15 Dec, 2014

Paush 1, 1421 Safar 21, 1436 Regd No DA 6238 Vol 2, No 251

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014 | www.dhakatribune.com | SECOND EDITION

B1 | BUSINESS PLAN TO BRING NEW DIMENSION IN ADP IMPLEMENTATION UNVEILED

20 pages | Price: Tk12

7 | LONG FORM

11 | OP-ED

14 | SPORT

A MAN OF PEACE

COLD WAR NUANCES OF 1971

DE GEA STARS AS UNITED DEEPEN LIVERPOOL GLOOM

Toll on wildlife rises in the Sundarbans Shipping Ministry turns down request to permanently shut down Sela route Bakar Siddique from the n Abu Sundarbans The shipping minister must have been in a mood of denial when he said the oil spill would not hurt too much, because it is now becoming clearer with time that what is happening in the Sundarbans is nothing short of a major disaster.

A day after the first sighting of an Irawaddy dolphin corpse, hundreds of marine birds, small fishes and otters could be seen struggling with their lives looking for food in the oil-mixed mud on the banks of Sela River.

‘I have seen three dead crabs, some shrimps and some other small fishes such as meni’ The oil has not just polluted the water, it has also crippled the miniature creatures that marine birds like maasranga, small fishes like the mud-keeper and aquatic animals like the otter depend on for food.

“Animals like otter whose body is covered with wool are one of the most affected ones. Because they have to get into water to catch fish forfood, they will never survive in the contaminated water. Moreover, the oily water also damages their furry skin,” said Abu Naser Mohsin Khan, an assistant conservator of the Forest Department.

Fishermen, who depend on the rivers inside the single biggest mangrove

UN talks agree building blocks for new-style climate deal in 2015 n Reuters About 190 nations yesterday agreed the building blocks of a new-style global deal due in 2015 to combat climate change amid warnings that far tougher action will be needed to limit increases in global temperatures.

Under the deal reached in Lima, governments will submit national plans for reining in greenhouse gas emissions by an informal deadline of March 31, 2015 to form the basis of a global agreement due at a summit in Paris in a year’s time.

Most of the tough decisions about how to slow climate change were postponed until then. “Much remains to be done in Paris next year,” French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said.

The texts, agreed two days into overtime after two weeks of talks came close to collapsing, appeased emerging economies led by China and India, concerned that previous drafts imposed  PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

visit our website @

www.dhakatribune.com

forest in the world for a living, have also reported seeing the remains of different types of small fish, shrimps, snakes and crabs.

“I have seen three dead crabs, some shrimp and some other small fish such as the meni while fishing in the Sorki canal in the Chandpai forest range,” said Jamal Hossain Khan, a resident of the Joymonir Gol area.

Some of the field-level officers of the Forest Department have also had the same sightings, Divisional Forest Officer Zahidul Kabir told the Dhaka Tribune.

“The actual extent of the damaged caused to the wildlife cannot detailed right now. It will take time,” he said.

The Forest Department yesterday formed a monitoring team tasked with patrolling the Sundarbans to measure the damage caused by the oil.

Officials fear that the oil, which has already reached the Boleshwar River through canals of the Sela River, will also cause health hazards to humans.

“Local shrimp yards take saline water from these rivers. If humans consume the shrimp cultivated in these oil-contaminated water, there may be consequences,” said forest officer Abu Naser.

The body of Mokhelsur Rahman, shipmaster of the distressed ship, was recovered yesterday. He went missing after jumping into the water along with his crew members when the vessel was hit.

Oil collection

Local people were never going to get too far with manually collecting the  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

This little kingfisher, looking for food in the oil slick on the banks of Sela River in the Sundarbans, is as distressed as the flora around, turned pitch black by the oil spilled from a tanker six days ago. The little helpless bird, trapped in the oily mud, was later rescued SYED ZAKIR HOSSAIN

CU Chhatra League infighting kills one n FM Mizanur Rahaman

An activist of the ruling party’s student wing Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) was killed and four others injured during a factional clash at Chittagong University yesterday, ensued over placing wreaths on the Martyred Intellectuals’ Day. Tapos Sarker died at Chittagong Medical College Hospital. He was a fiqrst year student of the Sanskrit department, Sub-Inspector Jahirul Islam of the hospital police outpost said.

He used to stay at room 235 of Shah Amanat Hall. “Tapos had bullet injury in his chest,” he added.

A probe body was formed by the authorities at an emergency meeting in the evening. Police were preparing to file a case until filing of this report around 9:30pm.

These two groups locked in clashes on the campus at least seven times in the last three months. Latest, they

engaged in fierce armed clashes three times between September 23 and September 27.

The central Chhatra League dissolved the university unit on June 10 following a factional clash.

Campus sources said the clash erupted in the morning between shut-

These two groups locked in clashes on the campus at least seven times in the last three months tle train-based Chhatra League factions – Choose Friend with Care (CFC) and Varsity Express (VX).

The CFC is led by former vicepresident Amit Kumar Basu and former joint secretary Sumon Mamun while the VX activists are led by former organising secretary Ariful Islam and

office secretary Jalal Ahmed.

Both groups are loyal to Chittagong city unit Awami League President ABM Mohiuddin Chowdhury, the former city mayor.

Witnesses and police sources said an altercation took place between the activists of the two groups during placing floral wreaths at the Buddhijibi Chhattar of the campus around 10am.

Later the VX men pelted stones on the CFC activists from the roof of Shah Jalal Hall during their way back triggering a clash around 11am. The groups clashed with fire arms and sharp weapons at a place between the yards of Shah Amanat and Shah Jalal dormitories, police said.

“Tapos was shot by the VX men while closing the main gate of Shah Amant Hall during the clash,” Syed Nazrul Islam, a masters student of philology department who witnessed the incident, said.

The nation yesterday observed the Martyred Intellectuals Day yesterday by paying tribute to the brave sons of the soil who were killed by Pakistani soldiers and their local collaborators in 1971.

President Abdul Hamid, Prime Minister and Awami League President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia paid tribute to the martyred intellectuals by placing wreaths at the Martyred Intellectuals’ Memorial at Mirpur in the capital.

Other political parties, socio-cultural organisations and citizens of various walks of life among others also paid homage to the martyred intellectuals.

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina placed floral

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

 PAGE 2 COLUMN 1

INSIDE

DHAKA ELEVATED EXPRESSWAY

Land acquisition problem holds back start of construction

3 | News

The state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) is set to sign a contract with two companies from Spain and South Korea for the construction of the 400MW gas-based combined cycle Bibiyana South Plant in Habiganj.

n Shohel Mamun Having already missed three deadlines in starting construction, the proposed Dhaka elevated expressway is facing uncertainties again centring land acquisition.

Construction company Ital-Thai has recently sent a letter to the Bridges Division saying they could not start work unless they got final confirmation about land acquisition, sources said.

On September 29, while visiting the Shahjalal airport point of the expressway, Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quder said land acquisition problems have been solved and the construction would start soon.

However, having visited several spots on the proposed route, the Dhaka Tribune reporter has not seen any activity that may suggest that the work has begun.

Sources said the work for building

Martyred Intellectuals Day observed n Tribune Report

hyanagar of Sunamganj are deprived of quality healthcare services due to lack of a healthcare centre and qualified doctors in the area.

8 | World

4 | News

Eminent columnist, poet, litterateur and veteran of the language movement of 1952 Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury was awarded the PIB-Sohel Samad Memorial Award-2014.

5 | News the first phase of the expressway from the airport to Banani in the capital, could not be started because of complication centring an 1.4-acre land in the Kuril area. At least six multi-storied buildings still stand on that land and of

the owners had filed a petition with the High Court.

Project Director Kazi Mohammad Ferdous has also admitted that there is a problem.  PAGE 2 COLUMN 3

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and RAB have ramped up security in the capital ahead of the 43rd Victory Day, which will be celebrated tomorrow.

6 | Nation

More than 1.5 lakh people in Mad-

A carbon-curbing deal struck in Lima yesterday was a watered-down compromise where national intransigence threatened the goal of a pact to save Earth’s climate system, green groups said.

15 | Entertainment

Shomi Kaiser, noted actor and cultural activist, is making a documentary on the life and work of Shahidullah Kaiser, her father and one of the intellectuals who was killed by the Pakistan Army during the Liberation War.

2

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, December 15, 2014

BNP: AL shatters dreams of martyred intellectuals

PM: BNP movement with killers of intellectuals doomed to fail

n Tribune Report

n BSS

The BNP yesterday alleged that the ruling Awami League had destroyed the dreams of the martyred intellectuals by driving democracy into exile.

Murders, abductions and enforced disappearances have plagued the country like 1971, said Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir, acting secretary general of BNP. Martyred intellectuals dreamed of an independent and democratic Bangladesh. “But what are we experiencing today? Awami League assumed the office by force without any voting,” said Fakhrul.

The spokesperson of the party also alleged that conspiracy was hatched in 1971 to kill the intellectuals in a bid to turn it into a merit-less country and the same effort is still on.

“Fascism and absence of democracy contributed to such a state.”

Fakhrul came up with this allegation after placing wreaths at the capital’s

Martyred Intellectuals Memorial.

Party Chairperson Khaleda Zia along with her senior party colleagues paid homage to the intellectuals murdered during the Liberation War. Later, at a discussion at the Institution of Engineers, Bangladesh, Fakhrul said the way the Pakistani occupiers killed the intellectuals of the country on the eve of victory, the same way the government is plotting to eliminate the opposition views.

“Pakistani occupiers killed those who could build an independent and democratic Bangladesh on the eve of victory in 1971. Now a conspiracy is going on to annihilate those having differences of opinions and beliefs,” he alleged.

“Everyday opposition leaders are becoming victims of killing and abduction.”

The BNP leader said restoration of democracy in the country is the only way to overcome such situation.

“Today we have to vow that fascist Awami league will be ousted and democracy will be restored in the country and for this intellectuals have to be united.

“Mujib Bahini was formed bypassing Mukti Bahini in 1971 with a view to eradicating those who fought in the battle field and expressed differences of opinions. It is history,” he said.

As the deputy chief of Liberation War AK Khandakar revealed the truth in his book on the Liberation War but unfortunately Awami League branded him as rajakar.

Ziaur Rahman, who proclaimed independence of the country, was labeled as an agent of Pakistan and even Tajuddin Ahmed also came under their scathing criticism, he alleged.

BNP standing committee members MK Anwar and Abdul Moyeen Khan and former vice-chancellor of Dhaka University Emajuddin Ahmed, among others, spoke at the discussion. l

Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday said a BNP movement together with the killers of the intellectuals to save war criminals from facing justice would not be successful.

“Khaleda Zia is threatening to wage a movement during victory month. But her movement with the killers of the illustrious sons of the soil to protect 1971 war criminals will not be successful,” she said.

Hasina, the Awami League president, said this while addressing a discussion on Martyred Intellectuals Day, at Bangladesh Krishibid Institution in Khamarbari in the capital this afternoon. Deputy Leader of the House and Senior Party Presidium Member Syeda Sajeda Chowdhury chaired the discussion.

It was addressed, among others, by Advisory Council members Amir Hossain Amu, Tofail Ahmed and Suarnjit Sengupta, Presidium members Matia

Chowdhury and Sahara Khatun, joint secretaries Mahbub-ul Alam Hanif and Jahangir Kabir Nanak, Organising Secretary AFM Bahauddin Nasim, Food Minister Qamrul Islam, Dhaka City acting president MA Aziz and General Secretary Mofazzal Hossain Chowdury Maya.

The prime minister came down heavily on the BNP leader for addressing a meeting in Narayanganj on Saturday with al-Badr and Razakar leaders.

“How could she address a meeting on December 13, the day before Martyred Intellectuals Day, with al-Badr, Razakar and Jamaat-e-Islami leaders on the same dais?” she asked.

Sheikh Hasina said it was Jamaat-e-Islami leaders who were with Khaleda Zia on the dais and there were festoons, banners and balloons inscribed with pictures of war criminals as well as Razakar and al-Badr chiefs at the meeting.

She said the meeting had been arranged to protect war criminals and the

killers of the intellectuals.

“From the meeting, Khaleda Zia also wished curses upon my head to save the war criminals,” the prime minister said.

She quoted a saying that goes: A cow would not die because of a vulture’s prayers. If that happened, not a single cow would be alive,” she said, adding that there were some vultures in the country who want to save war criminals and destroy the country.

The Prime Minister said: “Insha Allah all of the verdicts will be executed.”The prime minister called upon her countrymen to be vigilant so that Pro-Pakistan collaborators never come to state power.”

She urged Bangladeshis to vow to realise the dream of the martyred intellectuals.

“We will have to renew our vows to build a hunger-free and poverty-free Bangladesh for which the illustrious sons of the soil embraced martyrdom in 1971,” she said. l

Case filed against MP Badi’s brothers n Our Correspondent, Cox’s Bazar

HC summons 26 school heads for charging extra SSC fees

Police have filed a case against two brothers of Cox’s Bazar lawmaker Abdur Rahman Badi for giving shelter to illegal Rohingyas.

The accused are Md Shafique and Md Foysal. Badi and five of his brothers including the duo are named as yaba traders by the Home Ministry.

Teknaf police OC Moktar Hossain said they raided the house of the accused in Chowdhurypara area around 2:30am on information that they were giving shelter to Rohingyas. The duo was not at home at that time. Md Shamsul Islam was held for illegal stay in Bangladesh.

He was later produced before a court. l

n Tribune Report

President Abdul Hamid and Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina pay tribute at Mirpur on the ocasion of Martyred Intellectuals Day yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

The High Court has summon the heads of 26 schools in Dhaka to appear before it on January 6 for charging additional examination fees from the SSC candidates.

The bench of Justice Quazi Reza-Ul Hoque and Justice Abu Taher Md Saifur Rahman passed the orders during the hearing of a suo motu ruling.

The headmasters or principals of these schools and the chairpersons or managing directors of their governing bodies have to appear before the court to explain why they have charged the excess fees in addition to the amount

fixed by the government.

Deputy Attorney General Biswojit Roy told the Dhaka Tribune that the summons came after going through a probe report submitted by Dhaka Education Board. It said these institutions charged extra fees for the 2015 academic year.

The institutions are Motijheel Ideal School and College, Viqarunnisa Noon School, Mirpur Bangla School and College, Dhaka Residential Model College, Rajuk Uttara Model College, Holy Cross Girls High School, Siddheswari Girls High School, Government Laboratory High School, National Ideal School and College, YWCA School, Milestone

College, Udayan High School, Cambrian School and College, Raihan College in Lalbagh, Alimuddin High School in Mirpur, Mohammadpur High School in New Market, Armanitola Government High School, West End High School, Anandamoyee Girls High School, Ahmed Bawani Academy, Monipur High School, Mirpur Adorsha High School, Mirpur Shaheed Smriti High School, Jannat Academy in Mirpur, and Haji Billat Ali Adorsha High School in Azampur.

On November 10, the same bench ordered the government to immediately stop charging additional fees at the schools across the country. l

Martyred Intellectuals Day

Land acquisition problem holds back start of construction

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 6

 PAGE 1 COLUMN 4

wreaths at the pedestal of the Martyred Intellectuals’ Memorial in the capital early in the morning.

Both of them stood in solemn silence there for some time. The president and the PM also talked to the war-wounded freedom fighters there.

On his arrival at the memorial, the president was received by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina. Members of the cabinet, the chiefs of the three services and high civil and military officials were also present.

Flanked by central leaders of the party, Sheikh Hasina, also the president of Bangladesh Awami League, laid another wreath at the memorial.

Hasina then went to Dhanmondi and placed wreaths at the portrait of Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman on road 32.

Around 10am, BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia along with the party’s acting secretary general Mirza Fakhrul Islam Alamgir and other central leaders paid homage to the martyred intellectuals by placing wreaths at the memorial.

On the night of December 14 in 1971,

over 200 Bangali intellectuals including professors, journalists, doctors, artistes, engineers and writers were picked up in Dhaka by the Pakistani occupation forces, aided by their local collaborators.

The intellectuals were taken blindfolded to torture cells in Mirpur, Mohammadpur, Nakhalpara, Rajarbagh and other locations in different parts of the city and most notably Rayerbazar and Mirpur. Since then, the day is being observed as the Martyred Intellectuals Day. Hundreds of people gathered at the memorial to honour the intellectuals who were murdered in the killing fields of Rayerbazaar during the last days of the Liberation War. Yesterday, a group of children staged a symbolic act, replicating the Rayerbazar killings.

This year’s observances are different because four of the masterminds – Motiur Rahman Nizami, Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mujaheed, Chowdhury Mueen-Uddin and Syed Ashrafuzzaman – have been sentenced to death by the war crimes tribunals. The verdicts are awaiting execution. l

UN talks agree building blocks  PAGE 1 COLUMN 1

too heavy a burden on emerging economies compared to the rich.

“We’ve got what we wanted,” said Indian Environment Minister PrakashJavedekar, who said the text preserved a notion enshrined in a 1992 climate convention that the rich have to lead the way in making cuts in greenhouse gas emissions.

It also satisfied rich nations led by the United States who say it is time for fast-growing emerging economies to rein in fast-rising emissions. China is now the biggest greenhouse gas emitter ahead of the United States, the EU and India.

US Special Climate Change Envoy Todd Stern said that a joint US-China deal last month to curb emissions had helped show new ways to bridge a standoff between rich and poor. “The announcement of a few weeks ago came in handy here,” he said.

“This is a good document to pave the way to Paris,” EU Climate Action and Energy Commissioner Miguel Arias Canete told Reuters at the end of the talks about limiting more floods, desertification, heat waves and rising sea levels.

Some environmental groups, however, said the deal, reached at a tent city on a military base in the Peruvian capital, was far too weak.

“We went from weak to weaker to weakest,” Samantha Smith of the WWF conservation group said of successive drafts at the Lima talks.

New Style deal

The idea of a UN deal with obligations for all nations marks a shift from the 1997 Kyoto Protocol, which obliges only the rich to cut emissions.

Christiana Figueres, the UN’s climate chief, said Lima found a new ways to define the obligations of rich and poor. “That is a very important breakthrough,” she said.

“What we are seeing is a new form of international cooperation on climate change where all countries participate with a new set of rules,” said Jennifer Morgan of the World Resources Institute think-tank.

The UN Climate Change Secretariat says that the combined pledges by all nations likely in Paris will be too weak to achieve a goal of limiting warming to an agreed goal of 2 degrees Celsius above pre-industrial times.

Under the Lima deal, national pledges will be added up in a report

by November 1, 2015, to assess their aggregate effect in slowing rising temperatures.

But, after opposition led by China, there will not be a full-blown review to compare each nation’s level of ambition.

And the text lays out a vast range of options for the Paris accord, including the possibility of aiming for zero net global emissions by 2100 or earlier in a drastic shift from fossil fuels towards renewable energies such as wind and solar power. l

“We hope that the problem will be solved this month and construction work would start in January,” he told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The work for the country’s first expressway was scheduled to be completed by this June.

In January 2011, the government signed an agreement with Bangkok-based Ital-Thai to build the 4-lane expressway at a cost of Tk8,703 crore

under the Public-Private Partnership (PPP) scheme.

Soon after the signing, Ital-Thai reportedly fell into a fund crisis. It failed to convince financiers to get the funds needed for conducting the feasibility study; detailed design; soil test; assessing environmental impacts; and resettlement plan after land acquisition.

On April 3, 2011, groundwork began at a snail’s pace and at the end of that month, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina

laid the foundation. Construction was scheduled to kick off in July 2011 and be completed in 42 months.

The proposed expressway starts at the Shahjalal airport and runs alongside the New Airport Road via Mohakhali, Tejgaon and Moghbazar to the Kamalapur Railway Station and connects with the Dhaka-Chittagong Highway near Kutubkhali via Golapbagh and Jatrabari.

The Ital-Thai Development

CU Chhatra League infighting kills one  PAGE 1 COLUMN 5

The injured – SM Alauddin Alam and Fahim of philosophy; Rimon of botany; and Sabbir Hannan of soil science departments received primary treatment at the medical centre. Of them, Alauddin is the former human resource affairs secretary of Chhatra League’s CU unit while the others are assistant secretaries.

Md Ismail, OC of Hathazari police station, said they had fired 30 rounds of rubber bullets and tear gas canisters to quell the clashing groups. Tapos and the injured were first taken to the CU medical centre.

Additional police have been deployed on the campus to avert further clashes.

Following the killing, police raided the Shah Jalal dormitory and detained at least 30 Chhatra League activists. They also recovered a light gun and five rounds of bullets and a number of sharp weapons, Additional Superintendent of Police (North) Mohammed Shahidullah told the Dhaka Tribune.

After a post-mortem examination, the body was handed over to Tapos’ relatives around 3:30pm.

oil from the water. Yesterday, several oil collectors said they had lost interest because the owner company was not paying them the promised Tk30 per litre.

As of yesterday, Padma Oil Company, owner of the oil, has only collected around 20,000 litres of the spilled oil from the locals which is merely onetenth of the 200,000 litres feared to have spilled and spread over an 80km area in the forest.

Around 6am on Tuesday, oil tanker Southern Star 7, carrying 357,664 litres of furnace oil for a power plant in Gopalganj, sank in the Sela River, a sanctuary of dolphins, after being hit by another cargo vessel.

When the vessel was salvaged more than two days later, around two-thirds of the oil spilled into the river. Furnace oil, which comes in thick black chunks, have already covered the vegetation

of Tapos’ killers, after visiting Tapos’ body at the college morgue.

CFC demands removal of VC, proctor

After the killing, Chhatra League activists belonging to the CFC group at a press conference demanded immediate removal of Vice-Chancellor Professor Anwarul Azim Arif and Proctor Siraj.

They met the journalists at the Chittagong Press Club around 5:30pm.

Former president of the unit Mamunul Haque and former vice-president Shahadat Hossain Juel were present.

Probe body formed

CFC group leader Amit blamed Proctor Siraj Ud Dowla for not resolving the long-standing feud amongst the Chhatra League factions due to his personal interest.

Amit accused Ashrafuzzaman Asha, Rupom Bishwas, Asifuzzaman, Mizanur Rahman Bipul, Shohel Khan, Shahrid Shuvo and Kawsar for carrying out the attack on the CFC men under

the order of Ariful Islam and Jalal.

The CFC leaders and witnesses said during the clashes, neither the proctor nor any assistant proctor was seen to quell the situation.

Amit claimed that Tapos would not have died had the proctorial body performed their duties properly.

Awami League leader Mohiuddin demanded immediate arrest and trial

Toll on wildlife rises in the Sundarbans  PAGE 1 COLUMN 2

Corporation Limited has entered a $1.062bn contract with the China Railway Construction Corporation to build the Dhaka elevated expressway.

“With help from the Bangladesh Army, we have almost resolved the problem centring land acquisition for the first phase. The financial problem has also been resolved through the agreement between CRCC and Ital-Thai,” Bridges Division Secretary Khandaker Anwarul Islam said yesterday. l

on the banks of the Sela River in a thick black sheet of oil.

Amir Hossain Chowdhury, another divisional forest officer, said the local people can collect 50,000 litres at best.

“As more time elapses, the oil will get more difficult to collect because it will settle everywhere,” he said.

Shipping Ministry adamant

In an inter-ministerial meeting at the secretariat yesterday, the Shipping Ministry yet again turned down a Forest Ministry recommendation to permanently make the Sela River off limits for large commercial vessels.

Emerging from the meeting, Shipping Minister Shajahan Khan, who said on Saturday that the oil spill was not a matter of big concern, told journalists yesterday: “Because the Sela channel is temporarily shut down, vessels [to and from the Mongla port] are having

to travel 100 additional kilometres.”

He has been saying from the beginning that the Sela route could not be permanently shut down because it would “virtually cripple the Mongla port.”

The meeting yesterday made another decision to raise the price of crowd-collected oil to Tk40 per litre from the existing Tk30.

Shajahan also said the vegetation along the riverbanks will be cleared by trimming and using sprays.

Yesterday’s meeting also decided to arrange emergency relief for the local people who depend on catching crab, oyster and small fish.

Human chain

A number of pro-environment groups yesterday formed a human chain at the Mongla port town demanding a ban on commercial vessels plying the Sela River.

They also demanded neutral inves-

A five-member investigation committee was formed in the evening at an emergency meeting of the university’s deans, provosts and proctors led by the VC. Prof Tawhid Osman, the dean of Biological Sciences Faculty, has been made convener of the probe body, ProVC Prof Dr Iftekhar Uddin Chowdhury told the Dhaka Tribune. They were asked to submit report in two weeks.

The meeting also agreed not to declare the university closed. Police would deal with the legal matters regarding the murder and recovery of arms, he added. l

tigation into the accident and adequate safety measures for the mangrove forest which plays the role of a natural shield for the country.

Poribesh Bachao Andolon (Poba), Mongla Nagorik Samaj, Save the Sundarbans Foundation, Bangladesh Resource Centre for Indigenous Knowledge (Barcik) and Service Bangladesh jointly organised the human chain.

Correction

In yesterday’s front page lead story titled “First dead dolphin spotted,” it was written that Dhaka Tribune photojournalist Syed Zakir Hossain had actually taken the accompanying photo of the dolphin corpse on Saturday.

The photo was actually taken on Friday. But because the he had gone deep into the forest and could not send the picture right away as the area was out of Internet network coverage. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Contract to be signed for Bibiyana South plant

Ex-Jubo Dal leader of Hazaribagh shot dead

n Aminur Rahman Rasel

A ward-level BNP youth leader was shot in broad daylight and killed by unidentified gunmen yesterday at the Hazaribagh area of the capital.

The deceased was Afzal Hossain Sattar alias Gal Kata Sattar, 37. The now raw-hide trader used to be the president of the Ward-48 Jatiyatabadi Juba Dal. He is a resident of Hazaribagh, a locality that is under Ward-48 of the Dhaka South City Corporation.

Afzal is also accused in at least 14 criminal cases under the Hazaribagh Police Station.

An eyewitness of the incident said Afzal was buying fish from hawkers around the Tin Matha Mosque – at a walking distance from his house – after saying Zuhr prayers. Some 5-6 armed men suddenly surrounded him, and fired several rounds. The youths fled on motorbikes before locals could react.

Police have confirmed the incident while the shooters could not be identified by the time this report was

The state-owned Power Development Board (PDB) is set to sign a contract with two companies from Spain and South Korea for the construction of the 400MW gas-based combined cycle Bibiyana South Plant in Habiganj.

“We will sign the companies [Isolux Ingenieria SA of Spain and Samsung C&T Corporation of South Korea] up as EPC contractors on Monday,” PDB Chairman Md Abduhu Ruhulla told the Dhaka Tribune.

For the first time, the government will be using the Energy Development and Maintenance Fund - created by introducing an additional amount to electricity prices to finance this project – for building the plant in place of the cancelled Bibiyana 1 project by the Summit Group.

The PDB – under the Ministry of Power, Energy and Mineral Resources – will implement the project.

The gas-based power plant

project was planned considering the availability of gas. US-based oil giants Chevron recently completed the Bibiyana gas field expansion project, launched two years ago, aiming to produce an additional 300mmcfd of gas.

The government selected Isolux Ingenieria SA of Spain and Samsung C&T Corporation of South Korea, which made the lowest bid of $288m out of six bidders in the tender call, to build the plant as engineering, procurement and construction (EPC) contractors.

“After signing of the EPC contract, the PDB requires the owner’s engineer for the implementation of this project. The construction period for this project is 900 days, including a simple cycle completion time of 720 days,” Abduhu Ruhulla said.

The PDB invited the expression of interest (EOI) from reputed international engineering consulting firms for providing consultancy services as owner’s engineer for the con-

struction of the plant.

Alongside the Bibiyana South, another plant named Bibiyana 3 with 399MW gas-based power plant will be built under the PDB. Around Tk2,000 crore will be used from the Energy Development and Maintenance Fund, the consumers’ bill fund created by the Bangladesh Energy Regulatory Commission (BERC), for constructing the power plant.

“This is a good sign for us. I am very happy to know that for the first time funds will be used from the consumers’ bill fund to build the power plant. We created the fund to develop the power sector,” BERC Chairman AR Khan told the Dhaka Tribune.

“We are pleased. We want to see the power plant completed in time as there will be no fund crisis to build the plant. Even gas is available there,” said Prof M Shamsul Alam, energy affairs adviser for the Consumers Association of Bangladesh (CAB). l

n

3

Monday, December 15, 2014

Tribune Report

being filed.

Afzal’s son Ishtiaque and brother Saidul Haque rushed him to Dhaka Medical College Hospital (DMCH) as soon as they were notified of the shooting. Doctors declared him dead around 2:30pm. The body has been sent to Dhaka Medical College morgue for autopsy.

According to sources at DMCH, one of the bullets hit him on the head while three others hit his waist and back.

