed no tears for the death of something that never truly existed.

A free and fair election where the contest is between two dynasties with near identical economic policies is no choice at all. To paraphrase Karl Marx, the tragedies of 1971 is returning as farce as political parties trade insults on which leader was supposed to be working for Pakistani imperialism.

Leave them be! Move on!

Seen through ‘their’ eyes

To the millions of present and past garments workers, the definition of a member of parliament is “Garment Factory Owner.” Parliament means “Business Lobby.” How will that MP represent workers’ rights? Why are we surprised that they drag their feet over compensation for the victims of Tazreen and Rana Plaza for years? Wrong class living in the wrong end of town.

terms of class, gender, or occupation.

In this market, the vast majority is priced out. Literally.

How about dictatorship then?

Well, we tried that with Ayub Khan, Yahya Khan, Ziaur Rahman, HM Ershad, and finally Moeen Ahmed.

Ask yourself if those were the years of economic prosperity, national development, or spectacular success.

I have met many successful businessmen who will tell anyone who cares to listen, that: “We don’t need democracy, we need a strongman. And then we can become an Asian Tiger.”

Sounds plausible except for a couple of points: (a) Why haven’t military dictatorships produced the goods in Pakistan or Bangladesh? How about Myanmar since 1962? Sukarno in Indonesia was a kleptocracy. If you think Thailand is a model, then please up your levels of aspiration. North Korea? The catalogue of failures in the Middle East are legion. Air force man Mubarak in Egypt? Iraq, Algeria, and more do not make a good case for Muslim Military despots. Shall we even mention the countless catastrophes in Africa and

Today’s Bengali middle class has an elite that is as indifferent to their needs as the Urdu-speaking Pakistani elite of the 50s and 60s

To the millions of landless labourers, the title of local party leader is “Landowner.” Just how will a lifetime of accumulating land at low prices square with representing the interests of the poorest of the poor?

To the millions of migrant workers, the politician is a “Manpower Exporter.” How will he care for poor workers in Dubai when he is too busy hobnobbing with agents, scheming over deals and commissions where the underlying principle is Profit before People?

To the millions of poor women, the meaning of politician is “Rich Man,” or at best “Rich Woman,” where the only currency that matters is royal blood.

Is our representative democracy … representative? The self-styled Democrats do not represent the people in

Latin America? (b) In contrast, some authoritarian rulers as well as revolutionary regimes (with no multi-party plebiscites) have overseen spectacular growth in much of the Asian Tigers. General Park in South Korea comes to mind. Taiwan?

Japan, with an effectively one-party state since the late 1800s, barring an occasional hiccup. Then we have Communist Party regimes overseeing the rise in Vietnam and China. The countries named have a population of nearly 1,750 million.

By cherry-picking through history and ignoring inconvenient truths, that businessman in Dhaka will point to (b). Key difference is: He doesn’t want to follow the state-led policies of the Tigers. He just wants no one but his class to have rights. He wants the

Can we mourn the death of a system that was never alive? uniforms to crush strikes. We know it seems to boil down to this: Do you have a plan? Is it the right plan? Is it based on experience and context that makes sense to your country and the present time? Can you make it work?

How you get to power matters less than what you actually do with it. The dirty little secret is that successful East Asian countries demonstrate that prosperity in Asia doesn’t need Westminster parliaments but needs a Big Idea, smart planning, and dogged determination. Ouch!

This may be anathema to many who see this as a slippery slope to totalitarianism. So, for the avoidance of any doubt, I abhor and condemn the putsches and takeovers ever since 1947. I was against 1/11. I will be against the next foreign-instigated military takeover too, Why? Because the army, navy, and air forces should be defending the borders, not taking over the capital. And, they never have

a proper plan.

The situation therefore equates to: Corrupt politics OR directionless drift of military regimes = misery. I don’t blame the Social Media Generation if they think of giving up. Surely they want to a) press delete, b) send to Trash Bin, and c) press the reset button. If they do, I will retweet and push their like button too.

Is this the Utopia we really want?

Being more South Asian than East Asian, far from Shanghai and Seoul, most of us would like a free and fair election between a series of nondynastic parties with candidates from all parts of society where there is a realistic chance of winning. Moreover, this democracy would not go into a coma for five years until the following election. It would remain vibrant by regularly engaging with the people with annual referendums on key issues.

As examples, they could be deci-

BIGSTOCK

sions on: l How do we use vital national resources – export to Delhi or use for Bangladeshi industries? l Corridors or transshipment in return for the just use of river water? l Equitable investment in the districts or, as always, in Dhaka? l Reframing the relationship with aid agencies.

Put it another way: World Bank or ADB money with lectures on good governance, or Asian Investment Infrastructure Bank (AIIB) money with no sermons?

We would expect genuine deep decentralisation of powers and budgets in small towns where ordinary people are asked to state their priorities, and monitor how they are used. We probably want the best of both worlds. Freedom of speech, security, respect for our rights, democratic decision-making, as well as a Tiger economy where economic growth is 10% and more for the first decade.

We could go on, but let’s not. It isn’t going to happen this decade, and you probably won’t see it in the next decade either. Utopia will carry on gathering dust. Unless there is a Reset.

Therein lies the problem. We do not have an elite that is even prepared to learn the lessons of East Asia. As the politicians continue their revisionist rewriting of national history, they might press the pause button.

Beyond the always despised lower rural and poor urban classes, we do not have a middle class that has any group batting for them. It has been abandoned.

Today’s Bengali middle class in independent Bangladesh has an elite that is as indifferent to their needs as the Urdu-speaking Pakistani elite of the 50s and 60s.

Think about that for a moment.

Who’s the Razakar now? l Farid Bakht is a political activist and can be reached at @Liquid_Borders.

The Muslimah pageant and a few other things

Modesty must be displayed

n Taslima Nasrin

I

ndonesia’s Miss World Muslimah beauty pageant was held quite recently. The participants of the pageant wore makeup, just like the Miss World or Miss Universe contestants. The difference is that this pageant reveals an especially narrow mindset.

In the Miss World or Miss Universe contests, the women can be from any country or religion, but in the Miss Muslimah pageant, the participants have to be Muslim, and are required to wear hijabs. This is a beauty contest among women who are required to

have their bodies and heads covered, if you hadn’t guessed.

In Islam, the purpose of the hijab is to make sure that no physical beauty of a woman is on display. The Qur’an and Hadith strongly prohibit displaying female beauty, which is why Muslim extremists have always been against beauty pageants. But have they expressed outrage over their own Muslimah beauty pageant? Not to my knowledge.

These Muslims, who doll themselves up and shamelessly display their beauty in front of all the men in the world, are definitely disobedient towards Allah and the Prophet,

right? Not so long ago, a new law had been passed in Saudi Arabia: Girls with beautiful eyes were to no longer go outside with their eyes unveiled, because men get sexually excited by looking at their eyes.

Since men don’t know how to control their excitement, women are the ones who have to cover themselves up head-to-toe, just so that men are not tempted to do something horrible.

However, the participants of the Miss Muslimah pageant keep their eyes uncovered. The curves of their waists, breasts, and hips are also clearly visible through their clothes – anyone can guess how much this excites men.

After watching the Muslim beauties, I came to the conclusion that Muslims do not want to be deprived of anything pleasurable. A few years ago, some expatriate Muslims living in Europe were cursing at non-Muslims there, all the while praising the Muslims in Saudi Arabia. So I asked them: “Why are you living in a non-Muslim country? You can just go to Saudi Arabia – the land of Islam, the sacred country.” They listened to my suggestion, but didn’t express any desire to follow through.

Muslims might think Saudi Arabia is sacred, but not many of them actually want to live there. Anyone can find clips of Saudi government-endorsed beheadings on the Internet. The truth is, Muslims can never enjoy human rights in the Arab world the way they do in the countries of non-believers.

Islamic extremists today are freely preaching their religion on Twitter and Facebook. Religious terrorists are using modern technology to spread terror. Fanatics are carrying mobile phones – an invention of the nonbelievers. Non-believers or atheists are inventing new technologies, and Muslims are all over those inventions.

Pious Muslims don’t have any objections about enjoying such modern conveniences. At the same time, they do not have any objections about hating non-believers or atheists, cursing and swearing at them, or even executing them while screaming God’s name. I have never seen any other religious group embracing the positive aspects of science and the negative aspects of religion in this way.

People have not only become greedy, they have also become violent.

Not too long ago, followers of the Prophet used to say: “Allah’s favourite

Prophet loved everyone, he didn’t hate anyone. He didn’t want to harm anyone, and he never said we should kill non-believers.”

He, in fact, said: “Your religion is yours, and my religion is mine.’” And now, many devotees of the Prophet proudly announce: “Our Prophet killed men, we will do the same ... We will also chop non-believers into pieces.”

The participants of the Miss Muslimah pageant keep their eyes uncovered

If religion makes people intolerant and turns them into savages, then I question its relevance in modern society. A few days ago, Bangladeshi Muslims attacked a Rajshahi University professor, hacking him to death. His fault: He had told his female students to not wear burqas in class because of the difficulty it posed in recognising a student. After all, it could be someone else pretending to be a student, maybe even someone dangerous.

The golden boys of my golden Bangladesh want to cover the girls in black garb. The burqa is an Arabian attire; is it mandatory to accept the culture of Saudi Arabia as your own to be a Muslim, or can you accept your own culture and also be a Muslim? This is something I’ve pondered for years.

My mother was very religious; going to Saudi Arabia was a dream of hers, and she did eventually go.

However, when she came back, I noticed that she wasn’t very fond of the country anymore. Maybe her idea of Saudia Arabia did not match the reality. Her love for that country was gone, and as long as she lived, she lived as a Bengali. It was her love and affection for people that made her great, not her religion – that is how she expressed her piety.

When I was looking at the various fashionable hijabs in the Muslimah beauty pageant, it seemed like the hijab was no longer a part of Islam.

Eye-catching hijabs of various colours are sold in shops now, and hijabi girls are busy showing off their beauty in different ways, which is why special catwalks had to be arranged for them.

Groups of Muslims are taking part in a sexual jihad. These girls travel for miles to reach the desserts of Iraq and Syria, so that they can sexually please some unknown men. This is something that is impossible to imagine even for someone with no religion and no shame.

I often hear the phrase “ghomtar tolay khemta nache,” this time I am witnessing it myself. If Muslim extremists can slaughter people in the name of Allah, Muslim girls can also sleep with them for the same reason.

It’s a good thing that my mother is not alive anymore. If she were here to see these things, who knows what would’ve happened to her faith. l Taslima Nasrin is a feminist writer and columnist currently in exile in India. This article has been translated from the original Bengali.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Tuesday, December 9, 2014

13 Abbott set for

return after tragedy

14 Hat-trick and

400th Barca goal for Messi

14 Milan duo

suffer shock defeats

Sport

Did you know?

Since Cristiano Ronaldo moved to Real Madrid, Lionel Messi scored 202 while Ronaldo scored 200 La Liga goals

BCB - BADAL CONTROVERSY SAGA GOES ON

Disgruntled premier league I will fight all disputes with cricketing law: Badal clubs demand Badal ban n Minhaz Uddin Khan Dhaka Premier League Clubs Association (DPLCA), Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh (CWAB) and Bangladesh Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association (BCUSA) demanded to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) yesterday that Lutfur Rahman Badal be banned with immediate effect.

ments at Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium yesterday, the three parties, DPLCA, CWAB and BCUSA, echoed the same demand – punish the Rupganj owner for his ill-remarks and ban him from Bangladesh cricket. The trio also requested the intervention of Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina on the issue.

Abahani director Kazi Nabil Ahmed, on behalf of DPLCA, said the three par-

Kazi Nabil Ahmed (2R), the Abahani director speaks in the press conference on behalf of the Dhaka Premier League Clubs Association MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK Badal, owner of Premier League side Legends of Rupganj, has a chequered history with the BCB. It got much worse after Badal made disparaging comments against BCB president Nazmul Hasan and a few board directors recently.

Following a defeat against Prime Bank last Thursday, Rupganj chairman Badal slammed the BCB high-ups for manipulation and conspiracy against his side. His comments, expectedly, irked the cricket board and the members who were named in his statement.

Protesting against Badal’s com-

ties have gathered together on the same platform to protest against Badal’s offensive and indecent remarks.

“His comment against the BCB was deplorable and has hurt the majority of the cricket organisers in the country.

It has also hurt the cricket of the country,” said Nabil before adding, “BCB president Nazmul Hasan holds a rich background and belongs to a distinguished political family. He is an efficient administrator, well-educated and also a proud member of the parliament of the country. At the moment, Bangladesh cricket is achieving heights and

fetching good results under his guidance. But, a group is working against him (Nazmul) and Badal is a part of it.”

Nabil claimed that Badal is the “black sheep” of Bangladesh cricket and has been involved with several controversial incidents in the past that have polluted the cricket arena in the process.

“We condemn his acts and on behalf of CWAB, DPLCA, BCUSA and former national captains, we demand the immediate interference of the State Minister for [Youth and] Sports and the Prime Minister. Such a controversial figure and his team should be banned,” Nabil demanded adding that severe initiatives will be taken by the respective groups if no action is taken against Badal by the aforementioned people. Nabil further stated that Badal is likely to be axed as a member of DPLCA. However, the DPLCA will come to a final decision after discussions between its members.

Badal had also criticised former captain Khaled Mahmud, comparing the chairman of the development committee with a BCB “peon”. Yesterday, Mahmud gave his version to the media.

“We never want these incidents or ‘mud-slingings’ to happen,” said Mahmud. “The BCB or none of us ever attacked him personally the way he did.

It is not possible to tolerate his negative attitude towards us,” he added.

When queried if the usage of a word like “black sheep” was necessary, Mahmud said, “We are not sorry for using words like “black sheep” or even “filth” against Badal because of the way he behaves.

“I think he was once filth. Now, he has earned lots of money and is behaving nonsensically against the BCB directors and former captains. I think we have used a better word than he deserves.” l

n Mazhar Uddin The most burning issue of Bangladesh cricket at the moment is the ongoing dispute between Legends of Rupganj owner Lutfur Rahman Badal and the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

Recent events are refusing to die down as the issue is snowballing with each passing day.

In a latest twist to events, BCB officials, under the banner of Dhaka Premier League Clubs Association, Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh and Bangladesh Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association, protested against Badal at Sher-eBangla National Stadium yesterday and asked for him to be banned.

Dhaka Tribune had a brief conversation with the controversial Badal yesterday regarding the prevailing situation. Here are the excerpts:

But, if you try to beat me unfairly I will not accept that. And, I think [Khaled Mahmud] Sujon is involved with the whole consortium. As for the last three years, he has been doing these things, for instance taking my players to his team. If you are involved with the board then you have to be fair.

I do not understand as to how the same person can be the coach of a side,

of cricket in the country?

I am heavily involved with cricket. The cricketers like me and at the same time dislike them (BCB).

I think they are jealous of me, nothing else. They are harassing my people on the field. They are even threatening the cricketers of my club. This is not a cricketing culture. This will finish cricket, nothing else.

What are your immediate plans?

I have nothing to do at the moment as they have all the power and they can do whatever they want. I want to stick to the cricketing law and fight against all disputes. They will not allow me to go to the field but I can help my team from the outside. I have the right to form my own academy. I am with cricket and not involved in any table-game whatsoever as I am a cricket organiser. I love cricket and want to stay with cricket and I am not here to fight with anyone.

You recently stated that Khaled Mahmud Sujon is a man of many faces and that he is a disgrace to the board.

Do you still back your comment?

Actually, I do not compromise on such things. I want fairness and if you beat my team on the field fairly I am ready to accept that.

A banner hanging on the BCB head office wall manager of another club and chairman of the development committee. At the same time he is influencing the cricketers by his power. I am against his post and his total scenario but I am not against Sujon on a personal level.

Everyone knows that Sujon introduced [Mohammad] Ashraful with the bookies.

He is busy with his own development rather than cricket’s development.

Why do you think you are at loggerheads with the governing body

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Any justification over your previous comment against the BCB?

The way it was written, I never said every board member is a thief.

What I said was that there are some people who are involved with wrongdoings and that they should be investigated. I think there was some language misunderstanding over my statement. I never said such things about [Nazmul Hasan] Papon and I think there was some gap between my statement and what was published. l

Who on earth are they? n Minhaz Uddin Khan The impromptu press conference called by Dhaka Premier League Clubs Association, Cricketers Welfare Association of Bangladesh, Bangladesh Cricket Umpires and Scorers Association and former captains in Mirpur yesterday was supposed to be a regular activity.

However, once entering the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium premises, one would have been mistaken upon thinking that this is the home of cricket. More than 25 banners were seen hanging from the top and around the stadia. The banners contained indecent write-ups against Lutfur Rahman Badal.

More surprising was the presence of more than 200 people chanting lewd slogans against the owner of Legends of Rupganj. Considered the national cricket stadium of the country, security was meant to be high. Yesterday, however, security and protocol hardly mattered to the Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB).

People called up for the “showdown” and the protest against Badal were seen moving around the BCB premises nonchalantly. The

security personnel in and around the stadium appeared helpless.

BCB Umpires Committee chairman and Kalabagan Krira Chakra director Nazmul Karim Tinku reasoned that the people present inside the stadium were supporters of different clubs.

“They are not part of the BCB. They might be supporters of different clubs protesting against Badal. We saw the banners just a while ago and those will be taken down immediately. The incidents have been discussed amongst us and we will soon see who are behind these things,” said Tinku making an effort to explain the situation.

The explanation, however, that the people were not directly or indirectly involved with the board hardly made any sense to the media personnel. Reason? A full course of lunch was arranged for those “unidentified” people in the dining area of the BCB’s media centre.

BCB CEO Nizamuddin Chowdhury was questioned by the media about the possessions and banners and if the protocol of seeking permission from the board was followed. At first, Nizamuddin was embar-

F4 driver Tushar flies to India tomorrow n Raihan Mahmood

The lone Formula 4 racer of Bangladesh, Mahfujur Rahman Tushar, flies off to New Delhi tomorrow to take part in the final round of the 17th JK Tyre Racing Championship, slated for Sunday at Buddha International Circuit in Noyda. Tushar will represent the Avalance Racing Team.

Last year, Tushar was among the top 15 racers but in this edition, the young driver wants to finish in the top 10.

Before departing here for India, Tushar said, “The circuit is a F1 circuit and it will be my second race in a F1 circuit. I will be test driving this Friday and appear in the qualifiers this Saturday. There are two high speed corners in the track and it is quite risky. I seek blessings of the people.”

Tushar is a first year student at the University of Liberal Arts Bangladesh.

Shah Cement will be bearing all his expenses as the sponsor. l

rassed of the situation and denied to make any comment on the issue. However, following continuous requests by the media, the BCB high-up said, “We were aware of the press conference but not of the possessions and the banners. I will only be able to answer about those after learning more of it myself.”

The issue of security has been under the scanner ever since the beginning of the Badal-BCB controversy. Following Badal’s offensive comments, his team manager Tarequl Islam Titu claimed of being assaulted by “unruly” people related to the directors of the BCB last Saturday during their premier league game against Mohammedan at BKSP. Titu’s claim though was denied by BCB director Khaled Mahmud, who is one of the major characters of the ongoing Badal-BCB conflict.

“I do not think those people are part of BCB. I think this is a part of the controversy. We are not clear as to who those people were. The match referee from that game should have submitted a report on the incident. We will explore the issue further,” said Mahmud. l

Asian affiliation for rugby n Raihan Mahmood The Bangladesh Rugby Federation (BRF) attained the assistance of the Asian Rugby Football Union (ARFU) and from now onwards will enjoy the support as member of the Asian ruling body of the sport.

Through a media release yesterday, the BRF revealed that its application was finally granted after previous failures in 2012 and last year. In the Congress of the Asian ruling body in Dubai last Saturday and Sunday, Uzbekistan, Lebanon, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Pakistan supported Bangladesh’s appeal.

BRF general secretary Mousum Ali said he is looking forward to expanding the game through the assistance provided by the ARFU. l

Unidentified groups of people chanted slogans and demanded punishment of Lutfur Rahman Badal at the Sher-e-Bangla National Stadium premises yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Titu urges team effort n Raihan Mahmood

Bangladesh’s interim football coach Saiful Bari Titu wants his team to play as a team, as opposed to a few brilliant individuals, when they take on the Japan Under-21 side in an international friendly at Bangabandhu National Stadium on December 18.

Titu said this during a press conference at BFF House yesterday as all the 23 members of the preliminary squad, with the exception of captain Mamunul Islam, reported. The team will reside at BFF House hostel and practise at Bangabandhu National Stadium.

Ahead of the Japan friendly, their inaugural practice session was held at the big bowl yesterday evening.

In the presser, Titu said he is aware

of the opponent’s strengths. “I am not saying we will be playing defensive football. I have to think about the formation and work on it in the available days before the match.

“What I want from my players is for all of them to play a defensive game across the field. The Japanese U-21 team have some tall players and we will have to tackle the aerial threats,” said Titu.

Meanwhile, team manager Amirul Islam Babu said the governing body of football in the country will approach Indian Super League side Atletico de Kolkata about skipper Mamunul.

“We will ask the club to release Mamunul for national team service. If possible, they might have to send him to Dhaka soon. We want him against Japan U-21,” said Babu yesterday. l

Metropolis Table Tennis begins today

n Raihan Mahmood

The Agrani Bank Dhaka Metropolis Table Tennis League, comprising the senior, men and women paddlers gets underway at Shaheed Tajuddin Ahmed Indoor Stadium today. Among the three categories, the senior division league is poised to be the most competitive as all the nine participating teams have recruited overseas paddlers.

Information Minister Hasanul Haq Inu will inaugurate the event as the chief guest. Mohammed Awal Khan, DMD of Agrani Bank, will be the special guest.

Defending champions Sheikh Russel and runners-up side Palolic are in the running for the men’s title again. While in the women’s event, Dhaka Women’s Table Tennis Club are expected to pose a stern test for holders Abahani. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

13

QUICK BYTES

Pietersen still has hopes of Test revenge Kevin Pietersen has not given up hope of a return to Test cricket and the chance to avenge the humiliating 5-0 defeat at the hands of Australia in the last Ashes series, the former England batsman said on Monday. The South African-born maverick was sacked by England in the wake of that tour and made reconciliation unlikely by releasing a book in October which contained attacks on the national cricket board and several of his former team mates.

In Australia to play for the Melbourne Stars in the Big Bash Twenty20 league, however, Pietersen said he foresaw “a lot of changes” in the England set-up over the next six months which could just offer him a route back to Test cricket. “I have 8,300 runs, I’d love to get 10,000 Test runs,” the 34-year-old told reporters. “I’d love to beat Australia again... last time, we got hammered.

That doesn’t sit well. I’m not a player who likes being hammered, I’m a player who plays to win.”

– Reuters

Playing for France made me miserable, says Nasri Retired international Samir Nasri described Sunday how playing for France had made him unhappy and blasted the treatment received by former teammate Franck Ribery.

Nasri, 27, confirmed his retirement from international football days before Ribery last August after being omitted from the France squad for the World Cup. And the Manchester City midfielder admitted that it was not “a question of age” but a “feeling” which brought about the premature decision.

“I’ve already said it, the France team doesn’t make me happy,” said Nasri, who made his France debut at the age of 19 in 2007 and won 41 caps, scoring five goals. However, his international career was dogged by controversy.

–AFP

Ryder not in NZ’s World Cup plans Troubled batsman Jesse Ryder’s chequered past came back to haunt him Monday when New Zealand selectors left him out of a preliminary 30-man World Cup squad. The 30-year-old is regarded as one of the Black Caps’ few match-winners but his career has been littered with alcoholfuelled incidents and chief selector Bruce Edgar said New Zealand were not prepared to gamble on him for the tournament. He said the final straw was when Ryder was handed a chance to break back into the national team by participating in a New Zealand A tour to Dubai last month but withdrew at the last minute citing personal reasons. “When he pulled out he left us with no real information about him and as a result we didn’t have enough conviction to warrant his selection,” Edgar told Fairfax Media.

–AFP

Falcao must accept substitute role: LVG Manchester United manager Louis van Gaal has declared that Radamel Falcao must content himself with a bit-part role as the on-loan Colombian striker works his way back to full fitness. Falcao has played for only 283 minutes since signing from Monaco on transfer deadline day and has scored just once, in a 2-1 win over Everton in early October. The 28-year-old is short of sharpness following a month-long absence with a calf problem and Van Gaal told the Monday editions of several British newspapers that he will have to bide his time. Falcao is expected to be named on the bench when United visit Southampton in the Premier League later on Monday, and when asked if the striker was happy with that, Van Gaal replied: “I am not interested in that. He has to follow my philosophy. Do you understand that? I am here because of that. “I have selected him in spite of the fact he can only play for 20 minutes, because the rhythm of the game in the Premier League is the highest.

–AFP

Bangladesh’s interim football coach Saiful Bari Titu briefs his charges at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Federer makes IPTL debut, critisises rules n Reuters, New Delhi

Swiss great Roger Federer gave a lukewarm response to the International Premier Tennis League (IPTL) after making his debut for the Indian Aces on Sunday.

“My mind was definitely scrambling trying to remember all the rules,” a smiling Federer, a late replacement for the injured Rafa Nadal in the Indian team, told reporters.

With its emphasis on speed, fun and noise, an IPTL tie comprises five oneset shootouts in men’s and women’s singles, men’s and mixed doubles and a past champions match with the team that wins the most games, not sets, declared the winner.

Additional features include a 20-second serve clock, a ‘Happiness Power Point’ in which a point is worth double once per set, no advantages, no lets, coaching timeouts and a five-minute shootout if a match is tied at 5-5.

Federer won his men’s singles, doubles and mixed doubles against Singapore Slammers at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium but the 17-times grand slam champion said he found some of the rules “strange” and others unnecessary.

“The one I think is most unnecessary here is like when you start the motion and let’s say you miss the ball toss, that counts as mistake,” he said.

“I think that’s probably most unnecessary.”

Traditionalist Federer said he understood the drive to speed up the game but felt it put a lot of pressure on the players.

“The way it is right now, I don’t think it will work as a Tour event,” said Federer, who agreed to play only the Delhi leg. “Maybe there’s something we could take away from this but at the end you know how I am. I’m very traditional and I like the way the game is on tour. I like the scoring system.”

Federer, however, liked the team format of the league which has also attracted world number ones Novak Djokovic and Serena Williams and former Wimbledon champion Andy Murray.

“It’s not going to replace how we play the tour but it definitely has a place in our sport to have more interaction, more fun, different rules,” he said.

“You bend it, you customise it, it works for everyone involved. It’s a very interesting concept.” l

Indian Aces tennis team players including Switzerland’s Roger Federer (2L), USA’s Pete Sampras (L), France’s Gael Monfils (3L) and India’s Sania Mirza (2R) celebrate after teammate Ana Ivanovic won against Singapore Slammers player Daniela Hantuchova during their women’s singles match at the International Premier Tennis League in New Delhi on Sunday AFP

Abbott set for return after tragedy n AFP, Sydney

Sean Abbott, who delivered the ball that killed Australian batsman Phillip Hughes, is set to return to action after being named Monday in the New South Wales squad.

There were fears that the young fast bowler may have been too traumatised to play again after Hughes died from being hit by one of his bouncers at the Sydney Cricket Ground last month.

But he was included in a 12-man squad to play Queensland in a Sheffield Shield fixture in Sydney from Tuesday.

Abbott attended Hughes’s funeral last week and many people around the cricket world have expressed solidarity with the 22-year-old following the freak accident.

“Brilliant News...The whole #cricketfamily are right behind you Sean...,” said former England captain Michael Vaughan on Twitter in reaction to Abbott being selected. NSW captain Moises Henriques said the bowler was holding up well.

“He’s coping pretty well,” Henriques told the Australian Broadcasting Corporation.

“I guess from our point of view as fellow players, we’re trying to expel his name from the tragedy a little bit, because in my opinion I don’t think he’s any more at fault than any other fast bowler who’s ever bowled a bouncer in his career.

“We’re actually trying to remove his name from everything that’s happened, and just treat him as another one of the players.”

Several of the New South Wales squad were on the field when Hughes collapsed, and coach Trevor Bayliss said the Queensland match was not

about winning.

“It’s not about the result in this match, it’s about getting the guys back on the paddock and looking after their future,” he told reporters.

“This game is about getting back and doing the things they’ve done in the past and getting back into the groove of playing high-level cricket.”

Abbott’s return coincides with Australia facing India in the delayed first Test at Adelaide, with a number of tributes planned. The Australian players will wear Hughes’ Test cap number 408 on their shirts during the match, and black armbands in honour of their former team-mate.

Prior to the start of play on Tuesday, the Australian and Indian teams will stand before a large 408 painted on the playing surface as they observe a video tribute, narrated by former Australia Test captain and prominent commentator Richie Benaud.

Hughes, 25, died on November 27 from bleeding on the brain, two days after being knocked unconscious by the Abbott bouncer, plunging the cricket world into mourning. l

n AFP, Orlando While Tiger Woods struggled in his return from a four-month layoff, it was Jordan Spieth whose overpowering Hero World Challenge victory Sunday revived memories of Woods in his prime.