Saidul told reporters at DMCH that as his brother was involved with BNP city unit’s politics, political opponents might have killed him.

“Some local Jubo League members were pressuring him to join their party. As he denied, they killed him,” he said.

Officer-in-Charge of Hazaribagh police station Kazi Moinul Islam said Afzal was a known criminal of Hazaribagh. He was accused in over 14 cases, 10 of which were murder charges.

Saidul claimed that all of the cases filed against him were “politically motivated.” l

Tazreen Fashions owner sent to jail n Our Correspondent, Chittagong A Chittagong court yesterday sent Md Delwar Hossain, owner of Tazreen Fashions, to jail in a money embezzlement case.

Metropolitan Magistrate Syed Mashfiqul Islam passed the order rejecting Delwar’s bail plea.

Chittagong Metropolitan Police Additional Deputy Commissioner (prosecution) Kazi Muttaki Ibn Minan said the court adjourned its proceedings until December 26.

According to the case, Tazreen Fashions purchased accessories worth Tk34.74 lakh from KDS Accessories Limited in 2010-11 fiscal year but it has not paid the dues in the last four years.

As Delwar harassed KDS Accessories in different ways, its Legal Assets Department Assistant Manager Shimul Sen lodged a case with the court in 2013.

Delwar was on a four-week bail from High Court in the case. But the court ordered him to surrender before a lower court after completion of the bail period. But he did not do so.

Delwar surrendered yesterday before the court. l

Garment worker gang raped in Gazipur n Our Correspondent, Gazipur

Bangladesh Rukhe Darao, a platform for pro-liberation forces, bring out a flag procession starting from Central Shaheed Minar and ending at Shikha Chirantan in the capital yesterday in observance of the Martyred Intellectuals Day MEHEDI HASAN

MONEY LAUNDERING & TAX EVASION

ACC summons 10 Nasir Group officials n Adil Sakhawat The Anti-Corruption Commission has summoned 10 senior officials of Nasir Group, including the company’s chairman, to appear in front of the commission before 2pm today in connection with their alleged involvement with money laundering and tax evasion.

ACC Assistant Director SM Rafiqul Islam issued the summon on December 11 to the office address of the accused, an ACC source told the Dhaka Tribune.

Those summoned are Nasir Group of Industries Chairman Nasir Uddin Biswas, his wife and also Nasir Leaf Tobacco Industries Director Taslima Sultana, General Manager (import) Alfaz Uddin, GM (commercial) Abu Said, GM (marketing & sales) Shamim Ahmed, GM (admin) Abdus Sobhan, GM (accounts & Finance) Sidddiqur Rahman, GM (export) AKM Shahiduzzaman, Assistant GM (purchase) Mobaidul Islam and Cashier Mohammed Shamim.

The commission is investigating the

summoned individuals’ involvement in laundering over Tk200 crore annually by evading tax against every letter of credit (LC) to import products. The amount might be much higher.

According to the allegations, Nasir Group used bank accounts to pay only 40%-50% of the total money for every LC to import products. The remaining amount was paid by using hundi businesses to evade tax.

The source also said the group was siphoning the money through seven to eight hundi trading organisations who mailed Nasir Group documents acknowledging the transfer of funds.

When contacted, ACC Chairman M Bodiuzzaman said: “We found the allegations against Nasir Group last year.

After evaluating the allegations, the commission decided to run an inquiry against Nasir Group.

“The commission will take action against anyone who we found to be involved with the allegations,” the chairman added. l

A garment worker was gang-raped by six unidentified men on Friday while she was looking for a place at Beraiderchala in Gazipur to rent, but she alleged that the local police station refused to register a case.

The woman aged 21 also alleged that Officer-in-Charge for investigation at Sripur Model police station Khan Md Abul Kashem had threatened with filing the rape case against her neighbours who had accompanied her there to file the complaint on Saturday night.

Coworkers told the Dhaka Tribune that the young girl, daughter of a farmer in Kandipara village of Gafargaon upazila, Mymensingh, had been a worker at Sadsain Apparel of Noman Group in Jamirdia area of Bhaluka for two months. She had to leave her previous rented residence as the owner asked all tenants to find accommodation elsewhere.

On Friday, the woman was looking for a place for rent in Beraiderchala around 4pm when two unknown people told her they knew a few houses to let.

On the way, the woman sensed that the men were up to something else and wanted to leave, but they forcefully took her to a five-storey building under construction. They took her to the makeshift room for construction work-

Sirajul ordered killing of 42 Hindus n Tribune Report

Freedom fighter Nimai Chandra Das yesterday described before the International Crimes Tribunal 1 how Sheikh Sirajul Haque and his accomplices including Khan Akram Hossain and Abdul Latif Talukder had shot dead 42 Hindus at Shakhari Kathi Bazar of Bagerhat on November 5, 1971.

Nimai, 62, the seventh prosecution witness, said his maternal uncle Nokul Das was among those killed on that day.

Sirajul, Akram and Latif are facing eight charges of crimes against humanity and genocide committed in Bagerhat in 1971.

The witness said razakar founder AKM Yusuf, Sirajul, one Rajab Ali of Bagerhat and leaders of Jamaat-e-Islami and Muslim League had gone to Kochua after the war began to form Peace Committee, an auxiliary force to the Pakistani occupation forces.

They appointed one Modasser Mollah chief of its Badhal union unit. After the meeting, they set fire on the houses of Andhar Manik, Kholisha Khali, Chorkathi and Baroikhali villages.

“That committee recruited around 25-30 people in razakar, another auxiliary force, and sent them to Khulna for

training.”

Nimai said: “After the training, razakars set up camp at Bishwas Bari of Doiboggohati of Bagerhat. Khan Akram was the commander of the camp. After setting up of the camp, razakars began looting and torturing villagers.”

Nimai said he along with others went to India for training on June 4 and returned home on July 7 or 8.

At the end of July, members of that razakar camp “invited” Hindus at Shonaton Das’s house in Shakhari Kathi village to convert them into Islam saying that they would not have to go to India or if they took Islam as their religion.

“We saw from a far place that a cow was slaughtered at the house and wearing Tupi around 200-250 Hindus ate beef. Maulvi Mokbul administered prayers,” Nimai said. Akram among other razakars was present on the spot.

“At one point, someone set fire to two haystacks and people began running. After that incident, torture of the razakars increased,” he added.

On November 4, freedom fighters attacked the Doiboggohati razakar camp; but they had to retreat due to heavy rains. On the following morning they came to know that the razakars had moved to elsewhere.

Nimai and three other freedom fighters then went to Shakhari Kathi Bazar. After some time, around 50-60 razakars came to the place and created blockades at three different points.

Quoting accused Sirajul, the witness said the razakars took position there to catch the freedom fighters who had attacked the Doiboggohati camp.

They saw the razakars tying the Hindus together in a queue. “Apart from Sirajul, I could recognise Akram and Latif among other razakars,” Nimai said.

On Sirajul’s instruction, razakars took the detainees at the bank of a nearby canal. “Siraj Master blew whistle three times and all the razakars opened fire.”

Around 42 people were killed and many others injured in that shooting.

The bodies were taken by the razakars to Ramchandrapur village buried in a large hole the following day.

Nimai identified the trio in the dock.

The witness said he had filed a complaint with the Chief Judicial Magistrate’s Court of Bagerhat on May 10, 2009 accusing 19 persons for the killing. The case was later transferred to tribunal.

The case was adjourned until today when the defence counsels would cross examine the witness. l

ACC quizzes Range police commandant Mizanur n Adil Sakhawat

The Anti-Corruption Commission yesterday interrogated Mizanur Rahman, the commandant of Range Reserve Force under Dhaka Range Police unit, on charges of accumulating illegal wealth worth around Tk100 crore.

The ACC authorities quizzed Mizanur, also a former SP, from 11am-

12:30pm yesterday, an ACC official said seeking anonymity. Deputy Director Hamidul Hasan recorded his statement.

The anti-graft body initiated inquiry against the police official in 2012. The two previous inquiry officers – Chittagong district unit Deputy Director Golam Morshed and Deputy Director Fazlul Haque of the headquarters – suggested disposal of the allegations against him.

But the commission decided to run another inquiry against him.

An ACC source said the commission had asked Mizanur to submit all the documents of his bank accounts – both personal and business transactions – within this month. “The police official has three fertiliser manufacturing factories – in Savar, Matuail and Rayerbazar areas – flouting government service

rules. But he showed the ownership of those companies in his wife’s name.”

When contacted, Mizanur said he had gone to the ACC office for having a cup of tea with Director General Shahiduzzaman. “I did not face any interrogation. There is no inquiry running against me,” he claimed.

In 2010, Chittagong-based fertiliser trader Omar Faruq filed a written allega-

tion with the then IGP alleging that Mizan, then SP of Faridpur, had forced him to pay Tk11.5 lakh, with threats of putting him in “crossfire.” He also claimed that Mizan had been threatening people claiming that he had been a relative of the prime minister. Mizan was withdrawn the same year with the police headquarters on charges of attempting to grab farmlands in Gopalganj district. l

ers; four more men were there.

They tied the girl’s hands and gagged her. They beat her severely as she tried to get free. Then the six men raped the girl.

The victim told this correspondent that two of the rapists were aged 1820 while others were between 28 and 35. One of the rapists was called by the name of Asadullah Prodhan.

She said three of her perpetrators attempted to kill her by strangling when another told them to let her go as she did not know any of them. After that the rapists left the place, leaving her there seriously injured.

After about an hour the woman came out of the building and returned to her residence by an auto-rickshaw.

The next day she disclosed the incident to her land lord Mafiz Uddin and a few neighbours. Kabir Hossain, son of the land lord, and neighbours Shafiqul Islam and Bala Master took her to the police station around 9:30pm on Saturday.

The woman alleged that hearing her complaints OC (investigation) Abul Kashem got furious and started hurling abuses at her and threatened her companions with a rape case against them.

When contacted, Abul Kashem, however, denied the allegations, saying: “The authority to register a case lies with the OC; I am no one to say yes or no.” l

Not so happy any more n Mohammad Jamil Khan and Sanaul Islam Tipu

The forensic report of actress Naznin Akhter Happy, conducted in connection with a repression of women case that she filed, will be ready within 10 days, the head of Dhaka Medical College forensic department yesterday said.

Prof Habibuzzaman Chowdhury confirmed that a three-member board would prepare the report.

Happy filed the case against national cricket team paceman Rubel Hossain with Mirpur police on Saturday under the Women and Children Repression Prevention Act. Forensic department sources said X-rays, a physical examination and blood and saliva samples were taken to run various tests, including a DNA test.

SI Masud Parvez, also IO of the case, said police took Happy to the Tejgaon Victim Support Centre for security reasons. “Once we get the medical report, we will conduct a DNA test on Rubel who is currently under police watch,” he said.

Metropolitan Magistrate Meher Nigar Suchona yesterday accepted the FIR filed by Happy and fixed January 11 to file the investigation report.

According to the FIR, Rubel told Happy that they would marry and had an affair that included physical relations for the last nine months. The couple was together as recently as December 1.

Happy, the heroine of “Kichhu Asha Kichhu Bhalobasa,” said they first met through friends and then stayed in touch via Facebook and mobile telephone.

“We had an affair and he used me,” she said. “If he marries me, then I will withdraw the case.”

The Dhaka Tribune tried contacting Riubel over the phone but found it had been switched off. l

4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Monday, December 15, 2014

Committee probing Zaglul’s accident gets extension

DB arrests four suspects involved with Khilgaon mugging n Tribune Report

It will also invite witnesses to testify via newspaper circular the driver and the bus in that time. So n Shohel Mamun they were given another seven-day exThe probe committee investigating the accident that killed veteran journalist Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury were given seven more days as both the committee and police have failed to identify the killer bus or its driver.

Mohammad Iqbal, officer-in-charge of Kalabagan police station where a case was filed in this connection, said: “Our investigation is going on, and we hope to detain the driver and find the bus.”

The accident took place at Kawran Bazar on the night of November 29.

The committee requested the Road Transport and Highways Division for a seven-day extension, which was granted yesterday, sources at the division told the Dhaka Tribune.

Asked about the progress of the investigation, Moshiar Rahman, director of administration at Bangladesh Road Transport Authority (BRTA) and head of the committee, told the Dhaka Tribune: “We have taken testimonies of a few witnesses and also held a few meetings in this regard.

But when asked about the findings from the testimonies, he refused to answer and said: “We need more time.”

When asked about the extension, MAN Siddique, secretary at the Road Transport and Highways Division, told the Dhaka Tribune: “At first, the ministry gave the committee three days to submit a report on this accident, which was later received a seven-day extension. But they were unable to identify

tension.”

Shyamal Dutta, editor of the Daily Bhorer Kagoj and a member of the probe committee, said the committee had published a notice in newspapers on December 2 and December 3, asking witnesses to appear before the committee or at the BRTA office to give their accounts of the accident, but no one showed up.

Another circular would be published tomorrow in this regard, and the witnesses who came forward to testify would be rewarded by the late journalist’s family, Shyamal told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

The identities of the witnesses would not be disclosed, he added.

The other members of the committee Imtiaz Ahmed, deputy commissioner of the Traffic Division (north) of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, Nahmudul Hasan, urban planner at Dhaka Transport Coordination Authority, and Khandakar Mahbubur Rahman, traffic control officer at Dhaka North City Corporation.

Road Transport and Bridges Minister Obaidul Quader announced the formation of the probe committee during the inauguration of traffic awareness campaign at Manik Mia Avenue in Dhaka on November 30.

He said: “The nation has suffered an irrevocable loss with the demise of Zaglul Ahmed Chowdhury. We have ensure punishment of the person responsible for this.” l

Tk18 lakh robbed in front of a bank

Road accidents kill 5, injure 13 across the country

Muggers snatched a bag full of money away from an employee of Beximco Pharma at the staircases of Janata Bank’s Shyampur branch in the capital around noon yesterday.

“The victim, Harun-ur-Rashid, 45, was carrying Tk18 lakh in the bag. He was on his way to deposit the money in the bank when the miscreants blocked his way and physically assaulted him, leaving with the money,” Sub-Inspector Mohidul Islam of Kadamtoli police station told the Dhaka Tribune. l

Five people were killed and 13 others injured in road accidents in Savar, Gazipur, Sylhet, and Jessore yesterday.

A man was killed in an accident on Baipile-Abdullahpur highway in Jirabo Bus Station area in Ashulia, reports our Savar correspondent.

The victim is Musfiqul Islam, 20, of the Kotwali area in Rangpur.

Police said Musfiqul was killed on the spot as a truck ran him over as he fell onto the road after the truck hit the rickshaw carrying the victim. Police

n Tribune Report

n Tribune Report

Police present four suspects, arrested for mugging Tk20 lakh, at the capital’s DB office yesterday

22 people donate bodies, eyes n Tribune Report

Twenty two people donated their bodies and eyes to different medical colleges for medical research at a posthumous organ donation programme in the capital yesterday.

Marking the Martyred Intellectuals Day, the Sandhani National Eye Donation Society (SNES),a voluntary organisation of medical students, and the Posthumous Body Donation Programme, a platform of volunteers, jointly organised the programme at the Sandhani Hospital auditorium.

Among the 22 donors, veteran cultural personality Kamal Lohani, actor Piyush Bandapaddhay, architects Mobasher Hossain, Shamsul Wares, poet Rabiul Hussain, human rights activist Aroma Dutta, researcher Reza Rahman,

seized the bus, but its driver managed to escape.

In Sylhet, two people were killed and four others injured in a head-on collision between a bus and a CNGrun auto rickshaw on Dhaka-Sylhet highway in the South Surma upazila, reports our Sylhet correspondent.

The deceased are Anfor Ali alias Nunu Miah, 60, of Kazirgaon village and Joynal Abedin, 23, of Mazlispur village of the Osmaninagar upazila.

Police said Anfor and Joynal were killed on the spot when the two vehicles collided head-on in the Tetly

journalist Sagar Lohani donated bodies and eyes.

On behalf of the donors, Kamal Lohani handed over their declaration papers to the Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU) Anatomy Department Chairman Prof Khandakar Manzare Shamim.

Speaking on the occasion, Kamal said: “I think the bodies of the donors will be now used for the people who are really in need those... But there is a religious taboo that actually make barriers to such contributions. So, we need to raise awareness from our families.”

On the religious perspective on the donation of body after death, Maulana Ziaul Hasan said: “There is no religious prohibition to donate posthumous body. Rather it will bring more virtues to a donor.”

Religious scholars can also play a vital

area. Police seized the vehicles after the incident.

In Jessore, two people were killed in a road accident on Jessore-Khulna highway in the Padmabila area, reports our Jessore correspondent.

The deceased are Sheikh Shaheen,31, of Narendrapur area in Jessore Sadar, and Ramjan Ali, 30, of the same area.

Police said the accident took place as a truck hit the motorcycle of the victims around 11am, killing Ramjan on the spot.

Locals put a blockade on the road for sometimes after the incident.

In Gazipur, nine people were injured

Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury gets Samad Memorial Award n Tribune Report

Eminent columnist, poet, litterateur and veteran of the language movement of 1952 Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury was awarded the PIB-Sohel Samad Memorial Award-2014.

Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu handed over a crest to Gaffar Chowdhury at a programme at the auditorium of the Press Institute of Bangladeshi (PIB) in the capital yesterday.

Meanwhile, Sohel Samad’s family member Belal Samad handed over a cheque of Tk 50,000 and PIB Chairman Habibur Rahman Milon handed over a certificate to the veteran journalist at the programme.

Speaking on the occasion, Gaffar Chowdhury said: “This award should be given to those who will have outstanding performances in

Information Minister Hasanul Haque Inu hands over crest for PIB-Sohel Samad Memorial Award to columnist Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury yesterday RAJIB DHAR journalism to keep alive the memory of Shohel Samad.”

Immoral practices are becoming more prominent in journalism, and journalists becoming businessman in the country, he said.

“We need objective journalism to

MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

remove the prevailing situation,” he added. Inu said though Abdul Gaffar Chowdhury is a man of certain period, but he has succeed to transcend his period. He has a vast experience of observations on Bangladesh. He is a witnesses of three pillar of Bangla-

desh like Language Movement of 52, Liberation War of 71 and Democracy Movement of 90, the minister said.

Cultural personality Kamal Lohani said the song “Aamar Bhaiyer Rokte Rangano Ekushe February” by Abdul Gaffar will remain as long as Bangladesh and Bangla language exist.

Abdul Gaffar writes against bad politics, fundamentalism, racism and corruption, he said.

Golam Sarwar, editor of Bangla daily Samakal, said although there are some criticism about the columns by Gaffar Chowdhury, people read the columns even who does not like him personally.

PM’s Media Adviser Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury Iqbal Sobhan Chowdhury, Information Secretary Mortuza Ahmed, Belal Samad and Habibur Rahman Milon also spoke on the occasion. l

Swapno launches winter clothing drive to help the homeless n Tribune Report

To help the homeless this winter, Swapno, a charitable, non-political organisation formed by students of different universities, has started “Operation Ushnota.”

Under the programme, they are distributing warm clothes among the poor in Dhaka, Rajshahi and Chapainawabganj.

Under the slogan “Let’s spread warmth,” they have distributed warm clothes among at least 200 people living on the streets in the capital in the last two days.

On Saturday night their operation started in the capital’s

Nilkhet and gradually covered New Market, Dhanmondi, Shyamoli, Kalyanpur, Mirpur, Bijoy Sarani, Farmgate, Karwan Bazar, Shahbagh, and the High Court area.

Mamunur Rashid, a fourth year student of political science at Dhaka University and convener of Swapno’s Dhaka unit, said Swapno had distributed warm clothes among around 600 poor people in different villages of the two other districts so far.

The donations and warm clothes were collected through campaigning at different public and private universities of the capital. l

role to raise awareness among the people and to reduce religious taboo, he said.

Architect Rabiul Hussain said a person can contribute to the society even after his or her death by donating posthumous body or any part of body.

With the donation by the eminent personalities, the country’s people will now be encouraged to donate their bodies, said Laila Anjuman, a professor at the anatomy department of the BSMMU. It will bring a great contribution to the medical education in the country,” she said.

“But we have some problems in preserving the body due to lack of modern technological supports and systems in the medical colleges, she added.

Magician Jewel Aich and his wife Bipasha Aich were the first people who donated their posthumous bodies in the country. l

in an accident on the Dhaka-Tangail highway in the Bimile area, reports our Gazipur correspondent.

The victims are Chand Mia, Rafiqul Islam, Bristi Aktar, Dabir Uddin, Shahera Begum, Shahdat Hossain, and Misbar Alam. The identities of the two other victims could not be known.

Police said the accident took place as a truck hit a human hauler injuring its passengers including its driver.

Locals rushed the injured to the Konabari Clinic. Later, two of them were shifted to Gazipur Sadar Hospital as their condition deteriorated. l

Detectives have arrested four armed suspects thought to be involved in hijacking Tk20 lakh from the capital’s Khilagon area.

The arrestees were identified as Mostak, Sohel alias Banuti Sohel, Rasel and Arju. During the time of arrest, two foreign-made handguns, four magazines, 12 rounds of bullets, Tk 45,000 in cash, and two motorcycles were recovered from their possession, said Krishna Pada Roy, Deputy Commissioner of DB police.

Krishna, while addressing a briefing at the media and community centre of Dhaka Metropolitan Police, said a team of DB police arrested the alleged muggers from the Hatkhola road of the Wari area in old-Dhaka, upon receiving a tip-off.

The detectives were investigating a mugging case in which muggers snatched Tk 20 lakh after shooting Akota Store Manager Ahbdus Salam around noon on December 7. The incident happened in the Goran Bazar, Khilgaon.

DC Krishna Pada confirmed that the arrestees confessed to being involved with the mugging during primary interrogation, and that separate action is also being taken for possession of illegal weapons. l

Third death anniversary of Quazi Azher Ali today n Tribune Report Today is the third death anniversary of Quazi Azher Ali, former secretary of the government of Bangladesh.

The founder president of Bangladesh University died in 2009 of old-age complications.

Quazi Azher Ali joined the civil service of Pakistan upon completion of his education from Cambridge University in UK. He had served as the sub-divisional officer, additional deputy commissioner and deputy commissioner during the Pakistani regime.

After independence, he served as the chairman of the Power Development Board. Construction of power line from Teknaf to Tetulia is worth mention among his contributions.

Apart from serving the government, he has also written books on various subjects including rural development and district administration. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

News

Security tightened in capital ahead of Victory Day Vehicles are asked to take alternative routes because of a special programmes to Dilkusha commercial area will also to Ganabhaban Crossing, and from the be constant vigilance by plainclothes n Tazlina Zamila Khan be regulated. All Rajuk office- and Gu- Defence Ministry Gap-Planning Com- police to avert any criminal activity.”

Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP) and RAB have ramped up security in the capital ahead of the 43rd Victory Day, which will be celebrated tomorrow.

Motor vehicles were asked to take alternative routes because of a special programme to be attended by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, other ministers, diplomats, political leaders and freedom fighters. It is scheduled to be held at the Bangabhaban at 12 noon.

A DMP official said traffic flow would be regulated at Zero Point, Gulistan underpass and Rajuk Crossing, and only vehicles using the flyover would be allowed to move.

“Vehicles running from Ahad Box to Ittefaq Square and from Alico Gap

listan-bound buses that travel along Dainik Bangla, EBL Crossing and National Press Club can also take alternative routes. No commercial vehicles will be permitted to move from Dainik Bangla to Rajuk,” he said.

Except for the guests invited to the National Parade Square, all vehicles were requested to avoid the marked five routes from 7am to 1pm. The routes are Khezur Bagan Crossing-Urojahaj Crossing-Rokeya Sarani to Mirpur 10 Square, Shyamoli Shishumela Crossing-Agargaon Light Crossing to Rokeya Sarani, the new road in front of the prime minister’s office to Agargaon Link road, from Bijoy Sarani Crossing to Urojahaj Crossing, from Crescent Lake

mission to BICC Crossing.

VVIPs, VIPs and invited guests will start placing floral wreaths at the National Martyrs’ Memorial in Savar from 4am. All minibuses, trucks and lorries were asked to take the Gabtoli Aminbazar bridge to Savar road from 4am to 9:30am.

Dhaka-bound buses from Aricha were asked to enter the capital through the Nabinagar Bazar route while buses from Tangail would take the Kaliakair-Gazipur Sqaure-Tongi route.

DMP Additional Deputy Commissioner Saidur Rahman told the Dhaka Tribune: “The DMP has taken adequate security measures ahead of the special day for the sake of security. There will

5

Monday, December 15, 2014

Meanwhile, RAB officials will also be on alert at key areas of the capital. Security checkpoints will be set up while RAB personnel will patrol to ensure security at victory day arrangements such as meetings and cultural programmes.

Security will be tightened at Shaheed Minar, National Martyrs’ Memorial and also entertainment hubs.

Commander Mufti Mahmud Khan, director of legal and media wing of RAB, told the Dhaka Tribune the force started taking measures to ensure security on Saturday.

“Officials of all battalions have been instructed to keep programme venues across the country under watch,” he added. l

49 trafficking victims to return home from India n Our Correspondent, Jessore

Forty-nine Bangladeshi women, victims of human trafficking will return home on Sunday after languishing in an Indian shelter home for one year.

The decision of repatriating them came after India’s Mumbai based non-government organisation Rescue Foundation issued a letter to Rights Jessore, a human rights organisation in Jessore.

Escorted by 10 officials of the Mumbai police, the victims will be brought to Kolkata from Mumbai around 3:30am from where they will be taken to the Haridaspur border in Benapole.

After completing formalities with the local police station, officials of Rights Jessore will receive them in presence of Lina Javed, superintendent of Rescue Foundation.

Sources in Rescue Foundation said around two years ago a number of women and children working at different garment factories in Dhaka were trapped and lured by the their co-work-

ers, on the pretext of giving well-paid jobs in India.

The victims mostly hailed from Jessore, Norail and Satkhira districts. They were gathered at the different border points in Satkhira and Jessore first and then trafficked to India.

After crossing the border illegally, they were engaged in prostitution. Later Rescue Foundation freed them and took them to a shelter house in Mumbai where they stayed for one year.

Rights Jessore Executive Director Binoy Krishna Mollick said after receiving the letter from Rescue Foundation they carried out an investigation to confirm the identity of the victims. On obtaining permission from the Home Ministry the process for repatriation started.

The victims will first be taken under the custody of Rights Jessore and later handed over to their families. Rights Jessore is handling the cases filed by many of the families of the victims.

The rescued victims will be asked to give depositions in those connections before returning to families. l

ATTACK ON HTI STUDENTS

Police finally admit fault, four constables suspended n Our Correspondent, Barisal The probe committee of the Barisal Metropolitan Police (BMP) submitted a report on the attack and injury on a number of Health Technology Institute students.

The report acknowledged that a number of students were injured severely because of the excessive use of force and lack of control of high officials over field level law enforcers.

It also suggested the immediate suspension of four constables and the issue of show cause notices to three officials.

Shoibal Kanti Chowdhury, BMP commissioner, acknowledging the facts of the report yesterday said the authority had already suspended Khalilur Rahman, Nure Alam, Rafikul Islam, constables of police line, and Manowar Hossain, constable of Kotwali police station, for the attack.

Besides, Shakhawat Hossain, officer-in-charge of Kotwali police station, Abu Zafar, reserve force inspector of police line, Sarwar Hossain, assistant sub-inspector and also in-charge of female police barracks, were asked to show cause why they failed to control subordinate forces on that day.

At least 18 students of Barisal Health Technology Institute, mostly females,

WEATHER

DRY WEATHER LIKELY MONDAY, DECEMBER 15 DHAKA TODAY TOMORROW SUN SETS 5:14PM SUN RISES 6:34AM FORECAST FOR TODAY 27 28 28 27 26 26 28 29

Dhaka Chittagong Rajshahi Rangpur Khulna Barisal Sylhet Cox’s Bazar

17 18 15 14 13 16 15 20

YESTERDAY’S HIGH AND LOW

31.0ºC Chittagong

11.8ºC Jessore

Source: Accuweather/UNB

were injured as police went into action to disburse them while they were holding a rally in front of Barisal Sher-eBangla Medical College on December 3.

In the process the male police beat female students after entering the campus area. The rally was called by the Bangladesh Diploma Medical Technology and Pharmacy Students Association to press home their 10-point demands, including forming separate education board, upgrading job status and expanding employment scopes.

The BMP formed a three-member investigation committee on December 5 to investigate the matter.

The committee was headed by Shoyeb Ahmed, deputy commissioner (headquarters), Abu Raihan Md Saleh, deputy commissioner (traffic) and Runa Laila, assistant commissioner (city special branch) of the BMP. The photo body scrutinised photos and video footages collected from journalists and statements of witnesses.