The 21-year-old American, coming off an Australian Open triumph a week earlier, fired a six-under par 66 to complete a wire-to-wire triumph in the elite 18-player event at Isleworth.

Spieth’s 26-under 262 total and his victory margin of 10 strokes over Swedish world number two Henrik Stenson were both tournament records, his score in relation to par one not even Woods has matched over 72 holes.

“This is the best I’ve ever played, which is what I said in Sydney last week,” Spieth said. “Hopefully I’ll look back and continue to get better.”

“To take it to the next level, to win a major, I’ve got to look to Rory,” Spieth said. “He’s the one we’re all chasing. I did a good job of beginning that chase

the past couple weeks.”

Spieth said in Australia he was “far, far away” from the level of McIlroy, this year’s British Open and PGA Championship winner, but he feels he has closed the gap -- “now just far away.”

Spieth will be the same age then as Woods was in 1997 when winning his first major at the Masters, but the latest US prodigy played down any notion he might be the “next Tiger,” stressing a first major win and McIlroy’s top ranking are his targets.

“I understand that when I’m out here and I’m one of the young guys, people want to see somebody come up and do what Tiger did and change a generation of golf,” Spieth said.

“That’s not necessarily what I’m out here to do. I’m out here to try and win each tournament I’m in. If you happen to win majors, which is the ultimate goal, then great. But right now I look at number one in the world Rory McIlroy, what he did this year, and I’m trying to chase him more than I am anything else.” l

National Weightlifting Championship starts today n Raihan Mahmood

DAY’S WATCH Star Sports 1, 3 6:00AM (Wednesday) India tour of Australia 1st Test, Day 2

Star Sports 2 Indian Super League 5:00PM Chennai v Delhi 7:30PM Kerala v Pune

Sizzling Spieth chasing McIlroy, not Tiger legend

Walton additional director FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn speaks in a press conference at BNS yesterday

COURTESY

Bangladesh Weightlifting Federation has introduced the master category in the national championship as the Walton 34th senior, 15th junior and 11th women’s national weightlifting events begin at the National Sports Council gymnasium today.

For the first time ever, veteran and former national weightlifters will get the opportunity to test their skills after retirement.

“It is the prescription of the International Weightlifting Federation and we are implementing it,” said

weightlifting federation general secretary Wing Commander (retd.)

Mohiuddin Ahmed in a press conference at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

He also added that Bidyut Kumar Roy, the renowned weightlifter of the country will retire after his participation in the event.

Around 200 weightlifters across the country will participate in the four-day event that will be inaugurated by Biren Sikder, the State Minister for Youth and Sports.

Walton additional director FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn will also be present. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Hat-trick and 400th Barca goal for Messi n AFP, Madrid A third Lionel Messi hat-trick in four games helped Barcelona keep the pressure on La Liga leaders Real Madrid as they recorded a 5-1 victory over local rivals Espanyol on Sunday.

After falling behind to Sergio Garcia’s early strike, Barcelona then took control of the Catalan derby.

Messi’s 21st Liga treble, which took him to within two of Cristiano Ronaldo’s record of 23 set on Saturday, a Gerard Pique header and neat finish from Pedro, was enough to see Barca take the spoils and leapfrog Atletico Madrid in second place with 34 points.

Real still lead the table with 36 points after a 3-0 win over Celta Vigo on Saturday.

“There’s no words to describe Messi.

He’s given us so much that I genuinely think it’s not possible to say everything that he’s done for us,” said Pique.

“It was a difficult game. We were much improved in the second half. We fixed our mistakes and what we now have to do is continue like this.”

Despite having not won at the Camp Nou since 2009 it was the visitors who started the brighter, creating the game’s first chance after eight minutes, however Jordi Alba was able to clear Garcia’s cross with Lucas Vazquez poised to tap in from close range.

Barcelona did not heed the early warning, and they soon found themselves behind.

Felipe Caicedo challenged Sergio Busquets just inside the Barcelona half, and as the Camp Nou waited for a whistle that never came from referee Ignacio Iglesias Villanueva, Sergio Garcia ran directly at a static Pique before firing past Claudio Bravo to stun the hosts.

It was Espanyol’s first goal at the home of their illustrious neighbours since Ivan De La Pena’s double saw them record a 2-1 win there five years ago.

After being brought down on the edge of the box, Messi saw the resulting free-kick bounce off the crossbar with goalkeeper Kiko Casilla beaten, and it only seemed a matter of time before the home side equalised.

The equaliser arrived on the stroke of half time with the kind of goal that Barcelona have made their trademark.

Jordi Alba cut inside from the left, feeding Xavi Hernandez, who in turn laid the ball off to the Argentine who swept home from just outside the box.

LA LIGA

0-1

Rayo Vallecano

Sevilla Bacca 8

5-1

Barcelona

Espanyol

Messi 45+1, 50, 81, Pique 53, Pedro 77

Villarreal

Sergio Garcia 13

4-0

Real Sociedad

Enaut Zubikarai 63-og, Cheryshev 73, Moises 80, 86

Granada

1-1

Isaac 89

Valencia Negredo 83

Five minutes after the break it was 2-1 when Neymar combined with Luis Suarez to find Messi on the edge of the box, and the 27-year-old rifled a right-footed effort past a hapless Casilla to knock the wind out of their opponents’ sails.

Two minutes later the advantage was doubled as a Rakitic corner was met by Pique, and from there on there was only one winner.

With 13 minutes remaining an Alba diagonal ball found substitute Pedro Rodriguez, who had earlier replaced Suarez, and the Spain international made no mistake to further stretch Barca’s lead.

Nine minutes from time Messi capped off a fine afternoon as he scored his third, and his side’s fifth, following a give-and-go with Pedro.

Former Manchester United manager

Game-changer Messi shows he’s anything but bored n Goal.com

David Moyes suffered his first defeat as Real Sociedad boss in a 4-0 thrashing away at Villarreal.

There was a touch of fortune over the first goal just after the hour mark as Bruno’s free-kick crashed off the bar and rebounded into the net via the back of Sociedad goalkeeper Enaut Zubikarai.

Real Madrid loanee Dennis Cheryshev then sealed the points with a fine low strike that also clipped the woodwork on its way past Zubikarai before Moi Gomez struck twice in the final 10 minutes to round off the scoring.

Defeat leaves Sociedad in 14th, three points above the relegation zone, while Villarreal move up to sixth.

Valencia’s recent struggles continued as their winless streak in La Liga stretched to four games after a thrilling finish in a 1-1 draw at Granada.

Alvaro Negredo looked to have given the visitors all three points when he smashed home his first goal for the club seven minutes from time.

But after Valencia were reduced to 10 men when Paco Alcacer was shown a red card for a clash with Juan Carlos, Isaac Success bundled the ball home two minutes from the end to hand Joaquin Caparros’s men a vital point.

Valencia remain in fifth but are now four points adrift of Sevilla in fourth, with the Andalusian side running out 1-0 victors at Rayo Vallecano thanks to Carlos Bacca’s 11th goal o f the season. l

Barcelona forward Lionel Messi celebrates after scoring against Espanyol during their La Liga match at Nou Camp stadium in Barcelona on Sunday REUTERS

Milan duo suffer shock defeats n AFP, Milan

AC Milan midfielder Riccardo Montolivo reacts during their Italian Serie A match against Genoa at ‘Luigi Ferraris Stadium in Genoa on Sunday AFP

Roberto Mancini suffered his second straight defeat as coach of Inter Milan after a shock 2-1 reverse to Udinese that left his side in 12th spot in Serie A on Sunday.

A week after a 4-2 defeat away to Roma, Inter welcomed former handler Andrea Stramaccioni back to the San Siro for the first time since his sacking at the end of last season.

Udinese were looking to end a five-game winless streak, and it was 38-year-old Stramaccioni who walked away with the plaudits after a composed and determined performance by the northerners.

But the Udinese coach admitted Inter and their staff are “still close to my heart” when he told Sky Sport: “Some things you don’t forget. It would have been better to beat Milan.”

Mauro Icardi gave Inter a first-half

Champions League futures on line in final matchday n AFP, Paris

Liverpool face a must-win showdown with Basel, Juventus need a point against Atletico Madrid to reach the last 16 and Russian-owned Monaco host Russian side Zenit in the Champions League on Tuesday.

Olympiakos head into their final Group A game at home to Malmo still in with a chance of reaching the knockout stage for the second season running.

However, even a win in Piraeus may not be enough for the Greek champions, who must beat Malmo and hope Juventus lose at home to already-qualified Atletico Madrid if they are to go through.

Memories are still fresh among Juventus fans of their elimination in the group stage last season and the Italian champions are desperate to avoid a repeat as they entertain Atletico Madrid in their final Group A game in Turin.

The Serie A leaders need just a point to be sure of progressing and a win by two goals or more would even see them pip Atletico to first place.

Atletico, who have won 10 of their last 11 games in all competitions, are without defensive duo Joao Miranda and Cristian Ansaldi. Simone Padoin could come into the starting line-up for Juve, who drew

0-0 at Fiorentina on Friday.

It is all or nothing for Liverpool as they host Basel at Anfield. Only a win will be enough to take the Reds through to the last 16 for the first time since 2009. Anything else and Basel, who were convincing 1-0 winners when the teams met in Switzerland in October, will go through instead.

CHAMPIONS LEAGUE Juventus Olympiakos Liverpool Real Madrid Benfica Monaco Bor Dortmund Galatasaray

v v v v v v v v

Atl Madrid Malmö FF FC Basel Ludo Razgd Bayer Levkn Zenit Anderlecht Arsenal

With reigning European champions Real Madrid already through to the last 16 as group winners having won all five Group B games so far, and Ludogorets out, there is not much at stake at the Santiago Bernabeu.

It is all to play for as Monaco take on Zenit St Petersburg in the Mediterranean principality. Monaco, whose revival has come about since they were taken over by Russian billionaire Dmitry Rybolovlev three years ago, need

just a point to advance to the last 16 at Zenit’s expense and they can also win the group by bettering Bayer Leverkusen’s result in the night’s other game.

Leverkusen are already through to the last 16 for the second season in succession but only a win against Portuguese champions Benfica in Lisbon will guarantee them first place in Group C. A draw will also be enough, as long as Monaco fail to beat Zenit.

Arsenal are already through to the last 16 as they head to Istanbul for the second time this season to face Galatasaray. However the Gunners, who beat Besiktas in a play-off to reach the group stage, know the importance of winning the group and the easier draw that would almost certainly follow in the next round as a result. To finish first, they must beat their Turkish hosts and hope Borussia Dortmund lose at home to Anderlecht.

Already through to the last 16, Dortmund need only draw at home to Anderlecht to be certain of advancing as Group D winners. Anderlecht, who are already certain to finish third and parachute into the Europa League, are coming off the back of a 4-2 defeat at Mouscron at the weekend and lost 3-0 at home to Dortmund in October. l

lead on the stroke of half-time.

But Bruno Fernandes levelled on the hour before Frenchman Cyril Thereau, who replaced Antonio Di Natale on 64 minutes, gave Udinese the lead seven minutes later.

Inter remain 12th, 18 points off the pace and nine behind third-placed Genoa in the third and last Champions

SEREI A

Napoli

2-2

Zapata 67, De Guzman 72

Atalanta

3-2

Benalouane 45+1, Stendardo 50, Moralez 52

Genoa

1-0

Empoli Verdi 19, Rugani 53

Cesena Defrel 31, 43

Milan

(Antonelli 32)

Parma

1-2

(Palladino 45)

(Mauri 45+3, Anderson 59)

Inter

1-2

Icardi 44

Lazio Udinese

Fernandes 60, Thereau 71

League qualifying spot.

On a weekend that saw the top three - Juventus, Roma and Napoli - held to draws, Genoa were among the few topfive teams left celebrating.

Genoa welcomed Filippo Inzaghi’s Milan to the Luigi Ferraris looking to stretch their unbeaten run to nine games and had plenty of incentive after Napoli were held 2-2 by Empoli earlier.

Milan are seventh, 14 points behind Juventus and five behind Genoa.

Juventus, held to a scoreless draw at Fiorentina on Friday, lead Roma by three points after Rudi Garcia’s men battled for a 2-2 draw at home to Sassuolo on Saturday.

Elsewhere Sunday Lazio ran out 2-1 winners at Parma and Atalanta beat struggling Cesena 3-2.

Sampdoria dropped to sixth, but can go fourth to trail city rivals Genoa by just a point if they account for Verona on Monday. l

Lionel Messi is back in business. After something of a slow start to the season for Barcelona, the Argentine has hit three hat-tricks in his last four matches and, like so many times in the past, dug his side out of a difficult hole on Sunday.

Bored? It hardly looked like it.

The Argentine appeared disinterested on occasions last season and earlier this term as well, but he has learned to conserve his energies for short sprints and bursts when he can be most effective. And having seemed increasingly isolated when things are not going his way of late, he has now proved himself all over again in recent weeks.

After last weekend’s last-gasp 1-0 win at Valencia, former Manchester United midfielder Paul Scholes wrote in his column with The Independent that Messi looked “bored” at Barcelona. “In him, as much as anyone, I detected that mood of boredom,” he opined. “Messi has never been a player given to chasing the full-back when his team lose the ball, but now, more than ever, he keeps his movement to an absolute minimum.”

And he added: “For a young manager like Luis Enrique, it will be hard to change the way Messi, and the rest of the stars in this team, play the game.”

On Sunday’s evidence, however, he won’t want to. Barca, behind to a Sergio Garcia goal and lacking both ideas and inspirataion against an excellent Espanyol, were just moments away from a chorus of half-time boos until Messi’s magic lifted the mood at Camp Nou in their lastest Liga fixture.

“There are no words to describe Messi,” Gerard Pique (who also scored on Sunday) said after the game. “He has given us so much that, I repeat, there really aren’t words to describe everything he has given us.”

And Luis Enrique added: “Messi’s equaliser was key. We played very well in the second half. It is easy to get used to having such a decisive player like him.” l

Schaaf’s Frankfurt thrash Bremen n Reuters, Berlin Eintracht Frankfurt thrashed Werder Bremen 5-2 on Sunday as their coach Thomas Schaaf faced the club where he spent 41 years as player and coach for the first time.

Schaaf spent his entire playing career at Bremen, joining them as a junior in 1972, and also coached the club for 14 years, winning one Bundesliga and three German Cup titles.