The committee in observation acknowledged that police used excessive force to disperse agitators, field level officials failed to control subordinate forces and higher authority was misguided by field level officials, said Shoyeb Ahmed, head of the probe committee. l

Airplanes of the Bangladesh Air Force rehearse yesterday for the special fly-by scheduled for the celebration of the nation’s 43rd Victory Day tomorrow

Illegal hospital busted in capital, two jailed n Tribune Report A mobile court yesterday busted an illegal hospital and sealed off it in the capital’s Rayerbagh area.

After sealing off the hospital, the mobile court also jailed two employees of the hospital.

The mobile court led by Executive Magistrate AHM Anwar Pasha conducted a drive at Salema Hospital and Lab located at Rayerbagh.

During the drive, the mobile court found that a couple who did not have medical degree has been running the hospital.

The mobile court sentenced ASM Rabiul Awal, 43, and his wife Momtaz Begum, 36, to two years of imprisonment and fined Tk1 lakh each.

Fake nurse Sonia Akhter, 22, and a helper Lutfunnahar Begum, 36, were fined Tk1 lakh each by the mobile court.

The four convicted will have to serve three months behind the bar if they fail to pay fines, said the executive magistrate.

“The hospital had no license. The couple was caught while they were treating patients.. The nurses and technicians there are also fake. We could nab two of them,” he said.

The mobile court during the drive found that Rabiul was dressing up the abdomen of one Hosne Ara who had a surgery a few days back from the hospital. There was an infection in her abdomen as the operation was conducted wrongly, said the magistrate.

Citing Hosne Ara, mobile court sources said she had gone to Matoail Shishu Hospital for a surgery, but brokers had allured her saying that she would get treatment in cheaper rate if she comes to the hospital.

Another patient Parvez Hossain Dipu

went to the hospital with his broken hand. The fake doctors were preparing for a surgery in his hand when the law enforcers’ team arrived there, he said.

“We have also found some pregnant women who came here for follow-up medical check up,” the magistrate said.

The hospital has 27 beds. According to the law, a 27-bed hospital should have at least three doctors and six nurses.

“During interrogation, Momtaz claimed that she had nursing training form a hospital, but could not produce any document. Nurse Sonia is almost illiterate,” he said.

Major Towfiqul Bari of RAB 10 said they were collecting information of some other fake hospitals in the area and will conduct drives soon.

Dr Swapan Kumar Topadar, a representative from the Directorate General of Health, was present during the drive. l

PRAYER TIMES Fajr Sunrise Zohr Asr Magrib Esha

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

ENVIRONMENT POLLUTION

DoE fines four washing, dyeing factories in Gazipur n Our Correspondent, Gazipur The Department of Environment (DoE) fined Tk80 lakh from four dyeing and washing factories at the Tongi Bisic Industrial Area yesterday.

M and M Washing and Dyeing Mills, Colour Mark Washing Ltd, Unique Textile Mills Ltd, and Laundry Gate (Pvt) Ltd (Hossain Washing and Dyeing) were fined Tk20 lakh each for polluting the environment and damaging the ecosystem and biodiversity by emitting harmful chemicals into the Turag river, said Md Hafizur Rahman, an assistant director at the DoE. As a part of drives against polluters, Alamgir Hossain, director (monitoring and enforcement), summoned the owners or representatives of the factories to a hearing at the DoE headquar-

ters in Dhaka, he said.

Earlier on December 9, the four factories were sealed off for polluting the environment, in presence of Deputy Minister for Environment and Forests Abdullah Al Islam Jakob.

Owners and representatives of the accused factories told the DoE that they have been trying jointly to set up a central effluent treatment plant (CETP) for long time and soon set the plant.

With contribution from owners of factory at the Tongi Bisic industrial area, they have created a fund of Tk 3 crore to set up the plant, they informed the DoE. Attending the hearing, Md Mohiduddin, president of Tongi Bisic Industrial Area Factory Owners’ Association, pledged to install the plant within four months. l

‘Govt to build green satellite towns around capital’

5:12am 6:31am 11:53am 3:37pm 5:13pm 6:33 pm

n Tribune Desk

SourceL IslamicFinder.org

visit our website @

www.dhakatribune.com

RAB 10 raids and seals off an illegal hospital in the capital’s Rayerbagh area yesterday. Four people, including a quack-couple, have been sent to jail MAHMUD HOSSAIN OPU

In an effort to reduce the mounting pressure on capital Dhaka, the government will build modern and green satellite towns surrounding the city, said Housing and Public Works Minister Engineer Mosharraf Hossain yesterday.

As part of the initiative, the Jhilmil Residential Project is being built as a ‘green city’ with an independent power plant, water and waste management system and modern facilities, he said.

The Housing Minister said this while visiting the Jhilmil project at Keraniganj. State Minister for Power, Energy and Mineral Resources Nasrul Hamid

was also present. Mosharraf Hossain said a flyover linking the Jhilmil Residential area and hantinagar of the city by 2019 for ensuring a better communication system, reports UNB. “Alignment works on the flyover are done and tender under the public-private partnership will be floated by the next 10 months,” he said.

About plot allocation, Mosharraf Hossain said nobody will be able to hold more than one plots. “If anybody owns more than one, all will be cancelled keeping only one.” Housing and Public Works Secretary M Moinuddin Abdullah and Rajuk Chairman GM Joinal Abedin were also present. l

6

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Nation

Monday, December 15, 2014

No hospital for 1.5 lakh people in Madhyanagar Shekhor Bhadra, n Himadri Sunamganj More than 1.5 lakh people in Madhyanagar of Sunamganj are deprived of quality healthcare services due to lack of a healthcare centre and qualified doctors in the area.

Talking to the Dhaka Tribune, many people said 43 years have been passed of the country’s independence, the successive governments have failed to provide treatment facilities for the poor people of 147 villages under four union parishads in the remote area.

Akram Hossain, former chairman of Dakshin Bongshikunda Union Parishad, said: “We face a lot of sufferings for medical treatment as there is no healthcare facilities in the area.”

“We need to go to Kolmakanda and Dharmapasha Upazila Health Complexes, which are far away from the locality, for any kinds of treatment.”

The Awami League led government during its first tenure had assured of constructing a hospital in the area. But no hospital has been constructed till today, Manik Mia, a resident of Madhyanagar village. While addressing a farmers’ rally at Taherpur in 2010, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina assured of building a hospital. But her assurance has not been materialised till today, he said.

Children and pregnant women face unbearable miseries due lack of treat-

ment facilities in the area, Paritosh Sarkar, a resident of the same village.

In several cases, patients died before taking them to hospitals which are located far away from the locality, said Biplob Sarkar of Dakshinura village.

Although, there are two union healthcare centres at the Uttar Bangshikunda and Ramdigha villages, people have never availed treatment from any doctor at the cnetres till today, he said.

For any physical problem, they need to go either to the Kalmakanda Upazila Health Complex or to the Mymensingh Medical College Hospital, he added.

Engineer Moazzem Hossain, a lawmaker for Sunamganj 1 constituency, said they had submitted an application to the authorities concerned seeking establishment a hospital when the AL government came to the power in 1996.

Following the application, a project for constructing the hospital was approved in 1998. The tender for the project was scheduled to be floated in 2002.

But it was canceled in 2004, he said.

Meanwhile, the then caretaker government in 2007 initiated the process for constructing the hospital. Some manpower were also recruited for the project, he said. The lawmaker said the government has enlisted the hosptial project in the fifth five year plan.

“We hope to begin the construction of the hospital in the current fiscal,” Moazzem Hossain said. l

Bird poachers active in Gaibandha n Our Correspondent, Gaibandha

Children cleaning cucumbers by the side of a cucumber field in Rajshahi Godagori area yesterday. The abundant production this season has earned farmers a good deal of profit there. The photo was taken from Nakara Dighi village of Rajshahi AZAHAR UDDIN

64 brick fields face setback for coal shortage n Our Correspondent, Gopalganj

The very season to produce brick has started, but it is not possible to fire about 64 brick kilns in the district due to shortage of coal.

Construction works are being hampered as timely supply of bricks from the kilns has become low.

Karimul Sarder, the worker of MMB Brick Field said that brick-fields are near

Kishoreganj Modern Sadar Hospital in the grip of brokers, touts n Our Correspondent, Kishoreganj At least 32 medical representatives were fined by a mobile court in Kishoreganj Modern Sadar Hospital yesterday for harassing patients and doctors.

Senior Judicial Magistrate Abu Taher Md Sayeed detained the medical representative while they were roaming around the hospital around 2pm and fined Tk1,000 each.

However, they were released after paying fined and signing a bond that they would not come there during hospital hour further.

Patients and their attendances alleged that they were frequently harassed by medical representatives, touts and brokers.

According to hospital sources, the troublemakers deceive patients and their attendance in many ways taking advantages of the vulnerable situation of patients.

Ruhul Amin, a patient, said: “Move-

ments of medical representatives, brokers inside the hospital is so random that one could be confused whether they are hospital staff of not.”

Interestingly, they work together with nurses and ward boys since after admission of patients to the hospital, he said.

“Even they are seen pushing saline and injection and do some minor works for the patients alongside the hospital staffs,” said Shamsul Alam Shahin, a patient who came from Sadar upazila area.

The patients also alleged that many of the wrongdoers take advantage of ignorance of patients and their attendances and take away them to different private clinics saying that they would get better treatment there.

Being lured by them, patients go to private clinics and thus they were compelled to count extra money which they do not need to spend if they stay at the government hospital.

Dr Mrinal Kanti Pandit, civil surgeon of Kishoreganj, told this correspondent that excessive pressure of the patients hamper proper management of the hospital.

At least three attendances stay with every patient. In this way, around 1,200 attendances stay with only 400 indoor patients in the 250-bed hospital every day.

In adverse situation, it is very difficult to detect who are staffs or attendance or tout, he said.

He admitted that the services are being hampered to the patients because of prevalence of the outsiders.

He, however, asserted that punitive measures will be taken against the troublemakers.

Not only against the middlemen, if any hospital staffs were found guilty must be brought to book, he said, adding that the hospital administration is trying its best to free the hospital from all sorts of corruption and irregularities for the interests of patients. l

Robber injured in mob beating dies in Tangail n Our Correspondent, Tangail

A suspected robber, who was critically injured in a mob beating at Mirzapur upazila in Tangail district on Saturday died at hospital yesterday.

The deceased was identified as Jewel, son of Anwar Akand in Kalikapur village of Madaripur district.

Mirzapur police station Officer-inCharge Abdur Rashid said Jewel was critically injured in the mob beating while he along with his associates were returning after committing robbery in house of Mondirpara village under the upazila.

On information, police rescued him and sent to the upazila health complex from where he was shifted to Tangail Sadar Hospital. He died in the hospital. Jewel was accused of many cases and he was sentenced to 28-year jail, OC said. l

Prayer offered at the of memorial of Bir Sreshtho Mohiuddin Jahangir in Chapainawabganj on his 43rd death anniversary yesterday DHAKA TRIBUNE

Schoolgirl stabbed by stalker in Jhenaidah

Shibir leader arrested in Gazipur n Our Correspondent, Jhenidah n Our Correspondent, Gazipur A stalker allegedly stabbed a schoolgirl A shibir leader was arrested in Shalokchura Bashpatti area under Gazipur district yesterday.

The arrested was identified as Anisul Islam,24, a trainer of the organization in the area hailed from Chittagong.

Kazi Ismail Hossain, officer-incharge of Tongi Model police station said on a tip-off, police arrested Anisul from the area with some secret documents. l

while she was going to her school in Kanchannagar area of Jhenaidah yesterday morning.

The girl is Mou Aktar, 13 daughter of Nazrul Islam of Dhopaghata village of sadar upazila. She is a student of class VII at Fazar Ali Secondary School.

Eyewitnesses said Mou and her classmate were going to school to appear at the annual examination. When they reached Kanchannagar area, a

Bird hunters have become active as different species of migratory birds have begun coming to the char areas and shoals in Gaibandha.

During the winter, the charlands and shoals in Ghaghat, Teesta river, Brahmaputra river and Jamuna river see a large number of migratory birds every year in the district, locals said.

But poachers are indiscriminately hunting and selling birds posing a serious threat to wildlife.

Under The Wildlife (Protection and Safety) Act 2012, hunting birds is banned in the country.

Poachers said they catch the birds, that are in good demand for consumption, without facing restrictions from the authorities concerned. The poachers are mainly hunting different species of swans by using various locally made traps.

During a recent visit, various migratory birds, including swans of different species, were found fluttering their wings in Hansdhara, Kharjani chars in Gaibandha sadar. l

stalker started teasing them.

As they raised voice against it, the stalker stabbed Mou indiscriminately and left the scene.

Hearing her screams, locals rushed to the spot and admitted her to Jhenidah Sadar Hospital. But locals could not recognise the stalker.

Father of the victim Nazrul Islam demanded exemplary punishment for the culprit. Officer-in-charge of sadar police station Shahbuddin Azad said they were trying to identify the stalker and arrest him. l

to closure and raw bricks which have already been prepared would be damaged if coals are not sent to the burners in time.

The president of Gopalganj brick-field owners’ association Abu Nayem Khan said: “If coal is not supplied in due time, the brick fields will suffer a huge loss.”

“The brick filed has been set up in zig zag method where only coal can be used.

We have to face serious difficult situation

as the coal has to be bought from India,” he said.

“About 1200 workers of the brick kilns suffer a lot with their family members as they have no work,” he added.

Rakibul Hasan, owner of the field said: “I have invested already Tk1crore.

But the bricks cannot be processed due to shortage of coal.”

“If it is not possible to fire within next 15 days, I have decided that I will close

the business,” he added.

Worker Mir Mosarraf said the workers were passing inhuman life as there was no work for them. Brick filed owner Kashem said that he had to count losses Tk12 lakh in last 7 days as his raw bricks had been damaged.

SM Nuruzzaman, contractor of Messrs Sharif Bricks Ltd said: “If this situation is going on, the development work of construction will be hampered seriously.” l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Long Form

Monday, December 15, 2014

7

A man of peace

He’s a great humanitarian, he’s a great philanthropist He knows just where to touch you, honey, and how you like to be kissed He’ll put both his arms around you You can feel the tender touch of the beast You know that sometimes Satan comes as a man of peace – From ‘Man of Peace’ by Bob Dylan

T

n Tanvir Haider Chaudhury his is the story of a holy man. He is a man of substance, someone who has made something of himself in this world. He left his homeland as a young man, leaving behind his career as a journalist in the erstwhile East Pakistan to gradually reinvent himself as a community activist and something of a spokesperson for those who subscribe to his particular brand of politicised religiosity in the far distant shores of the United Kingdom.

It is hard not to admire the sheer feat of imagination it took for this man to achieve what he did. At the tender age of 23, he left the only home he had ever known for a place he possibly had no previous experience of and whose lifestyle and mores he would quite probably have been at odds with. Yet this young man made a mark on his adoptive country.

At various times, he became a special editor of a weekly that preached the religious doctrine he held dear and a member of an organisation built around those beliefs. He went on to attain the position of Director of Spiritual Care Provision for people of his faith in the UK’s National Health Service, became a member of the Multi Faith Group for Healthcare Chaplaincy, and a chairman and later a trustee of the charity known as Muslim Aid. In short, he molded himself into a veritable pillar of his community.

He is a man of strong beliefs and unshakable certitude, this holy man.

When a writer, admittedly of some repute, became a little too big for his breeches and published a work of the imagination that some in his community perceived to be offensive, he was strident in his condemnations of this heretic and led the protest initiative.

Around this same time, he helped to establish the Islamic Forum of Europe, an organsation whose views were perceived to be somewhat extreme by those lacking his staunch convictions in these matters. The organisation’s stated objective was to create a Sharia (Islamic jurisprudence) based state in Europe, so there may have been some basis to what those people of little faith were thinking.

Be that as it may, our holy man has shaped himself into a person of imposing stature and substantial influence. He manages big budgets, vice-chairmans houses of worship, is a key figure in the education and proliferation of his distinct type of faith, and hobnobs with princes – quite literally as in when his photograph was famously taken with the current Prince of Wales while inaugurating an extension of the house of worship he is the vice chairman of. An eminent

individual. And, as the Islamic faith he subscribes to is avowedly a doctrine of equanimity, a man of peace, one would be forgiven for supposing.

This is also the story of another man. This individual was not quite as dogmatic in his views as the first, not as quick to preach or to judge. In his own way, however, he was just as steadfast and committed as the other.

His views were closest in nature to those of a secular humanist’s: he held that individuals had the capacity for self-realisation through pure reason.

He did not reject religion; in fact, for most of his life, he was a practicing Muslim. He simply believed that religion was a personal matter that should not infringe on one’s public life.

He also thought one’s cultural heritage was just as significant as any other aspect that contributed towards making up the self. Now this last belief is important because he lived through a period in history where in his homeland – again the erstwhile East Pakistan – the cultural and religious identities of most of his countrymen were seemingly at conflict with each other.

everything that came before the partition,” he wrote, “some of the major works of Pakistan’s national poet Kazi Nazrul Islam would be lost, as well as the works of other ‘Tomudduni’ favourites like Golam Mustafa and Forrukh Ahmed.”

He was scathing on the irony of celebrating Nazrul as Pakistan’s national poet and playing him up as a Muslim icon, when in fact the great man had celebrated all the great religions of his heritage, and indeed, the universality of the human experience.

He also took on the people who were conspiring to leave out Rabindranath from the University syllabus: “Some find an un-Islamic flavour in Rabindranath’s songs such as ‘Ekti Nomoshkare’ or ‘Amar Matha Noto Kore Dao,’ when in fact these songs are expressing heartfelt devotion to a merciful and compassionate God, exactly as we do when we pray. The only difference is that the word being used is ‘Nomoshkar’ and not ‘Sizda’.”

Now bear in mind that these words were written in the profoundly xenophobic and paranoid climate of the

Mueen Uddin has stated in an interview last year that he can’t be hanged. He has said this: ‘Those who tried me may get to hang, but they can’t hang me.’ Now that sounds like a none-too-subtle threat to me. And not the words of a holy man. Not a man of peace after all

This was the 1950s; the so-called “Tomuddun” movement was at its peak and a section of the local intelligentsia was proposing the creation of an East Pakistani literature that would contain no work by non-Muslim, specifically Hindu, authors. Some were going as far as to say it should contain nothing created before the partition of the subcontinent in 1947.

This individual that we speak of was a scholar of Bangla language and literature and an acknowledged authority on the work of Rabindranath Tagore, the great Bengali poet and Nobel Laureate.

While he did not have our holy man’s worldly connections and high office, he did possess an exceptional academic record and an incisive understanding of his roots. He instinctively spoke up against these hidebound sentiments. “If we left out

East Pakistan of the 50s and the 60s.

You will have noticed that I speak of this second gentleman in the past tense. That is because he is no longer alive. He was murdered almost forty-three years ago.

This man, this academician who was self-effacing as a person but forthright in his views of who and what his people were, was named Mufazzal Haider Chaudhury. He was a teacher of the Bangla department of (the erstwhile) Dacca University. He was also my father, whom I have not seen since I was four years old.

The first man, the holy man who casts such a large shadow in his adopted land, is Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, and he was responsible for my father’s death. He came in person to abduct my father and seventeen of his peers on December 14, 1971, just two days before East Pakistan became Bangla-

desh, at the culmination of a bloody nine-month liberation war.

These individuals - nine teachers, six journalists, three doctors - were then taken to an isolated place where they were savagely tortured. An eyewitness, the only individual to have survived the incident, recounts that he saw individuals with eyes gouged out and the floor of the entire room awash with blood.

My father and Munier Chowdhury, another eminent academician and a famous playwright, were beaten with iron rods. All of them were then taken out in the early hours of December 15 and bayonetted or shot to death.

The reason that I am so unequivocal in my statement that Mr Mueen Uddin was part of the team of abductors is this: there were eyewitnesses.

The abduction happened from the house of Lutful Haider Chaudhury, my father’s youngest brother. My father, my mother, my uncle and my aunt all recognised Mueen Uddin. In fact, Mueen Uddin offered words of reassurance to all of them, saying no harm would come to my father and he would be returned presently.

You see, before he fled his home to become a holy man in the British Isles, Chowdhury Mueen Uddin was a student of my father’s at (the erstwhile) Dacca University. As a journalist, he worked with Ehtesham Haider Chaudhury, another brother of my father’s, at the Daily Purbodesh. The entire extended family knew him.

My aunt Dolly Chaudhury, Lutful Haider Chaudhury’s wife, can be seen testifying to this effect in the documentary War Crimes File, a British Channel 4 film made by the journalist David Bergman. My cousin Iftekhar Haider Chaudhury, who was then eight years old, narrated the entire abduction episode, including Mueen Uddin’s involvement, in his testimony during Mueen Uddin’s trial in absentia at the International Crimes Tribunal in Bangladesh.

Mueen Uddin categorically denies all this, of course. He claims the abundant evidence against him has been put forward by people who are “misled by the media.” He keeps repeating this while there are eyewitnesses who relate his complicity. Captured members of the Al-Badr, the notorious paramilitary force comprised of local collaborators of the Pakistani army during the 1971 war, have stated that he was their operation in-charge. Mueen Uddin still seeks to evade and deceive.

Mueen Uddin’s own editor at the Purbadesh during 1971, Atiqur Rahman, relates a story where he was asked for his home address by Mueen Uddin during those troubled times. Fearing that he too would be abducted, Mr Rahman supplied a false address. Mr Rahman’s name, complete with the fake address, appeared on an Al-Badr death list found just after the

The holy man who casts such a large shadow in his adopted land, is Chowdhury Mueen Uddin, and he was responsible for my father’s death. He came in person to abduct my father and seventeen of his peers on December 14, 1971, just two days before East Pakistan became Bangladesh

war. Mr Rahman is quite certain that he gave the address to nobody else.

On November 3, 2013, the International Crimes Tribunal set up by the government of Bangladesh to judge the crimes against humanity committed during the 1971 liberation war found Chowdhury Mueen Uddin guilty of the murder of eighteen teachers, journalists and doctors, and sentenced him, in absentia, to death.

Mueen Uddin is now a citizen of the United Kingdom, a country that does not have an extradition treaty with Bangladesh. A spokesperson of the UK High Commission in Bangladesh has also said that his country is opposed to “the application of the death penalty in all circumstances.”

There seem to be exceptions to every rule, however. Abu Qatada al-Filistini, a Jordanian national of Palestinian origin who has been described as being affiliated with al-Qaeda, was indeed deported to Jordan, a country that practices the death penalty, on July 7, 2013, after the UK and Jordanian governments agreed and ratified a treaty “satisfying the need for clarification” that evidence gained through torture would not be used against him in his trial.

Mueen Uddin has stated in an interview last year that he can’t be hanged. He has said this: “Those who tried me may get to hang, but they can’t hang me.”

Now that sounds like a none-toosubtle threat to me. And not the words of a holy man. Not a man of peace after all.

They sound like the words of a man who will spend the rest of his life looking over his shoulder, terrified every time there is a knock on his door. l Tanvir Haider Chaudhury has spent most of his career as a banker and is now running a food and beverage company. He is avowedly Bangali and unabashedly opinionated.

8

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

Monday, December 15, 2014

Observers slam ‘lackluster’ Lima climate deal n AFP, Lima, Peru A carbon-curbing deal struck in Lima yesterday was a watered-down compromise where national intransigence threatened the goal of a pact to save Earth’s climate system, green groups said.

The hard-fought agreement sets out guidelines for the submission of national greenhouse-gas pledges next year.

But, the groups said, initially ambitious standards became weaker the longer the talks wound on.

In a tug-of-war between rich and developing nation interests, the end result was a “lackluster plan with little scientific relevancy,” said WWF’s climate expert, Samantha Smith.

“Against the backdrop of extreme weather in the Philippines and potentially the hottest year ever recorded, governments at the UN climate talks in Lima opted for a half-baked plan to cut emissions,” she added.

NGOs and developing nations alike had hoped the agreement would compel rich countries to include information in their pledges on climate adaptation and other financial help.

They had also sought a robust assessment of the pledges’ aggregate effect and a mechanism for ramping up contributions, if they were judged inadequate to meet the UN goal of limiting global warming to two degrees Celsius (3.6 degrees Fahrenheit) over pre-industrial levels.

But expectations were mostly disappointed.

The talks, which spilled more than 30 hours into overtime, got bogged down early on in a fight over “differentiation” – how to divide responsibility

Farc ‘amnesty’: Colombian marchers reject ‘impunity’ n BBC Thousands of people have joined protests in Colombia against a possible amnesty for Farc rebels as part of a peace process to end 50 years of conflict.

Many of the marchers were supporters of former President Alvaro Uribe, an opponent of his successor, Juan Manuel Santos.

They argue that peace should not come at the price of impunity.

In two years of talks in Havana, a number of issues have been agreed.

Negotiators are now discussing how the left-wing rebels should lay down their arms, and whether they should face prosecution for human rights atrocities and drug trafficking.

The rallies in several cities across the country were organised by the Colombia Quiere movement and backed by the Centro Democratic Party of former President Uribe.

In Medellin, where Mr Uribe led the march, he said: “We call on the army to support us by fighting and defeating the guerrillas, if the government wants it or not.”

On social media he said: “ It is better to protest than to let them deliver the country to terrorism.”

Mr Uribe and his allies have argued that the Farc should answer for killings, kidnapping and drug trafficking.

They have accused President Santos of overlooking rebel atrocities in order to drive through the peace process. l

Britain to seek access to CIA torture report n AP, London A UK parliamentary panel wants access to information not made public in a US Senate report that may pertain to Britain’s role in the interrogation and rendition of terror suspects following the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks.

Malcolm Rifkind, chairman of Parliament’s Intelligence and Security Committee, told the BBC yesterday that the panel would request access to the findings related to Britain on these matters.

Prime Minister David Cameron’s Downing Street office has acknowledged that some parts of the report were blacked out for national security reasons, but says none of it related to British involvement in the mistreatment of prisoners.

The Senate Intelligence Committee’s report on CIA interrogations released this past week exposed years of misrepresentations that seem designed to boost the case for the effectiveness of brutal interrogations. l

for carbon cuts between rich and poor nations.

The outcome, said the US-based Union of Concerned Scientists, reflected “the bare minimum” to keep negotiations on the road to inking a climate-saving pact in Paris next December that will have the pledges at its heart.

Rather than imposing a requirement, the text merely “urges” parties to “consider including an adaptation component” in their pledges, and on finance similarly “urges” developed countries to provide support.

In a nod to poor country concerns, the new text did reintroduce a reference to “common but differentiated responsibilities” that had been dropped from earlier drafts.

Political expediency ‘won’

“The package... puts in place a draft of a Paris agreement without narrowing down any of the difficult political issues that have plagued global efforts to address climate change for more than 20 years,” said Oxfam.

“The deal does not require that the initial pledges parties make in 2015 reflect their fair share, does not guarantee that these offers will use common or comprehensive information, or have any mechanism to review whether they will prevent catastrophic warming or not.”

To give the process a boost, rich nations will have to bring detailed plans for how they intend to meet a promise to ramp up their climate funding to $100bn per year by 2020, said the observers.

“The limited progress that was achieved in Peru, in particular on the provision of financial support to poor

A delegate yawns during a plenary session of the UN Climate Change Conference COP 20 in Lima on Saturday. UN talks on slowing climate change were threatened with collapse on Saturday after China clashed with the United States and led emerging nations to reject a compromise outline of an agreement REUTERS countries to adapt to climate change or repair the damages from extreme weather events, is a big letdown,” said Wendel Trio of Climate Action Network (CAN).

These critics also feared guidelines were too vague for cutting fossil-fuel emissions leading up to 2020, when the Paris pact will enter into force.

“The science is clear that delaying

Kerry heads to Italy for Palestine talks n AFP John Kerry, US secretary of state, has left for a series of meetings in Europe seeking to head off an end-of-year UN showdown over a Palestinian bid for statehood.

His first stop yesterday was to be Rome, where he will meet separately both Sergey Lavrov, Russian foreign minister, and Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli prime minister.

Diplomats say negotiations on a UN resolution to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace prospects are making little headway, with Europeans waiting for a US response to proposals.

Jordan last month circulated a draft

Palestinian text to the Security Council setting November 2016 as a deadline for the end of the Israeli occupation.

But the text ran into opposition from the US, which has veto power, and other countries that felt it lacked balance, diplomats said.

It was never put to a vote.

France stepped in last month to try to draft along with Britain and Germany a resolution that would win consensus at the 15-member council.

The Palestinians have said they would like a draft resolution to go to a vote before the end of the year.

The text would call for a return to negotiations with a view to achieving a two-state solution by which Israel and

a Palestinian state would co-exist.

Negotiations have hit hurdles over whether to include a two-year deadline for talks on a final settlement to be completed.

France is also proposing to host an international conference to launch the new peace track.

Kerry met on Thursday with his French counterpart Laurent Fabius on the sidelines of climate talks in Lima, to discuss the tensions in the Middle East.

Supporters of a UN resolution are now hoping to win US backing or at least ensure Washington will not oppose the measure, which would be the first text adopted by the council on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict since 2009. l

A Palestinian protester uses a slingshot to throw stones at Israeli troops during clashes near Israel’s Ofer Prison, near the West Bank city of Ramallah on Saturday REUTERS

action until 2020 will make it near impossible to avoid the worst impacts of climate change, yet political expediency won over scientific urgency,” said WWF’s Smith. l

Russia denies military jet in near-crash with passenger plane n Reuters, Stockholm A Russian military jet nearly collided with a commercial passenger airplane in international airspace near southern Sweden on Friday, the Swedish authorities said, but Russia insisted yesterday that its jet had kept at a safe distance.

Relations between Russia and the West have soured over Moscow’s role in the conflict in Ukraine and its annexation of Crimea. Many European countries have reacted with alarm to suspected displays by Russia of its military prowess.

A squadron of Russian warships entered the English Channel last month and Sweden said it had proof a foreign submarine was operating illegally in its waters in October. Britain also launched a submarine search, helped

by Nato allies.

Friday’s passenger flight SK1755 from the Danish capital Copenhagen to Poznan in Poland was diverted by Swedish authorities before a collision occurred, the authorities said.

The flight was operated by Cimber, owned by Scandinavian airline SAS. Russia’s Defence Ministry denied yesterday that its airplane had come close to colliding with a civilian airliner, official news agency TASS reported.

“A flight was carried out in strict accordance with international rules on air space and did not violate the borders of other countries and was at a safe distance from the flight paths of civilian airplanes,” Defence Ministry spokesman General Major Igor Konashenko was quoted as saying. l

Iran hackers may target US energy, defense firms, FBI warns n Reuters, Boston The Federal Bureau of Investigation has warned US businesses to be on the alert for a sophisticated Iranian hacking operation whose targets include defense contractors, energy firms and educational institutions, according to a confidential agency document.

The operation is the same as one flagged last week by cyber security firm Cylance Inc as targeting critical infrastructure organisations worldwide, cyber security experts said. Cylance has said it uncovered more than 50 victims from what it dubbed Operation Cleaver, in 16 countries, including the United States.

The FBI’s confidential “Flash” report, seen by Reuters on Friday, provides technical details about malicious software and techniques used in the attacks, along with advice on thwarting the hackers. It asked businesses to contact the FBI if they believed they were victims.

Cylance Chief Executive Stuart McClure said the FBI warning suggested that the Iranian hacking campaign may have been larger than its own research revealed. “It underscores Iran’s determination and fixation on large-scale compromise of critical infrastructure,” he said.

The FBI’s technical document said the hackers typically launch their attacks from two IP addresses that are in Iran, but did not attribute the attacks to the Tehran government. Cylance has said it believes Iran’s government

is behind the campaign, a claim Iran has vehemently denied.

An FBI official did not provide further details, but said the agency routinely provides private industry with advisories to help it fend off cyber threats.

The Pentagon and National Security Agency had no immediate comment.

Tehran has been substantially increasing investment in its cyber capabilities since 2010, when its nuclear program was hit by the Stuxnet computer virus, widely believed to have been launched by the United States and Israel.

Cyber security professionals who investigate cyber attacks said that they are seeing evidence that Iran’s investment is paying off.

“They are good and have a lot of talent in the country,” said Dave Kennedy, CEO of TrustedSEC LLC. “They are definitely a serious threat, no question.”

Iranian hackers are increasingly being blamed for sophisticated cyberattacks.

Bloomberg Businessweek on Thursday reported that Iranian hacker activists were responsible for a devastating February 2014 attack on casino operator Las Vegas Sands Corp, which crippled thousands of servers by wiping them with destructive malware. It said the hackers sought to punish Sands CEO Sheldon Adelson for comments he made about detonating a nuclear bomb in Iran. l

France claims ‘neutralising’ EU funds help Poland build ‘ghost’ airports n 200 jihadists in Sahel Reuters, Lodz

n AFP, Paris French forces have either killed or captured nearly 200 jihadists in the Sahel region of west Africa in the past year, French Defence Minister Jean-Yves Le Drian said yesterday.

“There have been many operations, nearly 200 terrorists have been neutralised in a year, around 50 since August” when France launched a massive counter-terrorism operation across five nations in the semi-arid Sahel, Le Drian told French radio and television.

In separate comments to Jeune Afrique magazine in an interview to appear Monday, he said some important leaders were among those killed or captured, mostly in Mali and Niger.

In what was seen as a massive blow to Islamist fighters, the French army on Thursday said it had killed Ahmed el Tilemsi, the Malian leader of the

notorious Algerian jihadist Mokhtar Belmokhtar’s Al-Murabitoun group.

The French military in 2013 routed radical Islamist groups who had seized large swathes of northern Mali, and in August this year launched Operation Barkhane as part of a wider counter-terrorism operation.

A total of 3,000 troops are now taking part in the operation across Africa to track and combat Islamist militants.

They are currently building an advance base close to the Libyan border in the north of Niger.

Le Drian said that the south of Libya had become a hub for jihadists operating in the region.

“Southern Libya has become a place of recovery, a petrol station, a place of rest, re-organisation and training for a number of terrorist groups,” he said in the interview broadcast on Radio France Internationale and TV5 Monde. l

The European Union has given Poland more than 100 million euros ($125m) to build at least three “ghost” airports in places where there are not enough passengers to keep them in business.

The result is gleaming new airport terminals which, even at the peak of the holiday season, echo to the sound of empty concourses and spend millions trying to attract airlines.

Poland is not the only country in Europe to have built airports that struggle to attract flights. Around 80 airports in Europe attract fewer than 1 million passengers a year, and about three-quarters of those are in the red, according to industry body Airports Council International. Some cost much more to build than the Polish projects. One airport in eastern Spain, open for three years, has so far received not a single flight.

But Poland is striking because the country received so much money for

its projects from EU funds.

Poland received 615.7 million euros in EU support for airports between 2007 and 2013, according to figures supplied to Reuters by the European Commission. That was almost twice as much as the next biggest recipient, Spain, and more than a third of all member states’ money for airports. The government declined to provide all the information on which it based its decisions to invest in the airports, but Reuters has reviewed data on three sites where traffic fell dramatically short of forecasts.

Poland is often touted by Brussels as one of the most efficient users of EU aid, and there is no suggestion the country used EU airport money corruptly. European help has been vital in improving Poland’s aviation infrastructure, only a small share of the country’s airport spending has been on white elephants, and passenger shortfalls may have been exacerbated by the 2008 global financial crisis.

Spokespeople at some airports said the

projects could be considered a success because they were creating jobs, bringing in tourists, and driving investment in the regional economy.

But it is clear mistakes were made in Poland, planning officials and aviation executives say. The whole experience raises questions about how the government will handle the next big injection of EU money, which it expects to be 82 billion euros over the next seven years.

The problem is most striking at the recently rebuilt Lodz passenger terminal, where passenger numbers in 2013 fell almost one million short of forecasts, according to European Commission documents examined by Reuters.

On a relatively busy day this summer, just four flights arrived and four departed. In between, the place was almost deserted. In the early afternoon a single passenger, a woman in a blueand-white striped T-shirt, sat in a 72seat waiting area. Outside on the tarmac, five sets of movable steps stood waiting for a jet to land. l

DHAKA TRIBUNE

World

9

Monday, December 15, 2014

Srinagar tense as Indian-held Kashmir elections continue n AFP

Election officials open ballot boxes at a counting centre in Tokyo yesterday

Indian-held Kashmir’s main city of Srinagar voted Sunday in continuing elections in the troubled region, where the party of Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi is making an unprecedented bid for power.

As armed police patrolled the streets in bulletproof vests, voters queued to cast their ballots in freezing weather in Srinagar and the Kashmir Valley, where a separatist campaign is centred.

Some 1.4 million residents are eligible to vote in 18 seats in the latest phase of the elections in the region, where a dozen rebel groups have been fighting Indian rule since 1989.

After winning power at national elections in May, Modi and his Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) are trying to take control of the state’s parliament with a

n

Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe’s ruling coalition cruised to a big election win yesterday, but feeble turnout could weaken his claim of a mandate for policies including reflationary steps to revive the economy.

Most media exit polls showed Abe’s Liberal Democratic Party and its junior partner, the Komeito party, winning more than 317 seats in the 475-member lower house, enough to maintain its “super-majority” that smoothes parliamentary business.

But many voters, doubtful both of the premier’s “Abenomics” strategy to end deflation and generate growth and the opposition’s ability to come up with a better plan, stayed at home, putting turnout on track for a record low, interim figures showed.

Turnout had already hit a post-war record low of 59.3% in the 2012 poll that returned Abe to power for a rare second term on pledges to reboot an economy plagued by deflation and an aging, shrinking population.

Hopes for Abe’s “Three Arrows” of hyper-easy monetary policy, government spending and reforms such as deregulation were tarnished after the economy slipped into recession in the third quarter following an April sales tax rise. Recent data suggest any rebound is fragile.

Abe decided last month to put off a second tax hike to 10% until April 2017,

raising concerns about how Japan will curb its huge public debt, the worst among advanced nations.

“I worry that Japan’s public finances will get even worse,” said 38-yearold Tokyo voter Akihiro Fujihara.

“I wish there was a party out there that would come up with actual proposals to make Japan a better place to live.”

Opposition gains little traction

The main opposition Democratic Party of Japan (DPJ) was unable to gain much traction, largely due to voters’ memories of a 2009-2012 rule plagued by policy flip-flops, infighting and three premiers in three years.

Exit polls showed the DPJ gaining from the 62 seats it held before the vote, but falling well short of the 100 seats it had unofficially targeted.

Abe called the election in a bid to strengthen his grip on power before tackling unpopular policies such as restarting nuclear reactors taken off-line after the 2011 Fukushima disaster and a security policy shift away from postwar pacifism.

The LDP-led coalition victory could make it easier for Abe to be re-elected in a party leadership race next September, boosting the chance he stays in power through 2018 and becomes one of Japan’s rare long-term leaders.

Aside from local elections in April, his coalition will probably not need to face voters until a 2016 election for the

Gender sensitisation programme for taxi drivers n Agencies In the aftermath of the Uber rape case, all taxi drivers in the national capital will have to go through gender sensitisation programme to get fitness certificate for their vehicles.

The state government is taking the step to sensitise the drivers about ensuring safety of women passengers.

A senior official of transport department said that after attending the special classes, taxi drivers will be issued a certificate and then, they will have to show it at the time of getting the fitness certificate.

“From December 22, they will first have to produce certificate of attending gender sensitisation classes and then, they will be issued fitness certificate for their taxis,” a senior official of transport department said.

According to the transport department, the two-hour programme will be organised for drivers of every type

of taxis, including radio taxi, economy taxi and all India permit taxis.

The government is going to make it mandatory for all the taxi drivers to undergo gender sensitisation programmes to get fitness certificate for their vehicles from December 22.

“Our main aim is to sensitise all the taxi drivers about ensuring safety of women travelling in their vehicles. We have made it mandatory for every driver to attend sensitisation programme, which will last for two hours,” the official said.

The department has involved some NGOs for such special classes.

The classes will be organised at Institute of Driving and Training Research (Loni Road), at Sarai Kale Khan and Driving Training Institute (Burari).

Cab driver Shiv Kumar Yadav, employed with the US-based cab service, allegedly raped the 27-year-old finance company executive in the company’s car. l

upper house, where the LDP and the Komeito party now hold a majority.

Doubts, however, persist over whether Abe will knuckle down on his “third arrow” of reforms in politically sensitive areas such as labor market deregulation that would make it easier to shift workers to growth areas but also to lay off employees, and reform of the highly protected farm sector.

Critics say progress has been limited, partly due to opposition from members of Abe’s own party.

“My personal assessment is that we are likely to see more of what we’ve seen - piecemeal reforms moving more or less in the right direction, but at a fairly slow clip and no bold breakthroughs because of this election,” Columbia University professor Gerry Curtis said before the results were in.

Some experts say Abe could also turn attention away from the economy to his conservative agenda that includes laying the groundwork to revise the post-war, pacifist constitution and recasting Japan’s wartime past with a less apologetic tone.

That agenda raises hackles in China and South Korea, where bitter memories of Japan’s past militarism run deep.

The LDP had 295 seats and Komeito 31 in the 480-member lower house when it was dissolved for the election.

Five seats were cut through electoral reform. l

Afghan president vows security shake-up after Taliban attacks surge n Reuters, Kabul Afghanistan’s new President Ashraf Ghani vowed to shake up security in the capital Kabul in an angry speech yesterday and denounced a recent surge in Taliban attacks on civilian and military targets as “un-Islamic.” In recent weeks, Afghanistan has seen waves of suicide bombings and commando-style assaults by the Islamist insurgents, who are seeking to make territorial gains and to spread uncertainty as most foreign troops withdraw this month.

“It is enough and it’s no longer acceptable,” Ghani yelled while on a visit to a school. He called on religious leaders to speak out against the Taliban.

“These acts are not Islamic and are inhuman,” he said.

The Taliban’s increasingly bold attacks in Kabul have led to the government being criticised for serious security failures.

Ghani said he was seeking to revive a security body last seen during a Soviet-backed government in the 1980s.

He did not give more details, but his spokesman said the new body would coordinate between police, military and intelligence agencies.

“The number of forces we have in Kabul is sufficient, but the way they are being used is a problem, we have to change that,” spokesman Nazifullah Salarzai said after the event.

Kabul houses thousands of soldiers and police armed with light and heavy weapons. It is fortified with razor wire-

topped concrete blast walls and dotted with checkpoints. But this does not seem to have curbed the Taliban’s confidence.

On Thursday, a suicide bombing at a French cultural center guarded by the army in central Kabul killed a German man, who was attending a performance of a play denouncing suicide bombs.

When two Kabul guest houses used by foreigners were targeted within days of each other last month, the Kabul police chief lost his position, although the official reason for his dismissal remains unclear.

In the past two days, Taliban fighters shot dead a dozen workers removing landmines in the south of the country, killed seven soldiers and blew up a military convoy, killing two US soldiers near Bagram Airfield, north of the capital.

On a trip to northern Afghanistan on Saturday, German defense minister Ursula von der Leyen described the security situation as “fragile.”

Ghani has yet to announce a cabinet two months after he took office in a power-sharing agreement with his main rival, Abdullah Abdullah, a situation critics say has left the country adrift while the Taliban are cranking up violence.

Salarzai said the president devoted a third of his time to security and that, in the long run, the slow selection of officials would assure good governance in a country plagued by political corruption. l

SEASON’S GREETINGS

Vietnam has helped ensure peace in the South China Sea dispute with Beijing by following the Philippines in seeking UN arbitration, Manila said, despite the fact that Beijing has refused to take part.

Beijing claims almost the entire energy-rich South China Sea but Brunei, Malaysia, the Philippines, Vietnam and Taiwan also have claims. Only Brunei has not occupied and garrisoned territory in

the potential flashpoint in the region.

Vietnam on Thursday submitted its position to a UN arbitration tribunal initiated by the Philippines over the festering dispute. China called on Vietnam to respect its sovereignty and has refused UN arbitration.

“The Vietnamese position is helpful in terms of promoting the rule of law and in finding peaceful and nonviolent solutions to the South China Sea claims based on international law,” the Philippine Foreign Ministry said.

32 dead, 76 missing in central Indonesia mudslide

n AP, Banjarnegara

Rescuers pulled more bodies from the debris Sunday after heavy rain in central Indonesia loosened soil and collapsed a hill, setting off a landslide that killed at least 32 villagers and left 76 others missing under piles of mud.

About 2,000 rescuers, including soldiers, police and volunteers, were digging through the mud and the wreckage of crumpled homes, getting some relief from clear weather following days of heavy rain. Excavators, meanwhile, shoved aside earth and the remains of decimated wooden homes.

Residents of Jemblung village in Central Java province’s Banjarnegara district said they heard a roaring sound followed by the raining down of red soil that buried more than 100 houses late Friday.

“The landslide looked like it was spinning down,” said one resident, Subroto, who like many Indonesians uses only one name. “I managed to rescue a pregnant woman, but could not save the other man.”

He said one side of the hill collapsed, then another. “In five minutes, there were three (major landslides) and they swept away everything,” Subroto said.

By late afternoon Sunday, 32 bodies had been pulled from the debris, while hopes faded that the 76 people still missing would be found alive, said Sutopo Purwo Nugroho, the spokesman for Indonesia’s Disaster Mitigation Agency.

Many roads and bridges were destroyed, hampering rescue efforts, Nugroho said.

Indonesian President Joko Widodo arrived at the scene Sunday. He pledged to relocate the hundreds of people left homeless by the disaster, and assured that the government would help provide aid for those who were injured. Eleven injured villagers were hospitalised. l

China bans national anthem at weddings and funerals n Reuters, Beijing

A man dressed as a Santa Claus poses at the front of the Kollhoff Tower at Potsdamer Platz square in Berlin yesterday

REUTERS

‘Vietnam’s sea dispute arbitration case vs China promotes peace’ n Reuters, Manila

The BJP has traditionally had no base in the Kashmir Valley, where resentment against Indian rule runs high.

The picturesque Himalayan region is disputed between India and Pakistan and has been the scene of two wars between the countries.

Tens of thousands of people, mostly civilians, have died in violence between Indian security forces and rebels fighting for Kashmir’s independence or for its merger with Pakistan.

So the idea of the BJP taking even a share of power in Kashmir would have been unthinkable only a few months ago. But Modi’s landslide national election win, and a meltdown in support for the incumbent chief minister after deadly floods in September, have given the BJP hope of a breakthrough. l

REUTERS

PM Abe’s coalition cruises to big win in Japan election, turnout feeble Reuters

promise of economic development.

The BJP is fielding 32 Muslim candidates across the disputed region, where voters have so far ignored calls from separatists to boycott the election.

Election results are due on December 23. BJP candidate and Muslim Hina Bhat said voters might not like Modi, but like the rest of the country they believed his promise of economic prosperity.

“People will support Modi because now, like Muslims in India outside Kashmir, they know he delivers,” the dentist-turned-politician said.

“The local parties have treated Kashmiri people like cattle,” Bhat, 35, said recently in an interview while campaigning in Srinagar. “Here [in Kashmir] also people know in their hearts that going with Modi is good for them,” Hina added.

China, Vietnam and the Philippines are signatories to the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, an international agreement that grants the right to explore and exploit resources within 200 nautical miles of a state’s shore.

Both Hanoi and Manila say Beijing is extending beyond the limit.

In May, China placed its largest mobile oil rig close to Vietnam’s coast in the Paracel islands that prompted angry protests in Hanoi against Chinese business interests. At the same time,

Beijing began reclamation in the Spratly islands and appeared to be building airstrips in the area.

Beijing has also seized control of Scarborough Shoal near the Philippines’ main island of Luzon and chased civilian ships delivering supplies to Philippine-held Second Thomas Shoal in the Spratlys.

The Philippines and Vietnam appear to be ending decades of distrust.

Last year, the two sides held a first-ever navy-to-navy talks and last month,

Hanoi displayed its two most powerful missile-guided stealth frigates in Manila during a port call. The two states will hold the first strategic defence dialogue early next year.

“Vietnam’s legal opinion puts political weight on the Philippine legal case,” Professor Rommel Banlaoi, a security analyst, said on television.

“What Vietnam did was in fact supporting, reaffirming and even rallying behind the Philippine legal action and that’s good for our national interest.” l

China’s national anthem can no longer be performed at weddings, funerals, balls or other non-political functions and should only be performed at certain dignified events, state media said on Friday.

The rule is to “standardise proper etiquette for the national anthem, which reflects national independence and liberation, a prosperous, strong country and the affluence of the people,” the official Xinhua news agency said.

“The March of the Volunteers” may, however, be played at the start of important celebrations or public political gatherings, formal diplomatic occasions or significant international gatherings, it added, citing a Communist Party statement.

The anthem can also be performed when Chinese athletes win medals and “at arenas where national dignity should be fought for and safeguarded.”

People who break the rules will be “criticised and corrected,” Xinhua added.

The stirringly patriotic national anthem dates back to days before the 1949 Communist revolution, and include the lyrics “Brave the enemy’s fire, march on!” l

10

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Editorial

Monday, December 15, 2014

CODE-CRACKER

Toughen witness protection laws

A

n individual has been arrested this week in connection with an attack on the prime witness in the Bishwajit Das killing case, which was tried in December last year.

While this is welcome, this arrestee is not the only person alleged to have threatened or attacked witnesses and family members of the victim in this high-profile case.

Hence, although it is appreciated, the police are addressing this particular allegation, which is receiving new media attention because of the scandalous way in which some individuals convicted of Bishwajit Das’s murder remain at large, the government still needs to address the bigger picture.

Fear of intimidation and violence are still major factors deterring or preventing witnesses from assisting the courts in many serious criminal cases.

In view of the large number of delayed cases in which senior police officers and criminologists have highlighted corruption, negligence, and political influence as the key reasons for criminals evading justice, it is imperative the government does more to protect and reassure witnesses.

Unless law enforcers are able to ensure punishment for criminals in such cases, the probability of their repeating such crimes is vastly increased.

An effective Witness Protection Law, based on the draft held in abeyance since 2011, must be implemented urgently. It needs to be backed up by adequate resources to help law enforcers to protect all witnesses and strong penalties to deter witness tampering.

If fewer cases were held back by witnesses being reluctant to give evidence, it would become much easier to root out corruption and to uphold rule of law.

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

‘Controversial and unnecessary’ new zebra crossing November 30

Help law enforcers protect and reassure all witnesses

A

s a leading national institution, Dhaka University authorities should take more of a lead in ensuring students treat others with respect, and that no tolerance is shown for sexual harassment.

In recent months, a rising number of female students have reported the university is not taking clear action to respond to complaints about unwanted sexual attention and verbal coercion.

While the acting proctor has acknowledged such incidents are occurring more frequently and provided some assurances, local police have corroborated student concerns by saying it has often been difficult to initiate legal proceedings because the university authorities have not always cooperated as expected.

It is highly concerning that more is not being done to combat sexual harassment within our leading public universities.

As a society, we need to act collectively against all forms of nonphysical harassment. It is the persistence and prevalence of archaic and discriminatory attitudes that encourage some men to harass women and young girls from all walks of life, with impunity. Recent research notes that over three quarters of female school and college students have been subjected to so -alled “eve teasing” at one time or another. and this is a major factor behind female dropout rates.

If nothing is done to stigmatise and prevent sexual harassment, this makes it even harder for society to deter and bring down violent crimes against women. such as dowry-related violence, rape, trafficking, and acid attacks.

University authorities have to become more effective in punishing offenders and in raising awareness to prevent sexual harassment.

Act collectively to raise awareness and punish offenders

ABCDEFGHIJKLMNOPQRSTUVWXYZ

The police need to get their priorities right – safety before fining people. There’s nothing wrong with more zebra crossings. What we need are drivers who will obey them.

Mikail Sattar Osmania: And what exactly is the point of having a zebra crossing 100 feet away from an underpass?

Osmania “Without coordinating with the traffic division of the Dhaka Metropolitan Police (DMP), Dhaka North City Corporation (DNCC) marked a controversial zebra crossing just north of the Saarc Fountain at the Karwan Bazar intersection in the capital, barely one hundred feet from an underpass.”

Osmania Mikail Sattar: Take a look on Google Earth and count how many zebra crossings and pedestriancontrolled lights there are in central parts of a city like London or Amsterdam. (Spoiler alert, it’s loads.) And then tell the world you don’t think Bangladeshis in a busy central area don’t deserve the same. What’s wrong with more zebra crossings?

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.

Actor Khalil Ullah Khan passes away December 7

Work together against sexual harassment

How to solve: Each number in our CODE-CRACKER grid represents a different letter of the alphabet. For example, today 24 represents V so fill V every time the figure 24 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.

DP All villains in this world, be they reel or real, eventually leave this world.

Anon DP: Yes, may he rest in peace.

Abu Mustafiz Hassan No Bangali will ever see the likeness of a villain such as Khalil Ullah Khan. I remember I would get scared whenever I saw him on screen. “I want your money, or your land.” Salute, sir. Rest in peace.

State move demanded to protect Khasia land December 7

PB “There is no enmity between the two groups, but the tea garden owner is propagating such falsehood to put the Khasia leaders behind bars. It will make it easier for them to grab the land.” #Indigenous #Khasia people are facing inhuman torture by #NaharTeaGarden management #Bangladesh #workers

In favour of bad students November 29

rose “These so-called ‘bad’ students seek love, not hate from their teachers.”

We should not turn a deaf ear to this particular problem. Teachers should learn to be sensible and more understanding regarding their students, so that students love and respect their teachers instead of abhorring them.

Foxymophandlemama Excellent piece; a point that a lot of the teachers (and guardians) throughout our nation need to understand.

Sinking public laptop project to face lawsuit November 29

Dr Ahsan Habib “The DOEL laptop project is a concern of the stateowned Telephone Shilpa Sanghta Ltd (TSS).”

The problem is no one cheated the Bangladesh government. It is within the mega scheme of government corruption and stealing. And while individual government members benefit, like Raju and other IT experts, it is the government who will make up the loss from public money.

An inspiration for the disabled November 30

November 29

Mushfique “Through the years of her involvement and activities, Rokeya has achieved a lead role at national level by working for disabled people. She is a councillor of National Grassroots Disability Organisation, and later became the vice-president of National Council of Disabled Women.” This was a good story!

Dev Ismail “Educating vehicle users and owners needs to be the top priority.” Exactly, and it’s not just cars. It’s not even safe to walk on pavements, thanks to motorcyclists treating them as their own lane.

Maus Mushfique: Yes, it was. We need more such stories of people who can inspire us, who have not let their disabilities hold them back from success, and who can pave the way forward for all of us.

Jaywalking drive can only go so far

CALVIN AND HOBBES

CROSSWORD ACROSS 1 Inns (6) 6 Faucet (3) 9 Silly (5) 10 Large volume (4) 11 Looks after (5) 12 Monkey (3) 13 Arachnid (6) 15 That which catches (4) 18 Had knowledge (4) 21 Waver (6) 24 Top card (3) 25 Embellish (5) 28 Kill (4) 29 Assumed a position (5) 30 Perfect score (3) 31 Soaks (6)

DOWN 1 Make fast (5) 2 United (3) 3 Dance (5) 4 Finish (3) 5 Fewer (4) 6 Ugly amphibian (4) 7 Electrical unit (6) 8 Look narrowly (4) 14 Vex (3) 16 Wise utterance (6) 17 Outfit (3) 19 Hangman’s rope (5) 20 Coils about (5) 21 Quick (4) 22 Incline (4) 23 Transported with emotion (4) 26 Female deer (3) 27 Corded cloth (3)

Man sacrifices 3-month-old daughter for treasure November 29 Susan G Schizophrenia, probably.

RS “Monjuwara, Nusrat’s mother, said her husband, Nazmul Islam, was a carpenter by profession. Recently, he started following a fake spiritual leader, who instigated him to sacrifice their daughter for hidden treasure.”

Nazmul and the fake spiritual leader should be caught and punished as soon as possible.

YESTERDAY’S SOLUTIONS CODE-CRACKER

CROSSWORD

Answer the real question, minister PEANUTS

November 30

Momoaswan But will he? Alas, I have no doubts about the quality of the advice ministers get and give; it’s mostly below average, authoritarian, bureaucratically high-handed, or just nonsensical.

The real threat of global warming November 30

Son Zoo “Continuing our current policies of exploiting all fossil fuels available will literally ensure the end of the Earth as we know it.”

A very informative and well-researched article. Shows how utterly scary the prospect of a changing climate is.

SUDOKU

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Op-Ed

Monday, December 15, 2014

11

A troubled economy n Abdullah Zobair

T

Let’s not forget the help we received

S

E

R

BIGSTOCK

P

E

N

T

I

N

E

D

E

N

Cold War nuances of 1971

I

n Towheed Feroze

t is a well-known fact, or I can assume a lot of people are aware, that in 1971, the US government was not in favour of a liberated Bangladesh. At least, the White House was actively against the idea of a dismembered Pakistan.

Declassified records, as mentioned in several books related to the 1971 War of Independence in Bangladesh, state unequivocally that the Nixon administration was unwilling to see dents in their relations with the West Pakistan junta. Pakistan was a key player at that time in improving US relations with China.

Therefore, even after heart-wrenching telegrams were sent by US diplomat Archer Blood from Dhaka about the atrocities committed, the reaction in Washington was diplomatic silence.