He also coached the junior teams in between but his association with them ended when he was fired in May 2013. l

BUNDESLIGA 2-1

Mainz 05

Cleber 32, van der Vaart 54

Okazaki 89

Hamburg

Frankfurt

5-2

Meier 34, 68, Seferovic 52, Aigner 76, Stendera 80

Werder Bremen Gebre Selassie 45, Caldirola 79

Donovan goes out on top as Galaxy win MLS Cup n AFP, Los Angeles The Los Angeles Galaxy gave Landon Donovan a fairytale ending to a storied career Sunday, beating the New England Revolution 2-1 after extra time in the MLS Cup final.

Ireland international Robbie Keane scored the winning goal in the 111th minute as the Galaxy claimed a record fifth Major League Soccer title.

Donovan, the all-time leading scorer for both the United States and in Major League Soccer, announced he would

Hammers climb to third, Foxes lose n Reuters, London England forward Andy Carroll returned to goalscoring form with two thumping headers in West Ham United’s 3-1 victory over Swansea City that lifted the London club to third in the Premier League on Sunday.

Aston Villa also came back from a goal down to condemn bottom club Leicester City to eighth defeat in 10 matches - Alan Hutton scoring the winner in a 2-1 victory. l

RESULT

LA Galaxy

2-1

Zardes 52, Keane 111 After extra time

New England (Tierney 79)

retire at the end of the season in August - after he was left off Jurgen Klinsmann’s World Cup squad.

Keane, the newly named Most Valuable Player of the MLS regular season, slipped in behind the defense - thanks to superb ball from Marcelo Sarvas - to slide a shot into the bottom right corner. l

Marseille reclaim top spot n AFP, Paris Marseille reclaimed top spot in Ligue 1 from Paris Saint-Germain with a hardearned 3-1 victory over Metz at the Stade Velodrome on Sunday evening.

An eighth consecutive home win for Marcelo Bielsa’s side means they end the weekend one point clear of defending champions PSG. Earlier, a stoppage-time penalty from Ligue 1’s leading scorer Alexandre Lacazette allowed Lyon to win 3-2 at Evian and move back into third place. l

LIGUE 1

Evian

Barbosa 28, 64 90+4-pen

Lens

2-3

Lyon

Benzia 62, Lacazette 81,

1-1

Coulibaly 90+2

Lille Gueye 47

Reims

2-3

Charbonnier 6, Oniangue 68

Jacobsen 33, Mandanne 48, Beauvue 78

Marseille

3-1

Gignac 43, Ayew 59, Payet 90+2

Guingamp

Metz Malouda 46

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Mohajoner Nao to be staged today n Entertainment Desk Subachan Natya Shangsad will stage its highly acclaimed play “Mohajoner Nao” at 6:30pm at the Experimental Theatre Hall, Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy.

Written by Shakoor Majid and directed by Sudip Chakraborty, the 33rd production of Subachan narrates the story of Shah Abdul Karim and his journey to the realm of music through

16th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh Time: 11am – 8pm National Art Gallery Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy Realms of Perception Time: 12pm – 8pm Gallery Twenty One Monochrome Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Gallery of Fine Arts Road No 16, Dhanmondi

15

Dhallywood stars pay tribute to KHALIL ULLAH KHAN

different sequences based on his biography.

Throughout the play, the actors, partly and fully, sing over 20 timeless songs from Abdul Karim’s repertoire of over 1500 songs. Karim’s philosophy is, perhaps, best reflected through his songs. Both the playwright and director have aptly taken this approach to establish the storyline. The play also focuses on the difficulties that Karim faced in society. l

Bobita

n Entertainment Desk

Exhibition

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

Khalil Ullah Khan, who dominated both the small and the silver screen, passed away at a city hospital on Sunday morning at the age of 80. The winner of the Ekushey Padak and the lifetime achievement award at the National Film Award 2012, Khalil Ullah Khan worked in about 800 films establishing himself as an institution in the film industry. Dhallywood celebrities expressed their condolences at the demise of their beloved actor.

Perception of Time

By Artist Md. Alomgir Hassan Time: 3pm – 8pm Dhaka Art Center

Film

13th International Short & Independent Film Festival Central Public Library, Shahbag

Shabnam

Khalil was a flawless performer.

With his charming smile and positive energy,

Ouija, Interstellar, Gone Girl Annabelle, Pipra Bidda Ek Cup Cha, Into The Storm Blockbuster Cinemas

he always used to encourage the cast and crew of a film. Khalil was one of the few gifted actors that we have in our film industry. No one can replace him or fill his shoes.

Kabori Sarwar

There was always a spark in Khalil’s acting that hooked the audience immediately. He had the ability to change his voice tone enabling him to act different characters on screen. For this unique trait, he could portray his character in a lively manner. As an actor he always did justice to the script and to his role.

There will be no second Khalil in our industry. I pray for his departed soul.

I have known Khalil since my childhood. With his love and affection I grew up.

I have worked with Khalil in over hundred films. Like a father, he was always concerned about me and my son Onik. He was a talented actor. Have we been able to acknowledged his contribution to the film industry properly? Our responsibility does not end with writing obituaries or condolences for an actor like Khalil. Legends never die. I hope in the coming years, we would be able to fulfil his dreams and promises that he made to the industry.

Nayok Raj Razzak

He was like our parent, a guardian to guide.

But, he never gave us the feeling that he was a veteran actor. He was not only my friend but also a friend of my two sons. His absence has shattered my

BIPASHA BASU to play conjoined twins

STING and TOM HANKS honoured by Obama

Kohinoor Akhter Shuchonda

Before I became an actress, I was a fan of Khalil, a jovial person with full of life and laughter.

If he saw any malice among people, he would use him charm and had the power to negotiate. His art of communication was impeccable.

Shakib Khan

Khalil was one of the founders of the Chalachitra Shilpi Samity.

In the last National Film Award, Khalil mentioned that he wouls be always with the Dhallywood film industry and his support would always continue. He was like my father who would hold my hand and show me the right path. His advices will always remain with me. l

Zoolander KHAN HASAN MD RAFI

HBO Hits, 10:10pm

n Entertainment Desk Bollywood actress Bipasha Basu will be seen with television heartthrob Karan Singh Grover in Kumar Mangat’s upcoming horror love story “Alone.” Bhushan Patel, who directed the hit film “Ragini MMS2,” will be directing this film that has Bipasha playing conjoined twins.

The combination of horror and sex in film “Alone” and Bipasha in her double avatar.

The film is scheduled to be released on January 16. l

family. Khalil’s sudden death was a shock. May Allah grant him Jannah.

Children are Awesome Artists

At the end of his career, a clueless fashion model is brainwashed to kill the Prime Minister of Malaysia.

n Nadira Sultana Ava

Lage Raho Munna Bhai

It is a general perception that underprivileged children may not be that artistically talented because of being deprived of enough facilities. In a lifelong struggle for the basics, practicing art may be an unimaginable luxury for many of these children. However, such world barriers do not matter for some children, who are born with an artistic fire.

The art exhibition titled Awesome Artists, showcasing pieces done by some underprivileged children, is a testimony that art transcends all the difficulties and shortcomings of life.

The exhibition organised by ActionAid at the Russian Centre of Science and Culture at Dhanmondi featured about 70 drawings done by children from playgroup to class 10 from different children homes of the capital.

Staying true to the title of the exhibition ‘Awesome Artists’, the children demonstrated a wonderful sense of colour, superb measurement and

variation in themes in their drawings.

The artworks are rich in terms of aesthetic beauty but do not lack childlike simplicity and innocence.

One of such simple yet charming drawings was created by Brishty, who has depicted an eye-soothing landscape of a rural scenery. A wide, blue river making its way through paddy fiends and villages has been portrayed by the artist in the drawing, which also includes small children playing on the bank of the river.

Awesome artist Liza, a student of class 2, drew some children who were imagining that they were studying in a school. She used series of thought bubbles in the drawing depicting the imaginations.

Some of the children showed great consciousness about social issues.

A student of class nine, Sharmin Akter, drew wide highways with lots of transports plying on them in the drawing titled “Nirapad Sarak Chai”.

The two-day exhibition ended yesterday. l

Sony Max, 8:25pm In this sequel, Munnabhai meets Mahatma Gandhi.

Man vs Food TLC, 10pm

Richman explores the big food of a different American city before facing off against a pre-existing eating challenge at a local restaurant.

BIFA: CUMBERBATCH and SCOTT win top prizes n Entertainment Desk n Entertainment Desk British singer Sting and Oscar-winning US actor Tom Hanks have been feted in Washington as recipients of this year’s Kennedy Center honours.

Soul singer Al Green, 9 to 5 star Lily Tomlin and ballet dancer Patricia McBride were also saluted at the White House ahead of a gala concert.

Sting, 63, said it was rare for an Englishman to receive the honour.

“I’m not sure when I’ll wear it again, but I think I look rather fetching in it,” he said of his rainbow ribbon.

The former Police frontman is set to join the cast of his Broadway musical “The Last Ship,” about shipbuilding in the north east of England.

Hanks, who won Oscars for his roles in “Philadelphia” and “Forrest

Gump,” said he couldn’t believe it when he was told he was among the honourees.

Tomlin, 75, also admitted she had been surprised by her selection, saying she had never been privy to the insider’s circle.

Sunday’s White House reception saw this year’s recipients presented with their ceremonial ribbons by President Obama.

The event preceded a concert at the Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts which saw Lady Gaga, Bruce Springsteen and Bruno Mars sing Sting’s hits.

The musician told reporters it was “quite something to have other people sing my songs and have to do virtually nothing but smile”.

Jennifer Hudson and Usher kicked off proceedings with a medley of

Green’s hits, before film director Steven Spielberg described Hanks as “America’s favourite son”.

“Tonight, Washington puts the arts above politics,” said host Stephen Colbert. “Because no matter what party you belong to, everybody wants a selfie with Tom Hanks.”

This year’s concert, which also featured appearances by Earth, Wind and Fire, Jane Fonda and Glee actress Jane Lynch, will be broadcast on the CBS network on 30 December.

Hanks was joined in Washington by his actress wife Rita Wilson, who is set to follow her husband onto the Broadway stage.

Following Hanks’ 2013 appearance in Nora Ephron’s play Lucky Guy, Wilson will appear in Larry David’s new comedy Fish in the Dark from February 2. l

Sherlock stars Andrew Scott and Benedict Cumberbatch were both championed at the Moet British Independent Film Awards (BIFA).

Scott—famous for playing the Sherlock’s nemesis Moriarty—was awarded the Best Supporting Actor gong for his role in “Pride,” the heart-warming true story of how a group of gay and lesbian activists raised money to help support the families of striking Welsh miners in the 1980s.

Meanwhile, Cumberbatch—whose film roles this year have varied from playing codebreaker Alan Turing in “The Imitation Game” to voicing a wolf in animation Penguins of “Madgascar”—was honoured with the Variety Award at the star-studded ceremony at Old Billingsgate in London.

Cumberbatch missed out on the Best Actor accolade for his turn as Turing to Harry Potter star Brendan Gleeson for his performance as a troubled Catholic priest in “Calvary.

“Pride” won the most awards of the night, also scooping Best British Independent Film and Imelda Staunton taking home

Best Supporting Actress for her role as a Welsh union activist in the comedy.

Gugu Mbatha-Raw was named Best Actress for her title role in Belle, the true story of Dido Elizabeth Belle, the illegitimate mixed-race daughter of a Royal Navy Admiral, raised by her aristocratic great-uncle Lord Mansfield who as Lord Chief Justice helped end slavery in England. Emma

Thompson was presented with the Richard Harris award for outstanding contribution by an actor to British film.

And the Special Jury Prize honoured 81-year-old director John Boorman, whose films include “Deliverance,” “Point Blank,” “Excalibur” and “Hope and Glory.”

The Best International Independent Film award went to Richard Linklater’s Boyhood. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Online registration, MRP must for hajj

Back Page WA R M T H

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

B E C KO N S

Next year 101,758 to be allowed to make the pilgrimage under two packages carry an additional 500 Saudi Riyals with n Muhammad Zahidul Islam him for the purpose of sacrificial animal.

The cabinet has approved the draft of Hajj Package 2015, which makes it mandatory for prospective pilgrims to register online and have machine readable passports (MRPs) to perform hajj.

The draft was approved at the weekly cabinet meeting presided over by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina at the secretariat yesterday.

A total of 101,758 Bangladeshi pilgrims will be allowed to perform hajj next year, which was 98,000 this year. Only 10,000 of them can go on the pilgrimage under government arrangements.

Cabinet Secretary M Musharrof Hossain Bhuiyan told reporters after the meeting pilgrims would have to choose from two packages in 2015.

“The estimated cost for the first package, excluding the cost for sacrificial animal, will be Tk354,745, up from the previous year’s figure by Tk429. The second package will cost Tk296,206, excluding the cost for sacrificial animal, and involves an increase of Tk430 compared to the previous amount,” he explained.

Musharrof said hajj packages announced by private agencies could not cost less than Tk296,206, and the agencies would be allowed to offer two hajj packages at most.

Besides, every pilgrim will have to

Apart from this, every pilgrim could carry a maximum of $1,000 with him.

Pilgrims willing to perform hajj under government arrangements will need to pay Tk151,690 during online registration for airfare and other fees while it will be Tk148,331 for those choosing private agencies. Online registration for hajj can be done from January 21 to February 5.

The remaining Tk2,03,055 for package 1, and Tk144,516 for package 2, will have to be paid by June 10 next year.

The amount will cover costs like accommodation, food and other expenses.

The cabinet secretary said the Saudi Arabia authorities had introduced a new electronic hajj management system for the next year, which would require the pilgrims to register themselves online in advance and to have MRPs. “Online registration will involve no hassle as internet connections are available even in villages and union digital centres,” he said.

“Accordance to rules set by the Saudi Arabian Monitoring Authority, all hajj pilgrims flying to the realm under private arrangements will need to open personal bank accounts in Saudi Arabia to deposit the money they will spend during their stay,” added the cabinet secretary. l

As winter chills settle in the capital and the rest of Bangladesh, vendors in different parts of the country bring in consignments of blankets to meet the elevated demand. The photo was taken at the Narayanganj Link Road yesterday MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Outlawed Hizb ut-Tahrir’s leaflet invites the army UN: Opium harvests n soaring in Southeast Asia Mohammad Jamil Khan

No matter what the government’s senior ministers have been claiming about their “success” in taming militancy, banned outfits such as Hizb ut-Tahrir are openly carrying on with their activities in Dhaka.

This Dhaka Tribune reporter yesterday saw three young men in their late teens and early twenties, standing in front of the Sukrabad Mosque near Dhanmondi, distributing leaflets among people coming out after the evening Maghrib prayers.

Although the group is banned, none of the recipients of the leaflets visibly objected.

Reportedly, such leaflets were being distributed among people after the Friday afternoon’s Jummah prayers near the Uttara mosque as well.

Fazalul Haque, a resident of Sukrabad, told the Dhaka Tribune: “It is not a new thing in the area. They would come with such leaflets every two days.

You will see them every now and then

if you keep an eye on the mosque.”

One of those leaflet starts with a message which translates into English as: “Countrymen! Where is that army officer who can say,...Not a single more bullet fired on the countrymen will be tolerated?”

Those familiar with the mode of operation of Hizb ut-Tahrir indicate that the group aspires for a “peaceful” shift towards an Islamic Shariah-based state by pursuing influential quarters such as the elite and the armed forces.

The leaflet that the Dhaka Tribune has collected also directly addresses army officers and people with power towards the end.

The message follows a black panel with words printed in bold white that appeared to be the heading of the leaflet.

“Oppressor Hasina, in order to make you bow in front of her misrule, has come down with bullets and bombs.

There is only one way out – urge the duteous officers of the armed forces to remove her and hand over power to the Hizb ut-Tahrir for establishing Khila-

US asst secy: Police should be held to different standard n Syeda Samira Sadeque The police should be given different consideration for their actions because of the function they perform on the public’s behalf, visiting US Assistant Secretary of State William Brownfield said yesterday at a roundtable discussion at the American Centre in Dhaka.

In response to this correspondent’s question on how to address the issue of police brutality, an issue currently making headlines in the US, he said: “We should have a considerable amount of sympathy and understanding in terms of the risks that they take and the sacrifices they make.”

His comments come in the midst of nationwide protests in the US following a grand jury’s decision last week not to bring criminal charges against a white police officer who contributed to the death of an unarmed African-American man in New York in July.

That decision, following a similar decision not to press charges against police in the shooting death of an unarmed black teenager in Missouri in August, has triggered widespread debates in the US over race relations and the culture of impunity in the police.

Brownfield, however, said police should be monitored for their actions and held responsible when they are in breach of law.

“For that we need mechanisms,

by which we, as a profession, can investigate and if we conclude through some fair adjudicatory process, that they have violated our standards, our rules, the means by which we operate as a profession, they can be subject to expulsion and then subject to the civil or criminal judiciary system,” he said.

“We cannot hold them to the same standards as everyone else on the planet because we ourselves have asked them to perform this function,” said Brownfield, who is the Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement Affairs, in response to a question regarding police violence – a problem that has escalated worldwide.

Brownfield said he discussed various avenues to enhance Bangladesh’s engagement with the United States on a number of security and rule of law interests.

At the roundtable, he said he met with the inspector general of police, the home secretary, the foreign secretary and the law and justice minister to explore ways to enhance engagement between the two countries in law enforcement and rule of law issues.

It is commendable that 12% of the Bangladeshi police force consists of female members, he said.

“This is quite a robust figure in comparison to almost any police community in the entire world,” he said. l

fat,” the long heading reads.

Referring to both Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia, the leaflet said it was not the “taqdeer” or fate of the Muslims to be oppressed by rulers like them.

The leaflet also called for an end of what it said was “all kinds of foreign interference in the internal matters of the country.”

It also advises recipients to encourage the army officers among their acquaintances to topple Sheikh Hasina.

At the end of the leaflet, there is another black panel which appears like a “letter tail” with the name Hizb ut-Tahrir written in big fonts in Bangla. It contains the link to a webpage and a Facebook page and an email address. There is a mobile number which it says can be used to contact with the “media offices of Hizb ut-Tahrir and Ulaiyah Bangladesh.”

The end panel also has the link to the Facebook page of Hizb ut-Tahrir chief Sheikh Ata’ Ibn Khalil Abu Ar-Rashta.

Hizb ut-Tahrir, which has chapters in scores of countries around the globe,

started its activities in Bangladesh in 2000.

In October 2009, the Home Ministry banned the outfit and law enforcers have rounded up several members of its leaders and activists. Despite the ban, they have also brought out processions in the capital in the past.

When contacted, Abul Kalam Azad, director of RAB’s intelligence wing, claimed that the outlawed group’s activities was totally stalled even until two days ago. But recently RAB have noticed that the outfit have been distributing leaflets in front of various mosques.

Any of the leaflet distributors are still to be picked up because they would stay around in place for a very short time, the RAB director said.

“They are especially targetting the weekly Jummah prayers,” he said.

“We have taken stern actions against the members of the outfit in past and our drive against them will continue.

We hope to be able to stop them soon,” he added. l

n Tribune Report A new UN report has revealed that the cultivation of opium poppy has nearly tripled since 2006 in the heroin-producing “Golden Triangle” - the area adjoining Myanmar, Laos and Thailand.

In its annual Southeast Asia Opium Survey, the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) yesterday said poppy cultivated in Myanmar and Laos in 2014 reached 63,800 hectares – the equivalent of nearly 90,000 football pitches – up from 21,600 hectares in 2006.

The latest figure represents a rise in cultivation for the eighth consecutive year, boosting an industry estimated to be worth $16bn a year in Southeast Asia, reports Al Jazeera.

Myanmar, the world’s second largest producer of opium behind Afghanistan, together with Laos this year produced 762 tonnes of opium, most of which

Fake drug factory busted in Dhaka

A team of RAB arrests six people after raiding a factory manufacturing counterfeit allopathic drugs in the capital’s Dhania area yesterday

n Ashif Islam Shaon Rapid Action Battalion (Rab-10) busted a fake medicine factory in the capital’s Bangshal area yesterday.

Acting on a tip-off, the Rab conducted the drive at a house on the 6th Khilghar road and found the illegal medicine factory, Rab officials said.

A mobile court sentenced the factory’s owner to jail for two years for producing six types of handmade medicines, including some reputed brands’ antibiotics, illegally.

The convict, Akbar Hossain Bhashani, 40, was engaged in making the fake medicines for tetanus, pain killers, hear and stomach related dis-

eases for the past two years, said Anwar Pasha, an executive magistrate who conducted the drive with help of the elite force.

Akbar had finished his education after class VI, and begun to work at a medicine shop before he got involved in the ‘business’ of fake medicine.

He used to make injection for tetanus and selling those in the market by changing the labels of pain killing injection ‘Atropine sulphate’, said Anwar Pasha.

The convicted was found using plain water to make fake medicine for eyes and nose, he said.

Akbar used to package the medicines for stomach related diseases into packets of medicines for cardiac diseases and sell those in the market by changing the levels, he said.

“He also used to change the labels of low priced medicines into high priced ones of reputed brands,” the executive magistrate said.

“Akbar had chosen various kinds of medicines which look almost alike,” he added.

He used to sell his fake medicines in the wholesale medicine market at Mitford in the capital’s old part, Anwar Pasha said.

From there, a network of traders were engaged in selling those in the medicine shops in rural areas.

The mobile court also seized some machines which were used to change labels of medicines, and some labels from the house.

Directorate of Drug Administration’s Official Mahbub Hossain was present during the drive led by ASP Sajjad Hossain of Rab-10. l

would have been refined with chemicals into roughly 76 tonnes of mixedgrade heroin to be trafficked into global markets and across the region, where drug use is on the rise.

Myanmar authorities did not respond to Al-Jazeera’s requests for comment.

The increase comes despite promises by the reformist Myanmar government to eradicate the problem.

Northern Laos accounted for just 9.72% of the total figure.

Myanmar government pledged in 1999 to wipe out all opium cultivation over in 15. But, a regional increase in demand has triggered a resurgence of production, largely by transnational crime networks.

As of 2014, China accounts for nearly 58% of the 3.33 million estimated opiate users throughout Asia. In Myanmar, opiate use is now one of the highest in Southeast Asia. l

US: Osama got NGO money while on the run n Tribune Report Slain al-Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden received regular monetary aid from a number of NGOs while he was alive, the visiting US Assistant Secretary of State for International Narcotics and Law Enforcement William R Brownfield said yesterday.

“Osama was in hiding for about ten years. During that time his expenses were covered by some NGOs, not from bank robbery, drug dealings or family resources,” he said while addressing the opening ceremony of the “Good Giving Counterterrorism Financing Training Conference” arranged at a city hotel.

He did not name the NGOs that financed the slain terrorist.

“Al-Qaeda was funded, to the tune of approximately $30 million per year, by diversions of money from Islamic charities and the use of well-placed financial facilitators who gathered money from both witting and unwitting donors, primarily in the Gulf region,” he said.

“Besides, investigators have linked certain charities to the funding streams for the violent extremist groups accused of conducting the attacks in the 2008 Mumbai bombings,” he said.

But he said 99% of NGOs were doing a good job. “Our goal is to protect good NGOs and close down those that aid terrorism.”

“Several countries in the South Asia region are taking preventive measures to stem the flow of terrorist financing, including the consideration of charity and oversight laws,” he said. 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

BIS: Sudden market swings, dollar rise expose emerging market vulnerability

B4

China faces more pressure as November imports drop, exports slow

TUESDAY, DECEMBER 9, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

6 more counsellor offices abroad to chase $50bn RMG export target n Asif Showkat Kallol The government has decided to open six more commercial counsellor offices abroad as part of efforts to earn $50bn from garment exports by 2021.

The offices will be in Seoul, Geneva, Kunming, Istanbul, Singapore City and Pretoria to give advice on achieving export targets.

“Of them, the government has already finalised the decisions to set up commercial counsellor offices in Seoul and Geneva,” Additional commerce secretary Shawkat Ali Waresi told Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

He added four others will be finalised in next three months.

Bangladesh currently has a total of 19 commercial counsellor offices across the world.

The commercial counsellor offices usually advise exporters about different countries and demand of goods there.

Secretary said the counsellor offices will be given export targets in a year.

But some exporters alleged that the commerce ministry does not consult with respective embassies about export prospects and demand of goods while setting targets.

They said embassies are given some export figures as targets and a list of commodities to be exported, which were not discussed even with exporters.

According to them, commercial counsellors then become “shadow” sellers who never see the goods they are asked to sell.

The exporters are also concerned about efficiency of the cousellors.

“If commercial counsellors are not efficient, the exporters will not benefit from them,” said Abdus Salam Murshedy, president of Exporters Association of Bangladesh.

He suggested evaluating performance of the commercial counsellors at regular intervals.

Murshedy also emphasised the need to coordinate efforts to double garment export by 2021.

Senior commerce secretary Hedayetullah Al Mamoon, ndc said the ministry set targets for commercial counsellors after surveys and discussions with exporters.

He said they evaluate commercial counsellors’ performance on the basis of their efforts to achieve targets, not on the success.

He said BGMEA targets to earn $50bn by 2021 but the commerce ministry wants to achieve $70bn exports from garment industry by that year.

According to Export Promotion Bureau, 24 out of 51 Bangladeshi missions in abroad have failed to achieve export targets for July-May period of fiscal year 2013-14.

The key Bangladesh missions like those in Washington, London, Ottawa, Tokyo, New Delhi and Canberra have failed to achieve their July-May export targets.

Some other important missions –- Berlin, Paris, Madrid, Rome, The Hague and Stockholm -- have been able to reach their targets for the 11-month period, according to a news report.

The overall export earnings for the July-May period totalled $27.4bn against the strategic target of $27.43bn with 0.21% short of the strategic target. l

Firemen prepare for a fire safety mock training at a programme held on the sidelines of the Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014 at BICC in the capital yesterday

Confusion over fire safety tools instruction n Abid Azad

Fire safety equipment distributors have accused Alliance of providing “dual instructions” on certification holding it responsible for a dilemma in apparel industry’s safety efforts.

They said although the Western inspection group recommended internationally certified tools to be installed in the factories, it also verbally asked to use UL-certified products.

The distributors were talking to Dhaka Tribune on the sidelines of Dhaka Apparel Summit 2014 yesterday.

“Although the Alliance recommended internationally certified products in written form, they verbally asked to use UL certified products,” said a high official of a distributor company request-

ing anonymity. UL is a US-based safety consulting and certification company with presence in 46 countries.

The official accused Alliance of promoting UL-certified products receiving financial support from the company.

The group, however, denied the allegation of promoting single company certification.

“We never mentioned any name of certification company, rather recommended to buy internationally certified products. We don’t have any preference (among international certification companies),” said Mushiur Rahman, senior manager of Alliance.

He added: “A large number of factories have showed their interest in installing fire safety equipment, which is a positive sign for the country’s gar-

ment industry.”

RMG owners, now aware, said such confusion would delay installation of fire safety tools in their factories.

They said after two deadly RMG factory disasters – Tazreen and Rana Plaza, a sense of awareness about workers’ safety has been created among them.

“The tragedies in recent time have moved us. We are now much aware and have come to the summit to learn more about fire safety measures,” said Syed Ehsanul Hoque, executive director of HAMS Garments Ltd. He said they have also national and international pressures to ensure safety in the factories, but the confusion about certification instructions are slowing the process.

He also alleged that the distributors

GP grilled through Facebook on network, data price

Exports rise 9% in November 2014

n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

n Tribune Report

Senior executives of Grameenphone faced tougher questions from its subscribers mainly on network quality, data package and prices during a Meet the Customers programme through facebook yesterday.

This is the second time the market leader GP’s top officials encountered their customers through the social media. This time Chief Marketing Officer Allan Bonke and Chief Technology Officer Medhat El Husseiny went live on GP’s facebook page from 10am to 11am.

The duo faced 192 queries, most of which were answered. However, some 915 facebook friends of GP liked the process. Currently, GP has more than 2.88 million fans on facebook, which is the highest in the country.

In response to a question, Chief Technology Officer Medhat El Hus-

seiny said Grameenphone could cover most areas across the country with 3G networks by June, 2015 though it already covered 64 districts.

“Though we were planning to bring your desired location under 3G service

by June, 2015, we will try to do so by March next year, considering your keen interest,’’ Medhat said while replying to a question raised by one Shakil Ahmed from Dhunat, Bogra.

About network quality, he also explained, “Sometimes, problems might be faced because of your handsets, but you are requested to send a mail to insta. service@grameenphone.com or make a call to 121 for getting more feedback.”

Another subscriber NB Newton asked why did the company always offer more facilities for the unused SIMs? But Newton failed to get reply from any of the two bosses. The questioner also grilled the duo about free face-

RAJIB DHAR

book offer, which was stopped suddenly without proper notification, but again the officials did not make any comment on the issue. Another user Nil Sabbir asked, “What kind of offer is this as you offered 2GB to 8GB unlimited bandwidth with conditions?”

“We have extended this offer to the customers to avert misuse,” replied Allan Bonke. Bonke also came up with a positive response when a university student Afif Hasan asked whether the phone company could offer a special data package for university students.