Blood later on was admonished and, reportedly, his career path made difficult for his candid appraisal of the situation on the ground.

Whatever the case, within the USA, the opinion was split as further declassified papers, mentioned in BZ Khosru’s book, clearly state that a large number of common Americans plus many serving lawmakers opposed the stance of the White House and also resorted to strategic filibustering to delay shipments of weapons to the invading army.

Yet, even after so many years, if a political analyst is asked to comment on the role of the USA and then the USSR during the 1971 war, the former won’t be painted favourably. If you are the devil, then you are vile out and out … no chance for the little virtues to be noticed.

After all, history only remembers

decisions made at the top. The fact that many Germans within the German defence system wanted to depose Hitler and end a war begun on lunatic whim is usually brushed aside when WW2 is deconstructed. Anything to do with Hitler’s military might is regarded with suspicion, though efforts were made right within the German military

by Claus von Stauffenberg to kill the dictator in what is known as the “20 July plot.”

what they termed “Markin shamrajjobad” (US imperialism). However, as we step into the 43rd year of independence, maybe history should be interpreted not by acts of the government only but also by humanitarian deeds of the general people.

A recent news of four US Hercules planes helping India transport floods of refugees from the then East Pakistan after the March 26 crackdown, opens up a new hitherto unknown

Nixon’s lethargy in acknowledging genocide in Bangladesh will always overshadow all the other acts that were in favour of Bangladesh

Come to the Vietnam War, where the US role is still enveloped in infamy. At the height of the Cold War, poking a nose, and then directly getting in warfare, in Vietnam turned the US into the new imperial juggernaut. Within the US, millions of people, imbued by the 60s philosophy of peace and spiritual emancipation, protested, though this hardly did anything to improve the US image globally.

In the then East-Pakistan, a wave of socialist ideals spurred by Fidel Castro’s defiance of the US and relentless struggle of the Vietnamese people had transformed a generation. The 1971 American aloofness only cemented an anti-Western feeling. To be precise, for about a decade after liberation, young men wanting to enter politics had to embrace socialist values and reject

dimension to the compassionate American involvement in the war.

Of course, if we look at the overall picture, Nixon’s lethargy in acknowledging genocide in Bangladesh and the subsequent sending of the seventh fleet will always overshadow all the other acts that were in favour of Bangladesh.

Even then, sometimes good deeds need to be recognised. One cannot forget the role of the American missionaries based in Dhaka, Narinda, and Kaliganj who came to the help of the common people during those turbulent times of hopelessness. Nor can we forget Senator Edward Kennedy who stood at Congress supporting the cause for Bangladesh.

As we approach Victory Day, the role of the USSR during the war cannot

and should not be sidelined either.

They indirectly hinted that if any superpower entered on the side of Pakistan, the USSR would act, thus ruling out the 1971 Liberation War of Bangladesh from turning into a major cause for global conflict.

Later, it was the Soviets who cleared the ports of Bangladesh of thousands of planted mines and scuttled ships. Of course, to take a wide-angle perspective, the 70s was the period of high communismcapitalism tensions. Any state-to-state episode of warfare was inevitably caught in the vortex of the ideological divide.

One may ask why these nuances from another era matter so much. After all, the Cold War is over and there’s nothing called the Soviet Union.

Well, for starters, accurate history is essential because unless the facts are known, new generations’ understanding of the political evolution of the sub-continent will be distorted.

Just a concluding point, leading Arab countries from where millions of Bangladeshis now send back much needed foreign currency did not recognise Bangladesh’s struggle for independence on the rationale that the movement was aimed at dividing a Muslim country. Saudi Arabia gave formal recognition to Bangladesh in 19751976. Today, the Saudi government is a generous friend to Bangladesh.

On the eve of Victory Day, let’s also try to understand a little bit of global politics and how they have evolved, with Bangladesh now firmly secured in the global map as a developing country. l Towheed Feroze is a journalist currently working in the development sector.

he country’s economy is not in a good shape. Internal economic recession began due to political uncertainty following the 15th constitutional amendment which erupted the political turmoil.

Contrarily, the world economy has regained from the recession.

Variables of macro economy are in the red for the absence of an investment-friendly atmosphere despite the liquidity at banks remaining superfluous. Shortage of confidence forced local investors to be reluctant in initiating new ventures resulting in a deadlock of the entire economy.

Top-to-bottom corruption in governance has gobbled up big chunks of revenue, and unchecked expenditures aiming at sustaining bureaucrats’ support ultimately laundered pockets of the masses. Aggressiveness to extract VAT, tax, levy, and tariffs for swelling revenue and raising prices of gas and electricity utilities, mount pressure on ordinary people who are in a battle to survive.

The policy taken by the government to reconstruct the economy has failed, as the systematic corruption is leaking out of all oratory initiatives. Because of poor moral strength to govern, and failure in securing confidence of the investors, the incumbent government has put the economy in a trap.

In spite of escalating external debt on high interest, excessive internal borrowings from banks and non-banking financial institutions, increasing taxes, raising utility costs, and printing currency notes to meet the government expenditures, our sinking economy has failed to bounce back.

The government’s borrowing from the banking system unprecedentedly soared to 263% on a year-on-year basis in the first nine days of the current fiscal year as the expenditures exceeded revenue incomes, according to Bangladesh Bank estimation. The amount was Tk5,011cr during July 1-9, against Tk1,380cr in the same period of 2013, according to the central bank.

Moreover, the government has set a target to borrow Tk31,221cr from the banking system during the fiscal. But this oversized government borrowing from banks will only fail to achieve inflation-taming targets, and will provide less space for the banks to lend to the private sector.

Meanwhile, the government’s non-bank borrowing also surged in November because of its utter failure to make better use of available foreign funds due to poor project implementation. As a result, the government’s debt servicing cost would rise in fiscal 2014-15.

To plug the holes in deficit financing, the government, during the July-September period, depended heavily on non-bank borrowing through the sale of savings instruments. If the current trend continues, the sale of the savings instruments would total 301% higher than that of the original target by the end of this fiscal year, which will further increase the government’s debt-servicing costs, jeopardising the economy.

In this situation, the government has recently framed a medium-term

debt strategy, estimating to borrow as much as 60% of its total borrowing from external sources like WB, ADB, and IDB, including those of costly commercial loans.

Reports said the government could not utilise the foreign funds due to its perennial poor record of project implementation, although more than $19bn low interest loans were available for the country. In monetary terms, the net foreign financing declined by Tk1,699cr, and the bank financing by Tk34cr in the first quarter of this FY.

The people are so pressed that they have hardly any money left to survive with dignity

In the meantime, the government’s overall revenue earning was very poor in the first quarter of this FY. In July-September, the total revenue declined by 0.04% on a year-on-year basis. During the period, the total revenue collection was Tk34,785cr, which was Tk36,231cr in the same quarter last fiscal. The non-NBR revenue collection was the worst, slumping 45% on yearon-year basis to Tk6,543cr.

To meet the government’s vigorous expenditures demand, the central bank recently sold greenbacks of $45mn to five banks that explores the central bank’s inadequacy also. A plan was chalked to increase the tariffs of gas and electricity from January 2015 for households to businesses and industries.

Depending on users, gas prices might increase between 5% to 122%.

The citizens are already battling to survive being struck by an ailing economy. The proposed pay hike of the government employees will push them further back.

Moreover, share market scams, the loan scams of Hall-Mark and Sonali Bank, Destiny, and money siphoning in state-owned Basic Bank slowed the once boosting economy. All efforts of the people to spell their fortune are being swallowed by the politics of vengeance.

The embattled economy of the country is further being mired by financial mismatches. The corruption in the state-owned banks has laundered millions in collaboration with the high-ups of the government, and the ruling party is pushing the banking system to the verge of a collapse.

The state apparatus of intimidation and punishment through NBR and ACC are all out to fetch more money for the corrupt appetite of the government.

But the people are so pressed that they have hardly any money left to survive with dignity. This condition of the economy is caused by nothing but the total failure of the government.

We demand a people’s government through free, fair, credible, and inclusive elections. l Abdullah Zobair is Executive Director, Bangladesh Initiative for Political Development (BIPD).

The young and the complacent n Khawaza Main Uddin

T

hese famous lines from a Bangla poem – “this is the right time for he who is now a youth, to join the procession” – are of little relevance or appeal to the youth born after 1990.

That was the year which witnessed the last student-demonstration-turnedmass-upsurge of our time to restore democracy.

Why would the younger generations go to (holy) war, no matter how euphemistically poet Helal Hafiz narrates the greatness of sacrificing oneself for altruistic purposes? We can’t blame them either, since we never try to know what they think of the country or even of themselves.

Today’s youth have shown smarts, because they have avoided the Bohemian path they probably consider to be wrong, which was followed by many of their predecessors. Instead of venturing on violent politics or spending years reciting poems, as we experienced during our university life, a Bangladeshi youth, during this age of globalisation, prefers pursuing a job and building a family.

How unlucky the new generations

are, that they have not been made the torchbearers of the senior ones! What about the role of the old leaders? Sorry, they are not leaving too many role models to be followed by the posterity.

Perhaps as a result of natural justice, the present-day leaders have been reduced to a position in which they can no longer exploit even the emotions of the more junior citizens.

These morally bankrupt leaders had to bank on the Shahbagh-based movement in 2013, spearheaded by some ambitious youngsters, for their political survival, at the cost of democracy being derailed.

Inevitably, our society has undergone a generation gap, wherein the latest one, disillusioned with politics and volunteerism, has turned selfish, setting the trend of pursuing mere individualistic pursuits. Earning money, dining at fancy restaurants, using costly mobile phones, buying a motorbike, owning a flat, and shopping outside the country are some samples of the dreams of the average youth, and a career is only the vehicle for securing those dreams.

In 1971, it was the young freedom fighters who risked their lives to

pursue the dream of an independent Bangladesh. Before and in 1990, the youth of our generation selflessly fought a war between autocracy and democracy. Today, the young people have no collective dream that could bring positive changes to their very surroundings.

We, as a whole, have failed to realise that a culture of utter selfishness instigated by alienation of individuals from society, ultimately cannot serve the selfish interests of all men and women.

Unfortunately, after every revolutionary change in this country, the youth were either misguided or excluded from the next ladder of leadership. No sector, except groups of a few elites and family-owned businesses, has created a second tier of leadership to succeed the current one.

Rather, showing signs of hypocrisy, the dominant leaders often describe the youth as being the future of the country but never welcome any new ideas from them, let alone providing any space for them to grow. I wonder how the beneficiaries tasked with building and leading Bangladesh would be held accountable to history

for pushing future generations into a state of uncertainty.

The dreams of each youth at an individual level is also constrained by a wholesale absence of independent minds to think freely.

ideas.” He said in Dhaka recently: “This country belongs to people with extraordinary power and privileges.”

The state is treating the youth accordingly, just not offering what they need and deserve. In the client-

Dominant leaders often describe the youth as being the future of the country but never welcome any new ideas from them

We once employed social efforts to produce servants for the colonial setting, now we have joined the spree of making only business executives and technicians with a restless education in which enlightenment and big dreams are hardly of any value.

It’s dangerous sometimes to raise criticism targeted at the evil system.

Still, British author of Bangladeshi origin Zia Haider Rahman described this country as a “land of dead

patron relationship of the statecraft, Chhatra League and Jubo League cadres have emerged as the most powerful agents, though minor portions, of the Bangladeshi adults of the 21st century.

They and their political masters are the virtual owners of public goods, be it in the form of contracts, kickbacks, extortion, public service recruitments, or land-grabbing.

In such a regime, no authority,

irrespective of paper-based legal provisions, guarantees fair opportunities for the youth. Those who frequently talk about dreams and the spirit of independence are out to deny, consistently, any fair rules of the game for newcomers. This system of governance has purported to prove that the youth are not ready for leadership roles.

Also, over-pampering parents and guardians think their children are not competent enough to lead the family or the nation. But practically, the successors do lead, making breakthroughs in their own lives and society in the process. This poor and troublesome legacy of being left behind by the elderly generation remains a matter of serious concern.

The contemporary Bangladeshi youth, lacking education proper and missing the wisdom of seasoned personalities, may find themselves in the awkward position in which they would be offered leadership, in a sudden but inevitable transition, in the near future. l Khawaza Main Uddin is Executive Editor at ICE Business Times.

12

DHAKA TRIBUNE Monday, December 15, 2014

13 Japan teens

become youngest champions

14 Germany lift

Champions Trophy

14 Evergreen

Lampard proud to match Henry tally

Sport

Did you know?

Only once (9 v Tottenham in Aug 2011) has David de Gea made more saves in a Premier League game than he did against Liverpool yesterday (8)

MSC, Doleshwar, Rupganj seal Super League places n Mazhar Uddin Mohammedan, Prime Doleshwar and holders Legends of Rupganj all confirmed their places in the six-team Super League phase of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League yesterday after winning their respective matches in the 11th and final round.

Mohammedan defeated Kalabagan Krira Chakra by 22 runs in Fatullah, Prime Doleshwar beat Partex by eight wickets in Savar while Rupganj inflicted a six-wicket defeat on Sheikh Jamal in Mirpur.

Prime Bank and Abahani earlier sealed their berth in the Super League while Kalabagan Cricket Academy will also join them irrespective of their result against Victoria today in Savar.

Although a win for Victoria will take them level on points with Kalabagan CA, a better head-to-head record means it will be the latter who will take their place in the Super League.

Mohammedan v Kalabagan KC

Rupganj opener Tamim Iqbal gestures during their DPL match against Sheikh Jamal in Mirpur yesterday

Tamim not delving into distractions n

Mazhar Uddin

Defending champions of the Dhaka Premier Division Cricket League, Legends of Rupganj have been going through a tough time lately. Their owner Lutfur Rahman Badal was slapped with a life-

Their presence would have been better but we are focused on our duties for the club. We had a meeting where we decided not to focus on the other issues and keep concentrating on our games time ban from all kinds of cricket activities for disparaging comments against the Bangladesh Cricket Board and a few directors.

The club’s joint secretary Tarikul Islam Tito was handed a five-year ban

while manager Sabbir Ahmed Rubel was banned for three years.

The cricketers of the club would have been forgiven if their heads were not in the right place but for national opener Tamim Iqbal, it was business as usual.

A focused Tamim spoke to the media yesterday in Mirpur following their 11th and final round match against Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club where the holders confirmed their berth in the Super League phase with a six-wicket win.

“Their presence would have been better but we are focused on our duties for the club. We had a meeting where we decided not to focus on the other issues and keep concentrating on our games. We might have been going through tough times as we lost four matches in a row after winning the first five games in succession,” said Tamim.

“However, we have managed to win the last two matches. I am confident and the boys are looking forward,” he added. l

MAINOOR ISLAM MANIK

Naznin Akter Happy, the actress who has filed a treachery case against national pacer Rubel Hossain, arrives at Mirpur Model Police Station yesterday MI MANIK

National Sports Council (NSC) will disburse a fund of Tk380m for upgradation and renovation of the sporting infrastructures, including the Paltan Ground.

NSC secretary Shibnath Roy revealed the fact in a press conference at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday.

“The government has agreed to provide a purse of Tk500m for renovation and upgradation of various sporting infrastructures. We have pursued the sports ministry to allocate Tk120m for the purpose of training. We have the South Asian Games in India next year and we are focused on repeating the feat of winning 18 gold medals like the edition of 2010 in Dhaka. The money will be spent to prepare the athletes properly.”

Prime Doleshwar v Partex

Opener Abdullah al Mamun (93 off 103 balls) and skipper Mehrab Hossain Jr (60* off 79 balls) shone for their side as Partex posted a respectable 233/10 in 48.5 overs after taking first strike.

Prime Doleshwar duo Dawid Malan (4/25) and Elias Sunny (3/38) shared seven wickets between them.

In pursuit of 234, Prime Doleshwar romped to victory with eight wickets intact and 32 deliveries in hand.

The second-wicket partnership of Rony Talukder (112* off 123 balls) and captain Mushfiqur Rahim (70 off 78 balls) added 140 runs as Partex wilted under pressure.

Rupganj v Sheikh Jamal DC

Asked to bat first, Sheikh Jamal registered 167/8 in their allotted 45 overs as yet another match of the lone 50-over tournament of the country was curtailed yesterday.

Sheikh Jamal skipper Tushar Imran scored 64 while Nahidul Islam was unbeaten on 43 off just 34 balls.

Sharif Ullah scalped three wickets while Abul Hasan picked up two.

Rupganj though were unhindered in their chase as the defending champi-

Negre to inaugurate school hockey n Raihan Mahmood International Hockey Federation (FIH) president Leandro Negre will inaugurate the installation of a sand-based hockey turf at BAF Shaheen School today. This will be the Spaniard’s third official visit to Dhaka.

During his four-day visit, Negre will also inaugurate the First Security Islami Bank National School Hockey Championship and commence the installation work of the blue turf at Maulana Bhasani National Hockey Stadium.

The FIH president was scheduled to land in the capital yesterday night.

In a presser held at the conference room of National Sports Council yesterday, Bangladesh Hockey Federation general secretary Khaja Rahmatullah said Negre’s arrival this time will be a significant one. “The FIH president desperately wants to promote hockey in the sub-continent and desires to see Dhaka as an active international venue.

He inspired me to take the initiative of hosting a tournament comprising India and Pakistan. We hope to host it at the end of next year.”

FIH provided 25 percent of the cost

NSC to provide Tk380m for renovation work of sporting infrastructures n Raihan Mahmood

Batting first, Mohammedan put up 194 on the board losing all of their wickets in a match that was reduced to 43 overs-per-side owing to foggy weather.

Middle-order batsman Ariful Haque led the way for the traditional Black and Whites with a 107-ball 83.

National paceman Shahadat Hossain was the chief destroyer for Kalabagan KC with a five-wicket haul.

In reply, Kalabagan KC managed 172 before being bundled out with four deliveries of their innings remaining.

Shamsur Rahman (47) and Jupiter Ghosh (44) tried their best to guide the chase but a flurry of wickets in the middle overs ensured they would eventually fall short by 22 runs.

Mohammedan’s Afghan recruit Rahmat Shah scalped four wickets conceding 29 runs.

Shibnath admitted a number of sporting infrastructures are in shambles. “Yes, I am aware of the situation of the Paltan wooden floor gymnasium.

We have allocated Tk17m for the re-installation of the wooden floor.”

Shibnath added that the Mirpur Indoor stadium, the Sultana Kamal Women’s sports complex and several other gymnasiums across the country are also in the list.

The NSC secretary also said the national women’s handball team will be honoured in a felicitation programme following their triumph in the International Handball Federation Challenge Cup recently in Pakistan.

NSC director of development and planning, Ziaul Hasan, director of sports Narayan Chandra Debnath and director of finance Mohammed Shahidullah were also present on the occasion. l

ons cantered to their destination with six wickets in hand and 52 deliveries remaining. National opener Tamim Iqbal blasted 73 off 90 balls, his innings featuring 10 boundaries. l

BRIEF SCORES Rupganj v Sheikh Jamal DC Jamal 167/8 in 45 overs (maximum) Tushar 64, Nahidul 43*; Sharif 3/13, Abul 2/26 Rupganj 171/4 in 36.2 overs (Tamim 73) Rupganj won by six wickets Prime Doleshwar v Partex Partex 233 allout in 48.5 overs Abdullah 93, Mehrab Jr 60*; Dawid 4/25, Elias 3/38 Prime 235/2 in 44.4 overs Rony 112*, Mushfiq 70 Prime won by eight wickets Mohammedan v Kalabagan KC Mohammedan 194 allout in 41.5 overs (maximum 43) Ariful 83; Shahadat 5/40, Anjum 2/43 Kalabagan KC 172 allout in 42.2 overs Shamsur 47, Jupiter 44; Rahmat 4/29 Mohammedan won by 22 runs

POINTS TABLE Teams Prime Bank Abahani

M W 10 9 10 8

L Pts NRR 1 18 +0.940 2 16 +1.029

Mohammedan Prime DSC Kalabagan CA Rupganj

11 11 10 11

4 4 3 4

7 7 7 7

16 +0.019 14 +0.685 14 +0.627 14 +0.501

Sk Jamal want to play Busan IPark n Shishir Hoque

Khaja Rahmatullah, the general secretary of the hockey federation (2R) speaks in the press conference at National Sports Council yesterday COURTESY of the new blue turf and Rahmatullah said the federation will now take the initiative to set up the floodlights. “It is a costly issue but with the assistance of the government and the FIH, I think it is possible. We will seek assistance from both the parties.”

Meanwhile, Azam Khan, the head of development and marketing of First Security Islami Bank Ltd, hoped that the pipeline of the future stars will be formed through the second edition of the school tournament. “We spon-

sored the first edition and continued the trend with a vision of creating the future players.”

Tournament secretary Mamunur Rashid said the number of participating teams this time will be 120, an increase of 19 teams from the previous edition.

“The response is very good. We received 145 applications but could take only 120.

Moreover, we have made arrangements with the BKSP about providing privileges for the players who will be selected through this tournament.” l

Following South Korean top flight club Busan IPark’s interest to play in Bangladesh, professional football league champions Sheikh Jamal Dhanmondi Club have confirmed that they want to face the former AFC Champions League winners in a friendly on December 27.

Sheikh Jamal, the King’s Cup champions, forwarded their interest to the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) yesterday. All that remains now is for Busan IPark to finalise the friendly.

“Sheikh Jamal expressed their interest to play against Busan IPark.

We will start communicating with the club officials (Busan IPark) and come to a decision soon,” said BFF general secretary Abu Nayeem Shohag yesterday.

Busan IPark earlier sent an invitation letter to the BFF last Monday asking if the national side or any premier league club are interested in playing a friendly in Bangladesh against the K-League team. l

Bangladesh Boys V Day Handball begins today Club smell foul-play room of Bangabandhu National StadiRaihan Mahmood n um yesterday, Bangladesh Handball n Shishir Hoque The Walton Home Appliance Victory Federation general secretary AsaduzBangladesh Boys Club yesterday urged the Bangladesh Football Federation (BFF) to take necessary action against Shadhinota Krira Sangha. In their letter to the BFF, Boys Club accused Shadhinota KC of match-fixing in their Bengal Group Senior Division Football League second-leg match against Mohakhali XI that took place last Friday.

The match ended 1-1 after Mohakhali took the lead. The match was equally important for both the relegation battlers Shadhinota KC and Boys Club.

While the draw saved Shadhinota KC from being relegated to the second division, Boys Club were not so lucky as they were demoted from the Bengal Group Senior Division Football League.

Boys Club went on to claim in the letter that another match between Shadhinota KC and Friends Social Welfare Association on Nov 27 was also fixed. Several media reports indicated the same. The club requested the BFF to review the video footage of both the matches and take necessary initiative against the clubs. l

Day Handball, comprising three teams each in the men’s and women’s events, starts at the Paltan Ground handball stadium today.

Border Guard Bangladesh, Bangladesh Police and Bangladesh Ansar will take part in the men’s section while the women’s category will feature Ansar, BJMC and Bangladesh Police.

In a presser held at the conference

zaman Kohinoor said they are expecting enterprising clashes in the tournament. “We have invited all the services teams who are superior in strength and skills. The tournament will display top level handball.”

The tournament will conclude this Thursday. Walton additional director FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn was also present on the occasion. l

FM Iqbal bin Anwar Dawn, the additional director of Walton (R) speaks in the press conference at Bangabandhu National Stadium yesterday COURTESY

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

13

Monday, December 15, 2014

BCB condoles Saber’s father’s death n Tribune Desk

QUICK BYTES

Mkhitaryan out for six weeks Borussia Dortmund’s Bundesliga crisis took a turn for the worst on Sunday with attacking midfielder Henrikh Mkhitaryan ruled out for the next six weeks. The 25-year-old playmaker limped off after 35 minutes of their 1-0 defeat at Hertha Berlin on Saturday which dropped Borussia back into the bottom three having started December last in the league. A scan has confirmed Mkhitaryan has torn his right thigh muscle and misses their last two Bundesliga matches of 2014 on Wednesday at home to Wolfsburg and Saturday away to Werder Bremen with his side battling to escape the relegation places. With the Bundesliga due to break for winter next Sunday, Mkhitaryan will only be available for Dortmund’s first league game of 2015 on January 31 at Bayer Leverkusen.

–AFP

Bangladesh Cricket Board (BCB) expressed deep shock over the death of Hedayet Hossain Chowdhury, father of Saber Hossain Chowdhury MP, the former BCB president. Bangladesh Football Federation and Bangladesh Sports Journalists Association also condoled the death of Saber’s father.

Hedayet passed away yesterday due to old age complications. He was 87. l

Warner, Dhawan and Kohli fined by ICC

n Reuters

Female Saudi fan redcarded for entering mens-only stadium A female fan who disguised herself to infiltrate the male-only domain of a football stadium in Saudi Arabia has been red-carded, a police statement obtained on Sunday says. Men and women are strictly segregated in the kingdom, and football stadiums are out of bounds to women. But one female supporter managed to sneak into a Friday fixture of the Abdul Latif Jameel Saudi professional league at Al-Jawhara stadium in the Red Sea city of Jeddah.

She wore men’s clothes “and deliberately covered her head so as not to be detected by security and not to draw attention,” police spokesman Atti alQurashi said in the statement. A video posted on YouTube purported to show her sitting by herself among some empty seats in a section reserved for fans of the visiting Al-Shabab club from the capital Riyadh.

–AFP

Sangakkara fined for dissent Sri Lanka’s star batsman Kumar Sangakkara was Sunday fined 15 percent of his match fee for showing dissent at the umpire’s decision in the sixth one-day international against England in Kandy.

The prolific left-hander was found to have breached the International Cricket Council’s code of conduct for players during the game on Saturday which the hosts won by 90 runs. The incident took place during Sri Lanka’s innings when Sangakkara got involved in a “prolonged discussion” with on-field umpire Bruce Oxenford in the 34th over, the ICC said in a statement. Sangakkara was disputing the umpire’s decision not to allow Sri Lanka to take the batting powerplay at that time, it said.

“Two balls later, following the dismissal of Tillakaratne Dilshan, Sangakkara turned to Oxenford and made another inappropriate comment.”

–AFP

Zhang set to become fourth Chinese in Bundesliga Wolfsburg are set to present China midfielder Zhang Xizhe as a new signing to become the fourth Chinese to have played in Germany’s top flight -- with more likely to follow. Zhang landed in Germany at Frankfurt airport on Saturday and with only details of the 23-yearold’s transfer from Beijing Guoan to be finalised, he is set to officially become a Wolves player in the coming days.

He would be the only currently active Chinese player in the German league, but not the first. He is set to follow in the footsteps of Hao Junmin, who made 14 league appearances for Schalke 04 in 2010 and 2011, Shao Jiayi, who joined 1860 Munich in 2003, then Energie Cottbus in 2006, and striker Yang Chen, who made 65 Bundesliga appearances for Eintracht Frankfurt up until 2001, scoring 16 goals.

–AFP

DAY’S WATCH Star Sports 2 10:00AM Ranji Trophy MPCA v UPCA 1:45AM Spanish La Liga Deportivo v Elche

Star Sports 1 1:45AM Italian Serie A Chievo v Inter Milan

Star Sports 4 English Premier League 2:00AM Everton v QPR

Indian Aces team players celebrate after winning the International Premier Tennis League in Dubai on Saturday

REUTERS

Australia’s David Warner and India’s Shikhar Dhawan and Virat Kohli have been fined by the International Cricket Council (ICC) for ill-tempered incidents during the fourth day of the first Test in Adelaide.

Warner and Dhawan were fined 15 and 30 per cent of their respective match fees for a confrontation after the Australian opener was bowled by a no-ball.

India captain Kohli, deputising for the injured MS Dhoni, was docked 30 per cent of his match fee after an argument with Australian bowler Steven Smith following a rejected lbw appeal against Rohit Sharma.l

Aussies may freshen pace attack for second Test

Cook’s World Cup captaincy in doubt

n AFP, Adelaide

Alastair Cook’s role as England captain for next year’s World Cup was cast into doubt when head coach Peter Moores said his position would be reviewed after the team’s current one-day series in Sri Lanka.

Cook was last week named as skipper of a provisional 30-man squad for next year’s tournament in Australia and New Zealand but has continued to cut a beleaguered figure at the helm of the one-day side.

The 29-year-old has averaged under 18 with the bat as the tourists slipped to a 4-2 series defeat in Sri Lanka with one game remaining.

“We review everything at the end of every series, we’ve always said that,” Moores told Sky Sports when asked if Cook would be captain at the World Cup. “We make no bones that we’re passionate to try and get our best side to go

Australia, already without injured skipper Michael Clarke, may also freshen up their pace attack with Josh Hazlewood and Mitchell Starc for this week’s second Test in Brisbane, coach Darren Lehmann said Sunday.