That time the cellphone company shrugged off the discussion. The market leader will offer a free 1971MB internet on the upcoming victory day.

Earlier, GP had arranged the same type of programme when former CEO Vivek Sood and Chief HR Officer Md Kazi Shahed answered questions of the users on September 25. l

The country’s export earnings increased by little over 9% in November as compared to0 the same month previous year.

It stood at US$2.4 billion, 5.5% higher than the target set for the month, according to figures Export Promotion Bureau (EPB) of Bangladesh released yesterday.

The five-month average growth from July to November, however, grew only by little less than 1% to over $12 billion as compared to same month previous year.

But, performance of the first five months of the current fiscal year fell over 5% short of the period’s target.

Export of knitwear items rose 2% to about $5 billion during the July-November period while falling short of the period’s target by 1.4%.

were not able to show any international certification on demand.

“Though many distributors say they have international certification, they cannot show any document. We have no chance to verify quality of products as we need to pay before receiving products,” Syed Ehsanul Hoque said.

Many owners also alleged that manufacturers and distributors were demanding higher prices for fire safety tools.

In response to the allegation, the distributors said they need to pay 15% duty to import the equipment.

“We need to pay 15% duty to import fire safety equipment. Besides, if you want better quality goods, you will have to pay more,” said Parvez Kawser, sales and marketing manager of ICEL Private Ltd, a safety system supplier. l

NRBs now allowed to transfer fund n Tribune Report

Woven garments witnessed setback to register $4.7 billion – down by over 1% and 10.6% respectively from same period previous year’s performance and the period’s target.

Export of frozen food items declined by over 7% to $301 million during the five-month period, but outnumbered the period’s target by over 7%.

Agriculture products registered increased earnings to $282.5 million – up 23% and 9% respectively from the performance of same period previous year and the period’s target.

Leather and leather products saw 4% export growth to $463 million during the July-November period, but fell about 14% short of the period’s target.

Jute and jute goods export registered about 5% growth to about $349 million, which is about 9% higher than the period’s target. l

Non-resident Bangladeshis are now allowed to transfer fund abroad from their accounts in Bangladesh upon the central bank approval.

The entire balance in taka accounts of NRBs will be transferable subject to approval of Bangladesh Bank, said a circular issued yesterday.

BB gave the opportunity to refrain NRBs from taking away money through illegal channel, said a senior BB executive. They could now send money to their country of residence from the taka accounts in Bangladesh by converting into foreign currency.

Subsistence costs of individual account holders and their family members in their country of residence must be specified. Institutional account holders must apply for permissible procurement of goods and service from abroad.

The non-residents open taka accounts in Bangladesh where money from abroad is deposited. l

Call for low-cost fund to face remediation challenges n Tribune Report

Availability of the low-cost fund is the main challenge to remediation of the country’s RMG sector while risk sharing, tenure of loans and lowering interest are big challenges for loans, speakers told a session of the Dhaka Apparel Summit yesterday.

They made the observations at the 5th session of the apparel summit held at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in Dhaka.

The session titled “Remediation Financing for Transforming Bangladesh Garment Industry” focused on a range of issues including access to low-cost financing, moderated by Ahsan H Mansur, executive director, Policy Research Institute of Bangladesh.

The session also focused on how to ensure low-cost financing for relocation of garment factories built in an unplanned way and recommendations for remediation financing.

VF Corporation was the first to issue its fund for factory remediation.

“We are working with International Finance Corporation (IFC) and other organisations to ensure factory remediation,” said Thomas A Nelson, vice-president of the corporation.

Rob Wayss, executive director, Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, said they were in discussion about providing commercial and financial support by the lead brands for the remediation.

“We approached 10 brands and some of them are at their final stage to approve fund for the remediation purpose.”

According to BRAC EPL Investments Chairman Muhammad A Ali, a national standard is required to move finance to garment factories because it is the need not only for exporters but also for millions of workers.

Kyle Kelhofer, IFC country manager, Bangladesh, Nepal and Bhutan, said it is unique that RMG industries are carrying on remediation.

It is necessary to discuss how the factories that are out the purview of Accord and

Experts focus RMG remediation financing at the Dhaka Apparel Summit yesterday Alliance and have fallen under National Action Plan will carry on remediation, Sarah Labowitz, co-director, NY University Stern Center for Business and Human Rights, said.

“I hope real discussion will be on practical solution to how finance comes to small and medium-size factories.”

BGMEA Vice-President Shahidullah Azim

DHAKA TRIBUNE

observed that about 1,000 factories would be required to relocate following the inspection.

He said about $1.5m will be required for remediation and about $2m for mobilisation to relocate the factories.

Azim called for a fund for entrepreneurs at low interest rate and with no hidden charges. l

B2

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Stocks close flat amid volatility

DSE key features December 8, 2014

n Tribune Report

Traded Issues

305

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

139

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

160

Cement sector lost the most with all its scrips closing in red, led by heavy-weight Lafarge Surma that went down by 1.3%.

Power ended slightly lower. Marginal gains were noticed across other major sectors including telecommunication, pharmaceuticals, food & allied and non-banking financial institutions.

Banks - the second largest market cap sector - gained marginally with no significant movement.

Gainers beat losers, as out of 304 issues traded, 160 advanced, 107 declined and 37 remained unchanged.

IDLC Investments said reversing last two sessions’ downbeat, market started moving upward at the initial hour but settled with a flat ending, eventually.

Since investors’ confidence could not solidify, the market movements were rather unsure.

As a result, gaining marginally DSEX closed at 4,930.8 points.

In the meantime, investors remained watchful on overall market movements and continued pursuing cautiousness in portfolio re-balancing, said IDLC Investments.

However, a couple of block trades added some participation, settling total turnover above Tk400 crore, 11.2% higher than the previous session.

Amid this, Pharmaceuticals, Textile and Engineering captured a total of 45.2% of the trade value. During the day, miscellaneous (+0.6%) was in positive territory, while non-life insurance (-1.4%), cement (-1.1%) and life insurance (-0.6%) faced the blow. l

Stocks ended flat amid volatile trade yesterday, after two-day moderate losses.

The market in the very beginning opened higher, rising 30 points but it went in red after mid-session, before recovering some points in the last hour trade.

The benchmark DSEX saw fractional gain of only 0.5 points to close at 4,930.

The Shariah index DSES also witnessed fractional gain of 0.6 points

'In the meantime, investors remained watchful on overall market movements and continued pursuing cautiousness in portfolio rebalancing' to close at 1,152. The comprising blue chips DS30 settled at 1,820, edging 2 points or 0.2% lower.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, was up 15 points to end at 9,273.

However, trading activities increased as turnover at DSE stood at Tk426 crore, up more than 11% over the previous session. Textile sector recorded highest investor participation, capturing 17.6% of total market turnover.

Weekly capital market highlights DSE Broad Index : DSE - 30 Index : CSE All Share Index: CSE - 30 Index : CSE Selected Index : DSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

Alltex Industries -Z Reliance Insur -A Rupali Bank - A Pragati Gen. I -A ISN Ltd. -Z Hamid Fabrics -N Savar Refractories-Z Standard Insurance-A ICB Islamic Bank-Z Argon Denims Limited-A

-9.70 -7.68 -5.86 -4.20 -4.10 -3.94 -3.85 -3.66 -3.45 -3.19

CSE LOSER Company

Closing (% Change)

Alltex Industries -Z Prime Islami Life -A Wata Chemicals -A Dhaka Ins. Ltd.-A Argon Denims Limited-A BGIC -A ACI ZERO Bond-A Beach Hatchery -A Eastern Cables-A MeghnaCement -A

-9.73 -7.51 -6.70 -5.86 -3.83 -3.18 -3.09 -3.04 -2.79 -2.76

4930.82322

(+) 0.01%

1820.13485

(-) 0.12%

15210.09270

(+) 0.10%

12450.78420

(+) 0.06%

9273.59960

(+) 0.13%

Average (% Change) 1.05 -7.68 -6.29 -4.72 1.50 0.78 -3.85 -4.07 -1.72 -0.84 Average (% Change) -5.02 -7.46 -7.09 -5.86 -1.61 -1.53 -3.09 -1.30 -2.82 -3.23

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 29.70 60.10 57.55 41.00 12.22 55.30 50.00 26.38 5.73 46.05

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 375.65 302.81 39.34 531.08 377.48 457.62 4.62 707.71 688.43 20.77 218.03 66.54 23.84 72.94 40.83 23.36 28.37 86.13 61.24 137.83 0.25

DHIGH

27.00 60.10 57.80 41.10 11.70 53.70 50.00 26.30 5.60 45.50

32.00 60.10 63.00 41.30 12.90 58.60 50.00 27.30 5.90 47.20

Company

4,264.85 108,519,637

Number of Contract

95,938

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,639.57

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.99

CSE key features December 8, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

322.50

Turnover (Volume)

10,252,858

Number of Contract

13,522

Traded Issues

223

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

103

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

113

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

6

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,539.31

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.78

Turnover in Million

DLOW 27.00 60.10 56.50 41.00 11.70 52.80 50.00 26.00 5.60 43.00

27.843 0.030 0.564 0.164 1.063 131.996 0.030 0.343 1.255 37.108

Turnover in Million

Closing

DHIGH

DLOW

28.01 64.00 208.00 27.30 45.84 21.25 1,005.00 25.85 125.27 123.20

26.90 64.00 209.00 27.30 45.20 21.30 1,005.00 25.50 125.30 123.20

32.00 64.00 209.00 27.50 47.80 21.40 1,005.00 26.50 125.30 123.20

26.90 64.00 207.00 27.20 45.00 21.10 1,005.00 25.40 125.20 123.20

Latest EPS 3.28 3.79 2.04 2.47 0.13 3.12 -0.44 3.07 -0.71 3.79

Latest EPS

1.891 0.006 0.125 0.191 1.687 0.026 0.001 1.474 0.038 0.123

3.28 4.95 5.37 2.44 3.79 2.35 0.00 1.29 0.08 6.71

Latest PE 9.1 15.9 28.2 16.6 94.0 17.7 -ve 8.6 -ve 12.2

5.11 1.56 0.56 1.71 0.96 0.55 0.67 2.02 1.44 3.23 0.01

Million Taka 21.62 16.71 3.60 47.87 7.89 32.60 91.01 40.39 5.48 20.34 4.78 1.52 6.00 1.81 1.89 1.31 5.07 7.48 16.63 0.00

CSE

% change 6.47 5.00 1.08 14.33 2.36 9.76 0.00 27.25 12.09 1.64 6.09 1.43 0.45 1.80 0.54 0.57 0.39 1.52 2.24 4.98 0.00

Million Taka 397.27 319.52 42.94 578.94 385.37 490.22 4.62 798.72 728.82 26.25 238.37 71.32 25.36 78.95 42.64 25.25 29.68 91.20 68.72 154.46 0.25

9.95 9.88 9.69 8.33 7.34 6.49 6.13 5.88 5.80 5.56

Company ICB AMCL IslamicMF-A Quasem Drycells -A Premier Leasing-Z Midas Financing-Z Aziz PipesZ B I F C -A Nitol Insurance -A SummitAlliancePort.-A Imam Button -Z Miracle Industries -B

9.63 9.51 9.38 8.81 7.93 7.60 7.56 7.24 5.95 5.30

Average (% Change) 9.63 6.42 9.79 23.79 8.52 7.83 7.45 6.09 10.99 5.05

ClosingAvg. 66.61 35.86 24.80 10.42 82.24 8.31 22.40 17.64 7.38 30.28

ClosingAvg. 14.80 67.14 10.43 17.33 24.34 18.05 31.30 82.22 8.89 15.82

Closing 68.50 36.70 24.90 10.40 83.40 8.20 22.50 18.00 7.30 30.40

Closing 14.80 69.10 10.50 17.30 24.50 18.40 31.30 83.00 8.90 15.90

DHIGH 68.50 36.70 24.90 10.50 84.00 8.40 23.00 18.20 7.50 30.90

DHIGH 14.80 69.40 10.50 17.40 24.90 18.70 31.30 84.70 9.20 16.00

DLOW 59.00 34.10 24.00 9.90 75.00 8.00 21.50 16.30 7.00 29.00

DLOW 14.80 65.00 9.70 17.10 22.50 17.20 31.30 80.00 8.60 14.00

Turnover in Million 123.003 7.453 1.886 21.578 142.541 0.927 0.336 20.335 0.048 1.529

Turnover in Million 0.030 1.772 2.311 0.069 0.141 1.237 0.016 14.952 0.293 0.318

Latest EPS 2.24 0.84 -0.37 0.08 0.88 -4.32 0.05 1.41 -3.84 0.64

Latest EPS 2.76 2.24 0.08 -7.00 -0.37 1.41 2.79 0.88 -1.72 0.40

Latest PE 29.7 42.7 -ve 130.3 93.5 -ve 448.0 12.5 -ve 47.3

Latest PE 5.4 30.0 130.4 -ve -ve 12.8 11.2 93.4 -ve 39.6

News, analysis and recent disclosures BXPHARMA: Credit Rating Information and Services Limited (CRISL) has rated the Company as "AA-" in the long term and "ST2" in the short term along with a stable outlook based on audited financial statements of the Company up to December 31, 2013, unaudited financials up to September 30, 2014 and other relevant quantitative as well as qualitative information up to the date of rating declaration.

POPULARLIF: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has decided to purchase land of 7.80 Decimal with Building Plot No. B-11, K.D.A, M A Mojid Sorani, Sonadanga, Khulna.

Tortal price amounting Tk. 6.10 Crore approximate only.

BSC: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 30th September 2014 (July'14 to Sep'14), the Company has reported profit/(loss) after tax of Tk. 22.55 million with EPS of Tk. 1.66 as against Tk. 17.54 million and Tk. 1.29 respectively for the same period of the previous year. Accumulated profit/(loss) of the Company was Tk. (2,320.33) million as on 30.09.2014.

EHL: (Q1): As per un-audited quarterly accounts for the 1st quarter ended on 31st October 2014 (Aug'14 to Oct'14), the Company has reported profit after tax

of Tk. 50.72 million with EPS of Tk. 0.60 as against Tk. 31.36 million and Tk. 0.37 respectively for the same period of the previous year.

SINGERBD: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has approved 40% equity participation in the International Appliances Limited (IAL), a proposed private limited company. The proposed company will manufacture refrigerators, deep freezers and other appliances.

MATINSPINN: The Company will be placed in "A" category from existing "N" category with effect from December 08, 2014 as the Company reported disbursement of 25% cash dividend for the year ended on June 30, 2014.

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.