Clarke is out for the rest of the India Test series with a torn right hamstring suffered while fielding in Australia’s 48-run win over India on Saturday, amid fears his Test career could be over after a spate of injuries.

Shaun Marsh has been named to take Clarke’s place for Wednesday’s Test at the Gabba, with vice-captain and wicketkeeper Brad Haddin expected to become Australia’s 45th Test skipper.

But with just three days between Tests, selectors must consider the pace attack for Brisbane, Lehmann said.

“We will see how they pull up,” he told reporters.

“We will pick the best team to get 20 wickets. A couple of them are sore but the next day or two will tell. It’s a quick turnaround.”

Left-armer Starc has been placed on stand-by for Brisbane, while Hazlewood was the 12th man in Adelaide.

Ryan Harris, making his Test return after major knee surgery, worked through a total of 40 overs in Adelaide and may need to sit out in Brisbane.

“I literally don’t know. He’s just come back in the side,” Lehmann said of Harris.

“If they are not 100 percent they won’t play.”

Peter Siddle may also be under scrutiny after taking just six wickets in his past four Tests.

“Obviously getting some more wick-

ets if possible. He knows that, but he is doing everything he can behind the scenes. He’s OK.” Australia will again rely heavily on off-spinner Nathan Lyon to get through a large workload in Brisbane. Lyon captured a career-best 12 wickets in the match at the Adelaide Oval, triggering a final-session collapse to steer Australia to victory.

In the space of 18 overs, Lyon snared six wickets as India slumped from 242 for two to be all out for 315. Lyon finished with seven for 152 off 34.1 overs.

“He did a really good job (in Brisbane) last year against England, got some key wickets,” Lehmann said. “He enjoys the bounce at the Gabba.

“He’s dispelled that (notion that Lyon couldn’t bowl teams out on day five)... I’m really pleased for him. It was an emotional day for him.”l

n Reuters, London

out and win a World Cup. Cook needs runs but he’s also had some great times as an England player. He’s in a tough patch at the moment but that’s something he’s working hard to get out of.”

Cook’s performance during England’s 90-run defeat in the sixth one-dayer on Saturday typified the form that has led to a growing number of critics question his captaincy and his place in the team. He dropped a routine catch off Kumar Sangakkara, on 41 at the time, and the lefthander went on to make a game-changing 112. The England captain scored just one run before succumbing to the second ball he faced.

Cook still believes he is the man to lead the side for the Tri-Series against Australia and India in January and the World Cup. “We came into today with some high hopes so it’s been a frustrating day all round, and days like these don’t make the job any easier,” Cook said. l

Dortmund have ‘awesome’ problems, admits Klopp n AFP, Berlin Borussia Dortmund’s Jurgen Klopp says the 2013 Champions League finalists have “awesome problems” after dropping back into the relegation places following their defeat at Hertha Berlin.

They are the only team in Germany’s top flight to have lost nine matches having started December bottom of the table.

Despite Saturday’s defeat, Dortmund’s fans applauded the squad after the final whistle at Berlin’s Olympic Stadium and Klopp led his side to their fans’ corner to acknowledge them.

“We need all the support we can get, we hear week after week that we are a great team, but this ‘awesome’ team also

has awesome problems,” admitted Klopp.

“The first half was the complete opposite of how we wanted to play.

“We weren’t determined enough which is completely the wrong path to take in a game like this.”

Klopp, who steered Borussia to the 2011 and 2012 Bundesliga titles, has a contract until 2018 and has been told his job is safe, but last season’s runners-up were poor in Berlin.

“We’re in a relegation battle, we’ve accepted the situation the way it is,” admitted Klopp.

Dortmund host second-placed Wolfsburg on Wednesday, then are away to fellow strugglers Werder Bremen next Saturday in the last game of the year before the Bundesliga breaks for the winter.l

Japan teens become youngest champions n AFP, Bangkok Fourteen year-olds Mima Ito and Miu Hirano on Saturday became the youngest ever winners at the $1 million table tennis World Grand Finals in Bangkok.

The schoolgirls took the women’s doubles title, beating Natalia Partyka and Katarzyna Grzybowski of Poland 11-7, 11-6, 11-4, 11-5, to claim a $40,000 share of the prize money. The Japanese teens had already defeated the Polish women at the German Open this year and Ito said “we knew we could beat them, but of course this was a new match and it was a very special match.”

Japan’s men’s pair Kenta Matsudaira and Koki Niwa lost their final against South Korea’s Cho Eon-Rae and Seo Hyun-Deok in a seven game thriller 11-8, 10-12, 5-11, 12-10, 6-11, 11-6, 9-11.l

Mima Ito (R) and Miu Hirano

Juventus defender Patrice Evra (2R) heads to score against Sampdoria during their Italian Serie A match at the Juventus stadium in Turin yesterday REUTERS

Juve held, Lazio down Atalanta n AFP, Milan

Manolo Gabbiadini struck in the second half to put the brakes on Juventus’s title charge on Sunday as Sampdoria grabbed a 1-1 draw in Turin to hand Roma a scudetto lifeline on Sunday.

Frenchman Patrice Evra gave the Italian champions a half-time lead when he headed home from a corner in the 12th minute to score his first goal for the club.

However Sampdoria, who handed Juventus their last home defeat, in January 2013, were back on level terms six minutes after the restart after fledgling Italy striker Gabbiadini beat Gianluigi Buffon with a fine curling drive.

Juve’s third draw of the season, and their first at home, has left Massimiliano Allegri’s side with a four-point lead on Roma, who can reduce their deficit to a point if they account for thirdplaced Genoa later Sunday.

Allegri steered his side into the last 16 of the Champions League with a scoreless draw at home to Atletico Madrid on Tuesday.

But the 47-year-old coach’s decision to keep Andrea Pirlo on the bench, as the club look towards the Italian Super Cup against Napoli in Doha on Decem-

SERIE A

Palermo

2-1

Rigoni 3, Belotti 90+3

Lazio

Sassuolo Pavoletti 85

3-0

Atalanta

Mauri 51, 71, Lulic 81

ber 22, looked to have backfired.

Allegri also left Fernando Llorente on the bench with fellow Spaniard Alvaro Morata spearheading the Juve attack with Carlos Tevez.

Sampdoria coach Sinisa Mihajlovic called for “11 warriors” on the pitch at Juventus Stadium, but his side looked

lost in an opening half dominated outrageously by the hosts.

Earlier, two goals from skipper Stefano Mauri helped Lazio to a 3-0 win over Atalanta on Saturday that moved the Rome outfit into third place in Serie A. With Miroslav Klose left on the bench in favour of Filip Djordjevic, it was captain Mauri who stepped up to the mark after a lacklustre first half for both sides.

Mauri opened the scoring after 51 minutes from a cross by Felipe Anderson and added his second 20 minutes later after smart work down the left.

Senad Lulic headed home Lazio’s third goal after 81 minutes off a cross from Dusan Basta.

Mauri could have had a hat-trick if Stefan de Vrij hadn’t got in front of him to miss the target from a 38th-minute centre by Stefan Radu or if a smart left-footed volley hadn’t just missed the target in the 54th minute. l

14

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Sport

Monday, December 15, 2014

De Gea stars as United deepen Liverpool gloom n AFP, Manchester Wayne Rooney, Juan Mata and Robin van Persie scored as Manchester United rubbed salt into Liverpool’s wounds with a crushing 3-0 home victory in the Premier League on Sunday.

Rooney and Mata both found the net before half-time, the latter apparently from an offside position, before van Persie added a third to avenge United’s loss to Liverpool by the same scoreline at Old Trafford in March.

RESULTS

Man United

3-0

Liverpool

4-1

Newcastle

Rooney 12, Mata 40, Van Persie 71

On Saturday Arsenal Giroud 15, 58, Cazorla 54, 88-P

Perez 63

Victory, United’s sixth in a row, allowed Louis van Gaal’s side to move back to within eight points of leaders Chelsea and five of champions Manchester City, fuelling hopes of a slow-burning title push.

United’s fans finished the game by chanting “You’re getting sacked in the morning!” at Liverpool coach Brendan Rodgers, whose side limped out of the Champions League in mid-week and now trail United by 10 points.

But Liverpool might have emerged

from the game with more credit had it not been for a stunning display by United goalkeeper David de Gea, who denied Raheem Sterling and substitute Mario Balotelli three times each.

Rodgers had reacted to the poor form of his own goalkeeper, Simon Mignolet, by dropping him in favour of Brad Jones, and the Australian’s presence on the pitch at kick-off was not the only novelty.

Both teams lined up with three-man defences, with midfielder Michael Carrick marshalling United’s back line and Liverpool full-back Glen Johnson playing in a narrower role than usual.

De Gea was presented with United’s player of the month award prior to kick-off and he demonstrated his value to van Gaal in the 12th minute by sliding out to thwart Sterling from Adam Lallana’s incisive pass.

Within a minute, United were ahead.

Antonio Valencia left Joe Allen chasing shadows with a cute nutmeg on the right flank before cutting the ball back for the unmarked Rooney to sweep home from 15 yards. With Rickie Lambert named on the bench alongside the fit-again Balotelli, it was left to Sterling to give Liverpool a cutting edge.

Meanwhile, Olivier Giroud and Santi Cazorla each scored twice as Arsenal beat Newcastle United 4-1 in the Premier League on Saturday to ease the pressure on long-serving manager Arsene Wenger. l

Manchester United’s Netherlands striker Robin van Persie (C) celebrates scoring the side’s third goal with teammate Juan Mata of Spain (L) and English forward Wayne Rooney during their English Premier League match against Liverpool at Old Trafford yesterday INTERNET

Germany lift Champions Trophy Man City face striking

Christmas injury woes

Germans beat Pakistan 2-0, Australia defeat India to become third team’s dangerous counter-attacks. The was continues winner of the trophy for n AP, Bhubaneswar n Reuters, London green shirts has deprived of its two last five years.

Olympic champion Germany displayed superb precision play Sunday to carve out a 2-0 victory over Pakistan in the final of the Champions Trophy field hockey tournament.

Christopher Wesley and Florian Fuchs scored for Germany, which dominated the Champions Trophy final with a tight game.

Once again, Germany strangled the free-flowing game of the opposition.

After getting past England and Australia in the quarterfinals and semifinals, Germany marked Pakistan tightly and virtually eliminated the Asian

outstanding players Amjad and Toseeq due to India unnecessary complaint to International hockey federation.

German team has taken lead over Pakistan in start of the match and the green shirts players attempted several tries to level the lead but they could not get success. From German side Vezlay scored the goal for its team and in last minute of the match German made another goal and confirmed its victory against Pakistan.

Germany has won the trophy last time in 2007 and Australia who got third position in the trophy on Sunday

Earlier, five-time defending and 13time overall champion Australia won 2-1 to dash India’s hopes of winning only its second bronze medal in the Champions Trophy.

Eddie Ockenden (19th minute) and Matt Gohdes (52nd) scored for the world champions Australia while Lalit Upadhyay (42nd) scored the Indian goal.

While the first quarter remained goalless, Australia tasted their first success in the beginning of the second quarter when skipper Ockenden hit the net in 18th minute.l

Manchester City are in danger of facing the busy Christmas and New Year Premier League programme without their top strikers and captain as manager Manuel Pellegrini counted the cost of Saturday’s win at Leicester City.

Edin Dzeko, back-up to City’s injured striking totem Sergio Aguero, suffered a calf problem in the warm-up before the 1-0 win while skipper Vincent Kompany limped off late in the game with a recurrence of his niggling hamstring injury.

It left Pellegrini admitting ruefully that all three would almost certainly miss the festive programme, which will see City play five games in 15 days.

Though there is also the possibility that he could be without the injured

Stevan Jovetic, Pellegrini was putting on a brave face as he said: “We won’t complain about injuries.”

With Kompany, returning on Saturday after missing three games through injury, and Aguero absolutely key as attacking and defensive lynchpins, it is a huge blow to be without them both, with Pellegrini’s striking options especially being tested.

On Saturday, he had to blood 18-year-old Jose Pozo, a Spanish youngster with an exciting future but still a little lightweight amid the rough and tumble of the Premier League.

“It is impossible that Vincent and Edin will be ready before the new year,” said Pellegrini, who is already resigned to being without Aguero for at least a month after he damaged his knee against Everton. l

Schalke assistant coach injured by cigarette lighter n AFP, Berlin Schalke 04’s assistant coach Sven Huebscher needed stitches after being hit on the head by a lighter thrown from the crowd during Saturday’s 2-1 home defeat to Cologne.

Robert di Matteo’s assistant was left dazed by the blow at Schalke’s Veltins Arena as he was helped from sidelines before the deep cut was stitched.

“We hope the perpetrator can be identified. That is unacceptable,” said Schalke’s director of sport Horst Heldt.

Having scraped into the Champions League’s last 16, Di Matteo’s Schalke had their three-match winning streak ended by Cologne. Nigeria striker Anthony Ujah scored just after the break before midfielder Matthias Lehmann netted a penalty to put the visitors 2-0 up. l

Evergreen Lampard proud to match Henry tally

Wanderers run ended by Cruz Azul, Auckland advance n Reuters, Rabat n Reuters, London

German players celebrate after beating Pakistan 2-0 to win the Champions Trophy field hockey in Bhubaneswar yesterday AP

Nantes down Bordeaux, Bastia beat Rennes

Ben Arfa on way out of Hull City n AFP, Paris

n AFP, Paris

French winger Hatem Ben Arfa has returned to his home country and will not appear again for English Premier League side Hull City, sports daily L’Equipe reported on Saturday.

L’Equipe said that the 27-year-old, who hails from the Paris suburbs, has been back in the French capital for the last three days, working with a fitness trainer while he searches for a new club.

Ben Arfa, who won the last of his 13 caps for France at Euro 2012, joined Hull on a season-long loan from Newcastle United in the summer, but has failed to make an impact in his eight Premier League appearances.

The report added that talks are underway to release Ben Arfa from his loan at Hull, who wish to get his 250,000-euro (£198,000, $311,000) monthly salary off their wage bill. l

A freak own goal helped Nantes to a 2-1 win over Bordeaux, struggling Bastia beat Rennes and a brace from Brazilian Diego Rigonato helped Reims past Evian in Ligue 1 action on Saturday.

Nantes ended their three-match losing run thanks to Jordan Veretout’s opener, cancelled out by Kian Hansen’s own goal. Nantes remain seventh with Bordeaux in fifth, on 31 points, one behind Saint-Etienne who face Nice on Sunday.

Sixth-placed Rennes were thwarted 2-0 at Bastia, playing much of the game a man down after Fallou Diagne’s 26th minute red card.

A first half stoppage time goal from Ryad Boudebouz and Yannick Cahuzac’s effort nine minutes from time earned Bastia a precious fourth win of

the season.

They climbed one place into third from bottom, on 17 points, one behind Guingamp.l

LIGUE 1

Nantes

2-1

Veretout 23, Jug 66-og

Reims

3-2

Rigonato 14, 80, Mandi 78

Montpellier

Hansen 28-og

Evian Wass 57, Cambon 68

3-3

Sanson 1, Barrios 16, Mounier 63

Bastia

Bordeaux

Lens Valdivia 17, Guillaume 34, Touzghar 80

2-0

Rennes

Boudebouz 45+1, Cahuzac 81

Lorient

3-1

J Ayew 13, Guerreiro 37, Jeannot 45+1

Metz N’Gbakoto 46

Western Sydney Wanderers came within two minutes of a dream Club World Cup semi-final meeting with Real Madrid before losing 3-1 after extra time to Mexican side Cruz Azul on Saturday.

A memorable year for Wanderers, who defied the odds to overcome much wealthier Asian teams and win the continent’s Champions League in November, ended on a waterlogged pitch with a rash of red cards as they let a late lead slip.

Concacaf champions Cruz Azul will face European champions Real in Rabat on Tuesday.

In Saturday’s other quarter-final, Auckland City’s John Irving struck in the second-half to secure a shock 1-0 win over Algerians ES Setif and a last four place for the first time.

The Oceania champions will meet Argentina’s San Lorenzo, the Copa Libertadores title holders, in Marrakesh on Wednesday. Wanderers, who finished with nine men, took the lead in the second half against overwhelming favourites Cruz Azul with a long-range strike from Iacopo La Rocca.

Wanderers were unhappy with Ivory Coast referee Noumandiez Doue and the condition of the pitch that made passing difficult and ball control a lottery following continuous torrential rain.

“The whole 120 minutes was disgusting,” Wanderers goalkeeper Ante Covic said.l

CLUB WORLD CUP

Setif

0-1

Auckland City

Manchester City midfielder Frank Lampard notched a trademark goal on Saturday to draw level with Thierry Henry in fourth place on the list of leading Premier League scorers.

Lampard arrived late in the box to steer in a cross and secure his team’s 1-0 win at Leicester City, the 175th league goal of his prolific career.

The evergreen 36-year-old’s latest crucial contribution to City’s cause left manager Manuel Pellegrini reiterating his keenness to ensure the champions enjoy the former Chelsea favourite’s ser-

vices on loan for the rest of the season.

Of his goal, Lampard told the BBC: “I’m very happy with it, I thought it was going to be out of my reach.

“I have respect for Henry, he is one of the greatest in Premier League history and to be up there with him is incredible,” Lampard added, referring to the former Arsenal and France striker Thierry Henry.

Lampard started his career at West Ham United before moving to Chelsea in 2001 and he scored 147 league goals for the Stamford Bridge club before joining City on loan at the end of last season. l

EPL GOAL LIST 260 Alan Shearer (Blackburn, Newcastle) 187

Andy Cole (Newcastle, Man Utd, Blackburn, Fulham, Man City, Portsmouth)

178

Wayne Rooney (Everton, Man Utd)

175

Frank Lampard (West Ham, Chelsea, Man City)

175

Thierry Henry (Arsenal)

163

Robbie Fowler (Liverpool, Leeds Utd, Man City)

149 Les Ferdinand (QPR, Newcastle, Tottenham, West Ham, Leicester, Bolton) 149 Michael Owen (Liverpool, Newcastle, Man Utd) 147

Teddy Sheringham (Nottingham Forest, Spurs, Man Utd, Portsmouth, West Ham)

127

Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink (Leeds, Chelsea, Middlesbrough, Charlton)

Irving 52

Cruz Azul Torrado 89-P, 118-P, Pavone 108

3-1

WS Wanderers La Rocca 65

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Entertainment

Monday, December 15, 2014

SHOMI KAISER: Next generation will uphold the legacy of Liberation War n Shadma Malik

Shomi Kaiser, noted actor and cultural activist, is making a documentary on the life and work of Shahidullah Kaiser, her father and one of the intellectuals who was killed by the Pakistan Army during the Liberation War. Working on the project since 2007, Shomi has been interviewing people and visiting West Bengal to accumulate information for her documentary.

She expects that the documentary can be a rich source of historical facts about the country’s independence.

The documentary is expected to be released in March next year.

The Dhaka Tribune caught up with the actor and asked her about the sig-

Exhibition

16th Asian Art Biennale Bangladesh Time: 11am – 8pm National Art Gallery Bangladesh Shilpakala Academy

nificance of Victory Day. “For me, Victory Day embodies the sense of freedom. It also signifies the value of ‘71, the legacy of the freedom of speech which was achieved in the war.”

Asked to send a message to people on this occasion, Shomi said: “On this occasion, I would like to say our freedom fighters shed their blood to gain independence. They paid a price to free the country. I would like to ask everyone to support the International Crimes Tribunal (ICT) . It is my efforts to tell our next generation not to be confused about the ICT’s verdicts.

“Trying the well-known Razakars who betrayed the country is not an act of revenge; it is justice.

I urge our young generation to learn about the country’s history and understand the sacrifices people made in 1971. I believe the next generation will uphold the legacy of our Liberation War.” Asked how she planned to spend Victory Day, Shomi said: “I usually spend time with my family. We visit Projonmo ‘71 and put flowers as a tribute to our martyrs.” l

Shifting Sands Time: 12pm – 8pm Bengal Art Lounge, 60, Gulshan Avenue

Film

Roar, Fury, Ek Cup Cha Big Hero 6 (3D) Pipra Bidda, Ouija Star Cineplex

Fun Size

HBO Hits, 8:30pm

Liberation War-themed film festival at Balaka n Entertainment Desk Balaka Cineworld is holding a weeklong film festival, with the Liberation War as its theme, to honour Victory Day and will screen seven films between December 19 and 25.

It will open with a screening of “Ora Egaro Jon” on December 19, a portrayal of Bangladesh just after independence. The following day, “Aguner Poroshmoni,” a film about the resistance to the occupation, will be shown. On December 21, “Amar Bondhu Rashed,” based on the story of a boy who sensitises his peers to the crucial issues underly-

ing the independence movement in 1971 will be screened.

Audiences will get to view “Joyjatra” on December 22, a film about the sacrifices and inspiration of those who took part in the freedom struggle. The well-known film, “Guerrilla,” will be screened the next day.

On December 24, “Megher Pore Megh,” an adaptation of the novel of the same name by Rabeya Khatun will be shown. The final film to be shown, “Matir Moina,” is a portrayal of a family that must come to grips with its culture, faith, and the brutal changes taking place all around it. l

While looking for her little brother, Wren goes on an unexpected and unforgettable journey!

Evolution

Star Movies, 5:30pm

A firefighting cadet, two college professors, and a geeky-but-sexy government scientist work against an alien.

Deep Blue Sea HBO Hits, 11:15pm

NASIMA KHAN depicts the seasons in the chars

Meet the Faces

By Nasreen Sultana Mitu Time: 3pm – 9pm Alliance Francaise Be Smart About Art Time: 10am – 8pm Athena Gallery of Fine Arts

15

n Nadia Sultana Ava Artist Nasima Khan does magic with watercolours in her depictions of the sky during the monsoon season in her current solo exhibition centring on the shoals, locally called chars, of the country.

Her paintings are on display at the Bengal Art Lounge in the capital. The show titled “Shifting Sands” features 69 paintings.

Nasima merges the merciless physical landscape of

the chars with monsoon rain that softens the harsh landscape of the chars.

The stark and barren lands in the paintings are transformed and revitalised by the rain even as the audience is transformed by Nasima’s skill.

“Monsoon,” one of the finest works in the exhibition, portrays dense clouds unburdening themselves on the inhabitants and cattle of the chars.

Though her depiction of the monsoons will probably appeal most to audiences, Khan’s work on the other seasons are equally compelling.

A painting titled “Winter’s Day,” depicting dried out marshes and the skeletons of shrivelled trees transports viewers to the wasteland of the chars and leaves them shivering, without ever requiring them to move an inch.

With an acute sense of observation, the artist portrays rice fields, sandy shores, fishing nets, misty mornings and still water in her paintings.

The exhibition which started on December 13 is open to all from 12pm to 8pm everyday until December 27. l

Searching for a cure to Alzheimer’s disease a group of scientists on an isolated research facility become the bait as a trio of intelligent sharks fight back.

I Spy

Star Movies Action, 8:30pm

A professional athlete has to help a US government agent recover a missing jet.

AR RAHMAN, Jal in Oscar race n Entertainment Desk India’s music maestro AR Rahman may end up getting his third Oscar nomination in the best original score category after making it to the list of 114 probables, while Hindi film “Jal” also features in the long list of best picture Oscar hopefuls.

Rahman, who has previously been nominated for “127 Hours” and “Slumdog Millionaire,” for which he won two Oscars, has made it to the list for three of his films including Hollywood movies “The Hundred-Foot Journey” and “Million Dollar Arm” and Rajinikanth-star-

rer Tamil film “Kochadaiiyaan.”

As congratulations poured in from fans on twitter, Rahman tweeted in Tamil “All praise is for God.” Girish Malik’s directorial debut “Jal,” a film based on water scarcity issue, has also found a place among the 100 films shortlisted for nomination in the best picture category as well as in the best original score list for Sonu Nigam and Bickram Ghosh’s rustic compositions.

“Jal” features in the best picture list as an independent submission, while India will officially be represented in the best foreign feature category by Liar’s Dice. l

JAMES BOND film script stolen in Sony Pictures hack n Entertainment Desk Early villains have emerged in the next James Bond film “SPECTRE”: hackers who stole a version of the screenplay as part of a devastating cyberattack on Sony Pictures.

Producers of the James Bond films said they learned on Saturday morning that an early version of the “SPECTRE” script was among material stolen and made public by hackers who infiltrated computers at the Sony studio.

“Eon Productions is concerned that third parties who have received the stolen screenplay may seek to publish it or its contents,” Eon said in a statement, while warning that the script is protected by UK copyright laws.

“SPECTRE,” starring Daniel Craig as 007, is set for release on November 6, 2015. Filming began this month after producer Barbara Broccoli and director Sam Mendes unveiled the title, cast and new car, but little about the plot.

“I was so excited to tell this story but to explain why, I would have to tell you the plot and I can’t do that,” said Mendes at the presentation in England, a reminder of Sony’s might in the movie world.

The Bond franchise is one of the most lucrative for Sony Pictures and the last instalment “Skyfall” brought in $1.1 billion worldwide, more than any other Bond film.

A Sony spokesman said news reports that the cyberattack forced the studio to stop production on films, including “SPECTRE,” were wrong.

“Productions are still moving forward,” Robert Lawson told Reuters.

Hackers launched an attack on the Sony Corp entertainment arm on November 24, disabling the computer network and stealing and leaking a trove of sensitive information in the most severe cyberattack on a company on US soil. The identity of the hackers has yet to be determined. l

TAYLOR SWIFT in her bitter battle with Spotify n Entertainment Desk Taylor Swift has addressed her decision to pull her album catalog from Spotify, including the multimillion-selling 1989, and expressed her hope that the music industry “can work together to bond technology with integrity” at Billboard’s Women in Music Awards.

The 24-year-old singer, who is “open to change and progress” and “not open to the financial model that is currently in place,” said at CipriWall Street that she has taken this year to stand up for her value as a songwriter, as a businesswoman and a content creator, the

New York Post reported.

Swift, who is the only artist with a platinum album in 2014 ‘1989’ that sold nearly 1.3 million copies in its first week, added that she thinks they can teach a younger generation about an investment in music.

According to the ‘Shake it Off ’ singer, if you deliver the younger generation a bold statement, they will listen, and when you pour your life into an album, they will buy it. Swift’s label Big Machine recently said Swift had been paid less than 500,000 dollars in 2013 from streaming and in comparison, her album was projected to hit 12 million dollars in sales in its first week. l

16

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Monday, December 15, 2014

Tk61.78 lakh looted from Janata Bank vault n Raihanul Islam Akand, Gazipur

Robbers looted Tk61.78 lakh from the vault of Gazipur corporate branch of Janata Bank sometime on Saturday night after one of them drugged the security guard of the branch.

Guard Nurul Islam was detained for his alleged involvement in the incident.

He was found unconscious as he had been drugged by a person named Zakir Hossain, who owns a garment leftover warehouse in front of the bank, before the incident, police say.

The bank is situated on the first floor of Tanvir Plaza in Gazipur town. It has no CCTV camera. Following the incident, the branch officials wrote to the head office of the state-owned bank to install the facility.

A case was filed in this connection yesterday evening. The bank authorities have not formed any probe committee.

The Banking Division formed a committee on March 9 to review security of the government bank vaults and formulate measures to stop further robbery incidents.

The move came after a heist at a Sonali Bank Branch in Bogra from where robbers on a holiday took away Tk30.8 lakh through a 30-feet tunnel

dug from a nearby furniture shop to the vault. In the same fashion, robbers looted Tk16.4 crore from the bank’s Kishoreganj branch on January 24.

On September 27 this year, burglars looted more than Tk1.95 crore from the vault of Brac Bank’s Joypurhat branch after breaking its wall open.

On the robbery, Assistant General Manager of the Janata Bank branch Mohammed Solaiman said: “Around 10pm on Saturday, Zakir entered the branch with the help of the security guard on duty, Nurul Islam, with some fruits and drinks. Zakir shared those with Nurul after sometime and the latter fell consciousness.”

Zakir then opened the vault and fled away with the money. When the bank officials joined work yesterday, they found the branch locked from inside. Opening the main gate, they found Nurul lying unconscious on a couch and informed the high officials of the branch.

Later it was found that Tk61.78 lakh was looted from the vault. Being informed, police came to the spot and detained Nurul for interrogation. He was given first aid.

The matter of keeping more than Tk40 lakh in the vault violating rules has already raised questions. Moreo-

ver, the lock was found undamaged which means Zakir might have a duplicate key as the vault’s key is kept with high officials of the branch.

Asked about the amount and unbroken lock, AGM Solaiman refused to make any comment.

Nurul admitted his friendship with Zakir. He said: “On Saturday night, Zakir came to the branch as he wanted to use the toilet.”

Zakir gave him some fruits to eat. “I cannot remember anything after eating those,” Nurul told the police.

Additional Superintendent of Gazipur Mohammed Delowar Hossain said police were trying to arrest Zakir.

Visiting the spot yesterday, police and officials found leftovers of fruits, empty beer cans, yaba pills and some cloths scattered on the floor.

Apart from high officials of Janata Bank, Deputy Commissioner of Gazipur Mohammed Nurul Islam, Additional Deputy Commissioner (revenue) Sazid Anwar, and senior officials of Gazipur police, RAB and detectives visited the spot.

Deputy Manager of the area office Abdul Zabber told the Dhaka Tribune that they were yet to form a probe committee and lodge a case. l

Re-enacting scenes of the massacre of intellectuals at Rayerbazar killing grounds in 1971, children lie on bricks at the Martyred Intellectuals Memorial yesterday

HC orders end to blood sport n Tribune Report

The High Court yesterday issued an order to stop animal-fighting competitions in Sunamganj and asked the government to explain why such competitions would not be banned in the country.

The High Court bench of Justice Naima Haider and Justice Jahangir Hossain passed the order in response to a writ

petition filed by Obhoyaronno-Bangladesh Animal Welfare Society.

The court banned bull-fighting, cock-fighting, goat-fighting and dog-culling at Chhatak in Sunamganj for the next eight weeks. It also issued a ruling asking why the court shall not order a stop to bull-fighting, cock-fighting, goat-fighting and dog-culling across the country.

The respondents, including the law

secretary, home secretary, IGP, deputy commissioner of Dhaka, Sunamganj police super and two blood sport organisers were asked to reply within three weeks.

Nadia Chowdhury, who filed the petition, termed such competitions cruel, arguing that these certainly violate Sections 7 and 11 of the Cruelty to Animals Act 1920 as well as Sections 268 and 289 of the Penal Code 1860. l

Users unhappy with performance of internet in the country n Muhammad Zahidul Islam

A large number of internet users are unhappy with the internet speed and service quality available in the country, a survey has found.

Out of 900 respondents in the survey – conducted by Bangladesh ICT Journalist Forum (BIJF) and event organiser Expo Maker – only a meagre 2.3% said they found the internet speed excellent; 10.8% were satisfied; 57% said the speed was “not bad;” and 29.8% said they were not satisfied at all.

The study report was presented at a programme titled “The Internet We Want” at the capital’s Bangabandhu International Conference Centre.

An overwhelming majority of 74% internet users said the performance of their internet operator was “not bad,” 5.3% were not satisfied, 17.2% were satisfied, while only 3.7% of the respondents termed the performance excellent.

On network quality, 46.25% respondents claimed they found frequent network disruptions, 9.2%

experienced disconnection sometimes, 12% said the connection was hampered now and then, while 32.6% said they found disruptions very often.

A large number of young people at the programme urged the government to reduce the tariff on internet cost.

Present at the event, State Minister for ICT Division Junayed Ahmed Palak said the government was working relentlessly to ensure people’s right to affordable and fast-paced internet connection across the country.

“Although the government has

repeatedly decreased the cost of internet, organisations concerned did not act accordingly. The government will take necessary actions regarding this,” Palak said.

He also pointed out that over the last five and a half years, the government has helped open up computer labs in 8,000 colleges and 25,000 schools.

To spread the power of the internet, the government has also provided licence for 3G and provided optical fibre connections in unions, Palak added.

The ICT state minister said affordable internet throughout the country would have a great impact on the economy.

Also present at the programme, Grameenphone’s Head of Strategy Erlend Prestgard said technological neutrality or a chance to provide internet through any band was needed to spread easy and affordable internet throughout the country.

Former senior vice-president of BASIS Syed Almas Kabir said decreasing bandwidth price was not the only

solution; the government should decrease VAT on internet as well as slash prices of internet-related devices.

General secretary of Internet Service Providers Association of Bangladesh (ISPAB), Md Imdadul Haque, and president of Bangladesh Women in IT, Luna Shamsuddoha, also spoke at the programme.

The event was presided over by BIJF President Muhammad Khan and moderated by Bangladesh Open Source Network (BDOSN) General Secretary Munir Hasan. 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 India to reap $12bn plus

budget windfall from oil slide - sources

B4 Desperate in crisis, Spaniards turn to fortune-tellers

MONDAY, DECEMBER 15, 2014 www.dhakatribune.com/business

Plan to bring new dimension in ADP implementation unveiled Planning Ministry to work with long-identified, but so far ignored difficulties to expedite implementation from next fiscal year n Tribune Report The government is expecting to introduce project-wise monitoring of development projects from next fiscal year, as one of a planned multipronged strategy to expedite implementation.

Planning Minister AHM Mustafa Kamal yesterday disclosed the plan what previous governments spoke about repeatedly on several occasions in the backdrop of disappointing implementation performance.

He said the development expenditure that suffers years after years will take a new turn from the next fiscal year as his ministry recommended taking a set of measures for expediting the project execution.

He did not, however, elaborate what he meant for the project-wise implementation monitoring. The plan is to back up a fast-progressing project with necessary fund release on priority basis.

But, the previous governments meant it for “physical progress” of implementation instead of implementation based on fund release against a project. The plans could not be implemented so far.

The minister unveiled the plan at a press briefing at the ministry while releasing the performance report on performance of project implementation under the current Annual Development Programme (ADP).

In the first five months (July-November) of the current fiscal year, the government spent only 21% or Tk159,897 crore out of the total annual outlay of Tk80,315 crore.

It was 20% or Tk13,156 crore out of Tk65,872 crore ADP outlay in the same period a year earlier.

“Frequent changes of project directors and sluggish fund disbursements are the stumbling block in executing

The construction of four-lane Dhaka-Chittagong highway goes on at a snail’s pace, much to the concern of business lifeline MEHEDI HASAN the projects,” Kamal told the press briefing. “We have devised some strategies by identifying causes to remove barriers behind the poor performance.”

The ministry listed 11 problems in execution of development projects, including difficulties in getting promised grants from donor agencies, slow land acquisition, weak work-plan, frequent changes in rate schedule on construction, incomplete project design, delay in appointing firms or consultants and workforce, inefficiency in work and purchase plans, procrastination in tender process and executing project by the contractor at the field level.

To make ADP implementation faster, it proposed measures included also stopping frequent changes of project directors, evaluation of tender process on weekly basis, strong monitoring, introducing monthly instead of quarterly basis fund disbursement system, completing project design before approval and giving responsibility to district councilors concerned for land acquisition.

Among the ministries, Ministry of Foreign Affairs failed to spend any money in the first five months of this fiscal in three projects costing Tk95 crore allocated for the current fiscal

Coordinated economic policy ‘a must’ to accelerate growth n Tribune Report A coordinated economic policy is a must for accelerating the economic growth of the country.

Speakers at a seminar yesterday called for establishing harmonisation in the economic policies for ensuring further economic growth of Bangladesh.

They made the call at the seminar titled “Harmonisation of Economic policies in Bangladesh” organised by the Board of Investment (BoI) held at BIAM auditorium in the capital. Executive Chairman BoI S A Samad moderated the seminar.

The speakers also urged the government to bring harmonisation in between the market price and the field level price of the agricultural products to increase production, ensuring best

price for the farmers.

Planning Minister A H M Mustafa Kamal said, “To make decisions on time and to stop extra expenditures are the main keys to attain the goal for becoming a middle-income country by 2021.”

‘Harmonisation, convergence and compatibility are keys to economic growth’ In the Sixth Five Year Plan, the government has given importance on workers’ productivity and product diversification. And in the Seventh Five Year Plan, importance would be given on banking, bond market, acquisition and

merger, hinted Mustafa Kamal.

“We should concentrate on the urbanisation process and it should also be complied with the harmonisation, convergence and compatibility, as the urbanisation rate would be 67% in 2050,” said Kamal.

Establishing harmonisation among the government organisations is a must to accelerate the economic growth, viewed Mohiuddin Khan Alamgir, chairman of the Parliamentary Standing Committee on Public Accounts, while presenting his keynote paper.

“Harmonisation, convergence and compatibility are the keys of economic growth of a country,” said Khan.

Regarding the current bank interest rate, Khan also observed, “Any businessmen would be able to establish business with the existing bank interest rates.” l

while Ministry of Science and Technology spent highest 80% in terms of percentage and Local Government Division highest Tk3,695.22 crore in terms of value.

In first five months of this fiscal, some 24 ministries and divisions witnessed an implementation rate more than 20%, 13 between 15-20%, three between 10-15% and 15 below 10%.

Replying to a question about Dhaka-Chittagong and Dhaka-Mymensingh highways projects, Kamal said the work of Dhaka-Chittagong highway is in progress and it is expected to be completed by the next fiscal year. l

BTRC and GP serve notices on Citycell n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Citycell goes through a heavy pressure from stakeholders as it owes more than Tk10.17 crore to different banks, telecom operators, regulator and National Board of Revenue (NBR).

The oldest mobile phone operator in Southeast Asia had already been served with a final show-cause notice form BTRC for payment of outstanding money while Grameenphone served a legal notice recently demanding outstanding bills.

The regulator served the notice on December 4, giving a 15-day ultimatum to pay its dues.

A source said Citycell Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Mehboob Chowdhury has already met with BTRC Chairman Sunil Kanti Bose to seek more time to pay Tk252 crore of dues.

A senior executive of the mobile operator said they will reply the BTRC’s notice on December 18 and pray for more time.

Bangaldesh Telecom Regulatory Commission Secretary Md Sarwar Alam told the Dhaka Tribune on Thursday, “We have issued final notice, but we also have responsibility to give room to the cellphone company to continue its business.”

“After December 18, we will decide on what the next course of action to follow.”

GP served its legal notice on December 7, giving a 14-day time for paying its outstanding amount of Tk10.17 crore for interconnection charge.

“We have received the legal notice and we will solve the issue within next week through talks,” Taslim Ahmed, head of corporate communication, Citycell, told the Dhaka Tribune.

The legal notice says: “In the event, you fail to comply with our client’s demand within the stipulated time, our client shall consider taking appropriate legal actions against you.”

The cellphone company didn’t pay any interconnection charge since September 2013, says the notice.

As the practice goes, Citycell has to

pay GP Tk0.18 per minitue for interconnection.

Other operators like Banglalink and Robi are also seeking to realise their outstanding interconnection charges from Citycell.

The two operators have already started making contact for realising their dues, sources said.

The cellphone company also owes a total of Tk1,040 crore to 12 banks as of June, and Bangladesh Bank apprehends that the loans would have to be classified as sub-standard.

In fact, the loans are up for consideration as classified after the end of September quarter, said a central bank executive.

‘We have received the legal notice and we will solve the issue within next week through talks’ The operator also owes NBR billions of taka, remaining outstanding.

The cellphone came into operation in 1993 and currently has a base of 13.49 lakh subscribers as of September, lowest among the operators in Bangladesh.

It currently holds 1.23% market share.

Back in July 2010, it had around 20 lakh subscribers and enjoyed 3.23% market share.

Another senior executive of Citycell said the authorites are on the look out to sell the company and once the deal is final, all debts will be paid.

The net loss of the company stood at Tk196 crore in 2011, Tk226 crore in 2012, Tk320 crore in 2013 and Tk480 crore in 2014, according to a central bank report.

The mobile compnay currently has 44.54% shares owned by SingTel Asia Pacific Investment Pet Ltd, 37.95%

by Pacific Motors Limited shares and 17.51% by Far East Telecom Limited. l

Government disburses Tk216 crore to buy ICB rights share

2nd tranche approved for affected stock investors n Asif Showkat Kallol

n Asif Showkat Kallol

The government has approved the second instalment of the refinancing scheme fund amounting to Tk300 crore for small investors affected in the stock market debacle about four years back, sources said yesterday.

The second instalment came after releasing first installment in August 26, 2013 out of total Tk900 crore allocated for the investors affected between January 2010 and November 2011 in stock market crash.

The government had formed the refinancing fund to release in four installments by three years to provide financial assistance to the small investors. The investors who made investment below Tk10 lakh are eligible for the assistance. l

Finance division has disbursed Tk216 crore to buy the rights share Investment Corporation of Bangladesh offered for its shareholders.

The division issued a circular yesterday regarding the disbursement, setting three conditions.

The conditions are that ICB has to deposit yearly dividend to the government exchequer, follow rules and regulations about utilisation of the government fund and the fund will not be used for other purposes.

According to the circular, the government instructed ICB to use Tk68.34 crore which it got as profit from the previous investment in ICB in

2011-12 and 2012-13.

ICB offered two against existing one rights share at an offer price of Tk500, including a premium of Tk400 for each Tk100 share, according to the circular.

Of the 284.76 crore, Tk68.34 crore will come from the previous profit while the remaining fund from recapitalisation head of the current 2014-15 fiscal budget.

The government has 27% stake in ICB. The Finance Division has allocated Tk5,000 crore for recapitalisation of state-owned financial institutes.

In July 2014, Securities and Exchange Commission approved the rights share offer of the ICB. l

HC order on IGWs call termination rate stayed n Muhammad Zahidul Islam Chamber judge yesterday stayed an appellate division’s stay order over the revenue sharing at a reduced rate by IGW operators with BTRC and different telecom companies.

The row is the result of a disagreement between International Gateway (IGW) operators and the regulator over the date of effect of call termination rate reduction from 3 US cents to 1.5 cents per minute.

On September 18, Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina approved a recommendation to reduce the termination rate. BTRC and telecom ministry officials said the recommendation would take into effect on the day of PM’s approval.

According to IGW operators, it should take retrospective effect from July 1. They claimed PM also agreed with them on retrospective effect.

If it is made effective retrospectively, the IGWs can enjoy the reduced rate from July 1 and save Tk500 crore payment under 40%

revenue sharing rule. Then BTRC and ANS (mobile and landline operators) will lose the amount.

If it is effective from September 18, the IGWs, however, will need to make the payment at the previous rate for two and half months.

The matter was taken to the court for solution as IGW Operators Forum (IOF) recently filed a writ petition with the High Court challenging the BTRC’s order to pay the dues of the period. The court issued a stay order over the regulator’s claim on December 8.

Bangladesh Telecommunication Regulatory Commission (BTRC) appealed to the chamber judge of Appellate Division. The chamber judge stayed the High Court order until January 18, 2015.

“The High Court order has been stayed and the Appellate Division will hold another hearing on the matter on January 18,” BTRC secretary Md Sarwar Alam told the Dhaka Tribune yesterday.

IOF chairman Shamsudoha said: “PM rec-

ommended implementing the reduced rate from July 1. But the telecom division secretary is making it effective from September 18.”

However, the approval letter says the new rate and revenue sharing structure will come into effect from the date of issuance, that is September 18.

According to available data, during the months of July, August and the first 17 days of September, the total incoming international call duration was 4.65bn minutes.

If the termination rate and revenue sharing structures are calculated as per the previous rates, the market price of the calls would be valued at $139.5m (over Tk1,000 crore), including a $72.2m share (51.75%) for the BTRC. If the IGWs paid under the slashed rates, BTRC’s share came down to only $27.9m.

The share for the ANS (mobile and land phone) operators, which would have been $27.9m under the previous rate, would also reduce to $15.7m.

If the deficit between the shares of the IGW and ICX operators under the previous

and the new rates is also taken into account, the total deficit between the two rates of payment would be around Tk500 crore.

On September 18, BTRC also issued a letter to authorities concerned, setting a six-month test period for the new rate and structure; but as the date for implementation was not mentioned, confusion arose over which date the new rates should take effect. Later they corrected the order.

However, the then telecom minister Abdul Latif Siddique and influential industry figures had reportedly tried to give the fresh rate a retrospective effect from July 1.

Taking advantage of the confusion, several IGW operators have followed the new slashed rates to pay the bills for the months of July and August to the stakeholders, especially the ANS operators.

Powerful IGW operator like Digicon, Unique Infoway Limited and Roots Communication – also made their payments to all mobile operators in accordance with the new rates, considering the retrospective effect from July 1. l

B2

Bearish spell hitting stock market DSEX falls to 2-week low n Tribune Report

weeks’ low as investor upheld cautious mode and were taking time to be accustomed to the new trading system.

All the major sectors declined except cement and IT, which rallied more than 1% each. Financial stocks battered most with banks falling 1.2%, followed by non-banking financial institutions, textile, engineering and pharmaceuticals.

Under the new trading platform, the DSE will review its charges on share trading in its board meeting scheduled for today, following a jump in the number of trades for share transaction after the introduction of the lot-free trading system.

IDLC Investments said the market observed another major slump, while sellers outnumbered the buyers amid low turnover.

It said despite improved turnover from the previous day, total trade value was only around Tk200 crore.

“Sluggishness in turnover was partly explained by the adoption of new trading software in DSE.” Zenith Investments said brokerage houses were facing difficulties using new DSE software which is one of the major reasons for the ongoing downtrend.

“Index became crippled under massive selling pressure with narrow turnover volume.” l

Bearish spell continued at the stock market with benchmark index slipping further yesterday, as investors took time to adjust with new trading platform that launched Thursday.

The market opened with back foot in the morning and the negative trend became stronger as days passed.

The benchmark DSEX shed over 40 points or 0.9% to close at 4,892, sinking to two-week low and extending its losing streak for the third consecutive session.

The Shariah index DSES was down 5 points or 0.5% to 1,150. The comprising blue chips DS30 ended at 1,808 with a fall of 15 points or 0.9%.

Chittagong Stock Exchange (CSE) Selective Categories Index, CSCX, settled at 9,167, dropping more than 89 points.

The market continued to experience sluggish sentiment due to launching automated trading platform by the Dhaka Stock Exchange.

The DSE turnover stood at Tk200crore, an increase of more than 46% from previous session’s 14-month low.

Lanka Bangla Securities said market passed another sluggish trading session and slumped to two

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)

Jamuna Oil -A Shahjibazar Power-N Prime Islami Life -A Beacon Pharma Ltd.-Z Premier Bank -A Kohinoor Chem -A Apex Footwear-A BD Finance-A Padma Islami Life*-N Aziz PipesZ

-14.19 -8.76 -6.27 -6.25 -5.05 -5.03 -4.30 -3.68 -3.68 -3.56

CSE LOSER Company Jamuna Oil -A Progressive Life-A PragatiLife Insu. -Z Midas Financing-Z Nitol Insurance -A Kay & Que (BD) -Z Shahjibazar Power-N Standard Ceramic -A Paramount Insur-A National Tea -A

Closing (% Change) -14.77 -10.00 -9.84 -9.83 -9.15 -8.76 -8.74 -8.33 -7.78 -7.47

4892.95893

(-) 0.81%

1808.05234

(-) 0.85%

15054.99770

(-) 0.83%

12308.09770

(-) 1.08%

9167.92290

(-) 0.96%

Average (% Change) -14.12 -10.41 -3.82 -4.34 -2.55 -4.77 -2.91 -2.47 -3.38 0.40 Average (% Change) -15.59 -10.00 -9.84 -9.98 -9.15 -8.76 -2.48 -8.33 -2.52 -7.47

ANALYST

ClosingAvg. 212.07 217.67 66.15 18.75 9.57 350.79 447.66 15.82 36.63 27.51

ClosingAvg. 211.06 95.40 87.00 15.60 28.81 12.50 563.56 44.00 16.66 706.00

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 199.42 139.81 17.36 258.28 59.45 221.08 2.69 303.43 245.82 12.34 86.37 18.44 8.83 53.40 164.68 12.02 17.27 59.03 24.12 102.07 0.00

▼ ▼ ▼ ▼ ▼

DHIGH

212.30 213.60 65.80 18.00 9.40 351.30 442.90 15.70 36.60 27.10

Closing

214.80 233.10 68.50 20.00 10.00 360.00 464.00 16.30 39.90 28.80

DHIGH

210.70 95.40 87.00 15.60 28.80 12.50 216.10 44.00 16.60 706.00

215.00 95.40 87.00 15.60 29.00 12.50 244.00 44.00 17.00 706.00

Turnover (Million Taka)

Company

2,005.91

Turnover (Volume)

56,006,161

Number of Contract

77,501

Traded Issues

306

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

114

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

188 4

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,612.35

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

31.66

CSE key features December 14, 2014 Turnover (Million Taka)

284.77

Turnover (Volume)

9,350,621

Number of Contract

23,330

Traded Issues

259

Issue Gain (Avg. Price Basis)

74

Issue Loss (Avg. Price Basis)

181

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

3

Market Capital Equity (Billion. Tk.)

2,521.82

Market Capital Equity (Billion US$)

30.57

Turnover in Million

210.00 213.60 64.10 17.90 9.30 350.50 438.50 15.50 36.40 26.60

40.522 10.643 0.409 20.106 9.961 0.288 12.403 4.784 1.793 0.831

Turnover in Million

DLOW 207.00 95.40 87.00 15.60 28.70 12.40 216.10 44.00 16.30 706.00

3.330 0.000 0.006 0.021 0.015 0.005 1.998 0.002 0.044 0.007

% change 9.94 6.97 0.87 12.88 2.96 11.02 0.13 15.13 12.25 4.31 0.92 0.44 2.66 8.21 0.60 0.86 2.94 1.20 5.09 0.00

Million Taka 26.62 11.47 2.75 34.23 5.38 21.87 79.28 29.58 6.80 13.80 5.27 1.83 9.38 7.61 1.57 1.33 7.56 9.00 22.31 0.04

CSE

% change 8.94 3.85 0.92 11.50 1.81 7.35 0.00 26.63 9.94 2.28 4.63 1.77 0.61 3.15 2.56 0.53 0.45 2.54 3.02 7.50 0.01

Million Taka 226.05 151.28 20.11 292.51 64.83 242.95 2.69 382.71 275.40 19.13 100.17 23.71 10.66 62.78 172.29 13.59 18.61 66.59 33.12 124.38 0.04

Miracle Industries -B WesternMarine -N Khan Brothers-N Shurwid Ind. -N Premier Leasing-Z Agni Systems -A Hamid Fabrics -N Eastern Lubricants -A B I F C -A Jute SpinnersA

Closing (% Change) 10.24 9.92 9.41 9.36 8.33 5.88 5.48 5.41 5.20 4.83

CSE GAINER

Unchanged Issue (Avg. Price Basis)

DLOW

Monday, December 15, 2014

DSE GAINER

DSE key features December 14, 2014

Latest EPS 20.98 9.00 4.95 0.08 0.32 10.40 20.48 0.69 1.10 -0.37

Latest EPS 20.98 2.30 2.38 -7.00 2.79 -1.41 9.00 0.60 1.13 -6.49

Latest PE 10.1 24.2 13.4 234.4 29.9 33.7 21.9 22.9 33.3 -ve

Company Miracle Industries -B WesternMarine -N Premier Leasing-Z Khan Brothers-N Shurwid Ind. -N Apex Footwear-A Hamid Fabrics -N Agni Systems -A Alltex Industries -Z Fareast Finance-Z

9.82 9.81 9.68 9.36 9.06 5.91 5.72 5.23 5.02 4.61

Average (% Change) 7.89 4.03 8.53 7.91 7.12 5.91 2.77 6.89 3.51 2.63

ClosingAvg. 18.03 50.72 36.44 31.91 10.36 32.37 45.64 390.00 17.73 49.68

ClosingAvg. 17.64 51.09 10.18 36.69 31.90 466.00 45.66 32.25 29.16 15.63

Closing 18.30 52.10 37.20 32.70 10.40 32.40 46.20 390.00 18.20 49.90

Closing 17.90 52.60 10.20 37.40 32.50 466.00 46.20 32.20 29.30 15.90

DHIGH 18.30 52.10 37.30 32.80 10.50 33.10 47.00 390.00 18.40 52.30

DHIGH 17.90 52.60 10.20 37.60 32.70 466.00 47.00 33.00 30.00 16.10

DLOW 17.10 48.00 32.30 29.90 9.50 30.90 43.30 390.00 17.30 47.70

DLOW 16.70 47.10 9.00 34.00 30.50 466.00 42.80 31.10 28.70 14.80

Turnover in Million 13.375 32.367 29.466 14.277 2.562 141.649 38.772 0.002 5.738 0.077

Turnover in Million 2.178 15.093 0.696 10.170 2.472 0.002 12.005 5.645 3.271 0.986

Latest EPS 0.40 1.80 1.36 0.76 0.08 1.32 3.12 2.08 1.41 -43.64

Latest EPS 0.40 1.80 0.08 1.36 0.76 20.48 3.12 1.32 3.28 1.08

Latest PE 45.1 28.2 26.8 42.0 129.5 24.5 14.6 187.5 12.6 -ve

Latest PE 44.1 28.4 127.3 27.0 42.0 22.8 14.6 24.4 8.9 14.5

News, analysis and recent disclosures JUTESPINN:The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has taken the following decision: The Mill will set up a sacking unit with 50 Looms and ancillary machines by investing an estimated amount of Tk. 2.00 crore as soon as possible as a step to overcome the rough situation.

ALARABANK: The Company has informed that the Board of Directors of the Company has taken decision, to purchase 51% share of Millennium Information Solution Ltd. i.e. 93,69,343 no. of share Tk. 16.01 (including premium) totaling Tk. 15.00 crore subject to obtaining approval from Regulatory Bodies.

IPO Subscription: 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 HFL: 10% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 30.12.2014, Record Date: 22.12.2014.

SONALIANSH: 10% cash AGM: 30.12.2014, Record Date: 21.12.2014.

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.

ICB: 45% cash, AGM: 20.12.2014, Record Date: 03.12.2014.

BATBC: 100% interim cash dividend, Record date for entitlement of interim dividend: 03.12.2014.

BENGALWTL: 23% cash, AGM: 28.12.2014, Record Date: 02.12.2014.

MPETROLEUM: 95% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 16.01.2015, Record date: 04.12.2014.

ENVOYTEX: 12% cash and 3% stock dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record date: 02.12.2014.

AFTABAUTO: 17% cash, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record date: 30.11.2014.

JAMUNAOIL: 90% cash and 10% stock, AGM: 07.02.2015, Record date: 11.12.2014.

GEMINISEA: 7.50% cash, AGM: 22.12.2014, Record Date: 08.12.2014.

KBPPWBIL: 10% stock, AGM: 29.12.2014, Record Date: 08.12.2014.

RAHIMAFOOD: No dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 04.12.2014.

DACCADYE: 10% stock dividend, AGM: 12.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014.

ORIONINFU: 15% cash dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014.

KOHINOOR: 25% stock dividend, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record date: 25.11.2014.

PHARMAID: 25% cash, AGM: 28.12.2014, Record Date: 02.12.2014.

TALLUSPIN: No dividend, AGM: 23.12.2014, Record Date: 01.12.2014.

MITHUNKNIT: 20% stock, AGM: 23.12.2014, Record date: 20.11.2014.

WMSHIPYARD: 5% cash dividend to the general shareholders only, and 10% stock dividend to all the shareholders, AGM: 21.12.2014, Record date: 20.11.2014.

PRIMELIFE: 10% cash and 15% stock dividend, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 20.11.2014.

OLYMPIC: 20% cash and 35% stock, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record Date: 27.11.2014.

PADMAOIL: 100% cash, AGM: 14.02.2015, Record date: 22.12.2014.

EASTRNLUB: 30% cash, AGM: 17.01.2015, Record Date: 25.11.2014.

ATLASBANG: 35% cash, AGM: 24.12.2014, Record date: 27.11.2014.

NPOLYMAR: 18% stock, AGM: 18.12.2014, Record Date: 19.11.2014.