8.5 12.9 38.7 11.2 12.1 9.0 20.0 1565.9 18.4

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

Total

Closing (% Change)

Average (% Change) 5.83 5.10 9.20 9.92 6.12 5.73 6.67 5.25 5.58 4.34

Latest PE

Reversing last two sessions’ downbeat, market started moving upward at the initial hour but settled with a flat ending, eventually

% change 8.81 7.10 0.92 12.45 8.85 10.73 0.11 16.59 16.14

Quasem Drycells -A Anwar Galvanizing-B Aziz PipesZ Premier Leasing-Z SummitAlliancePort.-A Meghna Con. Milk -B Samata LeatheR -Z B I F C -A Dulamia CottonZ Hakkani P& Paper -B

Closing (% Change)

CSE GAINER

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

ClosingAvg.

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

▲ ▼ ▲ ▲ ▲

DSE GAINER

Turnover (Million Taka) Turnover (Volume)

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

% change 8.64 6.95 0.93 12.59 8.38 10.66 0.10 17.37 15.85 0.57 5.18 1.55 0.55 1.72 0.93 0.55 0.65 1.98 1.49 3.36 0.01

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

BATBCL -A Beximco Pharma -A SummitAlliancePort.-A Hamid Fabrics -N Keya Cosmetics -A Square Pharma -A Quasem Drycells -A R. N. Spinning-Z BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Grameenphone-A

BD. Thai Alum -B Titas Gas TDCLA WesternMarine -N Jamuna Oil -A Delta SpinnersA Alltex Industries -Z

CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company Hamid Fabrics -N SummitAlliancePort.-A R. N. Spinning-Z BEXIMCO Ltd. -A WesternMarine -N Ratanpur Steel -N Jamuna Oil -A Beximco Pharma -A Delta SpinnersA Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A

Keya Cosmetics -A Maksons Spinning-A Square Pharma -A G Next Fashions-A SAIF Powertec-N

VolumeShares 85,950 2,788,377 1,733,316 2,387,000 4,492,114 490,028 1,846,649 2,942,987 2,196,207 226,000

Value in Million 234.20 185.22 142.54 132.00 128.92 127.87 123.00 100.88 87.35 79.32

% of TotalTurnover 5.49 4.34 3.34 3.10 3.02 3.00 2.88 2.37 2.05 1.86

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

1,549,737 846,000 1,252,700 260,600 4,203,000 4,845,000

539,400 181,842 437,300 340,542 227,900 177,000 37,991 141,236 564,900 324,500

258,250 382,620 20,390 325,750 61,800

76.52 69.30 68.42 65.53 64.20 113.67

29.72 14.95 14.92 13.55 12.46 12.19 9.66 9.39 8.65 7.52

7.45 5.42 5.30 5.21 4.57

1.79 1.62 1.60 1.54 1.51 1.51

9.27 4.66 4.65 4.23 3.89 3.80 3.01 2.93 2.70 2.34

2.33 1.69 1.65 1.62 1.43

ClosingP 2723.50 66.60 83.40 53.70 28.10 262.20 68.50 32.50 39.40 352.60

49.50 82.10 54.20 250.30 15.00 22.90

ClosingP

53.30 83.00 32.80 39.50 54.20 65.70 253.30 66.60 15.30 23.10

28.30 14.20 260.20 16.00 74.50

Change % 0.51 -0.89 7.34 -3.94 -1.75 1.16 9.95 -0.61 -2.48 0.66

3.34 -1.20 0.00 -0.99 2.74 4.09

Change %

-3.96 7.24 0.61 -2.47 -0.37 -0.76 -0.16 -1.48 4.79 -0.86

-0.70 3.65 0.70 2.56 4.05

ClosingY 2709.70 67.20 77.70 55.90 28.60 259.20 62.30 32.70 40.40 350.30

47.90 83.10 54.20 252.80 14.60 22.00

ClosingY

55.50 77.40 32.60 40.50 54.40 66.20 253.70 67.60 14.60 23.30

28.50 13.70 258.40 15.60 71.60

DHIGH

DLOW

2745.00 67.40 84.00 58.60 29.60 280.00 68.50 35.90 41.00 353.50

2720.00 61.00 75.00 52.80 26.60 237.00 59.00 30.90 36.50 349.30

DHIGH

DLOW

50.30 83.00 55.80 256.50 15.70 24.20

58.10 84.70 35.80 40.60 55.80 69.50 256.50 67.40 15.60 23.60

29.60 14.40 260.80 16.30 74.90

44.00 81.30 53.40 249.70 14.70 20.50

52.00 80.00 30.00 39.40 53.70 65.50 247.00 65.30 14.70 22.80

28.10 13.50 259.00 15.00 71.80

AvgPrice 2724.79 66.43 82.24 55.30 28.70 260.94 66.61 34.28 39.77 350.97

49.38 81.91 54.62 251.45 15.27 23.46

AvgPrice

55.09 82.22 34.12 39.80 54.69 68.89 254.39 66.45 15.32 23.16

28.86 14.15 260.14 15.98 73.92

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

B3

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

BIS: Sudden market swings, dollar rise expose emerging market vulnerability n AFP, Zurich Sudden swings in financial markets recently suggest they are becoming more fragile and sensitive to unexpected events, the global organization of central banks said on Sunday, warning that a rising US dollar could have a “profound impact” on emerging markets in particular.

MSCI’s all-country world stock index is hovering around multi-year highs after rebounding from sell-offs in August and October.

The downturns were triggered by uncertainty over the global economic outlook and monetary policy, as well as geopolitical tensions, and the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) said the sharp and sudden dips pointed to frailty in the markets.

“These abrupt market movements (in October) were even more pronounced than similar developments in August, when a sudden correction in global financial markets was quickly succeeded by renewed buoyant market conditions,” the BIS said.

“This suggests that more than a quantum of fragility underlies the current elevated mood in financial markets,” it said in its quarterly review. “Global equity markets plummeted in early August and mid-October. Mid-October’s extreme intra-day price movements underscore how sensitive markets have become to even small surprises.”

The comments followed the organization’s warning in September that financial asset prices were at “elevated” levels and market volatility remained “exceptionally subdued” thanks to ultra-loose monetary policies being implemented by central banks around the world.

Since then, the US Federal Reserve has brought its monthly bond-purchase program to an expected end. However, Japan’s central bank has expanded

Traffic flows in front of the Bank for International Settlements (BIS) in Basel its massive stimulus spending while China unexpectedly cut interest rates, adding to stimulus measures from the European Central Bank.

These divergent monetary policies, coupled with the dollar’s recent appreciation, could have a profound impact on the global economy, particularly in emerging markets where many com-

panies have large dollar-denominated liabilities, the BIS said.

“It’s the warning that the rising dollar could bring more (emerging markets) trouble in its wake - as it did in the 1990s - that is going to challenge FX markets tomorrow morning while we’re all thinking about what the U.S. non-farm payroll data mean for Fed

Sri Lanka cuts energy prices ahead of polls n AFP, Colombo

Iran unveils budget based on lower oil price

Sri Lanka slashed cooking gas prices on Sunday just one day after the cost of diesel and petrol was also cut ahead of next month’s presidential election.

The ministry of internal trade said it was reducing the price of a standard cylinder of gas used for cooking by 11.6% to 1,896 rupees ($14.50) from Sunday, the second such cut in recent months.

The loss-making state-run Ceylon Petroleum Corporation announced on Saturday it was cutting diesel and gasoline prices by nearly five percent, also the second recent reduction.

It denied the move was an election sweetener instructed by President Mahinda Rajapakse’s government, insisting the cut was connected to falling global oil prices.

The reduction comes despite the fact that the corporation has accumulated losses of 240bn rupees ($1.84bn), according to company officials.

Rajapakse, who is also finance minister, is seeking reelection for an unprecedented third term on January 8.

But he faces a strong challenge from his former health minister, Maithripala Sirisena, who defected to the main opposition party last month.

While Rajapakse remains generally popular with voters from the Sinhalese majority for ending a 37-year war against Tamil separatists in 2009, critics say he has become increasingly authoritarian. l

Iran unveiled a draft budget Sunday for next year based on oil prices remaining around $70 per barrel, with President Hassan Rouhani saying the country would become less dependent on crude.

With international prices at five-year lows on the back of oversupply worries and a stronger dollar, major oil producers are having to juggle their finances to compensate for lower than expected revenues.

Rouhani admitted the budget for the fiscal year starting in March 2015 “would be under pressure” given the big fall in oil prices in recent months, from above $100 to less than $70.

“Such a drop is unprecedented,” he said in a speech to parliament carried live on state television, noting that the government had been cautious in its forecasts.

“In the short term, we will have a decrease in our revenues. Our economy must move towards non-oil exports.

The oil price drop is a new opportunity to accelerate this.”

Iran has the world’s fourth largest proven oil reserves and currently exports around 1.3 million barrels per day.

However, Rouhani said oil revenues earmarked for the budget would be $24bn next year, down from $27.5bn, meaning less than half the government’s income would come from exported crude.

n AFP, Tehran

Iran had already announced some tax rise plans on the back of the recent oil price fall, along with increases in non-oil exports.

Next year’s non-oil-based revenues will constitute more than half the government’s total income, rising to 53% from the current 47%, according to forecasts. Total spending will rise 8.5%.

Rouhani did not state a figure for the price of oil per barrel laid down in the budget, but the official IRNA news agency said it was fixed at $72 - down from around $100 in the current budget year.

Other changes have also been necessary. Money from oil sales put into the National Development Fund used to finance major infrastructure projects will drop from 31% to 20% “to avoid too much pressure on the budget”, Rouhani said.

Civil service salaries will rise 14% in paper terms, but Iran’s inflation rate is currently between 17-18%, according to Rouhani, having been above 40 percent when he took office in 2013.

Under Iran’s budget process, MPs have 10 days to propose modifications to parliamentary committees that lay out specific spending plans for government departments.

The committees then have 15 days to present their reports to the budget commission which has an additional 15 days to present the final draft plan back to parliament to be voted on point by point. l

ADN Telecom Limited holds its 11th annual general meeting at a city hotel on Sunday. The company’s chairman and managing director Asif Mahmood presided over the meeting

REUTERS

rate hike timing,” Societe Generale’s currency strategist Kit Juckes told clients in a note on Sunday.

Juckes was referring to the largerthan-expected 321,000 rise in US jobs in November reported on Friday, data which sent the dollar to multi-year highs against the yen and euro.

Separately, the BIS report said that

international banking activity expanded for the second quarter running between end-March and end-June.

Cross-border claims of BIS reporting banks rose by $401bn. The annual growth rate of cross-border claims rose to 1.2% in the year to end-June, the first move into positive territory since late 2011. l

Dollar holds up after boost from strong US jobs data n AFP, Tokyo The dollar edged higher against the yen in Asia yesterday after rallying at the end of last week on strong US jobs data.

The greenback was at 121.50 yen in afternoon Tokyo trade, compared with 121.44 yen in New York and around 120.00 yen in Tokyo earlier Friday.

The euro bought $1.2285 and 149.28 yen against $1.2283 and 149.16 yen in US trade Friday.

Traders bid up the dollar Friday after the Labor Department said the US economy created 321,000 jobs in November, its best monthly performance for nearly three years.

The strong data fuels speculation that the US Federal Reserve will start raising its key interest rate sooner than expected, bolstering the greenback.

The dollar has rallied to its highest level against the yen since July 2007 in recent weeks, boosted by confidence in the US economy and the Bank of Japan’s surprise decision in October to ramp up its vast stimulus programme.

National Australia Bank said in a report that the jobs report was “a rather golden report for (dollar) bulls and enough to make US recovery pessimists” think again. There was little reaction to news that Japan’s economy had contracted more than expected in July-September, confirming it was in recession.

The dollar was higher against other Asia-Pacific currencies. It inched up to Sg$1.3225 from Sg$1.3145 on Friday, to Tw$31.19 from Tw$31.11 and to 1,117.50 South Korean won from 1,113.96 won.

The greenback also advanced to 12,365.00 Indonesian rupiah from 12,298.50 rupiah, to 61.91 Indian rupees from 61.84 rupees and to 44.67 Philippine pesos from 44.53 pesos.

It edged up to 33.09 Thai baht from 32.94 baht. The Australian dollar bought 82.81 US cents against 83.77 cents, and the Chinese yuan fetched 19.73 yen against 19.51 yen. l

A FBCCI delegation, led by its acting president Monowara Hakim Ali called on visiting Bhutanese Prime Minister Tshering Tobgay at the lounge of Sonargaon Hotel in Dhaka yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Experts for purpose-built RMG n Tribune Report

Experts at a session of the Dhaka Apparel Summit yesterday stressed the need for a purpose-built RMG manufacturing in a modern era to cope with global competition.

They also made a series of recommendations at the fourth session titled “Future of workers: workplace safety and sustainable production” held at Bangabandhu International Conference Center (BICC) in the capital.

Addressing the session, the speakers also shed light on the progresses made since the launch of inspection initiatives, i.e. NTAP, Accord & Alliance.

BGMEA Vice-President Reaz Bin Mahmood moderated the session.

The discussion also covered a wide range of issues including workers’ rights, policy and capacity of the government and private stakeholders, donors’ support, engagement of the diplomatic community and brands.

Ian Spaulding, senior partner – ELEVATE, said remediation of factories was a complex part and it would take years to complete.

Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector, Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, said, “The more we bring technology and transfer knowledge to Bangladesh, the more it will help the industry.”

It is necessary to have a fire service station in an area from where fire fighters can reach the spot within 10 minutes, said Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan, director general of Fire Service and Civil Defence.

Dr Ferdinand von Weyhe, Chargé d´Affaires, Embassy of Germany to Ban-

gladesh, said: “Consumers always ask us to support the RMG sector and help and build the capacity to make the products more sustainable in terms of environmental issues, which is also a great concern for the German government.”

Former BGMEA president Anisur Rahman Sinha said: “Rana Plaza disaster has opened our eyes. Problems are everywhere but we have to face them professionally. Bangladesh will face all problems very confidently.”

Besides inspection, remediation and training, it is necessary to change the mindset of factory owners about safety, said Ian Spaulding while giving recommendations at the session.

“Now, our focus is on training. We also focus on building capacity of workers’ representatives, supervisors and managers so that they can continue training themselves and others,’’ he added.

Brad Loewen, chief safety inspector of Accord on Fire and Building Safety in Bangladesh, said: “It is necessary to build the capacity of government agencies like RAJUK, IEB and IAB, who are the key parts of the policy and the design world.”

Education and knowledge are important for capacity building of government, regulatory agencies, young entrepreneurs, workers and young professionals, which are key to sustain safety initiatives in longer terms, said Tuomo Poutiainen, programme manager, Ready Made Garment Sector, ILO-Dhaka.