10.1 41.5 36.6 -ve 10.3 -ve 62.6 73.3 14.7 -ve

DSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company

Total

Closing (% Change)

Average (% Change) 9.47 4.73 8.07 7.44 9.75 8.15 3.21 5.41 1.72 4.17

Latest PE

Brokerage houses were facing difficulties using new DSE software which is one of the major reasons for the ongoing downtrend

SECTORAL TURNOVER SUMMARY Sector

Stock

DHAKA TRIBUNE

% change 9.81 6.57 0.87 12.70 2.81 10.55 0.12 16.61 11.96 0.83 4.35 1.03 0.46 2.73 7.48 0.59 0.81 2.89 1.44 5.40 0.00

Prepared exclusively for Dhaka Tribune by Business Information Automation Service Line (BIASL), on the basis of information collected from daily stock quotations and audited reports of the listed companies. High level of caution has been taken to collect and present the above information and data. The publisher will not take any responsibility if any body uses this information and data for his/her investment decision. For any query please email to biasl@bol-online.com or call 01552153562 or go to www.biasl.net

Agni Systems -A R. N. Spinning-Z SummitAlliancePort.-A Grameenphone-A Beximco Pharma -A Keya Cosmetics -A BEXIMCO Ltd. -A Tung Hai Knitting -N BD. Thai Alum -B Square Pharma -A

Quasem Drycells -A Jamuna Oil -A LafargeS Cement-Z Mozaffar H.Spinning-A Hamid Fabrics -N Alltex Industries -Z CSE TURNOVER LEADERS Company R. N. Spinning-Z WesternMarine -N Keya Cosmetics -A Hamid Fabrics -N SummitAlliancePort.-A Khan Brothers-N BEXIMCO Ltd. -A UNITED AIR-A Tung Hai Knitting -N LafargeS Cement-Z

Grameenphone-A Agni Systems -A Familytex (BD) Ltd.-A City Bank - A Jamuna Oil -A

VolumeShares 4,376,143 2,199,655 722,476 149,704 821,160 1,810,700 1,169,831 2,137,061 813,612 158,734

Value in Million 141.65 75.88 62.38 53.86 52.04 50.33 44.05 43.90 42.14 41.15

% of TotalTurnover 7.06 3.78 3.11 2.68 2.59 2.51 2.20 2.19 2.10 2.05

VolumeShares

Value in Million

% of TotalTurnover

544,178 191,082 348,263 1,426,994 849,467 4,845,000

1,067,810 295,394 463,275 262,896 121,530 277,186 229,000 769,978 332,366 54,541

16,528 175,049 186,121 173,527 15,776

40.85 40.52 39.72 39.62 38.77 113.67

37.23 15.09 12.81 12.00 10.49 10.17 8.65 7.11 6.75 6.21

5.95 5.64 4.23 3.90 3.33

2.04 2.02 1.98 1.97 1.93 1.51

13.17 5.34 4.53 4.25 3.71 3.60 3.06 2.51 2.39 2.20

2.11 2.00 1.50 1.38 1.18

ClosingP 32.40 32.80 86.60 355.80 63.10 28.00 37.50 20.10 51.10 259.00

74.80 212.30 115.50 28.00 46.20 22.90

ClosingP

32.90 52.60 28.10 46.20 85.80 37.40 37.60 9.10 20.10 114.30

356.00 32.20 22.50 22.00 210.70

Change % 5.88 0.00 -0.92 -2.01 -1.25 4.48 -1.06 -1.47 -3.40 -0.69

-3.36 -14.19 2.48 1.45 5.48 4.09

Change %

1.23 9.81 4.46 5.72 -1.49 9.36 -0.53 -2.15 -0.50 1.69

-2.39 5.23 -1.32 -0.90 -14.77

ClosingY 30.60 32.80 87.40 363.10 63.90 26.80 37.90 20.40 52.90 260.80

77.40 247.40 112.70 27.60 43.80 22.00

ClosingY

32.50 47.90 26.90 43.70 87.10 34.20 37.80 9.30 20.20 112.40

364.70 30.60 22.80 22.20 247.20

DHIGH 33.10 36.10 88.20 370.00 64.00 28.20 39.00 21.00 53.70 261.00

78.00 214.80 117.00 28.10 47.00 24.20

DHIGH

35.70 52.60 28.30 47.00 88.40 37.60 38.40 9.40 21.00 115.90

369.00 33.00 23.10 23.20 215.00

DLOW 30.90 32.10 84.60 352.00 62.90 26.80 37.30 19.80 50.80 258.40

73.10 210.00 112.20 27.00 43.30 20.50 DLOW

32.50 47.10 26.80 42.80 84.20 34.00 37.50 9.10 19.80 112.30

353.00 31.10 22.40 21.80 207.00

AvgPrice 32.37 34.50 86.34 359.74 63.37 27.80 37.66 20.54 51.79 259.25

75.07 212.07 114.05 27.76 45.64 23.46

AvgPrice

34.86 51.09 27.65 45.66 86.32 36.69 37.79 9.23 20.31 113.80

360.23 32.25 22.72 22.50 211.06

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Business

India to reap $12bn plus budget windfall from oil slide - sources n Reuters, New Delhi

A plunge of nearly half in oil prices could help Finance Minister Arun Jaitley reap a fiscal windfall of at least $12bn when he presents his 2015/16 budget in February, two government sources told Reuters.

The savings would come in the form of reduced fuel subsidy costs and higher petrol and diesel levies, the sources said. In addition, finance ministry officials have proposed restoring a crude oil import duty that was scrapped in 2011.

As a result, the government would claw back most of the money that India saves on oil imports. That would help Jaitley hit borrowing targets but dilute any boost to consumption in Asia’s third-largest economy.

Energy-hungry India imports around 4 million barrels of oil per day and the net cost of the country’s oil imports is expected to total $88bn in the fiscal year to next March, based on a budgeted oil price of $105 per barrel.

Officials drawing up Jaitley’s first full-year budget are pencilling in a view that oil prices will average $65-$70 in 2015/16. That would cut the national import bill by $18bn - or 0.9% of GDP, they reckon.

“Benefits from the fall in oil prices would reflect in the budget through lower oil subsidies and higher tax projections next year,” one senior finance ministry official told Reuters.

The sources estimate that the overall fiscal boost can total 750bn rupees ($12bn). More than half, 400bn rupees, would come from savings on oil subsidies.

Tax and don’t spend

Prime Minister Narendra Modi, in power since May, has freed prices for diesel, which account for 40 percent of consumption of refined fuels.

Taking advantage of the resulting fall in pump prices, his government

A worker fills petrol in a car at a fuel station in Jammu has raised factory gate duties on petrol and diesel twice in the last month. That means state coffers, and not drivers, will benefit to the tune of $1.6bn this fiscal year and nearly $5bn next year.

A revival in the profitability of stateowned oil refiners like Hindustan Petroleum Corporation and Indian Oil Corporation could generate another $1bn in extra revenues.

Further, ministry officials recommend restoring the old 5% crude oil import duty in full. This would require Modi’s approval, and if implemented could raise up to $4 billion more, lifting total potential fiscal gains to over $16bn.

“A proposal to impose import duty on crude oil is under consideration,”

said another finance ministry source.

“The final decision could be announced in the budget.” Both sources requested anonymity, because they were not authorised to speak to the press on the record.

Jaitley is struggling to hit his fiscal deficit target of 4.1% of gross domestic product this fiscal year. He wants to cut it to 3.6% in 2015/16, and 3% in 2016/17.

BUDGET BAILOUT Fiscal constraints leave little over for the wider economy, with consumers still cautious about their prospects and concerned that recent falls in inflation will be only temporary.

Although the price of diesel, used by truckers and farmers, has fallen by 6%

Fed considers time to end free money pledge n Reuters, Brussels The US Federal Reserve would give the clearest signal next week that its easy money stance is ending if, as some expect, it drops its two-year long pledge to keep interest rates close to zero for a “considerable time”.

The Fed, which meets on Tuesday and Wednesday, first inserted that wording in its post-meeting statements in December 2012, promising then to maintain its highly accommodative monetary stance for a considerable time after its asset purchase programme ends and the economic recovery strengthens.

Both have occurred.

The US unemployment rate slipped below 6.5%, a Fed mark of healthier recovery, in April and is now at a six-year low of 5.8% even as more people enter the labour force. Its asset buying ended in October, when all but one of its voting members opted to keep the “considerable time” language.

The market has understood the term to mean at least six months, with current expectations for a first rate hike in mid-2015.

Since October, the more hawkish Dallas Fed chief Richard Fisher has said the Fed should drop the pledge, while more moderate Cleveland counterpart Loretta Mester told Reuters the reference was “really stale”.

Some economists believe markets will take a change of wording in their stride, but others hark back to “taper tantrums” after the Fed first men-

tioned the idea of gradually reducing monetary expansion in May 2013.

“It has to be done at some point, but it’s like taking off a sticking plaster. It’s going to hurt,” said Rob Carnell, chief international economist at ING, who questions central banks’ propensity to use set terms rather than just rely on data.

Carnell believes U.S. headline inflation may well fall below 1% in the March-May period, when seasonal adjustments would give a greater weighting for a weak oil price than at present.

“It’s then a hard sales act to start hiking in May or June,” he said.

Eu growth summit

The week, for many the final working days before Christmas and New Year holidays, will conclude with a European Union Summit focussed firmly on the faltering economy.

In an ideal world for some economists, France and Italy, the number two and three euro zone economies, would pledge more growth-driving reforms and budget restraint, providing cover for the European Central Bank to unleash new weapons to fight deflation.

Pressure on the ECB to start printing money and buying sovereign bonds rose further last week as its offering of low- cost loans to banks drew only tepid interest.

Banks have taken barely half the 400bn euros ($497.4bn) of loans on offer this year, implying they have little confidence in lending to the euro zone’s backbone of small companies.

A man wears US dollar sign rings in a jewelry shop in Manhattan in New York City REUTERS

ECB policymakers have dropped hints that it could move in the direction of money printing as soon as January, but a small group of countries led by Germany are opposed, fearing it would lead to reckless borrowing by debt-laden states. “(ECB President Mario) Draghi has seven weeks to get everyone in line.

I don’t think he’ll pull it off before Christmas,” said BNP Paribas Fortis Chief Strategy Officer Philippe Gijsels.

“We’re very much driven by central banks into next year.”

It has to be done at some point, but it’s like taking off a sticking plaster. It’s going to hurt As a reminder that the euro zone debt crisis is not fully extinguished, Greece’s parliament holds the first round of its presidential vote on Wednesday. A likely third and final round is expected on Dec 29.

If Prime Minister Antonis Samaras’s candidate does not secure the required three-fifths of votes, more than the government majority, it would trigger parliamentary elections, which polls show anti-bailout party Syriza would probably win.

Samaras warned on Thursday Greece risked a “catastrophic” return to the depths of its debt crisis if his government fell, his comments driving Greek stock and bond losses.

However, while Greek 10-year bond yields have passed 9%, with shorterdated paper even higher, the yield on 10-year Italian bonds was around 2% on Friday and for Spanish bonds just below.

The prospect of quantitative easing from the ECB, whose president promised in 2012 to “do whatever it takes” to save the euro, means this is not a repeat of 2010-2012, when fears of contagion to other EU members raged.

Those hoping for respite from concern over a China slowdown will have an eye on a private survey due on Tuesday. It is expected to creep back into growth territory in December after stalling in November. l

B3

Monday, December 15, 2014

REUTERS

in the past five months, drivers in India are now paying more to fill up than in the United States.

“The boost to household consumption is likely to be small,” said Shilan Shah, India Economist at Capital Economics in London. “The government has been able to take advantage of the windfall.”

By Shah’s reckoning, the oil windfall could help cut the budget deficit by 0.5% of GDP, as well as narrowing the current account gap and easing price pressures.

“This could lead to the RBI beginning to cut interest rates early next year, which on its own should have impact on economic growth,” said Shah. l

Little inflation pressure on Fed to speed up rate hike n AFP, Washington The US Federal Reserve holds its final policy meeting this week facing a conundrum most countries would love to have: slowly accelerating economic growth with no sign of inflation.

The good signs in the US economy ironically make it harder for the Fed to move closer to what it knows it must do sooner rather than later: begin lifting the benchmark federal funds interest rate from the zero level, where it has been for six years now.

Anticipation of the move has riveted markets for two years, feeding into volatility in stocks and bonds and sharp shifts in currency markets.

The two-day meeting beginning Tuesday will amount to an update to markets about where the Fed stands on its indicated plan to begin raising rates around mid-2015.

No major policy announcements are expected. The Federal Open Market Committee (FOMC) could make a modest change in its messaging policy on the eventual rate hike.

Over the past year, it has repeatedly said that a Fed funds increase would only come a “considerable time” after the end of the quantitative easing program, which was wound up in October.

That language could be dropped for an even more opaque qualifier that would give it more flexibility, to either move quickly if growth and prices pick up unexpectedly, or hold off indefinitely if growth stalls.

To this end, one Fed official has suggested the FOMC just say it will be “patient.”

“The Fed is striving to avoid any unpleasant market surprises,” said IHS Global Insight in an analysis Friday.

The central bankers will need patience to decide what exactly the data is telling them. US economic growth over the past two quarters has been the strongest since 2003. The fourth quarter looks strong as well.

November job creation stunned with a high 321,000 new jobs, underscoring

the sharp 1.2-point fall in unemployment over the past year to 5.8%.

Retail sales in November, the kickoff to the holiday shopping season, were strong, up 5.1% from a year earlier.

That trend is expected to even strengthen with the sharp fall in gasoline prices, enough to add a $700 or more annual boost to the average family’s spending power.

“Retail sales in the fourth quarter are so far running 1% higher than the third quarter on average, suggesting consumer spending will help drive yet another healthy GDP increase in the final quarter of the year,” said Chris Williamson of Markit.

But after having helped bring the unemployment rate down, the FOMC wants to see inflation up around 2% to confirm the economic recovery. So far, prices are not cooperating.

Recent data shows deflationary pressures, partly driven by the fall in oil and other commodity prices, and partly by the slower growth in China, Europe and Japan.

A key inflation indicator, the producer price index, showed a 0.2% fall in November. The main reason was the steep drop in energy prices, which the Fed does not weigh much when assessing inflation.

But wholesale prices stripping out energy also fell, for the second straight month, by 0.1%.

And year-on-year overall producer prices were up 1.4%, the slowest rate of annual increase since January.

Without pressure from inflation, the Fed has little need to advance plans for a rate increase. The one key variable in focus is wages. Pay for Americans has gone nowhere in the recovery.

An uptick in wage growth would more clearly signal firm growth and that the economy would not suffer from higher interest rates.

Widely noted in November’s jobs market data was an uptick in hourly wages that, if sustained for a quarter or more, would likely be seen as proof of that strength. l

After years of doubts, Americans turn more bullish on economy n Reuters, Washington Pessimism and doubt have dominated how Americans see the economy for many years. Now, in a hopeful sign for the economic outlook, confidence is suddenly perking up.

Expectations for a better job market helped power the Thomson Reuters/ University of Michigan index of consumer sentiment to a near eight-year high in December, according to data released on Friday.

U.S. consumers also saw sharp drops in gasoline prices as a shot in the arm, and the survey added heft to strong November retail sales data that has showed Americans getting into the holiday shopping season with gusto.

“Surging expectations signal very strong consumption over the next few months,” said Ian Shepherdson, an economist at Pantheon Macroeconomics.

While improvements in sentiment haven’t always translated into similar spending growth, consumers at the very least are feeling the warmth of several months of robust hiring, including 321,000 new jobs created in November.

When asked in the survey about recent economic developments, more consumers volunteered good news than bad news than in any month since 1984, said the poll’s director, Richard Curtin.

Moreover, half of all consumers expected the economy to avoid a recession over the next five years, the most favorable reading in a decade, Curtin said.

The data bolsters the view that the US economy is turning a corner and that worker wages could begin to rise more quickly, laying the groundwork for the Federal Reserve to begin hiking its benchmark interest rate to keep inflation from eventually rising above the Fed’s 2% target.

Overall, the sentiment index rose to a higher-than-expected 93.8, mirroring levels seen in boom years like 1996 and 2004. Many investors see the Fed raising rates in mid-2015, and policymakers will likely debate at a meeting next week whether to keep a pledge that borrowing costs will stay at rock bottom for a “considerable time.”

Consumers see faster inflation ahead. Over the next year, they expect a 2.9% increase in prices, up from 2.8% in November, according to the sentiment survey. l

A shopper walks down an aisle in a newly opened Walmart Neighborhood Market in Chicago REUTERS

CORPORATE NEWS

Dhaka Regency has recently unveiled its Royal Membership Programme at its premier club members’ night 2014. Shahid Hamid FIH, executive director of the Dhaka Regency inaugurated the grand night

Union Bank Training Institute has recently organized a concluding ceremony of its foundation-training course. The bank’s managing director, Md Abdul Hamid Miah was present at the occasion as chief guest among others

Kazi Akram Uddin Ahmed, Chairman of Standard Bank Limited has recently handed over 20,000 blankets on behalf of the bank to the Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina for her Relief & Welfare Fund Prime Minister’s Office. The bank’s managing director and CEO, Md Nazmus Salehin was also present on the occasion

B4

DHAKA TRIBUNE

Back Page

Desperate in crisis, Spaniards turn to fortune-tellers n AFP, Barcelona Maite Izquierdo and her family are doing their best to get by in Spain’s economic crisis, but work and money don’t come by magic. Or could they?

After years looking for a job in a country where one in four is unemployed, this 48-year-old mother of two has turned to alternative ways to try and improve her fortunes.

Around her neck hangs a necklace of shungite - a shiny black mineral from Russia, said by occultists to bring emotional stability. In her bag she has a statue of a smiling Buddha and another of a three-legged frog - Asian charms reputed to bring wealth.

They are her latest purchases at Magic International, a spirituality fair in crisis-hit Barcelona where crowds browse over magic stones and spiritual tomes and countless fortune-tellers seek new clients.

“Any kind of help is welcome,” said Izquierdo, who has curly dark hair and bags under her eyes.

“In our house, we’ve had enough.

My husband can only find temporary, badly-paid jobs. My eldest son can’t find anything and neither can I.” The government says Spain is recovering from recession, but many Spaniards are still struggling. Attendance at the occult fair has surged to 50,000 this year compared to 30,000 before the crisis started in 2008.

At one stall, hung with red drapes and gold stars, a woman waits for a tarot card reader to tell here whether her small family restaurant can escape bankruptcy.

“I often come for a reading, especially when times are hard,” says the woman, Natalia Herrero. “It calms me and gives me an insight into how to face my problems.”

The tarot-reader, dressed in a white robe, reassures Herrero that her restaurant will survive.

Business consulting

For Izquierdo, it is the first time she has consulted spiritualists since she lost her job as a factory administrator four years ago.

She didn’t use to believe in the oc-

n

Emerging markets’ popularity with investors is ebbing as a strong dollar lures money away and commodity prices fall, but some governments promising tough economic reforms may stem the flow of capital leaving.

India and Indonesia currently look the most promising, fund managers say, following the election of pro-business governments on a ticket to introduce reforms that will open up state companies to foreign investment and cut red tape.

“Reformers are performers,” said Bill Street, head of investments for Europe, the Middle East and Africa at State Street. “You need to differentiate your exposures in emerging markets .. We have some select funds that pull out reformers. We’ve seen some good reform happening in India and Indonesia” In India, Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government plans to sell state stakeholdings in major companies, shake up labour laws and cut populist subsidies on fuel.

Craig Botham, an emerging markets economist at UK fund manager Schroders, said he expected success on those fronts “to lead to greater investment, picking up momentum going into 2016” but was only “cautiously positive” on similar claims by the government in Indonesia. So far the two countries have had mixed success in retaining foreign portfolio capital.

According to Lipper - a Thomson Reuters company that tracks the funds industry - net sales for India themed

DILBERT

Oil price slump sorts the hedged from the unhedged n Reuters, New York

A demonstrator burns a five euro note during a protest in downtown Madrid against capitalism cult, but says she was persuaded by friends. At the fair, she asks a public panel of four seers whether she should sell a flat in order to pay off her debts.

“It looks like a difficult time to do that,” replies one of them, Maria del Mar Tort, one of Barcelona’s best-known tarot-readers, scanning the cards. “The price seems a bit high. You should lower it and in a year or so, you’ll sell.”

Tort runs a tarot-reading school where she teaches 200 pupils the esoteric ways she learned from her mother.

The recent years of recession in Spain have brought fortune-tellers a new class of client, people “rather disoriented by the situation who are looking for guidance to move forward”, she says.

“Sometimes I feel like a real estate administrator or an employment counsellor instead of a tarot-reader,” she said.

“They ask you about their homes, their jobs, their businesses. And I ask

Only emerging market reformers like India will keep investors as tide turns Reuters, London

Monday, December 15, 2014

investment funds domiciled in Europe amounted to 303 million euros in September, making them the one of the fastest selling emerging market investment products.

In contrast, Indonesian-themed funds saw an outflow of 64m euros.

The country’s president Joko “Jokowi” Widodo, who was elected in July, does not hold a parliamentary majority limiting his ability to deliver on his promises to liberalise the economy and attract more foreign investment.

OUT OF FAVOUR Investors are also unenthusiastic about prospects for Turkey, where politicians hoping to win elections scheduled for mid 2015 are unlikely to inflict economic pain on voters despite recommendations by the IMF to tighten fiscal and monetary policy, as recommended by the IMF. “Economic populism remains a risk in Turkey, and the country’s structural reform agenda will likely remain stalled ahead of parliamentary elections in June,” JP Morgan said in a research note.

European equity funds focusing on Turkey saw a net outflow of 68.5 million euros in September, according to Lipper - a trend also reflected in the falling value of the Turkish lira in 2014, down around 5% against the dollar.

South Africa, which has seen demand for its commodity exports sink as key customer China slows down, is also out of favour with investors - as a result of which the rand currency has fallen more than 10% against the dollar since May. l

myself: whatever happened to asking about your love life?”

Addicted to tarot

Specialists at the Ancora psychological clinic in Madrid say they have seen a rise in the number of patients addicted to occult consultations since the crisis hit.

“They have low self-esteem and resort to that in search of quick answers: you will meet the love of your life, everything will get better. They tell them what they want to hear,” said one of the psychologists, Belen Sanchez.

“That causes emotional dependency. They get so they cannot make any decisions without consulting the fortune-teller.”

Late-night television in Spain is full of tarot-reading and fortune-telling shows.

Psychologist Jose Elias says the popularity of these is influenced by Spain’s Catholic tradition with its doctrine of

REUTERS

divine predetermination, as well as the stifling experience of the dictatorship of General Francisco Franco from 1939 to 1975.

“Franco over-supervised citizens.

He did not teach them to fight and grow by themselves,” said Elias, a member of the Madrid College of Psychologists.

“Psychotherapy emerges in democratic societies, because dictatorships are not about promoting personal development.” The director of Magic International, Sebastia d’Arbo, warns that the occult arts should not be dismissed lightly, however. He says a growing number of businesses are consulting fortune-tellers.

He said a chemist’s store in Barcelona nearly went bust for lack of customers before it called in spiritualist help.

“It turned out to be a feng shui problem,” he said, referring to the ancient Chinese method of harmonious household alignment. l

Oil’s slide to the lowest price in more than five years is carving a divide between US shale drillers who heavily hedged future production and those who didn’t.

While financial hedges are commonly required by many oilfield lenders, the industry’s mid-sized US-focused shale field producers pursued varied strategies when it came to protecting future revenues, according to a Reuters review of filings and interviews with bankers and experts.

Those decisions are now coming back to haunt some drillers. Best-known is Continental Resources, which lifted its hedges in early November, when oil was trading at around $83 a barrel, leaving it unprotected as prices slipped another $20, the most dramatic drop since the 2008 crisis. Continental’s share price has been more than halved since late June.

Apache Corp and Whiting Petroleum are also exposed to lower prices and have underperformed some peers over the past two weeks.

Oil producers typically hedge against lower prices by locking in some of their future production at favorable prices through swap transactions sold by banks, or by buying options as insurance against lower prices.

Among major and mid-sized exploration and production companies, some 35% of all 2014 oil production was hedged at an average of $95.5 a barrel as of November, according to an analysis prepared by RBC. Yet only 14.3% of 2015 production was hedged.

With OPEC kingpin Saudi Arabia refusing to cut supply and shore up prices any time soon, firms face the prospect of lower revenues for months to come. US crude fell below $60 a barrel on Thursday for the first time since 2009.

At Devon Energy Corp, the effect of tumbling prices “may not be nearly as large as you think” because of hedging, said Dave Hager, Devon’s chief operating officer, at the CapitalOne Energy Conference on Wednesday. “We’re in outstanding shape as a company.”

Devon, which pumped over 80% of its oil from US shale fields last quarter, stands out as the most aggressive hedger among

the larger-cap US oil drillers. It has hedged about 140,000 barrels per day (bpd) of crude for all of next year, equivalent to 80% of its third quarter output, according to company filings.

If US crude prices were to remain at about $65 a barrel next year, those hedges could net Devon an extra $1.3bn in revenue, according to Reuters calculations.

Devon has been “very good at not drinking the Kool-Aid” in an industry that had been counting on years of high prices, said Rick Rule, chairman of Sprott US Holdings, an asset management firm that doesn’t own stock in Devon.

STEADY PACE For the past several years, hedging was a relatively minor consideration for investors. Oil prices stayed fairly steady at about $100 a barrel, meaning most hedged positions were neither heavily in nor out of the money.

Now that the crude price has almost halved in the past six months, and predictions grow for a prolonged slump in prices, investors are scrutinizing filings to understand which corporations were clever enough to have locked in prices prior to the slump and therefore have enough cash on hand to pay increasingly expensive service contracts.

“The purpose of hedging is to secure cash flow regardless of price scenario,” said Robert Campbell, head of oil products research at Energy Aspects in New York. “The whole thing with (shale drillers) is cash preservation.”

Most large-cap producers, unlike Devon, don’t hedge as a rule, and many such as Occidental Petroleum and ConocoPhilips have even outperformed Oklahoma City-based Devon in recent months, aided in part by their refinery holdings, which generate additional revenue when oil prices are down.

Some analysts point to Apache as an example of the perils of not hedging.

While Devon’s shares have fallen by 32% since June, Apache’s have dropped by 44% as investors raise alarms about a potential cash crunch.

“They’re basically naked and don’t have any cash flow protection,” said Leo Mariani, a senior analyst at Capital Markets. l

Spain PM promises fresh economic reforms

India buys less gold as traders await clarity on import policy

n AFP, Madrid

India is importing lower quantities of gold despite a recent move to ease curbs as bullion banks and traders await clarifications on new import policies, market sources said.

The world’s second-biggest bullion buyer scrapped a rule late last month mandating traders to export 20% of all gold imported into the country, even as the market was expecting it to tighten the curbs.

But customs officials, awaiting directions from the Reserve Bank of India on the new import procedures, were not clearing fresh imports, prompting importing agencies to hold back, traders said.

“Banks are holding back because we are waiting for clarification on the new rules from RBI and customs,” said a trader with a top bullion bank in India.

Spanish Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy on Saturday promised fresh reforms to boost Spain’s economic recovery and warned he would continue to resist the drive for independence of the Catalonia region.

Responding to calls for constitutional reform to answer Catalan separatists’ demands, Rajoy vowed that his conservative Popular Party would ward off any threat to the unity of Spain and tried to shift the focus to the tentative economic recovery.

“We will support any future reform that is necessary, but for the Popular Party, national sovereignty is not negotiable,” he said in a speech to party leaders.

“What Spain needs now is more economic and social reforms to improve people’s lives and overcome the crisis definitively, and there will be more,” he said, also promising further anti-corruption measures, without elaborating.

Rajoy did not name Catalonia, but the speech was one of his most highprofile statements on the constitutional question since the region held a symbolic vote last month on whether to break away from Spain.

Rajoy has consistently vowed to preserve the unity of Spain as it recovers from six years of economic crisis that have left it with a current unemployment rate of nearly 24%.

Faced with lawsuits over the banned symbolic polls on November 9, Catalan leaders are now debating the next step in their drive for a full vote on independence for their rich northeastern region.

The opposition Socialist Party also opposes Catalan independence but has called for a reform to the system of devolved regional governments in Spain’s 1978 constitution to answer separatists’ demands.

Rajoy has not ruled out a constitutional reform but rejects any bid to break up Spain. He said on Saturday he was set on integrating the country more closely with the European Union. l

n Reuters, Singapore

“Customs officials are not clearing fresh imports as they are waiting for instructions. There is no point in importing now and having gold stuck with them.”

Struggling with a high trade deficit, India last year imposed a record 10% import duty on gold and the so-called 80-20 rule to limit purchases.

The export rule had triggered changes in the way imports were cleared, requiring firms to show proof of exports.

The reversal of the rule will likely require more changes.

Traders had expected clarifications to the 80-20 rule earlier this week, but there have been none yet. Another reason for the lack of strong imports is the adequate supply of bullion in the market.

Anticipating tighter rules, dealers had stocked up in the previous months, with imports likely to have crossed 100 tonnes for a third straight month in November.

“Imports in December are going to be less than that because people are waiting for clarification,” said Bachhraj Bamalwa, director at All India Gem and Jewellery Trade Federation.

Consumer demand has also weakened because of the slowdown in the number of weddings, with demand expected to pick up again after mid January, Bamalwa said.

Gold prices in India were either flat or at a small premium of $2 an ounce, down from last week’s $5, traders said.

“There is no incentive to import at low premiums and there is enough supply in the market,” said another trader at a bank.

Elsewhere in Asia, buying was steady as gold prices moved higher.

Premiums in top consumer China ranged between $1 and $2, while in Hong Kong and Singapore, they were unchanged at a little over $1. l

Consultants from Flyspan Solutions demonstrate a drone intending for police use during the first-ever Drone Expo in Los Angeles on December 13. The expo is the sponsored by the largest commercial drone association the UAVSA (Unmanned Autonomous Vehicle Systems Association) is open to the general public and aims to discuss how this technology can safely utilized for business, health, public safety, urban planning, entertainment and other commercial purposes AFP