ZM Kamrul Anam, president of Bangladesh Textile & Garment Workers League and coordinator, IndustriALL Bangladesh Council (IBC), said, “As per the ILO convention ratified by

Bangladesh, workers have the right to organise and bargain, this is equally important for the management to have a worker representative to discuss rising issues. Trade unions and workers have their rights and responsibilities as well.”

Farzana Chowdhury, Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Green Delta Insurance Company Limited, noted that insurance companies could work strategically with RMG owners on building awareness of the workers by roadshow in the industrial areas and cultural shows.

Brig Gen Ali Ahmed Khan, Director General of Fire Service and Civil Defence, said, “Training is going on but this is good not enough since training is a continuous process. For quick response in case of disaster in the industrial zones like Gazipur, Savar, Narayanganj it is necessary to have additional five to six fire stations to reduce the risk of disaster. While building a factory it is necessary to keep space for fire engine.

US Ambassador to Bangladesh Dan W Mozena, said, “There must have some mechanism through which workers and management can resolve their issues.”

He also laid emphasis on branding Bangladesh as a preferred brand and number one brand in the world.

Debbie Coulter, Head of Programmes, Joint ETI (Ethical Trading Initiative), said that there was an increasing demand from buyers that you were having social dialogue with workers. She also laid emphasis on harmonious relationship between workers and management. l

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Tuesday, December 9, 2014

China faces more pressure as November imports drop, exports slow

Internet giants wage war on pop-up ad blockers

n Reuters, Beijing

Imagine being able to surf the web and watch videos online without having to swat away pesky pop-up ads?

These days you can, thanks to small programs like Adblock Plus that are available free for download and that arm your browser to defend against ads.

Flashing banner ads, “pre-roll” ads (short ads that play before a video), pop-up notices that cover the whole screen - few of them make it past ad blocking software.

In the beginning, the applications acted under the radar, and were known mainly only to young people or the really tech-savvy. But now they’re catching on.

Adblock Plus has nearly five million active users in France, with a further two million in the United Kingdom and 1.5 million in Spain.

Worldwide, they have amassed about 144 million active users, up 69% in a year, according to a September report from Adobe software developer and PageFair, a company that helps publishers see which ads are being blocked.

Depending on the website, the percentage of viewers equipped with adblocking software ranges from 10 to 60%.

Internet users may dream about ad-free surfing, but for advertisers and web publishers, who rely on ads to fund content, ad-blocking applications are the stuff of nightmares.

“This is no small matter; it affects all publishers. Our members have lost an estimated 20 to 40 per cent of their advertising revenue,” Laure de Lataillade, CEO of GESTE, an association of web publishers in gaming, media, music and other domains, told AFP. The growing popularity of ad blockers comes as companies plough more and more money into internet advertising. A quarter of the 545bn dollars spent on global advertising this year went on digital ads.

China’s imports shrank unexpectedly in November while export growth slowed, fuelling concerns the world’s second-largest economy could be facing a sharper slowdown and adding pressure on policymakers to ramp up stimulus measures.

Exports rose 4.7% from a year earlier, while imports dropped 6.7%, the biggest drop since March, data released by the General Administration of Customs showed on Monday.

That left the country with a record trade surplus of $54.5bn, which analysts say could increase upward pressure on the yuan CNY=CFXS even as exporters are struggling.

Economists polled by Reuters had expected exports to grow 8.2%, a 3.9% rise in imports and a trade surplus of $43.5bn, all slowing from October.

“Despite another record surplus, the details paint a grim picture with slower export growth and a contraction in commodity imports in volume terms,” said Andy Ji, senior currency strategist at Commonwealth Bank of Australia in Singapore.

Exports have been the lone bright spot for China’s economy in the last few months, perhaps helping to offset soft domestic demand, but there are doubts about the accuracy of the official numbers amid signs of a resurgence of speculative currency flows through inflated trade receipts.

Dariusz Kowalczyk at Credit Agricole CIB in Hong Kong said over-reporting in exports may have been curbed in November, which contributed to a weaker reading. But he added the import contraction was “shocking”, reflecting not only lower commodity prices but poor domestic demand.

“This means that pressure will rise on the government to do more to stimulate growth,” he said.

“We expect a reserve requirement

Trucks drive past piles of shipping containers at the Qingdao port in Qingdao, Shandong province ratio cut in December, introduction of reverse repos this week, and another rate cut in the first quarter. The yuan should rise further on the data.”

After saying for months that China does not need any big economic stimulus, the People’s Bank of China (PBOC) surprised financial markets by lowering rates on Nov. 21 to shore up growth and help firms pay off mountains of debt.

The government is due to release data on factory output, fixed-asset investment and retail sales later this week.

Analysts see more policy moves in coming months if the economy continues to stumble, with many expecting both more rate cuts and reductions in banks’ reserve requirement ratios (RRR).

Sources familiar with China’s poli-

cy-making said leaders are prepared to lower rates again and loosen lending curbs on concerns that falling prices could cause a spike in bad loans, business failures and job losses.

“We expect at least one more policy rate cut, 2-3 RRR cuts and targeted measures (to inject more liquidity into the banking system) throughout 2015,” said Haibin Zhu at JP Morgan.

2015 Growth target could be cut

Annual economic growth slowed to 7.3% in the third quarter, the weakest since the global financial crisis, weighed down by a sagging housing market and tighter credit conditions.

Full-year growth is on track to undershoot the government’s 7.5% target

REUTERS

and mark the weakest expansion in 24 years.

China’s leaders are reluctant to repeat strong stimulus similar to the one implemented during the height of the global crisis, which resulted in piles of debt, but they are mindful of the risk that a sharper growth slowdown could undermine reforms.

The leadership is due to open a key meeting on Tuesday to map out economic and reform plans for 2015, including economic targets which will be unveiled in parliament next March, sources at top government think-tanks said.

Government think-tanks, which make policy proposals, have urged Beijing to cut its economic growth target next year, probably to around 7%. l

n AFP, Paris

To protect that investment, a group of publishers in France, including Google, Microsoft and Le Figaro newspaper, have threatened legal action against the developers of ad blocking software.

In Germany, too, publishers are alarmed at the success of the anti-ad workarounds. “There have already been some companies that have lodged a formal complaint,” Oliver von Wersche, head of digital marketing at Gruner + Jahr, publishers of Stern news magazine and several other leading titles, told AFP.

‘Unauthorised access’

Websites, meanwhile, are experimenting with a range of strategies to placate ad-addled audiences.

French sports daily l’Equipe’s website is using a carrot-and-stick approach.

Users with ad-blocking software who attempt to watch videos receive the message: “Unauthorised access. L’Equipe.fr is funded by advertising, which allows us to offer you free content.”

Once they deactivate the software they can gain access to the video.

“We have to find a viable economic model. Either the user pays for a premium model or he accepts advertising,” said Xavier Spender, deputy managing director of L’Equipe group.

Sean Blanchfield, CEO of PageFair, compared the campaign against ad blockers to the music industry’s takedown of the file-sharing program Napster a decade ago.

“They should instead learn from the Napster story that the users will ultimately get what they want,” said Blanchfield, whose company works with publishers to devise ads that “respect users’ privacy”.

For Helene Chartier, head of French web developers’ union SRI, the big mistake was to let users believe the internet was free in the first place, considering “there was never a problem with ads on television or radio.” l

Oil prices down after lacklustre Chinese trade data n AFP, Singapore Crude hit fresh five-year-lows yesterday following another weak batch of trade data out of China, while prices were also pressured by the strengthening dollar, analysts said.

US benchmark West Texas Intermediate (WTI) for January delivery was down 81 cents at $65.03 in late-morning trade. Brent crude slipped 82 cents to $68.25.

WTI is sitting at its lowest point since July 2009 and Brent is at lows not seen since October 2009, with the contract continuing to be hurt by OPEC’s decision last month to maintain output despite a global supply glut.

“Investors are casting their eye on the Chinese trade data at the moment...

Study: Investment banks lag rivals on profitability, efficiency n Reuters, London Investment banks have been less profitable, more volatile and had consistently higher costs than commercial banks, according to a study of business models of the past decade.

The Bank for International Settlements (BIS), a global forum for central banks, said on Sunday a study of 222 lenders showed big variances in profitability and efficiency across models, and investment banks had been less efficient and more unpredictable.

The study identified three types of business models: a retail-funded commercial bank, funded mainly by deposits; a wholesale market-funded commercial bank; and a capital markets-oriented bank, commonly known as an investment bank, heavily engaged in trading.

Return on equity (RoE), a key measure of profitability, averaged 10% across the banks between 2005 and 2013.

The study said RoE averaged 12.5% for retail-funded commercial banks, 8.1% at trading banks and 5.8% at the wholesale-funded commercial banks.

Trading banks had the most volatile profitability, and their RoE swung repeatedly between the top and bottom of the relative ranking. l

weakness could mean pressure on Brent,” said David Lennox, resource analyst at Fat Prophets in Sydney. China said Monday that exports grew just 4.7% yearon-year to $211.66bn in November while imports dropped 6.7% to $157.19 billion.

Analysts had expected exports to grow 8% and imports to expand 3.9%.

Falling commodity prices, including oil, which has slumped by about 40% since June, “will have weighed on the value of commodity imports”, research house Capital Economics said in a note.

“The sharp fall (in Chinese imports) also hints at a further cooling of domestic demand,” it said.

Trade figures out of China, the world’s top energy consumer, are closely watched for their impact on crude prices, especially the more inter-

nationally leveraged Brent contract.

The latest figures come as China struggles with weakness in its industrial and financial sectors, prompting the country’s central bank last month to cut benchmark interest rates for the first time in more than two years.

Oil prices have also been hit by a pick-up in the dollar, which surged Friday in reaction to figures showing the US economy created 321,000 jobs in November, its best monthly performance in nearly three years.

The dollar was at 121.55 yen yesterday compared with 121.44 yen in New York Friday afternoon.

A stronger greenback makes dollarpriced oil more expensive for buyers using weaker currencies, denting demand and pushing prices lower. l

Japan recession worse than thought n AFP, Tokyo Japan’s economy contracted more than initially thought in the July-September quarter, revised official data revealed yesterday, showing the world’s third largest economy sank deeper into recession.

The economy shrank 0.5% quarteron-quarter, worse than the 0.4% estimated in initial data released three weeks ago, the Cabinet Office said.

The reading was much worse than the median forecast of a 0.1% quarterly shrinkage in a survey by the Nikkei economic daily. The drop came after a 1.7% contraction in the April-June quarter, meeting a common definition of a recession as two consecutive quarters of negative growth.

On an annualised rate, the economy shrank 1.9% in the third quarter against the initially-estimated fall of 1.6%.

Prime Minister Shinzo Abe over the past two years has pressed ahead with a pro-spending growth bid, dubbed “Abenomics”, which boosted stock prices and pushed the yen down.

Where it had been credited with success up until the effects of a sales tax rise in April this year, Monday’s revised data showed the economy in fact contracted 0.4% in the last quarter of 2013.

It expanded 1.4% in January-March on shoppers’ last-minute buying binge before the tax rise.

Japan’s VAT rate rose from 5% to 8% on April 1, hitting consumers.

Private consumption picked up only 0.4% after plunging 5.1% in the AprilJune period, the latest data showed.

Private residential investment dived 6.8% while private-sector corporate capital spending fell 0.4%.

But Marcel Thieliant, Japan economist at Capital Economics, said the economy could return to growth in October-December.

Companies’ inventory adjustment was a large drag and overstated the weakness of the economy as some monthly data was encouraging, he said.

“The upshot is that the economy likely returned to growth this quarter,” he said in a note.

Separate data from the finance ministry showed Japan posted an 833.4bn yen surplus in October on its current account, reversing a deficit of 154.3bn yen thanks to a weaker yen and lower oil prices.

The current account is the broadest measure of the country’s trade with the rest of the world. Income jumped with higher gains from equity and other direct investment, as well as from investment in financial items, partly inflated by a lower yen.

The deficit on the services section was more than halved as the number of foreign tourists soared 37% to hit a single-month record. l

People walk past the new ECB headquarters in Frankfurt

REUTERS

ECB’s loans offer clues in quantitative easing guessing game n Reuters, Brussels The guessing game over the timing of euro zone money printing will intensify as the European Central Bank unveils a closely watched gauge of policy in the coming week, the highlight of a calendar dominated by Europe’s malaise.

On the other side of the Atlantic, investors will continue placing their bets on a different but equally crucial event: when the US Federal Reserve might raise interest rates.

U.S. data and several Fed central bankers will give a sense of the speed of the recovery and when a rate rise might be merited, while oil prices and Chinese data will provide plenty more for markets to digest.

“The key story is going to be in the euro zone,” said James Knightley, ING’s senior economist, referring to the results of the ECB’s targeted long-term refinancing operations (TLTROs) on Thursday.

The cheap loans for banks are one of the ECB’s main ways to flush money into the stagnating euro zone economy.

“If the take-up is poor, that could increase market talk that the ECB is going to step in and use other tools,” Knightley said.

That means a sovereign bond-buying program like those used in the United States, Britain and Japan, but which Germany fears would encourage reckless state borrowing and fuel inflation.

Such a program may come early next year. “The take-up of TLTROs could swing the ECB’s Governing Council between January and March, depending on how the number looks,” said Citigroup economist Guillaume Menuet.

The first TLTRO was taken up only to the tune of 83bn euros. Hopes are higher for this time but forecasts hover around the 150bn euro mark, leaving the ECB short of the 400bn euros it was prepared to offer banks in total.

On Monday in Brussels, ECB President Mario Draghi will tell euro zone finance ministers no amount of stimulus can replace reforms to tax, labor and pension systems to bring down nearrecord unemployment.

New forecasts by the ECB predict the euro zone, which generates a fifth of global output, will grow just 1% in 2015 rather than the 1.6% predicted three months ago.

German October industrial production data and French business senti-

DILBERT

ment for November, due later yesterday, are likely to show the weakness of the rebound as the bloc struggles to overcome its debt and banking crises.

Falling oil prices will also have an impact on the ECB’s thinking as it deals with very low inflation. Brent crude slipped 57 cents to settle at $69.07 a barrel on Friday, averaging below $70 in the week for the first time since 2010.

Euro zone finance ministers will also try to decide on how to best help Greece in the coming weeks since a new credit line for Athens will not by ready by an original Dec. 8 deadline.

Us rates, chinese trade

It’s a different story in the United States, where the economy is recovering strongly. US employers added the largest number of workers in nearly three years in November and wage gains picked up, which could push the Federal Reserve closer to raising interest rates. l